Camille's Trip Update

Well, Cami cried when she left New Zealand. Can you believe she didn't want to go to Australia? That makes me laugh and mad at the same time. She has been in Australia for four days now. She spent a couple of days in Sydney then went to Shoal Bay. See the Sydney Opera House behind her? Now she is flying to Cairns. Tomorrow she gets to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. Then her last day she gets to see kangaroos and crocodiles and hold a koala. She will be home Sunday evening. She will barely have time to adjust back to our time zone before Andrea gets here from Germany for two weeks. Then our family will have two weeks without Andrea before Cami gets back on a plane and leaves for Berlin for another two weeks!

Olaf has an appointment next week with a pain doctor. He needs to get his pain under control so he can go back to work. He's been home so long it is going to be weird to have him back at work. I am not sure when he will go back, but I am assuming it will be the beginning of July. His Mayo Clinic appointment is July 18th. He is flying down the 17th and probably won't be home until the 20th. Hopefully they can figure out what is going on with this poor guy. ::crosses fingers::

I am so excited

If you know me at all, you know I despise the stomach virus. Personally, I have not vomited since Thanksgiving Day 1994 because I am SO fearful of it. One reason I hate the stomach virus so virulently is because of the way it is spread. You can ONLY get the stomach virus from poop or vomit. That means you have to ingest poop or vomit in order for you to get this awful virus. GROSS! Whenever my children get the stomach virus I do everything in my power to contain it. I wear disposable gloves and surgical masks when I am with a vomiting child or cleaning up vomit. I clean and Lysol everything after every single time a person in my house pukes. I spray the toilet, the flusher, the light switch, the sink, the floor. I go through a huge bottle of Lysol with every episode of the stomach virus. Needless to say, since I hate it so much, I do everything in my power for my children not to get the virus. I will not let my children play in those nasty play areas at McDonalds, if we go into a store of any sort I use hand sanitizer during the store visit as well as after the store visit. I make my children wash their hands immediately upon arrival at home. I am sure my children wash their hands more than most children. All that said I found the best website about the stomach virus. Listed there was another website with hand sanitizer that actually kills the norovirus as well as the rotovirus. To say I was giddy with excitement doesn't even capture the feeling I had. Of course I immediately ordered some and cannot wait to get it.

On another note, Camille is going to school today with her host family. She is excited and I am excited for her. All I know about the host family so far is they live on a farm, have 2 girls aged 17 and 15, the girls are really into sports, and she ate fish and chips for supper last night by a fire. She also said the toilet, shower, and bath are all in separate rooms. I hope to hear more when she gets home from school. I do know this is the high school she is at right now.

Update on Camille's trip

Yesterday, Camille had a blast! It was the first full day of her trip and what a day it was! They started off the day in Rotorua and went to the Agrodome Farm Show! I think they got to watch live sheep dog herding (like in the movie Babe) but I don't know for sure. Then they went to Mount Ngongotaha and took a gondola up the mountain, then rode this fun go cart/luge thing down the mountain.



She had a blast doing that and rode it three times! It seems their tour guide over there is named Tony and Camille has taken quite a liking to him. I insisted she text me his photo. So, meet Tony the tour guide!

After that they went to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. She didn't text me anything about that because I was already sleeping at that point. Then they left to spend in the night in a Marae which is the local meeting house of the Maori people. She had dinner in the style of a Hangi, prepared using steam or hot rocks in a pit oven. They are spending the night in that Marae as I type this. She texted me and said she was so cold she was shivering. Her exact words were, "OK, in the marae, it's awesome, gonna shower, I'm so beautifully cold I'm shivering and today was awesome!!! I love u!" It doesn't get better than that.

Then, the delegation leader called me about 6 am this morning to tell me there had been an earthquake at Christchurch. The delegation is supposed to go there in five days, but may be rerouted by the People to People office. So, because of that and the ash cloud from the volcano in Chile, their itinerary may be affected. I am sure they will do whatever it takes to keep the students safe and still have fun.

Camille will meet her home stay family today and for the next two nights will be staying with them in Palmerston North, New Zealand. She will actually be attending high school with her host family's child so that will be really weird for her. She has absolutely nothing to compare it to. I am hoping the host family has a computer and she can email me, or even skype. ::fingers crossed::

She's gone...

My baby girl left this morning for New Zealand and Australia. I cannot believe my child is going to be gone for 16 days half way around the world. As I type she is on a plane over New Mexico flying to LAX. Then at 2:40 am Eatern she will board a plane bound for Aukland, New Zealand. She will lose a day and miraculously be in winter when she arrives at 8:30 am Sunday morning local time. (4:30 pm Eastern on Saturday here) To say I am proud of her doesn't even begin to describe how I feel. I cannot wait to see the photos and watch the videos and hear the stories. Only 16 more days...

Boob is fine...

After being smashed until my boob was as flat as a pancake, and an ultrasound to boot, it has been determined I don't need to go back until next year. All clear.

Camille is all packed and ready to go. So exciting!! I cannot wait to see the photos when she gets back. She is going to have such a fabulous time and I am so excited for her. Olaf is going to try to drive her to the airport Friday morning. I hope that goes OK, but if it doesn't someone from work can come pick him up. He plans on going to the gate with her and waiting until she leaves. I know he is going to cry.

I have been watching the Casey Anthony trial when I can. The prosecution is doing a great job, but I am looking forward to seeing the defense's case as well. I'd love to be on the jury.

Oh...I bought P90X on Ebay and am waiting for it to arrive. I wonder how much of it I will be able to do. I am going to give it a try though. I just hope no one sets up a hidden video camera and tries to record me. How embarrassing.

More of the same...

Olaf got the results today from the spine doctor and everything is normal. We are just waiting for the blood work from the rheumatologist. If that is normal, then I guess he needs to go back to work until he goes to the Mayo Clinic in July. Yes, he still has pain and yes, he is still taking pain killers but perhaps he can get away with not taking the pain killers during work hours.

I go in tomorrow for the ultrasound on my breast. I will post results as soon as I know something. I am the same age as Olaf's mom was when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She died at age 50. Needless to say, Olaf is more scared about this than I am.

We are getting estimates for concrete work and landscaping. We need our driveway and walkway regraded and poured as the run off is still causing our house/foundation to sink. We also need the front lawn landscaped since the septic lines have been replaced. I am sure it is going to cost a lot of $$ that we really don't have to spend.

Camille leaves this Friday. She spends all day Friday traveling with huge lay overs in Dallas and Los Angeles. She doesn't get on the plane to Aukland until 2:30 am (Eastern) Saturday morning. She arrives at 8:30 am Sunday morning local time (which is 4:30 pm Saturday for us!) Talk about jet lag! She is going to be SO messed up when she gets home. At least she gets to change seasons and have some winter weather. Lucky girl.

When it rains...

You know the old cliche, right? Well my routine mammogram has turned into a needed ultrasound and spot check due to some changes from my mammogram last year. That is scheduled for next Tuesday. Hoping it isn't serious.

Olaf has not gotten his results from the tests last Friday. His spine doctor is out this week and he is the one that needs to read the results. He has not gotten back the blood work from the rheumatologist either. We did go to the Veterans Service Office yesterday for Olaf to apply for disability. Ah, the joy! I have no idea when he is going back to work. I hope it's soon. I mean I really love having him home, but he cannot stay home forever. He is on disability right now (which is 100% of his pay) but it goes down after 90 days, so he needs to scoot!

Camille leaves in a week for New Zealand and Austrailia. How exciting!! Our friends gave her a Bon Voyage party today which was really sweet. They gave her a Domo to take with her and she plans on taking photos with it all over the place. The traveling Domo!

We are replacing our septic lines today. Our yard is completely dug up and it looks horrible. But they needed to be replaced after 23 years of tree roots growing into them. Especially since there are seven people using a septic system designed for four. It is so sad to see the front lawn nothing but a pile of dirt, but I am sure in a few years it will be as good as new. For now, it is just ugly.

Simon is cute. The end.