Surfbabe Wipeout

Pippajo

Happy New Year Surfbabe.

Don't worry about posting everyday. I just dip in and out of my diary when I need a kick up the wotsit :j!

Surfbabe

:hello:I thought I would post an update – having not posted for about 5 months. I have been lurking and keeping up with various diaries but have not felt like posting myself. If you have FB you will have some idea of what’s been happening.

I thought – optimistically_ that 2011 would be better than 2010 – we had a buyer at long last for my mums bungalow and were hoping that her estate would be settled before the anniversary of her death.:) However – the world turned upside down again when I received a phone call from my sister in the USA on 14th Jan. telling me she had just been diagnosed with a rare form of Breast Cancer – to say it knocked everyone for 6 is an understatement – she is after all 11 years younger than me and the hardest thing was her being 3500 miles away.

Thank goodness for really good health insurance though as within 2 weeks she had already had her first lot of chemo and at the time of writing this she has had all 6 sessions and is now scheduled for a double mastectomy next Wednesday. :eek:

I have been out to Washington twice already and have to decide whether to go next week as well L - it has been really hard coping with it with her being so far away, but her friends out there have been fantastic.

Going back a bit – mums estate is still not settled – hopefully it will be in the next couple of weeks – it will have taken 16 months and so it will be good to be able to move on on that score.

DD settled back into Uni and her projects in the Spring Term came out as Firsts and this terms a high Second. :TShe is still unsure if you want s to be an Interior Architect but has now found a placement with a company in Islington on a 12 month contract so I’m hoping that the real experience will help her decide. She is off to Ecuador in 3 weeks’ time on an organised trip to do Voluntary Work and a bit of exploring.:eek: but that another story !!!!

DS is getting on with his Masters Research – maybe not as fast as I would like but I have to keep reminding myself that he is 22 and it’s up to him – not me!:rotfl:

I’m having a operation on my foot in July – won’t be able to walk for 2 weeks and then have to wear a special cast for another 6 weeks – I’m hoping the weather will be good so that I can sit in the garden. As for my Open University Course ……….. I’ve got the Assignments done so far but am missing chunks out as with working two jobs, scooting off to USA and dealing with everything else, my time isn’t quite panning out in the way I thought it would. We have booked Christmas away again and are going surfing in Morocco – the surgeon assures me that my foot will be fine by then!

If you’ve read this far – thank you hope you weren’t too bored!

2012 has to be a calmer year !!! :rotfl:

Double_Trouble

Lovely to have an update definitely not boring so sorry that you have been having such a bad time. Here's hoping that good times are on their way

DTxx

beanielou

Sorry to hear that things are so tough.

hypno06

Blimey, you don't do things by halves, do you :rotfl:

Surfbabe

:wave::hello:Well time for another update – I’m sat in bed with my right foot raised above my waist on pillows as finally had operation on foot last Thursday. :rotfl:

but I digress ……… back tracking a bit – my sisters double mastectomy went well (7 hours on the operating table) and she was sent home the following day. :T She has been so strong about the whole process its quite humbling and makes me feel bad about whingeing about the pain in my foot. They did a partial reconstruction at the same time (her mastectomy not my foot!) so she wasn’t left boobless but it does mean she as to go in for a further operation when her course of radiation is finished. I won’t get to see her until February half-term at the earliest. Her hair is now growing back as well.
Her two children came to stay for 10 days at the beginning of July and it was lovely to have them here – they get on really well with my two even though they are 12 and 15 and mine are 20 and 22 and did lots of things together. It also gave my sister and BIL time on their own and they were able to go to a wedding in upstate New York and stay in a posh hotel for a few days.
Unfortunatley my DB is off work having gone into a MS attack – the last one was 3 years ago and he was off for 6 months – this time he believes he will be retired on medical grounds (he is in the Police) - so that is something always in the back of my mind, although I know there is absolutely nothing I can do about it.:o:(
Mums estate is finally settled nearly 16 ½ months after she died so I no longer have that hanging over my head – I just need to sort out all the paperwork that has piled up and needs to be kept for 7 years. :eek:
DD has started her years’ work placement in London and is sharing a house in Island Gardens on the Isle of Dogs - so far she is enjoying it – she came home last weekend, having only moved up the weekend before but that was because I’d just come out of hospital. She and her BF had a fantastic time in Ecuador and are looking to maybe do something similar next year for a few weeks.
DD and I both did the Race for Life (photos on FB) with a group of mine and my sisters friends which was good fun but showed how unfit I’d become as DD beat me ! This does not mean I will be doing SHRED anytime soon though – actually I can’t for at least 12 weeks because of foot.:(
DS has just gone off to Leeds to pick up his gun for re-enactment group he belongs to and is then going to some re-enactment in Lincolnshire for weekend. Deadline for his Masters is fast approaching and he is also just putting in a late application for a PGCE! Somethings never change with him!
We’ll none of this is really moneysaving stuff but I needed to update – we have been fortunate that we inherited some money from Mum – not a huge amount but enough to pay off everything except the mortgage – although we did pay off the 10% that we can do. It seems very odd having money when we never really have had much – we have nearly always had enough to a pay the bills but nothing else and I can quite get my head around the fact that we now have money in our account – is this normal?
I still can’t get out of the money saving mode which I suppose is a good thing but it seems odd ……..
Anyway well done if you read this far ………………. I lurk all the time on the boards but don’t often post …………………………. The rest of the year can only go upwards and hopefully 2012 will be a good year for once. :rotfl::)

hypno06

Thanks for the update, surfbabe - I can relate to so many of the points you make.

As for getting used to *only* having the mortgage - it does eventually sink in, but if you are like me in any way, you need to keep that constant MSE head about you to make sure you are not wasting anything.....especially as it results from an inheritance. I constantly still ask myself if my dad would approve, even 6 years later.....!

Ouch to the foot, but good news for your sister x

beanielou

Good news on being debt free and paying off 10% of mortgage.
Take it easy.