Thursday 31 May 2012

Brownies and War

I made brownies today :).

Big, chunky, gooey, brownies.

Great with a cup of strong coffee for afternoon tea.

Beyond that I watched a movie called The Flowers of War. It was a very sad movie about the Japanese attack on Nanjing in 1937. A westerner runs into a group of covent student and a group of prostitutes and becomes their protecter in a way. There is violence against children and rape involved, so this is not a good movie for people who are sensitive to those topics. It was difficult to watch but an interesting movie none the less.

Then I made brownies. Here is the recipe. I mostly followed it other than cutting back on the sugar.

Back was painful today, R foot is still weird but otherwise not too bad.

Wednesday 30 May 2012

Room Spray...of DOOM!

Hm. My day was not very interesting i'm afraid. I'm a bit concerned about nerve pain i'm getting down my R leg. Other than that I had some blood drawn for a few tests (darn vampires!) and hung out with my MiL Sarah :).

Oh! I did make an experimental room spray using a few tablespoons of vinegar, about a cup of water and some lavender and clove essential oils. It sure smells nice but we'll see if it actually gets rid of dog smell ;).

Goodnight.

R elbow is sore, both wrists and hands, R knee was especially sore, and R foot is being weird.

Tuesday 29 May 2012

Tough Stuff

Ah dear, feeling very tired.

I had a quite emotional counselling appointment today. We were talking about my Mum, who passed away in 2007.

I simply have no more energy to give today. R hand and elbow sore. R knee and foot sore.

Monday 28 May 2012

Lazy Monday and Some Pie

I may not be wearing my glasses right now >.>. I'm quite tired. Bit of an MTX hangover, but not too bad. I had a nice day at home watching movies and snuggling with my puppy <3. Back to it tomorrow! I also made a chicken based shepard's pie which came out pretty good, it needed more seasoning though. R wrist ended up being sore afterwards though. Meh.

Sunday 27 May 2012

Sunday Scramble

Sunday, sunday.

It's a bittersweet day.

I'm alone tomorrow.

But today I have Bran.

It's been an alright day. My hands and back have been a bit angry. I'm concerned about the pain in my right foot. I can't tell if it's tendon or nerve o.O.

We made pizza for the first time in a while :).

We also ran some sums and I think we should be alright even with the new searches added on to our lawyer fees. Better safe I suppose...even if it's all ended up being about twice as expensive as it was supposed to be :/.

I made a new stew for Milo :) chicken based instead of fish. It certainly smelled less!

I've also turned in my final project for my counselling class and the workbook for my microbiology class. The article study for my counselling class is worth half my grade, so I hope I did well!

We spent $118 at the store, and should be good for the week. Thats not too bad for food for Bran, Milo and myself including $25 worth of free range/organic meat o.o....

I also actually got all of our laundry folded! Usually we have a basket left that I just can't be bothered with >.> but must get back into the habit for when we move!

Still waiting to hear about Milo.

Thats it :) goodnight.

Saturday 26 May 2012

Sculpture Exhibit

My hands are sore :/.

My back/hip/knee are also sore :/

But I did go out and see a sculpture exhibit at the beautiful botanical gardens today :). I felt very posh looking at the sculptures and listening to the artist and the people who like to think they are art experts. I really enjoyed the artwork more than anything. There was a really neat metal sculpture that was a mask of Anubis. Also some lovely figure sculptures that reminded me of my niece :).

Did I mention my fringe is awesome? And that I may or may not have cut it in myself >.>?

My sternum is also sore today, but I think it's the way i've been sitting.

Friday 25 May 2012

Pretty Good

I found out Old Navy ships to Australia now >.> next time I have some extra money...

Our finances were approved!

We have extra search fees we are going to have to pay >.>

It's friday!

I finished my assignments!

I'm cold >.>

Not much pain today!

Over all a pretty good day :)

Thursday 24 May 2012

Last SOCF111 Class

Feeling better today :). We handed in our application for the first home owners grant and heard back that financing will be granted, they just need a copy of the new contract. So now we're just waiting to hear back about Milo (which should be fine). Knock on wood!

It was a slightly bittersweet class today. My last class of foundations of communication and counselling. I've really enjoyed that class and the lecturer. Hopefully i'll have her again for another class :).

We also saw Susen and Ian again after their two year trip to England. It was really lovely catching up :) I greatly enjoy Susan's company and Ian is quite funny in his way.

Pain wise wasn't too bad today. I have a bit of a cold I think, my chest has been heavy and my throat has been stuffy. Back/nerve pain today as well, but it went down after walking around a bit.

Tuesday 22 May 2012

Long Day is Long

Loooong day. I had to visit Bran and get something signed by the JP there, then went to Gaythorne where I found out the thing I just got signed was done wrong, then to Kelvin Grove where the lawyers gave me more stuff to have Bran sign....i'm officially the messenger girl >.>.

I'm now off the contract, loan, and application for first home owners grant. Meh.

Wrist and hands are sore, as well as sternum which started in the afternoon. Other than that tummy has been upset still. Tired.

I'm feeling quite stressed and getting burnt out about the bank things, they still haven't approved finances and it's due friday :/.

Monday 21 May 2012

Blue Monday

It's been a long day. Had an MTX hangover, but not as bad s last week. Milo ate some bread that was on the road yesterday, so now he has itchy paws and has to be a sock dog :(. And he's grumpy. I've discovered a new possible symptom, but i'm not really up to sharing about it right now :/. No news from the bank yet.

Pain wise not too bad. R knee was sore and intestinal issues continue. Bran also pointed out that I tend to be more emotional on monday. I wonder if this has to do with the MTX?

Sunday 20 May 2012

Picnic Day!

Bran and I went on a lovely picnic today :) along with our little pup. It was nice until the mozzies decided they wanted some lunch too, lol. But over all it has been a nice day spent with my husband, which is exactly what I needed! I also made sausage mini-crustless-quiches.

Painwise wasn't too bad today. A bit with my hands, R hip, and R knee. I was still able to do some chopping and go for the walk to it's all good.

Saturday 19 May 2012

English Muffins

Tired tired. But in a good way :). We made english muffins today. I also did a shop, went for a short walk, and made a little wire man. Quite good for how i've been lately. I am feeling it now though, my hands don't want to move anymore. Now I sleep.

Friday 18 May 2012

Puppies and Meatballs

I've been feeling a bit down lately. Likely from the stress involved with the house stuffs. It's starting to get to me though :/. I think I need to go take a nice long walk with my husband and pup tomorrow.

Today was mostly spent traveling around Brisbane to the Rams and lawyers office to hand in paperwork and check up on things. I wasn't actually in either office for very long, but getting to those two different places required lots of bus changes o.O it'll be nice being on a train line.

I mixed the last of the meatballs with some of my previously made chili corn chowder. Super yummy!

Milo is happy after two little walks today. He seems much more settled even after just a short 15 minute walk with me in the mornings.

I found free range chicken sausages at the store :).

I stopped at that store in Alderly that sells different kinds of flour, bought some nice wholemeal.

Back is still annoying, elbows were a bit off today but otherwise joints were pretty good (huzzah!).


Thursday 17 May 2012

Not much to report on :) handing in hopefully the last of the paperwork tomorrow to both the bank and the lawyers. We should hear back from the bank maybe monday I should think. I made butter cookies :) slightly spiced. They are addicting.

Butter Cookies

250 g butter (softened)
1 C powdered sugar
2 1/2 C flour
1 ts vanilla
pinch of salt

1 ts cinnamon
1/4 ts cloves
1/4 ts ginger
1/8 ts nutmeg
(spice measurements are estimated, I kind of just use however much I feel like)

Cream butter and sugar until smooth and changed colour. Mix in flour in three increments. Add in vanilla, salt, and spices. Roll into two 25 cm logs, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.  Bake at 180 for 10-12 minutes. Enjoy with a strong cup of coffee, yum :). You can also use just the first half of the ingredients for a plain butter cookie or add in cocoa for chocolate...the possibilities are endless!

Anyway, Bran had a stressful day at work so I made him cookies <3 aren't I a nice wife?

R hand and R foot are sore today. Feels more like tendon pain. I do think pain levels in joints have gone down a bit. Some tummy upset today. Decreasing prednisone.

Wednesday 16 May 2012

Update

Found out today that we will indeed need to change the contract. The bank is being specific. So thats an additional $550 plus $165 for the other lawyer >.> rawr. But I think we can skip the body corp search. It's just stressful to be throwing around so much money. I don't like it. But just need to keep thinking about the soon-to-be-lovely apartment with the little balcony i'm going to fill with plants...an the red oven. Just think of the red oven.



R foot was a bit painful. Tendon pain. Hands were sore. It was cold today.

Tuesday 15 May 2012

Chicken Meatballs and Evil Banks

Ah dear..ok so bilding inspection today. That turned out pretty much as we expected it, some little pluming things, railing on balcony will need replacing and of course the roof (and floors >.>). Other than that the building is structurally good.

On the other hand, heard back from the bank. The want more papers and to have Bran be the only one on the contract. Thats fine, but that means an extra fee for the solicitor. Blah. They also want proof that we've paid off part of Bran's student loan. We have payed off a chunk, but we have another chunk we'll pay off tomorrow. Now i'm worried they'll think we are irresponsible or something T.T. So much anxiety surrounding this. *sigh* It'll just have to be one day at a time...one step at a time..Bed soon.

Not too sore today, R hand a bit. R foot a bit. Still tired, but better than yesterday.

On a lighter note I made some yummy chicken meatballs! They had secret mozzarella in the middle ;) which ended up being not so secret as it squeezed out a bit >.> but still tasty! I used a take on this recipe using chicken mince instead of beef and whole milk mozz instead of low fat. I didn't have any hard cheeses so I added more bread crumbs (which were actually cracker crumbs) as well as fresh garlic and onion as opposed to powdered. Other than that I followed it >.>. Anyway, they came out really well, even Bran really liked them <3 maybe something new to make for dinner :).

Monday 14 May 2012

Fun with MTX

Tired, tired. MTX hangover, upped the dose to 20 mg. Bran stayed home to take care of me <3. I'll feel better tomorrow. Everything with the apartment is progressing, i'll have to get in contact with the lawyer tomorrow. Goodnight

Sunday 13 May 2012

Happy Mum's day

Happy Mother's day to those who are Mums out there :).

Quiet day at home. We showed Fay (Bran's paternal grandmother) the building of our apartment and met one of our neighbours. She was lovely and had a little fluffy dog.

Made burritos and tacos for Sarah W for mother's day dinner. It was yummy.

I've just upped my mtx to 20 mg, so i'm already spacing out. Sleep soon. R hand and R foot are sore. Had no pain meds or nsaids today.

Saturday 12 May 2012

Meetups Again

I had a nice meetup with the old Pagan group :). It was good to see them again and discuss some things that I haven't been able to sort out (holidays are reversed with the seasons, arg!). It's been hard to get out to meetups lately with being so sore, but I think I will try harder to make it out.

In other news, my back has not been happy. Getting nerve stuff down my right leg. Not so much fun. But I was decorating our apartment in my mind, so that was fun :).

Friday 11 May 2012

Apartment!

The contract for the apartment has now been signed by both parties! In a months time we will be the owners of a lovely little one bed in Brisbane :D! We has pizza to celebrate <3. We are still waiting to hear back for the approval of the loan (though we have pre-approval already) and to hear back about Milo but I have a good feeling :). Now I sleep.

Thursday 10 May 2012

Contract Take Two

So we signed the contract for the Nundah apartment today :). There are yet some loops to jump through but our part is mostly done. I had three hours to kill as well between class and the time we were meant to meet the real estate agent, so I had a good walk around Northgate/Nundah. It's really a lovely area, especially up where the apartment is near Northgate. It's only a ten minute walk from the train, yay! About fifteen minutes to the shops, and there is a little convenience store just a block away! It'll be exciting to see what tomorrow brings :).

On a not awesome note, my back/hip/knee/foot is really sore after walking so much while carrying my backpack >.>...worth it.

Wednesday 9 May 2012

New Rheumy and New Meds

So saw the new Rheumy today! He was actually very nice :) quite passive and happy to explain everything I asked about. And. On. Time. Major plus to me. He is quite sure I have some kind of problem, but he isn't sure if it's psoriatic arthritis (I don't have any psoriasis currently), seronegative rheumatoid arthritis, or something called polyarthritis which is pretty much the same only different o.O. In fact they are all similar and are treated in the same manner other than rheumatoid tends to be more disfiguring and polyarthritis is just kind of a catch-all? Meh. He upped my MTX to 20 mg (it's going to be a fun sunday night -.-) and added another DMARD called Plaquenil. Plaquenil is actually an anti-malarial drug but works on a particular white blood cell to make it less angry. He said it'll also help with fatigue, which would be awesome :). I also get to have an MRI on my right hand (since it's been hurting the longest) but it'll cost a pretty penny. *sigh* This is what happens when you see a doctor privately without insurance here in Oz.

Beyond that it was a normal day. Calling up people about the apartment and going to class. We are finally getting a bit farther along with the contract but the loan guy is away on medical leave, so i'm not sure whats up with that...hm. I hope he feels better soon anyway.

Pain wise not too bad today. Hands are sore and R foot is a bit sore.

Tuesday 8 May 2012

New Rheum tomorrow. We'll see how it goes >.>. I'm half expecting him to put me on a biologic and half expecting him to dismiss me. I'm not sure which is worse o.O. I'm feeling very tired again. I was up a bit early today, more headaches. My R foot and R hand have also been more-than-normal sore today, though my L hand has also been sore especially in the morning.

I forgot my anti-inflammitories at home -.-. So after my exercise class was not so much fun, especially as I had to walk around a shopping center for a while (grocery shopping and checking K mart). Blah.

On a lighter note, because my foot was angry, Bran made me a yummy dinner of spinach ravioli with tomato sauce and just a bit of cream cheese mixed in! <3 he's the best!

Ok, my brain is starting to feel like a marshmallow again, so goodnight.

Monday 7 May 2012

Copper Tree

Major MTX hangover today. I've felt sick and migraine-y all day. Not my fav. I finally gave in and took some anti-inflammatories around 3. They've worn off now and I can feel the edge of a headache coming back. Blah. My fingers are still swollen, I think from the cold in the morning and my R foot hurts.

In other news, I made a really interesting little tree out of copper wire and a couple of rocks.


It isn't a very good picture since it's from my phone :/ but it's a neat little tree. I made it for Bran to put on his desk at work so he has something neat to look at :).

Sunday 6 May 2012

Sunday, sunday, SUNDAY!

Ad dear. It's been a big day :). Despite only having two glasses of champagne last night, I did not feel well today. Though it may also have been from all the dairy and sugar i've had lately >.>. It was also flipping cold this morning, so I was in pain until I took a nice hot bath. Then I was ok. I didn't want to take any extra medicine because it's MTX night. Blah.

Anyway, some exciting news! My MiL decided to adopt a 14 year old shar pei dog. Despite being old he is actually quite active. He's so cute and snorty XD. I've decided to call him snuffilumps :) his actual name is Simba.

We also had a visit from my husband's paternal grandmother. It was really lovely to see her :).

Saturday 5 May 2012

Weddings of Friends

We went to a lovely wedding today :). It was the wedding of one of Bran's childhood friends, their families were neighbours while Bran was growing up. It was fun being able to speak with some of the people who knew my husband as a child :). It really was a lovely, if maybe overly religious, ceremony in one of the national parks near by.

Now i'm sleepy z.z. We also went to the dog park for the first time in a while and just the walk up that hill took it out of me. But it was great seeing Milo run around and have fun with two other big labs that were there :).

Friday 4 May 2012

Friday, Friday...

Quiet day at home. I did my microbiology quiz, I think I did alright....time will tell. Bran should be home in about an hour or so. I'm ready to crash personally. So tired. I've had a bit of a headache all day. I did manage to get up to the shops and get a wedding gift for a couple we are celebrating with tomorrow. Also some groceries. I'm really enjoying the pre-cooked free range chickens. It's nice to not have to deal with the raw meat and they are only a dollar more than the raw ones. Plus they are cooked perfectly, nice and moist...

I'm making sure to save the bones this time around to make a stock from. I pull up all the meat, give Milo the fatty bits, and save the bones for stock. This way I won't be wasting any part of a precious life that was given. I feel like this is the best way to come to terms with eating animals again.

Pain wise was a bit up and down today. My R foot was a bit sore as well as my hands were terribly sore this morning. They did feel better after a nice hot bath and wearing my gloves for a while though.

We are continuing to look into all the legal stuffs around the apartment, the real estate agent actually seemed pretty relieved that we were doing that...hm.

Thursday 3 May 2012

Rainy Thurday Night

No Bran tonight :(. He is away at a work conference being studious. I'm here snuggling with Milo in the rainy weather.

It seems there are some legal dealies we didn't foresee with the contract for the Nundah apartment. But it'll be ok, we'll get a lawyer to check everything out and make sure we don't end up paying for things the current owner is meant to :). I'm so thankful to have such a great MiL to help sort these things out! I would be so lost and stressed out without her.

Sore today, gloves R wrist brace and cane. I did make a yummy chicken-cheese sauce-rice combo. I'm thinking it would make a good casserole with some peas or broccoli.

*Edited for title error

Wednesday 2 May 2012

Update of Dooooooooom

We has another visitor this morning :). It was a little fluffy cream coloured pup. Of course she didn't have any tags, so I spent 40 minutes walking around the giant hill here knocking on doors >.>. Lots of people still in their pjs. We did eventually find her owner, who said she was just on her way to get some tags...yeah. She was a nice little pup anyway.

After that adventure, I had to rush to get to the RBWH for an MRI of my knee. I have no idea when i'll get the results, I guess when the ortho-surgeon feels like getting back to me. Always fun to have to wear just a thin little gown and go into a small noisy tube.

After that I had to rush back home to let Milo out and rest a bit before class. I. Was. So. Tired. But Milo wanted love (and to go in and out plenty of times) so I didn't get to nap.

In between this I called the property lawyer to set up a meeting (tomorrow), called the real estate guy to make sure he had talked to the owner (he had), and called the loan guy to see where he is at with that (he was seeing if he could lend us more, thanks anyway RAMS :) ).

Now i'm going to bed to hopefully get a good nights sleep so I can be awake for class and the meeting with the lawyer tomorrow x.X.

Pain was a bit annoying today. My R foot was angry after the MRI so I used a cane for the trip to uni and back. Still getting the pain on the side of my leg. GP thinks it's refereed pain from my back :/ so thats a bit concerning. I guess as long as i'm not getting any nerve side effects it should be ok.

Tuesday 1 May 2012

Short Stack the Second

Tired again today. Woke up at 6:30 to make Milo some eggs :) he liked them. I think just his puppy stew tomorrow morning though...

Bran and I had a nice lunch out and I made a lovely roast chicken dinner. I ate chicken again after 8 years. It was weird.

We re-evaluated some things in our relationship, and both agree that we would like to do at least one trip away from Brisbane this year. We also need to get out as a couple more. Other than that I think we communicate quite well for a young married couple :).

Hands were sore today, back is feeling a bit better. R foot/ankle is angry.