Just Nicky

All Fall Down June 11, 2007

I fell in a bit of a heap this weekend which was rather unexpected. I knew my back and neck were out of whack and I was well and truly due to see the chiropractor on Tuesday, but I didn’t realise I was this badly off.

On Saturday I was laid up by sciatica. I’ve had touches of it before when my lower back has gone out, but this is the most severe I’ve ever experienced. I had pain and stiffness down both legs, although it was worst on the left. I spent a large part of the day in bed, leaving Mark to kid wrangle alone, and we had to cancel our dinner guests.

Things had improved on Sunday morning and we were even able to go for a walk and take the dogs to the beach. I also did the kid wrangling while Mark got to sleep in for the morning.

Today, though, things went decidedly south when I came down with a migraine at the museum. I was wandering around quite happily until I started to have difficulty focusing. It took me a little while to realise why my vision was blurring. Once I did we had to hustle Finn out of the museum and home quickly as I usually have about half an hour from blurred vision to excruciating pain. We’re lucky Finn’s such a good kid and there were no tantrums.

After some painkillers and a bit of time in bed the pain is pretty much gone, although I still feel pretty fragile. Tomorrow I’ll go and see my lovely chiropractor and he’ll put everything back where it belongs. Then Leila and I will go off to see The Mavis for the day.

Make Money While You Sleep (and other myths) June 5, 2007

Tuesdays and Thursdays are mothers’ group days. Thursday was the day we met at the maternal & child health centre originally and it is now the day when we will congregate at someone’s house. Tuesday is usually an informal morning tea at the local shopping centre. Anyone who can get themselves together and get out of the house toddles on down for a piece of cake, a tea or coffee and a chat. Today was a bit different, though.

It was an information session at the home of one of the mums. She’s hit upon a way to make some money from home and wanted to share it with us. It’s this stuff.

Apparently all you need to do is sign up 2 people a month and you’re well on the way to being rich - as well as enjoying the incredible health benefits of drinking the juice of an obscure amazonian berry. The guy who did the presentation claimed that since he had signed up people in the US he was making money while he slept.

I’m certainly curious about the health benefits of the juice, but unsurprisingly I’m very sceptical about the financial gain to be made from selling it. If it’s as easy as it sounds, why isn’t everyone making money this way? The mum who organised the session is completely into it and very excited. I’d like to be as into it and excited as she is, but I’m just not. Aside from anything else, I don’t think I have enough friends and family that I could co-opt to make the exercise profitable.

I’m thinking that I may obtain a couple of bottles to try out and, if it’s any good, I’ll get some from my mothers’ group connection, but I can’t see myself taking part in a network selling set up. It requires people skills that I just don’t feel like developing. Maybe I need to go back to testing…

Strolling June 2, 2007

Since Leila joined us Mark has used the Mazda to go to work, while I’ve had the Ford at home with the baby seat in it. The cost of fuelling the little car has become ridiculous in the last couple of weeks, though, so we’re going to swap cars. Although it’s not as fuel efficient, the Ford is much cheaper to run, thanks to the discrepancy between the costs of LPG and petrol.

The baby seat will go in the Mazda without issue and there’s a booster seat in there for Finn. The only problem with the swap is getting the Mountain Buggy into the Mazda’s boot. It fits. Just. With a bit of pushing and shoving. It’s also getting a bit crotchety in its old age and doesn’t take kindly to repeated folding and unfolding. Wrestling it in and out of the Ford can be quite a hassle. The prospect of getting it in and out of the Mazda is likely to make me even more housebound than I currently am.

We decided (well, I decided and Mark had the good sense to agree…) that an inexpensive lightweight stroller was needed. We do have one already but it’s intended for older kids and Leila won’t be able to use it for some months. I did a bit of research and found that there wasn’t a whole lot available at the cheaper end of the spectrum suitable for a little bub (ie. reclining). Undeterred, we headed off to the baby shop to have a look at what they had.

We found this one, which I hadn’t noticed while I was researching and bought it. It’s cheap, but seems to be pretty good quality. It folds quite a bit smaller than the Mountain Buggy and I think it’s a bit lighter. We might even be able to put Finn’s skateboard on it. And it’s a pretty blue as well.