A string of bad luck . . .

You might have noticed that we haven't been blogging as much lately and there've been a couple of good reasons for that. I started an online class on aboriginal studies which is interesting but taking up much more time than I expected. And hallelujah, after a very wet winter and the wettest September since 1915, the sun has finally come out!!! This means I can think of a lot better things to do (going for walks, gardening, playing in the backyard with Elliot) than sit inside in front of the computer.

But there've also been quite a string of not so fun things eating up our time (and money!). Early in August I strained my lower back and reinjured my groin. Thankfully, I've found a doctor who will listen to me and she had me really busy going in for all sorts of tests and seeing a specialist physiotherapist who works with women after giving birth. After all the tests, we discovered that my pelvic floor muscles have torn away from the bone on one side which has caused a bit of a prolapse (the reason behind my tinkling issues) and a lot of core instability (the reason behind me constantly reinjuring myself). I've been on a pretty intense regimen of core strengthening exercises (nearly an hour twice a day), but other than that, the only exercise I'm allowed to do is taking slow walks with no hills.

Another crappy thing that happened in August is that I got a ticket for not wearing a seat belt (which I know I should have had on and I always do!) one of the few times I've been out with some friends without Elliot. You might think, no biggie, it's just a seat belt ticket and I thought so too. Trouble is that in Western Australia a no seat belt ticket is 500 smackers! AND they decided to give my friend Amanda a $500 ticket as well for having a passenger in her vehicle who wasn't wearing her seat belt (which I of course paid). It ended up being a very expensive night out!

Another expensive and annoying bit of bad luck is that my computer got knocked off the desk and broke. It was getting a bit old and we were thinking of getting another one soon, but we weren't ready to get a new one quite so soon. Paul's ordered in some parts and is trying to fix it, but in the meantime it's so frustrating to not be able to use my computer and have to figure out everything on Paul's Mac. 

And then it's been the string of colds that we keep on catching. Elliot, Paul and I are so tired of snotting and sneezing and coughing especially after the last one we're all still trying to shake. Elliot got so sick that one night he woke us up making a ghastly sound (like a baby seal getting clubbed to death).  We took him to emergency and found out that he had croup (an inflammation of the upper airways) which can be quite serious. Thankfully in Elliot's case, it was really mild. We were given some steroids which Elliot took every night for three nights and no more baby seal noises. And you should see Elliot's muscles now . . . .

Even Nacho has gotten in on the bad luck. First, he got attacked by a dog out on a walk. He wasn't really hurt but seems to be quite traumatized by it. And when we were down visiting Paul's dad a few weekends ago, he hurt his knee quite badly. It seemed to sort itself out, but has flared up a couple of times since then. We've done some research and it looks like this is a common thing for chihuahuas and often needs to be repaired surgically. So we've quickly taken out doggie insurance and are crossing our fingers that it doesn't get any worse while we wait out the waiting period.

Now after this bad luck, we figure we're due some good mojo. We've been buying lottery tickets and have already begun shopping for the dream house that we'll buy with all the dough that's due to be rolling in. And hey, if that doesn't happen, we'll be super-stoked to enjoy some sunny days with no more colds or accidents!!