Recent Stuff...

I haven't really been scrapbooking very much of late. The knee makes it kind of difficult to sit still for long periods of time so usually the only scrapping I get is at Stampcraft classes.

• Sunrise Cruise -- a layout from one of Karen's classes at the Shop (3 quick layouts).
  

• Free Spirit -- a layout I completed at the recent Knuckey's lagoon retreat
  

• Birthday Boy -- another layout completed at the Knuckey's Lagoon retreat.
  

• A Yellow Waters Sunrise -- this is one that was done a scrapbooking class at Stampcraft using the new Cricket Expressions machine.

More layouts to come very soon....

A Knee-De Update

Well it is finally happening....

I am going in for an operation next Friday...well Monday week at the latest. And the best news ever...it's gonna be key hole surgery, no open knee surgery for me. No Sireee!!! Woohoo!! Just 3 little holes around my knee for the quick and easy removal of my little tumourous/cartlidge friend.

So excitement!!!

I'm Baaack!

I can't believe how long it has been since I posted on this blog.....over 5 months.

Well I am back now. Let's hope I can update more often.

The last 6 or so weeks could have been better. I am having some real dramas with my left knee. I have had stiffness in occasionally for as long as I can remember, but about 6 weeks ago i started to get some serious pain in it constantly. I went and saw a physio as I thought maybe it was some muscle damage. I had just started playing netball with some girls at work. I was so loving and it and SO disappointed when I couldn't play anymore.

3 visits to the physio before he threw his arms up as we weren't getting anywhere. He referred me to my GP for X-Rays which eventually showed a mass of some some description sitting under (?) my knee. My GP referred me to the orthopaedic surgeon at the hospital. She told me there would be a 1-2 month wait before I could get in.... Oh my God, severe pain and being unable to walk for at least 2 months. Hell no, so we decided I should try get an appointment with a private doctor and just pay for it. So I booked in with a private surgeon I remembered Belinda recommending to me.

So I rang my GP to get my referral changed and my GP told me she had to talking to Dr Matthew Sharland who was the head of Orthopaedics at the hospital and he was very interested in my case as the pain wasn't the result of a single trauma (ie: I hadn't knocked it or fallen on it). He looked at the X-rays and determined that there was definitely a mass on the image. He suspects that it is a piece of bone or perhaps a cyst/benign tumour (***Definitely, not cancer!!).

He is pretty sure that it is a piece of bone, which will be easy to remove during day surgery. A cyst/tumour would be much more difficult and I would have to wait for a bed to become available at the public hospital. Anyone who has ever seen Darwin hospital is right beside me in hoping that does not happen.

On Monday I went for an MRI scan -- yep that long tunnel --- which will hopefully show us what is the mass!! Bone or Cystie thing?? The was an experience I don't want to repeat any time soon. The radiographer has basically which squash my knee into this box --- my poor knee which I can not straighten without stabbing pain shooting through it --- so that it could be isolated for the scan. Let me just say that was the longest 40 minutes of my life! I had tears pouring out of my eyes for the first 20 or so minutes until I tried to concentrate on breathing through the pain. My knee kept twitching throughout the whole process and I was so scared that the radiographer was going to tell me that we would have to start again because you are NOT allowed to move during the scan.

I will get to find out "the go" tomorrow when I have an appointment with Doctor Sharland at the hospital. I am little bit scared and a little bit dying to get to the end of this whole saga. It is so exhausting and not being able to walk sucks, I have been on crutches on-and-off for about a week. Man do they kill your armpits!!!

Well wish me luck!

Scrapbooking Layouts - Mount Bundy

Mount Bundy - April 27-29, 2007

(Click on the images to enlarge...if you want to)

22 women escape to a homestead 60 minutes south of Darwin, with nothing but copious amounts of food and alcohol and thousands of dollars worth of scrapbooking supplies to play with. Well, that's certainly my idea of awesome weekend away. Can't wait until the next one rolls around.

Below are some of the layouts I was working on....

Great Keppel Island - 2001 Mini Album:





Toastie Ribbon Layout:


Travis' Skanky Shoes Layout:



Roxy Layout:

Cover for the Great Keppel Island Mini Album:

Circle Journal Layout - "My Favourite Holiday Spot"

I am currently participating in a circle journal with the girls from my local scrapbooking shop. Here are some piccies of my layout for "My Favourite Holiday Spot"--- Melbourne!!