Family -

Fun with Google Voice

January 23, 2011
By: Melissa

Oh lord. The hilarity of the Google voice transcriptions just about made me wet my pants tonight when Dave shared the Cousin Ed editions.

I am wiping tears from my eyes right about now;

Cousin Ed leaves a message from Florida

Hey what’s going on. It’s got in. Miss you. I got to go about here at 11 o’clock so. 3040 minutes about some of the severe got any ideologies man sitting around waiting. I am, works. I’d like to last 3 weeks. White, the walking dead man. Jed. This is not after 11 o’clock. This time here. Give me a call back when you get this If not, I’ll be on the on problem taken a shipped out. I gotta love you all. Bye.

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Dad’s first hospital stay

October 16, 2010
By: Melissa

I haven’t written much about what’s been going on with Dad. I’m not sure why, maybe because it all seems a little bit more real when you type CANCER and describe what’s going on.

The last couple of weeks have been hard for Dad and for all of us. Every current affairs show at the moment seems to have their own angle on metastatic melanoma and seeing it on TV all the time is getting old. Dad got out of bed yesterday at 7pm and the first thing he saw on tv was a 47 year old man with the same cancer as him, looking like he was on deaths door. It sucked. Everything is highly emotionally charged at the moment. There have been more tears in this house from all of us in the last 3 months than I thought was humanly possible.

Dad was woken at 5am this morning by a bad bout of coughing. He had another chemo round on Wednesday and has pretty much been in bed ever since. Prior chemo sessions have not wiped him out this much. We also received his 9 week scan results on Wednesday. No good news. New tumors in his spleen and spine and some have gotten bigger in his right lung. I HATE the chemotherapy. I know it is human nature to want to try anything that may help, but he has been generally pretty good when he is not recovering from the drug marathon. Chemotherapy nails him, for no gain.

So the pain in his chest was so bad this morning he almost blacked out. Dad’s oncologist told him to head to the hospital and that’s where they have been since 10am. Mum just called and he has blood clots in both lungs requiring daily injections for at least 3 months. Thanks chemo you fucking rock.

My family are amazing though. I got to see my Auntie Judy today, albeit by accident but it was so nice. My Auntie Deb is also being amazing, I can call her anytime and she just listens. I love that. Hadyn and I are doing great. We have never been close but I am so glad he is home. It feels really good that we are all together at the moment. Who would have thought that five adults and a kid could all live together in one house and make it work? Certainly not me but we are doing it.

It feels like some kind of macabre milestone was reached today – “the first hospital stay”. Cancer sucks.

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Our week: 6/10

September 23, 2010
By: Melissa

Player of the Year 2010. Kid Rules xxxx

Waiting for Daddy to find cornmeal....He did!

Where's Wally?

Grandad and Ethan - perusing a marine directory E found at the library

Why does one's motherboard suddenly up and die? WHY?

Molly Dog goes to school

Thursday Afternoon Fun

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Complete. A grown up bedroom set

September 12, 2010
By: Melissa

We picked up our bedside table today so our new bedroom suite is now complete. Especially since it has been christened by VB, Pinot Gris and is now the nocturnal charging station for the DS, the PSP, baby laptop and my iPhone. Ridiculous.

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Some Sun

September 5, 2010
By: Melissa

Earthquake day was surprisingly sunny so I snapped these shots and stitched them together into panoramics – they’re a bit rough but you get the idea!

Above: Looking up to the house from the pond, chicken coop at top left of pond

Below: Looking down the hill, orchard on left, Dad’s shed on right

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Upside Down

August 13, 2010
By: Melissa

You know how people say that life can change in an instant? Well life has changed, been flipped on it’s ass and all of us along with it.
It began with a visit to the doctor for a pesky cough. A sinister cough that was actually indicative of a big ass tumour hiding in Dad’s lung. An X-ray showed this and a ct scan showed some more masses on his spine and in his lymph nodes. Holy hell.
Surgery not an option there would not be enough viable lung tissue remaining so chemo began on Wednesday.
We are 2 days post chemo now and Dad is doing great, I’m playing chauffeur so he doesn’t go crazy in the house and can keep jobs rolling. His attitude is amazing, so positive and strong I don’t think I would be able to drag myself out of bed or my lip off the ground.

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Our house was full of flowers…

May 5, 2010
By: Melissa

One day it wasn’t and then the next we had bouquets out the ying-yang and we were all sad. Baby Peanut had missed the bus and it was a BIG shock. I never in a million years had considered that I would miscarry, or that if I did, my body would be so retarded as not to tell me at all. For like 5 WEEKS! I know.

Having spent the day in hospital having unspeakable things done to me, I can honestly say that I have lived through the worst day of my life and I am quietly proud of myself. I expected to fall apart and lose the plot and crawl back to my GP begging for antidepressants. But I haven’t done any of those things, I am just quietly getting on with things, loving Ethan about a million times more and being so thankful for him.

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You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello

January 2, 2010
By: Melissa

Hello Hello 2010! I think I love you already. The weather on your first 2 days! Hello? Keep it up.

We saw in the New Year Rhodes Family style as we did last year, but with children who were fast asleep as the fireworks blasted in the New Year – Success!

Let’s say good bye to 2009 shall we?

January - The Summer of Fish - Dave's hunting & gathering really came into it's own this summer during The Jacks Go Camping '09

February - The Year of Prizes - My first prize extravaganza led us to the VIP section (which was just us really) at Summer Series and tonnes of free food, wine and cellphones! Hooray 95 bfm

March - We celebrate Greer & KC's wedding in style in Matakana

April - Summer winds down, I turn 30 and we prepare to leave the suburbs

May - New house rules, winter sucks and Ethan loves his 1st soccer team, The Wizards

June - It keeps getting colder, Bush visits and Ethan starts new kindy July - I get a job (yay-ish), we otherwise hibernate, cook, make sushi and E scores a bajillion goals August - Daddy's birthday, Jim moves to the farm and Hadyn leaves for his first contract on the big ship September - Spring appears for a moment and Ethan learns to ditch his training wheels October - Dave loses a tooth, Ethan catches his BIGGEST fish ever November - E turns 5, starts school, mummy cries SUN SUN SUN and Santa arrives on a ride-on-lawnmower, Blissful New Zealand Christmas with family

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Top 5 of 2009 – Pearl Jam Concert

December 30, 2009
By: Melissa

What a year, seriously. Not a stellar stand-out year by any measure but there were definitely some diamonds in the rough.

The Pearl Jam concert. This show was incredible, the music, the weather, the company of my best friends and seeing a band you have loved for 16 years AGAIN. How lucky am I? So lucky in fact, that if I ever want to relive the moment all I have to do is watch the numerous videos I shot during my fav songs and listen to my god-awful-i-love-eddie-vedder wailing. No. I won’t be posting any of those for your viewing

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Christmas Day 2009

December 28, 2009
By: Melissa

I wasn’t prepared for just how prepared Ethan was to get amongst Santa’s loot on Christmas Day. The child didn’t even wait until 6am! I’m pretty sure he slept with one eye open the whole night, listening for the jingling sleigh-bells and the dent he was sure Santa would put in the roof when he landed.

But Santa did find us and showered the boy with gifts as per usual.

This year was different though. Ethan was mesmerized by everything and seemed to want to savour the moment a lot more than in prior years. He didn’t just tear into his presents with reckless abandon only to discard them for the next seconds later. He relished each gift, opened it and was very thankful for each one. It was fab for the hour it lasted!

But by 9.3oam it was all over, the exhaustion had set in and he was crashed out in his inflatable boat watching his new shark doco – we still had Christmas lunch with 40+ people at Mum and Dads to go yet, boy needs to learn how to pace himself!

The rest of the day was awesome, Auckland turned it on and the weather was blazing hot, we had such a great day with the family. The kids had so much to do they were never fussy or whiny (Ethan saved that for the way home, bless) and the food was amazing. We all got to chat with Hadyn via skype which was some consolation to him not being with us, but I’m sure he and Joanna had an awesome Christmas together on the big ship.

So it’s done. The craziness of shopping and cooking and shopping are over for another year and I might need some physio for my wii injuries in the New Year. Hope your holidays were special xxxx

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