It's been a while...

It sure has been a while since I updated my blog. It's been an interesting year so far... let me catch you up.

Health Issues

After not being well over the Christmas and New Year period I changed doctors and was finally listened to and heard. Basically, I was always tired, I was gaining weight even though I was exercising and eating well, I didn't want to socialise, my ankles and wrists were puffy, my eyes were puffy, I was having irregular periods, continually getting stomach bugs, waking up vomitting and going to bed with heart burn. And I wasn't pregnant.

In the end, I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, low levels of Iodine, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D as well as Candidia, some sort of parasite and Depression. Nick said if I was a horse, they would have shot me a long time ago, but because he loves me and I'm not a horse, I'm safe with him. That's comforting!

My thyroid condition had been identified in tests back in 2006 but my then doctor, did nothing about it. They focused too much on my vitamin B12 deficiency and it was my thyroid that was causing my body not to absorb vitamin B12.

I'm happy to say that I am feeling better, have more energy, my symptoms have decreased significantly and I'm on the road to recovery. We're still working out the right dosage for my thyroid medication but that's standard because everyone reacts so differently to it. Once back to working order, my vitamin B12 and D levels should be good, and my iodine levels should be good.

I'm now off my anti-depression medication as it was a symptom of my underactive thyroid and it was caught relatively early. Phew!

Moving House

As you know we moved house early June and boy was that a big move. We had expected to come into a reasonably well kept house but it was filthy. It took us a whole day to scrub and clean. I spent a couple of hours getting sticky residue off the floor boards and had to scrub the cupboards 3 times but we got there. The first 3 weeks we didn't unpack much as we had people in plastering and painting

I am now very happy to say we've settled in nicely. There are a few things that still need to be done, but that will be over time. It's difficult to try and get everything done all at once.

To see photos, please visit my photo album, Our Home.

40th Birthday

What a milestone and I don't feel like, what I thought I would feel like, at 40. I definitely don't feel 40. Maybe the saying "I only feel as old as the man I feel" is true.

It was lovely that most of my family travelled to Hong Kong to celebrate it with me. I was rather spoilt by them. I think Nick was glad that my family were here because if they hadn't have been, he would have been the only male at the party as all the girls partners had to work or were called out to work. He was in his element ensuring all the girls glasses were topped up with bubbles.

Here are a few shots from the party.







Going Forward

With 5 months of the year left, we're heading to Australia late August, early September. We'll be going to Melbourne first, then Sydney and I head to Brisbane, when Nick comes back to HK.

At the end of October we head to Koh Samui, Thailand for a 10 day detox retreat. It's the same one we did last year so there will be daily walks, massages, meditation, yoga, swimming and nightly colonics. For 7 days we will fast, and the last 3 days we'll come off the detox program.

After that we head to Cambodia for 10 days early November. We're planning on going to Phnom Penh and Angkor Wat to see the temples.

I had stepped back from my businesses while I was focusing on my health so I'm now looking forward to stepping back into them. My businesses have been ticking over and particularly here in HK where most of my work has come from word of mouth. Hong Kong is like that, it's not what you know, it's who you know.

Anyway... that's my catch up. We're staying put at least until February 2010 once we're back from Cambodia. I would love to hear more about what's happening in your life, so please feel free to leave a comment or email me.

With love, Nicole x

Kiva.org

I love this organisation and their philosophy. I am lending money to a couple of different entrepeneurs and love receiving notice that they've paid me back. I think 2 of my loans have been repaid, and I've re-lent the money and other loans are being paid back gradually.

Here's a video to show you what it's all about.


A Fistful Of Dollars: The Story of a Kiva.org Loan from Kieran Ball on Vimeo.

Furry Reflections 2008

I thought I would share with you some of my favourite furbaby photos taken this year… Missy, Pirate (RIP), Osiris and Isis.

We think that Osiris is either the reincarnate of Pirate or Pirate is whispering often in his ear because he’s very familiar with our home, with Missy and with us, and displays a lot of the same antics as Pirate did but with much more confidence. This time he came with a feline companion, Isis because he knew Missy isn’t the cuddly type and he gets to cuddle with Isis.

Our Poor Christmas Tree

I put our Christmas tree up on the 1st December because we received a whole bunch of Christmas presents from my parents and I was having Adele and Melissa over for lunch as an early Christmas celebration due to Adele going away.

The photo above is what our tree looked like on the night of the 1st December. Below is what it looks like tonight... the kittens love the Christmas tree, and Cyrus loves to box the dangly decorations. I had to put the presents away due to them using them as toys.

More...

Size comparison... Missy and Cyrus. Missy allowed him to sit beside her while he behaved but once he started attacking her tail, that was the end of her being nice to him. You can see she's not too impressed with him sitting next to her.

Here is Isis... she's sleeping behind my computer.

Here is Cyrus... he was asleep but when he heard the camera he opened his eyes. He often sleeps like this.

Update On Kittens

I thought I'd share some cute photos of Cyrus and Isis.

This is Isis with one of their toys. She loves to carry it around with her so proudly. The stick that it's attached to drags behind her.

Here's Cyrus boxing the ball on their new cat pole. You can see his little black marks, they look like horns.

Here they are zonked out after running a riot around the house.

It's been a week now since we came home with Isis (little girl with ginger) and Cyrus (little white boy) and they are full of life.

I forgot what it's like to have a kitten around, and now we've got double the trouble. However they are keeping me entertained. Missy on the other hand is not impressed at all. She's met Cyrus face-to-face a couple of times and he has no fear... she was hissing at him and he still walked straight up to her as if she wasn't bothered by him. She gave him a light tap on the head to say "go away" but he just shook his head and stayed put.

Their personalities are starting to come out. Initially Isis was the adventurous one but Cyrus is showing that he is happy to dive head first into anything. He runs around like a mad man and sounds like a baby elephant while doing so. Isis is not far behind him but isn't as willing to jump in feet and all.

Isis is a little more independant, where as Cyrus does like attention when he wants it. I've noticed a pattern of a night time, once they're both ready to sleep for the night... Isis will talk for a little bit and so I give her a cuddle, she purrs away and then is happy to settle in her bed for the night. Cyrus on the other hand wants to smooch. It takes a while for him to settle because he's too busy smooching, rubbing up against me, sitting on my lap etc and the whole time his motor is going. He really wants a big cuddle before he's happy to be put to bed but tonight he wanted to sleep up on my desk next to me so he's claimed my sarong and stretched out on my old laptop.

They are very playful and really full of beans. It's so much fun having kittens around, now I wish for Missy to adopt them so she has some friends to hang with since she's still missing Pirate. We all miss Pirate because he was such a sweet, sweet boy.