Time To Say Goodbye

Hey Folks out there in internet land. This year is heading towards a close and it's got me thinking about what I had hoped to achieve this year and what I haven't gotten done....

In the last few years we've been thrown some pretty major shit and each year end I say "good riddance to this  year and here's to next year being better!" And the next year isn't better so it's getting kind of old. 

Since 2012 (so five years), we've dealt with 3 miscarriages, an extremely difficult pregnancy that apparently should have resulted in two babies but didn't, a busted back, an ectopic pregnancy that nearly cost me my life and did cost my fertility. That was followed by pneumonia then a Femoral hernia. In addition to that, we've had to deal with me losing the ability to use my right leg and foot for over a year, more damage to my back, more hospital visits than I can count and stress beyond all belief. There has also been stress from teenage kids who were dealing with their own demons from my past relationship and now Em's Diabetes diagnosis has just rounded out the last five years of 'shit-we've-had-to-deal-with'. 

It hasn't been all bad though. 

We've also gone on three trips to the United States, including once with all five kids. We've moved across the country, I've run my own business, held solo art exhibitions and been involved in multiple community art 'things'. Then this year we bought our first house together, and could not be more grateful to my parents for everything they did to help us get there. Matthew has worked his way through two companies to end up in management and works harder than anyone I know. We've seen a couple of the kids through end of high school dances, drama and exams, we've seen another through a selective academic extension program and watched him grow from a timid little boy to a confident and happy 12 year old. We've seen four kids through the transition from Primary School to High School and all the normal drama that comes along with that. 

We've seen one of the dogs get old and we bought a puppy. We've watched that puppy grow into a dog that is literally allergic to every meat protein there is except fish and we've also seen that puppy breathe new playfulness into both older dogs. We've watched that puppy become best friends with Miss Penelope and witnessed the pure unadulterated joy they bring to each other. 

We've witnessed the personal growth of each of our five beautiful offspring, and seen a huge amount of maturity and change especially in the older three girls. We've had a lot of good and we will never stop trying to find the good stuff amidst all the crap. 

But we've had so much crap. 

And tonight I'm tired. I tweaked my back again, and I'm in so much pain and I'm just so tired. 

I'm also fairly certain there are very few people reading this blog anymore, and that's okay. I feel like it's time to say goodbye to it and move on. 

Thanks for reading, I hope our family antics have provided some kind of amusement and entertainment for you. We aim to please after all. 

For those who are interested, I'll be around on Facebook and Instagram. 

See you on the other side.