Normal Life

There are no updates on the cancer front, because no one has called us to give us any more ridiculous  dates or surgeons, or hospital venues. Ady is finding the lack of date quite difficult to deal with, he would much prefer a date to plan and work towards. I am trying to go with the flow and think that we will get a date when we get one. Not a moment before or a moment after,  but, I am not the patient and I don't have to go through the surgery. I do think that in the grand scheme of things, Ady is coping extremely well with it all. There is no way that I could cope, knowing that I had cancer growing inside me for weeks and months, and no idea when they are going to take it away...could you?

The girls have been busy preparing for their return to school. Charlotte is going into year 8 and Steph is starting secondary school year 7.
Charlotte has been really looking forward to moving up a year. She has lots of friends, knows the teachers and the ropes. She has settled really well.
When she started last year, she wasn't bothered that her skirt was considered a bit long (just above the knees is long these days) and her jumper was too big along with her shirt. She just isn't that type. She would much rather wear what is comfortable and float around in her own world with her camera taking pictures of pretty things and enjoying nature.
About a month into school, she did decided that she had better be 'in' and wear some foundation and mascara. I am the last person to ask about this sort of thing, so I took her to Superdrug and found some young girl who seemed to know what she was doing with make up as she had plenty of it on, and asked her advice, what colour (or do you call it 'tone'?) and how on earth you apply it !
About £20. later, we came home with the gumption and each morning, she would put it on....well, this lasted all of about two weeks until she decided it was far too much faffing about and so she ditched the lot.I have to remind her to brush her hair in the mornings and straighten up her clothes. She is happy in her own skin, that one, and believes that if people don't like her for who she is, then they are shallow and not who she wants to be with. I get the impression that she is considered quite 'cool' at school and is well liked, so all is good.

Young Steph, however, is a different matter.
She has spent the weekend trying on all her clothes, making sure they fit perfectly and that the skirt isn't too long, and the jumper too big. I did win one battle with her and made her wear the new skirt I had bought her which was longer than one of Charlotte's old skirts. That only lasted the first day and she came home telling me that EVERYONE had said 'blimey, your skirt is a bit long'....I don't believe this for a second and Charlotte assures me that lots of year 7 girls will be turning up to school with skirts that are too long for them. Anyway, I can't be bothered with the battle, so she is now wearing the shorter skirt *sigh*.
Steph has always been very bothered about her appearance and always does her best to make sure she looks nice and 'cool'. This whole thing of making sure you look smart, with hair and make up is a completely alien concept to me, but I do realise that some people are like that and feel the need to trot out into the world as if it is some kind of fashion contest, so, to a point, I let Steph get on with it.
She hasn't got to the wearing make up to school part yet, but I will be keeping a strict eye on it.(she loves putting make up on and does it very well too).
Its funny, she is allergic to loads of stuff...nuts, apples, pears, cherries, plums, horses...she even has an epi pen she carries around with her...shame she isn't allergic to make up...that would solve a lot of my future woes I think !
Steph is a lovely girl and has made lots of friends already. She seems to be becoming part of a group of some nice girls. So far, all is good.

My two girls are so different. One loves all thing nature and has a nice natural way with animals, loves art and watches lots of documentaries and reads books, whereas the other one loves hair,make up, loud music, partying, singing, dancing and acting.
Ady and I are loving watching them grow up and seeing them walk their paths of life. I believe that secondary school starts to shape who you really are and I think this chapter in their life is going to be a big one, one I hope both me and Ady will be able to watch together.


Tomorrow, we are off to see the onco nurse, to learn the gorys of the operation and its side effects, teach Ady how to do his pelvic floors as incontinence is one of them and hopefully....get a date for the operation...we will see !