5 minutes of fame continues on TV

To our utter surprise as we were taking families, and tourists for rides on the Gold Coast yesterday a news crew shows up and asks us for an interview. That is when we found out that Deano had been in the paper that day. It was a shock to us but it was pleasant...Why didn't they give me a heads up...at least I could have been in better shape or had some make up on or my hair done...but that's life isn't it...right when you are not expecting it something surprises you. This was defenatly a surprise and a delight for Deano
http://www.nbnnews.com.au/2015/12/20/blind-bike-guide-inspires-holidaymakers/

Blind Man Hits the headlines today

I am just so excited today...a newspaper article from the Gold Coast Bulletin was printed about Deano today.
http://m.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/blind-man-loves-nothing-more-than-jumping-in-one-of-his-pedal-cars/story-fnj90t7b-1227642213510

Love this article to bits....(except they got his name wrong)

Life is sweet and so are little girls

Life was so much easier when my girls were little. I was speaking to an old friend today that I just happened to bump into at church. She shared with me the dilemma she had been through with her teenage children. I could totally understand her pain as our family goes through trials of its own. When the girls where little they were so cute with the way they looked after their Dad. Very quickly they learned that their Dad could not see everything they were up to. Child number three was especially the most cluie in this regard.

Child number three was born with the after effects of me having undetected gestational diabetes. At only a few hours old she was having seizures due to her blood glucose levels plummeting. Needless to say she had grown up to have a very sweet tooth.

This child was also a very good climber and if there were any treats in the house she would sniff them out no matter where they were hidden. She would climb the chest of draws, the pantry shelves or the door jamb to reach any height and nab herself a sweet reward. Not much has changed in her 16 years.

Needless to say this child had become an expert in hiding any evidence…wrappers were found in her pillow case, tucked under the springs of her bunk bed, or even behind the s bend in the toilet. On one occasion where I had found that some birthday sweets were missing in the cupboard I asked Dean to sort it out as I prepared for the evening meal.

Off he went doing the dutiful Dad thing. At the time child number three was only 18 month old. We knew that she had been in the cupboard because all the tell-tale signs were evident, similar to that of a mouse making a mess in your cupboard but instead of filthy mouse droppings and tiny corners of packets chewed open we found the pantry door left wide open, dining chair propped in front of the open door and several packets of cereal spilt all over the floor with a scattering of sweet wrappers on top.

Deano calling out her name he did three laps of the house not being able to track her down. The fourth time I silently followed behind him. To my utter amazement this sneaky cheeky little girl had worked out how to avoid being caught by her blind father. With her back up against the wall and hands flat against the plaster, head tilted so one side of her face was pressed up to the hard gyprock, like a jewellery thief that you see in the movies she was allowing her father to walk right past her so that she could not get caught. She has even worked out that if she used the door jamb that lead to the corner of the room she would have less chance of being sprung. Oh how children learn so quickly! To this day we marvel at her ability to work this trick out at such a young age and how smart she was to notice that her dad was not able to see her in different situations such as different light aspects of a room.

Although this does not seem like an earth shattering event it is just one of those little memories we have of rearing our girls and just a little extra obstacle in parenthood we never thought that we would have to face. Now days the obstacles seem so much bigger and more frightening but not caused by their father being blind but caused by a world that is blinding choices for youth. Never before has the internet been so accessible to our youth and I feel that some young people just don’t see the real world beyond the screen. I know that Deano would die to see the real world as I do, and perhaps one day he will, maybe not in this life time but in the next. My only wish is that our children don’t take their life and sight for granted and live life every day with a grateful heart and see in themselves what potential they have to make a difference for good in this world.

Toilet Humour

People often tell me that they just don’t believe me when I tell them that Deano is blind. “But He copes so well…or how can He do so much?” Are both common comments that if I had a dollar for every time I have heard them I would be very rich indeed!

But just as I shared a very embarrassing moment in my last post Dean has had some doozies that have been caused by him faking being able to see. One in particular sticks out in my mind. We were on a family holiday with our new camper trailer hooked up to the tow bar. We had taken the coast road from Lismore to the Gold Coast on what seemed like a never ending stretch of coastal road with no views for miles other than bush scrub out the right window and sclerophyll sand dunes through the left and a ribbon of hot steamy road ahead.

With the fuel meter tipping down low I pulled into a lone service station with the remainder of what seemed like every holidaying family in the world all queuing to fill their thirsty tanks. The day was hotter than an outback lizard under carriage and I wasn’t the best truckie at the time with only a few hours of experience towing a trailer behind the car. I managed to get the car and trailer into the line-up for the outside petrol pump…you know it…the one closet to the road, so that I didn’t have to do any tricky turns or even more embarrassing, unhook the trailer and do the walk of shame in order not to hit anything in my towing path. In our little car with the air-conditioning on full ball I hear a little voice from the back seat…”I need to do a wee wee Mummy” This was a darling number 3 daughter who was 18 months old and had just graduated into big girls pants.

Alarm bells rang in my head…what is a woman to do…I am not a miracle queen…I can’t get out of the petrol pump line…and I can’t let my little toddler down…she relied on me as did all the other occupants of the car and those in the line behind me.

I turned and faced my husband who was blissfully unaware of my dilemma listening to the radio as we crept along in the line. Until now having three daughters toilet duty was a mummy thing, especially when we were out and about, you hardly ever see a man taking their daughter to the male toilet do you? What else could I do? I looked at him and said in a stern and a little stressed voice…”Well it’s your turn I just can’t do it all. Can you please take child number three to the toilet in the petrol station. Child number one (who was 5 at the time) can lead you to the door of the bathroom and you will have to find your way to a toilet from there.” Without a choice my blind husband unlocked the girls out of their car seats and walked with child number three over his shoulder and child number 1 holding his hand and guiding him to the bathroom.

Meanwhile it was my time to fill up the car at the petrol bowser. I got out of the car and started the flow into the tank. Clunk. The tank indicated it was full so I took child number 2 out of the car and paid for the petrol and came back to my car to find that the toilet mission had a successful outcome for child number 3….but not so much for my poor husband who had put the girls back in their car seats and was now almost lying on the floor in the front seat of the car, his body slouched down with head leaning almost on my lap and his hand over his face. “Can we just get out of here?” He demanded in an impatient manner. I looked at him bewildered. I wondered what had happened, had he robbed the store, had one of the kids played in toilet water…my mind boggled.

“Can we just GO PLEASE!!!?” With that I put my pedal to the metal and we hit the road…but as I drove I was compelled to inquire what had gotten his goat? He started to compose himself and as he did he turned his head in my direction and firmly said to me “Don’t you ever ask me to take the girls to the toilet ever again, I have never been so embarrassed in all my life.”

What could possibly go so wrong, I was so perplexed at his state…”What went down Babe?”

His response is one I will never forget “When child number one led me to the male bathroom I felt around for the door the cubical. With my hand out-stretched to try and feel the hard door but instead of a cold hard feeling my fingertips brushed up against a warm soft bum! You see there were no cubical doors and I just touched a man up on his BOTTOM while he was standing in front of the toilet trying to pee”

“What happened next Hun?” was my immediate response, as I tried to hold back the roar of laughter that was welling up inside me,  just so he could manage to get the rest of the story out before I completely fell apart in fits of giggles.

“All I heard was the man pulling up his pants, and  zipping up his fly, he turned around and said “Mate you put me off!” Not sure what He was thinking cause he did not know I was blind,  as I didn’t have a cane,  and I was holding a little girl over my shoulder. I think that was the only reason he did not job me one!”

From that moment I laughed all the way to the Gold Coast, I giggled on and off through the evening and I think I laughed even in my sleep. No I wasn’t laughing at Deano…just the absurdity of the whole situation. It has been one of those stories that we tell dinner guests who ask Dean how much he can see…Its one of the stories that we both laugh about today.

We managed to enjoy the rest of our camping trip and yes I did all of the toileting trips from then on in even with our daughter number four.

We did however sell that camper trailer after that holiday as we knew that we never wanted to have to be stuck at that petrol station ever again!

Addressing the ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM: ME

So I just have to address the ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM- ME!
Just to letting you that we have recently moved house are settling in well in our new stake ( for those who are not Mormon a stake is a large group of people that attend church within a certain geographical area) ...just wanted to share with you today's enlightening experience...not for me but for those seated around me in conference..it was one of those surreal moments that you dream about in your worst most embarrassing nightmares. Elder Keith Walker of the Seventy  ( again for those who are not Mormon this is a man who holds ecclesiastical authority over the Australia pacific are of the church) went overtime and I was dying to go to the toilet, you know you've been there, when your kidneys start to ache because you have held it in for so long. Wearing a floor lengths skirt I said to Dean I will slip out just after the final speaker and before the closing hymn...I shuffled past Dean but his foot was on my skirt as I stood it in the hallway my skirt dropped to the floor!

 Did I mention we were sitting up near the front of the chapel...Mission president and new temple president were sitting up on the stand and so were all of Dean's siblings and in-laws in the choir...and the chapel was packed with over 1500 people....sharing with you because just thought you would get a laugh like everyone else this morning. On the upside Lorin ( Deano's Brother who is also legally blind) who in the Stake presidency could not see my mishap...and neither could Dean so at least I know two people didn't enjoy my spectacular exit!

Looking down at the fabric that once was my clothing about my loins now lying at my ankles I bent over as quick as I could yanked it back up my legs and held it close to my waist and walked as swiftly bust as reverently as I could to the nearest exit....The girls tell me that there were people gasping"Did you see that lady her skirt just fell off" but to me I was in an utter daze of shock. 

As I sat on the toilet to relieve my bladder ....nothing....nothing.... and then finally a tinkle...WHAT! I was expecting Niagra falls...the shame! Not only had I lost my skirt and now my mind and my bladder was holding out on me too. After having 4 children it doesn't take much for me to wet my pants, a sneeze, jumping up and down, running with a full bladder will do it but amazingly enough when one is exposed in church the bladder decides to hold on!

As I sat on the toilet in utter shock I started to giggle...I couldn't hold it in. I laughed so hard that when our daughter number 4 came looking for me her worried face turned into laughter too...she brought me the car keys and we walked to the car laughing all the way. I rang my sister who shared the laughter with me... I mean when something so absurd happens to me all I can do is own it and laugh!

The pubic affairs Director for the church was released today so Dean said on the Upside He feels that he has divine inspiration that I wont be called as the new Public Affairs Director, ....gotta look for the upsides when things are falling down around you

At least I am in the ranks of Jennifer Hawkins...it happens to the best of us

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkUjS5v4dx0

Mortdale Public School 30 Year Reunion....those were the days my friend :)

It's been a while since I have blogged and I have many people asking me to return to writing my experiences. Last night I had a 30 year reunion with all my primary school friends. Growing up in Sydney it was highly unusual that you would go to a co-ed high school. All my friends after year 6 were girls as I attended an all-girls high school. Luckily enough though I have some great friends that are rather nostalgic and organised a reunion with both the girls boys I grew up with until we parted ways at the age of 12. It was a tremendous evening with love, life and laughter shared. Four of our past teachers were there. We were sharing our life events, showing photos of our children and sharing lovely stories of life experiences.

Everyone seemed to be fascinated that I had chosen to marry a blind man. Mrs Dixon my year three teacher had been reading my blog and had seemed touched by my story. In a conversation between her and Mrs Dwyer I shared with them my thoughts of really being prepared for my journey back in the days of primary school. You see Mortdale Public School has never been just an ordinary primary school. In my school yard there was a meld of Croatian, Serbian, Greek, Italian, Macedonian Vietnamese and a few of us left over children decadents from convict genealogy. Not only did we meld together our friendships and learnt to get along we were also from different religious background, some atheists, Mormon, Anglican, Catholic, Roman Catholic, Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witness, and I am sure there are a few more that I didn't even really know about. Thrown into this mixing pot of kids there were children that had special needs both in my classroom and also in an adjoining special needs school known as Carinya. At the rear of the school there was an intense specialist English as a Second Language School and children with language delays attended the school here for intense reading and writing classes. One of my sisters attended this part of the school due to a language delay.
At lunch time our school yard was shared with children at all ages and stages of development. One teacher, Mrs Dwyer, remembered how amazed she was that the Croatian boys would play football in one direction in the yard and the Serbian children would play soccer in the other direction but cross over the same play space harmoniously as the games were played simultaneously.
For myself I loved helping the special needs children climb in and out of the timber play house and was a nominated helper often at lunch times to keep an eye on some of the children with special needs to give assistance when needed. I also really loved playing tips in the yard and catch and kiss was also a favourite game.
It was so kind of my past teachers to tell me I was a good girl in class. I always thought I was perhaps a little too talkative as all of my report cards from kindy until year 12 said "Janelle has potential but tends to talk too much in class" I had a hidden suspicion that they sat me next to boys in class so I wouldn't talk too much. But my teacher Mrs Ingram memories have drawn a little thin and tell me it was probably the boys that were naughty and needed to be sat next to a good child...how sweet of her to say.
I can easily say that my life was prepared right from the beginning with loving teachers in a great inclusive environment so when I met Dean and found out that he was blind it really didn't cross my mind to not be with him because of his disability. It was just a normal thing to do...to have him as my friend, lover and companion for life has enriched my journey, and taught me many lessons along the way. I am no super woman just an ordinary person with an irregular passion for life, dragging my life long partner in crime along with me, for the ride. Inclusiveness in society is the key...it should be a normal part of life right from the beginning so it's not an amazing thing to meet a woman who chose to marry a blind man. I suppose life is not idealistic and so my story will still strike some people as unusual.