We're getting quite resigned to this .... on the second last day of our break we finally realised what is making Kaylia difficult! She had a bad rash on her botty .... which was obviously making life very hard for her .... and she couldn't tell us what the problem was! 24 hours of cream and she's a new girl! Today she has been very pleasant company .... but still very definite about what she will or won't do. We handle this by outlining her shedule for the day ... and then reminding her of the shedule when she starts to try and be bossy.
The last room's wardrobe have been installed today .... they are great! I had fun and games getting the guys to understand that the power points could not simply be left behind the wardrobe .... they had to be re-located so they could still be used! The rangehood in the kitchen was installed today .... doesn't work yet because the cable which is supposed to supply power is disconnected somewhere ... and I can't find where. So until an electrician can come and locate it, the rangehood is good for looks only.
We're becoming savvy to the ways of local food .... I now know where to go to find the local supplies of chicken and beef sate ..... our next plan is to find a way to tell the mobile food vendors to call in.
Tomorrow it is tidy up and go to the airport .... back in Perth by about 6pm.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
#400 Friday 14 October
Sometimes I get flashes of brilliance! The IT problem that I was seeking help with? I fixed it! At 5am I woke up thinking "I wonder if that would work?" ..... and it did! We now have a reasonable powerful wireless router that provides an acceptable wireless signal in the whole villa. Of course it doesn't speed up the actual internet connection! You get what you pay for ... and we ain't payin much. Part of the business work (which must go on even though we're on holiday) uses a govt department website .... this is a frustratingly bad website even with a fast connection. In Bali? It's really bad! You must wait for about a minute between keystrokes! Tasks which are slow at the best of times are .... are ..... words fail me!
Kaylia? She had a good start to the day but lost it pretty much in the early afternoon. She's a "Mummy Limpet" at present ... so Naomi is captive. If Naomi goes off shopping Kaylia usually has a bad anxiety episode .... which is very hard for whoever has drawn the short straw.
It's put a dampener on this holiday .... Kaylia has been such hard work that it doesn't feel as though it's been a holiday at all. We've been able to get a fair bit of villa preparation done .... but not as much as Naomi hoped for.
The new built-in furniture is not complete yet .... still one more room to be done.
Kaylia? She had a good start to the day but lost it pretty much in the early afternoon. She's a "Mummy Limpet" at present ... so Naomi is captive. If Naomi goes off shopping Kaylia usually has a bad anxiety episode .... which is very hard for whoever has drawn the short straw.
It's put a dampener on this holiday .... Kaylia has been such hard work that it doesn't feel as though it's been a holiday at all. We've been able to get a fair bit of villa preparation done .... but not as much as Naomi hoped for.
The new built-in furniture is not complete yet .... still one more room to be done.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
#399 Thursday 13 October
More meetings today. A lot of time this trip has been spent with meetings to sort out the business side of renting the villa. Today we begin a lengthy process of applying for a license to operate a rental business in Bali. Fortunately the people are understanding about our Kaylee situation and come to the villa to see us.
Last night the bed broke again! This is the bed which Pete bought in March ... and which broke in May! Kaylia jumped onto the bed and it broke again! Now that I have a fairly good set of tools etc I was able to turn the bed over and make it better than before!
STOP PRESS
11::30 approx Earthquake!! We've just been in a magnitude 6 quake! It was 60km south of Bali. We were on the second floor of a large shop ... Very loud noise .... Lots of shaking .... very scary. It began as a loud noise ... like a large truck next to us .... then vibrations which grew to a shaking .... I was standing near a large concrete support pillar .... I could see the building moving. I moved slowly so I could see any falling materials and moved toward the exit while looking for Naomi. She had gone down the rear exit .... I went down the front exit. The building movement stopped fairly quickly and when we were outside with Kat and Kaylia, we could see damage to the building. On the drive home we saw a number of damaged buildings.
2pm We went home poste haste .... all is well at the villa ... no damage. People were worried about sunami risk but if there were to be a sunami, it would have arrived very quickly (given the distance from the epicentre).
The landline phone system seems to be out of action ... but ADSL is fine and mobile is fine.
We've had lunch .... Kaylia is in a strange mood. Lots of stimming.
I'm battling with IT .... I've bought a powerful wireless router .... I can get it be wireless but I can't get it to connect to the net via the router .... I'll have to seek help. (Found some help ... coming tomorrow.)
Evening:
Well silly me! Lately Kat has been trying to catch the food vendors .... I was in the pool and heard one just outside dinging his bell .... so (thinking to call him back and then find Kat) I jumped out of the pool and ran across the lawn and into the garage / entry ..... I had forgotten all about being wet and as soon as my feet hit the tiled floor, I went DOWN! Very hard! Nothing is broken but I'm going to be very sore tonight and tomorrow. Fortunately I have serious drugs for this situation so I'll cope.
Of course this was just to compete with Naomi who twisted her ankle at about 4pm and will have big bruises tomorrow too!
Today the guys have been installing built-in wardrobes ... the third room ... one more to go. These are very expensive but very good value.
Last night the bed broke again! This is the bed which Pete bought in March ... and which broke in May! Kaylia jumped onto the bed and it broke again! Now that I have a fairly good set of tools etc I was able to turn the bed over and make it better than before!
STOP PRESS
11::30 approx Earthquake!! We've just been in a magnitude 6 quake! It was 60km south of Bali. We were on the second floor of a large shop ... Very loud noise .... Lots of shaking .... very scary. It began as a loud noise ... like a large truck next to us .... then vibrations which grew to a shaking .... I was standing near a large concrete support pillar .... I could see the building moving. I moved slowly so I could see any falling materials and moved toward the exit while looking for Naomi. She had gone down the rear exit .... I went down the front exit. The building movement stopped fairly quickly and when we were outside with Kat and Kaylia, we could see damage to the building. On the drive home we saw a number of damaged buildings.
2pm We went home poste haste .... all is well at the villa ... no damage. People were worried about sunami risk but if there were to be a sunami, it would have arrived very quickly (given the distance from the epicentre).
The landline phone system seems to be out of action ... but ADSL is fine and mobile is fine.
We've had lunch .... Kaylia is in a strange mood. Lots of stimming.
I'm battling with IT .... I've bought a powerful wireless router .... I can get it be wireless but I can't get it to connect to the net via the router .... I'll have to seek help. (Found some help ... coming tomorrow.)
Evening:
Well silly me! Lately Kat has been trying to catch the food vendors .... I was in the pool and heard one just outside dinging his bell .... so (thinking to call him back and then find Kat) I jumped out of the pool and ran across the lawn and into the garage / entry ..... I had forgotten all about being wet and as soon as my feet hit the tiled floor, I went DOWN! Very hard! Nothing is broken but I'm going to be very sore tonight and tomorrow. Fortunately I have serious drugs for this situation so I'll cope.
Of course this was just to compete with Naomi who twisted her ankle at about 4pm and will have big bruises tomorrow too!
Today the guys have been installing built-in wardrobes ... the third room ... one more to go. These are very expensive but very good value.
Location:Barwee
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
#398 Wednesday 12 October
Stuck in traffic ... searching for villa stuff ... so hard to find the simplest things! We were looking for an exhaust fan / range hood for the kitchen .... we had to visit 5 different shops before we found one that stocked them .... and the search was in less than walking pace traffic! (A conference of ASEAN nations is in progress in Bali.)
Kaylia is better today .... Naomi is keeping her to a routine. This has kept her anxiety manageable .... but Naomi has paid the price of being 'tethered' to K.
Kaylia is better today .... Naomi is keeping her to a routine. This has kept her anxiety manageable .... but Naomi has paid the price of being 'tethered' to K.
#397 Tuesday 11 October
I didn't write anything today .... this is being written at 2am Wednesday.
It hasn't been a good day. Kaylia seems to be taking a long time to recover from the change in routine .... it means that she is highly "clingy" .... Naomi can't get a worry-free break .... and if she tries, the person who is looking after Kaylia suffers!
Today Naomi and Kat had a shopping trip. Fortunately the volume on Naomi's phone was turned down .... she didn't get my messages about the "state of play" at home. Not fun.
It hasn't been a good day. Kaylia seems to be taking a long time to recover from the change in routine .... it means that she is highly "clingy" .... Naomi can't get a worry-free break .... and if she tries, the person who is looking after Kaylia suffers!
Today Naomi and Kat had a shopping trip. Fortunately the volume on Naomi's phone was turned down .... she didn't get my messages about the "state of play" at home. Not fun.
Location:Barwee
Monday, October 10, 2011
#396 Monday 10 October
The night was so-so .... Kaylia slept well till around 2:30am .... then she was awake till about 5am .... the problem so far is that we still don't have the full complement of beds .... when the last bed arrives today we will be able to retreat and allow Kaylia to have her stimmy time till she is ready to sleep .... but last night we had to try and doze while Kaylia twitched and jumped and kicked and giggled and talked and ..... you get the picture!
At one point her kicking foot connected with my shin .... YOW!
Breakfast in the villa today.
Nighttime: The day for Kaylia has been one of pool - bath - balls - pool - bath - playdoh - pool - bath .... and so on. At tea time we persuaded her that she wanted to eat pizza and this meant going in the car .... but she just wanted time to herself today. She settled easily at bedtime while Naomi and Kat were out for massages.
... and while all that was going on .... the last bed was delivered this afternoon .... a 4-poster for bedroom 2 .... and I went to Lottemart for another TV / DVD set .... plus another bike .... plus 16 pillows!
The villa setup is close to completion now. The built-in wardrobes will be installed tomorrow.
The trip to Lottemart was funny .... I got a lot of looks as Made and I trundled two trolleys out to the car ... loaded high with pillows etc.
At one point her kicking foot connected with my shin .... YOW!
Breakfast in the villa today.
Nighttime: The day for Kaylia has been one of pool - bath - balls - pool - bath - playdoh - pool - bath .... and so on. At tea time we persuaded her that she wanted to eat pizza and this meant going in the car .... but she just wanted time to herself today. She settled easily at bedtime while Naomi and Kat were out for massages.
... and while all that was going on .... the last bed was delivered this afternoon .... a 4-poster for bedroom 2 .... and I went to Lottemart for another TV / DVD set .... plus another bike .... plus 16 pillows!
The villa setup is close to completion now. The built-in wardrobes will be installed tomorrow.
The trip to Lottemart was funny .... I got a lot of looks as Made and I trundled two trolleys out to the car ... loaded high with pillows etc.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
#395 Sunday 9 October
Well .... it all began the right way last night ... a very cheerful Kaylee ... all was good through baggage land, passport land and customs land ..... then the wait for boarding began. We gave her the sleepy dreerrgs an hour before to help her settle .... but she settled too much! By 30 minutes to boarding she was a mess .... too sleepy and so she was wanting to get on the plane NOW! We then had 30 minutes of a very high anxiety attack ... a screaming Kaylee throwing herself on the floor ... thrashing round .... we resorted to the ultimate "knock out dreerrg" .... It Didn't Work! It seemed to get her worked up even more if anything. We 'frog-marched' her down the hall to see if exercise would improve things .....the minutes stretched into hours and days as we tried to manage her (with a plane load of passengers closely watching!)
Finally ... after years of recriminations about "^%^% night time flight .... _*^%^" ...... we were allowed on board (the airline staff were very understanding and cooperative) .... and she immediately settled and began to sleep ..... BUT!
When we first found our seats, we had made a mistake and sat in seats ABC instead of DEF .... when the rightful owners of A and B came along .... Kat was in C .... the geriatrics insisted that we must move to the correct seats ... so we had to disturb Kaylia again to get into the other side of the aisle. I had steam billowing from all orifices by that stage. It took ages before I could stop trembling with rage.
She slept for the whole flight.
Customs etc in Bali was uneventful ... we waited and were the last off the plane and so nearly all the other passengers had already been processed .... minimal waiting. Made was waiting outside and we were wisked off to the villa.
Now it is 7am .... I've had a nice swim and done a few little jobs. Soon it will be time to begin the day battling the A-monster ..... Kaylia is usually very upset for 24 hours after the change in routine so Day One is devoted to managing her .... swim, drive, shops, drive, swim, drive, shops, drive, swim .... etc till bedtime.
Midday: After breakfast at Art Cafe it was down to Hypermart for donuts and shopping ..... big shopping .... lots of fresh food .... and a couple of kitchen appliances. The fruit is so yummy. By the time we got home Kaylia was just keeping herself under control .... it was hard for her and she did it well. Now she is having 'time out' in the cool bedroom. This is time where she doesn't want company ... she just wants to play by herself .... it seems to allow her to adjust her world.
Bedtime: The day has been a good one (as first days go!) Kaylia has managed to cope with her anxiety without any major episodes .... we were able to have some of our own adventures while allowing Kaylia the space to sort her world and massage it into shape. She does this by lots of stimmy time on her own. She only had the one trip out (to Big H for donuts and Hypermart) and then stayed at home for the rest of the day. Lots of pool time, lots of stimmy time.
While this was in progress, I found a local warung that does yummy chicken satay .... I brought home 25 sticks for lunch plus some tempeh .... really good! In the late afternoon I had a haircut and then went searching for more warungs that do satay ..... no good. I found a beaut little warung just around the corner (very local ... not a restaurant) that had a delicious buffet .... I had a feast for $1.50!. After this I looked after Kaylia while Naomi and Kat went out for their meal and followed that with a pedicure.
A good day.
Finally ... after years of recriminations about "^%^% night time flight .... _*^%^" ...... we were allowed on board (the airline staff were very understanding and cooperative) .... and she immediately settled and began to sleep ..... BUT!
When we first found our seats, we had made a mistake and sat in seats ABC instead of DEF .... when the rightful owners of A and B came along .... Kat was in C .... the geriatrics insisted that we must move to the correct seats ... so we had to disturb Kaylia again to get into the other side of the aisle. I had steam billowing from all orifices by that stage. It took ages before I could stop trembling with rage.
She slept for the whole flight.
Customs etc in Bali was uneventful ... we waited and were the last off the plane and so nearly all the other passengers had already been processed .... minimal waiting. Made was waiting outside and we were wisked off to the villa.
Now it is 7am .... I've had a nice swim and done a few little jobs. Soon it will be time to begin the day battling the A-monster ..... Kaylia is usually very upset for 24 hours after the change in routine so Day One is devoted to managing her .... swim, drive, shops, drive, swim, drive, shops, drive, swim .... etc till bedtime.
Midday: After breakfast at Art Cafe it was down to Hypermart for donuts and shopping ..... big shopping .... lots of fresh food .... and a couple of kitchen appliances. The fruit is so yummy. By the time we got home Kaylia was just keeping herself under control .... it was hard for her and she did it well. Now she is having 'time out' in the cool bedroom. This is time where she doesn't want company ... she just wants to play by herself .... it seems to allow her to adjust her world.
Bedtime: The day has been a good one (as first days go!) Kaylia has managed to cope with her anxiety without any major episodes .... we were able to have some of our own adventures while allowing Kaylia the space to sort her world and massage it into shape. She does this by lots of stimmy time on her own. She only had the one trip out (to Big H for donuts and Hypermart) and then stayed at home for the rest of the day. Lots of pool time, lots of stimmy time.
While this was in progress, I found a local warung that does yummy chicken satay .... I brought home 25 sticks for lunch plus some tempeh .... really good! In the late afternoon I had a haircut and then went searching for more warungs that do satay ..... no good. I found a beaut little warung just around the corner (very local ... not a restaurant) that had a delicious buffet .... I had a feast for $1.50!. After this I looked after Kaylia while Naomi and Kat went out for their meal and followed that with a pedicure.
A good day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)