 30th December, 2008 Pool Side News. Sitting at the Balcon's with Richard and Andrew Bleakley talking about the New Year and what to do with this wonderful website. We have asked Santa (aka Brad Baker who hosts this site) to upgrade to Joomla 1.5 in hopes of making updates and adding pictures easier for Kylie and soon Richard. Kylie, Richie and Clover will be in Bangalow till January 6th. Damian will be arriving on January 1st and will be heading up the spiff up of a house in Bangalow on Market Street where the Allens will be living while their house is being built. All the best. 22nd September, 2008 What an amazing few months it's been...and a long time as usual between postings…. But here I am again, typing up a storm, feeling happy with what’s new and improved in our world.
Firstly, in the last couple of weeks, the insurance for the building site was approved, colours chosen, tradesmen booked in, and the Allenville home of Bangalow is underway! Mick Hartigan has been phenomenal in all his organising and we are forever grateful… and to think that the concrete slab will be laid in a matter of weeks is very exciting for us all! We will be having a "slab party" when all that is done so we'll keep you informed! If anyone local is able to offer any help or support through the building process, please contact Michael Hartigan
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or 0403 133 445 to discuss plans etc.  It looks like we’ll hopefully be moving back to Bangalow sometime through next year. So, Richard, Clover and I have recently attended an interview for a place for Clover at a small Catholic School just up the road from where we’re living in Beenleigh… she was accepted – yaaay! Richard has been powering along at WALK ON, it's been amazing to watch his progress, and all very positive. The progress has been absolutely fantastic. Not anything that anyone else would notice necessarily, but his core strength, arm and upper back strength is improving weekly, and it’s fascinating to watch the trainers working on the parts of his body which no longer respond. We feel so lucky because not only is WALK ON in its first year of operation, but that we’re in Brisbane (or near enough to Brisbane) and therefore able to access the program. It’s quite meditative – the WALK ON approach, and while the trainers are working his legs, they ask Richard to focus on his legs and feel and imagine them moving. The aim is to find different pathways to get the messages to various parts of his body encouraging it to move. Quite fascinating. I continue to be unbelievably proud and in awe of Richard on a daily basis as I watch him continue to adjust to his injury in such a positive way. Some of the improvements are very small - but each one makes a huge impact on all our lives. He's feeling great, looking great, and is really positive about life in general. We are so lucky to have him in our lives. Clover is great, enjoying pre-prep (and enjoying these school holidays even more!) and has had lots of "dad" time lately, as he's hardly been in bed with UTI's or pressure areas which he was so plagued with the first four months he came out of hospital. She's a very confident five year old, and very chuffed with her new kitten “Trouble” and still having lots of fun with Star.
Fundraising: The last big event was the Sportsmens Luncheon, photos etc will be placed on the website as soon as i get a chance, and also information on facebook, but the great news was we were able to attend this one! It was another huge success and so much fun!
A couple of months ago was Richard Allen Day, where all rugby clubs around Australia (and endorsed by the Australian Rugby Union) were invited to run some kind of fundraising event at their games. Anything from a sausage sizzle, to gate takings, to who knows what else – but the rugby clubs from all over the country who got involved were very supportive, which we so appreciated. Richard Kelly did an awesome job in getting that one going, and hopefully it will be a yearly event.
The Pete Murray concert which has been talked about and hotly anticipated has been postponed again, no date yet, but we're hoping maybe November? We’re all looking forward to that, and will be having a few friends coming over from NZ to be part of it.
Clover and I talked Richard into trying “buzz” on the playstation and so we have a new hobby – the three of us can play together (we’ve adapted Richards buzzer and he uses a pointer from his mouth to push the buttons) so we’re laughing and having a great time (he’s soooo competitive though!!!!) and we’re all so happy to have something else that we’ve found we can do together. Magic.
We finally got Richie’s laptop and I’m currently installing the voice recognition software on it and setting it all up so he can use it easily, but in the meantime he's tootling around on it and enjoying facebook and cruising around the world wide web. Hopefully we'll have skype working soon and can communicate with friends and family more easily (and cheaply!) through that. Oh, and one last very positive thing. After a six month wait, we've finally had the front door installed, so at the push of a button, Richie can now enter and exit the house on his own, and if he's bed-bound can see through a camera who is at the front door, and choose to let them in. Unreal. It’s a huge deal for us having this door – means he's now far more independent than he has been since his accident. Now all I’ve got left to sort out is the mobile that he can use, once he’s hooked up with that and can be out and about on his own but able to communicate in case of any problems, we’ll all be much relieved. So far my extensive research has turned up NO voice recognition mobile phones, but I have been trying out lots of different options – and if any of you know of anything, please let me know! Spring is here, and it's absolutely beautiful. We have some kiwi friends staying at the moment, and not only have they been incredibly supportive and helpful around the place, they've also all been interested in learning how to put Rich to bed etc and that has been a huge help. Have a good week everyone! Kylie Richard Clover Star & Trouble (and the four fish - bluey, tigger, rabbit, and the new unamed as yet - sucker fish) |
