"Shirt of Shirts" visits Sydney...

There is a famous shirt that was designed, and sewn with loving hands by a very dear, sweet. and caring man. This man is very talented and he has sewn many a shirt but this shirt was to be special and when he finished the shirt he decided to call it the "Shirt of Shirts". Now, because this shirt was so special this kind man thought, "How can I share this shirt with the world?" He said, "I know I can wear the shirt but then only the people I know will see it and this shirt is too special so it must be seen everyone". Then slowly an idea blossomed in his head and he exclaimed "I've got it I will share the shirt with all of my blogger friends and send it around the world."

The kind man told all of his blogger friends about his idea and they were thrilled and excited to think that they would actually be able to wear one of this man's fine shirts. So the kind man decided that in order to see the shirt each blogger would have to promise to take a picture or two of themselves wearing the shirt. There would also be a journal accompanying the shirt when it was sent to each blogger and the bloggers had to write something about the shirts adventure when it stopped at each bloggers home. This kind man not only made the "Shirt of Shirts and came up with the way to share the shirt he also decided that for each blogger that wore the shirt and took a picture, that the kind man would donate money to the charity of that bloggers choice. So, with the shirt made, the rules made and a long list of earner bloggers waiting for there turn to wear the shirt. the adventure of the shirt of shirt began.

Finally the "Shirt of Shirts" has made itself around to the other side of the world and landed in the land down under, Sydney Australis. I am proud and honoured to be a part of this great project and as the rules state I have taken pictures to show that the shirt of shirts spent a day sightseeing in the land of Oz so the following are a few of the pictures taken of the shirts visit to Sydney. Enjoy...

Here we are in Sydney near the famous Sydney Opera House

Behind me is the Sydney Harbour Bridge

There's the Opera House in the background

The city of Sydney in the background

and one more for good measure

So, there you go that is the story of the "Shirt of Shirts" and I owe the great pleasure of sharing this shirt with you thanks to this generous man

My how time flies...

...when you're not having fun. As usual I have let too much time pass since posting here. Actually it hasn't been that long but compared to others who post daily then it has been awhile. Since arriving back from my visit to the states to visit my mother I have been fast at work with my duties back here in the land down under and barely had time to think much less tend to or read other blogs. So with all of my rushing around I have had little time for fun.

Anyway, an exciting event is about to occur in my home town of Sydney. What may you ask is that event? I am happy to announce that the "Shirt of Shirts" arrived here in Australia and soon, meaning tomorrow, I plan to take the shirt on a tour of Sydney. Now for those of you who don't know what the "Shirt of Shirts" is, it is a project started by this kind and and gentle man who I might add who has a way with words over at his blog Spo-Reflections. This man is very talented so much so that not only does he have a way with words but he also yields a mean needle and thread. "Spo" as he goes by in the blogger word makes shirts. Now these shirts by many standards most would be considered a type of Hawaiian shirt. Well, one of these shirts was destined to become the "Shirt of Shirts", so called as the fabric to make the shirt contains the pattern of a multitude of colourful shirts. This shirt, as I said, has made it's way around the world and with every stop Spo has generously offered to make a donation to the charity of choice that the wearer chooses. I thought it was such a wonderful idea I just had to be very much be a part of this project.

So, with that said I will proudly wear the shirt and will take pictures of the sites the shirt gets to visit. As I said, I am very excited to be able to take part of this shirt's epoch journey around the world. As it stands the shirt has been to many locales within the United Staes but it has also visited places like Spain, France. Great Britain and Canada. Anyway. I just wanted to share this bit of news and I will in inert post pictures to share with you the photos that are taken during the shirts vista here in Australia.

Hello peeps,

Well, if isn't a doggone Christmas miracle, that"s what it is a great big ol' Christmas miracle. That is, if you can have a good ol' fashioned Christmas miracle in March. What the hell it's my blog and I can have Christmas when ever I damn well please. And what just may that miracle be? The answer would of course be that, I' m actually posting something to this blog. As life usually does, it has tangled me up in a big ol' knot. (BTW, I have no idea why I find it necessary to use the abbreviation of the word old but maybe I'm just in one of those good ol' boys state of mind. Anyway moving on...) So, back to life tangling me up in a big ol' ball. Life has indeed tangled me up and because of it, along with some just good ol' fashioned laziness, I have been severely short in the area of blog posts. I even missed the very last 12 of 12 and I loved the 12 of 12 posts. I do have, even though I don't need one, but I do have some good reasons for not posting and they included everything from work commitments to important family matters. At the end of the day the biggest web tangled bit is a family matter, which revolves around my mother's cancer.

Just before Christmas I called my mum to check-in with her to see what was new on her end of the world and also to hear what the families" Christmas plans were and what specifically she was doing for Christmas. I worry about my mum, especially since dad passed away in 2006. I know mum is a strong women and that she can take care of herself but I know, through personal experience, what it is like to suddenly find yourself all alone after your partner-in-life passes away. And it is especially hard during the holidays after the loss of your spouse. Anyway, I thought all I was going to do is get an update on the holiday plans instead I got an ear full, which later became a head full, of my mum telling me that her cancer had spread to her lungs. Mum had a fairly large melanoma removed in 2006 and for all concerns she had nothing else to worry about, boy were we wrong.

So since my last post, that particular part of my life (that being mum's cancer) has taken over my every thought and has made life extremely difficult trying to find enough time to spend with my mum. The biggest problem is of course approximation. With mum living on one side of the world and me on the other, it makes it really hard to get over there to be with one another. It's not like I can just call her in the morning and ask her if she would like to meet me for lunch somewhere, because no matter how hard we try or how much we would love to have lunch with each other, it's just not going to happen. So what to do? Mum was offered a cancer treatment, actually the only one of two treatments available, that she can take to help slow the cancer's progression. Mum's doctor has been very specific in telling her that this treatment is not a cure and for that matter there is no cure for her type of cancer period. Saying all of that I decided that I needed/wanted to be with my mum whilst she went/is going through this treatment. The actual treatment consists of four individual IV infusions over the course of twelve weeks, one infusion every 3 weeks.

After talking to my boss I was able to arrange some time off to fly back to the states to see my mum and to help her in anyway I can during the time that I am here. I also wanted to be able to give my big brother a small break from helping my mum whilst I am here. Mum is handling the treatments and more importantly the side effects from the treatments, pretty good so far. This specific treatment is not the traditional chemo because traditional chemo does not work on the type of cancer mum is currently battling. In fact as far as mum's treatment goes this is her only option and once these four doses are done and after she has a new PET scan to see if the treatments had any affect on the spots on her lungs and to make sure the cancer has not spread they docotor will let her know if she can have another round of the treatments. If they find she needs the treatment again she can have one more set of four infusions and then that"s it she can't have any more. It should be noted that each one of her infusions cost $30,000. That's right Thirty Thousand dollars for a grand total of $120,000. We have no idea how much mum's insurance is going to pay and how much they are going to expect her to pay. We will,cross that bridge when we get there. We will just take this one thing/day at a time. The biggest problem is that I am going to have to go back home and go back to work soon. My boss/work has been extremely generous letting me have all of this time off especially seeing that I have actually only worked there for 2 months so far. But I need to go back shortly before they give my job away. I'm not completely sure when I have to leave I'm just waiting on an email from my boss.

That kind of sums up what's happening in my life but I just wanted to catch up with everyone. I also wanted to mention that I am going to take part in a shirt around the world for charity event started by one of my blogger friends. This blogger actually makes his own Hawaiian print shirts and I have to say he makes some really cool shirts. He has a real knack when it come to choosing the fabric he uses to make the shirts. So, I am apparently up next to receive the shirt. All I have to do is take a picture with me wearing the shirt, then post the picture on this blog.I will then post the shirt on to the next person in line to wear the shirt. So they can do the same thing on so on. 30 people have already taken part in this little project and as an added bonus there will be donations made to various charities for every person who wears the shirt. If my calculations are correct close to $3,000 has been donated. Now that, is a very special Hawaiian shirt and I'm happy to be a part of the fun.

That's all for now, just be on the look out for pictures of me and the shirt. I'm sure I will look stunning in the shirt and I'm even more sure that by the time the shirt arrives I will also have something else to write on this blog especially some good new about mum. Fingers crossed... Until then take care and be safe...