Hi, it's Sharon again,

When I first started dating Paul I had a few questions about his heart. They weren't all at once, but every so often I would think about something that I didn't understand, or sometimes it was just idle curiosity. What was the most shocking thing to me however was how little information Paul could give me.

Pauls lack of information was not due to forgetfulness but merely because he had never bothered to ask the questions himself. That was the way things were, he new how to look after himself and he knew that he had had two major operations but apart from that he new very few details and most of these were a blur.

Together we have through speaking to his parents and his cardeologist pieced together what actually happened, although I feel that for Paul this information has little more meaning that when a distant relative who hasn't seen you in years expects you to remember the time you were sick on their sofa at the age of 4 (or similar, you know what I mean, and it was probably your cousin anyway!).

So although Paul has gained an interest and curiosity about his heart, it is still a bit of a mystery to him. I often think that sometimes I can recall more of the details than he can. I don't really have much of a point to this story, I guess if Paul had of continued to have invasive treatment throughout his teens and into adult hood things may have been different, I guess my point is that ignorance can be bliss.

We got our dog today, his name is Quentin and as you can see from the picture below, he is very beautiful, well we think so anyway.

He is a Pug crossed with a Pekingese. I know that we were supposed to be getting a Labradoodle but we thought that Quentin was far cuter.

So far we have tried to teach him to do things such as sit and stay but he interprets them as lick my feet and poo on the rug. It's early days though and I'll let you know how we get on.

Welcome to my guest post on Money-For-Old-Rope. My name is Andrew and I am posting from Adelaide, South Australia. I can’t say that I am an adult with a congenital heart disorder and the closest I get is having a functional heart murmur (along with just about every one else probably).

When I first came across Money-For-Old-Rope and Paul’s awareness/charity mission, I thought it was interesting as it was heart related however I didn’t exactly “jump in boots and all” because it was about adults. I followed along for a while and then it struck me, Paul and all the others from GUCH have a congenital heart condition, that is from birth and therefore they were not too different from where our 3 year old toddler is now (yeah I know .. we’re a bit relaxed in Aussie and takes a while to click).

One thing I am really motivated about is creating awareness for congenital heart disease as most people have little or no idea in relation to the infamous 1 in 100 babies are born with a heart condition statistic and these babies hopefully become adults. Before getting onboard though, my “Spidy” sense tingled (any Spiderman fans?). Was this yet another internet scam? I checked the links on the site and one went to a website called GUCH. Seemed to be a professional site with plenty of material, contacts, and links to other genuine organizations. My last check was the Google PR rating which showed a Page Ranking 5 or better from memory. Now Google page ranks of 5 don’t happen overnight or even usually after 3-6 months unless you’ve got a blog site called “The guy that sold the laptop on eBay and ripped me off” or something similar but that’s another story.

So at that stage being happy all was ok, I then decided why not get a piece of history in the making and in reverse help make history and tossed around some thoughts for a trade. I couldn’t link to the 18 pairs of craft scissors so I went for the Australian theme and came up with the Olympic Official Uniform I wore when I worked at the Sydney 2000 Olympics (before you ask .. yes it was washed)! I think this is a great concept with genuine motive and have decided to help where possible if that means success for the cardiac cause. In 17 months time I will be able to hold my piece of rope and say I have a piece of the rope that turned into what I hope will be a well publicized end result.

I hope you too can continue on the journey, spread the word for others to follow and consider also whether you may be able to trade and get a bit of old rope.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned to see whether Paul decides to give me another guest appearance or says thanks but adios to the Aussie.

Andrew

PS For a continuing story that follows the path of our 3 year old toddler who has undergone open heart surgery twice, stomach surgery twice and numerous other little issues, you can visit www.beatinghearts4kids.blogspot.com on one condition, you bookmark this site before you go and come on back.

My favourite book:

I read the gunslinger by Stephen King one summer when I was in Spain; the characters and the landscapes it described were absolutely incredible. I was disapointed at the end as it didn't really seem to conclude very well and it was more like a short story than a novel although the length of it was somewhere inbetween the two.

I found out later that the book was part of a series of four, but it was the third book that really captured my imagination; The Waste Lands. The book is intense in its adventure and the characters have really grown, but the best part of the book is again the landscapes that King creates. They are phenomenal in their richness and the pictures they can conjure in your own imagination. I really have to recommend this series of books to anyone who likes to read.

The book is actually part of a series of seven that has only recently been completed. The whole series is excellent as the main characters search for the Dark Tower but for me the third book is the peak of the series.

I know that my favourite books on my profile do not list this book but I think it soon will. If you have read an excellent book then let me know as I usually only read books on recommendation as they seem to be better that way.

I have been wondering lately why it is that only two people are leaving comments, there are at least twenty people that visit the site daily, are you shy?

There is no reason to be shy, you can even be anonymous. The more comments that are left the more people can get to know about what sort of person reads this blog and what they think of the progress so far. It can also be used as a forum for discussing that day's blog.

The comments can also be your chance to ask me to comment on things which I have not as yet covered. What do you want to know?

So come on! What are you waiting for?

My wife and I have decided that we are going to get a dog. I had a dog in my late teens called Bailey, he is a black Cocker Spaniel who lives with my parents, I miss him a lot since I moved out of my parents so it will be good to have a dog around the house again.

The dog my wife wants is a Labradoodle, I am starting to warm to the idea now, they do look quite cute. We will have to dog proof the house though so it may still be a while before I can have my slippers brought to me in the mornings.

We currently have two goldfish called Tango and Nemo and they are our little babies. They get fed so well, sometimes they even get baby food, although they do tend to just swim round and round the bowl at top speed after because of the sugar rush.

I once wanted to breed snakes when I was in school, my friend and I put all our money together and bought a home for them but then the whole thing collapsed when my friend's mum realised what we were planning to do in her house and surprisingly my Mum wouldn't let us do it in her house either.