Do I look like I know What I'm Doing?

No, most of the time, I find myself hopping around like a headless chicken. But that's beside the point of writing this today. So it's been a while since I've decided to write, but I might as well say Happy Chinese New Year, or Kung Hei Fat choi. 

It's been a while and lots has gone on since December. I turned 23 (sh't), it was Christmas (yay), I started off the new year on a roll and so far, it's gone according to plan. Well the weather has been Baltic recently but we can deal with that. 

My post today is just a bit of a ramble if I'm honest. I'm quite excited about the state of my washing machine. Given the fact that I have never actually cleaned it before and when you have Ichthyosis, your washing machine is likely to break down a couple of times. But but but, after being told off about the state of my washing machine, I walked into the nearest hardware store and bought 2 litres of Swipe. Multipurpose cleaner which happened to also pick up about 5 years worth of well, crap quite frankly. I also bought some kind of Japanese washing machine cleaner and oh my god, I have never seen such a sparkly shiny drum after it did it's work :-). The liquids I used were a bit potent in strength, but given my plain and simple neglect in the past, it was needed to do its job. As I write this, it's currently going through a last cycle before I start loading it again tomorrow. It's days when I'm thankful for public holidays since it means I can actually do things I've been supposed to do for the past year (or 5). 

Chinese New Year in HK was certainly newsworthy. There was a riot down in Mong Kok, the land of smelly tofu, cheap markets selling fake branded items and a tourist Mecca. There were a couple of illegal hawkers doing their thing, but the popo weren't too impressed and nor were the hawkers themselves after being found out. But anyways, cutting to the chase, it pains me to see a part of Hong Kong absolutely thrashed to the point that the train system decides to skip their station stop. I live quite away from Mong Kok, but I know the area as my school was nearby. To see people chucking bins at people and bricks being thrown. I think to myself, "what the hell happened?" This isn't London, this is Hong Kong. But I hope that out of this, people realize that if you do something illegal, guess what, prepare to get into some bother, it's bound to go down badly. 

So I now flitter back to the all time entertainer, the rugby :-)

I had the opportunity to work at the Highlanders vs Racing 92 game when they were in Hong Kong recently. I was on the scores with my mate Harry, who just happens to be a better referee than myself, I'm so not jealous (hides in corner). Anyhow, the match took place in Chai Wan, some place in a place called Siu Sai Wan, or as I like to call it, the middle of buttf*cknowhere. It was an awesome game though with beautiful weather and the result of it all was that I ended up abandoning my Welsh roots for that night and posed for a photo with Dan Carter, lovely bloke by the way, but he's Kiwi :-). But I further redeemed myself after snagging a selfie with Mike Phillips during the opening match of the 6 Nations, France vs Italy. Classy times in the Sportsmans Bar of the Hong Kong Football Club. 

It's been short and sweet, but I'll be back when I have a bit more inspiration up my sleeve and the novelty of a shiny washing machine has worn off. 

Mui xxx

Hellew....

It's been a while (a long while) but I'm back!

As some, or most of you know, we have a Facebook page out called The Girl Behind the Face https://www.facebook.com/GirlBehindTheFace We are doing this for several reasons, raising awareness of cyber bullying and visible differences, but also, we are doing this to hopefully build a platform to raise even greater awareness by finding a publisher for our family book, The Girl Behind The Face. 

 

If you want to support us then please click "like" our page where you get to keep up to date with what we do, plus each Saturday, there's a new post, with an equally cool photo to match! We've got interviews there too as well as all the media exposure too. 

We've also got a website too, http://thegirlbehindtheface.weebly.com Please check it out. 

See you on Facebook!

:-)

Hunter's Guest Post...Yep, She's Done it!

This Month's blog post comes from both Hunter Steinitz and myself, hope you enjoy it!

I've known Hunter for a pretty damn long time, for as long as I could remember. She's my Harlequin Ichthyosis sister from another family. And I adore her to pieces.

Way back when, when the internet wasn't quite what it is today,  Hunter's mum, Patti and my mum would communicate via written correspondence and they would seek guidance within each other as two mums raising kids with a life threatening skin disorder. This was a few years after I was adopted nobody knew exactly how long I had left. Our Paediatric Dermatologist in Hong Kong, knew of the Foundation For Ichthyosis and Related Skin Types and told my parents of this. And after my parents got in contact with the Foundation, it was the Steinitz family who provided a light in what must have been a very dark and uncertain time.  It was Patti and Mark who provided sound advice because they knew exactly the struggles my own parents were facing,the scares, the uncertainty, the lot.

Unfortunately, Patti is no longer with us. But she continues to shine through Hunter as she continues to speak and raise awareness of having a visible difference such as Harlequin Ichthyosis.

We met for the first time in Seattle, 2002 at the FIRST Skin Conference. I was about 9, she was 7 or so. (she'll have to correct me!) I must admit that when we first met, I wasn't sure of this person who looked almost identical to me. In a way, I felt like suddenly, I was no longer the one who stuck out. But I also didn't like that suddenly, there was more than one of me!

You'll notice in this picture (found by Mark, Hunter's awesome dad) that while Hunter is trying to be as lovely as humanly possible, I retain my disgusted "expat brat" look! (despite us both having just been bought stuffed toys from the hotel giftshop!) My hope is that if I manage to kick my arse into gear, I'll be able to attend the 2016 conference in San Diego and we WILL recreate this photo, garish headband and all!

I asked Hunter to write me a post about life in general. My blog is NOT all about a life threatening skin disorder but it's also a bit of a "free space". Hunter goes on to explain about "communication" and just how vital it is to all of us.

Hunter Says:

Communication is a necessary part of any relationship. You need to feel comfortable enough with the other person that you can openly convey your thoughts without fear of being misinterpreted. Over the past several months, I realized just how important communication is to maintaining solid relationships.

A few months ago, I got into a fight with my best friend. I thought that I was communicating my thoughts clearly but in fact I was confusing her by throwing new stuff at her without giving her any chance to react or even form an opinion. I just assumed that she knew what I meant and I imagined her response rather than listened to her actual response. Then I got mad at her imagined response and stopped talking to her for a while. Those few weeks that we didn’t speak were rough. But eventually, we found a way to work through it.  But my lesson in communication doesn’t stop there.

When I came home from school, I came home to a huge ball of misunderstandings. We have a number of close family members living with us. The thing about our family is that we don’t like to make trouble. We are more likely to see something that bothers us and decide to let it go (cue Frozen music!). All joking aside though, we try to let it go but a little bit of that anger and frustration stays. Time passes we move on to the next bother.  But then we do it again, and again, and again. Notice a pattern here? We keep letting the little things go so as to not start something over what we feel to be nothing. But eventually all that festers and boils until we cannot control our anger anymore. We lash out over something that seems minute but is actually the representation of a much larger problem.

Sometimes we think we know how the people around us are going to act, what they will do, and how they respond. I think it’s important though that we don’t let what we think become what we interpret to be truth. Just because I think someone is going to act a certain way doesn’t mean that they are going to act that way. Bryant H. McGill said, “One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.” I need to pay more attention to what people actually say and do versus what I think they will say and do.

I'm blessed to now have a wonderful relationship with Hunter and her dad and it's all down to Social Media and today's technology. 10 years ago, we would have never been able to chat in the way that we do now. I love that Hunter always understands how I feel when i start bombarding her with messages when I'm grumpy. She is quite often the voice of reason and will even remind me to "be nice" when I feel compelled to answer emails which irritate me. Having a severe lack of Ichthyosis support network in HK really sucks. This is why I value the networks and contacts that I have now. 

But it's okay, she's dealt with plenty of strange behaviour from me, she also accepts that I WILL mock Americans in the same way as she WILL probably come back from London with a crappy version of the Queen's English :)

And the numerous iMessages, FaceTimes, Skypes and Facebook messages are just gonna keep coming!

           A group photo of all of both our families together in Seattle 2002...and none of us have actually changed! Except maybe Hunter is tons prettier than me!

To Future Me

I write this after coming across a post on Facebook by Carly Findlay titled, "To my Unborn Daughter". I've decided to write a letter to my future self because well, I don't want to dwell on my possible lack of longevity, I'd prefer to look forward and pray to God that I will live as long as I allow myself to. Does that sound odd?! Heaven only knows! Imagine I'm much older, for dramatic effect! This may be a bit confuzzling, but it's my way of taking to my future self. Take heed. 

Dear Future Me,

I am your younger 22 year old self and hell, I've got the time, so I might as well jump straight in. Firstly, congratulations on reaching 35. For someone who wasn't supposed to live for long, you've certainly managed to excel yourself. You've proved doctors wrong with your stubborn attitude, you've got a good life and I hope, you're happy. I want to explain to you a few concerns and my reasonings. 

I'm consciously choosing not to have biological children, despite the advertisement of big boobs and lookalikes. I am aware that people with ichthyosis have got biological kids and I applaud them. But it's not for me. My body already works a gazillion times faster than the average person and to throw a child into the mix would be overkill. I am a relatively healthy and fit person now, but I credit that to all the activity I do. I already get tired from just an average day, imagine that with a pregnancy. Plus, do I really want to risk passing the Harlequin gene onto my child? Would that be fair for them? To have to suffer? No, I, along with my medical team have worked hard to get me where I am today and I would like to keep it that way. I won't rule out adoption though, I come from a family where adoption is kind of de riguer so I suppose it will happen and any man I choose to marry may just have to accept that biological kids are out, and adoptions are in. 

Secondly, be more open with yourself, be gracious in receiving others, be confident in yourself and know that with pitfalls, people will have your back, mostly. Go out there, you didn't survive this long to be a sad lonely tosser. Know that when bad things happen, it's okay to cry, it's okay to rant, because you're human. Know that just because you're already a strong person, doesn't mean you have to be the strong person all the time, it's okay to let your guard down sometimes. And learn to laugh naturally, don't force it.

Boys and men. Huh. It's either gonna happen or it won't. Don't push it too hard. You're going to find mr Right one day. You don't need Tinder and you don't need OKCupid. "Nuff said. 

I hope that by the time you read this, there will be more research into the Harlequin gene, though I can't imagine that happening just yet. I can however, imagine more creams, more steroids, but also less of it. Don't pump your body with unnecessary things, you'll be immune to it soon enough and that would suck. 

I hope people will become more tolerant of you and those with visible differences. It's a tough world out there. I hope the public will be more tolerant of us and won't have the audacity to throw around random bits of abuse at people they deem to be different. Remember, if people hurt you because of being you, know that it's not your fault and you should never blame yourself, it is their problem and not yours.

I hope that by the time you read this, you'll be doing what you love and if it's anything like 13 years earlier, you'll be refereeing some damn good rugby, and hopefully setting the stage overseas. Be prepared to seek guidance, be prepared to fail, be prepared to whip out the cards once in a while. Listen to your coaches, don't be complacent, you don't know it all and you need to learn as you go along. You should at least be at ARFU or World Rugby level by now but if not, get to it!

I've said a lot and I hope it resonates when you read this later on. 

Remember, eat, smile, laugh, look after yourself and enjoy life, you've made it this far, so don't bloody stop now!

Just a Typical Juno

June, ha! Where do I begin?! It's the beginning of summer, it feels like an oven AND it's also the rainy season. That's got to be good, no? But don't let me divert you as we are not here to discuss George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion. I am not Eliza Doolittle and we are not at Ascot, hence we do not need to discuss "the weather and everybody's health"! Though it is one of my favourite musicals and Rex Harrison is divine and so are Julie Andrews and Audrey Hepburn. I read in Julie Andrews' biography and she's mentioned it tons of times, it's interesting how although it clear that Pygmalion is a love story, never does it once mention the word "love", that's British stiff upper lip for you! 

June for me has been amazing, truly. And pretty sucky as well in unequal amounts... 

The 28th May was a pretty unsettling day for me. Now I travel on public transport every day, the public bus service in HK is well, good. Good for speed, for socialisation skills, not quite. See, for those who don't have me on Facebook and don't know, I was discriminated against by a bus driver. It was a horrible thing for me and my parents to deal with and I know that for those with a visible difference, discrimination is par of the course, sadly. The driver indicated all sorts of things. You can read the full post at my dad's blog or you can read it on our Facebook page, The Girl Behind The Face. From a shitty experience, I got some positivity from it. I got so much support from so many people but my parents were the two biggest rocks of all. They jumped into action as soon as I'd stopped crying on the phone and was able to supply them with what info I had. Although I had to dash off for an injection as well, I was treated by my lovely parents to a steak and chips at our local Texan barbecue restaurant, Anthony's. So for a day which was full of grief and love in unequal amounts, that day really showed my just how much people truly care for my family and me. 

I know you're all dying to know, but the rugby refereeing season has come to it sweaty conclusion until August. Which isn't too long a break, but it's enough! A few days after my bus driver incident, I got the surprise of my life when I was awarded at the HK Rugby Referees Annual Dinner for a) turning up to training pretty much every week and b) demonstrating "overcoming life's challenges and adversities". I cannot thank the HK Rugby Referees society enough for their ongoing support. I got my first ever tankard as well :-). For me, it was an acknowledgement by others that I was making some kind of difference. I may not be at the top of the leagues just yet, but it looks like I may be able to start refereeing colts games this coming season and I'm excited! I've been doing minis for the best part of 3 years and while it's been a fantastic learning experience, I have always desired to move up the ranks. As for many a referee, their goal is to reach regional level, before reaching World Rugby denomination and subsequently refereeing the World Cup Final. And I am no different. And that acknowledgement my my fellow referees was like a massive thumbs up that I'm slowly getting better. Thanks all!  

And I won't include the fact the President of the Society had to bring my mug back to Sai Kung for me after I left it on a bar in Wan Chai...cheers Wazza!

I super excited about a test I did a few weeks ago. A DNA gene test called 23AndMe. And believe me a lot of spit was needed for that test! It'll be fascinating to know about what sorts of things I may be susceptible to or at risk for. Though it's pretty damn obvious that I do suffer from Harlequin Ichthyosis! But in all honesty, as someone who was adopted, it'll be interesting to see if my birth family had conditions that I might not be aware of. It will take a few weeks for it to be pressed, but I'll let you know what happens! Thank you to the lovely Dr Lauren Bramley for organizing this, plus looking after my health so well for the past 10+ years, I don't think I'd be as healthy now if I didn't have you, I am just so abundantly blessed to have you in my family's life!

It was also my mummy's birthday this month and my Grandmother was over to celebrate. It was a short 5 days and unfortunately I was at work most days, but I was thankful to be able to spend some time with my grandmother who I don't see very often, maybe once every few years? We had a great Saturday afternoon together spending time together in sportswear shops of all places. Well, I lost my rugby boot bag on my morning commute and ding ding ding, my boots were in there. She very generously offered to buy me a new pair of boots as well as some new trainers.. And I may have introduced her to hydration tablets too...hehe!

What else have I got lined up?

Well, I've got a busy week at work, we are two days away from putting together our annual show called We All. I'm in charge of the media crew, right up my street and on the 29th, we've got a bonding trip to Disneyland. I'm fairly sure my reactions won't be the same as they were when I went with my grandma when I was much younger, but I'm sure it'll be a fun day out!

It's been a long long post..and I need my sleep....zzzzzz

Nos Da! (That's Welsh for Good Night!)

Xx

The Day The World Turned into Nice People...and Tools

Hello dear viewers.

 I have returned to blogging after what appears to be a while. With life, rain, arrogance and #TheGirlBehindTheFace, things have been a bit well, busy!

First things first, my darling PapaRef and MamaRef have launched a website called thegirlbehindtheface.weebly.com

We'd absolutely love if you could take a teensy peek at it and let us know what you think. It's purple, we like purple and there's a link on it called Mui's corner,which should in turn link you to the very website you're viewing now. HELLO NEW PEOPLE! 

Once again social media has played a big (humongous) part in raising awareness. There was a certain group, mentioning no names because name-calling is bad, who were actually quite vicious towards my family and the way we have chosen to live our lives. I commented (through MamaRef's Facebook, no I did not frape her. PapaRef and I stayed up quite late one night to write this together, bonding times, I tell ya!) on the post myself and this is what I had to say. Because if one thing is super clear, I don't take kindly to people who upset my family. I really don't. I'd like to share what I wrote below and I think you'll get the gist of what happened. 

 

"Though it may seem naive that people think I don't see what's been written on social media, I do. And I get screenshots over WhatsApp. And because of The Girl Behind The Face, my family and I have been trawling through Social media in search of groups who may be interested in our story. Interested...or jealous?!

Sparing no details about the fore mentioned group, I thought I'd share some thought on my life. It's dull, but I've figured you'd want to know anyway. Sharing is caring!

I am 22 and a half years old so I am actually an adult with a full time job. Yeah, I had to listen to my folks when they told me I wasn't going to sit around doing nothing all day! 

 This book has been written only since I became an adult with my full agreement and I'm perfectly fine with everything that's been written  and I've also contributed to it myself and shared our website myself. I would think that by me contributing to the book, it means I approve of the book being written. Some think else what. 

Anyways I am very grateful to be adopted because if I wasn't, I would definitely not have the life I  have  and I think that I would not be alive either. The HK Social Welfare department thought I was a lost cause and needed to be shielded away. My parents didn't let that happen thankfully. I think it's okay to be grateful for what you have in life. My parents haven't ever forced that upon me. Gratefulness is something I came to appreciate myself. 

Being adopted is akin to being given a second chance in life. And that is something to appreciate. It's too bad that some people are too hung up on issues to embrace that.

Please take a look our Girl Behind The Face Facebook page and you might understand why I am so grateful. By the way, my mum is also pretty much an adoptee as well. I come from a family where adoption is a big pointer. You'll have to read our book to understand that. 

Because some have been complete tools about our descent into the media, I'm trying to stay calm and collected. It's not easy but social media and publicity dictates that we have to act a certain way. Just saying, we only wrote our book as a result of cyberbullies making me want to commit suicide so quite frankly, I'm offended by all of the assumptions, including that we are only "posting to sell a book" or I'm "too young to understand what's going on"

We do school talks and motivational talks. We did a TEDx talk together. We got a standing ovation. Can you say you have? The purpose of our talks is to raise awareness of visible and invisible differences and cyber bullying as well as helping others. Because my parents never thought of adopting and did so anyway. That's why it's cool that mine was an unexpected adoption. It's the same with an unexpected pregnancy, you can choose to dread it or embrace it. 

Please check out our website and click "like" on our Facebook page as well :-). I also run a blog of my own called The IchthyRef. Because my parents have always helped me focus on the good points in life. You won't find too many rants or such like in my little corner of CyberSpace. You'll find a regular blog about a regular woman of 22 who lives her life and just so happens to have a skin disorder called Harlequin Ichthyosis...and manages to smile and post too many food pics and selfies on Instagram."

 (You're here by the way!)

Now, this made me upset and irritated. I don't feel like I have to explain my adoption. Why should I?! 

Life has been pretty cool thus far. Work has been going pretty swell and I've bagged myself a full time position as opposed to being part time for the best part of the last four years. I'm still in the same company and working at The Rock Foundation has hopefully made me a better person. I work in both teaching as well as media (video-making, photos, hanging on Our Facebook page, etc). I'm grateful for the opportunities that working here has afforded me. Initially I was reluctant about working in special needs but my parents, having had a bit of a sorry time in secondary school, made me get off my backside and made me volunteer. I begrudgingly did so. And I made it into full time...THANKS MUMMY AND DADDY !(yes I still call my parents that...cuteness!)

I also feel like my body is being super good to me right now. After a bit of a saga with my blood test results, I now take vitamin D supplements as well as blood boosters as well as my neotigason. Now mix those together and you have a pretty potent combination if you ain't got ichthyosis. The neotigason is essentially vitamin A. I don't get enough of it. And it makes my skin growth slow down a bit and it's definitely easier to control my bath as the scales don't grow quite so rapidly. The vitamin D is doing me good as well. Builds up my immunity and I swear I've grown a bit more and my hair is literally growing faster and thicker, or maybe that's due to my diet....I'll have to check with my amazing doctor about that!

Speaking of which, I've switched my eating habits slightly and I think that's really helped with my energy levels and skin. Basically, I'm trying to eat more "clean" and by that, as little crap as possible. I've cut out a large amount of carbs as quite frankly, they wear me out. So that's rice out, pasta still in, potatoes and bread are 50/50. I've also found that cutting lactose out more has helped in that I feel less bloated and gunky. But fear not, I have switched to nut and soy milks to get my calcium and oh my god, Kale Chips, light of my life, those sweet things are what I call heaven. Though of course my darling colleague thought they were vile. I can tell he doesn't do wacky health food like I do! Basically, cutting out a large chunk of processed food has really helped. I tried the Paleo thing, it works to an extent but then while I try to follow it, I still throw in the extra carbs if I need it. I'm not super strict about diets but I do care whether they make you feel at least a little bit better and look it too!

I also booked myself in for a deep tissue massage the other day. Yeah, I needed a tiny woman pummeling me! She was teeny! But pretty volatile with her massage strokes. The grunting on her part were hilarious. That being said, she managed to rid a lot of tension in my body which obviously worked because some dear lady at work commented on how relaxed and good I looked. Not sure if it was my outfit or if she meant my tension, but I appreciated the gesture! I can see why people go for sport massage. Deep tissue and sports massages are great and it's always nice to treat yourself to some pain for 45 minutes on a Sunday!

I'm a bit knackered now but I'll write another post on wrapping up the rugby refereeing season soon. By the way, a lovely article was written about me by Girl Talk HQ. I loved it, I did, but I need to reiterate I'm a rugby referee, not a soccer one! And as my man Nigel Owens has said before, "this is not soccer!" God, I love his beautiful Welsh accent, makes the hills come alive! Okay I think it's been a long day, I better get to sleep before sounding like a crazy lunatic!

Mui xxx

Hong Kong...SEVENS!

Hi all! 

It's the IchthyRef again. I apologise for the awful timings of my blogs, but there's simply quite a lot going on. I thought I'd share that with yours truly.

March was a busy month for me. I went to work, I did a few talks with my family regarding The Girl Behind The Face, and of course, it was Hong Kong Sevens! And yet I still found time to sleep...fandabbydozey!

Now I don't know about you, but when it comes to good old fashioned sweet shops, I go weak at the knees and all ape-shit and I cannot resist a bag of jazzies, custard creams and some refresher bars. I'm talking about Mr Simms' Sweet Shoppe. They've now got two stores in Hong Jong, one of which is dangerously close to my office in Wan Chai...I'm in trouble now...

March also saw my family's debut into the newspapers and I was so excited to see myself in the paper, though I was shocked to find that our piece took the WHOLES front page of the Life section of South China Morning Post. People have recognized me around Hong Kong and its a great feeling, strange, but damn, it's great! On the downside, being in the media more has forced me to reconsider where I stand within Social Media. Basically, it's time to behave a bit more. As George Takei has said many a time, "Oh Myyyyyyy!"

I also managed to squeeze in Sevens Week! Now everyone in Hong Kong knows that for a weekend in March, the Sevens take priority over everything else. For me, I got the opportunity to be involved with the Hong Kong Women's Sevens Tournament as well as the Hong Kong Sevens. I decided to forgo the Beach 5s this year, last year I got too sunburnt and my skin was not happy with me! 

The Women's 7s is a two day event and this year, it was held at Kings Park and the Hong Kong Football Club. I've been at both of these locations so much with rugby that I swear I need an honorary membership to the Hong Kong Football Club. I mean, they really are quite amazing, though the non-members food could be improved...a BIG bit!

Day one, I discovered Papua New Guinea are vicious rugby players as I had to coordinate all the match paperwork. This meant I had to sort out the match cards as well as deal with all the Yellow and Red Card forms and hand them to the tournament directors for judiciary. Sounds a bit dull, but actually was quite fun as I started tallying up just how many card sanctions one referee managed to give out. It was fairly warm and I also spent the day making fun of the junior referees. As referees, they become great friends and co-workers, both socially an don field. This helps with morale!

Day two was spent at the Hong Kong Football club where after a bit of persuasion, I got the joy and honour to run as an in-goal touch judge for some of the matches. Yes, 2015 was my international match debut, and my parents  saw  it on live stream! I may have owned in the past of my slow progress up the referees ranks, but being part of the Women's 7s really helped to boost my confidence. I know that with some bloody hard work, it'll happen. I also went up to the HK stadium on Friday to get started on my job for the weekend. I won't go into details but things didn't quite work out as planned and hence I had to turn up on Saturday and pray that something good was going to happen.

Turns out Saturday was probably one I will remember for a long time. I arrived feeling deflated from the previous day. I got given a new access pass and got to do pitch marshaling for the weekend. Basically I had to run and coordinate the teams tunnel entrance. Sounds easy as pie. But probably not! I was usually sent on a hunting expedition to look for the next game's teams. Then I had to follow them back to the changing rooms where I provided a minute by minute countdown before yelling at them to get to the tunnel for a prompt pitch entry. The sun was beautiful, the mobile phone service was as usual, crap but hey, I got to meet the real Village People backstage as well as Eric Rush and David Campese. What a way to spend a Saturday! Also took part in the usual March-Past where effectively, you have to show your face to over 40,000 people and wonder why on earth the referees were given white sticks. And I mean only the referees! I wonder if it's an implication that people think that all refs are blind...though the sexy black Ray bans really did nobody any favors!

Sunday was spent working with the teams again and I managed to get up and close with the Cymraeg lot. They were lovely and I got a few candid selfies...sssshhhhh! Now I was supposed to also do a mini rugby showcase game, but that didn't happen sadly. In retrospect, the worst part was being up at 3.45am to get ready, on.y to be told that I wasn't needed. However, me not doing the game probably was for the best because by that time, I'd been working flat for three days with not much sleep. So it worked in retrospect.

I turned up to work on Monday armed with big cans of Red Bull. I was still found out to be completely exhausted from those 4 days and it took about a week to feel okay again. But despite the exhaustion and sleeplessness, I'd do sevens again in a heartbeat. 

I'm also back on certain medications for my skin. I'm back on Vitamin D capsules after being mercilessly told off by my doctor that my D levels were pathetically low. I'm also back on retinoids for my skin. It's not shown too much yet, but it's supposed to reduce the rapid growth of skin cells. While that's awesome, it means I'll have to face needles again more regularly as the retinoids can occasionally screw with the liver. Grrrrrrr

Apologies for not actually getting a post out in March, but I promise you, you'll hopefully have an April post...in April!

I'm still looking for guest bloggers to write about ichthyosis, daily rants or anything that I may find amusing

Peace out guys!

TheIchthyRef  

That Pass that's so highly sought after!

We do all sorts during March Past!

It's fun to do the Y.M.C.A!

The Cymraeg love

"the Who" otherwise known as the merry band of Fijians