The Only Thing ....

It is 3am and I am at work. Obviously it is not to busy at the moment. I have just spent 3 hours doing paper work and filing and now it's time for a break.

We have been talking as we work and one of the topics of discussion was if we knew we were about to die - what would we choose for our last meal - anything you wanted - no restrictions. It's an interesting thought. One of the girls said vegetables. Seriously? I can think of so many things I would sooner have but then that is all she eats - and I don't mean she eats a lot. I mean it is all she eats!

Apart from that there were many suggestions but when I try to decide what I would have I am not sure. I love chicken, cold pizza, a lovely juicy peach, an orange, chocolate, anything with chili, bread ... so many things. I am not sure I could decide without the pressure of knowing I was actually going to die lol. The one thing I do know for sure that would be there, is pavlova! It is the one thing I cannot resist! and for anyone who doesn't know what a pavlova is... look here!

Talking about food - I have been watching Masterchef. The Aussie version is very different to the UK version and has taken the country by storm! It has become a country-wide phenomenon with people tuning in in their millions and whole families siting down to watch. This week is the final week of the series and it is the highest rating TV show this year except for State of Origin football and nothing is more important than the footy here in Aus. It even has politicians changing a televised debate and not just any debate but one between the 2 main political leaders with a national election coming up in a few weeks! It was scheduled for the same time as the grand final of Masterchef but they realised no-one would be watching them. Interesting question - if no-one is watching politicians talk does it mean they don't exist - we can only hope!

The fascinating thing is just how much this one show has changed Australian eating habits. People who used to eat mainly 'convenience' meals or fast food are now trying all kinds of things they would never have considered before and you hear people discussing menus and recipes in the oddest places. Celebrity chefs have become the new superstars and families are spending more time in the kitchen. 

But on the negative side people are getting so involved that some of the contestants are hated and one woman even had death threats (although I have to say I was not sorry to see her eliminated!). As each of the people leave they do an exit interview and there are 2 that struck me as being interesting.

Jonathon was someone who people either hated or loved - he went through 9 elimination tests and won them all until the last one but I like what he had to say right at the end  from 1:53 on ...  Jonathon's exit interview

Alvin's interview was similar - some people had a problem with him being gay but he cooked the most amazing dishes and I for one was so sad to see him go. I just loved his attitude and what he had to say in this interview from 1:42 on ...  Alvin's exit interview

Quote of the Day - from Jonathon - The only thing stopping you ... is you!

Song of the Day: Lady of the Sea - Seth Lakeman

 

Murphy's Law - for Nurses!

Back at work again - night one is over - six more to go. Thank goodness it seems quieter this week than my last one!  And talking about nursing ... don't you love the way I just slid into the next thing I wanted to write lol - I found these this morning. It's a nurses version of Murphy's Law and everyone is true and at least half applied to last night! Especially 3, 11, 12 and 13!!

1. 
   
   

   You can please some of the patients all of the time, and all of the patients some of the time, but you just can’t please the family.

2. 
   
   

   Management truly believes you are overpaid. But would never work for what they pay you.

3. 
   
   

   People farthest from your work area are the least needy - and least afraid of pushing the nurse call. Invariably.

4. 
   
   

   The more minor the injury, the more angry that person is for having to wait. While the little old guy with crushing chest pain says, "Oh, it's ok, I've waited this long already..."

5. 
   
   

   You finally get the NG tube down on your difficult patient Xray has just confirmed it is in the correct position you go to give the medication you have just crushed up only to find your patient has pulled it out.

6. 
   
   

   You've just given a patient a meal - pie, roast potatoes and a sponge pudding with custard - when theatres call asking if the patient is ready for their operation.

7. 
   
   

   In a life threatening emergency, the speed of the doctor's response is inversely proportional to the speed of the patient's decline.

8. 
   
   

   That enema you gave four hours ago produces a huge code brown just five minutes before the end of your shift.

9. 
   
   

   You have been working flat out all day without even a coffee break, but the moment you sit down, the supervisor walks around the corner and sees you doing nothing.

10. 
    
    

    It's your first night shift for three years. And it's a full moon.

11. 
    
    

    Your nose will itch the very moment your gloved hands get contaminated with bodily fluids.

12. 
    
    

    You walk out of a patient's room after you've asked them if they need anything: they will put the call bell on as you are about three quarters the way down the hall.

13. 
    
    

    If a patient needs four pills, the packet will contain three. 
    

They originally came from RealNurse.net so I can't take the credit but they certainly fit!

And now because I am tired and want to go to bed (especially as my son - who is a brittle diabetic - is sick so I probably won't be getting a lot of sleep today!) - I will finish with this ....  I have had two people send this to me in one day. I love it - it's beautiful and true!

Feeling of the Day: worried

Song of the Day: Santa Fe - Jon Bon Jovi   

Note to Self:

Note to self: no matter how cold it is - when cleaning the oven wear short sleeves!!

I have just spent hours cleaning my oven. It's a job I hate and yet another one John used to do for me. I admit I have been putting it off for a very long time but I didn't realise how bad it had got but now - to quote my son - it looks like a new one! Not quite but I love him anyway ;)

About half way through I had another thought - 2nd note to self - pay someone else to clean my oven! I like that idea much much better!

I had a lovely day yesterday - Ian and I went to the Good Food and Wine Show in Sydney. I went last year and really enjoyed it and as he is my chef and the one who enjoys food we made a date to go this year. Let me say, it is much easier getting through crowds when you are following a large 6'4" male - and he carries stuff as well - another absolute bonus. But apart from that it was a nice day - we wandered and tried out different food (and bought several things as well), went to three different shows of celebrity cooks - 2 of which were fabulous - one not quite so good but still very enjoyable and generally had a great day. Its nice to get away with just one child occasionally and spend some quality time and because Ian is working full time, studying at uni and doing tennis comps a couple of times a week, there is not always a lot of time we can do so.

Note to self: go on Friday next year - it is not as busy and no kids!

Ian always used to laugh at John when he complained about school holidays and the trains but there was more than a little bit of John showing when he complained about people not sticking to 'train etiquette'.He had planned on studying both ways on the train - an hour each way - but both ways there were people who dared to talk!! Sheesh - what were they thinking! 

Note to self: try to remember how to stop posting my blog on my FB profile before I irritate everyone!

and finally a thought - stolen from a friends FB status (thanks Patty)

One evening a Cherokee elder told his grandson about the battle that goes on inside people's heads. He said, "My son, the battle is between the 2 wolves that live inside us all. One is Unhappiness. The other is Happiness."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?" The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

                                                                                                   - Author Unknown

Feeling of the Day: Exhausted - that oven took forever!!

Song of the Day: Angels - Robbie Williams

oh! I know I am well behind on my organisation - I will get back to it I promise! Either later or tomorrow :)

 

This is Me - 2010

This came to me on Facebook this morning and I thought it might be interesting to bring it over here - I like doing these and then looking back in a few months and see what changes there are  .... so here we go ...

1. What time did you get up this morning?
    6am

2. Diamonds or pearls?
    Neither really - I prefer sapphires :)

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Shrek 4

4. What's your favorite TV show?
    NCIS and NCIS LA - and Masterchef

5. What do you usually have for breakfast?
    a banana smoothie

6. What is your middle name?
    Anne

7. What food do you dislike?
    Peas (and they don't like me either)

8. What is your favorite CD at moment?
    Don't have many CD's any more - I use iTunes - but my favourite band right

    now is Poets of the Fall

9. What kind of car do you drive?
    Hyundai Getz

10. What is your favorite sandwich?
    It varies but I always go back to chicken,avocado, tomato and cucumber

11. What characteristic do you despise?
    Dishonesty

12. Favorite item of clothing?
    Denim skirts - I have 8!

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go?
    the UK or Canada (or Denmark or Finland or Turkey ... pretty much 

    everywhere - there are so many people I would like to meet!)

14. Favorite brand of clothing?
    Be Me

15. Where would you retire?
    I have no idea but probably not too far from my kids although there are a 

    couple of places overseas that appeal

16. What was your most recent memorable birthday?
    I don't remember any as being special - it's really just another day - we 

    have never done very much

17. Favorite sport to watch?
    Rugby Union and sometimes Rugby League, AFL and Soccer

18. When is your birthday?
    June 10

19. Are you a morning person or a night person?
    Night - good thing as I work night duty - but I am always up by 6:30am 

    anyway

20. What is your shoe size?
    10

21. Pet
    Cat - Tom

22. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us?
    Nope - nothing exciting going on

23. What did you want to be when you were little?
    A nurse

24.What is your favorite candy?
    Anything with coconut - a Bounty bar

25.What is your favorite flower?
    White daisy, sunflower, rose

26.What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to?
    None especially

27.What are you listening to right now?

Beautiful Dau - Saving Abel

28.What was the last thing you ate?
    Chilli Peanuts! (yum!)

29.Do you wish on stars?
    No

30. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
    A light blue or aqua

31. How is the weather right now?
    Sunny but cool - beautiful

32. The first person you spoke to on the phone today
    Ian

33. Favorite soft drink?
    Diet Pepsi

34. Favorite restaurant?
    Anywhere I don't have to cook!

35. Real hair color?
    Light Brown

36. What was your favorite toy as a child?
    my doll Janet (and I still have her)

37. Summer or winter?
    Spring and Autumn! but I do love the beach so if I had to choose - Summer

38. Hugs or kisses?
    Both!

39. Chocolate or Vanilla?
    Depends (did I mention I am never black or white) but I guess chocolate

40. Coffee or tea?
    Neither

41. When was the last time you cried?
    Actually it's been a while!! :D:D A couple of weeks maybe!

42. What is under your bed?
    Suitcases and more suitcases and stuff I can't get rid of!

43. What did you do last night?
    I did some writing! and loved it - I have been trying to get back to it again -

    and it is going well!

44. What are you afraid of?
    Dying too young (as in before Lachie grows up), being laughed at, snakes

45. Salty or sweet?
    Depends lol - but salty I guess

46. How many keys on your key ring?
    6

47. How many years at your current job?
    21 (omg!)

48. Favorite day of the week?
    none really but Monday if I am finishing work (a week off)

49. How many towns have you lived in?
    4 (and 4 countries)

50. Do you make friends easily?
    Not really but I have a few really good friends

Feeling of the Day: excited ... about writing again

Song of the Day: .. see above ... Beautiful Day - Saving Abel

I will be Patient ... I WILL be patient ... I will ....

It's amazing just how much I can get done with no internet, BUT despite that I hate not having it. I miss the contact with my friends and I miss seeing what everyone else is doing!

I knew I wasted a lot of time online, but hadn't realised how much. Now with having to pay premium amounts I am being much more discerning about when I use it and tend to just go online twice a day - early morning and late night UK time, but that means I miss people from other time zones! 

They (they being the computer people), promise me faithfully (again) that my modem will be back tomorrow. They cannot however, guarantee that it will work and if it doesn't apparently whatever I have is unavailable any more and so they will need to build me one!! Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

On a different note - we have a visitor. A fruit bat has taken up residence in one of our trees. We often have them flying over in their hundreds - kind of spooky when you are lying in the pool looking up at them and hoping none fall down lol. Anyway - in the over 20 years we have lived here, this is the first time one has stopped to visit. I was looking out my kitchen window yesterday and wondered what I could see, so I went closer and suddenly a little face popped out from behind the wings. Aww - so cute - as long as it stays up in the tree swaying in the wind. It has been here 2 days now so I wonder if it got left behind, either way it is nice to have it there. I will try and take a photo tomorrow when it is light and assuming it is still there!

Feeling of the Day: Missing my friends!

Song of the Day: stolen from a friends FB page ... thanks gorgeous Ronny ;) 

                              When the Stars Go Blue - The Corrs & Bono

Wednesday already?

Last night I took my son and a friend to see Shrek 4. While I am not a big fan of Mike Myers he does do a good Shrek, and you have to love Eddie Murphy's Donkey but for me the star is always Puss-in-Boots. There is nothing like a swash-buckling hero, no matter what he looks like, and when he has the voice of Antonio Banderas, who could make even a phone book sound sexy, what more is there to say .... and then there are those eyes!!

And the fact that he may have gained a pound or three does not distact from this - just makes him even more gorgeous.

The theme revolved around Shrek being unhappy with where his life was going and buying a spell off Rumpelstiltskin(which you knew was not going to be good move), the result being  he no longer existed and so the whole world took on a different personna.

I have often wondered where I would be if just one thing had changed. If my mother hadn't persuaded me to work in Texas when I was really just enquiring out of curiosity, if a friend and I hadn't decided, almost on a whim, to travel to London for a while to work, if I hadn't met my future husband who was there from Australia also working ... Life is full of 'what-ifs' - interesting isn't it?

Would I change anything? Of course there are many parts I would have preferred not to have had to go through, but then, they are what makes me me. I may not be totally thrilled with who I am, but I am what I am and without my life going the way it did I would not have had 23 and half years with a wonderful man, I would not have my kids, I wouldn't have dealt with anything in the same way. In fact I wouldn't be me. So while Shrek, Donkey, Fiona and Puss-in-Boots managed at the 11th hour to change history back to where it should be, I am happy that my history is what it is. But it is interesting to wonder. You never know I could be ..... :)

Feeling of the Day: Content

Song of the Day: Don't Want to Miss a Thing - Aerosmith

A Reason, A Season or a Lifetime??

… and once again work interferes! For anyone who doesn’t know – I am a nurse –I work 10:30pm – 7am – 7 nights on, 7 off. Tonight is night 6 and it has been a VERY busy week! …and as always by the end of the week the blog tends to go by the wayside as I get more and more tired.

Today I wasn’t sure what, if anything, I was going to write and then I read something a friend ‘borrowed’ from a person whose name apparently is 'Anonymous' lol. Anyway, as I was reading it I was nodding and realised this covers exactly what has happened in my life and suddenly, relationships that I was sad had changed took on a new perspective.

So this is what ‘Anonymous’ said ...

People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.

When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do.

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed outwardly or inwardly. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend, and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be.

Then, without any wrong doing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take a stand.

What we must realise is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and it is now time to move on. 

This is the part I struggle with - the moving on. I am an emotional person. I don’t do anything half way and I find it difficult to accept that others are not the same. When I find someone with whom I click I want to get to know them more and talk every day. This is me; I am learning slowly not to expect others to be the same. I am learning to accept that some people prefer to take it slowly, to not ‘nag’, to take it more at their pace. And I have to say, it is killing me lol. I am learning to accept that people can come online or on Facebook and not say hello every time. I am very aware that I am emotional and needy and even more so when I am in the middle or end of my working week.

I have always thought that people were just tired with having to deal with me but this has made me re-think a little. I am not saying that I'm not hard work, what I am saying is perhaps part of the change in the relationship was that the reason for that closeness had passed, that it was time for a different phase of the relationship. I am thinking of two people in particular and both of these people played an important part in my recovery after John’s death - in very different ways. I know both of them read this at times – maybe they will recognise themselves and realise how much I appreciate them. I hope so!

In case you haven't worked it out I over think things. Because of my past I have this tendency to assume that all my relationships are going to be short ones, in fact I probably sabotage them before the other person gets a chance to. The theory is that I will get out before I get hurt. Let me add, it doesn't work.


I have recently had this exact discussion with a friend and I have to say I have been told off and been told that this friendship is forever, unless I choose otherwise and you know what? I am beginning to think maybe, just maybe he is right. :) I am certainly working at not letting myself spoil this relationship. I need to stop, and am getting better about, not worrying what other people think but most of these feelings stem from my up-bringing and past history and it will take time. But the most important thing is we are friends and he makes me smile and what is more important than that!

When people come into your life for a SEASON, it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn. They may bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons; those things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person/people (anyway); and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.

It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant. 

I am fortunate to have had several lifetime relationships. I have lived in four different countries so many of my friends and even some family have got lost in all the moves but there are many who have ‘stuck’ and yes I have learnt much from them. The lessons are as many and varied as those relationships … but the ‘friendship is clairvoyant’ struck me. 

Have you ever met someone who you just click with, a soul mate I guess but not in the conventionally accepted way? Someone who just ‘gets you’? I am fortunate that I have and she has been the best friend I could possibly imagine while I have been going through the toughest time in my life. It was the ‘clairvoyant’ that made me smile – how many times have we buzzed each other on messenger at exactly the same time or sent virtually the same message at the same time on Facebook, messenger or by text. We think the same on pretty much everything and despite living on opposite sides of the world, or perhaps because if it, we still manage to stay really good friends!

… and now it is time to sleep – one more night to go and then I will be back to real life again and I can catch up a little!!

Feeling of the Day: Still tired!

Song of the Day: … Flying without Wings - Westlife