The great escape

Thank god I'm home.
My 3-night 'vacation' turned out to be 5-nights and by day 6 (Monday) I had an impressive escape plan hatched inside my head, should I need to 'break-out' if they didn't give me the okay for discharge. Luckily after more x-rays, bloods and a spirometry test I was given the all clear and practically ran out the door of the hospital Monday afternoon! I decided to stay Monday night in Kal so I could grab a few things from the shops (at a gentle Nana-pace of course) in the morning before heading home. I checked into the Broadwater Hotel... where I lazed in the spa bath, sprawled across the not-plastic-covered King Size Bed (like a big fat octopus) and ate real non-hospital food. Yeah...it was pure heaven. Anyway I'm all better and don't plan to repeat last weeks events anytime again soon. (fingers crossed)

* * * * * *

I would like a dollar for every time I was asked in hospital how many children I have.
When I answered 'none' I was shot looks of utter disbelief and sheer horror, quickly followed by the question 'why not?'
Does it not occur to people that maybe not all women of child-bearing age want to actually bear children?
Isn't it just a teeny bit rude to quiz a person as to why they don't have children??
Is it really anyone elses business?
I'm not usually that sensitive about it, however explaining it over and over (when I'm not entirely clear in my own head the reasons why I don't have kids... nor if I will or won't have them) is rather dull and tiring and uncomfortable and weird.

Is it bad if we decide not to have kids... like not...ever?? Will we end up bitter, lonely, selfish old sods who have nothing but each other? I'm not opposed to kids, heck I love the little suckers...as long as they're someone elses. The maternal desire is yet to smack me over the head and at 34-years of age - I'm kind of thinking it never will... and I'm fine with that. Husband shares my thoughts exactly - not opposed but not really into it either. We kind of have a 'lets re-evaluate each 6-months' theory and that suits us fine. Just wish it was tattooed on my forehead so I didn't have to explain myself over-n-over-n-over.
( NOT having kids this week... so don't ask)

Maybe I'm looking into it too much, maybe people are just trying to make conversation... who knows. Can't they just stick to questions about the weather?

Vacation time

Yeah well... I'm in hospital with Pneumonia. What a spaz.
Off I go to Kalgoorlie Hospital for a 'Recruitment and selection' workshop (ugh) and I manage to listen to about 45 minutes of the workshop (I got to put my name on the registration slip... so i hope they credit me as having done it) before I wound up wheezing and spluttering my way to the Emergency department for a neb and some oxygen. I then won myself a 3-night all-expenses-paid vacation to D-Ward Kalgoorlie Hospital.
Anyway, I feel much better now. Oxygen, IV Antibiotics, Nebs and steroids are now on my list of all time amazing inventions of the world and favourite things.
I'm a bit embarrassed (actually a LOT embarrassed) by all the fuss thats been made, I've been sent choccys, flowers and cards galore, not to mention that the hospital staff have treated me like a queen...aww, shucks.

Husband drove down from Leo yesterday afternoon and he has been keeping me amused and eating my chocolates. (Of course)

I'm sure I will be back jogging to Gwalia again in no time flat. The enforced rest has done me the world of good... it should be an annual compulsory requirement for everyone to lay in bed and do nothing for a few days.
Although personally I'd prefer a King Size pillow-top mattress and non-plastic-covered pillows next time.

night bath

Husband bought home half a cow tonight. It's gross. It's now laying neatly in two huge hunks in the bottom of our fridge awaiting slicing and freezing tomorrow after it has been allowed to 'air'. (I don't quite understand the whole air thing, but his strict instructions were it required 24 hours airing??) I don't mind a bit of steak every now and then, but I have trouble coping with it en'mass like that.... put some fur on it and it could almost walk around moo'ing.

Tomorrow I go to Kal for two nights for more management/work stuff. Joy.

I just washed my work car at 9:45pm at night. weird. It'll probably look like crap considering i did it in the dark. I'm not sure what inspired me to do it that late (except for the Kal trip tomorrow, but it didn't need to be clean for that) i hope i didn't wake the neighbours with the vacuum cleaner.

I had a gym session with Lewie this arvo. We did legs only, and although it was only short bursts of cardio/weights it killed me. I'm really wheezy and chesty still and think it'll be a while before I'm back to road running.

Better go pack my bag... and a heap of note paper since my voice is still on strike.
What if it never returns??

Perfect wife

I took this photo of Murphy tonight sprawled out snoozing. It's not really a glamorous look, but it made me laugh.

I worked this morning with no voice.... nothing, zilch, zip... not even a croak. It was a weird experience. How come when you whisper to people they automatically whisper back? It's like they're worried they might wake someone up. Some of the patients I saw gave me strange looks like I was playing a practical joke on them. Nope... 'fraid not. One guy laughed at my whispering efforts and proceeded to tell me I would be a 'perfect wife'!! Nice.

Even the dogs are looking at me weird 'why isn't she talking to us?'.

* * * * * *

I'm still working on my Election homework... 3 homework chapters to go. Must do them tonight, we have training tomorrow and I don't want to get detention for not having it done.

My diet and exercise this week have been crap.

Please God, let me have a voice tomorrow (a proper non-croaky one would be nice, but I'm not overly fussy, an audible tone of any kind would be appreciated at this stage)

Over n out

Don't count ya chickens...

Yeah great. I bounced off to bed last night with the glorious illusion I was all better.
I woke at 4am feverish, achy and feeling like crap. Hmph, that'll teach me to boast about wellness.
The good thing about my new job (the ONE and only solitary-single good thing about my new job) is that my hours are flexible, so as long as I work my quota per week it doesn't really matter when I go in, so I stayed in bed till 9am. Then I moved to the bath for a long soak. Then I finally made it to work at about 11am to find it mega-busy. The aircon in my office has carked it and it's a major sauna in there, so I was glad to dodge it as much as possible and help out in A&E. I ended up staying till late because the nurse on needed to do a patient escort. At the start of the shift my voice sounded like a boy going through puberty with its squeaky uneven tones, by the end of the night I was barely audible and very husky - kind of like a gnarly hooker.

Geez, what a moan-fest.
I guess after to listening to everyone elses woes all day at work, I felt I had to vent my own.

Munching on dead things

Even though it was a million degrees outside today we decided to do the good parent thing and take the dogs for their nightly run on the town oval. Its the only place that offers a bit of green lawn, where we can safely let the dogs off the lead. Tonight we fed the dogs before their run -(coz we left a biter later due to the heat) but it seemed the mutts thought dinner was merely entree since they snacked on every damn dead thing they could find at the oval. Faaar out. Murphy ran off into the yonder and did hist best to demolish half a rotten roo before husband caught up with him and kicked his arse for it. I know eating a bit of road-kill isn't a major problem, but it IS when your dog spends the rest of the night puking his guts up. Diesel then found a dead pidgeon and ran up to me with feathers hanging out his mouth (I had visions of Sylvester with Tweety) before I squealed ooohhh groooosssss and made him drop it. Did the heat make them extra hungry or something?? Yuk. We only did one lap of the oval before banishing them to the car in disgrace of their poor taste & headed for home.

* * * * * *
I've been sick since Monday. Today I started feeling well this arvo and it's FANTASTIC! I even shuffled myself off to the gym with husband where I bravely trained with Lewie for an hour. It nearly killed me (it was only a gentle session) but it felt good to be out of the house and out of bed. For someone that loves their bed like I do, thats a tough call, but I have spent so much time over the past 3 days horizontal trying to snooze away my aches and pains that it's glorious to feel better again.

* * * * * *
My Mum has been to Leo working again (bless her size 12 cotton socks!!). She has escaped for a couple of weeks back to the cold south (and my Dad) but will hopefully be back to help us out for a couple more weeks before Christmas. This time of year is always AWFUL for nurses. This year seems particularly bad and I'm not sure how we're going to find enough staff to run the hospital. Anyone know a nurse who wants a summer job??!

* * * * * *
My sister and her husband are coming to Leo for Christmas! That should be great fun (if they don't keel over from heat exhaustion). My niece is here working, so it'll be the most 'family-orientated' Leo Christmas we've had. Cool. Oh and did I mention my sis is a fantastic cook? Yum, I can feel a Chrissy feast coming on (hint hint Jo!)

Enough babbling, I'm off to do my 'polling day homework'. Somehow JB conned me into helping out for the Federal Election next weekend. The next thing I know I'm not just helping out - I'm Officer-in-Charge (WTF??!) and I have this huge file to study with HOMEWORK!! Ha! Its like I'm back at school. She owes me.... big time.

20 no more

Last week I went to Kal for a course. I went with Nik who also works as a nurse here, we stayed at a Hotel overnight because it was too late to drive back after the course had finished. Some girls from Laverton were also staying at the same place so we decided to go out to dinner.

Nik and I had done some serious shopping (Thurs night, the shops were open late) after the course, and I distinctly remember saying as we walked to dinner 'I feel so tired, I might eat dinner and crash to bed for an early night'.

Yeah right.

An entire bottle of wine to myself later I rolled back to my room, jolly as ever declaring this was the most fun I'd had for Ayyyy-ges (drunk slurred speech). I've never drunk a whole bottle of wine to myself before... E V E R. I'm spastic after drinking two glasses... what was I thinking??

Well it was all fun and laughs until I got back to my room and in the quiet isolation of just my own thoughts- I found the room spinning continuously. Ugh. It was a long night of hugging the toilet bowl and feeling sorry for myself. Nik came to my room in the morning and said politely 'did you throw up in the sink?' I couldn't really recall till she pointed out that there were 'noodles and spinach poking out from the plug-hole'. Charming, not to mention ever-so-classy.

Note to self: You are NOT 20 years old anymore. You can not drink like a fish and soldier on the next day as if nothing happened.

Ugh.

Puking dog

Another day off today, I think all weekends should be long weekends, 3 days off work is a dream. I managed to eat healthy today and I had a Lewis-workout at the gym this arvo, which was good except for the fact there were 6 people using our tiny gym and we had to wait for equipment... which kind of sucked.

KDF (niece) came over for dinner tonight (she risked her life since I was cooking - not husband) then we all lazed in the lounge watching 'Girls of the playboy mansion' and 'Seinfeld'.

Murphy dog spent all of last night puking. 6 pukes in total. The first puke contained (and I'm not kidding) 4 of my hair elastics... charming! I'd wondered where they'd all gone to. That dog eats anything.

Poor Murph, he looked miserable. I was really worried that his hair-lacky consumption may have caused a bowel obstruction, but he finally stopped barfing and fell asleep. He woke up starving hungry this morning and back to his normal-stupid self. Phew.

Yesterday we took the motorbikes out to Malcolm Dam, it looks really strange out there at the moment because its covered in yellow flowers. Heres a pic of husband zooming by!


Goodnight.

PS - R.I.P Mainy

Happy snaps

Whilst on our NZ family holiday in August, we all agreed to share our holiday snaps when we got home. Husbands folks are travelling around Oz in a caravan (lucky them!) so they were kind enough to burn their pics to a disc and send them over. It arrived in the mail last week.

I excitedly put the disc in the PC and opened it to browse through happy family pictures of kiddies playing in the snow, New Zealand scenery, farm animals, Jet boating, river cruising.... and a very disgusting picture of me looking like a whale.

Yikes... reality check.

I hardly recognised myself in the picture... double chin, fat arms, spare tyre. Crikey, there is enough lard there to keep me fuelled for a decade!! yeah yeah, I know its at the end of a holiday of scoffing myself stupid, but I hardly recognise myself.

Am going to enlarge this picture and put it on my fridge.

A year gone by...

To blog or not to blog?
I thought I'd give it up.... so much to do, so little time to do it...blah, blah (stop sleeping so much and you'll have ample time). But tonight I've managed to score some quality computer time (husband moved his butt from the computer chair to the couch to watch footy on TV)... and I've been browsing through all my fave blogs and have been re-inspired to keep at it. I've always thought writing down your thoughts was a very effective method of debriefing and clearing all the mush from your brain. That - and the fact it was exactly 12 months ago that I started blogging after an impressive burst of enthusiasm to get fit.

So it's been a month since my last post, I've been slowly finding my way at work with my new job. I'm enjoying the challenge but still feel like I have a Learners-permit stapled to my forehead. Some days I get overwhelmed with all the things flying through my noggin, and for the first time in my life I have had trouble sleeping because my mind won't rest when my eyes close at night time. That has been hard for me, I'm the kind of person that usually has a brain 'on/off' switch allowing me to put all my thoughts on hold so I fall asleep within 20 seconds of my head hitting the pillow. Laying there thinking about work stuff has knobs on it. I now know why husband gets insanely frustrated trying to settle to sleep -he uses the TV to channel his overactive thoughts elsewhere. I'm sure it'll wear off and It's all part of the transition of a new position.

The one bonus of being a boss is I can hire and fire (... well sort of). My 17 year-old niece from the city needed a job (and we needed nursing assistants), so she has moved up here and started work at the hospital. I was a bit worried that she'd hate it - (because lets face it, the clientele can be somewhat challenging in every way imaginable!!) However it's been quite the opposite. She came here with such a positive attitude, willing to give anything a go & I think she's really enjoying it. She's doing a fantastic job, and I love having her around. Its like having a younger version of my sister here.

Its a long weekend this weekend.... and guess what? I get long weekends in this job.... yeeehaar!

Mr Messy

Day 2 in the new job and I had a shite day.
Day 2 blues I've called it, I'm sure tomorrow will be better.
I think it was just a messy day, I'm in the process of getting 'handover' from the previous boss and everything feels messy, scattered and unorganised. I just want to get in and get things sorted so I feel like I know what I'm doing! She leaves tomorrow, and although she's a great 'security blanket', she's only a phone call away. When she goes I can get in, get sorted (hopefully) and fly Solo! Gulp.

I feel a bit stressed (which is very strange for me), so I'm gonna go have a long relaxing soak in the bath. Just me n lotsa bubbles.
Yeah, that sounds great... sod the water restrictions just for one night.

More pics

Today was my last day of 'no responsibility' - of being able to pass on problems and plead ignorance. Tomorrow I start my new job as the 'Captain' with L-plates firmly taped to my forehead! Yikes, I'm just praying that I don't spend the majority of next week saying to myself 'Jeeeezus, what have I done?' I'm sure it'll all work out fine, but I just want to get over that learning stage where everything seems to take three times as long as it should, and every question you think to yourself 'ummmm, I'm not sure..' .

* * * * * *

I went motorbike riding with Tan this morning, she's got her Learners permit (and her own bike now too - it's been lowered so she can touch the ground!) and needs to practice on the road before geting tested. We did laps around town like real dorks, but it was fun.

* * * * * *

I can't help but share my 'saved' pics...so here's more.

This is Captain's Pizzeria which is on the Captains run at Cardrona Ski field. Its a really cute Pizza cafe... but the best thing is you can stop off mid run and go to the loo instead of having to ski all the way to the base! Haa... priorities!

Me 'n Vicki-Lee Outside Captains. (post pizza and pee)

NZ is gorgeous.

Nephew number 2 (2.5 years) on the sled, and husband and nephew number 3 (11 months).

Holiday Happy-snaps

Husband keeping a watchful-Uncle-eye on Seth, who at 4 skii' d like a champion!



Lucky my arms are long... no need for other people to take our photo! Me, husband and Indi.


I sustained 3rd degree frostbite after taking my hand out of my glove for this pic. It was FREEZING on the chair lifts. Me, Husband, Vicki-Lee & Mark. Bbbbrrr.

Pulling rabbits outta hats!

Yesterday I did the daftest thing ever. After previewing my 200-plus photos from our holiday and secretly telling myself that we had taken some darn fine shots, I then proceeded to cut & paste them from preview to my pictures, and since it was taking ages to transfer that many pics over (yeah...ages...like a few seconds...am so impatient) I grabbed the camera and without turning my brain ON, I disconnected it from the computer and then deleted the images from the camera - for some reason thinking that I had them safely on the computer.
Then I hear a pop up with a message stating 'there has been an error during this transfer...' and I have this sudden moment of realisation... my stomach drops to my toes and my heart picks up pace....shiiiiit. Noooo, shit, shit, shit. What on earth was I thinking by disconnecting, not to mention deleting ALL the pictures off the camera???
I had 8 of my 230 holiday photos.
That was it.
Gulp.

Anyway, after a few hours of sulking and desperately hoping for them to magically reappear, I did a little bit of a Google search (gotta LOVE Google) and discovered that I was not the only dipshit on this planet accidentally deleting things... people do it all the time (phew!). All I needed to do was download a retrieval programme (i used PC-Inspector) which took about 10 minutes (and was FREE), hooked up the camera again and voila.... All my pics back!

Thank you, thank you, thank you Internet and technology and people inventing things to save the sanity of no-brainers like me!!

Rain has melted the snowman

Were on the last few days of our NZ holiday and it's been RAINING non stop. C R A P! It actually feels a bit warmer which is a bonus, but it's not real helpful when you're trying to cart 4 kiddies around and entertain them without all ending up like drowned rats. I think tomorrow is forecast to be rain-free so we'll try to break free from our hotel room and find something fun to do. We're planning more skiing Monday & Tuesday which should be good since there has been about 10 tonne of snow dumped on the mountain in the last 2 days. (soft landing for the butt!)

Husband and I just had Thai for dinner, we had a Red Curry Duck dish with Cherry tomatoes, pineapple and grapes! Sounds strange...but was yum.

Last night we looked after the kiddies while the others went out for dinner. We ordered Pizza and had a great time playing with the toddlers...indoor soccer, colouring in, leggo building and popcorn popping. It was fun.

Best be off, husbands finished researching footy results (thats the reason we're in the internet cafe - he's having AFL withdrawals!)

Kiwi girl

Far out, its been a decade since I blogged. Shit. where'd that time go??

I'm in snowy New Zealand on holiday, Husband and I have been here for a week, with another week to go. We're staying in Queenstown which is as beautiful as ever, the most amazing views of snow topped mountains and an enormous lake... its magic to wake up in the morning & look out the window to admire it, I love it.
We've had 4 days skiing which has been awesome. The first day we spent on green (beginner) runs (refreshing our wobbly legs on the art of ploughing thru the snow) the second day I cracked the shits because we tackled blue (intermediate) runs obviously way before I was up to it. I fell over atleast TEN times on one run... fuck, I was so frustrated by the end I spat it, took my skii's off and marched off down the slope huffily refusing any assistance from my ever-so-patient husband who had spent the whole run dusting snow off me and stopping to make sure I hadn't wrecked myself. We both crack up laughing about it now... how shitty I was (like a little 4 year old throwing a tantrum) and how I just spent that entire run looking like a giant human snowball!! Bloody funny in retrospect.
Anyway, following that doomsville-run, husband insisted (rightfully so) that we return to the basics and I brushed up on my hill turns and learnt how to slow down. Its also worth mentioning that when husband does my ski boots up extra tight I have a much more impressive skiing style (funny that). The combination of the above meant days 3 and 4 skiing were fab. Yesterday we spent the whole day on blue runs and had a great time. No more dummy spits from me. yahoo.

Husbands entire family are here on holiday with us. His Mum, Dad, Brother & Sister-in-law with their 4 kids under the age of 5yrs. It's nice to have all the family here, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't occasionally feel like pulling my hair out (strand-by-single-strand). Apparently I'm not quite as patient as I thought I was. It takes soooo looong to do anything with that many toddlers in tow. Yikes! They're cuties but I'm obviously missing the 'mother-gene' that gives you the ability to cope when: two are screaming their lungs up to their throats (because No 1 is biting No 2's ear off), one is pouring your freshly ordered Latte all over the floor and the other is tying your shoelaces in knots.

* * * * * *

Guess what?? You know that job I applied for?? The one that I thought I did really crap at the interview??

I GOT IT!!!

Yeehaar! I got a phone call confirming it a few days ago... I'm stoked! I'll have to put my serious-person hat on now... I can't wait for the new challenge! yay me.

Thats the goss for now, I'd better sign off from this dodgy internet cafe and go find more coffee.

Rubber ducky

Last week I went onto the Lush website and treated myself.

Lately I seem to be bath-mad. I love long hot soaks in the tub, reading a trashy-mag and completely zoning out in my own little world. I guess you could say its my kind of meditation. Part of what I love about my soak is getting out smelling like a walking potpourri-pot, so I invested in some yummy smelling bath fizzer thingys and soap. They arrived today and I'm dying to soak my achy muscles in the tub. With product names such as 'Butterball, Lemony flutter butter and Comforter bubble bar' I almost want to take a bite... (would be seriously fizzing from the mouth if i did!)

We might live in the middle of nowhere, but having the Internet is like having a department store next door... you just need patience, since most things take around a week to arrive.

* * * * * *

I went to Kal yesterday for a work meeting, stayed overnight, went to another meeting today then came home this arvo. I gymed yesterday morning before leaving and have had a day off exercise today. My legs and butt are pretty sore from Sunday- and I looked like a Nanna climbing the stairs at the hotel we stayed at ... ouch...oooh...ouch. The girls I went with thought it was hilarious. I don't feel a bad as I thought I would though, and I'm planning another Lewie-session tomorrow. Gotta get my legs ready for skiing, yeehaar.

* * * * * *

I've heard a few rumours (gotta love a small town) about the job I applied for. The main one being that another person applied & was interviewed, and that person was 'over-qualified'.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing??

Anyway, I'm not too concerned, just wish I knew either way...waiting to find out sucks!

Dips n Polls

Hey... notice the new 'Poll' thingy by Blogger? What fun. Please vote, I'd love to know if there are any scrunchers out there.

* * * * * *

I had the most amazing gym session this arvo...awesome, inspiring, king-of-the-world kind of stuff. Its been a while since I felt that empowered after a workout.
Pity I won't be able to walk tomorrow... or lift my arms to brush my hair... or sit down...

Trainer-Lewie put me through the wringer. I sent him an S.O.S text yesterday as my enthusiasm had been waning and I needed a boost. He suggested a training session with him which consisted of him kicking my arse... doing 5000 squats, lunges, dips (god I HATE dips... unless they are the kind you goop up on a corn chip) pushups...blah blah. I cursed him the whole way through our 90 minute workout .. 'Lewis... you SUUUCK...Owwch!' while he had this evil grin on his face. Anyway, despite the pain I loved being pushed to my limit by someone who is a hell of a lot fitter than me. Will have to do that more regularly.

Lets see if I'm so keen tomorrow after the muscle aches set in.

Baking for the boys

I just made biscuits.

No..not the human variety... for the doggies!

We've run out of dog treats (bribes) and there are no shops open here tomorrow. Yes they could go without... but I've a night off and a day off tomorrow, so I Googled 'Dog biscuit recipe' and by golly, it's magic...up popped a kazillion recipes, one of which I kind of (...give or take a few minor things) had all the ingredients for!



Mmm, interesting mix of carrot, flour, beef stock, Paprika, Parsley and bran.
(Dogs will be poopin' well me thinks)



Taa Daaaa.
Some of the finished product. The boys (K9) are impressed.
Note to self: I must remember to let husband know they are for the DOGS... although it might be more amusing if i don't mention it.
Tempting - I must say.

a scarf and some soup

Husband went to Kal today, he had a day off and one of his mates was going for the day so he bummed a ride. He bought food (oh glorious food - -fresh fruit n vegies and exciting...not-available-in-Leo stuff like soy milk and Yoplait yoghurt and crumpet bread and Sprite zero) ...anyway what was i talking about? Oh yeah, he went to Kal, and he bought me a surprise! Yeah...gotta love that. A groovy knitted Roxy scarf, i've been wearing it around the house like an excited pre-schooler since i got home from work, mmm nice and snuggly and soft. Will be perfect for the snowy climate of NZ.

He also bought what looks to be part of a pig... which is nicely nestled on the shelf in the fridge. A 'smoked shank' (sounds like something illegal) is what it says on the label. He's informed me he's making 'Ham Hock and cabbage soup' tomorrow.
Its not the pig-foot I'm worried about... its more the cabbage. I can't seem to remove from my head the thought that poor Charlie Bucket's family lived on cabbage soup before they found the golden ticket and got to take over Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. I have always thought cabbage soup sounded terrible, so I'm hoping that by adding a pig hoof it'll jazz it up a bit.
I'm sure it'll be great, all those hours watching Food Channel on Foxtel must teach him something! (maybe I should tune into it?)

No exercise for me today... but my house is clean. Is that a fair trade?

Midget gets back tomorrow from her European travels...yay!

Short circuit

Phew, it's OVER! puff puff.

I rarely get nervous, but today I felt awful! Which is daft really because I'd done lots of preparation and I knew the interview panel reasonably well.
But I just couldn't get my answers out smoothly... Ummm, ahh, ummm *pause* ahemm... and I was like that for the whole 9 long questions! F A R O U T!! My brain just kind of froze and didn't seem to be processing what was in my head to my mouth.

Anyway, it's all done and dusted now. Apparently we won't find who the successful applicant is for 2 -3 weeks - I'll be zooming down snow covered slopes by then... swooosh.

Whatever happens I gave it a go. Next time I have an interview I'm going to drink a quadruple shot of vodka before i go, to get the brain-mouth circuit warmed up.

;o)

PS - I took Savoury muffins yesterday. They weren't too bad, and I've had no poisoning reports as yet. (Oh except for my boss who was horrified I'd 'hidden FUNGUS' in them!! -mushrooms..yum)

Emesis bag required

It's interview day.
Ugh.
1115am
Can't wait til its over.

*vomit*

A lunch date

Some Health Service bosses are coming to town tomorrow for a meeting. They're having lunch at the hospital, so we've decided to all 'bring a plate' and make a party of it (?? yeah.. I'm sure it'll be rockin).
Problem is... I don't know what to take.
I usually take some kind of creation involving eggs (zucchini slice or quiche thingy). But someone else is doing that... the cook usually makes homemade sausage rolls and sandwiches.
Any suggestions??

(Remember -my cooking skills are limited to a basic pre-kindergarten level)

Interview spew

We just booked our flights for another holiday! Yahoo. Husband and I seem to live holiday to holiday, his happiness is determined by having something to look forward to, so if a holiday is partly planned and booked, then he'll have a smile on his dial :o)

Destination?

Hong Kong 9 nights, Singapore 5 nights.
Nice... need to look for hotels now.

* * * * * *

I got a job interview! Yeehaar.

I know its a 'means to an end' but now I'm really shitting myself. The one thing in life that I absolutely dread is a job interview (interrogation). I will have 3 people on the panel (jury) determining my worth (sentence).
1115 next Wednesday.

*Vomit*

I've been instructed to go in 30 minutes before so I can read the interview questions.

Huh? Thats weird. When I read them... can i take notes?? If i take notes can I take them into the interview and refer to them?? Does that mean the questions are going to be ridiculously hard-and thats the reason they give you 30 minutes....because it'll take you that long to interpret them??

*Vomit's again*

I can't wait for it to be over.

* * * * * *

Husband and I had a day off together yesterday. We got all dressed ready to go for a motorbike ride, only my bike was D E A D. Not even a whimper of a noise from the motor once the key was turned & ignition button pushed. Silence. Zero signs of life. Squat.

So we (well husband and his mate... I pretty much watched & did nothing) spent nearly two hours trying to get it going. Push start, jump start, push start again. Call for back up. Still no life.

The battery is now being charged and we've postponed our ride for a few days time. Thats if husband doesn't secretly sell my M'bike before then, he was cursing and swearing when killing himself trying to start it "Thats IT... I'm putting for sale notices up this ARVO..."

Aww a sorry sight - she's hooked up to the car for a jump start.

* * * * * *
My gyming and eating has been going pretty good. I'm still following Lewies weights program and adding a bit of cardio in as well. It's nice to be doing something different. I've just done an early morning gym session with JB, so now I'm free to relax and do whatever I like tonight after work.

What a great feeling!

Favourite...

Each week, the Sunday Times has a feature article on the back of the 'Home' magazine that shows photo's and lists some random persons' favourite things. I love it, and it's the first thing I look for when I read the Sunday paper. Why It's on the back of the Home liftout I'm not entirely sure. I'm not even sure why I find it that interesting, maybe because what each person lists as important to them is always quite different.

Anyway, I've decided to make my own (since the Sunday Times obviously doesn't seem to have my contact details...)


My Fave things... in no apparent order..


1. My boys!



Husband, Diesel (Brindle) & Murphy (white). what would i do without them? Life would be so boring and filled with a lot less love! (but my house would be much cleaner and have far fewer fur-balls on the floor).


2. Bears


I have always loved teddy bears. when I was young I had so many covering my bed and I insisted on sleeping with all of them. My Dad used to joke that I'd have to sleep on the floor to make room for them. I still love the classic old-style bear and husband will often surprise me with one. The small brown one 'Buttons' is very treasured because Wayne had him hidden at home, waiting for a moment when I needed cheering up. It worked a treat and I'll never forget how sweet that was. (Aww shucks!)


3. My Art room




This is the equivalent to my Dads shed - a place to hide away and find complete relaxation. Its a mess - it always is, no matter how organised I try to make it, but thats okay. I know where everything is (sort of). The mess factor is the reason I get a whole room dedicated to what husband refers to as my 'art crap'. If it wasn't contained to one room, I'd have half finished projects scattered all around the house. He figures its just easier to sacrifice an entire room to my hobby. Unfortunately my Art room isn't quite as exciting in a rental house when we lived in our own place in the city my art room had bright orange and pink swirls painted on the walls. and a wall painted in magnet paint so I could stick magnets all over it. I'm not seven years old... I swear.



4. Useless Nick-Knacks



I love random things like this colourful vintage wind-up duck. When you wind him his hat twirls around and he pedals the bike. My Mum would call it a 'dust-collector'. I love pretty much anything that's colourful.


5. My Jewellery




Husband buys me nice jewellery. I think he has great taste.... white gold and diamonds...Nice.
When it comes to diamonds, quality is better than quantity. I just love my bling.

6. Gadgets

I'm a gadget geek. By 'gadgets' I mean anything electronic that can be programmed or played with! I love new gadgets... figuring out what they do and how to use them. I love to have the latest and greatest. The one gadget I'd love but haven't got is a laptop of my own. At the moment that would be top of my geeky-gadget-wish list.

7. Iced Coffee

Of course this has to be on my list!

I'm seriously trying to give it up tho.

8. Ma 'n Pa's house and Tom

See this bright red lounge? I am at my most relaxed laying on this. Its at my Mum and Dads house in Walpole and If I'm there it means I'm visiting them (which I love). I spend a LOT of time on this lounge when I'm at their place -- snoozing, reading mags, watching TV, chatting to Mum and Dad. I love it, it's my 'safe place' that I go to in my mind whenever I'm stressed or scared.

I love this photo because not only am I on the red lounge, but I've got my beautiful nephew Tom on me playing.

9. Photo's

I love photos. I take photos of pretty much anything and everything (Nooo...really??). This is a cork board I made that is on the wall in my house. I pin up my fave photos and change them around every now and then. I have a terrible memory especially of holidays, so by taking loads of photo's it help to keep my memories alive. I love looking at old albums - reminiscing.

A darn good snooze

Its raining, its pouring, the old man is snoring...

All of the above is true.
Its been raining all night (yeehaar..finally!), pouring gallons into our rain water tank so we thankfully don't have to drink the revolting town water, and husband is still in bed...snoring!

Me, I'm up ready to face a morning shift and I'm bright-eyed and bushy-tailed because I've had (wait for it)... TEN hours sleep!!!
Ha!
I went to bed last night at 8pm. I was exhausted I'd had a busy day - an early morning gym session (5am), a morning shift, home to wash the doggies, do laundry, vacuum and mop the floors, put laundry away... blah blah. I was so tired I had to force myself to keep going until 8pm, I really wanted to dive in to bed at 7pm with FatCat.

Well, I'd better stop prattling and go to work...

*heads out the door cheerily whistling*

Wonder Woman

I went to a meeting out at Gwalia the other day and stopped off to take some snaps of the cute little miners huts and surrounds. This place is magic, I could spend hours wandering around checking out the old houses & cars. I always find myself thinking how on earth people lived in these tin shacks, they must have been so hot in summer and bloody freezing in winter.

Thank god for my reverse-cycle airconditioning... microwave oven... washing machine..hot water system........

* * * * * *

Moron-Murphy-dog has a sore leg.

Husband and I tried to have a romantic (?!) movie night the other day (he cooks my fave pasta meal, we watch movies, drink wine, eat chocolate & if he plays his cards right he gets lucky;o)) and hence the dogs were banished to the back yard.

But it was raining... and when it rains Murphy does drips. He jumps up trying to catch the falling drips from the verandah and he does it continually. Bark... jump.. somersault..bark

UGH!

The next day he was limping. Perhaps one of his somersaults didn't go as planned.

* * * * * *

Husbands mate Lewie has written me a gym program to try out. I did the 'legs' workout this morning. Now my legs feel like jelly.

Tomorrow i'll do arms. Its nice to do something different, and I know I should do more toning/weights but I'm always a bit lost on what I actually should be doing.

When Lewie asked me what my 'goals' were i said "I want to look like Wonder Woman"... he said 'no problems, we can achieve that, but you'll have to wear your undies on the outside!'

pathetic passenger

I'm now 34. That means I'm half way to being 68 and thats old.

I had a relaxing birthday, I spent time in my art room making cards and also had a long soak in the bath, oh and of course i managed to squeeze in a nanna nap as well. Zzzz
I got some great prezzies... vouchers, alcohol, choccies (have scoffed them already), socks, clothes.

Today its my Dads birthday, he's 65. Happy Birthday old boy.

* * * * * *

Yesterday Husband and i went to Kal for the day, he desperately needed a haircut (he was looking very shaggy) and we needed to get a few things like dog food & human food (note the order of priority there).

I am an awful travel-buddy. Any time I'm passenger i snooze. 5km into the trip and my eyelids start getting very heavy, i'm yawning, eyes are glazing over, i reach for the recline lever on the seat, place my pillow in position.. 5, 4, 3, 2, Zzzzz.
I've always been like that and apart from the anti-social-ness of it, I think it's actually a bonus for me that I can sleep so easily -it makes the journey so much quicker! Lucky for me - husband is used to my pathetic-ness and willingly drives the whole way. I close my eyes and it feels like 5 minutes later we're arriving at our destination when in fact its been over a 2 hour journey. 'whoah.... what, we're here... already?'
On the way home I was asleep within my usual 5 minutes, I woke after an hour - my bladder the size of a footy (600ml of Diet Coke will do that to you) 'I need to pee' i say to husband with an urgent look on my face. He rolls his eyes, pulls over to the side of the road, i scurry into the bush to relieve the football-bladder, return to the car, we take off and i snooze again. Husband really is a saint for putting up with me.

* * * * * *
I've just had a 6am workout at the gym with JB. I did X-trainer intervals and 'random' walking program on the treadmill - which is a hill workout. By the end of it my quads felt like they were on fire. Its kind of a good feeling though after a big 'hill' when the incline reduces back to near-flat... your legs feel all jelly like and weird.

I'm off to soak in the bath. Nice.

not-so-hot-dogs

When I got home from work early Monday morning the dogs didn't even budge to say hello. This is how i found them... snuggled up on their dog lounge.

It was 2 degrees...

They're not silly.

A new use for a sharps container.

For a few days there has been this stench of stale urine in A&E at work. Initially i have to be honest and say i thought that the guy i was treating for a suspected heart attack had pee'd his pants... however went he left the stench didn't.

So last night i went into sniffer-dog mode.

The smell was particularly strong near the entry of A&E, near the first stretcher bed. Sniff, sniff... nothing seen that was obviously the culprit. Smelt the curtains -nothing. Mopped the floor -still there. Changed the stretcher bed linen completely and wiped the whole bed over (twice) with disinfectant...still stenchy. Where was it coming from??

Then later on I was checking our Resus trolley & defibrillator when i noticed the stench was particularly strong in that area.

I was like a bloodhound on a mission.

Sniff, sniff..... sniiiiffff....

Sniff sniff....Ewwwwww YUK!!!

D I S G U ST I N G !!!!!!!!

I'd found the source...someone had Pee'd in the sharps container that hangs off the side of the Resus trolley!!! What a Dirty DOG!

The container looks exactly like the one above (except ours are bright yellow) which if you'll take a moment to consider with me...poses two huge risks to ones manhood (presuming it was a man that was responsible... and I'm CERTAIN only a man would be daft enough to do such a thing)

a) the container was over half full of sharps (old needles etc) one 'prick' could have proved very nasty.

b) see those little plastic slits at the top of the container?? That is so when things are put in the container, they don't come out.

It could've been oh-so-much worse.

tick tock tick tock

So far so good on the health front. Not a carton of Iced coffee or a choccy bar to be seen near this fatty's mouth!!

I woke at 4pm & went running with Nikki. I jogged for an hour! (yeah, go me). We had a great run, Nik pushed her toddler-daughter in the pram the whole way.... she's bloody amazing, she never-ever looks puffed or even slightly buggered and chats non stop the WHOLE way (which is a great diversion)... I swear she's the Bionic woman.

Tomorrow I've planned a Gwalia walk with JB. Time to rest the legs a bit from running. Generally I hate walking (why walk when u can run??) but sometimes the knees and shins need a break. Plus its always fun with a friend.

One more night to go. Ugh.

I can't wait to put my head on the pillow (which will be in precisely 3 hours and 20 minutes) its been a looong night. Clock-watching sucks.

Toss in a salad

I ate so much crap on night shift last night - that i felt ill by the time i got home into bed this morning.

REALITY CHECK... why are you busting your arse in the gym each day then eating chocolate and iced coffee like a freak???

I had a long chat to husband, confessing my eating sins (admitting to him that i frequently lie to him about what i eat and drink and that YES i do drink Iced coffee... every day)... its a bit like reverse anorexia isn't it? Instead of hiding the fact your not eating, i have my own crazy disorder that finds me lying about what i do eat. weird. Husband was pretty annoyed and disappointed in me, but said 'at least it makes a bit of sense now why you're not losing any weight when you work so hard in the gym' poor guy, i think he thought i had some severe metabolic disorder and despite all my best efforts i was unable to shed blubber.

Anyway, to cut a long long story short, i have devised a plan to take a bit of responsibility with my health. Its long overdue, i've needed a good kick up the arse for a while now. Here it is...

• I will no longer lie to husband about my food. (its actually a huge relief that i fessed up!)
• I no longer drink milk (since i seem to be obsessional about it)
• I will take more pride in myself... take the time to get ready for the day instead of slothing out in PJ's like a big lump.
• I need to realise that i am overweight, it won't go away unless I eat properly and no one else can do that for me!
• I must drink 2 litres of H20 daily.

So, lets see how i go.

* * * * * *

Husband made a humongous pot of Chook n vegie soup today. I'd forgotten about his winter soups... they are fab tasting and healthy. I bought some to work and ate it at midnight for 'dinner'. Sluuurrp...Peeerrfect. (hmmm, and to think for dinner last night i had Freckles and Iced coffee..WTF?? See what i mean about my 'disorder'??)

We gym'd again this arvo.... 3km run and X-trainer. puff puff.

* * * * * *

2 & 1/2 night shifts to go. who's counting?

Nightshift suits quokkas and nothing else

Jeezus this page is bright and a tad too cheery at 3am! I almost need sunnies.

Well here i am again on nightshift. Who's the idiot that does the rosters? (umm that would be me) ....yawn. Why is it that although i slept 8 solid hours today, my brain tells me its time to be snoozing now? Does it forget about the sleep i already had?

I went to the gym after waking at 4pm - husband and Lewie went too, but they played squash, so i had the gym all to myself which was a bonus. After my 50 minute workout i watched them play squash for a bit. They are lunatics on the squash court... running at a million miles an hour, diving for the ball, smashing into the walls. The competition between them is huge, they came out looking like dripping beetroots. It was quite entertaining to watch.

I got an early birthday card from my Dad today which was a great suprise. He's such a cute old bloke. He's up north working for a few weeks, and he sent me a separate card just from him (usually Mum does the birthday card/prez thing from both of them). He'd tucked a $50 note into a Miss Piggy birthday card, and written 'happy birthday for the 27th... hope you don't wind up with a sore head'.
Ha! Nice one father bear!

clutz in the gym

I went to the gym solo today. it seems i'm having a run of being 'stood up' by my gym dates (do i smell?!) Husband & i planned to go this morning at 8am, he was on a 10am shift & i had the day off. The alarm woke us at 7:30, so up we get with the best of intentions.
Then there was a knock at the door. someone came to find the police at our HOUSE because some dude was running a muck in town stealing things. Huh??? What happened to the idea of using a PHONE to call the Police??! Okay i admit at the moment we have a huge Police Car parked out the front of our house (which kind of screams 'Policeman lives here') but knocking on the door at 7:30am? WTF??
Anyway, off husband went to dutifully 'protect life and property'.... gym session cancelled.
Me? what did i do?
I did what any good wife would have done... i went back to bed. Zzzzz.

I did manage to drag myself to the gym this arvo at 2pm. Did a long run and some intervals on the x-trainer. (trying to build up my 'skiing legs' ... only 6 weeks to go till NZ!)
I was in the gym on my own - LUCKILY because when i was running on the treadmill, I accidentally swiped my iPod cord with my hand... knocking my iPod off so it fell onto the treadmill mat. In my fatigued-frenzied effort to avoid stepping on it (which wouldve equalled one very sick iPod) i came to within a millimeter of falling off the tready!! My god, it was like

'SPLAT...

hop...skip...stumble...squeal...stumble a bit more... (hit emergency STOP)

Fuuuuuccckk!!!'

Puff puff!
compose self
Pick up iPod
resume running like nothing ever happened.

And I have the balls to laugh at other people in the gym??! ha!

hot soak

I got myself up this morning to go to the gym at 5am with JB.
But she never showed... PIKER, she (apparently) set her alarm wrong. Me thinks it had something to do with the fact she has a warm cozy electric blanket that she raves about and that it was like minus 25 outside!!(well it felt like that)
So i tried to go back to bed.... which i did... but i couldn't sleep. So i got up and at 5am i had a bath. A nice warm 45 minute bath, it was deluxe!

I highly recommend it.

Ripleys believe it or not

Can you believe Sean just DIED in All Saints??? Huh?? where did that come from?? He was the only reason i watched.

Can you believe our computer is FIXED?

Can you believe they ACTUALLY sent a technician to outback Leo to FIX it???! Wow.

Can you believe I actually submitted my job application with 5 hours to spare? Wow again.

Can you believe I'm posting this?

dodgy computer

Crap shit crap crap crap.

Our wonderful spanker of a new computer is caput. Wow, it lasted a long time didn't it???!
We're not sure whats going on with it, it was working kinda fine... then started doing weird shit (which we partly blamed on Windows 'Vista' glitches) like freezing screens & not allowing some pages to load, then the bluetooth mouse & key board all of a sudden weren't being recognised by the computer... so Dell (who have been very helpful I must say - given we live in the middle of nowhere) sent us a new keyboard and mouse ASAP thinking that was the problem... but no, of COURSE it wasn't that simple. Husband has spent atleast 6 (yes SIX) HOURS on the phone talking through every kind of possible 'push this button then click on this while holding that..' scenario with the Dell computer helpline people (I'm not kidding... he's been on the phone 2 days solid) trying to sort it out. Fuuuuccckkk. It's still not sorted, so we had to hang our heads low, drag our old computer out from the spare room (I bet old computer is laughing at uncontrollably) and plug it all back in while we sit 'n wait for news on whats happening next. Apparently they're sending a technician out to have a look.... Do they know where the fuck we live??????!!!!
Husband is NOT impressed, so far he hasn't blamed me for wrecking it... although I'm waiting for his over-frustrated-mega-stressed brain to pop that comment out of his mouth. He's a tad dyscopic when things don't run smoothly, although I must fess even I'd be pulling my hair out after six hours on the phone trouble shooting with an 'english-is-my-second-language' stranger. aaarrgghh.

Oh well, ho hum, at the end of the day it is only a computer. We will survive without one for a while (and look we even have a 'spare'!) so grieving isn't required just yet.

* * * * * *

My lamb roast turned out awesome!! Yay for me. I took some great pics to share... but of course I can't post them because I'm back on 'old dodgy' computer that won't let me post pics.
Ahhh, the good ol' times.

sheep in the oven... baaaa!

4 nights down...and now for some days off. Yeehaar.

I've spent the last two nights doing my job application for the D.O.N position at the hospital. I said I'd never do it, and I must be mad to even apply, but heck 'what doesn't kill us makes us stronger' thats my motto and you can remind me of that (if by some remote chance i get the job) and am moaning ahout how crap it is in a few months time.

Its no great loss if i don't get it, I quite like doing what I do at the moment... but its all about feathers in hats!! Experience experience experience blaaaahh.

I've made the BIG decision to cook a lamb roast for dinner. Gee whiz whacky doo. Husband has cooked dinner for like the last million nights in a row, so i thought i'd give the big guy a rest. Oh and he has to work tonight and i've got the day off so i guess its kinda fair! I hate cooking. I'm a crap cook.. it's hard to be good at something when you dislike it and its hard to like something when your crap at it. Get it?
Anyway, a lamb roast is by no-means 'rocket science' so i shall give it a go.
Not that my rocket science theory is any insurance for a palatable dinner. Luckily husband is about the most NON-fussy eater in the whole world, he always pretends to like my attempts to produce edible goods. Once he said to me (which thinking about it now - it was really quite cute) "Umm Drea, maybe you should just stick to making your staple kind of dishes and leave the creative dishes to me" .... Haaaaaarrr! By 'staple' dishes he means the only things i ever cook that are reasonably safe - Apricot chicken, Chow Mein and Lasagne.

Anyway I'll be sure to take pictures because YES i can post PICTURES now .... yes YAY, not that I'm sure you havent noticed, or have noticed, but you should've noticed. Hmmm. Time for bed me thinks...brain sluggish from selection criteria addressing and 10 hours of night shift.

ZZZzzzzzz

Goodnight.

Freckles

Just for Melissa! Now that I've just spent 20 minutes trying to find a picture of them I am seriously craving some... Allens brand have the best Freckles ever... Surely you know what I'm talking about now?!
If you open the bag, put them in the microwave for 30 seconds, shake the bag around, return & nuke for a further 20 seconds they go semi-soggy and you can eat them out of the bag with a spoon. Delish.

* * * * * *

I'd just like to say a big (sarcastic!) THANK YOU to Debstar for this post on nicknaming
gym-folk. I went to the gym this afternoon and found myself attaching nicknames to everyone that walked in the door.

Firstly there were husbands 2 work buddies - although I know them well, i couldn't help but think of what other people might nickname them ... probably 'pretty boys' because they're young and body-beautiful and perhaps a bit snobby to others in the gym. Then a girl who should be known as 'Wonder Woman' because she's halved in size since she first came to town. She's a regular at the gym and is starting to look awesome. Lastly (but by no means least impressive) is 'Mr Sweaty'. Ugh. I've mentioned him before and haven't seen him for a while, but today he returned bigger & sweatier than ever. He gets on the treadmill, running at FULL incline at a kazillion miles an hour. Mr Sweaty never does things half arsed- he goes hard at it for the whole time....wearing nothing other than his shiny black bike pants and a sweat band on his head. Thats IT!! -NO shirt... NO TOWEL! Uuurrrkk. I can't relax when he's there - not because of the sweat flying from his wirey body in all directions.... no, it's because he looks like he's about to cark it any second. He pushes himself so god-damn hard its frightening. I spend the whole time having visions that he's going to go flying off the back of the treadmill & crack his sweaty noggin' open on the weights bench behind him. I tell you - Mr Sweaty is dicing with death. He runs precariously close to the back of the treadmill, one stuff up and it's all over. It scares the living bejesus out of me.

* * * * * *
I'm on nightshift and am on my 4th cup of coffee (hot... not Iced..boo). I'm supposed to be writing a job application but have zero enthusiasm.
Its my 2nd night and its going S-L-O-W-L-Y.
Y A W N ....
Last night i worked with JB which always makes the 10 hour shift go quicker because it's fun. We have a crossword 'challenge' whenever we do nights together (which is not that often these days..boo). It started off as a way of killing an hour, now its just pure competition. I'm pretty certain she's never beaten me yet. We get the big Crossword from the 'New Weekly-trashy mag' and photocopy it so we both have a copy. We usually start at 2am and have an hour to see who can get the most done. We'd built ourselves up for the challenge last night only to discover the hospital photocopier was broken. It was a tragedy! We had no way of both getting a copy of the crozzle... Disappointment PLUS!
Until we discovered our break-n-enter skills were pretty damn fine.
The GP's office in the same building has a small sliding glass panel thingy- like a 'welcome window' and through that window staring at us was a beautiful photocopier.
Well lets just say that JB managed to pry open the sliding glass thingy enough for me to climb up- n-through it so we could use their photocopier!! (I almost had to do the splits to fit through & it could've all gone horribly wrong!) BUT we managed to print off 2 copies and the crozzle comp was ON! (Phew!)

As usual I whipped her butt.

Blah blah

Just for T O A O... finally I got round to it!!


What was I doing 10 years ago?

Umm, 1997.
I'd split from my boyfriend..was miserable and about 15kg lighter than I am now!!

What was I doing one year ago?
I'm struggling to think of something exciting to say here. Sorry but same ol' same ol' i'm afraid to say. Living here in Leo, working and looking forward to my next holiday!

Five snacks I enjoy

1. IC (of course!)
2. Promite and egg sandwiches
3. Oats in any form... hot, cold, raw, cooked... Mmmmm
4. Freckles.... microwaved so they're soft
5. Carrots n Salsa

Five Songs to which I know all the lyrics

• 'Leavin... on a jet-plane' haa!
• Pretty much all the Wiggles tunes - (thats what you get for working in a kids hospital for 10 years)
• Madonna's 'La Isla Bonita' ... I loved that song in high school. I learnt all the words off by heart so I could sing along (I thought i was really cool!)
• Evanescence 'Broken' I just love that song at the moment... not sure why.
• Shakira 'Hips don't lie' - it's my 'get me moving' gym song!

Five things I would do if I were a millionaire (can I be a multi ?)

I'd buy a holiday home near a ski resort somewhere (1) and then I'd hire a hunky ski instructor (2) to give me lots of lessons whenever I wanted them.

I'd send my parents on an overseas holiday (3) and pay off my sisters house (4). Oh and I'd probably share some of my $$ with husband (5)!!

Five Bad habits

1. I sleep too much
2. I always make a huge mug of tea/coffee and only drink half of it
3. I am the queen of unfinished tasks.... lots of half-done things.
4. I procrastinate... always leave things till the last minute.
5. I'm terrible at caring for my expensive sunnies... I never put them in their case, I put them on the table face down, drop them... husband goes ballistic at me and I never seem to change despite my bestest efforts (honest!).

Five things I like doing...

1. Sleeping... snuggling in bed with my big fluffy blanket... Mmmmm
2. Playing with new gadgets- figuring out how to use them etc.
3. Relaxing with my folks in Walpole. It's the absolute in relaxation and 'comfort' being with Ma n Pa!
4. Playing in my art room... creating masterpieces!! (okay, that was a lie...it's more like creating more junk)
5. Motorbike riding through the scrub.

Gawd..are we done yet?? This seems to be going on forever......

Five things I would never wear again...

1. Body suits! My god, they are NOT made for people with long bodies. Those little push-stud thingy's can cause serious harm to girly bits.
2. A bikini (whale watch alert)
3. A school uniform...eww that starched blouse, pleated skirt and sandals. Yuk.
4. That A-frame white Nurses uniform that used to be standard for Nurses. Whoever invented that had tastebuds in their butts and had NO respect for the female figure whatsoever. (Not to mention the fact that they were WHITE... very see through and impossible to wash blood out of)
5. Wool. Yuk... bloody scratchy horrible stuff. Makes me shiver just thinking about it.

Five favourite toys...

My iPod, my olden day wind up metal toy duck (very cool), my eyelet setter, my Dymo printer tape thingy and my digital camera.

* * * * * *

Step AWAY from the camera!!

Okay, I know I've been going a bit beserk with the pic-posting... but hey, there is a lot of lost time to make up.

I've been so keen to capture some pics I even took my camera to the gym this morning (much to JB's disgust) ... but she got me back and snapped a pic of me on the treadmill.

Putting my earphones in ready to jog a mini marathon (??)

Faster JB... FASTER!!!

* * * * * *

Midget left on a jet-plane today... i've been singing that darn song in my head ALL day... 'I'm leeeeavin' on a jet plane.. don't know if I'll be back again..' I took her out to the airport, she's off on a 5 week European holiday... lucky thing. She'd better post plenty or I'll be leaving rude comments on her blog! Actually she didn't look overly excited, I wanted to smack her in the noggin and shout 'do you know what your about to do???!!' I think she was pre-occupied with deep thoughts and perhaps a bit nervous. Actually I'm sure its because she's going to miss us here sooo much that she was holding back the tears.

Maybe not.

Of COURSE I took my camera to the airport...

Thats her at the back in the beige coat... bye bye Tan.... have fun!

Red Nose Day Gonk

I bought him to support the cause. So ugly that he's cute!

Pics again!

Well I'm excited because we've got a new Computer! Yeehaar!

I'm not excited because its got a bigger screen or because our new printer scanner/copier thing is very groovy, or because I get to learn how to use Windows Vista... nooo, I'm excited because I can post pics on my blog again!! AWESOME! Picture-less posts is like wearing joggers without socks, having coffee without milk, eating toast without butter- just plain weird.

Husband and I have been up transferring data from old computer to new computer all night. So now i must be off to bed so i can rise early to gym with JB.

Just wanted to get one quick 'picture-post' in!

Nighty-night!

Talk back

Well what a big weekend here in downtown Leo.

I worked most of the weekend and feel like i missed out on all the action, but hey it's gotta be done. My Liver will be grateful at the lack of alcohol it was required to break down. Unlike many other Livers around town... geez there were a lot of hangovers and sorry souls in town.

I 'worked' for the Shire (thanks to JB) on Sunday morning, helping out with the runners registrations. It was the best so-called work i've ever done! It was Fun! We were out in the sunshine, in the middle of all the action. We got entertained by a crazy clown and Dorothy the Dinosaur, watched a few of the sprints, ate donuts, chatted to locals, ate hotdogs... it was tough going!

Next year I'll make sure i have the day off from the hospital so i can work for the Shire the whole day!

* * * * * *

I got up at 5am and gym'd with JB. I used the new fantastico-super-dooper treadmill. As a complete gadget lover i was almost overwhelmed by all the flashing lights and options. Heck the thing even has a TV on it! At the end of the day you get on... run your guts out... sweat all over it...run a bit more...then get off. TV or no TV it achieves what most treadmills do.

I came home, showered and went back to bed. Zzzzzzzzzzz

I sleep far too much.

* * * * * *

Random comment for today...

I hate Talk-back radio.

It makes me feel so darn uncomfortable, i know it shouldn't... but it does.

I spend the whole time feeling sorry for the callers who are sounding like complete twats... usually old folk (who I'm sure use it as their only chance to speak to someone in the week) they speak slowly, misinterpret what the announcer has asked, miss their cue to begin talking ....
"on the line next we have Joan from naggsville"
"Good morning Joan"
(silence)
"Hello Joan??... "
(longer silence)
"Are you there Joan? "
(Joan finally acknowledges) ... 'oh, um good morning, am i on? hello? testing testi..
"Yes Joan we can hear you..."

Then the announcer/s spend the whole time hurrying callers up, cutting them off and getting stuck in awkward situations when Beryl-from-Bundenberg starts prattling off about her grandchildren... (which has absolutely nothing to do with the topic) and they're trying to get a word in to tell her to shut up!!

Awww, it just puts me on edge the whole time. Husband loves it... especially when it's footy related, and especially when we're travelling in the car... he says it 'gives him something to do'.

I say 'thank god for my iPod'.

big weekend

I love the show Will & Grace and luckily for me it's on Foxtel pretty much all the time. I don't care if I've seen the episode three times already... i still laugh. I think it should be called 'Jack & Karen' though... since they are what makes the show... bloody funny, Jack is a scream.

* * * * * *

Its the big annual weekend here in town... lots of things happening. We have running races
('The Mile') that attracts pro-sprinters to compete, horse races and a Country & Western street concert (yeee-haar!). I had an extra nurse rostered on the evening shift at the hospital because we have like a gazillion extra folk in town and guess how many patients we saw this arvo??

ZERO!!

Yep zilcho! Typical! Oh well, I guess thats good... just hope night shift don't get a mass of drunken souls.

* * * * * *

I went and watched the Cycle challenge this morning.
Lots of professional cyclists.. also lots of little school kids on bikes that seemed taller than them (very cute!). I really went to cheer on JB... who had partnered up with Tracey to do the 50km ride. There were no female 'local' entrants, so they decided yesterday afternoon that they would do it, they borrowed a Mountain bike and signed up this morning !!! (nothing like a last minute spare of the moment decision!) My god, i thought they were nuts, but they did really well. They found the 25km each easy...and scored themselves $250 prize money! Gooo girls!

I don't think they'll be able to walk for a week, but at least they have a medal to show for it.

A chocolate egg

I went to the gym at 5am with JB but i did nothing! After a pathetic 5 minute bike ride warm-up, I crawled onto the exercise mat on the floor... and stayed there. I seriously tried to find an ounce of enthusiasm in my big lump of a body, but it didn't happen. JB said I'm sacked as a gym buddy. I then spent the whole 8 hours of my morning shift at work praying everyone would piss off so I could hide and snooze... but it didn't happen and it seems the whole freakin town decided they needed to see a nurse this morning. Ugh. It was a loooong shift. I came home, plonked myself on the lounge and fell asleep in 10 seconds flat. Zzzzzzzz

Now I feel fantastic!! Never ever ever underestimate the power of a quality nanna-nap.

* * * * * *

Husband rang me at work this morning and i obviously sounded like a whiny-pain-in-the-arse neurotic wife who was at risk of throwing herself in front of the next oncoming road train... because - he then came up to the hospital to visit & make sure I was okay.
He came & found me, gave me a hug, then pulled a Kinder surprise egg out of his pocket and gave it to me!! Awesome... I love love love Kinders', they have chocolate AND a trinket (what am i... like 3 years old??!). Sometimes he just knows how to cheer me up, it made me feel all warm n fuzzy

Gawd I'm high maintenance!!

Bahh... everyone has their crazy days, at least mine was cured with a Kinder and a snooze.
Easy!

shoes on the chair

Husband often has a dig at me for random things i do that seem to piss him off... always 'dumping' my sports bag on the bench, forgetting to close the back door after letting the dogs in/out, leaving the coffee machine on... trivial pathetic things really- that just seem to irritate the shit out of him! Anyway, I'm a pretty laid back person so always shrug it off and go yeah whatever...sorry, I'll close the door or put my bag away... no big deal, he does things that annoy me too, I just usually think it's not worth nagging about so don't often mention it.

Until yesterday.

Husband often puts his shoes on the dining chairs after taking them off.
Its weird... and quite annoying when you go to sit at the table, pull the chair out and plonk your butt down on a pair of ugg boots or joggers. Yesterday it got to me because no less than THREE pairs of his shoes were taking up seats at our dining table!
PUT THEM AWAY i say!! We have a perfectly good bedroom with a wardrobe specially for your shoes... they're not hungry, they don't need to sit at the table.
"I change my shoes all the time and it's better than leaving them on the floor for the dogs to chew" is his response.
I huff and groan, collecting his shoes then dumping them on the floor in the bedroom in protest... all the time moaning about 'the dogs never ever chewing shoes before, why would they start now?' ...blah blah.

Hmmmph

Tonight I'm cooking dinner and husband comes home from work to find monster-dog Murphy chomping on his favourite pair of Reef sandal thingy's.

SHIT!!!

How on earth did Murphy get them??
Maybe because I put them on the floor instead of the dining chair safe-haven??
Crap-shit-crap-shit.

Not a happy husband. Shoes are wrecked.... munched to a mere pulp of their rubbery selves.
I never really liked the shoes anyway... I used to call them his 'special sandals'

Unfortunately husband loved them.

oops.

Tagged...7 Things

Cherub tagged me...

Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

7 Things about me...

1. My arms are abnormally long. My arm span is about 15cm more than my height... which is weird. I can almost knuckle-walk like a chimp!

2. When i was 18 months old my brother sat on me in the bath and i drowned. My Ma found me blue and pulseless but resuscitated me. Good thing Ma is a nurse.

3. I hate the chunky bits in Orange juice... they make me gag.

4. Sometimes when i shower i love to sit on the floor with the hot water unning over me. Its relaxing and much easier to shave your legs when sitting!

5. I only have one Ovary... the other one exploded! Nasty.

6. I once entered an Easter colouring-in competition and won a huge basket of easter eggs. My older sister had coloured in the pic for me. I've always felt bad about that. The eggs were yummy tho.

7. I like to microwave sandwiches/rolls before i eat them. I hate a cold sandwich, plus the mild 'steam' effect it creates makes the sandwich taste fresh to me! Much nicer...try it!

I'm tagging:

JB
Midget
Kerry
Stubby
Melissa
Debstar

(......sorry guys!)