Things that make you…

Posted on October 3, 2008
Filed Under Australia - The land down under, Irony Anyone?, Japan, A "How-to" tutorial of insanity, Things that give me inspiration | Leave a Comment

Cry

Working on a project with seemingly insurmountable work to be done.
Getting a photo of your friends baby in her “big girl bed” and realizing how long it’s been since your teenage daughter was a baby.
Looking for change in your purse for a bottle of water (when dying of thirst) and finding…. lint
How slowly the clock seems to move on a friday afternoon

Smile

Meeting what you thought was an impossible deadline for your project and getting a pat on the back from your boss.
Searching for, and finding, the very same photo of your own baby in her first “big girl bed”
Remembering how clever you are to have left change in your desk at work for emergency water bottles.
Realizing that since you came into work early, you get to go home in an hour instead of three.

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The “C” word

Posted on August 15, 2008
Filed Under Australia - The land down under, Irony Anyone?, Breaking news, A "How-to" tutorial of insanity | 3 Comments

Recently, we had a bit of a cancer scare at home. And by “a bit of” I mean full blown panic. A large portion of my family has been lost to cancer of one kind or another so I can be a bit paranoid at the slightest change in a mole or freckle much less the dreaded word tumour.

My father passed away from a melanoma on his cheek, a gruelling and terrible thing to witness, so when my husband had a bump in his nose checked out and the doctor as much as blurted “Cancer!” I went into full meltdown mode…

Upon recovery, we made plans to see a specialist and have the offending “bump” removed. It turned out to be a full blown surgery that had Brian in the hospital all day and rather groggy that night. Thankfully, the pressure that had preceded the operation has eased instantly, leaving him feeling a bit better.

From there, it was simply the waiting game. Wait for pathology to check it out, wait for another appointment with the specialist. Wait, wait, wait…

I hate waiting in the queue at the bank, this nearly did me in!

Finally, we managed an appointment after the results had come in. The verdict was…non-cancerous tumour.

There is, however a 30% - 40% chance of it growing back and there is no guarentee that it won’t be cancerous next time, so Brian is meant to go back to the doctor shortly for a post op exam and then every 3 - 6 months for follow-ups to make sure there is no re-growth.

It’s certainly not something I’d ever wanted to have to go through with my husband, and I think I uderstand a little more how my mother felt when my dad went in to have a “little bump” checked.

Somehow, knowing that there is always going to be the possibility of disaster is more real now. You don’t think about getting hit by a bus everyday of your life, but a near-miss will make you look both ways…twice.

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Procrastination,… I’ll tell you about it later

Posted on December 11, 2007
Filed Under Australia - The land down under, Irony Anyone? | 8 Comments

Ok, so I’ll tell you about it now.

I’ve not written a post in some time as you may well have noticed. This was my attempt (obviously in vain) to leave my Japan post in the top spot as long as possible so as to attract some comments.

Though I did get one comment, my efforts in getting advice on Japan in my blog were, evidently, fruitless. I did however, get an email from a friend who has a friend who’s sister lives there… or something like that. LOL In any case, I have a contact in Japan now which I am very grateful for. (Thanks, Gillian!)

Speaking of travelling, I’ve just found out that I have a distant relation (we have an aunt in common) who is travelling around the world for a year and just happens to be in Australia at the moment. She also happens to be blogging the experience here.

Said aunt alerted me to this and I promptly read her blog - tres amusant - and offered a BBQ dinner if she made it to Western Australia during her time in Oz. Perhaps I should have offered her a poutine?

Mmmmmmmmmmmm poutine *drool drool*
I realize those of you not from Quebec will be a little puzzled by that last comment and I will explain it….

…later.

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Rest assured it was only a rash

Posted on October 27, 2007
Filed Under Australia - The land down under, Irony Anyone? | 1 Comment

An unlikely title, I know. Lately there has been a rash of birthdays, work events, school events and unfortunately as actual rash to deal with.

My BIL Garry, Connor and a family friend Claire all have their birthday one after the other making for a pretty busy week in terms of shopping for cards and presents, dinners, breakfasts, visits and phone calls.

Chloe graduates from high school this year and there have been exams, social event and graduation assemblies to attend. As a parental figure, the thought of Chloe graduating fills me with anxiety, nostalgia and pride for her and in her, so of course we’ve attended all events.
My work has had several work, and social events in the past few weeks, meaning that free time after work has been about nil. I stumble in, exhausted and can’t even bring myself to THINK about doing anything other than switching off.
On top of all that, I’ve been sick as a dog (a well deserved cold after I so blithely commented to a friend in Canada that her family always seemed to be sick and that we suffered very little here in Australia.) Chelsea, sadly, suffered the same cold.

As for the rash, Connor tripped over into a bottle-brush tree and stood up covered in fire ants. (My mind is screaming in horror over this one!) Before he could get all the nasty little buggers off of him, they managed to do quite a bit of damage. Several nights of crying and sleeplessness ensued with me making a rash creme from baking soda and applying gently a couple of times a day and night.

So, dear readers, I assure you. I have not forgotten you nor have I lost interest in regaling the anonymous public with my families tales of comedy and woe. I’ve just simply been busy enough to make the thought of sitting at the computer and using my brain one second longer than absolutely necessary, extremely daunting.

Hope all is forgiven!!

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Why do cars hate me?

Posted on August 22, 2007
Filed Under Australia - The land down under, Irony Anyone? | Leave a Comment

On the way to work this morning, I noticed a little smoke coming out of my bonnet and quickly checked the temperature gauge. The car was a hairsbreadth away from overheating so I pulled over to the side of the freeway before any major damage could happen.

I called Brian who fought the morning traffic to come to my rescue. From his initial examination, he deduced that one of the hoses had burst.

After having fixed it and replacing the water in the radiator which had steamed away,burst out or otherwise disappeared, we attempted to start the car again. It was still running a little hot but not in the red zone any more.

I pulled back onto the freeway and proceeded one more exit and it began overheating again. Once again, I pulled off, this time onto an exit so I could get away from the traffic and park the car. Brian then had another look in the engine.

I had a look around at the scenery and played with the sepia setting on my camera.
Brian figured out what the problem was but was unable to fix it right there.He’d drop me off at work and I offered to take the train home.

What IS it with me and cars? They always seem to break down, blow a hose or otherwise roll over and die while I’m driving them! The one thing I’m thankful for is that it wasn’t Chloe driving when it happened. She might not have known what to do and kept driving until it quit and some real damage was done. As it is, the radiator needs fixing and the temperature gauge needs adjusting. Not huge but still, an expense we were not anticipating and therefore annoying.

I can’t wait to be driving a brand spanking new car with (hopefully) no defects!

The culprit hose…