When you coming home, son? I don't know when...

Here's an email that I received today. It's food for thought!


George Carlin's Views on Aging

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

'How old are you?' 'I'm four and a half!' You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

'How old are you?' 'I'm gonna be 16!' You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life . . You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80's and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30 ; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; 'I Was JUST 92.'

Then a strange thing hap pens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. 'I'm 100 and a half!'
May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay 'them.'

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.' And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10.Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away.

It's Good News Week.....

Hi Bloggers!

Another week has gone past, so I'll keep it as short as possible: point form will do.

• Saturday; Football, work in the evening. Work were so desperate that they called the local hospital and organised a car for me to borrow as I had no car to get to work....

• Sunday; Newie to see barely-hobbling Mother in Law. The difference between private health care provision and care in the public hospital? Hydro-therapy mornings, physiotherapy afternoon, calcium and vitamin/mineral supplements as part of the daily menu in the private hospital. The public hospital provides a physio for 15-20minutes every second day, at least.... supplements are only available on prescription. Damn those budget constraints.... Sharon died.

• Monday; home. Unpacking, sorting. Worked on essays due when I go back to TAFE. Nothing like a little performance under pressure....

• Tuesday; Work, football training, shopping. Dinner, unpacking, essays.

• Wednesday; Work, Sharon's funeral. It was a huge gathering; the church was overflowing, and it was freezing. As I said to Shane outside afterwards: I think that your wifey took all of the warmth with her... Food and drinks at the Workers Club afterwards. The boys came to the service, but not the club. Their comment: It was very different to Nan's funeral.. quite religious... It must be hard for them to grasp all the religious rituals: we have been very remiss in their religious education..... And a bit confusing that their heathen parents know the words to the hymns and prayers... rote learning works well, eh...

• Thursday; See Tuesday. Finished 2 essays. One more to do. And a medications assessment.

• Friday; Work. Dinner with friends across the road. I love going there. Gay is a fab cook, and the company is just fine.

• Saturday; Footie at Toronto West. We lost. Last game for the year. HOORAY!!! I found out that there will be an appointment for 4 of our players & 5 of the Raymond terrace players with the junior Rugby League judiciary as a result of the mellee from the previous weekend when Nick's eye socket was fractured... in 3 places.... Nicks' parents and our club brought the event to the attention of the junior NRL: The referree never even reported the fight.... My lovely brother bought GG out for us... Thanks Bro.... Saturday night in front of the TV, and sorting and unpacking... old photos and kids artwork, cards, old schoolbooks... such wonderful time wasters: and it's heartbreaking to throw stuff out... but I have been STRONG... I LOVE that movie "Shawn of the Dead.." heheheheheh

• Sunday; G'day! Freezing, freezing, freezing......... Washing, essay, tidying, yadda, essay, yadda, yadda, try to stay away from blogger, Myspace and Facebook....

Here's something amazing......

I FINISH MY CLINICAL PLACEMENT THIS FRIDAY, AND RETURN TO TAFE IN BELMONT!!

HELP!!!!

There is hardly anything filled out in my clinical skills book.. It's not that I'm not skilled, mind you, but it's just been too busy for the poor nurses to sign anything off....... They have enough paperwork to do, believe me.

OOHHH... has anybody else seen "The Men on a Mission" calendar?? Those gorgeous young Mormon men... it's enough to make me consider looking at my religion........ The poor guys are under threat of ex-communication... all they are doing is putting their church out there, and promoting tolerance and acceptance...... The photographer has already been ex-communicated. These guys ahve all spent a lot of their time as missionaries in 3rd world countries, for pete's sake.... Actually, you can buy the calender through Calender Club.........

Time to get on with it. The young-un's are starting to rouse...... there goes my computer time....

Have nice day!

;0)

Each restless heart beats so imperfectly....

Evening All.

Tonight I am sad.

My friend, Sharon, that I have mentioned in my blog, passed away this morning. Her lovely hubby phoned this evening shortly after we arrived home from Newcastle, and given that we hadn't spoken for a while, I knew immediately why he was calling.

It's been coming for a long time. But you're never really ready, are you?

I am sad for Shane & his children; for the chasm that is now left in their lives. For the life that they must now re-build together, whilst trying to cope with their loss. Teenagers can be difficult at any time, but they have all been trying to manage and juggle things for quite a few years now. I am sad for all the families & friends that have been left behind. I am also sad that it is in the realisation of her passing, that the true measure of the woman that Sharon was, will be come apparent.

I am not sad that the suffering that Sharon has endured is finally over.

I am humbled by her grace and dignity; her sense of humour and it's pragmatic blackness.

I am awed by her strength. And Shane's devotion and love for his wife. His soulmate (I don't use that term easily. This time, it fits). Amazing. Beautiful.

And lastly, I am honoured that Shane took the time the call us tonight himself. He could have asked someone else to contact us, but the didn't. Thanks mate. I asked him was there anything we could do for him. His reply? He's probably going to need someone to have a cold beer with at sometime.

It will be a pleasure, mate.



I love this song.....

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

There is no life - no life without its hunger;
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly;
But when you come and I am filled with wonder,
Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

Goodnight Everyone. xoxoxoxo

Supercalafragilisticexpialidocious....

Hi Guys!

I've just realised it's a week since my last post. As usual, everything, yet nothing has happened. Beloved's Mum is on the road to recovery, albeit very slowly. She is in a lot of pain, but is trying to keep moving. His Dad was supposed to have been coming up to visit yesterday, his 81st birthday, but he wasn't well enough to make the trip. We're having a family day in Newie with them tomorrow anyway, so it's ok.

We've finally moved into the house! We still have architraves to paint (insides of cupboards too), as well as waiting for plumber #1 to finish the vanity plumbing in the bathroom & plumber #2 to hook up the gas for the hot water. We have no heating yet either, as we're waiting for the leco to come to install the air con.... brrrrr..... But it looks really good. As soon I can get some batteries for the camera, I'll post some photos so I can bore you with them.

I had an ADO yesterday: it was lovely to be at home, as Beloved took one too. Today he was called into work, Sboy worked at KFC, and I was called in to work as well. It was a nasty game of footie for Vegeboy today, with one of his teamates ending up being taken to the John Hunter Hospital. One of the opposing team players came out of a tackle swinging, which resulted in a melee of the medium variety. Poor Nick was trying to break things up when he was king-hit in the face: a fractured eye socket for his trouble......... The boy with the swinging arm wasn't even spoken too....

As well as visiting the in-laws tomorrow, we're bringing home Dad's 1974 passat, now un-registered, as he's given it to us to use... once we register it. So.... Passat rego: June 26, Sboy's old ute rego: July 9, GG's laser rego: July 9, family wagon: August 28... HOW DID THIS HAPPEN??????? I would like to put off registering the passat as long as possible, but Dad will have a sack of kittens if we don't register it... like yesterday.... He's already stressed about the fact that we're driving it home and it's un-registered, paranoid that it's illegal and what might happen if we have an accident. This morning, I had to organise insurance for it...... I wonder how long it will survive the miles that we do up here?????

Oh well.... Off to bed. Sboy has arrived home from his jaunt all over the Upper Hunter at m request. I figure that at 10 past 1 in the morning, it's time for bed.

Goodnight. xoxoxo

It's an epic.. as usual....

My, oh my it's cold up here in Wattle Grove this morning.

I'm here in trackie-dacks, 2 of my jumpers, 1 of Beloved's jumpers with his jacket with the collar pulled up over my ears over the top of everything, a cap, socks and Beloved's slippers (I don't own any..Mothers Day, how you have failed me!!!) and a doona wrapped around me while I am sitting in front of the computer. If he was here right now, I'm sure George Clooney would jump my bones in an instant.... if he could find them under all the layers of clothing and my walrus-like layer of winter padding (read that as fat...).

How do eskimoes do it? Yet surely they must... because there are numerous little eskimoes..... sorry: inuit peoples.....

I'm up nice and early as Scorpaboy has driven off the Newcastle to catch a train to Sydney with a group of friends to attend the "Hardcore" gig at the Roundhouse at the Uni of NSW. Crikey it's hard to let your apron strings stretch so far....... but you have to. He won't be home until "Sunday..... sometime, Mum...." . He's only 17, my baby, had his licence for what seems like days and he's gone off with all those teenstrangers, to such a dangerous place...... trust in him...ok, I can deal with that. But others and their actions: that's not so easy. But he is spreading his wings, and they are stretching far beyond Wattle Grove.

Yesterday was interesting, even by the usually chaotic Blogmuggle standards. I returned to work yesterday after 2 days on sick leave, and as usual for winter, it's absolutely flat chat. Lots of sick people in hospital this time of year. By lunch time, I was asked to work the evening shift as well.. A doubler...... So I left home at 5.50am and returned home at 11.40pm... I've come the conclusion that for a trainee, I am useful after all. And people refer to me as "Nurse"...... This makes me feel good.....
Beloved was at home after being called into work again at 9 the night before and returned home at about 4.30am... The boys were at home; Scorpaboy had to be at KFC to work at 5 yesterday evening. My brother was using our place as the half-way meeting point with his inlaws to hand over his children for the week, and the electrician was returning to complete the electrical work. All should have been straight forward, and my doubler do-able until............
Beloved was called into work at 11.30am.
And then he received a call from his sister in Newcastle informing him that his mum had
"had a fall and broken her leg." Panic-stations for Beloved..... He must have been painting when he received the call: at 1am this morning, I found the paint tin open and the (now dried) paint-laden brush sitting next to it. So he called me... I had no phone battery as the new phone sucks and doesn't give me any low-battery warnings, and doesn't hold charge all that long..... so I am blissfully unaware of any of this until I phone Beloved at about 1.30pm to tell him of my overtime windfall: His brother answered the phone, and tells me that they are on-route to the hospital....... Poor Beloved had to leave me a message on Message Bank..... so sorry, Beloved...
So it was phone the boys at home and tell them to organise their own dinner; Scorpaboy had no way of getting to work as Beloved and I had a car each, so then I was on the phone KFC to explain the situation (they were lovely about it). That's the problem with working 60ks from home.......
The end result: my beautiful Mother-in-law, who is THE most wonderful Mother-in-law EVER, and her Beloved had gone shopping at a shop for mobility aids, when she tripped on something on the floor (oh.. the irony in that...), and fractured the neck of her femur: that's the spot where the top of the thigh bone fits into the hip. It's a particularly nasty break at the best of times, and hers is a spiral break, which is even more severe. I nursed 2 of these yesterday... not nice: very, very painful. Last night, as she was waitnig to be placed in traction prior to surgery this morning, Beloved commented that "Mum was much more comfortable, and very chatty...." You've gotta love morphine and all the accompanying drugs...... She is usually a relatively reserved woman; the very epitome of a lady.... I want to be like her when I grow up.......
It is a blessing that Vegeboys' team forfeited their rugby league game today, or we would have had to found a way to be in Kotara at 9 this morning. With Scorpaboy's excursion, I am now housebound... I can't go to work if they call me.... can't shop.... no food......isolated....help.... nah, it's all good. A couple of slow days will be good.
Beloved stayed in Newie with his bro and his 80yrold Dad, and all going well, they'll be home this afternoon. Beloved's family were all meeting at our house next weekend to celebrate his Dad's 81st birthday and to ooh and ahh over our marvelous renovations.... so the pressure is off there to have it all finished and be moved in this weekend. Which is a good thing as the electrician didn't turn up yesterday. And the gas bottles were delivered yesterday for the hot water service: they weren't supposed to be delivered until next week in the hope that the plumber, who was supposed to plumb it all up LAST Friday may have turned up to do the job....... grrrrrr. $182.00 for gas.... I'm glad I worked a doubler.....

*snort* My father rang me on Thursday night to complain that Scorpaboy had taken home a pair of his socks after he stayed with him last weekend... to be fair, they were his only woolly black ones...... socks; OMG DAD! I'LL BUY YOU SOME NEW ONES!!!!!.. He complained to my brother about it too...*snort again*

Yep. It's a chaotic life. But it's mine. And I love it.

A few less than happy things;

A beautful friend of mine passed away and I didn't even know it. Helena was my neighbour when we 1st moved to Muswellbrook. She and her girls helped me out enormously. As the years have passed, we all move on with our lives. Beloved saw her a few weeks ago, and she was to have heart surgery shortly afterwards. Evidently, she didn't make it. I only found out when the legal notice in regard to her will was in the paper last week. Her funeral must have been private and fast. Her girls must be absolutely devasted ........ I'm not sure how to contact them: One daughter was living in Canberra and the other one in the UK, although they may both still be around at the moment. I think that I will contact her brother-in-law; Bas will fill me in. Helena was the epitome of the great Aussie battler who give you the shirt off her back, and was so proud of her girls.... so sad........

And my friend, Sharon, who I have talked about before, is back in residence at the Hospice at the Mater hospital at Waratah. The doctors cannot understand why she is still here.... Because she is Sharon. That is why. She said to her husband the other day that she had better hurry up and die, as his long service leave is going to run out soon..... Oh, she is dry. And so stubborn. And more special than she knows. Sharon's favourite place is the 100acre piece of heaven that the family bought before she became sick; they have been living there in caravans for the past few years. If I could do anything for her, it would be to enable her to die there....... I would ask you to pray for a peaceful and calm end when it is time, please.... And then, everyone can breathe again.

If you've had to go through something such as this journey, then you will understand my last statement. But that's a blog for a whole other time.

Can you believe it? I've been sitting here for almost 3hrs, in between phone calls.. I need some breakfast..

I really must blog more often.......... but there never seems anything to say.....

Off you go, and rub your numb bums..... Have a good weekend!

Love, Bloggie xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

You're everywhere and nowhere, baby......

Lots of everything, and yet nothing in the blogmuggle world. Life is busy, as usual.

Work is full-on, but I'm enjoying it enormously. So far, nothing has ocurred that has put me out of my comfort zone. My only problem is the early start: my day begins at 5am, which wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that my sleep patterns have me still awake at midnight. Beloved and I are barely sharing the marriage bed due to his generous capacity for snoring and my inability to cope with it. Just breathing loudly can prevent my dropping into slumberland...... and yet, I can fall asleep infront of the tv at the drop of a hat. Maybe we need a tv in the bedroom.....

The offshoot of my sleep deprivation is another dose of the flu, so I am off work AGAIN. I'm only taking 2 days this time, so it's back to work tomorrow.

We are almost in the house. All the major painting is done, and we have just the skirting boards, architraves, insides of the cupboards and a couple of doors to do... and OMG it's slow. The electrician is here to finish off the wiring today, and the plumber was supposed to be here last Friday to plumb in the gas hot water service. Whether or not he's done, we're moving in this weekend (as long as we've finished the painting).... The air conditioner will be installed next week, so there's a few cool nights coming up.

MY GOODNESS IT'S COLD!!!!!!!!!!!

Scorpaboy is enjoying having his licence, and is constantly out in "his" car, which was registered for the year yestersday...... GG is now car-free, as I drove her car home from Newie last Sunday as it is due for registration... like.... yesterday, as well. HOW DID WE END UP WITH 2 CARS DUE ON THE SAME DAY!!!!!!! Duh...... Anyway, she's only working 1 day a week at Golo, so she doesn't really need it. Buses are readily available to get her where she needs to be. Her job at Broadmeadow McDonalds hasn't eventuated as yet, and she's not very adept at being pro-active in this department. I'd be phoning them every other day..... It's almost impossible to live on 8hrs of wages every week. It certainly doesn't buy much in the way of food and clothing. She now drinks very cheap wine (goon) and smokes roll-your-own cigarettes. Deperate times call for desperate measures, I suppose, and she refuses to give either up. It's sad that she already has these addictions in place at the tender age of 19........ But then again, so do most of her friends..... They all have "Issues....". It confounds me somewhat, as this is the generation that has really been given everything, with extremely indulgent parents that have worked hard to ensure that this happens, and yet, they are also the most unsettled, immature (even though they are more "world-wise"), and unhappy, regardless of the fact that they are more "educated". More "lost" than most of my generation. Roles and the place of the individual in the world seems to have become very blurred. Or the expectations are unrealistic, maybe. I don't know. The government gives them all the rights of an adult..... except to be able to paid as one if they are a student or a part-time worker. This responsibility is passed back onto the parent, who is expected to support their "young adult" until such times as they are able to support themselves, or they are 25.... I'm not sure what happens if they are students beyond the age of 25......... As a parent who is "too well off" for their young adult to qualify for any government payment, I find that our finances are stretched to breaking point constantly. Last week, I signed off on a centrelink form that stated that we were a family in crisis, and that GG could no longer live with us. I have resisted this for over a year. She's supposed to get a third party to fill out the questionnaire, and sign off on it, but I've left that to her. It is true, up to a point. She could come home, but flatly refuses to. She likes the Newie lifestyle (read social-life and party-time here) and wants to be "independent". Instead, she spends most of her nights on the lounges and floors of varying friends around Newie. Her situation at Nanandpop's home with just Dad is not good. All he does when she is around is nag her (She is a "failure and drop-out", and he says that he has to "Teach" her; he's missed the boat there, I'm afraid), and without Mum there to run interference, GG just runs away........ I don't want her in this environment, but until she does something about securing more work, there's not much anyone can do. It's up to her. Independence is a bitch. Consequently, she is more attatched to her "friends" than her family..........

Well, that was a rant. So endeth the pity party..........

Well, the electrician has just called off the job in response to the weather...... gale-force winds and sleet are a bit off-putting.......

And I've an essay or 2 that I need to work on... and sleep is rather high on my list of priorities...

So the Blogmuggle is off!

Have something yummy and hot today... and stay warm!

He's driving in my my car.... & turns on the radio....

Yes, him!!!!

LOOK OUT WORLD!!

SCORPA BOY PASSED HIS DRIVING TEST TODAY ON HIS 1ST ATTEMPT!!!!
And in his luxurious 1984 model, rattling, rusty, beige toyota hilux, with a manual gearbox......

Clever boy.


Is waiting for him to drive down the driveway really going to be any easier than driving in to pick him up from work at 11pm??????


I don't think so..................


help..........

Now I'll never have a car when I need one.

eeewwww