In a world of my own....

Morning All! I'm getting on the "point form" bandwagon:

Life is good. All the usual stuff (hiccups/dramas) in the Blogmuggle life.

• Beloved is working too hard. He had a good day with his Mum on Sunday (his only day off) cleaning her ceiling fans & light fittings. He's going with his brother on a "blokes weekend" to Oran park in December, though. He wants us to finish the hallway & hang all the photos so that it's nice when his Mum & sister come up the Sunday before Christmas. I'm not sure we'll have time....
  

• GG has been working at the petrol station, & spending as much time away from home as possible. This has been compromised at the present time as she is struggling with an abscess in an area that some may have experience with. She is very excited that she now has tickets to both Homebake and Soundwave.

• SBoy had his Yr 12 formal on Thursday night. He looked very shmick in his suit, as did all the other young men & the girls all looked lovely, as usual. I can't find any photos of the formal.... nobody seems to have put any up on Myspace. Maybe these kids have a life or something .... I wish that more attention would be paid to appropriate underwear... quite a few frocks looked less "dressy" due to a lack of attention to suitable underwear! He was only in attendance long enough to be awarded his portfolio & commemorative glass, then he hopped into his car & drove to Sydney so that he could fly out to Perth early Friday morning. He's been riding in a Freestyle trials exhibition at a "burnout/car/rev-head" fest at Narrogin. He probably won't be home for Christmas as the team will probably head off to Jakarta for 3 weeks or so of exhibition work at a theme park.... I guess there's no chance of him ever making a crust & having fun on his motobike is there???? ... *snort* The owner covers all his expenses, and pays Sboy as well.....
  

My Dad says that Sboy should get his head down & get a trade first, then do "all this riding stuff..." . The way I see it, Sboy is only 17, really doesn't have too much interest in a trade at this point (& vice versa), and will have an aging body that won't allow him to do this sort of riding for any real length of time. You only live once. He's learning some valuable life lessons along the way as well. And as for the political unrest in Asia? Well, there's not too much I can do about that. We let our kids out loose on the roads in their cars & hang on the streets & and that's pretty dangerous too.

• Vboy has become very mature. Actually, he's spent way to much time amusing himself of late. Beloved & I went to a works Dinner on Saturday night, & we had to leave Vboy at home with a mate. The pair of them ended up at another mate's place watching the "Scary Movie" series. He's the original latch-key kid these days. He gets himself up & readies himself for school, including making his own lunch. He's usually the first one home of an afternoon as well. I often feel a bit superfluous around here these days, but then I look at the mounds of washing, the messy house & the empty fridge & pantry, & I am reassured that I have a place in this family....... Vboy still loves to cuddle his mum, as well. And he always needs money for something.

• Me???? I love my job. I am a little concerned that I have to look for a new contract come May next year, but there's going to be plenty to occupy me between now & then. I believe that this traineeship was given to me for a reason, & that nursing is where I am meant to be. My back has improved, but it will take a while to resolve the inflammation that is present. I'll probably always have problems with it, so my work practices will have to reflect this. Maybe I'll need to come & work with Twist with the little tiny patients.....
  

I spent Sunday with my Dad & an old family friend going through loads of old photos. "Aunty Dawdley" is such a character! She's one's one of life's real survivors; it's been a hard existence for her for sure, but she has a robust sense of humour & a remarkable outlook . She even discussed her funeral plans, which to me is incredibly important. I wish people were less afraid to discuss this sort of stuff: every other celebration in life is planned to the tiniest detail, but this greatest celebration of all is often left in the hands of grief-stricken & sorrowful people who are often unable to think straight. And it is really hard to think straight, believe me. Another old aunt decided to share her "after-passing" plans with me recently. I asked had she told any of her 5 (adult) children, one of whom was in the room with us. She said "no, she was telling me, so that it was done right..." I hope that I am around to honour her wishes. I asked to her write it all down, put it somewhere safe, and tell a few of the kids where she'd put it. I also asked her son (the poor man had buried his wife 6 weeks earlier) whether or not he had been listening, & he assured me that he had... thank goodness.....

Over last year, I have had a lot of exposure to the experience of death & dying, on both a work & personal level. I have developed a great respect for it all. It is an eventual reality for us all, isn't it. It is a hell of a lot less traumatic when the person is old, but still sad. I am quite comfotable with caring for the dying these days, & think that it is a priviledge to care for someone who is approaching the end of their days. Once the family/carers have accepted the fact that their loved one is dying, the most common comment seems to be; "we wouldn't put our pets through this....", or something along the lines of "this shouldn't take so long..... it's too hard ..."
It's a hard thing: when does:" intervention" stop? What is "comfortable"?..... What is "Dying with dignity"?????..

Ah well. That's a discussion for another day. I've blogmuggled my own post......

The washing machine is calling my name.....

Enjoy your day!