Tip-Toeing Through Life

I have found that the past few years have been a minefield of apologising to everyone around me, being sorry for who I am online and stopping myself from saying the 'wrong thing' to people who don't like what I do.

And I'm not the only one it seems.

I've just spent the last hour or so saying sorry on Facebook and on another site I'm a member of for other people's bad moods - and I damned well bloody sick and tired of tip-toeing through the tulips all because others are insulted about what I say or do.

And you know something? Those same people are all ready to say and do things towards me which insult the way I live, who I am, what I've said and how I feel without even thinking about it... without editing themselves, without stopping and seeing if they're going to stand on my toes about what they're about to say.

So, right now, I'm sick to death of the insulted generation of people who are insulted by everything we say. They get insulted by all of the things on the news, the way people dress, the music that's from the 80's (and the decades before that) saying it's sexist and horrible. The insulted generation are insulted by how things were in the past and expect everyone from that time to apologise for being a part of it, being brought up in it and not knowing any different because it was the only way they knew how life was.

Well, you know something? I'm not sorry for who I am. And if you don't like it, that's too bad! I'm sick and tired of being the nice person who thinks twice before she speaks, dresses like Grandma because people will think she's showing too much leg, and goes out too much on her own - but really, what's it to you what I do with my life? What you should be doing is concentrating on your own life and stop looking at mine. 

I'm not apologising for anything I've done, anything I'm currently doing or anything I'm going to do in the future. And like I said, if you don't like it - tough!

I'm Disgusted!

Yes, you read right! 

I'm disgusted!

As a lot of you know - or may not know - I'm currently fund-raising for The World's Greatest Shave; and this year, I'm shaving all my hair off to donate it. And there's a lot of hair!

So, I jumped into the fund-raising joys in December and the Leukaemia Foundation sent out my pack just before New Year's Eve... so I got myself into gear just as the New Year started out. I approached my local doctors at the Springwood General Practice to find they had changed hands and managers.

I thought, okay, no biggie. This should be okay.

Boy, was I wrong!!

A month later, I dropped in there to pick up a prescription to find my donation box and two posters were nowhere in sight! I asked the girls at the counter, 'Where's the donation box for the World's Greatest Shave, and the posters?' They acted as though I'd never been there... I craned my neck and found my donation box had been shoved onto a bookcase, out of sight of the public!


Oh. My. God! Where they kidding?

'What is it doing there?' I pointed at the box. They all looked at it and shrugged, 'And where are my posters I gave you.' they shrugged again.
One said, 'The posters could be in the office, I'll go and look.' and she did and said that they weren't there, 'You'll have to talk to Ruby.'
'I did talk to Ruby.' I said. 
Within 24 hours, the donation box was out on the counter, but I never saw my posters out.

Just yesterday, I went to check on the donation box. It's been 3 weeks since that incident, and I wanted to see how it was going. I found .30c in the donation box and my posters were *still* not out on the walls. So I asked, 'Where are my posters?' 
'Of what?' the two at the counter asked with doe-eyed looks on their faces.
'For the World's Greatest Shave. The donation box has only .30c in it.' I said, 'This is horrible.' 
These two shrugged at me, 'Oh, they could be in the office.' they didn't make any effort to see if the posters were in there, then one said, 'Or in the bin.' 
I left the donation box there and walked out, then stopped at the doors of the shopping centre, turned around and went back to the doctor's surgery, 'You know, this isn't going to work. I asked this surgery in good faith to do this for me - and this surgery has done this for me since 2011 - and you just... I'll move the box somewhere else. Forget the posters. I've more.' I walked out, I'm so disgusted in how I was treated, I almost started crying.

I walked straight to the Springwood Pharmacy at Arndale - across the way from the surgery, and talked to the owner there. Not twenty minutes before, he had offered to take the donation box off my hands and put it on his counter. 
He saw me and asked, 'So how much did it have?'
'Only .30c.' 
He was disgusted.
'And they ditched my posters.' 
He took the donation box straight away, 'After this, you can come here every year.'
'I'll bring posters on Monday.'

I can't believe a doctor's surgery has done this to me after all this time! This is the same surgery I go to to see a doctor - not just to drop off donation boxes. This is my own private doctors I see for everything. I can't believe that just because it's changed management, it's treating a charity like this. 

Yes I'm disgusted... and they should be embarrassed for doing this to me and to the Leukaemia Foundation.

One Month

It's just a month from when I get my head shaved and I donate my hair to get it all made into a wig!

Yes, it's not long now, and I'm looking forward to this event at Wishart, here in Brisbane. I'm hoping to raise plenty of money for the Leukaemia Foundation through the work of some great people alongside me.

The Logan Artists Association will be having a raffle where the money from it will be going straight to the Leukaemia Foundation and I've got a donation box at the local doctor's near me so people can donate money at the front desk too. I'm also hoping to get in and get people to help me with fundraising on Facebook too, through my official site where I do most of my fundraising... and I do most of that through the next 4 weeks.

So, during this time, I'm knitting up a storm and making hats for myself. And I'm also working on getting myself fit and healthy enough to get through Winter without a cold or a flu this time around. 

I can't wait to get in and do this so I can regrow my hair and do it all again in around 5 years' time. How cool will that be? It's gonna be great!

The Year of the Pig

Well, by the way I'm throwing things out and donating things to charity stores, you'd think the opposite with me.

I'm making sure my house is cleaner this year. I'm not buying as much at charity stores either. In this past week, I spent only $9.00 when I normally would have spent over $20.00... so that's a good thing.

Anyway, this cleaning out thing has rubbed off on my Mum. She's seen how much I've tossed out through my photo albums on Facebook and wants to join in the big tossout. So, I'm helping her out soon.
Today, I've seen the first signs that the huge dry spell we've been suffering through is breaking. Townsville is flooding and now, it's Brisbane's turn to get some well-deserved rain... and man, I'm looking forward to it!

This year is a big one for me. I'm saving money, painting more and am looking at working towards getting another car. Well, okay not a car per say, but a van so I can travel around the paint what I see. It's a project I want to do as an ongoing thing in my life. It will be something which will make me happy - I know it. 
But it's not a 6-month idea, it's a long-term idea. This will take a couple of years to work on, and it's because I have to make sure I save my dosh and get myself and my life pulled together properly. 

The Big Clean-out this year is the biggest one I've ever done; and it's something which is going to make me really look at what I've got and push me to either keep or toss exactly what I want or not want in my life.
You see, over the past 6 months, I have had a turn of such clarity in my life. It's hard to explain it. I very suddenly know what I want in my life and - dammit - I'm going for it. I'm painting faster than I've ever painted. I'm cleaning out my house faster, and with better decision-making than I ever did. And I know exactly what I want to do in my life too.

In this month, I'm hoping to get in and finish some paintings, start another few. Then, save up big for my next vehicle, work on cleaning out the house (and seeing most of it has been done over the past few years, I don't have far to go). I'm also hoping to keep my opshopping to a minimum - only purchasing what's needed around the house and that's it. 

This year will not be without its challenges, you know, as I'll have the World's Greatest Shave in March where I'll be shaving all my hair off, then first year anniversary of the death of my dear friend, Hannah, I'll be seeing if I can sell some paintings to get myself a few other exhibitions. There's going to be other things going on in my life which I have yet to plan for. But isn't that the fun of life? Being spontaneous? Sure it is. I can't plan everything in my year... well, not yet, anyway. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.