After A Hot Day...

It's been a very hot day today; and I had to go and get an ultra-sound done.  This is so I can take it to the doctors tomorrow afternoon to see what we can do medically to prevent what occurred on 4th, November ever happening again.  I don't wish to be traveling overseas and end up in a hospital somewhere having to fork out a couple hundred dollars for a doctor to tell me something I already know... so I need to fix this now before anything else.

But today, after the scan, and after lunch, Dad came around to my place to borrow my computer.  He needed it to look at a hard drive that his computer wasn't recognising; and wanted to know if mine would recognise it.  However, my computer wouldn't 'talk' to it either.  So, he took it out and now has the problem of wondering what to do with it; and who to take it to.  While he was here, he also fixed the cold water tap in the basin of the bathroom.  It had been locking up when I turned it on and he could feel how tight it was.  So, he sprayed some lubricant onto it and got it working well; however it does need to be cleaned up properly in the near future to make it work even better.  

While he was upstairs, in the nice air-conditioning, I was downstairs, washing up in the kitchen and cleaning the stove.  It was hot down there while I scrubbed the crap and grease off the plates and off the counter.  However, it was satisfying to look at it and know it was clean and ready for use whenever I needed it.  Then, I made him a coffee with my plunger, sprayed Little Miss Stevie and poured myself a Cranberry Juice from the fridge.  

After he left, I tidied up a little and watched a bit of television then, I made a lovely salad for dinner - it was so lovely and delicious even the really spicy mayonnaise didn't seem so spicy after a while.  Then, I made my usual green tea and pulled the dark chocolate from the fridge and watched a few sitcoms while I knitted and watched my little bird snooze in the hot lounge room while the fan pushed around the warm air from outside.  

It was nice to hang out with Dad.  He enjoyed the coffee; and asked where I got it from.  I told him it was a German mid-roast and I bought it last month and have had a few cups and have forgotten about it until today... oops!  Oh well, that happens.  At least it didn't taste horrible.  Well, I best be going.  I have a busy morning tomorrow.  I'll be getting in and doing more housework before taking off to the bus stop earlier than usual (as Translink has changed the bus timetable and pumped up the prices of catching a bus!  How's that for putting everyone off traveling by public transport?  And seeing I don't have a choice, it's not a good thing to do to me - or others in my position.  Well until my next post, take care, keep warm and safe and remember, I'm always here.

Dumbing Down

I was reading the paper this morning and found a very interesting piece that I totally agreed with; in more ways than one.  Kylie Lang has it one when I read about how technology is really making us dumb.  And it's not only Twitter and Facebook that's doing it to us; it's also how we have been taking the whole approach to life.  

A great example is how advertisers think that because it's cooked in a microwave - and it takes only 4 minutes - well it must be good for us.  When truthfully, when anything it cooked in a microwave, it's cooked from the inside out, the moisture is pulled out of it and it more or less tastes like cardboard.  This is one reason why I have boycotted these machines from my kitchen from the moment I moved into my own place.  I don't like them; and will never buy one or even accept one as a gift.  I see cooking as something of a challenge and something fun to do; a learning experience and knowing exactly what goes into each meal is something I've been brought up with and it shouldn't be lost.

Now, technology is something else.  If I didn't keep up with the times, I would be lost.  Without the internet and learning - teaching myself - how to use it properly, I'd have no idea what was going on in the real world.  This particular type of technology can be a learning experience or a hindrance.  It depends on how you look at it.  I don't do Twitter... it's stupid, it's lazy, it's one of the worse ways of communicating without actually talking face to face that if you really don't want to talk to anyone, well, you may as well be a bloody hermit and be done with it.  The same with Facebook. I had to be talked into going onto Facebook as my whole family and 90% of my friends are on there.  So, I've kept the personal details as basic as possible.

As for other things such as Wii's, X-Box's and other computer games you hook up to your television?  Well, no I don't have them in my house; and they are not allowed past my front door.  This isn't because of my illness; it's because I value the spoken language much more than I do staring at a screen and acting like an idiot for long periods of time.  Or music.  Would it hurt anyone to sit down at an instrument - such as a piano - and actually play it?  There's nothing better to hear at night than a well-played piano, guitar or saxophone playing away in the darkness after dinner instead of a video game blaring out of the television speakers.

I have a dvd player and use it once or twice a month to play some of my favourite movies; and I do this usually on a Saturday night as everyone around the place is very restless at this point in the week and putting on a dvd doesn't hurt once in a while.  I also play vinyls or cds because there's just utter crap on the television; and I mean it's just rotten television programming.  I don't like - and will never like - reality television.  It sucks and should be gotten rid of as it's destroying how television is supposed to entertain the public.  

And now, I'd like to talk about the amount of information that is right at our fingertips compared with what used to be there before everything zoomed into the Gigi-byte age.  I remember when I was young - at high school - and we had the very first laptops.  They were 3cm thick with a very small screen; and they didn't do much.  Their memory sucked, and so did the battery if you dared to unplug it from the wall.  And the huge amount of colours you had to choose from to type with?  Well, amber on black ... and amber on black and ... jeez... amber on black.  There wasn't any choice, that was it.  Each day we started them up, it took a full 10 minutes for them to get up to the screen we needed and saving anything took about 1 1/2 minutes as it grunted and grounded away there onto a 3 1/2 inch disk.  Speaking of which:  God help you if your disk became corrupt and all your assignments and school work was on it!  Nothing could help you, nobody could pull anything off it because, one day it worked and the next it didn't.  Yes, when I went to high school, technology was just grinding away there as a snail's pace... very, very... very slowly.

Very suddenly, we had the internet.  Dial-up at first; and then it graduated to Broadband, then cable... and then wireless!  All of the information is all right here on the net and it's so easy for us to obtain.  All you need to do is Google it and ... well, that's it.  There's pages and pages of crap for you to peruse to your heart's content about anything you want from books, Epilepsy, Andy Warhole, car engines, surgery (and how it's all done) to medications, gardening, mining in different countries and the history of pretty much anything you can think of.  However, it's how we use this instrument that matters.  Are you sitting there googling crap just for a giggle or are you Googling crap because you seriously want to learn something new?

For me, I taught myself how to use the internet as a social networking tool.  Over time, I learnt how to find reading and book sites, friends I haven't seen in a long time and use two different types of e-mailing accounts as well as Facebook, YouTube and 365Project and a photographic editing program called Picnik.  There's so much out there on the net to learn that a lot of people don't know what we have on offer - what we are paying our monthly fee for - and really if we're not learning anything worthwhile off the internet, we're all going backwards in intellect, not forwards. 

Warm, Fine Weekend

It's been a good weekend; nice and sunny and fine.  However, seeing the days are becoming longer and they are warmer earlier in the mornings, this means I'm getting out of bed earlier as well.  So, seeing my next door neighbours have parted ways and he wants to sell the unit (yep, a lot has gone on that I have ignored purposely simply because it's none of my business; but he told me in the last few weeks that she left him over the fence while bringing in the laundry).  Well, yesterday was supposed to be the Open Day for their unit, so I was up early, dressed and out in my back yard pulling weeds, mowing the lawn and making the place look nice so his place could be sold easier.  I think it's just common courtesy to clean up your yard if your neighbour is trying to sell their house.  This gives the new buyers an idea of what kind of person you are; that you do look after your place and you're a nice person, nice enough to have a tidy yard.  For me, I really did need to get into as I haven't pottered around in my yard in a long time. 

So, there I was out in the courtyard with my push-reel mower at 7:45am, then I pulled out a lot of weeds - including Bindis' - and then I went over to the back fence and pulled out some taller and more hardy weeds and found them a lot harder to dig out; finding I had to work on them more.  I knelt down and really pulled hard and found I was attacked by some green ants!  Little bastards!  My God, it hurt like hell!  I pulled the weeds out and went inside and applied Lavendar Oil onto the bites and took an antihistamine before going back outside to clean up the place.  Once everything was put away and the rubbish bin was closed, I came inside, fed Little Miss Stevie and swept out the front; pulling as many weeds as I could from out the front of my place as I could in one go.  When I had that finished, I was famished; and really needed some breakfast.  So, I went inside and ate my muesli then jumped online for a few hours; knowing I had gotten a good lot of work done for the day.

After I got offline, at around 1pm or so, I decided to do some reading downstairs.  But the lounge was messy and I couldn't stretch out on it fully.  So, I tidied that up, putting things away, throwing things out and finding all the remote controls; as well as taking what needed to go to the kitchen from the previous night there.  It was a good half hour before I could sit down and read; and by then, I was hungry too.  So, I grabbed some wholegrain chips and a book I'm halfway through and enjoyed the quiet afternoon reading for about an hour or so.  By around 3pm, I looked around and Little Miss Stevie was snoozing, a lovely breeze was coming in through the window and the fan was pushing another breeze from the back door.  The house was nice and cool for the afternoon; and I wanted to do some painting; but wanted to wash my hair first.

I sat down to the easel after nice refreshing, cool shower and poured out some paint on to a fresh pallet, picked out a thick, flat brush and then - with the turntable running - I worked on the background of 'Lost Pages'.  It took me about an hour and a half to get the colours anywhere near what I hoped to have them so I could work with them today; but it was worth it.  Later on, after dinner, I worked more on the painting until around 9:30pm as there was nothing worthwhile on the television.

Today, I woke to another lovely, warm day.  Yep, it's a lovely day.  There's a few clouds in the sky; but nothing threatening, the breezes are nice and the sun is beautiful.  What more could we ask for from Queensland?  Until my next post, take care, keep warm and safe and remember, I'm always here.

Lest We Forget

I was out and about early today to get myself to Garden City and then back to Springwood before 11:30am.  However, I did get a lot done while up at that particular Westfield Shopping Centre; and nearly lost all my purchases in one foul swoop!

I went to the bank first and pulled out all the money I needed to make buy my cousin a present for her Baby Shower, some paint and a Stephen King book I had on order (and I used my book voucher from QBD I had gotten a few weeks ago so it cost me even less than the price they quoted).  I put all my purchases into the gorgeous Shakespeare fold-out bag Mum bought me from the UK and went to catch the bus to Springwood.

However, the bus service had change all the timetables and the ones at Garden City don't include any buses from Logan City.  So, I phoned up Translink and used up my all my credit (damn!).  By the time I was at the Springwood Bus Station, I stepped off the bus without my Shakespeare bag - then remembered it at that last moment and jumped back onto the bus and grabbed it! - and then walked to the lifts and found it was 11am.  So, I quickly photographed my watch telling the time and paused for a minute of silence.  And then, I photographed my surroundings; so I could tell where I was at that time of the day today.  I grabbed the lift and walked across the Service Road and to Coles where I bought myself a drink, straws and a new freezer bag before walking up to CRS for my job appointment. 

This went really well.  However, I did forget my red folder which holds all my certificates; oops!  Oh well, doesn't matter, I'll take it next time so we can fill in the holes of my resume.  After an hour, and after meeting my new jobsearch person, Melissa, I walked to Mum and Dad's place to chill out for the afternoon.

Yep, today was a right scorcher!  I took my hat with me and I really didn't wish to be anywhere without it.  So, I made sure I did have it on all day until I arrived at CRS and went to the toilet and took it off there.  I should have taken my shoes off; but I didn't think I was going to be at my folks' place all that long.  However I was there for hours.  

When Mum returned home from where she was, I showed her the baby book I bought for my cousin and she loves it; saying how cute it was.  And then I gave her the remembrance badge I bought her at Garden City (which is the same as mine) and she said she had bought hers already.  Oh well, that means I have two!  Doesn't matter, so long my money went to a good cause, that's all I care about.

I was dropped off home at around 5pm or so by Dad as they had to go out for dinner at the Killips' place where they were meeting up with Gabe and Kat.  I enjoyed a nice salad roll for my dinner; and have listened to 'The Blues Brothers 2000'... it's not really my type of movie; but the first one was great.  Little Miss Stevie is in her cage with the pedestal fan blowing around the living room; yeah at last I pulled the fan out of the wardrobe and put it together to cool the place down (as I can pull the feet off it; thus making it easier to store it).  Well, until my next post, take care, keep warm and safe and remember I'm always here.

Friday is the Busiest Day

Have you ever had a week where you thought it was going to be really horribly busy, but it turned out to be something else entirely?  Yep, me too.  On Monday, this week looked like a social and travelling mess.  However by yesterday afternoon, it was little more than a few tiny trips here and there before a nice relaxed Friday out at the CRS for a look for a job.

However, even Friday turned out to be something of a weird and busy day for me by the end of today.  Strange how that came about.  I found that the few things I was hoping to happen, didn't, and the other things that I didn't want to happen, did.  Bummer how that goes, eh?  

I needed to be out at the Imaging Centre at Rochedale today; however my 'monthly visitor' (which isn't all that monthly anymore) showed up after 34 days of being AWOL on me.  I was thinking I wasn't going to get them again for a longer period of time.  But, once I began to make plans to see a doctor, they showed... ironic isn't it?  So, next week it is for both the Imaging place and the doctors to see what I'll be doing next.  One thing at a time.

Otherwise, tomorrow, I'll be catching an early bus to Garden City and picking up Stephen King's new book from QBD.  I have a gift voucher that will pay for about half of it; so I won't be paying full price anyway.  From there, I'll catch a bus to Springwood to my appointment at CRS and spend a few hours with them talking to them about work.  I'm not sure exactly what this appointment will be about; but I'll take it as it comes.  I think it's going to be about what I'm good at and then find a direction for me and work on that.

Otherwise, today, I got a few good things done.  One was the washing.  It was all done - including the annual hand-washing of my teddy bear Amos.  I wash him usually at this time of the year because it's when the weather becomes hot enough that he'll dry on the clothes line and he'll smell nice and fresh too.  I'd love to wash him twice a year; but I can't due to our weather changing so quickly.  

I put out all the newspapers in the recycling bin at the back of the complex after snipping out what I wanted from last week's paper.  Then, I put out rubbish from the kitchen before washing up tonight.  All my handbags that I weren't using were brought upstairs along with all the laundry at around 2pm and then I went over to Greenslopes to visit Ruth and find out about the clothes dryer.  But Dad said it wasn't as new as he had hoped; and we decided not to buy it from Ruth (which means she's going to try selling it on e-bay).  When I returned home, I had to put everything that was originally around the laundry (and I had moved for the dryers to be changed over) back into the laundry.  By this time it was around 4pm... and it was time I planned dinner; and seeing how hot it had been, I didn't want to eat anything too hot.  So I made myself an egg salad roll; and it was delicious!  

So, that was my day.  Tomorrow is Remembrance Day; and also my cousin's birthday.  It's also the day we put down our family dog, Jessie.  She was a dear, sweet woofy who couldn't see or hear us in the end, but her mind was fully intact.  Poor girl.  It was a hard choice, but she was in pain and couldn't walk.  So, it was the most humane thing we could do for her; and I'm glad we did it.  Jessie was almost 14 when we let her got.  She had lived a full and happy life with us; and she had enjoyed a few Freddo Frogs from me (a secret I didn't tell anyone until recently; much to my family's amazement that they didn't kill her as chocolate is one thing that can kill a dog; as well as a budgie) and plenty of marathon walks.  She had a boyfriend - Laddie - who lived one street over in Thornhill Street and he was moved when his owner passed away.  I still miss my little woofy every now and again; but I do have a great little album full of photos of her... and it's great to have those memories.  Well, until my next post, take care keep warm and safe and remember, I'm always here.

Busier Than Ever!

I have noticed that around this time each year, I become very busy socially.  Now, it's not because I go to the doctors or visit friends; it's because so much more is going on at this time of the year than any other time.

After Halloween, there's Melbourne Cup Day; which is always exciting here in Australia.  However, before all of this, the Christmas decorations have been up in the shopping centres at the beginning of September.  Now, in my mind that's just too early to be advertising Christmas.  In the UK, they wait until after Guy Fawkes Night which is on November 5th to do anything about Christmas; it's just tradition.  If we brought in this tradition here, we'd be able to work out a better system of traditional holidays (and then we'd enjoy the build-up to Christmas more I think).  However, I find it very tacky to see the decorations up in stores at a time when it's nowhere near Summer and nobody else is thinking about it either; and they begin advertising Christmas on the television in October - before Halloween.  

This makes this time of year much more busier than it normally is.  And this year, I don't have as much money as I did last year.  This means I may have to dip in to my savings.  I hope not.  I'd like to buy my family something lovely for Christmas, but I'm not sure what to get them.  I think gift vouchers will have to do; seeing I bought Riley a big present this year for her 12th birthday, and it was very recent. 

However, it's been in the last few weeks that I haven't really had much time to myself.  Last week, I was out almost every day - and this included an impromptued trip to the hospital at 2:45am on Friday morning where I was supposed to be out at a job centre.  So, when I finally did feel better, the weekend was gone and I had gotten two early nights and I didn't get anything done around the place... thus it was a mess.

This week is no different... it's been busy as hell; and yesterday was no different.  I felt as though I only had yesterday afternoon off and that was it.  I got to read 30 pages of 'Lady of the Rivers' by Philippa Gregory and then squeezed in 1 1/2 hours of painting and then I had to rush around and changed the light bulb in the living room before it did something weird; as it was flickering madly.  So, I turned it off and grabbed the bulb from my bedroom, found a spare bulb for the bathroom and replaced my bedroom bulb with that and did the old switch-a-roonies with the bulb in the living room.  Once I had the cover back up, the ladder put away, and the light switched on, I unwrapped the hot bulb from the cloth on the kitchen table and found it had big crack in on the of the cylindars!  I wonder how long it would have taken for that to shatter and leak out anything fatal?  Or had it been doing it all along?  Because I've had this nagging cough for a while and by the end of last night, it was gone!  And today?... well, it's not around as badly as it has been, all I'm doing is clearing my throat once every now and again and there's no follow-up cough or anything.  No wonder people don't like these bloody things!

Also, this week, I've got a dryer to pick up at Greenslopes from a friend's house (Dad has to pick it up with me as he's got the car).  However, it'll be later this afternoon; and hopefully he'll be able to put the thing in when we get it here... and get rid of the old one at the same time.

Tomorrow, is shopping day.  I think it'll be a good day for a top-up shop...not too expensive and I'll be able to get home early for an afternoon to myself, thankfully.  Then, Thursday will be a morning of me being out to get a scan done of my pelvis which was ordered by the doctor at the Mater Hospital last Friday; and it will be looked at by my GP next Wednesday so we can see what needs to be done about this ovarian cyst.

Then, Friday will be a busy one for me.  In the morning, I'll be at CRS to look at jobs and what kind of work is suitable for me.  Then, I think I have an appointment at my Chiropractors in the afternoon.  So, I'll be out all day and getting an early night that night.  This weekend is the first weekend in a long time where I'll have the whole two days to myself... yay!  I'll have to get in and do some serious housework... and that includes the laundry, washing the floors and cleaning the bathroom and toilets as I haven't had any time to do anything like that lately.

So, how has your week turned out?  Busy as hell, or quieter than mine?  Until my next post, take care, keep warm and safe and remember, I'm always here.

Sunday - Feeling Better

Since Friday mornings very rude wake-up call from my body, I have been catching up with sleep and taking it easy; so much so that I bought a pizza on Friday night and at the leftovers last night.  So, I haven't really been cooking anything this weekend more than a cup of tea or opening a bottle of Jones' Root Beer.  And do you blame me?

I did get a very early night of 10pm on Friday night as I was so very tired and nodding off in front of the television.  And just as I turned out the light, the phone rang and my brother, Gabe, was on the other end asking how I was doing.  He said that Mum had told him and Kat about what had occurred that morning and they had been really concerned about me.  Well, we chatted about what happened and laughed about the funny bits of the morning - where the nurse thought Dad was my husband - and then talked about what might have to be done to stop this from happening again.  I said that I will talk to my doctor about getting my ovary taken out so as to remove the problem alltogether; and Gabe reckons it's a good idea seeing it's been around for a few years.  I told him that the pain from the ruptures has been getting gradually worse over time and that this one was just dreadful.  He said it needs to be done; and it's not as though I'm going to have any children (due to my Epilepsy, I've been advised that if I try to have children they may have something similar - or more debilitating - than me) and then he laughed saying 'its not like you're getting your tits done...' and that's true.  This is something where my health is coming first; where I'll be in pain again if I don't get it looked at.

So, This week, I'm off to see the doctor and have a scan done and see what my options are.  I need to do this and need to get into working on what seriously needs to get worked on.  I wanted this ovary out last year; but Mum talked me out of it.  This time I'm getting some professional opinions and looking into working on what will need to be done about this.  I don't wish to have this plague me throughout my later years and through Menopause when I could have had the ovary removed.  Why suffer the pain when there is a very simple solution to what needs to be done?

3am Wake-Up Call!

This morning, I was rudely awoken by my body at around 3am.  Thinking I had to go to the loo, I stumbled around in the dark and found my way to the bathroom and returned back in the same fashion and found the bed, curled up and was almost back to sleep when I felt what I thought was some really serious gas in my guts; but it wasn't in my guts!  So, as this pain became worse, I tried to turn over into a better sleeping position; only making the cramp worse!  

Sitting up, I turned on my lamp and the pain began to feel like it was tearing through my bladder!  OMG!  I wondered what the hell was happening.  So, I found my way downstairs, grabbed the cordless phone and called my folks.  I didn't want to, but had to.  They weren't too impressed I woke them at 2:45am; but quickly got dressed when they heard me in agony.  On the way over, they called an ambulance and we had to wait another 25 minutes for those guys to show up (mainly because they had the drugs to make the pain go away quickly).  

Well!  I was zipped off to the Mater Hill Hospital here in Brissie with some Morphine in me and got some tests done while Dad sat with me in one of their cubicals.  Before he joined me there, the nurse came in and said that my husband was out in the waiting room asking after me.  I wondered who she meant; and then asked if he had white hair and a beard and she nodded.  I had to tell her that he was my Dad; we had a laugh as she went and got him and then I told him about what had happened.  He couldn't wait to tell Mum when she phoned Dad!  She thought it was hilarious!  

Well, after a urine and blood tests, everything came back normal.  The doctor poked at my pelvic region and confirmed that it was an ovarian cyst that had ruptured and caused me so much pain; and this was good news at it could have been anything from Kidney Stones to Appendicitis; but it wasn't - thank the Gods!

Well, I was let out at around 7am and driven home by a very tense and worried Dad.  But I couldn't sleep; seeing it was time for me to have breakfast.  So, I continued with my normal routine until I began to feel really tired at around 10:30am today when I went and had 2 hours' sleep... but even that didn't work out the way I wanted it to either... but that's another story for another time. 

Busy Hot Day Off

With this week being so socially chock-a-block, today was the only day I had to myself where I was home all day.  I woke to my alarm after a weird dream about shoes that were nice, but once I had them on my feet, I realised they were not only mens' shoes, but they were also the wrong size!  So, they made me walk funny and fell off my feet when I ran.  In my dreams, this really ticked off my Mum and she was yelling at me to walk correctly and get my shoes tied on properly.  It was a strange dream where I tried to explain myself but that didn't happen all that easily as when I opened my mouth the wrong words came out.  Weird.  This got me thinking - as I looked out the window to the sunny day - of exactly what I ate for dinner the night before?

My laundry - the first after the tree is gone... rather bare isn't it?

Well, once I was up and dressed, I stripped the bed and took the laundry basket downstairs where I opened up the curtains and put on my first load of laundry of sheets, fed Little Miss Stevie and opened up the house - as it was turning out to be a really hot day.  By 10:30am, I had gotten three loads of laundry done, eaten breakfast, paid the phone bill, checked the mail and photographed the books Mum bought me on Sunday and uploaded them onto the computer ready for My Reading List. I had also made my drink for the morning and turned on the air-conditioner to cool the room down for the computer was warming up faster than it usually did.  Yep, the day had turned out very hot!

By midday, I had turned off the computer after uploading my photo onto 365 Project, checked my e-mails, been on Facebook and Bookcrossing and checked out a few blogs I normally read.  Then, it was time to get myself into some housework.  I needed to clean the window sills and vacuum the house as I have had some big problems getting to sleep at night.  So, I grabbed two of my grottier dish clothes and a bucket of Handy-Andy and got to work.  By the time I had been around the house, the water in the bucket was black!!!  I couldn't believe how bad it was!  And this was after I went around all the skirting boards on the floors, light switches, window sills, my bedside, the bedhead and around the computer... it was disgusting how much dirt and crap that gathers around the place; especially on bookcases!  YUK!  So, now that was all cleaned, I pulled out the vacuum and gave the lounge a once over and the bedroom too!  And now, I'm hoping to be able to sleep once I go to bed tonight.  If not, well, I'm going to see what I can do about getting myself a bagless vacuum cleaner for the house - by trading in the one I have; seeing it's not doing the job it's supposed to be doing.  

An Agapanthus I was given when the trees were lopped.

During the afternoon, I found the washing was done and dry.  I left it on until later in the afternoon - hoping it would cool off - but it didn't.  Then, I sprayed Little Miss Stevie with a little bit of water!  And did she love that!  After that, I changed into some painting clothes and spent about an hour and a half by the draft by the back door painting... it was the most relaxing part of my day.

Well, tonight, there wasn't much on television; except 'Beauty and the Geek' where one of the beauties got her feelings hurt because her geek got some other bimbo's name tattooed to his butt... I don't think she realises he can get it taken off there after the whole thing is over; so I don't know why she was fussing and sooking.  Anyway, I didn't really like a lot of the girls as when it came to the education part of it, I wondered how they really get through life because none of them can spell and didn't know the basics of the English language... it was really creepy.  And the geeks were more than a bit shocked at how bad their beauties were during their schooling lives; and that these chicks didn't try to improve themselves, they just went on their ways thinking it was okay to not understand the language they spoke and used all the time.  Weird.

Well, that was my busy hot and - at times - a little frustrating day.  It's still hot but I've made the time to make up the bed and Little Miss Stevie has gone to bed without her covers on... and really she wouldn't want them on as it's too hot tonight; and it will be a right stinker tomorrow too.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

Mega-Tired!

I'm so very tired; and it's because I've been on the go since Tuesday morning.  I was up at around 7am to turn on my hot rollers in the bathroom; then went back to bed until my 7:30am alarm went off so I could put them in and get myself ready for the Melbourne Cup Day luncheon at Lime Light Restaurant at the Logan Entertainment Centre.  And what a day that was!  I had picked out my dress, shoes, handbag and what I horses I was betting on last week and all I had to do was just get dressed that morning, put on my make-up and go as soon as I had eaten my breakfast.  Little Miss Stevie was non-too-impressed to find I was off on my own adventures on Tuesday that didn't include her.  But it was Cup Day; and that meant going out, eating a great lunch and hanging out with family.

Mum, Dad, Uncle Allan and I had a gorgeous lunch, bought into the Sweepstakes and watched the race-that-stops-a-nation and Mum and I won a bit of money from a bet we made at the TAB on the way there!  I've never lost a bet on this flutter at this time of the year; and it's always been a fun time to do it.  Otherwise, I don't gamble in any way, shape or form.

When I arrived home later that afternoon, I didn't feel like anything to eat.  So, I boiled up two eggs, made some toast and cut them into soldiers for dinner and that was what I had... basic but delicious.  Don't you love it when the most basic things from your childhood can the best things for you?  I settled in for a night of average television viewing; until I thought to get into the washing up and watching a new television series that aired on channel 11; and let me tell you:  'The American Horror Story' leaves 'Supernatural' in its wake!  I actually had problems getting to sleep last night after turning out that light... seriously!  I had to remind myself about the special effects and all the garb in it to get myself to relax enough to sleep.  It felt as though I had read one of Stephen King's books... like 'It' or 'Night Shift' before going to bed (and how dumb is that?  When I usually read his books during the day).  

Well, the alarm went off proving that I did actually get some sleep and I was up by 6:30am, showered, dressed and eating breakfast by 6:45am and getting myself ready to walk out the door to meet Mum and Dad out the front at the footpath by 7:50am... this was so Mum and I could catch the 8am (or so) bus at the Springwood Bus Station into the city.  It didn't take all that long to get into Melbourne Street Bus Station and only about 10 minutes to walk to the Conservatorium of Music (after we took some photos along the way of an awakening Brisbane City and Southbank).  We signed in, picked up our brochures and arm bands and grabbed a drink and then headed inside the auditorium.

Orrin Devinsky from NYU on the satellite conducting our first lecture.

The hilarious debate on how to treat Epilepsy - or not - that had us all laughing.

The first four speakers were great.  The first speaker was Orrin Devinsky from New York University who joined us via a satellite link and he gave a very informative lecture about treating Epilepsy over history and into now; with the medications of today as well as herbal treatments.  He compared them with what worked and what didn't; what was tested and what we shouldn't be doing with our health - basically, we shouldn't be (any of us whether we've got Epilepsy or not) using herbal remedies as though they are fully tested and true forms of medication.  It's the scientists who have done the tests who will help us the most.  

Then, there was a very humourous debate about how to treat Epilepsy; and whether is should be treated at all.  There were three for and against treating it; which had funnier results as the debate went on... and one of the people who had talked earlier, played MC and he gave out his mobile number for the people of the audience to text him with questions and comments; and what was sent to him was hilarious!  There were some serious comments that he read out and others were about the fashions the debaters wore... funny as hell.

We had lunch where a lot of acted as though they've never seen food before and just stood around the trays outside and hoarded them; not letting anyone by until the organisers picked the trays up and took them inside and served us up.  It was so weird.  By the end of lunch, I was still hungry and looking for something to eat, and people were going inside again for the last speaker.  However, this was what we were all there for:  'The Private Life of the Brain' by Susan Greenfield; a Professor from the UK.

This presentation wasn't what we thought it was going to be; in fact it wasn't what any of us thought it was going to be.  She told us that she wasn't going to get technical, but within 10 minutes she was talking about things we didn't know anything about; except the other visiting Neurologists and Neurosurgeons and scientists who all sat in the front row.  For the next hour, we felt as though we had stumbled into an advanced course at university by accident - or I woke up in the wrong auditorium, take your pick! - and a lot of us were far too polite to say anything during the talk that we didn't know what she was talking about.  We did have response sheets and so I wrote my response down very clearly that this one wasn't suitable for a return performance.  And when Mum and I were finally able to go outside to hand in our sheets, I mentioned Norman Doidge as a better choice for next time as he would be able to explain things better; and he was working on Epilepsy and Neurofeedback right now.  The two ladies there sounded interested in him.

The Temple that was given to Brisbane during Expo 88 by Nepal

A gutsy & tiny Water Dragon who kept still for me as I photographed him!

Brisbane City... what can I say... I love this city!

Mum and I wandered around Southbank for a little while to take in some fresh air and enjoy the lovely hot afternoon and take some photos of the place, then we walked to the bus stop on Melbourne Street - outside the Museum - and waited for a little while for our bus; which took about 10 - 15 minutes to take us home after we recharged our Go Cards.  About an hour after we arrived at Mum and Dad's, Mum drove me home at around 4pm.  What a big and exhausting two days I have had!  Tomorrow will be my first day off where I can sleep in and do nothing but the laundry, catch up on housework and enjoy some reading... yep, nothing like catching up on just being around the house for once and having no need to go out.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.