Rainy Days and TV plays...

This week's favourite is old movies /tv series on dvd.  Watching them at home curled up on the lounge or even in bed.  That feeling that everything is okay, that eating chocolate doesn't count and I can escape into that imaginary world for just a couple of hours.  The characters are old friends and the locations are places I want to visit again and again.  Perhaps its just the rain, but I have been watching some of my old favourites lately and it has been great.  The escapism that film provides is marvellous!  It's almost as wonderful as a good book!

Be Thankful what you wish for...

Sometimes we need to really think about what we want.  What we ask for, pray for, wish for, depending on our inclination, is usually an honourable thing.  For example, Queensland (in fact most of Australia) has been experiencing drought conditions  for approximately 15 years.  During this time "we" have been praying for rain.  Not just sprinkles of rain, but thirst quenching, land drenching rain.  Low and behold, this Summer, Queensland has experienced the greatest amount of rainfall in over a hundred years.  They are saying these are the worst floods that we have ever had.  Now we are praying for the rain to stop!

Thursday is Thank you day.  Today, I would like to Thank God for answered prayer.  I would like to thank Him for His mercy and grace.  I would like to thank Him for the safety of the emergency services personnel and the evacuation of hundreds of families.  While this may be an anxious time for a lot of people and I may have washing on the line.  I am so grateful that God is in control and I don't have to worry or concern myself with something so unpredictable as the weather.

I am also thankful that I didn't get stuck anywhere, haven't lost anything and have been kept safe.  I am also thankful that God has placed me in a position to help out financially.  God is Good and while I don't know what it is I know He has a plan!

PS. you can visit The Salvation Army web page (see my weblinks on the right of this page) or visit your local bank or supermarket to make a donation to the cause.

Wednesday's new word

So I think I have mentioned that I'm reading a book written by Nora Ephron called "Crazy Salad."  My friend Nora loves to use big/ grown up words, for which I can forgive her because she is an intelligent, educated woman after all.  Anyway, last night I was reading one of her articles and a came across a new word.  I didn't know what it meant and resolved to "look it up" in the morning.  So, this afternoon I went to dictionary.com and looked up the word.  The definition was a bit ambiguous so I had to look up the root word and vwa-lah I learned a new word.  Of course, I was so shocked by the definition that I decided there was no way I was putting it on my blog!

BTW: Before you start making comments (or sending me emails) about the nature of my reading material and tell me that perhaps I need to "be careful." One can not make judgements about authors and books based on one big word (that I didn't know the meaning of) taken completely out of context.  But, FYI to make you all feel better, I am being careful.  Not to mention the fact that if I wasn't so curious I would have had nothing to write about today.

Trying New Things

I have finally come to the realisation that New Years' Resolutions are a waste of time.  I'm sure there is a really fantastic statistic that supports my hypothesis that the most resolutions are out the door and down the toilet by February, but as most statistics are made up, we won't go there.  However, I was taking my morning walk today  and it finally dawned on me.  This unpaid holiday/ medical leave/ stress leave/ sabbatical (whatever) of mine has been a perfect opportunity to try new things.  I have already tried some different things and had a go at some old things during the last three months, but I have to admit, I have hit a bit of a rut.

It's not a resolution, but perhaps a goal.  I am going to try and do/learn something new each week.  I already learn new words but I want to learn other things too and have a go at them.  I am already learning so many things and have been doing new things or revisiting favourite past times. But the doctor did tell me to "Pace" myself!

This blog is one of my new things... I am already learning so much about the internet and technology just by jumping into this "cyber fire."  While some may think that it isn't such a big deal and others may wonder why I'm bothering, it is a huge step for a techno-phobe to be doing what I'm doing.  I wanted to do something for myself and prove to myself that I'm not useless.  It worked!  That's that then.  For all of you who have questioned my motives... not that I have to answer you.... that is why I do this.  That is why I enjoy it.

Again my brain is in overload with news and stories to write.  I think my drafts folder is going to have some new items tonite!!!

A Night in the life of Insomnia

Happy New Year!

There are a large number of people in this world who rely on prescription medication for various ailments, one of which is insomnia.  I am one of the people who take little green pills (or to be precise half a little green pill) every night so that I can get what is supposed to be a decent night's sleep.  They used to be a marvellous little wonder, and I have to say that 6 months ago, they would have made the list of 'My Favourite Things."  But in recent months and weeks, the effectiveness of the little green pills has waned.  It seems that the only way for them to work is if every other aspect of my sleep routine is executed with precision.  Needless to say, Christmas and New Year events have made it difficult to "get with the program" so to speak.  Why am I telling you this?

Completed the "Impossibles" Christmas Puzzle
that the BFF started the week before Christmas

Last night I planned a quiet and relaxed evening with my "besties."  The BFF is house and dog sitting for some church friends and they have a pool and a big TV.  So the plan was a swim, a couple of movies and bed.  However, my body (specifically my neck) decided that it didn't like that idea.  So I had to bail on the girlfriends and stay home.  I planned to eventually drag myself off the lounge and have a shower, eat something light and head off to bed well before midnight.  Best laid plans... the sleep routine was not executed with precision, the little green pills did not work and I didn't go to sleep until around 3am.  While you might be thinking, so what? I would like to inform you that surprisingly enough I managed to finish a few things that I had started earlier in the day/ week/ month!  You might be wondering how I did this considering I was "apparently" off to bed early and in pain.  Well the answer to that, my friend, is slowly!!!  I tried to go to sleep several times during the night but if there weren't fireworks exploding down the road there was the unsteady, dcsh-dcsh-dcsh- of the music being played next door.  Eventually I would give up and go back to my puzzle, a dvd, the laptop, or a book.   

Braided my hair all by myself!
then took a photo of the back of my head all by myself!

I took photos and I believe I should allow them to speak for themselves, "a picture is worth a thousand words" as they say.  I also finished reading "Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Ugly Truth" which was a Christmas present, Thanks Mum!

Killed a fly!
Are you proud of me Mum?

While my New Years didn't go according to plan (does it ever?) it turned out okay.

Well, maybe not for the fly. : D