To begin, some background.
I manage my pain condition with a combination of medications, exercises, relaxation techniques, prayer and pacing my life style. The doctors have tried to convince me that I can do away with two of the medications that I am taking if I increase the use of relaxation techniques "self-talk".
Some poeple think this is a load of rubbish. But then, some people think that my pain is a load of rubbish so whatever.
My thought...
There is something to be said for positive self-talk. I have tried it and found it to be useful on some occasions. But...
It is very difficult to have a dialogue with oneself to quell the fears and pain when the fearful voices telling me about pain are louder and more articulate.
M
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
Staff Meetings can be funny
I tend to get rather cranky at staff meetings. This is usually related to the inappropriate comments that can be made by my colleagues during the meeting. Sometimes it is related to the repetition of the same information that was presented to us at the last staff meeting. However, on occasion, something amusing happens.
The head of department for Special Education at our school started his segment by displaying an explanation of an audiograph. This is basically a graph that is created during a hearing test. It shows the frequency and volume of sound that each ear can hear. We have four students at our school who have significant hearing impairment. So the head of department displayed each of the students' audiographs on the screen, named each student and quickly explained them. When he was finished, the music teacher said, with a tone of surprise, "those three kids are in my music class."
We all chuckled and the meeting adjourned.
M :)
The head of department for Special Education at our school started his segment by displaying an explanation of an audiograph. This is basically a graph that is created during a hearing test. It shows the frequency and volume of sound that each ear can hear. We have four students at our school who have significant hearing impairment. So the head of department displayed each of the students' audiographs on the screen, named each student and quickly explained them. When he was finished, the music teacher said, with a tone of surprise, "those three kids are in my music class."
We all chuckled and the meeting adjourned.
M :)
Thursday, March 15, 2012
The Hospital
You never know who you will meet in a hospital. It is a place we all visit at one time or another, some of us more often than others. Whenever there is someone close to me in hospital, I spend an inordinate amount of time there and I discover that people I know are also there. They might have been admitted due to illness or an accident. They might work there. They might be visiting someone they know.
Hospitals are interesting places. Everywhere you look something is happening. Babies are born there. People die there. Children need plaster or stitches after some kind of adventure. Tired parents bring their sick offspring to the emergency room. Ambulances come and go. Families reunite in the midst of a sick or injured relative. Nurses and Doctors see all kinds of people in various states of wellbeing. There are bright lights and dark corners. There are court yards and stair wells and elevators. There is a cafeteria and a kitchen. There are coffee machines and vending machines and lounges and chairs and beds and curtains and televisions. Chaplains visit and pray with patients and families. People hear good news and bad news at the hospital. They get tests and they wait in lines. They eat and they shower and they read and they listen and they sleep and they laugh and they cry. The hospital is a world of its own.
The very essence of humanity can be found in a hospital. The most personal moments occur in adjustable beds. We are at our most vulnerable when we finally surrender to the linens and the medicines. Other people are suddenly responsible for us and they want to know the most intimate details of our bodily functions. They ask silly questions expecting us to reduce every sensation to a numerical value. Complete strangers care for us, take our blood, feed us and even bathe us. We trust them. We realise that in spite of ourselves we do not want to be alone. Yet, when surrounded by bright lights and people and noise, a hospital can be the lonliest place on earth. A hospital where we are cared for also leaves us cold and hurting. It reveals the wonder of human invention and the limitations of our knowledge and ego.
Hospitals are unavoidable. Next time you are there, regardless of the personal drama you may be living, take a look around. Listen to the conversations. Remember the last time you were there. Think about the human standing before you who is simply doing their job. Accept its shortcomings. Take notice. Let it happen. Then leave.
Hospitals are interesting places. Everywhere you look something is happening. Babies are born there. People die there. Children need plaster or stitches after some kind of adventure. Tired parents bring their sick offspring to the emergency room. Ambulances come and go. Families reunite in the midst of a sick or injured relative. Nurses and Doctors see all kinds of people in various states of wellbeing. There are bright lights and dark corners. There are court yards and stair wells and elevators. There is a cafeteria and a kitchen. There are coffee machines and vending machines and lounges and chairs and beds and curtains and televisions. Chaplains visit and pray with patients and families. People hear good news and bad news at the hospital. They get tests and they wait in lines. They eat and they shower and they read and they listen and they sleep and they laugh and they cry. The hospital is a world of its own.
The very essence of humanity can be found in a hospital. The most personal moments occur in adjustable beds. We are at our most vulnerable when we finally surrender to the linens and the medicines. Other people are suddenly responsible for us and they want to know the most intimate details of our bodily functions. They ask silly questions expecting us to reduce every sensation to a numerical value. Complete strangers care for us, take our blood, feed us and even bathe us. We trust them. We realise that in spite of ourselves we do not want to be alone. Yet, when surrounded by bright lights and people and noise, a hospital can be the lonliest place on earth. A hospital where we are cared for also leaves us cold and hurting. It reveals the wonder of human invention and the limitations of our knowledge and ego.
Hospitals are unavoidable. Next time you are there, regardless of the personal drama you may be living, take a look around. Listen to the conversations. Remember the last time you were there. Think about the human standing before you who is simply doing their job. Accept its shortcomings. Take notice. Let it happen. Then leave.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Pride is the mother of invention
Last week my boss decided to send out some information about literacy resources that are available at our school. In his enthusiastic haste he missed the a typo in the subject heading of his email. Instead of "resources" he typed "respouces". A number of my fellow staff members found this rather amusing considering that he is the deputy for LITERACY. Many of us let him know by replying with some kind of humerous retort referring to his spectacular typing skills.
After enduring a day of teasing from my colleagues, my boss sent out the following email....
SUBJECT: New Word RESPOUCED
Definition (v): to respouce is the act of finding a literacy resource, deliberately spelled incorrectly, which will require staff who realise it is incorrect, to respond.
Example – “I saw the new literacy stuff and have respouced.”
Thanks to the number of staff (and there were a lot!!) who respouced.
I am up for a bit of silliness and so I decided to invent a new word of my own. I sent the following to my boss on Friday afternoon.
SUBJECT: Typlexia and Typodefine...
It seems that you are suffering from typlexia. According to Urban Dictionary:
"Typlexia is a rare, incurable disease whose scientific name is 'kebordium typlexia'.
This devastating condition causes its sufferers to misspell and mistype words which they know perfectly well how to spell. | ||
I too, have created a new word…
Typodefine: verb (pronounced tip-od-e-fine) the act of defining a new word by creating a clumsy definition for a random and embarrassing typo.
e.g. “respouse” instead of “resource” is “typodefined” as a deliberate attempt to call for response from staff who have viewed a literacy resource.
Have a good weekend! :)
Apparently, it is easier to invent a new and unnecessary word than it is to simply admit you made a mistake. Perhaps, necessity to save face is the true mother of invention.
Have a giggle and move on!
:) M
Monday, March 12, 2012
Shopping with Mother
My mother and I go grocery shopping nearly every Sunday. At one point in our lives we both would have believed this to be a mortal sin. But, we have changed our tune. Some might say that we have grown in our spirituality and now we understand that our relationship with God is not defined by religious ritual. Others might say that we have fallen into the realms of blasphemy. Say what you will. The fact is... We go to church on Sunday morning. We go grocery shopping on Sunday afternoon.
Sorry, that was tangential to the story.
When people visit their local shopping centre on a regular basis they tend to become familiar with the terrain and the people. Mum and I visit these shops about twice a week. At least once together and probably once separately. So, we are very familiar with the check out operators at the grocery store, the pharmacy and the discount store. We are well known at the doctor's surgery and the physiotherapist. Customers also tend to recognise other regular shoppers. There is always a young mother or two with an unruly child. There is a young couple who still enjoys doing their groceries together. There is the older couple who are nearly deaf and spend much of their shop saying "eh?" to each other. There are characters such as these frequenting every local shopping centre in Australia (and probably the world).
Today I want to tell you about the mother/daughter team who have conversations from opposite ends of each aisle. They ask each other questions about mueslie bars, sanitary products and the price per unit of soft drink cans. They scold each other for ice cream purchases and say things like "I've been looking all over for you." They call out over several aisles. They stand in the middle of walkways looking at gadgets and argue about women's magazines and reading glasses. The mother can't find things and the daughter rolls her eyes and sighs in frustration. The daughter drops something and the mother bends over to pick it up with an impatient, "be careful." You know who I am talking about. You can see them now. For some people they are irritating, for most they are mildly amusing. At the end of the day they are a part of the scenery and you have to take them as it comes.
This afternoon, I was shopping with my mother and I realised that we are THE mother/daughter team. We do all of those things and more. The check out operators can see us coming. They simply smile and shake their heads as we leave their station. I didn't think we were that team before, it just dawned on me. I hope we are amusing rather than annoying.
It is rather a strange feeling when one realises that they are a stereotype. Or perhaps, in our case, the opposite of a stereotype. I am not exactly sure what we are. I decided that it doesn't matter. I enjoy what we are and that is all that really matters.
M :)
Sorry, that was tangential to the story.
When people visit their local shopping centre on a regular basis they tend to become familiar with the terrain and the people. Mum and I visit these shops about twice a week. At least once together and probably once separately. So, we are very familiar with the check out operators at the grocery store, the pharmacy and the discount store. We are well known at the doctor's surgery and the physiotherapist. Customers also tend to recognise other regular shoppers. There is always a young mother or two with an unruly child. There is a young couple who still enjoys doing their groceries together. There is the older couple who are nearly deaf and spend much of their shop saying "eh?" to each other. There are characters such as these frequenting every local shopping centre in Australia (and probably the world).
Today I want to tell you about the mother/daughter team who have conversations from opposite ends of each aisle. They ask each other questions about mueslie bars, sanitary products and the price per unit of soft drink cans. They scold each other for ice cream purchases and say things like "I've been looking all over for you." They call out over several aisles. They stand in the middle of walkways looking at gadgets and argue about women's magazines and reading glasses. The mother can't find things and the daughter rolls her eyes and sighs in frustration. The daughter drops something and the mother bends over to pick it up with an impatient, "be careful." You know who I am talking about. You can see them now. For some people they are irritating, for most they are mildly amusing. At the end of the day they are a part of the scenery and you have to take them as it comes.
This afternoon, I was shopping with my mother and I realised that we are THE mother/daughter team. We do all of those things and more. The check out operators can see us coming. They simply smile and shake their heads as we leave their station. I didn't think we were that team before, it just dawned on me. I hope we are amusing rather than annoying.
It is rather a strange feeling when one realises that they are a stereotype. Or perhaps, in our case, the opposite of a stereotype. I am not exactly sure what we are. I decided that it doesn't matter. I enjoy what we are and that is all that really matters.
M :)
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Inexplicable
adjective
not explicable; incapable of being accounted for or explained.
There are several phenomena that I have noticed recently that are simply inexplicable. I don't know why and I have decided that I don't care to.
- Easter eggs taste better than regular chocolate.
- Kids can smell fear, insincerity and sugar.
- Many people take rumour as a fact simply because it was on the news.
- People can see the fault in others far more clearly than in themselves.
- Some people seek reasons to complain.
- My bed looks better when it is made (I think I have mentioned this before).
- I think this way and most people think that way.
- Pinterest is taking over the world.
- Technology is scary and exciting and wonderful and frustrating and terrible and innovative all at the same time.
- A good list has to have ten points.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
IT'S A GIRL
Number Seven has arrived.
She was born on Monday and is beautiful. She is so tiny! She loves me very much... I can just tell. The kids think she is wonderful and are quite excited about their little sister. Sis is doing okay although she is now recovering from a C-section. Our baby girl, three weeks premature, is very healthy.
Everyone in the family is so happy and excited and tired.
In other news. I finished my progress reports three days ahead of schedule.
She was born on Monday and is beautiful. She is so tiny! She loves me very much... I can just tell. The kids think she is wonderful and are quite excited about their little sister. Sis is doing okay although she is now recovering from a C-section. Our baby girl, three weeks premature, is very healthy.
Everyone in the family is so happy and excited and tired.
In other news. I finished my progress reports three days ahead of schedule.
MIRACLES DO HAPPEN!!!
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Great Anticipation
My sister is having a baby. I chose to name the kid Bambino... we don't know if it is a boy or a girl. I figured that Bambino is not gender specific, so that's that. Sis, went into hospital yesterday morning and the baby is still inside her tummy. Tonight I went to visit with my Mum, number 1 and number 4. I told Bambino the story of the three little pigs and there was lots of moving about inside the womb. That was exciting. I laid down with my head resting gently on Sis' tummy and said, "are you a boy or a girl? one kick for a boy, two kicks for a girl." Then, my sister kicked me twice! Much to the amusement of everyone around me.
So, I'm being the dog. This week the dog is feeling very unwell and very sore. I twisted my ankle earlier this week and my neck is "wrong" (no other way to describe it). I am very busy at work and I picked up a new class. So now I teach every day except Wednesday. I am really enjoying it though. I would much rather be in the classroom... especially the air conditioned classroom!
My next post will be news of Bambino's much anticipated arrival.... I'm so excited!
:) M
So, I'm being the dog. This week the dog is feeling very unwell and very sore. I twisted my ankle earlier this week and my neck is "wrong" (no other way to describe it). I am very busy at work and I picked up a new class. So now I teach every day except Wednesday. I am really enjoying it though. I would much rather be in the classroom... especially the air conditioned classroom!
My next post will be news of Bambino's much anticipated arrival.... I'm so excited!
:) M
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