Writing - 44 to go....

Writing - well I've always enjoyed the results of writing - READING - so you could say I've been a connoisseur of writing since I was a young lass!

But writing for myself, apart from some funny letters I wrote to my mum and some woeful love letters that I wrote to my crush (but never posted) and required writing for School and/or University, the only writing I have done with passion has been this blog. I have really enjoyed the time spent writing on this blog, posting about my feelings or ideas about a topic, or just using it as a place to safely vent my feelings and emotions about an issue.

It took a great deal of courage for me to start this blog as my mum had always taught me that never write anything down for it could be held against you. So I felt very paralysed the first few times I hesitantly put a few words down. Now mum wasn't trying to prevent me from writing she was just speaking from experience, when she was sprung writing something inappropriate at the time by her teacher (a nun), it was something very innocent and yet the nun took her to task for it and it was a lesson very well learned and passed to her children.

I am enjoying this current lot of blogging - it's called a MEME I think where you have a set agenda to post on and you go with to a specified time frame or a theme.

I find it very carthartic and rewarding, I admit to hungrily looking for comments to see if someone has enjoyed it. Now I know how to look at the statistics in my blog, I am no longer disheartened if no one comments because I know someone has at least looked! Rather voyeuristic of me I think!

So I will continue with this blog on an ad hoc basis as life takes me along its path and I have the venue to say things when and how I feel!

I encourage anyone reading who isn't currently blogging to seriously think about it!

Cheers for now............

Well my 50 things will be a combo of 4,5,6

The topics are more or less interrelated for me - Recreation, Books and Reading..........

Well for me Recreation time always involves reading, to not be reading each day is anathema to me, it is a very rare night that I fall asleep without reading at least a chapter of something beside my bed. Any time spare always involves a good few hours reading, I have so many authors I love reading and so many new authors to discover that sometimes I agonise that I will die before all my reading is complete and I have read everything I have ever wanted or needed to.

If I am going anywhere pretty much my first thought is what books will I take and how many do I need. The thought of being without something to read causes something akin to a panic attack within me. When I went on my cruise I took 4 books the cruise was 5 days long so I thought I had enough but no I ran out on the 2nd last day and I was prowling the cabin looking for something to read much to the amusement of my friend & fellow cabin mate who reads horror and gothic fiction which I don't but I was desperate so I read the weird ass Jane Austen zombie novel which I rather enjoyed, not sure if it was sheer desperation that added the enjoyment or what.

Now how lucky am I, I work in a freaking library, talk about a kid in a candy store. It is heaven on a stick being surrounded by books and able to flick through and read excerpts and flyleaves and discover new authors all the time. I truly am blessed to be exposed to all the richness of the literary and published world coming through the doors of my workplace every day. I get paid to talk about reading, the pleasures of it, the different authors and genres. Is it any wonder why I love my work and am there early every day. I truly have that blessing - find what you love and you will never work a day in your life. For me, that is my life most days - well moving a library is a bit hard going but that wont' last forever.

Books, so many books in the world lay undiscovered by me as yet but I will get to them one day. My TBR (to be read) pile grows ever more plentiful and tall and wobbly. It is queer but I sometimes wish (with my fingers crossed against it actually happening) for a broken leg or some other mishap that requires bed rest but leaves me well able to read for hours on end so I can start to make a dent in my TBR pile. Being stranded on a desert island well supplied with food, shelter and other essentials is also a favourite fantasy with a unending supply of unread books and undiscovered authors.

I have never been bored (restless but never bored) and I think that is because I so love to read, there is always some place to go, someone to be, something to do when you enjoy reading. You just lose yourself in the book and you are there in amongst the characters and lose hours whiling away your life in another world. My Video rental card gathers dust since there is always a book to read, my TV languishes unwatched most days because there is a book to read. You visit my house and there will be books on the coffee table, kitchen table, the office (uni books I grant you)

my bedside table, my bedroom floor, in the car there is always an audio book on the go, on my iPhone there are audio and E-books to be read and listened to. There is usually a book in my handbag if I know I am going to a friends or relatives place and there might be down time when they are busy - some of my friends have kids that take their attention for a bit so I have a book on hand to read in the interim.

My mother would have to remove books from my hand at the dinner table and if we went to the movies, I usually would try to sneak a book in, in case the movie was something I didn't like. As a child I much preferred my world of books than real life. Toy stores didn't interest me but my mother's hand always tightened on mine when were passing by bookshops because I was inevitably drawn into the bookshop if she wasn't watching me closely I would vanish into the book shop.

Books are truly my raison d'etre.................

The Beach.....47 to go

Aaah the Beach - such an icon of Aussie culture and seen as an endemic part of our society! Alas the beach is not for me, at least not in summer! Queensland summers get hot, really seriously hot and horrible...this is when hordes of people head to the beach and I cannot understand this. The beach is hot, usually very little shade, the sand is hot, and you are exposed to the sun the entire time, unless you bring along a shade hut or something similar to provide your own shade. You have to cart drinks and food along unless its a really popular beach then it might have seriously overpriced drinks and ice creams available on a kart.

Don't get me wrong I don't hate or dislike the beach, not at all, I just don't like being on it when it is hot! I love the beach in winter, at dusk or dawn and when it is building up to a storm or just after it! It is partly related to my deafness as I have to remove my hearing aids to go swimming and they are such delicate pieces of technology that I dread sand getting anywhere near them and you know how sand gets in everywhere and everything. So going swimming is not a social event as I can't communicate happily with people around me, communication can happen but its usually very loud and repeated and accompanied by hand gestures for added theatre!

I am of a very fair complexion and burn to a crisp very very quickly unless slathered in uber strength sunscreen and even then its odds on I'll get burned, I am very conscious of watching for melanomas and get screened regularly for quirky marks and odd spots on my skin.

It is funny for about 7 years we lived about 20 minutes from Noosa Main Beach known internationally as a very desirable beach and I could count on two hands the number of times we visited that beach.

Go figure........

My Dog....well my pets really No.2 - 48 to go...

This is my number one beloved furball - Dixie - she is a mini foxie/chihuahua cross about 6 years old now. She is my first dog as an adult and solely "my" dog. I grew up with dogs all my life and the longest period without a dog in yard or house was while I was living with my grandmother who was allergic to dogs and would not permit me to have one.

Dixie came to me via my cousin Shanon - who as a vet nurse comes across a lot of animals who need rehoming, Dixie was on offer with a Burmese cat if I had wanted but since I had Simone (pictured above) already living at home and whose nose was already going to be severely out of joint with the arrival of Dixie I decided not to take the Burmese. I took Dixie on a week's trial but in reality it took all of two minutes to decide to keep her. Dixie has been a joy from day one. A devoted companion who really just wants to hang with me and be in my company. She is a happy friendly dog who never meets a stranger, everyone is a friend to be made. She is a little exuberant but her joy in life is something I delight in. No matter the day I have had, Dixie sheer abundant joy in my arrival home makes everything OK again.

A car ride is a sheer delight and a walk - oh my the excitement - at the thought of a walk and getting to hang with Mum is just the bees knees as far as she is concerned. I knew Dixie was truly my dog when I was hanging with some friends and their dogs and she still wanted to go with me when I stood up even though my friends had some pretty cool toys to chew and the dogs were great friends of hers. I had only had her for a few months at the time.

The family dogs in order that I grew up with in conscious memory are as follows:-

1. Winkie - a mini fox/corgi cross - the prettiest little dog you ever saw with a caramel and white coat and delicate features with a lush curly tail. But not a dog suited to children or other animals, she was utterly devoted to my Dad.

2.Bobby & Billy - two muttly mutts who were of such mixed parentage that neither looked the same breed let alone from the same litter. Billy was kinda my dog - he was black and brown and kinda kelpie in shape and nature and came to a tragic end under the wheels of a ute about 8mths into living with the family. Bobby was very short legged and ran like a seal and was a brilliant natured dog - great with kids and babies, who lived a long and interesting life until around 12 when a tick got him.

3. Bea & Lizzy - were Bobby's daughters from getting the purebred cattle dog across the road in whelp - which pleased the owner no end let me tell you. Bea & Lizzy - named after the characters from the show Prisoner - Bea was a stocky dominant bossy bitch and Lizzy was a timid skinny little thing (always started the dog fights and Bobby & Bea would finish them)

They have all left their indelible paw prints on my heart and will one day meet them again when I too cross the rainbow bridge to play with them once again.

I can't leave my 3rd furball out of the picture so there is a picture of Shadow my 3 legged Maine Coone cat as well

1 down 49 to go - Family is first

Aaah Family, the one element in your life that can account for masses of happiness & joy or masses of angst & utter misery. I am blessed with a great family on the whole, there are some people within it I can happily not see or be part of their life. Those who I consider important I make the effort to see and make time for them in my life. I am the eldest of three kids in my immediate family and am the typical big sister - somewhat bossy and dictatorial but always quick to defend and protect my younger siblings, though they don't need it so much now that we are adults and busy with our own lives. But they know I am there for them at the end of the phone and ready to lend a hand or an ear and be their big sister at any time.

You know I lost my mum last year on September 6th and that is a grieving process I am told will take it's time to pass. Mum was a true mum, that was what she did, she raised us kids and did the tuckshop, school run, fetes, the usual palaver when it comes to having kids of school age!

My dad is a real dad, a bloke who can turn his hand to anything, built my brother and I the most amazing cubby house with a mezzanine level and internal staircase and everything. It was freaking unreal when I look back on it, but I didn't think it was a big deal because I thought all Dads did stuff like that. I look back at my childhood and it seems like Camelot - it really was that perfect. I was allowed to be an innocent child, not exposed to anything harsh or nasty or mean within the home at least. I never heard any fighting but then again I wouldn't have with my severe hearing loss so that probably accounted for it.

I only had my mum's parents as grandparents and they were the only source of problems that I can recall as they were divorced when Mum was 11 and caused Mum much stress and angst each and every Christmas with the whole family visitations. In fact, my Grandmother is the sole reason why I loathe and despise Christmas because of the stress she creates every single frigging year. I do love my grandmother more out of a sense of duty, I admire some elements to her extraordinary narcissistic personality but mostly I tolerate her now. She has been the cause of too much unhappiness in the family to truly have my unabiding love and affection.

Mum's sister is someone I have grown very close too of recent time mainly due to the whole experience of nursing my mum until she passed. I suspect we will grow closer when my grandmother passes away as she is an obstacle to the path of developing real closeness as she prevents us spending time together without having to justify time away just to talk and be together.

On the whole I consider myself blessed in the family in the traditional sense, then there is my family of friends who have really enriched my life exponentially since I started gathering them around me as I got older and really kept them. I have met them through a number of avenues, karate, dancing, work and online and they have really just brought me joy and happiness and lots and lots of laughter. I delight in them being my friends as much I delight in being their friend and I hope I make a good friend, I do try very hard to be a good friend.

Until next time..........

50 things to post about - once again thanks to Kath

I will be posting on each of these subjects - perhaps a couple at a time depends on how lengthy the post evolves out too.

Fifty Things

1)Family
2)My dog
3)The beach
4)Recreation
5)Books
6)Reading
7)Writing
8)My bed
9)My car
10) Movies
11) Music
12) The internet
13) Time spent with friends
14) Ginger Beer
15) Hotchips
16) Tea
17) Pizza
18) Thai Food
19) Creamed rice
20) The colour purple
21) Why am i at University
22) Learning something new
23) Little people's laughter
24) The smell of wet bitumen
25) The sound of rain
26) Jacaranda trees in flower
27) Tulips
28) The Big Bang Theory
29) Storms
30) Spending time alone
31) Chocolate
32) Marshmallows
33) The sound of thunder
34) Potato crisps
35) Roast potatoes
36) Hot showers
37) Lazing in the sun
38) Meeting new people
39)Discovering long forgotten possessions
40) Learning to draw
41) Playing the piano
42) Having moments of intimate connection
43) Fantasy
44) Technology
45) Home cooked meals
46) Live concerts
47) Shoes
48) Photographs
49)Yoghurt
50)Happiness

Now it's ramped up....

We are down to six weeks and counting to move a library.... to a facility that is 1/3 the size so there has been considerable collection management happening to ensure we move with the best of the collection and the rest is dealt with accordingly - Discard or Relocate essentially.

It is meaning long days and bloody hard work but I am loving it, what I am not loving are the assignment due dates and exams that are happening smack bang in the middle of it all. It is taking some doing to fit it all in. I cannot wait for 17th November as I will be a free woman as in there will be no more studies until the semester resumes in 2011.

I want to be able to come home and not feel guilty that I am not studying or reading or researching because I am so frackin' tired. I want to read all my delicious books that I have stacked beside my bed in fact I want a marathon reading session, in fact, I will dedicate a free weekend to my bed and my books I think and read until my eyes fall out. I want to unpack my sewing machine and use it, I bought it and brought it home and laid it in my hallway where it has resided ever since,

I want to have some more board games and stitch 'n bitch sessions which are yet to happen but I will make them happen. I want to go cycling and play outdoors. I just want time to do as I please when I please.

I remind myself it is only 2 more assignments and 1 more exam and I am done for 2010 then really 2011 is just one more year and come this time next year I will be pretty much done for formal studying, I will never stop learning but I will stop formal studying unless it is for something I want to do, like learning to play the saxophone or revisiting my piano playing days. I wonder if I could fit a piano in my humble sized townhouse. Perhaps I could!!!

There is a family piano I could lay claim too and have restored and really make it my own.

Food for thought there!

Always plenty of ideas brewing away and usually reasonably achievable.

Time is a precious resource and most definitely not infinite

Until next time........