Words

My good friend Nobody wrote about this a while ago and I wholeheartedly agreed with her (if I had the brains I would link it, but I don't so just go with it).

Nobody had mentioned the effect words can have on people - good and bad.

Some days people can just say the meanest things but it can roll off your back. And other days they really cut.

I guess I am writing about this because it happened to me. Isn't that the only reason why it hits home so much?

A wise woman once said that you should leave people better than you found them. That really stuck with me. On our daily encounters with people, we come across lots of different types of people. We don't know how their day has gone nor do we know what they will go home to that night but if their one and only encounter of the day was with me, then I would hope that it was positive - even if I had to fake it.

I don't profess to be very good at living this but it is something I am working on.

My Dad told me a situation about a work friend that had been cut down at work in an embarrassing situation many many years ago and that still remained with him even to this day.

The person who made those remarks would more than likely not even remember the experience but this poor soul had lived with those cutting words for the better part of his life. I guess we could say that the man on the "receiving" end should get over it but wouldn't it have spared his life if the "giver" had thought for a few seconds before saying what he did.

On to my experience (I know, I know, I am sharing again).

A few days ago I had one of the worst days at work. Not because of what anyone had said or done but just because it was SO busy and I must have left my brain at home because anything that could go wrong did, so I was chasing my tail the whole day.

I had to be somewhere that night and I don't usually like committing myself to night things because getting home in time proves difficult and almost always when I need to go somewhere something goes wrong and I am late. So this night I had to stay back at work and I knew I would be late. But I had committed to go so I would just show up late (which I hate doing).

I arrived and thankfully it hadn't really started. The night was good. I was able to catch up with friends and felt like the day wasn't so bad after all.

Towards the end of the evening one "lady" directed a comment to me in front of a large crowd.

End of the night for me and I just wanted to get out of there before the waterworks started. I had to sit there for 15mins waiting ever so patiently for my opportunity to leave.

Now my mother who was also there commented on the rude way in which the comment was delivered and so pointedly at me so I knew it wasn't just me being overly sensitive and maybe to other people they may have shrugged it off. But on this night, it really effected me. It shouldn't have but it did. So there I sat all upset and I am sure she didn't think twice (or more to the point, didn't really care).

I have of course moved on but it has just reminded me that words can make or break a person.

I love this saying :

"Remember to make your words soft and sweet as you may have to eat them one day".

I struggled with "sharing" this because once it is out there it is too late to take anything back but this blogging has made me realise that you need to share some of your ups and downs as I have seen others do and have benefited from.

Thanks for listening. Sorry it was so long winded. I feel better now :p

One Year Older and Wiser Too

It was my birthday last weekend.

To say I was spoiled would be an understatement!

I suppose the fact that my birthday was on a Sunday enabled me to celebrate all weekend long, starting on Friday.

I was inundated with flowers and gifts and chocolates from my work mates. I had difficulty carrying it home - but it was a good difficulty!

Saturday I shopped and went out for dinner at the best restaurant in Sydney (well if you like seafood that is). I have been there before and was excited to return. It is a restaurant that you need to bring bags of money to but boy was it worth it. The restaurant itself sits at the end of a long wharf so we have a good view of the harbour.

I have a couple of pictures of the night including the greyest sky I had seen in a long time. We were treated to an almighty thunderstorm later that night, along with fireworks. Someone must have ordered them for me - or maybe it was for the navy ships .......

We had the degustation menu which means you get lots of little courses. Each one was excellent but I only managed to get a couple of photos. We started at 6pm and rolled out of there at 10.30pm ready for a good nights sleep!

Sunday I was on the phone all day talking to my family. That is probably the best part of birthdays - all the well wishes. I scored more gifts from friends which was very thoughtful.

My nieces Chloe and Ella both did a painting on canvas which I will proudly display in my room.

Monday were more gifts from friends I didn't see on Friday.

Tuesday night I went out with my friends to a local coffee store for an iced chocolate.

Thank you again to everyone who helped make my day the best day of the year! I hope all your birthdays are just as grand. Not with with material things (although they are nice) but surrounded with good friends and family.

They dont have High Tea in Katherine

My friend is moving to Katherine for her husbands work. As in the outback, as in "Australia" where Nicole Kidman made the movie. I don't think it will be like the movies but still, they don't have a McDonald's cause the Mayor owns the chicken store. So pretty "outback".

Anyway, it is her birthday tomorrow and as part of her birthday and her good-bye we decided to have high-tea.

For those who don't know about high-tea, it is an expensive afternoon snack but it is about the atmosphere and the experience.

I had a camera and so I snapped this fun afternoon.

Although it was nice in there it was so dark so my pictures didn't come out as well as I had hoped. Look what I found on a raspberry!!!!

All in all it was a great afternoon to just sit and eat.

Have a great few years in Katherine! We will see you in Brisbane for a weekend of more eating.

Ummm excuse me?

So I blinked and it was March.
For crying out loud!
What happened to February? I don't think there was a February in 2009. Economic crisis and all - we couldn't afford to have that month.
So I don't even have any pictures to document my February life.
I did want to write about so much as well. From the fires to all the flowers I got for Valentines.
And then I got sick. And that was the end of February.
OK, lets start with the fires. I am sure you have all seen it and how terrible they are. It is so hard for me to even comprehend that all that tragedy is just happening down the road. When I listened to some of their stories I just got so upset that anyone would ever live through that. I just thought that in these modern times we wouldn't have to go through such "primitive" things but it really isn't primitive. Fire was here before us. And it has been hot and windy. I guess we will see more and more of it as days go on and we just need to be prepared.
Valentines. I couldn't see my front door for all the flowers. Then I woke up.
Sick - so I have been having these dizzy spells of late. They come and they go as quickly as they came on. I have tried to find a pattern in this but with no luck. I don't drink, I don't smoke, but I take drugs.......
So I had a bad spell on Thursday and thought that was enough and off I went to see my doctor. He put me in for blood tests and an MRI. OK, just another test.
Yesterday I went for the MRI on my brain. I took all my jewellery off, and my shoes and lay down on the impossibly thin bed.
The assistant then put my head in a brace with openings for my eyes. She gave me some ear plugs as the sound maybe loud as this was a 15min scan. She then put some Velcro across my head because my head needed to remain still at all times.
With a slight shaking of my voice "miss, I am slightly claustrophobic".
"That's alright, just close your eyes and think of a tropical island - here is a buzzer if you need some assistance during the procedure".
In she rolls me to this very narrow, very tight tube like structure.
Ummmm goodbye world I cant see anything. My heart starts to race and then my legs start to kick and I am pressing that freaking buzzer thing for dear life.
"I cant do this, I CANT DO THIS".
They roll me out ever so slowly and unstrap the hannibal lector type mask. I jump up and run out of there like a bat of hell.
And there ends February (although that was March but lets just pretend it was February),

THE END