OUCH .......

November 2007. I had gone up to Brisbane to see my niece Chloe for her birthday.

During that weekend my sister and I decided to take my Mum for her belated birthday present to a day spa.

We were going to get facials. It was going to be SOOOOO good.

We choose a relatively well known day spa. I had gone there before at a different location and enjoyed the experience.

We filled out our forms and got our robes on and then we all went with our own beauty therapist to get our facials done.

I was going to have a steamer on my face as part of the facial.

About 10mins into the facial and with goop (yes, that is the technical term) on my face, I heard this spluttering noise, like boiling water. It sounded VERY close.

And then I felt the boiling water spill onto my stomach. Luckily I had a robe on to take the full heat. But in shock I jumped up and my left hand caught the boiling water all over the back of my hand.

Ouch.

The therapist ran out of the room after turning off the machine and got some cream and an ice pack. She asked if I wanted to continue. Ummm yes, the others had all gone in and I wasn't going to sit there for 80mins nursing my hand while they finished.

So I continued with the facial and in pain for most of the time.

At the end of the procedure I met with the manager who was of course very apologetic and applied some cream and wrapped my hand. She said she would organise a little gift pack on the way out. Ok, that sounds like the LEAST you could do.

Got to the check out desk and she had 2 of the smallest hand creams that I have ever seen. And then made a big deal out of taking 12% off the total bill. Oh ok, so that is the going rate for scarring me for life I see!

I just wanted to get out of there so I didn't really question.

It was sore.

The next day I went to the local doctors and it was a second degree burn and I would need a tetanus shot on my return to Sydney. I was told that I would also need to go on anti-biotics and my career as a hand model is most definitely over. he he

NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED

Fat swollen hands.

















A few days later it started to peel and the blister burst.


And I am now left with this scar which will be a reminder for the rest of my life that facials are of the devil.


I have retained a solicitor and it has been going on for THIS long with no co-operation from the negligent day spa.

They are admitting no fault. Oh, ok, so I just jumped up and poured the boiling water on my hand just for fun?

Stay tuned to see how the exciting saga of getting the negligent party to admit fault and pay up will end. So far it isn't looking good..............where is the justice!

I must have been born under a lucky star or I am just a magnet for trouble....

March 2009

One of my friends had his birthday in March (March apparently was a popular month to be born!) and off we went to Sydney Harbour and sailed around this beautiful place to celebrate.

I got my camera out and shot some sites. The Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, the city skyline, Luna Park (a fun park but nowhere near as fun as Disneyland) and the sails of the boat.

I've said it before and I will say it again - I LOVE Sydney and I love living here.

Thanks for a great day Trent!

My Ode to Vegemite ....

I don't get it, I just don't get it. How could you NOT love Vegemite. I do know however that people outside of Australia have a hard time understanding how we love it.

I remember when I tried it on my USA friends they gagged. I am not sure if it was because the colour of the Vegemite tricked people into thinking it was chocolate and maybe when they ate it, all they got was salty goodness. They were muttering something about tasting like blood and rust.....

Or they couldn't understand how you would have something savoury on your breakfast toast.

Its so funny how the rest of the world cant stand it but we eat it by the bucket loads.

I remember when I was younger my Mum would give me the jar when it was just about empty and there was a little bit in it and I would eat it with a spoon. MMMMMMMMM

If you go to any of the coffee carts here in Sydney or any cafe for breakfast you can bet if you went to the kitchen you would find tubs of this delicious breakfast staple.

And if my description didn't just entice you to go order some then maybe some history will.

Vegemite had humble beginnings. In 1922 it was invented by Cyril Callister. He was a young chemist and he developed a spread from brewers yeast (see, I told you it was delicious). The result was a nutritious spread with an appealing taste that is also one of the world's richest known sources of Vitamin B.

It then went public in 1923 hitting the grocery store shelves.

The name "Vegemite" came about because of a contest. Apparently this name was drawn from a pile and there it stuck. Not sure why but there you go.

Vegemite improves the flavour of soups, stews and gravies. But its appealing flavour and nutritional qualities did not immediately catch on with Australians, and initial sales were slow.

In 1935 Vegemite sales received a boost when Vegemite redemption coupons were included in packs of cheddar cheese (and I am assuming this is how we got our idea to put cheese and vegemite on sandwiches). Hordes of bargain-loving Australians redeemed their coupons and sales of Vegemite leapt, along with its reputation as a tasty, nutritious new spread.

1954 was a memorable year for Vegemite. For the first time, the "Happy Little Vegemites" jingle rang out from speakers across the country, and an advertising classic was born.

And in 2003 Vegemite turned 80.

Vegemite lovers come in all forms:

The Edger - Always very particular about their Vegemite, they like it spread right to the crust.

The Streaker - Doesn’t like having much on. Vegemite, that is. Gives the toast just a couple of light streaks of Vegemite.

The Slapper - Loose with the way they apply their Vegemite, it’s slapped on.

The Tiger Toaster - Not quite on the endangered list, but still not a lot of them about. They love strips of bubbling, grilled cheese layered over their Vegemite.

The Nudist - The purist of all Vegemite eaters. No butter. No marg. Just a piece of toast and the world’s mightiest spread. What more do you need?

There are more out there but you get the drift. And what am I ???? A streaker. In more ways than one :p

And to end this lovely Ode to Vegemite here is that famous "Happy Little Vegemites" jingle.

We're happy little Vegemites

As bright as bright can be

We all enjoy our Vegemite For breakfast, lunch and tea

Our mummies say we're growing stronger

Every single week,

Because we love our Vegemite

We all adore our Vegemite

It puts a rose in every cheek.

Are you still awake? Maybe next time I will do my little "Ode" to Tim Tams. I know how much you all love them!!!!

(all facts taken from www.vegemite.com.au - I couldn't have thought up those gems! And that photo - just off the web, dont know that kid but he sure is cute!)

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