Truth

"Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult - once we truly understand and accept it - then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters."
M. Scott Peck, Author, Psychiatrist and all round pretty cool dude.

In other words, sometimes your the pigeon, sometimes your the statue. It happens to us all, just slap a smile on and get on with it!

Boobs!

October is breast cancer awareness month. A time where we girls are encouraged to get acquainted with our norks, check for lumps, make lifestyle changes to reduce our chances of getting it and get informed! My gym, my church and some of my friends will be honouring this month by hosting a "Girls night in", where a bunch of chicks get together and talk about things that girls talk about, eat pink food and drink pink drinks and raise money. If you read the fine print of the fliers put out by the Cancer Council, you'll see that these events are to raise money for "women's cancers", so we're talking cervical, ovarian, endometrial, gestational trophoblastic tumour, uterine sarcoma, vulva and vaginal as well as breast.

But all we see is breast!

It's fair enough that breast cancer gets a fair amount of publicity, it is the most common cancer in women, but what about women afflicted with the other types, the less visible and as I have heard it labelled before "less sexy" cancer. Ok, so there is nothing sexy about cancer, but we all have to agree (women included) that there is something sexy about breasts! What about an ovary? Is an ovary sexy? Possibly not, it's just a slimy little internal organ that causes us some pain once a month.

For a friend of mine, ovaries mean a hell of a lot more than that. Hers are gone, along with her uterus. When she was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer, she was given details for a support group, but every support grou paession she attended was focussed on breast cancer. Sy friend couldn't help feeling like she'd been left behind because she didn't have the big "BC". I put myself in her shoes, I reckon I would feel like the only one in the world with ovarian cancer! These support groups are designed to make people feel like they have an ally, yet by being completely 'breast orientated', she felt alienated. She never buys anything pink.

I suspect that breast cancer, along with being the most common, gets so much publicity because it is so visible! But I think it is time we recognised the invisible, silent cancers that effect so many women, ok, not as many as are effected by breast cancer, but these women are no less important, are no less sick, are no less thrown into complete limbo by their diagnosis. I'm all for changing 'breast cancer awareness month' to 'women's cancer awareness month', followed by a 'men's cancer awareness month'. Share the love people!


Got some of my info from here:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/womenscancers

I love you!

I've had a couple of conversations with various friends about these three little words (if "I" even counts as a word). We hear them said all the time in various guises. Some people say it freely, other people (and I count myself in this category) are more conservative with our professing of love for others. It's not that I don't 'love' people, it's not that I've had 'love' thrown back in my face. The reason I don't say "I love you" that often is not what you're expecting. It's because I am a hopeless romantic and I believe so deeply in love that I see the words as sacred.
I don't think "I love you" should be tacked onto a farewell, just in case something happens and you never get another opportunity. Saying "I hope you have a great day, I'll see ya tonight" is my way of saying it to Andy as I walk out the door. In saying that, I am conveying that I want him to have a good day, because I want him to be happy and I am looking forward to being with him tonight, because (drum roll please) I love him. I cook him dinner because I love him and I want him to be healthy and nourished, he takes out the rubbish and does the folding because he loves me and understands that a fresh smelling kitchen and neatly folded clothes make me happy.
That's one sort of love, there are heaps of different types. Family, for example. My family very VERY seldom say it to one another, but I have never doubted for a second that they do and vice versa. We do things for one another, we cut articles out of magazines, we buy each other little gifts, we phone each other and we cook meals for each other. These are all tangible ways of saying a big fat "I love you and I have been thinking about you" to each other without ever uttering the words.
My friends know I love them and I know they love me, obviously, given that I have had these conversations, some of them say it to me. Others express it in different ways, much the same as my family, but I know they do.
So what's my point? I suppose I have come to realise that "I love you" is just words, much the same as any combination of words. They can mean everything or they can mean nothing. Make sure if you're going to say it, you say it because you mean it and not because you always have. Better still, don't say it...do it! (interpret that as you will....)

Farwell My Little Friend

1999 - 2009

On Sunday, 30th August, Oscar slipped away peacefully. Unfortunately, I was interstate at the time, however I am assured that he chose his time so I wouldn't be too traumatised! It's very sad, it's always sad to say goodbye to a pet, in particular, one that has been with you for a third of your life. At the same time however, I am thankful that I have had so much time with him. Most budgies only last 5-7 years, so I count myself lucky to have gotten a bonus 3 years.

He's now peacefully resting under a little flowering shrub in the front yard, buried with his favourite mirror, a handful of seed and 10 purple daisy's, one for each year of his life.

Thanks for being in our life little guy!

New job update and a question on favouritism

My new job is going great. I am two days in to working solo (my predecessor just left and the other team member is on 3 months leave, so it's just me and my boss) and have received a piece of paper that tells me how much extra coin I'll be getting for my trouble (:-D). It's challenging, it's constantly busy an every task is different from the last. It's what I have been missing, even from my last job, which I loved, I just wasn't busy enough.

One of the most thought provoking aspects of my new job is that of 'toilet cubicle favouritism'. See, I am working in the same building as I was in my last role, so as such, all the toilets throughout the building are in the same place, the same number of cubicles, the same colour scheme....just different floors. Firstly, I'm interested to know, do all people favour a cubicle, or is it just me? And secondly, does this favourite change, depending on the floor? See, on level 5, I always went to the Northern most cubicle, unless it was taken, but 9 times out of 10, I was a North cubicle user. On level 2, I gravitate towards the Southern most cubicle! Very strange.
I also favour a sink over the two others, but that is logical, the middle one is directly under the soap dispenser and the southern one sprays water all over my corporate suit. I don't think I've tried the other one yet......

Books Books! I LOVE Books!

So I am on a reading frenzy....I have been on a reading frenzy for the past 18 months! Below is a list of all my reads over the past year or so. If you want opinions on any of these books, I'm your gal!
Optionally, if anyone has any suggestions of books you think I should read, please let me know!

Sea Glass - Anita Shreve
Heavenly Delights - Kerry Greenwood
Two Caravans - Marina Lewycka
Snow Falling on Cedars - David Guterson
Cloudstreet - Tim Winton
Miss Smilas Feeling for Snow - Peter Hoeg
The Shifting Fog/The house at Riverton - Kate Morton
Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time - Marcus Borg
A short history of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewyka
The God of Small things - A. Roy
The 5 People You meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom
That’d be right - William McInnes
The life of Pi - Yann Martel
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Sunday Best - Robbie Neal
Love Like Water - Meme MacDonald
Lines in the Sand - Anne Deveson
The Last Time I Saw Mother - Arlene J Chai
My Place - Sally Morgan
My Sisters Keeper - Jodi Picoult
44 Scotland Street - Alexander McCall Smith
Espresso Tales - Alexander McCall Smith
Love Over Scotland - Alexander McCall Smith
The World According to Bertie - Alexander McCall Smith
The Unbearable Lightness of Scones - Alexander McCall Smith
Breathing in Colour - Clare Jay

And just started Eat, Pray Love - Elizabeth Gilbert

I figure if I read a lot, I will draw inspiration from words, images, language and themes and one day have enough of this inspiration to write something myself. Until then, I read!

I pick this door to walk through...

....on Friday, I accepted a new position.

It had been a full on week. Highs and lows, including cooking pancakes for a bunch of grade 1's, seeing Simon and Garfunkel live in concert, being on the train that hit the lad who jumped on the track to save his iPod and a rather awkward and disappointing job interview. I sure earned that glass of wine on Friday night!

So my new position is working in Insurance Services, still within the Health Department. My dad had a long career in insurance, so I figure I have a good point of reference, should I need it! The manager of the area offered me a few financial perks from the outset, so I felt really positive about it.

I have a huge challenge ahead, I've never done this kind of work before. I may love it, I may not, but I am willing to give it a red hot go and see where it takes me! I have a meeting to negotiate my release date with my managers this week. I am going to miss comms, I am going to miss my director, who provides endless laughs and witty insight, but this is an exciting new journey that I am grabbing onto with both hands!

Oh yeah, and this is my 100th post!