Well, Hello Everyone,
Do I make you jealous with my new look!!!!
I must say it is fantastic to be back on deck. How are you all?
Fabulous! Great! Terrific! I hear you say.....
Well good for you…..
MY HOLIDAY
This is in the 'real' Shangrila - ooooh lah lah!
I have been away for the past three weeks and on a really amazing holiday. I’ve seen the most wonderful places and done some thrilling things which I am presently writing up. So no, you don't get to read my story yet.
The riproaring tales of my odyssey are coming your way soon. You see, it takes quite a while to put together three weeks of notes so you will have to wait until next time for the ‘big reveal’.
Just to whet your appetite - me at Tiger Leaping Gorge!
CATHAY PACIFIC
It's Cactus
We travelled on Cathay Pacific on the last leg of our journey. We’d booked QANTAS all the way, but this leg had been turned over to Cathay.
My God what a disaster! It was the most uncomfortable and agonising 8 hours of my life, and that includes childbirth. The seats were the newer sort where the seat slides down inside the plastic shell. This seat (by the way I had hours to examine why it was so uncomfortable) was made out of a diamond shaped metal base with a covering of material. By Golly, when that material gets thin, guess what you are sitting on! That’s right you got it. I actually had a bruise on my lower back/bottom in a zig zag pattern from this shocking seat and naturally, did not sleep a wink on this overnight flight.
At one point I went to get a drink and said to the hostess:
‘I have been travelling for over 20 years and this would have to be the most uncomfortable seating I have ever been on’.
She said ‘we do get a lot of complaints, you should try business class’.
After laughing hysterically (well I was overtired and annoyed)
I said ‘if I could afford to fly business class I would be flying business class. This aircraft is only required to have comfortable seats in Economy, that’s all. We don’t expect all the fancy stuff, we just don’t want to sit on grates’.
Talk about going back to the beginning of aviation comforts, although a plank of wood might have been better!
No way will I ever set foot inside a Cathay Pacific aircraft again. They get the thumbs down from me.
NEWS
My son Pot and his Beautiful at the Baby shower
We raced back home to the excitement of the last days running up to the birth of our second grandchild. Beautiful is looking indeed beautiful and has sailed through this pregnancy in textbook style. Thankfully she kindly hung onto her bundle until we got back, although emails from my son saying she had cramps and things had us on tenterhooks!!!!
Also we got the obligatory telephone call from home about ‘a parent’. Mr G’s 88 years old mother had had a fall and was in hospital. It turns out she is as OK as she can be, in that I mean she hasn’t broken any bones or suffered a heart attack or stroke, but being away has its disadvantages when these things happen.
A few years ago I got a call in France to say my dad had fallen over and broken his hip!!! It seems it is not an unfamiliar thing for us to get ‘the call’! By Golly we just have to take it in our stride!!!
BABY SHOWERS
Beautiful had her baby shower just before I went away and what a lovely afternoon it was. Lots of gorgeous food and fun games organised by Sweetie, and Beauiful opened parcel after parcel. What an exciting time it is for first time young mothers as they gather together with their friends and are showered with presents for the new little one on its way.
A friend at work also had her baby shower this week. In fact there are so many women at work who are pregnant at the moment it is like ‘lambing time’!!!! OOOPHS did I say that!
It is wonderful though to see that working women are still embracing motherhood even though they are set in career paths that make things a tad more difficult after baby is born. If you had the baby in my day, you knew you could stay at home for the next five years, so the pressure was off. But these young women are back at work after three months or so having to design a life around child minding services and availability of grandparents.
But it is all so worth it!
OH NO! NOT AGAIN!
And I arrived home with a bit of trepidation and excitement that I would be finally having my operation.
I rang up today to pay and have just been told another urgent breast cancer case has come up (where are they all coming from) and I have been pushed off the list for a third time. The first time I pulled out because of my own personal issue, but I most likely would have been pushed off from that one as well, so that’s 4! Am I getting the record as the most ‘bumped off’ person in the world!
I think my Dr definitely needs more time allocation at the hospital I want to go to! I want him as my surgeon, but it seems, so does everyone else ! The trouble is I am having ‘plastic surgery’ and whilst I think the operation is completely essential as far as my comfort goes, it is deemed as non essential.
And I have to go into the Public System as I am not privately insured (an ongoing battle between Mr G and I over this) but now 'age loading' prohibits us from ever joining a private fund. And so, I wait. I am so absolutely thrilled to think that this Dr has the ability to fit the urgent in, but when oh when do I get a go!!!!!
It is lucky, unlike many waiting for public hospital listing, that I am not in excruciating pain I suppose, but in a country such as Australia you would think that you could just book in and get your operation done.
I'll keep you posted and then when it is done, that when I will tell you what my operation is all about!
ELIZABETH TAYLOR
I was saddened by the death of the glorious Elizabeth Taylor.
It would be hard to think of another star to rival her beauty – as she was in her day, utterly divine. What a life she lived though? She seemingly had it all; looks men, jewellery, career etc but she also had her share of heartbreak and trials too. And the one thing she was not, and that is boring?
I am pretty sure Elizabeth’s advice to you would be to steer clear of that word ‘boring’ and all its meaning when you live your life!
Don’t tow the straight and narrow, reach out and embrace challenges, new ideas and reset yourself.
Have yourself ‘A LIFE’.
MISS CHARLI’S BIRTHDAY
Sweetie, Miss C and Doh
The day after we returned home from our travels, we joined the family for Miss C’s 4th birthday. I cannot believe where that time has gone. Although jetlagged we loved catching up with everyone.
LANA’S WISE WEEK
I saw Lana on Miss C’s birthday too and I must say she is been ultra busy over the last few weeks. She’s looking as well and happy as I have seen her, so life is ‘not boring’ for her. Check our her Wise Week now.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Since I have just zipped in from China, A Chinese proverb is probably the way to go:
"The miracle is not to fly in the air,
or to walk on the water,
but to walk on the earth"
So there you are. You are keepers of the miraculous.
Make sure you are always aware;
feel with your heart the earth beneath your feet;
observe the beauty that nature offers;
breathe the sweet fragrances;
touch and mentally respond to all sensations;
embrace every single step you take.
Have a super week. My trip to China is coming up and I look forward to sharing my journey with you.
Keep the shine everyone,
Love
