Chicklet Heaven

She's funny, smart, imaginative, creative, artistic, thoughtful, loving, confident, assertive, encouraging, tech savvy, crazy and an amazing problem solver. She has a pretty positive outlook about most things and her attention to detail when she's focussed, is surprising.

Two days isn't very long, but it's about quality, not quantity.

Today, we started with her whispering a secret request for dinosaur lego, followed by instructional tutoring in Minecraft.

We played dinosaur cards - which came with one of four dinosaur books that I brought with me. We built our castle and played dragon vs knight ...

We watched 'Chicken Little' and while I read a few pages of my book, she watched some of 'Hotel Transylvania'. When I wasn't feeling well this afternoon, we played Plants vs Zombies while I lay on the bed. We coloured in and made some pictures in a playground app. When her iPad went flat, she built a Minecraft world for me on my iPad...

We had dinner time, then bath time and then story time .. which was a book about Poo at the Zoo.

Tomorrow, it's time to go home, but I'll be back in a few weeks. It's been short, but very very sweet. I love her so much xo

It's almost midnight, so I'm off to sleep.

Nite all.

Grey and Gloomy

Well, I must say that the Gods were not kind to us for this photo shoot.

With yesterday's 40kph winds and stifling heat making it impossible to get any type of decent shot, except for a couple deep in the bush where the wind couldn't reach us, and then this morning when we woke at the crack of dawn to catch the perfect morning light .. only to discover that it was a grey and gloomy day, completely overcast and not at all conducive for beautiful beach shots.

So we gave up.

We will hopefully squeeze in a shoot during my next visit to the Sunny Coast in December and then we will aim for some more time in my town early next year.

A huge thank you to The Nikonian for her time and her patience, the wine, the gifts, the food and the fun. We both have dreadful memories. So many conversations weren't finished because we couldn't remember names or words or what the hell we were talking about.

I forgot to give her the other half of her birthday present and I forgot to feed her breakfast this morning.

She forgot some of her camera gear and all the spare food from her garden that she could have shared with me.

It doesn't matter, as long as we remembered the wine and the camera - probably the two most important items for a good time!

As I type this, I am on the Sunny Coast, sleeping in Chicklet's bed while she camps out in Mama's room.

We didn't get much play time this afternoon, because I arrived well after 3pm, but we had some sticker fun and I had to search for some dinosaur cards that she had placed or hidden strategically around the house. We had bath time and read one of the new dinosaur books before bed.

Tomorrow will be a BIG play day.

Before I sign off for a good night of sleep (the dogs got me out of bed three times during last night, so I am feeling weary) ..

I have to wish Grannymus a very happy birthday for the 10th November. I hope you had a marvellous day and the family spoilt you just a little and that you got to feel some love. xox

On that note, sleep for me.

Nite all.

Hilarity

The Nikonian is here.

I can't believe that it's been so long since we caught up!

I have asked her to do a photo shoot, with me as the subject, so that I have some pics of myself to put on my website. I feel so awkward on the wrong side of the camera and she is working so hard to make me relax .. but I'm terrible!!

She offers fantastic instructions and I'm trying really hard, but I'm very self conscious and I struggle to smile unless I have something in particular to smile about! She sings, she jokes, she makes rude suggestions .. I must be the worst subject she has ever had to shoot!

We were traipsing through heavy bush and long grasses, leaning against blackened trees and fallen tree trunks, climbing gates and sitting on grassy knolls while trying to capture the lovely afternoon light.

Tomorrow morning, we'll be up at the crack of dawn to catch the sunrise and then get some more pics in the lovely morning light on the beach.

I feel very sorry for The Nikonian, but if she can't get many usable shots this time, we will try again in a few months .. one day, I might get so used to it, that I'll actually relax and enjoy the process.

Perhaps I need to practise in front of the mirror!!

Anyway, it's been a lot of fun. We've giggled a lot, enjoyed some wine, ate a delicious dinner, caught up with family news, discussed politics, made fun of each other .. and others .. reminisced about photography friends and suggested a possible future holiday together.

She retired early and here I am, still up at 11pm .. knowing full well that I need to make myself presentable for a shoot at 4.30 tomorrow morning AND I still have to pack to go to the Sunny Coast!

It would be a smart move for me to go to bed now.

So ..

Nite all.

 

Thumbs Up!

I am healthy!

My heart, thyroid, red and white blood cells, liver, kidneys, sugar, cholesterol, magnesium and potassium .. all perfect.

I am, however, chronically deficient in Vitamin D .. so I need to get out in the sunshine more often, with as much bare skin as possible .. this does NOT mean that I'll be in the market for a bikini!

Aside from the obligatory offer of a prescription drug from Doctor Dubious, his advice was to continue trike riding and walking with Adoring Husband on the beach, reduce my coffee intake (I promised to reduce from two coffees a day to one a day) and avoid stress.

I am very happy with this outcome. It is far and above anything I had imagined and now I can concentrate on continuing to be healthy.

I love good news!

Of course, some retail therapy was in order - you know - to celebrate my good fortune. So I bought a bucket load of journals (six if I recall correctly), two tops and two bottoms and three bracelets and Series 13 of Grey's Anatomy.

It was quite late by the time we returned home and we had to stop at the local supermarket and butcher, then on to book my return train ticket to the Sunny Coast.

We came home and ate lunch before I gave one of the psychotic dogs a haircut. Colli is looking very presentable now and I snipped the top of my left little finger in the process, which is now feeling quite tender. I'll bathe it in colloidal silver before bed.

I need to head off to bed because The Nikonian will be here in the morning and I need to look fresh and vibrant for the photo shoot!! It's a terrifying prospect for me because I like to be the one behind the camera, not in front of it. However, I trust The Nikonian and have complete faith in her photographic abilities .. and also her ability to make me look good :)

No pressure.

Nite all.

Results

Tomorrow is D-Day. 'D' being for Doctor. I'm not sure that I want to know the results of the tests, because I'm a true believer that "ignorance is bliss", but I can't fix it if I don't know what it is can I?

If it turns out that the problem is my thyroid, I've discovered a great clinic on the Sunny Coast that specialises in the holistic treatment of thyroid conditions, so I'll be making an appointment ASAP if necessary.

I didn't get to my desk until this afternoon, but I completed another chapter of my ebook today and I'm pretty happy with my progress with that so far. The website won't get touched until next week now because my diary is completely booked until Monday.

I'm beginning to feel a bit frustrated that it's not going as smoothly or as quickly as I want, but you get that on big jobs :)

The Nikonian will be here on Thursday *happy dance* and there will be plenty of photography, plenty of wine, plenty of good food, plenty of laughter and perhaps a little teensy bit of gossip!

Then on Friday, I'm off to see my little Chicklet family on the Sunny Coast for a couple of nights, so it's ALL happening!

Today, I've been thinking of Rebel Mardi and The Lifesaver, who spent their first day in the new house down south, unpacking and swimming in their pool. I bet they sleep well tonight! Will miss you at coffee on Wednesday morning (tomorrow).

I'm watching a really really bad movie at the moment .. 'Spice World' starring the Spice Girls. It was made 19 years ago. It's given me the motivation to turn it off and go to bed!

Have a great hump day everybody.

Nite all.

 

Upbeat and Positive

On Sunday, I had such a great day at my desk!

It had been long enough since I properly looked at my website, that I was able to see it with fresh eyes and so I changed a number of things to make it more user friendly.

I partly finished the shop/store and had an easy 'to do' list to get through for Monday. I dared to suggest in Sunday's blog post (which I forgot to publish - my apologies!) that I could have this completed by Monday evening? I was so close, I could taste it!

But I should know better than to get so excited! The next stage was a little more complex than I expected and halfway through it, I decided it was too difficult and chose to amend it and simplify it, which of course took quite a bit longer than I expected.

This is going to take a few more days .. and who knows what other obstacles I will come across in the meantime!

So for now .. just to keep my attitude positive and upbeat, I watched this fabulous TED talk that I know you will enjoy as much as I did!



To my local friends, make sure you keep your eyes peeled for the next Progress Association Newsletter, where you'll find this article (which you won't need to find now, because you're reading it here haha).

Time for me to sleep now.

Nite all.

Gracious Goodbye

Well, the goodbye was difficult, my voice failed me and my sunglasses hid my tears. A tough farewell.

However, lunch was fantastic and we shared some quality time with some quality people. Most of us were there early enough to spring the surprise on Rebel Mardi and The Lifesaver, and there were some good laughs and some hilarious snorting, a bit of storytelling, some inappropriate language (by me of course) and some frantic photography ...

One of the ladies who served us at Arkarra Tea Gardens, came out to take a couple of full group photos so that we could all be included. That was nice of her.

I've got a busy few days ahead of me, so I'm off.

Nite all.

Friday Farewell

I had a good day at the desk where I channelled Vegan Chickie and became a little bit more organised with my business plan, gave my work journals labels and tags, sourced some products and emailed for quotes, listed some future blog post ideas, made a couple of orders and studied some more.

There is still so much to do!

We had a good crowd at the club for Friday night raffles. It's the last Friday night before their renovations begin and the last Friday night for Rebel Mardi and The Lifesaver before they head off to the Sunny Coast.

These two lovely people are such important members of our group and have been a huge support to every one of us at different times. They've been involved in all of our shenanigans in the last eight years and we could always rely on them to party hard with the best of us.

Rebel Mardi's beaming smile will be deeply missed by everybody who knows her here, and our group will definitely be poorer with her absence.

So many memories! And these are just a few!

The Lifesaver's cheeky and dry sense of humour will now have to entertain a new set of unsuspecting faces. I feel that they should be warned ... but nah ... let them figure him out, as we did!

The warmth and love that this wonderful pair wrap around us all has made the last eight years a sheer delight and we are all so grateful to have felt their friendship on a very deep level. There will certainly be a grieving process for some of us as we deal with the huge gap that they will leave behind.

I wish that I was courageous enough to stand up in front of our friends to make a speech that conveys how we all feel about Rebel Mardi and The Lifesaver, but alas, I would be overwhelmed by my emotions and probably wouldn't even finish the first sentence!

So I hope that as you read this post, you understand how terribly sad we all feel that you are leaving, but also how very pleased we are to see you embracing this next chapter of your lives, and knowing that you will be closer to your first love, that being family. Your happiness will always be motivation enough for us to accept you moving on.

Take with you, our love and warmest wishes for a beautiful, happy and fulfilling life, surrounded by a whole new set of lucky friends and your fabulous family. All good things for such good people.

Now ... get out of here!  And STAY OUT!!

Nite all.

Nowhere Rapidly

So many hours at my desk and nothing to show for it!

Well, perhaps that's not completely true. I have a long list of new ideas to add to my website, which means an even longer building process than I'd originally planned.

The business program that I'm completing says to get the site up and running quickly - even if it's not what you consider as 'finished' - but I want it as close to perfect as possible before I present it to the world! I don't want to be constantly shutting it down for upgrades and updates in it's first month.

If I'm lucky I'll get another half a day tomorrow to play some more.

This was just posted on Facebook by Higgins Storm Chasers ...

***EXTENDED FORECAST THUNDERSTORM ALERT QUEENSLAND***
A week long active thunderstorm period is predicted for large parts of the state starting on Monday 7th of November. Current data suggests there will likely be a number of SEVERE thunderstorms each day across various districts with the inclusion of some potentially Very Dangerous Thunderstorms and possible Supercells.
Large Hail, Damaging Winds, Heavy Rain, Flash Flooding and Frequent Lightning will be moderate to high risks with the possibility of extreme risks in certain areas on given days.
Now would be a good time to prepare by securing loose items around your home and also having your roof gutters cleaned.

Be aware, be prepared and be safe everyone!

~ Jeff Higgins ~

My Queensland friends .. consider yourselves warned. Adoring Husband is acting in a higher role with the SES, so he might have a busy time ahead too!

Here are some giggles for you ...

That's it for me tonight. I hear a pillow calling my name. Have a fabulous Friday!

Nite all.

Goodbye Monitor

While trying to avoid losing any wires or rolling on the digital monitor box, I had a dreadful night's sleep. I think I slept for about four hours, but it was very broken and I woke at least six times during the night, each time checking that everything was still in place.

Fortunately, my reward for having had to endure the stoopid monitor, was having coffee with the girls. There were a few ladies absent, due to other commitments, but the important ones (cough cough) were there!

From there, Adoring Husband and I drove into town so that I could have the monitor removed, and what a relief it was to be rid of it!

I had a package being delivered at lunch time, so we did a quick turn around and returned home straight away.

The first item on my agenda, was to make up a batch of dog food. Next was to boil up the kilo of green king prawns that we bought yesterday. Then I did a load of washing. I made some lunch for Adoring Husband. I open my parcels which were delivered while I was busy in the kitchen (how exciting!). Finally I retreated to my desk for a couple of hours of study/work.

At 3.30pm we gathered up one of the psychotic dogs - Ruby - donned her harness, collar and leash and drove to the beach for our afternoon walk. It was incredibly windy, which I'm certain frightened Ruby a little, and she power walked along the beach with her head down AND her tail down, so we don't think she enjoyed herself much.

She was happy to walk through the water puddles and I kept leading her to the deep ones where she would stumble because she wasn't expecting the depth. It made me laugh hysterically, but AH was horrified that I could trick her like that.

Karma got me, because I either stood on a bee or it was some kind of stinging sea creature, because for half of the walk, I was in quite a deal of pain. Luckily the pain had faded before we arrived home, so it obviously wasn't too serious.

Needless to say, both Ruby AND the car, required a good scrubbing by the time we reached our driveway!

I believe that I have a free day tomorrow, so I may get to actually do some serious work on my website!!

An early night and a plan for tomorrow. *happy dance*

Nite all.

Gale Force!

We left bright and early for our trip into The Bay so that I could be fitted with the heart monitor.

The woman who fitted it was a 'little miss have a chat' and we talked about medical stuff ups (Who me?? How unusual! After 20 years in the medical industry, she shared some doozies herself!! More fuel for my fire lol). We also discussed X-husbands, the deaths of our mothers, online shopping, a serious virus that has recently been discovered in a major Brisbane Hospital and some other very interesting stuff that I can't repeat!

So I'm wearing the monitor and it hasn't really bothered me until tonight. I got to the ten hour mark when I began to feel a little uncomfortable and I needed to undo the belt for 5 minutes, just to stretch and breathe. Sleeping will be the test!

The interesting part is maintaining a diary of my activities and actions. Every time I do something different, I have to press the silver button, then write the time on the sheet, what the activity is and how I'm feeling. Fortunately, if I don't feel anything different, I simply draw a line. They should consider themselves lucky that I haven't opened one of my journals and begun diarising my every thought, action and feeling!! There have been MANY thoughts!!

I've had a pretty busy day to monitor too!

We had to do some shopping in town before returning home. When we arrived home I unpacked the groceries, prepared a chicken for baking in the oven, cooked up the pumpkin for the dog food, hung out some washing, spent an hour at my desk, hung out some more washing, rode to Woman of Many Talent's house for drinks with her and Mrs Bucket, rode home, carved the chicken, made a salad for our barbecue and then drove down to the park for said barbecue.

Tonight was a farewell for our lovely friends Rebel Mardi and the Life Saver. This is their final week before moving to the Sunny Coast, so we had a good crowd of mates gather, in dreadful conditions, to spend quality time with them before they go.

The wind was so strong tonight, that the food was blowing off plates, plates were flying off tables, glasses of alcohol were being blown over and our clothes were being swept up, around, over and across our heads and bodies causing quite a bit of discomfort.

The gale force conditions combined with the noise of so many people under the pergola caused me a great deal of stress and we were the first to leave. I apologise to my lovely friends for abandoning them and for departing in such a dramatic manner, but I just couldn't stay any longer!

My weak tolerance levels probably have a lot to do with my thyroid condition at the moment. I'm very edgy and volatile lately, much to Adoring Husband's distress.

Anyway, there were some lovely speeches where a couple of friends courageously spoke from their hearts and managed to trigger some emotional tears all round. Speeches need to be very short in these circumstances, because emotions run high and voices quickly crack and that brings us all to our knees.

I know that I will not be able to share my feelings out loud. I'd end up a blubbering wreck and nobody wants or needs to see that!

Now, I'm off to bed before midnight (best put that in the diary!). I'm looking forward to coffee with the girls tomorrow before heading into town to have this darned monitor removed!

Nite all.

    

Happy Halloweeeeeen!!!

First of all, happy birthday to my Jamie, who would have been 38 years old today, had he lived.

Next of all, happy halloween everybody!

I had a fairly productive day, although it was difficult to find focus at the beginning.

I pedalled against some pretty strong gusty winds, to get my coffee this morning. The winds were crazy today and gusted above 40km/h. Paperweights were required to stop paperwork from flying across my desk!

Being Halloween, I wanted to put together three bags of goodies for Lady Lynn's and Happy Harry's grandchildren, who were given prior permission to come knocking for trick or treating tonight. Most of what I gathered, was stuff that I already had in the house and I bought some chocolate treats, some inexpensive toys and some bits and pieces that I thought the kids might have some fun with.

Last year, we spent a fortune on lollies that went to thirty odd kids, most of whom we had never even seen in the area before, so this year we decided not to feed the unfamiliar children and spend half as much on just three special kids.

This fabulous family have a lot of fun with halloween and put in such a good effort with their costumes ...

After I finished putting together the bags of goodies, I prepared some lunch and then hibernated in my workspace until 3.30pm, at which time Adoring Husband and I drove to the beach for our afternoon walk. We bought our coffee on the way and spent 45 minutes walking barefoot over the sand flats at low tide. It was very windy, but not unpleasantly so.

I love our afternoon walks.

I was supposed to play golf with the Old Speckled Hen after lunch, but decided almost at the last minute, to pull out. As Adoring Husband suggested, perhaps it's not a good idea to lug a golf bag around for nine holes of golf, the day prior to being fitted with a heart monitor!

Speaking of which, I'd best get some sleep since we have to be in town early tomorrow morning for the fitting.

Nite all.

 

Active Again

A great group of people attended the first meeting for the 'Fracking Free Burrum Heads' group this morning.

We're in a good place and can hopefully have Burrum Heads on the 'mining free' list very soon.

That was my morning filled in a very constructive and interesting way.

When I returned home, I cooked up a big batch of curried chicken and then retired to my desk to increase my website and business education.

Time flies so fast when I'm in the zone and before I realised, it was after 6pm! I served Adoring Husband a big bowl of curried chicken and rice and we sat down to watch X-Factor. He headed off to bed early, having spent the day exerting himself with some heavy manual labour fulfilling his role as maintenance worker at the local shopping centre.

I can't believe it's already after midnight!

I need to get some sleep so that I can spend the day at my desk tomorrow. If I have to avoid all electronic devices while I wear the heart monitor on Tuesday, I'll be making up for that lost time tomorrow.

Nite all.  

A Day of Wonder

Another glorious Winter's day!

The water in the river was a deep and beautiful shade of blue at high tide this morning. I spent ten minutes with the boys at the Seat of Knowledge, admiring the water, before buying my coffee and heading over to The Motivator's house.

She was preparing breakfast for herself and a morning visitor, so we all sat outside in the alfresco area, them eating a big breakfast, and me with my coffee. The conversation flowed easily as we all shared our thoughts about business ideas, previous experiences & successes and plans for our futures.

It was interesting to note how very different we all were in our beliefs and in our approaches to bringing our dreams to fruition.

By the time I arrived home, it was almost lunch time, so I prepared a salad for Adoring Husband to have with his protein, which he cooked when he was ready and I spent the afternoon at my desk, watching some academy videos, taking notes and printing out the business diary.

At 4pm we drove to the shop for our coffee and then on to the beach for our afternoon walk.

I remembered to take my camera and was hoping to get a decent shot for the flickr challenge this month. The theme is 'Looking Down'.

But the one I selected for the challenge was this one ...

It's the skeleton of a stingray!

We walked for an hour because the tide was out and there was plenty of beach and sandy flats to explore. It was still a beautiful day with the perfect breeze, a few friendly dogs walking their owners, some kids using the wide expanse of sand as a golf driving range, a solo curlew and a couple of oyster catchers (birds) and a fisher person standing in the water as the tide rose around them.

As usual, it was most enjoyable and by the time we arrived home, I had to prepare dinner, so no more website or academy work for me. It's been a very slow week for the website and I feel like I'm falling behind. Tomorrow I have a fracking meeting to attend, so I will lose even more time.

It's way past midnight so I'd best get some sleep!

Nite all.

 

Psychosomatic

Psychosomatic - adjective - relating to the interaction of mind and body.

After my appointment with the doctor yesterday, I woke up this morning with not a flutter to be felt. For the entire day, not a flutter to be felt!

I'm certain that it has been mind over matter. My mind needed to hear the diagnosis so that it knew which part of my body to focus the healing towards!

I'm feeling fantastic.

It's been an interesting day.

It's been a beautiful Spring day.

I saw the boys at the Seat of Knowledge before I bought my coffee this morning, which I took with me to The Motivator's house, where I sat enjoying it while she ate her delicious, healthy big breakfast.

We did some catching up for an hour or so and I left her house with a bag full of sand crabs, and for anyone who cares, this is the last weekend for sand crabs from this fishing family, until next year, so you'd best get in quick!

When I arrived home, I hopped online and ordered my new Apple Macbook Pro, which I expect to receive in two to three weeks. Apple launched the upgraded version overnight and it has some new features that I'm excited to check out.

I have to thank Vegan Chickie who stopped me from ordering a new laptop about six weeks ago, when she advised me of the impending launch. Now I'll have the new, you-beaut, top of the range machine that will be brilliant for my photo editing and website building and ebook writing and blogging and business building and anything else that I can think of!

It will be a long 2-3 week wait.

I spent some time in my workspace, then helped Adoring Husband make some lunch. At about 2pm I visited The Motivator again and returned home with just enough time to shower and make myself presentable for the club.

We were all lucky enough to be graced with the presence of AH at the club. He joins us so rarely, and everybody gets very excited and animated when he does. It's like having a movie star in our presence!

He must have brought some luck with him because just about everybody at our two tables won a prize tonight. Meat trays and free drinks and pokie wins and keno wins. It's been a long time since the luck stirred in our corner.

I cooked up some delicious duck breast for dinner, which was served with a big tangy salad.

After Adoring Husband retired to bed, I switched the TV channel over to the TCM (Turner Classic Movie) channel and for the first time in my life, watched 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' which stars Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor.

I was so certain that I'd watched it in my past, but was surprised to find that I'd never seen any of it. I quite enjoyed it too. The movie 'Casablanca' followed it, but I've definitely seen that one before .. a couple of times, so the TV is muted as I finish this post and head to bed before the clock strikes midnight.

I may actually get to work on my ebook tomorrow. My fluttering has made it a slow week for my website and ebook, so there is a bit to catch up on.

As I sign off, I'd like to wish Jolly Jack (the name that I have appropriately given Happy Harry's and Lady Lynn's daughter) a very happy birthday. It was a pleasure to have her smiling face at our table tonight and now that I think about it, it may have been Jolly Jack who brought the luck to our table!!

Nite all.



  

Believe It Or Not

Yep. I did it.

I decided that after five days of fluttering, without any sign of it letting up, and feeling such discomfort that I couldn't even prepare dinner for two nights, that I needed to do something about it and find out what was really happening.

Firstly, I phoned a medical help line and spoke to a registered nurse, who was very thorough and asked me lots of questions about my medical history, both personal and family related. She had no idea what my diagnosis might be, but suggested that five days was too long to have symptoms that could possibly be heart related, so I should see a doctor within the next twelve hours.

Who here has ever been able to get an appointment with a GP inside twelve hours????

She wanted me to ask for an ECG and for blood tests to check my thyroid function.

The way I saw it, I had two choices. I could go to the local doctor surgery and see one of the doctors there - all of whom I have heard negative stories about and none of whom I have ever laid eyes upon - OR I could go to my old doctor, who I haven't seen since May 2009 and who I don't trust due to his poor management of Adoring Husband's health at certain times.

I chose the latter and made the call. The receptionist offered me an appointment for next Tuesday, so I explained that the medical line said it had to be inside twelve hours and without hesitation, she said "How about 2.30 this afternoon?"

"Perfect!" I replied.

I described my symptoms to Dr Dubious, who was much less thorough than the registered nurse who I'd spoken to earlier on the medical line. I told him it was suggested that I have an ECG and blood tests, so he confidently declared that he believed it was my thyroid that was giving me grief, but just to rule heart problems out, he wanted me to be fitted with a halter monitor to get a 24 hour record of my heart activity.

For the twenty four hours on the monitor, I have to do things that put stress on my heart. They said that I'm not allowed to use my electronic devices .. no iPhone, no iPad, no laptop, no PC .. THAT is going to put stress on my heart!!!

I have to wait til Tuesday to get this thing fitted, so I need to survive five sleeps and then after they take it off, a further six sleeps before the doctor receives the report. Let's hope I don't have a heart attack between now and then!

A lovely lady by the name of Lee, the most efficient vampire I've ever come across in my life, took quite a bit of the red stuff out of my vein, while being very friendly and welcoming. She made the experience surprisingly pleasant and I praised her and thanked her profusely.

They will be testing my blood for thyroid function, liver function, magnesium and potassium levels, vitamin D levels and other stuff that I can't think of right now.

So that was my day. As you know, I do not like, nor do I trust doctors, so for me to take this step is a big deal! Needless to say, the flutters have been fairly mild and infrequent all day today!

Oh and Dr Dubious told me to cut back on my coffee. "ARE YOU KIDDING???" I replied "I have the cleanest diet in the history of mankind and have removed everything that is bad. I only drink two coffees a day .. and NOW you want to take them away as well????"

So as Adoring Husband and I drove back into town, I said "We need to stop for coffee!"

We stopped for coffee, and for the third day in a row, drove to the beach and walked barefoot through the incoming tidal waters. I hope we make this a habit, because I absolutely love it!

Last, but not least, when Dr Dubious took my blood pressure, it was sky high!! 156 over something equally stupid. I said "Don't be ridiculous!! I have never had high blood pressure!! I've been monitoring it for 5 days and it hasn't been higher than 120/80 at any time!"

I actually had a slip of paper in my purse with the last ten blood pressure readings that I took, so that I could show him, but I didn't show him because he said "Let's put it down to 'White Coat Syndrome' and not worry about your blood pressure for now."

And that was that.

I found it pretty amazing that my Dr's appointment was for 2.30pm, after which, we drove to the pathology rooms where I booked my halter fitting and had my blood taken. From there we drove to Takura to pick up the FROG box and we came into town and drove past the pub at 4pm.

Very time efficient.

I think seven years and five months is a pretty good record to hold for avoiding doctor's visits. Let's hope when all this is over, I can break that record again.

Nite all.      

Across the Water

We had a great day!

The weather was glorious as we travelled across the water on the Burrum River Quest to Woodgate Beach. The tide was too low for the boat to drop us at the boat ramp, so we were dropped at the beach  and had to hike quite a way to reach the bus that would take us to the Woodgate Pub.

It took quite a few boat trips and bus rides to get us all there, but it was definitely worth it. Even though the pub is looking a bit tired and in need of a facelift, the staff were very friendly and the food was great. There were lots of gluten free options and the pub had a nice atmosphere.

I was lucky enough to make it for the first boat ride and the first bus, and returned on the last bus and last boat trip.

My only complaint was my fluttering that hardly let up all day and got worse when I returned home, so I have been in bed since 5pm and am typing this in bed, on my iPad. It seems to have settled now (at 11pm), so I'm going to get some sleep and tomorrow I'll decide whether to see a doctor.

I'm looking forward to spending the day at my desk, so I hope my body behaves itself.

Nite all.

Working On It

My flutters did not bother me all day, until approximately 3.45pm.

There was absolutely no trigger for them because I was sitting at my desk all afternoon working on my ebook. I was having a lovely time and being very productive with no interruptions. Then the flutters began.

Adoring Husband interrupted me at 4.15pm and said "Come on. We're going to get coffee and then go for a walk along the beach."

What's amazing about this particular moment, is that the chapter I was in the middle of writing, was about walking along the beach with bare feet and 'grounding'!

Very freaky.

I jumped at his idea because as I was typing, I was imagining splashing my feet through the beachy waves. I also wanted to prove that grounding had some real benefits! It was a beautiful day ...

So we bought our coffee and headed to the water. The tide was very high and there was not much beach left to walk along, but I climbed out of the car leaving my shoes behind and we went for a bare foot stroll along the shore line.

The water was incredibly warm, almost like a bathtub, and Adoring Husband found a friend!!

Before we'd left the beach, my fluttering had disappeared again. I was so relieved, but I breathed my sigh of relief way too soon, because within 45 minutes it was back!

It wasn't as bad as last night and I was at least able to prepare and eat dinner.

It's now almost 11pm and the flutters are still with me, so I'm off to bed to sleep them away and hope that they leave me alone for the lady's luncheon tomorrow.

Nite all

Over it!

Yes, you guessed it. I'm still fluttering.

I woke up with the fluttering, but it disappeared fairly quickly and I was fine until about 1pm when I began to prepare myself to attend a 'Scentsy' party. By the time I arrived at the party, the fluttering was building and increased steadily over the two hours that I was there.

I was the first to leave the party and as I rode home, the fluttering disappeared again, so I assumed that it might have something to do with anxiety. Unfortunately, after I arrived home, the fluttering returned and caused me considerable discomfort all evening .. bad enough that I didn't make dinner and for a period of about thirty minutes I strongly considered finding a doctor!

I know right?!

Five times over the duration of about an hour, when it was at it's worst, I checked my blood pressure and heart rate, and they were normal each time. On average 112/73 (within the normal range) and heart rate around 80 (normal is between 60-100).

As I sit here at almost 11pm, the fluttering is still annoying me, but is much much milder now. My blood pressure and heart rate are still normal.

Anyway, back to the Scentsy party.

I had never heard of Scentsy, but with hindsight, I think my sister may have gifted me a warmer with melts for Christmas one year. I used it once and decided they were a bit too toxic for me.

Scentsy is a party plan business that sells diffusers, warmers, scented wax melts, scented oils and a few essential oils as well as other cleaning products and perfumed wardrobe and car hangers. There are shaving lotions, face creams and hand moisturisers, among other things.

I think I sniffed every single scent available and only found two that smelled acceptable to my nose. In the end, even though I considered buying a diffuser, I left empty handed and without putting in an order.

When I arrived home, I did some research to discover more about them. The party operators were obviously well scripted and fluffed around some of the questions that were asked.

My most important question was "what are the ingredients?" The print on each item was so tiny, and with colour combinations that made them impossible to read. The only answer was "all natural" which immediately rings alarm bells because that usually means "far from natural".

Having scoured the website, I could not find any information about the ingredients of any of their products. Apparently they once declared that Scentsy used a secret combination of ingredients, but now there is nothing on the site (that I could find). At the party, it was stated that Scentsy use 100% natural fragrance.

That tells me that if they are not willing to disclose the ingredient list, then I don't trust that they are providing a safe product. And please explain how you put 100% natural 'By The Sea' in a melt, or 100% 'Clean Breeze' in an oil, or 100% 'Skinny Dippin' in a room spray ... please? That's just plucking a few from the list.

They must use chemical compounds to create the scents, as most fragrance oils do (pure essential oils SHOULD be closer to all natural) and they also usually contain ethers, amines, terpenes and many other toxic ingredients. Once those are heated, they release toxins, despite what the Scentsy people tell you.

Obviously, there are many customers and potential customers out there who trust that the Australian Government would never allow a company to sell us dangerous, toxic or fraudulent products. These people never think twice about the health risks and always believe that 100% natural means 100% natural. They might even get annoyed with people like me who ask the hard questions.

Those are the people who keep the money rolling in. Ignorance is bliss and all that jazz.

I, however, chose to let this one pass and after biting very hard on my tongue during a conversation about the fabulous the new boat ramp and after sitting in front of plates loaded with gluten and sugar, I was happy to be feeling unwell enough to leave early.

It must be time for me to go to bed and rest my body from the fluttering.

Nite all.

Still Fluttery

I'm still feeling a bit fluttery.

I attempted to ignore it by working on my website, but I just couldn't focus. Even though the fluttering is not as bad as yesterday, it's still annoying and I'm wondering if it's the caffeine!

There was no fluttering until I had my coffee this morning, so tomorrow, I will forego my coffee and see how I fare.

How lovely to wake up to rain this morning. It was fairly constant all day. Nice soaking rain that began to clear right on dusk to produce this ...

It seems that there were beautiful sunsets all over Queensland as people were posting photos from all along the coast.

I made a delicious salad to accompany our protein at lunch today. In the food processor, I tossed in

• 3 florets of cauliflower
• 1 carrot (chopped into chunks)
• 1 large bunch of parsley
• 1 red onion
• half a fresh beetroot (peeled)
• 1/4 cabbage

With the chopping blade, I processed until it was all chopped, not too finely, but about the size of KFC coleslaw, then I poured it into a bowl and added a dressing that I'd made for a salad on Thursday. I can't remember the measurements, but it had lemon juice, ACV, lime oil, honey, grated ginger and chopped coriander.

So we had lamb rack, the chopped salad, tomato wedges, avocado slices, some fermented sauerkraut and a sprinkle of persian feta cheese. Yum.

I had a big mug of chicken broth for dinner.

I hope that tomorrow, my fluttering will be gone and I can spend the entire day focussed on my website. I'm hungry to make some more good progress. I'd also like to make a start on my ebook.

It's just after 10.30pm and I am gone!!

Nite all.