News To Share

Last week after I returned home from holidays and got back online I teased you about some good news I had to share. A few of you know about this already, and to Mother and Father Hermit I apologize that you're finding out this way. I would have thought The Hermit would've told you when he spoke to you over the weekend, but when I asked him later if he had shared the news he had forgotten all about it. Memory like a sieve, my husband.

Anyway since it's officially official (from Monday afternoon) here it is, direct from the horse's mouth:

Cancer Care Services - Registered Nurse
Position Description: Transition to Practice Nurse Education Program
Recruiter Notes: Dear Mooselet*

Congratulations. We are pleased to offer you a permanent position in the Oncology Day Therapy Unit, pending a clear Criminal History check, successful completion of your degree and subsequent registration with QNC.

That's right - I HAVE A JOB!!! Or rather, I have been offered a RN position when I finish my degree in June. Not only will I be getting back from a 7 year pause to my nursing career, but it's in the Day Unit which means no late nights, overnights or weekends. To me this is a great balance between my family and my job, both of which I love. To say I'm thrilled is a bit of an understatement.

What hospital? I won't say, so let's just call it the Really Big Public Hospital That (Will Soon) Employ Me. Those of you who do know or are smart enough to figure it out - hush. Let's not cost me my new job, hmmmm. Just in case.

In one of those twists of fate that life throws at you, it was my father's cancer diagnosis (and ultimate death from it) 13+ years ago that lead me to recognize that nursing was what I wanted to do with my life. And now I will be working full time in that same field - I did have oncology patients back at the Previous (and Fantastic) Hospital That Employeed Me in Massachusetts but we were primarily a medical floor. That brief experience did help me to land this position, as did my past overall nursing experience and my age. Yes, pushing 40 worked in my favour as they were looking for someone with "life experience".

Nor was it a job I had initially applied for. I had applied for positions in the operating theatre, but I couldn't even get an interview. The Cancer Care people were willing to interview me, however, and it went remarkably well. That's obvious now, but on the day I left feeling confident but not 100% certain I'd landed the position. They phoned me while I was on vacation to tell me they were going to offer me the position, and I would have to officially accept or decline it online this week. Didn't take much thought on my part to know which button I'd press.

And what about the Large Grocery Store That Employes Me? When will I be handing in my notice? Not anytime soon. I still have one more school rotation to do - ironically in the operating theatre in another public hospital - and won't start this new position until I'm licenced. And even then I won't be handing in my box knife and marker. Since we'd like to both drastically reduce our debt and save for a trip back to the States next year, the money I make at the Large Grocery Store will go a long way towards plane fare for 5 whilst the hospital job will take heaps of financial pressure off The Hermit. So unless I hit the Lottery, I'll be staying with the Large Grocery Store two nights a week.

A family member once told me that a man's job was very important to his self-esteem. In the 7 years I've been away from nursing, I've discovered it's important to me as well.

*In case you're completely clueless, you'll know I changed my name to protect the innocent.

Match Report Monday

It's been a long break for the kids footy. A wash out, holidays, a bye... but we're back now and boy was it worth it!

Round 7 U7s, N1
Date: 26 April 2009, 9:00 am kickoff
Where: Gibson Park, Stafford
Who: Brothers v Wests Panthers


As previously noted no score, but I'm fairly certain we lost this one. Especially as Brothers had a boy who was a head taller than everyone else and who scored just about every one of their tries.

But it was great because Her Majesty scored her first try!!! And was it ever a beauty of a try. She ran straight up the middle and broke at least 3 attempted tackles, looking a little confused as to why she wasn't being stopped. But she kept going, with the crowd cheering her on (it's great being the only girl because EVERYONE knows your name), before being tackled by the aforementioned man-child (name from Sparky) as she crossed the line. But she managed to get the ball down and so was awarded her first 4 points of the season. I must admit she still looked a little dazed when she got up, and I'm pretty sure she was thinking "Was I supposed to do that?". Later she told us she didn't know what to do with the ball after she scored - Sparky very helpfully told her to leave it on the ground and do a victory dance followed by a loud "Awwww YEAH!". Luckily she doesn't take her older brother too seriously.

Her performance in the game (in which she sat out the first quarter) earned her a Player of the Week certificate. Well done Her Majesty!

Round 7 U14s Div 2
Date: 26 April 2009, 11:15 am kickoff
Where: Purtell Park, Bardon
Who: Wests Panthers v Aspley Devils
Score: 30-28 Wests. Awwww YEAH!


Coming into this game 3 teams sat on 9 points at the top of the U14 Div 2 ladder - Wests, Deception Bay and Aspley. With DB having the bye and not improving their for/against (which is how places are decided when teams have the same number of points) this game meant a lot to both the mighty Panthers and Aspley. Not only did the win cement Wests at the top of the ladder, but it won them the Broncos Challenge Cup for their division. Champions, people! How good is that???

It was a hard fought game and the huge break the boys had showed, especially in the second half. First points on the board came from Josh who managed to beat Aspley to the ball from a kick and raced to the line for a 4-0 lead. It was back and forth for a bit before Aspley snuck through some holes out wide to take a 8-4 lead. The testosterone began to flow and it worked against the Devils (whom I incorrectly called Hornets last time - but since they have a devil on their page now one assumes that's their mascot... my bad) as they began to backchat the ref and were promptly sin-binned. As I had agreed to be one of the home duty officials (The Hermit was the other) I had to escort the player up to the bin... which I had no idea was my job and rather chased after the boy as he grumpily stopped his way up to the bin. As such, I missed the next Wests try that was scored by Jarrod (although I heard it) and with the conversion took the score to 10-8.

DJ scored the next try from the kick-off with a great take and a blinding 70 metre run down the sideline before he was tackled - too late to stop him from crashing over and scoring, however, and taking a 14-8 lead. Oddly they never kicked it his way again. It remained locked for the rest of the half until Wests scored in the final minute - and I'm so sorry I don't remember who it was - and Jack the Taller made the conversion to take us to a 20-8 halftime lead.

Remember how I mentioned the long break hurt us? Well the second half was a fair showcase for that. After scoring fairly quickly in the opening minutes - again I can't remember who it was and I apologize - to take the lead out to 24-8 it all went pear shaped. 5 forward passes, knock-ons, poor tackles, silly penalties... the boys did everything they could to loose the game. And Aspley took full advantage. It was only some desperate defence that forced Aspley to score their tries on the far edges (and thank goodness they can't kick conversions to save their lives) but they scored enough to take a 28-24 lead. I don't know what happened but the boys became desperate (although DJ used the word "determined") and got their act together to send Josh over the line and levelled the scores at 28 all. We all held our breath as Jack the Taller lined up the conversion kick... and it was good!!! 30-28. The crowd went wild. OK, the Wests supporters in the crowd went wild. DJ crossed the line again on their next possession - which would have sealed the game - but was called help up and it was Aspley ball. There was much shouting from the leadership team on the field that all tackles had to be made (uh, you think you may have wanted to apply this rule before the score got so close boys???), which thankfully they did as there was still a few minutes left. Aspley has possession in the last minute and as the horn sounded it looked as if they would get through the Wests line. A huge red and blank surge finally smothered the ball carrier and it was all over. Wests had won the game and earned the Broncos Challenge Cup. Quite a change from two years ago when they were getting hammered week in and week out.

After the game there was much celebrating with a loud rendition of the original Wests song coming from the dressing sheds, and promised Baskin & Robbins ice cream for DJ on the way home - a triple scoop no less. Well done boys - you truly deserved it.

No games next weekend as it's another holiday (Labour Day this time) weekend. And big congrats to Josh, Scott and Jake for making the Zone Carnival this coming weekend. See you for another Match Report Monday in a fortnight.

Saturday Skinfest

My head is absolutely throbbing with this stupid sinus cold I've come down with since we got back from holidays. To top it off my legs are killing me as well - a sure sign I'm very very tired. Not long before I take my blessed combination of Benadryl and Tylenol and fall blissfully into a drug induced coma hit the hay. But I need to give you the pics that I promised yesterday:

One reason I love watching football on TV is the great views of the dressing sheds you sometimes get after the game (or before, or at halftime). How hot does Peter Wallace look here, all dirty and muscular? I volunteer to give him a good rub down.

Nick Youngquest before he decided the overly tattooed David Beckham look was hot. I liked him like this.

Johnathan Thurston looks like he's half asleep, or hung over, but I love the hint of chest we can see. Yummy!

I only know Eliza Dushku from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, which ended a while ago, but she still looks hot here. Bored, but hot.

More skin, less headache, next week.

Credit to Hot Aussie Footy Players Shirtless for the Peter Wallace pic (and many many others). I love your site, mate!

Tales From the Trip - Pictures

Yippee!! I've got the holiday pictures up onto my Webshots page:



Bargara Beach Holiday 09

If you've seen my Facebook photos these are simply more of those, although these include a castle and a possum. If you don't want to watch a slideshow just click the link to go directly to the album and scroll at lightspeed if you're so inclined.

I've also added to my previous Bundaberg cemetery pictures if you're interested (I know some people find that creepy - Sparky sure does):



Bundaberg Cemetery ’08 & ’09

Skinfest tomorrow... well, later today really. I need to sleep before tomorrow's footy matches.

Photo Friday

A wee bit late, but seems to be the story of my life lately.

Today is ANZAC Day, and yesterday Her Majesty's school held their ANZAC Day ceremonies. Her Majesty was chosen to help lay a commemorative wreath from her class at the ANZAC memorial at school:

Click to embiggen.

It's really nice to see the young ones get involved in such a special day. Lest we forget.

If you're new here and not an Aussie, click here to read about ANZAC Day.

Reconnected

Yippee, I'm back online! My new ADSL2+ connection was activated late yesterday afternoon, and The Hermit reconfigured the wireless modem when he got home last night. And so far so good. Actually my netbook is playing up a little bit but that may have more to do with The Hermit's server than the ADSL connection.

I'm happy with the speed - a wee bit faster than previously. Sparky jumped right on last night and started watching YouTube stuff. Unfortunately I had to go to work, so this is the first chance I've had. Me like! Now The Hermit just has to figure out how to schedule his downloads for off-peak hours (3am to 9am) to take advantage of part of our monthly limit and we're in business.

I'm afraid, however, my good news to share will have to wait just a bit longer. I have to go and get my mop rat's nest hair cut and the caterpillars over my eyes tidied so I can look more like myself again, but not before I have a quick chat with the septic tank guys - who should be here in 10 minutes - about whether or not I need a new leeching field. Then I will quickly bail before they start pumping out the tanks. I do NOT want to be around for that stench.

And then there's the over 800 feeds I have in my feed reader. Yeah, lots to be deleted before I tackle the posts I must read. No science news this week, I'm afraid.

Sorry to tease you like this (hee) but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do.

Physically Back, Still Virtually MIA

Just a quickie (heh, that's what they all say...) note.

I am back from our holiday. A good time was had by all, even if Clive drove us to the brink of insanity and we were nearly camping in a lake one night. Stories to come.

HOWEVER... I'm not back online just yet. I finally pulled my thumb out of my generous posterior and pulled the plug on my Internet Service Provider, aka Hellstra. You may remember me bitching about them some time ago. In order to connect with my new Provider I had to cancel my Hellstra account. They still have some power, as they own all the lines by which my new provider will be using to provide me with faster speeds and more GBs (more than 6 times my old limit) for the same price. So we are waiting on them to do whatever it is they have to do with the line (which will no doubt take all of 5 minutes from some remote site when a trained chimp pushes a button). We have been waiting since Friday. You now know why I will henceforth call them Hellstra (shout out to Tors up in Darwin for the name). I will also be taking my mobile phone elsewhere when my contract is up next month.

I am currently using The Hermit's work laptop with his wireless modem, which is not so hot. We get very poor reception from that company (not Hellstra) up where we are for both mobiles and wireless internet, plus I can't tie up his computer or abuse the company dime. Hopefully we will be reconnected tomorrow or the day after, and I'll have amusing anecdotes, pictures, PLUS a giveaway... that's right, prizes! OK, prize but still. Win something! And really REALLY good news to share.

So be patient a little longer. I'll be back soon.

A Very Rainy Vacation

I should have posted this before I left yesterday, but time got away from me. We did manage to leave on time, however, which is something of an achievement.

Leave for where, you ask? Well here I am up in beautiful wet and rainy Bundaberg for a week's camping holiday. The steady rain started today and now there are flood warnings scattered up and down the Queensland coast from Rockhampton to the Gold Coast. It was coming down pretty heavily a few times today, but we've also had periods of just overcast skies. As usual the Sunshine Coast seems to be bearing the brunt of it. At least it's not cold.

The caravan park was full to the brim when we arrived, but I'd guess about a third left this morning as the long weekend wound up.

And Clive is making us all a bit nuts. Bedtime was over an hour ago and he just won't sleep. He's making me wish I brought his port-a-cot after all.

Posting may be sparse... well, sparser than usual around here lately... over this week. While many of my fellow campers have full blown living room size televisions, and my own family has a portable DVD player that Sparky is watching as I type, plus The Hermit's laptop ("For work purposes"), I am not overly fussed. I may get to it, I may not. See how I feel. Right now I'm kinda tired and waiting for Clive to pass out so I can show The Hermit a cool set-up I spied on someone else's camper trailer and then have a shower before catching some zzzzz's.

Hope you all have a good week!

Photo Friday

Good morning on this Good Friday:

From Her Majesty and Clive.

Apparently I Don't Even Have My Health

Coincidentally the day I smashed my finger I had spent some time that morning at my GPs. I was long overdue for my, ah, "female exam", and decided while I was there I would ask her to do some routine blood tests. I especially wanted my cholesterol checked, after spending 4 weeks with a lot of cardiac patients.

It was no surprise to me when, a week later when I went back to get my results, my cholesterol was high. First of all, my diet is less than spectacular and I don't exercise. Secondly my family history is against me - Momma Mooselet's family is chock-a-block full of heart disease, with both MM and my brother Gabe having high cholesterol levels. Finally back in 2001 I had lost 25 lbs and after a similar situation where I found myself getting a blood test my (new) doctor told me I needed to modify my diet as my cholesterol was high. "But I've just lost 25 pounds!" I protested. Unfortunately I never followed up on it as we moved not long after. So now I'm modifying my diet, cutting down on the chocolate and making sure I eat my oatmeal and special $7 margarine before I get it rechecked in 3 months. I don't expect much of a change from where it is now, and so I'll likely be downing some statins before too long.

But that wasn't the worst of it. Don't panic, it's nothing awful. Everything else is fine... except my kidney function. Apparently I have the kidney function of an old lady, with my levels bordering on chronic renal failure. I was floored. How was this possible - The Hermit's the one with the kidney issues, not me. To cut a long story short, it's a direct result of my high caffeine intake. I was given two choices - keep up my current caffeine levels and increase my H2O intake to 3 litres a day, or cut down - way down - on the caffeine and increase my water only slightly.

I went with door number 2. And I think it's killing me.

Caffeine withdrawal is terrible. It's not just headaches, which by the way no amount of pain killers like Panadol (aka Tylenol) or ibuprofen or even aspirin can touch. It's the muscle aches and fatigue, the mental fog, the general fatigue, the bouts of anxiety that I did not think would be as bad as they are. And I haven't even gone cold turkey. I'm making efforts to increase my water intake by having it at my meals instead of Diet Coke or tea, or at least before I have my usual drink. I've also switched to Caffeine Free Diet Coke at home, so it would seem that I like the tase of carbonated battery acid even if it doesn't have sweet, sweet caffeine.

Now I've always known that the amount of caffeine I consume is not good for me. But having those numbers in front of me, coupled with the knowledge of just what those numbers mean, shocked the hell out of me. So because I quite like my kidneys I will put up the hell that is caffeine withdrawal and come out better for it.

Or at least my kidneys will.

Match Report Monday

No match reports this week, I'm afraid. The entire round was called off due to rain. Bummer. Now Her Majesty won't play until the Sunday after Easter, and while Sparky has a bye that weekend and so won't play for ages.

See you in two weeks for the next Match Report!

Saturday Skinfest

It seems I'm going swimmingly in my footy tips this week - if by "swimmingly" you mean "sinking like a stone". I'm 0-5 people!! ZERO! I'm hoping to get at least one so I don't look so pathetic and am now going to resort to throwing darts at the choices in the hopes of improving my odds. Seriously, it can't hurt.

On to the skin:

See that lady in the background? Yeah, I wish I were in her spot too, because I would be checking out the eye candy parading past just like she is!

Billy Slater on the monkey bars on his way to winning some sort of television competition.

I can't remember who these guys are, but they're footy players and Starry Shorts is pretty studly so it qualifies.

Oh dear, poor Cindy Crawford fell down into the whipped cream... or something. I hate when that happens.

More skin, better tipping, next week.

Photo Friday

I so should have done this earlier today. Now, at 9:30 at night I'm in no mood. My finger is sore, my Broncos lost in a game that I missed the first half of thanks to Channel 9 deciding to show the game an hour earlier and now it's looking like I'm going to blow my second tip of the night. I can't look forward to watching the kids play footy this weekend as the games have been cancelled due to rain. It took over an hour to get the little ones to bed and I'm starting to de-caffeinate on orders from the GP.

Gah!

I need a happy photo:

There, Hugh made it all better.