Happy Turkey Day

Today was the first Thanksgiving I've experienced here in Australia where I really missed being back in the US. We don't really celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday given that it's a pretty normal day with work and school. When we first moved here we did Thanksgiving on the weekend, but for the past several years I haven't even done that much. And it never bothered me until today. Today I found myself weepy over the whole thing as I drove into work... and let me caution people right now that being teary when driving a 4WD in peak hour traffic probably isn't the best time to let your emotions get the better of you.

I've come to accept that now and again, despite the fact that I chose to stay in Australia and that I know deep down it's a good decision for us (us=myself, The Hermit and our brood), I desperately miss the rest of my family and friends. It can strike anytime and anyplace - the food court at our local shopping centre was not a fun place to get upset - and I do my best to work through it. But this was the first holiday that I felt this way, and the first time I had to slap on a brave face and get through the work day because I just couldn't go be alone for a while. It kinda sucked.

I know your day is just beginning, along with a great 4 day weekend, but mine is about to wrap up (minus the long weekend... bummer) and I don't want to end it on a depressing note. How about a song to cheer us all up:

There, I feel a bit better, don't you? Thanks for letting me vent - I really am okay. I think next year I will gather my Australian friends and do a proper Thanksgiving (and no, Mumfies, there will be NO pageant) and remember to be thankful for everything I have and not mope over what I don't. I hope everyone back in the States has a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Have a piece of apple pie for me!

Happy Birthday

I haven't done this for a while, but I need to take this moment to wish one of the most important people in my life a happy birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA MOOSELET!!!

Miss you lots and love you more.

Cereal

I got home tonight just on 7 pm. This is late for me on a Monday as I had to pick Miss Thing up from work - her usual lift home had to go and break up with his boyfriend. I was hot, tired and hungry as were Her Majesty and Clive, who were in the car with me after being picked up before their sister. I hadn't taken anything out for dinner and was not feeling creative. Fast food? Blech - too hot and getting too late. Suck it up like I usually do and cook anyway? Fat chance. I needed something easy, something quick and something that vaguely resembled healthy.

We had cereal. The Hermit and Clive had Sultana Bran, Her Majesty had Choco Balls (and some rockmelon, aka cantelope) and I had some Vanilla Almond Crunch. Sparky wasn't too hungry after being home alone and eating a quarter of a cheesecake and a cupcake (hmmm, wonder why) and Miss Thing made herself some cinnamon toast.

Cereal for dinner. For a few moments I felt guilty over this - after all, shouldn't I do more to provide a decent meal for my family? Was a bowl of cereal really dinner?

Hell yeah! I suddenly remembered many dinners of cold cereal on a hot summer night and it was sweet. I mean that literally, as like many kids I had a taste for super sweet cereals... with one exception:

I'd like to point out that if Cheerios (and the American version, not the Australian one which is coated in some sweet stuff) didn't cost me over $10 a box from USA Foods I'd still eat it all the time.

Now Momma Mooselet worked super long hours when I was a kid - for all my bitching I've got nothing on my mother - and most of our weeknight dinners were macaroni with her special sauce (a can of tomato soup and a can of tomato paste), cans of Chef Boyardee or Dinty Moore beef stew, and cereals. And as I thought about it tonight, not once did I ever remember feeling deprived back then. Except when Gabe got more meatballs than me in his Spaghetti-Os & Meatballs, then I pissed and moaned.

So I kicked the guilt I was starting to feel in the ass and sat down at the table with my husband and kids to eat the best bowl of cereal I'd had in ages.

Very Detailed

I just had to share this incredible warning that The Hermit found in his new motorcycle owner's manual (bold emphasis mine):

The rider must always be aware that active safety systems have a preventative function. The active elements help the rider control the motorcycle, making it as easy and safe to ride as possible. The presence of an active safety system should not encourage the rider to ride at speeds beyond the reasonable limits, in accordance with the road conditions, the laws of physics, good riding standards and the requirements of the highway code.

I've seen my share of owner's manuals, but I have never EVER seen one recommend not trying to break the laws of physics. I think throwing that phrase in there covers just about every eventuality.

"Uh, dear? I had a little accident on the motorcycle..."

"You were trying to break the laws of physics again, weren't you? Didn't the manual tell you not to do that? Honestly, you never learn..."

Microsoft Spell Check FAIL

As we all know spell check isn't foolproof. We all get caught out when we mistype a word that really is a word, but not the one we wanted. I presume this is how the typos that I'm finding in my nursing modules happened.

I sometimes wish Microsoft had a medical dictionary option, because when I use a lot of medical terms I get a page full of red squiggly lines. I then either ignore them or add them to my dictionary. Last week the dictionary failed to recognize the term 'myeloma'. Myeloma is a primary tumour of the bone marrow. One of Microsoft's suggestions to replace myeloma was 'milkman'.

??? Out of what ass did they put that suggestion out of?

Now Firefox doesn't recognize myeloma either, but its suggestions - melanoma, melodrama - are a hell of a lot closer than milkman.

If I had followed Microsoft's suggestion, I would have 'multiple milkman', which reminded me of this:

Microsoft FAIL! But really, is anyone surprised?

Baseball Dance Off

You're a college guy who plays baseball and you're suddenly facing a FIVE HOUR rain delay. What do you do? If you play for UConn or USF you do this:

I'm sorry I haven't been around... my only explanation is that I'm giving so much energy to work and learning I've just got nothing left. As I said to The Hermit, I'm feeling very passive these days. Just bare with me (hee - I originally typed that as 'bear with me'... Freudian slip?) and enjoy the fine dance off above, knowing that some people still know how to make the most out of a bad situation.

Fun With Typos

I'm doing my module work and as you might imagine have come across a few typos. Most of them don't make any sense at all, some are harmless but a couple have made me laugh out loud.

My oncological emergencies module last month got all Shakespearian on me when it said “...goal is to shrink thee tumour”. I started having visions of Hamlet in the personal protective equipment I've got to wear when giving chemotherapy.

I'm now doing my chemotherapy module. Learning the trillion types of chemotherapy is hard enough with having conspiracy theories like this thrown in - “... they can be used to debunk tumours...” I knew it! Cancer is just a giant con by Big Pharma to rob you blind (heh... I originally typed “rib you blind”)!

So work is going well. I've been doing some interesting stuff and learning so much. The nurses have all been good to me and I seem to be coping pretty well at this point. It's nice to know all the nursing skills I've acquired in the past are still there, just sleeping (so to speak) and allowing me to build on them.

But these moments of unintentional levity make it a lot more fun.

It's Time to Hit the Music

I was feeling a little wistful and nostalgic in my exhaustion tonight, and wanted to share this clip of one of my absolute favourite shows when I was a kid:

What was your favourite show when you were knee high to a grasshopper?