Hello!

Thought I needed a different title than my over used "Update." *G* Not that I've been doing anything dramatically exciting.

Work

Work's going fine. It's been remarkably settled over the past few days. I've been working in the middle which has the potential to be the heaviest area, but it's been okay - at least on the afternoon shift. Heavy in the morning because no one is independent and you have all the washes and showers. Don't have to worry about those so much when you work a pm shift. I've got nightshifts coming up in a few weeks. I keep telling myself to think of the extra money. I'll be working with a pretty good bunch so that makes it more pleasant.

Holiday

My holiday is all booked and nearly paid for. I'm just waiting for this coming payday so that I can pay for my travel insurance at the same time. Now it's just a matter of saving up my spending money. My flights have all been paid for, so it's just tours and accommodation. I've been trying to decide what I'm going to do on my 'free' days. I just love the internet. I've discovered one place that I really want to go to - The Eastside Tenement Museum in Manhattan. It looks really interesting, and I only found it by accident. One of those click one link and then you click another and you can't remember where you actually found it. It was recommended by lots of people on this one site. I've only got one free day in New York so I have to decide on what I want to see, not what I think I should see. Anyway, I can always go back. I'm going to start booking some of my tickets online soon, so that I don't have to waste time in queues. I imagine that it's not going to be long and I'll be getting requests from the niece and nephews, but isn't that what aunties are for? It's going to be more fun shopping for them at Disney than it will be for me. It's also more expensive this time around since there were only 2 last time I was over, and now I have 4 to shop for.

Doctor Who

Coming up to the last 2 episodes and they are shaping up to be the best season finale. There's a cross-over with Torchwood, which is a bonus - and it's not just Jack! I wonder if they'll be any mention of the events of the final Torchwood episode? I can not wait until Sunday, as that's when I'll be downloading the latest episode. The series that I've nearly finished watching starts on TV here in Australia on Sunday night as well. It will be good to see on a screen bigger than my laptop. It's starting off with the Christmas special - oh well, some places have mid-winter Christmas parties. I've started collecting the Old Series of DW, starting with the first episodes shown. It's rather amusing. The only thing is, I start to get the theme stuck in my head. LOL! I'm about to watch the Doctor's first encounter with the dreaded Daleks. "Exterminate! Exterminate!"

Sunday

I've already mentioned DW, but I'm looking forward to Sunday for a variety of reasons. One being that it's Cary Grant Chat, and that's always good! Nothing like climbing out of bed and into the gutter! Then I have to dash into the city because I'm meeting up with my fellow Melburnian Torchwood fans. 3 of them are ones that I met at our last meet-up, and there are 2 new faces. One of which is only fairly new to the board. I'm really looking forward to it. We can't talk very much about what's been happening in DW because E hasn't been downloading, so she's been waiting for the TV screening. We much just have to send her out so that we can squee about what's coming up on DW, so that we can get it out of our systems.

Reading

I've started reading Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. I really enjoyed the first one, but though the second was a bit melodramatic. I still enjoyed it though.

Discovered that the final Cherry Ames book, Ski Nurse Mystery has been republished, so I've ordered that from Amazon. That will now complete by collection. Unlike my Trixies, I don't have a nice tidy complete set in only one edition, but I'm not worried. I'm debating about getting all of the re-prints. The only thing is, they aren't reprinting Julie Tatham's books, so any young collector isn't going to end up with a complete set. It's all very mysterious. *g*

Music

Teddy Thompson has a new CD out, which I've ordered from Amazon. Unfortunately, it has a song on there that I hate. Why, why, why did he have to put it on there???? He sang it when I saw him live a couple of years ago, and it's dreadfully depressive.

I bought Martha Wainwright's latest - I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too. I like it much better than her first album. It appeals more to my ears.


So, that's pretty much what's been going on in my life over the past month.

Geekiness

On Saturday I went to a sci-fi mini-convention here in Melbourne. It was basically the opportunity for Melbourne sci-fi clubs to get together. I went along to meet a couple of members from the Torchwood board. Met E at Flinders St. Station and then we got the tram to where the convention was held. We had a lovely chat about work - she's a theatre nurse. We then met C and P. Poor P kept getting a little confused as my screen name and E's real name are the same. It was a great day that went really quick. The guest speaker was Shaun Tan who has illustrated and written several picture books, and worked on Horton Hears a Who. I got one of his picture books signed. In between things we chatted about all things Torchwood and Doctor Who, and saving E from spoilers from the episode they had playing. She hasn't been watching series 4 as she's waiting for it to be shown on tv. There was a quiz that we didn't disgrace ourselves on - we beat the Trekkers! That was all C wanted us to do. E, P and myself all joined up to the Doctor Who Club of Victoria. Unfortunately, I can make the next couple of monthly meeting due to having to work. So, chilly weather aside, it was a great day!

I've booked my flights to the US and to and from the East Coast. Now I'm just waiting for my travel agent to get back to me on the rest of the bookings. It's so nice having someone else do all the hard work for you. :)

Otherwise, not much else has been happening. I had a nice long weekend - 3 days. I worked yesterday, and I'm working today, then I have 3 days off again. The benefits of only working 4 days a week. *g*

Update

Had my first lot of night shifts a couple of weeks ago. The first was a bit of a killer - I was so busy, but the other 2 were fine. 5/6 of us worked the same nights so that made it far more enjoyable. They do 10 hour nights over here instead of the 8 I worked back home. Best thing with the nights was that I managed to get 7 days off after - so I popped back home to New Zealand. I didn't tell Mum I was coming over, so she didn't know until I knocked on her door. She was surprised - *G* but happy to see me. The funniest thing was that night when my niece rang and I answered the phone - she was very confused. She couldn't quite understand how she managed to ring Aunty Jayne when she was ringing Nannie. My sister said that the look on her face was priceless. She was much relieved to find that I was over, and quite excited. It was her 8th birthday on the 27th - it doesn't seem that long ago when I was cuddling her for the first time. She's growing up so quickly. It was so good to be able to catch up with all my family. Had lunch at Nana's and saw my uncles. My cat came to visit and snuggled up as if she'd only seen me just a few days ago. All up it was a good visit and something that I needed.

Work's going good. I've had my first student in several years, which was a bit challenging for me. I was lucky in that I had a fantastic student and we got on really well together.

I'm hoping to get my annual leave confirmed so that I can start booking my flights for September. I might have a word to my boss tomorrow. Other than WDW, I'm flexible for the time off.

Then, just as I'm getting all excited about September, there's been talk at another board about a trip to the UK. This is on the Torchwood Australia site that I spend a fair bit of time. That's being looked at for April next year. Whew! We'll definitely be going to Cardiff - where Torchwood and Doctor Who are filmed. My brother thinks that I'm a geek. I'll have to start saving frantically after WDW, but with a group of us going, that will cut down costs. I really hope that we do go in April, because if we do, I'm seriously considering going to the ANZAC Day dawn service at Gallipoli. It's been one of my life ambitions and it would be awesome to do it at the same time, especially if I'm already travelling that distance.

I'm thinking that I might have to go on sabbatical. I'm just not in the mood for writing or reading Trixie fic. I still have ideas, just no motivation for writing. I'm going to be lucky to get anything out for my anniversary at the end of the month. I don't want to resign as an author - I'm not at that stage, but I don't think I can remain active. Even the thought of going on sabbatical makes me sad - but what else can I do. My heart's just not in it. I am still writing, just not Trixie.

Update

It's been awhile since I've posted, but I haven't really anything to write about. My life has been pretty much uneventful, which I guess is a good thing.

I had a difficult couple of months when I was feeling down and homesick, but that's pretty much passed.

Easter - made hot cross buns and ate far too much chocolate. On Sunday the morning staff gave us an Easter egg hunt. We each had a clue which led to a little bundle of chocolates. Great fun! We ate so much chocolate because relatives of a patient gave us a box of Lindt balls. Yum!

Work's going really well. I've been asked to be a clinical coach for a third year nursing student. It's been awhile since I've had a student. We finally got our back pay. We got a new contract in October, and we've only just had the new pay rates implemented. Lovely pay last week. I put the extra in my holiday fund.

Had an impressive thunderstorm last night - lots of lightning. Not really surprising given how humid it had been. We've still had some really warm days.

Been on a bit of a classic movie binge this month. So far I've seen:

High Noon
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
His Girl Friday
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
From Here to Eternity
The Unforgiven
42nd Street


I've been trying to work my way through 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. I'm not going to see all of them because many don't appeal. I'm am aiming to see a quarter of them. While it's still subjective, I prefer it to the various top 100s because it's international. Quite a few of them I'd seen before, but others I've made a special effort to see. Susan, you'll be pleased to know that there are quite a few Cary Grant movies listed. Not all of the movies are easy to get hold of, but I've found that by being patient, they seem to turn up. Plus, my favourite movie theatre screens some of the classics so I've been able to watch them on the big screen. I'm just watching them randomly as I'm able to get hold of them. From what I've watched this month, only one movie wasn't out of that list. I'm not sure how many I've seen, but last count had me around 120.

I've also started watching the complete collection of North and South. (The one based on the John Jakes trilogy) I always loved the first miniseries, the second was okay, but the third one stinks. I've always thought that James Read was gorgeous. Susan, did you know that he played Cary Grant in Poor Little Rich Girl - The Barbara Hutton Story?



I've gotten into the BBC series Life on Mars. I've watched the first series, and once I've downloaded the 2nd, I'll start watching that. Although, it might be easier to buy the dvds. (Which I will once they're released in Australia, unless I go for region 2). Brilliant, brilliant show, that I strongly recommend. I'm also slowly working my way through series 5 of Spooks. Then there's Torchwood. Only one episode to go for this series, and Aunty Beeb is making us wait 2 weeks for it! Arrrgh! This series has been a major improvement of the first one. Then there's Doctor Who to look forward to. I've been spending a lot of time on the TW Australia Forum, where I've been participating in my first RPG. *g* Although, we did have a warm up with a group story. Basically, we each took a character and posted in the form of emails. Lot's of hilarity and late nights ensued.

Music - nothing really new. Bought The Hollies Greatest Hits. All the favourites are there. I've always had a soft spot for Jennifer Eccles. Probably because I always thought her name was Jenny Fereckles. LOL! It took me a bit to find a CD with I'm Down on it. That song always makes me sad. It's about someone finding out he's adopted. Very moving. When we first got our stereo back in 1985, the first 2 LPs Mum chose were The Hollies and Crystal Gale. She had to pick something that my dad would like too. Dad's music is more country - especially Johnny Cash, while Mum's more of a rocker. She has a Black Sabbath CD. *g* People are often impressed when I tell them Mum listens to Black Sabbath and Twisted Sister. It kind of makes me cool by default.

Managed to get through a few books. A couple of Doctor Who novels, 2 books by Irene Nemirovsky. Still have quite a few books on my To Be Read pile.

So, that's pretty much it for the moment. :)

Brief Update

I've gotten a bit behind in updating. Just briefly:

Dad's finally had his surgery. He had what ended up being a quadruple bypass on Thursday. He's doing okay. The whole thing's just made me a bit homesick and down. Didn't help that my brother's been in NZ for a week, so I've been here all by myself.

Being permanent is going great. I'm in the middle of 6 days off. :) Had my first morning shift last week. They were nice and put me in the ANCA (acute neurosurgical care area) not as exciting as our HDU back in Dunedin, but it was 2 nurses to 2 patients, and A is lovely to work with. I've taken my first primary patient, and he'll probably be at rehab by the time I get back. He was so much fun to look after, and his family were lovely.

Saw Rufus Wainwright in concert on Saturday night. It was a real good show. Because it was promoting his latest album, he played most of that, plus a sprinkling from his others, a couple of Judy Garland numbers and an Irish lullaby. I was just disappointed that out of the 2 songs from Release the Stars that he didn't play, he didn't play Nobody's Off the Hook. It's one of my favourites. :( I gained a new appreciation for one song though. I've heard Leaving for Paris No. 2, so many times, it's just kind of passed me by. Completely different hearing it live.

Made it through to the final 11 on the Torchwood fanfic challenge. Was happy to get that far.

Music Meme

) Convict state

2) Ground control to Major Tom - Space Oddity, David Bowie (Ruthy)

3) You can go out dancing

4) (Hey hey)When everything goes wrong - Hey Little Girl, Icehouse (Obsessed7)

5) Meet me down by the jetty landing - Reckless, James Reyne (Ruthy)

6) When the truth is found to be lies

7) They call me the wild rose - Where the wild roses grow, Kylie Minogue and Nick Cave (Ruthy)

8) And I saw her face - I'm a believer, Eddie Murphy (Ruthy)

9) Well you wonder why I always dress in black - Man in Black, Johnny Cash (Ruthy)

10) When you’re alone and life is making you lonely - Downtown, Petula Clark (Ruthy)

11) I wonder if one day that you’ll say that you’ll care

12) You’re such a good friend

13) A winning love is hard enough to find

14) Every kind of love

15) They came from nowhere with nowhere else to go

16) I looked under chairs

17) We skipped the light fandango - A Whiter Shade of Pale, Procol Harum (Ruthy)

18) You left me and you went away

19) I will never be as cute as you

20) Is she really going out with him? - Leader of the Pack, The Shangri-Las (Ruthy)