And Time Continues To Creep Along......

Well, the end of the road is in sight! I have submitted my scholarship applications for next year with only days to spare and now I am at a bit of a loss. 
My University application is 'pending', but applications for those close on Friday as well, so I am now just hanging around waiting to hear back from everyone to tell me if they will let me do what I want. 
God only knows what I will do if I don't get in because I really don't have a 'Plan B'.
Should I have a 'Plan B'???

Perfect Day!

 Perfect start to the School Holidays! Found a quiet spot away from the tourists and lay back in the sun watching my boy play. The only drama was the fight over the prawn he caught and wanted to take home as a pet. I told him I was not going to allow him to take home a dead prawn, to which his reply was 'I am sure I felt a pulse!' Shit Eh! Still looks dead to me! Needless to say we are now the proud owners of a dead prawn!

Got Lucky Again!

My son and I got lucky again today! Took his scooter out for a ride along the airport and not only saw a plane land and take off but were also lucky enough to catch the RAAF (Airforce) Rescue Chopper as it did a brief fuel and coffee stop. Awesome!

It Just Gets Worse

I am writing this as I watch my good friend bounce off the walls.
This week has been very challenging for him. His primary carer has pretty much discovered that she is in no way prepared for the realities of helping someone through the last stages of life and asked him to move out. He had already been advised by his nursing service that it might be a good idea to sort out other accommodation as the situation there is less than ideal but this was something he was going to take his time considering and not something he expected to be thrust upon him while on holidays via email and text message. Says it all really! The stress of all of this has been showing in various ways, but none so impacting as the effect on his health.
Last night he asked me if the right side of his face looked funny, but I could not notice anything wrong. His eye was weeping and he was having minor difficulties eating but was not especially worried. We went to sleep last night and he slept till 5pm this afternoon. When he woke up his face was noticeably different and after several hours of analysing how it felt he agreed to get it checked. So off to Small Town Hospital we went. Well the verdict was Bells Palsy possibly caused by a minor stroke. It is a little hard to really tell what is going on because of the sheer amount of narcotics and neuroblockers he is taking. Also our small hospital is obviously not equipped to run certain tests, but after consultation with his usual hospital he has been put on steroids and we will take it from there.
Needless to say he is taking this latest downturn quite hard. That is evident in the fact that since we returned home he has cleaned my shower, toilet and sink, scrubbed my kitchen and now has spent the last hour melting down my old candles and making new ones. And this is after taking 15mg of Valium! Holy Crap! The man won't stop! And at this stage there is nothing I can do but sit here and and watch him be a human yo-yo and make sure he doesn't burn down my house. So I will stay up until he winds down and hope that tomorrow brings him some small measure of peace and acceptance.
Thanks for listening to my ill-composed waffling but I really needed to vent.


Stay Safe - Nurse Wannabe 

On Watching Death Slowly Encroach

There are times when life seems so unfair! I have a good friend who is at the moment fighting a battle with AIDS and over the last 12 months has been on a decline with AIDS Dementia Complex that has been noticeable even from where I am 600+ kms away. The strange part of this whole situation is that He and I went to school together 20 something years ago. We were not really close friends at the time and had no contact for 20 years, but after my separation last year we came into contact on Facebook and so evolved a great friendship, from smartarsed comments on Status Updates, to text messages, to long phone conversations. We have for the last twelve months been planning a reunion, but we still had not seen each other and my fear was that we may not before his health declined to the point that made it impossible. I consider this man one of the best friends I have. He has been one of my greatest supporters over the last year and although he has been going through some incredibly hard periods of reflection and adjustment in his own life he has been there for me through my now seemingly small highs and lows.
Several weeks ago he sent me an email intended for all of his close friends detailing his illness and it's progression. I was asked to proofread this incredibly powerful, courageous and confronting piece of writing and it really touched me. I was able to read between the lines and see that he saw the end. What he spoke of had been known to many but never actually verbalised. For the first time I fully understood. What we had spoken of in the past regarding his health problems was suddenly all bought onto focus. This email has for him been a very brave step and been received by the recipients with varying responses.
I am lucky enough that this wonderful man thinks me important enough in his life, that in his declining health, he has made a 9 hour bus trip to spend a week with me in person. There must be so many others who are so much more deserving of this honour.
So I now find myself at 4:30am sitting in my living room across from this great man, and my mind is spinning with the gravity of the things he has shared with me. I am completely humbled by the knowledge that he has bared his soul to me in so many ways. There is so much more I want to get off my chest but to do so would I feel break the trust he has given me by sharing so much.
I truly am honoured to have a small part in his story and hope that that story continues on for some time yet.
Thanks for listening.
Stay safe - Nurse Wannabe

One Very Happy Camper!

This morning I had a rather upsetting fight with my ex, which I must say, left me in quite a state. I left there angry and shaking like a leaf. So I went to sit by the lake and regain some of my calm but found that after the anger receded it was replaced with a great wave of depression, followed once more by more anger, which no amount of deep breathing seemed to dislodge. 'Feel it and let it go' was not working and my normal therapy - grab the camera and go - seems to have lost some of it's appeal. So sitting there feeling quite miserable I sent out a plea to the universe - Goddess, I need therapy!!!
Then I heard it! Coming in low over the hill behind me was a chopper. Watching it go over my head and across the lake to the airport, I said to myself, there is my therapy! So I got in the car and followed. I sat in the car at the airport watching the planes and the grounded ChildFlight helicopter and started to feel a lot better. Now I should explain that our airport  is VERY small so there is not a lot to see. We have one runway and only a couple of flights a day. There are a few light aircraft and you really have to be lucky to actually see something land or take-off. But the bonus with an airport such as ours is the fact that you can park in the very small parking lot and be a few hundred meters from the runway and the only thing separating you from the action is a security fence. I waited for the crew to have their coffee break and get the call to get going and then emerged from the car to watch as the rotors slowly started to turn. So there I am, the only person at the airport clinging to the fence in anticipation. Well they didn't let me down! I was standing there wishing I could get closer as it suddenly rose into the air and then skimmed the ground till it was directly in front of me about 20 meters away, then turning away from me it headed towards the runway and turned north. It hovered there about 5 meters off the ground for about 30 seconds then suddenly it's nose tilted forward and it was off flying low and fast along the runway! Wicked!!! And there I was still clinging to the fence with a massive grin on my face!
There are several things that really get this girl's blood racing - ambulances and anything airborne. Combine those two things and holy crap! Several hours later I am still grinning! Damn, I really should have filmed it!