G'day Friends,
Well, over the last month, I've been quite busy, but content. I finished the last week and a half of my leave catching up with friends, and then returned to work on the 19th Jan, which was also the effective date of my promotion.
My new job is pretty good, and a whole lot more relaxed than being at sea, so I'm enjoying it so far, though I haven't actually been instructed or trained in the specifics of what I'm meant to do, so am hoping that I'm picking up enough of it as I'm going to get me through.
The best part about the new role (and the shore posting), is the shift working routine of (roughly) 5 days on/5 days off. I'm loving an extra long weekend every time I finish my working week :)
Ok, so I still haven't picked up a cigarette, and I'm quite happily still alcohol free. So here's the thing. I have spent the whole year, getting myself ready to drink again, and now that it's almost time to drink again.......I don't think I really want to. I have been arguing with myself about whether or not I'm going to drink again, off and on, for the whole year, and this is the conclusion that I've come to: I've come to no conclusion.
It occurs to me that I am quite comfortably living without alcohol, but the thought of saying that I'll cut it completely out of my life is mildly horrifying! Strangely enough, Rachel Gunn if you're reading this, this afternoon, when I considered the option of formally giving up drinking for good, the horror struck with an image of having a glass of wine with you, and a fear of not being able to do so! Funny really given that alcohol was never a part of our friendship.
At any rate, I'm leaning towards giving myself a month of drinking, so that I can catch up with everyone for a drink or two, and then quitting drinking at least for the most part. Perhaps I'll allow myself to drink on special occasions like catching up with people I haven't seen in a long time, New Years, and my birthday. I'll have to hammer out the fine print on that one later (when I'm not quaking in fear at the thought!), but I foresee that alcohol will not play nearly as large a part in my life as it did before I took this hiatus.
Well, onto other news in my world, I have decided to get a little dog. I had decided on a Bichon Frise, but having looked at the website http://petrescue.com.au/, there are so many animals that need homes, that I think I might have to choose a different breed. At the moment, I've narrowed my hunt down to:
1) a 5 year old male Bichon Frise, called Christian, in Qld that belongs to a woman who breeds them and seems to really care about her Bichons, and that they go to good homes. Kerry, the breeder's description of the dog makes him sound like he would fit my lifestyle perfectly. On a slight tangent, if I end up buying a Bichon Frise from a breeder, be it puppy or adult dog, I think I will go through this woman. Through a couple of emails that we've sent back and forth, she gives me the impression that she actually cares about her dogs, and that they are important to her, not just as a means of an income or as winning show dogs, but as part of her family, so if you're in the market for a Bichon Frise have a look at her website. (http://www.bichonsbrisbane.com/). Christian is at this link http://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/breeders/mature.asp?mat=CUPIDONNA&b=250
2) a 7 year old female Bichon Frise, called Suzie, who was surrendered in Western Sydney because her owner was too old to take proper care of her. She sounds like a very low maintanence dog, and I feel like I could give her a good home. This dog has inspired the Mother Theresa Syndrome in me. http://www.petrescue.com.au/view/142209
3) a 14 month old male Poodle X Maltese dog who has been listed on PetRescue.com.au since the 18th of July last year. This poor dog was apparently left tied up at a train station around the city! Reading between the lines, I get the feeling this dog might be high maintenance, and given that Maltese can be yappy dogs, I'd imagine that this is probably causing many people issues with taking him, but I'm going to check him out in the next few days just in case. Unfortunately, like a lot of people, I can't have a noisy dog in my apartment, but the poor little fellow has been waiting a while for a good home, so it's worth seeing if I can help him out. http://www.petrescue.com.au/view/115995
4) Jasmine, a 2 year old female Terrier Cross-Breed who was left behind when her owners moved on. She looks like a beautiful dog and the description of her makes her sound awesome fun. I'm waiting to hear back from the rescuers about seeing her. http://www.petrescue.com.au/view/117576
5) Roxy - A white 14month old small Cross-Breed dog who is partly deaf. She looks like a great dog also, and could be a great little running partner. http://www.petrescue.com.au/view/133885
6) Last but not least is Frankie, a 3yo Chihuahua, who I'm guessing is being housed by someone who can't look after him anymore as they have advertised him as desperately in need of a Foster home, which I am considering answering the call for. He sounds very relaxed, and even though I don't personally want a Chihuahua, it couldn't hurt to give him temporary home here until someone does want to take him forever! http://www.petrescue.com.au/view/141530
You may be wondering that I put in a description for all of them, but I suppose I'm hoping that some of the people reading this blog might be able to take in some of the dogs, as I can only take one, and they've all caught me wanting to look after them for various reasons: some being selfish reasons (like Christian fitting in with my jogging/walking routine, and then being a loyal pet), and others being less selfish, like Franky or Jasmine. At any rate, if anyone in NSW is looking for a pet, consider one of these, or any of the animals at http://www.petrescue.com.au/
At any rate, if anyone wants to help me choose between these awesome animals to become my surrogate child, leave a comment, or hit me up on facebook :)
Completely off topic, I have noticed that my friend Ally has been updating her status with things that she's grateful for lately, and it occurs to me that it's such a good idea, so I've stolen the idea and am running with it. I get the impression from Ally that once she started doing it it took off amongst her facebook friends like wildfire. Within about an hour of me posting that I was going to steal the idea from Ally, and that today I'm grateful for having an awesome family who love me, I noticed that my beautiful cousin Kellie had posted a gratitude status also. I'm so happy that I can have been the conduit for that to (hopefully) spread through her friends also. I think that it's important to appreciate what you do have, rather than wanting for things that you don't have. It's fine to have dreams, but not at the expense of all the great things in your life, and we all have a lot of positives in our lives....it's just a matter of recognising them, rather than taking them for granted.
Well Friends, as always thanks for reading my glorified and exhibitionist diary entry :) I hope you're all having a great weekend :)
Cheers,
Howie..
PS: I forgot to mention that I've been placed on the March course for Mater's LinkAGE program, which is a program aimed at social visits to the elderly in various aged care facilities, so I'm very excited about being able to complete that training and then lend a hand in that program.
I have also finished all the pre-cursors to striking up my friendship in the Compeer program and I meed my Compeer Friend for the first meeting (with his Healthcare Professional and Amy the lady that co-ordinates the program) on Monday afternoon. I'm really excited about it, and I hope that it all goes well. I really look forward to having a positive impact on someone, even if it's only through giving him a bit of an outing each week for coffee or a walk!
Have a great weekend Friends :)
H..
Well, over the last month, I've been quite busy, but content. I finished the last week and a half of my leave catching up with friends, and then returned to work on the 19th Jan, which was also the effective date of my promotion.
My new job is pretty good, and a whole lot more relaxed than being at sea, so I'm enjoying it so far, though I haven't actually been instructed or trained in the specifics of what I'm meant to do, so am hoping that I'm picking up enough of it as I'm going to get me through.
The best part about the new role (and the shore posting), is the shift working routine of (roughly) 5 days on/5 days off. I'm loving an extra long weekend every time I finish my working week :)
Ok, so I still haven't picked up a cigarette, and I'm quite happily still alcohol free. So here's the thing. I have spent the whole year, getting myself ready to drink again, and now that it's almost time to drink again.......I don't think I really want to. I have been arguing with myself about whether or not I'm going to drink again, off and on, for the whole year, and this is the conclusion that I've come to: I've come to no conclusion.
It occurs to me that I am quite comfortably living without alcohol, but the thought of saying that I'll cut it completely out of my life is mildly horrifying! Strangely enough, Rachel Gunn if you're reading this, this afternoon, when I considered the option of formally giving up drinking for good, the horror struck with an image of having a glass of wine with you, and a fear of not being able to do so! Funny really given that alcohol was never a part of our friendship.
At any rate, I'm leaning towards giving myself a month of drinking, so that I can catch up with everyone for a drink or two, and then quitting drinking at least for the most part. Perhaps I'll allow myself to drink on special occasions like catching up with people I haven't seen in a long time, New Years, and my birthday. I'll have to hammer out the fine print on that one later (when I'm not quaking in fear at the thought!), but I foresee that alcohol will not play nearly as large a part in my life as it did before I took this hiatus.
Well, onto other news in my world, I have decided to get a little dog. I had decided on a Bichon Frise, but having looked at the website http://petrescue.com.au/, there are so many animals that need homes, that I think I might have to choose a different breed. At the moment, I've narrowed my hunt down to:
1) a 5 year old male Bichon Frise, called Christian, in Qld that belongs to a woman who breeds them and seems to really care about her Bichons, and that they go to good homes. Kerry, the breeder's description of the dog makes him sound like he would fit my lifestyle perfectly. On a slight tangent, if I end up buying a Bichon Frise from a breeder, be it puppy or adult dog, I think I will go through this woman. Through a couple of emails that we've sent back and forth, she gives me the impression that she actually cares about her dogs, and that they are important to her, not just as a means of an income or as winning show dogs, but as part of her family, so if you're in the market for a Bichon Frise have a look at her website. (http://www.bichonsbrisbane.com/). Christian is at this link http://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/breeders/mature.asp?mat=CUPIDONNA&b=250
2) a 7 year old female Bichon Frise, called Suzie, who was surrendered in Western Sydney because her owner was too old to take proper care of her. She sounds like a very low maintanence dog, and I feel like I could give her a good home. This dog has inspired the Mother Theresa Syndrome in me. http://www.petrescue.com.au/view/142209
3) a 14 month old male Poodle X Maltese dog who has been listed on PetRescue.com.au since the 18th of July last year. This poor dog was apparently left tied up at a train station around the city! Reading between the lines, I get the feeling this dog might be high maintenance, and given that Maltese can be yappy dogs, I'd imagine that this is probably causing many people issues with taking him, but I'm going to check him out in the next few days just in case. Unfortunately, like a lot of people, I can't have a noisy dog in my apartment, but the poor little fellow has been waiting a while for a good home, so it's worth seeing if I can help him out. http://www.petrescue.com.au/view/115995
4) Jasmine, a 2 year old female Terrier Cross-Breed who was left behind when her owners moved on. She looks like a beautiful dog and the description of her makes her sound awesome fun. I'm waiting to hear back from the rescuers about seeing her. http://www.petrescue.com.au/view/117576
5) Roxy - A white 14month old small Cross-Breed dog who is partly deaf. She looks like a great dog also, and could be a great little running partner. http://www.petrescue.com.au/view/133885
6) Last but not least is Frankie, a 3yo Chihuahua, who I'm guessing is being housed by someone who can't look after him anymore as they have advertised him as desperately in need of a Foster home, which I am considering answering the call for. He sounds very relaxed, and even though I don't personally want a Chihuahua, it couldn't hurt to give him temporary home here until someone does want to take him forever! http://www.petrescue.com.au/view/141530
You may be wondering that I put in a description for all of them, but I suppose I'm hoping that some of the people reading this blog might be able to take in some of the dogs, as I can only take one, and they've all caught me wanting to look after them for various reasons: some being selfish reasons (like Christian fitting in with my jogging/walking routine, and then being a loyal pet), and others being less selfish, like Franky or Jasmine. At any rate, if anyone in NSW is looking for a pet, consider one of these, or any of the animals at http://www.petrescue.com.au/
At any rate, if anyone wants to help me choose between these awesome animals to become my surrogate child, leave a comment, or hit me up on facebook :)
Completely off topic, I have noticed that my friend Ally has been updating her status with things that she's grateful for lately, and it occurs to me that it's such a good idea, so I've stolen the idea and am running with it. I get the impression from Ally that once she started doing it it took off amongst her facebook friends like wildfire. Within about an hour of me posting that I was going to steal the idea from Ally, and that today I'm grateful for having an awesome family who love me, I noticed that my beautiful cousin Kellie had posted a gratitude status also. I'm so happy that I can have been the conduit for that to (hopefully) spread through her friends also. I think that it's important to appreciate what you do have, rather than wanting for things that you don't have. It's fine to have dreams, but not at the expense of all the great things in your life, and we all have a lot of positives in our lives....it's just a matter of recognising them, rather than taking them for granted.
Well Friends, as always thanks for reading my glorified and exhibitionist diary entry :) I hope you're all having a great weekend :)
Cheers,
Howie..
PS: I forgot to mention that I've been placed on the March course for Mater's LinkAGE program, which is a program aimed at social visits to the elderly in various aged care facilities, so I'm very excited about being able to complete that training and then lend a hand in that program.
I have also finished all the pre-cursors to striking up my friendship in the Compeer program and I meed my Compeer Friend for the first meeting (with his Healthcare Professional and Amy the lady that co-ordinates the program) on Monday afternoon. I'm really excited about it, and I hope that it all goes well. I really look forward to having a positive impact on someone, even if it's only through giving him a bit of an outing each week for coffee or a walk!
Have a great weekend Friends :)
H..
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