Excuses, excuses

The midget is going through a funny (but interesting) stage. She likes to correct us and announce her views on things at every chance. The annoying thing about is is that she gets into a conversational loop, and it's quite tedious to listen to. If you ask a question about something, she has a stock-standard answer for it, and can't seem to vary her response. I'm not overly concerned, I just find it a little weird.
I haven't been posting much. Why you may ask? Mostly I have been reading other people's blogs. At the moment that seems infinitely more interesting than creating something to write here. I'm afraid that my mediocre writing will bring people to tears. I'm back tonight, because the hard drive broke in this computer and I have lost all my bookmarks for the sites that I read.
Have decided not to write the book in a month thing, for a couple of reasons;
1) I am mortally afraid of failure
2) I will be away from my computer for 6 or 7 days in November, so that there will be even less chance of me being able to write 50,000 words.
3) C should want to come with me to Hong Kong anyway cos I'm great fun.

Exciting Projects

My goodness do I have some stuff in the pipeline. I think I'm being over-ambitious, but I'm going to give it a go.
Firstly, as I have already mentioned, I am on a health kick. So far so good - however - can't wait for the antibiotics to kick in and get rid of this heavy chest.
I had a quick look at Dervala's site tonight to find a link to something that has really intrigued me....NaNoWriMo here I come! What a fabulous idea! I was umming and aahing about it, particularly the time constraints of writing 50,000 words in a month, when C fixed that up with some good old fashioned bribery. He'll come on a holiday to Hong Kong with me if I get the 50,000 words finished by the deadline. That sort of opportunity is too damned good to pass up. I'm going to get cracking on a novel plan in the next few nights.
Meanwhile I'm doing it hard with caffeine withdrawal. I just have to cut my Diet Coke intake for my health's sake alone. I drink way too much of it and not enough of anything else. So have only had one very small bottle today, and managed to make it to lunch time without caving in. I felt pretty crap by then though. Will try to go without completely tomorrow.

Peace and Quiet, but not in Bali

At the moment all is peaceful in the household. However, the place looks like a bomb has hit it. There are suitcases, shoes, roller skates and a netball lying in the hall as I write. Perhaps I should be cleaning everything up. But perhaps I wont.
The midget is back from her holiday in Sydney, much to our relief. I miss her so when she is away. She was happy and sweet this afternoon. She went to the beach with her young suitor Patrick and his mum and they had a lovely time. She then arrived home and hounded C, and he played lovely games with her for hours until his patience wore thin and he retired to bed, where he is still.
So I sit here alone. It is not often I am alone here. Everything is very quiet.
I had a quick visit to the doctor this afternoon and came home loaded with antibiotics and ventolin, and an urgent need to kick this bronchitis in the bum. The Doctor mentioned that the city I live in is Australia's allergen and asthma capital. Yippee. There is a large oil refinery across the bay that pours out plumes of crap into the air. No wonder my lungs aren't coping. It also doesn't help that this house is cold, drafty and in urgent need of renovating. C is saving his pennies for that. I probably inhale a load of plaster dust in my sleep every night. My doctor quipped "move to Queensland". If only it were that simple.
There have been bombings in Bali again. Surely this is the death knoll for Australian tourism there. This is a tragedy for the Balinese, who are the loveliest gentlest people and largely rely on the tourist dollar. Bali is largely Hindu, but because of the large amount of Western tourists visiting, radical islamic groups seem to target Bali. So far the reports are saying that two Australians have been killed, with up to 100 injured.
I went to Bali on a school excursion in 1978 (grade 6). We had such a brilliant time, the people were wonderful to us. It was such an adventure. And this was way before Bali became the tourist mecca that it is today.

Daily Bread

The western world is getting dreadfully fat and unhealthy. As I get older I am suddenly concerned about my health - I never really gave a crap in the past. At the moment I am feeling very mortal.
Part of it has to do with the fact that for the second winter running I have chronic bronchitis and don't seem to be able to kick it easily. I have had some health problems in the past, but these have all been fixed by removing non-essential organs (tonsils, adenoids, appendix and gall bladder - I'll also throw wisdom teeth into that melee). However, I've not ever had respiratory problems until I moved to the wet cold climes of Victoria.
I'm a little concerned that I have developed asthma. My grandmother was a chronic athmatic. My friend Robert developed asthma when he moved from the NT to Victoria because of an allergy to rye grass. The midget has also had a consistent dry cough all winter, but the doctor says her chest is clear, no asthma there.
Anyways I'll be off to visit my favourite doctor on Sunday, probably to get a script of antibiotics. As long as it works...
Now back to the fat thing. I've been overweight most of my life. I was rewarded with food when I was young, and then ate to combat loneliness and anxiety as I grew older.
I dont want to be fat and unfit and unhealthy any more.
The lovely Vashti says it best in her post about daily bread. Why do we eat and take more than we need?
I'm all with Dr Fiona Wood on this one.
I'll tell you how I go. I'll try not to reduce you to tears with tedium, or dull statistics. But I will try to be honest.