WOW, Ive been offered a job here in Richmond. How lucky am I? My contract finishes here in a couple of weeks and then i fly home to Lake Macquarie to pack up a few things. Not everything, but enough to make my new lodgings homely for at least a year. My new little cottage is so cute- I cant wait to move in and when it it all done I shall be sure to post some pictures of it.
My study is coming along...slowly. I had forgotten how stressful getting an essay together can be. After flying home on my three flight trip I will be making the long drive back a week later to Townsville. There, I have a 5 day orientation to Queensland ambulance and QLD health. After that. A trip across the miles...or 'downs' as they are referred to here- all the way back to Richmond.
Well, Best sign off for now but will be sure to add some more adventure shots very soon :)
Take care,
Love Colleen
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Morning Promise
The light is cold, blue. White. Bright.
The room, cold. Sterile. Clean.
The centerpiece, shiny, staino, cold….
ice cold.
The book of life lays on an old doily, aged and yellowing…
The room lifeless… Yet full to capacity,
(have you ever noticed a room with a sleeping person still "feels" alive?- this one does not).
It scares with a morbid coldness
That doesn't make sense to the living.
No life, no character,
No promise of good things to come.
For those within, the day has set,
The beauty now left to us…
The view beyond. Unparalleled beauty,
Framed in a glass panel in a thick green door…
The days dawn beyond boasts of hopefulness, gently not brazen…
as she spreads colour vibrant…
Blue, and pink to the horizons' edge…there is no edge…it is eternal
Its vibrancy the backdrop to inky silhouettes of gums, poinsettias and jacarandas
The birdsong plucks clear in the stillness,
The fish splash in the satiny dark smoothness,
insects scatter and screech…
the dawn time is deafening, and yet unobtrusive in the serene solitude.
A new day is born.
Mother Nature, in your beauty you are ironic…or are you
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Here I Am
Here I am, almost 45, and wow,,,what a life it has been so far- I cannot wait to see what the future holds and finally have learnt the real meaning behind the saying "you are where you are, because you want to be". I have learnt that there is no point in making excuses for things you cannot do, for those excuses hold you back. We all have a choice on how we choose to live life. Success now- to me- is not measured by how many ornaments i own, nor how expensive my car or clothes are. Success to me is being able to enjoy our country side an more importantly- the people. It is being able to take advantage of opportunities- like HECS- so I can live how i wish to live and also in being able to pay my way while i do it. Success is knowing I have 3 boys who can survive and be good people in their own right. Success is enjoying each and every shift i do in my chosen career. I look back now and wonder why i waited so long to do what I have done. Sure, it would have been harder when the kids were smaller- but shoot- it was hard anyway but the results are well worth it. I could have stayed in the bigger hospitals- tired and burnt out in a few years. Task nursing- when you have done a shift and realise you have not got the patients name but you have managed the paperwork and recored what needed to be recorded. Ridiculous shifts that left me drained and exhausted- to the point I could not even enjoy family, never mind have energy for friends or other family. I cringe when i think back to those days--they seem like a life time ago. Some thrive on this- and i appreciate we all have different ideas of what constitutes a good valuable life. God knows, the hospitals need nurses willing to work like that and with such little reward.
For now, my life is bliss, I finish an 8 hr night shift looking out onto the lake- surrounded by untouched countryside. The hopital is its own time capsule, old, yet sparkly clean. Lino floors from decades ago that have no doubt seen many a good nurses footsteps. An old closed theatre where babies were born by half the female staff over 30 years ago. Now empty, and when checked on last rounds they just want to yell out a story to me. The old kitchen, homely and welcoming, just waiting for cook to come in and make that days fresh breaky- what ever the patients want or indeed- if there are lots of visitors or extra staff it may well be homemade pizza. (Dont get me wrong- by lot of people i mean there might be 10 in the place). The old laundry out the back and huge old hills hoists in the paddock, You just have to love this place- steeped in history. The patients come in and the first thing you notice are the occupations...roo hunters, pig hunters...it made me laugh the first time I saw it written down. They are all characters and in a small town like this the staff know them all... and their families and their full histories... The patients feel like this hospital is their backyard, they come in, they are seen immediatley and if they just wish to come in for some sugar or to weigh themselves they do so. It is relaxed and easy, and funny. The community nurse recalls some fabulous tales and she has the face and voices to go with them. I laugh as she tells the tales....the other day it was merely that when she got to old Bob and Bettys (not real names lol ) they were mid fight over when the community nurse was working. It was a full on country blue. She waited and watched until she aggreed - over a cuppa- that she was indeed on shift today and was there now to see them. I can just imagine this old couple arguing over when she was supposed to be 'on'.Obviously not much news in the homestead that day lol.
Another funny staff member heard of a snake living in the grounds and came racing down the hall to say she was "gonna relocate that bastard yesterday but someone woulda dobbed me in" , in stunned shock the gardener turned and said "what were you gonna relocate it with"...."Me bloody 410" she answered with a smile. I love these people, they are fun, down to earth and live life to the real meaning of full.
Another nurse tells a tale of how after a Christmas bash she was only located because her hubby had seen her halo glinting in the gutter. Yes it was a fancy dress do. She reckons she was never sicker in her life and grateful for her hungry dog that ate all her spew before the girls woke up and knew that mum had vomited her heart out on the front step lol.
Theres some great country tales out here...I should write a book- but im too busy laughing just listening to them--in real life.
Night all
Colleen
For now, my life is bliss, I finish an 8 hr night shift looking out onto the lake- surrounded by untouched countryside. The hopital is its own time capsule, old, yet sparkly clean. Lino floors from decades ago that have no doubt seen many a good nurses footsteps. An old closed theatre where babies were born by half the female staff over 30 years ago. Now empty, and when checked on last rounds they just want to yell out a story to me. The old kitchen, homely and welcoming, just waiting for cook to come in and make that days fresh breaky- what ever the patients want or indeed- if there are lots of visitors or extra staff it may well be homemade pizza. (Dont get me wrong- by lot of people i mean there might be 10 in the place). The old laundry out the back and huge old hills hoists in the paddock, You just have to love this place- steeped in history. The patients come in and the first thing you notice are the occupations...roo hunters, pig hunters...it made me laugh the first time I saw it written down. They are all characters and in a small town like this the staff know them all... and their families and their full histories... The patients feel like this hospital is their backyard, they come in, they are seen immediatley and if they just wish to come in for some sugar or to weigh themselves they do so. It is relaxed and easy, and funny. The community nurse recalls some fabulous tales and she has the face and voices to go with them. I laugh as she tells the tales....the other day it was merely that when she got to old Bob and Bettys (not real names lol ) they were mid fight over when the community nurse was working. It was a full on country blue. She waited and watched until she aggreed - over a cuppa- that she was indeed on shift today and was there now to see them. I can just imagine this old couple arguing over when she was supposed to be 'on'.Obviously not much news in the homestead that day lol.
Another funny staff member heard of a snake living in the grounds and came racing down the hall to say she was "gonna relocate that bastard yesterday but someone woulda dobbed me in" , in stunned shock the gardener turned and said "what were you gonna relocate it with"...."Me bloody 410" she answered with a smile. I love these people, they are fun, down to earth and live life to the real meaning of full.
Another nurse tells a tale of how after a Christmas bash she was only located because her hubby had seen her halo glinting in the gutter. Yes it was a fancy dress do. She reckons she was never sicker in her life and grateful for her hungry dog that ate all her spew before the girls woke up and knew that mum had vomited her heart out on the front step lol.
Theres some great country tales out here...I should write a book- but im too busy laughing just listening to them--in real life.
Night all
Colleen
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
A new Day...
I cannot believe the contract here is almost done...2 weeks to go. I am going to miss this post and to make matters worse the sunrises at the end of my nightshift have been so gorgeous lately. The girls here are lovely and i have made some wonderful friends- I wonder where I shall be in a few weeks and if it will be as nice. I would be happy to stay here for even a year.
The gidgy bugs have gone...I have not seen a snake....the toads are still multiplying and ugly as sin...but the weather is beautiful, the accomodation is perfect and I am enjoying my new study program.
Not much to say, except RICHMOND ROCKS!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
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