Secrets exposed

I was recently tagged in a post by the award-winning Alex Kerr that was along the lines of "tag 15 people and get them to do the same". Or something like that. I was side-tracked by the thrill of her win. But the award came with those prerequisites.

So I thought that even though I'm not a fan of chain letters, chain emails or 'send this to 10 friends or you'll next have sex again' type things, I thought I'd share 7 things about myself that you might not know. (Read Alex's blog and it'll make sense. Trust me)

So here there are. The things you may, or may not, know about me:

1. I am the oldest, wisest, most charming, funny and beautiful of my 2 siblings. And I'm sure they'd agree. Or they should if they know what's good for them.

2. I'm most at peace in a book shop or library with a nice hot cup of tea and a few hours solitude. Ah, the bliss of books. Real, paper books. Don't get me wrong, I love my eReader but nothing compares to the joy of holding a book in your hands. Please feel free to suggest any good reads to me. I'm always interested in what people are reading. And I read anything! Except fantasy/dragon/hobbit styles or Harry Potter.

3. I fell into my career. When I left school I had big plans to be a hairdresser. I went to training college and worked in a few salons. The last salon I worked in was wonderful. The girls were great and the boss wanted nothing but the best, in a strict motherly way. However, the time came that I had to make a decision between doing the course my boss had bagged out or ....? I opted to find another job. And turned to my back-up plan, office work. Through temping I ended up by accident with my current employer, and more than 10 years and a few promotions later, here I am.

4. I'm bossy. Seriously. I blame being a Capricorn, It's my way or the highway. And everything must be within my control. Having said that, I've learnt how to suggest or offer ideas that the receiver thinks are their own when in fact it's my way! I'm not good at letting go. Not completing deadlines freak me out.

5. I believe in ghosts. Because I was visited on a few occasions by a family spirit who wanted to make sure I was ok. I freaked out! Until I saw a medium and as a total skeptic was told things she could never had known. Now I'm at peace with the spirit world and have haven't been visited again but I know I'm still being watched over.

6. I love 80's movies. John Hughes, Molly Ringwald, the brat pack. Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Pretty In Pink, 16 Candles, St Elmo's Fire... the list goes on and on. Give me some wine and an 80's flick & I'm set for a night in!

7. I hate magicians and clowns. Clowns is easy to work out. I never liked fancy dress days. I didn't like the idea of being different from everyone else. (An aside: I used to freak out on the first day of school in case I turned up in a different uniform from everyone else). In preschool we had clown dress up day. Imagine my horror. Being forced as a 4 year old to dress up, as a clown. Every photo is of me in tears. Thus to this day I hate clowns. Don't even try to change my mind.

Magicians are something different. I get that you've got a skill. Yay you. But if I can't work out how you picked that card, or where that coin was hidden you can get fucked. Yeah I said it. I don't want to see your smug magician face saying you'll show me again more slowly. Just take your magic elsewhere weirdo and leave me alone.

So that's 7 (hopefully) new things about me for you to know now. How about you leave me something new about you to share the love?

Cheese Sandwiches & Cups of Tea (aka My Night in ER)

I've tried to write this post a few times now and each try could have filled a small novel. You don't deserve to be bored with such a wordy retelling so I'm trying one.last.time.

If you get nothing else out of this, please understand my intentions are to give heartfelt thanks to Lisa the head night nurse (until 11pm) in the Emergency Department of the Caboolture Hospital, and to the various other staff, nurses, doctors and specialists who saw us during our 19.5 hour stay.

It started with a frantic phone call from Patrick, thankfully the minute I stepped off the train on my way home. Ava has been hurt while playing at the park. Come home now!

There was blood. But no exposed bones, no head injuries and relatively no pain. Ava wouldn't let us check it out, so I figured a trip to the doctor to check all was ok was in order. Since it was early evening, neither our normal doctor or the local medical centre were open. Hi ho, hi ho it's off to ER we go.

I don't have fantastic experiences of ER. Mostly I recall waiting, for hours, and more hours, before being seen. And the last time we waited so long that I figured it would be easier to just go home, get some sleep and head off to our doctors in the morning (about 3 hours after we left ER). But this time was going to be different. For one thing, I wasn't going back to our 'normal' ER department. The Royal would have been my first choice but I never know where to park, and it's about a 45 minute drive. Patrick suggested the Mater, another excellent choice, but it's over the other side of town from us. So I decided on Caboolture. I had recently heard great things about them and the private clinic next to the ER so up the highway we flew.

As soon as we told the triage nurse our story she ushered us through some doors and Ava was being weighed and issued with painkillers. Let the adventures begin!

Once in our little private ER room, the doctor came by to check Ava out. Specialists would be required and perhaps sedation. But these things take time, specialists being so special they were in emergency surgery at the moment. That's cool, we'll wait.

And wait, and wait, and wait. During our waiting, the lovely Lisa came by hourly to check Ava's vital signs (all good) and eventually to bring me cups of tea, cheese sandwiches and the hospital phone so I could call Patrick and keep him posted. Saint!!

The specialists came by, with the head of department and advised that we might have to transfer to Brisbane if there is surgery required. Or we could transfer there first. I requested transferring to Brisbane to save double sedation if surgery is required. But no, Brisbane wouldn't take us and advised we be sent home.

The wonderful people of Caboolture said no, we wouldn't be sent home without being checked out properly and kindly put us up for the night in the Children's Ward. Finally, a bed for me! Ava had slept on and off in ER but I was knackered. It was now 2am.

Breakfast arrived at about 7am which Ava was pleased to see. She hadn't eaten since afternoon tea the day before. After breakfast though, she was fasting in case sedation was required.

Patrick arrived with fresh clothes about 10am. Hooray! I could finally change out of my slept in work clothes from the day before.

Again we waited, and waited, and waited some more until about noon when the team of 3 specialists came back to review. Fantastic news - we were being discharged! No sedation required, no further poking and prodding for Ava and no more waiting!

At 1.30pm we walked out of the Caboolture Hospital, Ava a little tender, but all very happy.

Patient follow up: She's impossible to keep still. My repeated requests to lay on the couch and rest are being ignored. At least she isn't in pain!

Thank you to the staff who had anything to do with Ava's care, and thank you to all who expressed concern and sent messages of love and best wishes.