Your Life Path Number is 8

Your purpose in life is to help others succeed You are both a natural leader and a natural success. You are also a great judge of character. You have a head for business and finance. You know how to make money. A great visionary, you can see gold where other people see nothing. In love, you are very generous - with gifts, time, and guidance. You love to inspire people, but it can be frustrating when they don't understand your vision. Great success comes easily for you. But so does great failure, as you are very reckless. You are confident, and sometimes this confidence borders on arrogance.

What Is Your Life Path Number?

I think I was born on the wrong day???!

This is what we saw outside our window when we woke up this morning! Snow everywhere, you'd almost think we were back in Canada! Ok it's still a pretty thin coating in comparison, and the snow is pretty slushy, but still... when it's something you don't expect to see here after average winter temperatures of about 10 degrees during the day, it's a lovely sight to wake up to :)
So yesterday I had to check myself into the day hospital for my full day of tests and I must say I was pleasantly surprised to have been very well looked after. If that is what being in a French hospital is always like, they certainly have got something right. First I checked into my room and read for a while until the nurse came to take liters of blood from me for various tests, and also to insert an IV drip. Then a man came with a wheelchair to wheel me down to get my CT scan done. The iodine injection is a very weird sensation, you feel all hot all over as if you're having an allergic reaction and then you feel like you've peed your pants. Luckily the nurse explains all this to you beforehand so you don't freak out. Then it was off to X-ray for x-rays of my wrists, hands, feet, ankles, knees, hips and shoulders. Then back up to my room where a lady brought me some breakfast. Then the most amazing thing happened... my doctor actually came to check on me! In Australia when I was in for emergency gall bladder removal I think it took 3 days to see my doctor so you can imagine how surprised I was yesterday.
After that it was nap time and lunch time, believe me IV drips and injections etc can really knock the wind out of you. At about 1.30 a really nice ambulance driver came to get me to transfer me to another hospital for my lung function tests. The lady who did the tests was really nice too... Bah! I guess everyone was really nice yesterday... She could see that I wasn't totally comfortable with the whole idea of having my nose blocked and being locked into a tiny glass cubicle, having to blow in and out of a tube that cut my oxygen off intermittently. It wasn't very pleasant, but the results were great. Apparently my lung function and capacity are above average for my age, height and weight. She thinks that any problems I might have with breathing on occasion would be caused by a lack of endurance since I don't really do any sport anymore.
So then I got picked up by another ambulance and brought back to the first hospital to be given last instructions and to check myself out. That's about where the bad news came.
The CT Scan shows nodules on my lungs. Now the trick here is to try not to panic but I think it came as a bit of a shock to Remi and me. Perhaps these nodules were there all along but only detected this time because of the iodine injection? My next specialist appointment is planned for March 10th but he may want to see me before that once he has seen the scan and other results. What I have to prepare myself for is the very real possibility of having to take steroids. I am hoping it doesn't come to that though. I guess all we can do is wait and see.
So yesterday afternoon ended up being a little emotional and luckily we had a little soiree planned at a fellow Toulouse residing Aussie's place for a little belated Australia Day celebration. We were greeted with flags galore, mini clip-on koalas, Slim Dusty, licorice bullets, Anzac biscuits, snakes, lamingtons... and Tim-Tams!! And a good time was had by all :)

Laugh and think... "This is Australia"

Last night we got taken out to a gorgeous French restaurant by a new friend of ours who happens to be one of the most senior people here at Meteo France, who also happens to love sailing, and who also happens to love Australia and anything remotely connected to it. So he hit me with a good dose of patriotic pride just in time for Australia Day...


Because I come from the land of plenty... Happy Australia Day to all you Aussies out there!

Something I love about France...

The French can be refreshingly polite in certain circumstances. When you get to the bus stop for instance, it is proper to say a general hello to those waiting with you. Never mind that when the bus comes it's each man for himself and there is no such thing as queueing. Uh-oh, I was going to start talking about the French tradition of queue jumping, however I just remembered in the nick of time that I was supposed to be talking about something I LOVE about France.
So when you get off the bus, it is not unusual for the person sitting next to you to wish you a good day or a good evening even though you may not have talked to them at all the whole trip. Oh yes, and to get home I board the bus at the terminal so when the driver boards the bus to start his or her route, they shout out a cheery hello or good evening to everyone on the bus, and everyone shouts out their friendly greeting in reply. It's like at school when the teacher walks in and says "good morning, children!" and all the children shout out with gusto "GOOD MORNING MRS SMITH!"
It's the same thing when you go to the doctor's. In fact, I still haven't quite got completely used to this little tradition and I probably sometimes come off as rude. Oh well.
Anyway, so I was saying it's the same when you go to the doctor's. You walk into the waiting room and everyone looks up from their magazines to say hello and the person who just walked in usually addresses a general "messieurs dames" which is usually accompanied by a very slight bow of the head. Very quaint and old fashioned. Sometimes I even expect people to yell out "GOOD LUCK!" every time it's someone else's turn to step into the doctor's office... but they don't.
They do however wish you a good day or evening as you leave the surgery altogether.
You guys should try it, I think it could have quite a healing effect! and it does make you feel all warm and fuzzy for about a second or two...

Another survey... but with a difference

I spent a little more time on this post to try to make up for not posting much this week. Well, a lot more actually!
I got the idea from here and she gives credit to someone else also... For me it was a good chance to learn a bit of Photoshop. So here goes.
1. Who am I? 2. Who knows me better than anyone? 3. What age do I feel? 4. The most important thing in my life is... 5. I always wear... 6. Something I always do 7. I am happiest when... 8. On Monday mornings... 9. My favourite means of transportation... 10. My eyes are...
11. The object I'm glad to own is... 12. To relax, I like to... 13. The city I live in is... 14. My worst habit is... 15. My forbidden pleasure is... 16. The first thing I notice in someone... 17. I think... is gorgeous 18. Something I can do without... 19. Something most people don't know about me... 20. My life is...
So there you have it! It was good fun so if you feel up to the task, go for it! Otherwise, you can maybe give me some of your own answers in comments or on your own blog ;)

The pitiful state of Australian journalism, and other news

Every couple of days I read through the Sydney Morning Herald headlines to catch a glimpse of what is going on back home. Lately, as reading the SMH becomes more and more like watching Fox News, I have been wondering why I even subject myself to this torture. It gets me so mad I wish I could just jump through my monitor and strangle the idiot who writes this crap. For example today - Once again, Schapelle Corby has made it into the headlines, this time thanks to the arrest of her brother. Now not only is the article completely geared toward making you think that Miss Schapelle Corby is po' white trash, but in this issue her mother gets a hiding as well with said article finishing with the following statements:
"Kisina is one of two children Corby's mother had with Tongan-born James Kisina.

Ms Rose has six children from three relationships."

I mean...what the?? Objection your Honour!! Relevance???

In other news today, confirmation has arrived that Flippa and Howie will be hopping over from London to spend a weekend here with us in Toulouse!! Can't wait! (Just for clarification, Flippa is a Kiwi and Howie (Huw) a Brit... we discovered the Canadian Rockies together).

Terribly sorry about the lack of updates over the last few days. I had some technical problems with the site (DNS changes as usual!), was in a mad rush with a last minute translation sent to me on Friday afternoon and due COB Tuesday. Wednesday morning I had a job interview which really didn't go well but hey, let's not dwell on that. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger right?! RAAAAAAAR!

Oh and we would also like to welcome Henry to the blogosphere :)

Seven

Apart from being an apparently very good movie which I fell asleep watching, it is also a questionnaire that Mr H has tagged me with. Now email questionnaires are quite easy to pike out of... you just don't reply. Unfortunately when it comes to blogs, all eyes are on you and that brings some pressure!
So here goes... Ze Game of Ze Seveune
*ahem* *cracks knuckles*
(nothing is listed in order!)

7 things I want to do before I die:

1- Write at least one book
2 - Be published
3 - Have a child (or 2 or 3)
4 - Heal myself
5 - Learn to love myself
6 - Win tomorrow's lotto draw (yep, it's Friday the 13th so I bought a ticket!) to make life a little easier for myself and those I love
7 - Live in one place for at least 5 years

7 things I know how to do:

1 - Pick spelling mistakes
2 - Make people feel at ease
3 - Ask a lot of questions
4 - Laugh at myself
5 - Smile and laugh contagiously
6 - The jukebox
7 - Make a fool of myself playing Uno (how hard can it be??)

7 things I don't know how to do:

1 - Ride a bike
2 - Pick the right pair of shoes
3 - Buy t-shirts and jumpers (sweaters for those who aren't from Oz or UK) that don't shrink to above your navel the minute you wash them even if they came down to your knees just before they hit the water
4 - Drive a car
5 - Not fear at least 7 ridiculous things a day
6 - Speak a third language (keeping up on my Spanish would be a good start!)
7 - Play a musical instrument (guitar or piano would be great!)

7 things that I find attractive in the opposite sex:

1 - Confidence
2 - Intensity
3 - Good pool playing or driving (don't ask me why, I have no idea)
4 - The ability to understand me and take me seriously and yet still laugh at me and with me
5 - Creativity
6 - Love of travel
7 - Culture and intelligence

Add a cute bum and there you have my Remi! :D

7 things I say all the time:

1 - Ya reckon?
2 - Grrrrrrr
3 - Quiet time, sleepy time
4 - Ecoute-moi bien la (in a quebecois accent) ... What does it mean? 'Listen to me real good now'
5 - I forgot...
6 - Sorry
7 - Buggah

7 celebrity crushes:

1 - Dopey
2 - Doc
3 - Grumpy
4 - Sleepy
5 - Sneezy
6 - Bashful
7 - Happy

Ok, not really but I just couldn't think of any aside from JJ Goldman and just putting that would have been waaaaay cheesy! There was Angelina Jolie until she started romping around with Brad Pitt and destroyed any bit of credibility she may have had. I have not replaced her yet.
There was Bono until he lost all the credibility he ever had, the tip of the iceberg being when they released a limited edition U2 Ipod *shudders*
There was Natalie Portman until I saw her in an interview and realised she's dumber than my shoe. So I have a lot of disappointments to overcome when it comes to celebrities and the seven dwarves will just have to comfort me until I find some replacements :D

7 next tag victims:

1- Remi
2 - Denis
3 - JJ (might get you updating your blog at last??)
4 - Bons (same goes for you as for JJ!)
5 - Anne (might get you started on that blog that's been sitting there for about 2 months?)
6 - Adrian (might get you started on a blog)
7 - H (might get you started on a blog too... god knows you love a rant! :D)

So the 7 people named above must answer the same questionnaire. Ok, those of you who don't have a blog and really really don't want to start one, you may simply post your answers in the Comments field.

Yesterday I received an invitation to an Australia Day party right here in Toulouse!
The email:

"Salut everybody,

As most of you are no doubt aware, the 26th Jan is Australia Day. No,you didn't know that? Well, now you do - so you have no excuse.

To celebrate, on Friday 27 Jan I will be hosting a genuine Australia Day Party! For those of you that have never been to the 'Lucky Country' that means that I will fill the bath with ice and you will have the pleasure of bringing lots of beer to fill the bath. Then we will all drink your beer and eat as much meat as we are able, and whenever an Aussie song comes on the stereo, we'll all get up to dance and to sing. Deadset. Fair Dinkum! It'll be beaut!

Now for those of you who are true blue, you'll know the rules, but for those of you who are a little less dinky-die, let me explain. For the duration of the party you are aloud to say "G'day" as often as you like; we will all call one another "mate"; we'll drink lots of "coldies"; and if someone is gracious enough to bring you a "tinnie" you can say "onya" (which is a compliment you philistines); there are never any worries at an Aussie Day party; and the answer to any question is "she'll be right"; and the music of course, is as good as it gets.

If you can make it - beaut, bonzer, ripper!
If you can't make it - no worries.

PS dress code: Dress singlet, blundies, and thongs are acceptable. No trackie-daks. No Pommes. No Whingers. No Whakas. No Pikers."

Needless to say, I had to explain a lot to Remi!
Anyway, I hope I can make it to the party. It's looking a little unlikely at the moment because yesterday I had my first appointment with my French immunologist and he has scheduled me in to the day hospital for a full day of intensive testing, prodding, pricking, scanning and whatever else they can think of... on the 27th :/ Since I have to start taking anti-allergy medication 3 days beforehand I am anticipating a hard day that is going to require some recovery time.
Today I went to see a GP/Homeopath/Acupuncturist who was recommended to me by a couple of people on a Toulouse newsgroup. He seems very good, only time will tell. I have 5 homeopathic treatments to take over the next month, at the end of which I have to see him for a follow-up. Let's see how it goes!

A French perspective of our beloved Down Under :)

As mentioned in one of the most recent comments, I was recently one of four lucky winners in a contest Mr H ran on his BD-blog (a "BD" being a Bande Dessinee or comic strip). As one of the winners I got my very own dedicated drawing/comic strip and of course my Australian origins were source of inspiration. I have published it here, complete with translation. Enjoy! and thank you Hadrien!

Question: What is brown and sticky?
Answer: A stick!

On Friday some men came and chopped down a couple of trees from in front of the building next door, so yesterday Remi decreed today was the day to test out his Dremel on wood carving activities. So excited was he by this prospect that he woke up at 8 this morning when we had gone to bed at 3 (friends over for dinner and Elixir!). I grumbled something nasty at him when he tried to wake me, and when I finally woke up at 11 the sight of him was so chuckle-worthy I had to take photos.
Aside from making some umm... sticks, in 3 and a half hours he managed to make a reasonable looking chess pawn. All in all, he needs more practice and the Dremel is turning out to not be as versatile as he had originally thought! So Monday it's off to the craft shop to purchase some hand wood carving tools :D 

Today is January 6th, the Twelfth and last day of Christmas. It marks the Epiphany, or the arrival of the Wise Men in Bethlehem. Wise Men who came bearing gifts for Jesus and in doing so, acknowledged him as the incarnation of God in human form, the saviour of mankind. Christians of the world will be celebrating this event this weekend. In Spain, January 6th is the day gifts are exchanged in the Wise Men tradition and children who have been naughty get a big chunk of chocolate powder coated sugar instead of a lump of coal. In France they have a different tradition: la galette des rois (the kings' cake). The cake is made of puff pastry filled with almond paste or it is made of brioche and inside is hidden what they call a fève (which would actually be a bean such as a kidney bean, as a symbol of fertility) though these days they use little plastic charms and such. The person who is lucky enough to get the fève in their slice of cake becomes king or queen and is given a gold paper crown. I am not really sure what significance that has though or if the gold paper crown is the only advantage to finding the fève! Whatever the significance, the French seem to think it is rather important and so to avoid anyone cheating and spotting the fève and stealing the slice of cake that contains it, the youngest person in the room has to crawl under the table and call out the name of the person who should be receiving each slice.So last night an association that we are members of here in Toulouse organised a Galette des Rois night and I got to be queen!! Unfortunately, no photos because we forgot to bring the camera :/ All I have is a photo of the charm that won me my crown! 

Happy New Year 2006!

This year our New Year's Eve was unusual in that we spent it very pleasantly in the company of people we didn't know since we were invited by friends of friends of friends. There were 8 of us and enough food to feed a developing country, but we took it slow, started eating around 10 and finished up with chocolate fondue around 5.30 am. A few games of loup-garou (werewolf) helped to keep the appetite going and the mind sharp. A good time was had by all, so thanks to Ness and Alexis for inviting us and a very Happy New Year to everyone!
Here is the Xmas 2005 photo album and here are the photos of our New Year's Eve celebrations. Cheers!