Here’s to the nursing home staff.

The ones to answer the phones. Mop the floors. Clean the toilets. Dish out medication. Make medical appointments for patients.

Keep them clean. Wipe their bum. Cook their food. Take them on daily walks or weekly bus trips. Walk them to the chapel every 2nd Wednesday for Mass.

It’s not a job that I could do because I’m too much of a princess.

These are the people who take care of my mum every. single. day. They’ve taken someone who was in a bad way and have restored her to the healthy woman she deserves to be. They let me be selfish and visit mum not-often-enough and still know that she’s in good hands and in the best nic that she’s been in for a very long time.

They’re on shit wages, yet they work with compassionate hearts and smiles on their faces.

(Thanks to Penny for inspiring this post!)

Who’s YOUR Australian/s of the year?

Right now, I am a lady of luxury. I’ve been on holidays for a couple of weeks and I still have a few days left to go. I spend some of my time  unpacking (still), enjoying having a TV (such a novelty after 4 years without), pfaffing on the internet, reading books, pottering around the place…

Why do I feel guilty for not doing more?

I feel guilty for not doing more housework. For not baking or cooking more. For not having the house in showroom condition. For not blogging enough. For not doing enough to get the cats settled*

I feel guilty! And it’s so dumb.

It’s a female brain thing, isn’t it? UGH!

Why can’t I just pfaff in front of the TV all day, guilt-free? Eating salt and vinegar chippies and drinking Coke Zero?

I think I’ll just try to defy it anyway, watch The Circle and Judge Judy and trashy movies and snack on junk :)

Do you feel guilty when you’re not doing anything?

* Both cats are waking up at 4am. Every. Day. Since we moved in. We get that they’re unsettled in their new confines, but they’re generally fine, except at 4am when they wake up and howl at the ceiling and fight up and down the hallway. Good gawd, will we ever get a decent night’s sleep ever again?

I was watching one of my (many, numerous) Louis CK videos this afternoon, everything’s amazing and nobody’s happy.

The swearing is bleeped out, just FYI. Go on, go watch it. You’ll be nodding at what Louis’ got to say.

I’m feeling replenished for the beginning of 2012 and trying to be more open, accepting and grateful this year.

Maxabella’s grateful meme is growing into a Kidspot feature in 2012 – it’s great to see a blogger do well, isn’t it? I’m a big fan of Maxabella’s honesty, wisdom and humility and I love to see good things happen to bloggers I admire.

As a lady of luxury for just under 2 more weeks, I have the time to be grateful for MANY things, but I’ve narrowed it down to just four this week – all with photos because I’m loving my new phone and the Flickr app with their filters (in lieu of being a cool kid and having instagram).

I’m grateful for my Hill’s Hoist – after years of only having about 2 hours of sun on the clothesline in bohemia, we now have 8+hrs of sun on our clothesline in suburbia. I love wearing my thongs out the back and soaking up some vitamin D while I’m bringing in the clothes after dinner. The novelty will wear off eventually, so I’ll enjoy it while I can…!

I’m grateful for old friends who are still the same after all those years.  We had dinner recently and it was still like the old days of laughing, squealing and fun. And realising that, deep down, we’re all still 13yo boys at heart.

Grateful for thinking about the big ideas, especially for Smarter Admins. So many bloggers are savvy with their PR/media backgrounds and sometimes I feel a bit lost and aimless. Well, I have aims, but I can’t make the steps from here to there. I’m very lucky to have some savvy friends who help me out along the way.

I’m grateful for my new local park and being able go to the local chicken shop to grab some lunch and sit in the park and catch up on some long-overdue reading (yet another resolution when I’m saying I’m not making resolutions)