Charity and Luxury

After the Brisbane floods we went through everything and ended up with a large box of clothes, housewares, bags, shoes and baby stuff to donate. We ended up getting distracted and in October we finally donated all that and more. 

I did work experience at a Salvation Army detox which also has a wonderful depot. It's huge and everyone there is so lovely. We have given so much stuff to them and they are always helpful and gracious. 

I made donating part of my 26 Before 26 list for two reasons. The first reason was to motivate me to get it done. The second reason was to donate more stuff and go to the depot. The depot has an amazing store attached and going there reminds me of the wonderful people I met during my work experience. 

I also put owning a Vanchi bag on my 26 Before 26 list. Ever since I saw one reviewed on a blog (I'm sorry I can't remember which one) I fell in love. When I went to the Baby Show I got to try some and fell even more in love with the Doctor Bag in both black and nougat. 

The problem was convincing the mister that it was worth spending $175. Little did I know that they have outlet sales. I ended up scoring a certified second black Doctor Bag for $90. I ordered it on the Friday and it arrived on the Tuesday. I honestly cannot tell why it's a certified second, it looks perfect to me. 

Oh yeah pretty excited

So six months down I've crossed three off my list of twenty-six. Great. Maybe I won't finish them like I thought. 

If you have a list have you crossed much off it?

Change Our Minds

Last night I saw the best mental health awareness ad I've ever seen on mainstream TV, channel nine in fact. Here it is;



I'm very proud that it is an initiative from the Queensland Government. I've pledged my support to share information about this initiative as I feel it's an extremely important message. 

Directly from the Change Our Minds website about what this initiative means;

ABOUT CHANGE

It’s a fact that nearly half (45%) of Australians will experience a mental illness at some stage of their life.  

People living with mental illness are one of the most marginalised groups in society. For many the disadvantage and exclusion they experience is more disabling than the mental illness itself.

Our behaviour and attitudes have multiple and far reaching impacts on the quality of life and the rights of people living with mental illness. It can lead to people feeling isolated, losing friendships and being shunned or excluded.

People with mental illness can be denied housing or accommodation due to their illness and it commonly affects employment and vocational opportunities.

Feelings of isolation and alienation have been cited as one of the most significant factors in loss of hope and relapse by those who live with mental illness.

Importantly, it can prevent people from seeking help and support because they fear the reactions of people they are seeking support from. Many people feel ashamed or embarrassed of their mental illness.

How can we Change Our Minds about mental illness?

The way we behave around our friends, family and colleagues living with mental illness can have a big impact on their lives and their recovery.

So it’s important that we show people living with mental illness the same respect and acceptance as everyone else.

To make a real difference, we need to become aware of the issues and disadvantages people face. We also need to acknowledge the fact that people with mental illness are entitled to the same rights and opportunities as everyone else.

You can pledge your support over here. 

Will you stand up for change?

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

In my opinion children should never get sick, there should be no such thing as Children's Hospitals and there definitely should be no such thing as childhood cancer. Unfortunately they do and there is. 

Too many children and families are affected by childhood cancer. Too many young lives are lost however the survival rates have risen to over 70% on average. However, that still means three out of ten children diagnosed with cancer do not survive. 600 children in Australia are diagnosed with cancer every year, and three Australian children die weekly from cancer. Frighteningly high numbers.

Children's Cancer Institute Australia (CCIA) are the only independent medical research institute in Australia dedicated to research into the causes, prevention, treatments and ultimately cures for childhood cancers. Their vision is to save the lives of all children with cancer and eliminate their suffering.

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month with events and fundraisers happening through many different organisations throughout Australia. While CCIA do amazing research and work towards a cure for childhood cancer they can't do it alone and need support. 

CCIA are currently in the midst of their Spring Appeal where they aim to raise $100,000 which will aid research into new drugs to hopefully begin the journey to curing Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML). If you'd like to and are able to donate to the Spring Appeal please do as childhood cancer could affect anyone at anytime.

You can also keep up with the CCIA on Facebook.

Saturday

Welcome weekend!!


What a week indeed. I'll hopefully have enough time and energy to do a week update post tomorrow. Switching medications is still knocking me around a bit. Nothing bad, mainly my eyes get sore quickly. That could also be because I'm still waiting on my new glasses to arrive.


Today, however, I will NOT be near a computer all day! Instead I will be at the Brisbane Pregnancy and Children's Expo at the Brisbane Convention Centre helping out at the Power Mums stall. 


If you are there please come say hi to me, Princess, and Ellie!

Unplanned the planned

You know how I was going to volunteer at events with the Dalai Lama? No? Well I mentioned it here, here and a lot on twitter.


If you read the above posts you'll know how well it didn't go on Wednesday. It'll also give you a hint how well it isn't going today.


Yep, munchkin is still sick.

Bad quality but this is how we slept last night

I've changed my attitude though, it may have something to do with the fact that the mister is home today and we are going out tomorrow.


I've decided that I am going to take the Buddhist approach to this and try to remember it for future plans that get unplanned. Today, at least, I am being mindfulness and remembering that emotions pass and I'm being confident that my choice to stay home with munchkin (and take him to the doctor/hospital) is the right choice.


This approach has meant that I am not in a foul mood, feeling bad, anxious or upset at the situation. Oh normally I would be. I'd be feeling guilty, anxious, angry, upset - if it's negative I'd be feeling it and it'd eat me up. I'd be the one staying in bed all day feeling sick.


Instead, I'm going to do as much uni work as I can, we are going to the doctors/hospital to get munchkin checked over, we have to go to the mister's TAFE and I'm going to slowly eat the delicious Jackpot Noodles left overs.


Oh and I'm going to flog my blog so the fabulous Glowless doesn't cry more. She loves blogs and wants to FlogYoBlog so go over there, watch the video, try not to cry (with laughter) and help her (and you) out.

Universe and Volunteering

Yesterday I had volunteer training for when his Holiness the Dalai Lama comes to Brisbane. I'm amazed at this wonderful opportunity of helping and being in the presence of his Holiness.


The mister and I are not religious. He is an atheist and I am spiritual. I've been told in the past that being spiritual is being a Christian but I disagree. I don't believe in religion. I do, however, respect others beliefs especially if it enriches others lives. 


I believe that Buddhism is a cultural way of life rather than religious. Buddhism encourages belief in self and enrichment of one's mind. That appeals to both the mister and myself which is why munchkin was blessed rather than christened.

Buddhist Blessing

Earlier this year I received word that his Holiness was coming to Australia and they were looking for volunteers. I love everything about volunteering so immediately signed up.

Yesterday morning I was a bit anxious because I didn't know what to expect. I wasn't feeling sick though, more excited. My body still gets confused between being nervous and excited. 


The mister dropped me off at Southbank about fifteen minutes early. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Brisbane, Southbank is on the river opposite Brisbane city. It's connected by LOTS of bridges so it's easy to get across. It's also still affected by the January floods with some restaurants, parks and pools still closed. It's so beautiful walking by the river so that's what I did first, straight down for a five minute walk by the river. 

Brisbane from Southbank

After my beautiful, peaceful walk I made my way to the Suncorp Piazza where our training was held. I sat down on the grass ready to write when I looked up and saw a woman walking towards the Piazza. I don't know why but I felt drawn to her so asked her if she was attending the same training session. She said yes and sat down for a chat.


We chatted for so long and so easily we ended up being fifteen minutes late to the session. We discovered that we are studying the psychology through the same University which was amazing (it's not a Brisbane university) and I helped calm her nerves about the exact unit that I was nervous about. 


It's amazing that the universe brought us together and we got along all day. In fact we both decided that the universe was free to make our plans for the rest of the day as it had been so kind introducing us. It's so lovely connecting with someone, not only over what was obvious common grounds but other common grounds that were not obvious at all.


The training session there was fun and I met some wonderful people. There was another one an hour and half later so after having lunch with the mister and munchkin I was early for the other session. This session was outside near the Riverstage. I bought a coke and laid on the grass relaxing and writing. It was so peaceful and beautiful.

Relaxing

After the session I walked through the city and realised that I wasn't comfortable leaving munchkin that night. We had a party to go to with my high school friends and I was looking forward to it. The problem was that it was over an hour away and we were catching public transport. We didn't have the money to catch a cab home if anything happened with munchkin and we've never been that far away from him before (mum's house is only half hour away). I called the mister and he understood especially as munchkin is teething and can have trouble sleeping. 


I cancelled our attendance at the party (sorry Kel) and we decided that we would go local instead. We had a date night. Something we haven't had in a long time. So back to Southbank we went and headed for drinks at the Plough Inn before seeing Pirates of the Caribbean 4 at the movies. 


It was so lovely spending time together and talking. Really talking. Drinking, dancing (me), singing (also me) and being us, not just munchkin's parents. We reconnected again and were reminded that we need to do this more often.


Yesterday was fabulous. Thank you the Mister. Thank you universe.