Friday, April 16, 2010

Donating Blood - Do it!!!

I donated blood today!!!

When I was still living in my home town, I donated a few times. At high school, as soon as my friends and I were old enough, we all got our parents to sign permission slips so we could get time off class to go in and donate blood - it was great! Time off class, free lollies and chocolate, and a nice sense of having done something good for community and society.

After school, I think I went once, maybe twice? I always meant to go but it was about getting organised and having the time to wait to donate as well. The donormobile came to uni and I donated there once...and then went straight to work....another time I think I played netball later in the day! But after uni it became more and more difficult to make the time to go....

Today I went into the city and happened to walk past the Blood Bank and it got me thinking - I should go and donate today! I had the day off and a few things to do, but nothing too pressing. So, after lunch with my Englishman I headed back and went inside.

How excited are the people who work in the Blood Bank! The lady at the desk was so excited as she had just had a rush of people - 4 people to be exact.When she looked up my details in the system (after asking me if I had donated before and I said "Yes, a long time ago"......) this lovely lady told me that I hadn't donated for 7 years!!! Then she smiled and said "Welcome back!"

The whole process was pretty quick. I didnt have to wait long for my interview (which I passed - phew!) or to actually donate either! Everyone was very friendly and helpful, asking what had prompted me to come in today, asking me how I was feeling......

And I felt pretty good! Yeah, the needle hurt when they put it in my arm, and when they took it out, and yeah, my arm is still a little sore 2 hours later, but the feeling of doing something good made it all worthwhile. The Red Cross needs much more donations than they get and it doesnt take a lot of time to do it!

I finished my trip to the Blood Bank with a small feast for free - chocolate milkshake, smiths chips, jam drops and a fun size mars bar - awesome!!! And a nice chat to the lady serving the food, who told me she had to stop donating after 45 donations because of a heart condition, and that the Guiness world record holder for donations attends their centre and is about 12 donations off having given blood 1000 times!!!

So my message today is - donate blood if you can, you'll feel good, you'll be saving 3 people's lives, and you'll get free food. And you never know, one day you might need someone else's blood donation to survive :-)

Friday, April 9, 2010

Winter Pyjamas

Ok, so I dont know about the rest of the ladies out there, but when it comes to winter pyjamas, my favourites, my must haves, my cant-live-withouts are a pair of long sleeved, long legged, satin pyjamas. Preferably flock lined for extra warmth and comfort.

I love the way the satin slides around when I turn over in bed and the satin pjs don't get all caught up in my bed sheets......and how soft and comfy they are! Forget flannellette, I HATE flanno pyjamas (though I understand how warm they are, esp in European winter), I dont mind tracksuit-like pjs for lounging around the house, but its satin all the way for my winter pjs.

With this in mind, my Englishman and I went shopping for a new pair of winter pjs for me as an Easter present. We went to the normal place i would buy my satin pjs.....Sussan. Yes, I know, its an 'old lady' shop, but the satin pjs are ok and cheap.......however, it seems satin pjs are no longer available!.......

Next stop, Myer.......2 pairs of satin pjs available, both pairs look like old lady pjs. And not lined. they're horrible, white/cream with a pattern, or dark with white piping and a crest on the pocket.......my Englishman vetoed them straight away and started herding me out of the shop.....

Last ditch attempt - David Jones.....and by now I'm feeling despondent.....why aren't there any nice satin winter pjs around??? Its not like its the wrong season to buy them......everywhere I look its cotton, flannellette, tracksuits.....and while I admit there were some cute patterns, I WANT MY SATIN PJS!!!!!!

David Jones of course, is not the cheapest of shops to go looking in, so I was getting to the point where I wasn't expecting to find anything a) appropriate and b) within a reasonable price range.......

The Englishman spots some purple satin pj pants. Two points - purple and satin.....good start. Not lined....well I can handle that. No pj top.....what? Yes, no satin pj top, just 2 matching soft stretchy cotton singlets instead........ok.....maybe I can compromise. Price......more than I've ever paid for pjs!!! Forget it!!!

But the Englishman says that this is ok as he is paying and that he likes them. Alright. This'll do.....I supppose.

Having slept in my new pjs last night, I have to say I like them. They're comfy, the satin is nice and slippery and they are my favourite colour!

I miss my long sleeved satin top though, my arms were cold last night! Maybe I'll have to go shopping by myself today.........

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Camping - Things I've Taught My Englishman

Sooooo we went camping for Easter, as previously stated....... verdict? Camping is fun :-)

I think I mentioned that I had parameters for camping, but my englishman also had parameters for camping....lucky for me, these were not met.....in the following ways....

* Size of tent - We shared a tent with the people we camped with, but this was a 12 person tent.....note, there were 4 people in the tent.....my Englishman kept saying that a 2 person tent is big enough for 2 people, but by the end of the trip I'd convinced him that actually, something like a 6 man tent was good for 2.....2 rooms, space to stand up and space on either side of the bed for bags etc....result!

* Stuff needed for camping - I literally took the kitchen sink on our camping trip....well, I took a tub for washing up in anyway. My camping experience is limited so Ive learnt a thing or two from some seriously experienced campers (namely my ex's parents).....so things like saucepans, washing up liquid, tea towels, salt and pepper and bbq sauce were not forgotten......the Englishman had a spack attack when we tried to pack the car and declared that we had 'too much stuff'and that it would 'never' all fit in the car and that it was 'ridiculous'to take so much stuff camping for 2 people!!!!
I repacked the car with no trouble and on the way there, our friends rang to see if we had a saucepan and some tea towels. I was happy to say yes. Result!

.....Ok, so I think thats all I really taught the Englishman this time. Suffice to say though, this was a triumph and the rest of the trip was lots of fun. I recommend camping at Tiona on the beachside to anyone.......falling asleep to crashing waves is an awesome experience, as are fires on the beach and lamb skewers and corn on the cob cooked on the bbq ON the beach!

Oh and the air mattress wasn't as uncomfortable as expected and the Englishman thought this too....so one more thing I taught him - it was worth packing the hairdryer just to blow the mattress up :-)