Three wise men?

These are the three Commissioners that my position at work was established to support....hence, i have to attend numerous meetings with these men. These fellas hold three of the most senior positions in the State, dress imaculately, speak extremely articulately and make me feel somewhat awkward in their presence! Oh, why can't i have a normal job!?!?! It is hell stressful working with high profile people all the time. Next week i have to attend a big media launch in which these guys will be featured.....

Blading

Today i'm heading out for a blade around the river with a friend from work. Can't wait. I haven't picked up my blades for over six years!

Dr's advice

Today i went to visit my favourite Dr, a really lovely guy who works in Swan Street surgery in Yokine. I told him how tense and stressed i've been and how i feel close to exploding and how my work has invaded my sleep patterns and i just don't know how to cope with it all. My Manager, on the other hand, has been working even longer hours and seems fine. I sought this Dr's advice on how i could be like my incredible boss, who seems to have much more energy than me, despite being six years older.

Anyway, he gave me these tips after probing me with all sorts of questions about my lifestyle:

- take some vitamin B (a known de-stresser);

- ditch the biccies, lollies, chocolates and chip sandwiches, which i consume during each work day;

- replace them with fruit and nuts;

- eat protein immediately after my lunch time runs to assist in repairing the muscles i have just torn;

- bring some classical music or something with no words, just plain simple music and play it very softly behind me in my office in oder to drown out other noises and help me concetrate;

- take up some other form of exercise after work, e.g. swimming, blading or cycling (but not walking or jogging, because my lunch time runs put enough strain on my feet) and also listen to music after work (possibly at the same time) in order to clear work out of my mind; and

- leave work at work!

He said the reason i am having chest pains is because stress causes acid to build up inside me and then it sort of like nukes me (ok, so i lost the translation a bit! cos i wasn't yet de-stressed, but it was something along these lines) and the reason i have had a fragile head, is because i have been so worried with the "what if ..." type questions. That's true. He pointed out that each day is a short part of my life and it's crazy devoting so much worry and stress to something so unnecessary, especially when it takes a toll on my health.

He also gave me a little lecture about how men are different to women, they are wired up differently and he said that men take a lot longer to come to the revelation point that i have just come to - that if i carry on like this, i will be totally burnt out. He said that many men just push themselves at work and work really long hours and then it is only when they realise their marriage is falling apart or someone dies, that they have missed a portion of their life and not devoted enough time to non-work activities and aspects of life.

He clarified that i am not at burn-out stage. He said that you need to carry on like i have been, for at least a couple of years, before you get to that stage ... being totally frazzled and ultimately useless. No thank you. That's not for me.

Nearing burn-out

Just recently, i have come to the realisation that work has been taking over my life and i need to get a better balance. I've been really stressed recently because i've been given all sorts of new duties, including a new role of supervising a lady who is in her late 50's. She's kind of like an admin assistant who does a bit of project work. Anyway, it is stressful supervising her because she's not particularly great with computers and so a job that would normally take about 30 minutes to do, may take her about 2 hours and then when i go to check her work afterwards, she seems to miss portions of it, so a 30 minute job turns into about a 2.5 hour job... because i have to redo bits of it. Then there's the dilemna of her energy levels being quite different. By 3pm, she seems to lose her energy and i realise, it's better just to let her go home soon after, else i feel as though i am talking to a walking zombie.

Then another new duty involves doing complex queries in a program called Microsoft Acess in order to get data out of a huge database.... so, because i felt a little unprepared, i enrolled in uni lectures every Wednesday and Friday night in order to acquire the skills to get the data out.... that's two lectures outside of a more than full time job. Lectures require quite a bit of reading and assessments... [big sigh] ... so that really hasn't left much time. This week, i add another two lectures to make it four lectures a week.

The last few days, i've been feeling very strange because i've had occasional shooting chest pains, my abdomen feels like it is in knots and my head feels really fragile. Not like a headache, but just like something is frazzled. I think i'm taking on too much, and i need time off, but there's just so much to do. I guess having been tense for about four months straight now and having only had a few days off in this whole time, is all building up. Tomorrow, i am going to call in sick and just use the day to chill out. I just need it. I think i might do that Tuesday as well.

Mixing Cultures

Yesterday, my friends Marcus and Helen got married! Helen looked absolutely beautiful. It was such a lovely day, athough a very long one, because I helped set up this venue:There were lots of people helping out beforehand and it was amazing seeing a relatively plain venue transform into something so warm and inviting. A lot of people brought flowers and leaves that they had cut from their garden plants! and materials they had bought to decoate the tables and pillars and gates and all. One lady had been making tissue flowers, which she stapled on to the wedding arch and another had wired up tinsel to form the letters of Marcus and Helen's names to create a pretty wall hanging. What a bunch of talented people! I certainly got some great ideas out of it all. It was such a marvellous idea hiring a community centre and then decorating it and organising catering to keep the costs down.

Both sets of parents had huge grins on their faces, which automatically transferred on to the faces of everyone who looked at them. So sweet to see ;-) hehe Here are some more shots:
The thing that really spun me out was the fact that Marcus' family are a bunch of very stereotypical aussies, whereas Helen's family have traditional chinese values and aspects ingrained in them. The food was a reflection of the different cultures with roast meat, veggies, pavlova and mudcake on one side and noodles, curry and asian deserts on the other! The Australian chocolates handed out to guests were bundled in little oriental bags and there was a traditional Chinese tea ceremony included in the service, where the bride asks the parents for their permission to be accepted into their family and then the in-laws give a speech of acceptance.

In contrast to other weddings I have been to, the bride and groom sat on the bridal table with their parents on either side. In this piccy, the bride's uncle is giving a speech, while the groom's sister is taking a piccy on the right. Classic shot, shame it's not that great a piccy, cos I wasn't in a good positon.

I guess what made this wedding particularly special for me is that i knew Marcus way before he met Helen. When i met him, he was in the midst of a really messy and nasty relationship break-up and mum was helping him with legal issues. At the time, he was so full of bitterness and such an unlovable guy. He had one child who had suffered a lot through his parent's break-up and he was so emotionally broken and miserable. But after it all, he turned to God and prayed so hard and for so long that God would have mercy on him and bring him a wife and over time, i've had the privilege of watching God answer his prayers and change his life around, by bringing him this beautiful godly girl who everyone just loves when they meet her... even Marcus' little son loved her when he met her and that's pretty amazing. She is a very gentle, sweet girl who loves God with all her heart and also loves kids (her work involves kids) and her family have just embraced Marcus and his family and welcomed them in right from the start.


There's no racism in this union and they just seem so right for eachother. I guess God knew who to choose for him. I've watched Marcus turn into this really warm, caring and loving guy with a big smile and a heart full of praise and adoration to God. Praise God for the transformation!!! I wish this lovely couple all the best. They have been such a huge encouragement to me. God really does answers our prayers.

"Behold, I am the Lord of all Mankind, is there anything too hard for me?" .... I guess not!