It is official. The govenment of Australia has informed me by email that, as from Monday 3rd December, I can consider myself an Australian again. Here is the story in short. I was born in Australia. When I was 1 yr old my parents came back to Malta. When we got to the age of 18, my two brothers and I had to choose whether we wanted to stay Australians or get the Maltese citizenship. We all opted for Maltese Citizenship for various reasons. First of all my oldest brother and myself were national team players and being Australian would have excluded us from representing Malta. My oldest brother was doing this professionally so there was no way he could be Australian. Also my other brother and I were going to University and University here is free for Maltese citizens (now EU citizens) but fees have to be paid by foreigners. Also, we would have to apply for a work and residence permit every 6 months. So it was a bit of a Hobson's choice and we gave up the Australian citizenship, regrettfully I might add cause it wasn't fair!!!
About 7 years ago , the Maltese govt. changed the law and those who had given up the Maltese citizenship in favour of the Australian could regain it - we did not qualify for that since we had done the other way round. But a couple of years ago, a pressure group lobbying for a change by the Australian Govt started and after a lot of emails from everyone to the Australian Govt, the law changed on the 1st July and we were given the opportunity to be accepted back to the fold so to speak. It's a sort of pardon you get for rejecting your Australian citizenship at the age of 18. And now I can consider myself a Maltese/Australian.
What are the implications of this? None really except of course I can emigrate to Australia without a problem. Will I do that? Not on the books, it's far away and I need to be within one plane flight away from this weird country I live in. Still, the option is there. I also feel that being born there, Australian citizenship is my right. I went to Australia for a very long holiday in 1995-1996. I wish I could go again and might do so in 2009 if we're still alive and kicking.
I went for the walk yesterday. Thanks shelley and Angela for the offer. It seems I will have to content myself with my mp3 player as my walking buddy - not a bad buddy to be honest - it doesn't complain and never criticizes my singing!!!! My friend David is giving me lots of mp3s and at least my selection will be a bit more varied. I'm hoping to go for a long walk in the afternoon weather permitting.
And here we are, 12th month of the year. Have been meaning to post for the whole week but it's not as if I had anything real to say. Oh yes, except I went out with the guy. As soon as we met I noticed that he's a couple of inches shorter than me but I told myself not to be vain and too strict on what I want. So I tried to let that go. The following day he sends me a text message telling me he didn't want to offend me but he found me too tall for him!!! Which was the funniest thing for 2 reasons - first of all, while I'm critical of my thunder thighs, the semi-permanent dark shade under my eyes which no amount of rest seems to work against, and a host of other things, my height is the one thing I'm always thank ful for and never regret. The second thing was that while I had admonished myself not to be vain in taking account of such things, here was a guy telling me that he pretty much felt threatened by my height!!! Another nice quip he came up with during the evening was (and I'm quoting) "you're not ugly, how come you're single?" and he said it with such genuinity and conviction that I just looked at him, started laughing and said thank you for the compliment.
The week was very busy and still is as today, Saturday, I have to deliver a lesson from 8:30 to 10:30, then I have my own diploma lecture from 10:45 to 12:45 and then a programmign class from 1:30 to 3:30 to cover a lesson we missed on MOnday as the lecturer was sick. Thankfully today's morning lesson should see me catching up with the classes I missed during the two weekends abroad which seem so far away now!!!
Did not do any walking, at all!!!! Although it was a busy week I would have been able to fit in 30 mins on Monday and Tuesday, 1 hr on Wednesday and 30 mins on Thursday and Friday but I stayed put. :( I'm being lazy and my body does need to move drastically. I need a walking Buddy who gets me to get my ass in action. Happy weekend everyone
So it's Monday and it's a new week. Quite busy as usual. This morning had the unpleasant experience of taking a corner in a bad way and scratching my car on one side - actually it's more than just a scratch - there are a couple of small dents too. I will try and get my brother to apply polish because that will take care of most of the scratches although I'm afraid there are 3 points where the polish will not do the trick. The two small dents are not visible and I think they can go undetected. This is my father's car and I'm hoping to cover my sins before he notices. I'm pretty calm about it - I'm trying not to get too passionate and worked up over irrelevant things. We'll see - I have been in this situation before unfortunately.
My weight mid last week was a good 73kg, on Saturday it was 75kg and this morning 74.5kg. I can't understand such flactuations seeing that although I'm not being very strict, it's a diet which should see me maintain. Anyway. we'll see how it goes. I have a lot of places to be at this week so walking will be aproblem. I'll try to at least fit in my 20 min circular walk today and tomorrow and maybe Wednesday I'll go for 1 hour as I have a bit more time between work and class.
Not much else to add. So happy week all of you and stay strong.
for your kind thoughts. Heard nothing yet and I just sent an sms wishing my friend a peaceful weekend.
This week I managed to go walking nearly every day except yesterday. I love walking between 4 and 5 - the sun is setting earlier now and between 4 and 5 in the afternoon the day goes from light to dusk. I love it. Food wise, as usual it could have been better but did not do any major sins. I have also purchased a great popcorn maker from London - you just put in the popcorn and it's done in a few minutes without oil, butter or a mess so I don't even need to clean up.
What else? Lots of work as I try to catch up after my two weekends abroad. In Maltese we have a saying which says that after the hard work you get to enjoy it. Well I did it the other way round, First I enjoyed myself and now I have to work hard to recuperate the lessons I missed both in teaching and in learning. At work things are changing. The education division is going through a lot of restructuring and the section I work it, well we don't know what will happen. There are 4 of us who work in this section, One will retire in around 5 months time, the other will retire in about 15 months and then there is myself and my brother. Both of us are a long way from retiring. Now, either they get replacements for the two guys who will leave or dismantle our section and outsource what we are doing which would be dumb because we really know what we are doing (even if I say so). If it is dismantled my brother and myself would be sent back in schools as we are teachers but I'll be honest, I do not see myself in a class at all now. I taught for a total of 8 years but now I have gotten used to closing the office door and have nothing else to do with work (no corrections, planning or parents to deal with). When I used to teach primary school, my workload was so big I used to be correcting compositions at midnight!!!! Maybe if I'm sent back in a school it will be the push I need to seek a job abroad. Being so happy in my place of work at the moment is a major reason why I don't try my hand at a job in Brussels or Luxembourg. We'll see.
Happy weekend and thanks for sparing a thought now and then.
Today I would like to ask you to pray to whoever you believe in for a close friend's brother and his family. He has non-hodgkins lymphoma, diagnosed 4 years ago, and he has now given up hope. I never know what to do or say during such a time. I offered my friend my help but do not want to impose my presence on him. He knows I'm here for him although I doubt he'll confide in me. I honestly don't know how to act to make life easier for my friend whose brother is in such a bad state.
Deep down I know what my philosphy about all this is. People who are affected by horrible illnesses should die quickly, limiting the pain. I'm sorry if this hurts anyone's feelings. When my father was taken to the casualty and operated on quickly I prayed to God that if it was to be found that he had a terminal illness, let him die during surgery. In my dictionary pain about which nothing can be done is much worse than death. I obviously do not voice these feelings to my friend or anyone else going through such a hard time.
So please pray for him and his family. That they all might find peace from this painful traumatic experience one way or the other.
I had heard this before but I got it by email and thought I'd pass it on:
This is interesting . . .. . .
Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it killed the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the research wanted a payback so they put their heads together to figure out what to do with this product to get their money back. It was a white substance with no food appeal so they added the yellow coloring and sold it to people to use in place of butter. How do you like it? They have come out with some clever new flavorings.
DO YOU KNOW.. the difference between margarine and butter?
Read on to the end...gets very interesting!
Both have the same amount of calories.
Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams compared to 5 grams.
Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study.
Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods.
Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few only because they are added!
Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavors of other foods.
Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years.
And now, for Margarine..
Very high in trans fatty acids.
Triple risk of coronary heart disease. Increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol) and lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol)
Increases the risk of cancers up to five fold.
Lowers quality of breast milk.
Decreases immune response.
Decreases insulin response.
And here's the most disturbing fact.... HERE IS THE PART THAT IS VERY INTERESTING!
Margarine is but ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC..
This fact alone was enough to have me avoiding margarine for life and anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance).
You can try this yourself:
Purchase a tub of margarine and leave it in your garage or shaded area. Within a couple of days you will note a couple of things:
* no flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (that should tell you something)
* it does not rot or smell differently because it has no nutritional value; nothing will grow on it. Even those teeny weeny microorganisms will not a find a home to grow. Why? Because it is nearly plastic. Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?
which I don't mind really. London and Paris are now in the past. Paris was very nice - was disappointed with not so much the quality (though it was basic) but the location of the hotel which was quite far from the centre (1.5 hr walk each way). There was an underground station close by (10 mins walk) but there is a transport strike so it was really bad. Given that we try to steal an hour or two here and there, walking there and back was not an option. Taxis were very hard to go by. Still we managed to see quite a bit of the city. It was also FREEZING.
Tatum'sMom asked us to write down 5 things we are thankful for (we do not have Thanksgiving in Malta) so here you go. I am thankful for:
1. I'm surrounded by a loving family and great friends. 2. I am grateful for being tall. I know it's vain but the height absorbs the excess weight much better. 3. I am grateful for a job I really enjoy which allows me to be financially independent and enjoy some perks at certain times of the year. 4. I am grateful for being able to walk. After 4 operations and a still crooked knee, putting my feet on the floor and walk is something I treasure. I've been told by doctors that I should be grateful I can still walk. 5. I am grateful for the fact that, so far, everyone in my family is healthy enough to lead an independent life. We all have our problems but so far no-one is a burden on anyone else.
It is soon December. It is a time for reflecting on what's been achieved duirng the 12 months. As usual I have weight goals (being under 70kg) and letting my fingernails grow (I bite them in a horrible manner) and I have financial goals too. I am not under 70kg and my fingernails are horrible right now so I'm trying to make an effort, today 20th November, so that until end of December I am 70 or 71 kg and have nice looking fingernails. It pretty much feels like a student who took it easy during the year but now is cramming everything in for the final exam.
As for exams I did very well in my first 2 exams. 81% in English (highest mark in my course and 3rd highest overall) and 96% in Maths. I should have gotten 100% in Maths, it was so easy. There were two 100%. Still, I'm happy.
Joke for the day:
Usually there's no computer problem I can't solve. But I met my match when I turned on my machine and was greeted with the message "Keyboard not detected. Hit any key to continue."
for the comments - I've read them but I'll have to get back to you on another day.
I've just finished packing for Paris- it's no fun packing and finding that most clothes now do not fit or are obscenely tight - but I'm not letting that dampen my Paris spirit - I refuse to let it ruin my trip - I'll just have to smile extra wide to focus the attentionon my face rather than my humungous ass and thighs. I need to find the will and the way once I come back.
Love you all - see you Monday. BTW 'darling' guy made contact again today and neither of us mentioned the darling/sweety/baby/my heart comments. So we'll string it along for now. Am leaving you with a joke which has nothing to do with weight loss or guys per se but it's a bit funny - just received it from a friend.
The newly appointed priest was being briefed by the housekeeper on problems in the rectory that required immediate attention.
"Your roof needs repair, Father," she said. "Your water pressure is bad and your furnace is not working."
"Now, Mrs. Kelly," the priest allowed, "you've been the housekeeper here five years, and I've only been here a few days. Why not say our roof and our furnace?"
Several weeks later, when the pastor was meeting with the bishop and several other priests, Mrs. Kelly burst into the office terribly upset.
"Father, Father," she blurted, "There's a mouse in our room and it's under our bed!!!!
to go on two diets because one wasn't giving me enough food. I took that from Tracy (Deserve Better's) blog and it's great!!! I love it.
So, the thing is this - my gym membership will expire this month and due to a lot of expenses until May as my car insurance, my health insurance, my life insurance and any other insurance you can think of falls in the next 6 months, including my diploma exams, and a host of other things, the membership will not be renewed until May. Also, over here we do have weight loss programmes but I feel I should not pay for something I should be able to do by myself!!!
Yesterday a friend of mine gave my number to another friend whom I have never met as she thought we'd go great together - this is the curse of the single woman. This guy (man actually) smsed and after 5 or 6 very impersonal 'what do you do?' kind of smses he starts calling me 'hanini' which is the equivalent of an intimate 'darling'. Now that really turns me off - how can you use an intimate term after half a dozen smses????? And I remarked to him that I thought he was a bit premature with such terms. To his credit he apologized but then to piss me off he used other terms like 'baby', 'sweetheart' and another maltese term which literally translated would be 'my heart'. Obviously I got pissed off and did not answer the last sms he sent and that is the end of my last very short virtual romance.
Am I anti-social? Am I too sensitive about these things? I don't know. Probably. Still what do you think?
