Tag Archives: life

What a year has this been…?

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This time last year was the last week of normal life before everything was shut down due to covid-19.

Remember when we were living in a normal world? Remember travelling by plane or cruise ship to exciting destinations around the world? Remember hugging? Remember shaking hands? Remember going to birthday parties and the birthday person would blow out the candles on the cake? Remember the world the way it was before it all changed and we all had to learn to live a new way of normal?

Last weekend, I was so close to booking a cruise for 2022. I was so close to actually booking it that I had my travel agents website up and I was about to hit the chat button and tell whoever was online at the time, to book it, you’ll receive the money for the deposit as soon as we’ve finished our online conversation.

It was going to be on a Christmas/New Years cruise from Adelaide, South Australia to New Zealand return trip, 2 of the safest places in the world right now to travel from and to, on board the Grand Princess. 17 nights. It was going to be fun. I’ve done this cruise before but on the Grand Princess’s sister ship, the Golden Princess. There were a couple ports in New Zealand the Grand Princess will be travelling to that are different from my cruise in 2018 on the Golden but it still would be wonderful to go and do.

I didn’t book the cruise however because in the world we are living in now, nothing is guaranteed. I wasn’t sure if this cruise in 2022 will go ahead, there’s just too many invariables. I don’t care if I have to wear a mask on the ship, or have my temperature taken even before setting foot on the ship, or have to be vaccinated, keep social distancing and use hand sanitiser or wash hands frequently, I’ll do it because I believe in keeping not only me safe but everyone around me safe as well because I really do not want this virus and it’s not just “a little cold” because too many people have died from covid-19.

I didn’t book the cruise because in a world that is unpredictable, the world is not safe. Travel is not safe. Travellers from overseas and interstate have been placed in hotels after arriving at the airport here in Adelaide, South Australia and are taken by bus and placed into one of the various medi-hotels around town to quarantine there for 14 days before they are allowed to be out in the community. I want to ensure that it is safe before I return to being on a cruise ship again and enjoy a third cruise. So until then, I will wait.

In the meantime, as I wait to be able to cruise again, I will look at my photos and videos I had taken while on board a cruise ship of my 2 previous cruises and I will think… one day, I will get to do this again.

Until next time

Kaye

Life Lessons…

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Just thought I’d share a few lessons about life I’ve learned throughout the years…

Smile and laugh often

No matter how bad you think your life is, there’s always someone who is worse off than you

Let the inner child come out to play often. Just because we grow old, it doesn’t mean that we have to grow up

Your true friends will not badmouth you or tell lies about you to other people. If they do, they’re not your friends to begin with

Maintain your sense of humour. It will help you to retain your sanity in life

Respect others, you don’t have to agree with them, or even like them

Take responsibility for your actions and accept accountability for all you do in life

Always take the time to learn new things in life

It’s perfectly okay to say no. Don’t feel guilty about saying it

Tell the people in your life that you love them. We don’t tell them often enough. (I need to work on this one myself)

Be yourself

When life gets on top of you, if you’re overworked, or feeling stressed, whatever the situation, dance it out. A good 30 second dance party works wonders

Listen to your body and what it is telling you. If you are in tune with your body, you’ll be more aware when something isn’t right

Give to others without expecting anything in return

Don’t be afraid to speak up and let your opinions be heard

If at first you don’t succeed, try again

All work and no play makes for a boring existence


Speak to elderly people when the opportunity arises. They have much history and knowledge and we can learn a lot from them

Don’t worry about the things you have no control over. Whatever is going to happen will happen and worrying about them will not help, so just go with it

Treat others how you would like to be treated

Enjoy the simple pleasures in life

It doesn’t matter if you are a bad singer, sing away like no one is listening and enjoy yourself

An afternoon nap works wonders for the mind, body and soul

Try to have a positive outlook in life. Negativity does more harm than good

Your true friends will always have your back no matter what

Just when you think you’ve seen everything, it’s then you find out you haven’t

A hug can say so much when there are no words

Be thankful for everything in life you have, there are those in the world who would give anything to have what you have (when we can go back to hugging again)

Don’t wish to have the life of someone else, you don’t know what possible struggles they have to deal with or what their life is like

Life isn’t fair all the time, however, it’s still good

Life’s too short for hating people. We all need to get along with one another

Don’t take yourself too seriously

You don’t have to win every argument, it’s okay to just agree to disagree

It doesn’t matter what age you are, you’re never to old to play with Lego! Or colouring in

Simple pleasures in life, are often the best

Until next time

Kaye

New beginnings…

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What a week it’s been… in fact, what a couple of months it’s been.. Friday February 19 was D-Day when the workplace I’ve been working for the last 16 years closes its doors for good permanently.

I was one of the people who started working for Domiciliary Equipment Service when it was located in Salisbury before being relocated to Netley in 2004. I started at DES in April 2001. DES has been my home away from home for 19 years, that’s a huge chunk of my life.

I have worked with some amazing people in that time, all of us with the common goal of helping the community by providing a much needed service for our clients. You spend more time with the people you work with than your own family and as people came and went, we became a family at DES. It was a unique and special place to work in.

Even though DES officially closed permanently on 18 December 2020, the clean up process began in preparation for the doors to close behind us as we leave the building one last time.

Last week, the Domiciliary Equipment Service signs outside were removed, the online auction went live selling unwanted office furniture to general kitchen appliances and everything in between that was no longer required.

This week we had people coming into the warehouse and collecting their items they bought from the online auction. Some people drove in with their vehicles into the warehouse with their utes or cars towing a trailer behind them. It was very surreal all week.

I’m fortunate to have my job with the DHS Equipment Program, the only part of DES to survive the closure and this week we’ve been busy doing our work, helping our clients and we were preparing for our relocation to the city by putting our stuff into boxes for the move. For me, leaving the building for the last time was a sad and emotional day, especially my last walk around the building and talking to a workmate who had been around just as long as I have before leaving but I’m definitely taking my memories with me.

I’m excited for what awaits the team working in the city in a new location from Monday morning.

Until next time

Kaye

Life begins at…

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A friend of mine recently turned 30 and for her it was a big deal, especially when she remarked that she was getting old! I informed her that being 30 is still young… wait until you reach your 40’s and things start going wrong with your body and start failing, that’s getting old lol. She didn’t even want a birthday party to celebrate the milestone, which I thought was crazy!

When I turned 40, I invited a few close friends and my family to dinner at a hotel and we all had a ton of fun and full on laughter. You also have to love the fact that someone else is doing the preparations, the cooking of the meals and the clean up afterwards and you get to bask in the glow of being the guest of honour at your own birthday celebrations.

For me, age is just a number. I didn’t get stressed out at getting older when I turned 30 and it didn’t phase me when I turned 40. As I get closer to turning 50, I might just run away and go on a cruise! Lol…

One of my favourite quotes which I read on a birthday card many years ago and it has stuck with me is, “Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional” and they are words I live by as I’m always cracking jokes and being a big kid!

Embrace life, embrace your age, celebrate the grey hair, the wrinkles, the age spots, the gravity defying body as things begin to sag, live life to the full and be happy in your body.

Another bonus about getting older is that you’ve seen and lived through a lot of history, seen changes in the world with technology, music, fads and fashions come and go, only to come back again a few years or a couple of decades later and in a mixed age group on a trivia night, you will find out how much cool stuff you know to impress those around you and may your team win that trivia night because of all the knowledge inside your head.

This year I will be celebrating turning 50 and for me, it’s still no big deal. I haven’t even experienced having a mid life crisis yet and I know people who have just over the thought that they are getting older and they are trying to recapture their youth. It’s their way of dealing with getting older but for me, I know getting older is a fact of life but I’m still a big kid at heart. My biggest thought about turning 50 is, where to go and celebrate!

Live long and live happy…

Until next time

Kaye