Usual year end business
I'm struggling with a couple of things as well as the usual pre-Christmas chores. One is Christmas cards. In previous years thanks to MrFan's employment for many years in a bank we have moved a lot and have made good friends in many places; then there are the close relatives and the not so close genealogical acquaintances; a declining number of old school friends and so it goes on. I have weeded out the people who once per year used to send a card with nothing more than to and from with a printed message and nothing else at all. What is the point? I finally managed a shortened 2 pages summary of activities and because of lack of techno skills used the same Christmas tree icon that I used last year but I still feel very inferior when I receive newsletters with clever lettering and lots of photos. Hopefully I paint pictures with my words! The price of postage in NZ has risen again and I'm sure that has made a difference. So far I've not received many cards so today I decided when we went to the Post Office to clear the mail that if there were not at least 6 cards in the box That Was It. I'd stop writing and posting cards and from henceforth only send cards to people who've sent them to me. I've always had a hesitant feeling if I'm early sending thinking that perhaps the cards arrive and the recipients think Oh No I'd wanted to cross her off for a long time. So, although I have done the important ones I'm happy just to sit back and if any arrive I don't mind simply sending a response and apologize for lateness. The ones I have sent, especially overseas are going to be late anyway.
The other thing that is causing me stress just now is the Bookcrossing 666 Challenge. Read 6 books from 6 different countries on 6 different continents. 36 books, only a portion of the number I read in a year. Sounded very easy 11 months ago but I've left my run a bit late and at this moment I am about 8 short with the days running out. Finding books from some areas is quite difficult in this small far away place so I decided first that I'd read through the titles from the difficult continents of the books already read by others and recorded on the appropriate BC Forum thread. Went merrily along to the local library armed with a list of 15 titles to consult their catalogue. Novels from unfamiliar areas were not apparent in the library catalogue while the non-fiction books did show up but usually in the form of reviews in scientific journals and similar places. Eventually I decided to enlist the help of one of the librarians and she proved to be a real treasure. I left my list with her as she asked for a little time and later in the day she sent an email with a number of suggestions and a promise to let me have more ideas later. Meanwhile she directed me to the Teen Section where there were a number of books by Graeme Lay, a NZer who writes for the teen market and had several books based in the Cook Islands that could fill a space on the Oceania list and one of which I've now read quite quickly and enjoyed. Already I've located a John Le Carre on MrFan's bookshelves and found Barbara Kingsolver's Lacuna on my own shelf - I'd found it very hard to get into and abandoned it. Today I went to the library and picked up a couple more of the books she recommended so it isn't quite as gloomy as at the beginning of the week. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Today I had an appointment with a "Care Plus" nurse from our local medical centre. This is a health initiative of our Government aimed at keeping people healthy and out of hospital. I'm happy to report blood pressure just fine. Diabetes under good control and apart from rampant psoriasis nothing much wrong with me at the moment. Yeah!
The other thing that is causing me stress just now is the Bookcrossing 666 Challenge. Read 6 books from 6 different countries on 6 different continents. 36 books, only a portion of the number I read in a year. Sounded very easy 11 months ago but I've left my run a bit late and at this moment I am about 8 short with the days running out. Finding books from some areas is quite difficult in this small far away place so I decided first that I'd read through the titles from the difficult continents of the books already read by others and recorded on the appropriate BC Forum thread. Went merrily along to the local library armed with a list of 15 titles to consult their catalogue. Novels from unfamiliar areas were not apparent in the library catalogue while the non-fiction books did show up but usually in the form of reviews in scientific journals and similar places. Eventually I decided to enlist the help of one of the librarians and she proved to be a real treasure. I left my list with her as she asked for a little time and later in the day she sent an email with a number of suggestions and a promise to let me have more ideas later. Meanwhile she directed me to the Teen Section where there were a number of books by Graeme Lay, a NZer who writes for the teen market and had several books based in the Cook Islands that could fill a space on the Oceania list and one of which I've now read quite quickly and enjoyed. Already I've located a John Le Carre on MrFan's bookshelves and found Barbara Kingsolver's Lacuna on my own shelf - I'd found it very hard to get into and abandoned it. Today I went to the library and picked up a couple more of the books she recommended so it isn't quite as gloomy as at the beginning of the week. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Today I had an appointment with a "Care Plus" nurse from our local medical centre. This is a health initiative of our Government aimed at keeping people healthy and out of hospital. I'm happy to report blood pressure just fine. Diabetes under good control and apart from rampant psoriasis nothing much wrong with me at the moment. Yeah!