No more interviews!

Well, I had my last interview for the year today! :D

Such a nice relief! From now on, the requirements of my course etc. SHOULD be familiar and even tho time consuming, will be comfortable ... maybe. Clinical isn't exactly the easy life ... but I am comfortable, and familiar and know what is expected of me.

Interviews are just a tad harder ... today's interview was for the NSW Nursing Consortium (one interview informs 10 different hospitals about me and weather I will make a good nures). So, on come the heels (and the rest of the professional outfit!!) and Kylie Anne and I journelled a couple of suburbs for the interview.

At first it appeared like the day would be bad ... what with running to the bus (don't forget those heels), thinking we had missed out train (thank goodness, no), having trouble finding the place (ended up practicaly going around in a circle!), and having my interview brought forward a couple of hrs (I had arrived early because of Kylie's app. but I had expected to wait a while ... allowing for more prep time!!), and realising as I walked into the room just how ill prepared I was!!

But the ladies were so nice and supportive and kept on nodding their heads (That's got to be a good sign, right? Not some terrible nodding disease!). I had basically 6 Qs: What makes a good nurse? How would you ensure a stroke patient could understand you ... communication techniques? What would you do if a patient refused treatment? What would you do if you had to care for a patient who was highly contagious? What ethical issues would be raised with a patient who was receiving an organ transplant? Prioritise these 4 different patients: pt with an epileptic fit, pt needing an urine bottle immediately, pt with pulmonary oedema (fluid in their lungs), and a verbally abusive patient.

It was actually the last one I think i did the worse on: I said the urine bottle first! Nah, just kidding ... but I took ages deciding b/t the pulmonary oedema and the epileptc fit pt ... but in the end I think I did ok. Prioritising my care is definiately an area of improvement. How and what reasons for the prioritising would u have given?

The other questions went well ... I believe ... they kept nodding so I am assuming I was on the right track ... don't really want to think of these lovely ladies as nodding and smiling obsessed people! I mean, that just doesn't sit right with me! :D

Anyway, I am home now and the heels are off!! Thank goodness! Heels, if ever worn, should only be wore for a few hours, at the very least with lots of sitting! That's my advice for all you boys out there who are thinking of wearing heels! :D Just kidding!! :D

Catch ya later! :D

EXAMS OVER!!!

WAHOO!!! OVER!!! IT'S OVER!!!! EXAMS ARE OVER!!!!!

Only 6 1/2 weeks of clincal, 4 major assignments to do, grad and then EVERYTHING WILL BE OVER!!!

Yeah, so I have a lot of work left! But thank goodness this last week is over! This week has been a week from hell ... as was the two weeks with something like a thousand assignments due ... I am hoping the worst is over! Fingers crossed!

Well, to celebrate the near of the end ... Yo and I went out with a bunch of girls from our class ... felt like such nurses ... discussing disgusting things and none of us losing our appetite at all!! :D And then the MOVIES!!!

Yo and I saw JOHN TUCKER MUST DIE!! We wanted to see something that was just totally light and fuffy ... something we could laugh at just how stupid it was! Hee hee! But I have to admit that as much of a teenager movie it was ... there were some scenes where I just couldn't stop laughing .. they were actually truly funny ... I had trouble breathing a number of times. Oh, and hot boys! Must be the stress of exams ... everywhere Yo and I looked there were HOT guys! That's it ... the curse of exams is that you get extra hungry, crave chocolate and caffine, get lack of sleep, are stressed (so basicaly, you couldn't look any worst or be making any less of a good impression!) and there are HOT GUYS everywhere! But eye candy is still eye candy! And either one of us are ones to complain! All I can say ... the scenery was good! :D Yeah, it was a good reward for finishing our exams! Hee hee! :) Who says girls can't be shallow? Hello! We are human too! :D

Anyway, the actors in the movie were pretty good eye candy too ... esp. the younger brother! Man, the hair .. the teeth ... I have definiately been locked up in my room far too much lately! :D

Anyway, I am going to stop going on about the opposite sex! So, they are hot! So what? Moving on, now (See i can, if I really want to!)

Sabbath is here!! Sabbath .. blessed Sabbath! No study, no stress. It should be good! :D I am looking forward to it! Actually, I should run to make Opening Sabbath ... God bless, stay healthy and have a GREAT weekend! :D

Miracles

So, yeah ... I have been in a week of hell ... it isn't over either ... which sucks BIG TIME!

But I have also been honoured to be witnesses to great things that have happened recently .. they are small but I think of them as miracles. (And yes, I do realise I am making a list YET AGAIN!)

- a mother's hug, stroking her son's back and pushing his hair out of his eyes, promising to tuck him in bed at night
- friends sharing chocolate and hot milo
- hearing people state openly they are "2nd chancers" - Jesus gave them more than one 2nd chance
- a friend giving another one a lolly pop to encourage to continue studying for exams
- friends going out for dinner to just celebrate just being friends
- the warmth of a family's home
- volunteering to help others
- tickets arriving for trips overseas
- new relationships arising along the horizon across campus
- songs
- keeping in contact with old friends
- having the body function of being able to cry
- spending Sabbath with friends
- last minute planned weekends away
- love and attention to each other, of a couple just starting out
- ready food that does not require preparation or wash up
- free internet
- being spontanous
- love
- sleep
- life

Hope you are surviving life and remembering to stop to smell the roses and/or witness the miracles!! :D God bless!

What if I stumble?

I went to a cell group tonight and they played this song by D.C. Talk. I have heard it before and maybe you have too ... but tonight it was really special and I just wanted to share! God bless! :D


The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today
Is christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips
Then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle.
That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.

What if I stumble?
What if I fall?
Is this one for the people?
Is this one for the lord?
Or do I simply serenade for things I must afford?

You can jumble them together,
my conflict still remains
Holiness is calling,
in the midst of courting fame
Cause I see the trust in their eyes
Though the sky is falling
They need your love in their lives
Compromise is calling

(chorus)
What if I stumble, what if I fall?
What if I lose my step and I make fools of us all?
Will the love continue when my walk becomes a crawl?
What if I stumble, and what if I fall?
What if I stumble, what if I fall?
You never turn in the heat of it all
What if I stumble, what if I fall?

Father please forgive me for I can not compose
The fear that lives within me
Or the rate at which it grows
If struggle has a purpose
On the narrow road youve carved
Why do I dread my trespasses will leave a deadly scar
Do they see the fear in my eyes?
Are they so revealing?
This time I cannot disguise
All the doubt Im feeling

(repeat chorus)
What if I stumble?
Everyones got to crawl when you know that
Youre up against a wall, its about to fall
Everyones got to crawl when you know that (2x)

I hear you whispering my name [you say]
My love for you will never change [never change]

(repeat chorus 2x)

What if I stumble, what if I fall?
You never turn in the heat of it all
What if I stumble, what if I fall?
You are my comfort, and my god
Is this one for the people, is this one for the lord?

Random quote

Found this somewhere in the www, liked it, thought I would share:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

by Marianne Williamson from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles

Ever feel like life SUCKS!!!

Have you ever arrived at a place to participate in a certain activity and discover that you learnt the wrong material? Or are prepared in the wrong way? The questions are not the ones who were expecting? Ever experienced being sick in your gut because you realise you are making a bigger and bigger idiot of yourself?

Welcome to my life!!

I went for my SAN New Grad interview today ... this is the big one. I really want to get into this 12month program at the SAN next year. Really, truly want to!!

And I sucked in the interview! :(

Ok, the points that went well were:
- I looked professional and got compliments from my interviewees
- I gave some good answers

Yeah that's about it.

I came across being so ill prepared! Granted I could have prepared more but it would have just been going into more detail what I had prepared for (make sense?)

I expected to be asked questions like: So why are you doing nursing, tell us a bit about yourself, where do you plan to go with your nursing, your dislikes and likeas about nursing, how would participating in the New Grad program assit you in achieving your aims .... give us some examples of how you dealt with a difficult patient, infection control, OH& S etc.

Well, it was more on what do you know of the SAN, which wards would you like to do your rotations on if you came here, .... an example of difficult patient (good answer but then one of the interviewees thought she knew of the patient .. which made me parioniod that I had changed the story ... I hadn't but it still knocked me off my feet a bit), an example of how I showed my iniative (good question, but for some unknown bloody reason, one I hadn't prepared for ... stumbled but thank goodness for memory ... told about how i took iniative with helping iwth a cardiac attack on the ward!), an example of how I handled a difficult teammember (shoot, another question that they hadn't really told us about before ... one of the interviewess had come to class one day and had basically told us what the questions would generally be able ... yeah, this wasn't one of them ... even though it is a good question and I should have seen it coming ... can you picture me just getting less and less confident and more and more sick in the stomach!! ... stumbled through this one badly and I really should have talked about an bad experience form clinical from a different insitution ... yeah, didn't do such a great job with that question). And then I got to ask questions and then it was over.

I couldn't wait to get out of there. It was terrible!! I wouldn't even hire me after a performance like that!

Okay, maybe I am making out to be a lot worst than it was. I guess the truth of it is that I felt like I appeared ill prepared and that is the last impression I want to give!!

Oh well, the world is desperate for nurses so I guess if not at the SAN then maybe somewhere else!!

Pls, Lord, help me get into the SAN!! Pls!

A Lot like Love Movie Review

Ok, the other day I brought a movie called A lot like Love.
And I have decided that this movie must be made illegal for anyone single. It has got to be my absolute favourite romantic movie of all time. It is really cute and the main characters are so funny and I can even see people I know doing some of the stuff they do. So, why should it be made illegal, u ask?
Well, it is terrible when it finishes .. you just want this movie to go on and on. And it is such a couply movie .... you know, the whole being in a couple is great etc. AHHH, so when you finish it you realise to a fuller extent how single you are ... normally this is fine but at the end of this GREAT ROMANTIC movie ... it just feels terrible.

So yes, I have a love-hate relationship with this movie!

But it is so good. Oh, the story line is simple ... a guy and girl meet up and seperate and met up and seperate again over the period of 7yrs. And there is the romance really. :D

But the things they get up to are so cute ... oh, making bets about where they will be in 7yrs time, scaring each other, getting tons of random fun passport photos together, roadtrips, photo posing, competition on who can not talk the longest .... I don't know ... it is just so cute and so romantic!!!

And because it is just so romantic and cute ... I dislike and like it!

Let out frustrated scream!!! I think i am just starting to agree with most of my guy friends ... they say that chick flicks aren't worth watching unless you are with a chick ... I think I am getting the same ... chick flicks aren't worth watching unless you are in a relationship ... otherwise they are just plain fustrating!!!

Thanks for letting me get all that dodgy stuff out!! :D

Ok, besides all that ... I have nto been doing too much. Suppose to be preparing for exams and interviews ... but have to admit I am struggling. I just want it all to be over that I just have lost a bit of motivation!!! Not good but that's the truth!

Also trying to get all my tickets booked for my overseas trips and trying to make the most of my last semester at college. :D

Anyway, should stop procastinating ... will catch ya later!

Your Blue Nurse! :D

Go Light Your World LYRICS

There is a candle in every soul
There is a Spirit who brings fire
Some brightly burning, some dark and cold
Ignites a candle and makes His home

Carry your candle,
run to the darkness
Take your candle, and go light your world
Seek out the hopeless, confused and torn
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world

Frustrated brother, see how he's tried to
Light his own candle some other way
See now your sister, she's been robbed and lied to
Still holds a candle without a flame
Seek out the lonely, the tired and worn

Carry your candle, run to the darkness
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world
Take your candle, and go light your world

We are a family whose hearts are blazing
Praying to our Father, in the name of Jesus
So let's raise our candles and light up the sky
Make us a beacon in darkest times

Carry your candle, run to the darkness
Seek out the helpless, deceived and poor
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world
Seek out the hopeless, confused and torn

Carry your candle, run to the darkness
Take your candle, and go light your world
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world

source:Triccoli Kathy Time:2005-08-10

So...

:)

Well, nothing to say ... nothing happening ... life is boring ... everything is so-so.

What should I talk about .... hmm, I don't know.

Life, love, luxury ... hmm, no they are too hard and complicated.

I mean ... life is hard, busy, hard to find the meaning of, unpredictable ... life is hard to talk about.

What about love ... love ... hmm... love is good. Love is God. Love is complicateed yet simple. Love is ... being happy, being at peace, love is ... trusting, giving, smiling, sharing, being. Love is ... simple yet still hard to talk about ... I mean, there are so many different languages of love it is crazy!

Luxury ... yeah, this one is hard ... I mean, part of me says "Down with luxury and over consumerism!!" We don't need it so we shouldn't have it ... but then there is a part of me that loves to have an extra desert ... or buy a skirt or go to the movies! (And yes, they are luxuries!!). Yes, I don't know if I could talk about luxury without contradicting myself.

So, what should I talk about?

Maybe I just shouldn't ... maybe I should enjoy the silence ... maybe i should listen instead. Shh.

Hmmm ....

Well, I have finished! All done!! Over ... no more!!

Ok, I have finished that bunch of stuff to do... still pleaty more!!

I have basically finished the busiest part of my semester ... you know the part where you have 50 assignments due in 2 days and you have no food in the cupboard and if you don't go to your best friend's place for dinner you will no longer have a best friend ... you know, stuff like that! :D Nah, honestly, it wasn't that bad! But it still was pretty bad!! I am glad to have finished it! Exam prep next!!

Today, Marlon and I did a 20min tut on what nurses should do if they are working in a detention centre and the detainee goes on a hunger strike ... it went ok ... good discussion, good presentation, dodgy focal paper but hey, can't have everything, huh? Anyway, I discovered that the Australian government is S***!!! Ok, maybe too strong but I just don't understand. Maybe that is it ... I am frustrated because I can't seem to get my head around the craziness of my government!! Ok, let me explain.

Normally, if a patient says they don't want some treatment then the health care workers are suppose to respect their decision (the patient's autonomy of being able to decide what happens regarding their care is respected). This can be hard esp. if the patient appears to be making an irrational decision and the staff disagree with the patient's decision. But we are suppose to respect their autonomy!

Or so I thought ... according to this article I was wrong:
"The Australian Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) can authorise physicians, under Migration Regulation 5.35, to provide non-consensual medical treatment. In 2001, DIMIA issued about 40 authorisations for compulsory medical treatment.4 Such actions risk violating international medical guidelines. It is therefore timely to examine both the legal and ethical implications for doctors if they coercively rehydrate or force-feed detained asylum seekers."
(https://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/180_05_010304/ken10552_fm.html)

What the hell? We can force feed detainees? Since bloody when? I read a case study about a patient who was hospitalised and forced to eat ... he got all the treatment ... electroconvulsive therapy, Intravenous therapy, and nasogastric feeding!!!!!

Since when did detainees' right to autonomy not matter?

Some say they are depressed so they can't decide properly... well, look at their surroundings ... Iwould be depresed too if I was in prison and in limbo!!!

Studies have shown that the reason why detainees are going on hunger strikes is to show their displeasure of being imprisoned ... or, normally after their refugee visa application has been rejected, to say that they would rather die than be returned to their homeland which is usually war torn and they were being persecuted (it has got to be pretty bad if they tried to escape, doesn't it?)

And I have to admit ... In some ways, I don't blame the detainees who go on hunger strikes ... it definitaely isn't their first option ... they have tried everything else .... this is the only way left for them to say "HELP!!"

Famous in our lunchtimes

Both Kristin and Brandon tagged me ... dude! Wonder if I waited longer if I would have been tagged by anyone else? :D Let's see what i can come up with huh?

1. What do you like most about where you live?
The fact that when it rains and hails etc. I don't have to rush outside to bring the clothes in or put the car in the garage or tie anything down!! It is great ... I can just enjoy the rain!! :D

2. Is there anything strange about where you live?
Um, well, I live in a dorm ... with lots and lots of other people! The needed rooms are not that close together ... bit of a walk to the bathroom, the phone, the front door, the computer room, the laundry etc. etc.

3. What's one of your all-time favourite music albums, and why?
Most likely The Lion King!! It is just fun!! It reminds me to be a kid!! ... it means no worries ... for the rest of your days .... no king, no king, la la la ... idiots!!! I will be king .... stick with me and you'll never go hungry AGAIN!!! Oh, and I enjoy memorising the words!! :D

4. Did you have a passion for something as a kid that you still have now? (If not - what is one of your passions now?)
Oh, I still love hugs and affection ... sometimes i think my passion for that has gotten stronger!! :D I still love being around pp .. they just give me an extra boost!! :D Oh, and i still love singing!!! And I enjoy a good book and collecting stamps ... but my time seems to be taken up that i just don't do them that often ... but I still love them!! :D And I guess helping pp has always been a pretty big passion of mine ... I used to love doing housework!!! Dude!!! Crazy kid!! :D

5. What do you like most about having a blog?
I like having a blog because I find that I type faster than I write so ... I can get more out at one sitting when I blog rather than when I write in my journal!!! :D Oh, and I can become famous throughout the world wide web!! And I can to keep in contact with tons of pp - from highschool, from college, mates from all over! A blog is great!! You can ramble and if pp don't want to read it they dont ahve to!! :D

Pick 3 (or more) people and give them the opportunity to be famous in their own lunchtimes! :)

I was going to tag Brandon and Kristin and Adele!!! Um, Michelle can get tagged by both Brandon and I!!! So, Michelle, Becky and Melody!! Go for it, guys!!

Bums!!

WOMEN'S BUM SIZE STUDY
There is a new study out about women and how they feel about their bums!
I thought the results were pretty interesting:

85% of women think their bum is too fat...
10% of women think their bum is too skinny...

The other 5% say that they don't care, they love him, he's a good man,and they would have married him anyway.

Actual sentences found in patient's hospital charts

1.. She has no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night.
2.. Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.
3.. On the second day the knee was better, and on the third day it disappeared.
4.. Healthy appearing decrepit 69-year-old male, mentally alert but forgetful.
5.. The patient refused autopsy.
6.. The patient has no previous history of suicides.
7.. Patient has left white blood cells at another hospital.
8.. Patient's medical history has been unremarkable with only a 40-pound weight gain in the past three days.
9.. Patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch.
10.. Between you and me, we ought to be able to get this lady pregnant.
11.. She is numb from her toes down.
12.. While in ER, she was examined, X-rated, and sent home.
13.. The skin was moist and dry.
14.. Occasional, constant infrequent headaches.
15.. Patient was alert and unresponsive.
16.. Rectal examination revealed a normal size thyroid.
17.. She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life, until she got a divorce.
18.. I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy.
19.. Both breasts are equal and reactive to light and accommodation.
20.. Examination of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized.
21.. The lab test indicated abnormal lover function.
22.. The patient was to have a bowel resection. However, he took a job as a stockbroker instead.
23.. Skin: somewhat pale but present.
24.. The pelvic exam will be done later on the floor.
25.. Patient was seen in consultation by Dr. Blank, who felt we should sit on the abdomen and I agree.
26.. Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities.

Holy crap! Urgent help needed!!

I got this today and it blew me away ...


URGENT ACTION
amnesty international australia
AI Index: AFR 54/045/2006 PUBLIC
31 August 2006
UA 235/06 Fear for safety/ fear of forcible displacement
Sudan Mohamed Ahmed Kundidu (m), leader of the Um Dereisa village
Civilians in areas under rebel control in Darfur

Amnesty International fears for the safety of all civilians living in areas under the control of armed rebel groups, as a new Sudanese government military offensive against such areas is underway in North Darfur state and is threatening in South Darfur state.

Amnesty International has documented how in its conduct of war, the Sudanese government has routinely used indiscriminate and disproportionate bombings on civilians by the Sudanese government and the Janjawid, government militias operating alongside the Sudanese army, target exclusively civilians. In such attacks, civilians are usually killed, injured, raped, abducted or forcibly displaced. These attacks seem to follow the same pattern.

On 28 August, the area of Kulkul, some 40 km northwest of North Darfur's capital al-Fasher, was heavily bombed by government Antonov aircraft, prompting civilians to flee the town and their villages. A few hours later, government troops moved in the town of Kulkul.

Alongside government attacks, government-supported Janjawid militias, reportedly coming from their base in Um Sayala, attacked the village of Um Dereisa, in Wadi Sikin, some 10km away from Kulkul. They arrested the village leader, Mohamed Ahmed Kundidu, who may be at risk of torture or "disappearance." The Janjawid also killed three men in Um Dereisa: Hamdu Issa, Abdallah Mohamed Ali and Suleiman Abdulrahman Bushara; and injured two others: Yusif Eirab and Ibrahim Hamdu Issa. The area of Sayah, north of Mellit in North Darfur, has also been under heavy bombardment since 28 August. Three people have reportedly been killed so far by the bombs in Sayah: Hawa Adam, a 25-year-old woman, Hassan Adam, her three-year-old daughter, and Adam Abaker, a 75-year-old man.

Eyewitnesses are also reporting that Sudanese government forces are moving troops towards Jebel Marra, another area under rebel control, apparently aiming to approach it from the east and the south side. They are building troops in Wana and Gardud, situated south of the Jebel Marra area, in South Darfur state, prompting fears of imminent attacks.

Peacekeepers from the African Union (AU) have been present in Darfur since 2004 with a mandate to “protect civilians under imminent threat and in the immediate vicinity”. However, citing a lack of resources and a limited mandate, they rarely protect civilians under attack. On 31 August, the UN Security Council passed a resolution to send UN peacekeepers in Darfur to take over from the AU. The Sudanese government has previously stated that it would refuse to allow the UN to deploy troops in Darfur, and has instead proposed to send more of its troops to “restore security” in the region. It is now apparent that the government is massing troops in Darfur in order to attack areas under the control of armed groups which have not signed the Darfur Peace Agreement.
Background Information
Since the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) took up arms against the Sudanese government in Darfur in 2003, the Sudanese government armed and supported local militia, known as the Janjawid, as a proxy force against the rebels. The Sudanese government and the Janjawid deliberately targeted civilians of the same ethnicity as the rebel groups as a counter-insurgency strategy. Some 85,000 people have been killed, around 200,000 have died as a result of conflict-related hunger or disease, and more than two million people have been displaced. Rebel groups have also committed human rights abuses, including targeting humanitarian convoys and workers. Amnesty International and the UN have called the attacks committed in Darfur crimes against humanity and war crimes.

In May 2006, the Sudanese government and one rebel group, a faction of the Sudan Liberation Army led by Minni Minawi (known as the SLA/ MM), signed the Darfur Peace Agreement. The other SLA faction and the JEM refused to sign the agreement, saying it did not have enough guarantees on compensation, militia disarmament and political representation. Since the signing of the agreement, insecurity has worsened in Darfur, causing more killings of civilians, rapes and displacement.
Recommended Action
Please send appeals to the Sudanese government, to arrive as quickly as possible, in English or Arabic or your own language:
· urging the Sudanese government to respect at all times their obligation to distinguish between combatants and civilians under international humanitarian law and not to indiscriminately or disproportionately bomb civilians; and to stop all attacks on civilians.

Appeals to:
Lieutenant-General Omar Hassan al-Bashir
President of the Republic of Sudan,
People's Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan
Fax: + 249 183 779977
+ 249 183 780796 (Please mark, "FAO President")
Salutation: Your Excellency

Copies to:
Dr Lam Akol Ajawin, Minister of Foreign Affairs,
People's Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan
Fax: + 249 183 779977
Salutation: Your Excellency

Please send appeals to the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), to arrive as quickly as possible, in English or Arabic or your own language:
· welcoming the efforts made by AMIS to protect civilians in Darfur;
· urging AMIS to act immediately to protect civilians under threat of attack in Darfur.

Appeals to:
Ambassador Baba Kingibe
African Union Special Representative for Sudan,
African Union Mission in the Sudan,
P. O. Box 8372, Khartoum, Sudan
Fax: + 2491-83-582206
Email: hqamis@yahoo.com OR
aucfc­_khartoum@yahoo.com
Salutation: Dear Ambassador

Ambassador CRU Ihekire
Commander-in-Chief, African Union
Headquarters Ceasefire Commission,
El-Fasher, Sudan
Fax: + 249 731 831 457
Email: aucfc2005@yahoo.com
Salutation: Dear Ambassador

Please send appeals to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in your national government, to arrive as quickly as possible, in your own language:
· calling on them to support the protection of civilians by all necessary means, expressed in UN Security Council Resolution 1706 (passed on 31 August 2006); to immediately strengthen the African Union Mission in Sudan; to ensure there is no gap in the protection of civilians until UN peacekeepers are deployed; and to condemn the bombings by the Sudanese government immediately, which violate UN Security Council resolution 1591(passed in 2005) which bans offensive military flights in and over Darfur.

The Hon. Alexander Downer, MPMINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIA
Ministerial Office Parliament HouseCanberra APH Website Fax: 02 6273 4112
e-mail: minister.downer@dfat.gov.auPlease note: e-mail correspondence should include your postal address. Responses will not be made via e-mail.
Please send your appeals immediately.
The Urgent Action Network is a world-wide letter writing activity for members of Amnesty International (AI). Its effectiveness is based on the speed at which appeal letters are generated by many members from all around the world.
The Urgent Action Network is administered regionally around Australia. To make any changes to your personal details in connection with receiving information through the Urgent Action Network, please ring your regional Activist Resource Centre on 1800 808 157.
Each Urgent Action has been carefully researched with facts and figures verified and cross-checked by our researchers based in the International Secretariat in London. Further information on this case is issued as it becomes known. This case will not be closed until a stop action is issued. If you are about to write an appeal and it is a few weeks since the date printed on this document, please email requesting an update to urgentaction@amnesty.org.au quoting four things from the top of this document: date; country; AI Index; UA/EXTRA number. If you receive any replies to you appeals please send a copy to your regional Activist Resource Centre with a note of the Urgent Action number.
If you have general enquiries about Amnesty International or would like to become a Human Rights Defender or a member, please call the Service Centre on 1300 300 920 or visit www.amnesty.org.au

Am I not pretty enough?

Ok, this song seems to be chasing me lately ... it has come up in conversations and I have heard it on the radio quite a bit. I am not really a country 'n' western fan ... and I don't think I have actually heard another Kasey Chambers song that I have liked ... but I reckon that when this song first came out ... every girl who heard it just feel in love with it. I quite like it ... the words and the music!! Enjoy!! :D

Artist/Band: Chambers Kasey
Lyrics for Song: Not Pretty Enough
Lyrics for Album: Barricades & Brickwalls

Am I not pretty enough
Is my heart too broken
Do I cry too much
Am I too outspoken
Don't I make you laugh
Should I try it harder
Why do you see right through me

I live, I breathe, I let it rain on me
I sleep, I wake, I try hard not to break
I crave, I love, I've waited long enough
I try as hard as I can

Am I not pretty enough
Is my heart too broken
Do I cry too much
Am I too outspoken
Don't I make you laugh
Should I try it harder
Why do you see right through me

I laugh, I feel, I make believe it's real
I fall, I freeze, I pray down on my knees
I hope, I stand, I take it like a man
I try as hard as I can

Am I not pretty enough
Is my heart too broken
Do I cry too much
Am I too outspoken
Don't I make you laugh
Should I try it harder
Why do you see right through me

Why do you see
Why do you see
Why do you see right through me
Why do you see
Why do you see
Why do you see right through me
Why do you see
Why do you see
Why do you see right through me
Why do you see
Why do you see
Why do you see right through me

Time away!

Isn't it totally amazing what leaving can do? Just saying ... look, this is all too much ... I got to go away ... and actually doing it!!

I did it!!!

I went on the shortest, craziest 'roadtrip' of all time with Bon this weekend!! And it was FANASTIC!! I had a bad week last week and all I wanted to do was sleep all weekend as I just didn't have the energy to go anyway... but tickets were booked and paid so I was going weather I was ready or not!

And I am glad that I went!! So glad! It was FANASTIC!!

We took the 11hr train trip down to Melbourne Friday night. We actually chatted for 5hrs straight. I mean, we live roughly 1.5hrs away from each other and we see each other semi-regularly but ... we are always in a rush to go out and soicalise together with the boys or whatever. So, it was great to just catch up on so much!! Not so sure if everyone else appreciated it so much ... sorry!! :(

Then, slept a bit when we arrived. The train is better tahn the bus but you still don't sleep FANASTICALLY!! Then I met up with my rels and had lunch with them which was really nice. Got to check out photos, got free honey (my uncle grows all his own stuff and has a bee hive which keeps him loaded with HONEY!! Yum!!), and just chatted. It was nice.
I then caught up with Kat, Rin and Simon which was nice. I only saw them last month but it was cool none the less. Next time I see them (or most of them) will be at Rin and Simon's wedding!! I still can't believe Rin (Lorinda, Rinra, the chick I went to highschool with for 4 yrs and is younger than me is getting married!!! Dude!! It is great and I am getting used to it but WOW!! My highschool friends are getting married. This is the beginning ...)

Then I got to check out videos on Bon's internet. Due to the dodgiest computer server in the world and disappointing internet cafe (yes, I went to a cafe to see videos and it wouldn't work! So disappointing) I didn't think I would get to see these great videos I had heard so much about. But Bon's internet is awesome so yipee! I did! And I loved Michelle's (Brandon's g/f) video clip on "Somebody told me" So great!! :D Oh, and I was on it too. Not that video but a different one ... Brandon videoed a msg from me to Michelle and she put it up!! How cool is that? I am famous on the world wide web (and yes, I know that really isn't that out there but still, I liked it!!)

Then we went to the PRODUCTION!! Robbie Copper is awesome!! I mean, I knew he was good but this was amazing. The production is what Bon and i went down to mel for ... Rob produced, directed, starred in, wrote, organised, basically did EVERYTHING for the production (not even a real school thing ... more a student initiated event!!). And Rob is in Yr 12 ... dude!! Insane!! The production was basically The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe but was a bit of a muscial, dancing event too!! IT was awesome!! I was so proud of him and all the cast. They did such a good job. I will post pictures when I get copies!! :D

Afterwards, we hung out with Rob at Maccas and didn't get to bed till 2:30pmish ... which kinda sucked because we had to leave by 6am!! :( It was a long day today ... drove to airport, flew 1.5hrs, got a lift to trainstation (roughly 0.5hrs), waited for train for 1hr, rode the train for almost 2hrs, got a lift from Hornsby to home ... traveling from 6am to just past 2pm. Yep, exhausted was how I felt!!

I didn't want to come back to Sydney ... I wanted to ignore my responsiblities and course that little bit longer. But you know what? I feel tired but I feel great too. It is good to be back home ... have a bath and relax ... not have to socialise etc. It was a great trip away and it made me appreciate home just that little bit more!! :D

And I see the difference already. I sat down and wrote over 2000 words for my assignment in one evening!! FANASTIC!!

But I am now totally buggered ... it is almost 3am and I only had a couple of hrs nap this afternoon so I haven't really caught up on the lack of sleep I have had from the past two nights!! But it was so worth it ... I loved my weekend!! :D

God bless,

Blue Nurse