Santa Lucia

St. Lucy consecrated her virginity to God, refused to marry a pagan, and had her dowry distributed to the poor. Her would-be husband denounced her as a Christian to the governor of Syracuse. Miraculously unable to move her or burn her, the guards stabbed her and killed her. In medieval accounts, St. Lucy's eyes are gouged out prior to her execution. In art, her eyes sometimes appear on a plate that she's holding.

read more

In Italy, where my mum grew up, today is the day children get their Christmas presents! The children are told that St. Lucy comes in the night with lights and gifts; sweets, new knitted woollen socks, dolls and oranges etc!

Now-a-days many children Italy still get their main Christmas gifts on the feast of 'Santa Lucia', and may get a few other gifts on Christmas Day.

St. Lucy is also a really poplar Saint in Sweden.

She is also the patron saint of eyes and of the blind, and the patron of Sicily, where she was born.

You can read more about St. Lucy's Day here

New Blog up & running

Okay so my new blog is up and running (finally!)

All the invitations have been sent out!

A number of people who asked to read my new blog have not recieved an invite....
If that is you, it's not because I don't like you! It's simply because I didn't have your email address! So let me know what your address is.

So what to do..

If you would like to read my new blog then please leave me a message in the comment box below with your email address.


I WILL NOT PUBLICLY PUBLISH ANY OF YOUR EMAIL ADDRESSES.


I will then add you to the invite list for my new blog, and you will recieve an email saying that you have been invited and can read the blog.

I can invite anyone, no matter what your email address is, BUT you must have a gmail address if you want to keep reading the new blog for over 30 days.


(Gmail's rules...not mine!)


ciao!
-x-

--------

Blog house-keeping and the pill..

Just a few things...



1. The new blog is being worked on right now, and I have already started posting on there (even though noone's reading it yet). It should be ready by mid-end Nov or so.



If you'd like to read it don't forget to give me your EMAIL ADDRESS! I can't invite you without an email address.



Also, although I can invite you no-matter what your email address is, you can only log-in to the blog if you have a G-MAIL address.



(sorry, I know it's a pain!)





2. Some of you may remember that a while ago I posted about the use of the oral contraceptive pill for non-contraceptive purposes (acne, painful periods, heavy periods etc).
Although I am very happy to answer medical questions, I am still only a final year medical student, and so I don't think it is right for me to be giving advise about medications & treatments, and so have decided to take that post down because I am getting a lot of treatment-related questions.



The bottom line is...



From a medical point of view, the pill does work to treat a variety of medical conditioms (acne, heavy periods, period pain etc), and not just contraceptive purposes.
BUT, I would say..
- try to seek alternative medical treatment because often the pill just masks the underlying problem, and doesn't cure it, and alternative do exist for many conditions.

- don't forget the health side-effects of the pill (including increasing the risk of break & cervical cancer)

(the oral contraceptive pill has been classed as a TYPE 1 CARCINOGEN by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Hardly anyone knows that, but it's a fact. see here.)


Also, according to the teachings of the Catholic Church, a woman who is taking the oral contraceptive pill must not be sexually active while she is on it, EVEN IF she is on it for a non-contraceptive reason (e.g. acne etc).

The reason being is that the pill is an abortifacient, and so its use is not justifed in the sexually active.

If you have any medical questions I would suggest getting in touch with a local Catholic Gynaecologist.



If you live in America HERE is where you can find all the practicing Catholic doctors in your state

(If you live in England I know Dr's in London & Liverpool who could help)

(and for Seeker....thank you for your comment; one alternative to the pill for PCOS is a drug called metformin. Lots of women with PCOS find it very helpful. This might be interesting for you to read.)

New Blog! *update*

I have a new blog!


I've only just set it up and so it'll probably be mid-November before it's really up and running properly.


It's called "Gloria in Excelsis Deo" and the url is antoniasworld2.blogspot.com (..I'm not very creative!)


The blog is invitation-only, so if you've enjoying reading my random posts these last 2.5 years, and would like to keep up with my 'exciting' life (& bajillions of photos) then leave me a message in the comment box and I will invite you.


If you are new to my blog, then feel free to peruse my archives and see what you think.




The way it works is that you can only log-in and read the blog if you have been invited to do so, and you need a gmail password to log in.


I have no strict criteria for who can read my blog, and am happy to invite pretty much anyone.


I will let you know when the new blog is running, and send invitations to those who ask.

lotsa love

God Bless

Antonia
-x-

UPDATED TO SAY:

Thanks to everyone who's left comments.

What happens now is that once I have customised my new blog so that it is all pretty, I will formally invite you all.

You'll get an email to the address you gave me, and that will register you as a user of my blog.

then all you have to do is login to read the blog.

In addition, I am going to set up 'RSS subscription' to the blog.

That means that instead of having to login every day to see if i've updated, you'll get an email telling you when I've updated.






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Doing great!

Hello!

I am still here; everything is great! I am great & Chris is great (& he's currently in Scotland).
This is a picture of me in Italy last weekend!

I'm still not sure what'll happening with my blogging future....but I'll post again in a couple of weeks!

God Bless
-x-

--------------------

Goodbye, for now...

I have decided to temporarily stop blogging.


Why?


The answer is simultaneously, 'I have no idea' and 'waaay too many reasons to explain'.


I've been toying with the idea of stopping blogging for a good few months now, but something always comes up which I have to blog about...and then I've started all over again!


I do really like blogging but...I just feel this time that I really do want to stop, and step back.



I will probably write again in a few weeks, and that'll be to either...



a) end all blogging completely. But that would be sad!





b) resume normal blogging activities on here





c) resume normal blogging activities but on a new password protected blog, which will be open to pretty much anyone who asks for the password.


As my life is changing I would really like to write more personal specific stuff about myself and my life on my blog, but I'm finding myself increasingly uncomfortable with the idea that I don't know who might be reading my posts...I never used to care, but for various reasons now I do....so the thought of having a password protected blog is very appealing.

I'd be happy giving the password to pretty much anyone who asks, whether I know them "in real life" or not.

It's not that I want to know who is reading my blog, it's more that I want to know who isn't reading!

So yeh, I've just decided to stop blogging for now, while I have a think!





I thought I'd let people know, so that you don't keep bothering to check back here every day, as it will probably be quiet for a few weeks.

But I'll still be surfing your blogs!

God Bless!

------

60 years

I'm back from my weekend with Chris's extended family, as we celebrated 60 years of marriage of his paternal grandparents!

Chris's grandad actually proposed to his grandmother 7 years before they got married.

They had to delay their marriage because of World War II, and he was shipped off to fight...so if they HAD actually got married when grandad had first proposed, they would've been married nearly 70 years by now!!

-
One other cool thing, their 60th wedding anniversary coincides with my 2 year anniversary of Chris proposing to me!

So it was kinda sweet to share an anniversary of sorts with them!
-
It was a very fun weekend and just over 50 relatives came to the celebrations.



We all went to Mass first, where his grandparents renewed their marriage vows (..in the same Church Chris & I got married in!).
-




It was soo sweet because Chris's grandmother had a bouquet with the same flowers she had on her wedding day....white roses and white heather!

and she held it all during the Mass like a bride!

SO SO SWEET!



After Mass there was a big reception at a local hotel, with lots of food, lots of speeches, lots of children and lots of fun!





The food


Me with some of the younger cousins

Chris & his little cousin, who apparently looks just like Chris did when he was little!


(here is a blog post from last year I did with Chris's baby & childhood pictures!!)


also GUESS WHAT?!

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN also celebrated her 60th wedding anniversary this year, and so Chris's grandparents were sent a personalised congratulations card from QUEEN ELIZABETH!!





NO JOKE!!
Here it is:





All is all, a fun weekend!

It was great to see Chris's family again!

-----------

away for the weekend

Just a quick note to say that I probably won't be posting this weekend as I'm going away.

Chris's paternal grandparents are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary (which is diamond!) and so there is a big family reunion & party in their hometown.

His grandparents had 5 children, and each of them have 2-4 children...and some of them are married with their own babies.....so lots of people!

just thought i'd let you know!

Bye for now!

-x-

-----------

No longer homeless!!

Okay, so technically we were never 'homeless' ....but we were starting to talk about which bridge we would live under should we never find a new house!

However, now we have a new house to move into!

yippeeeeeeeeee


(those who've managed to trawl through my drivel on here for the last few weeks will remember that Chris & I are having to leave this house in mid-Sept, but were finding it difficult to find anywhere decent/in the right area/of the right price to move into)



BUT NOW ST. JOSEPH HAS FOUND US SOMEWHERE

and it is THE BEST HOUSE we've seen!


It is so perfect it's boardering on unbelievable! I'm honestly not exaggerating!

(ahh....Divine Intervention, it always leaves you speechless!)


and it's not even a grotty flat...it's a proper house! With 2 bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, a GARDEN, a shed, a brand new kitchen, with shiny cupboards, a fridge-freezer, a really nice bathroom with an airing closet!


It even has a little coat cupboard to hang coats, and to store shoes!!


Yes! A coat cupboard!! Oh, I'm in love!


and the new land-lady is amazingly nice! She is buying the house a new boiler, having all the carpets shampooed, new mattress, even having the sofas steam cleaned before we move in!


and the carpets are nice and clean, the walls are clean, no mould in the bathroom.....!

I am sooo excited about moving it!!

No longer contemplating living in a cardboard box!

THANK YOU GOD!!

--------------------

Down

I'm feeling a little blue at the moment.

I have a number of relations, whose life choices I find deeply deeply upsetting.


(I just want to say this has nothing to do with my brother, who is a total angel).
( I just say that cos some people who read my blog know him personally)


I get so distressed at thinking of the people I love, who are living in mortal sin; offending poor sweet Jesus and damaging their own lives.

and all because they are following the same old lies of Satan, as proclaimed by our irreligious society.

Satan wants people to sin!
Satan wants people to offend God!
Satan wants souls to end up in Hell.


God is more good than we can imagine or understand
God loves us more than we can believe
God wants us to be with Him forever in the bliss of Heaven
God gave us a Church, the Catholic Church, to proclaim His truths, and to administer His graces to help us live in the way that is best for us


I'm not talking about non-Catholics, but Catholics who are consciously rejecting the Church's teachings to their own detriment, and it is so painful to see them living in such a way.


Promiscuity, fornication ( that means sex before marriage), contraception, cohabitation, superficial vanity....recieving Our Lord in Communion despite being in mortal sin.



Living as the Church teaches, which is in in accordance with God's will, is the unparalled best way to live; it is the way which brings incomparable deep joy and peace, and grace.

It brings a happiness which is long lasting and profound, and not based on the shakey transient passing circumstances of one's life.

It is the way which allows one to grow in holiness, to deepen one' s relationship with Christ, and to live in hope and joy.

Loving Jesus more and more authentically brings a joy to the soul that nothing else in this life can bring.

That is the point of existance.

And once you have that as the central point of your daily life, everything else falls beautifully into place.

Of couse, that's not to say there won't be difficulties....but our attitude and response to them is very different.


After all, God made us, so He knows how we can be happiest, and that happiness is attained by living as He teaches, and striving to Love Him more each day!

It is deluded arrogance which believes WE know best, and especially when that is in direct opposition to the way God teaches.

and unfortunatly, the saddest part, is that our pig-headed stubborn pride and arrogance will always leave us EMPTY and restless, and very much unhappy.



It really distresses me so much, to the point of tears, when I think of the world, but especially my relations (by blood and marriage) , who are missing out on so much good in life, because they are kidding themselves that their life choices aren't wrong.


I know lots of people who have 'reverted' back to the Church after years in the lapsed wilderness, not having lived as the Church teaches.

and you know what they all always say?


If only I had known this when I was younger!

If only someone had told me the truth about contraception! (that's one you very often hear)

If only someone had told me!



But when you try to tell them, they don't want to listen!


I just want to say "STOP IT!!! For the sake of your own soul, and for Him who loves you so much, please stop offending Jesus!"


I am a firm believer that God's grace is more powerful than anything, and can over come anything, so there is always hope.
But in the meanwhile; it is so distressing.


I was advised by a Priest to offer up such distress to Jesus, and to unite it to the intense pain He feels when one of us, His sheep, intentionally goes astray, and unpityingly continues to offends Him.

So let us make an effort to love Jesus as much as our hearts can manage, with every action, word and deed, so as to make up to Him, for all the offences of others.

:-(


and let us PRAY.


Not even my chocolate chip and apple cake can cheer me up.


This is the prayer the Angel told the 3 little children at Fatima;

The angel prayed it to God with His forehead bowed low & touching the ground.

It's a powerful prayer if prayed with a sincere heart.

MY GOD; I BELIEVE, I ADORE, I HOPE & I LOVE YOU

I ASK YOUR PARDON FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT BELIEVE, DO NOT ADORE DO NOT HOPE, AND DO NOT LOVE YOU

MOST HOLY TRINITY; FATHER, SON & HOLY SPIRIT,

I ADORE YOU PROFOUNDLY

AND I OFFER YOU THE MOST PRECIOUS BODY, BLOOD, SOUL & DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST,

PRESENT IN ALL THE TABERNACLES OF THE WORLD

IN REPARATION FOR THE OUTRAGES, SACRILEGES AND OFFENCES

WITH WITH HE HIMSELF IS OFFENDED

AND THROUGH THE INFINITE MERITS OF HIS MOST SACRED HEART, AND THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY, I BEG OF YOU THE CONVERSION OF POOR SINNERS

AMEN

----

Not sure why...

...I volunteered to run in a 1.7 mile charity race in a few weeks. (that's 2.74 km)







I barely even know how to run at all!

Cycling I can do, no problemo, I'm even pretty good at power-walking (I used to do about an hour 3 times a week in Canada)

...but running.....not a fan!




and the worst part, for the little Miss Super-Lazy that I am, is that I am in a TEAM, meaning I can't drop out, or my whole team has to drop out!
Also, if I'm awful, then the whole team suffers!

(but it's a run for a hospice, so the aim of the run is not really to 'win' but more to raise money)


Today I decided I need to start some kind of training regimen so that I don't collapse of exhaustion/embarrass myself/injure myself/make my team lose really badly.



My personal trainer, Chris, decided to get my started by taking me jogging 'to the end of the road' and back.


Well, let's just say I stopped about 5 times during that 1.4 mile practice......and had to walk sections....


oh dear.

Also, I somehow managed to injure my shoulder while running!

How is that possible?! (no, I didn't fall!)


My trainer said running was "all about one's mind-set" and you have to get into the right fame of mind

...maybe he's right as, psychologically I had already given up before starting!

Also, when I got home I had a massive slice of my carrot cake from the other day, and covered it in the super fattening (but OH-SO-DELICIOUS) cream-cheese icing.....only 75 bajillion calories there! That should help with tomorrow's running....

(on a separate note...the carrot cake & cream-cheese icing I mentioned a few posts ago turned out REALLY REALLY well! Seriously if I can bake edible food, anyone can do it!)

Anyway, I still have 21 days to improve my running stamina.....watch this space!!




----------------------

Ryan Air

Anyone who's been to England/Europe in the last 6 years will almost certainly heard of RyanAir....the low buget airlines that flies all over Europe for super cheap

(if you book at the right time!)

Well today I booked myself some airline tickets with RyanAir.

-

"But you've only just landed back from Canada!" I hear you cry!

Indeed this is true, but my cousin is getting married in Italy this October, and there is NO WAY I am missing it!

.

(for those of you who've been reading my blog a while...it was her dad who was found dead completely unexpectadly November 2005.)

.

and guess what?

.

My flight tickets were only 1p each way to Italy!!! (that's 2 cents!)

.

a grant total of 2p to fly return to Italy! (4 cents)

.

no joke!

.

However, they did then add on 40 pounds of various airport taxes (that's 80$)....but still, it's about half the price of a train ticket to visit my in-laws!

.

.

.

Now all I have to do is decide what to wear.....hmmm...autumn in Italy...could be gloriously sunny with all the orange, yellow and golden leaves....or it could be grey and rainy...

----------------

Fooood!

So there has been a bit of a baking/yummy cooking frenzy in the "C&A" household over the last few weeks.

She kinda looks like me!

Due to me having more time than usual (because I've managed to kid myself that it's only just the start of the academic year & I can put off the intense work for a few more weeks...) I've actually been spending my FREE TIME in the kitchen!! COOKING!


me?! The girl who could barley master making pasta when she started University?!


Usually, when we are in the full swing of work and stuff, Chris & I alternate with the cooking, based on whoever is home earliest. Usually he ends up doing it because I need the time to "revise" (*cough* surf the net), but with my free evenings now I have been doing all the cooking, and also doing a lot of new baking...MUCH to Chris's total delight!

(several new dishes later...still no food poisoning!)


I made hummus the other day (and mashed the chickpeas myself as we have no blender!) and it actually turned out not-too-bad!

Then some super duper chocolate chip cookies, my banana-bread with blueberries and chocolate was made twice, and then various other little meal-time delights to add flavour to cauliflower, spinach, pork etc etc.


I have found THE most wonderful cooking site:

http://www.allrecipes.com/


You type in any type of dish you want, and it gives you loads of recipies, and people's comments and rating for each.

I've found it pretty helpful.



For example, right now I have carrot cake in the oven.
(advice...grating the carrots by hand is hard work!)


But I didn't like the look of the cream cheese icing recipie given....so I just searched the site for another cream cheese recipie to put on the cake.





my birthday is coming up.....Chris if you're reading....I want baking stuff!


------

Random mishmash

So term has properly started.


My final year of medical school.....my final year of education EVER! (unless I fail my exams!)

This is the last time I'll ever start an academic year ever again for the rest of my life!
I started school age 6.....that means I've been going for 17 years!!!!
(18yrs by the time I've finished medical school!)
my word! That is older than Chris's sister!


I'm not sure how I feel about that...shocked/relieved/joyful...well, after 6 years of University I can't say I'll miss all the revision. However once I start working and have "a proper job" I'm sure I'm miss my carefree Uni days! (although they don't seem all that carefree at the moment).
Plus, as all the doctors keep on telling us...ENJOY MEDICAL SCHOOL! Because it only gets worse once you're a doc!


anyhoo, yeh, I've started back at University. I'm currently doing a one month a special research module, and I'm doing research into obesity, which I'm looking forward to!

For some reason endocrinology (..which means hormones) is a subject area which really interests me, and I just feel a particular interest in the area of obesity, which is a pretty complex disease.


In other (non-medical) news....the house hunt continues...20 days and counting untill we have to leave this house...and we still have nowhere to move in to!

Time for extra intense prayers & penances methinks to make sure we get somewhere to live!

We have viewed a few places...but I think some of them would compete with THIS PLACE, which is allegedly the smallest house in Britain.

In Wales, the tiniest house in Britian (and that's saying something!)

(thanks to AutumnRose for the little house link)

Actually, some of the places we've seen are obviously competeing for the "minimum size for maximum cost" prize.


Make that "mimimum size, with maximum ugliness, for maximum cost".


Why are rented houses all so badly looked after?! Seriously, some of them are horrendous; with big patches of mould on the walls, paint peeling off, rust, damp, disgusting carpets....and they don't come cheap either!!

maybe my standards are too high?!


In other random-ness....someone I know has entered a video in the USA Heinz Tomato Ketchup tv advert competition.


and out of the several thousands of videos entered, they are down to the final 15!



If you have a few minutes to spare and want to be amused with some of the competetion entries GO TO THE SITE HERE, and watch! (& VOTE!)

My friend's mother is the woman having the memories in the advert entitled "memories".

She is Catholic and heavily involved with NFP...so extra reason to vote for her advert!

There you go. Your daily dose of random.

God Bless

:-)

---

"True friendship with Christ," Pope Benedict said, "is expressed by one's way of life: it is expressed by goodness of heart, with humility, meekness and mercy, love of justice and truth, sincere and honest commitment to peace and reconciliation."

from Pope Benedict's Sunday address yesterday


----

Not quite recovered yet....

I don't think I've yet paid back my large sleep/tiredness debt from Canada, as I'm still pretty tired all day and feel like I just want to close my eyes...and..drift...to...sleep.....

Me, asleep on the sofa


After Mass today Chris went off to do some rowing, and on departing he said to me

Chris: "Sooo...are you going to go home and make some banana bread now?"

Me: "Why, do you want me to make you some banana bread?"

Chris: "Well, I just meant...you know...if you're gonna make it...you can make it..."


What is that supposed to mean?!

For the first time ever, I made banana cake with blue-berries and chocolate a few days ago.

If I do say so myself, it turned out prettyyyy yummy! (and oh my word is it easy to bake!)

Methinks maybe he wanted more!

So yeh...there is more in the oven right now! (& I made the chocolate pieces extra big and chunky for him!)

------

PVS - Persistant Vegetative State

So I just had a week full of lectures.
We had one lecture called "Frontiers in Medicine", or something like that, and it was about the future of medicine and research.

Like 40% of my year I was going to skip it and get home early, but being the nerd that I am I couldn't bear to miss it, and good thing too! Because it was actually pretty interesting for general knowledge sake!

The guy giving the lecture did neuroscience research into Persistent Vegetative State (PVS).

PVS is (as defined by wikipedia):

PVS is a condition of patients with severe brain damage in whom coma has progressed to a state of wakefulness without detectable awarenes

So that basically means someone who has had a serious brain injury, and they are in a coma, but with their eyes open, and they have normal sleep-wake cycles, but show no evidence of being aware of anything around them

(like Terri Schiavo, for who remembers her from a few years ago)


So this guy's research team has done a lot of research into the brains of patients in PVS.


They do tests called "functional MRI" which are special brain scans which light-up different areas of the brain, when those areas become activated....

So for example, a different area of the brain would light up when someone wiggles their fingers, and when they whistle, and when they dream of being on a sandy beach, and when they are scared, or happy...etc

It's a way of seeing what part of the brain is involved in different activities

So what they did was ask a group of normal people to perform certain tasks and they scanned their brains, and then they said the same things to people in a PVS and scanned their brains....and they compared which areas of the brain light up in these 2 groups..


So they discovered that..


* When patients in PVS are shown photos of their family, friends and childhood scenes, the exact same areas of "memory and recognition" light up in their brain...the same as in normal people


* When patients in a PVS are told to imagine themselves playing tennis, or to imagine walking around their house, the same areas involved in "imagination and preparing for movement" light-up in their brain...the same as in normal people

* When patients in a PVS are exposed to a painful stimulus, the same "pain areas" in the brain light up...just the same as in normal people



The researchers aren't totally sure what to make of this data, and whether this means that patients in a PVS actually *are* aware on some level of what is going on, but aren't conscious of being aware...or what...


but they have made recommendations that these patients be given pain killers for any treatments they have, just like normal people, as it is wrong to assume that they are completely unaware of what is going on around them, and they may indeed feel pain like anyone else.


This makes me think of the law in England which allows withdrawing food and fluids from these sorts of patients, and allowing them to starve and dehydrate to death over a period of about 2 weeks, which I find exceptionally cruel (like what happened to Terri Schiavo in the USA).
This sort of death would be agonizingly painful for anyone, but people deny that such patients would feel any pain....well....they may be wrong.

on a related note...is it just me, or does anyone else quite dislike the term 'vegetative'?! Does it come from "like a vegetable" ? Isn't that a bit of a horrible choice of description for a human being?!

----

update

This photo has nothing to do with this post.
This is a carving of the Virgin Mary out of a match-stick that Chris brought me back from Chile last year.

The end of one very very very long week. (VERY long).

I started back at University last Monday; jet-lagged and really tired, I'm not sure how I dragged myself through 8 hours of lectures a day, for 5 consecutive days...

it was painful!

But it was also really nice seeing all my University friends again after 2 months apart!

Chris & I have also been a bit stressed because we have to leave this house in 3 weeks time...and we still have no new house to move into.

(Help us St. Joseph!!)

("But didn't you just move into that house in January?!" I hear you cry.
Yes, yes we did. But we have to move again. long story. I won't bore you with the details! Suffice to say this will be our 3rd house in 13 months of marriage...)

So yeh...add in 'frantic house searching' to the fun mix of jet-lag, exhaustion and 30+ hours of lectures....

.....that's why I haven't posted all week.

However, thank you all very very much for the many wonderful comments I recieved on my last post and the one before!:-)

anyway, enough self-pitying! It is weekend now! Yippeee!

----

"Pill has caused woman to die of blood clot"

This story has been very prominant in the papers in Ireland:


The pill caused woman to die of a blood clot

Pathologist at James Connolly Memorial Hospital told Dublin County Coroner’s Court yesterday that the contraceptive pill was the cause of Ms Hennessy’s deep verin thrombosis

"Clotting is a well-known risk of using the contraceptive pill. There is no other medication that has such a big risk as the oral contraceptive pill,” said Dr Szontagh-Kishazi.

another story here


The formation of a blood clot is not a common side-effect of the pill, but it does still happen as shown by this very very tragic case. Although all doctors know that the pill is a risk factor in the formation of blood clots, I don't know how many users of the pill actually know about it.
The woman was only 31yrs old. Eternal rest grant unto her Oh Lord...



Thanks to Brendan for the details.


----------

Back Home in England!

Thank God I arrived back home safe & sound on Wednesday afternoon (just in time to go to Mass for the Feast of the Assumption of Our sweet blessed Virgin Mary!).

Sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean from the airplane!

It was so fantastically wonderful to see Chris again; I cried with joy when I saw him! I am never ever ever leaving him for 7 weeks again! I had a lovely time in Canada, but I really missed him, especially the last couple of weeks. Thank God for Mass though! Seeing Jesus everyday was an immense source of grace.

anywayz, I am home now! yey!

The river Thames

LONDON from the plane as we approached Heathrow Airport

and I am totally and utterly jat-lagged. really badly. Canada is 8 hours behind England, so night-times have been pretty painful; I've been unable to fall asleep till about 6am every morning, and then dragging myelf out of bed around noon and feeling exhausted and groggy all day.



and I start back at Uni with a full week of lectures THIS Monday (in less than 48hours!), so I really need to get my body-clock back into this time-zone before then!

Hope you're all well! Thanks for the kind comments wishing me a good trip home in my last post!

GOD BLESS

-x-

This was my ride to Vancouver aiport!

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Vancouver Day 2 --- LAST DAY IN CANADA!

I explored Vancouver myself today (...and didn't get lost!).

It's a very pretty city.

(for those who know Vancouver...I went up Robson Street, to Stanley Park, back down the coast, took the ferry to Granville Island, and then went for another little walk to the planitarium and round more beaches).

I am now thouroughly thoroughly exhausted.

Tomorrow afternoon I leave Canada and fly back to England, arriving Wednesday at about 3pm UK time.

I have had a truely fantastic and very blessed 7.5 weeks here! But I am SOOO looking forward to going home and seeing England, my family and ESPECIALLY CHRIS!!!!!!!!!!!!

God Bless Canada!

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Vancouver Day 1

I know I ended my last post saying that I might not get a chance to blog again before returning to England...but of course I have found a way! (where there's a will...there's a way!)

Today, Sunday, was my first full day in Vancouver.

Tomorrow will be my second day in Vancouver.....and my last full day in Canada!

Here are just a couple of pictures from my day for your viewing pleasure:



We went to Mass at:




Westminster Abbey is a big Benedictine Monestary with a good 30-40 monks! They also have a high-school there for boys, and a seminary for the Diocese.



It was very peaceful and beautiful, and they are blessed to have lots of pretty grounds surrounding the Abbey too.




We then went to this place called Harrison Hot Springs which is famous for a big sandcastle building contest! They are pretty impressive and here is a selection:











Leonardo DaVinci, with Mona Lisa & that famous man-thing, that shows you all the perfect dimensions of the human person. (or something like that!)
Actually just behind Leonardo's head was a canvas with a drawing of the Mona Lisa on. You can just see it in the background!


I thought it was very creative!


This next one was based on the Pieta .

I over-heard a guide explaining to some tourists a bit about it:

It's Mary holding Jesus (who for some reason is depicted as a wooden puppet...I think it's the symbolise His broken body.)
Mary's face has no expression on because the artist decided that you can't possibly depict the pain of losing your only son in such a way.

She is leaning again a big bottle of wine, and there is a large bunch of grapes to the side to symbolise the blood of Christ....and then the loaf of bread as the body of Christ...

Then here is Gulliver, from Gulliver's Travels with the little people of Lillyput:

and here are some random pics:

Octopus
Russian
Hindu lady
Captain Pugwash with random tourist

dragon

Pretty impressive considering they are just made of sand dontcha think?!

Tomorrow I am mooching around Vancouver city...alone....without Chris....

My navigations skills have always been bad (I clearly cheated somehow when I got my Girls' Guide badge in orienteering!), but my navigation ability has become much much worse since I met Chris, because I just leave it all up to him! Sometimes I have no idea where we are going on a map, I just follow his directions!

So yeh...hoping I dont get too lost around Vancouver tomorrow on my own!

I'll try to post Monday evening again, but if not, I'll be flying Tuesday, and will be home Wednesday!

lotsa love

-x-

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My last day

Today is my last night in this town where I've been for the last 7 weeks.

Look! It's a maple leaf! I must be in Canada!

Goodbyes have been said, bags are packed, and although I'm very very eager and excited to get home to England, and especially to see Chris who I have missed so much, I'm also kinda sad, and I know I will miss it here!






Being such a small place people were really friendly to me and I built up a nice community of friends from the Catholic Church and from the hospital.

People invited me out to dinner, for tea, for hikes and trips and I am so so so grateful because it really made me feel so welcome and cared for, and really helped make my time even more enjoyable.

And of course, especially remembering Delixit Prior's family who so very very kindly housed me, fed me and looked after me every day for the last 7 weeks! I was very much at home with them and it was a genuine blessing and gift from God to come here!



Look! It's my reflection!

Speaking of random acquaintances....these photos were taken by an amateur photographer friend I made while here!
They are nice, right?!
(I've got about 50 more, so be glad I am sparing you with only a couple!)



So from Saturday to Tuesday I will be in Vancouver city itself exploring and sight-seeing.


and then on Tuesday I will be flying back to England!

I don't know whether I will be able to blog from Vancouver...so if not....see you in England!


(but knowing me, I always seem to find a way to blog!)

God Bless
(pray for me cos I really dislike flying!)




Look at how teeny-tiny this little guy is!!


I want to take him home!

Aaaahhh...beautiful British Columbia!

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