This is my 1,111th post, which is kind of cool.

I have two days left of work. Sort of. I'm quite sure I'll be coming back to do some casual work for them, so it's more of a transition than really leaving, at least for now.

Still, it's pretty exciting and cool. It's not often you get to quit a job, and even less often that you get such a good reason to do so. However, there are good reasons to be both happy and sad about leaving.

I've actually rather enjoyed this job. Of all the jobs I've had, it's been one perfectly suited to my talents and temperament, and I've been very fortunate in that my colleagues are all wonderful people with whom I've had not just a good working relationship but also many friendships.

I will miss a lot of people - it's all very well to say you'll keep in touch, but that's not the same as seeing them every single day. I'll miss the work itself, as well as the trust and responsibility that I had.

But I'll be able to concentrate on my studies, and get lots of rest. I won't have such demanding obligations, or tricky questions from my boss!

And then, of course, I'll be a mother! Back to demanding obligations, but still no boss.

It has not been a good couple of days in terms of illnesses and injuries! First we have Chris in hospital (check the comments on his latest blog post for updates on his condition, thanks to Donn, Gerry, and Ponita), then I did my nearly-passing-out trick again at work yesterday morning, and now... yes, Aidan has come through for the trifecta! Late last night he did something inexplicable, and managed to hurt his ankle quite severely while doing nothing more strenuous than walking past the vacuum cleaner. We thought at first it was broken, and took a taxi down to the hospital immediately... but after waiting in Emergency for five and a half hours it was determined to be just a very bad sprain. I do mean bad. He can't put any weight on it, he certainly can't walk. So, we stumbled back home at 5am, and now I'm playing nurse to this rather unwilling patient! He's never been much good at being looked after; he's usually playing Dr Aidan to my Damsel In Distress. However, I managed to make him a passable breakfast of bacon, eggs, hash browns, and toast this morning - not my forte, since I'm a cereal person myself, but apparently quite edible. And now I've got him sitting quietly on the couch reading like a good invalid!

Many people who read this blog will already be aware that Chris, aka Within Without, is unwell. He has had a stroke and is in hospital. Whilst recent news regarding his situation is pretty positive, the entire incident has brought home the concept of mortality with something of a shock.

You never think that certain things can happen to you or your loved ones. Bad things only happen on TV or in the news. Other people get personally effected, not you. But not this time. This time it's us.

Chris, our thoughts are with you and your family. Aidan and I wish you all the best and a speedy recovery; we hope you're back blogging and Facebooking and just generally being you soon.

I dedicate this video to my husband, my brother, and my best friend - all of whom have something in common ;)

Hooray, I'm going back to school! Sort of. I've signed on to do a couple of units with Open Universities Australia, as a precursor (hopefully) to proper full-time study next year. I've had to take a bit of a long-term goal and work backwards to reach this point: I want to study linguistics, which limits my choice of university to two, realistically. Either one will look more favourably upon a mature age student who already has a couple of university units under her belt. Applications for university open in August, so I should already have done those units by August. Which meant signing up to begin now! So, if blogs in the near future start rambling about ancient myths and various religions, it's because that's what I'm studying and not because I'm going mad.

Right, I saw the midwife yesterday and told her in detail about my multiple "incidents" of blurred vision and whatnot. She knew exactly what I was talking about, said it wasn't that unusual, and the deal is this: My uterus is getting huge, as it tends to do during pregnancy. And if I sit or lie in certain ways, it can press down on some major blood vessels carrying blood to the brain. So, the brain goes into panic mode at not having so much blood available, hence the hot flushes, shortness of breath, and blurry eyes. So I shall watch my posture, and sit forward if I feel it coming on again, and I only really need to worry if it's accompanied by headaches and/or swelling or puffiness of the limbs and extremities. Which it has never been, so it's ok!