Beach and Rainforest

Belinda and I walked along the beach today. We went from Kirra Beach to Burleigh. It was about 14kms and it was extremely humid and hot and we got very burnt. Well I got burnt and BJ got bronzed. There is a very nice concrete path along most of the beach and where there wasn't we walked on the beach. The highlight of the walk was the walk through the rainforest at Burleigh Head. It is so beautiful. Because it's been raining recently, it was very green and lush. Someone, at some time, has made sure that the area wasn't developed and it has lovely paths through which must be enjoyed by a large number of people daily. I'm grateful for the beauty of a rainforest in the middle of the Gold Coast.

Wet and Wild

We had a lovely day at Wet 'n' Wild. It rained a few times but it didn't matter because we were wet anyway. I really like water parks because there aren't many rides that I don't want to go on because if I do, they will make me feel sick. However, some of the rides today were scary!! Fun - but scary. So today I'm grateful for safe structures created for people to have fun at.

Champagne

Today I am grateful for the lovely properties of Champagne. It is a very humid night and a cold drink is a necessity! Champagne just fits the bill perfectly. We are sitting in our lovely apartment with the Beaumans watching tennis, laughing and generally relaxing. Sometimes Champagne is the only answer! Cheers...

Aunty Annette

We had a birthday party for Nana today. She isn't 99 until 31 January, but today suited everybody involved! My Aunt is a wonderful cook - she puts together food like no one else I know. So lunch consisted of two fantastic salads. Her capacity for hard work knows no bounds. For many years she has cared for my grandmother and before that my great Aunt Elizabeth and my Grandfather. Actually she cares for everybody around her. She is a quintessential carer. I am so grateful for the wonderful care she takes of those around her - including, at times, me!

Guarded Beaches

We had such a fun day! Byron Bay is a beautiful area.

Today I went for my first swim in the ocean for this summer. It was very pleasant as you'd expect. There weren't that many people swimming because it had just started pouring as we entered the water. Funnily enough it doesn't really matter if it's raining when you are swimming. We were also a bit surprised about the rip where we were swimming as normally the flags aren't put in places where there are rips. The amount of people swimming outside of the flags was amazing as well! There have been quite a number of deaths in NSW beaches this summer and I would have thought that people were more careful. Anyway, both Ian and I felt perfectly safe and had no concerns for the kids either. There is something very reassuring about swimming in a guarded beach. I'm grateful that lifeguards are in place at popular beaches!

After dinner we went for a walk along Tallows Beach - which is very open and NOT guarded. It was gorgeous. We got to see all the crabs crawling around - so cute. There is something about deserted beaches as well!

The love of my grandmother

One of the main reasons that we decided to fly to the Gold Coast was so that the girls could see my grandmother again. We are going to help celebrate her 99th birthday with my aunt and other various family members. I'm looking forward to that!

Today I drove to Alstonville to visit my grandmother while the rest of the family stayed in Byron Bay. They really don't need to see her more than once. My grandmother is very special to me. Most of my memories of her also involve my grandfather. As a kid, I took the unconditional love of my grandparents for granted. It never occurred to me that grandparents were anything other than giving, loving and totally devoted. Nana is still like that, but every time I see her, she has noticeably deteriorated. Grandpa died 12 years ago and Nana never really recovered from the loss.

I am grateful for the love of my grandmother. She is no longer the vibrant and vivacious person I remember from my childhood, but she still loves me and can only see the goodness in anything that I do.

Beautiful Byron Bay

It is raining in Queensland. Well, to be more precise, it is raining in south east Queensland and north New South Wales. We flew into Coolangatta airport today. At the time we were only the second plane to land for the day. And this was after one failed attempt. (it is always disconcerting to be preparing for the landing and for the plane to suddenly accelerate and take off again!) I was incredibly grateful that we were not diverted! There was pandemonium at the airport with most flights diverted, delayed or cancelled. We got out quickly!

We drove to Byron Bay where we are staying for four nights. The rain was heavy but that didn't slow the trucks - honestly what are they thinking - and we were very lucky that none of the roads were closed.

We've still managed to have a bit of fun today. There is nothing like heavy rain to make you laugh. We went to the shops and enjoyed looking at the huge range of swimmers. Lunch was at a great little Asian place. We checked into our apartment and went for a walk down to the beach. I took the "tough" camera with us. The beach was amazing. The wind was blowing from the east, whipping in our faces and hurt! But it didn't stop us from paddling in the lukewarm water and we had fun with the camera. We all ended up being totally soaked - a Mixture of ocean and rain. It was very funny. We purchased food for dinner so we didn't have to leave the room. Not what we normally do. We are going to settle down and watch the tennis! So nice to be on holidays even with rain!

Well, I'm going for a walk along the beach. It has stopped raining for the moment!

Through the eyes of a child (or teenager!)

I have hundreds of photos on my computer.  Actually, I have thousands.  I have 21,000 from 2004 onwards.  I try to keep them under control.  It’s so easy to just take 10 photos and then not delete any of them, but I DO delete them.  My problem is that I have three young people in my household who seem to be able to take 20 photos of each second and then don’t delete any of them.  So every now and then, I go through their photos and delete away.   I sometimes find things out that I wouldn’t have otherwise.  

I remember the first time I had photos from a camera that the kids had exclusively used.  It was when we’d been on holidays, our Northern Territory trip in 2006.  It was almost special to go though photos that the girls, mainly Samantha, had taken.  The moments she thought were special enough to record: the different angles that she used.  I ended up printing quite a number of her images – because they were different and they were important to her.  I think I must be over that now!!!   But I am very grateful that I get the opportunity to see the world through the eyes of high school aged girls.  I think that’s why I’ve enjoyed the holidays we’ve been on with the kids.  I get to travel as if I’m young again (yes, I know I’m not, but it’s in the organisation).  I try and see the world as they would - and it enhances the experience.  Maybe it's also about making sure that I don't get 'old' in my mind!

Balancing the books

Today I need to be fairly quick.  I am desperately trying to finish off the Canteen books before they go to the auditor.  I have been managing the accounts for the Canteen since March this year.  And it's not a particularly difficult job, but it needs to be in order before tomorrow.  Anyway, I was commenting to Ian, who is sitting next to me, how weird it was that my blog seems to have so many hits from Russia.  He tells me that, apparently, people in Russia are combing these sites to determine the financial status and situation of people who have blogs.  Then they can target an email to scam them out of money.  Seems a pretty desperate thing to do really!  So I'm grateful that I have not been scammed out of money through dodgy email pleas.  I'm grateful that I have a degree of common sense to be able to 'balance the books' in my own life - and the Canteen!!!

After the party

Today was a big day.  Well, tomorrow is the big day, but today was the celebration of the big day.  My mother turns 70 tomorrow.  We had a party at our place to celebrate.  I was the one who pushed for a party.  I thought it would be nice for Mum to celebrate with her friends.  My Mum is pretty special and has been a very strong influence in my life (she's not my focus for the today 'though).  Anyway, I had a plan for the party (a High Tea) and it was pretty good.  OK, it was very good.  I was organised.  But I couldn't have done it without  help and it had to be special help.  The sort provided by two people who know me very well; are always supportive; are comfortable in my kitchen; and not afraid to speak their mind to me!  My sisters.  They are wonderful and I'm grateful for their presence in my life.  Everyone should have a sister; I'm lucky enough to have two!  I can remember the day that each of them came home from the hospital.  Both times I remember being extremely excited about it!  Now, I can just imagine my sister (yes, you!) reading this and thinking "she's only saying something because I told her that she doesn't mention me on her blog", but that isn't the case.  When I was organising the party, I knew that today would be the day I was going to be grateful for my sisters' help.  And I didn't have to ask them - I just told them.  I'm seriously not the "leader" of my sisters, but I just knew they would help.  Because it's what they do.  I'm lucky.  Thanks!  We took lots of family photos.  Rather than post the photo of everyone, I'm just posting my "first" immediate family with my nearly 70 year old Mother.

Table Settings

I've already established that I am not a "neat freak".  Sometimes I wish I was.  I'm not a completely messy person either.  I do like things to look nice.  I especially like seeing a beautifully set dinner table (both with and without food!).  I think it adds to the dining experience.  The other day Ian ended up setting the table.  I don't think he's done it often enough.  The photo below tells the story!  (And just to clarify, it wasn't me who took this photo.  When Sam saw the table she laughed and said it was a pathetic effort and she had to take a photo of it.)

I am grateful that I have a table (tables!) that I can set nicely for  my meal.  I'm grateful that I live in a country where three meals a day is a way of life and there is always plenty of food (too much food).  I think we often take this for granted.  I'm spending the next two days preparing for a special party.  I"m still concerned that there won't be enough food, but I've purchased much more than is required.  I'm worried about making sure the food lasts the afternoon when, in other parts of the world, people are worried about where there next meal will come from.  So in the quiet of the morning, I'll just say how grateful I am that I regularly have three meals a day and my concern over meals is that the table looks nice.

Do I need inspiration?!

“Get rid of the negative people in your life - surround yourself with positive people who believe in you and inspire you.”  (I don't know who originally said this but it’s a pretty popular quote!)

I’m grateful to people who inspire me.  

Some of them are well-known - and others are not.  But it's wonderful to watch and listen to someone inspirational!  

Today I was looking at an article containing tips to stay on track in reaching your fitness goals.   The people who write articles like these do so because they believe their words can have a positive impact on lots of people (or else they are desperate to get their work published - I hope it's the former)!  The tips in this particular article were basic – and I enjoyed the reading.  The most memorable part of the article was a quote from Antoine de Saunt-Exupeny:  "A goal without a plan is just a wish".   It made me think... I realised that I had a fitness goal but have never articulated what is was.  My goal is to be fit-for-life.  It’s very simple, quite achievable and, if I’m being honest, doesn’t stretch me. 

I often think about activities we undertake in our household in terms how they can continue to be enjoyed through the ‘life-cycle’.  Walking is a great example of a fit-for-life activity.  Netball is not such a great sport for playing later in life, but you still see women in their fifties playing (I’m sure there are older women who play)!  You wouldn’t think hockey would be so great either but Sam was asked to fill in for the Vikings Grade 6 Hockey team and I was totally gob smacked to see a 75 year old on the team (and she may have been older).  It was awesome to contemplate!

Anyway, I’ve decided to revisit my fitness goals: to be more definite; and to make it a stretch.   That being said, I’m not going to develop my goals right now on this blog, but I've got a pretty good idea about where I'll go with it.

And in the meantime, I'll keep getting inspiration from lots of people out there!

Acquired after being used by another

The cooling is making the house very cold, the TV is blaring, I haven't been able to access the "good" computer and I can hear raised voices.  Yep, Samantha and Ian are home now!   They had a great time away - the beach, weather and company were all good!  And it's nice to have them back.

Samantha and I bought a bike this evening.  We got it second hand from a woman I know from work who is about to move to Adelaide and has only used it twice!  It's a purple Hawaii Cruiser.  We had actually looked at its new equivalent in the bike shop about a week ago, but this one is a nicer colour.  Samantha will look pretty trendy as she rides to school.  I got the feeling that Samantha was surprised that I was agreeing to buy it for her.  Two years ago she was extremely keen for us to buy her a road bike - and then didn't end up riding quite as much as she'd told us.  However, I remember how I felt about the road bike that I'd pestered my parents about getting and then felt self-conscious about riding to school on.  Plus, I know this sounds silly, we have three girls and I figure that between them we will get our money's worth.  Funnily enough, the road bike has been ridden quite a bit by Sam, Natasha and I.  But this Cruiser is a very, very cool bike.....

So today I am grateful for second hand goods.  I really like the idea that I can use something that another person doesn't want anymore - and vice versa!  On this occasion I did pay, but a lot less than if I'd purchased it new.  I've also been given quite a number of things that have been great - particularly clothes.  It's nice to share things around.

That being said, please don't rush over and give me all your junk!!!!

I have lots of dreams

I've just returned from a lovely meal at Au Lac Restaurant in Dickson.  It is Vegetarian Vietnamese.  We had three completely different dishes, and they were all good.  The restaurant was also relatively full - which is also a good sign.  I did wonder why they bother to make meat substitutes and not focus more on actual vegetarian meals!  But it was so nice, I'm not going to worry about that!   Alan and I spent a lot of time discussing holidays.  Just to clarify, I love organising holidays - almost as much as I enjoy actually being on holidays.  I am so grateful that I am able to dream about places to go - and then that my dreams are often realised.  I'm a very big dreamer!  So many people don't have the opportunity to dream.  Or if they do, their dreams are beyond their reach.  Of course, the most famous dream is that spoken by Martin Luther King Jr.  I get goose bumps listening to that speech - or reading it to myself.  If you've forgotten how powerful it is, I'd advise you to do a quick search of the internet to listen to it!  My dreams are very tame in some ways.

Speaking of dreams (which I was), I also really like the ABBA song "I have a dream".  Not quite as powerful as MLK, but also wonderful to listen to...

'I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything....' (In actual fact the lyrics are a bit lame, but the song is still nice!!)

Write it down...

It's late again and I feel pressure to have written and posted a blog entry before midnight!  Leontine and Simone came over but they've gone now and it's just me, the cats and the bird.  Unfortunately George is a bit stir crazy.  I suspect he didn't have a successful day "hunting".  If he keeps me awake I will be annoyed.    

I was not sure what to be grateful for today - none of my "ideas" resonated with me.  But I realised that I am so grateful that I can write.  I have this blog and I am able to make the time to write.   There are lots of people who don't have this opportunity.

Go read a book

Not your usual Sunday:

• I've been at work all day (sigh);
• I had a casual dinner with the neighbours at the end of the cul de sac (one of the women organises biannual get-togethers.  They are very enjoyable but I didn't eat anything, just nibbled on peanuts, because I wasn't prepared and by the time I got back to the house it was after 8pm, so I just nibbled on more rubbish...)
• I got my exercise by riding to work and back (also enjoyable, and not that uncommon, but uncommon enough to comment about!);
• The house is completely quiet.  Now this is totally unusual.  I find it weird but am resisting the urge to turn music on; and
• I've just finished reading a book (it wasn't a great book, but enjoyable to read).

I like to read, but I never feel that I have enough time.  I am also pathetic and hate going to bed with a book half read (unless I'm already bored with it!).  This means that I don't give most books a chance or else I end up awake at 3am madly finishing reading.  I am quite picky about my reading material.  I enjoy historical books - both fiction and non-fiction.  I really don't like to feel sad at the end of a book.  I want to laugh!  And I prefer it short so that I don't lose sleep!  I end up reading fluff most of the time.  But reading is such a nice way to spend the evening.  My mother was a librarian.  She used to keep a list of all the books that she'd seen but didn't have time to read.  When I saw her yesterday she was telling me about a particular book she'd read and I was reminded of her list.  It's so wonderful that she now has time to read all those books.  So today I'm grateful that I can sit on my comfy couch and read a book.

A Time on One's Own

Yesterday I didn’t get onto the computer until quite late and so consequently I was too worried about posting before midnight to put much thought into what I was actually writing (or to delete one of the two “howevers” that I put in).  I have a list of things that I can use to be grateful for if I’m in a hurry or lacking imagination.  Technology wasn’t on it.  As I was writing quickly, I realized how great it was that I could type, see the letters immediately appear on a screen, and just as quickly disappear if I use the delete button, plus watch the time before sending a message that can theoretically be read anywhere on planet earth!  It’s an amazing thing.  Then I pondered that there are probably millions of people who have expressed this sentiment more eloquently than I, so I searched the internet for a quote that sums up what I mean – except I got sidetracked by the funny quotes about the internet and then decided that I’ve said it the way that I want to say it!  (Although I really like quotes!)  Anyway, technology goes further than the internet – just about everything we do uses some form of technology.  Most of the time we don’t even think about it.  For example, for lunch today I went to the freezer (1 – great technology), got the last frozen bagel (2 – because it was cooked in an oven) defrosted it in the microwave (3 – well, it’s actually a combined microwave oven, so I could use the quick set number 5 which defrosts at the same time it is ensuring the food is slightly crispy) and then put a little margarine on top (4 – margarine is definitely a technological wonder!).  As I stated above – amazing!!  And the bagel was pretty amazing as well.  One last thing before I move onto today – is that using ‘technology’ as something to be grateful for, doesn’t take away my ability, at some time in the future, to explicitly say how grateful I am for my Apple© products, that is, my Mac computers, AppleTV, iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.  I’m just wanting to make that clear!!

Today I don’t want to be grateful for the bagel.  Don’t get me wrong, I was definitely grateful to be eating the bagel, I just don’t want it to be my ‘thing’ for the day.  Bagels are yum and not easy to get in the shops that I frequent (which is why I need to go to CostCo more often).   I also don’t want to mention or be grateful for the “new toy” again – even though I am still loving it. 

Today I am grateful for time spent alone.  I know that I am a person who needs people.  In 1991 I went away for two nights on my own and just about went mad (I wanted to visit the Isle of Wright and no one else was that interested.  I literally found myself in a field talking to a cow!  It’s a long and fairly boring story, but true!)  

I believe that it is good to set aside time to just be on your own: To be silent and to be still.  I like the idea of yoga as well, I just haven’t ever been able to get into it!  Ian has taken the kids to the coast and isn’t coming back until Wednesday.  I am looking forward to time on my own.  Mind you, I didn’t go with him because I have to go into work and I’ve arranged a number of social activities to do whilst they are away, plus there are a few things I need to do in the house!  All that aside, I will still eat breakfast alone and spend my evenings as I choose.  It sounds very satisfactory.

Today I'll finish with a quote from Virginia Woolf - who wrote the essay "A Room of One's Own" which I used as the basis for my title of today's blog:

“When you consider things like the stars, our affairs don't seem to matter very much, do they?”

OK.  I’d better be off – I have to put some music on – this silence is deafening!

Be quick or it will be tomorrow!

If I wasn't trying to choose something different every day, I would pick friends to be grateful for again!  However, I can't do that (self imposed, but still...) so I'll have to do something else.  However, I would like to say, again, that I really love the friends that I have.  I guess that's the idea of friends.  I've also realised that I have less than one minute to write something down before it is tomorrow.  So I'm going to be grateful for technology - and leave it at that!!!!

Friends

Today I was reading an article on news.com.au about friends.  (And can I also say that news.com.au has been annoying lately – I wish that the articles were edited with more care.  There are a lot of mistakes!)  Anyway, research has shown (great phrase) that good and bad habits will “transfer” between friends.  Which kind of makes sense.  I’m very pleased about this because I have some friends with great habits – and I can even think of instances where their habits – and maybe opinions – have rubbed onto me.  Hopefully for the better!

The ongoing Framingham Heart Study (a very fancy name for a longitudinal study in Boston) has found that happiness spreads across social networks.  It was found to spread more readily among friends of the same sex and could reach three degrees of separation - from a friend to a friend of a friend.  How amazing is that!  So today I'm going to be grateful for my friends.  I've got lots of good friends - probably less now than when I was in my early 20s, but they are great.  I also think the way that I've made friends, the connections, sometimes makes me smile.  I love thinking about how long I've been friends with some of these people!  It's a bit sad really, because it is evidence of how old I'm getting.  Even my "new" friends have been around for a while now!  But I am very lucky!

Oh, I'm also very grateful to Samantha for cooking a chocolate cake for dessert tonight... 

People in my house

Today was another busy day at work.  The sort of day when my 'to do' list is longer at the end of the day than it was at the beginning!  I'm trying to avoid focussing on my work on this blog because (a) it's hard to find interesting things to be grateful for; and (b) I don't want my life to be defined by my work.  But on days when all I do is go to work and come home, it's difficult NOT to focus on work.   Just writing that makes me realise that I should always ensure that I have a break out of the office at least once a day, or else my day is just sad!  So today I will be grateful that I live with other people.  It's nice, on really busy work days, to have someone to come home to (even if I have to cook dinner for them!).  I admit that there are days when I just LOVE the idea of living on my own, but today is not one of them.  I may also be getting a bit apprehensive that I'm going to spend 5 days on my own in two days.  So I'm going to enjoy the evening with Ian, Samantha and Rachel (Natasha is already away) - of course, that's after I do 30 minutes on my new elliptical trainer!!

Endorphins

Wikipedia (one of my favourite web-sites - even though I don't trust anything on it) says that "endorphins are endogenous opioid peptides that function as neurotransmitters.  They are produced by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus in vertebrates during exercise, excitement, pain, consumption of spicy food" (really!!), "love and orgasm, and they resemble the opiates in their abilities to produce analgesia and a feeling of well-being".   I love endorphins!  I love that feeling.  It's why I enjoy exercise.  Maybe there are a whole lot of other things that I didn't realise I enjoyed because of the endorphins...  Interesting thought.  Anyway, today I used our new toy (an elliptical walker)  and it was fantastic to have a good piece of exercise equipment in the house to use as late as I wanted and to watch a show of my choice whilst I do so (I watched two episodes of The Big Bang Theory)!!   Plus I have no leg pain afterwards.  It's all very satisfying.   So I'm grateful that I can experience endorphins.   And now my kids are laughing at me - all because I stated that "this machine is going to change my life" after I finished!  But at least they know about endorphins now

Comfortable Shoes

I mentioned this earlier, but my calf muscle is giving me grief at the moment.  And these moments seem to occur regularly.  I just can't seem to get it right.  And just after I think it's all good, then I do something which makes it starts hurting again (this time it was because I went running using the "barefoot" style - landing on the balls of my feet.  It's supposed to be better for the knees, obviously it isn't good for the calf).  Anyway, today I wore high heals at work for the first time in a while and they weren't good at all...  The calf is hurting again (not that it got better from last week)!  So today I'm going to be grateful for comfortable shoes.  I have quite a number (and some have a relatively high heel).  I just wish I'd worn them today.

Biking for pleasure!

I have been looking at some of the definitions of gratefulness - especially from a "project" point of view.   There are a number of different sites that talk about gratefulness.  I think the general premise is that it's hard to feel down if you are constantly looking around for good things all the time.   Also, gratitude expresses appreciation for what you have, rather than what you want (although aspirations are good).  The whole idea is not new.  In the eighteenth century, Elizabeth Carter wrote: Remember that not to be happy is not to be grateful.

For me, finding something different each day to be grateful for is the "practice of celebrating the now, the good and the special moments"!   And it gives me something to focus on.

Today I decided that if I have to go into work (which I did), I may as well ride my bike to work and at least get my exercise for the day.  My calf and knees have been annoying me lately, but seemed to cope OK on the bike.  It wasn't a particularly hot day - I even felt a few drops of rain - but it is a lovely ride into Woden (14kms each way) so it is hardly difficult and yet made me feel a bit better about having to work!  I am grateful that I can fit exercise into my life.   (That is a bit pathetic, because exercise should be an automatic part of everyday life!  When you are busy, it is very easy to let exercise fall by the way-side.)   Anyway, I now have to spend time with my lovely youngest daughter who is turning 12 in two days.  Where did those years go...

That horrible feeling when you arrive home with no door key....

This morning Ian was good enough to take Natasha to Little Athletics.  Now, I'm not quite sure why she was so keen to go, and we aren't going to discourage her, but I didn't think she needed to go after she'd come into our bedroom in the early hours of the morning to say that she felt sick and could we get a bucket  (At this point I woke Ian and told him to get up...).  Anyway, at 8:50am whilst I was still half asleep, Ian told me that he was leaving, he had Sam and Courtney (Natasha's friend) and that he had no keys.  Quite understandably, I didn't take this in.  When Ruth called me and asked if I wanted to join her at Costco, I didn't think there was any impediment!  I dragged Rachel out of bed - seeing that she was the only other person in the house - and off we went.  I often don't bother locking the door from the house to the garage.  I figure that you can't get into the garage without a remote and there are only two remotes.  But Ian gets cross at me and always locks this door.  Seeing he was coming back before me, I locked the door!  It's pretty obvious what happened next.  Needless to say that if it had been ME who had been locked out, I would have been much crosser than Ian was.  He wasn't even angry!  I am pretty lucky to be married to someone who doesn't get angry very much, who gets out of bed in the middle of the night, and who understands that I like to sleep in every now and then!   And that's just today!

The end of the first week of January...

So the first working week of the year is over.  It was a four day week, which is always nice, but there is something so lovely about getting to Friday night and having time to yourself for the next two days.  Work is incredibly busy and will be for some time.  I have some work to do before Monday - hopefully I can do that at home.  I was going to say that I'm thankful I have the ability to work at home, but somehow that is not something that I'm really thankful about.  I don't necessarily like having to work during my own time!  Also, I don't like the idea that a large number of things I am grateful for are related to what I do at work.  So instead, I'm going to be thankful for wraps!  We had them for dinner tonight.  Wraps are so easy to make and can accommodate a whole range of food preferences.   We haven't had them for a while and in between stuffing our faces, we were all saying how much we love wraps.  Quite funny really....

A clean and tidy house

I have a fridge magnet that says: Boring Women have immaculate homes.  I don't actually believe this, I think that some people can tolerate more mess than others.  I don't like mess but I don't like housework. Normally this is OK because we're happy to pay for a cleaner.  Unfortunately our cleaner isn't coming in January, so we will have to rely on the children (they've got to do something!).  Yesterday we came home to a sink full of dirty dishes and unfolded clothes.  I will admit that I was slightly annoyed about this and expressed my annoyance loudly.  Today we came home to a clean sink and piles of folded clothes.  I'm grateful that my children took my rant on board and did some work around the house.  Samantha even took a photo of Natasha cleaning the range-hood (I guess, so we know that it was cleaned!).  It was much nicer to come home to a tidy house.  Good work girls!!!

A smile at the Asian grocery store....

I've become quite friendly with the shop keeper at the Asian grocery store in Phillip (not the Indian one at the very end of the main road, the Asian one next door!).  He is an Indonesian guy and he is extremely friendly and very helpful.  I think they have a great range of food, but most importantly, they sell sushi rice - and I buy a lot of sushi rice!  He always greets customers with a big smile and he's given me a few ideas for meals that have been very successful (quite a few Indonesian meals)!  Today he apologised to me because I had to wait for about 40 seconds while he served the person in front of me.  Admittedly the person was talking rubbish (they were bemoaning the fact that they hadn't won lotto), but it was hardly a long wait and I was slightly amused about how pathetic they were!  I'm grateful that the shop is so handy and that he makes my visits so pleasant!!

3 January - Back to work

Today I went back to work after the Christmas break.  Very sad to have to get out of bed before 9....  Very sad to have to go back to work.... I'm grateful that I have a job that I enjoy and that is satisfying.  I moved into SFNT (that's Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory) about 6 months ago for a 3 month transfer.  It now looks as if I'll be working on SFNT for another 6 months.  It's a very interesting area and my job has lots of different components.  I'm not sure what will happen in 6 months - but it seems a while away at this point!

2012 - Year of Living Gratefully

I recently read a blog somewhere about "living gratefully".  I've decided that this year, 2012, I will find something to be grateful for every day.  And it has to be different things.
There are some really obvious things that I can use first - or use them on days that I'm desperate - and then as I get better, I'll hopefully be slightly creative.

Because this is the second day of the year, and I really wanted to start on the first day, I guess I can be grateful that it doesn't matter whether I start on 1 or 2 January....  But that's a very lame item.  So instead I can be grateful for the wonderful year that I had in 2011 - and my Christmas letter is following to prove it!

Christmas Letter 2011

I love Christmas!  I love the songs (and harmonies!), the colours, the look of our well-decorated Christmas tree and our Christmas meals.  I also like hearing from friends about what they have been up to during the year.  And I also enjoy writing a Christmas letter.  It’s a good way to summarise my year.  Unfortunately it doesn’t always get sent until very late – or at all.  But I will persist once again!

Our life is pretty busy but we like it that way.  I am working full-time at the moment in an area called “Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory”, developing options around the Australian Government’s role in the NT.  I really enjoy this but I’m working longer hours than I’d prefer.  Ian is (still) working on means testing.  I’ve said this before, but he must really like it!  During the year he had surgery to remove cataracts from both eyes and as a result he doesn’t need to wear glasses any more (except for reading).  He’s enjoying his new vision!  He didn’t play any golf this year on account of a wrist injury.  We have both tried to keep fit but Ian’s recently discovered he has a damaged knee and he can’t run!  So we’re buying an exercise bike for Christmas.

Samantha, Natasha and Rachel have enjoyed 2011.  They have great social lives and some wonderful friends.  Samantha is about to finish Year 10 – which means a change of school and all the fun that finishing High School brings.  She enjoyed hockey in winter and is now playing in two Oz Tag teams over summer.  Samantha loved her outdoor education camp this year that included abseiling down waterfalls!  She is very excited about going to Lake Tuggeranong College next year.  Natasha is finishing Year 8.  She has continued to play lots of netball including being part of the Tuggeranong Representative side for 13s.  She (and Sam) played half a season of soccer – which they both enjoyed.  She is doing Little Athletics again and enjoying getting faster and jumping longer.  Natasha has also enjoyed attending drama classes (suits her personality!) and we all really enjoyed her end of year performance.  Natasha received the Year 8 Sport Award and an award for school participation.  Rachel is about to finish primary school.  This will complete my 12 years of involvement at Gilmore Primary School, which started on a sunny day in February 2000 when Sam and I walked to pre-school for the first time.  On that day I didn’t have to bring the other two children because Ian was still on leave after the birth of Rachel.  It feels a very long time ago and I will be sad to say goodbye.  I’ve met some wonderful people (and some real characters) at Gilmore and I treasure those friendships.  Whilst Rachel is excited about finishing Year 6 and is looking forward to her dinner-disco and graduation (and High School next year!), she is a little sad at leaving Gilmore.  “It’s been a big part of my life”, she says.  Her teachers organised a lovely Year 6 Assembly and she won awards for art, sport and academic achievement.  Rachel continued with dance classes and performed well at the end of year concert, which included contorting her body in different positions!  She also loves playing netball and played in the Tuggeranong Rep side for 11s.  Rachel and Natasha played in the same netball team for summer – which was very handy.  Samantha also played in our adult summer team.  Not surprisingly, Netball takes up a lot of our time!  So I decided that in 2012 I’d substitute the board at Gilmore for the Vice-President of the Rebels Netball Club.  I’m looking forward to that!  

We spent 3 weeks in the USA in Sept/Oct.  We went to the theme parks in Orlando – having a magical time.  Harry Potter World was a highlight. It’s very well done.  Ian and I think that the ride through Hogwarts called ‘Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey’ was the best ride that we have ever been on.  We then went to New York and, of course, no trip can ever be long enough for that fun city.  We spent two nights in Washington staying with the Meinhart Family who were magnificent hosts.  We finished off our holiday in Mount Wolf staying with Caroline and Manny (and the four bulldogs), visiting a variety of Pennsylvania attractions including Hershey Chocolate Factory, Gettysberg and the outlet shopping malls.  It was great to spend time with them, as generally when they visit Australia we only get to catch up for an evening.

We also had a number of lovely “mini-breaks” during the year.  We spent a fun week in Melbourne with the Beaumans in April including seeing the Tutankhamun exhibition and the football of course.  We went to the coast in June with the McDonald and Groves/Downey families that was great fun.  Lois and Roger both turned 40 on 22 July and we had a family celebration weekend at Kangaroo valley.  Most of the time it was very rainy and muddy, and we had a wonderful time.  I’d recommend visiting the Illawarra Fly if you are passing through Robertson on a clear day.  The following weekend Lois celebrated her 40^th with her friends in Sydney and so Ruth and I joined her.  We then spent a day shopping together, which was a rare treat!  I also went to Alstonville with Mum to visit my grandmother.  She fell and broke her pelvis.  As a result she had to move out of her unit.  She was quite sad about this, but seems to be settling into her new home well.   We are visiting her in January when she turns 99.

We continue to enjoy our “new” house.  The garden thrives (on the whole) and we appear to have maintained the number of koi in the pond.  We still haven’t worked out a mechanism for changing some of the high light bulbs!   Maybe next year. ..

We hope you have a lovely Christmas and New Year!