Catching up with friends

We had a wonderful lunch on the deck.  It was slightly cool, but we just put on jumpers.  There were 20 of us and it was a fantastic lunch.  I just love catching up with the Knox family!  It was great to see Marlene, Caroline and Jolene and have a good laugh with them.  Especially when Mum and Ruth are also involved.  Just a lovely Sunday afternoon!  I made a very impressive coconut cake.  It looked great, but lost its structural integrity when I tried to cut it!  Quite funny!

AFL Grand Final

Today was the AFL Grand Final.  I quite like watching AFL - generally at night when there isn't anything else to do.  So I often don't end up watching the Grand Final.  Oh, and the last three years we have been overseas at the time of the Grand Final, so I haven't got up early or stayed up late in order to watch!!

Ian told me during our last September holiday that he insisted we were at home this year.  So I didn't plan a September holiday :(

Just as well, because Sydney Swans were in the game and they won!  I need to point out that I am a Sydney fan, but I almost can't bear to watch them play.  Particularly in the Grand Final.  But I watched the replay last night and enjoyed it immensely.  It was a funny game because one team would get in front only for the other team to catch up...

Anyway, I'm grateful for the buzz of seeing Sydney (I watched the last 90 seconds live!).  But acknowledging that the game had a loser and, as much as some people like to think, football isn't life!

Goooooooooooo SWANNIES!!!!!!

Cooking that works

Tonight I'm grateful that my quiche actually worked.  I felt it was a very nice dinner and I just threw the quantities together.  Maybe I'm getting better at quiche!

iPhone

The iPhone 5 has just been released.  I'm not sure if I can justify getting a new phone!  But Tash has just broken her iPhone 3, so she is desperate for a new phone.  The problem is that even knowing how much they are, I am almost (ALMOST) tempted to buy one for her on the basis that there isn't a better phone available!  Well, there might be, but I won't even know, because I'll still be using the iPhone 32 when I'm old!  Thank goodness for the iPhone dynasty!

Wonderful weekends

I had a wonderful weekend with my sisters.  We spent most of the time together - with only one little fight!  We also saw my grandmother, aunt, uncle, cousins and their children.  All very pleasant.  Byron Bay really is a lovely place to spend a weekend.  Except I did think that it was dark and 'seedy' at night.  There wasn't anywhere really nice to go!  Quite interesting.  I wonder whether over time it will lose its 'charm' because of this.
Anyway, we spent all Sunday morning at the Bangalow markets.  There are some wonderful things to buy there.  My favourite is the organic donuts.  They are massive!  Taste fantastic!  I almost could have had a second one, but that would have been piggy.  After we were sick of the markets we wandered up the main street of Bangalow.  It's all open.  I suspect that the third weekend in the month is their busiest day for the month.  There was a little shop that had a cute picture for sale with the caption "it's the little things that mean the most".  Which made me think of my blog.  I believe that it's perfectly acceptable for me to be thankful for really little things, because they are the things that often make life that little bit nicer.
That's not really what I wanted to focus on.  We went to another shop called 'Abracadabra'.  They had a sign on the counter saying:  "Please feel free to let your children touch things in the shop.  If they break that will be our problem."  And they weren't being sarcastic or anything, there was a genuine feeling that kids can touch things that might appeal to them!  I thought it was a lovely thing to write and it made me smile.  Unfortunately they were about to close and so I couldn't purchase anything else!  But if you happen to be in Bangalow, look out for 'Abracadabra'.

Brown Snakes

We went on a wonderful walk today.  It was just lovely!  We had breakfast at the Balcony, before heading out along the beach, which was actually quite crowded given the time!  We walked along the beach as far as you can go before hitting 'the pass' - a gap between two rocks, but you can't walk further than that!  The path then continues along the coastline, and it really is quite beautiful, before you head up to the Lighthouse.  Byron Bay Lighthouse is like most lighthouses - absolutely stunning against sky and ocean!  It must be a feature of lighthouses, or at least a feature of the lighthouses that I've been to!  We then decided to take the 'inland' path back to the beach.  Which is very pleasant, and much less populated!  We hit the beach again and walked back to the hotel.  It's a beautiful area (but I've already said that!).  The walk took about 2 hours and was probably only 6 or 7 kms!  We stopped a lot!  To take photos!  Oh, and there are a couple of attractive detours as well.

When we got back we discovered that there are a lot of brown snakes around that area at the moment!  Thank goodness we didn't know that before we started!  I'm so grateful we didn't know.

Up, up and away

I am sitting in a Gold Coast hotel having flown here this evening.  Seriously, aren't engineering feats amazing!  So today I'll be grateful for being able to get between cities quickly and safely.

Sinusitis

I've got a sinus infection.  I hadn't been feeling very well for a while and could just tell that it was getting worse.  Anyway, I'll enjoy the rest of today and tomorrow sitting at home, doing nothing!  My doctor prescribed antibiotics - they really are the best way to feel better quickly!  So I'll be grateful for the wonderful healing powers of antibiotics. (And yes, I know we might end up abusing them - but I only take them when I need to!)
  

Lunch on the deck

Today was a lovely Spring day and we were able to eat lunch on the deck.  It really is the end of Winter.  Oh, I guess it will still be cold some days in the coming weeks, but the weather is only going to get better over the next few weeks.
Of course, the last major activity held on the deck was Mum's birthday in January, so to remind myself of how great the deck looks, I've put a photo below!

Albus Dumbledore

A couple of years ago I decided to read all of the Harry Potter books.  Not because they are great literary pieces, but because they were being talked about by everyone and I thought I needed to know what the fuss was all about!  I enjoyed them, but I haven't watched all of the movies yet!  And I don't think they are as good as something like the Narnia series.  But that's irrelevant, because a generation of kids were reading these book and enjoying them.

In one of the movies, Albus Dumbledore says:  "you know, happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light".

Today I attended two grand finals (yes, that sort of day) and both of "my" teams had losses - and to the kids involved, it was shattering.  I think they have to remember that it's dark today, but "turn the light on" and remember the good stuff!!  It's hard to lose, but it isn't the end of the world, and it's a good thing to learn (doesn't even feel like that!).  I'm sort of grateful for that lesson!

How many fish are enough?

Today I was reading a few articles regarding the furore surrounding the “super trawler”.  The super trawler has been brought to Australia as part of a joint Dutch-Australian venture whereby a big boat has a 600 metre net hanging off it and sweeps up anything in its path before unloading in Tasmania to allow a company to get heaps more fish than they would otherwise, thereby increasing their profit and reducing the number of fish in the ocean (and so by that statement you can see where I fit on this issue).  Of course, the company in Tasmania are crying foul about not being allowed to do this and stressing that 60 jobs are at risk.  But can’t they just get smaller boats to catch the fish.  And perhaps Australian should expect to pay the real price of fish!  One photo caught my eye – it is of the super trawler in port with a dophin in the foreground.   How long did that photographer wait for the dolphin to surface?  How ironic, in my view, that a beautiful sea animal happens to be swimming behind the stationary trawler.  The same super trawler that would catch anything and everything in its nets were it in operation.  I’m grateful to the Australian Government for putting a (temporary) stop of this boat fishing in Australian waters. 

Don't be cynical...

This is a great saying!

"What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing." - Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan, 1892.  I've seen it before but I was taken with it tonight because during the day I said to my workmates that I was become cynical and Peter said "No, don't become cynical, you can be skeptical!"  I don't think I'm totally cynical.  But I'm probably a little skeptical about my work at the moment!  That's not good.  I need to remember that ultimately we are trying to make a difference in an area that is fraught!  I'm grateful that I'm working with a great bunch of people who all want to make a difference!!   

Reasons

One of my friends on Facebook shared some words of wisdom - and she noted that there are "Lots of words of wisdom out there!!!" - which I thought were pretty good.

Everything happens for a reason,
Live it, love it, learn from it!
Make your smile change the world,
but don't let the world change your smile.

I really like this.  They are good words!  Sometimes it is very hard to NOT let events in the world, or in my world, bring me down.  I think I'm a pretty happy person most of the time.  A few years ago a friends told me that she thought I was the happiest person she knew - and somehow the way she said it made it sound like an insult.  But I am a pretty happy person and I know that smiling at people makes them feel better (just not in a creepy way!).  I'm grateful that I have things to smile about!

Jogging - come back...

I love jogging!  I love going out and being in my own world and just running along and getting great exercise at the same time.  Unfortunately, my knees are no longer up to running - and I can't bear to walk (I'm determined to try), cycling doesn't do it for me (I find it takes me too long to feel like I'm really exercising) and the gym I like didn't have the classes I like at the times that I liked.  I am forced to use the "machine that is changing my life".  It's doing well for me, but I still get sad about not being able to jog.  So I have to be circumspect and feel grateful that I don't have major health problems, I have all of my limbs and I'm feeling pretty good overall!

Old Friends

Today T was doing something with our two dear friends L & E.  Anyway, the arrangements got muddled and they ended up being in a rather funny position that meant I was called  back to help them. I mean, the details aren't important and they aren't the point.  The point is that in ten years, maybe even twenty years, they can retell that story and it will still make them laugh.  I can't say that for sure, but I suspect it will be the case.  There is something incredibly special about friends that have been friends for a long time.  And you don't have to live in each others pockets for it to be like that.  Today I spent time with a friend that I met at University.  We didn't see a lot of each other for a very long time, but always saw a bit of each other because of a mutual friend.  We now are seeing each other much more - and enjoying it (well, I am!).  It's a nice feeling.  Grateful for old friends...

Clean Water

Today I paid our water and sewage account for the quarter.  It was $434.01 - that's less that $5 a day for five people to have clean water out of a tap and dirty water disposed of away from the house.  We completely take it for granted.  Canberra water is particularly nice.  We don't have a filter - I can't taste the difference between filtered and non-filtered anyway!  My sister has filtered water in Sydney and you can definitely taste the difference!  The water from the tap is obviously still drinkable, it just tastes nicer after being filtered.

Water is the most important thing required for life.  I'm grateful in a live in a city where it's "on tap".  Enjoy...

Cousin Helen

Cousin Helen made me laugh out loud today.  I was at work at the time, reading a post that she had liked on Facebook!  Thanks for making me laugh Helen!!!

When people suck the life out of you, wouldn’t it be nice if they took some fat too?

Oh, and it wasn't just me that she made laugh, because I sent it to the three wonderful women that I currently work with and made them laugh as well.  Life is good when a cousin on the Gold Coast can make me laugh at work!

Silver in the Sun

“As I look back the old remembered ways –

Some hours shine out like silver in the sun;

A spangled brightness lighting up the days,

And marking them with beauty, one by one.

Yet, as I lived them – strange I did not know

Which hours were destined thus to live and shine,

And which among the countless ones would grow

To be peculiarly, for ever mine.”

From Silver in the Sun by Grace Noll Crowell, 1927.

We don't know what the future holds.  We don't know what moments will become important, so we need to treasure the moments that make us smile.  And when I saw this photo, it made me smile.  (And doesn't the garden look wonderful!).  I'm grateful for magical moments... 

Scrutiny

It seems that it is bigs news that a young single man has got drunk and naked.  I'm talking about Prince Harry, of course.  I am so grateful that I don't have the level of scrutiny in my life that he has in his.  I guess that he has lots of advantages that I don't have - wonder how many loads of washing he has put on - but I don't envy him.  I had a lot of fun when I was young, I would have hated to have read about it in the "news".  Who cares!  Let this guy have some fun!  Obviously no one will be able to take him seriously now...

It's a sporting life!

I can't resist putting another netball photo on my blog.  Yesterday, in the major semi-final for Div 2 - Green, Rachel played a beautiful game and her team won convincingly.  I probably didn't take as many photos as I should have because I was too busy watching the game.

I've said before that I love watching the netball, but I'm looking forward to the end of the netball season.  It just becomes tiring!  Although, I won't get my Saturdays back because sport goes on and on...  A friend of mine wrote a status on Facebook asking if she was a terrible mother because she was so happy about the football/netball seasons finishing.  One of the many comments she received stated: "The best game of the season is the first game and the second best game is the last!"  That's a pretty good summary.  So I'll be excited in two weeks time (with a week off in between) when the netball season finishes.  Notwithstanding that the summer season will soon commence as will Oz-Tag and Little Athletics.  Sigh...

Spring has arrived

It's Spring.  And I'm so grateful.  I really don't enjoy Winter.  I know that a date doesn't immediately change the weather, but it is a beautiful sunny Saturday and so I'm happy.  And yes, it was COLD last night - it got to -5 degrees celsius!