43 Things
I’m 42 today. So, while I have loads to tell you with regards to my blogging sabbatical, I first want to share with you my bucket list for the next year – 43 things I want to do before my 43rd birthday. Here they are, in no particular order: Drop a few clothing sizes. …
Friday Fun
There’s so much going on in my mind and my life at the moment that I just need a break today. Fun! So, I thought I’d do an iPod Shuffle, share my favorite movies and some other things that I like and am working on attracting into my life. First, the iPod Shuffle: 1. Sky…
To love you with the sweetest of devotion
Happy Valentine’s Day! I’m wishing you a day filled with love. And don’t wait for love to find you. Love yourself. Today and every other day. Abundantly. ‘Cause you’re worth it!
Life has been patiently waiting for me
Came across this video the other day and absolutely LOVED it!
We’ve been “transitioning” for over a week now and are ready to take the plunge.
Bring it on, Baby!
It’s all good
I found this on my computer and thought I’d share it. Ultimately, life is all about choice. Today I can complain because the weather is rainy or I can be thankful that the grass is getting watered for free. Today I can feel sad that I don’t have more money or I can be glad…
Whatever happened to September?
I haven’t blogged for one whole month… But, I certainly don’t want to be classified as one of those “lost” bloggers!
It’s not as if I don’t have anything to say! I have written numerous blog posts in my head these last few weeks, but have not been able to actualize them, mainly because:
- I’ve been busy at work. There is absolutely no chance of blogging at work.
- My husband has started a new on-line business so I don’t get near the computer. One of my co-workers has offered to fix my laptop for me, but I’m still going to need internet access and only my husband can organize that. It’s just not high on his list of priorities right now.
I am well though. Loving my job and settling in, which means that I am less frantic and fixated on work, work, work. That’s a good thing!
Through it all I have managed to read “Women, Food and God” and “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years“. My mind has well and truly been blown… More about that later.
In other news, I have not experienced my annual emotional downturn. This year has been good for me and I am happy, challenged, useful, and at peace. It doesn’t get better than that!
I am definitely going to work on a solution for my computer / internet access dilemma, cause I miss you all and I can’t wait to tell you what I’ve learned and how my perceptions of certain things have changed. And of course, I would love to spend some time finding out how YOU are!
I really hope to be able to post again soon.
Spring is here
Expect me when you see me
I was handed a big project at work last week and came home after 8pm three nights in a row. That means getting home, preparing food for the next day and going to bed. Craig said I was treating my house like a hotel… he had to pick up the slack at home by doing the laundry, playing with and walking the dog and preparing meals.
The project is due on Tuesday and I am sacrificing my public holiday on Monday for the cause. It could be a late night, but there was no way I was going to go in on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday I had the cleaning lady here, plus I had to run errands and catch up on some sleep. Today is Craig’s day off and since I’ve barely seen him all week – he’d be in bed when I arrive home in the evening and still in bed when I leave at 6:30 in the morning – and we’re celebrating my sister’s birthday, I’m spending the day with my loved ones. At least I get time off for overtime worked.
I’m not complaining of course! I’m loving the job and the challenges. This project (a whole new budget – format and content) is helping me get familiar with the hotels revenues and expenses right now – something that would normally have taken me months.
Through all this I’ve had some great insights this week. Last Sunday I decided that I was going to stop having the twice-daily cappuccinos – as neither caffeine nor dairy agrees with me. I had one on Monday morning and then stopped cold-turkey. I had no headaches and my energy levels actually increased. I don’t think I would have come through the past week as well as I have if I’d been drinking coffee. Instead I drank water.
Needless to say, food-blogging didn’t happen this past week, but I ate surprisingly well. Okay, a few handmade gourmet chocolates found their way to my mouth, but TOM was here and I needed the magnesium. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Other than that I had three meals in the staff canteen – not necessarily the healthiest food, but not junk either. Breakfasts were always healthy – Weetbix, banana, frozen strawberries and natural (no preservatives or added sugar) juice in place of the soy milk, which indeed proved to be the culprit in causing my digestive mayhem discomfort. Lunch was salad, prepared by my lovely husband. Snacks were fruit and nuts, as well as the aforementioned chocolates. Not diet food perhaps, but the important thing is that I didn’t lose it!
I also remained positive throughout. In fact, I’ve put the following quote on my screen saver:
Some days there may not be a song in your heart. Sing anyway.
The best part of it all is that my confidence is growing. After not working for three years, it’s only natural to doubt yourself. But every day I am more and more aware that I can do this – Yes, I Can! – and I can do it well.
What I’m trying to say is that I’m not falling apart. I’m coping remarkably well and even enjoying myself.
That to me is abundance in action.
When life squeezes a bit hard…
… it helps having this to come home to!
Yes, that’s Maggie! Almost 5 months old and very naughty. But ever so cute!
I bought her a doggie futon this weekend and she loves it! Almost as much as the ostrich thigh bone I bought her…
So much better of course when you can eat your awesome bone on your awesome futon!
Tomorrow night we start with obedience training… I say “we” but the first lesson is “no dogs allowed”. There is no restrictions on husbands though, so I’m taking mine!
If my dog won’t listen to me, maybe my husband will…
Yeah, I live in a dream world.
Reason #552 why I love blogging
Blogging is a lot like prayer… You post a problem on your blog in the evening, go to bed and wake up to a mailbox full of solutions. I love it! Thank you for suggesting that I walk on the wine estate! I can’t imagine why I hadn’t thought of that. I have to say…
First day at my new job
This is just a quick update to tell you about my first day at my new job…
I loved it! I just know that I will be very happy there. It’s exactly what I’ve envisioned for myself.
Sure, there are some challenges, but just enough to make it interesting. The lady from whom I’m taking over did a great job and she’s prepared a very comprehensive handover, so I think the transition will be fine – for me and for the company.
This week, while we’re working in tandem, I’m getting up at 6am and leaving at 7am. It takes me about 30 minutes of free-flowing traffic to get there. I leave work at 5pm. But from next week, everything will move half an hour earlier, in other words, I will get up at 5:30am, leave at 6:30am and start work at 7am. I will finish at 4:30pm. That half an hour will be ever so precious for me – it will eventually ensure that I get to my chosen mode of exercise in time (more about that in an upcoming post).
It was really cold this morning, so I opted for this outfit, with a long flowing black cardigan. It was almost easier to say goodbye to poor Maggie than getting my husband to take pictures of me before 7! I’ll just have to keep him sweet so that you can see all the clothes…
Seeing as this was such a red-letter day for me, I decided to jump on the scale… Just so that I could have a point of reference for when I do it again in, say about 6 months’ time.
Eating was good today… I loved my packed meals. Now I must just politely inform my boss that while I truly appreciate his thoughtfulness, he really needn’t order me a cappuccino every time he has one. I’m quite happy with water and herbal tea…
Maggie was ecstatic to see me when I got home. Poor doggie, to have to stay outside in the cold like that! I’m sure that when she wasn’t digging that huge gaping hole in my lawn, she was snuggled up in her kennel with her blanket and her cushion.
Tonight I plan to be in bed by 9pm! We got to bed late last night because we watched the final of the World Cup. I really felt it today. Of course it will take a week or so for me to get used to getting up and actually being compos mentis while it’s still dark. Fortunately the days are getting longer…
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have 10 minutes to get under the covers!
