Ok, so I have fallen behind in the weekly challenges, however I didn't want to want rush these two challenges and have been giving them both a lot of thought.
The vision board, which is right up my alley, is something I want time to work on. As a scrap booker I would like to do my vision board as a scrap page that I can place in an album and have like a mini snapshot of my now and my vision for the future, so I don't want to rush it. So that will be a work in progress over the coming weeks when i get some creative me time.
Week 8 is to 'define happiness'. I am going to make my 'happiness list' and then endeavour to do one thing everyday from that list. There are lots of things big and little things that make me happy so I want a little more time to do this challenge.
Photo 20 - Brady Bunch
I have loved the Brady Bunch for always. I used to dream of having such a big fun loving family like them. The BB box set is very precious to me. I have Emilie hooked on them and I love watching them together. When I was a teenager I had a BB my friends dressed up. I was Mike! We made a cake in the shape of a big flare and platform shoe. Watching the BB makes me happy :)
Photo 21 - The 'Peta'
This boat was made by a gorgeous old gent who I used to visit at home as a district nurse in Richmond. He had early dementia, no family and lived alone in a tiny ministry flat. I always felt very protective of him and we both enjoyed my visits. He told me once how he made this boat and named it after his one sweet heart but they had never married. I visited him until he went into a home and when he passed away I was asked to his memorial. Sitting at the front of the service was the boat. Afterwards I asked what was to become of the boat and they said it would probably go to an op shop. Knowing how he had lovingly made this boat, and the story of his lost love, I asked if I could have it and they said yes. The 'Peta' sits in our lounge and reminds me of Gordon, and those days of doing a job I loved so much, and what a privilege it was to be invited into peoples homes and listen to the significant stories of their lives.
Photo 22 - Dream Catcher
I can't even remember who gave me this dream catcher that hangs above our bed but I really like and I think it works :)
Photo 17 - Roses
I love roses. In my old house at Dandenong I had heaps of roses and I hated leaving them behind when I left. Here is a picture of the one prolific rose bush in our current yard :)
Photo 18 - My iMac
The iMac was a 40th birthday gift from Michael to us. I would never have anything but a Mac now. It is an awesome machine that gives us all a great deal of pleasure as it works the way it should every time. touch wood. We have surround sound for our hundreds of iTunes and can hook up our turntable to play vinyls. The pic on the screen is one I took in Palm Cove. We have a 'procrastination' notepad nearby and of course we have a Geelong premiership mousepad.
Photo 19 - Vinyl collection
We have a huge collection of vinyls, a brilliant eclectic mix of top little ditties from way back. Michael inherited several family member's collections, as did I. My dad was a DJ on the radio back in the 60s & 70s so we have his records too. We love vinyls nights and for my 40th we got everyone to bring their fav record and my dad and Michael played vinyls all night long.....until we got too pissed to change records and craved some 'new' music. You name it and we probably have it.
Photo # 13 - My teapot collection
My teapot obsession began in my early 20s when I was given two novelty teapots for my birthday. I don't even drink tea but love teapots! I bought a few more and people gave me some more and very soon I had too many. My dad brought me back a teapot from England, I have one from USA and one from France. I found the best teapot shop http://tealeaves.com.au/documents/336-Sassafras-Tea-Shop and every time we go to Miss Marples http://www.missmarples.com.au/ I treat myself to a new teapot.
To save room, I then started to collect miniature teapots instead and then miniature tea set and more recently miniature cups and saucers. Emilie has a collection too. On her first easter, the bunny brought novelty egg cups and now she has a growing collection too. Looking at my teapots makes me happy.
Photo #14 - Scrapbooking Albums
I started scrapbooking in about 2000. My friends Lisa got me started and we spent many an evening scrapbooking together. I find scrapbooking very relaxing and get much enjoyment from seeing people flicking though the albums. Unfortunately I don't get as much time to scrap at them moment as I would like to.
Photo #15 - Cupcakes
I just love cupcakes....
Photo #16 - 'Recovery curry'
We cant get enough of this stuff, the hotter the better! We call it 'recovery curry' as we usually have it the night after a big night. Every time I make it Michael says 'best ever".
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/17643/coconut+chicken+and+lime+curry
I use Valcom thai green curry paste and breast fillets, and serve on Jasmine rice Enjoy :)
The SYL challenge for week 5 was to stop and 'catch your breath'. As the week was particularly busy, I didn't really have a big chance to stop and catch my breath at all. I did however find myself reflecting on the previous week's challenges and trying to incorporate some little changes into my days. I took a little more time to looked after myself. I made a bigger effort to spend more quality fun time with Emilie, and it paid off big time in her behaviour. I tried to enjoy the little things more like my walk in the sunshine from the car park to work, taking time to watch the rainbow lorikeets outside my window, doing craft with Emilie and looking through old photos I came across by accident. We stopped procrastinating and bought our new washing machine and vac. How nice it is to have things that work as they should! Just little changes but I felt better. So this challenge is doing something good I am certain of it.
The SYL challenge for week 6 was to set goals and priorities.......this didn't happen either. My week spiralled out of control in so many directions, with so many other challenges and I have no idea where it went! The most significant moment this week happened while I sitting in a boring meeting at work. I received a text out of the blue from a friend who I had being trying to contact since Christmas. She and I were great friends in high school but then sadly we lost contact. We found each other again on Facebook a couple of years ago and when we caught up after 20 years it was still awesome. It was just like old times and we have been catching up ever since including play dates with our daughters who are the same age. She had been through some pretty rough stuff in the years we lost touch including nursing her ill parents and a battle with breast cancer. A text I received from her on Monday was a big shock. She said that she was sorry for the late reply and that she had a lovely Christmas. It went on to say that she wasn't feeling well and now she knows why, because her cancer is back. She closed by saying she is very glad our paths had crossed again. Needless to say I left the boring waste of time meeting immediately to digest her news and text her back. She said she is having tests this week is taking each day as it comes. So, while I didn't actually get to writing down my goals and priorities this week, my friend's text certainly had me re-thinking about what they should be! I planned to go and see her yesterday but she was having tests and tired so I couldn't. I can't wait to see her and give her a big hug and tell her that I too am so glad that we found each other again after such a long time. As for my priorities and goals, I will refer back to the mission statement challenge and the priorities and goals I listed there. I will add one more and that is to enjoy life as much as possible, appreciate the little things more, give back where I can to others and focus on what is positive, pleasurable and nurturing in my life.
Photo # 9 - Pantry door
This is where my calendar hangs, plus cool things Emilie has drawn or written to me. The cat clock is an antique now, an 18th birthday gift from one of my best friends.
Photo #10 - Jack
Michael's 19 year old son who has recently moved in with us. Jack is funny and charming like his dad. When Jack is here so is his sweet girlfriend Shannon. Jack is trying to hide a dodgy hair do in this pic because underneath it looks like someone has hacked away at it with a pair of hedge clippers. It is a busy little house when everyone is home together!
Photo #11 - Brunch
After pulling an all-nighter there is nothing like a bacon and egg brunch
Photo #12 - Our spa and 'terrace'
Our spa and terrace are (which is not really a terrace) has been the scene of many memorable moments, day and night!
Taking a photo a day is easy but finding a quiet moment to upload and write is the challenge for me!
Photo #6 - My hands
I suffer from dermatitis which makes my hands sore, cracked and wrinkly most of the time. I am embarrassed to shake hands or touch people as my hands feel like sandpaper! I am also a chronic nail biter so the only way to stop that was to have fake nails that I have refilled every 3 weeks. I take 45 mins of lovely rare thinking time while someone pampers my nails and paints them with crackle polish. The silver ring is one Michael bought for me for my birthday on one of our annual romantic getaways to QLD. I love it and hardly ever take it off.
Photo #7 - View from my office
No need to say exactly where I work in case I need to bag it out sometime, but here is the view from my office chair. The phone rings about once a week and is always for the person who had the office before me, which suits me fine. I love the colour green, so I try to gather green office supplies. On my desk I have a photo of Emilie, and one of Michael and I looking happy and relaxed in QLD. I am lucky to have a window (my last office didn't have one) which I can only open by climbing onto my desk each morning. There are trees outside and I watch people walking past and birds and butterflies flitting past.
Photo # 8 - Inside our fridge
Deliberately blurred to disguise the fact I haven't cleaned it recently but it actually made it look worse! We have an annoying small 10 year old fridge that you can see is chockablock full! I love to feed people. No matter who arrives or what time of the day or night it is, I can usually pluck something out of our fridge and whip up something yummy to feed them.
Off to whip up dinner :)
About a month ago I came across a lady who is taking a photo a day for a year of things in her life she is grateful for. A very cool idea and her photos are lovely and very inspiring! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alicias-365-Moments-of-Gratitude-Project/16645853341376
I then came across a more manageable challenge, a photo a day for a month that I thought I would start February 1 but then of course doh, I forgot! In the meantime I started doing another mini challenge recommended by Home Life Simplified, http://eringoodman.com/the-10-day-family-re-charge/
Day One of Erin's challenge is to stop and take a look around, take a deep breath and ask myself....what makes me so glad to be here right now? Those who know me well know I am not person who stops very often, so this is perfect for me. I need to stop and create a little time capsule of my NOW, my family, my home, my everyday, and me......so I am going to do a random photo a day for February.
As it is the 5th of Feb today I am playing a little bit of catch up. Here goes....and my first two pics don't require any explanation :)
Photo # 1 - My Miss Emilie
Photo #2 - Mr Michael
Photo #3 - The very cool Eric Clapton
Eric has been a part of my life for 15 years and 3 months. He is is spoilt rotten and people just seem to fall in love with him instantly. He is a friendly, chatty, playful, heating seeker and we adore him.
Photo #4 - My kitchen window sill
As I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and a lot of time at the sink staring out the window, I like to have things on my window sill that I enjoy looking at. My fav photo of Emilie plus a print of her hand that my mum did are always there. There is a plant mum gave me for Christmas, the pet rock from my 40th birthday party and a cute cupcake just because I love them. There is usually a half cut lime or lemon which makes me think of my yummy lime and tomato curry or a refreshing G&T. I also have a Galileo thermometer which I am convinced is broken but it looks so pretty in the light.
Photo #5 - Bed
A place I love to be :)
I wish I could take a photo of the smell of rain through the windows right now!
Ok so NOW I'm on track now for Day 6 of My Photo a Day :)
