My new cerebral hangout - thought-provoking and tear-jerking.

I found my way to a truly thought provoking website. I really wish I could remember how I found it. If I saw it on your blog/website - thank you! From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Marc and Angel Hack Life

It's a blog written by a couple who  

 "enjoy sharing practical thoughts on a broad range of topics pertaining to life, hacks, productivity, aspirations, health, work, tech and general self improvement. We promise you will not find a regurgitation of someone else’s point of view on our site."

I have read through about six posts and I am drawn to their questions. They are percolating in my subconscious and are waiting for me to address them.

If you are still here - here are some of my favourites, thus far.

1. Nobody is perfect, and nobody deserves to be perfect.  Nobody has it easy.  You never know what people are going through.  Every one of us has issues.  So don’t belittle yourself or anyone else.  Everybody is fighting their own unique war.
   
2. Crying doesn’t indicate that you’re weak.  Since birth, it has always been a sign that you’re alive and full of potential.
   
   
   
   
   
3. If a person wants to be a part of your life, they will make an obvious effort to do so. Don’t bother reserving a space in your heart for people who do not make an effort to stay.
   
4. No matter how much progress you make there will always be the people who insist that whatever you’re trying to do is impossible. Or they may incessantly suggest that the idea or dream as a whole is utterly ridiculous because nobody really cares. When you come across these people, don’t try to reason with them. Instead, forget that they exist. They will only waste your time and energy.

 All images and questions are from - http://www.marcandangel.com/2010/03/29/25-beautifully-illustrated-thought-provoking-questions/

The calm after the storm.

Last night we had epic storms with thunder, lightening and hail. I was dreading today. Nothing like a three year old boy cooped up at home.

But we were blessed with this...

4th of July - Kiwi style.

The Amerikiwis decided to celebrate Independence Day in NZ and invited us to a Sparkler Extravaganza!

Picture ten under fours, assorted parental units, root beer floats, cupcakes, pyjamas, slippers, sparklers and the front yard in the dark and cold.

They played tag, played with the sparklers, watched a few fireworks, laughed, giggled and monkeyed around.

Pretend tea was made and shared, Snail had a birthday cake and Monkey asked the whole party to stop and blow out the pretend candles. A few tears were shed, lots of kisses and cuddles shared. Happy 4th of July!

Enjoying Root Beer floats (Although he was convinced it was wine!)
And wouldn't you kill for BusyIzzy's hair?
Also note the new slippers - the only size 11 slippers in the store!

Pre-sparkler running -
No sparkler pics though as all the mums and dads were panicking about burns!

 

 

 

Happy hyper kids ready to go home after a great night of sparkler fun.

Nothings and Yesthings

As Monkey says we have been up to nothings but yesthings has been done too. He prefers to use the word yesthings for something. No idea why, it's up there with him being refused (confused) by things. It makes sense to him and we're just going with it...

He is right though, we haven't been up to much really. Just spending time together, having fun and trying to get our house into some semblance of order. It's been long overdue. Our house had become the type of house that you see on the not so flattering TV shows... The type where they bring in the storage specialists but not quite the exterminators.


But now it's looking much better and I am getting a lot better at throwing things out, even if there is some form of sentimental value attached to it. Note to self and Captain Awesome though - ruthless culling of belongings is best not undertaken just before Aunty Flo arrives. Panic attacks and tears will be avoided if we time it slightly better next time.

There are no pictures yet but there will be once we are done!

We have completely revamped our master bedroom, the entry hall has been de-childified as much as we can and will be sporting a gallery area for all Monkey's artworks, the guest bedroom has been returned to a semblance of order as the "Library" and the linen closet is now home to less shoes, tidier linens and Monkey-overflow. Soon Monkey's bedroom will be tidier, easier to keep tidy and be home to a wardrobe cubby/nook and a pin-board for all the postcards he gets from family overseas.

We are also gearing up for our weekend in the Wairarapa! For my non-NZ readers, the Wairarapa is a beautiful part of the world with open plains, rolling hills, wild oceans and vineyards! Truly one of my favourite parts of the world!

PS: I am writing this on my new netbook - Captain Awesome has bought me a cute little Samsung and I love it! He really spoils me and I am not entirely sure why

xx

Combat Coffee in Afghanistan!

Stepping away from the admittedly awesome family stuff for a minute or two, Stud1 showed me this video last night and I had to share. It made me laugh out loud and even though it uses F**K the same way a high schooler uses "Like" it is awesome!!

So shoo the kids out of the room, or pop in the ear phones and put down the coffee...

Kristen's comment below got me thinking and googling and I found this Green Beans Coffee's Cup of Joe for a Joe, for US$2 you can buy a soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan a cup of coffee.

April 10 2011 - Monkey is 3!

The day had the opportunity to start badly - given my Facebook status of "FUCKING ICING" at 10pm last night. But Stud1 worked his magic and the pirate ship cake was no longer a... um... ship-wreck...

Monkey woke up to a room of balloons (or forty to be exact) and his chosen breakfast of oats and berries. Stud1 was rather disappointed at the chosen breakfast - I'm guessing Monkey will be prepped for the next year to say "cinnamon buns and bacon" 

He was slightly disconcerted that the birthday fairies hadn't arrived but after breakfast he walked into the lounge and they had snuck in and left a pile of goodies.

Then it was time to open all the presents.

He was spoilt rotten.

Thank you to Nyamanyama and Gramps for the clothes, book, pirates and the 3D puzzle, to Aunty Sharon and Aunty Jacolien for the shark t-shirt, and other awesome shirts (You have no idea how much Mummy loves them!!) Aunty Sarah and Uncle Richard for the pirate ship puzzle, Nanna for the Gruffalo DVD and the moon hopper (my current favourite) and of course Mummy and Daddy for the guitar, meccano and wobble stilts.

We packed the car and set out to the park. I commandeered a table while Stud1 hauled all the food and goodies to the table. After we set up and all the guests arrived, we had a ball! There was laughing and chasing and Miss Amerikiwi was very brave to be out with the boys , even, with her broken collar bone.

 

 

I think all the kids had such fun and I hope the grown ups did too!

Highlights included - 

• Monkey singing happy birthday to himself in the middle of the field and singing the  same line OVER and OVER again.
• LittleRod giving everyone kisses and letting Littlest Amerikiwi have a ride on his trike.
• Neo looking for the trains
• Monkey opening BusyIssy's present (wrapped in jellybean wrapping paper) and saying - "Snail* was wrong! There's no jelly beans in here"
• Any number of falls off bikes and trikes with no tears
• The littlest members of our group wearing pirate hats and looking adorable!
• Monkey calling for all the other children at the park to join him opening his presents.
• Coffee Group Girls - you rock! Nothing more to say! You rock!

And then this evening we went out for dinner to Lone Star and they gave him a T-shirt to commemorate his 3rd birthday. We had a lovely dinner and he was impeccably behaved.

Then the cherry on the top of an amazing day was when he thanked me for a perfect day, marvelled at all the stars he could see and made a wish on the shooting star he swore he saw!





*Snail - imaginary friend, who recently acquired a brother and an ability to fly and two feet.

**More photos to follow tomorrow.

The week ahead

• I will get back on the wagon, so to speak and I will do my best. 
• I will exercise.
• I will plan our menus and do a decent grocery shop.
• I will work out what part of the crazy in my head is real and what is not.
• I will try to purge the crazy. (Are you bracing for another post that starts with a disclaimer?)
• I will growl less and cuddle more.
• I will be heard and understood.
• I will be kind to myself.

I will ponder these quotes and try to find the meaning of them in my life....

To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform.
- Theodore H. White

So what do we do? Anything. Something. So long as we just don't sit there.
If we screw it up, start over. Try something else.
If we wait until we've satisfied all the uncertainties, it may be too late.
- Lee Iacocca  

“When things go wrong, you'll find they usually go on getting worse for some time; but when things once start going right they often go on getting better and better.”

- CS Lewis  

Edible hugs are my nemesis.

Now that I have adopted a healthier eating plan and am doing more exercise, I am left with one problem.

I will use the word "problem" because it is one. A big one. I used to reward myself with food. And console myself with it. Pretty much everything is was linked to food.

It still is.

It has been very hard not to go back to the old me and eat a bar of chocolate after a workout. Even if I DO deserve one for doing what I aimed to do. It's been hard not to have a super deluxe coffee with extra syrups etc, because I've been having a rough day with Monkey...

I don't know how to get past that need for an edible hug. The edible hugs are almost instant and relatively cheap. Magazines, books, DVDs are neither of those.

Am I too old to need a reward? 

Should I just make myself a sticker chart?

I hope that soon that crap about the exercise is the reward will actually be true. Or that life will just make me feel better - like that muffin did when the shit hit the fan at home/work/tv? 

But until then what do I do without my edible hugs?

Smaller - Update 28th January 2011

I have been trying to work out regularly using EA Active 2. (I am not being reimbursed by EA at all). I have managed about eight workouts in the past two week and have actually enjoyed them. I am not pushing myself as that would just set me up for failure. My aim is to burn 400 calories this week and try to get to 500 next week etc. I time the workouts for when Monkey is napping and I do a 20 minute session. 

Now... has it helped? Yes! 

Has the diet change helped? Yes!

Has changing from full fat milk to trim helped? Yes! 

Here are my measurements from the first of January:

Waist: 115cm

14th Jan

Waist: 110cm

Butt: 137cm

Thigh: 82

28th Jan:

Wasit: 107cm

Butt: 135cm

Thigh: 76cm

So although the kilograms haven't changed by much (not ready to share that) I did buy two shirts that were a size smaller than I expected to fit into and my freshly washed jeans fitted without the usual warm up period or a need for a shoe horn!

I am feeling proud!

Wordless Wednesday - a day late due to a late night :)

ASB Garden Magic

A parcel arrived today... - Edited :D

A month or so ago, I nominated Sarah's blog in the "I LOVE YOUR BLOG" competition over on Kiwi Mummy Blogs. I truly do love her blog. It was one of the first Kiwi blogs I started following...

But as fate would have it, there were prizes for nominators (who knew that was an actual word??) too. My name was drawn out a hat and I received these awesome gifts in the post today.

As my photography is dodgy at the best of times... I'll describe them too - a handmade tote bag, coin purse and a plastic bag holder, which, strangely, is an exact match for my orange wall in my kitchen!  Also note Monkey trying to tell me to take a photo of the pretty flowers.

The tote was made by the talented Miriam at Make It Give It and the coin purse and shopping bag holder were made by the very clever lady over at Vintage Mum, Modern Child.


So I would like to thank Miriam, Vintage Mum and Kiwi Mummy Blogs for making my day and making me super-special as I walked around town today with my gorgeous new bag.


**Edited due to my confusion as to who made which aspect of the parcel... Sorry if I caused anyone any hurt.**

LJx

My most precious gift

It was my birthday on Sunday. We had a quiet day at home, except for the emergency run for more swan plants as our caterpillars decimated our original forest. 

Presents-wise I bought myself a rocking chair from an op shop and love it. Monkey and Stud1 bought me a silicon whisk and bath products from Lush. I am also hoping to have a reiki treatment soon... But these weren't the most precious gift.

It arrived on Monday, in an innocent envelope. It was from my Mom, a cross stitched card that she had made. The outside was beautiful but the words on the inside, touched my heart and made me cry. 

It isn't often that parents tell their adult children that they are proud of them.

An A-ha Moment

Yes, I sound like Oprah. But it was an a-ha moment of note. Although, most of you would probably refer to it as a "Well d'uh" moment. But please bear with me...

Today Stud1 needed a lift to work. Instead of sighing etc I decided that Monkey and I would take the opportunity to do something fun and spontaneous. We packed some supplies (well Stud1 and Monkey did, while I got dressed) and headed to Eastbourne. We parked and walked to the local cafe for a coffee and fluffy. We then made our way to the park and played for about an hour before we headed to the beach. It was a windy day so there was no one else on the beach. It was perfect. We took our shoes off and explored under the wharf and picked up driftwood. Monkey explored a driftwood shelter someone had built. When he was tired of walking we sat down and watched the waves while having a snack.

Sitting there, quietly, listening to the waves, watching the ferry sailing out to the Cook Straight - it hit me. I never felt at home in the UK due to the fact that I didn't live near the sea. Which explains why I feel at home here in NZ... I need the sea and mountains. I grew up within fifteen minutes of the sea and the mountains. They are an integral part of my make up. 

I feel more at peace (and happier) when I am standing barefoot on the sand. I feel the energy of the universe. 

That feeling has stayed with me all day and I was even inspired to try doing an excercise routine...  (That would be an Uh-oh moment)

Now all I need is a house by the sea...