Cultivating a Good Life is not stressing about finding the perfect balance but realising that I am good enough – Selena Sorensen as seen on Becky Higgins’ blog (my capitalisation)

I wrote this yesterday.

Another busy week, just doing normal stuff then preparing for M’s Pirate Party. S hired a bouncy castle from his work and that enabled plenty of playtime – we only used one planned game and left them to it for most of the time. No fights, which I was grateful for, as the kids came from different places, and no injuries other than a graze, which I am also very grateful for. The house is super, super tidy – as evidenced by this morning’s search for wallet and keys.

Rediscovered my love of swimming. The glide though the water and the self-challenging episodes.

I am reading new-to-me Rosalind Lauer, who came up on a search for my current fav, the Amish romance. There is a lot of peace in these novels and I’m enjoying the slower pace. I finished A Simple Winter and am up to A Simple Spring.

Stitching a TW medallion, the lion from her Fantasy Sampler. I’m planning a fairly ornate background, texture in the stitches. I have plenty of the Semco evenweave to play with, after all. As it is a very artificial fabric, you can see thru the gaps so any ornie needs a background fabric then the stuffing, so I feel easy about experimenting. Not colouring within the lines!

INTERUPTION I have just read on the NZ Herald online that Robin Williams has died, likely by his own hand. How bloody tragic and wasteful. I have loved most of his work – at one stage I could quote most of the Genie’s lines thanks to L’s Aladdin phase. And Mrs Doubtfire – classic laughs!

In his own words about addiction: You can’t [deal with it on your own]. That’s the bottom line. You really think you can, then you realise, I need help, and that’s the word … It’s hard admitting it, then once you’ve done that, it’s real easy.

I feel very, very sorry for his family and friends. Obviously it isn’t “real easy”.

Prompt 38: Paint your page any colour you like. Then… make a list of things that are in the contrasting colour (the colour on the opposite side of the colour wheel). You will have to concentrate – or did you find it easy?

I can’t do this online but my first fav is blue, and I think this makes the contrast colour orange? So therefore yams, oranges & other citrus, pumpkins, squash, burger rings, that moustache M wore Sunday after he’d snuck some orange fizzy…

Prompt 39: What is your favourite crafting technique?

Have you not being paying attention?!

Prompt 41: You have just written your first novel. What is it called?

How To Survive Your Kid’s Childhood Without Going (Too) Barmy. Lots of tips, like baby wipes should be brought in bulk and are fantastic for cleaning nearly every mark on the wall; to direct some of your salary to a savings account BEFORE it gets to your main account or otherwise you will live with your child forever; to buy the good wine, you will deserve it. And lastly Nigel Latta’s Ladder of Certain Doom is the bomb. Best Parenting Tip Ever.

Prompt 42: Do you collect things in your purse? Rummage through your purse or your bag and find some receipts. Tell us about at least two of them.

My bag has to hold at least the following items:

• Day planner (personal size)with notes, cards etc. Mine is about 12-13 years old, but leather is wonderfully resilient. I do personalise some pages and download others from Pintrest, but my main calendar is Filofax.
• Cell phone, that should live in my planner but floats about
• eReader – don’t leave home without it!
• Small-ish stitching project
• Notebook or journal & pens
• Chewing gum, in case I get caught out
• Keys to work.

I tend to clean out the receipts daily as I wait for reports to run but there are multiple library check out slips and the last spend at Rebel (footy boots) and Briscoes (frame for a cross stitch).

Prompt 28: You always keep a well-stocked freezer. Today is the day you organise your meals for the week. However, on searching through your stores you discover that ‘miraculously’ all your frozen food has been converted into melon balls. What do you do?

I’m going shopping, that’s what I am doing. I’ve outgrown the Midori phase.

Prompt 43: List 5 things you accomplished yesterday!

1. I planned exercise – a walk to the mall to shop for lunch then later on while Z was training I walked around from Fowlds to the library and back.
2. I ate well – not too much junk and loved the taste of the feta/tomato/chicken combo.
3. As a result of 1, I hit goal on my Polar Loop.
4. I did some stitching, although it was fairly minimal.
5. I wrote up some journaling, although I’m posting it late and after some editing.