New Beginnings

We have a theme in our family right now.  New.

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The SIL moves into her new house this weekend. Currently we are here feeding the out going vendors cat + fish and I’m watching the city fade from view as the rain moves up towards the Waitakeres.

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Zac is taken with China,  the seal point Burmese. She’s lovely,  nearly 18. China is staying for three months too.

I have negotiated a new job,  well in time add my current contact is maternity leave and I have no idea if she will return. Security is worthwhile.

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And creatively,  I’ve been back doing Project Life. Last night I caught up with seven pages so June to August is done. Let’s not mention 2013!

Words to live by

Every now and again I see something on fb that makes me go “wow” (in a good way.  Those other wows are more frequent,  and resulted in a friend clean up).

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This is going in my project life.

And the reason I haven’t blogged much:

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Bloody asthma.

Sorry you missed it…

I’m totally doing this – for my house and one for a workmate’s desk. So appropriate.

Melissa C's avatarMelissa's Needle Work Blog

I printed off a saying for a co-worker for a laugh and she wanted me to stitch it for her.  I found a nice border from a site with historic patterns.  I was working on it at my guild meeting and it got some giggles because it is so true.  I used ThreadworX Chilli Peppers for the border and Woodland Green for the text.

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A Good Life Comes With Effort – explained

I should have elaborated on yesterday’s title and quote.

What does a Good Life mean to me?

  • Family
  • Health
  • A car that is reliable
  • A home that is warm & relatively tidy (I have just about given up on S putting his clothes away daily and am almost resigned to not actually having a seating area in our bedroom)
  • Time for myself
  • Doing my job well
  • Having at least 10 books in my eReader TBR “pile”
  • Having a creative buzz
  • Giving back (in my case I help out with the boy’s league teams where possible; I also worked in the last Census, more for interest in how things happen rather than the $$)
  • Music

It took me a while to understand I can’t be all things to everyone. I tend to find solutions for people both at work and in my private life (butt out!) and I also tend to take comments personally and stew on them more than I should. My goals for right now are the things I know make me happier, and if I’m happy, I can conquer and tolerate just about everything.

  • A little exercise every day. At least over 30% on my Loop!
  • To craft, write or sketch something every day.
  • Laugh about something every day. Today I walked to the mall to get some cough mixture (it’s not working!!!). There was an area by the foodcourt that was all roped off like Santa was coming, so of course I looked. Spongebob, at 10am. I looked at the lady waiting with her 3-4y.o. (in a push chair! No wonder our kids are obese!) then at my watch. 0921. Hmm. Then walking down the concourse I had to step to one side as another lady + pram came running up the aisle. By the time I left the mall the queue was a massive six parent/kids combos. Hardly worth the run!
  • To leave my desk having a plan for the next day.
  • Decent coffee.
  • Quiet time.

Prompt 43: My father used to call it ‘rabbit food’ and as far as Peter Rabbit was concerned it was ‘soporiphic’. What is your opinion of Lettuce – and how do you prefer it served?

This is a weird one, Myfanny. No way to sugarcoat that! I prefer Cos and served in a Caesar. No egg, tho. Alternatively with feta and cherry tomatoes and some of that Paul Newman lite Italian dressing. Nom.

Must plant some seeds this weekend.

a good life comes with effort

Cultivating a Good Life is not stressing about finding the perfect balance but realising that I am good enoughSelena 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.

Hours wasted?

One of the things that has annoyed S about our current home is that the ground was so uneven. It never had that perfect freshly mowed look. Someone would twist an ankle or fall over when playing backyard cricket or league or just being a typical boy. So we’ve spent a fair bit of time and money sorting this out; two retaining walls, new fences, clean fill, top soil, grass seed.

We got a notification that our street was getting high speed broadband. The other side of the street got dug up, we thought Awesome! They left our lawn alone.

Ah, no.

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Gutted.

mad haiku skills

This last week has been a bit of a rush. I clearly didn’t take on board the topic of forgiveness and not holding a grudge, as I was awake all Saturday night so angry at my SIL, who often makes quite derogatory comments very casually and without thought. I had to vent but that went horribly wrong, with me screaming and throwing things at the other half. Not cool. I need to call her on it but I didn’t want to rock the boat at M’s birthday dinner. I’ll have to develop some techniques but right now I have no idea.

The youngest has turned five and LOVES school. He cuddled in last night and went over his homework – hey mum, I get to do this at home too! – and this is a blessing. He got a new, larger, scooter in his haul and wants to ride to school, ‘cause everyone else does (read: five other people in his class do). Grandma will be getting some intense exercise keeping up! I’ll have to take him to the waterfront path at Te Atatu, wide concrete paths and you can see for miles.

Prompt 36: List 5 things you intend to do TODAY

  1. Drink Less Coffee – but sadly this just increased the volume of tea. Helpfully the office coffeemaker went on strike too with a missing seal.
  2. Read – I ploughed through Mary Magdalene by Diana Wallis Taylor. Recommended by a random at the library yesterday. In turn I endorsed the Lineage of Grace series by Francine Rivers that she was carrying. One of the few fiction I HAD to buy in paper format. I’m mad about Ruth. Awesome woman. Did you know she is only one of five women mentioned in Jesus’ genealogy?
  3. Work – although I am very bad at this today. Stupid people are not using the spreadsheets sent to them, so I am constantly going back for more detail. And stupid suppliers are sending stuff we haven’t ordered, despite me nagging them weekly since April. Same sh*t, different purchase order.
  4. Stitch – I have finished the base pieces of my TW exchange (did two as I changed out some colours to suit the second fabric) which leads me onto #5
  5. Research – the person I’m sending to has finishing skills. I need to step up my game (so doing two might be very, very handy) and research some ornie finishing techniques beyond the norm.

Prompt 26: The answer is ‘Yes!’ What is the question?

Do I like to read? Do I flit from project to project? Do I procrastinate on the housework? Do I love my family? Do I have plans for our house? Do I want a new car? Do I want security around my job (I’m on a maternity contract)? Do I like Calvin & Hobbes? Do I like art? Do I like music? Do I need music and art?

This could go on forever.

Prompt 29: List 5 flowers that you love. Are they in your garden? Will they be in your garden? Have they been in your garden? Why are they your favourites?

I’ve always loved the old roses – you know, the ones that SMELL and grow like mad things. At the old house I had an Alberic de Barbier (1900; have to get a cutting) that bloomed from September thru to May every year. S hates it as it has thorns and does grow massively every year. I’m thinking that I would like this on the fence at the front right of the house, at the end of the parking space and spreading out over the shed. The shed might need reinforcements tho.

http://www.rosesnz.co.nz/category-1/50-alberic-barbier.html not the best photo but a good price.

I also have a Fairy rose that I was given when L was born. It’s repotted every few years and I had thought it was dead one house move ago but as I procrastinated (thought of it as housework J) and left the plant alone, a shoot popped up in the garden next to the pot. So it doesn’t look very pretty and I think I should probably just plant it in this garden. Not sure where tho!

Magnolias & Gardenias – I have recently become aware of the beautiful colours and scents. Thinking a magnolia out the front then gardenias along the fence line in between the fruit trees.

I don’t really have other favs. I do not like orchids, or carnations, or lilies and anything else I can pretty much take or leave. Altho I just remembered cherry blossoms. We had a gorgeous tree at Otumoetal and when the wind blew, the petals would float around like confetti.

My planting list is becoming quite large.

Prompt 33:Sand in your toes and grit in the sandwiches. How do you regard the beach?

Beaches for me are cleansing. By the time I’ve walked along the sand, dipped my toes in the sea and just enjoyed, whatever has been bothering me is gone. As I’ve said before Bethells is my favourite “me” beach, but as a family we also enjoy Waiake/Torbay, Cheltenham (very safe for little ones) and the Mount.

Prompt 31: Set 3 goals for next month – these can be home/work/art/journal related – or choose another aspect of your life.

Three – right. Should be easy but I am surrounded by indecision!

  1. Stitch at least 3 times in the week
  2. Sort the kitchen pantry out & make the baking stuff more accessible. Bake!
  3. Start up Project Life again – start with now, work backwards, don’t be focussed on the “picture per day” but on the story as a whole. Complete the journal cards even if I haven’t printed the photo.

Good thing S found my printer cable again. I can’t wait for the android Project Life app – it’s quite tempting to get an iPhone just for this app. Wonder if I could pick one up cheap of Trade Me?

Prompt 35: A Haiku is a simple form of poetry. Three lines – 5 syllables, 7 syllables and 5 syllables. Write one about Summer – this summer or any summer.

Sand between my toes

Wind rippling in my hair

Gulls cry surrounds me

Inspiration from reading

The books that I “keep” and re-read usually inspire something, or are ones that make me think. Lately I’ve been thinking about forgiveness, as I know I truely still hold a grudge against a previous manager, despite the fact that A) I’ve learnt to be a lot stronger mentally, B) that incident didn’t penalise me financially and the agreement reached with employers was beneficial and C) I am far happier now that I was for the last 6 months of that employment.

Holding this grudge benefits me in no possible way. I am very unlikely to come across this woman again yet why can’t I leave it alone in some locked off part of my head?

So on that theme I came across a Christian romance by Susan May Warren. I’ve read some of her other lighter, humourous stories but not following her on FB or Twitter means I haven’t read her in years. This is book one of a series (yay, prefer series with the good authors) and one of the key drivers in the story is forgiveness. As she says in her blurb online (http://www.susanmaywarren.com/books/take-a-chance-on-me) we live in a blame world.

We’re quickly spiraling into a society without mercy. Without grace. Without forgiveness.

So two chapters in I am enjoying this story unfold and the thinking opportunities.