Quiet Days

I'm really savouring my quiet days at the moment, knowing they are finally limited and quickly coming to an end.  

Every other Thursday I don't work so an hour of my morning is spent at pregnancy yoga which I find just leaves me feeling so calm and centred for the rest of the day.  So the TV is left off, the washing machine too if I can get away with it, and I spent the day in quiet pursuits.

 

There's usually a bit of knitting happening and the cooler weather means the meow might hang out on my lap for half an hour or so if I'm lucky.  Today I also made some soy candles for my yoga instructor.  I'm still the only one in town doing it, although apparently next week (on the week I can't make it of course) a few of the other pregnant ladies in town are planning on attending.  And because I'm the only one she hasn't accepted any money, saying I'm her guinea pig.  Lucky me! So I thought I'd make her some candles in thanks.

I don't have a book on the go at the moment which is sometimes a good thing because it means I get a lot more done.  If I have a good book it doesn't last very long but on the days I'm reading it a whole lot of not much else happens!

I spent a bit of time out in the veggie garden, giving it a good watering and enjoying the sunshine until the flies were beginning to ruin my calm and I headed back inside.  Hopefully I'll head out in half an hour or so once the flies have left for the evening and before the mozzies come out to spend a bit of time doing some light weeding.  It's a bit of a juggling act to do gardening in between bugs out here.  

Our mulberry tree is having a little spate of out of season mulberries as well.  We had a couple of weeks with a lot of glorious rain and now some lovely low to mid 20's sunny days means that I'm getting a small handful off the tree every few days.

I think knowing these sorts of days will be very much ended for a while in approximately 18 weeks is making them all the more sweet but I am really feeling so recharged after a day of quietness.

The Last Day of the School Holidays

The last official day of the school holidays and I had planned to go into school to continue on from all the work I left strewn out as I tidied and rearranged the furniture yesterday.  But instead I decided to spent it at home, just pottering about.

History says that the last day of school holidays is generally a good day for getting stuff done around the house because I am procrastinating from all the school work I should have done over the break.  Once again it proved true, which was handy because the poor house has been a bit neglected of late.  Yes, one of those items on the to do list is unpack more boxes, because I still haven't finished unpacking everything.  Feeling so sick with morning sickness as I moved out to the country and having problems with dizziness and low blood pressure meant not a lot got done.

Note the school work still isn't done...

I did manage to sneak in a short amount of time doing a bit more knitting though.  This is the beginnings of a baby beanie with ear flaps for my best friend who is due in June.  The pattern is from Patons booklet 8000 and looks very sweet in the picture but I have decided I'm never doing moss stitch in 4ply again, it seems to be taking forever and growing at a very slow rate.  Fingers crossed it actually fits! I'm making it in the 3 month old size so it should do.

I'll head into school tomorrow to finish getting ready for Monday while MR is at work.  It's seeding time out here which means everyone needs/wants tyres changed on their farm equipment and of course, his tyre fitter has just quit.  

No relaxing pottering weekend for him.

Water intake

Since having a liver transplant almost three years ago, I've started to have some problems with my kidneys.  My anti-rejection medication is known to give kidneys a hard time and mine seem to be easily annoyed, along with the rest of my organs, by medication.  There's not a lot that can be done about it, just monitor them and keep my medication levels as low as possible.

One thing I do have to do is drink plenty of water.  Luckily, I already was a water girl and I don't drink tea or coffee and rarely drink soft drinks or juice.  I always have a water bottle with me, wherever I go.  If I forget it I always feel overwhelmed by thoughts of thirstiness until I get somewhere I can get a drink or buy a bottle of water from.  Other days, I just really feel sick of water.  On those days I might have a glass of juice or put a bit of cordial or lemon juice in my water. 

Even still though, sometimes I struggle to drink my two litre target.  I get busy at school or sleep in late or just completely forget to have a drink.  I'm not one to knock back half a bottle in one sitting, I'm more of a small mouthful and often girl.  So if I get busy or forget to have my regular small mouthful some days I only drink about 1400 - 1600mL.  It's a bad day if I drink less than two 750mL bottles.  And I can tell when I haven't had enough to drink.

One thing I'm loving about my fitbit is there is a function on the app that you can track your water intake.  I try to remember how much I've drunk during the day to add that in each evening and then I can graph my results, very interesting to look at (and doesn't that sound nerdy).

I know that people should aim for eight glasses or two litres of water per day but what I'm interested in is how much water do you actually drink?  Do you regularly drink two litres or do you drink much less?  What do you think your average water intake would be?  

Tour Through Blogland

I've been invited on a Tour through Blogland by Michelle from Jarrah Jungle.

I have been following Michelle's blog right back from the beginning, she was one of the first Western Australian bloggers I found and I have been enjoying reading about her home renovations ever since.  Her posts have lots of details and tips about renovating so if you are thinking of doing anything to your house I'd definitely recommend checking it out, as her and her partner have almost finished renovating their entire house and the improvements are amazing!

There are some questions I need to answer for my stop in the tour...

What am I working on?

Currently I am focusing on developing my knitting skills.  My mum tells a story of when I was about three and a half I asked her if I could learn to knit (Mum did a lot of knitting and spinning her own wool when I was young).  Mum told me I could learn when I was four, more as a putting me off tactic I think.  So on my fourth birthday apparently one of the first things I asked was if I could now learn to knit.  I believe I was successful in learning to knit a square.  I probably knitted scarves for my barbie dolls.  But then I forgot.  So I relearned to knit about ten years ago.  And then forgot again.  And then I got into crochet and picked that up so easily.  Knitting is so much trickier for me.  I'm finally on track with it, I have learnt to use circular needles and now I'm learning about using double point needles (dpns).  It's all a bit exciting, I really enjoy learning new things.

At the moment, I'm sticking with beanies.  Yes, it is the beginning of Spring.  A terrible time for beanie knitting.  But it's two weeks until we fly out to Europe so these beanies are going to come in handy for the predicted 15-20 degree maximum forecast weather we'll be experiencing.  

The one above is for me.  My first attempt at dpns and at moss stitch as well.  The one below is for MR, knit up with the possum/merino blend I bought on our holiday to New Zealand last year.

And after finishing the above one last night, I've already cast on the next. A slouchy one this time.  And I'm having a go at casting on with dpns, another new thing for me.

How does my work differ from others?

To be honest, I don't think my work differs greatly from others.  I'm not cutting edge, I'm only trying things that are new to me, not new to anyone else.  

Sashiko on the left, embroidered fabric print on the right which I later turned into a clock

I'll try anything once.  As I mentioned, I love learning new things.  There's been candle making and mosaics, clock creating, drawing with pastels, painting, embroidery, sashiko, amigurumi crochet, occasional sewing, crochet blankets, button creations.  Seriously, the list goes on.  If I'm creating, I'm happy.

Mosaic trivet

My blog is a bit of a mish mash of everything.  The only thing different on my blog to most crafty/lifestyle blogs you'll find out there is that I've had a liver transplant and occasionally you'll come across posts about that and gory scar photos!  Something different but I'm trying to move away from my health ruling my life and my health has been pretty good of late.

Koala amigurumi

How does my writing/creating process work?

I'm a couch creator.  I blog on the couch, I knit on the couch, I embroider and crochet on the couch.  I love my couch.  It is such a comfortable space.  I find typing at a desk leaves me hunched up and slouched and lop-shouldered.  If I'm doing something that I can't do on the couch, like painting, I'll often do it on the floor rather than at the table.  My day job is an early childhood teacher so I'm often on the floor and I'm naturally most comfortable sitting with my legs crossed.

The Pink Blanket

Apart from where you can find me, everything else is up in the air.  I'm a huge fly by the seat of your pants / wing it sort of girl.  Whether it is creating or writing this comes into play.  There are a lot of last minute decisions, spontaneous crafting with not quite the right tools or materials, late night posting or two posts in a day and then none for two weeks.  That's me in a nutshell.  I'd love to say I was organised and had plans and those sorts of things but I've never managed that in my life so far and I think I'm still a while away from getting there!  One day.  We always need goals right?

So I'm a bit different from most of the other high organised bloggers out there on this blog tour.  Not to worry!  Thanks so much for inviting me on the tour Michelle, I've had fun looking back through my creative photos to decide which photos to post.

My two nominees are....

Sally from Virtù

Sally and I met online, soon after we both started blogging.  We learnt to crochet together, by which I mean we emailed back and forth about all the difficulties we were having and we both attempted the same pattern so that we could help each other through reading the confusing terminology!  Nowadays, Sally and I usually see each other once a month at our Brown Owls craft meetup.  She's a pretty awesome lady and my mama inspiration (when I eventually become a mum).

Hiya! I'm Sally from virtù. I began my blog on a whim one night  back when I first started to learn about sewing. It was a way of recording my achievements and a means of connecting with other people. I still remember the absolute elation I experienced when someone commented on my blog for the very first time.  At the time I had two small children and was still getting the hang of being "isolated" at home. 

and

Nicole from dabbling all day 

I initially got to know Nicole through instagram after following her because she was a friend of someone else I followed.  Eventually, I stopped being lazy and clicked on the link to her blog in her instagram profile and low and behold, here was someone a bit like me.  A one fur baby family, a crafter, a much more successful gardener and someone who loves spending time in the kitchen just as much as I do.  She's much more productive and organised than I am though!

I'm Nicole and I blog at dabbling all day. I'm from Melbourne, Australia and live with my partner, BB, and our kitty, Sampson.   I write about all the things I'm dabbling in at any one time, whether it be gardening, crafting, photography, cooking or baking! I'm always up to something.

 

 I look forward to reading your posts next Monday ladies.  

Thank you everyone for coming to visit my little corner of blogland, I hope you come back soon. x

 

 

The One Thing

I saw this post over at A Life Less Frantic through Maxabella's Weekend Rewind.  It's a quiet weekend in these parts, sans MR, so I went on a bit of a journey through blogosphere to catch up and peruse.  I don't often get a chance to join or read the Weekend Rewind so thought I'd randomly click on a handful of new ones.

I've been feeling a bit lacking in the blogging mojo lately, like my content/life is a bit boring and you're all drifting away.  I'm not huge on blogging about current affairs or popular culture as I don't really follow either.  I just float along in my own little world, head in the clouds. 

So seeing these prompts on Kelly's blog inspired me a bit.  Something to write about.  A topic.


The one thing I should do less often is: stay up until midnight and then feel exhausted the next day and achieve a whole heap of not much. 

The one thing I should do more often is: be organised, particularly when it comes to having a tidy house without piles of crap in every corner.

The one thing that always makes me smile is: my cat. 

The one thing that does my head in is: people driving in front of me that tailgate other drivers and then have to press their brake every five seconds so their brake light flashes in my face and I don't know whether I need to slow down or whether they are just being an all out irritating fuck (and that would be me not paying attention to the 'one thing' two down)

The one thing I should eat more of is: vegetables.  If it was 5 fruit and 2 vegetables, I would be sweet.

The one thing I should do to make the world a better place is: be less judgmental of others and remember this -

The one thing I need to remind myself is: stand up straight.  I'm trying to improve my posture before I end up looking like Humpy McHump and it is really hard to remember to stand tall.

The one thing I should do for myself right now is: cook a healthy dinner with lots of veggies

The one thing I should say 'no' more often to is: pastries. 

The one thing I should say 'yes' more often to is: exercise. While I do pilates once a week, do you know, since doing the Run for a Reason in May, I have only been for one walk.  Le slack.



  

Sportmanship is alive and well

Last night I got sucked in to watching The Voice Kids for the first time.  I don't really watch reality TV (apart from The Block) but it was after the first day back at school and I felt the need to be a bit of a zombie brain and the options were slim.

For those who don't watch it either, they were starting to cut down the contestants after the inital choosing. The kids get put in a group of three, sing a song together and then one person gets selected to go through to the next level.

It was one of the most heart warming things I've ever seen.  Those kids, as young as 8 or 9, were so gracious in defeat, so supportive of each other, people they had only spent time with for a week or so.  The looks on the faces of the kids who didn't get through to the next round as the name of the person who was going through was amazing.  Excitement, hands on faces as they jumped for joy, cheering for their mate.  Seriously.  I spent half of the show with tears running down my face out of sheer amazement of how beautiful it was. 

It is such a change from the usual reality TV we see.  Shows where the contestants are bitchy, conniving, false friends, whinging.  Shows that families watch together.  Shows that kids see.  What kind of example are we setting for the next generation when this is the behaviour they see from real people on TV?

Sure, there are exceptions.  The Block has been one of them for me.  The series that I have watched (only two of them) have been filled with laughter, support and minimal bitchiness.  But I'm a bit nervous about where things are going to go this series with the contestants judging each other.  That just has potential for disaster, as proven by other shows such as My Kitchen Rules.  Some people may think this is good watching and obviously with all the ratings these shows get, this is a lot of people, but really, is this the kind behaviour we want to promote?

These kids on The Voice are putting us adults to shame.  And good on them.

  
  

Giddy up

Remember stirrup trackie pants?  I had them as a youngen.  We used to wear them to primary school, I think I was about 8 or 9.  Scrunchy socks scrunched down over the tops of them and a pleated skirt over the top of our thick fleecy track pants because that was cool, right?

Well, I've decided I need to sew myself some stirrup pyjamas pants.  I'm such a restless sleeper, rolling around all over the place and within 5 minutes of getting into bed my pyjamas pants are up above my knees which is just really not useful for icy cold nights or comfortable, ever.

They really are the only solution I can come up with, apart from footed onesies which would need to have a bum flap which would just be a bit awkward. 


What 90's fashion invention do you wish was still around?
 

Bread and Milk

Today I went to the shop for bread and milk.  I told myself I was just going to walk out with bread and milk.  Nothing extra.  Not a thing.

But then the bakery had run out of multigrain bread and I don't like supermarket bread so I grabbed crumpets.  And then as I walked to the milk I passed the fruit and saw a guava so grabbed that too.  On the way to the checkout I passed maltesers on sale and my chocolate stash has diminished a bit lately so I grabbed a pack of them as well.  

I walked out of the shop cursing myself for lack of will power.  Seriously, I do this every time I go shopping.  I know I am terrible at this so when I do a normal sized shop I tell myself, just one thing extra and 99% of the time I fail.  

Of course, as I write this post, I have just finished my guava and am enjoying a little bag of maltesers so they haven't gone to waste so that's good.  On the other hand, MR has won a trip to Europe for us because his business has well and truly met and surpassed their sales targets and reached the level needed to qualify for the trip.  It's all expenses paid (apart from shopping) from what I understand although I haven't really got any information yet so it all seems a bit surreal and unlikely.  But if MR is correct and we are going to Europe (health and doctors permitting in my case) then I need to save some spending money!! The trip is ten days and it falls during the school holidays which is perfect.  I will probably also try to get another week of leave without pay or something, providing we can add on to the trip and visit an adjacent country (so no extra flights) or stay in Germany or The Netherlands (the planned countries for the trip) and do more exploring, all of which will require extra money for accommodation, food and sight seeing (and more shopping!).

My budget is a little bit strapped for spontaneous European holidays however as we've just bought a car and it is using way more petrol than my previous one, something I didn't factor into the planning stage of car buying budget analysis.  But, I do have an extremely big shopping budget, $250 a fortnight for two people, one of which isn't there much.  I've been told this is a bit extravagant but I really like my fruit and pastries.  And I am a bit of a food waster as well.  So the challenge is on.  Stick to the shopping list (with one extra treat), use what I've got in the fridge and start using up stuff out of my overflowing pantry filled with things I might maybe one day need.  I'm going to put my $250 in a separate coin purse and whatever is left at the end of each fortnight goes to the holiday fund. 

Wish me luck! And please, send me any tips you have for cutting your food bill and any things-you have-in-the-pantry recipes.    I started it off last night with my favourite pumpkin soup recipe made with two small $1 roadside veggie stand butternut pumpkins plus a punnet of slightly squishy cherry tomatoes, half a red capsicum which I roasted first and three sticks of celery all thrown in so as not to waste them.  Yum! 6 serves for $2 for the pumpkins, another $2something for sour cream (which I also used in fajitas on Friday) homemade chicken stock which cost nothing and old veggies from the fridge.

Walking past those pastries at the bakery is going to be tough though...

 

Home regrets

Back when we were looking for a house to buy for the very first time, I did a bit of research about what to keep in mind while looking. You know, check faucets, mould, reticulation etc. We already knew we wanted a quiet street or cul de sac, a garage and a shed, space for a veggie garden and at least 3 bedrooms. 

What we didn't know to look for, and I didn't come across anything about this in my research, was north facing houses. 

Our house is west facing, and obviously, you can't always have north facing but the house could be designed to fit the block. In our house the master bedroom is on the south west corner so gets a bit of afternoon sun. The main living area and kitchen are on the east side, and the east and south sides of the house have a big verandah running around them so they get absolutely no sunlight and are always quite dark, even though there are a lot of windows. The main bathroom, one spare room and the laundry are on the north side and get beautiful natural light and warm sunshine. Totally useless! 

It really is my biggest regret about buying this place. It's like we live in a igloo all Winter. 

Thankfully, MR pruned the big bush outside our bedroom window yesterday so the afternoon sun can get in and warm it up and I'm lying on my bed typing this at 4pm without the need to be in pyjamas, uggies and a dressing gown, my usual household attire. 

Luckily, at the end of the year I'll (hopefully) be moving to a house that is filled with beautiful natural light and warmth and is a big long north facing rectangle. Thank goodness!

What's your biggest regret about your home purchase? 

Goodbye old car...

 

You've treated me well over the past eight years.  I've loved you well and washed you little.  I'm sorry.  You've never broken down on me in 218,000 km.  You may have hit three kangaroos on separate occasions and left me stranded with a rather stoved in front half in the middle of nowhere at about 8pm one night but it wasn't your fault you were a roo magnet.

Note to self, when you hit a kangaroo and notice that your car temperature level is increasing dramatically, make sure you take note of approximately where you are so that when you call friends to come and rescue you and they ask that all important question, your answer is not a high pitched "On the side of the road next to a really big tree."  So helpful.

And hello new (to me) shiny sporty car!

 

Happily, mine and MR's idea of a good car for me matched up perfectly, right down to the colour.  Working three days a week does not create a budget allowing for sports car purchases so we bought it together.  Our first joint big joint purchase/loan! 

It's been a bit of an exciting week hooning driving this baby around.  It's a 2011 Subaru WRX.  It has leather seats and sat nav and cruise control and bluetooth phone hands free things.  I thought the air con was on crack because it kept stopping being cold but MR informs me it is actually just rather clever and has climate control so when it thinks the car has reached that temperature it stops cooling it.  

It's been on one trip out to country town home and it has got some quite powerful acceleration happening.  Overtaking is very easy and quick.  There wasn't really any speeding because of the double demerits I'm a responsible driver but I did have fun slowing right down and then speeding up to the speed limit on some straight empty country roads.  I took my sister for a drive and there may have been some mad cackling from both of us while on those straight country roads.  Mum declined a test drive...   

 

Things that happen when you watch too many movies

MR and I are often found of a weekend on the couch watching a movie. We have 4 drawers full and overflowing of movies and 2 shelves of TV shows on DVD.  MR likes to watch movies to unwind after a busy week working way too many hours and I like to feel like I am efficiently and productively multitasking by watching TV and crafting at the same time.*

While we may or may not be as bad as some when it comes to movie quotes making up a part of your everyday conversation, we do have a few we use on a regular occurrence.

I'm not going to tell you what they are right away, but I will put them down the bottom.  It's always nice to have a guess and feel excited if you know what movies they are from.  Well, I think so anyhow.

"Aziz, light!" or just "Aziz!" (mainly when I don't turn the bedside light off because I'm not ready to sleep but MR is.  And it is ALWAYS me who is never ready to sleep.)

"Llama face"

"ChickUN"

"Uno mas"

"Iiiice" - this one originated whilst in New Zealand and was shouted by the first person to spot the latest ice capped mountains of the day/hour. Needless to say, it got a lot of use in the South Island during our October holiday and caused much hilarity. 

I don't actually use this one but it is my all time favourite movie quote: "I shall go down in history as the man who opened a door!"

And MR, his brothers and friends have a habit of quoting Team America sayings to each other as greetings on the phone. I haven't seen it though so it loses a bit in translation.

So how did you go?  Did you recognise any of the movies?  Are any of them your favourite movies as well?

"Aziz, light" - The Fifth Element

"Llama face" - The Emperor's New Groove

"ChickUN" - The Fifth Element
"Uno mas"  - Shangai Noon

"Iiiice" - Cool Runnings

"I shall go down in history as the man who opened a door!" - Ever After

What movie quotes make it into your everyday conversation?

  

 

* I've somehow almost completely fooled myself that TV watching and craft doing simultaneously does equal efficient productiveness so please don't tell me otherwise. 

Lately...

Crafting...
Sewing date and lunch with some lovely friends at my place.  I almost got this quilt that I started at the beginning of last year finished, only about 20 cms of stitching the binding on to go and I'm embarrassed to say, it is still not finished!  I put it down after the girls left because I had some school prep to do for the next day.  Must. Finish!

The Bertie Blankie is going well, I am getting a bit more done most nights of the week.  I'm getting close to being half way there and in even better news, I'm not yet bored of it! 

Watching...
The Block (the first reality TV show I've been sucked into, ever!)


The Riddick movies

Thor: The Dark World


Reading...
The Gentleman Bastard Series, Books 2 and 3.  If you like a bit of a fantasy/intrigue/con artist sort of thing this series by Scott Lynch is pretty great!!  I found out about it via a review by one of my favourite authors, Patrick Rothfuss, on Goodreads.  How exciting is it to see what your favourite authors like to read?  He rated the first and second books with five stars so I thought I'd give it a go and I'm glad I did.

and now back on to the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.  I got book 13 for Christmas and it's the final in the series but I'm determined to reread them all before reading the last one so I am all up to speed and know exactly where everything has been left off.  No missing important bits here just because I've forgotten them!  I just started book 5 last night.  Do you reread series when the next in the order comes out? 

Baking...
Banana and raspberry bread

My comfort food - sago  

Anzac biscuits for MR, and using my new biscuit barrel for the first time.

Pancakes, the last three weekends in a row!!

Growing...
My pumpkin is looking more pumpkinly every day.  Unfortunately only one flower was pollinated so there's only one pumpkin.  My dad told me (way too late to do anything about it) that I should have pollinated the female flowers with the male flowers by hand but unfortunately I really am a gardening novice and had no idea there were female and male flowers on the same plant and just thought all the flowers should turn into fruit through immaculate conception.  Clearly not.  I will know better for next time a pumpkin plant decides to grow in my garden.  Especially now that I have googled it and know how to do it and tell the two different flowers apart.

What exciting things have been happening in your world lately?

  

A rose by any other name

This year at work I don't have my own class.  I'm the DOTT (Duties Other Than Teaching) provider for the Early Childhood area.  Which means I take each class while the teacher goes out to do planning.

I still get to keep my own room though and the students come over to me, which is nice not running around but also means I have to make three classes worth of name tags.  Most Kindy kids certainly can't write their names and Pre Primary students often need it written in front of them to copy to make sure they put all the letters in and in the correct order.

So I've got all the class lists in front of me and I'm typing them into my document and some of the names this year!!

There's the names when you look and them and wonder, is that a girl or a boy (it's fun to guess before you look across to see). Brooklyn, Bobby, Darcy, Ghadeer, Jordan - have a guess and see down the bottom for the answer.

And then the names in which you have to guess the pronunciation.  Those are fun too.  My pearlers for this year are Aania (a-NIA ?), Sheinna (SHE-na ?), Jatin (JAY-tin ?), Ginalen (GIN-a-len ?).

And the ones that rhyme or sound similar.  Jaylen and Kaelan (both in the same class), along with Brayden, Hayden and Jaiden, thankfully not in the same class.  Also across the classes I have a Shantae (pronounced Shone-TAY), Jonte (pronounced JOHN-tay), Shenae (Sha-NAY) and a Shanzae (she's new so no idea).

I also have students named Chardonnay and Rhythm.  Who am I to judge I suppose,  it certainly keeps things interesting.  And better than having to deal with Bob X, Bob Y and Bob Z.  Although I do also have two Tristens in one class and two Hannahs in another.

My strangest named student ever was called Ned, surname Kelly.  I kid you not.


 

  

Brooklyn - boy
Bobby - boy
Darcy -girl
Ghadeer - girl
Jordan - girl

Did you get them right?
  

2014

Just near Huka Falls, Taupo, New Zealand.  So pleased we made it there in 2013 - twice!

So it's here already and I didn't even manage one post in December.  And only 33 posts for the entire year.  Terrible!  Must work on that this year.

I'm looking back at my post of goals for 2013.  It's actually quite nice to have it all listed down (even though I didn't get through much) just to see what I wanted to achieve, what I did and what I didn't.  My word - organise.  Pretty much utter failure.  Apart from organising my finances.  In 2013 I managed to pay off my credit card.  Something I haven't done since getting a credit card 13 years ago at 19.  A big achievement for me.  I'm also saving towards a new car at the moment and MR and I managed to save up for a holiday to NZ in October.  I'm pretty pleased with achieving our financial goals.  It's quite nice to feel (a little bit) financially responsible.

As to the other goals, I also did the Run for a Reason again and I did manage it at faster than 50 minutes - 37 minutes this time!  Maybe better again for this year?


So on to the future.  I'm scrapping the word.  I never even remember the word.  And I work better on small achievable goals.  So here's my list of them.

- learn how to bake (good) bread from scratch
- keep my credit card paid off
- submit my picture book manuscript (I just keep putting this off, fear of rejection and all...)
- tidy out my craft room (determined!!!)
- make a crochet blanket for my house
 

Of course, in the back of my head are those typical resolutions of get fit! exercise! be active! and I'm always hopeful on that front but 32 years of it not happening yet may just win over once again.



What are the small things you want to achieve this year?
 

A milestone reached

High Four for Responsibility!*

I think I may have finally reached the milestone of Official Responsible Adulthood.  I certainly feel responsible anyhow.

How did I get here you ask?

Well, it wasn't turning 18.  Nor moving out of home.  It wasn't buying a car.  It wasn't my first holiday overseas without my family either. Or finishing uni, getting a job and moving a three hours drive away from anyone I knew. 

This week marks the week that I paid off my credit card for the first time since I got one when I was 19.  That's 13 years folks.  13 years of paying off bits and then spending more, repeated ad nauseam.

Hooray!  I can't describe just how chuffed I am with myself that I didn't spend my tax return on a Thermomix or a fancy new blender (my two initial thoughts of how to use it).

This means that as of now, apart from about $500 of HECS debt (uni fees for those nonAU people), I am completely debt free.  Admittedly, MR has lots of debt because he bought our house but it was his decision to not do a joint mortgage. 

The opportunities are endless.  Unfortunately, now I feel like I have lots of spare money because I have an empty credit card so I need to get onto reducing my limit quick smart before I belie my above claim to responsible adult-ness.   I do however have a bit of extra cash each pay that used to go towards paying off my credit card which I'm going to save all of and, oh all right, some of and put it towards a deposit for a new car (and some more debt). 

The other bit, if I'm entirely honest, will most likely be blown wildly on new clothes that I don't need and craft stuff that I don't use.  Just like usual.


Maybe I still have a little way to go...


 
Do you feel like a responsible adult at least some of the time?  Did you have a defining moment of reaching that milestone? 



 
* I may have been struggling to find a relevant photo and Meow has such cute fluffy paws...

Trend setting

One of my students wears a cat ears headband which she has been wearing on and off for the entire school year.  It usually gets worn to school once or twice each week (or our two and a half days at Kindy).  It looks pretty much exactly like this set, but nowadays much more tatty.

She wears it inside (I don't mind), outside (over the top of her bucket hat), at rest time on the mat.  I'm sure she wears it quite a bit in other places when she is not at Kindy.

She has never lost it, which I think is quite a good feat for a Kindy child to have managed. 

Back in Term 3 I noticed another girl wear a set of cat ears to school one day in a different colour.  And then a few weeks after that two more did the same.  There are now about five girls in my class who occasionally wear these cat ears headbands to school.

It had never really occurred to me that trend setting can start at that age.  Maybe as a child I saw a girl wearing something I liked and wanted one myself, I don't know - I can't remember my Kindy years.  I remember when I moved towns in Year 3 and at my new school the fashion was for wearing your pleated skirt over your trackies in Winter.  And when we moved again when I was in Year 5, the fashion was for surf brands, which I never had.

How old were you when you first wanted something another child was wearing?  Or were you that child that everyone wanted to be just like?


 

Life lessons

Last night I was just about to fall into bed when I realised I had yet to take off my makeup. And I wondered, why don't I ever take it off as soon as I get home? Instead, every makeup wearing night I ponder the actual harm of going to bed in it. And sometimes, even though I know better, I still do.

It got me thinking about other little life lessons I am still working on learning. Things I know I should do but am just not quite there yet...

Like:

Put it away once you're finished with it.

Case in point: look at all those things I hadn't put away until
yesterday when I cleaned my desk.

If you don't try it won't happen. 

Eat five serves of veggies every day (yesterday's pitiful effort was a big fat zero).

Everyone is neither talking about you or judging you.

Don't put off til tomorrow what you can do today.

Every hour of sleep before midnight is worth two after it. 

Exercise regularly.

Of course, after making that depressing list that makes me sound like a fussy make up wearing five year old, I had to counter it by listing the life lessons I have learnt... 

Appreciate the small things. 

Have regular conversations with your partner. 

Take time for yourself (I do this way too well). 

Do things you enjoy. 

Pity I still sound like a fussy make up wearing five year old (with a boyfriend). 

What makes your lists of still learning and achieved?

  

Shopping for an occasion

Not too long after my transplant a few years ago, I found myself out at the shops looking for a whole new set of clothing for a particular occasion.  The occasion of having to be stuck in hospital and wanting to wear something other than pyjamas. 

Now don't get me wrong, I do love my pyjamas and happily wear them all day when I'm not feeling the best.  But sometimes you have visitors, or want to pop down to the cafeteria for something more palatable than the hospital meal you've been served.  And sometimes you just want to have proper clothes on in the off chance that the doctors will look at you, see that you're dressed, presume you are well and send you home.*

Winter hospital clothing is quite easy, trackie dacks or yoga pants, a few loose tees and some cardies or zip up jackets.  Jumpers are no good due to cannulas sticking out of your arm in awkward places and having your obs done every hour or so.  I also like to buy the stretchy crop top bras because they are more comfortable to lounge around in if you feel the desire to bother putting one on.

Summer hospital attire is a little bit more difficult.  There really is nothing that compares in comfort and coolness to a pair of boxers.  I've purchased a few trial items such as knee length trackies but am still looking for just the right garment for the bottom half.  Yoga pants sometimes work okay as the air con is usually set to The North Pole.

Luckily at the moment it is Winter and my wardrobe now has sufficient amounts of trackie dacks and loose tees.  Luckily, I was up to date on my washing.



Have you ever shopped for a strange occasion?







* unfortunately this has not yet happened to me.

Wear, wash, iron, repeat

via

I have been known, once in a while, to insanely purchase clothing items that need ironing. 

I know, I know. 

I wear, wash, iron and repeat a few times and then I tend to get a bit stuck between the wash and iron stage of the cycle.  It's not because I hate ironing because I don't.  It's a much worse reason.  I am a bit of a lazy bum. 

This weekend I decided to do some ironing because MR needed a shirt ironed and I thought well, while I have it out I may as well do the rest.  There wasn't that much really.  Two dresses and a pair of pants of mine and six shirts of MR's.  And, wouldn't you know it, another pair of pants I forgot I even had.  I was ironing a pair of grey pants and tried to work out when I wore them last.  I think it was last Winter.  I thought to myself I should have bought a pair of these in black, these are nice pants. Continued ironing a couple more shirts and then what do you know, the next thing in the stack is a pair of black pants of the same style of the grey ones.

On the plus side, my work wardrobe options have just increased a lot more.




Are you a bit slack in some areas? Come on, make me feel like less of a lazy tart.

New Frontiers

A friend of mine who is very fashionable buys almost all of her day to day clothes online.  And a lot of her going out clothes too.  She has labels she sticks with that she knows her sizing in and waits for the sales to hit the online store and then stocks up on mid range designer label items at not so high prices.

Even jeans.

I, on the other hand, have only once purchased an item of clothing online that I can remember.  It is a tshirt that I bought from etsy about 2 years ago with a cute tree print on it.  It is slightly too big, very thin and strangely (as usually I find the opposite to be the case) way too long.  I wear it over a singlet to pilates and this works fine. 

The thought of purchasing jeans online leaves me incredibly perplexed.  How is such a thing possible?? My friend is on the short side so does not have to worry, like I do, about the length of the leg being long enough.  But she also doesn't seem to worry about the online jeans purchase being bum flattening, or bum unflattering or for that matter, bum fattening.

And not only does she purchase jeans online, she also buys dresses.  Usually she likes to try the dress on instore first but on the occasion of the store not being located in WA, she is generally quite happy to just buy the dress anyhow.

As she explains this to me, and I look at her with an expression of dubious nature, my brain wonders if a) I am a particularly odd body shape that finds picking out clothes difficult; b) she is just the perfect body shape for most clothing brands; c) I am just incredibly fussy and picky or; d) she is just super self confident and happy in herself.

After pondering on this for a while momentarily I believe it is a hefty dose of c and a smaller combination of the rest. 

This phenomenon is not just isolated to my friend.  My sister is somewhat shoe obsessed and has taken to purchasing online brands of shoes unavailable in WA.  This is even more inconceivable to me than online jeans purchasing but I know this to most definitely be because I am incredibly fussy and have feet that blister up each season whether it be the change from havianas to my oldest most comfortable ballet flats or the reverse. 


So, I've decided to give this online shopping thing a try again. 

What I'd really like to buy but will not without trying it on

 
With another tshirt.  And one that is on sale!  I really don't think I will ever progress to jeans, dresses or shoes online unless I am purchasing an exact identical version of one I already have because I love it so much that I want it in a different colour or a spare one for when the first dies.  I suppose it helps that looser style tops are rather fashionable at the moment so it doesn't matter if the tee is too big. 

One cute tee coming to a letterbox outside my house soon

So here's my choice.  Stay tuned for a review of fit and liking of style once it arrives.


Do you buy clothes online?