Feeling grateful and reflective

I'm not whingeing today. phew. Thank heavens the 'woe is me it's raining too much' episode was short lived. I'm not very tolerant of myself when I'm in a mood. Good thing my family is *very* tolerant - or blissfully ignorant ;) which is much more likely.

Been thinking today about what my 'one word' for 2008 might be. "Peace" has served me well in 2007, even though I don't think I've tried very hard with it. There are a few new words in contention, but unless I'm struck by a flash of inspiration in the next couple of days I may well stick with 'peace' for another year.

The end of a year always makes me think hard. Here are some quotes that resonate for me today, from a new site I've discovered.... http://www.inspirationpeak.com/

"This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good." Author Unknown

"I will not die an unlived life. I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise. I choose to risk my significance; to live so that which comes to me as seed goes to the next as blossom and that which comes to me as blossom, goes on as fruit." Dawna Markova

peace and love
xxxx

ps we're heading home tomorrow so there will be photos soon :)

Noosa

is not as much fun when it's raining non stop. The really sad thing is I'm probably the only one going stir crazy. Mark, Ruby and Max are relaxed and chilled and still swimming every day.

We've had Christmas at Noosa - a rare Christmas adventure on our own. It's been peaceful and quiet, just what we wanted.

On Christmas Day we had long and leisurely lunch at the Boathouse Restaurant - it was perfect. The food was delish and the views up and down the river were beautiful. We all had a really lovely time and Ruby and Max were pleased to be able to take a few special toys from Santa with them so they could play between courses.

Even though it's been raining every day, and is progressively getting more and more set in as the cyclone is building up off the coast :O, we've been out and about quite a bit this week - to the movies (we loved the Bee Movie), to the river, to UnderwaterWorld......specifically to see the Crawly Creatures exhibit. There's a lot of hype about this exhibit but there's really very little to it. The most impressive of the crawly creatures were the BIG spider crabs. They were incredible. Ruby's favourite animals at Underwater World was the seals and the hermit crabs and Max's faves were the clownfish and the spiders (even though we didn't actually see spiders). My faves were the spider crabs and Mark's were the otters. I don't think the otters looked very happy though. Their enclosure was small and grubby.

We braved the shops today. Mad but true. I really wanted to buy some new runners so we all tripped down to Sportsco and I happily bought the most expensive shoes on the 40% off table. They were a good buy and are unbelievably comfortable. If they weren't so ugly, like all runners are, I'd wear them all the time.

I've taken a *lot* of pics but can't download them to the laptop, but will definitely post some when we're home in a day or two.

Hope your Christmas was happy and sane.
xxxx

Christmas in the city

We made our annual Christmas pilgrimage to the city yesterday to look at the big tree, the beautiful lights, the Myer Christmas windows and to ride the Santa Express. It's a good tradition that Mark and I started the year of Ruby's first Christmas. The kids love it. I love it too. We went with our good friends Jan, Col, Ella and Huddy and another dear little boy called Nathan. It was nice to have dinner together in the Queen St Mall as all the lights were coming on around us. The kids had a great time running around, going a wee bit mad and crashing into people who were walking through the Mall.









I think the green heart is a new addition to the tree. I love it. I wonder who thought to add it. It's a lovely touch.

My fave decorations are the reindeer. They look best at night time when they are all lit up and glowing. Beautiful.

Christmas seems more frantic than ever this year. Sadly. I'd love some moments of quiet through the madness but I can't see it coming for a while yet.
We're off to the shops this morning to buy a few more gifts and then this afternoon, we're all excited about going to see The Wiggles.

peace and love to you
xxxx

The answer to the big question

....did you watch Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy? If you did, you'll know that the answer is 42. But maybe you don't know the question. I don't think Arthur ever found it.

Anyway, it was my birthday yesterday. And this year, as I'm now 42 (sob), I'm expecting some great revelations about the meaning of life, the universe and everything. I didn't find it today, but I know I have another 365 days (cause it's a leap year) to discover it. If you find the meaning of life, I'd be happy for you to tell me so I don't have to keep looking. ;)

I had a good birthday for a work day. We went out for dinner on Sunday night - to Mt Cootha. Lovely. And dear Jan made a cake for me that we had at the park Sunday lunchtime. Thanks Jan. And happy birthday to Ruth who has also just had a birthday. x Mark finally put my treadmill together and I used it last night for the first time - hooray for me. Feeling all fit and self righteous now even though I know I'm still porky.

R+M were very excited about my birthday and told me constantly that "it's very special" and "you're very special mama". Loved that. Max was calling me "big birthday girl" - loved that too. :)

Anyway, here's some pics from yesterday:

looking a bit shabby here, but it's the end of the day and I'm allowed to look shabby, cause I'm 42!

me with my cake-lovin' mates.

I got some great pressies this year - the treadmill :O; a pedometer, some gorgeous stuff from Perfect Potion, jarmies, a new teacup, books.......and.....a pair of thongs. A work mate couldn't believe I didn't have thongs, so he bought me a pair - just gorgeous. Or maybe not. Perhaps I don't wear thongs because I have *ugly* feet! You know, they're actually pretty comfy to wear. Don't tell.

these 2 are up for a party any time of day or night.

see - ugly ugly toes. Blergh.

Every year, I buy the Courier Mail on my birthday so I can get the special birthday report for the year ahead. This year, it says: "Because the new moon falls today, this will be a year of firsts. You will make discoveries about yourself and about life. A year when you dare to be different and accept any challenge you meet. Life will change." Oh dear, that sounds big.

Here's to the year ahead and new beginnings.

peace and love to you

xxxx

End of year ballet finale

Wowsers, what a production. Ruby's end of year ballet concert was spectacular and she loved every single minute of it.

Mark, Max and I went to both concerts and our friends Jan and Ella came along to watch as well. During the first concert we sat in the front row which was great cause Ruby could see us and squeal and wave. During the second concert we were in the middle of the audience. This wasn't so great. Ruby was distracted because she kept looking for us in the crowd. Towards the end of their dance Ruby stopped dancing and just stood looking out into the crowd. The other koalas kept dancing. The other koalas exited stage left. After what felt like a very long time watching her stand out on the stage on her own, Ruby realised she should have left the stage. She tippie toe ran to the exit stage right. Oh dear. She realised she'd gone off the wrong side and then tippie toe ran back across the stage to exit on the other side. Everyone thought it was choreographed. Phew.

We've had a fun year of ballet.

peace and love

xxxx