Monday 27 July 2015

Midyear Goal Review

It's time to take stock of where I am at as far as my goals go. I love working on my goals even though it's been harder this year to keep track of them. Nevertheless the wheels of life keep turning and I find that I'm still moving along and surprising myself with what I have achieved. 

So these are the goals that have worked.
  • HOUSE: It’s been a goal for three or so years but I finally got a hall runner. It’s a little short but it’s beautiful.
  • HEALTH: Drinking more water. Currently slack but overall this year has been a big improvement.
  • Being social: Well, I’ve done it twice and am about to set about organising an outing for August.
  • Waking up early: Surprisingly working very well. Awake early. Breakfast every day. Almost. For winter that might have to do!
  • Save pennies: To be honest I mostly achieve this because my partner has frugal habits and I am often too busy to waste my time buying things that are not necessary.



These are the goals that have partially worked.
  •  HOUSE: Hanging pictures up:I framed a friend’s watercolour painting. It’s not hanging yet. I did ask someone to help me and they said yes but …I think they’ve forgotten. My SA self does not like bothering people but I think  know I will have to ask him again.
  • Reducing screen time. Some times are better than other times. I have started reading paper books again which means I’m not on my laptop as much. I don’t automatically go on fb. I sometimes stop and think twice before spending unlimited time surfing the net.
  • HEALTH: Exercise: currently once a week yoga. I really want to get to three times a week with running/riding/walking/yoga.
  •  Exercising gratitude and taking time to reflect: it’s happened here and there but I want to make it more regular. Something once a week would be good.
  • Planning time (banking etc): Taking time on Fridays to plan and do paper and online housekeeping has worked fairly well, except that in the last few months I’ve moved away from my weekly planner at home and at school. I’m now making this a priority.


These are the goals that were not officially set but are still part of my thinking.
  •           I wanted to set up the front room as a snug/office and then have the other small room as a guest bedroom. In order to do this I had to declutter and rearrange furniture and storage. I have started decluttering photos and it’s been easier than expected. I decluttered tubs of stuff earlier this year. In May I decluttered another tub of things, including clothes and books, which is ready to donate to the op shop. Last week I decluttered another lot of things, including unused shampoo and photos. The  front room is on its way. It’s been cleared of “extra” stuff so it’s beginning to look and feel welcoming.
  •      My first e-bay purchase!! The hall runner. At the same time I also ordered some skin products online that I badly needed and had been doing without for more than a year. I don’t always have time to go shopping far from home and finally made the decision to try online. It worked very well. And this does go towards me saving pennies as it cost less than half of what it would have cost at full price.
  •       I started reading books again. Yes. I’m onto my second book and I’m choosing books from my bookshelves that I haven’t read for years. Nostalgic and very rewarding.
  •      Getting creative: painted and framed a picture for Easter,  then made invitations for my birthday, thank you notes



These goals are not happening. Yet.
·         Make a fairy garden
·         Get a bike: I wanted to wait till Mr S and I could do this together. We got a good secondhand one from a friend last month so now I can start looking at getting one for myself.
·         Sewing
·         Plan a simple Christmas: Quite simply, it’s not time yet!

Mr S and I have had an everchanging routine so it’s been hard to plan for and work on my goals, at times. The cold weather also seems to encroach upon my motivation to get things done. It’s been satisfying to get to goals I didn’t think would happen, like reading a book, decluttering the front room, and getting creative.  In my next post I hope to outline my goals for the next couple of months. I’m hoping that with more attention to planning I can make my key goals happen.







Saturday 18 July 2015

A Simple Celebration



I haven’t blogged for a while. In the last few weeks we’ve had 5.30am starts, holiday sleep-ins and now we’re looking at a possible 3.30am start each day if all goes well on the job front this week for Mr S.
My duties at school have changed again and I find myself working with a different group of young people. This also means a new timetable. Last term my schedule was “light” on Thursday mornings so I treated myself to a chai latte before work each week. At the moment I’m still trying to see where I can squeeze it into my timetable.
On top of all that I was busy preparing for a milestone birthday.  
Originally I had really wanted to mark the occasion by going away for the weekend. Parties are not my thing so I didn’t see why that would change now. But then a friend commented that parties can provide what are often rare opportunities for people to come together. I thought about this and decided that it would be lovely to have friends and family gathering together here in our home.
I wanted to keep things fairly simple. If you read about the invitations you’ll know that I was also looking forward to the chance to get creative. I had a loose theme of tea party vintage and hoped to bring about a warm, cosy atmosphere.
My list of guests was around 50 and my SA mind imagined unrealistically how grand it all might be – even though I wanted it all to be simple!  As the day grew closer, the guestlist dwindled to 30ish. For a brief moment I was disappointed and I found I had to remind myself why I was doing the party and what I hoped to achieve.
How I kept it simple:

·        I invited my nieces over for lunch and then we set about making some bunting. I had envisaged nicely sewn triangular bunting but then I returned to reality. It was not easy to hang our paper hearts but keeping calm meant I still worked out a way to display it.

·        We made most of the food. We made finger-sized foods such as sandwiches, sausage rolls, scones and pizza slices. We had peanut butter balls and Mum made a sponge cake for the birthday cake.
·        We had material napkins. I used what I already had and borrowed the rest from Mum.

·        The “fancy” tablecloths were from Mum. The cloth on the main table was the one my mum got from her own mum for her engagement. It was really lovely to be able to put out family heirloom pieces.
·        I was so fortunate to have daphne and camellias in bloom. A friend cut the flowers and decorated the rooms. The rooms tend to be dull brown but the pop of colour from the flowers transformed the feel of the whole area.

·        Mr S knew I liked flowers. In the morning when I got up there was a lovely arrangement in the teapot made up of flowers from our garden.
·        Even though it was a tea party I had on offer coffee and hot chocolate as well as soft drinks.
·        I did spend a little extra on paper plates that were made from recycled pulp (?). I had the wonderful idea of keeping the plates and using them in the garden to block out weeds or as compost. In any case, I was preoccupied that evening and all plates ended up in the bin.

I had fun preparing the party. The best part was the buzz throughout the night. Our life here is sweet but very quiet. Mr S said he couldn’t believe that our home could be like that. I must say my mind was going in a hundred directions as everyone arrived and I realised that I hadn’t whipped the cream and the sausage rolls were not ready. I also had my mind on a few people who didn’t know anyone and were a bit shy. Some good friends kept reminding me that it was OK and I didn’t have to worry about them…. And gradually I accepted this. It truly was a lovely evening and it delighted my heart to see our home filled with laughter and chatter.

Friday 3 July 2015

A touch of inspiration

It seems fitting this Friday to share with you some inspiring moments I encountered this week. Listening to the ABC radio I heard about the passing of English Sir Nicholas Winton. Of course I had never heard of him but being on holidays I followed the guest's suggestion, went online and found this moving tribute to the wonderful work he did at the time of World War 2 in Czechoslovakia. His intervention saved the lives of many children.  Take a look.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIiBTP0spEA

On Thursday night Channel 9's "Inside Story" featured the life of Australian man, John Coutis. It was a wonderful and, of course, inspiring, testimony to how life can be lived fully, if we allow it to happen and don't let obstacles get in the way. It was about disability and yet it was not. As the story went on, the matter of his disability faded into the background and his strong, funny and motivating character came to the fore. His wife also proved what can happen in life when we are open to the heart of a person and when we dare to stand against societal pressures. 

My final recollection is  the story of two young, entrepeunarial Australians, hailing from Queensland, who have made their way down to Melbourne. They came up with a novel way of assisting homeless people. Have a look here if you want to know more about these two men and their Orange Sky Laundry Van.

I can't help noticing that all four of these people took the road less travelled. Or perhaps they took the same road as others but they just travelled along it with vision and the courage to follow that vision. 

As someone with social anxiety I'm all too aware of the power of negative thinking. At times it's like an addiction or an obsession. I take a lot of hope and inspiration from ideas that challenge me to think differently, with less negativity and worry.  

What are my thoughts today? What am I worrying about today? If I put that aside for a moment what would my thoughts be if I chose to think with vision and courage for the evening ahead? The weekend ahead?  

Wednesday 1 July 2015

Savouring the (little bit of) wilderness

One of my goals in June was to get back to running. Part of my exercise regime is to at least get in some walking if nothing else. Now, to be honest, I'm not exactly on the home stretch. In fact, I'm far from it. But I did get in a little walking in June. 
Every time I walk along the creek path I love one particular scene of what is quickly becoming the last tract of wilderness around these parts. I live on the outskirts of suburbia so when I come home I can still get a glimpse of the windswept plains and a sense of the open and beyond. Alas, not for much longer. The soil has been turned and it won't be long before that piece of wilderness is transformed into another emerging suburb.
Not all of it is wilderness. Some of it is cleared land which has long been neglected. But when I walk by the creek and see the gnarled, outstretched trees close to  the water's edge, I feel immense respect for them. Those trees have managed to stand strong against human conquest of this land. Just. I do wonder for how many more years those trees will hold their ground.


I'm very grateful for the taste of nature each time I leave home. Even the weeds, pictured above, offer a welcome touch of colour to combat the gloom of winter.