So when I was in town yesterday I noticed a couple of young guys with hair like something out of Pseudo Echo. Hmmm, I thought, you are so gonna be embarrassed by that hair in later times.

Then I saw another young man with his suit jacket sleeves pushed up his forearms… oh well I thought, it is hot.

Then I’m sitting on the bus on the way home, blissfully gazing out the window as you do and a girl gets off and walked past the window where I was looking… I gave her a glance… blinked and thought “what the?” and looked again… yes, she was indeed wearing a bubble skirt.

All the pieces slammed into place and I checked myself over to make sure that my hair wasn’t big and I wasn’t wearing a high  school uniform.  Oh my God, have I missed the 80s revival or something?

There are some fashions that just really should stay in the past, we moved on for a reason people!

Well my little girl is half way through her second week of Prep. In Queensland that is a pre-school, full-time, non-compulsory year of education. It is play based and the child has to turn 5 before 30 June to attend.

Anyway, she is having a pretty good time. She has attended daycare for two and a half years, sometimes full-time and sometimes part-time and I am so glad for that, I think it has been fantastic training in routines, rules and structure for her. Yes, we do have all that at home but it is very different to being in a class environment without your parents. She has taken to it really well and is already talking about “what we usually do” so she’d fitting right in. Oh and she received her first invitation to a birthday party today so friendships are already being formed!

I’d heard about Mothers being sad when their children go to school and I understand that now. It’s not just that you get to spend less time at home with them but it’s knowing that they are growing up fast, it seems like yesterday we had her first birthday party. I felt really odd, kind of sad, kind of wistful, you just know that your baby is gone and you are moving onto a whole new phase.  That’s not necessarily bad, just different.

Do you ever feel that a friendship is dying or dead? You seem to hang on because you don’t know how to end it or don’t want to end it. It’s really sad if that person is someone you’ve known for a long time and you have a great fondness for them. What happens to make the friendship change to a degree that you begin to think it may be over? I don’t have any answers, just the questions.

This has happened to me in the past and in a couple of cases we just drifted apart until one day I realised I hadn’t spoken to that person for a long time and then birthdays and Christmas are no longer acknowledged so it’s all over. The worst case in my experience was when the friend wrote me a card and suggested we call it quits rather than let it drag on with polite conversation. I agreed and then got attacked for not being able to verbalise why our friendship was over. I didn’t know and all these years later I still don’t know, it just happened.

I don’t believe in hanging onto friends who you only catch up with for the sake of socialising but you don’t really enjoy their company. We all know someone like that, it’s like “oh no, Lisa is coming over” and you then carry on a happy conversation with her like she is your best friend. I don’t have friends like that, it’s fake and a waste of breath. I also don’t maintain friendships with people who aren’t true friends. I guess it depends on your definition of friendship. To me, a friendship is one where you can rely on each other to help out in a crisis, someone I would happily leave my child with so I trust them, someone who will keep confidential things confidential, someone who you can laugh with and cry with, someone who gives as much as they take, someone who likes me in spite of my faults. To me that is a person I will gladly call my friend. These people are like gold and don’t come along too often, I guess that is why I don’t make new friends easily and the ones I do have I hang onto for many many years. They are really precious.

Anyway, I was just thinking about past friendships and feeling a bit sad but in writing this I’m also appreciating the friends that I have.

Simple, I don’t make them!  I hate that people put so much pressure on themselves to firstly make a NY resolution and then to keep it. If there is something you really want to do, why do you have to start it in January? Why the anxiety about it? It makes no sense to me.

So does that mean that my life is aimless?  Nope, it certainly does not.  I have a list of things in my mind (and some on paper) that I want to achieve but I don’t call them resolutions or goals or intended achievements, they are just things I want to do, stuff I will feel good about getting done and that will improve my life or the life of my family in some way.  In reality they are resolutions, goals and intended achievements but all those labels put pressure on me to get them done so I tend not to label them and I have far more success in doing them and far less anxiety if I don’t get them done! It’s mind over matter I know but hey it works for me.

During 2007, I think I would have achieved about 80% of my list. I reckon that is pretty damn good going and I’m proud of that. This year I want to kick my business up a notch so I know that I will be working harder and longer than I have been but that’s okay because I’m passionate about what I do. Oh, that’s another thing, I think that to achieve your list of stuff, you need to really want to do it.  If “give up smoking” is on your list but you don’t really want to then cross it off now because it ain’t happening!

I also rarely make my list in January. I guess around my birthday (April) is a time when I sit and reflect on my life and think about the next stage and what I might like to be doing in the next 12 months. Do whatever works for you but turning another year older means much more to me than the 1st of January when not much changes except the date.

I believe that the list and the timelines should also be fluid so that things that become irrelevant can drop off and things that become more important can hop up the list a bit. I’m often changing things or adding to them, after all that’s life isn’t it, nothing stays the same for long.

Whichever way you look at it if you really want to set some goals, make a resolution or compile a list of intended achievements, then do it and be passionate about it. Don’t put pressure on yourself to cross them off so that means setting realistic timeframes.  You set yourself up for failure if you don’t give yourself enough time to do the things and also plan for them. For example, if you want to go to the gym 3 times per week but don’t plan to make time to do this then you won’t do it. The list is about a lot more than just writing the list, you have to adjust your life so that you can achieve your goals.

Happy New Year!

Well Christmas has passed in a whirl of tinsel and wrapping paper (which we have gladly recycled) and I’m about to pull down the decorations for another year.

We aren’t big on celebrating New Year’s Eve and it’s usually a relatively quiet night at home. We just couldn’t be bothered battling crowded public places to view fireworks or trying to get a cab/bus/train home.  It is also windy and raining here today so wouldn’t be that pleasant outside anyway. There is talk of cancelling the fireworks due to the weather.

Tonight we are heading over to my brother’s place for dinner and some boardgames and cards.  Sounds like a blast right?!  Well it will be great because we all get on well, have great senses of humour and will be drinking cocktails and trying to cheat at cards.  Aw don’t use that face, I have to have some chance of winning! LOL.

Santa Claus is coming to town!  I love Christmas.  I love the shiny, sparkly decorations, I love the twinkling lights, I love giving presents, I love being with family, I love the sense of kindness and compassion that Christmas generates, love it, love it, love it!

Like many people at this time of year, we are madly preparing for the festive season. I’ve got lists all over the place, lists of presents still to finalise, lists of presents all ticked off, lists of food still get, lists of food to prepare for the family feast, lists of what we need to take away with us. We are only going away overnight but we don’t seem to go anywhere without a car load of stuff [rolls eyes].  We are having Christmas lunch with the in-laws and Boxing Day lunch with my family and my parents are staying with us for a few days.  I’m really looking forward to it.

I wish everyone a beautiful Christmas!

Miss Moppet (daughter) and I had a great day out yesterday. Our State Library has a spot called “The Corner” and yes, it is in a corner. They have a whole space set aside for under 8’s with craft, puzzles, books, dress-ups, blocks… an endless list of things for little ones to do. They also have story time which the kids just love. They all crowd around and the story tellers are wonderful in encouraging participation and noise! There’s no such thing as being quiet in The Corner! I often wonder why they have the “quiet study tables” so close to The Corner… hmmm.

Then we went over to the Gallery of Modern Art where there is a fantastic display of colour in art by Katarina Grosse that Miss Moppet loves to look at. We also checked out an indigenous art display that was amazing, such talent. We did a quick fly through the Museum (there are a few certain things that she just has to look at each time we go there) then had a rest and some lunch before coming back home.

It’s days like this where I’m not sorry that I gave up working for an employer and started my own business. Being able to take time out for my family is so important and being able to have leisurely days of fun with my daughter is invaluable. I’ve often heard young adults say “my parents never had any time… they were always working…” I think it is sad that more value is placed on earning money than being with family. If we give up the luxuries that society insists we have, you know the big cars, plasma tvs, expensive gadgets etc etc; we can live perfectly well and whatsmore, we are all much happier! In my opinion, kids are better off with their a parent at home. I know it isn’t possible for everyone but if it is, then do it, it’s really fantastic.

Well whew, I thought for a while there I’d lost my motivation to do anything. Nothing was moving in my business, I had study materials getting dusty on a shelf and to be honest, life was fairly ho hum and just plodding along with nothing majorly interesting happening.  It wasn’t bad, it just… was.

A couple of weekends ago, just after Dear Husband and I were horribly sick, he took our daughter away for a long weekend to visit his parents.   After going on a cleaning frenzy and disinfecting the house to get rid of any remaining germs, I took some time to sit and think about what was happening and what I wanted to be doing next.  I hate the word goals but yes, I had to come up with some goals to get me going.  Well I revived myself that weekend and since then I’ve had marketing materials printed for my virtual assistant business and am most of the way through creating a mailing list; I’ve started studying for qualifications as a Marriage Celebrant and submitted two pieces of assessment; but most of all, I’m happy and motivated again!

I don’t know what was going on but the internal reflection, asking the angels for guidance and help, worked wonders and I feel like the enthusiastic, happy person that I usually am.  You know, I think it is important that we can realise when we need a kick up the butt and it’s essential that we do it! I could have sat around for weeks, months, years, dwelling on what a boring life I had and nothing ever happens to me, blah blah blah… we’ve all heard it haven’t we? The only person who can make a difference to you is YOU.  Take a look at your life and then make a plan to change what you don’t like, it really is refreshing.

What a week. I have been sick for 5 days with a gastro bug. Yes, 5 loooooong days of either vomiting, sitting on the toilet or just laying in bed wanting to sleep. Dear Husband came down with it too but he was lucky enough to bounce back after two days. I ended up at the doctor and am on a course of antibiotics as I apparently have a “bug” that needs to be killed off. How lovely. The good news is that our little girl didn’t catch it beyond having a fever and feeling unwell for a day. Thank goodness for that at least! They have both headed off to the in-laws for the weekend so I’m looking forward to taking it easy and maybe reading a book or two. I did have a good sleep last night though so am feeling pretty good today. I have a movie booked to watch on cable in half an hour so will make myself a nice cup of tea and put my feet up. I hate being sick and unable to do anything. Boring boring boring!

Do you know what I love more than email? Real mail! No, I don’t mean bills. I mean real mail, a letter or a card from a friend that lets me know someone was thinking of me and took the time to write their thoughts, put them in an envelope, find a stamp (because just like tissues, there’s never one handy when you want one) and go to a post box. Did they smile when they dropped it in because they knew how happy I’d be to receive it? Did they get the warm fuzzy feeling of doing something that not enough people take the time to do these days but really isn’t so hard and makes people happy? Or is it just me?

In the same vein, I also love getting parcels! Whether they are for work or personal, I love to hear someone pull up out the front, engine idling so YES they won’t be long, must be a delivery! I beat the dog away from the door and try to stop him barking before the guy drops the parcel in the gutter and runs away in terror. I must look like some kind of mad woman trying to smile nicely at the guy while flapping my hands at the dog behind my back and sticking my leg across the doorway so he can’t get out (lucky I have fat legs!). I’m also trying to stop my daughter from rushing out to pick flowers with the other. Not that I’m against her picking flowers but she’d let the dog at the delivery guy and I want my parcel! Sigh, then it gets more complicated if I have to sign for something… but then I have it in my hands and I slam the door quickly, do a head count - 1 child, 1 dog… yes yes, excellent. Now what do we have here…

Hmmm, I think there are a few things that I need to order… now where is that credit card.