Have you ever been truly blown away by a surprise visit? I have.
The other day my eldest son and the partner flew to Brisbane from Sydney to see me and my husband for my 60th birthday, this had been arrange months ago and we were really looking forward to it. They arrived and we spent the first day enjoying their company having dinner together overlooking the ocean with a nice bottle of wine. The next morning I was up early (everyone else was having a little sleep in), we had arranged our day so we didn't have to start too early. As I was busy in the kitchen there was a very loud banging on my back door. Who the hell would be knocking on my door at this hour, (it was before 8am) I wasn't going to check but thought I had better so that they wouldn't bang again and wake every one else up. There before my eyes was my youngest son and his family. As it had turned out they had gotten up at some ungodly hour like 3.30am, had breakfast and set off. Mum and Dad and kids had another breakfast along the way. Mummy, "you said we were going to Grandma's house," yes we are, "but this isn't Grandma's house", yes it is, this is her other house. The two grandchildren played and the bigger kids played a game of tennis. It was now time for us to have breakfast, so we had breakfast along the waterfront and our second lot of visitor had their third. We all went for a long walk in search for an icecream. Yummy. After an enjoyable afternoon it was time to go out to dinner. There were now 8 adults and 2 children but I had only booked the restaurant for 6 adults, we had asked a lovely couple to join us, so they could meet my son. The phone call was made so it was all systems go. We had a wonderful meal together but sadly it was time for the young family to drive back home. Three and half hours after later they rang to say that they had arrived home safety. The next morning it was time for my other son and his partner to fly back to Sydney. Wow what a couple of days, I am still on cloud nine from BOTH the visits. It was my best birthday ever. Thank you to everyone who made it possible.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Keeping fit and healthy
Is coffee good for you?
Well I ask this question because every morning I go for a 45 minute walk with my neighbour and upon our return we have a cup of coffee. It is the middle of winter now but we still set out at 7am and it is cool at that time. Each morning we chat and laugh all the way around our circuit. We have met some lovely people all trying to keep fit too, but a wave and hello is about it, as we have to keep moving because we haven't really warmed up yet and besides we are now thinking of that cuppa. That warmth, aroma and taste is keeping us going, not to mention that the cup will warm our hands up when we get back. They say that laughter is the best medicine, and we are lucky because we get an overdose every day.
In the summer we leave about 6am but on occasions we have gone at 5.30am. Could you imagine how cold it would be if we left at that time NOW. We take the mobile with us, just in case....... We have been caught in the rain, chased by a dog, nearly run over by a speeding car and my neighbour fell one morning and broke her arm. It took 12 months for her arm to heal and in the end she had to have an operation on it. All this we do to keep fit and healthy.
This morning we met some friends but they weren't walking, "to cold" they said and later they drove past us on the way to the shop for the paper. I ask.
Should we just have the coffee about 8am and forget the walk or should we keep going. They say it is going to be COLD tomorrow, but you guessed, WE WILL BE WALKING. We must keep fit at all costs. I for one want to live as long as possible and at this stage I will be 179 before I get all the things done I want to do. Mind you because of my age I have now forgotten some of those things, so what will I be like at 100 plus?
I am not over weight but one day a lady asked me why did I walk when it was obvious that I didn't need to. My answer was "so I don't have to".
Well I ask this question because every morning I go for a 45 minute walk with my neighbour and upon our return we have a cup of coffee. It is the middle of winter now but we still set out at 7am and it is cool at that time. Each morning we chat and laugh all the way around our circuit. We have met some lovely people all trying to keep fit too, but a wave and hello is about it, as we have to keep moving because we haven't really warmed up yet and besides we are now thinking of that cuppa. That warmth, aroma and taste is keeping us going, not to mention that the cup will warm our hands up when we get back. They say that laughter is the best medicine, and we are lucky because we get an overdose every day.
In the summer we leave about 6am but on occasions we have gone at 5.30am. Could you imagine how cold it would be if we left at that time NOW. We take the mobile with us, just in case....... We have been caught in the rain, chased by a dog, nearly run over by a speeding car and my neighbour fell one morning and broke her arm. It took 12 months for her arm to heal and in the end she had to have an operation on it. All this we do to keep fit and healthy.
This morning we met some friends but they weren't walking, "to cold" they said and later they drove past us on the way to the shop for the paper. I ask.
Should we just have the coffee about 8am and forget the walk or should we keep going. They say it is going to be COLD tomorrow, but you guessed, WE WILL BE WALKING. We must keep fit at all costs. I for one want to live as long as possible and at this stage I will be 179 before I get all the things done I want to do. Mind you because of my age I have now forgotten some of those things, so what will I be like at 100 plus?
I am not over weight but one day a lady asked me why did I walk when it was obvious that I didn't need to. My answer was "so I don't have to".
Monday, July 13, 2009
Diets
Diets...We have all been on one, I guess during our adult lives.
Well I am not overweight but during the last few months I have managed to put on a couple of kilos and I am not happy about that. I know why, it has been some, if not all, of those yummy meals I have been having with friends and family. If I could have two mornings a day and no afternoons or evenings I would be fine. You see what happens is I eat very well and healthily up to just after lunch and then the problem begins. My husband and I have a game of cards which usually lasts for about forty five minutes or so BUT while we are playing out comes the CHOCOLATE and CHOC COATED HONEYCOME. We love it. Neither of us are hungry as we have just eaten but it has become a very bad habit and we know it. Then later it is afternoon tea time, where we have a cup of coffee make on milk and of course something to EAT. I shouldn't cook all the cake and biscuits I know but wouldn't it be dreadful if there was nothing to EAT in the house. After dinner (which isn't too bad) it's time to watch some TV or play on our computers. Both are as bad as each other and you can watch or play and EAT at the same time.
In there lies the problem.
Once again going to bed on a full stomach you say to yourself, I will try not to EAT all that stuff tomorrow but guess what. You do.
I believe that life is too short not to enjoy oneself so I guess soon I will be three kilos heavier that I was unless I do something about it NOW. I don't think that keeping my fingers crossed will help, I think I need to stop having afternoons.
Well I am not overweight but during the last few months I have managed to put on a couple of kilos and I am not happy about that. I know why, it has been some, if not all, of those yummy meals I have been having with friends and family. If I could have two mornings a day and no afternoons or evenings I would be fine. You see what happens is I eat very well and healthily up to just after lunch and then the problem begins. My husband and I have a game of cards which usually lasts for about forty five minutes or so BUT while we are playing out comes the CHOCOLATE and CHOC COATED HONEYCOME. We love it. Neither of us are hungry as we have just eaten but it has become a very bad habit and we know it. Then later it is afternoon tea time, where we have a cup of coffee make on milk and of course something to EAT. I shouldn't cook all the cake and biscuits I know but wouldn't it be dreadful if there was nothing to EAT in the house. After dinner (which isn't too bad) it's time to watch some TV or play on our computers. Both are as bad as each other and you can watch or play and EAT at the same time.
In there lies the problem.
Once again going to bed on a full stomach you say to yourself, I will try not to EAT all that stuff tomorrow but guess what. You do.
I believe that life is too short not to enjoy oneself so I guess soon I will be three kilos heavier that I was unless I do something about it NOW. I don't think that keeping my fingers crossed will help, I think I need to stop having afternoons.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Being positive
One of the most important things I have learnt during my live is to be POSITIVE.
For as long as I can remember I have always tried to turn a negative into a positive. I look upon this as a challenge and I grab each one with both hands. For me it is easy and most rewarding.
Yesterday I was told about someone that had been retrenched. SHOCK and HORROR NO
Lets think about this for a minute. Question time.
Do they have a partner or are the alone and therefore the only bread winner?
This person has a very caring partner, so they will be OK.
Do they own their own home or are they renting?
They have a mortgage.
Can he afford to have a holiday from work or will he have to obtain another job immediately?
A couple of weeks off will do him a lots of good.
This person has been given a great OPPORTUNITY
How can this be I hear you ask. This could be the cross roads we sometimes face and it may be time to head in a different direction. Did he really like the kind of work he was in or would he like to try something new. Knowing this man, as I do, he will continue in the some field, but this is where someone else could change tact.
We have all heard the saying "if you want something bad enough, you will get it". To me it is the same as being positive. During my life when one door closed, many more opened. Whether my positivity was playing a part or I was JUST LUCKY I don't know, but something worked. I remember many years ago I wanted to change the type of job I had. What did I do? I bought the newspaper and looked at all the positions vacant. That day I applied for three jobs.......... Guess what? I got all three of them. What did I do then. I accepted every one and went home to think about them which one was best for me. I compared salary, working conditions, what suburb and travelling time etc. Having made my decision I then called the two jobs that I didn't want and something strange happened then. Each place I rang said that they were very sad to loose me as I was just the right person for them. They were also blown away that I had bothered to ring back to say no thank you. They both wished me well.
I remember another time when I had two part time jobs. One day after arriving at work the boss (a very nasty man) called me into his office, he fired me because I had worked out a better way of doing a particular job. I guess I made him look bad. What did I do? I drove straight to my other job and said "here I am" and told him what had happened. Great was the response, you can now work full time here. I stayed at that job for many years only leaving when I moved interstate to live. Opportunities and positives are all around us but sometimes, some of us have better sight and hearing.
For as long as I can remember I have always tried to turn a negative into a positive. I look upon this as a challenge and I grab each one with both hands. For me it is easy and most rewarding.
Yesterday I was told about someone that had been retrenched. SHOCK and HORROR NO
Lets think about this for a minute. Question time.
Do they have a partner or are the alone and therefore the only bread winner?
This person has a very caring partner, so they will be OK.
Do they own their own home or are they renting?
They have a mortgage.
Can he afford to have a holiday from work or will he have to obtain another job immediately?
A couple of weeks off will do him a lots of good.
This person has been given a great OPPORTUNITY
How can this be I hear you ask. This could be the cross roads we sometimes face and it may be time to head in a different direction. Did he really like the kind of work he was in or would he like to try something new. Knowing this man, as I do, he will continue in the some field, but this is where someone else could change tact.
We have all heard the saying "if you want something bad enough, you will get it". To me it is the same as being positive. During my life when one door closed, many more opened. Whether my positivity was playing a part or I was JUST LUCKY I don't know, but something worked. I remember many years ago I wanted to change the type of job I had. What did I do? I bought the newspaper and looked at all the positions vacant. That day I applied for three jobs.......... Guess what? I got all three of them. What did I do then. I accepted every one and went home to think about them which one was best for me. I compared salary, working conditions, what suburb and travelling time etc. Having made my decision I then called the two jobs that I didn't want and something strange happened then. Each place I rang said that they were very sad to loose me as I was just the right person for them. They were also blown away that I had bothered to ring back to say no thank you. They both wished me well.
I remember another time when I had two part time jobs. One day after arriving at work the boss (a very nasty man) called me into his office, he fired me because I had worked out a better way of doing a particular job. I guess I made him look bad. What did I do? I drove straight to my other job and said "here I am" and told him what had happened. Great was the response, you can now work full time here. I stayed at that job for many years only leaving when I moved interstate to live. Opportunities and positives are all around us but sometimes, some of us have better sight and hearing.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Noosa Escape
Just returned from four nights away with the girls. How much fun you can have with great friends, good weather and a nice place to stay. It is amazing just how much you can do in such a short time. Shopping centres, markets, wine, ice cream and of course coffee. Put good friends together and anything goes. Speaking for myself I needed a Nanny nap on the afternoon that we returned and that is some thing that I don't normally do.
Back to ground level, which is pretty good anyway, I have no complaints, ironing is on the agenda today. I actually enjoy it but it some times takes me a while to get going. My ironing basket is well and truly over flowing but that is OK because you rediscover clothes that you had forgotten about.
Back to ground level, which is pretty good anyway, I have no complaints, ironing is on the agenda today. I actually enjoy it but it some times takes me a while to get going. My ironing basket is well and truly over flowing but that is OK because you rediscover clothes that you had forgotten about.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Family and Friends
What a fantastic weekend we have just had. It all started on Saturday about 11.am when My Husband and I picked up a couple of friends to go to another friends' 70th birthday luncheon. There we were 30 guests seated in a wonderful restaurant right on the water front at the beach. After many out bursts of laughter, a beautiful lunch and a LOW calorie Black Forrest Cake, Wine and coffee it was time to go home. It was about 4.30pm. On the way home we stopped for some fuel for the car and while my Husband was going that I popped into the shops and picked a couple of things, one of which was a pizza. One of the friends had made a comment that tonight was like a pizza night, after being out and she didn't want to cook dinner. So the two friends came back to our home and I topped the pizza with lots of extra STUFF and we opened a couple of bottles of wine. We drove them home after 8.30pm. What a day.
On Sunday we went to a nearby town where there model trains running. We met our Grand children and other family members there and had our lunch together. It was another perfect day in the middle of winter with the sun shining upon us. On returning home we called in on another friend who has been very sick, just to say hello. It made her day as she hasn't been able to go out anywhere for a little while.
After a weekend like the above it makes you realise JUST how important Family and Friends are in you life and without them you have nothing.
On Sunday we went to a nearby town where there model trains running. We met our Grand children and other family members there and had our lunch together. It was another perfect day in the middle of winter with the sun shining upon us. On returning home we called in on another friend who has been very sick, just to say hello. It made her day as she hasn't been able to go out anywhere for a little while.
After a weekend like the above it makes you realise JUST how important Family and Friends are in you life and without them you have nothing.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Feeling alive
What a wonderful day it is to day. I am alive and feeling great. What will I do today? It is very misty outside this morning but it wouldn't matter if it was pouring with rain or very sunny and hot. I am going to enjoy THIS day.
Do we sometimes wake up and say "oh no not another day of the same old thing"? I don't. For as long as I can remember I have tried to make to most of very day. There are so many fantastic things OUT there that even if I live to 1078 I still won't have seen and done all that I want too. Lots of days I do the same things because that's what I love to do, be it what ever. I love spending time in my vegy garden, I feel so alive when I am there. I have been told that I have green thumbs, I don't know about that as they look the same colour as the rest of my hands. A friend of mine said to me the other day "your garden is like a wilderness". I still don't know what she meant by that but I am sure it was a complement. Every seedling I have planted this season has grown and grown while a neighbour has had someone eating every thing. We shared two punnets of seedlings, my snow peas are a foot high and the spinach is flourishing. On the other hand her snow peas look so sad and limp and haven't started to grow and look very white. As for her spinach WELL, she has only one left as every leaf has been eaten. I don't like to put any sprays or any thing on my vegies so they are total organic, but hers had the works. I can't understand why the bugs etc would rather eat STUFF that has chemicals all over them to yummy ones that don't. Sorry I get carried away when I start talking about gardens. I guess that come from my Father, he was the best gardener I have every known. He grew flowers as well as vegetables and he and I used to have a competition as to who could get the first ripe tomatoe. He would cut off all the side shoots on the stems and I wouldn't. Overall it was pretty much a tie, or maybe he won a couple of extra times than me. Thanks Dad.
Well it must be time to do something else on the wonderful day. Bye for now.
Do we sometimes wake up and say "oh no not another day of the same old thing"? I don't. For as long as I can remember I have tried to make to most of very day. There are so many fantastic things OUT there that even if I live to 1078 I still won't have seen and done all that I want too. Lots of days I do the same things because that's what I love to do, be it what ever. I love spending time in my vegy garden, I feel so alive when I am there. I have been told that I have green thumbs, I don't know about that as they look the same colour as the rest of my hands. A friend of mine said to me the other day "your garden is like a wilderness". I still don't know what she meant by that but I am sure it was a complement. Every seedling I have planted this season has grown and grown while a neighbour has had someone eating every thing. We shared two punnets of seedlings, my snow peas are a foot high and the spinach is flourishing. On the other hand her snow peas look so sad and limp and haven't started to grow and look very white. As for her spinach WELL, she has only one left as every leaf has been eaten. I don't like to put any sprays or any thing on my vegies so they are total organic, but hers had the works. I can't understand why the bugs etc would rather eat STUFF that has chemicals all over them to yummy ones that don't. Sorry I get carried away when I start talking about gardens. I guess that come from my Father, he was the best gardener I have every known. He grew flowers as well as vegetables and he and I used to have a competition as to who could get the first ripe tomatoe. He would cut off all the side shoots on the stems and I wouldn't. Overall it was pretty much a tie, or maybe he won a couple of extra times than me. Thanks Dad.
Well it must be time to do something else on the wonderful day. Bye for now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)