Less/more

Today's blog prompt is less/more.  This is something I have been trying to incorporate into my life for a little while now.  I have been de cluttering and re arranging our house to make everything work more for us and less about what other people might think.

As a family we have been making sure we spend more time together and less time alone.

Personally, I am making sure i drink more water and less soft drink.

I could make a huge list of things that I want to do less/more of, but I think for me the big one is worrying less about what people think and more about what I think.

Do you have anything you want to do less/more of?

Happy Saturday

Debbie

What's In My Cup?

Today's blog prompt is - whats in your cup?

Well for me it is nearly always white tea with one sugar. Nerada tea is my poison and lite milk.  For years I always drank out of thick mugs, but over the last few years I have gotten a wee bit fussy and like to drink out of bone china mugs.

Some of my earliest memories are sitting at my Nana's table with a cup of tea in one hand and a book in the other.  Nana was very fussy, always a pot of tea, a bone china mug and extremely weak black tea. I remember always thinking what difference could a cup make? Now I know.

Since moving to the mountains I have joined a craft group and we always include afternoon tea with our crafting and it is served in beautiful tea sets which were wedding gifts or passed down from family members. Now, I have nothing like that so I have started my own collection.

I like my large pink mug in the morning because it is a big cup of tea. Then I use medium sized mugs for the rest of the day. When I host craft group, out comes the cups and saucers.

Did I mention I am fussy? Lol!

When I am out and about I drink either a latte or chai latte.

So, thats whats in my cup, whats in yours?

Debbie

Goal Setting

One of the biggest things I am learning about myself is that I like to bite off more than I can chew. All of the time. I sign up for online classes and then don't finish because I am overwhelmed. 2014 is the year I am going to change this.  I have bought myself an organiser, DH tells me to use my Ipad but he doesn't understand the joy of using a book and being able to open it easily and, not to mention, decorate it.

My main goal is to have the courage to live my life happily. No more sitting around feeling sorry for myself.

In my organiser I write a daily personal to-do list, no housework. So a typical day might look like this -

• study
• exercise
• One Little Word
• blog
• Psychologist visit/meditation

My daily goal is to get through as much of this list as I can.  My long term goals are more along the lines of -

• eat better
• sort cupboards
• travel

I have found that not having goals and just floating through life get me personally nowhere fast.

Do you set goals for yourself?



Debbie

Yes, I am still here

Hey!

Sorry for the break but life has been crazy busy around here. DH has had a job change. DD is back into the full swing of Uni and work and long distance relationships. DS has been busy with work, Year 11, gym and driving lessons. As for me - I have started studying for my Diploma in Early Childhood Education.  Big changes for us.

DH and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary this year and we have been looking at an overseas trip. Nothing fancy as our budget will be tight, but we have discovered that it is cheaper to head overseas than holiday here in Australia. Crazy. I am having fun doing lots of research and checking out destinations. DH has traveled overseas for work but I have only been to New Zealand 23 years ago eek!

I discovered a new blog called Love Happy Daily and Sunday is running a blog challenge for May.  The challenge is to blog every day and Sunday has supplied a list of daily prompts. So I am going to give it a good attempt. blog-every-day-may is the link if you are interested.

I will be back tomorrow with another post.

Debbie

Cake Bake and Sweet Show

Last Sunday I went to the Cake Bake and Sweets show at Sydney Olympic Park with my girl and one of her friends.  I am not a cake decorator but I love baking and I was hoping to pick up a few tips.

The girls went their own way and I went in the opposite direction to have a look at what was on offer.  Megan and I were huge fans of the show The Great Australian Bakeoff  and I knew Maria Vella was doing a presentation so I went to the stage and settled in to watch Maria show us how to bake her Snickerz Sponge roll. I was delighted to see that Monique Bowley was the compere for the day and the girls kept us laughing and entertained.  After the presentation I hung around and met both of these lovely ladies and had a photo and chat with each of them.

I also managed to meet the macaron king Adriano Zumbo! He was so nice and tall!  And of course I bought some macarons to take home to my boys.

Duff from Ace of Cakes was also doing a presentation on the main stage, so I sat with the girls to watch him. He made ice cream and sorbet using dragon fruit and duran (?) and used liquid nitrogen to freeze them.  There was much laughter as Duff is quite a character.

We all purchased a new cook book each and had lots of fun trying new things and checking out all of the cake decorating tools.

I think its safe to say I will be heading back next year.

bye for now
Deb x

Life

Hello! Yes I am still here!

When I lost my job just before Christmas, I felt like my whole world had fallen apart. I was given no opportunity to say goodbye to the children I had formed relationships with, the staff or any of my volunteers. It was awful. I cried for days. And if I ran into anyone attached to the school I would go home and cry. How was I going to pay for my counsellor visits? you know the story wah wah wah.

I decided it was a good time to do Ali Edwards One Little Word workshop and chose my word - COURAGE.  I have had that word in my head like a chanted mantra. "have courage Deb" "remember to live courageously"

In January I attended a Project Life scrap night and I knew no one, definitely living up to my word.

I  also told my friends about my ongoing battle with depression and anxiety - definitely took courage.

Last week I had a stall at a local craft market, a long time dream of mine, and you know what? I'm okay if I decide not to do it again. I did it.

I also went to have morning tea with a lovely lady I met through social media and made a new friend.

Over the last couple of days I have realised that losing my job was a blessing. I am no longer stressed. I am doing some casual typing for a friend. I have energy.  I really dont miss most of the people I mixed with at work and I realise that the friends I have are the ones I need. They support me so much that I feel blessed to know them.

Way back when I was 15 I wanted to be a teacher but unfortunate family events meant that this was not possible, and as the years went on I loset my confidence and never felt able to do any further study.  Well, I have just enrolled to study for a Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care!  I am so excited to embark on this.  We have been rearranging study areas as Mr16 is in year 11 and needs an area to study aswell, so he and Miss18 will be sharing our second living area as a study and my craft room will become a study for MrWonderful and myself and double as a craft area. Phew its a lot of work getting it set up but it will be worth it in the end.

I am off to have a cuppa,
Deb

Turning off

Does anyone else have trouble turning off their thoughts? Does it stop you from making a simple decision?

I am over it. I go to bed, read for an hour, turn off the light and Bam! Here come all of the negative thoughts, and not so negative thoughts. The next thing I know is its 3 am and I am wide awake.

This year I decided to do Ali Edwards One Little Word class. Do you think I can settle on a word? Of course not! I think I have changed words 3 times and it's only the first month.

Before Christmas I was fired from my casual position for no reason. I had worked there for over 2 years and was devastated to be told I wasn't needed anymore. Yep, you guessed it, every night I go over everything I said or did trying to figure out why I was fired.

Deep down I know worrying is not going to change anything, but I can't help it.

I worry about my girl and her life. I worry about my husband who is having blood pressure issues. I worry about my mum and her health. I worry about what people think of me.

I am going crazy!

It's all about baby steps, and I try to keep occupied during the day so the thoughts don't creep in. It's the night that is doing me in.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Bye for now,
Deb x