On my centenary of getting there (let’s face it, our whole life we are trying to ‘get there’) we are celebrating one very important thing.
Total cause for celebration.
One month of winter is DOWN.
WOO HOO! I know times ahead are still tough, particularly for us Victorians at the moment, but it gives me much joy to know that we’ve survived one month of winter amidst all the other crap that’s been thrown at us.
Yes. 💪
It had to happen.
Winter spreading germs, and people are shit.
JUST STAY HOME!
Lucky for me, I somehow forecast this crap ( I have become strongly accustomed to expecting all kinds of shit, yes even for this glass half-full gratitude gal) and last week when baby girl was at school, came across this $16 puzzle at ‘the cheap shop.’
You know, ‘the cheap shop.’ That budget dollar shop where you’ll find onesies, kitchen accessories, cat litter bags, 50 cent greeting cards, 57 different variety of candles, a range of quirky homewares you think you need (but really you don’t) and also, some kind of party/decorating station in one corner of the shop.
All at below reasonable prices.
It was here I went “a puzzle might come in handy soon.”
And I had to get the most trickiest one yet.
A billion cat faces, mwa ha ha.
It meant that today, we had to pack up the completed Frozen puzzle that’s adorned our dining room table for the past several weeks.
If you find and follow me on Insta, you’ll see the delicious anti-OCD video action.
(Psst, @smikgwriter)
Anyway, we learnt upon opening it tonight that it’s split up into 6 categories… that is, A, B, C, D, E and F. Those letters are at the back of each puzzle piece, so by sorting them alphabetically, well half the work is kinda done.
Such a great idea. Well, we better get cracking then…
Look at that girl! She’s on top of the world!
You know you have a child, when their toys follow you ALL AROUND THE HOUSE.
The bedroom, the kitchen, the car, the other car…
The balcony!
We had an afternoon coffee break in the cold biting Winter’s sun today, and four of baby girl’s dolls followed…
I just love it. Anna’s fiery hair flapping in the wind. A force to be reckoned with.
She might be made of plastic. But she’s a reminder of the love we hold in our house.
It was wonderful that we got to see some of our dearest friends tonight.
Via Zoom, of course. 😉
We had a great chat with bestie and her hubbie via our computers. I tell you, technology is a Godsend at this phase of our lives.
You can’t be with loved ones, but by seeing them live, hearing their voices, and watching their mannerisms, in their lounge rooms, (with their pets!)… it’s the next best thing to being there with them.
After the video call was over Hubbie and I spoke about how wonderful it’d been to catch up with familiar faces, and people that we cared for. And I don’t know how it came into my mind, but I said to Hubbie “you don’t have to have the same interests. It’s not about that. It’s about finding like-minded people.”
Because we don’t all have to like the same things. Do the same things. Go to the same places. Eat the same food, or sleep the same way.
It’s about how our minds work. And you seek out people who are reflective of your morals, attitudes, and generally your way of life.
I don’t need everyone in my life to love writing. I don’t even need them to love reading. I don’t need them to love cats, yoga, the fact that I can’t stop listening to Queen at the moment…
I just need them to get me, and I want to get them.
It was a really lovely thing to contemplate, after a video call with friends who get us… as we get them.
As a bit of an end of term/school report celebration/’in case’ moment…
I called up a hairdresser’s this morning and booked in baby girl for a hair cut.
The ‘in case’ was just that… in case things shut down again amidst growing coronavirus cases in Victoria, and having not had a hair cut since before she started school at the start of this year, she was really overdue.
I told the hairdresser to cut a fair bit off. She cut, a bit more off.
Neither of us was concerned. Baby girl looked so grown up, so mature. Even with the glittery hair spray and everything. ✨
I took her around the shop later to pick something small to buy. I’ve written about Amazing Toys before, on our first trip there during a school holidays… this place is a haven for kids. Part hairdresser/part pamper place/part workshop play centre/part MASSIVE toy shop.
Just as she suddenly looked so grown up with her shoulder length hair, so too was she mature in her toy choices.
That is, she didn’t really know what to buy.
Have you ever reached that age with your kid, where they want to buy toys, but a part of them is realising that
a) they’ve played with them all before, and
b) it’s all a bit childish now?
I think she knows this, but yet she sees TOYS! and just wants something. I try to encourage her to think about what she would actually play with, remind her of the baskets of stuff she has at home, but still let her make the final choice.
You will be surprised how often they make the right one.
Anyway… love that hair. Love that girl… My big girl. 🥰❤
June 25th quote on my work daily calendar (I have several daily calendar’s around the house).
“You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
By this cuddly yellow furry dude.
It was the perfect thing to hear on this day. You know when you’ve been kind of dreading something, and then you hear something to make you think differently about it all?
That was me today.
I reminded myself I was strong, constantly.
And I walked away, actually believing that.
All because of Poo.
Isn’t it exciting when you embark on something new?
Something that you feel in your bones, in your gut, deep down, is just the right thing for you?
When you are listening to something, and going “yes, yes yes” each word the person breathes being a confirmation of that which you already suspected, or what you already knew?
Nodding furiously like a kid bobbing for apples at a birthday party.
Nod, nod, nod.
Yes, yes, yes.
Today I connected online with a fantastic yoga teacher. We may not have done any yoga moves together as yet, but I already know she is amazing. I can tell from how she speaks, what she knows, and just everything about her is telling me “yes!”
I AM EXCITED.
And knowing this will be a personally catered experience, makes it all the more special, all the more important, and all the more worthy.
Already I find myself in appropriate yoga pose as I write… sitting almost crossed legs, soles of the feet together, letting the knees swing out.
Ahh. It has begun. 🙂
Photo by Jared Rice on Unsplash
I picked up baby girl from school today, and she started telling me the most amazing thing.
“I was drawing in my gratitude journal!”
WHAT?
She went on to tell me that they’d all been given journals that day to record, by writing or by pictures, things that they were grateful for.
She drew. No surprise there.
The picture? A grassy field, a sun in the sky… and the three of us.
Baby girl, Hubbie and me.
Playing together.
She didn’t get to finish the picture. But she intended for there to be a rainbow, some wind, rain and clouds in the sky, alongside the sun.
Some may think that is silly. I for one think that is highly realistic.
For you can’t actually get your rainbow, without going through some wind and rain first.
As I walked quickly to get baby girl from school this afternoon, the umbrella was firmly in my hands.
Closed.
I defied the wispy drops falling from the sky. Clouds abounded, but there was still light… waning.
The kids were soon released, and when the wisps turned into a consistent drizzle –
WHOOSH! Up went the umbrella.
Still, baby girl chose to run ahead and walk with a friend, while I stood with a fellow Mum under the black shade.
It wasn’t that bad.
But that all changed 20 minutes later.
At home. We were warm. Dry.
And the house went dark.
Soon… the distinct loud pattering of approaching rain was on our doorsteps.
And all around us. Enveloping the house.
Loud.
Water spilled out over the gutters, making waterfalls on all sides of the house.
It pooled outside the windows, creating mini flows of river.
Ice descended too… if only for a bit. Hitting the concrete hard like a cracking whip.
We watched from the shelter of our home.
It sure was great to be home.
I don’t know what was going on today.
Was it Winter?
Was it the moon?
The sun?
The eclipse?
Or something more powerful… HORMONES?
Something freaky was going on. I was unhinged. Emotional. A wreck. So much to do, and yet complete unwillingness to do anything at all.
Was someone sticking needles into a mini-me? Was it Karma? Some huge Universal lesson I was being taught?
Was it just the fact I am sick of this super long, super strong, superman-type cold I’ve had for the past 3 months?
Is iso finally making me crack, true and proper?
It’s one of those things, that I just don’t know. I may never know.
But there is ONE THING I KNOW for certain.
Today is the shortest day. June 21st.
It is the day of the winter solstice in the southern hemisphere.
And also, the anniversary of our engagement sooo many years ago.
As soon as I discovered in 2016, that the winter solstice fell on our engagement anniversary, I was intrigued.
Firstly, I knew it was not a coincidence, because I don’t believe in those.
A day marking the end of the old, and the rebirth of great beginnings and hope, to fall on our engagement day… it was NOT a coincidence.
I am compelled to write and remind people about it every year, and I feel like my winter solstice journey in life is only just beginning.
The day that the southern hemisphere is tilted furthest away from the sun, hence getting the least amount of sunshine, is the day that we call this, the shortest day.
At a time of the greatest darkness, it can be understood then that symbolically it is a time of rebirth, rejuvenation and self-reflection.
Through darkness, comes light. Through trying times, springs hope.
And even though there is a lag between the shortest day, and us experiencing the coldest winter days yet, because of our hemisphere here still cooling (yep, get ready folks) we can start to set intentions and make space for what we want in our lives, for this next chapter.
For this next chapter, of slowly, oh so slowly, increasing LIGHT.
Which brings me back to the beginning. Today was crappy. Many of you may be having shitty days like me. Shitty weeks. Hell it’s been months for me (and yet for some more of you, years).
Coronavirus has not helped.
But let’s be kind to ourselves. Let’s try. Try to accept this difficult time for what it is. And that is, a massive growing and learning experience.
The rebirth is here. Things are going to get better, they have to.
Winter is going to kick us hard, sure, but honestly, look how bad this year has been already.
Just look. And we’re still here.
BLOODY SURVIVING.
We can do it.
carcrashgratitude 