Daring doings and audacious acts



This quote from pinterest immediately resonated with me. 

The urgency with which I attempt to quash the panic that rises up like a volcano when I'm in a situation that's out of my comfort zone.  Call this imposter syndrome.  Call it whatever you want.  It is overwhelming and has stood in my way on many occasions.

My objective in 2012 is to challenge myself to be more than I think I can be.  To do this, I'm going to need to be daring.

It will take daring to keep my weight-loss moving in the right direction.  I will need to keep challenging the voice in my head that says I haven't got what it takes.  I will need to accept that the voice will never go away, but I can adjust the volume control!

I will be daring myself to try new things in 2012.  I would like to jump out of a plane.  I would like to learn how to paddle-board.  One of these seems inordinately less confronting that the other....will be interesting to see which one is achieved first!!!!!

It will take daring to make my new status as a freelance copywriter bear fruit.  This will come as a surprise to you guys as I haven't blogged about it (naughty of me...keeping secrets!!!).  

I resigned from my permanent part-time gig as of the end of the school year and intent to pick up contract work from my old employer and hopefully new clients in 2012!!!! 

Why did I do this?  Because my status as permanent part-time just wasn't working for me - I hated not having a choice with respect to when I had to work and where I had to work....and it took daring on my part to be willing to look the permanent part-time 'gift horse' in the mouth and resign. 

So there you go, 2012 will be an interesting year to say the least!!

Sorry if this post is a bit choppy...Santa bought me an iPad for Christmas and I'm still getting the hang of blogger on the darned thing....but I suppose this is another chance to be daring...in the face of technology :)

 

 

Grateful for my First Mate

The truly divine Ms M has launched her bid to conquer the world of Kidspot as of next week....so I am soooooo pleased to do my last Grateful in the hallowed ground that is Maxabella loves :)

For my contribution this week I am once again going to wax lyrical in praise of my very own Captain Von Trapp (AKA Saint Mike). 

Today's post is putting the cart before the horse though because I know that tomorrow I'm going to be blogging about my "word of 2012" along with all the other devoted subjects of Maxabella loves.....so you shall have to click back in 24hours to put today's post into context!!!

I am terribly, utterly and entirely grateful for the support of Saint Mike. 

If I have any hope to make 2012 the year to be daring and audacious I need to know that I have a safe pair of hands on standby for those times when I am sure to stumble.

He was willing to take a risk on me when we met and he continues to take a risk on me and my choices every time he's asked to.  He is a fantastic First Mate on my voyage through life....although I think he secretly considers himself the Captain of our vessel!!

He endures my financial ineptitude, my inability to stick to a budget and the perennial black hole that is my bank account.

He supports me in my numerous dalliances with depression in the last ten years and whilst understanding my desire to withdraw from the world to a certain extent, never allows me to withdraw from "us"....because maintaining that connection and reminding me how important I am to him and to our girls is what has kept me tethered to life at those bleak times.
His unwavering loyalty and confidence in me gives me the freedom to make choices in my life that I may otherwise be unable to even consider.

It is fitting therefore that my first grateful post for 2012 is dedicated to him. 

Thank you my darling husband :) 

Favourite Things - November

It's been a long time between 'Favourite Things' posts...sorry folks!

This month it's just ONE favourite thing - my new pinboard and shelves.  A project designed and executed by moi with the able and enthusiastic support and help of Saint Mike!

This is what it looked like before....

BIG window looking out onto our neighbor's house and our fence...not exactly a postcard view!!!  We used to have a blind here that we put down at night to save anyone embarrassment but it was removed during the kitchen reno's and I quite liked it without a blind...but I didn't like the view.

So with no intention of removing/filling in/replacing the sash windows...it was desperately in need of a solution.

Knowing that I am now an expert in the use of my trusty staple gun...and having made do without a pinboard here (if I haven't already mentioned it, this is our desk/work area) I decided that a pinboard running the width of the lower sashes was the order of the day!!

The yan to my yin (noticeboard) was shelves to store all the CRAP that accumulates on the workspace...not too high that we couldn't reach them easily (I hate having to get the step ladder) and sturdy enough that I could also put some herbs in pots up there as it's the perfect sunny spot for them!!!

90 minutes at Bunnings with KAT3 and I had all my supplies...over the weekend, SM and I got to work....voila...DONE!

I should say that it's not 'styled' in any way shape or form....but I love it just the same...and the pot plants are on my list to do!!!!

It has made such a difference to our use of the space and I love the colors in the fabric (as you know, a bit of a penchant for greens and blues!!!)

Hope you like our handiwork??

My very own Clark

Unless you live under a rock it's a bit hard to fail to notice the imminent arrival of the festive season!

In our house that signals the emergence of another of Saint Mike's alter egos - Clark Griswold...he of National Lampoons Vacations fame.  For those of you living under above mentioned rock...this will have you shaking your head in ignorance!!

Being Canadian, SM has a thing for Christmas...in his old neighborhood there are two times of year for houses to be preened to an inch of their lives...summer, or more specifically July/August when the snow has thawed, the ground has softened and the gardens are in their glory....and December when the christmas lights get put up!

This will be our fifth christmas in our house and last year (the 4th) SM really hit his stride in the ornamentation department.  We actually became a neighborhood sensation of sorts with cars driving by to see our display and people walking past with their children.

In the spirit of our very own neighborhood Clark, I've organized a neighborhood drinks & nibblies to celebrate the season of Saint Mike!!

As he's quite the traditionalist, the display will not be erected until the first weekend in December, so we've got a couple of weeks to wait.....bring it on I say :)

grateful to be counting down

Grateful is taking a blogcation over at Jody's at Lemon Rhodes (what a gorgeous blog it is too!)  I'm grateful for the countdown this week.

24hours to go til daddy comes home!!

24hours more of doing it on my own.

How single mothers cope is completely beyond me.  I'm exhausted, completely spent.  The upside is that SM will come home to a wife who is 6.7kgs lighter than when he left!!!!!!

We've missed SM dreadfully and will be so excited to welcome him home tomorrow.  In the meantime it's a quiet morning of TV viewing for the KATs, some computer time for me and then off to the beach to make the most of the sunshine before the clouds descend.

Have a great weekend everyone :)

Chopping My Day Away

Eating well is a time consuming process.

It is completely beyond me how healthy (read thin) people manage to fit anything into their day with the amount of time they must devote to chopping, squeezing, juicing, and all the other 'ings' that go with a healthy diet.

Perhaps my knife skills are just not up to scratch because one of the most frustrating things when you are really famished and are trying (really hard) to stick to your correct macronutrient targets is the preparation involved in getting the food ready to eat!

As I type this, a little voice is saying "yes but that's why you need to be more organized - pre chop food etc" but I am soooooo exhausted from being flogged to death by Mark the trainer from Biggest Loser central casting that I can barely lift my arms to cut another vegetable up!!

Fresh, close to nature still needs to be taken from the fridge, washed, de-ended (can't think of a better description) or de-seeded, then thrown together with the requisite amount of protein (think lots of tuna), cottage cheese and then I can actually consume it....this is all quite daunting when I am still in major 'deprivation' mode...I'm sure it will get better but far out, can someone send me a chef to do all the food prep...I can see why diet food deliveries are so attractive to people.

Regardless of my chopping and slicing angst I remain a bit daunted by this caper but am nonetheless DETERMINED (like my little friend the tortoise) and !  I am recording everything, weighing it as well and have managed to do 195minutes worth of cardio since last Thursday night, plus I got flogged by Mark this morning...so am quite pleased with my level of commitment (nearly burst into tears when he made me do a fourth set of chest presses, felt like there must be a camera hiding somewhere).

SM thinks it's bloody hilarious!  His halo is poised to strangle him!!!

I'd love to hear your tip's on how you manage to eat healthily and still get out of the house...let me know!