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Taking Stock

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I was over at Katie180’s cheeky little blog a little while ago, and she was doing a stocktake – not of her business, but her life. Ooh! I thought, that looks like fun :)

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Making: I’m making our old whiteboard into a blackboard – it was so old that when we wrote on it, the texta wouldn’t rub off because the protective coating had disappeared. So, two days ago my daughter and I painted it with two coats of blackboard paint, and then left it for 48 hours to set. I’m looking forward to using it as an inspiration/vision/job board :)

Cooking: I’ll be honest – in the summer holidays, straight after Christmas, there isn’t usually too much cooking in my kitchen. Or there is, but mostly short order things like pancakes, BLTs and salads. I am fantasising about a chicken curry, a yogurt cucumber raita and naan bread though :)

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Drinking: Coffee (organic and fair trade), made in my stove top espresso pot, milk heated and frothed in my heating and frothing gadget. Every day I’m excited about my morning coffee, every  freaking day :) In the afternoon, if it’s hot and the Bear is home, I’ll have some kind of alcoholic cider. Just one, or forget about dinner :) While I’m not drinking coffee or cider to give my body a break, I am making yummy fruit and vegetable juices in my new baby Oscar juicer.

Reading: I have just started reading Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier – I am enjoying it so far – as well as Leonie Dawson’s 2015 workbook. I am reading Pippi Longstocking to my five year old daughter and enjoying it immensely :)

hondaafter012Wanting: More than anything, dear angels, guides and anyone/thing else that helps facilitate these things, more than anything, I want a new car: the car in my mind is a medium sized, blue 4WD, with less than 150 000 km, in immaculate condition for the perfect price (which is whatever we can afford). Just putting it out there folks :)

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Looking: for the beauty in all things, always. Some people have to train themselves to do this, but not me. I have been a beauty hunter all my life (having 4 planets in taurus and a libran moon helps here :) ). I love to look at natural beauty, whether it is my children, the rainbow lorikeets splashing in the birdbath, the crystal clear water in our swimming hole down the road or the incredible shocking pink flowers of the Crepe Myrtle – but I can find beauty anywhere.

Playing: I am playing online scrabble with my friends: one of them lives in America – it’s how we stay connected – and the other two live 10 minutes down the road. I lose more often than I win, but I don’t mind (except when I do :) ). I’m also playing backyard cricket with my family, handball, UNO and snap.

Listening: I am listening to music through my beautiful new sound system that the Bear bought me for Christmas. It really was the perfect gift – it is simple (it just plays music through bluetooth from my iPod), beautiful, has a lovely strong, warm sound and is big enough to look permanent and small enough to move around. I love it :)

Deciding: When to visit the Gold Coast. My brother and his family have moved up there for 12 months – my brother works on film sets as a carpenter, although he manages the tradesmen these days, and his team got the contract for the Pirates of the Caribbean series. With a house in Southport, and a view of Seaworld, it is the perfect opportunity to spend some time with them, stay at the Gold Coast which is somewhere I have only ever driven through, and take the kids to the theme parks, which they are very excited about.The Bear and I sat down with the calendar yesterday to pick the best time, and my brother rang last night to confirm – so I guess it’s decided!

Enjoying: The freedom of summer and everything that entails: leisurely breakfasts, swimming in the river, dam and ocean, sleepovers, picnics, visiting friends, adventures – and no timetables, lunch boxes or Saturday sport.

Wondering: I am wondering what this year has in store for us as a family. I wonder what kind of changes, adventures, opportunities, bumps and challenges will come our way. Will work stay the same, or will it change? Is the drought over, or has it just been a wet interlude? Will I ever be able to do a yogic handstand?:)

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Loving: I am absolutely loving our beautiful river at the moment. For two summers, it has been so dry that the river dried up to a trickle and even went underground in some places. Now, after the beautiful rain we have had over the past month, it is flowing in full force, clean, clear and sparkling in riotous beauty. Every day that we are home, the kids and I go down to the river, swimming, playing, floating, shrieking with the sheer joy of being cool on a hot day and being in the presence of such beauty. Also – the entrance is overgrown and neglected, so nobody is ever there except us :).

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Pondering: On the morning of the full moon in Cancer, I woke up with a tight neck and shoulders which became steadily worse throughout the day. Add to this a general feeling of digestive malaise – bloated etc – and I am pondering what to do. I had a massage, but from the wrong person at the wrong time (sigh). I am probably a bit toxic after Christmas, so I am having a break from sugar and coffee for a few days, have plenty of juices and be super nourishing to myself. I think that will do the trick!

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Wishing: Wishing is a funny word, which doesn’t really appeal to me – it brings to mind things that I would like but can’t do much about. Then I thought maybe prayer would be a better word. The things I am praying/wishing for are: for the global community to work together in a genuine, concerted way to reduce climate change, environmental destruction, hunger, poverty and war. For all women and girls in all countries to be honoured and respected as equal members of the human race. For perpetual growth as a standard way of operating business be dropped in favour of a more sustainable way. For the Earth to be once more honoured and respected as the giver of all life. You know. All the things.

Considering: Studying again this year. I am considering either studying a Certificate 3 in Education Support or a Diploma of Community Services Work. I think both would be useful in my work – but I want to do the one that will be most useful in the future. I will have made a decision by the end of this month!

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Watching: I am watching, as always, the turn of the seasons, which I never tire of. It is mid-summer now, and everything is in a growing frenzy. I know though, that the cycle is tipping slowly towards Autumn, where things will gradually slow and cool, towards winter where we become dormant, and then to spring where we unfurl and welcome the warmth once more. I am also watching the pattern of the planets and astrology, both the different patterns that are unique to a year, and the patterns that come around every year. The moon is a wonderful cycle to watch, and her effect upon me is constant. I am also, and always, watching my children – their health, their wellbeing, their manners :).

Hoping: I am hoping that we have a good time at the Gold Coast, that the journey there and back is easy and smooth, that we fit easily into my brother’s house, that the lines are not too long in the Theme Parks!

Marvelling: I am marvelling at the good fortune of my life – the beautiful place that we live, my healthy children, my loving Bear, my lovely job that fits in so well with my family and lets me have the holidays off, my wonderful, supportive friends, my parents who love me no matter what, the devices and internet that enable me to write and be connected to the global community, the space and freedom I have to do and go what and where I want (within reason :) ).

Needing: I am needing lots of rest, simple, good food, music for the spirit, good books, yoga, writing, peace, love and water.

Smelling: The blossoms are outrageous at the moment: gardenias are in bloom (my very favourite flower), the Crepe Myrtle and the Jaboticaba which is throwing out more fragrant blooms and fruit in a desperate attempt to take advantage of this season. There is also the smell of insect repellent and incense – the smells of summer :).

Wearing: For the first time ever, I am wearing shorts. I know. Normally in summer I just wear dresses, and I still am – but I also have three pairs of shorts, which look fine, and are very practical. Also swimmers, thongs (as in flip flips for my feet) and some beautiful rose scented body cream that Mum gave me for Christmas.

Following: I am following all of my favourite women – Elizabeth Gilbert, Tosha Silver, Danielle la Porte, The Moon Woman, Mystic Medusa, Astrosparkles, Jennifer Pastiloff, Nicole Cody, Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Momastery. And, I’m following all of my favourite men too – Eckhart Tolle, Humans of New York, Michael Leunig, Rob Brezsny, Neale Donald Walsch, Thich Nhat Hanh, Paulo Coelho and the Dalai Lama.

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Noticing: How my back and shoulder pain has eased with the movement of the moon, from full in cancer to waning in Leo. I am also noticing how just one day without coffee and sugar has both improved the way I feel and highlighted how much I like to eat something sweet after lunch.

Thinking: I am thinking about 2015, and how actively participating in the visualising and planning of a year makes me feel so much more confident that I can do the things that I want to do. In the Leonie Dawson Create Your Shining Year Book, I am in the process of doing a rune reading for each month, which is fun, and then after that I am going to break down a big project that I want completed this year into manageable and achievable chunks. This is all new for me, and it feels exciting.

Sorting: Laundry! I seem to be constantly sorting dirty laundry into piles – darks, whites and colours – and then sorting clean laundry into piles for people that own them.

Buying: A menstrual cup, finally, after thinking about it for 18 months. I shared an article on Facebook about how distributing menstrual cups in East Africa has made such a difference to the lives of women who cannot afford to buy pads and tampons and end up using all kinds of unsanitary things to absorb their flow. In addition, lack of private facilities means that girls and women were unable to attend work or school while they were menstruating. These are the things we take for granted. Anyway, it started up a really interesting conversation where a few of us donated cups, and some of my friends talked about what a difference using menstrual cups has made in their own lives. So I finally bought one :)

Bookmarking: In my bookmark list at the moment is the homepage for Melissa Billington’s MYOGA Freedom, where the yoga videos are for my home practice, links to Amazon kindle books and my wishlist and a retro swimwear site that sells some funky looking swimmers :)

Disliking: Mainstream media news, the attitude of my menfolk who think watching cricket is a sacred activity that is above the law, squabbling children, Federal politics, the jam-packed Pacific highway, where traffic came to a standstill for 28km on either side of my closest town on the weekend, combing the knots out of my daughter’s ridiculously long, knotty hair (!) and finally: having to wash all of the dishes by hand because my dishwasher broke in between Christmas and New Year when all the tradespeople are on holidays! Phew, it was good to get all those off my chest, thanks for listening ;) 

Giggling: There’s a lot of giggling in the holidays – ridiculously wide balls, missed catches and big swings in backyard cricket, for sheer joy in the river, at the terrible, mildly offensive joke my brother told them at Christmas time, which is now my son’s favourite joke (thanks Ben!), funny YouTube clips, fart jokes, wrestling on the lounge room floor, practical jokes…and more :)

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Coveting: A new iPod :) I keep dropping my iPod touch, much to the joy of my children, but only on the very hardest of surfaces such as concrete and tiles, resulting in a cracked screen. I have my eye on the iPod classic with its small screen and massive storage capacity.

Helping: I am helping a friend with his yoga practice – he has been coming down three times a week to do yoga with me. I knew he had been wanting to do yoga, but he didn’t feel like he could go to a class, and wasn’t really confident to do it at home. When I started doing the MYOGA program, I thought to myself that he would be able to do this kind of yoga (it starts at the basics), so I invited him along. It’s been lovely.

Hearing: Birdsong, crickets, frogs, chickens, children laughing, squabbling and talking, music, television, the squeak of the trampoline springs, my breath, the rush of water over the rocks, the clink-swish of dishes in the sink, the whirr of the washing machine…



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