Great expectations

For work once I went to a leadership week. Now I know everyone else in the world hates these and will moan and groan and see no value in spending time doing this sort of thing BUT I love it!

I learned a lot in this week. One thing in particular, which has been hugely useful to me in my life, which I really honestly didn't know before.

Here is how it happened...

We were talking about how you know some things about yourself that no one else does, you know some things about yourself that everyone knows, and there are some things about yourself that you don't know and neither does anyone else. And then there are other things that you don't know about yourself that other people do know.

Now I have always been fairly self aware. I know how I react to things and I can effectively moderate myself. So I didn't really think that there was anything that other people know about me that I didn't know about myself. I was wrong.

As part of the week we had the opportunity to give each other feedback about what we though were the things that we knew about people that they didn't know about themselves.

Two brave and kind friends of mine told me something I had not worked out myself.

I am a perfectionist.

I know that seems like a big thing to not notice - but seriously I didn't know. But I am so glad they told me because it makes understanding how I react to some things so much easier.

For example, I may seem silly, but I think I am going to die if I don't get top marks for my two uni subjects this semester. I got back one terrible (read average) mark and it feels like the world is falling in.

There is a small chance that while working full time and managing a household I have set the bar just a little to high....

I luv your blog

Thanks Swift Jan for luving my blog. (I luv yours too)

Here are some of the blogs I luv

The Talking Budgie
Hippomanic Jen
Givinya de Elba
Crazy Sister
Cam DS
The pegless one
Tia

and one I hope to luv soon

GlenKitty
(once they leave the country and start blogging)

Once upon a time

Ahhhhh and the novels start.

Once upon a time there was a girl who was studying at university. Instead of studying for her business and pysch exams she read books, cleaned her parent's house, rearranged her room and baked naughty goodies like cakes and biscuits.

Then the girl grew up. She became a woman and decided to do some more study. Instead of studying for her law exams she read books. Though to her credit she has not yet cleaned her parents house, or rearranged her room. Don't ask about the naughty goodies.

(If you don't understand why you can' ask about the naughty goodies read this)

Yes the girl, now woman is me. I love a good read. Especially when I really should be doing something else. So today I bought two new books and then rediscovered a whole series in my shelves that I would love to read again. Just like my uni study it has been ten years since I read these books and they are great.

The series is called The Song of Albion.


There are three books and, as I recall, they are all excellent. I would highly recommend them to anyone not studying for their final exams at the moment.

They are written by Stephen Lawhead. He is a great author and has a lovely way of interspersing his faith into his science-fiction novels.

Yay - groceries

Well the groceries arrived. They were not as exciting in real life as I had built them up to be :(

I got everything I ordered and two freebies on top of that. :)

One of the bottles of cordial I had ordered leaked in the truck (but it was in a bag so it didn't get one anything else) so the driver called the service people and had the amount refunded - plus I got to keep the rest of the cordial.

The driver was very friendly and polite. I was happy with the customer service.

I was a bit disappointed that the $6 chicken I had ordered turned out to be $18. But I called the service people and they refunded me some of that money. So I am happy enough with that.

Overall it was great to have my groceries delivered.

I have my next delivery organised for a fortnights time.

Today is the day

My first online grocery order is due to arrive this morning.

So here I am waiting with baited breath.......walking to the door every five minutes to check if it has arrived yet.

It is tragic to be this excited about groceries

Recovery

I had really, really bad hay fever yesterday. The completely debilitating kind, with constant sneezing, and zero ability to think.

If you haven't suffered with hay fever yourself it is difficult to understand the intense discomfort that this condition creates. I get it as a result of my allergies. I am allergic to a whole range of things including dust, mold, some foods, animals and grasses.

I have been getting hay fever since I was in primary school. Over the years I have tried every antihistamine known to man, but now none of them work on me. I still take them occasionally just to check if they still work.

So what is it like to have hay fever?

Well it starts with sneezing. Then my nose simultaneously starts running and becomes completely blocked so I can't breath through it. Now as I blow my nose for the hundredth time I start to think that I am getting dehydrated, so I have a couple of glasses of water. And the sneezing continues and continues and now I have a very full bladder. It is unpleasant. By now the foggy head thing has started. I start to talk more slowly, I have to really concentrate to remember what I am talking about or what I am saying. And for some reason I am hot and sweating. I have a temperature and I am still sneezing. And this will last until I sleep it off, whether it starts at 8 am or 8 pm.

Why does all this happen?

My body thinks that when I get dust up my nose (or some other allergen into my system) that it needs to attack it. So it creates the sneezing, temperature etc

So you can imagine that I am not up to much while I am suffering from this.

Also in the last few years it has been affecting me for longer - while the hay fever will stop when I sleep, I am more and more often unable to do much the day after either.

Today for example, I slept for about 14 hours last night. I woke up a bit before 12 today and have spent all day resting. I am physically exhausted and will no doubt sleep well again tonight.

But through all this I am blessed. I have a wonderful husband who will always jump in and take care of me when I don't feel well. Last night he cooked veal schnitzel with parsley potatoes - doesn't it look great? It tasted even better!

What year do you belong in?

You Belong in 1953

You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

What Year Do You Belong In?

Well clearly this is wrong because I belong in the year I am in, but I think I would have liked the 1950s too :)

small win

I have lost 1 kg this week. Yay for small wins!!

New outfit

I went shopping today at.....well......lets call it...... afternoon tea. I had seen the above outfit in the Jacqui-E catalog which I get emailed and thought:

that is cute. I should go and try that on.

What I didn't think was:

that is cute. I should blow my entire birthday present budget on buying that entire outfit.

But as it turned out that is what I did.

It is super cute - very girlie. I wore my hair down today, which is usual and I wore a dress to work which is very very very unusual. So I was obviously in a girlie mood and this outfit is the result.

I have given it to my husband to wrap up for my birthday (which is in a few weeks). If you are all well behaved I might even post a photo of what I look like in the outfit after I "get" it for my birthday.

Flat screen

This is a stomach I am after. I think there may be crunches or sit ups involved in obtaining it? maybe?

On a separate note, it is quite interesting what comes up in Google when you search for "flat stomach".

Food, food ,food

I am so excited!!!

Coles is finally selling online in BrisVegas. So now I can completely avoid grocery shopping. I dislike shopping intensely. I also have no time to shop while the shops are open which usually mean I do a huge mega shops when I do get time or a tiny mini shops in the city during the day and then cart it home on the bus.

But no more! I will have all my groceries delivered! to my door! by someone else!

And as if that isn't enough, delivery is free at the moment. I could kiss them.

So now I get all my fresh fruit & vegetables and meat from Fresh Organics and all my other groceries from Coles Online!

Time for my happy dance....

Starting now

I am not happy with my weight.

I have decided to lose eight kilos by Christmas.

My plan

Food:

• totally vegan during the week - Monday morning to Friday afternoon
• healthy over the weekend and including at least one serve fish and meat
• no sugar - no cakes, biscuits, etc.
  

Exercise

• thirty minute walk with weights on weekdays
• Yoga on Saturdays
• Longer walk on Sunday
  

Other

• printed statement of goal and put on mirrors in bathroom and bedroom.

Reward

• will buy new dress to wear to church on Christmas day.
  

Beauty

I got up early on Thursday to travel to our nation's capital for the day. Because I didn't want to wake up my husband at 3:30 am when I had to get up I moved my good and chattels into the bathroom so that the early morning beautification could occur in there. Here is what it takes to make me presentable in the mornings.....


It seemed like a lot to me. But I can assure you, they are all are absolutely necessary.

The Whole Family

This is one of my sets of china.

It is probably my third biggest set. As mentioned previously it is Royal Doulton Countess. I have the following pieces:-

1. One teapot
2. Two large round platters
3. One medium round platter
4. Two breakfast cups and saucers
5. Eight Tea cups and saucers
6. Eight small plates
   
7. Two milk jugs
8. One sugar bowl

Seems like a lot when I catalogue it like that.

I use it quite often. This is mostly because fine china needs to be washed regularly (at least once per year) to avoid crazing.

This afternoon when my husband (who was studying) asked for a cup of tea I used this set. I thought since I was using it, I should wash it all. So I did and then took some photos so all the folks at home can see how pretty it all is. :)

Exhuastion

I think I am superwoman today. I had a mammoth day. I achieved A LOT!

This morning I got up early, shaved and moisturised my legs (this alone is an achievement). I finished a 22 page assignment (I wrote about 4 pages this morning). I went to my "beauty" appointment and had my eyebrows etc perfected. I put the car cover back on the Merc by myself to stop the birds pooing on my perfectly washed car. I then did two lots of tute questions (I wrote about 4 pages total). I then unpacked the dishwasher and tidied the house, then caught the bus to uni, handed in my assignment, went to a two hour tutorial. Then I had dinner (at 4:30 pm). Then I went to a one hour lecture on statutory interpretation and followed what the lecturer was talking about. Then I went to a two hour tutorial and was the only one there who had done the tute questions so had to answer most of the questions asked by the tutor.

Now I am exhausted and hoping that I will have a few days off to recover.

But hang on....NO. I have to go to work tomorrow and be coherant. The chances of that are....slim.

Kitchen Dreams

Tom and I have a master plan for our small three bedroom house. This plan involves

• more bedrooms,
• a garage that is actually big enough for a car (our current one is too narrow and not high enough for either of our cars),
  
• a walk in wardrobe,
• an ensuite,
  
• lots of storage, and
  
• a new kitchen (with a pantry!!!!!)
  

Reading Givinya De Elba reminded me of my wild fantasies about a new kitchen.

I have a dream, a dream where I have a kitchen that actually has a pantry. A kitchen that has enough room for all of my china (there is a fair bit) and all of my appliances. A kitchen that has a sink with drying racks on both sides. Did I mention the pantry yet?

It seems like such a small thing but we are so short on storage in this house that having a pantry, or a wardrobe for that matter, will be soooooo great!

Cry baby

I found out this week that a woman, who I hold in high esteem, lost her husband. This event made me very sad. It made my cry. And in a way that made me feel like a fraud. I didn't know this man. I had never met him. And yet reading the order of service for his funeral and the eulogy that this woman had read made me cry and cry.

I do tend to be a bit of a cry baby. I cry at Hallmark ads, bank ads and sometimes insurance ads. I cry when anyone dies (even when I don't know them). I cry when I talk about how much I love someone. I cry when I talk about my faith. I cry when I think about the possibility of someone dying. And before you ask - Yes I cry no matter what time of the month it is.

I am not sure what it is about me, or women, that makes us more emotional. I am sure there is some hormonal explanation to do with the amount of estrogen or something. But I do often wonder - what purpose do my tears serve?