Yeah for me!!

I did it!! I actually completed NaBloPoMo!!! Please vote on my poll (on the right) to let me know how you went..

Not much else to write today. I'm head down on the 'puter still desperately trying to put all my info into the documents that the lawyer has asked for.

I'll try to keep a post a day as a more regular routine, but it's nice to know that I don't have to panic if I miss it.

Why did I have this need to finish something so meaningless in the big scheme of things? I guess I've always have a compulsion to finish what I've started, but in light of all that I'm going through right now, I've surprised myself by my need to fulfil my commitment to this daily posting shenanigans.

Perhaps I just needed to feel a sense of completion at the beginning of a process which will, in all likelihood, spiral out of my control pretty quickly.

Anyway... I did it. And I'm proud of myself.

Now I just have to finish all this legal stuff and get DH to back down before the big bucks start flowing out to the lawyer.

Bloggy Love....

I received an award today! The wonderful Lani from Me & Boo gave me one.... which prompted me to realise that she also gave me one back in October. One which I instantly forgot about and didn’t acknowledge. I’m so sorry Lani. I can only guess that I was a bit stressed at the time.

So today I’m acknowledging the first one....


.. This one has a questionnaire attached. So, here goes....

1. Have you had the same friends since childhood?

No. I lived outside Australia for too long in the years prior to email and lost contact with most of them. When I came home I found that we didn’t seem to have much in common and so I didn’t put the effort required into re-kindling the friendships. That shortsightedness on my behalf saddens me now.

I do, however, have friends from my late teens and early twenties. And I have kept pretty much every friend that I made when I lived overseas.

2. What do you value most about your friends?

Honesty. Trust. Kindness. Acceptance. Laughter. Our differences.

3. Are your friends your sounding boards?

Not all of the time. I’m actually mostly pretty uncomfortable when it comes to talking about myself in the real world. I think that’s why I’ve taken to the blogging world so eagerly.

4. What is your favorite activity to share with your friends?

Fun stuff. That includes, but is not limited to, indoor games, outdoor activities, sharing meals, holidays, e-mails. I’m not good at talking on the telephone. Oh, and I’d rather eat live maggots than go shopping with a friend. (What a cheerful girl I am today!)

Now... I am supposed to award this to four friends, but I’m going to give it to every one of my readers who is doing NaBloPoMo. We need all the help we can get!!

I’m saving the other award for another NaBloPoMo struggle-day.

PS. She’s home. A bit wobbly, but so-far so-good. Thanks for all support and good wishes. I know they all help.

PPS. Thank you Lani for all the bloggy-love!

Yesterday's Childhood...

Do you remember riding your bike along the streets of your suburb and hanging out with your friends until you heard your mother ringing the bell that signaled dinnertime?

Do you remember taking your 20 cents pocket money to the milk-bar and buying peppermint creams, paddle-pops or redskins and feeling like the richest kid in the world?

Do you remember walking to your friends’ house and knocking on the door to ask their parents if they could come out to play?

Do you remember putting your roller-skates, terry-toweling wristbands and shorts and knitted legwarmers on and roller-dancing to ABBA and/or Olivia Newton-John songs?

Do you remember listening to 2SM’s Father Jim’s talkback radio on Sunday nights when you were supposed to be sleeping?

Do you remember when a take-away meal was a “The Lot” hamburger (with egg and beetroot) from the above-mentioned local milk-bar?

Do you remember when the whole family sat in front of the one and only telly on Sunday nights to watch “Countdown” and then “Bill Collins’ Golden Years of Hollywood” or “Walt Disney”?

(I know the above list is VERY Australian, but I’m sure you can all get the gist)

I wonder what our kids will remember...

Mine can’t ride their bikes along our streets.... way too many cars.

Mine can’t buy their favourite things with their $5 pocket money as DS games cost about $80 a pop.

Mine can’t have a play-date without pre-planning and parental phone calls and checks.

Mine would dress up and roller-blade an avatar on a video game, but wouldn’t be caught dead doing it in real life.

Mine listen to tunes on their iPod after lights out.

Mine are torn for choice on our rare take-away dinners. But wouldn’t be interested in anything as healthy as a “The Lot” hamburger.

Mine disagree about what programmes to watch as a family and therefore would rather watch a DVD in their own bedroom.

I wonder what their kids will remember....

Kahlil Gilbran...

I was looking for a quote from Kahlil Gilbran to put on the card for the Baby Shower that I went to on the weekend, and some of them were just irresistible.

Here:

Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They came through you but not from you and though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

and here:

Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.

These ones also seemed very poignant at the moment....

Where is the justice of political power if it... marches upon neighboring lands, killing thousands and pillaging the very hills?

Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too selfish to seek other than itself.

That’s enough for today.

Happy Day Three of NaBloPoMo

Bris-Vegas and Adelaide....

BRISBANE

This was a whirlwind visit... I literally saw nothing more than the view from the cab (who ripped me off HUGELY) and this view from my hotel room....



ADELAIDE

I have a very soft spot for Adelaide. It was the very first city that I ever worked in outside my own city of Sydney. And I adore wines from the nearby Clare and Eden Valleys.






If it wasn't for NaBloPoMo I would not be blogging today at all.

I have the mother of ALL hangovers. My crazy-wealthy friends celebrated one of their fiftieth birthdays last night. Spectacular! Firedancers and eaters, court jesters, tarot readers, karoake, Cosmopolitans and an endless supply of Moet Chandon. I think I was one of the last to leave. And I certainly had a short but meaningful conversation with God on the big white porcelein telephone this morning.

And then had to go to a Baby Shower. *shudder*

So... I'm going to blame all my shonky posts on NaBloPoMo for the month of November.

Yes I am.

NaBloPoMo.... Oh Yes....

Call me nuts, but I'm going to do it.  I'm going to commit to writing a post a day throughout the month of November.  Go here to find out more about it. 

I'm HOME!  Finally!  I practically FELL off the plane last night and don't quite know how I managed to drive home from the airport.

And I woke up in a panic this morning.  I had no idea which city I was in and just knew that I was running late.  It took me ages to realise that I was finally safe and snug in my own soft bed with my own divine boys within shouting distance ** evil mummy grin **

I've been keeping in touch with "her" while I was away, and I'm hopeful that there has been a slight improvement in her condition.  Keep everything crossed, please!

There will be couple of photos of Brisbane and Adelaide, when I've unpacked and sorted everything.  In the meantime.... IT'S GOOD TO BE HOME!