The Banana Cake date...

It's hard to believe, that my partner of  16 years welcomed me into his heart and home.
He was single, never being married, had no children and owned his own home.
Me, on the other hand, had been married for 14 years, was in the middle of a divorce, had two children age 9 and 12 at that time and was in the process of selling the family home and organising new financials.
A wee bit messier then 'his' ordered life.
But he soon made it his mission to fix this mess.
We met through a friend we both knew. Her son was to have his first birthday party and we were both invited knowing the other would be there ( kind of a blind date so to speak ).
My partner and I didn't even talk at the party, we were too busy observing and watching each other I guess.
A long week later we made arrangements to meet over at Pilot Bay for a coffee.
I arrived with a rug, thermos of coffee and two slices of freshly baked banana cake.
He must have thought, "Cool!, this hasn't cost me anything yet, lets see where this leads".
His shyness and my reserve meant that our relationship moved slowly.
We became good friends and over the next few months we grew fond of each other and enjoyed the excitement of  a new romance. This man was quickly becoming a great father figure to my children. It was easy to fall for this guy. He was my rock in those troubled times.
He showed me how to open my mind and heart again.
" To live fully again you have to be at the bottom", he said, " start over and begin to see what life has to offer. Enjoy the little things. Watch a sunset across the water, picnic in the park, close your eyes and listen to music and holding hands". 
These small, simple and significant things brought happiness.
We still picnic, watch sunsets', listen to music and hold hands.
My man is good! Life is good.

Chocolate!

They say you shouldn't do anything by halves! Clearly this is not me
Ridiculously, I love everything chocolate...
I can eat chocolate anytime, day or night, I can snack as I walk around the house, snack as I read (this draft). I can even snack preparing to eye up another square of  delicious, mouth watering chocolate.
At the moment my whole thinking and being is consumed by something as ridiculous and unimportant as chocolate.
I think nonstop about the stuff.
As I admit this to you, it's actually making me giggle typing this.
Monday is supermarket day. I hate the day as a rule, it is my weekly chore but it's a great and exciting time to venture down that favourite isle to fetch-well you get what I mean. Treating ourselves, yes I'm going to drag my partner who is responsible  for this addiction in to this conversation.
When we are having a simple cup of coffee in town, the barista will say, " would you like cinnamon or chocolate on your coffee",. I'm like..."honey, we have come into this lovely café for sometime now and you might well remember what my topping is...chocolate"!
Okay let's play the game of guilt out loud.
Why do we feel guilty!, Chocolate is made for happiness and enjoyment, right!. I choose dark chocolate (Whittaker's).and if you think I'm on a dangerous path, well, I am.
Easter, I love this time of the year. I'm a sucker for the bunnies, marsh mellows,crème eggs. What type of chocoholic are you?.
One by one, it doesn't take long feeling like I have stepped over my quota for the day-week-month.
So, yes, go have a slice of  the goodness but make sure it's dark chocolate to make you feel a little less guilty.

Time, we have to use it wisely

Time, we have to use it wisely. This month of July is nearly over, Twenty Fridays left until Christmas, so they say, so that means twenty pay days left...eek.
Oh my goodness, I've got my Mum, two daughter's and two brother's birthdays to pay out for in that time, I should start saving more but I have to spend some on the fabulous top I spotted, that book I like the cover of, then there's that trip out of town next weekend.
I better put my wine glass down and start making a new plan. I'm feeling slightly worse now that my head has cleared, as I discover my year will zoom quicker than I imagined. The situation needs my attention sooner rather than later.
Only a few months ago, I had a crazy idea that this year instead of staying at home to detox on lettuce leaves over our summer break, with the essential wine or three, I would put away a little extra every week so we could rent a beach house for us all to spend Christmas together ( relaxing away after a busy, hard  work year )
O.K maybe this is next years plan and I'm super ahead of myself, yeah, that's it! next year, in that case I have heaps of time... phew.
Now, where did I leave my glass of wine?

Clear Winter Days in the Bay

 

 

 

 

 

 

While it is cold , the mornings frosty and light winds, our days are fabulous! The sky is so blue and the clouds are like dollops of candy floss. When we wonder along the shore as the tide is coming in we notice the beauty of patterns. The small shells rolled into rope like formations, the waves with their white crests interweave and overlap  each other as they roll towards the shore. Even the gulls make patterns as they stand to attention. We enjoy the pattern of our breathing as we inhale and exhale this wonderful clear and fresh air. Looking out to sea we dream about the origins of the little islands that dot the coastline. We marvel  at the natural vegetation and how it clings to bare rock. These short, free, peaceful meditations put our lives in perspective.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Give yourself time out

Enjoy the little things in life, be it just walking in your own garden, quick walk to the shops, visit an old friend. We don't  need to spend alot of money to have joy in our lifes.  Make this day a rememberable  one by sharing it with someone that makes you happy.

Live Love Laugh

No one will argue...
that sometimes filling out forms is a part of life, one can't escape.
for example, job applications, information for government departments. How do we understand the questions for important documents like, your passport, or driver's licence.
Learning how to drive a car was the easy part. It was the driving test that was the challenge.
My boyfriend at the time had an automatic Cortina.
 It was fun to learn to drive in it, with its bucket seats so you felt like you were in a racing car. The big steering wheel for good control, ha ha, so I thought, until a sharp corner, a big bus and me being on the wrong side of the road, reminded me very quickly it's not all fun and games.
All was fine that day, phew.
After driving around for almost two years taking everyone everywhere, on 'L' plates, it was time to do the "test".
It turn out in the late 70's you were allowed up to five questions wrong on the paper work, and I experienced a caring Police officer with some compassion back then.
I passed, Yahoo!, because this was my second attempt and I was so relieved that the officer didn't look outside when I left because I forgot  that I drove myself  there.
Maybe this was the same Police officer that I meet years later when I was pulled over for going a little too fast, ( I remember because it was only about 5km over the limit ) . It's not like I was so excited to start my shift at 8pm, when my babies were hugged, kissed and tucked into bed for the night. I wouldn't have thinking I'm dying to get to work quickly at all!.
So before those of you how think that any speed over the limit is dangerous, you would be so right.
The Police do an excellent job generally in keeping our community safe.

Boy, was I naive!
When I think back at the way I have described myself in the pass e.g. stupid and dumb, I realise that maybe that there was some truth in this.
There was a time when I lived in Australia, a little suburb called Arncliffe in Sydney. I lived in a one bedroomed, self contained flat at the back of a house. It was cockroach infested. Eek! but it was cheap. I had a job at a car franchise on a busy main vein into the city. Well I remember there,was a yummy bakery right across the highway that made the most divine Apricot Danish. They were to die for (now I know where that phrase come from).
At lunchtime every day I would take my orders and make my way to the front of the yard and plan my death defying sprint  across that eight lane highway, with the cheers from the guys from the work shop out the back. They had organised  their own seating strategically for this daily entertainment, but it was  worth every mouthful.
For a short time, I worked  for another business I found advertised on a small notice board at the local train station " Assembler wanted, must speak English and be reliable". Yep that's me.
I was so excited by the opportunity for any interview, landed the job. Surprisingly, I didn't notice I was only one of two employees. I worked with a Chinese guy, same age but very poor English. We understood each other and had fun. The place echoed as is was an enormous factory. It was too big and creepy. I was amused however that they exported  plastic S bends to New Zealand.
Now, I know I'm reliable and may not spell or read English well, but speak it I can. Assembling is my specialty and I proudly put in over a months work at this firm until the boss made his move on me.
I was gone! but not until he heard just how good my verbal English was that day.
Australia wasn't a good experience for me back then. One can't put this down to the lack of education, you can experience inappropriate behaviour anywhere not just the work place, when you are a ravishing beauty as I am.
In hindsight I could have had better knowledge on how to deal with such behaviour. How to fight back, how to write a report on what happened, how to fill out forms etc. It just becomes too scary. In my case I just moved on and put it behind me. Much has changed from the 80's. There are places now that will listen and help people like me, to overcome self doubt and abuse.
I love the saying in the movie " Help"
You is kind ...You is smart...You is important...