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2011 – Thanks for coming:)

31/12/2011 Joh family, friends, gratitude, learn, love, random, relationships

I have lots to write but for now I’m just glad to put this year to bed. It’s been ‘interesting times’ as the curse goes. It’s turned out really well and I’m glad I put off worrying for another time, because now that I have a little time, I have no need.

I could list milestones and events that have rocked my world but not now.

This year has been special in so many ways. I have been blessed with new friends and aquaintances and a whole new cast of characters in my life. I treasure the people who have travelled a way with me as others have dropped by the wayside.

There is lot’s I want to plant here on my blog in 2012… I’ll wait and will enjoy sharing all the seeds and blossoms of my life then. I’m setting this blog post to publish in the last minute of this year. So farewell 2011… I know I’ve lacked appreciation at times but truly now I see that it was everything I asked for:).

 

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Birthday

03/12/2011 Joh friends, gratitude, relationships

I’m 46 now.

Yesterday I was really tickled by how adding text messages, facebook messages to the traditional visits and calls  can make your day a constant stream of birthday greetings. I enjoyed it. I was working at my floor coverings job ended up turning my phone off because as much as I love it all, I wanted to finish a few jobs without interruptions.

This year has been a long and rambly story with many twists in the plot. As with all interesting stories where I’ve found myself at the end of 45 in a good place. I’ve laughed more than enough. I celebrate. Today I will continue, cause I worked yesterday so that didn’t count.

I’m catching up with my school friends today at the annual 10-10. In a break with tradition we’ll be off to another establishment. As usual I’ll be going in the afternoon and not marathoning the session. It’s a sunny day and people I like will be there. Fun!

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New Moon in Libra – Tuesday 27th September 2011

27/09/2011 Joh astrology, friends, gratitude, health

I’ve taken the dark moon prescription and rested. Mystic Medusa had some classic posts (Your Dark Moon on Speed) about the dark moon.

I’ve had shingles. The Friday before the holidays I came home from school and started to feel the painful tingle in my face and noticed some red lumps had formed along my jaw up to my ear. Darin was returning from a brief visit to Sydney and I was excited about him coming home. I missed him.  I spent most of my time in the last week in bed. I have slept a lot, sooked a bit and been well looked after. He’s been cooking me healthy meals and taking care of the things I couldn’t as well as just being there for me in lots of small ways.  I missed my friend’s wedding. I felt very sorry for myself. Today I feel better.

Libra is a sign of balance and relationship. Venus the planet of beauty and abundance rules Libra (along with Taurus). One of my close friends, Wilma is Libran and has excellent taste and communication skills you would associate with one. We were in business together in ‘Unique Furnishings’ and ‘Total Vision’ both soft furnishings/interior decorating businesses. It was a fun and social time of my life.

Wilma’s daughter got married on Friday and although I couldn’t go, I know it would have been beautiful. I have known Dallis since she was 3 and Nathan is a worthy man for her. When I met Nathan I felt comfortable and I liked him. It was instantly fun in their space.

Some articles I’ve read about this new moon :

Lynda Hill’s Sabian Symbols: Getting Straight and Getting the Message, September’s Libran New Moon

Ruby Slipper: Sun, Mercury and New Moon in Libra: The Fight to Stay Balanced

And a post about making a new moon wish:
Kelly Surtees: New Moon Wishing

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Engaged

17/07/2011 Joh food, friends, love, relationships

Last night we had an engagement party to attend. A past work collegeue, now friend and my little sisters close friend got engaged. It’s always lovely to go to an engagement party when you know and love both the people. It was an awesome party… Huge!

We catered and we spent the day at the Tennis Centre cooking. I really enjoyed it. I loved watching them set up the room with candles and amazing white paper lamps. The beautiful cake arrived. There is a good kitchen there and whilst I think it is mostly only used for reheating food, it worked well for us. We prepared all the food there and cooked it and as people arrived many commented on the food smells and how lovely it was to smell delicious food as they entered. The staff there even mentioned how great it smelt. When I think about it, most of the parties I have gone to in venues we are served reheated food, which doesn’t generate all the smells you create when you add fresh vegetable and herbs and cook meat… there really isn’t anything like it. It was an unexpected benefit.

I was delighted with the feedback from the people at the party when we finished cooking and joined the party. A lot of people asked for business cards and wanted to know where they can find us now we don’t have a shop. We are happy to do that kind of catering. I think our food is very different. It’ s like the food you would make for a party at home. I wish I had taken photos – sorry Kate… too busy:).

The party was great, there was a live musician, who was brilliant. There are so many many wonderful musicians around I love going to a party that has live music. The fire was on, the room was full of warm and happy people. It was a festive and fun evening. Weaving through the crowds with the food was quite challanging at times, the room was thick with people and laughter and children were doing what kids do at parties … dancing and playing with the balloons.

We reconnected with one of our favourite customers and met her brother. I also caught up with some other past collegues. It was great that I could have conversations with them because the music was a gentle, enjoyable addition and not a distraction to the socialisation. I had great conversations with people. Parties like that make you want to go out again on a cold night for another one:).

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Macarons, Friends and other Simple Pleasures

15/07/2011 Joh blogging, Business, food, friends, learn, random, reading

Yesterday Br John came for lunch. He was my mentor when I was a first year teacher 10 years ago. We haven’t caught up for probably 5 years. He has moved to another state and is a Principal there. I reckon he would be a good one because he is both human and organised. He communicates well and continues his learning. I always enjoy hanging out with him because he has interesting stories. He’s recently been travelling around Europe on a Marist brother adventure (there is probably a more serious, spiritual purpose). He had great food stories to tell me and as that is what I am most interested in right now, I enjoyed the tales of food.

I had my second attempt at making Macarons. Just before we left the shop a lovely lady came in for a visit from this business Cupcake Therapy. I am not really into cupcakes. Her sister had come in for lunch and told me they’d been to Paris to learn how to make Macarons. I was captivated. I contacted her on facebook and she brought some samples (rasberry with white chocolate filling). It is my current obsession. They are so pretty and delicious. A fortnight ago I made some for Cath for her birthday. I made about 3 batches and ended up with 6 mishapen things. I made chocolate ones because I am a fan of chocolate. I will experiment with different flavours once I get chocolate handled. The ones I made for lunch yesterday were better but don’t look anything like the amazing creations from ‘Cupcake Therapy’. Her facebook page is one of my favourites.

One of the things I really like about Macarons is that it’s delicious way to use egg white. I use the yolk to make mayonaisse and chocolate/lemon tart. I’ve never been a fan of pavlova or other egg white type dishes. Macaron’s are going to take a lot more practise. I have no clue with a piping bag. They tasted great and I don’t think I would ever create the kind of product with glaze and all the beauty of professional ones, but I would prefer them to look a bit more similar. When I do manage something near decent I will take a photo:) Which leads me to my next simple pleasure…

I have been inspired by Jen from Semantically Driven to start taking a photo a day. I haven’t really taken many photo’s lately. I take them of the kids, but I used to always take my camera with me and I enjoyed it. I am going to publish them on tumblr. I have also been watching a few You Tube photo a day clips and thinking that could make an interesting alternative to journalling for students who don’t like writing. I don’t like taking photos of myself… but teenagers seem to be comfortable with it. I will just take photos of random things that take my eye, still I think they will contain hidden memories.

We shopped today because we have a catering job to do tomorrow night. Two friends are engaged and we are catering for the celebration. I love shopping with Darin. We have a lot of fun and even amuse others. An older woman in the market couldn’t stop giggling when he asked me which box I wanted to carry and I said the lightest one. It really tickled her. I enjoyed being out in the sunshine today. We went to Morwell cause we had to go to a couple of places there. We ended up back here for all the things we forgot on the first trip:). I popped into the Art Gallery whilst I was there and looked in the window of the Contemporary Art Space. I felt quite uplifted by it. We went on a walk this afternoon and went ‘window shopping’ in all the homeware and electrical shops on the highway. We got great service cause we were the only people in the shops. We were approached by many sales people. I looked around at all the heavily discounted stuff and thought ‘What’s going to happen to all this stuff if no one comes back to buy it?’ Where have all the shoppers gone?

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My Son is 21!

09/05/2011 Joh family, food, friends, gratitude, holidays, love

I could not be more proud of my son. He organised the most magnificent weekend for his family and friends. It was lovely to see where he works and to meet his friends and co-workers. They are such gorgeous and happy young people. I’ve known he was in a good place because of the growth and happiness I’ve seen when he’s been home to visit, but it was great to have it confirmed. He is so loved. His partner Dean was amazing and attended to all the details with love, he was in and out all weekend organising food, beverages, a gorgeous cake and making sure we were all well looked after. As a mum, I enjoyed hearing his friends tell me about how much they love him and share their stories and adventures with me. One of his friends made him this amazing book with photos and a poem, it was like a hardcover picture book. I was thrilled to see it. What a thoughtful and creative young woman.

He booked us all into opulent accomodation, catering for everyone’s needs. My parents stayed at Beach Club resort and were overwhelmed by the beauty of the place and service they received. We all stayed at the party house (The Round House). His dad and step mum had a place of their own because they have a baby. He looked after everyone and considered their needs. I had the best time. It was pretty hard to come home really.

I can’t believe my baby is 21. A lady came into ‘The Butchers Dog’ today with a baby boy and she looked so tired. I remembered when Tom was a baby, he cried a lot. I looked at her baby and thought I would do it all again because he has been such a gift to me. Not just this weekend but all his life. He has always loved and cared for me in ways that no else has even known to. He has shared his friendships and fun with me and it I’ve enjoyed being a part of his people as much as I do my own. I miss him fiercely but knowing he is living in a beautiful place, surrounded by loving people helps.

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The Fridge

29/03/2011 Joh family, friends, gratitude, home

Just read this post at Semantically Driven: Declutter or not with a revealing photo of her fridge. I love it. It tells so much…. like all our fridges. I would love to see a collection of fridge photos. Jen is clever.

They are a snapshot of the members of a home and life shared. It’s rare to come across a totally bare one. It kind of reminds me of that film ‘The Castle’ with the dad who put all the precious things in the billiard room. I remember my nana used to put special things in her crystal cabinet and in other homes the mantle piece over the fire place was the spot. Perhaps the fridge is more changeable though and less formal. Most homes have these spaces. Display houses don’t and that’s why no matter how many decorators put them together, they aren’t homes.

I love the things on my fridge. I love the randomness of it. I love that when the kids return, they always check out the fridge, not just what’s inside it either, although that usually comes! Photo’s of all our children and  artwork by the children are at the centre. The poetry art that Cath gave me and the magnetic pictures R (4) got from Asha for Christmas are top and bottom.On the side are invitations, reminders of really important things and little scraps of paper with sayings that speak to me. A vintage postcard with the line ” I dream of storage space.”  There’s a Baci wrapper saying about love, a magnet with a picture from the M.I.L.K series and other sayings mostly about love.

I have stripped my fridge at times and started again and looking at it now, it’s probably due for that kind of treatment, along with the rest of my house to be honest. I usually put most of the stuff off the fridge in a shoebox. I have a few of those now, I’ve never been through them, but it feels like artifact central of my life. I could spend too many hours recollecting if I start sifting. Perhaps I will rearrange at Easter. There are postcards on it from my parents last winter holidays and 21st invitations alongside 7 year old birthday parties that were attended or not, months ago.

I always check out peoples fridges when I go to their houses, and if it’s my mum’s : what’s inside too. I have a beautiful collection of photo’s of Darin the first time I went to his mum’s house as he went straight to the fridge and began examining it’s contents. I’ve seen it time and time again, peering into the fridge as if it’s a TV set, we all do it in the homes we feel most comfortable.

I wanted to take up Jen’s challenge and photograph our fridge, and I may. I’m still not comfortable with posting photo’s of my children on the internet, let alone Darin’s children. It feels like a private space to me.  I did want to share my fridge in some way.

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People Should Smile More – Newton Faulkner

17/03/2011 Joh Business, family, food, friends, gratitude

I love this song. Rhiley, a past student reminded me of it. The clip with the You Tube video has Anita Roddick in it. Another inspiring person. I do think people should… smile more.

I survived Darin’s absence. I must admit he made it pretty easy for me. I love my lifestyle change. It’s challenging, on lots of levels but I laugh and learn every day. Darin and I have a lot of fun at work. I’m sure it’s reflected in the quality of the food. That’s probably why so many people come back every day, for a laugh as well as a feed, or at least a smile.

I still see my friends cause they come and visit me. It was great to see Rhonda today. I appreciate that Facebook allows me to stay in touch with many of my past students and some of them still drop in for a visit, which I love. I got a great reference this week from my past principal. It was good for my self esteem:-). I think I would like to do some CRT work to stay in touch, cause I did enjoy teaching and we are getting better organised.

My kids are happy, my parents are healthy, I feel very blessed.

Life is good.

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Solar Eclipse in Capricorn – Tuesday 4th January 2010

03/01/2011 Joh astrology, Business, family, food, friends, gratitude, home, learn, love, relationships, work

This eclipse is a new moon, so perfect for setting intentions for the future. I have abandoned New Years Day as my first day of new action for a few years now and prefer to make my fresh starts on Chinese New Year and new moons. I use New Years to reflect on the past year. Capricorn is ambitious and so am I this year. I have my ascendent, mars and venus in this sign, as well as Darin having his sun and ascendent, so we have plenty of this energy to work with here:-).

Some horoscopes I’ve been reading for the eclipse:

Kim Falconer
Lynda Hill
Robert Wilkinson :Aquarius Papers
Jan Spiller

This eclipse has good timing. I have intentions for this year and I expect to have a very different lifestyle, if the last few weeks are any indication. The rhythm of my days has changed. I have more freedom even though I spend more time working. It doesn’t feel like work due to the environment. I make choices about what needs to be done and how and when I do it. I feel more creative than I have for a while and it’s resulting in changes in lots of areas.

Many of my intentions are for my home and family for this year. I love home. Last year we completed the laundry and integrated our belongings. When two adults with children merge in a home together everything changes. Our first year together there were still many comings and goings of people and things. We moved house for a short period, we moved back here and then Tom moved to Hamilton Island. It’s probably taken me all this year to pack up his stuff, and it’s not mission accomplished. We intend to rearrange the bedrooms. I want to create spaces for our 5 children where they can feel they belong and have some personal space. It seems like a bit of a challenge, but as they are rarely all here at the same time, we will find a way. This house is amazing really and there are plenty of spaces for everything. I have plenty of other improvement projects to complete around the home.

We had some great family times this year with the offspring as well as our parents and extended family. I want this to continue. It’s been amazing feeding people with Darin to confidently cook. Having Christmas day lunch for my family here was one of the greatest gifts he gave me this year. He makes everything go smoothly and calmly, leaving only enjoyment of delicious food in a relaxed environment.

Darin and I will experience some interesting times working together I expect. We get along pretty well but can both fire up and express ourselves at times also. I need to create time alone for myself as he does somewhere in our week. We have been playing with different ways to do that.

Along the same lines I’ve enjoyed having friends here to eat, drink and stay. I hope to continue and make time to share laughter and stories with all my friends. I have some amazing people in my life and an afternoon spent with a friend can refresh like a holiday.

I want to make soap like frogdancer. She is an inspiration! I use aromatherapy daily in numerous ways, so to make soap would be another extension of that. I find essential oils so supportive to my health and enjoyment of life.

I want to write my blog about the things that are meaningful to me. The filters that I have for my expression have changed. I no longer feel the ‘Catholic School Teacher’ role has to be catered to, which is incredibly freeing, particularly when it rubs up against so much of my personal integrity.

I will be immersed in learning about food this year and will apply some of my past business knowledge and discover how well it applies to this business. I have already discovered many differences between Interior Decorating/Soft furnishings and Food Industries. There are some things that still apply though:-) thank goodness.

I have a volunteer mission this year to work for Lifeline. I want to do their training and be able to serve the community in this way. I was actually thinking about becoming an adolescent counsellor when I first wanted a career change. I just dread the thought of any further University study. I find that institution irrelevant to how I like to learn. It’s too theoretic and disconnected.

We are reopening ‘The Butchers Dog’ on the 10th of January. Traralgon is very quiet at this time of the year. Many businesses take time out and there aren’t as many people around. We are working on the things we discovered in our first weeks. Some time out and reviewing how we went has been helpful in recognising things to change. I have been amazed at how many people have given us advice about what to do. I must admit I have been distracted by it at times and this little time out has allowed Darin and I to get clearer again about what our intentions for the business are and to refocus our vision. When you start there are many things you don’t know, and our little beginning has revealed those things. The alterations that we are making will improve what we do when we return.

There are plenty of hopes for the future like making a vege garden, reading a novel each week, going to more live concerts and performances, using the car less and walking more, going to Hamilton Island to visit Tom (aka have a cheap holiday), taking more photos and world peace starting with me and more, but this will do for now.
I wish for love and abundance for all of us.

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Christmas

26/12/2010 Joh family, food, friends, gratitude, holidays, love

Yesterday was jam packed amazing. So many luscious moments!

It’s so good to have little ones in my life again, especially at Christmas time. Watching them open their gifts, check that santa had drank the milk and the reindeers eaten their carrot, was such a treat for me. My big ones were awesome too. Having Asha around more now is a gift in itself. She has been so good to me these last few weeks, helping out at the shop, reminding me to breath and being there just when I need her. Tom rang yesterday and it was lovely to hear his voice. He worked all day and snuck a call in during a break. I always wish he was here, but I know he is where he is meant to be.

We had the family at our house for lunch and the food, company and gifts were outstanding. It was actually very relaxing and enjoyable. I don’t think I had enough time the last few weeks to panic about it too much. We kept it all pretty simple and had a roast lunch, mum brought the pudding, we had some leftover tarts and tiramisu from the shop, so there was plenty of great food and drinks. I got the BEST gifts ever. Lingerie, essential oils,perfume, books, a signed David Bowie photograph,a reading and cd’s from Tim, pretty much all my dreams come true.

I’m feeling a little damaged from overindulgence today. I have a lovely couple of weeks ahead of much less activity and I feel very relaxed about it. It’s Darin’s birthday tomorrow, so another celebration to go yet! Life is good:-)

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