Riddle me this... how can you help your children to be the best people they can be when you're struggling to do it for yourself?
I feel very flawed at the moment, and I worry that I'm passing my flaws on to my girls. I know that it's a vital lesson that children learn that their parents are human, thus flawed, but I guess I wish it was easier to get over my neuroses and imperfections so they have a chance not to pick them up.
The one thing I would like to change about myself is shyness. I have struggled with it my whole life and I don't think it's something I'll ever conquer. It makes my heart sing to see that my girls aren't shy.
I also wish that I could speak up for myself a bit more. I worry that my girls will pick up this trait and become a 'walk over' like me.
What are your flaws? How do you help yourself 'get over' them? Is it a work in progress or a lost cause?
Wednesday 31 March 2010
Monday 29 March 2010
Four things
I'm feeling a little uninspired today. A little tired today.
So here's a meme I've found. Feel free to join in if you like:
Four jobs I've had (apart from magazines):
Waitress in a Mexican restaurant
Researcher on a radio program
Report writer for a major city's council
Flogging self-heating heat packs in a shopping centre
Four movies I can watch over and over:
Parenthood
Gone with the Wind
Stand By Me
Grease
Four places I've lived:
Sydney, Australia
Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago
Bakersfield, California, USA
Melbourne, Australia
Four TV Shows I love:
Seinfeld
Law & Order
Twin Peaks
Degrassi High
Four places I've been to on holiday:
Finland
Italy
Vietnam
Forster-Tuncurry
Four of my favourite dishes:
Pork dumplings
Peking duck
Spaghetti Marinara
Sushi
Four sites I visit daily:
Sydney Morning Herald
Hotmail
Facebook
Domain (a real estate site)
Four places I would rather be right now:
Swimming in Buley's Rockholes in Litchfield NP, Northern Territory
Eating lunch in Hoi An, Vietnam
Sitting on the beach in Kalbarri, Western Australia
Wandering around New York City
So here's a meme I've found. Feel free to join in if you like:
Four jobs I've had (apart from magazines):
Waitress in a Mexican restaurant
Researcher on a radio program
Report writer for a major city's council
Flogging self-heating heat packs in a shopping centre
Four movies I can watch over and over:
Parenthood
Gone with the Wind
Stand By Me
Grease
Four places I've lived:
Sydney, Australia
Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago
Bakersfield, California, USA
Melbourne, Australia
Four TV Shows I love:
Seinfeld
Law & Order
Twin Peaks
Degrassi High
Four places I've been to on holiday:
Finland
Italy
Vietnam
Forster-Tuncurry
Four of my favourite dishes:
Pork dumplings
Peking duck
Spaghetti Marinara
Sushi
Four sites I visit daily:
Sydney Morning Herald
Hotmail
Domain (a real estate site)
Four places I would rather be right now:
Swimming in Buley's Rockholes in Litchfield NP, Northern Territory
Eating lunch in Hoi An, Vietnam
Sitting on the beach in Kalbarri, Western Australia
Wandering around New York City
Sunday 28 March 2010
Sayonara summer
In Sydney at the moment we're experiencing what I suspect are the last days of summer. I know, I know - technically we're almost a third of the way through autumn, but the weather has been so warm and glorious it could be summer.
Next weekend we'll wind the clocks back and the lovely long evenings will get darker and colder. To suck the most out of the season, I'm hitting the beach today. We'll take our last splashes and make the last sandcastles. We'll wash the sand off our feet and pack the boogie board away. Lick the last bit of salt off our cheeks and dream about next December - who knows, the beach may be just a short walk away for us by Christmas.
I hope you're doing some special this Sunday.
Image: freedigitalphotos.net/
Next weekend we'll wind the clocks back and the lovely long evenings will get darker and colder. To suck the most out of the season, I'm hitting the beach today. We'll take our last splashes and make the last sandcastles. We'll wash the sand off our feet and pack the boogie board away. Lick the last bit of salt off our cheeks and dream about next December - who knows, the beach may be just a short walk away for us by Christmas.
I hope you're doing some special this Sunday.
Image: freedigitalphotos.net/
Friday 26 March 2010
Yay! It's Friday
Thursday 25 March 2010
Nine more sleeps...
...until Easter. Which means that I'm hoping to wake up to these on April 4.
Thank you, that is all.
Bush ballads
AS you all know we recently returned from our beach holiday. We went to a seaside town we've visited a few times, in fact we once considered moving there a number of years ago. Being back in the big smoke I've been thinking about how different life would have been if we'd moved there. I've decided to write a list about what I think I would love about living in this town, similar to the one I posted a couple of months ago about city life .
* Space, air, light. It's like someone drew a line in the world and painted the top half blue and the bottom half green.
* Watching the girls run, dig, splash, jump, climb, skip without yelling "Careful, watch out, stop, no."
* Buying avocados, bananas, corn from the farm. Fish and prawns straight from the sea.
* Pulling up and parking my car without driving round and round and then pulling out my credit card for the privilege.
* The beach. Need I say more?
* Walking around my home singing and dancing with the girls and not worrying about bothering the neighbours through the communal wall.
* Oh did I mention space, air and light?
Image: dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
* Space, air, light. It's like someone drew a line in the world and painted the top half blue and the bottom half green.
* Watching the girls run, dig, splash, jump, climb, skip without yelling "Careful, watch out, stop, no."
* Buying avocados, bananas, corn from the farm. Fish and prawns straight from the sea.
* Pulling up and parking my car without driving round and round and then pulling out my credit card for the privilege.
* The beach. Need I say more?
* Walking around my home singing and dancing with the girls and not worrying about bothering the neighbours through the communal wall.
* Oh did I mention space, air and light?
Image: dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Wednesday 24 March 2010
Bags of fun
It's almost Easter time, one of my most favourite times of the year. The weather is gorgeous, the sunlight is special, chocolate abounds, the autumn racing carnival is in full swing and, of course, there's the Sydney Royal Easter Show.
For those not in the know, the Easter Show is an agricultural show. Every town and city in Australia has one at least once a year. For my North American friends they're kind of like a state fair. There's the farm animals, wood chopping, agricultural displays, baked goods, craft, arts, rides and performances. My favourite part of going to the show when I was growing up was the final stop of the day - the showbag pavilion.
Each year, I would peruse the stands and work out exactly what bag would give me the most goodies. My brothers always went with the Coke, Sunnyboy or Cadbury bag. I was more of a fan of the Bertie Beetle and the Lavender House bag (a fave from the '80s which was filled with mauve lace lavender-smelling trinkets). I can still remember the excitement of getting home and dumping the contents of the bags on my bed, feeling wealthier than the Queen.
I have never taken my girls to the show, but a few weeks ago they got an opportunity that as a kid I would have killed for. They were invited to the launch of the 2010 showbags and along with kids from Westmead Children's hospital and Royal Far West were appointed showbag 'testers'!
We arrived on the day to a pen of baby farm animals, where the girls excitedly fed lambs, kids and a calf. They didn't think things could get much better until they were herded (excuse the pun) into a hall and the Care Bears and My Little Pony came wandering out with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Batman. Just when life was about as good as it gets, the staff said the kids could pick two showbags from a whole room full of display bags to take home. Well, if this happened to me when I was a kid it would have been on par with finding a golden ticket to the Wonka factory.
The girls didn't know what showbags were when we got there, but they sure do know. Lil-lil chose a mega-dolls bag and Dorothy the Dinosaur bag while Goosey picked (with some help from mum) In the Night Garden and Sesame Street.
The funniest part of the day was the girls first experience with the paparazzi. The media there fell for their cuteness and at one stage they were completely surrounded by snapping cameras - they, of course, were too busy deciding whether toys were better chocolate to notice the melee.
I secretly wanted to sneak out with a Bertie Beetle bag for myself to feel like that 8-year-old again, but I managed to restrain myself. I'll just have to fork out the few dollars at the show.
So happy show time everyone! I hope you get out there and have a fun day. Was there a showbag you just had to have as a kid?
For those not in the know, the Easter Show is an agricultural show. Every town and city in Australia has one at least once a year. For my North American friends they're kind of like a state fair. There's the farm animals, wood chopping, agricultural displays, baked goods, craft, arts, rides and performances. My favourite part of going to the show when I was growing up was the final stop of the day - the showbag pavilion.
Each year, I would peruse the stands and work out exactly what bag would give me the most goodies. My brothers always went with the Coke, Sunnyboy or Cadbury bag. I was more of a fan of the Bertie Beetle and the Lavender House bag (a fave from the '80s which was filled with mauve lace lavender-smelling trinkets). I can still remember the excitement of getting home and dumping the contents of the bags on my bed, feeling wealthier than the Queen.
I have never taken my girls to the show, but a few weeks ago they got an opportunity that as a kid I would have killed for. They were invited to the launch of the 2010 showbags and along with kids from Westmead Children's hospital and Royal Far West were appointed showbag 'testers'!
We arrived on the day to a pen of baby farm animals, where the girls excitedly fed lambs, kids and a calf. They didn't think things could get much better until they were herded (excuse the pun) into a hall and the Care Bears and My Little Pony came wandering out with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Batman. Just when life was about as good as it gets, the staff said the kids could pick two showbags from a whole room full of display bags to take home. Well, if this happened to me when I was a kid it would have been on par with finding a golden ticket to the Wonka factory.
The girls didn't know what showbags were when we got there, but they sure do know. Lil-lil chose a mega-dolls bag and Dorothy the Dinosaur bag while Goosey picked (with some help from mum) In the Night Garden and Sesame Street.
The funniest part of the day was the girls first experience with the paparazzi. The media there fell for their cuteness and at one stage they were completely surrounded by snapping cameras - they, of course, were too busy deciding whether toys were better chocolate to notice the melee.
I secretly wanted to sneak out with a Bertie Beetle bag for myself to feel like that 8-year-old again, but I managed to restrain myself. I'll just have to fork out the few dollars at the show.
So happy show time everyone! I hope you get out there and have a fun day. Was there a showbag you just had to have as a kid?
Tuesday 23 March 2010
I can sing a rainbow...
About 13 years ago, I was at one of those stages you go through in life where you're a little lost. I had just broken up with my boyfriend, had quit university, didn't have a job I liked and didn't really know what direction I was heading in. At a bit of a loss, I decided to go to Canada and visit some close family friends. I ended up staying for a couple of months and had a ball.
During my time there one of my good friend, Trina, and I would go on weekend adventures to the Rockies. We saw majestic snow capped mountains, wolves, moose, bears. We ate rich desserts. We drank cocktails next wood fires. We walked on glaciers. We had more fun than I ever could have imagined. The one thing that followed us on our adventures were rainbows, everywhere we went we rainbows appeared through the front windscreen of our car. One day we saw seven. We decided that the rainbow was our good luck sign. After that trip things began to fall into place, life began to have purpose and exciting things started to happen.
Ever since that trip I've always been particularly fond of sighting a rainbow. Especially if I'm feeling a little lost.
Last week the family and I were away on our beach holiday and I had another rainbow experience. Almost everyday while I was away I saw a rainbow. And they were some pretty spectacular ones too. The one pictured above was from my hotel room. I'm hoping that they're signaling some good things coming my way.
Monday 22 March 2010
Oh what a time
Well for the past few weeks I've been offline due to a busted hard drive, as you all know. Apple replaced my hard drive for free (yay!), so I'm finally back in cyberspace.
Things have been hectic in the real world so I probably wouldn't have had that much time to write anyway.
Firstly there was work, then weddings, birthday parties and, best of all, our holiday. As part of my 10 to do in 2010 I said I wanted a family holiday on the beach, which is what we did. We had some good weather and some average weather, plus some really rough seas thanks to the cyclones, so the beach was closed a few days too.
Then the weekend brought the start of the autumn carnival, which meant a new frock and a few weeks of racing action. Sydney had a 30+ day, so I was glad we were booked into the restaurant with air con.
So now I've landed back in reality with a thud and my laptop under my arm, I'm hoping 'A day in the life' will have the cobwebs swept away and the posts flying off my fingers.
I hope you're all well!
Things have been hectic in the real world so I probably wouldn't have had that much time to write anyway.
Firstly there was work, then weddings, birthday parties and, best of all, our holiday. As part of my 10 to do in 2010 I said I wanted a family holiday on the beach, which is what we did. We had some good weather and some average weather, plus some really rough seas thanks to the cyclones, so the beach was closed a few days too.
Then the weekend brought the start of the autumn carnival, which meant a new frock and a few weeks of racing action. Sydney had a 30+ day, so I was glad we were booked into the restaurant with air con.
So now I've landed back in reality with a thud and my laptop under my arm, I'm hoping 'A day in the life' will have the cobwebs swept away and the posts flying off my fingers.
I hope you're all well!
I'm baaaaaaacccck!
Hi Everyone
I'm back! My computer is fixed (sort of) and so I'm sure you'll be inundated with my useless pondering very soon. So stay tuned....
I'm back! My computer is fixed (sort of) and so I'm sure you'll be inundated with my useless pondering very soon. So stay tuned....
Tuesday 2 March 2010
A hard road for a hard drive
Dear Hard Drive,
Why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling so good? Why did you suddenly turn my cyberworld to black?
I miss you more than words can say. I've been told it's unlikely you'll get better, so I may have to update you with a younger fresher, quite expensive model.
Was it something I did? Something I didn't do?
Yours always,
Corinne
Dear 'A Day In The Life' Readers,
Due to my lack of access to the net, you won't be hearing much from me for the next couple of weeks. It doesn't mean I love you any less. I hope to be back here very soon. A special shout out to Dual Mom - thanks so much for your help and concern with my bloody stupid hard drive. You were right, it wasn't good news.
In the meantime, take care readers and don't forget about me!
Yours always,
Corinne
Why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling so good? Why did you suddenly turn my cyberworld to black?
I miss you more than words can say. I've been told it's unlikely you'll get better, so I may have to update you with a younger fresher, quite expensive model.
Was it something I did? Something I didn't do?
Yours always,
Corinne
Dear 'A Day In The Life' Readers,
Due to my lack of access to the net, you won't be hearing much from me for the next couple of weeks. It doesn't mean I love you any less. I hope to be back here very soon. A special shout out to Dual Mom - thanks so much for your help and concern with my bloody stupid hard drive. You were right, it wasn't good news.
In the meantime, take care readers and don't forget about me!
Yours always,
Corinne