Nice to see you!

Three major events occurred for me last year (2010), all in the space of about 2 weeks. I turned 50. The following day I got married. Two weeks later, my oldest daughter became pregnant with her first child and my first grandchild.

Most middle-aged people will tell you that in their minds, they still feel 20 something. It's the same for me.

Wasn't it only yesterday that I was planning a night out with guys from the surf club? That gorgeous new perm. Flaired, cuffed denims and the red t-shirt with the off-the-shoulder frill. Corked platform wedgies. **sigh**

Suddenly I'm looking in the mirror and wondering how 30 years can flash by so damned quickly!

So here I am in cyberspace, sharing my genuine shock and horror with anyone who'll listen and maybe I'll even meet some other over 50s who find themselves in the same predicament!

Welcome to my dilemna!!

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Tis the Season

We are less than two weeks away from Christmas, so I thought I would post something 'Christmassy' every day until Christmas day.

I love this family. They look like they are having such a great time and getting right into the Christmas spirit!



I also was interested in this list of inspirational movies about extraordinary women.  You've probably seen a few of them, but maybe you'd be interested in the others.

I decorated our tree today (finally) and will take a photo tomorrow (because I'm too lazy to do it right now).

This morning, our local markets were held for the final time this year, and I picked up some nice gifts for Christmas. One of the stall owners was very excited when she noticed my new teeth and rushed to my side of her stall to hug me and congratulate me!

The Motivator arrived home from Sydney yesterday and I stopped briefly at her place to say hello. She has been gone for almost a month, so we've got some catching up to do.

We've had some fabulous rain today. Nice heavy, steady rain for about three hours.

The rain made a good excuse for Adoring Husband and I to plant ourselves on the couch and watch movies all afternoon. We watched 'Definitely Maybe' (Ryan Reynolds and Abigail Bresolin), 'Ant-Man' (Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas) and 'Boyhood' (Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke).

Now, I'm watching, for about the 50th time (and that is no exaggeration), 'Crazy Stupid Love' (Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore and Emma Stone). I'm only waiting for my favourite Ryan Gosling scene before I head off to bed.

I might do some housework tomorrow .. if only I could wake up with the right level of motivation!

Nite all.


Friday, December 11, 2015

Meals

Lady's lunch today was delicious.

Twelve of us met at Arkarra Tea Gardens for lunch. Even though it was a very hot day, the breeze blowing over the lagoon and through the trees, was absolutely perfect, and the food was wonderful.

I ordered the King Prawn and Mango salad, and for dessert, I had the strawberry tart.


There were a LOT of people seated at the tables, which were scattered throughout the gardens, so it took quite some time for our meals to be served. I think it was an hour between when the last person at our table ordered, to when it when the meal arrived at the table.

It was so worth the wait though, and I look forward to taking Adoring Husband and my camera to the gardens next time.

I arrived home with about 40 minutes to get ready for the club tonight and I was lucky enough to have Adoring Husband accompany me tonight!

Neither of us was lucky on the pokies or the raffles or the keno and at the end of the night, quite on the spur of the moment, we decided to eat dinner at the restaurant.

I ordered Chicken and King Prawns with salad and chips. I was pleasantly surprised! I haven't eaten at the club restaurant for at least 6 months and I knew that there was a new chef. I hadn't heard any rave reviews, so I wasn't expecting much.

We have a date with 'The Sex Therapist' and a bunch of other people, on 18th December, for dinner at the club, so I am looking forward to that now.

I've been very spoilt today with food and friends.

It's only 10.30pm and I've only had 3 glasses of wine tonight, but I feel quite tired, so I think I'll have an early night. There are a few storms about and some heavy rain heading in our direction. Adoring Husband has to be out of bed early to work at the markets with SES.

It's been a great day and I will lay my head on the pillow with a smile on my dial.

Nite all.

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Bring on the Warm and Fuzzies

You know that scene in the movie 'Shall We Dance' where Richard Gere appears on the escalator wearing that beautiful smile and that delicious suit and carrying that long stemmed red rose *swoon* and then he dances with Susan Sarandon while her work colleagues take her rose and stand there shedding a tear?

I love that scene.

Yes, I just watched that movie and now I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy.

Adoring Husband set up our Christmas tree this afternoon and there is a giant box of decorations sitting in the lounge room waiting for me to find the motivation to decorate both the tree, and the house.

I don't think I'll have time to do it tomorrow because I have a lunch that I'm looking forward to and then it's club night .. so maybe on Saturday.

I even bought some new baubles today. A quick trip into The Bay to buy some organic chocolate chunks and peppermint extract turned into a much more expensive episode with a new car booster seat in preparation for Chicklet's visit at Christmas, some clothes, some pyjamas and some underpants for her, along with a bucket of Christmas baubles!

Adoring Husband and I are dangerous together when it comes to shopping!

Did you know that Kirk Douglas turned 99 years of age today?


Wow!

It's almost midnight, so I'm off to bed. Short and sweet tonight.

Nite all.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

A New Light

An interesting article about dentistry ... No Drill Dentistry

Check out these amazing photos ... Stunning Photographs

Today, I decided to take my first official 'smiling' photo to share publicly .. including on facebook. I set up the tripod and camera in my study and used my remote shutter to take photos of myself sitting in my pod chair, using the natural light from the window.


I know that Vegan Chickie will be disappointed that I photoshopped my moles out of the pic, but the rest is all me, wrinkles and all! I then changed it to black and white, and I softened the background because the three different patterns and textures behind me, were very distracting, and added some grain.

I'm pretty happy with it.

Now I need to sign off and spend some time in the kitchen .. Adoring Husband has been sleeping soundly in his recliner chair for the last two hours, after a long day of training and assessing with the SES. He usually stacks the dishwasher in the evening, but I think he may be 'done in' for the day, so I'll let him off tonight.

Nite all.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Happy and Sad

This short video actually brought a tear to my eye. The looks of genuine shock or disbelief when the person who created the video tells them they are beautiful, triggered some serious emotions in me.



It reminded me of our last dinner party when I asked our guests to name something that they loved about themselves, and they became very uncomfortable and struggled to come up with a response.

Admittedly, it was not a planned question and while I was interested in what our friends had to say, I hadn't thought about my own response, and I too struggled to find an answer!

So I found some questions that I'm going to answer and perhaps you could think of your own answers...

1.  The world needs?  More kindness.
2.  My first concert was Johnny Farnham 1972 (my second was The Jackson Five 1973)
3.  What song reminds you of your childhood? 'Red Roses for a Blue Lady' which my father played over and over after he got caught having an affair and my mother left him, and my brother and I, for 6 months.
4.  What is your favourite memory of your father? Fishing with him, two months before he died, and catching my first edible fish.
5.  What do you want your friends and family to remember about you? That I am happy with my life.
6.  If you could say something that the entire world would hear, what would it be? "Be kind to each other."
7.  What are you excited about in your life right now? Having my teeth fixed to improve my oral health, which I hope in turn, will be the final key to improving my overall health.
8.  If someone made a movie about your life, what would the title be?  "The Great Escape" because for decades, my life was a series of escapes from the wrong people, stupid decisions and bad situations.
9.  What is the hardest lesson you've had to learn?  Opening your mind means that life and beliefs are ever changing and developing and growing. Nothing is set in stone.
10.  What do you like to do first thing in the morning?  Spend thirty minutes alone before facing the world.
11.  If someone gave you $100 today, what would you spend it on?  As much as I want to say 'something to help the less fortunate' .. I would spend it on professional cleaners to spring clean my house!
12.  Who made you smile today and why?  My girls over morning tea ... talking about life.
13.  What do you know for sure?  The only truth that I can know for sure, is my own truth.
14.  What is your favourite smell?  Fresh .. all things fresh .. fresh new baby or puppy, fresh herbs, freshly ground coffee beans, fresh lemons, fresh air etc etc.
15.  What belief do you have, that you feel has held you back? That I'm not enough.
16.  What is your favourite memory of your mother?  When I was 17, she defended me to my father, who thought I was too young and stupid to make the right decision about a boy I wanted to go out with. She told him that I was a smart girl and that they had to give me the freedom to grow up.
17.  If you could choose any career, what would it be?  Healer.
18.  What's your favourite colour?  Yellow.
19.  What is your biggest regret?  Believing that I wasn't enough.
20.  What do you wish you possessed?  A better memory for names, faces and knowledge.

Some of that was a bit intense! Let's lighten the mood!!

I think I might go for a walk along the beach tomorrow and collect some driftwood to make this gorgeous tree to hang in the outdoor area. Such a clever idea!



Nite all.

Monday, December 7, 2015

Childishly Christmas

I've always admired Annie Leibovitz's photography .. but this is just wonderful and awesome and perfect ... thank you to The Nikonian for bringing it to my attention!



As promised, here is some photographic evidence of our Christmas lights that Adoring Husband worked so hard to set up yesterday.


Because I have nothing else to say today ...


Nite all.

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Christmas on our Lawn

I think my taste buds have changed since I had my teeth fixed, because I haven't enjoyed a coffee since I returned home. I even asked if they had changed their brand because it tastes so different, but apparently not.

I may just have to quit my caffeine addiction .. it's no good if I can't enjoy it!

Adoring Husband began to set up our outdoor Christmas lights this morning, but discovered that the plastic clips that hold the light strands to our guttering had become brittle, so we headed into The Bay to buy some replacements.

While we were there, we purchased a couple of new items for the Christmas display. We like to make one new addition every year, but this year we got two.

We also found some gifts for Chicklet. I'm permitted to buy two Christmas gifts for Chicklet this year, so I've created a craft box full of fun crafty stuff as one gift .. she loves craft and activities!

We haven't figured out what the second gift will be yet .. as much as I wanted to buy the giant inflatable jumping platform with an inflatable slide into an inflatable pool! I have some ideas that I'm working on.

I got a cover for my new phone, which I'm very happy with.

We returned home and AH spent about 5 hours in the front garden putting up all the decorations and lights, setting the timer to turn on the lights at 6pm and turn them off at 10pm. It is now 10.31pm and the lights are still flashing!! I guess I'll be flipping the switch off before I jump into bed.

Tomorrow night I'll take a photo of the display. The new decorations are solar powered and they didn't quite have enough time in the sun to generate the power to shine brightly tonight.

I watched this short TED talk today and thought you might find it interesting too.




Oh! The lights just turned off - 10.45pm!

That's my sign to head to bed.

Nite all.