Full Day

On Friday night, I was sleep by 10pm and woke on Saturday to the gentle tones of my 7am alarm.

I decided to go for a morning swim before getting ready for work and Beautiful Girl With Long Blonde Hair suggested a smoothie for breakfast so it was an excellent start to my day giving me lots of energy to run the art class.

It was a busier than usual Saturday morning in the shop, so Adoring Husband was run off his feet and needed my assistance a couple of times.

My full class had unexpectedly reduced by three before 9am so unfortunately it was a class of 5 instead of 8. It did end up being a great class though and everyone was really happy with their results.

Even though the ladies helped clean up most of the mess, it still took me over an hour to finish up so I didn’t leave the shop until 1.30pm. We did some grocery shopping and grabbed some coffee before heading home.

BGWLBH was sitting out under the Bali hut and had been for a swim, so I cut up a plate of fruit and joined her. The water was lovely and we had another talkfest until it was time to prepare dinner.

BGWLBH made some delicious salads and I cooked up some sweet potato chips in the oven and took some mushroom soup out of the freezer to heat up for entree. There was a little leftover chicken from the night before so we rationed that out between ourselves too.

Trivia was on for the night after BGWLBH did some proof reading, editing and rewriting of an ad that I had created for the newsletter.

We played a “Friends” version of trivia followed by a “Big Bang Theory” version.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner to ... MEEEEEEEEEEE!

Both games!

It’s now 10.30pm and I’m feeling a bit exhausted so I might head to bed.

I’m looking forward to the next couple of days off with my friend.

Nite all.

She’s Here!

Beautiful Girl With Long Blonde Hair has arrived!

She and her beautiful new car ‘Blue’ arrived at 3pm and it has been a talkfest ever since 😆

I spent the day finishing the set up for the art class, mixing paint, printing colour guides, cleaning the empty paint cups and setting up tea and coffee.

I created three small ads for the local newsletter and then sent them an email to ensure that we can change from a full page to three x ads each one quarter page. Still awaiting reply.

It was not busy with sales but we had plenty of visitors.

I’m off to bed now for an early night because I expect there will be trivia nights that will require my full alert attention from here on in.

Bubbles will be arriving in 6 weeks too!! Woot Woot!

Nite all.

Peaceful

Adoring Husband attended an SES meeting in The Bay tonight and I had the most peaceful and quiet evening.

No white noise. No TV - although it was on when AH left, so I simply muted it.

The Psychotic dogs lay in their beds in the family room and did not once whinge or whine to come into the lounge room with me.

The moment AH arrived home, they were at the gate demanding to come into the lounge room.

I was able to catch up on an online mini course that I’m participating in. It only goes for 7 days with 7 modules - one each day - today is day two and I had 7 short videos to watch and a work sheet of questions to answer. So far, I’m enjoying it, but feel like I’m ahead of the game already because of the self help practices that I utilise on a regular basis.

Beautiful Girl With Long Blonde Hair is staying in Inverell tonight and should arrive mid afternoon tomorrow!

Chicklet asked me a trivia question from a box of trivia that I sent her for Christmas. I got the answer wrong three times!! Here it is ...

*There are 2 ducks in front of 2 other ducks. There are 2 ducks behind 2 other ducks. There are 2 ducks beside 2 other ducks. How many ducks are there?*

I spent this morning setting up the training room for our full class on Saturday morning. Luckily, not a soul came through the doors until 11am and I didn’t make a sale until almost 1pm but from then until closing it was crazy busy and it ended up being a fantastic day of sales.

By the time I arrived home, I was exhausted but I got the washing off the line and folded it, hung another load on the line, put another load in the machine, hung that out, bathed Psychotic dog Ruby’s eyes, cleaned out the fridge and gathered the art supplies that I’m taking from home to the shop tomorrow.

Now it’s time for bed and hopefully another big sales day tomorrow!

I’m tempted to go for a late night swim. I washed my hair this morning so I don’t want it to get wet ... I could just wade in for a bit. I think I will!

Nite all.

Excitement +

It’s a bit of an exciting surprise!

Beautiful Girl With Long Blonde Hair is packed and ready to drive in this direction tomorrow morning!!

The decision, a cross between ‘last minute’ and ‘a week in the making’, all hinged on the bushfires down south and now she’s good to go! In her brand spanking new car!

She should be here on Friday afternoon I reckon.

It’s been 2 years since she was last here, so it should be fun.

Bubbles has put in for her holidays to come in Feb/March - also exciting!

Tonight, our Fab Five trivia team came 2nd at the trivia night. Go us! I confess that I contributed to our loss. I’m a bad team member.

A good day in the shop and we have a full class recruited for our first art workshop this Saturday, which is fantastic.

My iPad is almost flat on 1% and it’s almost midnight so here is where I sign off.

Nite all.

Do You Know?

How we’ll do you know your BFF?

Ask each other these questions and you’ll  either be surprised by how much you know, or shocked by how little you know!

1. What am I most afraid off?
2. Where can you always find me?
3. What’s been my greatest accomplishment?
4. What is my biggest disappointment?
5. Where would I go if I could choose any holiday?
6. Describe my perfect day.
7. Who would I invite to my fantasy dinner party?
8. When did we meet?
9. Back then, did you think we’d be friends this long?
10. What was my most embarrassing moment?
11. Which fashion decision was my biggest mistake?
12. Name the song I love singing most with you in the car.
13. Who was my biggest crush when we were younger?
14. Why do you think we get along so well?
15. Which game or reality show would I do best on?
16. What do you do that makes me laugh the hardest?
17. Is there a smell that reminds you of me?
18. Name three things we completely, 100% agree on.
19. If I became Prime Minister, what do you think I’d do first?
20. What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to me?
21. What drives me crazy?
22. If we were stuck on a desert island, how would I be an asset?
23. Which two fictional BFFs are most like us?
24. What’s your favourite memory of us?
25. When were you most impressed by me?
26. What do I order at a bar?
27. What’s the first thing I would do if I won the lottery?
28. If I died, what would you want of mine?
29. What celebrity would we choose to be friends with us?
30. When we‘re 85 yrs old, what will we be doing together?

I’m going to ask Beautiful Girl With Long Blonde Hair these questions while we are road tripping and I will give her my answers about her too.

At 11.45am today, not a soul had walked through the doors of the shop, which is unusual for Tuesdays, especially since we decided not to open on Mondays!

I made our first sale at 11.57am and it was a $4 turtle.

After that, it was full on and the last customer left the shop at 3.25pm - which is 25 minutes after our usual closing time.

There was no time for adding to my dragon art because the morning was filled with creating the promotional flyer + Facebook post for this week’s art class. it was so successful that there is now only one spot left to fill!

We enjoyed Peking duck for dinner this evening.

And now, I sleep!

Nite all.

Habits

In the words of Annemarie De Seriere, HABIT stands for Healthy Acceptance Breaks Insecurity and Tension.

A habit is something that we habitually do, whether it be positive or negative. They are easy to recognise because they’re something we repeatedly do.

Harmful habits may be easy to form but can be hard to break, while healthy habits can be difficult to form but easy to forget. One of life’s ironies!

Habits hunger for repetition so if it’s a healthy habit, keep feeding it!

If it’s a hurtful habit, starve it, cut it off or we will be driven to compulsion or addiction.

Focussing on what you don’t  want, creates more of what you don’t want.

Consistently focus on what you do want and then take healthy baby steps towards it every single day.

A good tip to help with your focus is before you get out of bed every morning, create an intention for yourself ... *Today I will show myself love by continuing my good habits and creating a healthier, happier future that I can share with my loved ones*

Whenever you waiver ... show yourself love.

A good habit to form is ‘gratitude’. This is especially helpful if you have trouble falling asleep at night. If our last focussed thoughts at night are thoughts of love and gratitude, it’s easier for your mind to relax and rest.

Get yourself a notebook or journal to keep beside the bed. The very last thing you do before you turn out the light is write three things in your life that you are most grateful for.

My three for yesterday:

1. I am grateful for the fresh clean air that we can breathe in our fire free community.
2. I am grateful for my artistic and creative abilities that allow me to experiment and enjoy art.
3. I am grateful for technology that allows me to keep connected with my friends and family.

It can be as simple as being grateful for the red rose that just blossomed in your garden, for your dog’s happy wagging tail when you come home, for the taste of a fresh juicy Summer mango, for the sound of Willy Wagtails whistling outside your bedroom window, for the smiles on your grandchildren’s faces or for your regular weekly coffee with the girls.

Gratitude can be as small or as big as you want it to be.

There is much for which to be grateful and we become complacent and take it all for granted.

Look around. Breathe in the clean air. Listen to the sounds of Nature - the wind blowing through the trees, the birds singing, the water lapping on the banks of the river, the frogs calling to each other and the bees buzzing.

We have the ability to make a conscious choice to take control of our health and we have the resources at our hands to actively put those changes into action.

We have fresh food at our fingertips at the supermarkets, the farmers markets or in our own gardens.

We have an affordable medical system if you choose to use it and many different groups, organisations and departments to provide all kinds of assistance if we know where to look.

We have affordable housing in most areas of Australia.

Technology has provided us with a variety of opportunities to create and nurture online businesses helping us earn a good income while working from home.

It also gives us easy access to education and learning opportunities.

We have freedom of speech and the protection of political correctness.

We have access to fresh water, power and many forms of communication.

We have laws to protect us.

Despite what mainstream media tell us, there are so many good people in this world, the quiet achievers, fighting for our rights, protecting our environment/rivers/oceans/animals, keeping us safe and protecting our freedoms.

We live in a generally safe and peaceful country.

Just a few good reasons to feel grateful and not be complacent - so make gratitude a good daily habit in your life. Feel the feels.

Its 4.20pm and I am still in my pjs and still in bed.

I’ve spent the day reading, working, playing, writing and eating.

It’s almost time to get up and cook dinner!

Nite all.

Some of my posts include excerpts or summaries of snippets from Annemarie De Seriere’s two books - “Peace, Power and You” and “Will to Wonder”, both of which are available at The Happy Abode.

Feeling Compassion

While Adoring Husband seems compelled to watch the news, I am avoiding it like the plague.

Unfortunately, Facebook (my social media of choice), fills my newsfeed with story after story of the fire devastation, so unless I want to lock away all of my devices, I can’t avoid knowing what’s happening.

It does me no good to know what’s happening.

Me knowing what’s happening does no good for the victims.

Sharing even a small bit of their trauma does not help them or me.

As usual, it’s the people who can least afford it who are donating and raising funds for necessary organisations like Emergency Services and Fire Fighters who the Government should be supporting financially.

Tens of millions of dollars have already been raised for those services and also for WIRES, Red Cross, Salvation Army, Vinnies and for the bushfire victims. There is no more storage room for all the food and clothing donated and sent to the area.

Celebrities and sporting stars have pledged huge amounts of money and this has had a knock on effect so more and more are coming forward all the time.

So now we look at the “Power of Compassion” - not just in this situation, but in our own lives in many different circumstances.

What does compassion mean?

It is NOT to take away another’s pain by taking over - that is ‘control’.

It is NOT to suffer in order to help another - that is ‘martyrdom’.

If someone is sinking in quicksand, is it compassion or foolishness to jump in and try to save them? Compassion brings courage and co-operation to remain on solid ground while throwing a rope for support. Compassion brings discernment and tolerance to recognise their choice to grab hold of the rope or not.

A distorted view of compassion is ‘co-suffering’ which many of us practice.

Sometimes we feel guilty because someone is suffering more than us, so we ‘put up with’ a situation confusing this gesture with compassion.

Our polite conditioning tells us that not feeling ‘guilt’ means we don’t care enough.

Compassion is to co-operate with anyone in need of support - without taking away their power or sacrificing yours while acting as a loving guardian of your own well-being.

Helping others at the expense of your own health and well-being is to oppress and sacrifice your own powers. Your needs should NEVER be placed at the bottom of your list. Not for your children, your family, your friends or strangers.

You can recognise this trait in yourself when your body breaks down with illness after you’ve completed a stint of putting yourself last because when we are too busy helping others, we ignore our body’s signals to slow down.

To remain constructive in any circumstance, we must apply the first rule of first aid - take care of your own safety and well-being first.

Compassion brings love, cooperation, and generosity from a big heart to create a healing environment without any feelings of obligation.

May you have the wisdom to understand the difference between compassion, control and martyrdom. There is a fine line that many cross in their pursuit to help others but we help no one when we attempt to help others out of our need to be needed.

Be merciful, starting with yourself.

So, in this current crisis, don’t feel ‘obliged’ to donate financially if you cannot afford it.

Don’t suffer through hours of torturous news stories sharing the trauma of those thousands of people who are directly affected.

Don’t get involved in the ‘us’ and ‘them’ debates about how this could have been avoided.

When all this is over and emotions settle, there will be more practical suggestions for where and how you can be involved in the recovery process in a caring compassionate way, even from a distance.

I spent the majority of my day in bed, sleeping until 10am 😳 but then being very productive outlining two different workshop ideas that I have for this year, researching and summarising some of the powers that I’m practicing, writing down some ideas for blog posts and printing out some quotes, words and pictures for my 2020 vision board.

I decided to revamp last years vision board because last year it was hidden on a wall that I rarely saw, which explains why most of my visions were not acted upon. I covered most of my old visions with new ones.

It’s now on my bedroom wall where I will see it every day!

And suddenly, it was 5.45pm and it was time to prepare dinner!

Tomorrow is still my weekend. I might do some art 🖼

Nite all.

Amazing Photos

Here are a few photos from the internet that show both the horror and awesomeness of the bushfires.

Social media is not a friendly place to be right now while the entire online population are at war with each other.

It’s Liberals vs Labor

It’s Everyone vs Greenies.

It’s Climate Change vs Anti Climate Change.

It’s everyone against Scomo.

Trouble is, everyone believes that they are correct and are not the slightest bit interested in listening to what anyone else has to say, so it’s really pointless joining in any conversations/debates/arguments.

I’ve had government workers asking me to share political posts, stories and videos because they’re afraid they’ll lose their jobs if they do it themselves. The Liberal govt issued a directive to all public servants telling them that they could  be sacked for showing any disrespect on social media.

I respectfully declined and am trying to avoid involvement because even friends and family are so angry they are turning against each other in aggressive and vindictive ways.

It’s going to take a very long time for Australia to recover physically, financially, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and environmentally from the devastation of these fires.

Meanwhile, after a minor (in comparison) bushfire scare for us before Christmas, we are all incredibly lucky to be in this neck of the woods with perfect weather for our tourists and clear smoke free air to breath.

To end my post with some more good news ...

In Kenya, poaching rates have dropped by 85% for rhinos and 78% for elephants in the last five years. In South Africa, the number of rhinos killed by poachers fell by 25%, the fifth annual decrease in a row, and in Mozambique, one of Africa’s largest wildlife reserves went an entire year without losing a single elephant.

Have a happy Sunday.

Nite all.