so what's been happening since feb 2010

I've discovered I don't need to blog to the world about what's happening with me and it was refreshing to read my first post.

It'll be alright on the night ...
A familiar catch phrase that helps me get by when I'm feeling overwhelmed or under-prepared or nervous or childlike or scared - get the gist? 
Even though there may not be 'a night' so to speak it always helps me settle down and get back to what I was avoiding or perhaps starting something new.

As for what's next who can tell; I know it'll be alright on the night.

The refurbishment begins

blog to come later - step one of the refurbishments complete

before ... and ... after

How this Summer our House Renovations made me Happy.

This summer for us was the real deal. Last summer we moved into our dream home, a 1960 ranch style house (made with pale pink silicon brick and enormous steel windows) but were too busy unpacking to notice anything until the boxes were unpacked.Living in Australia we celebrate Christmas in mid summer and this year we hosted the family Christmas - in our family that's 28 people. Everyone was so helpful and brought something to contribute; one family brought the turkey (thankfully sliced and prepared), another brought the plum pudding and so it went on. The host is in charge of decorations and sets the theme. This year it was gold, green and red with white linen cloths, fine china and my mum's silverware. I was so proud of the end result.

Getting to the nitty gritty of how my house made me happy this summer was the pride my partner took in getting everything ready. We have huge windows throughout the house and they were cleaned until they sparkled. The inside of the house was cleaned until it was gleaming and the yard was manicured and patio spotless.

Then three days before Christmas he decided to pull up the carpets and polish the floor boards. Three Days Before!!! What was he thinking? I imagined dust and debris and odours galore. Workmen in the house while I was trying to put the finishing touches on everything. I thought I'd go out of my mind. No workmen - he decided to do it on his own! Thankfully with the help of his dad (who built the house back in 1960) they set out pulling up the carpets. Meticulously working section by section they pulled, extracted pins nails and staples as they went revealing a beautiful timber floor beneath. The smile on my partners face said it all - he'd remembered from his early childhood how beautiful the floors had been all polished and the most gorgeous honey colour similar of that to the pale mid century Danish design timbers.(Danish design credenza pictured)

Wow - it was stunning - I had to eat my words. I didn't need the stress that close to such a large event but the end result was well worth it.
He was so pleased he decided to pull up the stone tiles in the entry hall and laundry too but that's another story ...

If I could find a picture of us on Christmas day I'd post it and you'd seen how ridiculously happy we were ... being the host and hostess leaves you no time to take happy snaps. Indeed this summer I've been very happy.

and this time ... it'll be alright on the night ... was true

If you liked this article perhaps you'll also like

Black Sexy Bling for Sale

Caressa Cameron Wins 2010 Miss America Contest

Black Woman, Caressa Cameron Wins 2010 Miss America Contest
I think this is great but why the label? If I had won the Miss America Contest would it say White Woman, Dana McKenzie Wins 2010 Miss America Contest? Of course not. This article is written by Dr Boyce Watkins, and his web articles and website is worth reading. He is an African American and I don't want to come off preaching as it's not his writing or opinion that I'm out of sorts with - it's the headline label that grated on me; is this headline perceived as OK if it's within your 'labelled' type? Does it add more impact. Does Caressa even care or am I on my own.

This article aroused my point of view on labels; I'm sick of everything and everyone having a label, human beings in particular being pigeonholed that's all.

Am I a woman? or
Am I a mid 40's, mid sized, curvy, opinionated, well dressed, open-minded, flirtatious, large breasted, long legged, white almost pasty skinned, beady eyed, dog loving, contented in her relationship, average height woman?

Where is the line drawn?

There I've had my rant. Congratulations Caressa Cameron and I know for you it'll be alright on the night

Shoes! Black! Sexy! Bling and they're for sale !! $$ !! sz8 aust ladies

Nothing like a bit of spring cleaning and sorting out what to keep, what to throw away, what to give to charity and what to sell. These particular shoes remind me of a time when I threw caution to the wind and unfortunately I threw it a wee bit hard, twisted my spine and now when I feel like throwing caution I have to do it in a pair of far more 'sensible' shoes.

Alas, Cheekheeta Marghareeta and I must part with these beauties and cross fingers they'll go to a good home. I'm blogging about them in case a like minded person falls in love rather than an eBay re-seller.

So it is with a sigh and a tear I bid them goodbye or to the next owner perhaps a goodbuy! I have a paypal account and can put up via eBay buy it now if preferred. Worn only twice; let's negotiate a price!

When you wear them remember
... it'll be alright on the night

Reminiscing

So nervous before every performance, yet even way back then I knew

I't would be alright on the night

Something a little creepy

I spent the day away from the office, an unwell little chicken today with a headache to kill all brain parts followed by a very gurgly tummy. As I felt better I surfed for a while and came across this little jewel. I wonder if the little fellow in this thought ... it'll be alright on the night

Thanks to CatherineB for posting this on Facebook or I may never have seen it - perfect for the end of a bad day. Acknowledgement goes to http://www.youtube.com/user/scruffybusker for this one

me me me it's all about me

Has anyone else noticed there is not enough room for the about me section or do I just run off at the mouth and go on and on and on about myself? Perhaps I don't want an answer to that.

Anyway, here's the full about me

I am a firm believer that if you can count to two then you can dance. I love to dance; I love to frock up, colour up with bright lipstick out, define my eyebrows, hit the elegant places and twirl across the floor. I love those who appreciate dance and sympathise with those who hurt for their passion.

I am rehabilitating from an accident in the very early 70's that was untreated until 1982. Since then I have seen Chiropractors, Physiotherapists, Massage Therapists, Mio Therapists, Acupuncturists, Chinese Healers and attended dance classes, performed dance on stage and started regular pilates classes. I am not here looking for a 'cure' or 'suggestions' for who I might see.

I am an office worker who would love to be doing something more creative and who is addicted to Scotch Finger Biscuits and cups of strong white tea. Low fat or skim milk for me please. For years I was a full cream girl but after many years of low fat advertising and believing it would be better for my health, I cannot drink the full cream stuff now, its too rich.

I am always thinking of new things to make and do and never really starting anything. I write lists and start a diary every year, I plan changes to my wardrobe, my décor, my furniture, my garden, I vow to do more exercise, walk the dog more often, visit friends and family more and spend quality time with my partner.

Looking back to 2009, I did not socialise much at all. There were the regular family birthdays and such but pretty much, I had no motivation, no energy and was happy to become a homebody. Perhaps it was the new home (moved in 19th January), perhaps the lack of work (no job until late June, not even temporary ones), perhaps I needed a rest, to recover, re-group, review, and reprioritise. It got to the point where I did not even want to leave the house, not only for social reasons but for practical reasons too, avoiding going shopping, even for groceries. I had a real sense of self-denial. No contribution to the household monetarily; no permission to buy anything. Of course, I did not starve to death and there was a small bout of ‘being the little woman’, cooking, cleaning and making the house lovely for my betrothed and myself. I grew tired of this and blamed backpain and lack of enjoyment as after a while the fun had turned to a chore.

My partner is a loving, supportive, loyal, funny, motivated, who is caring and ruggedly handsome and we recently adopted a loyal, cheeky, stubborn, testing the boundaries, very large, very curly, and very black dog. She came through the rescue program at the Lost Dogs Home in North Melbourne.

Oh yeah I almost forgot; I am in therapy.

Getting back into the swing of things

After one week back at work, there are changes I've noticed already.

Week two sees more staff return from leave and the busier the office gets the less casual the staff attitudes and appearance. Gone are the floral thongs and the flowing skirts and back to the sandals and fitted skirts. Soon the sandals will swap for closed toe flats and the jackets will start to make an appearance. There is a direct correlation between looking professional and working professionally. As the attire changes so does the attitude or maybe as the attitude changes so does the clothing. Perhaps its competition that drives us. Perhaps there is less supervision, self-motivation, and discipline fall to the wayside. Perhaps when others are on leave you picture them taking it easy and you do likewise. *shrugs*

It would be interesting to see how much bandwidth is used by the staff that work over the Christmas / New Year break. Facebook, web forums, personal email, job vacancy sites, streaming music and or video, eBay and maybe even posting on Blogger are all temptations. Access seems so much easier when there is no one to look over your shoulder.

I am getting sleepy and wanting to do all those things now that I have typed that so I took a break to adjust my chair. Thinking positively, this is a perfect time of year to take stock and review what you have achieved and what is still outstanding. It is good to do that on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis but the big one is when a new year starts. All those tasks like fixing up the filing, streamlining office processes and such. Looking forward you can start thinking about budgets, goals and targets you would like to reach and looking historically at your work / life balance and thinking about ways to even out the balance. Write notes on what you are pondering and discover ways you can work smarter and not harder.

Speaking of balance Pilates started back for the year too and I went in with a headache and some lower back pain. The instructors tailored my session to suit and helped me stretch out the surrounding muscle groups to ease my tension. I felt much better after the 75-minute session. Simply breathing properly and using your core to exhale and you are feeling the benefit already. My posture seated, standing and laying down are all very much improved. I have a long way to go and am in pain daily but I can make a difference and lessen the pain by implementing some very simple changes.

Some of these are:

• Breathe into the back of your rib cage
• Expel air by tucking your tummy in
• Relaxing your shoulders
• Relaxing your limbs
• Tucking your chin in
• Keeping your hips and shoulders square
• Tucking your pelvis forward
• Walking heel toe heel toe etc
• After 45 minutes of a repetitive task stretch your limbs and
• Adjust your eye focus
• Close your eyes from time to time and relax your face
• Stretch your facial muscles by pulling faces

For my particular injuries I need to do many chin tucks every day and back bends every day to stretch out the areas that constantly spasm and when I think I've done enough, do some more. I used to let the Physiotherapist or Chiropractor do all the work but I always knew deep down that unless I was going to put effort into rehabilitation my back would continue to deteriorate.

My goal is to dance again as my passion is never quite fulfilled by watching.

In the meantime I'll remember ... it'll be alright on the night

It'll be alright on the night

A familiar catch phrase that helps me get by when I'm feeling overwhelmed or under-prepared or nervous or childlike or scared - get the gist?

Even though there may not be 'a night' so to speak it always helps me settle down and get back to what I was avoiding or perhaps starting something new.

This is my something new. Not mindblowing yet I know but more thoughts later. When I relax into it I'm sure it'll get easier.

Always remember ... it'll be alright on the night