My first official post of 2016 is a bit different. It feels a bit random from what I usually
write about… but stay with me and it will all tie in.
For some New Years is about a new start and optimism on the year
ahead... a lot of optimism. I don't make New Year’s Resolutions - I mean
who keeps them anyway? But this year, maybe it's all the salt water from
the cruise, that's made me optimistic but I decided to jump in feet-first.
The facts say that only 8% actually follow through with their
resolutions. The best way to accomplish them is to (a) be realistic (b)
take accountability and (c) have resilience. So here I am taking
accountability by writing down my resolutions for me and you to see:
1. Simplify
2. Be organised (at
home)
A note, some of you maybe
scratching your head with #2 as I am known to many as the Queen of
Organisation. Well, truth bomb: I’m not, far from it, particularly at home. And that’s where my resolution lies. I have to be organised for work so when I’m
home, I drop the ball. I lose paperwork
and forget dates. My resolution is also for
all my boxes of photos I never did anything with (I’m talking wedding photos,
10 years ago, and Eloise’s baby photos, 7 years ago) and all my unfinished
projects (cross-stitching and my unpainted dollhouse).
To tackle #1, I got a head-start.
I love the Erin Condren Life Planners but I couldn’t justify $50USD plus
shipping to here for one so I found a similar planner at kikki.k and am using
it ECLP-style. I saved the money from
purchasing one of hers to buy some fun stamps to keep me on track. So far so good but the school year has only just started…
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| One of my 'cleaner' pages |
Both my resolutions go hand-in-hand: to be organised, you have to simplify. I had picked-up a copy of
Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (a few months ago) and her
new book “Spark Joy” (just recently) to get me motivated. And while some of her
ideas are strange (thanking an inanimate object), the main point is: asking if
an item bring you joy, if the answer is “no” then toss it. Simple enough, right?
In Practice
It’s amazing how much ‘stuff’ you accumulate. Between birthdays and Christmas, the kids received
new toys but they still had ones they aged out of and hadn’t touched in a long
time. I had clothes I was hanging on to
even though they had that annoying hole, right at the belly button, you know
that one. Every couple of months I pack bags to donate yet still I have ‘stuff’ lying around that I wanted
to sell. I am still in the midst of this
and the joy I feel letting go of these outweighs the emotional attachment I
have to them. I recently sold my Overlocker which is slightly against the unfinished projects project but I never really knew how to use it
and I have my other sewing machine that will do the job too. I finally listed it on eBay, for a bargain,
and it sold within 24 hours. I was
elated. But you lost a whole heap of
money on it? Yes I did but any money is better
than having the item sit there collecting dust.
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| It's so hard to say goodbye... |
But then there was MissE’s Little People Disney Songs Palace; she was
willing to let it go but why wasn’t I? Here’s where I really had to emotionally
detach myself from it; it wasn’t me who spent hours playing with it (and her
brother too), it was her. Yes, I had memories of her excitement on
receiving it and her playing with it but now, it was time for someone else to
make the memories with it. I found myself
being a weirdo and thanking the toy for giving us joy during for the last few years while I happily packed it up
to it new owners. Okay, when writing this, I just realised this was Toy Story 3.
Man, Pixar is always spot-on!
It’s simplifying my life so I have a cleaner space to stay organised and
finish those projects. Here is where my
unwritten 3rd resolution comes in and it’s about this blog. I love writing here but last year I really
struggled to stay to date and it became another thing on my ‘to do list’. This year, I am going to write when
inspiration hits so you might not hear from me every month anymore or sometimes
you might hear from me a few times a month.
Let’s wait and see what happens!
Back to School
That being said, January also means a new year for MissE! Wow, year 2.
We did manage squeezed a whole lot of fun in before school started!
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| Water fight! |
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| We found a new park: Domain Creek! |
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| The weather was very unsettled, so we set up camp at home complete with s'mores! |
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| Velcro wall at Inflatable World |
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| It's okay to hit each other! |
Kids Say the Darnedest Things
Well, MrE has proved he also does the 'darnedest things'. MrE was
home sick. After a visit to his doctor (diagnosis: winning combination of
gastro and conjunctivitis), we went to a nearby store for some supplies to
get us through the next few days.
Feeling sorry for MrE, I took him into the dollar store and told him he
had $2 to spend. He opted for a pack of
glow-in-the-dark spiders. In the car, he
was giggling non-stop.
Me: Eden, why are you giggling?
MrE: I’m going to hide all the spiders in jie-jie’s room to scare her.
Me: You are?
MrE: Yes, it’s going to be so funny.
But we have to keep a secret!
When we got home, he ran off and hid them. He spent the rest of the day asking me when
it was bedtime (I had to explain that they won’t glow until it was dark). Was MissE scared, yes… because little did we
know, MrE put a few in her bed!
I Rest My Case
We had a NERF Supersoaker Christmas (we all got one); we've had several
water fights at home on hot days. To keep the pre-schoolers cool, they
are also having water fights however, I didn’t know this. One morning, the temperatures were
predicted to soar:
Me: It’s going to be very hot today
MrE: Mama, can I please take my water gun to school?
Me: No, you can’t bring that school.
MrE: But it’s not a toy.
Me: It’s not?
MrE: No, because it’s very hot and helps keep my friends cool. And…
Me: And what?
MrE: And one of my teachers was being naughty so I am going to spray
her.
Me: What did she do?
MrE: I can’t remember.
Me: Sorry, buddy, some good points but you can’t bring it to school.
Bottle It
I was checking “On This Day” and a photo of MrE at 6 months came
up. I showed both and teasing MrE “You
used to be so cute… what happened?”
MissE: Yeah, what happened? At
least you still smell like that.
MrE: Shrugging. Its okay, I have handsome hair now.
There is a backstory to this. On
the weekends, MissE sleeps in MrE’s bed (he has a double). We thought it was because MissE likes the
bigger bed but it turns out that she (a) likes to watch MrE sleep because he’s
so cute and (b) thinks he smells good, like a baby still. Ha,ha.
But she doesn’t like that we talk about this, so SHH!
Me
Wasn’t majority of this post already about me? Yes but here’s some more. It was early January so I still had the
holiday thinking: “try something new/ why not?” On MissE’s birthday, we went to
a nearby restaurant that I had wanted to try for a while but it was far enough
to not go there just to try it. We
happen to be 5 minutes away at Cable Wake Park.
On the menu was an Insanity Wing, 1 wing for $5! Curiosity got the better of me so I ordered
it without researching. Little did I
know that this Insanity sauce once held the title of “world’s hottest sauce” at
180,000 Scoville units.
It came to me innocent looking enough.
I took a bit and went “whoa!” My
mouth started to sweat and my nose started dripping immediately. My brain now said “that’s hot” but it didn’t
connect with my mouth that went in for another bite. What was I doing??? One the second bite, my mouth went numb. Every drink or spoonful of sour cream or even
extra air I sucked in made my mouth even hotter. The tears rolled down my eyes and the girls
asked me why I was going red. Holy
Mother of God, what did I do??? It took
me 30 minutes to be able to eat anything else and I could feel the burn down in
my stomach for 24 hours.
Until next time...
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