This year I've traded the internet/computer for real life. It's been quite refreshing. I am able to access my email via my iPod touch, so I can regularly check it without the need for the computer. I find that when the computer is switched on (like now) I get caught up reading blogs, and websites, and recipes and other junk that doesn't actually add value to my life. So I just don't switch it on.
I'm taking this year as it comes. I've stopped tracking my progress with things. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, then it obviously wasn't important enough!
I'm jogging. At this stage in intervals of 5mins jogging mixed with intervals of walking. I'm enjoying it. I actually want to do it rather than dread 'exercise time'. I'm eating healthier but without the strictness of a diet plan or food diary or website to track things. I'm listening to my body instead. I've lost 6kgs since the start of the year so it seems to be working.
I've cut myself some slack. We have just started back into soccer season which, combined with swimming lessons, means not getting home until dinnertime 3 nights a week. Instead of the usual fluster about the quality of the meal on the table and whether it is homemade from scratch or not I've purchased and frozen some ready made ravioli and stocked up on tinned spaghetti and baked beans. Quick, easy and filling. I've cooked a bunch of other meals and frozen them ready to defrost, heat and eat. I'm prepared. And I'm ready to serve spaghetti/beans on toast to all!
I'm relaxing. I'm happy. I'm content. But I'm clearly not blogging often, so if you want to know what I'm up to you'd better email! :)
Thursday, 22 March 2012
Sunday, 12 February 2012
Goals for 2012 - January updates
Vegetables harvested (target 10): 6
Layouts done (target 10): 1
Cards made (target 200): 59
Items sewn (target 10): 0
Money contributed towards mortgage (target $480): $0
- Harvest at least seven different types of fruit/vegetables.
January: Picked a heap of spinach and froze it. Ate tomatoes, zucchini, a capsicum and strawberries. Lots of carrots and baby carrots.
PRODUCE EATEN: Spinach, tomatoes, zucchini, capsicum, strawberries, carrots.
- Continue my crafting passions. Targets: 10 scrapbooking layouts, 200 cards and 10 sewing items completed.
January: 59 cards, 1 layout, no finished sewing projects.
- Go out for lunch or dinner with Dale at least once every 2 months (without kids).
08 Jan – Went out for pizza dinner and a walk along the beach.
14 Jan – Went for walk on beach and had coffee at home.
- Contribute towards the mortgage. Target of $40 per month ($480 for the year).
January: none.
Layouts done (target 10): 1
Cards made (target 200): 59
Items sewn (target 10): 0
Money contributed towards mortgage (target $480): $0
- Harvest at least seven different types of fruit/vegetables.
January: Picked a heap of spinach and froze it. Ate tomatoes, zucchini, a capsicum and strawberries. Lots of carrots and baby carrots.
PRODUCE EATEN: Spinach, tomatoes, zucchini, capsicum, strawberries, carrots.
- Continue my crafting passions. Targets: 10 scrapbooking layouts, 200 cards and 10 sewing items completed.
January: 59 cards, 1 layout, no finished sewing projects.
- Go out for lunch or dinner with Dale at least once every 2 months (without kids).
08 Jan – Went out for pizza dinner and a walk along the beach.
14 Jan – Went for walk on beach and had coffee at home.
- Contribute towards the mortgage. Target of $40 per month ($480 for the year).
January: none.
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
I'm a cooker
Annabelle loves to help me in the kitchen. She refers to us as cookers. She has three aprons all of her own. She pours, measures, stirs and then licks the beaters. She is quite the little chef!
Monday, 16 January 2012
Donating last years found coins
In Dec 2010 I wrote of my knack for finding coins on the ground and my commitment to donate these coins each year to the MS Society. My finds for the period 1 Dec 2010 to 30 Nov 2011 were a total of 97 coins, 1 note and an Aldi shopping trolley token (always handy!) for a financial total of $76.25.
For anyone interested the breakdown was 1 $50 note, 8 $2 coins, 3 $1 coins, 2 50c coins, 8 20c coins, 17 10c coins and 59 5c coins.
The donation has been made to the MS Society and the counter has been reset.
Sunday, 1 January 2012
Goals for 2011 - December updates
Vegetables harvested (target 7): 14
Layouts done (target 20): 4
Cards made (target 200): 363
Items sewn (target 10): 14
Money contributed towards mortgage (target $480): $539.17
- Harvest at least seven different types of fruit/vegetables.
January: Ate tomatoes and cucumber from the garden. Had a salad containing lettuce, tomato, capsicum, herbs, cucumber and shallots all freshly picked.
February: Enjoyed herbs, a zucchini, a few cherry tomatoes and several capsicum.
March: Ate capsicum, corn and peas.
April: Ate capsicum, shallots and peas.
May: Planted lots of peas, corn and carrots.
June: Ate capsicum, zucchini, shallots, herbs.
July: Annie picked 2 strawberries. Ate some baby carrots and a few peas plus the usual herbs and shallots.
August: More carrots and peas plus some baby spinach leaves. Turned one of the pumpkins into pumpkin risotto and a pumpkin and chocolate cake.
September: More carrots, peas and spinach.
October: Dug up some potatoes. Still picking carrots, spinach and strawberries.
November: Picked 2 blueberries! Still enjoying the carrots, spinach and the strawberries that the snails don't get first.
December: Carrots, tomatoes and spinach.
PRODUCE EATEN: Cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, shallots, capsicum, zucchini, corn, peas, carrots, spinach, pumpkin, potatoes, strawberries, blueberries.
- Get healthier as measured by my physical fitness level. Target: to be able to run 5km non-stop in under 45 minutes. Still walking 2-3 times a week for an hour at a time. I'm managing 5-6kms each time, depending on the track I take.
- Continue my crafting passions. Targets: 10 scrapbooking layouts, 200 cards and 10 sewing items completed.
Items sewn – Jan: Ice/heat packs for Callum and Nathaniel.
May: Heatpack for Alyson.
July: Pouch for Dale's portable hard-drive, washers for Callum and Annie, heatpack for Callum, heatpack for Annie.
August: Bag to hold our plastic bags.
September: Drawstring bag for the sleeping bag, drawstring bag to hold the air mattress.
November and December: A set of napkins for Luciano and Maryellen, a set of Christmas placemats for us, library bags for CJ and Isaac.
- Go out for lunch or dinner with Dale at least once every 2 months (without kids). Went out twice for lunch in January. Went out for dinner for our anniversary in February. Went out for dinner in May with Dale to a fancy restaurant. We even dressed up! I'm sure we went out some other time, but I didn't record it. Obviously we need to get out more!!
- Contribute towards the mortgage. Target of $40 per month ($480 for the year).
January: $100 from Rewards Central (online surveys), $100 from Roy Morgan Research
February: $25 from Pureprofile (online surveys)
March: $25 from Pureprofile (online surveys)
April: $34.60 from Ebay sales
May: $25 from Pureprofile (online surveys)
June: $25 from Pureprofile (online surveys)
July: none
August: $25 from Pureprofile (online surveys), $29.57 from Ebay sales
September: $25 from Pureprofile
October: $100 from Rewards Central
November: $25 from Pureprofile
Layouts done (target 20): 4
Cards made (target 200): 363
Items sewn (target 10): 14
Money contributed towards mortgage (target $480): $539.17
- Harvest at least seven different types of fruit/vegetables.
January: Ate tomatoes and cucumber from the garden. Had a salad containing lettuce, tomato, capsicum, herbs, cucumber and shallots all freshly picked.
February: Enjoyed herbs, a zucchini, a few cherry tomatoes and several capsicum.
March: Ate capsicum, corn and peas.
April: Ate capsicum, shallots and peas.
May: Planted lots of peas, corn and carrots.
June: Ate capsicum, zucchini, shallots, herbs.
July: Annie picked 2 strawberries. Ate some baby carrots and a few peas plus the usual herbs and shallots.
August: More carrots and peas plus some baby spinach leaves. Turned one of the pumpkins into pumpkin risotto and a pumpkin and chocolate cake.
September: More carrots, peas and spinach.
October: Dug up some potatoes. Still picking carrots, spinach and strawberries.
November: Picked 2 blueberries! Still enjoying the carrots, spinach and the strawberries that the snails don't get first.
December: Carrots, tomatoes and spinach.
PRODUCE EATEN: Cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, shallots, capsicum, zucchini, corn, peas, carrots, spinach, pumpkin, potatoes, strawberries, blueberries.
- Get healthier as measured by my physical fitness level. Target: to be able to run 5km non-stop in under 45 minutes. Still walking 2-3 times a week for an hour at a time. I'm managing 5-6kms each time, depending on the track I take.
- Continue my crafting passions. Targets: 10 scrapbooking layouts, 200 cards and 10 sewing items completed.
Items sewn – Jan: Ice/heat packs for Callum and Nathaniel.
May: Heatpack for Alyson.
July: Pouch for Dale's portable hard-drive, washers for Callum and Annie, heatpack for Callum, heatpack for Annie.
August: Bag to hold our plastic bags.
September: Drawstring bag for the sleeping bag, drawstring bag to hold the air mattress.
November and December: A set of napkins for Luciano and Maryellen, a set of Christmas placemats for us, library bags for CJ and Isaac.
- Go out for lunch or dinner with Dale at least once every 2 months (without kids). Went out twice for lunch in January. Went out for dinner for our anniversary in February. Went out for dinner in May with Dale to a fancy restaurant. We even dressed up! I'm sure we went out some other time, but I didn't record it. Obviously we need to get out more!!
- Contribute towards the mortgage. Target of $40 per month ($480 for the year).
January: $100 from Rewards Central (online surveys), $100 from Roy Morgan Research
February: $25 from Pureprofile (online surveys)
March: $25 from Pureprofile (online surveys)
April: $34.60 from Ebay sales
May: $25 from Pureprofile (online surveys)
June: $25 from Pureprofile (online surveys)
July: none
August: $25 from Pureprofile (online surveys), $29.57 from Ebay sales
September: $25 from Pureprofile
October: $100 from Rewards Central
November: $25 from Pureprofile
Wednesday, 28 December 2011
Gotta love the Cricket!
A family trip to the SCG last night to watch a KFC Big Bash (T20 cricket) between Sydney Sixers and Melbourne Stars was definitely worth the trip. The seats were awesome, the atmosphere fantastic and the cricket came down to a nail-biting last ball. Gotta be happy with that! :)
For Dale and I it was nice to see some of the players that we used to watch on TV all the time (Warne, MacGill, Lee). Callum had to be brought up to speed about who they were (Dad, who is Shane Warne?). Annie loved the music and the entertainment side of things, but after 4 overs of cricket said "Are they done now?". She did enjoy the rest, albeit relaxing on mummy for most of the second half.
I can't wait to go again next month!
[photo from the Aust Cricket website]
Monday, 7 November 2011
Goals for 2011 - October updates
Dale tells me that these updates don't count as blog posts. To him I say at least I'm writing something! :P
Vegetables harvested (target 7): 12
Layouts done (target 20): 4
Cards made (target 200): 239
Items sewn (target 10): 10
Money contributed towards mortgage (target $480): $514.17
- Harvest at least seven different types of fruit/vegetables.
January: Ate tomatoes and cucumber from the garden. Had a salad containing lettuce, tomato, capsicum, herbs, cucumber and shallots all freshly picked.
February: Enjoyed herbs, a zucchini, a few cherry tomatoes and several capsicum.
March: Ate capsicum, corn and peas.
April: Ate capsicum, shallots and peas.
May: Planted lots of peas, corn and carrots.
June: Ate capsicum, zucchini, shallots, herbs.
July: Annie picked 2 strawberries. Ate some baby carrots and a few peas plus the usual herbs and shallots.
August: More carrots and peas plus some baby spinach leaves. Turned one of the pumpkins into pumpkin risotto and a pumpkin and chocolate cake.
September: More carrots, peas and spinach.
October: Dug up some potatoes.
PRODUCE EATEN: Cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, shallots, capsicum, zucchini, corn, peas, carrots, spinach, pumpkin, potatoes.
- Get healthier as measured by my physical fitness level. Target: to be able to run 5km non-stop in under 45 minutes. I've started walking 2-3 times a week for an hour at a time.
- Continue my crafting passions. Targets: 10 scrapbooking layouts, 200 cards and 10 sewing items completed.
Items sewn – Jan: Ice/heat packs for Callum and Nathaniel.
May: Heatpack for Alyson.
July: Pouch for Dale's portable hard-drive, washers for Callum and Annie, heatpack for Callum, heatpack for Annie.
August: Bag to hold our plastic bags.
September: Drawstring bag for the sleeping bag, drawstring bag to hold the air mattress.
- Go out for lunch or dinner with Dale at least once every 2 months (without kids). Went out twice for lunch in January. Went out for dinner for our anniversary in February. Went out for dinner in May with Dale to a fancy restaurant. We even dressed up!
- Contribute towards the mortgage. Target of $40 per month ($480 for the year).
January: $100 from Rewards Central (online surveys), $100 from Roy Morgan Research
February: $25 from Pureprofile (online surveys)
March: $25 from Pureprofile (online surveys)
April: $34.60 from Ebay sales
May: $25 from Pureprofile (online surveys)
June: $25 from Pureprofile (online surveys)
July: none
August: $25 from Pureprofile (online surveys), $29.57 from Ebay sales
September: $25 from Pureprofile
October: $100 from Rewards Central
Vegetables harvested (target 7): 12
Layouts done (target 20): 4
Cards made (target 200): 239
Items sewn (target 10): 10
Money contributed towards mortgage (target $480): $514.17
- Harvest at least seven different types of fruit/vegetables.
January: Ate tomatoes and cucumber from the garden. Had a salad containing lettuce, tomato, capsicum, herbs, cucumber and shallots all freshly picked.
February: Enjoyed herbs, a zucchini, a few cherry tomatoes and several capsicum.
March: Ate capsicum, corn and peas.
April: Ate capsicum, shallots and peas.
May: Planted lots of peas, corn and carrots.
June: Ate capsicum, zucchini, shallots, herbs.
July: Annie picked 2 strawberries. Ate some baby carrots and a few peas plus the usual herbs and shallots.
August: More carrots and peas plus some baby spinach leaves. Turned one of the pumpkins into pumpkin risotto and a pumpkin and chocolate cake.
September: More carrots, peas and spinach.
October: Dug up some potatoes.
PRODUCE EATEN: Cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, shallots, capsicum, zucchini, corn, peas, carrots, spinach, pumpkin, potatoes.
- Get healthier as measured by my physical fitness level. Target: to be able to run 5km non-stop in under 45 minutes. I've started walking 2-3 times a week for an hour at a time.
- Continue my crafting passions. Targets: 10 scrapbooking layouts, 200 cards and 10 sewing items completed.
Items sewn – Jan: Ice/heat packs for Callum and Nathaniel.
May: Heatpack for Alyson.
July: Pouch for Dale's portable hard-drive, washers for Callum and Annie, heatpack for Callum, heatpack for Annie.
August: Bag to hold our plastic bags.
September: Drawstring bag for the sleeping bag, drawstring bag to hold the air mattress.
- Go out for lunch or dinner with Dale at least once every 2 months (without kids). Went out twice for lunch in January. Went out for dinner for our anniversary in February. Went out for dinner in May with Dale to a fancy restaurant. We even dressed up!
- Contribute towards the mortgage. Target of $40 per month ($480 for the year).
January: $100 from Rewards Central (online surveys), $100 from Roy Morgan Research
February: $25 from Pureprofile (online surveys)
March: $25 from Pureprofile (online surveys)
April: $34.60 from Ebay sales
May: $25 from Pureprofile (online surveys)
June: $25 from Pureprofile (online surveys)
July: none
August: $25 from Pureprofile (online surveys), $29.57 from Ebay sales
September: $25 from Pureprofile
October: $100 from Rewards Central
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