25 faces and my 4 favourites

So I don't know if any of you remember me posting a goal on my 38 things list to take 25 beautiful photos of faces.

Anyway, I did that and then some(I actually have 96 in my folder) and I took time this weekend to "close off" all my photos from last year.

These are my 25 favourite images. I purposely didn't pic kids' faces although there are some gorgeous ones of mine and other people's kids.

 

 

 

 

 

And then I chose my four favourites.

Can you see the common theme? Besides black and white, they're all listening intently - I love it!

Which are your favourite images?

38.5, a tiny funk and some lovely pics

Today I'm 38 and a half!

Happy half birthday to me.

I got a lovely half birthday gift yesterday - my project life stuff arrived. I thought I could do a quick post but I have much to say, so tomorrow it is. And in one hour, we have friends arriving for supper and I haven't started cooking!

Flying by the seat of my pants :)

I'm still in somewhat of a funk (not only about the job; I have niggles about something else too but it's still in process mode) but I want to thank you for your lovely comments on the job post.

I particularly resonated with two of them:

Claudia who said that it's like being rejected by a guy you're actually not even interested in. YES! Exactly

and Lovely Cathy who said it was right that I didn't get the job... because I need to have the space to fully hold out for the job I really want. *sigh* so true. I mailed her back and said that's how my babies came to me.

I don't know that I've ever written about that (I have spoken to people about it) but I listened to a teleseminar  in 2008 where the coach spoke about unconsciously  sabotaging your (business) success.

I had an aha moment about my baby success. Like how on earth would a baby EVER fit into my super busy life. If you think I'm busy now, you had to see me then - SUPER busy, coaching, teleseminars, speaking, writing up a storm.

I decided to stop doing everything that other people could do and save my energy for things only I could do. So I started delegating like mad, ramping up my virtual assistant's hours and training her to do everything I could delegate. Over a few months I was only doing actual calls, writing actual articles, blogs and newsletters, doing actual talks. All the admin except emails was done by my VA.

And I do believe that creating that space helped us to have a successful 2nd IVF.

Nevertheless, let's talk about things I'm loving at the moment:

•  Cooler Jhb weather and my favourite, grey skies
• Billy Joel - I keep thinking what would have happened if he didn't persist with his passion - I would have so much less joy in my life :)
• Toasted hot cross buns
•  did you see my nail colour in this post? I was quite tickled when I told Cat “nice hair and nails” on an instagram pic and she said I gave her that nail colour. I loved it so much I bought bottles for a few other people.
• I showed Kendra the glued to Daddy pic in this post – she is quite taken that all of you like it so much!

That's all for now. Best I get cooking :)
How's your Wednesday been?

PS all pics in this post by Blackhuff. There were more adorable ones but she doesn't post pics of her kids on the internet and I respect those boundaries.
PPS if you want to see a super cute video of Connor, go here

I have a font (well, two) and a few other things

1. So it seems like more than half my company but definitely half of Joburg is on leave.

It's quite glorious - home in 15 minutes :) I can also find parking (prime "you have to be at work at 7.30" parking) easily in the basement at work.

And with that head space it seems my focus is better at work because I actually got some good work done today despite having to split my day and bring the kids home at lunch.

2. Speaking of kids, I've been deliberately not following the entire Sandy Hook story. I was never any good with this kind of thing and it's much worse now I have kids.

I'm not going to talk about the issues surrounding guns..... but this morning while driving to work, a caller on the radio said it's amazing (as in not) how when kids die in America there is a big reaction but kids die all the time in other countries (Iran and similar) and nobody makes a fuss. I do find that to be true (personally I think Americans are excellent marketers :)) but I just thought, "how sad that you can't feel compassion and empathy for these kids and teachers too". Of course I feel huge sadness and empathy for any kids who die unnecessarily, most especially preventable deaths.

3. I was decluttering like crazy in my study this weekend (actually in the kids' bedroom, the kitchen and my study ) and found my World Vision card (a card with a picture of my kid with his details). I felt immensely guilty that I hadn't sent a Christmas card so I wrote out one quickly, made him a little notebook with cars all over it, stuck those in an envelope and sent them off. It will not get to him on time but hopefully he'll get it early in new year.

And then I remembered the item on my 38 things list to sponsor a second child. So I wrote to World Vision again. I'd phoned in August, the person was out to lunch so I left a message but didn't hear back for whatever reason. Hopefully we get that sorted too so some of my increase goes towards good :)


4. Speaking about money, I've been soooo wasteful this year and I'm afraid it's not going to stop til I order that Seafoam kit for Project Life. Last night I sat and did my new budget with my new salary. I like to do this immediately so I can "tell the money where to go" instead of letting it all happen and wasting it away.

Notice how I ever-so-smoothly mentioned I've decided to do a version of it. A cheap version by the way because I have no intention of buying the binder and plastic pockets. Will blog next week.

Well, once the budget was done, I started doing my 2012 financial review, the personal one. I have to work up the strength to do the business one.

As an aside, I met with a new client today who outright told us "2012 has been a terrible year for business". True for me too but you don't go into a meeting with people you hopefully want to impress saying that. *sigh*

I set a big, juicy money goal beginning last year (to pay off our house) and we did it... by June.

This year the only big, juicy goal was the USA trip. And you can see that reflected in my wild spending. I'm so glad I set another big, juicy money goal in August (a savings goal) because I'm there already. The key will be to keep it untouched! I actually want to move that money out from under my very greedy eyes. It's far too easy with one-click shopping and the like!

5. I have a little problem with my phone. When I delete messages there, it still shows on the ipad, and vice versa. Freaking me out. I love the simplicity of the apple system the most and at the moment it's complicating, not simplifying my life.

Has anyone had this problem?

6. Have I told you I reached my reading goal of 60 books early in November? So I set a new goal of 70 because I'm an overachiever. I'm on 66 as we speak, busy reading books 67 and 68.

This is an excuse to be a somewhat lazy bum....... I love it!

I should manage it if I stick to my two hours reading and writing blogs a day :)

7. And then to end on a very light note, I decided to go goth. I've been trying to wear red nail polish because it's nearly Christmas but I'm not feeling it. The minute I press publish, I'm taking off the red and putting on black. Had a meeting with yet another person today who said she only wears black or red! :)

PS I always get pics of these two kissing :)

What colour nail polish do you like wearing?


What's on your mind?

PS see the writing on the pics? That's mine - I have fonts!!!! The top two are me writing freehand on the ipad and the next two is me using a stylus.

They both don't look very much like mine so I'm going to redo them and when I'm happy I'll let you have them too (if you want :))

Updates - pre-school and other more frivolous things

So, pre-schools

Looks like we've narrowed the search down to two.

It's interesting how you don't sometimes know things are a priority for you til you start looking. Like diversity. D and I want a school that does not just have one racial group, whatever that may be.

Both these schools have a fair representation of all, which we love.


School 1 is 1 km from our house (3 mns in the car and 12 mins walk). This school is super organised, they have a beautiful playground, is very clean and well-maintained (she should hire herself out to project manage house stuff at my place!) and they cater for 85 kids.

This school is into a well-rounded, happy kid, etc.

The only "con" is those 85 kids but I must say they have small classes of about 10 kids and all the teachers looked in total control when I visited. The kids were all happy, well-mannered and friendly, and busy crafting. I happened to arrive during Arts and Crafts time and of course, wanted to join in.

School 2 is 2,8 km from our house (6 minutes in the car and not suitable to walk - highways and such). I LOVE this principal - she's young, vibey, great attention to detail and so friendly. We could totally be friends :)

D went there on Friday morning, I pitched at about 12. When we arrived, she looked at the kids and said, "are they twins?" When I said yes, she said, "was that your husband that came this morning?" I like people that join the dots and are on the ball. I saw this kind of thing throughout our visit.

My kids were all over the place - inquisitive, talking to everyone and asking them questions and she rolled with the punches beautifully while all the crazy was going on, and still managed to give me the tour.

This school was more academic than the other or it felt that way. They took great pains to show me how they do their themes and curricula and whatnot. They also do AWESOME arts and crafts - i"m 100% sure most of those kids do better stuff than I do. They'd probably do a nicer cherry blossom canvas than I did.

D liked that this one was in a more secure environment (it's in a boomed-off area) but is still easy to access from our house. Also their half day ends at 2:30 because they let their kids nap until then anyway. If your kid doesn't nap you can get them earlier.

The nitty-gritty

1. I would be happy with either school. 
2. We haven't been accepted into either school. However, I'm totally zen about this - honestly. I'm very much of the mindset "whatever will be will be". I do realise it's because deep down I actually STILL think they're babies and we shouldn't even be having these discussions.  :)
3. School 1 works out to be R150 more expensive in total than School 2 (in total, not per kid). Which is a non-issue. I waste that kind of money (less than $20) in about 20 minutes at Clicks.
4. Nanny S can walk to fetch the kids from School 1 but not from School 2.
5. Therefore, school 2 will work out to be more expensive once I add in transport. I still haven't investigated those costs. Anyone have any idea?

Which school are you leaning towards for us?

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In other news, let me tell you about my search for the happy, yellow, summer bag.

The one on my 38 things list.



I've been looking and looking everywhere and the only one that came remotely close was a genuine leather tote at Woolies for... wait for this... R1000. I do have two bags that cost that much but they are colours that are a bit more versatile for my wardrobe (red and the gorgeous pink bag, the one I bought for my birthday present last year).

I also searched Amazon and found this lovely bag. After happily clicking I reached the checkout and GASPED. They wanted to charge me R2200 for the bag plus shipping.

So I clicked the window to close.

And then the next day I went to Woolies where I spied the most gorgeous aqua/ teal bag.

It was heavenly so I snapped it up together with a matching wallet. And new sandals (the black ones with the flowers) that Kendra LOVES.

(Thank goodness I'm usually fairly sensible with my money)

I was about to blog yesterday and tell you about how I'm changing my goal to a bag that makes me happy (not necessarily yellow) because really, this teal bag I have makes me VERY happy. Everyone oohed and aaahed in the office.

And then I had a brainwave.

So I detoured via Bag Town on my way home.

I asked them to show me all their yellow bags and they had TONS. Really, about 8 - 10 different styles.

Some were too mustardy, most were too small but finally, FINALLY, I found three I liked.

I narrrowed my choices to 2 and just bought them both. The one is bright, happy yellow and the other has more green in it.

I love them both.

I'll take some pics on the weekend and show you but that's 1 thing off my list done!

Do you buy yourself birthday presents?

Are you a person who sticks with the same bag til it falls apart, or do you change bags to match your mood and/ or outfits?

38 things

Well, I didn't do as well on my list as I did the previous year but I have done 76% of the items.

 

I had to give myself a talking-to and tell myself it's better than nothing.

 

I mentioned a couple of months ago that a lot of my items were 12-part projects or worse (read 60 books) so I really was very ambitious (mad!).

 

This year I want to have more fun with my list.

 

I will still have 38 items but there will be no more than 5 parts to any one project except for the books.

 

This pic was taken of a bus stop on Bryant Square (is it square, street, where Bank of Ameria is?)

 

 

So let's get to it:

 

1. Pay attention to what comes out of my mouth. This is a topic for a post but I learnt at She Speaks that I process and express internally so in times of stress, I shout. And I need to learn to stop doing that. My scripture is Ps 19:14 may the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight.
2. Assume positive intent with D. Am I the only one who assumes he leaves things undone just to annoy me? I read a lovely post (again, another blog post) where she spoke about the secret of a good marriage is to assume positive intent. They are not out to get us.
3. Have another beach holiday. I would happily go back to Ballito.
4. Plan a celebration for my mother's 60th next year. This is going to be interesting because she 1) hates parties 2) hates a fuss...
5. Take the kids to the Pretoria Zoo.
6. Spend Mandy's voucher. MandyR's family gave the babies a very nice experiential gift and I'll take them to do two fun things. Any ideas? Are they too young for Sci-Bono?
7. Sponsor another World Vision child. I want some of you along with this ride - R150 a month or thereabouts. Less than $20.
8. Do Santa's Shoebox for another 3 kids.
9. Have a mini photo shoot - how will we ever top the Newtown one though?
10. Have 25 dates with D.
11. Get to Cape Town.
12. Get kids registered for pre-school. There is just one thing to check and then I can pay.
13. Get into another position at work. More later... but I am SO inspired by Heather.
14. Bring my awesomeness to current job too. Take charge and act with courage.
15. Get my handwriting made into a font
16. Read a Jeffrey Deaver novel.
17. Read a John Grisham novel.
18. Read a Patricia Cornwell novel.
19. Read a James Patterson novel.
20. Read a Michael Connolly novel. (I haven't read any crime novels since the babies were born and it's high time I started again, don't you think?)
21. Read 60 books in total, 12 of them non-fiction.
22. Declutter books so that I have ALL of them on the one small 3-shelf bookshelf. Currently all 3 shelves are full plus 2 others - the one is only about 70% full.
23. Read entire New Testament
24. Write a book for the Kindle. Am I mad? I think so.
25. Ask God to show Himself regularly, in the little and big things.
26. Start speaking a message of hope to Christian women. This is here as a ginormous act of faith. Because I have No Clue how this will work. But I'm available and willing.
27. Take 25 awesome pics of people's faces (by awesome I mean pics even they love). On the one photowalk I still haven't blogged, I took pics of an ex-staff member and she loved them so much. That's what I want. To show people they can have good pics even without smiling :)
28. Make a craft with scrapbook paper.
29. Make a craft with canvas.
30. Make a craft with cards.
31. Make a craft with bakers' twine.
32. Make a craft with stamps.
33. Make a craft with all my punches.
34. Make a craft with photos. I have a plan for the NYC pics but let's see. I'm starting on Friday - hopefully it's not a huge flop.
35. Save R_________  - it's a huge chunk of money, a stretch even for me so that it forces me to think differently about my finances and not just put away what's comfortable. Did you know I started saving R50 (about $6) a month in 1998? Those days are long gone. But that's also the same year we started sponsoring World Vision kids.
36. Simplify business even more. Another thing God spoke to me about at SheSpeaks (and MandyR also said) - I'm too busy. I do like having a lot to do but this is ridiculous. I want my one free night a week back where I do nothing but read.
37. Buy a frivolous YELLOW handbag for summer
38. Start collecting the Seinfeld DVDs. I have none at the moment so I need to "hit up" (as you US gals say) Musica or Look & Listen.

And that's it.

 

Still a huge stretch, still very challenging, still requires tons of focus but I feel lighter and somehow more free.

 

Did any of those surprise you? Do you have ideas for any of them? Do you want to join me for any?