Attention: Jhb readers

Louisa and I are having a picnic at the Botanical Gardens on Sat 10th Sept.

We'd like to extend the invitation to any of you who would like to join us.

This is not a fancy blogger meet-up with sponsorships and so on...so it's all for free. Bring your own food/ kids if you want/ etc.

Who's in?

Leave a comment so I don't have to annoy the rest of the readers with the logistics and whatnot...


Thanks :)

Louisa, I can't wait to meet you and gorgeous Nicola.

Maybe I'm just a prude

I go to a Zumba class on Wed nights at the gym.

Well, that's the aim, anyway.

By the way, my medical aid sent me a rude letter to tell me I need to go 4 times by the end of Sept or I will revoke my membership so I have to get more diligent with this.

There's this thing they do in class - a move where your elbows are at right angles to your body and you pump your hands outwards (boom boom) while you do this move with your hips and bum.

Do you Zumba girls know the move I'm talking about?

For me it just feels so lewd.

I don't do it properly on purpose - I just do the arms.

Oy.

You know what else I HATE about these dance classes?

When the instructors make you grab a partner and dance together.

I am HUGELY independent in these situations and hate 1) touching other sweaty people (I know what I feel and smell like...) 2) trying to dance with people who are all there for a laugh because I don't follow well and I need someone REALLY good to lead me.

What I really want to do when they say, "grab a partner" is hightail it out of there.

But I don't want to be rude (or miss out the rest of the lesson) so I look around and get the nearest good person.

There was a girl there tonight who just totally ignored the instructor and carried on dancing all by herself.

And she was really good so it's not like she was scared.

I admired her chutzpah tremendously so at a break in the class (drink water while he changes CDs) I told her, "I LOVE the way you're just doing your own thing".

She smiled and said, "you mean instead of playing along with these ridiculous games?"

We both laughed!

Good to know I'm not the only one who hates those partnering things.

Do you dance? Even if you don't, do you like partnering with people?

Let's just call it creating :)

notice the library tag on the left that my children ripped out of their book...

These are the two notebooks I made pretty for Cat :)

Tuesday Titbits

Yesterday I was driving to work and I realised I'm happy.

Totally completely happy.

The sun was shining, I only had on two thin layers (yes!) and Billy Joel was singing in my car.

That was it.

Yes, it doesn't take very much to make me happy but I got to thinking how I'm sitting with the most money I've had in my account ever (remember we've just received bonuses at work and I'm putting off paying a thing so I can just sit and enjoy looking at it in my bank account for awhile :)) and the money's not making me happy.

Very weird having these thoughts in the City of Gold where most people are totally money hungry.

Also, I always used to argue with one of my ex-bosses who used to tell me money is not a motivator and I'd say Hogwash! Of course it is.

I still feel it's important because of what it represents (for me, freedom) but in itself, I guess he's right, it's not a motivator by itself.

Anyway.

And now that I've written about it, I will pay my tithe. Do you tithe?

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My personal life is feeling ever so slightly out of balance.

Do you know how I know?

I start dropping the ball on things that are not normal for me. I'm actually working on the business slightly too much for my liking :)

Today I had to go to the hospital for blood tests so the gynae would have my results before my appt tomorrow.

Well, I searched high and low and couldn't find the thing he faxed me (I know! Faxes - so 90's :)).

I came to work, searched high and low here too and still couldn't find it.

So I printed off another one but had to move my appointment out so there'd be time for the lab to do the work first.

Thank goodness we have a nurse here who can take blood and send off to the lab (only 20 minutes out of my day).

My gynae is one of those who takes blood to check hormone levels at any routine check-up. It's good... but he wants two appts, one to do Pap and take bloods, and another for the results of either.

I got smart this year and told him I'd get my bloods done and will have one appt where he can do the Pap, check b**bs and give me results.

One consult fee :)

Have you been to the gynae yet this year? I have a friend who has it around the time of her birthday every year so she doesn't forget.


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I won this on Monika Wright's blog.


I am BEYOND thrilled first, because I never win anything and second, because I only ever enter things that I really, really want (in the last two - three months, I've entered a stationery giveaway (Macaroon) and this one and one more on Allison's Little Lovelies site).

I found Monika's blog about 3 months ago when I first started getting obsessed/ passionate about notebooks/ mini albums, etc.

I love her stuff - if you like this sort of thing, go have a look. I used to not like scrapbooking-type stuff as everything felt too fussy for someone like me. Her style is not at all fussy but still gorgeous.

BTW, pure coincidence, on Thursday I'll be working on a little project with some free downloads from Monika's site.

Love the serendipity!

Are you ready for Thursday? Photos/ craft/ scrapbooking/ whatever?

On being conspicuous

Claudia has this linky thing going on about being conspicuous and so I decided to participate.

I'm not even a 10th of a writer like she is so this is not going to be all deep and meaningful :)

I felt the need to put in that disclaimer in case the people from her blog come to visit.

Right, moving on.

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I have never had a problem standing out from the crowd.

I did ballet, modern, Spanish, etc, etc so was in the limelight from a really young age.

And, dare I say it, I loved it :)

I don't mind being the weird one wearing, driving, living the life most people don't want to wear, drive or live.

I like being different. And I love different and unique people.

I've also always stood out and been conspicuous for academics - again, no problem because these were all really positive experiences.

(Now I think I may have been hated by some kids because it all came so easily to me but at the time I was oblivious)

Then D and I met and married, and we had a bit of the being conspicuous because we're a mixed race couple.

Strangely, I got more looks being with him than I did with a previous Indian boyfriend and we REALLY had colour differences :) (I would link to his FB profile to show you but that just feels wrong LOL)

That didn't bother me though because it is what it is and I honestly felt that other people were silly for letting the race thing be an issue. We loved each other and that was that. Even in South Africa pre-1994 :)

However, when we were diagnosed with infertility, I hated it.

I hated not being able to do what millions of women do so easily.

I didn't want to be conspicuous in that way.

A negative way.

It was the first time in my life things didn't go easily or my way.

Who wants to be the 1 in 6, or whatever the stat is now?

As you all know, that particular story had a good ending.

And now despite not wanting to be negatively conspicuous, we are because we have twins.

We do get stopped by people especially when we have the babies (yes at 2!) in their pram. Somehow they don't attract the same attention running loose.

Also, Connor is now 8 cm taller than Kendra :)

But especially when people hear that we have twins, I become conspicuous.

I like being noticed in the "ooooh, twins! How do you do it?" way as it is hard work and nice to know that some people get it.

When it's in the "ooooh, twins! Are they natural or IVF twins, and isn't IVF expensive?" way, it's of the not-nice variety.

I'm very proud to have had the opportunity to live in a day and age where we could afford (with much savings, but still) IVF and have access to incredible doctors.

When people say that if you choose to have infertility treatment you're not in faith, I say HOGWASH.

Science can only get so far but then it's God all the way, baby!

So that's not good because who wants to discuss their less-than-stellar lady bits with complete strangers? I don't want to even discuss it with my gynae!

Anyway, this is all a bit of a ramble but I want to end by saying, if I had to endure being conspicuous even in a negative way for these two wonderful kids, then it has all been worth it.

Totally.


How do you feel about being conspicuous? Do you like standing out from the crowd?


P.S. Click and read Claudia's Matt Damon Index post. As an aside, I'm very naughty because I always say to D that I feel SOOOO sorry for "the other one" (Ben Affleck) because he's the one that didn't make it big :)

PPS I do wonder how this will translate to my parenting my kids, especially Kendra, who is very sensitive, but that's a topic for another day.

Meeting blog friends

I must say, there's something strange about meeting bloggers you've been reading for awhile.

On the one hand, you're strangers but on the other hand, you're closer to them than some of your real life friends.

Very weird.

And so it was that I met Cat yesterday.

I will tell you that she was on my list (doesn't it sound ominous?) of people to meet since last year and (this is dorky, even for me) when I realised that we were going to meet up late in Aug and miss my 36 things list, I said, quite loud in the office, "oh NO!"

This plan has been set up for months now - I think June actually!

On my 36 things list, I had that I wanted to meet 3 bloggers. I did... but I had not been reading Gina and Laura when I met them at the photo workshop and my intention was actually to meet 3 bloggers whose blogs I already read.

Anyway.

We met at Bambanani and here it is, my second good children/ play spot. We're now sorted for venues both in the East and West of Jhb.

Teehee.

Lovely venue. Childminders were fantastic, food was good, lots of different areas for the kids, and not too far from us.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, onto the meeting.

Cat is an incredible mother - so centred and calm and loving. I loved watching her with her kids. In a non-weird way.

She was exactly how I imagined - down-to-earth, lovely and authentic. And she brought me a gift! I won't say what but it is a beautiful "acts of service" type of gift :) which I will take a pic of soon.

And the kids? GORGEOUS, all of them, and so well-mannered and independent.

(I feel very old when I talk about manners but hey, manners impress the heck out of me)

We had a lovely afternoon eating and taking pics and refereeing and occasionally running after one of mine (Connor).

I say occasionally because it was a family outing for us and Kendra was attached to D like a limpet.

We all loved the venue and even after Cat's family left, mine still ran around some more.

Will there be a next time?

I hope so because I would love that.

I'm getting quite a kick out of meeting South African bloggers - my first 3 were all US :)

Do you like meeting bloggers, or do you like to keep the sections of your life separate?

PS how was your weekend?

Things I never thought I'd hear myself say/ crafting

I really need to organise my craft and scrapbooking stuff!

But this is reality.

I did 6 notebooks this morning - pics to follow.... - and I need to get this stuff in an easier workflow - all into one drawer

Maybe all the punches, washi tape and fabric tape into one drawer with the scrapbook paper?

I will have to see.

Anyway, here's the news!


I follow Lolly Jane and I see they have an actual in-person craft night once a month in Arizona. How fun!

They provide kits and instructions and then the ladies get to it.

I thought of arranging a live thing but I don't want to be bothered with getting everyone on the same page and venue and worrying about money and people not pitching who have RSVPd yes and so on.

So...

I'm going to be doing a virtual craft day on the last Thursday of every month for about an hour.

That's this Thursday 25th.

I'm telling you now so you can think about what you want to do and link up your projects when you're done.

The beauty of this is that each of us can do our own thing and cross things off those Pinterest lists :)

Source: littleloveliesbyallison.blogspot.com via Marcia on Pinterest

By the way, evening for SA/ Europe is very early the next morning for Australia/ New Zealand and lunch time for the US and Canada (we're currently 6 hours ahead of EST).

I have coaching every Thursday until 8:30 but after that is MY time!

Of course you can do your thing for longer, shorter, day before, etc. but for me, it's about having some set-aside time to dedicate to my creativity.

Remember, I'm not really crafty so if I have nothing to do, I'll organise photos and make collages :)

If there's anyone who can make a cute button, please speak up - I would love that!

Are you in?

How do you keep all your craft stuff organised? Drawer, cupboard, ROOM? :)

PS thanks, Deanna, for showing me how to embed the Pinterest stuff straight into my blog :)

Five bits of fabulousness on Friday

1. This morning a team member (the one who likes hours and hours of meetings) walked in with 4 bunches of roses for the 4 girls.

She said she's been stressed and a bit b*tchy and this was to make up for her behaviour. My one colleague said, "well, I haven't noticed a thing but can I still keep the flowers?" LOL to which I said, "ditto for me".

So now I have a beautiful bunch of yellow/ orange roses on my dining-room table.

2. Just before she walked in I had a delivery at work. Whenever I buy online I always get the stuff delivered to work - firstly, almost everything arrives quicker and if they need someone to collect it from the post office, we have people to do that, so it's super convenient. Anyway, I'm now the proud owner of two punches (I can't stop making rounded corners - it's addictive) and some more binder rings!

3. I made my book for the 30 days of lists today. It's not quite what I had in mind but I actually like the new version better. Who's in?

4. I had lunch with my dear friend, Roz, today. I have met my match in people who give good directions. She had to direct me to her work, and then to my hair appointment, and she gives FABULOUS directions. Exactly the way I like them - road names AND landmarks :)

It was so wonderful to chat and of course, time ran out just at that point you want to get some tea and talk some more.

I don't know why we haven't done this before because it only took me 8 minutes to get to her office from mine (okay, speeding a bit, but still).

5. I had my Brazilian Blow Dry today and someone asked before if it was a South African thing - no it's not - I read about it on a US blog for the first time! Very interesting experience. I bought my voucher on Wicount for R800 (they said it cost R2000) but I think they might have inflated their prices to make the new value seem cheaper. Anyway, it took two full hours (they warned me when I made my appointment) so I took my Karen Kingsbury with me and nearly finished my book after I planned blog posts on the organising blog for the next two weeks.

The guy who did my hair obviously tried to sell me the expensive products (shampoo R200; he said you can use normal conditioner) but I was very proud of myself for saying no and that I'd look around first and come back if I wanted theirs. I'm going to see if my hairdresser stocks similar for cheaper. I'm in no rush; I'm sure I could go a week without needing to wash my hair.

My hair looks stunning except for the grey roots showing (no time to colour hair as I was sick when I had time!) so I'm going to get D to take some pics. Even Kendra said to me when I got home, "Mummy pretty hair" - my words of affirmation girl :)

plus one more

6. Tomorrow I'm meeting someone I've wanted to meet for at least a year - Cat. I can't wait!

It feels kind-of like a date but yet not, since we're both open and honest on our blogs (and in the behind-the-scenes emails) and I do feel like I know her.

I'm taking D and the kids with me as we've wanted to check out this particular venue for ages and this is a good opportunity to do so.

What do you have planned for the weekend?

How was your Friday?

P.S. Unashamedly copying MandyE with fabulous five :) (Mandy, it won't let me link to your specific post)

It's that time of the year

I've written before about how I'm not a fan of the dentist.

I tend to make the appointment and then forget about it (or block it out) until the day.

She's the best dentist in the world (if you're on my side of the world tell me and I'll give you her details) so she is usually fully booked a month out. (She is also gorgeous and has been in a Colgate ad).

Well, today was the day and I successfully blocked it out.

I usually mark off all the time in my calendar, including travel time so I never know the actual appointment time.

I make a note in the actual Outlook appt to tell me the correct time.

Somehow I have a love for 3 pm appts (all the kids ones are at 3pm) as they feel like I can still do a good morning's work and then it's just late enough to not have to go back to the office :)

Naturally I assumed that today's one was at 3 pm too.

Something (God?) just made me double-check once my meeting was out and when I saw the words "actual appt time 2:30" and it was 2.14 (I'm about 30 minutes away), I grabbed my gorgeous pink leather bag and RAN out of there.

When the boss has meetings in his office, he can see all the to and fro from his seat at his meeting table and I could see the puzzled expression as I FLEW past.

Tried to phone them twice to let them know I was running late as I ran down the stairs to the basement but they weren't answering their phone.

I was 10 minutes late and then still had to brush my teeth before she could look in my mouth.

Fortunately all is well. My teeth are good and I'm okay for another year.

We were saying that I've been going to her for at least 7 years. She was pregnant a year or two after I first saw her and her daughter is 6 now.

If you're wondering why I'm so conscientious even though I'm not a fan of dentists, it's because I vowed after my one and only root canal (pre-this Dr) that I would go every single year to prevent any serious stuff from happening.

So that's me.

Do you go to the dentist regularly? Do you actually enjoy it?

PS next week it's the gynae - oy!

Getting my craft on: party scrapbook 1

One of the things on my 37 things list is to do two crafty/creative projects a month.

I've done number 1 and thought I'd post the results:

Also, for those of you who are TRULY crafty, don't laugh - this is HUGE for me.

• I bought a brag book at Clicks for R9,99.
• Used some of the party printables for the front and back covers.
• Printed TONS of pics from the party.
• Arranged them in an order that made me happy.
• Put in some of the leftover cupcake toppers and tented food tags.
• Realised I still had space for about 6 pics.
• Went back to the photo shop to print additional pics.
• Rearranged a little bit more.
• Called it a day.

Am VERY happy with the result.

I showed the people at work and (just goes to show what kind of people I work with) they were all SO enthusiastic and encouraging about my efforts that 3 of them want me to do their kids' party.

Um, no thanks :)

What do you think?

P.S. I'm linking this up to Ginger's scrapbooking linky, just for laughs!

Blogging by candlelight/ precious 1:1 time

Our power went out 5 minutes before I got home from work.

The kids were howling because the milk was "ice cold" according to them.

My children drink room temperature milk, not warm, but in winter I warm it for 10 seconds in the microwave to take off the chill.

Well, they kept insisting - "warm it, Mummy, warm it". Just imagine that sentence shouted at you from two different directions at increasing volumes!

Have you ever tried explaining to a 2-year-old that no power means NOTHING works? No lights, no music, no microwave, nothing.

I eventually handed Connor a torch (flashlight) and he calmed down and stopped crying. Kendra soon followed suit and I was able to go around the house and light a gazillion candles.

Can you tell I'm geared up for power failures?

D's gone to get us Debonairs pizza and fill our flask (thermos) with boiling water at my friend, C's house. She lives in the same suburb but above the main street so if we're out, they're on.

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He's back and we've eaten. And now I'm enjoying a hot mug of coffee. It's the small things in life, people.

He says to me, "C's girls were in the bath when I got there but it's VERRRRRY different from how it happens around here"

I asked how.

He says, "the bath was half full of water, they're in the bath together and eating ice-lollies"

Oh how I laughed. I could just picture it.

What are bath times like around your place?

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Speaking of fun, I had the BEST time with my little guy this morning.

I prepped him for our appt because he does not have the best track record with doctors.

So I said, "Connor, we're going to see the doctor later. She's going to look in your ears and in your mouth."

He couldn't wait - I think it was more the prospect of going in the car than anything else.

And that he would be alone, not with Kendra.

Yes, she wailed when we left.

We had a lovely appointment (our Dr is Scottish with a gorgeous accent which alone is worth the consultation fee) and his sinuses are blocked but his ears and lungs were clear.

She was very impressed with his vocab - so was I! He talks FAR more when his sister isn't around and is also much better behaved. Hmmm.

He said, "hello Dr Petrie" and "thank you, Dr Petrie" and "bye, Dr Petrie" beautifully ----> proud mother moment.

Then we went to get the meds and as we were walking through the mall, I happened to glance over at Connor who wanted to "walk, Mummy" and saw our reflection in a shop window.

I melted.

Is there anything cuter than a little boy with his mother?

He charmed the pharmacist too and went to see the cleaning lady's mop (he is BIG friends with Nester, our cleaning lady, I think mainly because she has cool equipment like a vacuum cleaner, broom and mop).

There's something you should know about me.

If the mall gives 15 minutes free parking, I can be in and out in 15 minutes. Because I hate taking 16 or 17 minutes and having to pay R6.

As we exited Clicks, I found myself starting to rush to make the deadline.

Again I looked down at the cutest little boy.

He was looking around, staring into the windows and at the people and I just realised, it is not worth rushing him and missing this time (even though I was HOURS late for work) just for R6.

So I slowed down, took his little hand and we took a leisurely stroll towards the exit, pointing and chatting along the way.

Yes, we missed the cut-off by about 4 - 5 minutes but it was so very worth it.

Balance, bonuses and my boy

taken from the office

can you see the white patches of sleet on the grass?

Four brave souls endured the cold (it is FREEZING here today - we even had some snow!) to come listen to me talk tonight.

My talk was on balance.

Here's my definition:

It's about spending the right (not equal) amount of time in the areas of your life that you've prioritised as important.

We had a fab time with some great insights and mindset changes.

They told me I have to talk about people-pleasing and how to say no next time :)

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Today our boss was back so he could hand out our bonus letters.

I try to have no expectations of these things and therefore I'm never disappointed.

I see it as all free money because all that's in the contract is my monthly salary.

All that to say... it is MUCH better than I expected.

Wooohoooo!

Will definitely have to do something exciting and book a holiday.

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My boy is worse today.

He's been snotty since Thursday evening and seemed to get better.

I have a gripe with V in that she doesn't tell us if the kids are sick/ getting sick during the day.

I walked in at 5:25 to find him SCREAMING and he'd been doing this on and off the whole day when he wasn't sleeping.

We all know that's not Connor so why did I not get an SMS or phone call?

When I get home, it's too late to get him to a doctor so now all of us have to endure another night of broken sleep with a screaming toddler.

At 8 am sharp I'll be phoning for an appt and taking the boy to the doctor.

Poor little sausage. Crying with snot streaming down his face.

My tricks of giving him a "sweet" weren't even working so I had to wrestle a Panado into his mouth.

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Back to the cold...

Someone told me today that this sudden, extreme cold (12 degrees today, 14 degrees tomorrow) means there'll be one last cold spell and then ... spring. And I'll be dressing my kids in shorts on 1 Sept.

We'll see about that!

I'm well enough not to need to stay home but I don't feel 100% there yet.

How was your Monday?

P.S. I have some more to talk about with the nanny situation but that'll have to be for another post. My (warm) bed is calling.

In which I again realise why I avoid the photos

I've just spent 3 hours sorting, compressing, organising and blogging photos.

And I'm not even totally done with July but I'm "done"!

Maybe I should explain my system?

(as an aside, developing and maintaining my system was on my 36 things list. I have a system and it works for my brain but I've been a slacker since March so I gave myself 0.5)

1. I have a folder for 2011, and then for the months 01, 02, 03, etc
2. I download and move the pics into their months
3. here's where it gets exciting (not!)
4. If there were "major events" (for me that means socials) I make a sub-folder for each of those. My April folder has Dullstroom, K&B wedding, LC visit. Just makes it easier for me to find things since that's how I think, in categories.
   
5. Otherwise the pics all just lay loose in the folder. Are some of you twitching (MandyE?)?
   
6. Then my new thing is I made a "to blog" sub-folder - this one has all the compressed pics.
7. I take the compressed pics per blog post, paste them in an email and send to the children's blog, http://connorandkendra.com. It just helps with the uploading as I have zero patience.
8. While all that is happening, I'm deleting duds, etc.
9. I then go into blogger and make sure they're in the right sequence, change the date since I'm ALWAYS late, and publish. If you're subscribed to that blog, I did 5 tonight and you'll see nothing for the next 3 - 4 weeks :)
   
10. To make things even more interesting I also have a big folder for organising (that's for my organising blog) in the main 2011 folder, and I've recently added others called getting my craft on (with no less than 9 subfolders - yay - and that doesn't include July or Aug), recipes, courage, favourite pics 2011 (any arbitrary pics of shoes, birds, the sky, anything - I will say I hardly have pics of my kids there!) and up til the party, I had a Babies 12 - 24 months folder too (for 1 - 2 pics per month). Basically, my projects.
11. In my general My Pictures folder, I also have other weird folders called Doors and windows (I'm obsessed - one of these fine days I'm going to make a nice collage of pretty doors and share it with you), Skies, Food and Around Jhb (do you want to see?)
12. I don't do any editing except for making all the pics face the right way up and cropping out private parts (D and I made a boundary for our family that we wouldn't keep naked pics of the kids because who knows what might happen and if things get into people's hands...) in the bath pics.
13. Sometimes if I'm lazy to make decisions (okay, a lot of the time) I will make a collage in Picasa. But that's the extent of it.
14. If I feel like playing around (very rare) I love taking travel pics and making them black and white.

If you made it this far, you deserve to see some cuteness!

I love this pic of K

yes, blurry but I love the way she's laughing. Not many people see that side of her.

look at them trying to pretend they're not being naughty

notice Friday (teddy) and the dummy - C's BFFs (I actually hate that acronym)

Bottom line with the photos

If I've gone through my stuff and the bad ones are deleted, I consider it a 5.

If I've put the ones I want to blog in another folder, that's a 7 or 8.

And if I actually send those pics to blogger or Wordpress drafts, that's a 10.

Those are my definitions for success with photos.

Notice no editing, no printing, no nothing else...

All this stuff seems to take forever. FOREVER. And I'm not even editing - I don't know how you guys do it with making stuff fancy.

What's your photo system look like? Do you use lots of folders? If yes, tell me some of your favourites/ weirdest ones.

Riddle

What's red, streaming and severely hampering my style?

My nose!

I woke this morning with a sore throat, streaming nose and blocked ears.

I'm a bit under the weather and am drugged to the hilt with Degoran and similar stuff.

Connor said to me, "Mummy, take tissue out" because I propped the tissue under my nose eventually and D said I looked a bit scary!

Hope you're having a good weekend.

P.S. (Mandy, I am no further with my weekend stuff :))

Five on Friday

Thank you all for participating in the cry baby linky - it's not too late if you haven't done yours yet.

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banner I put up for D's birthday - don't you love it? I really wanted to leave it up forever...

1. I must admit I get very annoyed by "group blogs" (I don't know what the official name is) where there is nothing for ages and then more than 2 posts a day. Drives me batty and ensures that I just click "mark all as read". Is it just me or do you feel the same?

2. A lady I work very closely with was on leave for two weeks. I was in heaven as she's one of these "6 hours of meetings in a row" sort of people. She is clearly back because I went somewhere for 20 minutes and returned to about 8 meetings in my diary, two hours each. Ugh!

3. I'm a little ticked off. A long while ago there was a solicitation for people who wanted to write for a certain blog. I thought I could contribute and add a non-North American flair :) so I sent them not one, but two emails with links to some of my favourite posts and heard nothing. I've since seen all these new bloggers' posts in my reader and sadly, I'm feeling a little disgruntled and maybe even a bit jealous. I know I need to get over it but remember, I have problems letting go.

4. I realised last night I have somewhat of a problem. There are some cute crafty things I'm in the process of doing but I can't post them as I'm nearly 100% certain I'll gift some of these things to others. Does this then mean I need to do more than 2 in a month so I can have 2 to show you? Or am I over-analysing things?

5. We can't WAIT for our boss to get back from holiday on Monday. Strange statement? Not so much as we're all eagerly awaiting our bonus letters. The corporate grapevine is all aflutter as "everyone" has received theirs. The jury's out on whether we're getting good bonuses or bad ones. I am always grateful for anything as I see it as all FREE money. Although I did get a spectacularly good one last year. This is how they reward good performers

and now, what I did for me...

Well, last Sat was my birthday.

This is my birthday gift to me - pink genuine leather bag and green wallet. Also, love my Baggu bags.

I went to Zumba on Wed which was lovely if exhausting. I hold my breath every time while they scan my card to see whether my contract's been cancelled yet. I have to go twice a month and you guys know I don't... so clearly they're taking the average and I have 24 visits over the year.

Of course I took the day off on Monday and went to see a movie and did some other things.

This week I had to flex my boundary muscles twice - it wasn't the easiest thing to do but I felt great afterwards :)

How was your week?

Cry baby linky

I have so much more crying baby pics (should I even be admitting this?!) but alas, my external hard drive is not displaying them properly.

Here we go... the first three have been on the blog before

Kendra - I'm sure I said "no" to something

Connor

Connor after getting into my food colouring - didn't want it washed off

glorious summer.... with cute babies in summer pjs

Connor pulling Kendra by the neckline

and then he starts crying and she yawns (bored with me?)

proper crying - also, I miss the days when they were both contained as I had a little visitor around 5 this morning. I dragged him into bed and he slept but of course, every time I moved, he goes, "Mummy, sore" if I bumped him.

this is classic Kendra - she can WAIL

and in the next minute, she's all sneaky smiles again

who knows what this was about?

So that's us.

Link up!

Otherwise, tell me what makes your baby/ies cry?

I can't believe I'm blogging about the weather

For the past couple of months I've been wearing at least 3 layers, not counting underwear.

Long-sleeved t-shirt, thin jersey, thick jersey/ jacket.

Today I only wore the first two layers.

This is big news as it means spring is on its way.

I was thinking about this whole weather thing while driving to work this morning.

I think the reason we feel the cold so much is because we're not geared up for it.

I've been in Europe twice for their "spring" which in the UK and Ireland is much colder than our WINTER.

Side note - a few weeks ago we Skyped with our dear friends in Ireland. Of course we spent a good part of the conversation talking about the weather as we're all slightly obsessed. He is Zimbabwean, she is Brazilian and they're living in Dublin.

The following day he sent us an email saying, "it's a lovely summer's day in Dublin today. 17 degrees!"

I nearly choked on my tea I was laughing so hard :) In South Africa, that's an ICE-COLD winter's day.

The thing is that in colder climates the houses, buses, shops, malls, etc. are all well-insulated and even in 5 degree weather I never felt the cold like I'm feeling it this winter.

I think we also forget to make provision because the switch over is very sudden, in Jhb especially.

Today's high was 20, tomorrow is a whopping 23 (that's shorts weather in PE where I'm from) and before you know it I'll be complaining about the heat (as D reminded me this morning).

We only really have 3.5 - 4 months of true cold weather every year - I know this because 1 May is my date to switch to winter sheets and pillowcases and get out the heaters and sometime after my birthday is when I start wearing short sleeves and a light cardigan for the mornings.

No wonder we forget.

I don't know how some of you do it with serious cold for most of the year. No wonder you go full out and celebrate summer.

Another aside

The last time we were in Dublin it happened to be a "very lovely 18 or 19 degrees one day". Well, you'd swear it was 30 degree weather because people were out in the parks having picnics, letting their kids ride bikes, etc.

Our friend said, "the weather's so miserable here that if there's even an inkling of sunshine, people stop and take notice, and make the most of it"

Isn't that great though?

There's a lesson there for me .

.....

In other news, I had a conversation with a girl on the mentoring course and she didn't know who Air Supply is.

I was gobsmacked.

Okay, so she's about 5 - 6 years younger than I am but come on, Air Supply!

:)

Also, why is it that when the kids play with your CDs and they get messed up, your favourite Air Supply songs start skipping but the ones you could care less about miraculously play perfectly?!

.....

Because of the "unofficial long weekend we had in South Africa, today feels like Monday. On the bright side, two days til the weekend.

How was your Monday/ Wednesday?

P.S. Tomorrow I'm doing a cry baby linky. Get your pics ready :) I told Mandy that I always feel guilty even thinking about posting pics of the babies crying so we decided to get it all out on one day, just for fun.
PPS Now I have to chat to my hosting company to discuss the still-hacked pages on my website. Fun times!

Women's Day

Today we met a friend for a late breakfast.

We were late because Connor was sleeping and she phoned to tell us the place we'd arranged to meet at is closed.

D says it's properly closed, as in closed down, but I'm wondering now if it was just closed today.

Robynne?

Well, she very quickly suggested another place and ..... we hit the jackpot.

Egoli Cafe is a stunning, stunning place for kids. And best of all, is on my side of the world :)

Food was good (D told me earlier that he's still dreaming about that delicious breakfast tramezzini LOL), service was good (thank heavens) and there were lots of different play areas for the kids. The whole thing was very secure and I didn't worry even a little bit.

Unlike our last time at a "kiddie venue" *ahem* Jimmy Jangles/ Jungles which I thought was a complete ripoff (R50 per child per hour) considering the childminder was sitting playing with her cell phone the entire two hours we were there and didn't even bother to look up.

Anyway.

We are definitely going to do this again soon.

It was SO lovely to spend time catching up with our friend and her gorgeous redhead :)

When we got back, we fed the kids lunch outside (my new clever idea because the kitchen stays clean :)) and then they wouldn't come inside so D took a blanket outside and they had some quality time while I organised two drawers of my bathroom chest of drawer thing.

I went outside with my Kindle to try and read but it was a dismal failure in terms of reading - kids crawling on me, etc.

When they started playing with their spit (I don't know where they get this disgusting habit but I FREAK out), I came inside.

Had my cup of tea and about 5 minutes reading and then Connor came to find me to tell me "eat. hungry".

And so started the night time routine for the babies as I fed them the Most Delicious chicken and broccoli ever. EVER!

We had it for our supper last night. That's how I know.

That's the something good.

The something bad is I don't know how I made it because I don't measure and just fling in ingredients.

Good times :)

Do you have a method to remember when you do cool things in the kitchen?

And now I'm going to post on the other blog, quickly write my newsletter and then organise photos for an hour before bed.

Happy Women's Day!

A productive day plus some OCDness

I didn't get everything done that I wanted to do today but I had a lovely day nonetheless.

1. Finished a book
2. Sorted out some photos
3. Played with the kids and found out that Connor does not like this blue jersey as he freaked when I tried to put it on. The purplish-pink sweatshirt was approved though :)
   
4. Bought and posted a baby gift (and may I say, Edgars Bedfordview's service is going down in a major way - last 3 trips = dismal failure in customer service!)
5. Bought too much stationery at CNA (I'm justifying it by saying I'm giving away 37 notebooks so it's okay...)
6. Had lovely conversation with a lady at the post office - her customer service was superb! Also, last time I was there with Kendra the same lady had a conversation with my little girl which is always good. I really don't like people ignoring my kids when they say "hello lady" :)
   
7. Watched Larry Crowne (only about a 6 - wouldn't really recommend it...) - also Nu Metro Bedford, your service also sucks.
   
8. Got some "happy" envelopes ready for posting :)
9. Printed photos to do baby party scrapbook
10. I'm binder ringing everything in sight so much so that I only have two packs of binder rings left. *ahem* all donations welcome as I'm flying through these things. Why oh why do we not have them in South Africa?!
    

I sorted my files so thoroughly that I purged a 2.5 cm (1 inch) pile of one-sided printed paper for the babies to "write" on.

It feels so good.

I also caved and made a friend spreadsheet so I can see when it's getting too long between socials. Feels very OCD to me BUT as long as the end-goal is good, all is well. Right?

Have you decided what you'll do for Women's Day tomorrow?

We're going to have breakfast/ brunch with a friend and then I want to do some more photo and digital organising in the afternoon.

And once that is done, back up.

P.S. I have 3 little somethings for those of you who still read proper print books. If you want one, tell me in the comments and I'll send it to you. I post anywhere in the world so don't be shy :)

Birthdays, organising and me-time

Thanks for all the birthday wishes!

I had a lovely day - I said to Julia (yes, you're one of the 5 bloggers!) that it's certainly been my best birthday since the twins have been born. Just being honest.

The one after they were born was honestly one of the worst - D and I were fighting so much because we were both sleep deprived, I had one of the 3 - 4 crying sessions in those first few months on my birthday and it was just super-terrible.

I think the key to this year's success was that I kept my expectations really low :) and I didn't feel guilty about not answering the phone.

And, of course, the kids are just super cute so I kept staring at them in wonder, amazed that they are mine. They are real little people and I wish I could bottle up their energy and cuteness and remember every little thing.

*sigh*

****************************************

I was reorganising some stuff on my desk and in looking through some folders, I found recipe lists mixed in with my business stuff.

Which of course made me grab everything and start sorting.

I have been feeling like I need to clear out a lot of stuff - old papers, things I now see I have no intention of doing...., etc.

My self-imposed rule is if I have a piece of paper by the next "sort" (which happens about 2 - 3 times a year - Jan, around April/ May and then usually September-ish) and I haven't made any progress or had any excitement, then out it goes.

No matter how good the idea.

My desk currently has three piles - business, household and personal.

And because of the interest in yesterday's virtual craft night, I have a new Bible cover (it was the nearest convenient, suitably sized thing) stuffed full of some of my "crafting" ideas.

Yes, I've made a list as I dumped things in so that I know what's in there.

My preferred way of keeping my paper organised is

1) as little as possible
2) as simple as possible
3) regular tweaking

I'm going to use a flipfile (clear plastic sleeves bound together in a folder) for each of those three piles and make the papers fit.

How do you organise all the different categories of paper in your life?


On Tuesday we celebrate Women's Day in South Africa. Of course this means a public holiday.

I love Women's Day and I look for excuses to celebrate the whole month :)

Another of my self-imposed rules is to always take a day off next to a Tues or Thurs public holiday so I'm off work tomorrow.

I briefly entertained noble ideas of going to the gym but quickly changed my mind.

My work gave each woman not one but TWO movie tickets for Women's Day. I could NOT believe how ungrateful some people were.... "I don't go to the movies, moan moan moan......... GRRRR. Quite honestly, I don't care if you don't go. Be grateful anyway.

So I'll be going to a movie, have to run one or two quick errands (posting baby gifts and some clothes to my sister), will hopefully get my hair done and I want to spend about 3 hours on the photos.

What are you looking forward to this week?

P.S. Even if you're not in South Africa, think of something fun you can do on Tuesday for Women's Day :)

37

So today I turned 37.

Judging from today, 37 is a lot more tiring than 36 :)

This morning Kendra and I went to get her some shoes because she was saying that her toes are sore in her current takkies.

While in the store I had the opportunity to do a random act of kindness and cross one more thing off my 36 things list.

My actual entry says to buy a stranger's groceries or meal. What I intended was to pay for something unexpected.

So this (old) lady asked me to read the price of something for her on two items, laundry basins and buckets.

She muttered under her breath in another language and I asked her what the problem was.

Apparently she didn't have enough money for both.

!

I told her I'd pay for the more expensive of the two.

I could see she didn't believe me so I took the basin, added it to my stuff and told her to come with me to the front so I could pay for it.

(I didn't want to just give money - I don't do that - nor did I want to tell her I'd pay for both because then she might get greedy and go BIG just because. Hey, this is South Africa).

In the queue, I reached behind me, took her other item and paid for both.

It was worth it to see that look on her face - loved it!

I was trying to be "secretive" but she obviously said something in her language because some people in the queue made "aha" noises and there were lots of smiles from most and some confusion from others.

And that was my good deed for the day :)

So here is my current list for the next year. I had 41 but I cheated with some and combined them into others.

They are nicely categorised to make it easier for me.

My 37 things list
God/ ministry
1. Finish blogging the Crazy Love book chapters
2. Have a “retreat” all by myself, one night a month
3. Spend time on a consistent basis reading the Bible. I have slacked big-time and only just started up again. Sadly, it’s because I need to hear from Him now.
4. Continue to be faithful in my ministry at the church even when attendance is low. I am doing this unto the Lord and not unto men.

Family (D and babies)
1. Have fun summer family photoshoot – booked already – need ideas!
2. Have family holiday on KZN north coast
3. Make a decent-looking “family rules” printable
4. Get back to Cape Town – it has been too long. I think Dec 2007 was the last time, if not earlier.
5. Do a fun day for the babies’ half birthdays. It will probably involve some kind of fun tradition that I’ve yet to think up plus cake.
6. Take the kids to Gillooly’s Farm – gosh, they haven’t been since they were about 7 – 8 months old and it is unacceptable as it’s right on my doorstep.
7. Find a preschool for the kids that we’re happy with emotionally and financially, and register them for July 2012.
8. Do something different (for us) and fun as a family once a month (today counts for this month :))
9. Two dates with D a month plus movie night on the couch ;)
10. Get wedding, Australia and Singapore photos scanned and in jpg format
11. Get that darn photo wall up!
12. Have a weekend away with D. If that goes well, book overseas trip if there’s a willing family member around.
13. Take the kids to the zoo

Work
1. Have lunch/ tea at least once a week in our work coffee shop to increase my visibility.
2. Bring in between R10 and R20 mil GWP in new business for my company (this is a new position so I’m still getting a feel for what’s realistic but will still be a stretch)

Business
1. Have book published both in print and on the Kindle
2. Write second book and maybe the third one too
3. Attend She Speaks conference
4. Market myself 10 times to church groups to share my story of hope and inspiration with women. That means sending out emails or talking to leaders saying, “I speak about _____. Do you think that would fit with your group?” - just so I don’t fluff it later…

Personal
1. Have photoshoot in Newtown with cool, crazy coloured doors in the background – I can’t wait – thin or not!
2. Give away 37 notebooks as gifts
3. Work out 8 – 12 times a month, either by myself or with a personal trainer
4. Meet 5 bloggers
5. Read 60 books, one of them The Happiness Project
6. Set a deadline for all my “thin” clothes and get rid of them if goal not achieved
7. Declutter and sell bags I no longer use (there are at least 10)
8. Continue to do at least 5 random acts of kindness every month
9. Leave 4 anonymous notes/ send out cards every month with inspiring messages

Fun/ exploring my creativity
1. Do a photobook.
2. Cook 12 new “main course” recipes
3. Cook 12 new recipes in the baking category
4. Do 24 crafty/ creative projects (travel journals, mini scrapbooks, stuff for the kids, etc.), Pinterest-type stuff. Maybe organise a virtual craft night once a month?
5. Do a 2011 month in review mini book and then start 2012 with a new tradition of a mini review every month

That's it.

What do you think? Can you help with any of these? Ideas to help do them easier?

I want to read your lists too :)

Five on Friday

1. When you skip ONE day of reading blogs and your reader announces that you have 120 unread items, it's time to declutter blogs. I'm also thinking about re-categorising my blogs into those I comment on and those I don't, so that I can focus my attention if I'm pressed for time.

2. Last night I was really, really not in the mood to socialise especially after the website story (I'm sure you guys are so tired of hearing about this - imagine how I feel!) but we had our fertility babies six-weekly get together. As usual, it was lovely to get out and connect with the girls, talk nonsense, laugh at other people's parenting issues knowing you're all in the same boat and just have a good time.

3. Straight after my post, I had two coaching calls, one of them with my coach. She listened, listened and listened some more, we chatted a bit and then she prayed for me. I then sent her a section of this post and she sent me the MOST wonderfully encouraging email last night.

4. I've been on a mentoring course for the last two days and it has been fabulous. I'm not much for a lot of theory but I had tons of insights which I have noted down should I feel the need to blog these at any point :)

5. And I've got to say it's really, really nice when the thing you think you're awesome at (for me, coaching) is affirmed by total strangers. They require us to use some specific models with our mentees which I don't use in my business but despite all that, the process still felt very natural to me and the woman had to pry us out of role play (me and my partner) because we were so into it.

And for me?

Well, I have not been getting to bed quite as early as I'd like but it has been earlier than last week.

I haven't exercised this week and I won't go tomorrow morning either.

But I have been kind to myself.

I worked really hard when in the office this week (all of two days!) and even though there are things that are undone, I'm not going into my work email to work this weekend.

I cancelled a workshop that I felt was just too much to do at this point.

I have not been beating myself up about this website. I breathed and wrote to the web person and am taking it easy. Well, for me.

I asked God for clarity and the best way to fix everything and today I twigged that I could take down the hacked page while the website is being fixed. So hopefully things look alright now, otherwise tough. I am done.

What have you done for yourself this week?

You are kidding me

Poor Julia got an "earful" when she emailed me last night to ask me if everything is fine with my website.

See, I had someone mail me to tell me they couldn't access a page on my site.

An "earful" is me venting on the computer :)

I sent the person's email to the web lady who fixed it all the last time and I've just checked and she's replied.

My website's been hacked again.

I honest-to-goodness do NOT have the fortitude to deal with this ANOTHER month in a row. That was 1 July to about 14 July, and here we are again, 3 Aug (yesterday), a month later.

No way!

Why me? We fixed everything, I've been checking for updates, etc.

What am I supposed to do?

I'm so glad I'm fresh off an emotional intelligence course because I'm "pausing" now before I respond and take action.

In any event, if you care, please just pray for my mental energy and clarity of thought.

Because I am THIS close to clicking delete.


New post here

The story of the non-RSVPs

D and I had our joint "party" (D told me it was more like having a few friends over for lunch) on Saturday.

We invited a lot more people than actually accepted and came.

Granted, the 3 that didn't pitch had very good reasons - swine flu and the one friend went to Dbn for a funeral but his wife came.

But I am still amazed that some people just don't bother to RSVP.

After the children's party I learned my lessons and 1) emailed invites so responses would be quick and 2) was VERY clear in the email when to RSVP by, for catering purposes.

I had a better response but still not great.

Maybe it's me?

I read a post somewhere (I think on Facebook) where someone was talking about the same thing and someone said she thinks most people don't RSVP because they're keeping their options open for something better to come along.

I got one of those, "aaaah, yes" moments and sadly, I think that's true.

Terrible but true.

So how do you do RSVPs? Do you RSVP? What's your thought process?

Anyway, so there were 8 of us in total and it was lovely.

A nice, intimate group :)

We got some lovely gifts (I've just finished all the thank-you notes) and even some Exclusive Books vouchers (love!!!).

And here's where it's not good to have a party before the time :)

Today 3 of us got called into the boss's office and the rest of them sang Happy Birthday and gave us gifts.

I loved it.

I usually don't like being sung to when it's just me, but the group singing was fun.

Do you know that of our team of 8, 4 of us have birthdays within 1 week?

Scary.

And the boss's wife's birthday is also sometime this week!

The one lady said, "he knows how to pick his women". Hahahaha

Anyway, one person got a blingy necklace (not my style AT all), one got a voucher to a home store (yessss) and I got the best gift, a clutter-free one.

They paid for a lovely picnic lunch for my family on Saturday at Tres Jolie. The kids can run free and D and I can soak up some of the winter sun.

I love, love, LOVE it. As you know I'm into experiences :) And this actually ties in beautifully to my 37 things list which I will post on Sat morning.

I also got a lovely card with nice words about living big, and reaching goals and all the stuff I'm always rabbiting on about (do you like that word? I saw it somewhere on a blog yesterday and have been itching to use it. ha!).

What kind of birthday gifts do you like?

I also want to talk about thank-you notes but that's a topic for another day. There's a warm bed with my name on it!

My goals for August

Looking at my July goals, I got to 9 out of 12. Woohoo, considering it was such a crazy, horrible month. Esp the website business.

Moving on...

To all you helpful guys encouraging me to run.... I hate running. Hate feeling my more-than-ample bum moving, hate the itching, hate hate hate. Oh, and I have useless knees from too much aerobics in my youth :)

I'm actually really encouraged that I maintained my weight in July. Considering the month I've had where I have not cared a JOT what I ate, the stress I've been under, less than satisfactory sleep (not 8 hours a night - I know, kill me), parties, socials, etc, I'm surprised I didn't gain 2 kg!


I had to restrain myself from only starting with the goals link-up next month since it's already the 2nd :)

This is going to be good for me - to keep myself accountable.

There are no "rules" for this - just write a post saying what you want to accomplish and link up.

Remember, big or small all counts. And let's support one another.


Right, here we go. My goals for August.

1. Organising workshops Sat 17/9 & Tues 20/9 – get at least 15 people booked for each if you can help me spread the word I would LOVE that (the one on 20th is virtual so you can participate no matter where you are in the world)
2. Commission designer for book cover still getting quotes in - I've had 2, waiting for number 3. Do you know any good people? Email me
3. Get book proofread by D
4. Do church talk – work-life balance if you can make it on Mon 15th, come along
5. Work through Organise your Home system and update in time to relaunch in Sept. Get designer to do new graphics, etc.
6. Go on 2 dates with D
7. Social – Fert babies supper, lunch with R, lunch with R & kids, H&E birthday party
8. Get dresser painted turquoise
9. Hair – Brazilian treatment (no, it's not a South African thing - I saw it on another US blog too :))and one other
10. Read 5 books
11. Decide on and book Dec holiday
12. Gym 9 times/ lose 1.5 kg (basically, every Wed and Sat morning in Aug)

What are your goals for August?

P.S. There's about 5 of us in on the Happiness Project - I'm waiting for the author to send me the "book club" guide so we have some thing to work along.

A miracle has to happen tomorrow morning

I have to be up, dressed, ready and at a venue 35 - 45 mins away.

By 7:30.

And be sparkling and "on".

For the person who ambles in sometime between 9 and 9:30, this is going to be interesting.

Best I get to sleep.

********************************

Nanny V was off sick Friday and today (we got an SMS at 11:33 last night - good thing my phone was still on) so we were scrambling.

We were going to book the kids in at D's work's creche (R300 for the 2 kids for the day) but Kendra woke up at 2:30, feverish, so that was a no-no.

Funny, we'd just made the decision about the creche when I started thinking like I couldn't possibly abandon my kids at a new place for the entire day.

But what choice did we have? I have a total of 2 days in the office (now 2 0.5 days left) this week and tons of work.

I worked like crazy and left at 3 with only 1 thing left on my work to-do list (this from the 28 things I had 2 weeks ago) - I feel so victorious.

D volunteered to stay home today for the morning shift and went to rest when I got home.

Apparently they had fun but even a sick Kendra is a very bossy Kendra.

"No, Connor, no sitting on couch"

D - "there's space for BOTH of you on the couch"

K - "no, Daddy!"

Oh my word!

And also Connor said to D who pretended to take a raisin off his high chair, "No, Daddy! No eating Connor's raisins".

I still love the talking though, even the bossy talking.

I now know why there are so many 3-year age gaps between siblings. It's because they get so darn cute at two that the parents start thinking it's a good idea to have another.

I mentioned my theory to D who said to me very firmly, "I am SO done. I have absolutely no desire for another baby. None!"

LOL

Really, is there anything cuter than age 2?

*************************

PS The personal trainer and I are no more... I am exactly the same weight I was a month ago on 1 July, 60.6. On 1 June I was 61.2.

PPS I'm wondering if I should do a monthly goals link up for the month ahead. I know I like the accountability and group support. Would you participate by linking your goals and then at the end of the month how it all went? Don't get thrown by the word "goals" - let's just say, things you'd like to get done this month.

How's your Monday been? What's going on in your life?