Finally, a chance to blog from the beach

Well, we're here and tonight, finally, I'm getting a chance to blog.

But let's go back a bit.

On Sunday when I was STILL packing at 12 midnight I really questioned whether a holiday is worthwhile.

I do love everything in its place and a house in order.

As you know a holiday is exactly the opposite - half the time you forget things (yes, even with a list) and no one knows where to put things so there's a bit of mess all the time.

And then at 3:20 am (yes, I had to set my alarm very early) I definitely knew holidays were not worth missing that much sleep.

The idea was to leave at 4 (my friend Natalie scared us with stories of her kids screaming from 10 am....)

D and I got dressed, packed the car, packed a million and one last minute things and got the kids out their beds and into car seats at about 5:20.

We went to fill up with petrol and do all the car checks, and were on the road at 5:40.

And then I was knackered.


I slept for about 2 sessions of 1.5 hours each and so did the babies. K slept more than C but they both slept well.


We stopped for breakfast for a whole hour in Harrismith but that was it. No other stops. Amazing really.


We also had no crying (we did have a bit of nagging - "Daddy, wanna go to the beach!") but yes, I'm also amazed that these were our kids.


I, however, was totally out of it. I felt sleep deprived and slow in the head the entire day.


But we got here in one piece. 7 hours later (6 hours of driving).

the view from our place

The babies are too cute and excited to get on the beach.


We've been twice so far which is a miracle for us. Usually D and I make it on day 5 :)


They've also slept fine for both naps and real sleep (that could be due to the late bed-time - we just can't get it all done on time down here so tonight, 7:40! Yesterday, 8 pm. By the time we go home we should be down to 7 pm!)

And Kendra has an appetite! She keeps asking me, "Mummy, what are we going to eat?" That means, "I'm hungry. What are you going to feed me?" She's caught me out a few times already (as in, I haven't been ready). Today we had lunch at 11:50 and they usually have lunch at 1 pm!

That's the good news about the kids.

This is the good news about the scenery. SO beautiful. I have TONS of pics almost exactly the same so I need to read that manual and get practising.

I have no idea why this one's colour is weird. Maybe I was playing with the settings?

The bad news is I'm not coping with the heat. At all. And the extreme humidity! Oh Jhb dry heat, how I miss you :)


I've had heat headaches both days so am chugging down the Panado.

I even napped with the babies for an hour this afternoon. I thought I was going to vomit before that so best for me is just to sleep.

I woke when the two of them came to jump on the bed (imagine if they'd run out the apartment down to the beach!) and then we played with stacking cups and gave all their little animals juice, milk, tea and water :)


My mother arrived today and is helping out, thank goodness. She occupied them properly (no "go ask Mummy") so D and I could cook, and did the dishes tonight.


And now I need to make my holiday mini-book journal so I can write a little every day.


How are you doing?

PS 
I have 113 in my Google Reader. Yes. I'm also shocked so I'll get to your posts eventually. But is anything major happening around the blogosphere or in your life?

PPS
First trip since having kids where we don't need a trailer (okay the car was VERY full but still)

This is going to be quick!

I got home verrry late the other day (about 6:30 ish) and it still looked like this - I love summer in Jhb! That tree is in my garden, looking a little the worse for wear because it hasn't rained much at all.

Well, we actually had a lovely day today.

The children have been delightful and I found myself saying to D twice, "this (THIS!) is what I imagined with kids". Almost like that twin romance thing.

Yes, we did have some time-out situations but nothing really bad. 

Miracle!

Could it be due to the fact that I made an easy lunch and pancakes for supper? I grated cheese inside the pancakes and they LOVED it. They each had 3 (we make our pancakes like crepes and friends, I do make good pancakes - everybody loves mine!) and then asked for more. 

I wasn't prepared to share mine so that was it because I'd run out of flour. That was followed by carrots and grapes. I have to keep veggies til last otherwise that's all they'll want.

But yes, this is going to be a short post.

For once, I did the responsible thing on a Sunday night and first did some work.

Yes, I finally did the design brief (after about two months) and submitted that to the designer. 

Yay!!! 3 things done from my Jan list so far.

I better go sleep after I pack my laptop, Kindle and a few craft things - I want to make my mini book (will have to do there as I ran out of time) and journal in the correct place daily. I do this anyway on holiday but all in a normal little book. This will save time because when I'm back, I just have to paste in pics and it's done! I do love the simplicity of these mini books.

* By the way, my "customer" (friend from the blog) who bought a travel journal from me is very happy with how it turned out. Thank heavens for that. 

It's terrifying to put yourself out there creatively................... when you don't consider yourself creative!

This weekend was a success as far as goals/ create.

our first Christmas card and it's handmade - LOVE it!

I created good memories of the half-birthday kind yesterday (pics and words to follow sometime this week) which was my intentional thing of the week and today I purposefully relaxed on the bed with children all over me, reading. And then of course, pancakes for supper!

D took about 20 the other morning - this was the only one that was half decent. This boy moves fast!

How are you living out your word of the year?

PS MandyE, I only took 86 pics yesterday and I still need to delete the duds :)

sneak peek of the half birthday celebration :)

Let me tell you some more random stuff and my Jan goals link-up

Soooo it's Saturday.

I have tons to say but before I forget again, let me accept my blog awards from Heather, Lea and Blackhuff.

After I read these awards posts, I totally forget to post so I'm going to have to try something new this year.

Okay, so I'm supposed to tell you 7 things about me.

Ha! Like i don't share everything already.

1. I can't tell you how thrilled I am to see all the word of the year posts out there. I believe the phrase is tickled pink :) The only thing that thrills me more is seeing Jan goals :) I'm going to go make a thing on the sidebar with all the words of the people who follow along here so if you haven't yet linked up, do so :)
2. This afternoon for the first time I actually got excited about our holiday. Yes. I packed my (very small) bag and when I snapped the locks shut, I got that lovely little feeling of anticipation in my tummy. The children's clothes fit into one bag but they have toys and toiletries, etc in two more bags.
3. I made a list on Thursday night called "craft things to use this year" and friends, there were two full pages. I wondered if I've gone a bit overboard.At this rate, I'll have to do one a week to get through it all. Something I still need to get are chalkboard markers. I tried to order off Amazon and I kept getting an annoying message "we don't ship this product to your country". If anyone's keen to help out, let me know.
4.  I am still on my friendship kick. I finished MWF Seeking BFF on New Year's Eve and I'm still processing all I read. But I need to start writing soon so we can all get talking. I often feel like I'm the only one thinking the things I do until I read a blog or a book (like this one) and then I go "yes!!!! Exactly!!!", kind of like I did when I used to watch Seinfeld :)
5. I kind-of accidentally ordered an iPad. Normally I'd be the first one to say "oh rubbish" but it looked like a good deal and I clicked and clicked (and I expected one more screen to say "are you SURE you want to do this?" and instead it said "thank you for your order" and I was like "what?!!!!" Anyway, I decided to leave my order and so they're apparently delivering one to me next week. Should be fun.
6. I'm going to join Weigh-Less again when I'm back from holiday. I know I have to but I'm dreading eating all those vegetables again. In the same vein, I finally threw out my last 3 pairs of "thin" jeans and I don't even feel sad. I just thought, "yay - space!"
7. Half of these design trends I see on the blogs I just don't get. Like painting something and then making it look old or worn. Distressing, I think it's called. Can someone tell me why it's so cool??? If I paint something I want it to look brand spanking new :)

Okay, that's enough.

I'm not passing it on (have you seen the state of my study?) - but share something I don't know about you in the comments and let's call it a day!

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for... my January goals link-up, only a week late!

Please use this button if you link up!

January 2012

No.	What do I want to do this month?	
1	Playdate for the babies’ half birthday
2	Holiday in ballito
3	Go to gym with kids 3 times
4	Two dates with Dion
5	Join Weigh-Less
6	Work out with Kristy 4 times
7	Go see I don’t know how she does it
8	Read brian tracy’s “Goals” and 4 others
9	Make a list of craft projects to do
10	Finish up all photo stuff from 2011
11	Make two mini books for me – ballito and 2012 year in review
12	Play with landscape shots and take some cute pics of kids on beach
13	Submit design brief to designer
14	Tidy up study
15	Declutter and organise external hard drive

Closing off the year with my December goals update

 

Personal

• Exercise 8 times this month I managed 6 times
• Try and get really close to my reading goal for the year (have to read another 8 books!), failing which, read 5 books. I read 5 books, including my favourite book on friendship, MWF seeking BFF
• Get all Christmas cards done by 8th. They got done... but not by the 8th :)
• Get all my gifts done - also got done. Not exactly as I would have liked because D had to wrap MIL's gift (more on that later but it was quite the disaster!) since I was in the hospital with Kendra
• Blog twice on friendship Done here and here
• Decorate the house - done (this was only done this morning)
• Read camera manual - I read about 3 pages :)
• Figure out how to make a camera bag So I looked around, bought one very boring and ugly one, took it back two days later because I just can't carry around non-cuteness and now I have two receiving blankets protecting my camera inside my gorgeous green leather Jekyll and Hide bag. That will have to do til I can bribe someone to make me this camera bag insert. Also, I saw Kelle Hampton carries around her camera in a scarf inside her normal bag and if it's good enough for her, it's good enough for me. Tell me about your camera bag please.

• Keep praying about ministry next year  - done. I just kept feeling unease when I thought about that group so I've got myself out of it. I still want to get involved, I just don't know how.
• Go see two movies I saw one but not for lack of trying. My friend and I couldn't find anything on so we skipped movies and went to have a lovely Indian supper instead. Yum! D and I went to see New Year's Eve on New Year's Eve. It was perfect! The right amount of inspiration and dreaming for the new year.
• Do 8 random acts of kindness  Yes. Done :)
• Socials - work Christmas function, C's party, K & B for brunch, another K & B for lunch, - all done. One of those was done earlier this week because the hospital thing threw things out. I even got to make a Pinterest recipe :)
• Finish November photos
• Do year in review page for November and December and print pics so I can finish my book I've done the pages but I haven't printed again so need to finish that off sometime this month. VERY rewarding project and I'm continuing this year.
• Make at least two different types of cards - Done. Pics here
• Make travel journal for D, a friend at work, who flew to Thailand today - totally jealous!  Done and she loved it
• Two date nights with D Yes! Done.

 Gosh, I only have 1.2 things undone on that list. Yesssss!

 

Business

1. Post 12 blogs in December and write 3 newsletters - Yes!
2. Submit design brief not done
3. Review changes from copywriter not done
4. Put book in correct format and order proof copy not done
5. Send to designer to format for Kindle not done
6. Delete one domain Transferred all files to current live website and deleted yesterday
7. Send thank-you cards to all 2011 coaching clients plus gifts to the ones who stayed more than 3 months Yes! Done! Very positive feedback :)
8. Declutter and organise external hard drive not done yet. hopefully sometime this weekend... but I have sorted out all my financials which is more important, right?
9. Figure out how to keep busy just enough without working myself to the bone (that's the million dollar question, right?!) Still musing but I'm thinking I just need a system. The writing of the newsletter gives me two blog posts and I have articles and I also can post the crafty stuff if it pertains to organising and time management. So still finalising my thinking but 80% there. 
10. Have Christmas sale Yessss! Successful and made my best month of 2011
11. Set 2012 goals Still busy - I know you're getting tired. But this is the beauty of goals - you can set them anytime and you have until day 365 to accomplish them :)

Clearly I need to do the book and then I can move on, right?

How did you do on your goals (or intentions) for December? 

 

 

The non-party party

Happy 3rd birthday to A and B, Mandy's baby girls :)

Hope you continue to create fabulousness and delight your mama over the next year!

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

K smiling at D pulling a funny face

Paparazzi mummy!

eyelashes

Remember we discussed half birthdays before?

Well, I knew I loved the idea of a celebration (I use any excuse to celebrate!) - and after all, there are far too many ideas for me to ever get through them with just one party a year (have you seen my Pinterest party board?!) so I decided to have a little something.

Except it's not a party.


It's a playdate.

Just a couple of little friends, no family, very low-key.

Except I've bought printables, some Marcia-approved sweets for a little something to take home, paper plates, straws and paper cups.

By the way, Connor approved the choices - he said, "nice, Mummy!" which is high praise coming from him.

Connor, fresh from a bath

Making a funny face

Love these pics of V and Connor

Quite honestly, I think it's just the thing to completely perk me up and get me excited about life again :)

We're not getting them anything but we will sing and have half cupcakes :)

Of course I will take pics on the fastest shutter speed with so many littles running around. Hopefully there won't be too many tantrums!

What do you feed people for a 10 am snack?

Tutorial - how to quickly add photos to your blogger posts

Finally, it's here. The tutorial 3 of you have been waiting for :)

How to quickly add loads of pics into your blogger posts. This only makes time sense if you like lots of pics in your posts like I do :)

Some background and things you need to do first: 

1. Download Picasa (free google thing to sort out your pics)
2. Get an email address so you can post to your blog from email.

Here's how you do number 2 above:

1. Go to your dashboard
2. Click on settings and then on mobile and email 
3. Under the email section, choose a word to customise your blogger email address
4. Save this email address somewhere 
5. Click the little button next to Save emails as draft post
6. Click save settings

Right, you're sorted.

Moving on.


Here is the brilliant part - when you email pics from Picasa, it automatically compresses them for you. Genius!

I no longer have to use Faststone Resizer (which is also brilliant).

Right click on ANY pic you want to blog, open with, Picasa

Click on Edit in Picasa

Click Back to Library on the top left

All your pics will appear like this - I like to save things in folders...

Either control plus click to highlight all the pics (I like this) or if they're in multiple folders, click the little green pushpin on the bottom left of the screen to hold that selection and then find your other folder, highlight and click the green pushpin again

Then click File and Email

I use Microsoft Outlook so I click that button

This beautiful screen appears with all your pics neatly compressed (my originals were 4 MB each) and it conveniently tells you how many you have - genius! Put in your email address that you saved right in the beginning, I like to put a subject so I'm clear and SEND.

Then in Blogger, all you do is go to your drafts, go find this one, open and type in between the pics or whereever you feel like. You may have to rearrange the order but they're all there.

I LOVE IT!

This tip has sped up my blogging so much. As you can see, I now put many more pics in my posts because it's not such a huge schlep to upload them.

Here's to seeing lots of your pics :)

So how did I do on my first tutorial with screenshots? I feel quite accomplished :)

Are you going to use it?

Asking for help and... pan pizza

Well, I had my first day back to work today and ... it was quite fabulous.

Okay, 168 emails are not that fabulous but I got through them all - there are about 14 waiting to be actioned in my box, so not bad.

I should be able to finish my two projects plus the other stuff by Friday and even have time to tidy my desk, sort my 2012 calendars, toss junk, etc.

But here's what I actually want to write about - after work, I quickly stayed and finished writing my business newsletter to send to the VA. I had a splitting headache last night (from our unbearable heat - in the 30s) so only got half way.

Nevertheless, I was writing about doing a year-end review and in the writing, I had several aha moments.

I'll only share one with you.

It was challenging for me last year to realise that we actually don't have any support unless we flat-out and blatantly ask for it.

This might not be a problem for some of you but I hate asking for help.

I hate it.

I either do it all myself (D calls me Independent Marsh) or expect people to read my mind and just know.

Obviously that never happens so I have unmet expectations and therein lies the problem.

Like with the Christmas lunch...and I promise you now it's the last time I will mention it because I'm letting it go...

How good are you at asking for help?

Because of the great time I had journalling./ writing (is this weird?), I decided to take stock tonight after supper.

I hauled out my birthday list and updated it.

Have a look at my 37 things list - one of my sections is nearly complete and to be honest, it doesn't surprise me one bit :)

So that feels good.

Now I just have to do my December update, set goals for 2012, and choose some Jan goals.

If you set monthly goals, go sign up here and you'll get a monthly goals sheet every month for 2012.


This is one of the recipes I made in October - pan pizza. It was delicious and SO easy. I also like recipes that use up leftovers...

nice, thick crust

this is actually called a pizza pan

lots of leftover veggies - mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes...

YUM

In other news...

1. K went back to Dr S today to get more blood tests and some more x-rays. Her x-rays are perfect and he'll phone us when the blood results come back.
2. I scraped all that fudge back into the microwave bowl, added another cup of chocolate, remelted, and this time it set. Hallelujah! I felt as if I'd appeared on Oprah I was that proud :)
3. V is back!!! It was like a fantasy walking in this afternoon - kids were sitting nicely in their high chairs, actually eating real food and not just veggies. They told me they were good kids and not naughty. Well, we had a lovely couple of hours together - this is what I've been missing with them. Normal time, not frantic running around cooking and cleaning time.
4. The house is sparkling - I didn't mention but the cleaning person I got in today is a MAN. I don't know why it made me feel funny but I've met him and he is just delightful. Even the children like him. And he cleans well. So I may get him back on Saturday before we go on holiday on Monday.

And that's me.

Anyone else go back to work today? How was your first day back?

Back to work

baker's twine

a bit of washi tape at the back

I bought that alphabet set at the same time as the twine - LOVE it

this is the travel journal for D, a work friend who went to Thailand in Dec - I hope she likes it

There's so much swirling around in my head that I don't know where to start.

Some bullets perhaps?

1. I'm back to work tomorrow for a week. I've got two big projects to complete so I can't even totally slack off and relax but I am hoping to get in 3 personal training sessions.
2. I feel like I'm behind with everything - business stuff, house stuff, holiday stuff, goals stuff, reading stuff. As in, I still haven't set goals for the year!!!
3. On the bright side, I have someone coming in to clean the house tomorrow. I couldn't take it anymore and when my one friend mentioned that she'd used this person, I got the number and it's on. Can't wait for a sparkling clean house.
4. I do feel a bit better (not as frazzled) today. I think it's because last night I cooked and baked. These are the things I like to do on holiday - lots of cooking, baking and (just for you, Heather) putzing around the house.
5. It's a little bit scary though because I'm working this week, the following two weeks we're away and then I have one day to do laundry and I'm back at work proper. I really think I'm going to have to take a few days in Feb to read and do nothing. And finish that book which is hanging over me - can't stand it anymore.
6. The kids are messing with us, big time. They suddenly don't like things they liked a week ago. Thank goodness they still like peas and carrots. Tonight they had pasta with cheese, peas and grapes.
7. However their behaviour is a teensy bit better because we've gotten hardcore. There were some glorious tantrums, time-outs and smacks this morning (someone took my purple nail polish - deep in a drawer - and painted my phone and flicked the brush about so my bedside table was a mess, another someone messed with my mascara and pulled out a whole roll of dental floss and still another hit their sibling with a mallet on the head) but overall we had quite a good day (6 - it's been 3s and 4s around here).

But how has your Monday been?


And more importantly, have you decided on your word for the year?

And....my word of the year for 2012

In case you missed it, here is my year in review post

First, a quick reflection on my 2011 word of the year, courage.

That word served me very well.

I spoke up, stepped out, emailed more, made myself more vulnerable, asked for help more (although still not enough), shared more of myself and found my courage again.

It helped having little reminders like Aimee's doodle print, my courage necklace and a card Roz bought me that lived on my little table next to my desk for much of this year til the children started grabbing at it too much.

Before I go into this year's word, let me share briefly why I think everyone should at least have one word for the year:

1. Even if you don't "do goals", your word will guide you in your decisions and actions
2. It's easier than a laundry list of to dos
3. It creates intention for your year.

• E.g. when I was tempted to be quiet in meetings (I am not one who talks just for the sake of talking), if I had an idea, I thought of my word and forced myself to act with courage and speak out
• I've spoken a lot more personally on my business blog - vulnerability = courage for me
• If I was dilly-dallying, I'd say, "what would a person of courage do?" and write the email or go speak to someone or deal with the confrontation. It wasn't always easy but it was always satisfying afterwards.

I make my clients go through this process too. It helps them as I can look objectively at their situations and ask them, "is this going to achieve _____ in your life?" :)

I find that some people know immediately what their word will be and others need to let it sit for awhile.

Don't rush the process - take your time.

So.... my word is create.

Yes, to Create things with my hands - pretty things that let me have a creative outlet but also

1. Create a legacy for my kids, create fun times for us together
2. Create an awesome marriage (again)
3. Create a fun and productive work environment
4. Create moments of happiness and smiles for friends and people I bump into
5. create meaningful relationships with friends
6. create a book... or two
7. create products in my business again

Basically, I want to go about my days thinking, what will I create today? and what am I creating in this moment?

It's about being purposeful and intentional in every area of my life. 

What about you? What is your one word for 2012? Link up!
PS don't worry - I'll go back to the normal font tomorrow - I just felt like using something fun!