It rained again last night and we were totally washed out at Sarah's presentation night. We were all trapped under cover of the Chapel while a huge storm hit. It past in just 20 mins but by then the grounds, chairs, stage and entire place was awash with water. Also another front was moving in, so despite all the preparations and efforts of the staff the evening was cancelled.
They did manage the firework show, before we all dashed for the cars and hurried home.
So today I am attending the 2008 - Year 9 Farewell Service at St Pauls Anglican Church. Matthew and Madeline will be giving a farewell speech and then I am heading back to school for Sarah's presentation morning and party. A day at school. Then it is farewell to friends and teachers and the end of a great year.
Sarah will move into Grade Six, a senior in the Junior School and Matthew into Grade Nine, a senior in the Middle school next year. We are looking forward to a busy and successful year for them both.
Look out for some photos in the next Blog post.
Beverly
My personal thoughts & dreams to inspire family & friends
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving Turkey! This year we have followed some of the wonderful traditions that we learnt while living in the USA. First of all we had Halloween and this weekend we celebrated Thanksgiving. It was really just an excuse to have a Turkey with Stuffing and remember all the things we are thankful for.
Firstly I am thankful for the wonderful man in the photos above. His love and his care of me and his family is something for which I am grateful everyday. For nearly 20 years he has loved and cared for me and I am most 'thankful' for Ivan.
We spent most of the day decorating our tree and the house and now it is 'beginning to look a lot like Christmas!'. This is my 'most favourite' time of the year and for this I am truly thankful. I love the spirit of Christmas. The times we lie in the dark looking at the tree, listening to Christmas music and sharing time together as a family. Of course Christmas day is my 'bestest, most favourite' day of the whole year.The next thing that I am truly 'thankful for' is that my Dad (who went into hospital yesterday with severe chest pains) appears to be doing okay. I am thankful for the nurses, doctors and all the staff who have looked after him so well. Hopefully they will now do some tests and find out what is causing the problems.
Although I am thankful for many things this year, the most important things are my wonderful family (especially my beautiful children); my special friends and for all the peace and joy that I have in my life.
Take some time today to find some of the things you are thankful for, it is amazing when you take the time to just acknowledge them out loud, how many you can find.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Finally finished!
10 Secrets for Success and inner peace!
When I first started my blog I talked a lot about this wonderful book by Dr Wayne Dyer. I tried to take each secret and break it down to share what I had got out of it. Time and daily life seemed to get in the way and I lost the momentum, to finish reading it and also to blog about it.
A couple of days ago I found the time to finish and I want to share with you a little more.
To recap:
Secret one: "Have a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing."
Secret two: "Don't die with your music still in you."
Secret three: "You can't give away what you don't have."
Secret four: "Embrace Silence"
Secret five: "Give up your personal history."
Secret six: "You can't solve a problem with the same mind that created it."
Secret seven: "There are no justified resentments."
Secret eight: "Treat yourself as if you already are what you'd like to be"
Secret nine: "Treasure your divinity."
Secret ten: "Wisdom is avoiding all thoughts that weaken you."
Each of these very simple and yet profound philosophies has given me something. They are easy to read and understand and yet not so easy to live. The days that I have successfully lived one or more of them have been wonderful days.
I have realised that I can choose how I live each and every day and in fact each and every minute. I can wake up each morning and say:
"Good morning God!" or I can wake up and say "Good God - morning!" I know which one will give me the better day.
The best is treating myself as though I have already achieved that which I wish to achieve! I wanted to lose some weight about 6 months ago. So I put in place all the things that I needed to do this. I believed that I would weigh 5 kilos less by Christmas. I still had to do all the hard stuff, like not eat so much, exercise etc. But now just a few weeks out from Christmas I am down over 4 kilos. I believed and it happened. We can achieve anything that we truly want and believe, if it is the only thoughts that we think. We can put in the work required with joy and inspiration and it will happen.
And finally, avoid thoughts that weaken you. Forgive yourself, release any guilt from your life. You cannot change the past, you can learn from it and move forward with positive uplifting thoughts that will empower you to success. Don't be apathetic about life and things, these thoughts lead to despair. Be positive, live your life, you only get one chance at it - and it truly is beautiful.
When I first started my blog I talked a lot about this wonderful book by Dr Wayne Dyer. I tried to take each secret and break it down to share what I had got out of it. Time and daily life seemed to get in the way and I lost the momentum, to finish reading it and also to blog about it.
A couple of days ago I found the time to finish and I want to share with you a little more.
To recap:
Secret one: "Have a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing."
Secret two: "Don't die with your music still in you."
Secret three: "You can't give away what you don't have."
Secret four: "Embrace Silence"
Secret five: "Give up your personal history."
Secret six: "You can't solve a problem with the same mind that created it."
Secret seven: "There are no justified resentments."
Secret eight: "Treat yourself as if you already are what you'd like to be"
Secret nine: "Treasure your divinity."
Secret ten: "Wisdom is avoiding all thoughts that weaken you."
Each of these very simple and yet profound philosophies has given me something. They are easy to read and understand and yet not so easy to live. The days that I have successfully lived one or more of them have been wonderful days.
I have realised that I can choose how I live each and every day and in fact each and every minute. I can wake up each morning and say:
"Good morning God!" or I can wake up and say "Good God - morning!" I know which one will give me the better day.
The best is treating myself as though I have already achieved that which I wish to achieve! I wanted to lose some weight about 6 months ago. So I put in place all the things that I needed to do this. I believed that I would weigh 5 kilos less by Christmas. I still had to do all the hard stuff, like not eat so much, exercise etc. But now just a few weeks out from Christmas I am down over 4 kilos. I believed and it happened. We can achieve anything that we truly want and believe, if it is the only thoughts that we think. We can put in the work required with joy and inspiration and it will happen.
And finally, avoid thoughts that weaken you. Forgive yourself, release any guilt from your life. You cannot change the past, you can learn from it and move forward with positive uplifting thoughts that will empower you to success. Don't be apathetic about life and things, these thoughts lead to despair. Be positive, live your life, you only get one chance at it - and it truly is beautiful.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Middle School Captain
Middle School Co-Captain for 2009.
Mr Switzer principal of WMAC congratulates Matthew on his appointment as Middle School co-captain for 2009.
Matthew and Madeline Middle school captains for 2009. Matthew is thrilled to have Maddy as his partner. They have been friends since Grade 5, when Matthew arrived at the school.
The school and chapel captains for next year. The blessing for Matthew is that he is also very good friends with Kristy-Anna and Kurtis, so between these 4 young people, they will lead the middle school next year.
Mr Switzer principal of WMAC congratulates Matthew on his appointment as Middle School co-captain for 2009.
Matthew and Madeline Middle school captains for 2009. Matthew is thrilled to have Maddy as his partner. They have been friends since Grade 5, when Matthew arrived at the school.
The school and chapel captains for next year. The blessing for Matthew is that he is also very good friends with Kristy-Anna and Kurtis, so between these 4 young people, they will lead the middle school next year. Today I had the very proud moment of seeing my beautiful son Matthew given the leadership position of middle school captain. He had given an amazing speech at the end of term three and had been waiting anxiously for the announcement. This should have occurred last week, but the storms washed out the event, so it was with baited breath that we waited for the announcement today.
Our family had wonderful front row seats and when Matthew's name was announced, I punched the air with excitement. I guess, some people would think that I should have been more restrained, but I am thrilled and proud of our wonderful son. Congratulations Matthew, good luck and may you have an amazing experience next year.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Time to think
Today after school drop-off, I will be coming home to an empty house. I don't have to go anywhere, I can just come home. I have lots of chores to achieve, like a whole basket of ironing, 2 baskets of washing and of course tidying up. But, I am not going to be rushing anywhere. For the first time in about a week, I will be coming home to silence and some time to think!
I realise that at this time of the year, I rush around a lot, trying to get everything organised for Christmas. I always have my carpets cleaned, house sprayed for pests and of course achieve the impossible, by attending every school activity with the children while doing Christmas shopping.
I seldom have a day of quiet, a day to meditate or just a few hours of total silence to find some peace and refresh my energy levels. So today I am dedicating to quiet, maybe some soft inspirational music, maybe just silence!
Then I am going to stay quiet and think about my wonderful life.
Christmas is now less than a month away. We are putting up our tree this weekend, I am almost finished doing the Christmas shopping and next week the children go on holiday. Madness I am sure will rush in again soon enough, but as I sit quietly now at the keyboard, only the sound of the birds and my fingers tapping on the keys, I relish the sound of silence.
I realise that at this time of the year, I rush around a lot, trying to get everything organised for Christmas. I always have my carpets cleaned, house sprayed for pests and of course achieve the impossible, by attending every school activity with the children while doing Christmas shopping.
I seldom have a day of quiet, a day to meditate or just a few hours of total silence to find some peace and refresh my energy levels. So today I am dedicating to quiet, maybe some soft inspirational music, maybe just silence!
Then I am going to stay quiet and think about my wonderful life.
Christmas is now less than a month away. We are putting up our tree this weekend, I am almost finished doing the Christmas shopping and next week the children go on holiday. Madness I am sure will rush in again soon enough, but as I sit quietly now at the keyboard, only the sound of the birds and my fingers tapping on the keys, I relish the sound of silence.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Every mouth has a silver lining!
Ever since Matthew was very small, we have had to spend a great deal of time at the dentist/orthodontist. It has been really hard on him, having so many surgeries and subsequent braces, expanders, more braces etc, etc. His pain tolerance level is so high that it is almost dangerous! He is stoic and brave and I am immensely proud of him.
Today was another visit into the Royal Children's Hospital in the city for new braces. We had a 90 minute drive in the traffic and then almost 2 hours in the dental chair. His expander had to be removed and the new braces fitted. By the end his mouth was very, very sore.
The 'silver lining' to all of this of course is that we get to have some very special Mom/Matthew time together. Over the years, I have got to know my son, we have shared hours of chatting in the car, always have a treat lunch together when his appointment is over and just share some laughs and fun together.
Today we did some Christmas shopping, how cool to have a whole morning with my teenage son and us both enjoy and love the time together. I am so proud of him, grateful to the amazing medical staff who have worked miracles and to the Universe for the silver lining of his inner and outer beauty.
Today was another visit into the Royal Children's Hospital in the city for new braces. We had a 90 minute drive in the traffic and then almost 2 hours in the dental chair. His expander had to be removed and the new braces fitted. By the end his mouth was very, very sore.
The 'silver lining' to all of this of course is that we get to have some very special Mom/Matthew time together. Over the years, I have got to know my son, we have shared hours of chatting in the car, always have a treat lunch together when his appointment is over and just share some laughs and fun together.
Today we did some Christmas shopping, how cool to have a whole morning with my teenage son and us both enjoy and love the time together. I am so proud of him, grateful to the amazing medical staff who have worked miracles and to the Universe for the silver lining of his inner and outer beauty.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
An Affair of the Heart
During the last few months I have experienced a huge awakening of consciousness, I have realised that I have only one life to live and I am the person that has to live it. Along with this 'rather serious' awakening, I have come to realise that I do not often express the needs and desires that I have, as then I may be disappointed. Now that was a really sad realisation!
I have a wonderful life, I have an amazing husband who I have loved for over 20 years, 3 beautiful, loving and talented children. I live in our gorgeous home in Australia - a pretty good place on Earth to live and I have my health, more than sufficient wealth (of course I would love to win the lottery - who wouldn't?) and family that I love and who love me.
One of the things that I have realised is that life had become a chore! I had to get up clean house, iron, take care of children, manage finances, etc. etc..... I had lost the fun of living. So I decided to change.
My brother sent me a wonderful email a few months back about achieving 'your desires', it was inspirational, but of course the secret what "What did you want to achieve?" I did not know. I suddenly saw myself as a 'nearly 45 year old' and dreaded the thought of the next 20 years of doing exactly what I was doing every single day.
So I decided to change! I decided first of all, again following an email, this time from my friend Michelle, that I was going to set a goal of 101 things to do before I die! I must admit I am only up to around 11 items at the moment, but this is sort of the exciting thing, as I can keep adding to my list. The first and most important item I decided was that I am going to live until 101 at least. Just giving myself permission to live that long was exciting! Now I have almost 2 lifetimes ahead of me and I had no idea what I was going to do!
As you all know by now, I registered to attend University next year. I began really working on my poetry, I am writing, scrapbooking, creating cards, spreading the joy of life through 'Simply Angels - Pay it forward' and really feeding my creative side. I am living.
Now for the focus of this blog: I decided that I needed to have "An Affair!" I remember so clearly the wonderful, amazing feeling of being in that first flush of love with my husband and I miss that. Yes, I still love him with all my heart and even on a far deeper level than before, but we have lost the "Affair" part of being in love. So I told him that I was going to go out and have an affair to capture that magic again. The best part was that I had found someone to have the affair with - yes of course silly people - it is him!
I decided that we need to date, we need to see each other as strangers who we need to pay attention to and to get to know. Just by having an affair of the heart, we can recapture the magic and special attention that 20 years of marriage can dull. I looked at my wonderful man and saw the person I fell in love with and realised that it was worth just that extra special attention.
So I am going to wear make-up, dress up pretty, go out to lunch, catch a movie. Have a special picnic and find all the time in the world for my new 'love affair'. I managed to do it 20 years ago and now I have all this life experience to give, I think I can do it again.
Can you?
I have a wonderful life, I have an amazing husband who I have loved for over 20 years, 3 beautiful, loving and talented children. I live in our gorgeous home in Australia - a pretty good place on Earth to live and I have my health, more than sufficient wealth (of course I would love to win the lottery - who wouldn't?) and family that I love and who love me.
One of the things that I have realised is that life had become a chore! I had to get up clean house, iron, take care of children, manage finances, etc. etc..... I had lost the fun of living. So I decided to change.
My brother sent me a wonderful email a few months back about achieving 'your desires', it was inspirational, but of course the secret what "What did you want to achieve?" I did not know. I suddenly saw myself as a 'nearly 45 year old' and dreaded the thought of the next 20 years of doing exactly what I was doing every single day.
So I decided to change! I decided first of all, again following an email, this time from my friend Michelle, that I was going to set a goal of 101 things to do before I die! I must admit I am only up to around 11 items at the moment, but this is sort of the exciting thing, as I can keep adding to my list. The first and most important item I decided was that I am going to live until 101 at least. Just giving myself permission to live that long was exciting! Now I have almost 2 lifetimes ahead of me and I had no idea what I was going to do!
As you all know by now, I registered to attend University next year. I began really working on my poetry, I am writing, scrapbooking, creating cards, spreading the joy of life through 'Simply Angels - Pay it forward' and really feeding my creative side. I am living.
Now for the focus of this blog: I decided that I needed to have "An Affair!" I remember so clearly the wonderful, amazing feeling of being in that first flush of love with my husband and I miss that. Yes, I still love him with all my heart and even on a far deeper level than before, but we have lost the "Affair" part of being in love. So I told him that I was going to go out and have an affair to capture that magic again. The best part was that I had found someone to have the affair with - yes of course silly people - it is him!
I decided that we need to date, we need to see each other as strangers who we need to pay attention to and to get to know. Just by having an affair of the heart, we can recapture the magic and special attention that 20 years of marriage can dull. I looked at my wonderful man and saw the person I fell in love with and realised that it was worth just that extra special attention.
So I am going to wear make-up, dress up pretty, go out to lunch, catch a movie. Have a special picnic and find all the time in the world for my new 'love affair'. I managed to do it 20 years ago and now I have all this life experience to give, I think I can do it again.
Can you?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)