For "Who Me"- finding yourself.

Isn't 40 an amazing time for finding yourself :)
I think long term relationships are very interesting, I would agree with S* that we don't have a soulmate. Do we find Mr/Mrs right or do we just find a Mr/Mrs and make them right? I think its the latter. And don't get me wrong, I don't mean to change them but rather to go through a process of melding/blending/compromising together until your relationship becomes right.
I do believe that Mr S was part of Gods plan for my life and living our life together is beautiful most of the time. I think we have still gone through all the agonies of trying to find ourselves as individuals, and that is partly what makes our relationship work better now than 10 years ago. There is something very attractive about a person who knows and loves themself.
There is also a bond that occurs as the children start to grow older and seperate from you, and because of the time youve spent together forging trust there is a great sense of peace and security.
You do tend to rely on each others strengths and I guess that it would be very hard to adjust to ones partner of many years leaving or dying. I would like to think that I would be ok if that happened to me, that although my relationship brings me joy, peace and security, it is not the main source of those things. They come from my relationship with God.

Mr S is 40

Its been a hectic week. Mr S turned 40 and we're celebrating tomorrow morning with a brunch for a few close friends. So today I have cooked banana, blueberry and cinnamon/apple muffins, also a flourless orange cake. None of which I can eat due to my determination to stick to the damn diet. We will also serve individually baked bacon and egg tarts, being the fly by the seat person I am none of these recipes (except the muffins) have been tried before so we'll see what happens.
Have purchased a new outdoor setting for the occasion, we love sitting outside but haven't had much to sit on till now so I'm enjoying it immensely.
Hope you all enjoy your weekend.

For S*

Just a play on words, inspired by my friend "who me" in her post Keeping up with the Joneses.




Can't seem to get links working but these pics are from www.budgysmugglers.com.au

Happy Shopping Ladies!

A store that sells new husbands has just opened in New York City,
where a woman may go to choose a husband.
Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates.

You may visit the store ONLY ONCE!

There are six floors and the attributes of the men increase as the shopper ascends the flights.

There is, however, a catch: you may choose any man from a particular floor,

or you may choose to go up a floor, but you cannot go back down

except to exit the building!


So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband.
On the first floor the sign on the door reads:
Floor 1 - These men have jobs.

The second floor sign reads:
Floor 2 - These men have jobs and love kids.

The third floor sign reads:
Floor 3 - These men have jobs, love kids, and are extremely good looking.

"Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going.

She goes to the fourth floor and sign reads:
Floor 4 - These men have jobs, love kids, are drop-dead gorgeous and
help with the housework.

"Oh, mercy me!" she exclaims, "I can hardly stand it"

Still, she goes to the fifth floor and sign reads:
Floor 5 - These men have jobs, love kids, are drop-dead gorgeous, help
with the housework, and have a strong romantic streak.

She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the sign reads:
Floor 6 - You are visitor 31,456,012 to this floor.
There are no men on this floor.

This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please.

Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store.

Not good at Math

I have lost a whopping 48 of these, not 12!

12.8kg and a promise

I weighed in today and the new WL total is 12.8kg... Big smile.
The promise is to post some before and after photos when I get to the end. I'm not going to tell you how far away the end is, its a surprise!
I'm enjoying the journey, setting small goals and getting enormous pleasure as I achieve them. I was thinking the other day that 1 kilo seems like such a small amount to lose, and then I realised it was 4 slabs of butter. So far I have lost over 12 of these!

Are You For Real?

This was fun, I was brutally honest and checked what was rather than what I would like to think was, two very different things! I am reminded of my failings and human frailty, but I think thats a good thing. Otherwise I might be inclined to become a legend in my own mind :) I'm far from perfect but always striving to be better.

You Are 78% Real

You know who you are, and you're pretty darn comfortable with yourself. Like everyone, you struggle with the parts of yourself that aren't so great... But you're good at accepting who you are and not dwelling on your faults. As a result, you're confident, optimistic, and very real.

How Real Are You?

What Is Love?

A friend emailed this to me recently. I hope you get a chuckle from it, I sure did.

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her
toenails anymore.
So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got
arthritis too. That's love." Rebecca- age 8
_____

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different.
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth." Billy - age 4
_____

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and
they go out and smell each other." Karl - age 5
_____

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries
without making them give you any of theirs." Chrissy - age 6
_____

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." Terri - age 4
_____

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before
giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK." Danny - age 7
_____

"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing,
you still want to be together and you talk more.
My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss"
Emily - age 8
_____

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening
presents and listen." Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)
_____

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who
you hate," Nikka - age 6
_____

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it
everyday." Noelle - age 7
_____

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends
even after they know each other so well." Tommy - age 6
_____

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at
all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling.
He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore." Cindy - age 8
_____

"My mommy loves me more than anybody.
You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night." Clare - age 6
_____

"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken." Elaine-age 5
_____

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is
handsomer than Brad Pitt." Chris - age 7
_____

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all
day." Mary Ann - age 4
_____

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes
and has to go out and buy new ones." Lauren - age 4
_____
"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars
come out of you." Karen - age 7
_____

"You really shouldn't say ‘I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean
it, you should say it a lot. People forget." Jessica - age 8
_____

And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a
contest he was asked to judge.

The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child.

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbour was an
elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.

Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard,
climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.

When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbour, the little boy
said,

"Nothing, I just helped him cry"

I wish I could Show You Pictures

I went for a wonderful walk on the beach today, it was so beautiful and I wish I could have taken a photo to show you. The weather has been pretty lousy but it kind of cleared for a few hours today, enough for the sun to peak through but with incredible clouds flanking it. The sun was shining on ocean mist that was hugging the headland we were walking toward, it was so beautiful. Sigh, I love the coast. And then when we got home as I was looking out on the garden, there was a sun shower. I really do love sunshine on rainy days!
Perhaps I need to visit the family more often :)
We do have relatives in both the north and southern coastal areas of NSW so we're very fortunate I guess.

Hi

Hi guys, just a very quick pop in. Life has been a bit hectic and I've hardly had time to check my emails. I'm still trying not to get angry, I think I'm improving and its fun trying.... especially in traffic! I feel your pain Littlewing :)
Visiting the in laws again so can't linger on the computer :(
I have just crossed the 10 kilo mark and feeling pretty good about that, but plenty more to go!
I love my hubby right now ... in between bouts of annoyance of course, and my kids are all travelling along ok so my world is happy. I'm a simple person.
I hope you're all well, thinking of you guys and dying to visit your blogs soon!