Friday, February 05, 2016

photos...

I will aim to post more photos this year!

Here are a few pics from December 2015...


Sami's 18th birthday dinner...



She likes to muck around by posing with my reading glasses!



Another beautiful sunrise...



Playing in our front yard...



Christmas morning walk along the beach...



Seagulls on our lake...



The boys having fun...



AJ being serious...



We don't have a bath in our house, but found two of these long planter pots for free on the side of the road.  Not a bad size for an outdoor bath...



Pelican on our lake...



Sami with Samson...a soft black cat that lives up the road, well, he is supposed to.  He spends a lot of time with us though and is obviously very comfortable here!



Wednesday, February 03, 2016

Learning to Relax...

Hello again!

Things that I've been doing....

Cary has been using the computer a lot in the past few months, so I stopped doing youtube videos, to free up the computer for him.  I had enjoyed doing those, but they did take up some time.

After returning home from the family reunion, I focused on upcoming events...Thanksgiving, Cary's birthday, Sami's 18th birthday (!!), family visiting, Christmas, New Years.  It was the least stressed I've been at that time of the year, for a long time.  I just wanted to enjoy each part of the process.  So I did!

Sami turning 18 was a big event!  We didn't have a big party, but some family came to visit.  It was more that fact that she was no longer a child.  Legally, she is an adult!  I wondered...have I done enough to prepare her for that step?  What could I have done differently?  I'm so excited for her and we had a lovely celebration.  She is not in any hurry to leave home and life is pretty much the same here.



Since the beginning of the year, I've been hibernating a bit.  Swimming, watching movies, playing games, reading, along with the usual housework and cooking.  It's been really nice!  I realised that I had been keeping myself so busy, and distracted.  As soon as I'd get up in the morning, I'd get dressed and go for a big walk or jump on the rebounder.  The day was busy, busy after that.  After Christmas, an annoying skin condition I've had, came back in full force.  It's mostly on my scalp and, after trying many different treatments, both internally and externally,  I'm at the point where I am seriously considering shaving my hair off as every single shampoo bothers me.  I've even tried baking soda, apple cider vinegar, salt, and not washing it at all.   Nothing seemed to have helped!  I've already chopped at least 5" off my hair, and before I shave it all off, I thought I'd try something else.   I started thinking that this condition may be caused partly by stress, even though I didn't feel "stressed" as much as I have in the past.  Just as an experiment,  I started doing less.  I started sleeping in, I stopped pushing myself to exercise though I still swim and walk and bounce and do yoga...it's just more gentle.  And only if I feel like it.  The condition seems to be calming down a little as I allow my body, mind and spirit to release hidden tension and become more peaceful.  I also say "no" much more often and I don't feel as though I 'have to' accept every invitation or request.

Another thing that I've done is to rethink social media and its role in my life.  The thing that I have found in myself, regarding social media, is how I lose myself in amongst it.  I start to judge myself, feel less than others, feel as though I'm not enough...not good enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough, not funny enough.  I get scrolling and I see how interesting other people's lives are.  I know that I have a great life and I am very blessed.   But too much time on social media has me doubting that and just spending way too much time living in a fantasy land.  So I took all social media distractions off of my phone, with the exception of Facebook messenger.  I only check Facebook every couple of days or so when I get on the main computer, and then it's just a quick scroll through.  I removed myself from most groups that I had been on, turned off notifications, and stopped following people and pages that just didn't inspire me in some way.  My newsfeed now is filled with posts from family and dear friends, inspiring meme's and some local homeschool information.  It feels more 'real' to me now.

With the easy availability of checking social media apps and playing games on my phone, (I justified the games in that they were "educational" because they were all about words or numbers or logic), I realised that I was just distracting myself.  Yeah, a little play time is good for everyone, but it I wasn't living as deeply as I wanted to.  I was losing connection with myself.  Removing those apps has been such a good thing!

Sometimes I sit and I reach for my phone to play on.  What a habit that had become!  There is a slight uncomfortable feeling as I figure out what else to do with myself.  Hmm, what did I used to do before phone play?  It wasn't that long ago.  This probably sounds like I had an addiction.  What I mean though, is that, in the little bits of free time that I was getting, the phone was usually my first option.

It's interesting that, by removing that option, I am feeling more productive, and like I have lots more free time!

As I was reading and searching, and trying to figure out my restlessness...that niggly feeling like I'm supposed to be doing something else...more...different.  I was getting a little frustrated that I couldn't quite "get it"....whatever "it" was / is.  Then I saw this...and it spoke to me:




So that's what I'm doing now... relaxing.  Being Patient.  Trusting that this is all unfolding as it should.  I feel the voice encouraging me to go deeper.  I'm listening..

Finding me...

I just found this post that I wrote three months ago, in my drafts...time to post it...

I've been a mama for almost 18 years.  I remember being a little girl, hugging my dolly and longing for the day that I would be a mother.  I didn't want to rush it though... I felt a bit restless as a teen and thought that I needed to experience more of life in order to find myself.  I was insecure, immature, and I didn't always like myself very much...so how could I every really like / love others?  I made mistakes.  So I moved around, kept busy, explored, but I kept going...if I was too still or quiet, then the real me would start to remind me of the things that I had done that I didn't like, that I couldn't change, so I just kept going and filling in the time.  Who I was at any moment, and my short-term plans were about as far as my thoughts would go.  Looking back was often just too sad, looking too deep within was tempting, but a little confronting.

I love being a parent...it's the absolute best, and the hardest thing I've ever done.  I adore my kids and have tried to provide a healthy balance of life for them.  It's also been a wonderful way to stay mostly in the moment, or considering our short-term plans.  I didn't have to think too much about who I really was.  I was a mama, and I was living my life around my kids, and that was my joy and my choice.

I went away a few days ago...by myself!  I left early on Sunday morning and I came back on Monday evening.  I flew to Sydney to go to a family reunion and I am so very glad that I did!  But I had thought about not going.  The thought of being by myself, with no extra people to be responsible for, was a little out of my comfort zone.  Or maybe more that it was out of my familiar zone.  I was nervous about going.  My extended family already knows that I'm a bit alternative, but would I feel like I belonged there?  Would extended family that I haven't seen for a while, accept me, and would I still feel like I was a valid part of the family?  I aim to not judge others for the way that they live their lives, and I hope that I attract the same energy.

Before the trip, I had worked myself into a little tizz...trying to get my family here organised, trying to get myself organised, concerned about how Nicholas, my little anxiety-prone son, would cope without me.  As it turned out, it wasn't easy for him, but he did manage.

In reconnecting with my family and friends, I felt my heart crack open.  Parts of the past that I had hidden, or judged, or tried to ignore.  Parts of me that want to be acknowledged and integrated into who I am now came to light.  I need to take some time to really find me again.  To find out how to feel whole with who I was and who I am and what I really, really want to give and receive from life and love.   Do I need to find Peace in what was, forgive myself, and surrender into what is now?

I feel that it's time I gave me some more time... there are parts of me that I need to look at.  I need to go deeper into certain feelings and explore who I really am.  Midlife crisis?  Hormonal changes?  Or just overdue?