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I should write a deep and meaningful post, from which you’ll learn how to instantly make mess vanish, nasty people disappear, and stop children leaving empty food packets in the pantry.
But instead of that I decided it’s time we had something to giggle at, so here you are.
Dare you to leave a comment telling me your result, lol!
Rising petrol prices …
the opportunity to stay home, to enjoy what we have instead of going out looking for more. The chance to really think about what we are doing, is it really necessary to go out yet again, could we have planned more efficiently? the chance to save time (as well as petrol) by doing everything in one outing, instead of going out multiple times in one day. Also (and this is a big one for a lot of people) do you *really* need a second car? we sold one of our cars years ago, and it was one of the best things we ever did. One set of tyres, one warrant, one registration. One petrol tank to fill 
All it takes is organisation. Our city has great buses, the supermarket and Westfield are not far away, we have biked there. We were born with legs, all you need is a backpack and some comfortable shoes and you’re set. Besides, we like to go places together. It would be just weird to be in separate cars now. We use the intercity buses weekly too for the times when one of us has to be out of town, or when the kids need to visit their dad. Look carefully at your situation if you have two cars … it’s very often a complete luxury and not a necessity at all.
Rising grocery prices …
the chance to really look closely at what we eat. How much of it comes out of a packet, how much of it is NOT healthy? how much of it is convenience – we’re tired, we work, we get home with aching feet and bleary eyes, all we want to do is eat as quickly as possible and fall into a chair. Is the freezer being used properly? do the kids like to cook? how can we simplify what we eat – not so much cooking, eating what’s in season? do the kids really need those expensive things to stock up their lunchboxes? do they need to drink juice instead of water (my experience is that kids will drink litres of water if it has ice-cubes … I have no idea why!) what do we really know about nutrition and its effects on our bodies? Cooking doesn’t need to be a horrible drama. Take turns to cook, keep a list of easy recipes. A pot of porridge is easily cooked in the morning and is way better than a bowl of CocoaPops. Do you have a breadmaker? (be careful, you might make a rod for your own back. The kids here don’t like bought bread of any kind now!) but the bread keeps them going for longer, it is more satisfying, and I have to confess I get a sneaky kind of smugness that I *make the bread*! Do you have a yoghurt maker? these are good too. Healthy *and* yummy, and way cheaper than buying the pottles. All you need are the little containers with red lids for lunches, and you’re set. Add fruit to the yoghurt, or even a little sprinkling of bulk bin dried fruit. Speaking of which, check out the bulk bins, they are great.
the economy is going from bad to worse …
an opportunity to look at mortgages and hire purchase agreements/bills, and see if they are being dealt with efficently. Paying a mortage fortnightly instead of monthly makes a huge difference. Is it an idea to talk to the bank, perhaps they will consolidate your loans or waive bank fees. Is money being wasted? what is a need as opposed to a want? Try using cash instead of EFTPOS, cut back on the cafe-lattes, don’t do takeaways any more. Read online or join the library instead of buying books and magazines. I know you always do a cold wash time peoples showers (we have a shower-hog in our house and we have to keep a close eye on them or else there would NEVER be hot water!) Plant some veges. Sell clothes you don’t need on TradeMe. Clean out your kitchen cupboards and sell things you don’t use or need. Give your kids a set amount of pocket money and don’t cave in when they want more. Handing out money indiscriminately is bad for your kids as well as for your wallet.
The news is so depressing …
turn off that tv and sit down to dinner at the table.
Don’t have music playing, just talk. Really talk.
Listening to the answers is not optional!
A couple of weeks ago I had a whole series of blood tests taken. 11 vials of blood! I can’t look while the needle goes in, but I can look after that when the vials are filling. Fascinating stuff. But those 11 vials did look like an awful lot of blood …. so now I know everything is working properly. I have to confess I’m usually an ‘ostrich’ about things like that. If I don’t know about it, it isn’t happening, which is kind of silly really. So these blood tests were a bit out of character for me!
I decided I was being pathetic when I am usually always about education and learning. Why do lots of work on myself and ignore the physical?
A lot of people I know are the exact opposite. They are really good at monitoring their health and fitness, but they ignore the other sides of themselves. A holistic view of health includes all of you, not just your resting heart rate or how much you can bench press. So I am feeling quite smug that I have an overall view of what’s going on
On a wider note, the weather is changing here. There have been some very cold mornings, and some bright sunny autumn days. The leaves are falling quickly now. I’ve decided I need a client who likes to walk – I think it’d be a great idea to do the session while walking down along the river. We have a really nice river running through the middle of Hamilton, and it’s very picturesque. There has been a lot of time and effort spent on the riverside walks. I might take some photos for you, seeing as how I haven’t put any up for a while. So if you want to get some exercise and do something great for yourself and your life, drop me a line! (I don’t know where I get these ideas, but maybe the thought of a coffee at one of the cafes in town at the end of the walk attracted my attention! )
As I’ve said before, I don’t really completely subscribe to the multi-tasking thing. I think if you’ve having coaching, it should be all about you. It shouldn’t be something you slot in between meetings, or at the end of the day after all your other commitments when you’re exhausted. It should be something that energizes you and makes you feel better about yourself.
Hmm a walking/coaching group? *ponders*
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Hi everyone!
I’ve been having some trouble with my WordPress account, which has now been resolved. Lots of posts backing up here, so as it’s getting late I’ll post tomorrow. Just wanted to let you know
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I just want to say right here and now, that doctors and nurses (but mainly nurses) deserve payrises, an extra months holiday a year, and 30 minute coffee breaks. Not long ago I came back from the hospital – the other half was operated on today for his broken arm – and they do a sterling job.
Long hours, difficult conditions, less than optimal environments, people in pain, unreasonable people, stress, time constraints … I don’t know how they do it. Some people say that they couldn’t imagine being a teacher, well I couldn’t imagine being a nurse. I think they are fabulous.
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Hi everyone, yes I am still here but the broken arm has proved problematic. It’s being operated on tomorrow. What with hospital visits, scans and xrays we have been pretty busy!
On the positive side we have had some great work done outside, the daughter has built a new swing and the son put up a hammock so our house is the ideal holiday spot at the moment. Photos to come later today.
How is your New Year going?
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We had a lovely weekend. I hope you did too.
I have not been posting as prolifically, because I’m working on some specific articles that I should be able to put up later tomorrow. Stay tuned
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There are the people at work, the people in your family, your mates. There are the people you talk to on a Friday night at a bar. There are people you keep in touch with from school, or from university. Life is so full with work, socializing, perhaps the gym, and some sleep now and then – it can be strange when we think that we’re actually quite lonely. Sometimes it is a relationship that’s missing – a girlfriend or a boyfriend/partner – whatever you want to call them. Sometimes it’s that feeling that your relationships are a bit shallow, that there’s no one you could call in an emergency, or really talk to about the bigger issues in life.
I had a huge issue at work, and I realized there was not one of my mates I felt I could talk to about it.
Mum and Dad are hassling me about being single, and if I told my friends they’d only laugh.
Some people have trouble because they’re shy. They don’t feel brave enough to start a conversation with someone new. They are worried that the person won’t be interested in them. They might not know where to meet anyone new. This can be confusing, because there are so many places to go. But often it can be really hard to make yourself try something new!
I won’t know anyone.
I don’t think I’ve got time.
I just like to lie on the couch after work … I’m too tired to go out and meet people. I’m lonely but it’s just the way it is.
I wish I had plans for this weekend, instead of going to the supermarket and then watching boring TV …
Some people have been through awful breakups. This can be hard to recover from. They stay at home so there’s no chance of anything like that happening again. They don’t trust anyone. But while all this is going on, they’re lonely, and they are sad. They isolate themselves to avoid further damage, but then the isolation itself makes things worse.
She crashed my car, then broke up with me to avoid paying for the panel beating.
I found out he was seeing one of my work colleagues behind my back.
I got divorced last year, and it cost me so much money I’ll be eating baked beans until I’m 50.
Some people seem to go through a series of relationships that are quite frankly bad for them. They end up in a cycle of relationships that don’t go anywhere, that don’t make them happy, that set them up for disaster.
Every girl I go out with is so self obsessed …
He goes out all the time with his mates and leaves me at home …
I go out in the weekends with my girlfriends, we drink too much, I never meet anyone I like and I’m starting to get blackouts …
Last Saturday night I went home with someone I absolutely couldn’t stand when I woke up with her the next morning. Yeah I know, I drank way too much, and I don’t know why I keep doing it.
If you’re reading this and some of it (all of it?!) is familiar, there’s a lot you can do about it. But it starts with sorting out the different issues going on, and making a plan. There are things you can do but they’ll involve you doing more than lying on the couch eating chips!
Everyone has trouble with relationships. It’s not a hopeless scenario. And believe me, nothing shocks me. But you could try to be the first – I like a challenge!
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You’ll see these to the left of the page in the Tag Cloud – I’m thinking that I should divide ‘Self’ up a little. Maybe it could be turned into ‘Self’ and ‘Relationships’. I’m going to look at this tonight. It shouldn’t take too long to do, and maybe it’ll make looking for the information you want a bit easier.
I’m assuming everyone knows how Tag Clouds work The great thing about WordPress is that the clouds are so easy to set up. I spent hours creating one when I was over at Blogger … they’re also good for me because I can see which category I need to work on next!
Remember if there’s a specific topic you’d like to read about, just let me know
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… has bunches of irises, two for six dollars. Gorgeous
It’s my sisters birthday today. Happy Birthday Karen! xxx
