Just Being Realistic

There I was, thinking I could blog every day. How unrealistic was I! Now I have changed my expectations, and hope that I will be able to blog once a week. But I am not going to be obsessive about it – if I blog, good, if I don’t, OK.

Now that the chaos of the festive season is over, I’ve managed to get a few things done. One thing was to make some more soft toys. My first attempts were Wonky and Notso (pattern from Funky Friends Factory), and I was quite happy with them.

Then I set myself the challenge to make Patty the Cow (also from Funky Friends Factory). Much more difficult, with more pieces, and made in cotton so not as forgiving with the stretch as the fleece I used for Wonky and Notso.

 

 

My 2013 challenge was Stu the Sea Turtle (and yes, again from Funky Friends Factory). Again, a challenge because, although the number of pieces wasn’t greater, the fabric I used was plush, and something new to me. But I’m happy. I hope my niece likes him.
 

Something else I’ve started this year – I want to complete the Couch to 5km program (Google C25K and you will find HEAPS of info). I started it once before and didn’t get further than Week 3, mostly because the music on the podcasts just wasn’t to my taste, and having to listen to the voice of the man telling me what to do was just horrible – I’m not a fan of broad American accents.

But luckily I found a series of podcasts that (so far) suit me. I got them from the UK National Health Service website – why doesn’t Australia produce something like this?

Yes, this sounds like a typical New Year Resolution, and you are possibly thinking that it will go the way of all such things (ie give up before February). That may well happen, but I hope not.

Enjoy! And I’ll be back some time soon.

Just Maybe

Oh, what will I write about? Maybe I’ll write about what I do. Maybe I’ll write about what I think. Maybe I’ll write about what I feel. Maybe I’ll write about what I want. Maybe I’ll write about what my plans are.

Today I’ll write a bit about me. An introduction if you like.

Here I am, in my fifties, and still trying to work out what the heck I’m doing. Sometimes I wish I’d been one of those people who had a plan. But then that wouldn’t have been me. And it means that I’ve been able to go with the flow when things happened, instead of being upset because things didn’t go “according to plan”.

I am where I am because I didn’t have a plan, and where I am is mostly pretty good.

We (my wonderful husband and I) are only a few months away from moving from the city (Sydney) back to the country. We are both originally from out of Sydney, and now that we are not tied down to working for a living, we can get out again. We are not going back to our original towns – I’m of the belief that you can never really go back, as it’s never the same, and usually doesn’t live up to expectations.

We can’t wait to get out of Sydney. There is no such thing as peak hour traffic anymore – it is dreadful all the time! And the people seem too often to be angry, or sad, or frightened, and always in a rush. We want to be in a place that we can enjoy, that other people enjoy, and that suits the pace of life we want.

Luckily, we are in the position to be able to retire quite early, when we still have the health and energy to do the many things we want to do. I say “luckily”, but really, we have worked for it, and suffered a bit too. Being made redundant does add money where it is not expected, but it is not a pleasant experience, and knocks around your sense of worth.

So, we are moving out of Sydney, but still close enough to come back to visit friends, and the family that live here. We will also be closer to my Mum, so I can more easily get to her if she needs (it’s a 5-6 hour drive at the moment). And we can have a real vegie patch! I have the idea that I would like some chooks, but the wonderful husband is not too keen. We’ll see.

Just Starting

The hardest part of doing something new, for me, is starting. Once I’ve started, I realise it isn’t so scary, and I can keep going. And that’s what I hope will happen with this blog.

For some time now, I’ve been reading other blogs, and enjoying that immensely. But I’ve also had a feeling that I want to have a voice in the world that isn’t just a response to someone else’s voice,  but my own. If people read this, or not, doesn’t really matter, as long as I am my own voice.

I’ll be making this up as I go along. I don’t know the “rules” of having a blog. It can’t be that hard, can it?

I don’t know really what I will post about. Will I just have a specific theme? Will I just write as a “stream of consciousness”? Will I just waffle on about nothing in particular?

Whatever this becomes, I want it to be just me – Just Joyful. Along the way, I’m hoping I’ll find out more about who that is. And if anyone else comes across my blog, they can find out too!