Movies and Challenges

Last night Ross, Sarah and I went to see....

O... M... G.....

I am a fidgeter during movies. Drives Ross absolutely nuts. But I did not move a muscle during this movie. My butt was so numb at the end from staying perfectly still, and of course being so tense. If you like scary moves, check it out. If you get scared easily, don't do it... LOL

I am setting myself a photography challenge. A lot of people do the 365 Day Project, which is where you take a photo every day for a year. I have tried this several times and realised that my life just does not allow for this. At least once a week I will have a day where I leave home at 7 and don't get home till 11 that night, and barely have a chance to breathe during that time. So this does not work.

But I do want to challenge and extend myself. So here is what I am going to do. 5 days a week (at a minimum), for the next 52 weeks, I will find 15-20 minutes a day to get out there with my camera. Any type of shot (not snapshots though as this is about improving my skills). Week 1 starts tomorrow. I may not post the pics each day, but I will try and get them up at least once a week. Hopefully as the weeks go by I will start to see an improvement in what I am putting out there.

I am also looking to join a local camera club. I am in a photography meetup group where we get out with our cameras every month or so, but that is quite a casual group, with no real teaching involved. This is an organised camera club that have competitions, guest speakers, workshops etc. A place where I can hopefully really grow my skills. I went to one this week and am checking out another one next week so I can decide where I want to end up.

Am off to a friends for a "de-stress" night tonight (read - alcohol fuelled entertainment). Am really needing it right now.

xox

Excited

I am so freaking excited I feel like a little kid the night before Xmas...

This weekend I am going to listen to Steve Parish talk about his life as a wildlife photographer. If you don't know who Steve Parish is go here. He is absolutely amazing and is my idol as far as photography is concerned.

He is running 3 talks/workshops over 2 days and I am going to all of them! I feel like a groupie. I am hoping to get his latest book signed on Monday night and I just know I will be a big baby about it. LOL

It is weird, I have never really gotten like this about anyone famous before, but as soon as I heard he was coming here I was like a little kid.

I have also started a new photography challenge for myself. I want to take a new photo every week, one of quality, not a snapshot. I would love to really expand the cards I have for sale, plus I have another project I am working on that needs 42 photos - so far I have none I am happy with for that. I will put my pick here each week and you can let me know your thoughts. Or not. :)

I will definitely let you know how the talks go. :)

xox

PS - Detox bombed. Will try again next week.

North Haven Marina

Yesterday I went out with my photography group for the first time since January. We went to North Haven Marina where we wandered around taking photos of the boats then waited for the sunset. It was wonderful to be out there again.

100 Days of Gratitude


Day 48
Yesterday I was grateful for the beautiful sunshine. I had so much fun wandering around the gardens in the sun with my Mum.


Day 49
Today I am grateful for generous friends who let me take lots of photos of them. Thanks Em. :)


xox

10 for 10 Recap

I had an awesome day yesterday. :)  It started with a walk through the Botanic Gardens with my mum. We both took our cameras and wandered around snapping away.

We finally stopped for a coffee and relaxed in the shade watching the ducks.

From there we stopped in at Cathy's house to pick up a gorgeous gemstone necklace and earrings that she has made for my Greatest Shave raffle. I will post a pic when I take one, but I tell you, it is stunning, :)

We spent the afternoon just hanging out at Mums trying to stay cool. It was really nice.

From there I made my way back to the city to meet Megan for a coffee. And by "coffee" I do not mean Gelati and Iced Chocolate... :)  I got there a little late and when I got there Megan was NOT playing Smurfs on her iPhone... LOL

We talked, and talked, and talked. Then got up to leave and talked, and talked, and talked... LOL It was such a fun night!

Today has been pretty restful. Quick trip to Spotlight this morning but other than that, I have done pretty much nothing.

I thought I had better do a round up of my 10 for 10 challenge. I have been avoiding it as I thought I had pretty much failed, but having a look I did okay.

1) Run/walk the Mothers Day Classic in May
Done. Ran the 4km in 38 minutes

2) Ride at least 3000kms
Nope. I stopped counting around the 1200 mark because it came so late in the year and I was injured so I knew I wouldn’t get there.

3) Finish the knitted blankets
Done. I finished in September.

4) Lose 30 kilos
I only lost 2.…


5) Be in a financial position to sponsor a World Vision child
Done - we have a 3 year old sponsor child from India.


6) Send at least one childrens story to a publisher
Actually I sent 2 off, one of them to 2 publishers. Both rejected, but at least I was brave enough to send them.

7) Run/walk the 12 km at the City-Bay in September
Nope - I was injured


8) Start my novel
Well and truly started. I am up to about chapter 8.


9) Go on an overnight hike (first stage of Heyson if funds permit)
Cancelled as I was injured. Tentatively re-booked for May 2011


10) Keep in touch with my interstate friends in the old fashioned way - by writing actual letters with pen and paper.
Sent a couple of letters. 

Not a bad effort.  Next week I will be posting my 11 goals for 2011. :)

100 Days of Gratitude


Day 44
Yesterday I was grateful for a great day. Everythig was brilliant and I was just generally grateful.


Day 45
Today I am grateful for chocolate. No particulr reason other than I love it and feel grateful it was invented. LOL


xox

Daily Quote

Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling.
            -- Margaret Lee Runbeck

I can not WAIT for this week to be over. This is by far the suckiest week to work in Finance (equaled only to the week before Easter). Thankfully only 3 more days left, but they will be long days...

Last night I was so stressed when I left here, all I really wanted to do was run. I just wanted to run and run and run. And of course, I can't...  I did have my camera with me though so I decided to see if I could clear my mind by taking photos. It worked. :)

100 Days of Gratitude - Day 37
Today I am grateful to be living in a beautiful city where I can easily go somewhere new with my camera.

xox

Weekend Recap

The weekend started Friday night with Ross's works Xmas dinner. We went to Goodlife Organic Pizza at Glenelg. I love that restaurant. The pizzas are great. I got to meet all of Ross's workmates and their partners, and we had a really fun night. We walked home which was really nice, although the Achilles was a bit tender when I got home.

Saturday morning was spent at Harbourtown. Emma and I were volunteering at the Camp Quality gift wrapping stand.

The morning started slowly, surprisingly being only a week out from Xmas, Harbourtown was surprisingly quiet. But we did get some customers as well as some very generous people who were happy to donate without getting any gifts wrapped.

From there I made my way to my Mum's to pick out the quilts for my Worlds Greatest Shave Raffle and also to auction on Ebay.

This is the raffle quilt, valued at approximately $500, made by my Mum! It is a bit bigger than a single bed quilt, but not quite as big as a double. The applique was done by hand. I really hope that whoever wins it loves it.

This one I will be auctioning on ebay in the New Year.  It is valued at around $300.  It is a large lap quilt.  I really hope I get a buyer! :)

This morning I was up early with a whole day stretched out in front of of me. I love days like this where I have no plans and no responsibilities. It started out on the couch with a good book. After a couple of hours I was itchng to get out, so I grabbed the camera and hopped on the tram to Glenelg to take some snaps. I spent about an hour or so wandering around taking photos. My goal for the next year is to expand my photographic horizons and start taking photos of things I wouldn't normally. So I started just shooting whatever I walked past. I ended up taking over 100 photos (love digital) and a few of them turned out okay.

When I got home I pulled out the sewing machine and got to work on my Mug Rugs. They are nearly finished. Just some hand stitching to do to stitch down the binding and they will be finished! I am very excited. It's been ages since I have finished something I have sewn.

Now I am watching Sex & The City (season 3), blogging, and admiring my new red and green Xmas nails. :)

A great weekend.

100 Days of Gratitude - Day 34

Today I am grateful for true days off. They are so rare that I really do appreciate them when I get them.

xox

Weigh In

Well, one week of my new calorie counting is done and dusted. I'll be honest here, I didn't "count" every day.  Or most days really.  But I have been a lot more conscious and have stopped buying that morning bag of wicked twisties every day, and the afternoon bun.  The result was a 1.9 kg loss, so I am extremely happy with that.  I will be more vigilant this week, and will be riding to work every day again as well.

I finally set up my Facebook Fan page for my cards.  It is called 'photo cards by kylie ann'.  Anyone who is on Facebook, do a search for it if you are interested in my cards.  So far there are only 9 variations up, but more photos will be here this week and I will have about 15 or so up soon.  I'll post the pics at the bottom of this blog for you.

Today has been fairly easy going.  MIL had several things that she needed to get out and do so I have been here with Grandad most of the day.  He has been asleep for most of it though, only getting up for an hour or so to have lunch and a cuppa.  He was really perky yesterday but it seems to have tired him out for today. 

While he was up I decided to do some baking to give me an excuse to stay in the kitchen with him without it looking like I was watching him.  I made my specialty - Honey & Oat Cookies.  I love these!  We won't even discuss the calories though...  LOL  But I figured that Ross could have them for breakfast.  He doesn't usually bother with breakie but with his new job I would like him to have something.  And I know he will eat these.

I also decided to make something for dinner.  We need something Grandad can eat with one hand, so nothing that requires cutting.  We had soup last night and pasta bake the night before so I also wanted something with protein in it.  I ended up doing a pasta bake, but added lentils and TVP.  Hopefully it tastes okay.

I was hoping to get the garden bed ready for planting as well, but domestics have taken up the day.  Not to worry though, I will do it next weekend.

Here are the cards I have up so far, in case you are interested.

xox

The Weekend So Far

Well, we are heading toward the end of the second day of the long weekend. It has been an interesting couple of days, some good, some challenging.

It started Friday night. My MIL got a call that her Dad (Grandad) has been in a car crash. Only a minor one thankfully, however at 92 years old a minor crash can jiggle things around. By the time she got up there the paramedics had been called. They got to the hospital and my MIL finds out this is the 2nd crash in the last couple of weeks and also that he has had 2 falls in his house in the last week that he has not told us about.

Grandad lives a good 45 minute drive away if there is no traffic. He lives alone and until recently has been doing fine. MIL saw him last Sunday and all was well. However when she got to his house to pick up a few things for him things were different. A week of Meals on Wheels dinners were lined up on the counter unopened. The cat had been locked inside with no kitty litter. The cat food was dried up and had been there for days. We don't think he had eaten for a week or had he fed Blondie (the cat). He was in the same clothes he had been in the previous week and no PJ's had been used. He had burned his pillow so he is smoking in bed again.

The hospital in their infinite wisdom wanted to send him home after 2 hours. MIL managed to talk them into keeping him overnight. However considering he can't get up or down on his own, can't shower, can't go to the toilet unassisted I am truly disappointed that he was sent home the next day. We explained that he lives alone. They pretty much said take him home. MIL said he would be sleeping on the couch as we have 3 adults living in a small house and they said that will be fine. Not happy.

So Grandad has been here since yesterday. Thankfully he is eating now but he still needs a great deal of assistance. He sleeps about 18 hours a day. I am not sure if he is going to be able to go home. We talked about me and Ross moving up there but the logistics are too hard. I would have to leave for work at about 5.30am and would not get home until after 7.30pm including a 30 minute walk at night through a very unsafe neighbourhood. Plus there is the fact that with both of us working and with the extended travelling time we would not be there enough to take care of him anyway.

I am not sure what is going to happen but for now he is here and a neighbour is taking care of Blondie. The poor old thing is so frail. None of us are sleeping as we are all listening out for if he gets up in the night as we are so afraid he will fall. Hopefully we can get him into care fairly quickly.

OK, so on to the good parts of the weekend so far, and there have been some.

Yesterday morning I decided to skip yoga and go for a run. I haven't been out for 3 or 4 weeks. I didn't realise it was that long, but geez the time goes by quickly. I decided no more shuffling, I am going to run! I lasted 3 minutes. My legs hurt, my lungs hurt. So I started walking, I did a few more spurts - running, not shuffling - and got home sore.

After some breakfast and a clean up I hopped on the tram, switched to a train, and took myself out to visit my Grandma, who has been in a Nursing Home for a while. We never really got along, so I have been a bad Granddaughter and not visited for a long time. But she was really friendly and we had a wonderful visit.

I came home and helped MIL with Grandad and helped with dinner. We had an early night.

This morning I got up early to help Grandad get up and get him some breaky so MIL could have a sleep in. I got all the animals fed and got cuppas ready for Ross & MIL. Then I got myself ready and headed in to the city to go to the Botanic Gardens to meet my Mum for a walk and to take photos. We spent a few hours and had a really good time. She also bought me this wonderful book from the Botanic Shop.

Ross and I have had several attempts at starting veggie gardens, that have had varying degrees of success. This book was written by a South Aussie, so all the planting times and everything are very specific to where we live. I am going to start getting a garden bed ready tomorrow so we can put some spinach in, which is one of the only things we can plant at this time of year. Hopefully this one is successful.

Tonight I am going to make some parsnip soup for us all for dinner. Ross is working early tomorrow on the other side of town so he will have an early night. I will be here all day so I am going to try and get MIL to go out for a while, at least for a walk with the dog or something, just to get out for a while. Ross is staying at Mums tomorrow night as he is working just a few kms from her place tomorrow and Tuesday.

That's it from me. I'll leave you all with a few pics from this mornings wander....

xox