THE EXCITEMENT AND HAPPINESS OF AN AWESOME WEEKEND ........

Well I have had the most awesome weekend ........

Thank you to my Son and his partner for my wonderful weekend.   

Firstly there was this .....

 and he did not disappoint.  He may have aged, but his voice was just the same .....  Bryan Adams was absolutely FANTASTIC !!  I had red hands from clapping by the end of it.  Did a lot of ... well sort of .... dancing in my seat.  Did a lot of singing and loved every minute of hearing all my old favourites.  But I guess my favourite song of all was When a Man loves a Woman.  It was amazing.  His band and his guitarists were amazing .... especially Keith Scott when he backed Bryan as he sang When a Man loves a Woman.  Such a romantic and beautiful song.  He played for a full 2 hours or slightly longer and still I did not want it to end.  Even rang a friend for 2 of the songs and let her hear them over the phone.  Haven't spoken to her yet, so don't know how clearly she could hear the songs.

Then there was this ....

The Meat and Wine Company ..... Not somewhere my budget would allow me to go normally .... but this is where I was taken by my son and his partner.

The food was amazing ... I'm not generally a meat eater, or at least not a big meat eater, but this steak was to die for.  It was melt in your mouth and by far the best piece of steak that I have ever had.  As if the main course wasn't good enough on it's own, the desserts were wonderful.  

If you have a special celebration or just want somewhere special to eat out in either Melbourne (South Bank) or Sydney (Darling Harbour) this is the place.  You will not be disappointed.

All round I have had the most amazing weekend and have been thoroughly spoilt.

Due to the fact that my own photos wouldn't download from my camera I had to use photos off the internet.

My word for the day ....

RELAXATION ... that's my word for the day and that's what I have been doing all day.  Guess what??  I'm still in my Pyjamas and it's now 10.08pm here in Melbourne and it's almost time to go to bed again.  Do I care, nope .. not at all, I've actually had a beautifully relaxing day.

I didn't get up until almost 12noon .... except for a minor pit stop at around 6.46am this morning.  Do I feel guilty that I got up so late ....NO.... I haven't set the alarm for 2 days now and I'm sure the alarm on my phone must be wondering what's going on. 

I am feeling the cold here a little, although I really don't mind as it actually feels like the cooler weather has finally come.  Feels like Autumn is finally here.  Staying in bed is lovely when it's cool.

Keep thinking I must get out tomorrow and take some photos to post on here.  Tomorrow night I'm off to see Bryan Adams and I can't wait.  I am going to attempt to take some photos with my phone, but I'm not sure how that will go ... well, we will see.  I'm going to post them, blurry or not. 

I'm loving this life ......

MUSINGS about nothing in particular ....

Well here I am in Melbourne, the place of my birth, spending time with my 3rd son and his partner and her mum.  I'm so enjoying having time with them.  Not that I don't love where I am living now, but I am loving having a break from the rigors of everyday life.  Relaxing and getting out of bed when I feel like it.  I got up at 11.19am this morning or at least that's the time it said on my phone when I looked at it.  Nice one .... no alarm to wake me up this morning.  It was busy day after that .... off to the shops.  I'm not normally a shopper, just go to the shops, buy what I need and then come home again.  But not today and I did enjoy it, sort of.

As I was spending the day with my son and his lady, I couldn't help think how happy they both seem and how good life is for them.  That got me to thinking about our children and how, even when they grow up you still worry and wonder about how they are going.  All you want is for them to be happy and be a peace in their own little corner of the world.

Even when you have children that don't talk to you or have anything to do with you, it doesn't stop you loving them and wanting to know that they are okay. 

I used to think you only worried about your children when they were little and once they grew up you didn't seem to worry any more.  I used to hear my mother say, "you are still my babies no matter how old you are", and in my naivety would think that that was somehow stupid.  How wrong could I be.  They are always your babies, just grown up babies instead of little ones.  So it seems that from the moment that you give birth, your children are your children, no matter what: connected to you forever by virtue of your giving birth to them. 

So that's my thought for the day .... so lovely to think of and remember all my children and how much I love them ......

Some thing awesome, Something wonderful ... saying thank you.

What do you say when someone gives you an awesome gift, a gift that you are not expecting.  Sometimes people give you something and you feel like they are doing it for their benefit, and it feels like there is an expectation of something in return.  This gift however, was given totally from the heart because the person wanted to show appreciation.

Now to be honest, I find it hard when people give me things for no real reason.  Like its not a birthday or Christmas, or a significant occasion, just someone saying thank you and showing enormous generosity.  This person could have given me a card with the words thank you in it and that would have meant just as much.  I don't think we ever say those words enough.  I don't mean when they have just done something, but rather in the moment when they haven't actually done anything specific.

For me this gift was much appreciated and will benefit me enormously with my studies.  It's my favourite new toy ....a Microsoft Surface.  For those of you that don't know what they are, they are a tablet with a clip on keyboard, so that you can use them as a laptop of sorts or like a tablet ....and I love it.  They have been advertising them on tv lately and show a whole lot of tablets that stand up with all different coloured keypads. 

I've been thinking why I find it hard to accept gifts from others and it boils down to not feeling good enough, or like I don't deserve it.  I am slowly learning to realise that that my contribution in the world is of value and that sometimes, just like me others too like to show appreciation.  I'm great at thanking others, but not so good at accepting it in return. 

So to my lovely friend (and boss) thank you for my gift, I love and appreciate it .... you are one of the most kind and generous people that I know and I see that kindness and generosity on a daily basis.  I am blessed to know you and call you my friend.  Thank You.

(I wanted to add a picture of the Surface tablet on here with the keyboard attached, but haven't worked it all out yet ... if you look on the net on images, you will see a picture there.)

What keeps you awake at night ....

I keep wondering why I am awake nearly 2 hours before I need to be.  What's with that.  You think you'll get a good night's sleep and then you don't.  I've tossed and turned for most of the night and then became fully awake.

It's been very warm here over the past few weeks and very hot at night and so because of that it becomes difficult to sleep.  Thank goodness I'll have a lot to do today to keep me going.  Think if I sit down for a minute, I might fall asleep.

The thing about being awake early is that you get to see television programs that you wouldn't otherwise watch ..... 7th Heaven, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman .... I love both of these shows, so at least I had something to do.  Then there's the early morning shows like Sunrise.  They are saying that there are cyclone warnings in Western Australia, severe rain and possibly flooding in Queensland.  Australia is a land of such diverse weather and all at the same time.  I feel for the people that are affected by these acts of nature.    

Well at least I have something to be grateful for and that's the nice new sheets that I just bought and a comfy bed to sleep in.  There's nothing like new sheets. 

That's it from me for now ..... off to try and get at least a little bit more sleep before I have to leave my bed.

One foot in front of the other ...

Today is one of those days ..... one foot in front of the other.  I'm having one of those days when I feel Blah.  Blah is the only word I can think of to describe today.  

Does anyone else have those days?  I'm guessing I'm not the only one.  When I feel like this I try to think about tomorrow and hope for a better day.  

I keep thinking writing a blog is supposed to be about positive things and for the most part it is ... but not today.   

I've been sitting watching movies all day because I don't feel like doing anything else.

First I watched Funny Face ... an oldie, but a goodie, with Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire .... Audrey Hepburn is beauty personified.  

Then I watched Stepmom with Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon in it .... great movie .... love the part in the movie when Julia and Susan's characters are talking, over dinner in a restaurant.  Julia Roberts, the Stepmom to be, (for those of you who haven't seen the movie is dying of cancer), says to Susan Surandan's character, the mother, about her daughter ....   

"Look down the road to her wedding. I’m in a room alone with her, fixing her veil, fluffing her dress, telling her no woman has ever looked so beautiful."

"And my fear is she’ll think, “I wish my mom were here.”

Then Susan Sarandon says ....

"And my fear is, she won't." 

Those lines just make me cry every time.  It seems like it's the point where they finally realise that they can parent the children and both be part of their lives. 

Next I watched the Holiday .... well half watched it .... and fell asleep.  I did end up watching the rest when I woke up.  I do love this movie however, I would watch it again and again just to see Jude Law.  He's very cute and nice to look at.  Actually not a bad actor either, but that's beside the point.

And this little cottage in the Cottswalds, England, was just so very pretty.

Not sure if I should feel guilty for spending the whole day watching films or not, but nevertheless that's what I've been doing.  And actually now that I've written about it, I don't feel so guilty after all ..... and now I'm off to bed ..... oops just had a phone call on the a/hours phone and now I have to cover a shift at 7.30am in the morning.  

Let us oft speak kind words to ourselves ......

How important are the WORDS we say? 

The WORDS that we say to others?

Most importantly, the WORDS that we say to ourselves?

I don't know about you, but my mum used to say, if you can't say something nice then don't say anything at all.  Sure, sometimes we have to say things that seem 'not nice' .... well of course that is subjective .... and maybe we don't want to hear those things, but mostly there is no need to be nasty, or say things that aren't nice.  We can do a lot of good with the nice words that we say or we can do a lot of harm with our unkind words.  

We can make friends or we can make foes with our words.  We can be happy or sad with our words.  We can drive people away or attract them to us .... all with the words that we say.

So, thinking about words that we say to others and how they may make them feel ....... what words do we say to ourselves?  Do we feed our souls with wonderful words, or do the words we say, ultimately bring us down?  Do the words we say make us feel good about ourselves, and rightly so, or do they make us feel as though we are nothing, worthless and don't have a place in this world ?

For a very long time, and especially as a young girl, I was constantly telling myself how worthless I was, how I wasn't good enough, how I would just never ever be good enough.  I think this came in part from things that happened to me when I was a little girl.

Even as an adult I was acutely aware of how I felt about myself as a person.  With time I have come to realise that I am not the terrible and worthless person that I thought I was when I was younger.  I have come to realise that I can rise about those awful and terrible feelings.  I can change that and change the things I say to myself.  

I have come to realise that the most important thing that I can do for myself is to be kind to myself, to look after me.  More important than what other people say to me, is what I say to myself.  Self-talk is vital in feeling positive and good about who we are.  I don't think that we realise just how important it is.

I used to think it was selfish or egocentric to think good thoughts about myself.  I used to think it was WRONG.  Imagine that, thinking it was wrong to feel good about yourself.  Sadly, so many people out there feel the same way.  Hey, you, reading my blog, if you feel the same way, don't !!!  Stop right now, love yourself for who you are, a valuable human being.  

I love being the age I am now .... 53, 54 next month - heck, I once thought that was old, so old ..... but funny how I don't any more.  I'm thinking that's pretty normal for most people.   I love the fact that I have finally realised that I am allowed to like who I am and not beat myself up for not being perfect.  Too many of us think if we are NOT perfect then we are NOT good enough.  Life is not a place we arrive at, but rather move through on our journey.  No one is perfect and no one ever will be in this life.  

The most important thing we can do in this life and the reason I believe we are here on this earth is to grow and progress and most importantly LEARN.  My philosophy is that we are here to learn, and most importantly to learn about who we are and what we are capable of .... and oh we are capable of so much.  We won't always do it perfectly and won't always get it right, but as long as we are trying we will get there in the end.

We are a long time on this journey of life so why not love ourselves for who we are.  Let's be kind to ourselves and take the time to do things for ourselves, to say kind and encouraging words to ourselves.  Words that will make us feel good, not bad.  Every day remember that you are someone of worth.  Every day remember to be kind to yourself and speak words of kindness, love and encouragement and most especially remember how important you as an individual are to this world.