2013. It was a Majestic Year. TRULY. It was FULL, with lots and lots of personal highlights. I would say that this year has been my most creative year, ever!
I have written the most, run the most, shared the most…in 2013.
“Life is about the people you meet, and the things you create with them so go out and start creating.” – Holstee Manifesto
Here are my 2013 highlights.
- The Wruddy (writing buddy) connection happened. Oh, I didn’t realise that nothing happened until March. That was when Chiqui and I started our creative writing ultra-marathon. Our wruddy-ship pretty much became a writing energy source. Most notable of the Chiqui-shares is Brené Brown’s “Daring Greatly“. And so I did.
- “Eating better” just got betterer. I met quinoa, chia, kale, pepitas among others. I gave the cold shoulder to carbs and fructose as much as I could. But I do catch up with them from time to time. I became an active green smoothie drinker and a devout juicer.
- We played more often, outside! There were 6 bushwalks/hikes and countless bike rides.
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30 Days of Blogging in May. Writing is a muscle, and I flexed for 30 days non-stop. It was the most heart opening experience I have had since childbirth. Heck, it was like childbirth! It was painful, scary, exhilirating, breathless and boy was it an awakening. So this is why people write memoirs. It’s not to share, that’s secondary. It is more to know thyself and to dig deep into the murky waters of a forgotten past and to face one’s inner demons. And make peace. Always to make peace with people, places, and events.
- Finishing City2Surf’s 14Ks. What’s sweeter is that we did it as a family. This would be my highest highlight, don’t you agree?
- Giving blood to Red Cross. My bucket list #24. I’m sure you don’t want to see any blood in this blog 🙂
- 25 years of togetherness. Enough said 🙂
- Japan in 12 Days ~ a total sensory experience. Japan is more than a holiday full of seascapes or landscapes. We must go back!
- Running my first official 10K in sub-70 minutes was the sweetest highlight.
- And finally, myGloryBox has proudly become a gym junkie!
Oh and I got to read another #TwelveBooks (a blog is coming soon about that). And I had a one-night stand with Pepper Potts/Meredith/Ms B.
Can you see how exciting 2014 looks to me right now? If I continue doing as I did in 2013, I’d live another FULL year. So, let’s get on with it, shall we?!
In all these, YOU, my beloved readers, witnessed my unfolding….so THANK YOU again for keeping me company and giving me your precious precious attention.
See you next post!
Haiku 3 | Raw
Feeling ragged, raw
Breaking to million pieces
Wind, don’t blow my way
Goodbye 2013, you rocked my world!
#30 | The Day my Migo took my breath away
During Warrah School‘s end of school year Presentation Day, Migo astounded me and Grandma.
There I was, half an hour late because I had to attend a dental appointment. I joined the other parents/carers, expecting the usual performances. Make no mistake, I love every single event at Warrah. This Rudolph Steiner special needs school is big in performing arts. Being a small school of approximately 20 kids (I did not count), virtually each kid gets to perform on stage, either as part of a group or solo.
When Migo took to the stage, my hand, which was holding my iPhone camera was shaking so bad, it’s a wonder I managed to take a decent video. Miguel’s performance was passionate and confident. He was probably the only kid who did not require prompting from his teacher. Without much ado, here is Migo reciting Langston Hughes’ “As I Grew Older“. Do note the soft start to the poem. Migo has difficulty speaking in a small voice, you see. So the fact that he remembered which lines to speak softly in, is testament to the teaching abilities of Ludwig, his classroom teacher.
As I Grew Older [Read more…]
#29 | It’s the silly season for over-buying and over-spending!
Plus über-eating and über-drinking!
There is a propensity to over-buy this season. Silly me. Or more correctly, woe me! Because I get sucked into the hoopla big time. If you aren’t like me, then lucky you. Tell me how you do it!
I was grocery shopping last Wednesday, as I always do. It is very hard not to notice the overflowing supply of…food at Woolworths. Here, there’s a whole section cleared and stocked with ham of all shapes and sizes. Here, there’s a freezer section devoted to turkey. Aussie groceries do not normally stock turkey. I wonder if they are imported. Ha. I am going to prepare turkey on Christmas Day. Something I have never ever done before. I believe this is not typical of an Aussie household. We tend to prepare fresh seafood as our Christmases are so freaking HOT! (Aside: Let’s create a new buzzword ~ “oven fever” ~ as opposed to North America’s current “cabin fever”. Down under temperatures today soared to 40degC.)
Here, they’ve overstocked first-class chocolates at 50% off. The Lindt’s and the Ferrerro Rocher’s of the chocolate world are ripe for our picking. So, I get a few cartons of those wicked treats. I am thinking that we will have time to gorge on them because there’s plenty of home time. It’s also summer school holidays down under, 6 weeks of oven-like temperatures at home! I rationalise that there are more chances to eat… What? What chances am I talking about? Time remains the same, no more no less. There is no such thing as more time. Only more space in time.
Here, here are some divine looking biscuits from…Denmark, Holland and Belgium. Wow. I must have those too in my trolley. Because I come by them quite rarely. Really Cha? I don’t think so. These biscuits have always been in the shelves but not displayed so in-the-face like now.
Let’s take stock of what’s in my trolley. I’ve got 12 mini cans of softdrinks. Ariel and I share (that’s about half a swig each) a mini on weekends only. The boys and grandma have one each on weekends only. Always just the weekend, it’s a treat. It’s never a daily thing. There’s too much chocolates in my trolley. I’ve overstocked on plain flour as pan de sal and homemade pizza dough are in the offing. It’s also time to use my breadmaker which I used quite extensively last year and suddenly stopped this year. Why is that? I went low carb, that’s why. The family subsisted on rice and pasta instead. I’ll bring back homemade bread and pizza next year. If I get a chance, that is!
Aussie shops will close down on the 25th and 26th of December, so people tend to stock up unnecessarily, as I do. My pantry is actually full, brimming to the brim, yet here I am adding a few more items. Oh, my favorite tuna brand, Sirena, is selling 4 for $7 (small tins). Ha. I have 8 of those. Mura eh. Ariel and I have tuna when we run out of leftover meat and add it to our lunchbox of mixed greens~spinach and rocket. I never buy anything else. Just spinach and rocket, prewashed, so it’s good to go. Lately, Woolies started adding baby kale to the mixture. What’s not to love about a salad with kale, eh?
These should be enough. Enough na! Tama na. Put a stop to my overspending. I’ve not bought too many gifts this Christmas. Opting only to gift Migo’s teachers and our closest of friends. Gab does not give to his High School teachers anymore. Shy na. We used to give to primary school teachers. Or more correctly, I did!
Are you like me? Are we on the same boat? Let’s get off this commercial liner while we still can, shall we?
PS: This is my 29th post of 52 weeks. I stopped shipping for 3 weeks. I do have a few unshipped blogs before we enter 2014. I hope you come back for more of 2014’s myGloryBox.com. I do believe it is time for a new theme, watch for it!
From my bottomless heart,
THANK YOU for reading me in 2013.
TRAVEL SAFE and LET’s ARRIVE SAFELY in 2014.
LET’s GET BUSY LIVING (lifted from Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King)
Haiku 2 | Snow flakes
Snow flakes, heart aches
Falling gently, endlessly
Killing me softly