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!
#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 1 | A summer’s day
A quiet summer day
Sun kissed street fit for play
My heart beats astray
#Haiku 1
#27 | I cannot THANK YOU enough!
The very first thing I do when I wake up is to reach for my iPhone and scan my emails.
This may sound pathetic to some of you but I have really come to embrace and accept that I like doing this. It’s that first 15 minutes of my waking moment that I am the most lucid and fresh. And if I wake up early with 30 minutes extra under my belt, then it is in those first 30 mins of my day that I also do some of my “better” writing. I write after i read my emails. I get inspiration after I read, you see.
So yes I scan what IOS calls “All Inboxes”. What do I look for? I am on the look out for new posts from my favourite bloggers. Over the past 6 months, I followed a few more random strangers in addition to my all time favourite blogger Sarah Wilson.
This morning, Brian Gardner, the geeky guy who owns StudioPress and who designs themes for websites (of which my very own myGlorybox uses), wrote a rare note. He promised to write more often. Yes, this web designer likes writing too. There are a lot of unpublished people out there who are expressing themselves and sharing their writing to the whole wide webbed world. The internet has really given people like us freedom and wings and audience. Most importantly, a reading audience.
Writings are meant to be read. I do espouse that we must write like no one is reading, this means to write unguardedly. However, I believe that it should be a two way highway. We are like children. We are “driven by the attention we receive”, Brian Gardner writes.
I like that you are reading this, and reached this point of my post. I like that you “LIKE” me a lot, and that you time and time again, click on my latest notification that “Hey I have created something new again today. Please read me.”
I have said that for the past 200+ days. Heck, I’ve been asking you to read me since 2009, when I started blogging. Writing opens me up, breaks me apart, and breaks me down. My writing gives you a window, no…it’s way bigger than that… a door into my very soul. I am vulnerable and I am naked. {Oops I lie. I am only a quarter naked with you. This be the truth.} And because you do not cringe nor stay away from me, but you actually keep coming back for more… this tells me that I have your acceptance. I think you have gone past curiosity and amusement of my blurtings…You and I, we have an ongoing romance yet you do not know it. But I do. We have a romance. See, writing multiplies my emotions a hundred-fold! I even find your attention romantic!
Have I Thanked You enough for reading me? For taking 5 minutes of your precious life to read yet again another mGB brain fart or inanity or, if it is a good day, a sharing that actually moves or inspires you? Without you, my writing will not see the light of day. It will languish in the silence and loneliness of the Evernote App notebooks.
You mean the world to me. In my writing world and in my personal world. I actually don’t know all of you. I would have wanted, really really wanted, to thank each one of you. But the FB “Likes” I get in WordPress do not show your name.
I encourage you to leave me a note or your name and a short HI at the bottom of this post. So i can thank you personally for following me.
I know some of you. Because you leave footprints or crumb prints behind. Crumbs that I greedily devour! Little notes which I liken to treasures. My little gold nuggets.
I salute you for keeping me company.
I appreciate your time and attention.
With all my heart, I THANK YOU.
PS. One of these days, you will find, I will offend you with what I have written. When that day comes, I hope our bond is strong enough for you to overcome your annoyance. Be offended, then let’s move on. We’re free spirits, you and I. And of course there are crappy writings, of which you have seen plenty. And yet you still read, I am grateful!
Why can’t I seem to end this post???
THE END {na nga}!
I leave you with Ms. Morissette…a most beautiful THANK YOU song!
Thank you India, thank you terror
Thank you disillusionment
Thank you frailty, thank you consequence
Thank you, thank you, silence
#24 | Convert points for cash to give to #YolandaPH #HaiyanPH
Some of us are hard pressed to donate our hard earned cash to charity. Some. There are mortgages to be paid, after all. Most of us are happy to give up tens or even hundreds of dollars for the benefit of our beloved kababayans. Some of us already “give” on a monthly basis {think World Vision child sponsorship}. And still, we want to give some more!
If you don’t have time to read this full story, scroll down to Here’s how ~
I was eating breakfast this morning, conjuring up creative thoughts of various ways to contribute. I didn’t want to send material as that occupies space and has weight and I don’t really know what is required. Where do I find spare cash? I thought of giving up my daily coffee. To be honest, I don’t really want to give up something that is a source of small joy. I don’t want to deprive myself, I am selfish like that. And yet there must be other ways.
Supplement your “giving” by converting your loyalty points into cash!
Last weekend, I sat in my study finding out how many points I have accumulated in my various rewards/loyalty programs (hotels/airlines/credit cards etc). I was planning a summer holiday. My Holiday Inn account has accumulated 19,000 points. It’s not enough to cover a one night stay at Holiday Inn Melbourne. But I noted that it is enough to redeem a $100 gift card from my local supermarket. I moved on to the next card, telling myself I need to accumulate more. But this morning it hit me!
Here’s how to convert your “forgotten” loyalty points into cash. Allow at least 30 minutes tonight.
1. Trawl your email Inboxes for statements from your rewards partners. Hotels, airlines, car rentals, credit cards, store cards etc. Take note of points that are at least 10,000.
2. Login to your various accounts.
3. Redeem points for store gift cards. Preferably ones that you can use for your groceries for that immediate “free” grocery. The cards will arrive in due time.
4. Congratulations. You’ve just found cash! Now that you’ve saved say $100 worth of groceries, use that equivalent amount to give to #YolandaPH typhoon victims.
5. Choose a reputable international charity with local presence in the Philippines with targeted relief efforts.
Red Cross or Red Cross Australia
World Vision or World Vision Australia
Plan International or Plan Australia
Gawad Kalinga
Important Note:
Don’t forget to print and file your tax-deductible receipt. Get something back in return from the taxman. Come to think of it, you can even give more, if you know what I mean. It’s a win-win for all!
No sweat really. Just stop browsing Facebook for half an hour. Finding $100x gift cards is more than a month’s worth of $3 coffees!
PS. Maybe you have some money parked in your Paypal/eBay/what-have-you accounts. Now’s the time to cash in! And give!
PPS. Your workplace may also be setting up some targeted giving where your employer may match your donation, dollar for dollar. That is also a great way of doubling up your hard-earned cash!
#19 | Let’s Emulate. A Street Romance.
He sweeps his arms, and he creates
Lost in his own world, he meditates
In every breathe and in every stroke, he escalates
She passes by, he fascinates
She grabs her lenses, she appreciates
She makes shutter love, a sweet escape
Closer ever closer, she gravitates
Inch by inch, she navigates
She asks a question, she enunciates
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