And the winner is Sydeneey

5 Ways @ Paddington

My bag is packed, I'm checked into my flight, I've got my 'new' jeans on and I'm ready to spend the weekend in Sydney with my siblings. 

As adults, we've moved to different parts of the country and don't get to see each other as much as we would all like. So, this weekend, we're flying in from Melbourne and Perth to spend a weekend at my sister's in Paddington.

I still clearly remember the days when I shared a room with my sister. We had some great times sharing that room and we also had some difficult times, where we wanted to get as far away from each other as we possibly could. As adults, we seem to have achieved this, but definitely not by design!

It's one of my personal goals to always make sure that I keep up regular contact with my siblings and to visit them as often as I can. I love that we have such close relationships without the slightest hint of rivalry or jealousy, as can so often happen in families.

So here's to an awesome siblings weekend in Sydney.

(Just so you know, it's going to be 21 degrees in Sydney tomorrow - eeepp! Vitamin D intake here I come!)

Feeling good with jeans

How good does it feel to do something that you've been meaning to do for ages?

Good, it feels really good. 

Even if it's just something small or something a bit silly. I bought a pair of jeans on sale in November last year and I've been meaning to get the hems altered since then. It wasn't super important and I obviously haven't been going pant-less since then or anything, but today I got myself sorted and dropped those jeans off to be altered.

The piece de resistance is that they'll be ready this afternoon. So I also get instant gratification with my pair of 'new' jeans!

Note to self, never underestimate how good it feels to just get stuff done. And also to have 'new' jeans to boot!

Happy Happy Joy Joy

I've started reading 'The Happiness Project' by Gretchen Rubin and I've signed myself up for her daily 'happiness' emails.

I'm really enjoying the book; it captures Gretchen's challenge to self to be more happy, more fulfilled and appreciative of the great life that she has. Over the course of a year, she creates her personal framework for happiness, her 12 personal commandments and each month sets herself a few themed tasks (pick up the book to find out more!).

Yesterday the 'happiness' email popped into my inbox with an incredibly tantalising subject line; 'The Joy of Craft'. As a self confessed crafter I was keen to read more. The article was about Frederick P. Brooks' book, 'The Mythical Man Month: Essays on Software Engineering'; what on earth does this have to do with crafting? Well, craft can come in many different forms; maybe software engineering is one of them and maybe knitting is another one. Each to their own, I say.

Here's the part of the article that really struck a chord with me:

Nothing is inherently fun. Some people find computer programming fun, or skiing, shopping, drinking wine, doing crossword puzzles, playing tennis, knitting, fly-fishing, watching American Idol. I find none of these things fun. But then, some people wouldn't enjoy blogging -- or reading books about computer programming! Which I do find fun.
But apart from the particular fun (or not) of computer programming, Brooks had a great list of the reasons that "craft" is fun:

1. "The sheer joy of making things." Not to be underestimated.
2. "The pleasure of making things that are useful to other people." Seeing other people take delight in what we've created, or benefit from something we've done, is enormously satisfying.
3. "The fascination of fashioning complex puzzle-like objects...and watching them work." Getting something to WORK. An under-appreciated joy. Gosh, when I finally got some songs to load into my iPod, I thought I would break into song.
4. "The joy of always learning, which springs from the nonrepeating nature of the task."
5. "The delight of working in such a tractable medium. The programmer, like the poet, works only slightly removed from pure thought-stuff." True -- but the opposite of a profound truth is also true, and I think there's a mirror pleasure to be gained from dealing with actual, physical, tangible materials.

Source: http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2011/07/i-recently-read-sort-of-frederick-brookss-the-mythical-man-month-as-i-understand-it-its-a-cult-classic-and-i-was-very.html

Like wow. How awesome is that. Reading this reminded me of why it's so important to have a 'craft', whatever it may be and how much enjoyment it can bring to your life. It feels like I'm having all of these little 'a-ha' moments over the last few weeks and this little article gave me another one.

I encourage you to have a think about your 'craft'; do you have one? If not, have a think about getting one, or maybe two or three. And make sure you let me know about it!

Habits

This week I spent 3 days locked away in a training room at work. To some, this might sound like a strange form of corporate torture. For me, these days were the best days I've had at work in a long time (maybe even ever!)

I've just completed the '7 Habits of Highly Effective People' signature program and wowee, what a great program it is. I'd heard about some of the elements before ('big rocks' and 'sharpening the saw' to name a couple) but I'd never read the '7 Habits' book or attended one of the workshops before.

I'm feeling really inspired and committed to living the habits.  In particular, writing my personal mission statement is something I am super excited to complete. I've been feeling a little adrift of late and I now understand why; I haven't formalised what I stand for, where I want to be in life, what I want my legacy to be.

I think this was the most powerful component of the workshop for me; thinking about my legacy, what will I leave behind, what will people say about me at my 80th birthday? Take a moment to think about that last statement, it's incredibly poignant.

So this weekend one of my 'big rocks' will be to allocate some time to drafting my personal mission statement and thinking about what I want my legacy to be. I can't wait.

Making a difference

I've been at a work conference this week and I was lucky enough to hear from a number of amazing guest speakers, like Li Cunxin (Mao's Last Dancer) and Lisa McInnes-Smith.

One of our presenters spoke about an organisation called Toms Shoes; for every pair of shoes they sell, they provide a pair to a child in need. How awesome is that.

It got me thinking; what can I do to help make a difference in someone else's life on an ongoing basis? I decided to set myself a goal to find a way to involve myself or to start something of my own that can fulfill this idea.

In the meantime, I'm using my craft to get involved in a couple of different projects that will make a difference to someone else. I'm knitting a scarf to send to Jock in Bulgaria (I wrote about that here) and once I've finished that, I'm going to knit a blanket as part of the Born to Knit Campaign. This campaign is run by Save the Children Australia and they're aiming to gather 15,000 knitted blankets that can be sent to children in India, Cambodia and Laos. The blankets will help keep these kids safe, warm and healthy. Pneumonia is the one of the biggest killers of kidlets under 5 in the developing world so a nice warm blanket will go a long way towards preventing kids contracting this disease.

I'm really excited to get thinking about what my community/giving project will be and in the meantime, I'll keep my knitting needles clicking for others!

Stepping back in time

I set off for work on Tuesday having left my mobile phone at home. Gasp. Shudder. How would I survive the day?

I spent the first hour freaking out; I'd miss calls, emails and what if someone needed me urgently?

I spent the next 8 hours feeling free and unrestrained; I had called a few people (using someone else's phone!) and told them how to find me and I sent a couple of emails from a colleague's iPad. Then I sat back, relaxed and went with the flow.

I ended up having the most relaxing work day that I've had in some time. It made me wonder whether it would be worthwhile spending a work day sans technology every now and then. Imagine how much free thinking and productivity there would be without the constant distraction of phone calls, text messages and emails.

My phone free day definitely provided me with food for thought and I look forward to the occasional technology free (or restricted) day in the near future.

Carbon tax smachs

Today was the day, the launch of the carbon tax which will be effective 1 July 2012.

I must say that in theory I am an advocate of a carbon tax, but I've become caught between the two major parties and their bickering and discrediting each other.

As per usual in the world of politics, each side vigorously defends their policy and would have you believe that the other side's policies will end humanity as we know it. I think I need to find myself some independent advice from someone in the know.

Let me know if you have any recommendations for me!

Deja vu

Did I actually experience the last week, or is it still last Sunday? It feels a lot like I'm doing the exact same thing that I was last weekend; rugging up, knitting and watching movies.  The Melbourne winter sure has set in today; it's been sleeting and it's very cold outside. 

No harm done for me though; this weather just creates more time for me to indulge in indoor activities (and no, I don't mean cleaning, washing clothes and cooking; although all of those things have been done this weekend too!) I mean, knitting, of course!

I cast off these cute fingerless gloves (but I still need to sew them up and sew in all of the thread ends), which will be for a girlfriend's daughter's birthday in August. I think she'll love the bright colours and the novelty of gloves (the pattern is Debbie Bliss).

Another girlfriend is having a baby in a few weeks; whaddya know, another baby! There are babies left, right and centre in my life these days.  I have a feeling that she's having a boy, so I'm starting on this hat and booties combo (the patterns are from Sublime) for her little one. Fingers crossed it is a boy, or else I'm going to have to start something else!

I've also been buying a few new albumns and songs on iTunes this afternoon. Have you heard, 'Beautiful Trash' by Lanu featuring Megan Washington? It's really ace.

Lastly, I have the slow cooker switched on and it's full of lots of veggies, some red meat, lots of herbs and some stock. All Jason need do is cook some rice and dinner is sorted. What better end could there be to a rainy Sunday.

Have a good week x

Far From the Madding Crowd

As you will know, I've been a little obsessed of late with period dramas.  The latest of which is 'Far From the Madding Crowd'.

I confess that I haven't read this book before; it's always been on my 'to read' list, but I've never prioritised it.  Well now I'm wondering why!  Last weekend I watched the 1998 adaptation (see the movie poster below) and it was really ace! I felt so sorry for Mr Boldwood and isn't Bathsheba Everdene just the most out there name you ever heard!

I'll be re-prioritising this book on my 'must read' list because I'm sure that the book will be even more engrossing than the mini-series was.  The story line really kept me on my toes; I didn't see the big twist coming and while I was hoping that Bathsheba would end up with the right man, I wasn't really sure that it was going to happen.

So all in all, I highly recommend giving this mini-series a watch and if you're up for it, getting your hands on a copy of the book.

Happy Heart, Healthy Me

This winter I'm giving myself a health challenge. We all know how easy it can be to have a bit of extra weight creep on in the colder months; well this year, that's not happening to me!

I'm taking part in the Happy Heart, Healthy Me challenge. My goal is to lose a few centimetres off my waist and to certainly not put any on!

The challenge is being sponsored by the Heart Foundation.  Did you know that heart disease is the number one killer of women in Australia? And there are some really easy things we can all do to make sure we don't become part of that statistic.

One easy thing you can check if your waist measurement; if it is 80cm or greater (for women) you have an increased risk of developing heart disease. So grab a tape measure and see if you need to join me in this challenge over winter!
  

Rainy Sundays

What better days are there than rainy Sundays.  They're the perfect excuse to knit the afternoon away.

I'm trying to finish this man's scarf and also a scarf for me.  The man's scarf (or snood, it should really be called), is going to be posted to Bulgaria; you can read about why I'm doing that here.

The one for me is in a lovely angora, grey flecked yarn. It's so soft and will be incredibly snug. I've finally just started the last ball of yarn and my goal is to finish it today.

So, with that deadline in mind, it's back to the knitting sweat-shop for me!

(P.S. I do have some company, this little critter is also spending Sunday afternoon on the couch!)