Tag: smile

Share Your World 2016 – Week 26

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What’s your most memorable (good or bad) airplane flight?

On our way home from Guangzhou in 2013 we were upgraded to Premium Economy. The staff didn’t tell us of our upgrade, so image our surprise when suddenly we had more room and extra features we weren’t expecting. Nowadays, when we are traveling somewhere we always look at the price difference and if it is at all possible to pay the difference however we haven’t yet been able to justify it.

How many bones, if any, have you broken?

Fortunately, I have only had 3 broken bones and as doctors are now describing my bones as super bones, I hope to not have a problem with broken bones due to osteoporosis in my later years. My first broken bone, a greenstick fracture of my right arm, happened when I was 15.  I thought I was so cool skateboarding down a hill when I hit a stone on the pathway. Oh well. at least the plaster cast helped my cool image.

My second broken bone, my right little toe, somehow occurred during the Newcastle earthquake. I didn’t find out what was causing my pain initially as when we went to the hospital they were evacuating it and we suddenly realised my pain wasn’t the priority.

My third and hopefully last broken bone occurred in my 40’s when I was helping set up a gymnastics competition. Several men were carrying a balance beam when they dropped it onto the middle of my left foot. You could hear me yell for miles I think. It hurt and definitely wasn’t cool.

Photo Credit: Google Images

Photo Credit: Google Images

 

If you had your own talk show, who would your first three guests be? (guest can be dead, alive, famous or someone you just know)

Walt Disney: Founder of Disneyland and Disney World and creator of Mickey Mouse

Paul Ramsay: Founder of Ramsay Healthcare

Florence Nightingale: Founder of modern nursing

Make a Currently List: What are you reading, watching, listening to, eating, needing, wanting, and missing right now?

Reading — The Winner’s Bible — Dr Kerry Spackman

Watching — Ally McBeal

Needing — My tenants to find a suitable property for them to move to early so we can begin our move

Wanting — More boxes to pack our belongings into when we can finally move

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last week I was grateful to be able to  be able to focus on being a full-time writer and totally rearrange the order of my book. This task, while not yet completed does seem to have increased the flow between the chapters which was my goal.

In the coming week I am looking forward to going to Newcastle and seeing my family. It will be weird going back for the first time since I know I will be moving back in the next few months.

Share Your World – 2016 Week 26

Weekly Photo Challenge: Look Up

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During our trip to Canada my husband and I spent what felt like hours studying and taking photos of flags. Their history interested us greatly and it was so different to our Australian flags. Our biggest problem was getting the wind right to get one flag to fly perfectly. So image our surprise when we looked up and saw these four flags perfectly aligned in the Old Port, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

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Coffee Catch-Up #10

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If we were having coffee I would tell you how glad I am that it is now July because what a month June turned out to be. On top of everything I spoke about in my last coffee catch-up this month has continued to serve up curve balls to challenge us and make us stronger.

If we were having coffee I would tell you the reason I missed coffee last weekend was because I was in hospital after a major allergic reaction to antibiotics.  I am rarely sick so the fact that I got an infection from an unknown source that wouldn’t go away was frustrating. Then, after a week of not getting better to change antibiotics, get sicker and end up in hospital was an eye opener for me. Initially, I looked very beautiful with my swollen face however with time and treatment my face has returned to normal. Each day I feel better, however I am looking forward to getting all my energy back soon.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that I taught myself to use Publisher this week. It has always been on my bucket list of things to do and I have looked at it many times before, but always gone back to Word – for me the simpler option. This time I persevered and once I got a handle on it I liked it. In fact, I liked it so much that I have decided to transfer my book to Publisher when I have finished this last edit to see how different it looks and increase my knowledge base of this tool. I may even use You tube and see what other secrets it can reveal. With a coy smile, I would also ask you if you have any Publisher experience or handy hints to share with me.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that despite everything I am loving the simpler, slower pace of life at the moment. Not having to rush anywhere, use what food we have and shop minimally is turning out for me to be very rewarding. Instead of buying a large amount of food on the weekend to make feeding the family quickly after a busy day commuting and working possible, we have made a daily plan together about what we eat based on what we have and suddenly we have so much more time. Because we aren’t rushing for some bizarre reason it takes us even less time to cook, we spend hardly any money on food and we are more creative with our ideas. Who knew?

If we were having coffee I would tell you how on the last day of June my husband discovered that the cat had a swollen left neck. We are so pleased June has ended as we don’t want any more surprises. Turns out the cat just wanted to be like me so he got himself an infection that needed antibiotics. No problem, a quick visit to Uncle Tom (his vet), a big needle and he was sorted.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how interesting it was for me to write my curriculum vitae this week. I have lost all previous copies so had to start from scratch and remember 30 years of history, experience and knowledge. It took me a day and a half but in the end I was very pleased with how it turned out. I am also grateful because I am moving back to my home town city and working on semi retirement, hopefully I won’t need to fill out another one, but hey never say never. None of us ever knows what the future holds. If I didn’t believe this before the June I’ve had, I certainly know it know.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how excited I was to be presented with my Toastmasters Triple Crown Award by the District Director at last weeks changeover meeting. It is a difficult award to achieve as you need to complete 3 educational awards. Last year I decided I was up for the challenge and I set it as my goal during my year as President of one of my club’s. I needed to keep focused and plan well but in the end everybody won and I have a super fancy pin to wear whenever I need an extra boast to be the best I can.Triple Crown Award

If we were having coffee I would ask you what is happening in your world this last fortnight?

 

Coffee Catch-Up #9

Coffee Catch-Up #9

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If we were having coffee I would tell you how dramatically my life has changed since our last coffee catch-up 5 weeks ago. My son has moved to Japan to be with his finance, I have resigned from my job, taking a month off before returning to casual nursing and this week it was confirmed that my husband has a new job in Newcastle, the city I grew up in. Life is definitely moving forward and the future looks bright.

If we were having coffee I would tell you about the great, wet weekend my husband, son, daughter and I spent together in the Hunter Valley before he left for Japan. The villa I rented contained a slow combustion fire place, so, despite the cold and wet we were toasty warm. I had kept this a secret from my husband to add to give him  a surprise. He was so excited that he didn’t stop playing with it all weekend. The fact that he didn’t have to chop the wood made his day even better. The cabins were in wine country and had resident kangaroos that roamed around the property. The photos below are from our verandah and we thought one of the kangaroos even had a joey in her pouch, however, because it was too wet we couldn’t get any closer. What do you think?

If we were having coffee I would tell you that since we last meet my blog has turned 2. I can’t believe how much I have learnt and grown since I joined the blogging community. This time 2 years ago I think I was still struggling to have 7 followers and now I have over 700 and fortunately they continue to grow daily. My goal by Christmas is to have over 1,000, which I think is doable if I keep chipping blogging away. My goal for my 3rd blogiversary is to have had 50,000 views. As this is  just over double what I am now on, it may be a tall order, but hey reach for the stars I say.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that since I resigned from my managers position, I have enjoyed having no stress and getting back into my blogging regularly. I don’t think I realised the impact the stress was having on me until I stopped and literally felt my body relax. Every time people see me now they are commenting on how good I am looking and how it is nice to see me smile again.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how grateful I am to A Momma’s View for choosing my poem on understanding as one of her pick’s of the week. It has helped me develop my confidence in my new skill of poetry writing. Stop by and visit her blog if you get the chance it definitely worth a look.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how nice it was last Saturday to share an Aussie BBQ with my son and close family and friends just hours before he left the country to start his new adventure in Japan. Sharing stories and future plans is great bonding experience and with the ease of travel these days nowhere is far away.

If we were having coffee I would tell you about the beautiful flowers I got from my staff after leaving work. They were so heavy and take pride of place on the table behind my desk, bringing a smile to my face daily.

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If we were having coffee I would tell you that my daughter’s birthday seems like it was months ago, however in reality, it was only 3 weeks ago. Because everyone was busy, it was extended over the week and celebrated many times with some intimate gathering of family and friends at the times everyone was available.

If we were having coffee I would ask you what you have been up to since we last met. Has your world been calmer or crazier than mine? Let me know in the comments.

Coffee Catch-up # 8

Weekend Coffee Share

X – XXXX Origins Beer

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I was 10 years old and we first traveled to Queensland and I first saw the XXXX beer label. Now over 40 years later the brand has grown into an Australian icon and I love that for its latest venture XXXX has gone back to its roots and named its beers after the working country areas of Queensland. I’m not a Queenslander but it still makes me proud.

The 36 towns featured are:

  • Atherton
  • Bellbowrie
  • Birdsville
  • Bluff
  • Cairns
  • Calen
  • Chinchilla
  • Cloncurry
  • Coolangatta
  • Curra
  • Deeragun,
  • Drillham
  • Emerald
  • Foxdale
  • Gatton
  • Gin Gin
  • Giru
  • Gladstone
  • Goondiwindi
  • Herberton
  • Inkerman
  • Jimboomba
  • Karara
  • Laura
  • Mackay
  • Maryborough
  • Mirani
  • Mount Isa
  • Nobby
  • Rockhampton
  • Roma
  • Stonehenge
  • Toowoomba
  • Townsville
  • Warwick
  • Windorah

If I ever see these beers in New South Wales I may even taste my first XXXX beer.

A – Australian Fun Facts

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What better way to start the April 2016 A – Z challenge than with some fun facts about my amazing country, Australia.

  1. Our population hit the big time this year when we made it to 24 million people.
  • Australians love to shorten words and add an O to the end, for example ambulance driver becomes ambo.
  • The first selfie was taken in Australia.
  • The box jellyfish kills more people annually than sharks, stone fish and crocodiles combined.
  • Australia has over 10,000 beaches. you could visit one a day for 27 years.
  • The Emu and the Kangaroo are on our coat of arms because neither animal can walk backwards.
  • On Christmas Eve, 1974 Darwin one of Australia’s capital cities was destroyed by cyclone Tracy, a category 5 cyclone.
  • In 1973, the Australian government spent $1.35 million dollars to purchase Jackson Pollack’s Blue Poles. At the time, this was a very controversial decision, however it is now recogised as a great work of art, worth all the money and more.

Blue Poles

 

  • Melbourne has the world’s largest Greek population outside of Athens.
  • 83% of Australia’s population live within 50 kilometres of the coast.
  • Since 2012 Australia has been recognised as the world’s most obese nation with 26% of the population obese.
  • Australia was the second country in the world to allow women to vote.
  • Australia has the world’s large supply of camel’s with one hump and exports them to Saudia Arabia.
  • Tasmania has the cleanest air in the world.
  • There are over 150 big things in Australia.

 

Snapshots of Fanta Wild, China

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Tell a broad story using a series of short, focused scenes.

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This was our day at Fanta Wild Adventure Park, Zhenzhou, China. We came to watch our daughter in the diving show and enjoyed immersing ourselves in another culture, creating many amazing memories  as we were stopped by many of the locals wanting to take a photo with us and practice their English as we toured the park.

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Celebrating 400

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Today, only 21 months after my first post — Happy Mother’s Day, on Mother’s Day 2014, I celebrate my 400th post. This is a milestone I never dreamed possible, so to celebrate please enjoy my acrostic poem — another skill I’ve learnt on my Inspiring Max journey.

Following my dream

Out of my comfort zone

Under the guidance of those who had gone before

Rewarded by new friends in over a hundred countries

Honing my skills with

Unique and positive posts

Navigating my way

Determined to make a difference

Respecting  and responding to others

Enjoying the journey

Driven by inspiration

Trusting my instincts

Happy others find my hard work helpful

Passion, persistence and positivity

Open the way for my original

Simple success

Thankful for Inspiring Max’s amazing community

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Share Your World – 2016 # 6

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  1. What is your favorite word? Believe
  2. What is your least favorite word? Why, followed closely by can’t
  3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? Connecting with nature
  4. What turns you off? People blaming me for things that are their responsibility
  5. What is your favorite curse word? I try hard not to curse but when I do it would be the f.. off word — said casual without intent
  6. What sound or noise do you love? I love the sound of silence
  7. What sound or noise do you hate? Clicking of pens, mouth noises and fingernails down chalk boards
  8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Professional speaker and motivator
  9. What profession would you not like to do? Accountant
  10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? Your efforts were noticed even when you thought they weren’t

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

This last week was full of major random events that should work together next week to move my life forward even though singularly one wouldn’t have thought so. Next week I am looking forward to seeing how this new direction plays out.

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