Love your life !!

This has been my mantra today, I think safely I would say it has been 'one of those days'.

I realised sitting in the taxi, on yet another trip away from Princess A, singing her 'goodnight song' that even though I wasn't there to tuck her in, I could still make it special for her. The taxi driver to my surprise thought it was a lovely song (obviously he is as tone deaf as I am) and gave me 2 sticks of incense (not sure what I am meant to do with those).
 
I guess what I realised is that I can always complain about working too much, or not enough, of being busy or not busy, of having it easy or having it tough, life has been a whirlwind since February for way too many reasons to go into here, and I just realised today how blessed I am to have A and Princess A. I have a wonderful life (ok we always wish for more, or better or whatever) but its time to take stock, make the most of the dreams I have and go out there and just do it.

I was reminded on Friday of my own advice (funny!!), I had a friend come and do my hair, and while we were talking she referred to a mutual friend of mine and something I told her a long time ago "what other people think of you is none of your business". My mum used to say that to me all the time, and it was really interesting having my own advice come back at me. It made me realise that as people we are far better at giving advice than taking it.

Today's post is slowly deteriorating to some babble.. I feel like I want to tell the world so much today, about how we can all make a difference yada, yada, yada. Probably the best place to start is to say, that today I had a reality check about what is important and moving forward I am really going to make the most of the life I have and love every minute of it.

A and Princess A are in my corner, they are their as my support and there to bat for me. Now is my time to make the right decisions, shine and make them proud.

Princess A and A, I love you both

Good Night big world

N

Family Dinner Night

I am starting to consider whether an extended family dinner night on Thursdays might be a new institution in our home.

Last night my Dad, brother, In laws and A, Princess A and I had a delicious dinner.

Menu
Rib Eye Roast - we got it from RG meats and it was absolutely delicious.
Spinach, Speck, Tomato and Cheese bake - really yummy!!
Roast potatoes, Sweet potato, Eggplant, Zucchini and carrot.

Everyone loved it.. I feel like I am finally getting some control in the mayhem which has been my life for the last month or so. I have a few more stumbling blocks getting my accounts in order and clearing my desk out.

My motto for today is bit by bit, step by step - I know that A, Princess A and I will get there.

Wishing you all a Delicious day

N xx

The simple things in life

I find myself in Auckland again, reflecting on the last trip here. On the way home I watched a  movie about a duck. It was a New Zealand film, I enjoyed the simplicity of it and how heart warming it was. Lets face it there is something kind of nice about a man and a duck.

The amazing thing was, I found myself tearing up when explaining how much I enjoyed it.  My homeward trip last month was a trip of discovery, of enjoyment and of finding some inner peace. I head home again tomorrow, and am hoping to find a few similar a - ha moments. The movie trailer is below, I am not sure if it does it justice (comes across a little cheesy), but its worth a look.

If you find yourself on a flight between NZ and Australia, or anywhere else in the world, with an hour and a half to spare, have a look at a story about the simple things in life.


Enjoy

N xx

cupcake coma

We are in the wind-down aftermath of cupcake chaos.

25 large cupcakes 24 mini cakes

Designs- dinosaurs, butterflies, snakes, teddies and shapes

Dinosaurs & teddy bears

The snakes

Snakes finished product

The full collection

Recipe was the same as the Thermomix vanilla cupcakes (post in June)

Lots to tell.. Promise to write more later xx

Cake Mania

Wow what a weekend - 2 cake orders

Luckily they were both the same type of cake so I could make all the elements in bulk

The Weber BBQ cake
Inspired by planet cake (the cake gurus)

The Chicken Drummies

Skewers and sausages

Steaks

Skewers and Sausages

 I made 2 carrot cakes, both were moist, I felt a little terrible as the first one I made I had to rush the decorations a little, I think the end product just wasn't quite as smooth ( I only hope it tasted ok).

Cake 1

Cake 1

I learned that for me it is definitely a hobby, not sure I could really enjoy making cakes with a deadline or price tag.

I was in a total conundrum, what to charge my friend, particularly as the cake wasn't as perfect as I would have liked it to be

Cake 2

Cake 2

Cake 2

Cake 2 with escaped skewers and bottle tops

PS. My friend came back to me and liked the cake, in fact its the ultimate compliment, she asked me to make her wedding cake.. so I was worried about nothing.

There was a time when people had manners

This week I am wearing the working mum hat. I am sure as all working mums its a mixture of a glimmer of the former pre-little person life but also the guilt of not being there. At least I am not calling home every hour (which must have been truly annoying for whoever was minding Princess A).



Currently I am sitting at Melbourne Airport, and I have never really noticed it before, but there is a gentleman sitting a little way away who has spent the whole hour I have been here talking to people. Although this is interesting, I sat here wondering ... Do I do this too? Am I as irritating to others. Part of me wanted to lean over and give him my business card, but then that would demonstrate that I was listening in to his conversation. He was quite rude the whole time, loud, obnoxious, and had I really wanted some personal time, it would have been impossible.



I have been thinking this a fair bit lately, this morning I was listening to the radio on my way to the client, and they were discussing parents who show their pictures of their children to friends and acquaintances without realising that others aren't interested, don't care and frankly think this is just bragging. Do I do this? I mean I think Princess A is just the most beautiful, clever, brilliant child in the world. Am I boring the people around me with endless chatter about my "perfect" child? Is it bad manners to talk about ones own children? or about oneself?



I am starting to wonder whether people are losing their manners. What happens to a simple "thank you". Am I old fashioned for wanting to instill this in my child? People don't really send thank you cards anymore, don't wave in traffic when you let them in, are constantly in a rush and frankly in my work life, seem to be out for themselves to better their position (financial / status etc) at the detriment of the people around them. Have you noticed that people seem to have a disregard for others?



It seems that table manners have dissappeard, many kids only rarely sit at the table to eat a meal. I have to say in the haste of choking a meal down in Princess A's early life, my table manners started to slip and left alot to be desired, eating with one hand whilst attempting to breast feed, or pat, or cuddle just didn't really leave much room for ettiquete. Having said that, we now eat at the dinner table every night, with Princess A, A and I love food, and frankly, communual eating, sharing a meal is part of domestic bliss.