31 Days - An update on my most popular post - where are we now?

My most - read post was the tribute I wrote to Stella Young.

http://www.lifeatmylevel.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/stop-all-clocks-you-broke-internet-stell.html

It has been almost six months since Stella's passing and I have to say that there are days where the disbelief still hits me right between the eyes.

She was just so alive, so vital, so incredibly happy the last time I saw her. It was easy to believe that Stella was invincible. She just loved people; she loved life.
All of us who were so blessed to call her a personal friend miss her beyond belief...and always will.

I think of her when I stop at South Yarra station. I think of her when my train pulls into Richmond. My heart is joyous when I hear Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson.  I feel her encouraging me to continue to get proud by practicing and I know she'd be super proud of my daughter Sarah jetting off to LA on her own.

I don't understand why she only got such a short time but oh my gosh, she was so alive while she was here. She did so much, loved so much and was loved so incredibly by so many people. What a good life. What an amazing life.

If I'm only a fraction of who she was, then I've had a great life indeed.

31 Days - A review of something I have used, read or eaten lately

Last night, on a whim, I decided that my top lip needed waxing...or something.  I normally use Nair to chemically burn it all off but this time I couldn't be bothered having something stinky under my nose for twenty minutes. I found these in the cupboard and decided to wax them off. I'd used wax strip before. Although they weren't painless, they were quick. Warm them up between your hands, smooth them on, rip them off...what could go wrong?

I'd never used this brand before but wax strip are wax strips...they're all the same so I didn't even bother pulling out the instructions to read them before I used them.

Bad idea.

These babies are waxy, like, super waxy! They take off the hair alright...and the top layer of skin.

I knew I'd gotten into trouble when I saw a line of blood after I'd quickly ripped off the strip, stifling a squeal of pain as I did so.

I should have read the instructions that stated that waxy residue would only come off with the accompanying Waxing Oil or After Care Lotion...of which we had none. No amount of toner or moisturizer would soothe the burning sensation or remove the sticky residue.

I spent an uncomfortable night.

Today it looks as though I've been eating something...brownish. My top lip is scabbing over...and it's sore and stinging. Lucky I have cool fingers. I'm pressing them to my lip for some relief.

I won't be using these again. If I don't stick to the Nair creme I think I might go for some professional waxing...or read instructions thoroughly before I attempt a home job again.

Don't like these at all.

Ouch!

31 Days - Something I found

Ok so let's churn out these last few, hey?

Something I found.

I found running...or it found me...or we both found each other, and in the process I found me.

I went to see my psychologist yesterday. God love my psychologist - I know I do. I've been seeing him on and off for fifteen years. Anyway we were talking about activities or actions that bring a person back into themselves. He was saying that people who engage in self harm activities can often do so to bring themselves back into themselves. He suggested that this is what running is for me; that it brings me back into myself again. I tend to agree. After a run I feel so very present and aware of myself, my surroundings, my body and my thoughts. Running slows everything down so that I can find myself again. I feel that the world makes sense when I run...or after I run.

I found running...or it found me...or we both found each other...and in the process I found me.

31 Days - What I want to be when I grow up

One thing no one told me as a child was that when you're an adult there are times - sometimes many times - where you don't feel like a grown up at all. For a long time when I became a wife and mother I would stop and say, "What? Hang on. I'm a MOTHER? I'm a grown up?" It never felt quite real and even now at the age of 48 I still catch myself feeling incredulous that I am in fact, a grown up.

No one told me that that young girl would still exist in my heart and soul and I'd still feel like throwing out all form of responsibility and just run naked down a sand dune in the middle of summer.

Not that I ever did that mind you....but it's on the Bucket List!

All I ever really wanted to do when I grew up was be a mother. I loved taking care of my dolls as a little girl. I loved it when my Mum would have another baby and there'd be this brand new little someone in the house to love. It was so special, so magical. I have to admit that my own initial foray into motherhood wasn't teh lovely, romantic thing I had envisaged, but when that round, warm little body was placed into my arms I was so incredibly hooked and I felt as though I was finally doing what I was born to do.

I know there are countless women out there who don't see motherhood like that, but I did. I've come to realise that just because I never wanted a high-falutin' career nor did I have lofty ambitions that didn't make me any less of a feminist.

So I guess you could say that I became what I wanted to be - a MOTHER.

But when I REALLY am grown up - I want to be a GRANDMOTHER! Then I think I will finally accept the fact that I am indeed, a grown up.

31 Days - Thank you to a thing I love

In rehearsal with Weave.

Dear Dance,

You thought I was going to write a Thank You to Running, didn't you? No, this time it's you.

You have lived within me for as long as I can remember. Ever since I chose that hot pink leotard and slippers and pink headband, you've resided within. I loved ballet. I can easily remember those classes in the Yarram Hall. I can still hear some of the music Mrs Stoddart played as she would have us practice positions, skips, gallops. I still remember the positions of hands and feet. I can hear Mrs Stoddart instructing us as we stood at the barre, "Point, lift, point, close!" I can still remember focusing on the EXIT sign so I wouldn't get dizzy whilst spinning. Hearing some of the music from Disney ' s Fantasia always takes me back to being on stage for Alice In Wonderland.

When we left in 1974 that heralded the end of my formal ballet training but oh how I missed you! I begged to go to classes in the towns we ended up in but it wasn't to be. Still, you stayed within and I found myself choreographing my own routines to music I loved. Looking back on it now some of the moves were ridiculous but I loved creating and moving. Sometimes friends would join me and we'd create routines to perform for the class. Simon Smith and His Amazing Dancing Bear and The Rainmaker being two memorable ones!

I've loved you for as long as I can remember as you've helped me release some of the in explainable emotions that seem too big to express sometimes.

Thanks to being involved with Weave I've finally found a place where I've been able to explore the dance in new ways. Here I've discovered that there are so many ways that dance can be created and explored.

THANK you for bringing me to a place where I've finally "landed in my own skin" and become appreciative and grateful for this body I inhabit. You've been the facilitator for this and I'm so incredibly glad that I've been given a chance to be able to express myself through you.

31 Days - My worst habit

I think my worst habit is probably starting projects and not finishing them. I have a whole cupboard filled with craft projects that haven't been finished. There are some really beautiful things too. One if them is a very sweet little quilt I started for my neice when she was a newborn.

That neice is now nine years old...

I did a quilting class maybe 15 years ago. Unfinished.

Two block by month quilts - unfinished.

Several knitting patterns, a crochet blanket.

A quilt as you go quilt that was supposed to be for Chloe.

A toy rabbit.

A couple of knitted bears.

I have a terrible habit of seeing a beautiful patterns and saying, "Yes! I'll make that!" then losing momentum.

One day...one day...I'll systematically go through each pattern/project and finish them one by one.

Oh look! Something shiny! ;)

Happy Anniversary Shout out

We interrupt the 31 Days Challenge for this Public Service Announcement. 

There are times you just have to do a shout out on your blog to some people who deserve so much more than a shout out on a blog - regardless of the fact that the said blog is a public blog and has the potential to be seen by anyone with a computer and access to the internet.

These guys deserve a shout out. I can't tell you how much I love and appreciate them. Our relationship has deepened over the years and is something I truly treasure from the bottom of my heart. When your parents become your friends...well...that's something special.

They'd drop everything to come and help you out if they knew you needed it. They'd help tirelessly and selflessly - and they often do. They are two of the most hard working, dedicated people I've ever known.

Most of all, they love each other and I have never doubted that for one minute over my entire lifetime.

If I could even manage to be half the person both of them are, then I've done well.

Meet my Mum and Dad.

Today is their 49th Wedding Anniversary.....and my Mum's 70th Birthday