50 life lessons..

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
45. The best is yet to come.
46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
48. If you don't ask, you don't get.
49. Yield.
50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

I read this column by Regina Brett this evening & it made me smile - & in fact it made me light a couple of candles. We all need to take a step back and put our life in perspective sometimes. Appreciate the small things in life, f you let them they will make you happy all on their own...

xxxxxxxxxxxx

PS update on family & trooping to come soon, there are other priorities when your 6-month-old has croup!

quick update!

I've not updated here for almost 2 weeks now, how bad of me! I had been writing something every few days! We've been rather busy so i've had very little time to stop & type so here's a brief summary of what we've been up to....
Lyra started preschool last week and does love it while she is there but separation itself is heartbreaking - she cries and begs me to take her home with her when I leave. She stops crying pretty quickly now (been to 4 3-hour sessions) & has a lovely time but does get tearful when I come to pick her up saying "please can I come home with you now mummy". I'm finding it very difficult to tell you the truth, not only is this upsetting goodbye-bit happening but she is growing up so fast! At the moment she wants mummy a lot more than she has done but still wants daddy more!
Talking about daddy, David is in the midst of stormtrooper fever, his stormtrooper armour is almost completely ready to wear. Good thing really since he's off on his first "troop" tomorrow in Taunton! We've been having a lot of late nights with both of us working on it in a bid to get it ready & tomorrow is the day! That's all I'll say for now as this project really deserves a post all of its own after the event (with pictures...)
Logan has a cold at the moment (so does Lyra in fact, she was sick last night) so he's all snotty & not sleeping well. He is sitting treally well, rolling front to back occasionally now & burbling beautifully - on wednesday he started saying "dadada" a lot but we also have a lot opf "blurblelurblelurble" & almost words "Heeyaa" "yeah" & what sounds a lot like "hello Lyra". he's eating really well & now on 3 full meals a day - from today with a pudding afterwards as my health visitor suggested his being sick is because he needs more food & less breastmilk.... He's fantastic & so cheerful despite being so pukey, though I do wish he would sleep a little better! he's still settling himself at the start of the night though so I live in hope...
As for me... what can I say?? I've finished a crochet diplodocus for Daniella's starting-uni pressie (she's off to Portsmouth on Thursday!) have made a little cotton crocheted blanket for Logan & in the process of making a pure wool cardi (pics to follow) as Lyra has had most of the clothes I've made it's Logan's turn for the moment! I'm int eh process of organising the lounge STILL & we have one of the Ikea shelving units up. i think the other may have to wait for next weekend though as I've not had time to sort things enough to get that up (need to sort Lyra's room too you see as current TV cupboard will go up there as toy cupboard) we're getting new carpetsin a couple of weeks, I've spent a lot of time chatting to Genni (we loved that it was09.09 :09am on 09/09/09 recently) & discussing life the universe & everything. It's wonderful tobe so close to her now.....
Anyway this "quick" update was quite long really! I'm sure there's more to add - I'll be back & I shall add photos soon too.... adieu for now!!

hello!

Hello, hello - goodness it's been a while since I've blogged (over a week!) We have been rather busy, visiting my parents then in Bristol with my lovely sister Genni (staying at our Godmother's) then rearranging/ organising the lounge & sorting the garage while David was off work last week. Normal service should resume from now on....

Our 3 days away in Bristol were lovely, we went to the city farm with my Godmother, popped into the city centre, met up with Jenny & her twins who are 3 days older than Logan (we met online on pregnancy messageboard & she was my texy buddy but we ended up being in hospital at the same time!) & lovely chats - though 3 nights of drinking wine int eh evening followed by very poor sleep due to Logan's teething left me feeling rather hanging by the time we came home (via Ikea!) on wednesday!! It was fantastic spending a decent amount of time with Genni & Jo & Rob, who are very lovely & more like our Aunt & Uncle than anyone else. It was a bit like therapy though & I felt pretty wrung out emotionally by the end as we talked a lot about my childhood - & it was a pretty hard childhood in many ways that I'm not going to elaborate on. Some bits Genni shared in but I think some of it was new to her but it was good to talk it through. I'm so glad that I'm so close to her now, she's like a best friend and a sister in one..

The lounge is looking much better - a large part of the change has been to move one of our large 3-seater sofas out into the garage pending imminent rehoming (we hope!) so it feels very spacious. We're getting new carpets int eh next 3 weeks or so & some storage units ordered from Ikea online so really can't wait for the end of this month in many ways as the house should hopefully feel a lot more together... We did take the children swimming yesterday (more successful than last time as Logan had a mini wetsuit to keep him warm) & I made a huge roast dinner. David went back to work today but we've kept very busy & went to the park this morning & to Hestercombe with Tina & Lindsay & their children. we weren't home until gone 5pm so Lyra was knackered & I had to organise food with 2 screaming children!!

In other news Daniella has sorted her house for Uni - she didn't quite make the grades for UCL so is going to Portsmouth instead so had to find a house as halls were full. She's made friends with a nice young man called Josh who she will be sharing a house with (and 4 other students!). David's sister Vicky has announced she is expecting a baby in May which was rather a surprise as a week before conception her husband had been expressing that he did not want any more children (their kids are 6 & 8), & most important of all to our little family Lyra is starting pre-school tomorrow for the first time!! This will be the first time someone outside of our family has looked after her (Isa & Tom count as family really) so very big step for us. I'm rather nervous but managing to hide it well in front of her!