I feel that I'm a bit slow to things this year. First I discover that the 'pretty good' Bruce Springsteen is actually an amazing inspirational artist who has a remarkably loyal and incredible group of fans. And now I have encountered 'Chore Wars' - the absolute must-have for house work and household management for the gamer family!
My family's motivations are transformed! I have my elder child battling it out with me for the most XP (experience points for the unfortunate non-gamer readers) and my boy competing fiercely with Daddy for the most male XP in the household. Pretty soon the two big ones will have to watch out as the toddler gets her own share of XP thanks to her helpful nature!
You can start out with the pre-generated jobs like washing up, putting on laundry, cooking dinner, but it is very simple to add your own household full of duties and to give them funky D&D style names such as "Storing Armour for the Morrow" which is Chore Wars speak for "putting away your clean clothes".
I am loving it! The downside is as the local Dungeon Master (DM) for my party, I am the one who is creating all the jobs, so I'm falling behind on my own personal XP, spending a lot of time micro-managing every little job in the household.
I'm hoping this is a transformative experience for all of us, so far the children have been very enthusiastic and time will tell if it shames hubby into lifting his game!
Personally I am looking forward to exploring Quests - they sound promising.
At the moment the 14 days of household deep cleaning has been derailed by Chore Wars, but I'm ok with that. I think when I have Chore Wars functioning, I will re-start the 14 day deep cleaning as a 14 week project as it was meant to be.
If you like online games, or roleplaying, go check it out, Chore Wars. Excellent stuff.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Lurgy!
I've been struck down with .... a headcold!
Aside from general fatigue it's not so bad. What it has done is sapped some of my energy, but that is what improvisation and friends are for. I've used the latter to bolster my focus and remind me of the tasks that can't be compromised or put off - like talking with doctors.
As for improvisation, I am realising that what counts is every time you say "yes" I can do something about this that matters. Every yes is the door to another yes and more goodwill and good feelings.
So my yes for today was to do stretching exercises and squats while pushing my girl on the swing. I feel better, so does she and I have bought myself the goodwill to quickly type these thoughts out before lunch :)
Aside from general fatigue it's not so bad. What it has done is sapped some of my energy, but that is what improvisation and friends are for. I've used the latter to bolster my focus and remind me of the tasks that can't be compromised or put off - like talking with doctors.
As for improvisation, I am realising that what counts is every time you say "yes" I can do something about this that matters. Every yes is the door to another yes and more goodwill and good feelings.
So my yes for today was to do stretching exercises and squats while pushing my girl on the swing. I feel better, so does she and I have bought myself the goodwill to quickly type these thoughts out before lunch :)
Monday, September 23, 2013
Excuses and self
This little thought was inspired by a discussion around some rather glorious photos of Bruce Springsteen in bright orange swimmers. I know you all needed that detail :)
there is a point at which you say "I need no excuses" and from then on your health becomes your responsibility alone. At that point there is no guilt because guilt goes hand in hand with excuses. Missed this week's walks? Well then CHANGE and try something new next week, starting today. That is how I've lived my life since seeing Bruce in concert. He inspires me to realise that the energy, the motivation and the capability are inside ME.
there is a point at which you say "I need no excuses" and from then on your health becomes your responsibility alone. At that point there is no guilt because guilt goes hand in hand with excuses. Missed this week's walks? Well then CHANGE and try something new next week, starting today. That is how I've lived my life since seeing Bruce in concert. He inspires me to realise that the energy, the motivation and the capability are inside ME.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Cleaning party to Springsteen!
There were fabulous parts to my day. Getting to see the excellent quality live-streamed Rock in Rio concert was one of them. Doing that while sorting out a massive pile of papers at least got me through the cleaning up in one piece.
Here's what I'm up to - its the Cleaning Grand Plan from Organized Home. I am loving trying something new and sticking with a new method of getting things done - breaking out of my previous habit of insanely repeating the same things over and over and hoping for a miraculous change.
Today I moved along all the clean laundry from the laundry room into bedrooms and the linen closet, freeing up room to move shelving from in the laundry to it's proper destination - the kitchen. However the spot for the shelving in the kitchen was a little cluttered with what I like to call "boxes of rubbish" but apparently are made up of equal parts bills and children's artworks with a selection of random craft, mementos and photographs!
This is the pile of papers for my father that I need to copy! Oh how I long for a lackey to do THAT for me!
I did take some lovely photos of elder child's artwork. I like how insanely bright this is! She doesn't want to throw it all away, but my next project is to label it as photographed and if it drifts out of her bedroom then in the bin it goes. I also hope to print out a collage to frame on the wall, but thats a project for another day.
What I learnt today was that it is a very bad thing to let bills get out of control and pile up, because in this household, that means they eventually end up in a random box with other non-bill things and that's never going to end well. I also learnt that getting control of paperwork is going to always be an ongoing thing for me, its not at all my strong suit. In fact papers would easily be where I lose the war with 'stuff' - I am reconsidering the sanity of having all bills arrive by email. For me personally that would require a separate 'bills' email account so they didn't get lost in my general and junk mail. That's certainly something to get onto, as then the 'paper' could pile up inside my computer where only I see it!
This afternoon's exercise was a walk up the hill from the children's playground to my Dad's nursing home, about 20 minutes with views like this along the way.
Sunset over the river. Glorious time for walking in a beautiful place.
I have a thing for clover on the side of the road. Especially around the bottom of very old telegraph poles :)
Tomorrow is a work day, also a day for sorting out quite a bit for my Dad. Hubby should be working on the shelving while I'm gone, so kitchen progress will be made. Tuesday all going well I will move on to the next cleaning adventure on the Grand Plan.
Here's what I'm up to - its the Cleaning Grand Plan from Organized Home. I am loving trying something new and sticking with a new method of getting things done - breaking out of my previous habit of insanely repeating the same things over and over and hoping for a miraculous change.
Today I moved along all the clean laundry from the laundry room into bedrooms and the linen closet, freeing up room to move shelving from in the laundry to it's proper destination - the kitchen. However the spot for the shelving in the kitchen was a little cluttered with what I like to call "boxes of rubbish" but apparently are made up of equal parts bills and children's artworks with a selection of random craft, mementos and photographs!
This is the pile of papers for my father that I need to copy! Oh how I long for a lackey to do THAT for me!
This afternoon's exercise was a walk up the hill from the children's playground to my Dad's nursing home, about 20 minutes with views like this along the way.
Sunset over the river. Glorious time for walking in a beautiful place.
Tomorrow is a work day, also a day for sorting out quite a bit for my Dad. Hubby should be working on the shelving while I'm gone, so kitchen progress will be made. Tuesday all going well I will move on to the next cleaning adventure on the Grand Plan.
Two weeks of grand cleaning!
Over the past few days I decided to try a new way to attack the organisation and restoration of order in my home. I realised that I was embodying the definition of insanity - to repeat the same activity over and over and expect different results!
What I intend to do instead is to be guided by what seems like a reasonable 'guide' to Spring cleaning and follow that guide through for the 2 weeks of the school holidays. I've modified it to fit in with my time frame, but I'm also committed to repeating the whole process over the following 14 weeks to achieve a decent level of household loveliness. Here is the guide I'm following.
That's the plan and this is where you'll see my updates. At the moment I'm on day 3 of the clean. Today I will finish the laundry and kitchen - this involves taking some shelving that was always meant to go into the kitchen and finally put it up, which will leave me more room in the laundry.
My first day was a successful cleanup of the entry - I've done that about 6 months ago and this time an armchair had drifted into the room next to the door, where it collected clutter. The armchair is now gone and so is the clutter.
My arthritis is playing up so behind the business of tidying will also be the restoration of my salad based diet, frequent walks and removing bread and milk from my diet again in the hope to restore some functionality to my poor arthritic hand!
My hubby and I are still almost full time caring for my father, as the nursing home staff do not supply him with enough fluids during each day and it is critical he gets what he needs.
These next few weeks will be challenging, as the last few have been, but the rewards will be worthwhile.
For those who are Springsteen fans, here is the youtube link to tonight's Rock in Rio concert!
I can't wait!
What I intend to do instead is to be guided by what seems like a reasonable 'guide' to Spring cleaning and follow that guide through for the 2 weeks of the school holidays. I've modified it to fit in with my time frame, but I'm also committed to repeating the whole process over the following 14 weeks to achieve a decent level of household loveliness. Here is the guide I'm following.
That's the plan and this is where you'll see my updates. At the moment I'm on day 3 of the clean. Today I will finish the laundry and kitchen - this involves taking some shelving that was always meant to go into the kitchen and finally put it up, which will leave me more room in the laundry.
My first day was a successful cleanup of the entry - I've done that about 6 months ago and this time an armchair had drifted into the room next to the door, where it collected clutter. The armchair is now gone and so is the clutter.
My arthritis is playing up so behind the business of tidying will also be the restoration of my salad based diet, frequent walks and removing bread and milk from my diet again in the hope to restore some functionality to my poor arthritic hand!
My hubby and I are still almost full time caring for my father, as the nursing home staff do not supply him with enough fluids during each day and it is critical he gets what he needs.
These next few weeks will be challenging, as the last few have been, but the rewards will be worthwhile.
For those who are Springsteen fans, here is the youtube link to tonight's Rock in Rio concert!
I can't wait!
Monday, September 16, 2013
Thank you Bruce Funds!
I'm sharing my private thank to you the lovely Donna and team at Bruce Funds. What an amazing gift it has been to be part of the vision of giving as many people as possible the opportunity to see the Wrecking Ball Tour!
Thank you for the inspiration to share the incredible phenomenon that is Bruce Springsteen and the ESB with others I have thoroughly enjoyed both my 1/2 price ticket sale (privately) and the ticket I donated through Bruce Funds being used by people who then got to have an amazing incredible fantastic time. The journey has been so fulfilling and I can only imagine the enjoyment you get from operating Bruce funds.
Lets make the Australian concerts a Bruce Funds success - please visit their webpage and donate or nominate for the February tour!
Thank you for the inspiration to share the incredible phenomenon that is Bruce Springsteen and the ESB with others I have thoroughly enjoyed both my 1/2 price ticket sale (privately) and the ticket I donated through Bruce Funds being used by people who then got to have an amazing incredible fantastic time. The journey has been so fulfilling and I can only imagine the enjoyment you get from operating Bruce funds.
Lets make the Australian concerts a Bruce Funds success - please visit their webpage and donate or nominate for the February tour!
Thursday, September 12, 2013
My Daily Gratitude - the joy of generosity.
Blog? What blog?
I've been haphazard in my blogging for the past fortnight because my Dad has been critically ill in hospital. :(
Tonight he is home at his aged care home, looking very frail, but sort of smug to be in his own bed.
I have so much to say, but tonight I want to concentrate on the uplifting happiness that I am gaining from something I thought would make me sad.
Weeks ago, when the Bruce Springsteen concert in Santiago, Chile, was announced, I jumped onto the website and bought 2 Cancha Frontal (GA or Pit) tickets to this concert. I had hopes of being able to take my elder daughter on a trip with me to visit some ex-pat rellies and see Bruce. Logistically though it just didn't work out, and when I advertised my tickets, I found a very very cheerful, infectiously delighted Peruvian ticket purchaser who was very happy to be able to get a ticket for a lower price.
I'm running out of time to tell this story properly, but what I very much want to share is how fulfilled I feel being able to assist someone see Bruce in a more affordable way, particularly with his kind sharing of his favourite songs, his travel arrangements and plans for the trip to Santiago and his hopes to be up close to El Jefe! (or Bruce, to us).
It brings me so much excitement to hear via Facebook that Leylys is in fact 12th in line to see the concert, sharing the 'most keen fans' status with several other Peruvians (they seem very loyal fans!), some Brazilians and a couple from Italy on their 154th show, or so I'm told by the Facebook status!
This post is for Leylys, may he have a wonderful time at the concert, may Downbound Train be played for you, and I hope that you have an unforgettable moment or several :)
Gracias Leylys for taking me on the journey with you. I am so looking forward to the grand finale of the adventure you've included me in. Having your updates has really helped me feel good while Dad's been sick and always given me a little something to look forward to hearing about!
It has been my absolute pleasure to get to know you, and I am so looking forward to the amazing photographs from your front row position!
There's magic in the night, your faith will be rewarded :)
I've been haphazard in my blogging for the past fortnight because my Dad has been critically ill in hospital. :(
Tonight he is home at his aged care home, looking very frail, but sort of smug to be in his own bed.
I have so much to say, but tonight I want to concentrate on the uplifting happiness that I am gaining from something I thought would make me sad.
Weeks ago, when the Bruce Springsteen concert in Santiago, Chile, was announced, I jumped onto the website and bought 2 Cancha Frontal (GA or Pit) tickets to this concert. I had hopes of being able to take my elder daughter on a trip with me to visit some ex-pat rellies and see Bruce. Logistically though it just didn't work out, and when I advertised my tickets, I found a very very cheerful, infectiously delighted Peruvian ticket purchaser who was very happy to be able to get a ticket for a lower price.
I'm running out of time to tell this story properly, but what I very much want to share is how fulfilled I feel being able to assist someone see Bruce in a more affordable way, particularly with his kind sharing of his favourite songs, his travel arrangements and plans for the trip to Santiago and his hopes to be up close to El Jefe! (or Bruce, to us).
It brings me so much excitement to hear via Facebook that Leylys is in fact 12th in line to see the concert, sharing the 'most keen fans' status with several other Peruvians (they seem very loyal fans!), some Brazilians and a couple from Italy on their 154th show, or so I'm told by the Facebook status!
This post is for Leylys, may he have a wonderful time at the concert, may Downbound Train be played for you, and I hope that you have an unforgettable moment or several :)
Gracias Leylys for taking me on the journey with you. I am so looking forward to the grand finale of the adventure you've included me in. Having your updates has really helped me feel good while Dad's been sick and always given me a little something to look forward to hearing about!
It has been my absolute pleasure to get to know you, and I am so looking forward to the amazing photographs from your front row position!
There's magic in the night, your faith will be rewarded :)
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