Stupid dog, broken wrist and amazing holiday!

I don't really think the dog is stupid - she just got over-excited, this led to me losing my balance, falling on my arm and breaking my wrist! Possibly I'm the stupid (or careless) one! Nearly four weeks later the wrist is slowly getting better - still a bit swollen and sore, but recovering! You don't realise how much you use your left hand until you can't!

We arrived back from our amazing holiday on Lord Howe Island on Saturday. No phone, no television and walking everywhere - intended bike riding was out of the question this time! There is a 25 km/hour speed limit and nobody locks anything - a bit hard to get used to at first, but what a way to live! The weather was balmy one day, raining the next - it means we had some pleasant walks and I managed to read four books (I think that is a record for me).

It is really difficult to come back down to earth now after a week of three wonderful meals (and afternoon tea) every day at Pine Trees Resort. At home I have one daughter cooking me meals - at least until my wrist is a bit more capable - but the images of the holiday linger. It's great to be home, but...........!

I will return to Lord Howe Island before too long - of that I'm sure - and next time I'll be bike ready!

moving house and too tired to be emotional

It's been so long since I wrote that I've forgotten how to do it! I need to go to bed because I have to get up at 6. I'm worried that my iphone's alarm won't go - apparently some Year 2011 bugs have stopped some alarms from working - mine included.

I have a busy day ahead - finishing off my packing before the removalists come on Wednesday and filling up my car with what can only be described as 'stuff'. Another skip or two will be needed after my move - I'm taking a lot of rubbish with me. I thought my cupboards were so organised - not! Going to a house with very few cupboards will help me to stop keeping 'keepsakes' - so worried about space for all those boxes!

Sorry this sounds so disjointed - but that's exactly how I feel!

Moving tips anyone?

After all is said and said

After yesterday's post I decided to change my name - to my real name. I agree with my mother's doctor - Beverley Anne just isn't me. So now I am Carolyn - my real name. Consequently I have changed my blogging website to carolynln.blogspot.com.

It's true that a name sometimes means everything. I think our given name is the one from which we gain our identity from birth (or almost in my case). Hard to keep being a Beverley when I'm really a Carolyn!

What's in a name?

I have to own up - my name isn't really Beverley. Well, it was once - for the first week or so of my life. However, according to my mother, her doctor didn't like the name. So what does a first time mum do when the doctor doesn't like the name she has chosen for her precious child? She changes it of course! I won't give my real name because what I write about is real. Although I'm sure I won't be writing anything embarrassing, my daughters think I'm weird enough for writing a blog - let alone in my real name!

This gives me cause to think about how readers think of me. Would your perception of me change because of my name? What if my name was Christine (it isn't), or Bridget or Jane (not those either)? What causes us to name our children the way we do? And how does our name shape who we are? Does it shape who we are? What do you think? I'd be interested in your comments.

My late husband was adamant that none of our children should have a vowel as their middle initial - he was sure that they would be mercilessly teased if their initials spelled out a word! My parents obviously didn't worry about it when they first named me - but their subsequent naming of me and my siblings shows that they took it into account - not necessarily deliberately.

I see family names as so important. I wonder why so many females of my era (born in the 50s) were so eager to rid ourselves of the name given to us by our parents. Now my married daughter has a dilemma (not as I see it) - she desperately wants to keep her father's name, but she also wants to take on her husband's name. He is not fussed either way. I've advised her (and I've been so good with advice over the years ...) to keep both - her name for anything official and his name for social occasions. So far that has been the outcome. I have no sons, and I would really like my daughters to carry on their father's name. Too bad about mine!!!!

Where is the year going?

I didn't think 2009 would pass me by so quickly. I wanted to start a blog - which I did. However, I thought I'd be able to write in it at least once a week. Obviously the perseverance needed to write a novel evades me! Here we are, almost half-way through September and nothing much has changed. I still have a job that isn't quite what I want, and I still can't keep up with the housework. I was right when I said that the housework obsession would not last for more than a few days!

I have been going to a book discussion group which has now dwindled down to three of us - was it me? I was convinced by one of my daughters to go to sewing lessons with her so that we could do something together - guess who's still going and who decided it was too much? Yes, I'm still going every week, stuck on my second item of clothing for the year - a jacket - what possessed me - why not a tea towel or a handkerchief? Next time it will be something useful that I will want to make again! Seriously though, I really do enjoy the lessons - even though I get there too late because of work meetings. I know how to fit a pattern and I've learnt that pattern sizing bears no resemblance to the size of clothes in shops and that I mustn't feel like an elephant every time I measure myself and then look at the pattern sizes. Self-esteem goes for a slide downhill if one isn't prepared for cutting out the biggest size and even adding bits of paper here and there!

I thought 2009 would be a year of change, and as I write this I realise that it has been - of sorts. I have expanded my horizons (slightly), and I've started to make changes in my work by changing workplaces. It's not huge, but it's a start. I mean, who would have predicted that it would be me spending hours looking at patterns and materials in shops and on the internet ? Certainly not me!

It is those I love that I count as my blessings in life. Who am I without their love?

No time for blogging!

My daughter and partner have arrived back from a very long overseas holiday. So much for cleaning the house. Things are everywhere! However, I  have discovered that while I clean my teeth I can clean the bath and/or the bathroom basins at the same time - amazing that I've never tried this before! I can also clean the kitchen cupboard doors before they get dirty - saves so much time and is much easier. Another thing I've noticed is that if I do something as soon as it needs doing, then I don't stress about doing it!

The other benefit of course, is that keeping on top of the housework is good for remaining active - hence, along with a sensible diet, I am losing just a little bit of weight.  Don't know how long this housework thing will last, but I don't want that guilty voice in the back of my head saying 'you're lazy, clean up the house...'

The daughter who has arrived back home is good too - she never lets a minute set on the dirty dishes! If only her mother could learn that one!

Freaky!

I'm a housework freak! I've gone through the whole house - tortured myself because it was over 40 degrees (can never find that symbol) outside - but I kept going and going! My eldest daughter (bless her heart) decided (on the very day that the house was IMMACULATE) to cook dinner at my place and have her girlfriends round for a swim. I was so paranoid about things getting messy again that she must have thought I was...paranoid! So I'm still going around with wipes and sprays (my friend who worries about the environment should note that I'm using environmentally friendly products)  driving everyone crazy - or out of the house (preferably out of the house so that it can stay tidy).

So this is what being obsessive about housework is all about - do I like the new me? Well it probably won't last beyond a few days so I guess I should enjoy the guilt-free days and then work out a PLAN! 

I don't think those who love me will love me much longer if I don't get back to the normal, not doing THE housework, me!