Monday’s Grateful List 

Today I am grateful for my amazing marriage. 

David and I have been in Melbourne for the weekend. We went to see Book of Mormon on Saturday night and then on Sunday we went to the Grand Prix. 


Both were so much fun. 

On Sunday our day at the Grand Prix started with a tram ride. We then enjoyed watching the race from Chicane Pavilion. 


Today I am grateful for my walk down Pit Lane. It was fun to get up so close to all the workings of the track. 


But most of all I am grateful that all the people we met on Sunday reminded me how grateful I am to have been happily married for 24 years. Their were many men at this event and many of them had been married numerous times or had split up with their partners. Not only was I the ” First wife” but I was probably one of the oldest women in the area we were sitting. These men we spoke to were weary. They had experienced nasty divorces and all of them did not want to go down the road of marriage again. I found it very sad that they had such a negative view of marriage and that their choice of woman was still so shallow. One of them actually said he only chose the women based on looks. It has not made him a terribly happy man. I am grateful that David and I have shared so much happiness and sadness and anger and joy but we have worked through it all and we love each other’s company. I am so proud of how we have worked on our marriage. I am so proud that our children are so special. I am so proud to be very happily married. I am so proud to be the “First Wife” and for David to be my “First Husband”. I look forward to sharing many more happily married years together. 



Until next time 

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Wednesday’s Grateful List 

Today I am grateful that my life is so full of wonderful people and wonderful things and that it is raining! 
Today I am grateful that it is raining today. It is so dry here in Brisbane . I loved waking up to the sound of rain on my roof this morning. 


Today I am grateful for families. We had all David’s family here on Sunday for a very late Christmas get together or maybe an early Easter get together. It was lovely to all share a meal and laughter. 

Today I am grateful for special girlfriends. I caught up with three of them yesterday for coffee. We share love and laughter and also the occasional tear. I am blessed to have such special girlfriends in my life. 


Today I am grateful for my beautiful Tipouchenias in the garden. They have not stopped flowering all year. 


Today I am grateful for having Mt Cootha in my back yard. I am walking on a Saturday morning up there and I am loving it. 


Today I am off to St Vincent’s to do my volunteer work. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to be able to do this. 


I hope your life is filled with many lovely things and opportunities and people. 


Until next time

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Saturday’s Grateful List 

Today I am grateful for the fantastic walk I did this morning. 

Today I am grateful for Girls Trekking Adventures. They are a group that take women on wonderful trekking adventures. I have done a trek with them in the past which I loved. I have decided to do some Hike Fit with them. They do this on a Saturday morning on Mt Cootha.

Today I am grateful for the lovely company I had this morning. I hiked and chatted alongside a lovely lady called Miranda who I have known from some years ago. Our children are about the same age. Our husbands are both lawyers. We did not take  breath I don’t think. 

Today I am grateful that I worked so hard. Along the way we did some interval work and the walk itself was fairly challenging ( maybe not for everyone but it was for me). 

Today once again I am grateful for the amazing places in Brisbane that I have never been to.


Until next time 

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Wednesday’s Grateful List – A celebration of the amazing women in my life. 

Today I am grateful for the amazing women that inspire me every day. 

Today I am grateful for my Mum. She was a teacher and then a Mum. She has inspired me to continue my important role as a mum and has often reminded me how important and valuable that role is. She has also done many other amazing things in her life. She was President of the Mothers group at Grammar, then President of the P and F at Grammar. She then took on a role on the ethics committee at Greenslopes Private Hospital. She is now a volunteer guide at GOMA. She continues to inspire me with her continued role in our community and as my Mum. 

My Mum


Today I am grateful for my sister Susan. She has two very precious beautiful children and she should be very proud of her role as Mum. She has been a scientist and is now following a passion in Early Childhood. Any child who has Susan as a teacher is very privileged. 

Today I am grateful for my sister Liz. She is a lawyer in Sydney and is the Head of Technology, Vendor Management at Origin Energy. She is doing a Masters of Law and International Development. Liz is an amazing role model for women, she has smashed that glass ceiling and she is a fantastic aunt and sister. 

My sisters Sue and Liz and I


Today I am grateful for my friend Michelle Beesley. Michelle is a mum, a teacher and now a writer. Michelle writes for She Brisbane. I have watched Michelle’s passion for writing grow over the last few years. As her passion has grown so has her confidence. Any person who is interviewed by Michelle should be honored to be interviewed by such a vibrant, intelligent woman. 

Three of my special girlfriends with Michelle in red.


Today I am grateful for my friend Michelle Taylor. Michelle was the owner of Intherapy for many years and always looked after me beautifully. She was a very good listener and an astute business woman. I love that Michelle has continued as a business woman and is also taking time out for herself. Michelle is another woman who I admire for her achievements and for running a very successful business while maintaining her special nurturing role. 

Today I am grateful for my amazing friend Lisa Brown. Lisa is a mum of three beautiful children. Lisa has one child with a number of special needs. Lisa inspires me because she is always an advocate for her children. She has a huge role as a mum of those three children but she is always willing to take on other roles – as fundraiser, commmittee member, fashion model, tennis player, and all round inspiring human being. I am always inspired by Lisa’s positive demeanor and drive for what is best,right and possible for all those in our community.

Lisa and I have been friends for such a long time but I had no photos of her and I so I pinched her Facebook photo.

Today I am grateful for Nicole Cody. Nicole Cody is a psychic, metaphysical teacher, organic farmer and writer. Nicole and I went to school together. Nicole has worked in the corporate arena but now works from a very authentic place to inspire others to love life. She writes a blog called Cauldrons and Cupcakes. I am inspired by Nicole because she lives an authentic life and often when she writes I find it is just the word of advice or thought that I need on that particular day. 

Nicole Cody – taken from her blog Cauldrons and Cupcakes.


All my girlfriends are very special and all of them inspire me in some way. There are also women in the public arena who inspire me . Today I have chosen these six women to write about and be grateful for. These women are incredible because they are true to themselves and whether it be mothering, following a career, juggling motherhood and work, being a good business woman or being true their essence they all have followed their passion and done it brilliantly. 

And so on International Women’s Day 

I Am Woman – Helen Reddy (with lyrics)

I am a woman, not a princess. I have an attitude, opinions, and a very loud voice. I am not a liar nor a cheat. I am independent, intelligent, and strong.

Until next time 

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Wednesday’s Grateful List 

Today I am grateful for all the amazing music I have listened to this week and all the parts of Brisbane that I have seen for the first time. 

Today I am grateful for going to Westend to Broadway in the Brisbane Reservoir on Friday night. It was put on by the Underground Opera Company. The Reservoir is under the Tower Mill in Brisbane. The music was fun and the setting quite unique. 


Today I am grateful for enjoying a beautiful meal on Saturday night with our friends Kylie and Lionel. The company was fantastic, the food delicious and the spot perfect. We had an early dinner at The Stokehouse. I feel so lucky to be able to enjoy the Brisbane River with such treasured friends. 


Today I am grateful to have been to American Idiot at the Playhouse. It is a musical that includes all the music from Green Day’s American Idiot album. It was just like going to traditional opera with love, hate, despair and tragedy and rock music. 

American Idiot cast performance at 2010 Tony Awards

John Gallagher Jr. and the cast of American Idiot performs at the 2010 Tony Awards, with an introduction by Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong.

Today I am grateful for having a ride on The Brisbane Eye after the show. I have lived in Brisbane all my life and I have never been on it. I can highly recommend it. Not only is the view of the river amazing but the information provided very interesting too. 


Photograph courtesy of Norma Martiri Photography. 

Today I am grateful that David and I finished our weekend with a beautiful meal at The Charming Squire. 
I love going to New York but I felt like my weekend in Brisbane was very similar to a few days in New York and I was in my home town! 

What places can you visit in your home town that you didn’t know existed or haven’t ever considered visiting? 

Until next time 

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Wednesday’s Grateful List 

Today I am grateful for all the amazing people in the world. 

Today I am grateful for going to see Danielle Laporte speak last night at the Convention Centre. 

Danielle LaPorte (born May 25, 1969 in Windsor, Ontario )is a bestselling Canadian author, inspirational speaker, entrepreneur, and blogger.

She is the author of two non-fiction books on conscious goal-setting and entrepreneurship and co-author of a book on personal style .

LaPorte’s website, DanielleLaPorte.com (formerly WhiteHotTruth.com), discusses spirituality, entrepreneurship, and personal growth. Forbes named her blog one of the top 100 websites for women in 2012, calling LaPorte “a contrarian self-help guru.”

LaPorte is one of Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul 100 Leaders. 
All taken from Wikipedia. 

Here is one of her quotes: 


Today I am grateful that lots of her talk resonated with me. Two things in particular were: 

Feelings are facts.

And Compassion is a strategy. 


Something that I am also grateful about is she acknowledged how many people are distressed by what is going on in the world. 

I admit I am one of those people. I am distressed by Trump, I am distressed by the amount of violence that many women experience, I am distressed by what is going on in Syria. All these people and events don’t make me angry. They do not know me , their actions are not aimed at me. I choose to allow them to effect me. I also choose how I deal with that. What I choose to do about it is what makes me me. I choose to talk about it to my family, I choose to read and listen to people like Danielle Laporte and Maria Shriver who lift me up and inspire me. I choose to sign petitions and blog about how I feel. I also choose to work hard in my little part of the world to make me and my family healthier, happier and more grateful for the wonderful life we lead. 

Who inspires you? I would love to hear about people who lift you up and who make you believe the world is a wonderful place filled with wonderful people. 

Until next time 


 

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Saturday’s Grateful and not so Grateful List. 

Today I am grateful for my busy busy week. 

Today I am grateful last Sunday I did a small river loop on my bike with David. 

Today I am grateful for doing The Happiness Program through an organization called The Art of Living last Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I learnt a lot about meditation, breathing and other strategies that contribute to happiness. It was a wonderful program that I would recommend highly to others. 


Today I am grateful for doing Pilates on Monday and having very sore muscles the next day. 


Today I am grateful for attending the launch of the 150 year celebration of the Royal Brisbane Hospital.


Today I am grateful for going to Ladies in Black at the Playhouse on Wednesday. If you get a chance to attend the season go – it is wonderful. 

Ladies in Black – Coming soon to QPAC

Book now: http://atqp.ac/2bX1nPS Subscribe to QPAC: http://atqp.ac/1yCWzCZ Queensland Theatre Company has created a heartwarming adaptation of Madeleine St John’s popular 1993 novel, ‘The Women in Black’. This sparkling production is the work of internationally-acclaimed director Simon Phillips (Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Musical, Love Never Dies, First Wives Club) and writer Carolyn Burns, with original music by superstar Tim Finn (Split Enz, Crowded House).

Today I am grateful for doing yoga yesterday. Well I am sort of grateful. I have a lot of trouble sitting on the floor these days and I used to be able to do yoga quite well. Yesterday I couldn’t do many of the poses and it did my head in. I cried a lot. It reminded me how much I broke myself 18 months ago. It reminded me I am different now. It reminded me that I probably will never go back to the way I was. It totally sucked and so I cried. I cried for what I have lost and I cried for being different. I am ok now and hopefully it was good to get it out of my system. It caught me totally by surprise which also sucks. Anyway I am better today.

“Illness is the night side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick. Although we all prefer to use the good passport, sooner or later each of us is obliged, at least for a spell, to identify ourselves as citizens of that other place.”

~ Susan Sontag, Illness as Metaphor


Today I am grateful for doing my first park run this morning. I registered 12 months ago. I am exhausted but in a good way. 


Until next time

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Saturday’s Grateful List 

Today I am grateful I got in a 7km walk before the heat of the day. 


Today I am grateful for the things I saw along the way. 



Today I am grateful for the lovely chai latte I had on the Goodwill Bridge. 

Today I am grateful for the lovely City Cat ride I had after my walk. 


Today I am grateful that I was able to blog on my phone while riding the City Cat. 

Today I am grateful I caught up with some beautiful cycling friends at the Regatta after my walk. 🙂

Until next time 

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Monday’s Grateful List 

Today I am grateful that I am doing Prac for my Graduate Diploma of Counselling at Hilda House. Hilda House provides bereavement support services to the people in and around Ipswich. It is situated next to Ipswich Hospice which is a seven bed private healthcare facility providing quality end of life palliative care to terminally ill people, and support for their families in a caring home like environment. (Taken from http://www.ipswichhospice.org.au/). 


Today I am grateful that all the people I am going to be working with at Hilda House are so nice. Supporting people who are grieving is a pretty hard thing to do and I know all the people I will be working with are pretty special people and  they have shown that already by being so welcoming to me.

Today I am grateful that I have already learnt new things. I spent two days last week do a training course about child centered  play therapy. It was wonderful. We learnt that adults are able to express their thoughts and feelings through verbal communication. Children work through their experiences through toys and play and this is how they express themselves. In child centered play therapy there are no evaluations, no requirements to do anything in a certain way, no judgements about whether the child’s play is right or wrong or bad or good and no reprimands or criticisms.(Taken from the information we were given at the training day). I love the rationale behind this form of therapy that you are helping to develop a child’s self esteem. “You never do for a child what they can do for themselves as you take away the child’s opportunity to feel competent and their joy of discovery. You will never know what a child is capable of until you allow them to try things for themselves”. 

If you would like to know more about Play Therapy you can follow this link : Play Therapy.

Even though this is a form of therapy it reminded me of how important play is in children’s lives. I am so grateful for this reminder. It does make me feel sad for the direction our early childhood education is taking with increased testing, greater emphasis on curriculum and less emphasis on play. 


Today I am grateful that their are such special people in our community. People who work in and care about the quality of life for people who are dying and people who work in and care about the development of our children. 


Until next time

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Saturday’s Grateful List 

Today I am grateful for being sore. Yesterday I went to yoga. It was a very active class and I am very sore – especially my shoulders and back muscles. It felt really good to work hard, get my heart rate up and stretch lots of muscles. 


Today I am grateful for walking this morning. I love having no pressure to walk at a certain pace and I often stop to appreciate the little things. This morning I stopped at Fannings Corner. I have lived in the Gap for fifteen years and never stopped there. 



Today I am grateful for the delicious meal that Nicholas cooked last night. He offered to cook and it was so lovely to sit on a Friday night with the family and Nick’s girlfriend Madi while Nick cooked a delicious meal. 

Today I am grateful I am sleeping so well at the moment. I have been sleeping extremely well since we got home from overseas. My sleep goes through phases where I have patches of very poor sleep so to be in a phase of very good sleep is something to acknowledge and be very grateful about. 

Today I am grateful for mobile phones. 

Today I am grateful to be alive and to be able to appreciate that all the things life has to offer.


Until next time

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