from my heart

In 2002 I traveled along the East Coast of Australia with
my (at that time still) hubby and my around 2 y.o. son.
We hired a camper (an OC) in Cairns and moved along
southwards till we reach Brisbane. I liked the journey
itself and I loved the landscapes, but even if I find camping
is cool, I have to face the truth that I'm not cool at all. I am
simply a big town girl who isn't made for camping. I was
stressed out every time we had to stop overnight. At that
time the connection between my ex and me had already a
crack. Deeper than we'd realize or admit. I thought, my
stress was only because of my issue with the camping thing.
But I guess, our problem summed it up. Anyway, at the end
of that journey I was psychically rather a wrack than relaxed!

Why do I tell you this? It might be not a highlight of a holiday
in general, but I did have some good time though. The days
on the Heron Island, for example, were unforgettable. I wanted
to take a diving lesson. But as they heard, that I have never
even snorkeled before, they told me to start with that first. So
I did and I loved it. I forgot time and space, when I followed
the fishes. Probably I was a dolphin in my past life (there was
a comic about a boy named Denny - half fish, half human -
that I read as I was little and at that time I often dreamed I
could swim like a fish LOL Sorry, I wander..). We made
friends with other travelers. A (German) family had invited
us to visit them, when we reached Brisbane. And there are
some more good memories about that time.

To make long story short.. I'm sure you have read, seen and
heard about the flood in Australiam which affected some of
the places I have been. And as you know, although I'm not
a fan of seasonal items, somehow I often manage to make
a few random heart items before the Valentine's day (which
must be a leftover of the "heart-giving" tradition during my
school days). So, this time those items will go to the shop
AusDisasterRelief to help the victims. The card will make the
start. Another item will follow, I hope (won't promise anything
though..).



I don't have contact with the family in Brisbane anymore (I'm
a bad contact keeper, as you might already know ;)). I don't
know, either they are still there or not. But I hope, they are
okay, where ever they are at the moment...

a start

Finally a new post, in the second Monday of the new year.
Hope you had a good start.


[fooling around in the train]

My son and I have spent some lazy days in Holland. In a
whole week we only managed to go to Amsterdam once
(and there during a boat tour my son got cold, I think),
otherwise we stayed in (my sis') house.


[the windows are so dirty, i didn't take any photos - those
above are shot by my son]

I looked back in my archive. I didn't make any new year's
resolution last year *phew* I took stock of what worked,
what didn't, what I missed, what is too much and I came to
this conclusion, which will be my kind of motto for 2011:
there is no "no time" - you can always take your time.

That would mean, I'll have to be honest to myself (and
others), either I want to do something or not, put it on
priority or not and execute it or not. Instead of saying
excuses to myself and others "I have no time for it". So,
I'm hoping to be able to balance things better than in 2010
(hard time is coming ;)).

I wish you a great 2011. Have a nice week!

tragedy

Today is a sad day for my city. We lost one of the
historical houses in the middle of the city. This morning
I saw the fire department and police working there and
the pedestrian area was closed spaciously, but I didn't
see fire or smoke (the sky was pretty foggy since last
evening). So, I was shocked to see (from the end of the
street) that the house on the corner (where I used to buy
shoes for my son) was already collapsed, when I looked
at that closed area after work in the afternoon. This and
any other tragedies always remind me to be grateful for
what I have.

Hope, you all stay safe and healthy! *hugs*

review

I used to sew a lot for the kindergarten and also sew
some trousers for my boy as he was younger or carnival
costumes. But I never finished any project for myself
except for a pair of trousers, which didn't really fit. Yes,
fitting is one of the problems sewing things for myself.
My old sewing machine is the other problem. The zigzag
stitch doesn't really work properly (so, yay for my new
serger! :)).

In the last two days I managed to sew myself a dress for
the gig (of course after days of procrastinating :P). It's a
bit rumble-in-the-jungle way of sewing, as I didn't have a
pattern for a dress. I started with a vague idea in mind,
a T-shirt pattern and my black skirt as a model. The result
is far than perfect. I accidentally cut a tiny hole into the
top (which is luckily double layered) and I left the serger
stitches uncovered along the armhole. I didn't mind those
imperfectness since the dress is meant to be worn under a
black shirt anyway.



The gig itself went well. It was quite relaxing to have a gig
with another choir, as we had only to sing 10 songs (plus
three more as encores) instead of 16 as per usual.

Now it's time to slowly closing the year 2010. Except for
working, no more extra activities. My son is at his dad and I
will have time to review the year. Also to prepare our trip to
Holland. Finally visiting my sister again. My son and I are SO
looking forward to this! I'm still not sure, either I should
put my shop on vacation or not (there's not much activity in
there anyway lately ;)).

This might be my last post this year. So, I'm wishing you
Happy Holidays, friends! Thank you for catching up with me,
even if I was not really active at any online spaces this year.
I'm hoping to get all thing better managed next year. See you
in 2011! xoxoxo

next week...

On Tuesday Dec 21st, 2010 on 8 pm we have a gig
with another choir at the Theater. You can have a peek
of what we're going to sing (but without the band) on
YouTube now.