Major goal achieved

Well......it's a major goal for me.

About a year and a half ago (I think), I decided I'd had enough of being a 'scaredy cat' in the water, and booked in for adult Learn to Swim classes.  It took a lot of courage to even get to that point let me tell you.  I've always loved the beach but in the water, if my feet weren't planted firmly in the sand I'd chuck a complete spacko, and I wouldn't go anywhere near the surf without my husband.  I hung onto him like a suction cap..........great fun for him I'm sure.  

My homework following the first lesson, was to face the shower when washing my hair.....yes that's how bad I was! The next week I had to face the shower and hum a tune.  By week four I was in the deep pool - admittedly I was crabbing it along the side, hanging on for dear life, with a white face and big googley eyes.....thank you Jean for that experience!

Roll on to December 2012.....and I have just achieved a personal goal of swimming one kilometre in freestyle.  It doesn't sound much I know, but 40 laps?????  C'mon....that's HUGE in my world!  (Don't ask me how many times I put my face in the water at home and hummed "I love a sunburnt country.....a land of sweeping plains...." in preparation for this very moment).  Yes I know it's not the National Anthem, just a good old Aussie song with very happy memories.  Ok I admit I was in the school choir.....shut up.

This is our local swimming pool.  

I no longer feel sick at the smell of chlorine, I no longer need to swim against the wall, the staff know me by name and I'm the veritable 'Imelda Marcos' of swimwear.

(And it still blows me away that I can actually do laps....what a legend!)

Comedy of Errors

This picture might look all serene and 'Christmassy' but looks can be deceiving.

A couple of weeks ago I poured myself a glass of (very cheap but very tasty) Cabernet Merlot and sat down at my desk to do a little spot of bookbinding, while my daughter took over the cooking duties for the evening. Hmmmm........what luxury.  This was short lived however as I knocked my glass flying with the first enthusiastic sweep of my brand spanking new red bookbinding thread.  The wine shot straight across the desk and made a beeline into the side air vent of my closed laptop.  The computer technician told me my computer was 'fried'.  

"What exactly is 'fried?" I said, trying to remain grown up and calm.  

Sooooo.........here we are.......nearly three weeks disconnected, two thousand unexpected dollars, one new laptop.......(and I was going to say 'and a partiridge in a pear tree').

After that great expense and as I seem to be such a 'dab hand' at credit card swiping just before Christmas, I thought I might as well make a good job of it and treat myself to a cordless whipper-snipper (complete with bonus blower vac). Then I won't have to ask my husband, who works away most of the time, to do the yard as soon as he gets home for Christmas. I can do it myself.  Good idea - why not!  I'm a healthy intelligent woman who is becoming fitter by the day - I can do it with the right tools and a 'go-get-em' attitude.  So first thing this morning I set to getting the job done.  Here it is nearly 2pm and so far I've slammed my finger in the metal lid of the toolbox while looking for a phillips head screwdriver,  accidentally turned on the Thermomix in the kitchen with the handle of the whipper-snipper while trying to attach the grass shield to the other end, dropped the battery pack on the dog while holding the box up to the kitchen window to read the miniscule writing, and blown half the Christmas decorations off the tree while inserting the battery into the blower vac to see if it was charged........it was.

I haven't been anywhere near the yard.

So this picture belies what actually happened in there today.  Now I'm going to leave those innocent looking garden appliances alone until I have someone available to call an ambulance if need be.