Have wheels, will travel!

I bought a car!  Yes, this is exciting and big enough that I need to blog about it! 

Since I moved back to Brisbane last year I’ve managed without one.  I did ok too, getting by on public transport, a whole lot of walking and the kindness of friends and family.  But it was wearing thin and the frustration levels were steadily increasing.  I put off seeing people, doing things, having a social life because public transport didn’t quite cut the mustard and I didn’t want to be a charity case.

But not anymore – now I am the proud owner of a 2001 Holden Astra!   It all happened within a week but let me tell you, the process is not without stress!    When it came to this purchase, and most things that involve big outlays of money where I’m outside my knowledge comfort zone, I have a tendency to feel like everyone is trying to rip me off.  I was lucky that the seller was very polite, accommodating and seemed genuine.   My experience went something like this:

Monday – found car on carsales.com.au and made contact with the seller (by text of course, because this is 2010!).  Arranged to see the car on Wednesday evening.

Wednesday – test drove and inspected the car.  Put down a cash deposit to show my interest in the car.  Excitement building!

Thursday – tried to do a REVS check  to ensure the car was unencumbered, only to be told that I shouldn’t do it until the day I took possession, which actually makes perfect sense.   Also found out I needed the engine number to do the REVS check, which I hadn’t written down.

Friday – decided to stop talking to people about the car because everyone has an opinion and story, most of which just made me worry more about getting ripped off!   Started organising finance.

Saturday – had a minor stress cause I was still waiting on engine number from seller.  Finalised finance, carried out REVS check, organised insurance, filled out the transfer forms, closed the deal and drove my new car home.

Sunday – drove all day!

The feeling of freedom is incredible!  I can go to the beach, I can drive to the other side of the city, I can pop down to the shops at 10pm.  Have wheels, will travel!

PS – knowing how excited I am about the car, writing about it was my week 7 challenge (I would have posted about it anyway!).  

No hiding behind ignorance

On the weekend I watched Earthlings. Earthlings is a documentary structured in five parts about our dependence on animals as pets, for food, clothing, science and entertainment. A friend of mine found out about it not long ago and is organising a charity event to play the movie at a local theatre. I watched it on DVD at home where I could react and, as it turned out, cry alone without anyone seeing.

I’m not being dramatic when I say that the footage was horrific and parts of it are etched into my memory forever. It’s something I needed to see though, and something others should see. It’s easy to hide behind the veil of ignorance and not think about or question where our food, clothing, cosmetics etc have come from, or what animals have suffered in the process. It’s easy, I do it myself all the time. What Earthlings has done for me is made me more conscious of my choices. I don’t pretend to be well read on this subject, I have barely scratched the surface, but by watching Earthlings, and encouraging others to watch it, I hope to take a step in the right direction to make more people aware of the pain and suffering that so many animals endure…..and make more people think about their choices.

The movie makes the point that although animals may not have the same level of intelligence as humans, they do know discomfort and they do know pain. And hearing an animal scream is heart breaking.

For anyone in the Brisbane area, the charity screening of Earthlings is on Wednesday, 20 October. For more details and to buy tickets, check out the website Earthlings Australia. You can also watch the movie online on the Earthlings website.

Flex your muscle!

Hello world!  I had really good intentions of posting during the week but this one has been a doozy and it’s already the weekend again…..not that I’m complaining! 

Speaking of doozy, my week 4 challenge is one!  I received this photo to write about:

I personally don’t aspire to having a body like this but I can absolutely appreciate the amount of work and discipline that goes in to achieving that much muscle bulk and definition. No pain, no gain! I would be happy to have just a small amount of that focus and willpower. I struggle with body image, as do many women. I wish I was thinner, fitter and more toned but of course this takes work. I’m under no illusion that it’s easy or there’s a quick fix.  I don’t have a lot of weight to lose, but it’s more about health and longevity than that anyway.  I don’t need a quick fix, I need sustainable lifestyle change.

I’ve recently started going to a boot camp and it is hard!   Someone vomited at one session, thankfully it wasn’t me but I’ve come close. I look at this photo and marvel at how much upper body strength these women must have whereas I struggle to do one push up, and even then it’s on my knees! 

I have a love hate relationship with boot camp – dread leading up to the session, complete disdain and an overwhelming desire to quit during, and euphoria that I got through it and that I’m doing something good for my body once it’s over. It’s this last feeling that I need to hold on to and that keeps me going back!

I’m toying with the idea of giving up wheat, dairy, caffeine, sugar, alcohol and red meat for a week or so.  Something drastic-ish to give the health and fitness commitment a bit more oomph.  I’ll just have to carefully choose my timing, cause I might be a little cranky those first couple of days!

Compared to winning a bodybuilding trophy, health, fitness and not vomiting at boot camp seems like a very small goal but it’s mine and will be its own reward.  I feel inspired!  I’m off to do something active, have a great weekend

Food, glorious food!

My week 3 challenge was to write about my top three favourite foods.  I’m watching Junior Masterchef so it seems fitting to write about food now!

I have Italian heritage, both of my parents were born in Italy and immigrated to Australia when they were children.  I LOVE Italian food – love it!   Some of my fondest childhood memories are of big family gatherings with loads of food, chatter and music.  Sadly, I didn’t get the opportunity to learn to cook from my Nonna, but over the years I have picked up different tips from my Aunts.  I make a mean pasta sauce and lasagne, but there is so much more I want to learn.

I have a sweet tooth…..not in a must-eat-chocolate-every-day way like my sister, but I do love desserts.  Cheesecake and pavlova are two of my favourite sweet dishes to make and eat, I just don’t indulge very often for dietary reasons! 

Last but not least, my favourite meal to have out is breakfast / brunch.  I love the whole concept of dining out early in the morning, and it’s particularly great in Brisbane because of the weather and opportunity to eat outside almost all year round.  Breakfast and brunch for me are synonymous with catching up with friends and taking our time over a coffee or two – bliss!  I have really fond memories of my time living in Canada where my flatmate and I, neither of us big sleepers, would go out for an early breakfast nearly every weekend.

So these are but a few of my favourite foods to eat, cook and experience.   For me, food shared with friends and family is definitely the best kind!  I’ve done a bit of that this weekend and it’s been so uplifting, I’ll start the new week happy

Food for thought…

It’s been a crazy week that has seen me drowning in cream cheese and day dreaming of a parallel universe!

Baking is my thing.  It’s something that I really love doing.  Some people find it stressful and a chore but for me it’s one way that I can switch off from everything else.  There is something therapuetic about putting a bunch of ingredients together and seeing the finished result.  Perhaps it gives me the instant gratification that I generally don’t get from my day job.  I’ll do a recipe post before long!

This week my workmates have had sticky date cheesecake with caramel sauce, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and lemon cheesecake (I’m keeping Kraft in business!).  Either my family, friends and workmates are not very discerning or I’m pretty good at this baking thing.  But what do I do with this, if anything?

This week I’ve also read an interesting e-book called Minimalist Workday.  This concept of working a 2 hour day or being location independent and opting out of the rat race isn’t new to me but each time I read something on the subject it really gets me thinking…..could I do this?  What would I do?  How could I earn a decent income?  I don’t know the answers, I just know that I really admire people who think outside the box and carve out their own path.   For me, for now, I will keep reading and learning and I’ll continue to bake up a storm for those around me, who knows where any of it might lead

If anyone is reading this and has their own story to tell on how they have carved out their own path or done something life changing I’d love to read it.

Home sweet home?

So my week two writing task is to write about what I want to get out of my blog……this has got me thinking. 

I’ve said it’s a quest to get my groove back, which is true, but that relates to much more of my life than just writing.  In the movie How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Stella went off to Jamaica in search of her lost groove.  That, unfortunately, is not an option for me right now (although having been to Jamaica before I can highly recommend it….just FYI!).  I seemed to lose my groove when I moved back to Australia.  I lived overseas in a few different places for the better part of a decade so moving home was always going to be an uncomfortable transition.   It’s that feeling of being home but still not really knowing if this is where I belong.  Yes, it’s familiar.  Family is here and old friends that I’ve tried to reconnect with but the lifestyle is different, and so am I.   I’m trying to ‘settle down’ (whatever that means!) and in the process I’ve ended up being too available to take on any family issues and haven’t been out there building my network and making things happen towards what I want for my life.  This is what I’m working to change.  This blog and getting back into writing is part of that, but only a part. 

I like that the blog makes me think about what to write and how to phrase things; I like that it’s already making me think about other avenues to develop my writing.  I don’t like that it’s all about me navel gazing so far, I’m not so comfortable with that, but I have to start somewhere I guess and everyone says the key is to write about what you know!! 

So what do I want to get out of it?  A kickstart I guess.  To make time for myself to write, to get out there and meet people, have experiences, really live and enjoy life, and then maybe write about that in some form…..and the confidence to know that I have something to offer.  That’s all for now….Molly

1, 2, 3…Go!

Hello and welcome to my blog!  I’m very new to this so please bare with me.  I must say up front that I find this pretty scary and confronting…the idea that I’m writing to no one in particular and yet anyone and everyone could read it, if they found it and wanted to….weird thought.  But I want to write.  I’ve wanted to for a long time but haven’t really committed to do anything about that out of fear, procrastination and a great big loss of confidence.  I used to write years ago but back then I didn’t have to try, it was something I did because I felt inspired and because it was my escape from a difficult home life.   My situation is different but the desire to write has stayed with me…. 

It seems that the best way to start is just to write.  As Nike says, Just Do It!  Write something, anything, just to put fingers to keyboard and get back into it.  A good friend of mine is helping me out by setting me weekly tasks.  Just the kick start I need!  It’s like going to the gym, it’s harder to wimp out when someone is expecting you!!  So week 1 was to create a blog account (check!) and write 200 words on something (check….I’ve written over 200 words on wanting to write!).  So far not so bad I guess!