[null, {"document_url": "http://www.nessville.me/2017/09/", "unformatted_src": "https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_t8Kd1-sW3o/Wc7jx9_XYrI/AAAAAAAACLg/7g0n9026-NkBHY3I_loeZK4DCXA-0XbZgCLcBGAs/s320/6421b8d02fb79035384027298aae25c1.jpg", "src": "https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_t8Kd1-sW3o/Wc7jx9_XYrI/AAAAAAAACLg/7g0n9026-NkBHY3I_loeZK4DCXA-0XbZgCLcBGAs/s320/6421b8d02fb79035384027298aae25c1.jpg", "formatted_filename": "b d fb aae c", "rendered_width": 320, "rendered_height": 320}, null, null, {"document_url": "http://www.nessville.me/2017/09/", "unformatted_src": "https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x91qYLPu6GM/WbyxTCBXQhI/AAAAAAAACK0/kx1Alvo8nJk7xMC72N9CRggxiwkZ4nKKgCLcBGAs/s400/a63c6890c9b879bdde729b6be696db0f.jpg", "src": "https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x91qYLPu6GM/WbyxTCBXQhI/AAAAAAAACK0/kx1Alvo8nJk7xMC72N9CRggxiwkZ4nKKgCLcBGAs/s400/a63c6890c9b879bdde729b6be696db0f.jpg", "formatted_filename": "a c c b bdde b be db f", "rendered_width": 266, "rendered_height": 400}, null, {"document_url": "http://www.nessville.me/2017/09/", "unformatted_src": "https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tqLOCO-4S_E/Wbymjuv9TmI/AAAAAAAACKk/xWB9FQMaA1geUQPwmRRkx3Hpc5z-yT4jQCLcBGAs/s320/DowagerCountess_Quotes7_yafvcp.jpg", "src": "https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tqLOCO-4S_E/Wbymjuv9TmI/AAAAAAAACKk/xWB9FQMaA1geUQPwmRRkx3Hpc5z-yT4jQCLcBGAs/s320/DowagerCountess_Quotes7_yafvcp.jpg", "formatted_filename": "DowagerCountess Quotes yafvcp", "rendered_width": 320, "rendered_height": 320}, null, null, {"document_url": "http://www.nessville.me/2017/09/", "unformatted_src": "https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KrGr7GIxY1c/WbcnxllweYI/AAAAAAAACJ0/1dixELq8bGs4S8tX6sUel-7_pJD-B8rWgCLcBGAs/s320/cbe657384a93f3ce1633e9ba3a181231--introvert-quotes-being-an-introvert.jpg", "src": "https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KrGr7GIxY1c/WbcnxllweYI/AAAAAAAACJ0/1dixELq8bGs4S8tX6sUel-7_pJD-B8rWgCLcBGAs/s320/cbe657384a93f3ce1633e9ba3a181231--introvert-quotes-being-an-introvert.jpg", "formatted_filename": "cbe a f ce e ba a introvert quotes being an introvert", "rendered_width": 320, "rendered_height": 318}, null, {"document_url": "http://www.nessville.me/2017/09/", "unformatted_src": "http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ui_R462-Of4/WChFX_PkupI/AAAAAAAAB8g/IB-8j39DX9IxHihlBFE_6kWalrwb8KvMwCK4B/s1600/14956008_10211443998079835_3225126395634977083_n.jpg", "src": "http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ui_R462-Of4/WChFX_PkupI/AAAAAAAAB8g/IB-8j39DX9IxHihlBFE_6kWalrwb8KvMwCK4B/s1600/14956008_10211443998079835_3225126395634977083_n.jpg", "alt_text": "Welcome to Nessville!", "rendered_width": 292, "rendered_height": 293}, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null]


No matter what Agnes thinks.

Do you have a visitor like Agnes?


Making: You know what? I don't really make things, unless you count breakfast, lunch and dinner. And even then it's often toast.

Cooking: Dinner. See above. What exciting and delectable delights have I concocted of late? Um. Yeah, just the toast thing.

Drinking: My usual cups of tea. Sometimes I mix it up and have coffee. But mostly tea. Also GALLONS of water because I'm just getting over a cold.

Reading: Just finished a novel I borrowed from the library called Beside Myself by Ann Morgan. It was SO GOOD. Now I'm having trouble letting it go and moving on to another book. What am gonna DO??? *starts reading ten other books* Trawling: Through all the mess and dust and cobwebs. Related: I began cleaning the other day and thought I was making good progress until I paused to put on my glasses so I could actually see properly. Big mistake.

Wanting: New clothes. I hate all my clothes.

Looking: Mournfully into my wardrobe and sighing. See above. Deciding: I don't know anything about everything in the whole entire world ever. Also, I can't make decisions. So, I can't decide what I'm deciding. I've decided.

Wishing: That I could afford an entire wardrobe of new clothes. Because I hate my clothes. Did I mention that?

Enjoying: Oh! I actually started bullet journaling and I'm ENJOYING it. I suspected it'd be more like bullshit journaling to scatty old me. But blow me down and woosh me all the way back to ancient Egypt if I didn't surprise myself by liking it. I mean, I'm still a hot mess, but I have a pretty book and pens with lists and symbols and shit in it, so that's something.

Waiting: For the wheels to fall off  my bullet journal experiment. Metaphorically speaking. It doesn't actually have wheels.

Liking: Bullet-journaling! See above.

Wondering: The first thing that came to mind was the Wombles theme song... I wondered how it went. Haven't heard it for YEARS. I thought it said something about wondering wombles or wombles are wondering... Or something. Anyway, I was wrong. But at least I get the important issues resolved. You're welcome.

Loving: The sunshiney spring weather. I want it to linger before the seventh circle of hell that is summer arrives.

Pondering: How long it will take to get the Wombles theme song out of my head...

Listening: To the voices in my head. It's chatty up there. Too bad that never translates to real life situations. Oh,well. Meh.

Considering: Having a go at NaNoWriMo. Starting a strenght-training routine like I did YEARS ago. Doing yoga (also been years...) . Meditating. Failing yet another attempt at becoming veggo. Just considering all this, mind you. Probably never do any of it. Except the failing thing. I can manage that.

Buying: I totally SPLURGED the other day and bought a two dollar shirt and journal in KMart. I know! What am I like? SO frivolous.

Watching: Ummm. Offspring (finished now). The Wrong Girl and Pulse. Also, SBS Insight... And other random shit.

Hoping: That we might be able to go on one of our glamorous holidays some time in the future. Denman, here we come! Don't ask...

Marvelling: At the juxtaposition of how complicated yet boring as batshit life can be.

Cringing: At my weight that is creeping up and up and up.... eeeeek...

Needing: To lose weight. Sigh.

Questioning: Why I can't just buy all the clothes. I REALLY hate my clothes.

Smelling: My signature dish: Toast.

Wearing: Revolting clothes that I HATE. Also, more clothes that I hate. And then I have to wear clothes that utterly repulse me. Yeah. Cause I hate my clothes.

Noticing: I'm pretty sure I hate my clothes.

Knowing: Yep. HATE. MY. CLOTHES.

Thinking: About all the clothes I would buy, but then I'd probably just hate them too.

Admiring: Other people's clothes.

Getting: Well, I'm certainly not getting any clothes. Sniff.

Disliking: Do I really have to answer that? Okay, then. Books with dumb or disappointing endings. There! Tricked you! You thought I was I gonna say my clothes! So ner.

Closing: My wardrobe doors. It's too utterly devastating and soul-destroying to look at the ATROCITIES in there. Now would be a good time to Konmari the f@*k out of my wardrobe. None of my clothes 'spark joy'. But then I would have to walk about naked and nobody wants that.

Feeling: Fat. Also, like I want to eat all the chocolate. Is it possible the two are related? Hmmmm...

Celebrating: My yearly mammogram results were ALL GOOD! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Pretending: That the washing up will do itself if I wait long enough. I don't think it's gonna work. Sigh.

Embracing: Bullet-journaling, clothes-hating. My children. Well, Mr 8 - the other boys are less huggy these days. It happens.

Done! That's my stock-taking for September.

What are you celebrating in the month of September?



Hello again, lovely people. Here I am on another rocking weekend. It's been a good week. On Monday I did some shopping. Tuesday involved a visit to my shrink (I can never spell the  correct word). Psychologist? Um. I think that's right... (And yes, unfortunately I am still demented, but we are working on it). Look, I 'll probably always be a little bit demented, but in a good way. I hope. But back to my week.

On Wednesday, I enjoyed some blissful alone time while Mickey Blue Eyes took the car to be serviced. And on Thursday I tagged along with my mum and her sewing buddies for a delightful lunch, because FOOD.

Meanwhile, Friday was spent cleaning, cleaning cleaning. Truly. Shut up, I do clean sometimes. Much to my disgust, as I sit here today there doesn't appear to be any evidence of this. Rude. It all just seems impossible...

Which brings me to this lovely little prompt:

"We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” - Charles Swindoll

First of all, I had no idea who this Charles Swindoll chap is so I googled, as you do, and it turns out he's an evangelical christian pastor/preacher type dude. Which explains why I had not heard of him, being a total heathen and all.

My initial reaction to the above quote was that it seemed like another trite take on the old nugget: when life gives you lemons turn them into lemonade. Not to mention the old 'everything happens for a reason' cliche that irritates the bejesus out of me.

My first instinct is to roll my eyes and dismiss it as claptrap. Also, I just wanted to say claptrap. Because, CLAPTRAP.

The thing is, I truly am trying to be more positive. It occurs to me that I'm some sort of weird dichotomy of sweet but sarcastic. I make no sense. Hence, the demented shrink thing... But I digress.

Since I am prone to over thinking, I mulled it over some more. Upon reflection I recalled a similar saying from the illustrious Dowager of Downton Abbey. Yes, she's a fictional character. Who cares. She still had some classic lines. Such as this: Life is a series of problems which we must try and solve, first one and the the next, and then the next, until at last we die  - The Dowager Countess from Downton Abbey.


Very comforting words indeed. Using 'comforting' in the sense of confronting and disconcerting.

It's quite true when you think about it. For me, things seem truly insurmountable when I  think I have to solve lots of things at once

Oddly enough, it seems to be a thing I do. I think I have to have everything in my life sorted by half past eight in the morning yesterday and have morphed into some sort of superwoman. As a result, this thing I have heard of called autistic inertia kicks in and I end up doing nothing at all. Sigh.

Even my shrink advised me to tackle things slowly, one at a time, instead of doing too much at once. Or nothing at all, as the case often is. See above.

So I just have to remember that problems can be opportunities. And tackle them slowly, one at a time.

As I face all these problems opportunities I will imagine the Dowager's piercing stare and direct words. And just get on with it.


Do you see problems as opportunities?


Hello! How are you? All well and bursting with vitality and joie de vivre? I certainly hope so. I am not. Presently I appear to be suffering from Mum Flu. You know the one. It's like Man Flu except no one gives a shit. Yep. That's the one.

Despite this, I figured it was about time I made a guest appearance on my own blog. As is my usual fashion, I have started posts numerous times only to trail off unable to articulate what I wanted to say. It's always unpleasant when this happens. I usually express myself better through writing. But anyway, here I am. Even clunky words are better than none. At least that's what I'm telling myself. Draw your own conclusions. Apart from the ghastly old Mum flu phenomenon I also have blue screen of death issues. Yes, it is with great sorrow that I announce the tragic passing of my trusty laptop. I thought I  may be able to revive it. In vain, I tried for hours to find a solution. Sadly, it now won't even switch on. With that goes the laptop and my promising career in IT. Snorts.

So here I am using an ancient dodgy laptop that only works while plugged in. Nice. Problem solving, people. That's what creativity is. I'm nothing if creative. Or something...

Anyway, I wanted to chime in on last weeks Friday Reflections prompt before it's too late: Alone,Together.

An odd coincidence occurred. When I sat down to write my thoughts about this I flipped open one of my many paper journals/notebooks to find an old entry from July. This is what I had written:

It's a really mellow time of the afternoon. A sort of peaceful vibe has descended over the day. It's lovely. There are sounds of distant birds and cars, but they're a pleasing murmur. Everyone is in their own world. It's good to slow down. I wonder when exactly is it considered to be dusk? Or twilight? I need to turn the light on, but I don't want to get up and break the mood. I quite like sitting here while the gentle darkness tiptoes in around me. I am savouring the relative calmness I feel in the moment. Whenever I am in another horrible moment I can remind myself that moments like this exist as well. There are not enough places here in this house for all of us to be alone. Alone, together. I like that.

Okay, so that wasn't particularly riveting upon reading it again. But my point is, I quite like the alone, together thing. I suspect many folk would view this as a negative thing. I don't. We are a very introverted family. In fact, I reckon, 'alone, together' could be our motto. In my opinion, alone time is essential to re-charge. Solitude is soothing and necessary for equilibrium. It doesn't mean we're not a family, a team, a united front. We are. Alone doesn't necessarily mean lonely, to my way of thinking. I've experienced loneliness as a teenager and that is a very different thing. I certainly wouldn't want to be lonely again. I do want to be alone quite frequently.

Luckily, I am enjoying this very thing as I type this. I'm loving the peace and quiet. Later, I will welcome the noise and togetherness of my family but for now I enjoy the tranquillity... Of course I also have lots of stuff to do. But it's nice to it without interruptions.

In other exciting developments, I have begun bullet journaling. I had heard of it before, but didn't expect it to work for a scatter-brain like me. However, I really like it. Plus, I have so many  notebooks to use up, so why not? Speaking of excitement, I also managed to make it to the library last week after my shrink appointment. Yes, I am still as cutting edge as ever. Some things never change.

Before I go, it's also the one year birthday of  Denyse Whelan's Life This Week link-up.  I am a little late to the party, but better late than never! So congratulations and thanks to Denyse. I like to link up whenever I can and the prompts are helpful as well. In future I will endeavour to be less erratic and join in more often. And now we all get CAKE! Am I right?

Okay, just a short and sweet one. Gotta go. Things to do. Lists to tick. Serenity to saviour.


