Reasons to be cheerful

Here are my reasons to be cheerful today Ali...

reasons to be cheerful

• Completed 4 whole pages this weekend after not doing any scrapbooking for a while!
• I completed the shopping for the donation we are giving to charity and will deliver it today
• That I am blessed with an amazing family, husband, beautiful children and grandbabies
• Spent almost the whole day with Ant yesterday
• Continuing with my decluttering mission - the piles of paper are definitely disappearing ... slowly but surely

 What are YOUR reasons to be cheerful this morning

Perception [per-sep-shuh n], per·cep·tion, pəˈsɛpʃən)

Last night I couldn't sleep and had thoughts milling around in my head.  The word that kept coming up whilst trying to make sense of everthing was perception...

Its amazing how, when you think you actually know someone or something, things happen that change your whole perception of  the person or situation.

I decided to get the exact meaning of the word this morning and this is what I came up with...

noun

1. the act or faculty of apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding.

2.   immediate or intuitive recognition or appreciation, as of moral, psychological, or aesthetic qualities;; intuition; discernment: an artist of rare perception.

3.   the result or product of, as distinguished from the act of

Psychology. a single unified awareness derived from sensory processes while a stimulus is present.

Origin: 1350–1400; Middle English percepcioun(< Old French percepcïon) < Latin perceptiōn-(stem of perceptiō) comprehension, literally, a taking in. 

The psychological study of risk perception has found that an imposed risk almost always prompts more worry.

Victory is merely the culmination of planning, perception and perseverance.

Just what I needed ...

Brave Girls have to choose their battles. They just do.

Sometimes we have to choose whether we want to be right, or whether we want to be happy.

Sometimes we have to keep our opinions, grievances, and complaints to ourselves in order to love and respect others who are important to us.

It doesn't make you weak to bite your tongue when the conversation gets heated. Live your truth and let others live theirs. Making a choice to show love and patience instead of proving ourselves right when the issue doesn't really matter more than the person and the relationship does--know what I mean? Of course you do! You are brilliant!

Choose your battles wisely. People we love are always more important than just about anything.

A wonderful weekend!

Saturday I spent doing what I love best - being a Granny!  In the afternoon I had Michael all to myself for about 4 hours (as his Grampa was taking stock).  We wrestled and played and had absolute fun.  In the evening we visited Gina and Bradley.  He is getting so big and I expect him to be walking really soon.

Wendy invited us to High Tea at River Meadow Manor in Irene on Sunday.  What a stunning venue in the most beautiful garden.  History surrounds the Estate and sites close by and as I have never been to Irene before, will definitely be visiting again soon.   "Elegance and tranquility" describe the venue perfectly.

The tea was delicious - their Baked Cheescake and a Peach Tart with fresh cream were my favorite.

Life...

Piatto - what a disastrous meal!

Last night we had our monthly Sisters Dinner and we decided to give Piatto a try again.   We had a foccacia for starters and it was delicious.  I had Chicken Parmigannio (?) with veggies and a baked potato.  The potato was rotten in the middle which made me feel really sick.  Wendy's chicken was raw and that was the end of the meal for me.  Lynn and Norma enjoyed their meals -  so at least some good came out of it.

To add to the disastrous meal, I ordered hot chocolate and it looked like dishwater!  I don't think we will be going back there again - EVER!

Perfect inspiration from The Brave Girls Club

Most people do the best they can. Most people are doing all that they can to make their way through the world and make good decisions and to love and to feel loved.

Sometimes we expect more out of people than they could possibly give. Sometimes we think others think exactly as we think, and we expect them to react the way we would react, behave the way that we would behave and to do what we would do in any given situation, and then we are disappointed and jaded when they don't.

We bring ourselves and others so much pain when we have great expectations for others. Unconditional love, kindness and acceptance means that there are no expectations of others. We love for the sake of loving, even if we never get love in return. We are kind for the sake of being kind, even if the kindness is never returned. We accept for the sake of accepting, even if that acceptance is not returned in ways that we might have expected.

Take pressure off of yourself, dear friend, and drop all expectations that you have of others. We can never know what is going on in a person's life, in their heart. We can never know what their intentions are or what they are truly thinking or planning. Expecting, assuming and creating conditions just leads to pain for everybody.


Love for the sake of loving. It is the way to peace.
xoxo 

What have I been upto?

Last week flew past and I can't believe it's Monday again!

On Thursday afternoon I went with Sal and the boys to Jungle Rumble - what absolute fun!  This is the most brilliant idea for children - an indoor playground with loads of things to do.  I know it has been there for years but considering my children are all grown-up now I think the last time I went there was for a birthday party Connor had many years ago.

Friday we had a serious Sales Meeting followed by a delicious lunch at Gino's.  Our evening was spent having dinner at Spur and I am so disappointed that they no longer have their Salad Bar.  Saturday morning up bright and early watching rugby.  Brad came to us for the afternoon and slept over.  He is so cute and has just started crawling, now the fun starts for his Mommy. We had a late afternoon braai with Norma as she had been feeling like one for ages and asked Gordon if he would do the honours.  We played Scrabble and the comments were flying - "Old ladies playing scrabble on a Saturday night", etc.  Unfortunately I was beaten but then again I think Norm is the Scrabble Queen!

Sunday morning Brad was up at 5:30.  But after his bottle went back to sleep for another hour! We then watched our team get beaten!  I was really hoping they would get to the final!  Then off we went for lunch and Gina met us to fetch Brad.

Car wash, shopping and then an afternoon nap was the order of the day. We watched the final of the Champions League and my team - Mumbai Indians won.  We have a problem in our house with sport though, Gordon and I support different teams in every sport, so we are always rooting for different teams.  He wanted the Royal Challengers to win but my team finished them off!  

Looking forward to this new week!



A thought...

Wends - I stole as well!! Bunch of theives we are...

1. Can you cook? Yes and I can bake
2. What was your dream growing up? To be an air-hostess
3. What talent do you wish you had? Play the violin
4. Favorite place? The sea
5. Favorite vegetable? Pumpkin
6. What was the last book you read? Homecoming by Cathy Kelly
7. What zodiac sign are you? Aries
8. Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Pierced ears
9. Worst Habit? Smoking
10. Do you personally know anybody on Blog? Yes
11. What is your favorite sport? Soccer
12. Negative or Optimistic attitude? Always try to be optimistic
13. What would you do if you were stuck in an lift with someone of the opposite sex? Probably nothing as I am claustrophobic and wouldn't be able to breathe let alone do anything else!
14. Worst thing to ever happen to you? Being hijacked at gun-point
15. Tell me one weird fact about you: I can't think of anything right now!
16. Do you have any pets? No
17. Do you know how to do the macarena? Sorta
18. Is the sun shining where you are now? No, its night time
19. Do you think clowns are cute or scary? Mostly scary
20. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be? My weight
21. Would you be my good angel or bad angel? Good
22. What color eyes do you have? Depending on my mood blue and sometimes green
23. Ever been married? Yes
24. Bottle or Draft? Bottle
25. If you won £10,000 today, what would you do with it? Save it
26. What kind of bubble gum do you prefer to chew? Wild Cherry
27. What's your favorite bar to hang at? None
28. Do you believe in ghosts? Try not to
29. Favorite thing to do in your spare time? Spending time with my grandsons, Scrapbooking
30. Do you swear a lot? Lately yes
31. Biggest pet peeve? Lies and sniffing (absolutely hate it!)
32. In one word, how would you describe yourself? Happy
33. In two words, how would you describe yourself? Constantly trying

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30 years of friendship....

Beverlee and I met at work in March 1981 and through many changes in both of our lives have remained friends for an amazing 30 years!  We don't see each other often but when we do it's always good.  We met for lunch this afternoon and had a nice long chat with some laughs and tears as well.

Here's to lasting friendships!!