My daughter is a model

Diet Journal swap Comment

I received this e-mail a few days ago.

Its great to feel appreciated. And its wonderful to feel that you have made a positive difference in someone's life.

Thank you Muhra, your note brightened up my day.

Dear Simone..

i loved your diery .. you put so much effort to it.. i started using it.. and am really encoraged to continue my diet.. thank you for sharing you photo as well its esier to remamber people with thier photos. i will send my photo in my next email..

Ive never been to shouth Africa.. who is it over thier.. i live in UAE have you ever been her like to Dubai because its a faouse city of Middle East .. i live in Abu Dhabi the capital city of UAE..

how is the diet going with you... am so happy because i lost 5 kilos since January.. and i would like to loos another 10 .. or hopfuly..

please keep in tuch

Muhra

Visit the The Brothers Blog

Wordless Wednesdays WW4

Wordless Wednesdays

Please leave a comment and your blog address.

The Invitation

This a new author I come across. Going to add her books to my wish list

The Invitation

IT DOESN’T INTEREST ME WHAT YOU DO FOR A LIVING.

I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty, even when it’s not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!”

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

© Oriah Mountain Dreamer, from the book The Invitation

http://www.oriahmountaindreamer.com/

she-essence.com

A place for women to grow friendships

What Kind of Mom are you?

What kind of Mom are you? Your Result: Procrastinator You believe in putting off until tomorrow what should have been done today. Unless you can put it off until the weekend. Or next week. Definitely have it done by the end of the month, though! Your kids might be wearing clothes a size too small and their hair might need cutting, but you get everything done eventually! And you've found a way to keep stress at bay by not making unreasonable demands on your time. Your motto? "Don't sweat the small stuff."
Perfectionist
Soccer Mom
The Queen
What kind of Mom are you? Quizzes for MySpace

"What kind of Mom are you?" was created by viv of Cool Moms Rule

Almost complete projects

One sock.

Baby's Blanket

and a square sample for Big Knit project still too be organised.

Princess loves attaching my needles while I am knitting.

BLOGINALITY

My weblog Personality:

You are an ENTP!

As an ENTP, you are Extroverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Perceiving.
This makes your primary focus on Extroverted Intuition with Introverted Thinking.

This is defined as a NT personality, which is part of Carl Jung's Rational (Knowledge Seeking) type, and more specifically the Inventors or Visionary

As a weblogger, your love for a discussion may cause you to debate things more often(I dont . You might also flit from idea to idea, not completing one before going to the next. Your largest sense is intuition, which makes you a good at understanding what is going on around you - and this could act to your benefit when making blog-like posts over a journal.

(Do you agree with the result?)

Website: BLOGinality

Take the test

Celebrating Mensturation

"Honoring menstruation is important because it empowers you, and it says you are special. It is important for the women of today to begin to change the message of menstruation for the women of tomorrow. If we don't do it, no one will," Rache'l said.

Menstruation is one of the natural life cycles in our lives. I never really felt bad or inhibited by my cycle, but I never saw it as a blessing either. So when I went onto the mirena, I enjoyed the fact that I did not have a menstrual cycle - it was a nuisance.

Last year I began a journey of reconnecting with myself. I realised that my menstrual cycle would help me understand certain aspects of myself better. I was also aware of the fact that it would take a while before my body returned to its natural state.

Well, its been almost 5 months since the Mirena has been removed. At the of November I experienced a light 3 day period. In the beginning of February I felt like I was pregnant - went to doctor and he gave me a clean bill of health.Then nothing until the end of February. Now I have had a light cycle for 30 days...
Think its time for me to see a doctor.

BUTTERFLY QUOTES

"Butterflies are self propelled flowers".
~~ By R. H. Heinlein~~

"Butterflies count not months but moments
and still have time enough".

"Happiness is a butterfly,
which when pursued
is just beyond your grasp...
but if you will sit down quietly,
may alight upon you".
~~By Nathaniel Hawthorne.~~

"Happiness is like a butterfly,
the more you chase it,
the more it will elude you.
But if you turn your attention to other things,
it comes and softly sits on your shoulder".
~~By Nathanial Hawthorne.~~

For more Butter quotes and poems go to ELAINE'S BUTTERFLY PAGE

Exercise Experience that was from Out of this World

It was only for 5min but OMG did I feel it for days afterwards. It really worked my stomach. I wish I knew of a place closer by that has such a machine or if I could buy it.

Read more wikipedia
CYBERSPIN

Wordless Wednesdays WW3

HHS

Computer Problem fixed Update to follow soon

Thank God its Friday

Looking forward to a weekend away. Its been a tough week at school.

Family camping trip ending with a braai at Ruth's Place.

Berg River Resort

The Four Day Win

I want to buy this book as soon as its available. May 2007
The cost of the book seems to vary from R202 to R270.00 mmmm
I will have to do some saving up.



Check out the reviews in
Kalahari
Suite 101 (for the curious)

WW 1

Camping

SOYOUWANNA GO CAMPING?

READ THIS GO TO THIS SITE

Its pretty cool.

We are planning our second camping trip for this year 16-18 March 2007.

We have two possible places to go. Its still a mystery which one we will be going to.

Butterflies

Some of the symbolism of the butterfly is expressed in the following verse, which first appeared in the September 1985 edition of Emerge:

Butterflies

For reasons unknowable to man
There is sometimes a darkness
Which descends on us
A darkness which seems cruel and containing.

So it is with the caterpillar
Who spins his silk dark and containing
The darkness where he is transformed.

The darkness is a birthplace of courage
And courage is the lifeforce of change
As life is fed in a womb.

Be still and fear not the darkness
Rest as the caterpillar does
The darkness is the beginning of a butterfly
Which emerges from the cocoon
Into light and fullness of life.

So the butterfly is a symbol
Of our hope for new life
Of our hope for wholeness and health.

Insomnia

Causes of Insonmnia

My insomnia is definitely stress related. Knowing that I have not completed a task or feeling unhappy with a situation or person.

My main problem is my inability to use my knowledge to solve my problems. The first step is to identify what is the problem.
Last night I had two - the first one was work related and I was able to solve that. The second was relationship related and I am still having a problem defining the problem. On the one hand I feel something but on the other hand I cannot substantiate why I feel like that. The logical answer then would be to say get over yourself Simone and move on. But what if I have not really analysed the my feelings completely............but then again I could be creating a problem that does not actually exist........or a problem does exist and if I stop using delay tactics I would be able to define it and solve it very easily without a lot of energy.

Now if I don't stop I will be late for work.

Sir Lowry's Village Outreach

The outreach yesterday went well. We had 3 groups. One went door to door sharing books and prayer with the people. Another group shared the gospel in song. And the yet another did the children's program for about 160 kids and a number of parents. At the end food parcels were handed out to 62 families and we left food and other resources with Emily's Soup kitchen to use in their work in the community.

Quote

Quotation from Buddha

"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it." --Buddha

Cartoons with a message

created by Baggleboy


















Draw your own conclusions



















If only this was true............

Light an Educational Fire

"Light an Educational Fire" Movie

GREAT movie. Inspiring! It even brought tears to my eyes. ~~ Vicki Anderholt

Loved the slide show. It lit up an otherwise grey and rather boring day here in England. ~~ Paul Kleiman

Loved the movie!!! It was very inspirational. ~~ Sherie Green

100th Post

My blog journey did not begin with Simone's Butterfly.

I wrote 3 semi-anonymous blog previously and deleted all of them. I say semi because my husband and 2 close friends knew about them. It so much better to live life openly. Why should I fear exposing struggles with my triumphs.I am not perfect but neither is anyone else.

I think that blogging for me is way of staying connected with family, friends and my own humanity. Its about sharing my journey in life with others and inviting their wisdom into my life. My aim is to live life to the fullest and I cannot do that on my own. Life is interconnected, we all interdependent.
As we share our issues, jokes, pictures, comments on the internet we are making stronger webs and that can only lead to a better life and a better world.

Diet Journal Swap

Day at the Park

Doing research for our playground project is a family affair.


Dad inspecting the design.

Jeandre' and Mum

A dream come true

Storytelling in the park

Playdough for Charity

Made 160. 140 more to do.




Making play dough for Emily's Soup Kitchen children. We are running a children's program on Saturday where we will serve juice, chips and sandwiches to plus minus 300 children.
I have organised two clowns, some games, stories and play dough for the children.

In the pursuit of Happyness

I found these words in an old journal of mine.

I am not sure if I copied it from somewhere or wrote it myself.

We are our own oppressors
shackle bearers
the only sovereign who holds
the key to freedom

Yet we hesitate
to turn the lock
to step out into the world
its cold and scary outside

safe but painful inside

I am attending a workshop on the Six Pillars of building Character. The knowledge
is by no means knew to me but the vehicle of delivery is. Its interesting.

The reality is that character building is a life-long pursuit makes me wonder if anyone is ever truly qualified to teach it.
On the other hand if we are students of life, we are also all teachers as well. So we teach and learn together.

What does that mean to me right now in my life? I will not let myself slip into a depression.
I power and the ability to make a choice to be present in my life and in the lives of others.
This choice is not once off for me - like a recovering addict I need to take one at a time.
I need to wake up every morning and consciously choose to be happy.

I am looking forward to tomorrows session.

Slipping away

“You cannot find peace by avoiding life.”

Virginia Woolf

Whose Journey Is It?
Avoiding Life-Stage Confusion
by Mark Matlock

Maintaining your own spiritual journey can be difficult. Surrounded by church culture, other Christians, and the task of constantly shepherding the spiritual journeys of young lives, we can become numb to our own spiritual progress. (from ://www.youthspecialties.com/)

I seem to have great advise for everyone around me but I am unable to keep my own advise. I keep messing up commitments that I make to myself. I feel myself slowing slipping away - and I can't seem to stop myself.

Sarcastic ??

You Have Your Sarcastic Moments

While you're not sarcastic at all times, you definitely have a cynical edge. In your opinion, not all people are annoying. Some are dead! And although you do have your genuine moments, you can't help getting your zingers in. Some people might be a little hurt by your sarcasm, but it's more likely they think you're hilarious.

How Sarcastic Are You?

TAG

Picking up a tag challenge from Random Reflections

"I should now tag five people but I get all paranoid and it’s like being back at school when you have to pick teams in PE and so on. So to save tagging people who then laugh in my face, I leave it to you to take up the gauntlet. Feel free to do so and you’ll then give me a nice warm glow."

Here is what I normally play on my computer "imaginary ipod":

1. Soak up the Sun - Sheryl Crow
2. Summer of 69 - Brain Adams
3. The Power - Snap
4. Manic Monday - The Bangles
5. I don't want to wait - Paula Cole
6. Two Beds and a Coffee machine - Savage Garden
7. Truly, Madly, Deeply - Savage Garden
8. Out of nothing at all - Brain Adams
9. Dont be stupid - Shania Twain
10. The right kind of wrong - LeAnn Rimes

I tag:

Weiers gomotordiaries
Claudel Digital Memories Photography
Ruth ruthsplace
Preston
and anyone in the Knitters' Coffee Swap

My Heroes and Heroine

This is my Hero swap parcel I put together for my partner.

I have never scrapped booked before and when I joined the swap it was the idea of thinking about who my heroes are.

My husband thinks my stuff looks like a school project and that I need to go on a course.

Well I hope my partner will enjoy it.

Brief Biography*

Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist, and founder of analytical psychology. Jung met Sigmund Frued in 1907, and became the first president of the International Psychoanalytic Association when it was formed. He broke with Freud in 1912, when Jung published his revolutionary Psychology of the Unconscious, which postulated two dimensions of the unconscious -- the personal (repressed or forgotten content of an individual's mental and material life), and what he termed the collective unconscious (those acts and mental patterns shared either by members of a culture or universally by all human beings). Under certain conditions these manifest themselves as archetypes -- images, patterns, and symbols that are often seen in dreams or fantasies and that appear as themes in mythology, religion, and fairy tales. In Psychological Types (1921) Jung elucidated extroversion and introversion. He held the most significant task for any person to be the achievement of harmony between the conscious and the unconscious. The definitive edition of his collected works in English translation was published between 1951 and 1979. *This article from Encyclopeia.com

"Leslie Kenton...
is one expert who can genuinely be described as pioneering and visionary"

[TIME OUT, LONDON]

Leslie has always insisted that real health comes from within and that the only true ‘guru’ is the individual human soul.

Award winning writer, novelist, broadcaster, lecturer, social activist and shamanic practitioner, Leslie, daughter of jazz musician Stan Kenton, is well known for her work in journalism and television world-wide. A living example of health and vitality, Leslie has been described as ‘the most original voice in health and beauty’ and ‘the guru of health and fitness’.

Leo F. Buscaglia (1924 -1998)

Buscaglia was teaching in the Department of Special Education at the University of Southern California in the late 1960s when one of his students committed suicide. She had been one of the sets of "kind eyeballs" he always looked for in the large auditorium, because her responses showed him that at least one student was hearing what he said, so the news that she killed herself had a great impact on him. ["What are we doing stuffing facts into people and forgetting that they are human beings?"] This incident led him to form a non-credit class titled Love 1A. There were no grades. (How could you potentially fail someone in this class? That wouldn't be very loving!) The class led to lectures and a manuscript loosely based on what was shared in those weekly classes. The book found a publisher - and an author surprised to find that the simple title LOVE had never previously been claimed, allowing him to say "I have the copyright on LOVE!" Buscaglia said he never taught this class, only facilitated it, adding that he learned as much as anyone. Someone from a Public Broadcasting System affiliate heard one of his talks and arranged to tape a later presentation, eventually showing it during a pledge drive. The response was so strong that it was presented to the national office for consideration. There was great resistance, because a professor simply standing at a podium lecturing was considered old-fashioned, something from the old days of "educational television." Still, the message and delivery were so compelling that they gave it a try, and Leo Buscaglia's warm presentations touched viewers' hearts through the cool medium of television nearly as effectively as they did in person. He has been called the "granddaddy of motivational speakers" on television. His simple message delivered in a dynamic style made him a popular guest on television talk shows, as well as on the lecture circuit. At one time five of his books were on The New York Times Best Sellers List simultaneously.

"Life is our greatest possession and love its greatest affirmation."

Information from the following sites:
http://www.studiocleo.com/librarie/jung/jungpage.html
http://www.lesliekenton.com/home.htm
http://www.buscaglia.com/default.htm

Busy

Just a short note to that I am alive and relatively happy.

Had a busy week with the normal ups and downs.

Released our first edition of the school mag for this year on 28 February 2007. The learners used my home computer to complete the layout. I personally spent about 7 hrs on the layout myself. Had to learners upset about what was written about their outfits in the fashion section.

We launched our Playground project officially on the 28 February 2007 - I was not at the meeting because of the classes I teach at Kip Mcgrath.

Jeandre and Jarid had their school party on the 1 March 2007.

Friday 2 March was Women's Day of Prayer. I led out a prayer meeting during break at our school. I felt inspired to share personal information about myself. That left me feeling a bit emotional for the rest of the day. Then I got a letter from a parent upset about the punishment I gave her daughter ........ almost lost my cool but I made it through the rest of the school day.

Jared's Party

Well done Claudelle on creating a memorable experience. I am looking for to Caydon's Easter party next month.

Claudelle's Party Creations

Finally the photographs I promised. Claudelle and I started brain storming and discussing our children's party since December. I am basically the driver, baker, assistant and now and then came up with ideas that enhanced the project. Claudelle was the creative one who came up with most of the ideas, designed and made the invites, party packs and decorated the cup cakes

The Spider webs did take us forever but in the end I think we did a great job. The parents and children enjoyed what we did.

The best thing of the whole experience was that we created what we wanted and it cost us a whole lot less.

I basically spent the same amount of money on the two parties I had for Jeandre this year which catered for 34 kids at school and 4 at home for the cost of her party we held at Spur last year for 8 children.