The number 28 takes on more significance in my life after we purchased a new house this past weekend.
It’s the ‘next’ step in our current journey kicked off more than a year ago when I embraced my redundancy, changed careers, and shared the journey with the family.
Change can be big and scary, but nothing worth fearing if you communicate and share your thoughts and those of the others invested in the change with you.
I hope you are all well, and I promise to post more now the ‘house hunting’ period is complete 
Following the ‘keep things simple‘ mantra, I surprised my wife today with a hand-written note for Valentine’s Day.
Even though I tell her many times (and often forget to tell her many times) throughout the year, taking the time to put my thoughts on paper was a fabulous experience – stuff I’d wanted to say but never found the right time; stuff I didn’t have the words for at the time (hard to believe, I know!), or stuff that simply missed its opportunity to shine.
No-one can do anything alone in this world – we are social animals and in more ways than one we need others to help us become great. Let me be clear about this: I could not do what I do without her. Her support for me is essential for me to get done what I get done. Even to the point where it doesn’t immediately benefit her, she still supports me. That’s what love is. That’s what dedication is. That’s what it takes to make a successful relationship.
To my Darling Eva, everything in that letter is 100% true. You are a star and I am who I am today through having you by my side. ♥♥♥☺♥♥♥
As mentioned in my previous post about one of the BIG things 2012 has in store, We’ve begin preparing our house to be sold. To some this is a daunting time, but for me it’s a chance to start another ‘new’ chapter in our lives, albeit on a much larger scale than the last ‘new’ chapter I started in August 2011!
I’ve begun packing boxes and came across some of the baby clothes we’d put away from when my boys were babies (Mr6 & Mr9 will soon become Mr7 & Mr10 – likely to be in our new house!). It’s amazing to see how much they’ve grown in a few short years – Once time passes it seems to ‘compress’ into a wonderfully vivid memory of all the great and wonderful things they’ve achieved in a few short years.
One could say I’m getting a little nostalgic already!
Anyway, I just wanted to keep you all up to date on what’s happening and will continue to bring you snippets and thoughts as I come across them. How’s your 2012 coming along?
I’m planning on keeping things simple in 2012. They’re not resolutions, but a simple stating of the things that I’ll be aiming for in 2012 (not necessarily in order):
Buying a new house:
- With a backyard (Mr 6 needs a dog, and in a way, we probably all do)
- Enough room to run around and kick the football
- A vege garden
- Chooks
- Enough room to have people stay over
- this will also herald the start of a long-held desire to share the good things with those who are less fortunate – more on this in a future post!
* To satisfy my love of cars, getting my paws on a special car (a Porsche or HSV would do nicely)
* Spending more time with friends doing fabulous things like the Warrior Dash, motorcycle rides, drives and dinners
* Completing a marathon
* Work-wise, making a kick-arse contribution to everything I do
I’m not too fussed about the details at this point but know this is where I’ll be aiming in 2012 helps to focus the thoughts – clarity will come during the year
If you wish to come on my journey with me, please let me know how I can help you or how you can help me achieve the above goals!
I had an appointment at 9:30am today to donate clinical plasma – I arrived at 9am but did not leave until 12:00pm (the interview + donation generally take 90 mins). I’m in holiday mode so wasn’t fazed by it but one of the other donors (there to donate whole blood, which takes 5-10 mins vs. the 40-60 mins for plasma) was quite irate at how long things were taking and that she had an important meeting to attend.
One of my favourite nurses (he rides a motorcycle and is good for a chat about anything) came over to hook me up to the apheresis machine and was apologising for taking a while to get things happening this morning. He went on to explain that there’s a young boy who underwent a bone marrow transplant early this morning and in order to help with the operation, they had invited approx 10 regular donors to come in and donate this morning. He explained that even though the schedule was already packed for the day, squeezing in another 10 at that critical moment was essential. He went on to explain they were simply doing what they could to give this little boy the best possible chance at life. My day was impacted by this, but who am I to complain?
Somewhere out there in Sydney tonight, a family is hanging on to see whether or not their little boy has a chance at life. I wish that family all the strength, love and fortitude they will need to get through the next few hours/days.
Perspective is powerful.
Put yourself in that family’s shoes tonight.
If you think like I do, any delay to the ‘normality’ of your life through an event such as this will have you asking questions about what’s really important in life.
In fact today I’ve been in quiet contemplation about all manner of people, families, sons, daughters and others who are suffering in one way or another tonight, I wish you all the best and hope you have what you need to get through. ♥☺♥