Mac Warhol?

I have my Mac. 

After a lifetime of wishing and hoping and opposition from my Beloved, I finally have my Mac. Am still getting used to it, and it's fun features.

My favourite thing so far is the photobooth. So in that spirit I'm going to pop up a couple of pictures randomly shot with this excellent feature.

Off to NZ in the morning... YAY!

The land of the long white cloud...

On Monday, I'm leaving on a jet plane for New Zealand, ostensibly to housesit for my friend Helen, who is heading over to the UK for three weeks. I am taking the Ballerina & the Rangi.

I spent 26 minutes on hold this morning to Pacific Blue, to ask a simple question (not answered in their online FAQs) regarding the carriage of the Ballerina's guitar. No, I'm not buying a ticket for a guitar. No, it doesn't have a hard case. No, they can't guarantee it won't be damaged... have a nice day. If I can somehow manage to borrow a hard case we will still take the guitar, otherwise it may not be coming with us after all.

Moving on, I have finally managed to jump on the www.newzealand.com website and am pleased beyond belief at their simple to use Travel Planner application. I simply go to the areas we'll be travelling to, and it shows up a whole list of activities, sights, and views, and I can Collect or Bookmark the things we are interested in.

Here are a couple of things I plan to do:
Hunting: in particular, hunting Hobbits (in Hobbiton), and hunting Tim Finn (in Te Awamutu)
Beaching: in particular, sitting on, swimming in, and walking upon Omokoroa beach
Driving: all over the top half of the North Island... Auckland to Tauranga, to Rotorua, to Hamilton...at least
Adventuring: volcanoes, caves, hot springs, Nadia for the day... it's all going to be one big adventure! Not to mention two weeks on my own, with the Ballerina & Rangi...

I have found a WW meeting in Tauranga, which will be interesting. I've spoken to Julie my leader, and she is also quite interested to see how a New Zealand meeting is run, and what shennanigans they get up to on the other side of the pond. The meeting is above a place called the Sober Camel Cafe, which warrants a look for its intriguing name, if nothing else. I hope they make nice coffee...

On a more domestic note, have been hit hard with the flu (or as we call it here at Ground Zero, "the aids"...) It has ripped through our family, and finally come to reside within my body. I can't breathe through my nose, which is quite irritating (and more so for the God of All Men, because I keep snoring at night), despite snorting saline solution into my sinuses. THAT little trick resulted in me vomiting. Ick! On that basis I doubt I'll ever develop a cocaine habit.

Only 4 more sleeps to go until we're in the Land of the Long White Cloud...

ORB... Magic

Ok so the daggiest ever name for a blog, no doubt, but tough.
Operation: Rebuild Barbarella (ORB) is all about rebuilding my life how I WANT it to be.

There's a lot of healing and mind-shifts that have taken place. Physical, spiritual and psychological changes and growth have been occurring.

I'm 5 years from 40, and that scares the living f*%k out of me! Not the age, oh no. But what I have done, and where I am, and where the heck I might end up. THAT is the scary part.

So here are some big changes that have already occurred:

I quit smoking on Feb 21 2008.
This is huge. I come from a family of professional smokers, a pack a day chainsmoking habit that ruled my life. That is no longer the case, I'm proud to say. I had hypnosis with a psychologist to end the addiction and I will forever be grateful that it has worked.

I have begun to be KINDER to myself.
Following the success of my Quit, I wanted to work on a couple of other aspects of my life, and one of the biggest things that came out of the sessions is that I have been filled with self loathing, deep damaging self hatred, for a very long time.

Now, that internal dialogue has been shut down, I am more gentle with myself, and this also has shown in physical ways. I'm not killing myself at gym doing hardcore weights. Instead, I am taking pleasure in the activity I do. I joined Curves recently, and in June joined Weight Watchers. No extremes for once in my life, just gentle, positive and balanced self-care.

And now, I plan to use this space to record things I am thankful for each day. At my final psychology session, it was suggested that I take a moment each day and note down three things I am thankful for. Kind of like a gratitude journal, I guess.

So here are the three things I am most thankful for:
My husband
My son
My daughter

They are the most amazing people in my life, and for as much trouble as they can throw my way, they give so much love and support that I am proud to have them in my life. I feel BLESSED to be able to share in their lives. I am thankful they are my world.