Juggling...

Learning how to Juggle... I'm not quite sure how this one got on the list but it may have something to do with at every Christmas dinner we have every year, our family friend Guy has a new and improved skill to treat the kids with... this last year it was a magic show, and even my Gran was impressed... Ha.
So to learn how to juggle was the trick as he has not done this before.  Did you know that juggling can be perfomed with just 2 balls?  That is officially juggling?  Well it is.  I bought a set of juggling balls (made up of 3 balls) - I have practiced on and off for the last 6 months (to be honest it was more on than off) but in the Margaret River I seem to have found my groove... most potentially never to be repeated again... but I do have a non-biased witness and adjudicator and the task has been passed!!

Tess

My Granddad "Da" gave me a book in 1986, Thomas Hardy's 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles', and it has sat on my bookshelf since then un-read.  I think I tried to read it once but the language was a little to old-worldy for me and I just didn't get it. 

Having read it now, I probably wasn't ready for it as an 11 year old.  I actually just read it in around 5 days... I must say it is an amazing book although I was right in saying it is oldy-worldy... a lot of words ran past me and I think I need to read it again to pick up on a lot of other things in the story that I probably missed reading it so quickly.  It is a tragedy and I can understand why it is a classic. 

Definitely a great read for any girl / woman and guy (in fact the guy I sit next to at work read it twice in high schoold for English) and don't let the old words put you off... this book started as a series of newspaper submissions from the author that he peiced together for the book... a mish mash of quite a few chapters that he designed - it did all flow together nicely.

 

The Overhaul

My bedroom has been a shambles for a very long time... since I was a child really and into my teens and now my adult life as well.  I often don't let my friends into my room as it is quite messy.  Not dirty or dusty (I have a cleaner who does all that), but cluttery - lots of old paperwork around, clothes that I don't wear, the usual suspects.

So the task was to tidy, clean and organise the bedroom.  It has taken a few sessions to do so, but I am now very happy with the result!

Before and after shots:

Tap-tap-tapping

I thought this was the task that  I had failed and had originally posted this to be so.

I bought a ticket to the Sydney Dance Company which you can  use at any time within 6 months. And of course I have left this task right until the last minute and the last possible night I had available to go to a lesson I missed getting into it...

So I still have the ticket and it is still valid so I will make it to a class in July instead... just not before I turn 40.

However I have just been spending my last couple of days in my 30's in Margaret River in Western Australia and I completed an online Tap For Beginners course during this time!  So in fact I have completed this task now....

 

Paying it all off

For this task I had to pay off the below big ticket items which have all been successful!
Car Loan - I sold my car!  So the loan got paid off :) and now I am on a new plan where I lease my new car and save money doing so.
Credit Card - luckily for me I got a bonus at my new job this year which means a portion of it went straight onto the credit card to pay it off.
Flights to Hawaii - the same bonus gave me enough money to pay for my a large proportion of the Hawaii trip I am taking later this year in September (including airfare, hotel accommodation, car rental and race fees).  The only thing it doesn't cover is shopping!! Although I haven't purchased the tickets as yet, the money is set aside in the Hawaii fund.

Task complete!

Moving canoes

This task has been a long time coming. I have been President of my paddling club now for 3 seasons and at the start of that term we lost the spot where we had been storing and launching our canoes from for around 10 years!  

So many members of the club and myself set to work with the City of Sydney to get a storage spot at the new site once built.  They had been proposing a foreshore walkway for a number of years and finally it was coming to fruition.  

Photos below are of the opening day at the foreshore where the club was invited and well represented at the racks, handing out flyers etc.  And we got to meet the Mayor.  

I am pleased to write that I received last week confirmation and a contract advising we had been successful in obtaining storage for our canoes back over at the site!  Move day hopefully at the end of the month cross fingers!  

A really big thank you has to go out to everyone at the club, both past and present, who helped at some stage to make this happen...

Being a Vego

My sister Jacqui suggested this one... to be Vegetarian (including no seafood) for a month.  So for the last 31 days I have done so.  

I left this one to the last minute as we had a lot of racing to do from February to April so I decided to do it after that.  Being Vego is hard!  

Because I do so much exercise I had to really think about what I was eating to make sure I got enough of all the food groups to help aid in my recovery, particularly iron and protein. I did make some yummy food at home to keep my going and Cath and I discovered an awesome Vego restaurant just next to her house.  We went to a cool Indian place in Perth and found one in Sydney as well. 

However, I have decided that I will go back to eating meat and seafood... I missed it all too much and had a lot of food envy moments.  I still love eggplant which is good because I ate a lot of it, and eggs.  

Bacon is very high up on my agenda to be eaten very soon..... Fakin' Bacon unfortunately tastes nothing like the real thing.....  One thing I have noticed is that when you eat out and are vego, more often than not you are offered white pasta or lentils, so I have spent much of this month bloated!  Ha.

Pics are of a couple of yummy meals I ate as a Vego who is looking forward to being a meat eater!