"Worrying about tomorrow means that you are missing some of today" Corey Allan of Simple Marriage

Friday, December 30, 2011

Ahhhh ... it's time for New Years Resolutions

I have been having a think, on my walk with Stella-D, about how my life is shaping up, and what I want to achieve in 2012, since a new year and a new beginning all happens tomorrow.

I have decided I will be best to actually write down everything I do, and then alongside it everything I hope to do.  I think I might find that my biggest problem, along with a lot of people, is that I hope to do too much, so what I really need to do is prioritise what is most important and focus on those things, and then commit any 'spare' time to 'everything' else.

So tonights job will be to create this list, and how I plan to tackle it - month by month - starting, of course, with January!

I shall be back …

And here it is;



What I achieved 2011
What I hope to achieve 2012
Finances
Records of daily spending
Finances
Records of daily spending
Spending within my means
Debt free aside from mortgage
Farming
Hose out shed most mornings
Farming
Hose out shed most mornings
Milk four times a week
Finances once a week
MINDA once a week
Blog weekly
Photography
Increased sales
Good customer service
Daily records of finances
Photography
Increase profile and sales
Excellent customer service
Daily records of finances
Increase skills
Exhibition in Winter
Thorough backups and records of photos
Make a file of outstanding photos
House and Garden
House cleanish and tidyish
Flower garden planted and mostly weeded
Vegetable garden partly planted and mostly weeded

House and Garden
House on a cleaning schedule
Flower garden weeded weekly
Vegetable garden weeded weekly
Vegetable garden harvested when required
Berry garden birdproofed
Flower and vegetable seedlings ready in continuous manner
Friends and Family
Reconnected with Carmen
Reconnected with Heather
Friends and Family
More proactive with birthdays
Phone Mum and Dad monthly
Dinner monthly with Trent
Lunch monthly with Trent
Movies with Thelma
Email contact with Manda, Heather
Personal
Quit my job, less stress
Got engaged
Got accepted as foster parents
Walk Stella-D twice a day
Personal
Connect more with God
Get fit and healthy
Stop watching so much TV
Read more books
Expand breakfast/lunch/dinner menus
Walk Stella-D twice a day
Blog weekly
January 2012
Finances
Pay all bills in full, work out total debt or credit
Work out average weekly income from photography business
Work out average weekly expenses (including rental house)
Construct a budget to live within my means
Farming
Milk twice a week
Hose out most mornings
Get MINDA up-to-date
Read newspapers daily for weekly blog
Photography
Mark all events for January in calendar
Daily records of finances
Outstanding January photos to file
Study one chapter of Photography book
House and Garden
Follow cleaning schedule
One day a week vegetable garden weeding
One day a week flower garden weeding
One day (a month) seeds into punnets
Bird netting for raspberries
Friends and Family
Note all January birthdays
Go to Manda’s leaving
Email Thelma about movies
Email Heather to see how Christmas and New Year went
Work out what day of yearling sales to go to with Carmen
Julies wedding - 07th
Personal
Read Bible 5 minutes a day (starting anywhere)
12 week plan starts 16 January
Treat food - small amount twice a week
Walk Stella-D twice a day
Read Skywatch and select movies/programmes that I REALLY want to watch, write down day and time
Watch 1 x cooking programme a week for fresh ideas on what to make for meals
Read 1 x recipe book for fresh meal ideas
Blog weekly x fitness and general blog

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Hens 'day'

My friend 'crazy Julie' had her hens day today (she is around 6 months pregnant, so a night was never going to be).  We started off at St. Beads, where we got to make beaded jewellery.  I made two bracelets for my nieces (and I wish I had taken photos as I quite liked them).  It was a tonne of fun, but a wee bit expensive (well what I made was, didn't have to be) so I had to stop myself after making the two, as I was about to go on and make myself something it was so much fun.  We then went for lunch at an old fashioned tea rooms.  Wasn't overly impressed - I had water, jug no glass so I poured it into my tea cup ('clean' - I don't drink tea or coffee) and it had nice dust floaties in it, my scone with jam and cream was $5.50 (wasn't that big, but very tasty).  After lunch we went to Bluewater Hotel and played mini-golf, which was a lot of fun (I was terrible, but it was still fun).  

I decided to come home after mini-golf.  The girls were just going for a drink, and since I am trying to quit soft drinks, and I don't drink alcohol, I didn't see the point.  So I came home, via Scotts Berry Farm, whereby I drove home while consuming a rather large punnet of strawberries - much better for me than McD's I figured, so all good!

Of course, since I had made the girls something I then had to go and buy C something, so he didn't miss out.  I bought him a book that had slide windows in it, which he currently loves, and it went down a treat.  He loved getting more presents a few days after Christmas.

Tonight I went around to my sisters, after tea at Mum and Dads, to give them all their Christmas pressies, and T's birthday pressie.  I felt a bit stink as sis had a friend with her two kids there, and I didn't have gifts for them, but I let them open the ones for sis and partner, so that worked out ok.  I didn't stay long as I am in a bit of a confrontational, opinionated mood and I didn't want to ruin their day by being a nag.  And speaking of being opinionated ...

I wrote a very long email to a 'farmer hater' today.  You can read it here at The Joys Of Farming.  I can be a little 'aggressive' so I ran it by my slightly cooler headed mother first.  She seemed to think it was ok.  I thought of a couple of changes I could have made after I sent it, but a bit late now.  Unfortunately (due to the out of office reply I got) it only goes to the manager, so I hope it gets passed on, once they get back to work, on the 9th of January (farmers should be so lucky to get such a decent break!)  It will be interesting if I get a response, and the kind of response I get.  I believe that, while I made it fairly clear I thought David Trubridge was a hypocrite and highly insulting, I was also polite.

Almost bedtime, but while I am still up - I am glad they have arrested someone over the brutal bashing of a 5 year old tourist in a holiday park here in NZ.  Saddened that he is only 16, but he obviously has some serious issues!  You can read that article here

Saturday, December 17, 2011

I need to learn to focus

I was thinking today, about how I am currently involved in another obsession, and how it makes me fantasize about what I could be doing.  I googled a girl who was in my sisters class at school, who prepares thoroughbred yearlings for the sales, and she is now doing it very successfully, because I thought that that would be something I would like to get involved in.  Correction - I thought that that would be something ELSE I would like to get involved in.  And I realised, while walking the dog this evening, that I could and should have been successful at something BUT for the fact I flip flop from one idea to the next, I never, ever fully commit myself to anything, and once I am bored with the latest thing, I begin on another.

The trouble is I have been like this for as long as I can remember, except when a child.  When I was a child I was soley focused on all things horses.  I read horse books.  I rode horses.  I had horse pictures and ornaments.  And when I think back now, I really don't know why I gave it up.  Maybe I grew out of it.  Maybe my friends became more important than my horse.  Maybe, because my parents told me I could not have a job when I left school with horses, as I would never make any money,  I just no longer saw the point.  After the horse obsession came the photography obsession.  I took rolls and rolls and rolls of film.  I had my own darkroom set-up.  I spent hours upon hours in darkrooms, including my lunch hours at school.  And why did I not pursue this?  Too scared of failure.  Money.  And again my parents did not allow me to study photography at Elam school of Arts (Mum said it was dodgy).

So what has happened since I left school.  I went to University and studied psychology, then changed to biology, then back to psychology.  Then I left and mucked around for too long.  Then I finally went to polytechnic and studied photography for 6 months.  I struggled financially for the 6 months so did not bother to apply for the year course that followed.  I then worked in photo labs for a while.  Then I did a conservation course, and then went back to University and studied Science, with a major in Conservation and Ecology (I finally got my bachelors).  I then worked for Dept. of Conservation, Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, Buddle Findlay Law Firm, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, a couple of information centres, Fonterra, and now I am self employed.

During this time I also lived in the Waikato, Wellington, back to Waikato, Queenstown, back to Waikato, Hawke's Bay, Canterbury, Hawke's Bay, Central Plateau, Auckland, Hawke's Bay, and now Taranaki.  I actually do love moving around, but it does mean that I have no super close friends.

I actually think my lifestyle might stem from being unhappy, well actually not unhappy just permanently un-content - I always think something else is better.  I keep thinking, if I do THIS I will finally be content.  And I do it, but I get bored and it's not how I pictured it so I think, if I do THAT I will finally be content.  And I think, if I do that I am so going to do this and this and this and be this person that I really want to be.  And I never am.  I end up being a lazy ass and not applying myself and coasting along and not being as good as I could be.

And so my latest obsession is horse racing.  And so I fantasize about either owning a racehorse or breeding for sales, or preparing other peoples for sales, or owning a stallion and having stud fees.  And I have been watching the racing channel, and listening to the races, and betting on the races (very small amounts, but that adds up when you are doing it obsessively!)  But when I think about it, I also want to be a successful dairy farmer, and expand that business, and possibly breed top rate cows.  And then I want my photography business to expand.  Not to mention children ….. I just sometimes wish my mind would slow down!

Ack, I just think I need to write a(nother) list, and try and get my priorities sorted, and then each time I get sidetracked (and I get seriously sidetracked to the point nothing else gets done, like at the moment, nothing gets done as I am too busy watching racehorses and googling horse studs and trainers and trying to see if there are any jobs out there) …. ooops SEE, each time I get sidetracked I should go and read my list and refocus myself and remember what my goals are.

I shall get onto it now!