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Sightings of People as Passionate about (Addicted to) Coffee as I am (SOPAPACAIA) #7

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SOPAPACAIA Sighting #7

Highpoint Shopping Centre

Hubbie and I

Another self-sighting, I know, I know. But SOPAPACAIA was the first word that sprang to mind when we first had coffees and pastries at Cacao yesterday, only to walk down to Jasper’s a mere minute away and order some more.

What?

Hubbie’s latte at Cacao had too much texturised foamy milk, and not enough coffee! And after having an apricot Danish, I just felt my unsatisfied deep desire for a doughnut intensified…

First world problems, I know.

So at Jasper’s Hubbie got his proper latte in a clear glass (Cacao had put theirs in a cute mug – tsk tsk tsk), while I got this strawberry bomb-doughnut type thingy…

I sipped from his latte, he pecked from my doughnut, and baby girl got mouthfuls of more sweet stuff.

And we walked away in a high sugary-induced state.

 

 

Things that shit me… #10

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Salespeople that put you last because you are with child.

This is very specific, yet unfortunately has happened to me many times. I don’t know if it’s because they see me trying to wrangle a two-and-a-half year-old and think ‘too much work,’ or whether they think I’m not done yet because I’m talking to her more than I am to them, behind the counter. Either way, if I am standing at the counter, or have just asked for your help, chances are I want the help NOW, in fact, rather immediately as if your life depended on it, because that adorable girl you see besides me who is currently drawing on the pad meant for scrawls, well she can go from that to drawing on your walls in 3 seconds if you test her patience.

Today, I had to buy something at Typo. Yes I will name and shame. I love the stationary store; I hated the service today. HATED. I asked if I could get a pencil sharpened in a set I was purchasing, because it was a gift, and really I didn’t want 11 out of the 12 pencils I purchased nice and pointy with the last one non-existent.

The salesgirl who I had been speaking to, and had been helpful up until that point, said she would sharpen it for me. Then all of a sudden a woman entered and started a long discussion over something she wanted to exchange.

If anything, assisting this lady took far longer than it would have taken to sharpen the damn pencil and put my sale through. I watched as the salesgirl even went to the lengths of making a phone call regarding this exchange, while I watched on the sidelines, and another customer wanting to make a purchase entered the scene. Though peeved, I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she thought I was still shopping? When I turned and started talking to baby girl (about where she could draw without damaging their stock) she may have thought I was still deciding what to buy.

But then, as she finished up with exchange lady, she had the gall to turn her head from me and the new customer, and ask with a smile “who was next?”

I responded tensely “I was waiting for you to sharpen that pencil.” Frustrated, I turned to baby girl… and when I looked back, salesgirl was serving the new customer! I would have walked out without question, if they didn’t have exactly what I was after. I waited, paid for my items, gave her a flat tone, and left.

I have worked with customers in a sales position before, and unless the customer says “they can go before me,” or “I’ll take awhile, you go first,” you DO NOT PUT ANOTHER customer who has not waited as long, in front! And my sale didn’t even take that long. This stupid girl just smiled daftly like she was doing nothing wrong! Ahh!

I think the fact that I seem like ‘a lot of work’ with baby girl, trolley and bags in tow, makes certain unknowing sales people think I am… when I’m far from it. I’m more organised and quicker to get out of there than someone without kids, and yet I’m discriminated against because I’m talking non-stop to an over-eager child.

That FREAKING shits me.

Twisted Lyrics #4

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Beyoncé, Baby Boy.

This is going to make you LOL, ROFL, and DUOASYTSS. (You don’t know DUOASYTSS? Double Up Over And Slap Your Thighs, Screaming Seriously?)

So the song with Sean Paul, yeah? You’re probably thinking I have no clue what the mumbler is singing in between Beyoncé’s spiralling lyrics? Yeah wrong. It’s Mrs Carter’s lyrics I’ve been screwing up for all these years, and I didn’t even realise until earlier today when I sang it on the drive home. For hilarity and suspense’s sake, let me give you the proper version first:

“Baby boy you stay on my mind
Baby boy you are so damn fine
Baby boy won’t you be mine
Baby boy let’s, conceive an angel.”

That, I reiterate, is the correct version. Now let me take you to my head:

“Baby boy you stay on my mind (good)
Baby boy you are so damn fine (better!)
Baby boy won’t you be mine (yes I’ve got this!)
Baby boy let’s, consider getting dinner.”

Seriously? That’s what Beyoncé is going to sing about in her song? Getting dinner?

Not only is she asking men to have dinner with her, but she is first ‘considering’ them to have dinner with. Hmmm…

My over-analytical head.

I’ll go now and let you DUOASYTSS…

 

My Path of Gratitude

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For anyone that hasn’t noticed, I have a new blog, titled

carcrashgratitude

a journey of gratitude, inspired by a car crash

That’s my log line, and I’m hoping to stick to my plan on one new post of gratitude per day, not recycling any previous ideas, and continuing for the rest of my life.

It’s a big task.

For more backstory on how this started, check out my

How this all started, here:

Whether it helps, inspires, or makes you think I’m insane, I’m glad you stopped by.

(My smikg.com blog will continue on, I just like taking on more writing tasks, because that is my life, and I’m not busy enough as it is – total lie)

 

Mission Statement

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‘Try writing your life’s mission statement in a single sentence.’

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This is what my daily calendar asked me over a month ago.

Later that day, I really thought about it, and though at first I thought it would be hard, in less than a minute I had my answer.

I did it by thinking of the things most important to me, the things I wanted to do in life, and my values.

  • I love writing.
  • I love travel and adventure.
  • I want to make the most of life.
  • I think all people should be living their purpose. There is enough of EVERYTHING for EVERYONE, not just a select few ‘lucky ones.’
  • I want to feel passionately and inspired by my day-to-day life, drawing inspiration from the world around me.

These points led me to this:

“To live life passionately with adventure; creatively with all writing endeavours and all means of expression; and to inspire others to find their own purpose and follow their heart.”

It’s somewhat limiting and also scary to see your life’s goal in a simple sentence like that. Of course, I believe more will come of it, and should come of it, as life mission statements should evolve as we also do…

So, what is YOUR life’s mission statement?

The Extra Day

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That’s what the Leap Year brings us.

The Leap Year makes up for the fact that the year is not precisely 365 days long. It’s 365 and a quarter, to be (almost) precise. For those playing at home, 365.2422 days to be minutely exact.

We go by the Gregorian calendar, which uses 365 days in a calendar year. Back in the day, Pope Gregory XIIIs astronomers worked out this system to adjust to the fact, which will need to be re-evaluated in about 10,000 years when we are long gone. But for now, it works. Every four years, February 29 appears.

And why February? February used to have 30 days, while August had only 29. When Caesar Augustus became Emperor, he wanted to add 2 days to ‘his’ month, therefore stripping Feb of its two, and adding them to August.

Interesting stuff.

But this all became super-interesting to me back in the year 2000. I was in high school, and a school friend told me that on the extra day of a leap year, you were meant to do something different. Not many customs relating to this day actually mention this, it’s always the usual ‘women can propose to men’ thing you hear more often than anything else.

I don’t know if he was telling the truth; if he was twisting things to make his actions that day seem much more plausible; or whether he was having me on – either way, what he said made an impact.

I still think of Feb 29 as a day to do something different. Leading up to today, I didn’t know what though – what would I do with these extra 24 hours? I mean, not a whole lot, seeing as I’m sitting here typing at work. But still. It gives you hope, possibility, excitement… an extra day? When you think of it like that, in this time-poor, fast-paced, go go go world, it means a whole lot.

And then I think: well why can’t we think of every day, as a day to do something different? Worthwhile? Exciting? Daring? Inspiring?

I’m drumming my fingers at my desk here, anxious to get inspired and make things happen…

And then I remember: aren’t I doing that already?

Before you look at what you can do, look at what you have done already. Grow on that. – SmikG.

Food for thought. What have you been doing?

 

Sightings of People as Passionate about (Addicted to) Coffee as I am (SOPAPACAIA) #5 & #6

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It has been a while, but do not believe it’s because my coffee radar has been turned off.

Life. Baby girl. Hubbie. Writing. Reviews. And always, ALWAYS coffee.

Two noms to two work colleagues:

 

SOPAPACAIA Sighting #5

Docklands cafe

Sighted: Work dude from an adjoining department

Not so much a when-and-where, but the frequency of his coffee-at-work outings. Known to have coffee at the onset of café opening at 7am, then to return again to the same café hours later for ANOTHER caffeine hit.

Wow. My idol.

SOPAPACAIA Sighting #6

My workplace

Sighted: My fellow work colleague, who after (not so aggressive – actually, none at all) persuasion, decided to come and get a coffee with me on my morning walk only 7 days into his month-long coffee hiatus.

He couldn’t be without coffee anymore. And guess what? He drinks mochas.

🙂

The ‘Truth’ in my head

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Let’s start the New Year with some enlightenment and self-awareness.

True Rules, as coined by Gretchen Rubin in The Happiness Project, is what she calls a collection of principles, to help make decisions and set priorities in your life. Defined by you, they work for you, which is why they are true; and they are used time and time again, which is why they become rules. I’ve outlined some of mine below. Although many of them are perhaps more like life reminders than rules to live by, there are many I hold dear to me that blur the lines between advice and rule, and so I’ve decided to include them all.

  • If you have the opportunity, always choose going out over staying home. When you’re at work later and sad you’re not at home doing your own thing, at least you’ll be satisfied with the happy memories you made on your time off, where you utilised your time well.
  • Where one door closes, another one opens.
  • There’s a reason for everything.
  • Treat others how you would like to be treated. And if they don’t treat you right (even if they’re older) fuck them off.
  • TV eats your time. TV can wait.
  • Home-cooked food is best.
  • You won’t get this day again/Absorb the moment you’re in/Take Note.
  • You’re only young once – so buy that dress/those shoes/show some leg, cleavage, ass (respectfully if you can – and if you can’t, just flaunt it).
  • Writing is more important than cleaning/tidying/washing/sorting/insert house activity (excluding home cooking, see above – not to say the cooking is more important than the reading, but to eat well refuels our energy stores and better prepares us to tackle our tasks and passions – so it is a necessity). Which is why I am never on top of any housework, but we are always satisfied and content in our tummies if nothing else.
  • Reading and Writing FIRST (Facebook and The Bold and the Beautiful sometimes win when I’m tired – I’m human).
  • Don’t get too hungry.
  • Always skim the edges and top of hot soup (many debates over how Hubbie cannot eat hot soup properly over this one).
  • But first, coffee.
  • Try to make everyone happy.
  • If a great song comes on while you’re in a clothing store, chances are you should buy something there.
  • If it’s not meant to be now, that means something better is waiting.
  • Life goes up; life goes down. Then repeats.

Some of my regular thoughts aren’t necessarily true, or constructive for a happier life. For example, making everyone happy is almost always a death sentence – I should be trying to do that for myself. And I don’t always find something I want to buy when a great song comes on in a shop I love, leaving me feeling unsatisfied when I walk out empty-handed. I don’t always get to put writing first, which leaves me feeling frustrated most of the time, and I don’t always find a ‘reason’ as to why things are the way they are. Sometimes I’m left wondering for a while, a very long, long while.

And yet, these are the things we think and feel in our day-to-day lives, whether they are true for us every time, or helpful for us to think, we still think them, out of habit, out of experience, which makes becoming aware of them all the more important. If we can pinpoint any troubling repetitive thoughts that aren’t conducive to our way of life, we can try to make things better, and us happier in the process.

Not letting myself go hungry is a good thing, and makes sure my energy stores are usually on the up especially with the demands of life as a Mother/Wife/Daughter/Sister/Friend/Butler/Driver/Cook/Whoever else can you think of?

Heading out when faced with the other possibility of staying at home, means I am filled with happy memories, and now for example as Hubbie is at work and baby girl is asleep for her afternoon nap, I can recall our lovely breakfast we had at a nearby café yesterday morning, where the sun was shining, baby girl was content, and the food and coffee were great. That is a memory worth remembering, rather than the usual butter-and-vegemite toast Sundays.

And thoughts like ‘something better is waiting,’ and ‘life has its ups and downs,’ puts me in a conscious and balanced state, aware of the force of yin and yang. Knowing that life is a rollercoaster we are riding, with occasional things to jump out and scare us, with others to delight and surprise us, keeps me on my toes, and grateful for the joyous moments I receive. Additionally, if I don’t get my turn immediately on that rollercoaster, I tell myself ‘My time will come. Everyone gets a shot.’

What are some of your True Rules? What goes through your mind when making decisions and setting priorities in your day-to-day life?

Happy New Whatever-You-Want-It-To-Be

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(Disclaimer! Most of the below photos are not owned by me!)

Besides the fact that I’m a glass half-full gal, on this final day of 2015 I feel universally compelled to write a post of inspiration.

Quotes are all around me at the moment, proliferating in particular online. I didn’t really know what position to take on it, but I found light-hearted humour in the following example:

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Then I saw a funny and eye-opening one calling into regard all those people who are all New Years Resolution talk and no action:

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My daily calendar told me something else today, that was sweet and promising:

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(this is the only photo I own, but feel free to use as you please 🙂 )

Then I saw a ‘woah’ one that made me go “Yes!” Lleyton Hewitt fist-thrusting in the air style. “I will do it!”

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And then that quote reminded me of one of my all time fave New-Year quotes, something that I think most writers would appreciate the symmetry of and hold close to their chests:

365-book_72

All of these quotes are well and good. They are inspiring and promising to the right person seeking it. I used to write myself New Years Resolutions, every year. Sometimes 5, sometimes 10, sometimes 7 (because it’s one of my lucky numbers). I started to realise that it was hard to hold onto promises I made myself when I wrote them down and didn’t look at them for the rest of the year. Even when I did save it in a spot I could bring up time and time again, I felt an enormous amount of pressure to commit myself to something that was a year-long project. Sure, there are things we should commit to for life – eating right, exercising, drinking plenty of water. These are all good, positive steps to getting the most out of your life. Yet still, I never managed to keep all of them, faltering at some point (sometimes after a month if I was lucky) and it just left me with an air of disappointment.

I think every day is a reason to start anew, start afresh, and make resolutions for your life. Keeping a list to keep track of is good, but you need to allow for life’s little adjustments and remain flexible to changes that may come. How ridiculous is it to commit yourself to one way of being for an entire year, when as a species we are forever changing? Change is necessary for reaching milestones and goals that we set ourselves – no one wants to remain ‘stagnant’ for the rest of their lives. It’s a part of life, and just as we change, so will our goals and dreams for the future.

Which brings me to the quote I think best sums up my interpretation of the new year. Happy 2016 All. Hope it’s everything you want it to be.

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The true meaning of Christmas

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‘Be Nice to People. This is a stressful time of year for many.’

Is what my daily calendar said to me on the weekend. I was fortunate to have the only problems of trying to find some last-minute presents amidst the madness of shopping centres, with the addition of cramming in time amongst work and baby girl and writing to make gingerbread cookies, and a gingerbread cheesecake for Christmas day.

I am so, so thankful to have these festive challenges. I will not call them problems.

You know what a problem is? Terminal illness. Disease. Young children fighting for their lives. Being unable to move, or speak, or do anything for yourself, because an illness has taken hold of your body and has you captive against your will.

I was thinking about the concept of giving earlier this month. It’s a time of year when there is such an emphasis on gifts, and an abundance of stuff, that the true meaning of Christmas is often forgotten. Along with family, and love, and appreciation, I believe one fairly prevalent theme behind this time of year is in giving to the unfortunate.

I was at a shopping centre and was stopped by a young guy trying to organise monthly donations to the Starlight Foundation – a fabulous organisation that grants wishes to children with terminal illnesses. Terminal and children. Those words should not belong together in a sentence.

I wanted to help, but I couldn’t dedicate my money in such a consistent manner as to be donating a certain amount every month. I wanted to do a once-off donation, but his stall that day was to gather as many consistent donations as he could. He let me off gently by saying “You can make a once-off donation online – just promise me you’ll do it alright?”

I often get letters by the Stroke Foundation too, ever since a family member suffered from one and I decided to donate. That reminder, along with the above incident, and Christmas lights strung outside houses and carols warbling about “good tidings to the world” ringing out through stores, I approached Hubbie with an idea.

On a particularly low day, days later, I went online and donated to three organisations. Two were for conditions that close family members of ours had been affected by – Stroke and Brain Cancer. The third one was The Starlight Foundation. I don’t go back on my promises.

They were the best presents I’ve given this year, and it’s not even Christmas day yet. I had been feeling low, but I knew it was no where near what people dependent on these organisations were feeling.

Together, Hubbie and I decided, that we’ll have a new Christmas tradition. Along with the Buble songs playing throughout our home in December, my kikki.K advent candle burning down to the number 25, and the smell of gingerbread occupying the house leading to the Merry day, we’ve vowed to make a donation to organisations important to us each Christmas.

Because, when you think about it – if you can buy $50-100 presents for members of your family, I’m sure there’s $30 or $40 bucks somewhere there to spare for an organisation that you think matters. If we all made a little contribution, no matter how small, imagine the tremendous impact it would make for the people with REAL problems at Christmas-time.

Just imagine. Now is the best time to make a difference.