Hello Monday

Happy Monday! It was my birthday the other day and I thought I might do a list of things you don’t know about me. Then I was contemplating whether or not to do a point for every birthday year. But I then thought that might be waaaaay too long. So instead I just stuck to 25 things you don’t know about me. So here goes…… I love salt and I will usually always add it to my food whenever I am eating. My mum always cringes when she sees me doing this and warns me about the possible state of my kidneys. My nose always runs whenever I eat, I googled it one day, and apparently, it’s called gustatory rhinitis. Maths terrifies me and I am afraid of numbers in general. My brain just seizes up whenever I have to work out anything to do with numbers and I don’t have enough fingers to count with. I have never won a trophy or any kind of award because I am the least sporty person in the whole universe. I did win a packet of plasticine in Year 2 for a spelling contest. I dodged three security guards and a long line of fans so that I could get to meet Ricky Martin. I love McDonald’s but only eat it rarely. My go-to order is always a big mac, large fries, and a strawberry thick shake or coke. I love watching my favourite movies over and over. My family can’t understand this but I think this is perfectly normal. The beach is my least favourite place to go because there’s so much sand, sun, and water. My cousin won tickets to a meet and greet with Keith Urban as well as front row tickets to his concert. She took me along and I had a great time. Although I am sure he is a very talented man I am not a fan and I did not know a single one of his songs. I had to wear a special pass sticker for the meet and greet. When I went to the ladies’ room a Keith Urban fan noticed it. She asked me if I had met him. When I said yes she asked me if she could touch my arm because I had been so close to Keith. Luckily I didn’t mention that I got to give him a peck on the cheek and a quick cuddle! I want to be an early riser but I just can’t, probably because I stay up way too late. Whenever I get a coffee at Starbucks or wherever I always say my name is Sam. It’s just easier. On the topic of names, the kids at preschool all think my name is either Roof or Woof and I have even been called Bruce. This cracks me up! When I was young I really disliked being the centre of attention. I only just managed to cope with my friends and family singing me happy birthday. I shook like a leaf and thought I was going to be sick when I walked down the aisle on my wedding day. I’m much better now though and would probably cartwheel down the aisle. That is if I knew how to cartwheel. I had my oldest son in a public hospital which means you get seen by any doctor on duty at the time. I had a gazillion stitches so I remembered the doctor’s face really well. A couple of years later I was at my friend’s wedding and when we were seated at the reception table. I looked up and the same doctor was sitting directly opposite me. Of course, he didn’t recognise my face because it was probably the only part of me he hadn’t seen when I was lying there on the hospital bed. I dislike chocolate cake, ugh. I love chocolate bars with nuts or other fillings but not cake! I went to an all-girls private school from kindy to year 12. So I was super shy around boys. I speak fluent Spanish but I’m stuck on 1970s Spanish slang because that’s what my parents spoke when they migrated to Australia. Whenever I talk to a visiting relative they think this is hilarious and I can hardly understand what they are saying because I am not familiar with their current slang. If I’m anxious or stressed I can’t eat, my appetite just leaves me completely. I don’t have any brothers or sisters and I wish that I did. I cry really easily Growing up my favourite book was “One Child” by Torey L. Hayden. I read it over and over and it inspired me to work with children. I love stationery. Pens, pencils, notebooks, notepads, sticky notes etc all bring me joy. I have an amazing sense of smell. This is both good and bad. I can’t eat spicy hot food. I panic and think I am going to choke and die in front of everyone. I am a pretty good whistler and I can whistle Mozart’s Serenade No.13 in G major. Happy Monday Friends, thanks so much for stopping by and I really hope you have the best week!   My cousin and I at the Keith Urban meet and greet. It was a fun time and he was very friendly. Linking up With Holly and Sarah for today’s Hello Monday post  

Happy Monday!! I’m back here linking up with Holly and Sarah for today’s Hello Monday post. It was such a fun birthday weekend for me full of surprises from so many of my favourite people. I’m not really big on birthday celebrations for myself. I hadn’t planned anything special yet I had one of the nicest birthdays ever and I was really spoilt and shown so much love!! Friday I was off from work on Friday which was the day of my actual birthday. I’ve taken some days off to be with my mum as she recovers. It was strange being home on my birthday as that rarely happens unless my birthday falls on a weekend. If I was at preschool all the kids and staff would have sung happy birthday and I would have blown out the candles on this cake. Years ago, whenever any of the preschool staff had a birthday. We used to also get birthday claps from the children. You know, one clap for each year. Mercifully that no longer happens! It was getting rather traumatic for the staff to count out so many years/claps. And I’m sure the poor kids were having trouble counting to such ridiculously high numbers, on top of that their poor hands were probably sore at the end of the whole process!! Some Lovely Flowers My husband went out for his morning swim at the local pool and when he came home he surprised me with a lovely bunch of flowers. A card and my favourite block of chocolate! Oh yes, he also cleaned the bathrooms for me. I have this cleaning routine that I stick to for my own sanity. Where I do the main bathroom and ensuite every day except on the weekends. I don’t go crazy deep cleaning them. All it takes is a quick clean and it means they are nice and fresh every day. I then leave the deep cleaning for when they need it. Anyway, Steve did them for me on my birthday. He knows the way to my heart!! Lunch While Watching The Office I was craving Red Rooster so Steve and I ordered some for lunch. While we ate we watched a few episodes of “The Office”. So funny!! Messina Ice Cream Steve went to work and then, later on, there was a knock on the door and I was surprised with a delivery of ice cream and spreads from Messina. A birthday present from my sweet cousin! Friday was a really hot day, yet the ice cream was still frozen when it arrived. I never even knew that you could get ice cream delivered. My cousin had picked all my favourite flavours for me. Hazelnut, strawberry, coffee and chocolate. Hmmm, they were so delicious! I had never tried ice cream from Messina before but had heard that it was good. Indeed it was!! Surprise Visits! Around 4 pm there was another knock on my door and it was my lovely bestie surprising me with a visit after work. It was so good to see her! She gave me a yummy box of nougat chocolates. How did she know I love nougat? I love my sweet friend. A couple of hours later I heard yet another knock on my door and there was my lovely friend and her two most gorgeous children. I was blown away and so excited to see them. They gave me some beautiful presents along with a birthday balloon and a plant. My friend’s beautiful daughter was in my class at preschool a couple of years ago. Now this year I am lucky enough to have her little son in my class. I just love them so much!! When Sam got home from school he gave me a lovely card and a candle. I love this Yankee candle, the scent is subtle but really nice. I lit it and had it burning all Friday evening and Saturday. Another fantastic surprise happened later in the evening when my oldest son Luke came over. We didn’t get to see his lovely fianceé as she was away for the weekend with her sister. Steve got home from work around midnight. So we all stayed up super late to watch a movie. We wanted to find a movie that was interesting yet none of us had seen before. No easy task and in the end we watched a movie with Nicholas Cage called “Pig” I know right! weird name and I hadn’t ever heard of it. None of us loved the movie but it wasn’t terrible either. We were all just excited that none of us fell asleep watching it! Luke lives about 45 minutes drive away so he ended up sleeping over. I was one happy mama!! Birthday Cake I forgot to take a picture of my whole birthday cake. which we ate at around 1 am!! But I got a quick pic of a slice. I like to keep things simple so I just ordered a white chocolate mud cake from Woolworths along with my usual shopping order the previous day. Luckily I remembered to check the size this time. I learnt from last years mistake when I ordered my husbands birthday cake and this is what I got! A Cheesy Bagel Saturday morning another lovely friend dropped in and gave me a cheesy bagel she had bought at the farmers market. Oh my goodness, I love anything with cheese and this bagel was delicious! She stayed for a quick visit and then when she left it was around 10 am. This is when my appetite usually kicks in so I ate my bagel. I meant to share it with Sam and Steve but I couldn’t stop, so I ate it all myself. A Good Book For lunch, I had some leftover chicken soup and read some more of “The Sister” by Sally Hepworth. Oooooh, I am really enjoying this book but I am getting a bit stressed that things

Hello Monday and hello friends. Hope you are all well and were able to enjoy a really great weekend. In honour of this special day when we celebrate all things love. I thought I would share with you a few fun Valentine’s Day Facts. Who was St Valentine? Well, apparently there is a whole bunch of historical confusion about who deserves the honour of having Valentine’s Day named after them.  This is because there were two equally deserving men named Valentine. And either one of them could have been the reason behind Valentine’s Day. One was a priest way back in third-century Rome. The other Valentine was an early Christian martyr. Valentine’s Day Was An Ancient Pagan Festival Like almost all holidays we celebrate today. Valentine’s Day also has Pagan roots. Some scholars believe that St Valentine’s Day was in fact originally a pagan fertility festival. Pagans celebrated the day by sacrificing animals. Then interestingly in order to encourage fertility. Women were slapped with animal hides! When Did Valentine’s Day Become Associated With Love In the fifth century, Pope Gelasius ended the pagan fertility festival. And then the Catholic Church declared the 14th February to be a day when the martyred St Valentine was to be celebrated. Valentine’s Day finally became linked with love and romance in the Middle Ages. Where did Cupid Come From? The story goes that Eros was a handsome Greek god who had the ability to make a mortal fall in love with the power of his magical arrows. The Romans then reinvented Eros into Cupid during the 4th century. However, Cupid didn’t earn his title as the face of Valentine’s Day until the 19th century. Where did Valentine’s Day Cards Come From? Esther A. Rowlands from the United States began making pretty cards in the 1840’s. These soon skyrocketed into a major commercial success and made a whopping $100,00 a year. That was a whole lot of money back in those days! Before this, people were celebrating Valentine’s Day by handing out cute little handwritten notes to each other. Valentine’s Day And Chocolates Clever Richard Cadbury the son of the Cadbury chocolate manufacturer. He was the one who first brought chocolates and Valentine’s Day together. He came up with the brilliant idea of packaging Cadbury chocolates in heart-shaped boxes. Go, Richard!! Flowers and Valentine’s Day It was all the way back in the 17th Century when flowers became associated with Valentine’s Day. Venus the goddess of love must have had excellent taste because she chose roses as her favourite flower. Over time people gradually began giving flowers to their loved ones. Then in the Victorian era men began giving flowers to the women they were seeking to win over, woo or date as we now say. Valentine’s Day Isn’t Just For Couples Valentine’s gifts and treats are for everyone and not just for your romantic partner anymore. Nowadays it is quite common for parents to give their children Valentine’s Day presents. Furry friends are also happily enjoying Valentine’s Day treats too! Although this is much more popular in America than in countries like Australia. A Few Fun Quotes! Although Valentine’s Day is not crazy popular here in Australia, I think it’s still a good time to reflect on the gift of love. We can stop and appreciate our families, human friends, or furry friends who we love and who love us back unconditionally through thick and thin. Even if they do make us crazy sometimes!! So now along with a few fun Valentine’s Day facts I will also leave you with some quotes on this Valentine’s Day and hope that you have a most wonderful day!!       Linking up with Holly and Sarah for today’s Hello Monday post   Also linking up with

Hi friends, hope you are all well and enjoyed a great weekend. Sadly mine didn’t start well at all. My poor mum had a horrible fall, broke her nose, and bruised her lovely face quite badly. She is in the hospital and because of COVID, I can’t be with her. I was so anxious and worried all weekend but I spoke to the doctor today and she seemed happy with her progress, I was so relieved to hear some positive news! Although she also has other issues that go along with being quite elderly, the road to recovery looks slightly less scary today. One day at a time I guess. I have to keep reminding myself of this!! If you could, I would really appreciate prayers for my dear mum! Even though this weekend is up there as probably one of the worst ever. Friends and family reached out to me and I can only say that I see God’s loving hand in this. He sent me comfort through loved ones! This is my mum and this photo was taken about a year and a half ago. Saturday I had plans to catch up with a couple of friends on Saturday morning. With everything that happened, I thought that I might have to cancel. But I didn’t in the end because I couldn’t be at the hospital with my Mum anyway. I had been so excited to meet up with my lovely friends as I hadn’t seen them in ages. And I was really glad that I was able to make it. We spent a lovely morning chatting over a delicious morning tea and I was so grateful for this as it took my mind off worrying about my mum for a little while. In the evening Steve was at work and Sam went to a friend’s house. My Aunty invited me over to her new place for dinner. She had only just moved in a few days ago. I’m so happy for her because she has found a really lovely villa after looking at places for at least a couple of months. We had some yummy cheese and wine, then she cooked a delicious meal. We watched a couple of episodes of Chicago Fire too. So it was a really lovely evening and once again I was super happy for the distraction. Sunday Sunday morning my friend messaged me asking if I wanted to join her at church so I said yes!! I hadn’t been to church in far too long. At first, it was because of lockdown and then once lockdown was lifted I felt safer staying home as much as possible. I had every intention of going back but was just being plain lazy about it. (Not good!) Anyway, it was really encouraging to hear the sermon and sing the hymns after such a long break. I was happy that I went along plus I got to spend time with my friend after the service. My friend is waaaaay younger than I am but we get along so well and share so many things in common. She also has excellent taste in shoes! Haha, we both wore our clogs from one of my favourite stores called Funkis. Funkis is a really cool design store in Paddington, Sydney. They have a great collection of Swedish and Scandinavian products. Even though it’s a small shop they sell clothes, bags, home decor, and of course clogs. I just love all their products and I especially love their comfortable clogs.   I guess that’s about it for today. My weekend was certainly not at all what I envisioned but I am thankful my mum is on the mend. I’m keeping it short as I really am super tired and my brain feels like it’s all over the place. I do hope you have a great rest of the week and thank you so much for stopping by. Here’s hoping for a better week!! Linking up with Holly and Sarah for todays post.      

Hey Monday, you sure came around quick! Hope you all find yourselves well and had a great weekend. I spent a lot of my weekend cleaning and organising. It sure feels great to purge, donate and throw out all the things that we no longer use and have been taking up space at home. Friday night before I went to bed I made plans in my head to do some much-needed cleaning and organising on Saturday.  That’s how usually like to start. I will visualise what I want to get done and then I give myself a pep talk. I’m not a big list writer, although I should probably try and make this a good habit. It might make life easier as far as not forgetting things. Also, it must be very satisfying to see the things crossed off the list once they are finished. Yes, I should really work on writing out some lists. Fun things first Saturday mid-morning Steve suggested we go and have a browse around our local farmers market. Get a coffee and have something to eat. So we did just that! I also wanted to pick up some fruit. They have such a lovely variety of fresh fruit and vegetables at the market. As well as so many yummy food stalls. It was such a beautiful sunny Saturday. Normally I like to finish all my chores before I have a fun outing but that wasn’t going to work because Steve started work in the afternoon/evening. So we headed out and had a fun morning together. We shared a lamb, mashed potato, vegetables, and gravy lunch. Yum, so good! Time To Get Stuck Into It! When we got home I was feeling a little too relaxed. I had to dig really deep to find my motivation again. I could have easily plonked myself on the sofa and camped out there for the rest of the day. See why I like to get my chores done first!!! Council Clean Up Four times a year our local council offers a free clean-up service to all the council residents. This means we can put almost anything out front of our homes that we want to get rid of. Things like old furniture, mattresses, green waste, carpet, and white goods. Council gives us the dates for collection and then we can place all our unwanted things out on the kerb 48 hours before the collection date. It’s such a great service and we are really lucky that our council does this as not all of them do. Some councils require households to book times and dates for individual collections. Getting Rid Of Stuff The past few clean-ups I hadn’t needed to get rid of too many things. But this time around I had accumulated quite a pile. I even threw out my ironing board. I haven’t ironed on an ironing board in forever. When my iron stopped working early last year I didn’t bother replacing it. Instead, I just got in the habit of using a handheld steamer. So much easier! Plus I try to fold all my laundry as soon as it comes off the line. So far I can’t say that I have missed not having an iron. Doesn’t look like a whole lot there but I had already taken three garbage bags full of clothes and shoes to the charity bin. I had been piling up all this stuff in my little office. So it was so nice to get my floor space back and have everything looking neat and tidy again. Sunday I managed to get most of my cleaning and organising done on Saturday, I only had a bit more to do on Sunday. So I was really happy about that. I had a nice slow morning and then around midday I made spinach pie. It’s a big favourite around here! Full of cheesy goodness and lots of spinach!! In the late afternoon, I made a trip to Bunnings. I had to return a fan that made a weird noise when I turned it on. Then I went to Kmart to return a pot plant and a wooden tray that I had bought but didn’t end up needing. New Things For My Little Cat While I was at Kmart I spotted a new kitty litter box which is very similar to my cat’s old one. Her current box is ten years old and cracked so I bought her this new one. Cats are such creatures of habit, fingers crossed that she will get used to her new box. I did put her old litter in so she could smell it (ugh!). I gently placed her inside the new litter box and she used it. Hope she does this on her own without any problems. I also got her some new bowls for her food and water to replace her old plastic ones.  She was perfectly happy to eat out of them. This new laser toy I bought for her kept her very entertained for a while. She was a spoilt cat this weekend! In the evening I worked on my blog and then Sushi (that’s my kitty’s name) came to say hi.   It certainly was a weekend of cleaning and organising. I was happy we were able to squeeze in some fun too! Happy Monday friends!! Linking up with Holly and Sarah for today’s Hello Monday Post    

Hi all! I am really excited to link up with Holly and Sarah for today’s hello Monday post. I’m doing a quick recap of my super low-key weekend and I’m really glad you have stopped by to join me. Isn’t it funny how in December you hardly get a chance to stop and breathe as it’s so busy? Then when January hits everything kind of just stops! But I am really grateful for weekends like this one where I was just able to enjoy hanging out at home and really appreciate the luxury of spare time. I’ll be back at work in a couple of weeks and I know my weekends won’t be quite the same. Friday night It’s been super hot and steamy so I was really happy to sit in the dark, have the air conditioning on, and watch ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service”. I felt so comfortable and relaxed that I nearly dozed off a couple of times. Lucky the movie had lots of cool action scenes so they kept me awake. Saturday Saturday morning I got up and I must have slept well because I had lots of energy. I felt really motivated to spend time in the kitchen doing some cooking. We had finished our favourite granola and I hadn’t made it in a while, so I went ahead and made a batch. As well as the granola, I made my apple and berry gluten-free loaf. The granola is full of crunchy goodness and we like to have it for breakfast, sprinkle it on yogurt, or just munch on it as a snack. Another big favourite is the gluten-free apple and berry loaf which is made with almond meal. It’s really moist, delicious, and super filling. It’s also great for breakfast and even dessert. It tastes even better if you serve it toasted and you can add things like Greek yoghurt, more berries, sliced banana, or anything you like. So good!! I also made some turkey patties Roasted off some pumpkin Made some couscous with olives, Spanish onion, and semi-dried tomatoes. Lastly, I cooked off some mushrooms that needed to be used up and added chopped parsley. The great thing about doing a whole lot of cooking all in one hit was that I didn’t have to worry about lunches or dinners either Saturday or Sunday. The turkey patties were so good and they turned out really moist and super delicious. We had them with buns and made them into burgers for lunch. Then for dinner, we ate them with couscous, mushrooms and roast pumpkin. Easy peasy!! More Water!!!! Before I started all my cooking I made sure to have a glass of water. I am so inconsistent with my water intake but I am determined to improve. So I left this glass out near the sink and made a real effort to drink throughout the day. I did the same thing on Sunday, here’s hoping I can keep this up for the next three hundred and something days. Cable Concealer I found this cable concealer on Amazon and as you may have heard, I am fast becoming a real fan of Amazon Prime. I know I am late to the party compared to a lot of you. But in Australia Amazon Prime was only launched in 2018 and I joined late last year. The cables from the TV to the power point were so obvious and looked really bad. The way everything was arranged in the living room before meant that you couldn’t see the cables. They were all hiding behind furniture and curtains. But since I moved everything, the cables were just there looking really obvious. This cable concealer was really easy to attach to the skirting board. I used the double-sided tape that came in the packet with the cable concealer, I didn’t bother with the complicated-looking screws. Now it looks so much better because you can’t see the cables anymore. The only thing I had trouble working out was the super sticky double-sided tape. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to unstick it. In the end, I watched a very helpful YouTube video. Seriously YouTube must have almost an answer for anything and everything!! A Relaxing Face Mask After dinner, I enjoyed a cup of tea with a slice of apple and berry loaf. Then I treated myself to a face mask. One of my preschool children gave me a little pamper pack as a Christmas present last year. This Vitamin C mask was in it and it was so refreshing. Every time I put on one of these sheet masks I think I look like the guy from the movie ‘Halloween’ Ha! Sunday Is anybody else watching ‘Money Heist’? Such a great show!!! We watched one episode Sunday afternoon and we only have three episodes to go before the big finale. Steve and I have really loved this intense and very clever series and we are sad that it is almost finished. ‘Money Heist’ is in Spanish so Steve has to read the subtitles. I can understand almost all of it but the actors talk incredibly fast. Sometimes I find that I need to read the subtitles too. There’s a lot of swearing in the show and the translation sometimes makes me laugh. It’s not always spot on! Crispy Kremes We very rarely have Krispy Kremes even though I could probably quite easily have them every week. They are loaded with sugar and goodness knows what. But they are so delicious and were such a nice Sunday treat. Three down, one left. Wonder who will get the last one. Maybe we should cut it up into thirds and share! A Yummy Milkshake Sunday, after lunch, I made myself a banana milkshake. In this heat, the bananas were looking a bit sad and I needed to use them up before they went completely mushy. I threw in a handful of almonds to my shake and it tasted great!! Another

Hi everyone and welcome back to a new year of blogging! Wow, feels like I’ve been away for ages. Hope you are all well and were able to enjoy the Christmas and New Year festivities. The week leading up to Christmas just felt like a whirlwind!! Now we are into January everything has sort of come to a stop and I’m really grateful to be off work right up until the very end of January. I’ve been binge-watching a lot of shows and staying up super late. My two favourite things to do!! Quick Christmas Re-Cap Christmas feels like a lifetime ago now! This year I hosted Christmas at my place and I had to make sure I was super organised because my usual right-hand man had to work that night. Oh yes, I should mention that in keeping with our South American tradition, we celebrate on Christmas Eve. Our house is very small but I did everything possible to accommodate our fifteen family members and thankfully everyone was comfortable and really had a lot of fun just enjoying the evening laughing so hard and eating way too much food! But if you’re like me and have a small house, you might find some useful tips for entertaining in a small space here. Here are a few pics from Christmas Eve Summer Is Definitely Here! It has been so incredibly hot and humid here in Sydney for the last two weeks. But I’m not complaining because I love Summer! I don’t feel the heat as much as the rest of my family do (they’re not fans of Summer). A long time ago a friend of mine nicknamed me Sahara, ha! she couldn’t understand how come everyone else was a sweaty mess and I seemed to be fine in the heat! De-Cluttering Again It never ceases to amaze me how clutter just happens! I don’t hoard and I am consistently cleaning and tidying up, yet I still had to take a whole day and do some serious de-cluttering. My son was away for four days after Christmas. He went with his best friend and his family on a beach holiday. So I took the opportunity to tackle his room first. He had so many clothes that didn’t fit him anymore plus bags and bags of junk!! Usually, Sam is pretty good about keeping his room sort of tidy but he has a big built-in wardrobe and this is where all this “stuff” had accumulated. I took down all the Christmas decorations on Boxing day and as much as I love Christmas, for me once it’s over it’s over. All I want to see is my house back to normal. A New Year Of Blogging January will be my eighth month of blogging! I am really enjoying it and towards the end of the year, I felt like I was finally getting into the rhythm of things. But, I did find that with working full time and trying to stay on top of all the things, getting a post out every day was a big challenge. For this year I’m thinking that a realistic goal for me would probably be posting three days a week. So I’m aiming to post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Like I mentioned before I’m off for nearly the whole of January so I might be blogging more. But when preschool goes back I will definitely be back here at least three days a week. I’m hoping to keep posting about everyday life, self-care, Early Childhood Education topics, recipes, and tips on cleaning and home organisation. I do hope you will join me in 2022!