A slow Monday for once

Greetings all on this beautiful Monday I hope your week will be peace filled and trouble free. So many people that I am speaking to are really feeling the 'crunch' as this year heads to a close and the pressures and deadlines keep coming. It is always such a busy time of the year with extra commitments and things that need doing so I would like to just take a minute to encourage you to try and not allow yourself to get so caught up in what's going on that you end up a frazzled mess by Christmas. I know it isn't easy but first off when things get hectic try and teach yourself to breathe, in and out slowly and just concentrate on YOURSELF for a few seconds, make lists for everything even if you wake up in the night thinking of things to do, write them down, that way you can tick them off when they are done and give your brain and nerves a rest from trying to remember everything. Take 5 or 10 minutes every day to sit quietly with a cup of tea or coffee, in the bath, in the garden, anywhere and just reflect on all the good in your life and all the times you got through tough times. I saw a meme this week on the Fibro page that read - So far my record for surviving bad days is 100%, I can do this!!!! I truly believe that it applies to each and every one of us.

We had the absolute joy of being able to watch BigBear and BabyBear compete in a Crossfit Battle on Saturday and I can honestly say I have NO clue how they do it. Not even as a child could I do those things. It's not just the lifting of weights but the stamina needed, I humbly salute you both (and all the other competitors) on your dedication and perseverance. We were so proud to be able to be there and share some of it with them and were delighted yesterday to hear that they came 2nd out of twenty five 'Boxes', all in all their Box did extremely well. Congratulations to you all.

After taking us two hours to complete a one hour trip due to the ridiculous traffic and then all the busyness at the Mall and the event we were quite happy to get home to the peace of Betty's Bay haha, it can't be that we are getting old because even Jelly Bean felt the same. We were expecting a noisy night with fireworks on Satursday as there was a group of youngsters visiting just down the road from us and on Friday evening they had been setting off extremely loud crackers (they sounded more like bombs). All fireworks are strictly forbidden at any time in this village because of the various bird and wild life and the dry Fynbos so it was very disturbing to hear it, but someone must have either spoken to them of contacted the home owners because apart from one cracker in the early evening all was quiet and all animals were safe.

Other than that our weekend was quiet and we actually didn't do much work or anything which was very nice for a change, the kitchen table is coming close to being ready to varnish and paint so that will be my next project - the painting part ....... Woohooo. Weather wise it has been 'perfect' not too hot and not too cold, in fact today I thought was going to be hot and dressed accordingly only to change at lunch time because it's cold, I feel so sorry for family and friends who are roasting in the heat up country. With only just under six weeks before Poppet and Princess arrive and seven weeks until Big Guy arrives and we have our Express Christmas, I need to get on with my lists and projects and start ticking things off as I aim to be finished well before the beginning of December.

On that note friends I am going to wish you a wonderful week, don't forget to breathe :) and always stay alert and be safe out there.