new home

Oh! Just in time for the end of the year...some great news. This little blog has a new home!

[there's something quite thrilling about a fresh view of the world, wouldn't you say?]

Alex-Upstairs is now HERE!

Please do drop by and say hi [it would be lovely to see you].

 

smile

I work from a little home/office that looks out onto the street. I love watching the world go by. Especially when curious faces catch my eye and smile.

Some people are like that, aren't they? Their smiles sit there, right beneath the surface, ready to respond to even the simplest of every.day.life.joys. Others' smiles are there [I'm sure of it] but they're packed away deeper down, not as accessible.

I think it's something you can practice [lifting your gaze, relaxing your face, expecting joy, playing with a smile...even just a little one, if it makes you nervous to begin with]. Who knows, eventually you might even become a World.Class.Smiler.

[super!]

papers

Peanut butter toast and the Saturday.Papers. So [!] good.

Did you say you pick out all the good sections before you even start?

[me too].

tuned

What did you do over the weekend?

I went away with a group of fantastic, lovely, smart, funny friends of mine. Everyone left their babies and partners and laptops and deadlines at home and we all just hung out. We ate and drank and talked and walked along the beach and didn't really do anything much else. It was so terrific.

And you know what? It made me think. I have really focused [and continue to focus] on building my life so that is balanced and nourishing and happy. But even still. I arrived home last night feeling so quietly content that I realised that despite all my efforts, there's still room for a bit of a fine.tune.

I'm having a think this week about what gap the weekend has filled for me and how I might be able to invite more of that in, every day.

procrastination



Some folk consider procrastination a Bad Thing.

I think that when it produces a slab of choc.caramel.slice, a peak in happiness and some time to think over a dilemma that's been tugging at your brain for days, it's All Good.

starting

Don't you love this time of year?

New sun and warm air at night and swimming and the start of summer fruit: peaches and plums and nectarines and watermelon and berries that taste like berries. Yum!

Even your car not starting when you're on your way to an appointment.that's.quite.important doesn't really seem to matter when you're thinking about that trip to the beach and all the sand.between.the.toes.nothing you'll be doing.

[love!love]

laps

I went swimming last week, with My Lovely One. We rode our bikes and the sun was shining. [Until it started to storm when we were in the water...thrilling!]

Now, I am not the World's Best Swimmer and really, I don't love.love.love swimming for fitness. I go because I know how good it is for me. Normally I swim laps with my head down and I tend to be A Little Bit Serious about it all. [ha!]

But last week, for some reason, I decided to shake it up. Instead of swimming heaps of laps all the same [and, if I am completely honest, getting a little, tiny bit bored] I did back stroke and side stroke and breast stroke and kick boarding slower than all the beautiful grandmas who were in the slow lane with me. I even did some water running down in the deep end. Super!

And you know the funny thing? Despite looking fantastically daggy, I had the best time and probably even had a better and more complete work out than I normally do.

Another [how many do I get I wonder?] gentle reminder that letting go of the need to Be Perfect can yield beautifully satisfying and life.enhancing results.