The little things that count...

It's the usual new year saying... but what better time to cut those ties and let all the things that no longer serve you go. Last year was a roller coaster ride, and I didn't know if I was going to find a happy medium again... I'm still working on some thoughts and trying to find the best way to fit things into my life.  I'm taking my time.  It helps that I'm a procrastinator of note.

This morning started off like many other mornings... I was going about my usual morning routine, and while doing my make-up and hair decided to have a look at Facebook.  While scrolling, a post caught my eye... It was a post on a group I belong to called "Benoni Now and Then" which is a group entirely dedicated to the town where I live... little old Benoni, where you don't need to be famous to be able to say "do you know who I am?"...  The title of the post jumped out me: THE MEMOIRS OF JOAN AITKEN (NEE WEBSTER) - 3 July 2007

 (Da daa da daaaaa …. A hula hoop post) You’ve heard all the talk… hula hooping is a great exercise and gets your tummy in good shape (and all the other good stuff that goes with it)… You’ve tried hooping with your child’s hula hoop, and failed… miserably…  Then you went off to a department store and found a hoop in the gym section, and thought you’d give that a try too.  Maybe it worked, perhaps it didn’t.  You try and try and try… And the hoop keeps falling.  You want to give up.  I nearly did, but I persisted. Next step.  You google hula hoops and discover that hula hoops aren’t all the same.  You actually get such a thing as an ADULT HULA HOOP.  So what’s the difference?  A small kiddies hoop is made of very light plastic and is teeny tiny.  I know many kids who can’t keep a kiddies hoop up!! 

Have you been married to a drug addict? Someone who sold your and your children's belongings- yes, pretty much all of them... Someone who gets wired and beats you up because he became paranoid...and then tells you and everyone else the next day that you harmed yourself- even having an answer for the shoe bruises on your back...  Plucking up the courage to walk away only to be faced with other hard knocks. Have you then thought you would get your life back on track- moved into a little fixer-upper while he lived in his nice house in an upper class area, "living the life".

In May this year I went on a Spa getaway with my Pure Romance sisters.  It was not something I could easily afford at the time, but I worked hard at it and just made enough to pay for the weekend getaway.  Things were bad in my relationship (even though I refused to acknowledge it), and I was looking forward to a weekend away with the girls.

A “bucket list”, it is a list of all the goals you want to achieve, dreams you want to fulfill and life experiences you wish to experience before you... well.... kick the bucket. Life is short. You need to live it to the maximum.  You don't want to reach the end of your life and look back and sigh at what could've been. I'm an earth sign and like my feet firmly on the ground, but there's a few items on my "bucket list" that I just have to do...

Telephone etiquette.  Has it totally disappeared?  I pride myself on telephone etiquette at work.  It is my job.  I am a personal assistant and I answer the switchboard all day.  I always answer with a good tone, no matter what my mood.  Always “one moment please”, “going through”, or which ever comment is needed (not “ok” or “just wait” which are remarks I have often heard in our Rainbow Nation.