Is it holy water?

Has it been blessed by the Pope? Or is it tinged with gold?

It must be, because water now costs more than land. I'm sure I'm not the only one in my city to cry when they received their latest water bill, and I'm sure I'm not the only who, quite simply, cannot afford to pay it.

I received my first water bill six months ago and baulked at the $800 I was told I needed to pay in less than four weeks. But I paid it. On time and in full. I guess I figured they knew what they were doing, and even though it was expensive, I gave them the benefit of the doubt and assumed they'd gotten it right.

This time though, I'm not quite so forgiving. My bill is $1015. You know that feeling you get when you're heart skips a beat and you, just for split second, lose consciousness? Well, that's how I felt when I opened the envelope and saw the amount. Gobsmacked. How could my water bill have gone up $200 when during the peak of the consumption period, we had torrential rain and flooding!? Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, watered their gardens, topped up their tanks, filled up their pools or hosed the driveway for nearly 2 months! Excess water usage? I doubt it. It's just plain ludicrous.

So what is the answer? What do you do when you have a bill that you can't afford, and feel has been unjustly charged? Well, I'm going to fight it. I'm not sure how yet, but I will. Anyone want to join me?

Watch this space...

Your children are not your children...

Caleb, Jai and Isla.... Lovingly designed by Argnesh of Give Them Wings.

"Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit,
not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth."

~ Excerpt from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

The right place

I'm right where I'm meant to be.

It might not be perfect. It might not be ideal. But it's exactly where I am supposed to be. And I am ever so grateful.

I was given the opportunity to seal my own fate and forge my own path. So I did. No second guessing, no listening to doubters, no worry for the 'what ifs'. I listened to my gut, trusted that it was right, and let my intuition guide me.

I made a choice that affected not only me, but my children, their father, my family, my lover and his family. Not once though, did I doubt that I was doing the right thing. I certainly had moments of lesser clarity, but they were more than outweighed by the feeling of 'rightness' that I felt through every cell.

If there is such a thing as a 'miracle of love', then I'm in the middle of it.

It surrounds me with such joy and brightness.

I've met a man who has turned his life upside down to be with me, and whose devotion is overwhelming. We found each other and our unexpected connection has tied those silvery soul ribbons back together again. It's simply the most beautiful experience.

I have three beautiful, unique and vibrant children, who despite the change their little lives have undergone, are still blossoming. They are full of love for me, and they are so accepting of what life is offering them now. Their eyes are bright and their hearts are open. I'm so proud to be their mother.

I have an 'ex' husband, who in most people eyes should be devastated and bitter. But he has embraced this change as much as I have and is excitedly moving on with his own new journey. We can, and do, talk openly about everything, and we share our feelings and emotions better than we ever have. For this I am incredibly thankful.

I have a wonderful family who I have thrown into a level of chaos, but who have in their own time, shown me support and love and understanding. It's been tough for them to comprehend my choices, but their concerns are only borne out of love. This is perfectly ok.

In fact, everything is ok. Actually, it's more than ok. It's just wonderful.

I'm right where I'm meant to be.

The curve ball...

Ever had one of these thrown at you? I have. A big one was lobbed at me about three months ago, and I'm still reeling. Right when you think life is rolling along just fine, the universe decides to rock the boat. Don't you hate that?

I guess you're all wondering where I've been and why I haven't been posting. If I told you everything though, I'd be writing a novel. Or maybe a screen play of Day's of Our Lives proportions. Seriously.

Life has always been kind to me, and I've never been one to wallow. I know that change is good, and things definitely don't happen just by chance as there is always a higher purpose. Sometimes it's hard understanding just what that purpose is, but the finding out certainly makes for interesting times!

When things seemingly come out of nowhere, you have to sit back and take them all in. Embrace them and just roll. So that's what I did. My husband and I have separated. We are still best friends and always will be, but there comes a point sometimes when it's best to move on. It's nobody's fault. It's just one of those things. One of those curve balls again, and while it was something that had been simmering away in the background for a while, neither of us really saw that ball flying through the window.

It's going to take time to adjust to this new life, but I'm ready. I have so much love from friends and family and the support I've been offered has been quite overwhelming at times. I have a wonderful network of people and I want to thank you all. On top of all of this, I've also been blessed with the love of someone special, but that's a whole other episode!

So there you have it... This Everyday Mum might not be so 'everyday' after all!

Points for trying

Here is my oldest son. His hero is Bear Grylls. He lives and breaths adventure at the moment, and is literally counting down the days until he is 18 and can go and discover the big, wide world. The entire schools holidays were spent pouring over his survival guides, watching Man vs Wild, packing, and re-packing his backpack. He has drawn maps, written lists and planned every adventure down to the last detail. He even made a raft out of old pieces of wood from the yard, and plans to use it to sail to England. Oh yes... he is THAT keen!

This particular night he decided that he was no longer satisfied with sleeping in his tent on the back deck, so he rigged himself up a hammock out of an old bed sheet. He tied the knots, tested them for strength, and kitted himself out with torches, books, pillows and blankets. When night fell, he couldn't wait to get in it and sleep.

We humoured him of course, and made a bid deal out of how clever he was, and how proud of him Bear Grylls would be. He read by torch light for a little and then prepared for sleep. He lasted about 30 minutes. Apparently the mosquitos were bothering him too much. We gave him plenty points for trying though, and off to bed he went to dream of far off places.

A gluten-free experiment

My new naturopath-enforced diet says that I can't have any bread, potatoes, pasta, rice and obvious sugars. The first four are proving to be ok, but my sweet tooth is starving!

I decided today to make a banana cake that is as close to what I'm allowed to have as possible. I combined a couple of recipes and tweaked it a bit due to ingredient availability. I'll need to use an different loaf tin next time because the one I used today made it a very flat loaf! Taste wise though, it was really, really good! And the kids like it too - WIN/WIN!

Sliced and served with butter, it is going to satisfy my night-time lolly pangs quite well, I think.

Here's the recipe -

Gluten and Sugar Free Banana Loaf

90 grams butter
1/3 cup honey (or sugar, if you'd prefer, but then of course it couldn't be called 'sugar free')
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 large banana
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 ¼ cups of gluten free self raising flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup plain yoghurt (I only had a tub of Vaalia French Vanilla, so I used that)
2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts (I didn't have them, but they would be a great addition)

Beat the butter and honey together until light and fluffy. Add lightly beaten eggs, the peeled, mashed banana and the lemon juice. Fold in dry ingredients and yoghurt. Stir in half the chopped walnuts, mix until smooth. Spoon mixture into greased and greased paper lined 25 cm x 8 cm (10in x 3 in) bar tin, sprinkle with remaining walnuts. Bake in a 180 degree oven for about 40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

Enjoy!

The Grateful List

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." - Melody Beattie

There's a lot to be said for gratitude, and it's a virtue that's getting a really good wrap lately. Earlier this year I caught the tail end of a radio interview where the announcers were discussing Oprah's gratitude journal. I filed it away as something to look into later on, but I didn't think of it again until I was playing around on my iPhone and came across a gratitude diary application. Curiously I downloaded it, and quickly got into the habit of listing at least five things I was grateful for each day. It wasn't always easy though. It took me a while to change my mindset from searching for the big things - the 'meaningful' parts of my day. However each evening as I broke down my activities, it became clear that it was the little things that made it memorable. Things like getting all the green lights on the way to work, or the extra hug from my son after I'd already started walking through the school gate. It's those little things that create the big memories. They keep us humble and they open our hearts to receive love.

When we are grateful for something, we instantly change our energy into a positive vibration, and as we increase our acknowledgement of things to be grateful for, we automatically start to see and create more of the same. We experience more happiness, more abundance, more prosperity, more well-being, more love, more joy and everything else you have chosen to be grateful for. It all boils down to something I'm utterly passionate about - The Law of Attraction. What we focus on, expands...

Recently my co-worker decided to post only positive status updates on her Facebook profile, and so begun her daily dose of gratitude. It caught on, and pretty soon her friends - me included - joined in on the act. On the weekend Mandy took it a step further and has now created The Grateful List as a community page on Facebook. Now we have a wondeful place to share gratitude, and to admire and inspire each other.


Gratitude is my heart's response to something that has moved me, and the act of being grateful has now become an intentional ritual in my life. It has transformed the way I live, the way I think, and the way in which I respond to others - for that I am thankful.

What are you grateful for today?