I love the way life works....

So, do any of you ever say 'that couldn't have worked out any better'? Does it amaze you every time? For me the older the get (did I mention I'm 39?) the more I'm in awe of how life works. And it really does 'work'.

Simple thing: Neighbour has a gardener in.  Neighbour tells gardener to take down wall creepers as a favour to us. Outcome? We are left with piles and piles of waste and nowhere to dispose of it. Bright idea! Lets have a neigbourhood cleanup on Saturday and then we can dispose of it with the rest of the neighbourhood rubbish, which the council will gladly take away. Off to one of the residents association officers I go. Suggest it to her and she says: 'Did you check your mailbox? A leaflet saying that we're having a cleanup on Saturday was passed around 10 minutes ago'. Coincidence? Ask and you shall receive? Whatever it may be, my gardening gloves are at the ready and I'm thrilled with how all that worked out!

So that's my gardening mess sorted, but it sorted out more than that. I have another neighbour who has children around the same age as my youngest. She has been very standoffish for years and I have racked my brains trying to figure out what we could have possibly done to be given such a cold shoulder. As it happens, her husband organised Saturday's cleanup. I bumped into her this morning while taking our children to school and I grabbed the opportunity to tell her the 'funny story' about organising the cleanup. We ended up chatting about loads of things all the way to school and said we'd carry on our conversation on Saturday. Years of weirdness gone, all as the result of my next door neighbour 'gifting' us her gardener!

The point is that this sort of thing happens all the time. It's weird, it's great, it's unexplainable and I love it. The more you take note of it happening, the more it occurs. So watch out for your next coincidence or positive opportunity and marvel in. Appreciate it. The more you do appreciate it, the more it will work for you. I really do believe that. When faced with positive opportunities, grab them and trust that life will sort the rest out.

I really do love the way life works, not to mention life itself. Hope you do too!

Poof - Gone in a puff of smoke!

Holidays are great. They make you live a different life for a short period of time. You get away from it all and you dream bigger than you do when stuck in the daily slog of your routine. No cooking, no cleaning, no timetable and nothing to worry about except ensuring that you have enough sun protection on and that you don't miss breakfast in the morning. Pure bliss.

Then it's over in what seems to be more and more like a flash. Time doesn't slow down as much as it used to and a week is nothing in the ocean that is my 39 years of life. In fact, by the time I got back and faced the washing and the terrible Irish weather, I nearly wondered was it worth it at all? The answer to that is of course absolutely YES!

It's great having something to look forward to and even better when you finally get it. But isn't that the best part of life? There's always something around the corner waiting for you to enjoy, be it a holiday, a new puppy (only 4 weeks until he arrives), a good catch up with a friend, a movie, or just an evening in with your hubby accompanied by a good bottle of wine.

No sense on focusing on what you are dreading, like your holiday ending, or even Monday mornings. Nothing's permanent  and that is the beauty of living your life. There's always something around the corner to bring you joy. Enjoy the moment while you can because before you know it...

Poof! 

Reality check!

An interesting thing has happened over the last few days. After my last blog entry I got some interesting feedback from both my husband and a very close friend of mine. My blog is becoming a bit of 'look what I'm up to' and maybe a little too positive and happy. Having taken on board the criticism and having thought about it properly, they are probably right. So I'm going to drop the 'my life is so wonderful and my life is so busy', because at the end of the day who cares anyway, right?

The fact is, my life is far from perfect. The fact is, my life will never be perfect. The fact is, neither will yours. So why do we all try and portray our lives as such? Well it's a control thing - I should know as I've always had a need to be in control of everything around me. A bit ridiculous when you think about it. What's more ridiculous is that I, of all people, think I can take control. My big sister died at the age of 14 when I was 10. That should have been my first clue that ultimately we have no control over what happens in our lives. Okay, maybe that's an overstatement too. We do control as much as we can but the trick is to let go where we can't. That is the ultimate and most difficult thing to do - if you are anything like me.  I have learnt to let go instead of stress over things, which is a HUGE achievement for me. When I was 19, one of my closest friends used to say that if I had nothing to worry about, I'd be worried about that. He was right then, but he's not right today. You see as I get older I seem to be more trusting of life and it's bigger picture. I don't just see my own life, but my own life in the context of the majority of other people's lives in this ever so cruel world. I'm not talking about keeping up with the Jones', I'm talking about the women in Darfur or Afghanistan. So in that context, it's easy to see where the positivity and my appreciation comes from.

I would of course be lying if I said that small things, like the front of my house needing to be painted, don't grab my attention, because they do. I'm not Buddha on the hill seeing everything in perspective all the time, and far from it! I'm not saying that I go around as Miss Positivity from morning until night, because that would be a bold face lie. I'm grumpy, I lose my temper with my children, I argue with my husband and  I even give out about people (although since those two horrible women in the café, I am making an effort not to). 

My life is not perfect, I am not perfect, nor will it or will I ever be. What I will say is that my blog is a medium that I use to outline my life's progression, and when I'm in the space of writing my blog, I'm allowed  to reflect and put my life into a rational perspective.  The fact is, I am in the small percentage of women on this planet who can vote, who had the opportunity to get a full education, who is and never will be submissive to anyone else and who has the freedom of speech here and wherever I go. It took me a long time to realise this but it doesn't take long for me to forget it when I'm wrapped up in the minutiae of my life. I have however found a space where I can take a few minutes to reflect on my life, and for those few minutes, I see the good in it and I am grateful for it.

I can be grumpy, I do give out to my children, I do argue with my husband, I do curse at other drivers, I do have falling outs with people and I am nowhere near perfection and nor do I strive to be. If you can't say the same, well maybe we can find you a good doctor who may help you to come to terms with reality... If you can, then find a space to be grateful for everything!

So much to look forward to!

We have so many fabulous things going on that I can't stay focused! 

Tomorrow we are going to visit a litter of dogs and our girls are going to pick one! Yep, we're getting a dog. The pups are four weeks old which means we will have him in four weeks time! This is such an exciting time for my kids and I have to say, for me too. My husband on the other hand is keeping his thoughts to himself...but we all know he's going to love the dog just as much as we will! I never thought we would see the day where we would get a dog! Only three months ago I would have laughed at anyone suggesting that I would ever have one (another example of never say never!).

But before we even get our new addition to the family, we are going to Greece on holiday. Fabulously perfect timing! My tonsil-free 6 year old is fully recovered and is in the clear to travel and, as life always manages,  it slots in with perfect timing - just before we get our little pet. Not to mention that we all need a holiday as it's been an eventful and drama filled school year. I'm happy to say that I've had enough of it and lets just get it over with already! Anyone remember what I say to drama? Well here's a reminder: big fat NO!

In advance of completely flushing the school year, I still have a few duties to fulfill as part of my eldest's school's Parents Association and  I also have duties with my youngest school tour next week. Yes, I'm the Mom going on the school tour, and my daughter is delighted that I am going! I'm going to take advantage of that, because there will come a time where there will be no way in hell that she'll want me anywhere near her school, let alone on her school tour!

At the end of all these events, the summer holidays will start for my youngest (my eldest got hers yesterday) and the very next day we go get our pup. Perfect timing to keep the girls busy during their time off. Life is great that way. It manages to fall into place like pieces of a puzzle.

So who cares about being 39? Well I guess a lot of people, but I don't. The reason? My life is busy and full and I frankly don't have time to sweat the small stuff! When I get to 50, it won't be as busy and I'd say I'll miss all of this and so I embrace it all!