Life on the hill: 2012

Thursday, December 27, 2012

24 - upgrade to iPhone 5 - tick

I have been so busy playing with my latest toy phone that I have forgotten to tick it off my bucket list. Since getting my first phone 11 years ago I have been a Nokia girl through and through. When iPhones hit the market I briefly considered getting one, but the thought of stepping outside my Nokia comfort zone swayed me from stepping into Apple territory. Last Christmas I was very lucky, and got an iPad. We have been having a love affair since, with it hitting new intensity when my laptop...

A stranger broke my veneer

I've been living in struggle town for the last few months. In the month leading up to moving house, and the month after I had moved, anxiety had its gnarled claw firmly around my throat. For the first time in a long time I found it hard to go into shopping centres, and avoided them like the plague. Being around people in general was hard, so I isolated myself, and did what just needed to be done on a day to day basis. Not long after i moved, I finished my medication for the month, and remembered...

I have started working through that bucket list of mine. Aston and I created a herb garden this afternoon. We have coriander, chives, curly parsley, Italian parsley, basil, mint, chilli bush, rosemary and a cherry tomato plant. I think I will build on these, and put in some thyme, rocket and oregano. Aston told me while we were doing it that I was "the best mum in the whole world". It's amazing how little things, like creating a herb garden, create a huge amount of love in his...

The Bucket List

Image Credit 13 months before I turned 42, I made a bucket list, 42 before 42. A list of things I wanted to do, achieve, have before I turned 42. It was like a guide. Every now and then I would check back in on that list and see how I was doing. Some things on the list changes, or no longer were important. Not all the the things happened. Most of them did though. This last 12 months I have been adrift. With no list to guide me, I have felt somewhat lost. I'm an Aquarian, an air sign. so like...

Image Credit Four lucky people have won the Garnier Dark Spot Corrector and BB Cream packages. The winners are: First Time Mama DramaDecember 9, 2012 2:43 AM Adoescence was not kind to me,A face left scarred from bad acne,Pregnancy left my cheeks all dotty-Hopefully this cream can make me a hottie! MichVeeDecember 10, 2012 5:39 AM Living with lines and spots can be toughAnd honest, some days, I just have enoughI've tried endless products but no resultsA waste of money certainly...

Questions

Abuse is so damn insidious. It's like a cancerous growth that has spread out tentacles, entangling the innocent. Why do some people adapt and overcome, and others stay stuck in the cycle of dysfunctionality? Why do some people see the cup as half full, allowing the emptiness to fill up with opportunity and love, and others see it as half empty, and evaporating fast? How can two sisters come from the same starting place, yet be so diametrically opposed? What makes one person push...

Dark spots belong on dalmatians, giraffes and cheetahs

Lets lighten things up around here shall we? My last few blog posts have been a tad heavy - unfortunately heavy issues are just that. Heavy. So I make no apologies for that. But because you have all been so patient with me, and read the heavy stuff, I'm doing a give away. The very first for Life on the hill. Now if you've been reading for a while you will know that I am the budget queen, or known affectionately as Frugal Vicky. Its a title I'm happy to have. I like nice things, and to look after...

Stupid-motherf..king-oven

The thing about moving house is there are a whole lot of new things that you have to get used to. Such as the oven. I love baking. Firstly because its a cheap and cheerful way to feed my tribe, and secondly, it's something I do when I'm agitated. You can measure just how agitated by the amount of baked goods I produce. At times there is more then can be consumed in a week, and it will end up in the freezer. Since moving to this new house, I have baked the 120 cookies for $5 five times. Today...

He screamed, She screamed, I screamed, We all screamed

The baby screamed from where he lay in his cot. The three year old screamed and banged on the bathroom door. And I sat on the floor on the other side of the bathroom door, sobbing. This is not how it is supposed to be. What is wrong with me? I faintly heard the knocking at the door through Nathan's screaming. Laura had gone to the door, and come back to the closed bathroom door to tell me that Deanna, my next door neighbour, was here. Great. ...

I fail at being a girl

There are times when I really fail at being a girl. The whole menstratuion thing. Periods. You'd think after 30 fucking years of getting them, month after month, with the expection of the wonderful break of 3 x 9 months, I would be used to this. But no. Each month I am knocked on my arse with fatigue, pain, and malaise. And each month I tell myself to be gentle, to embrace my femaleness, to celebrate it. All in the hope that by doing so being knocked on my arse will not feel so horrid. I...

There is an awful lot you CAN do in Canberra, just don't plan on doing it in a weekend.

Sunday morning I woke cranky, and overtired. I didn't think the hours difference due to daylight savings would wreck such havoc with my body clock. But that, and the incredibly full schedule for the day before, had me feeling somewhat exhausted. Needless to say, I was grateful that the mornings proceedings involved brunch at the Australian National Botanical Gardens, where if you were so inclined you could go and meander through the beautiful walks, or do as I did, lay on a picnic blanket, and...

For me blogging is a place where I can record my story. My truth. My passions and views. Some will resonate with others, some may inform and educate, some may just be the recognition of a kindred spirit fighting her fight, living her life, in the same way they are. Image Credit That is what the National Museum of Australia is like. A place full of stories. Where our stories live, to borrow their tagline. Its a place full of stories from the varied and different cultures...

The opening function for the Human Brochure was at the Australian War Memorial. All streams, Adventure, Family Fun, Food and Wine, and Art and Culture all came together to be welcomed, and shown a snap shot of of Australia's history in war. The building is magnificent, solid and strong, standing at the end of Anzac Parade, where Parliament House can see it, and remember. (That's the theory, how much remembering happens is a topic I'm not keen to touch on). Lined along Anzac Parade...

I'm not a good flyer. Why, I haven't quite worked out, because I've been on and off planes since I was six weeks old and left my birth place New Zealand. The fact that I would have to actually get on a plane to get to Canberra to participate in the Human Brochure was something I kind of buried away in the back of my brain until Thursday. Then as I started working out what I was taking with me, throwing clothes onto the bed, the anxiety started leeching in. I tried ignoring it....