New House

Ohh I need to write cos I am bubbling with happiness today.

We are in our awesome new house! Can't wait to start entertaining!

And my weight is going down.

And I have 5 more days holiday.

And I had breakfast on our patio.

And today we are shopping for stuff for the house.

Life is WONDERFUL!

13 things to do before I am 40 Update

1. Go through everything I own and purge myself of the things I either don't need or want anymore. Donate what is in good shape and could be useful to someone else – complete
2. Run a 5k fun run event.
3. Hire a convertible for a summer weekend road trip
4. Go to the opera – booked for 11th November
5. Pay off my personal loan
6. Read 10 more books from the BBC’s top 100 – in progress
i. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
ii. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
iii. Dune - Frank Herbert - complete
iv. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov – complete
v. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
vi. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
vii. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
viii. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller - complete
ix. Middlemarch - George Eliot
x. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk – reading now
7. Have a ‘boudoir’ photo shoot
8. Swim with dolphins
9. Grow my own herbs – complete
10. Do a cooking class – complete
11. Graciously accept compliments – complete
12. Have golf lessons
13. Have a make up lesson – complete
14. Have a wardrobe assessment and shopping trip with a stylist - had shopping trip*

*Replacement for #5. Purchasing new home rules out completing #5 in the timeline.

KEY
Not Started
In progress
Complete

13 things to do before I am 40 update

1. Go through everything I own and purge myself of the things I either don't need or want anymore. Donate what is in good shape and could be useful to someone else – in progress: filing and books to go
2. Run a 5k fun run event.
3. Hire a convertible for a summer weekend road trip
4. Go to the opera
5. Pay off my personal loan
6. Read 10 more books from the BBC’s top 100 – in progress: 7 books arrived Friday
i. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
ii. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
iii. Dune - Frank Herbert
iv. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
v. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
vi. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
vii. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
viii. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
ix. Middlemarch - George Eliot
x. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
7. Have a ‘boudoir’ photo shoot
8. Swim with dolphins
9. Grow my own herbs – in progress: pots and herbs purchased today
10. Do a cooking class – in progress: booked into gluten free cooking class Jun 20th
11. Graciously accept compliments – ongoing but doing well so far
12. Have golf lessons
13. Have a make up lesson – in progress: having lesson tomorrow

Tibballs Tales #3 - The Cherry Lane Joke

When we were kids, I was maybe 12 and my sister 10, my sister took a fancy to a joke. Night after night we would be sitting on Mum and Dads bed and she would tell it.

The joke went something like:

"A boy came in late to class and the teacher asked 'Johnny, where have you been?'. Johnny responds 'Sorry Miss, I have been up Cherry Lane'. He is told to sit down.

"A short time later a second boy comes into class even later. The teacher asked 'Tom, where have you been?'. Tom responds 'Sorry Miss, I have been up Cherry Lane'. He is told to sit down.

"Not long after that a third boy comes in late. The teacher asked 'Bobby, where have you been?'. Bobby responds 'Sorry Miss, I have been up Cherry Lane'. He is told to sit down.

"Then a girl comes into the classroom. The teacher asks, frustratedly 'I suppose you have been up Cherry Lane too?'. To which the girl responds 'I AM Cherry Lane'."

At this point my sister would roll around the bed laughing. And we would laugh too. I can still remember the joy she got from the joke... even though more than 25 years have passed!

Tibballs Tales #2 - the story of the BIG christmas present

This one is short but cute.

The first time we had a 'brady bunch' Christmas was at our house in Seaford. Our tree sat in a corner in front of two windows. This meant by going outside you could get 360 degree views of the tree and more importantly the presents underneath!

Shortly after the tree was put up that year a LARGE box was placed under it with my littlest step brothers name on it. "Dear Damien". Damien spent hours looking at this box. He studied it from inside the room and through the windows. He counted the days until the contents were his.

Finally Christmas morning arrived and early in the gift giving Damien was passed his gift. He tore off the paper and opened the box!

Inside was a huge surprise!

Yes... it was a smaller box wrapped and addressed to his brother Derek!

My wonderful Step Dad had done a cute pass the parcel for his kids. In the very centre was a new computer game for the three of them to share.

Sadly Damien was sobbing in his bedroom by the time it got to the game.

And he still hates that story to be retold. Sorry Damien!

Some Great Links

I wanted to share some great links - this is a 4:20 montage of New York in slow motion. It is just gorgeous:

New York 2008

This one is a lot longer (55:34), but is totally worth a watch (on youtube it has over 1 million views and a solid 5 star rating). It is :

An anthropological introduction to YouTube

Enjoy.

Tibballs Tales #1 - The Story of the Bun

I have decided to document some of those stories that get told and retold at family dinners. The ones that embarrass someone. The ones that remind you all of the shared history you have, and teach new additions to the family a bit about us.

This first story features me....

I was only young, maybe 9 or 10. Possibly slightly older, but still in primary school.

Mum had brought home some fruit buns. Most of us had one (not my brother) and there were 2 remaining on the bench.

To this day I have NO idea why, but I picked up one of the buns and took two bites out of it and then put it back on the plate.

A little while later Mum noticed the bites and asked who had done it. Again I have NO idea why, but I didn't confess. I guess I was embarrassed. I was a 'good girl' you see. I didn't do the wrong thing.

To Mums admitted regret she 'made a deal out of it'. I have snatches of memory. 3 kids lined up in front of the fridge being asked to admit who had done it. Dad finding 'raisins' in my brothers teeth - as he had not had a bun this made him prime suspect. (I always wondered what Dad saw that he thought was a raisin!).

It went on way past the point where I was able to open my mouth and confess. Now I would have to confess to taking the bites AND not admitting it right away.

Punishment ended up being no treats for the 3 of us for a week... from memory it wasn't stuck to.

In a normal world that would be the end of the story.... but not in my world.

You see I have a self diagnosed 'overactive guilt gland'. It ate at me that my brother was considered the guilty one. It gnawed at me that the three of us were punished for my wrongdoing.

It sat there stewing in my conscience for about 2 years.

Then, late one night when all were in bed, it got to be too much for me. Sobbing, I entered my parents bedroom. Stammering, I uttered those legendary words 'You know that bun? It was me_e_e_e'

My parents reaction? Hysterical laughter. And the noting of a story to tell and retell. My 21st speech, lots of dinner table conversations...

And I guess the crossing off of 'life of crime' from my list of potential careers.

The photos on the side are from my Trash The Dress photo shoot.

I think it sums me up pretty well!

I am not sure yet what if anything I am going to post here....