26 Greatest loves of my life - Let's call him...Geronimo. #atozchallenge

Geronimo was funny, co-ordinated and a sensitive 12 year old 'of distinction.' I couldn't let on that I liked him. I had already learned to keep my desires to myself.  He was even better at feigning disinterest than I was.

Our romance had a chance to develop when we both scored parts in in the chorus of Sweet Charity, one of our school's annual musicals. We had minor parts but all the cast and crew were expected to go on a weekend rehearsal camp.  Three days before the camp, Geronimo surprised me and asked me to be his girlfriend. Neither of us knew what to do after I said yes, but I couldn't wait to tell my friends.

I didn't see him again before we got on board the bus to go to camp. We sat apart. I thought he was avoiding me. We were the youngest cast members. We weren't as good at hiding our feelings as we thought.

On the first night of camp, some of the older girls told me he was waiting to see me behind the dormitory. I was terrified that he would try to kiss me. A real kiss.

Facing my fears. 26 Greatest loves of my life. #atozchallenge
Image courtesy of clker.com

It was so dark, we could barely see and neither of us remembered a torch.  I needed to blow my nose but was too scared to sniff.  He held my hand, it was sweating. We leant against the back of the building and I froze when I felt him get closer.  He missed my lips. I should have sniffed. It happened so fast.  My nose still dripping, I was too embarrassed to move and I didn't want to hurt his feelings.

He gave me a nice long hug, and I wiped my nose on my sleeve. We were afraid of getting caught, and I was afraid of what the older kids would imagine if we were gone to long. We said goodnight and I felt my way back to the front of the building.

Three months after the final show, I wasn't even sure we were together anymore. We never had classes together, never played together and apart from greeting each other 'good morning' and 'see ya tomorrow' every day, we hardly ever spoke.

My friends asked me why we never hung out together. I was sure he was going to drop me, so I got in first.  After I told him it was over he went back to class and smashed a window. Later, I told him I didn't think it would upset him so much and he should have told me how he really felt.  He didn't speak to me for the rest of the year.  I was happy when he found a new girlfriend.

26 Greatest loves of my life #atozchallenge
Image courtesy of clker.com

It never occured to me that he might have been waiting for me to talk to him first. Do you have a tendency to think the worst when you don't have all the facts? Have you got an embarrassing first kiss story?

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The A to Z challenge:  My theme and links to all 26 Greatest loves of my life.

26 Greatest Loves of my Life... Let's call him Father #atozchallenge

The Father of my childhood is different to the Father he is now.

We would hear his Station Wagon turning into our street and rush to have the table set while Mum finished preparing dinner, by 5pm every night.

- Now he prepares all the meals, chops things extra small, to accommodate his wife's weakened hands.

He used to wear his hand tailored suits everyday. When he wore his work overalls, he kept his shirt and tie on. Even when he mowed the lawns.

- Now he wears cardigans during the week, and t-shirts when he's at home.

With three daughters and a talkative wife, he never interrupted our conversations and we rarely included him in our girl talk.

- Now he answers the phone and records appointments on the calendar, we make sure we tell him everything.

He used to send us to the shops to buy his cartons of cigarettes.

- Now he does the grocery shopping and hasn't smoked in decades.

Some things will never change.

He still wakes up at half past five, every morning.

At 6am he starts tending to his garden. Nothing is ever wasted. He would be disappointed if he knew we sneak things into the rubbish.

He asks for nothing and shares everything he has. He offers the best of his produce to everyone else and takes what the birds have left for himself.

Mealtimes are 7am, 12pm and 6pm, but he'll wait hours if he knows your coming.

I have never heard him swear, burp or fart. 

He makes his own wine, but I've never seen him drunk. 

35 years have passed since he bought that station wagon and he still parks it under his bedroom window.

He's never mastered the English language, but he never fails to end a conversation with "tell me if you need something, I love you me my daughter."

Lessons from my Father

Just because a tailor spends his life working in a factory, doesn't mean he isn't a tailor.

Just because someone is quiet doesn't mean they're a drongo.

You don't have to speak the same language to show how much you love them.

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26 Loves of my life. Let's call him... Erik. #atozchallenge

Erik loved all the girls and all the girls loved Erik, as long as I was chosen as his number one,  I was a happy little vegemite.

Truth be known, Erik is a combination of 3 primary school boys that spurred stiff competition amongst the girls.  The first Erik fell in love with Jemima, and we all thought he could have done better if he had chosen someone else, one of us, me.

The second Erik remained elusive, he didn't want to hurt anyones feelings and flirted with all the girls.

The third Erik had his own harem. Every playtime, 6 or 7 of girls would compete for his attention.  At the end of every lunchtime, he would arrange his harem in order of most loved to least loved. The last few girls had buckley's chance of ever being picked first. The middle few changed rank on a weekly basis, second and third changed daily.

I was his number One. I got a say in where the other girls were ranked. I also got to walk back to class with him. I was chosen first in every game and never doubted my position.  Until the end of year approached I began to worry about how him changing schools would change everything.

He was the recipient of my first love letter and my first break up letter.

Dear To Erik,

If I had a choice I would still be your girlfriend.
Next year you start high school, I wish we could see each other still but I don't think we can because we won't be at the same school. Don't worry there will be lots of girls at your new school.

love from Ida

26 Greatest Loves of my Life #atozchallenge
Image courtesy of public domain clipart

He said he wasn't worried. The two girls I remember most were his second and third picks.  Do you know an Erik, was he worth fighting for?

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I am away for the weekend and look forward to catching up with comments and posts next week. 

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26 Greatest loves of my life - Let's call him...Dog #atozchallenge

26 Greatest loves of my life #atozchallenge 

Me:  Before I found you I could feel you calling out to me.

Dog:  Then why did you drive straight past the pet shop so many times?

I thought I was looking for a dog that needed rescuing.
You were. I guess most people don't think about pet shops as horror stories.

Then, when I finally found you, I was sure my new puppy was supposed to be a girl so I made you wait.
Worst night of my life.

I'm sorry.  By morning I knew I had to hurry back.

I shook all night long, and just imagined being curled up inside your belly.

26 Greatest loves of my life #atozchallenge 

Why did you run away when I went on holidays?
I was looking for you, I didn't know New Zealand was so far away.

It took me a long time to learn that we understood each other best when I didn't use words.

I can't believe all you wanted me to do was pee on the grass.

26 Greatest loves of my life #atozchallenge 

Thanks for being there when I needed you most.

Thanks for all the walks, snacks and letting me lick you.

I hope my dreams about the future didn't make you feel like you had to go away.

Remember I had health problems, I was never meant to get old.

26 Greatest loves of my life #atozchallenge 

I saw that car coming. Why didn't you stop when I yelled NO?

It was time to go. We were both ready... I wanted to go out with a bang!

That's not funny. 

Really? Admit it. My timing was always perfect. 

Ok I admit it. You could have warned me though.

I did. 3 times. 

26 Greatest loves of my life #atozchallenge 

I'm sorry I covered your face, before your last breath.

I felt safe, like I was in you.  I just closed my eyes and went to sleep.

26 Greatest loves of my life #atozchallenge 

Ashton 30/5/2005 - 30/5/2009
 26 Greatest loves of my life. Dog #atozchallenge 

The day I brought Ashton home, I had a premonition that he would only live for 4 years. I expected him to be around much longer. These are all conversations I've had with him, either while he was alive or in my dreams.

The Captain found me a few weeks after Ashton died.  If Ashton was still alive I would never have even entertained the idea of moving to the other side of the world.  I might have rescued him when he was a pup, but he saved me too.

Have you got a love story of the non-human kind?  Please share in the comments, I love to read them. 

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I'll be going away for the weekend so please expect replies to comments and visits to your blogs to be a little delayed.

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26 Greatest loves of my life - Let's call him Cazaly #atozchallenge

Cazaly was full of energy, always misbehaving and the best Aussie Rules Footy player in school.  In second grade all the kids had to hold hands as we walked into class. I started falling in love with him when I noticed that he lined up next to me, all the time. It was only natural I learned to how to play football.

After weeks of perfecting my kicking and marking skills, I asked him if he wanted to be boyfriend.  He agreed, on one condition. Did I barrack for the Magpies?

image courtesy of
 wpclipart.com

Well, of course I said YES.  I knew nothing about the professional football league and had no idea who or what the Magpies were. My Mum told me their real name was Collingwood and they wore black and white. I watched my first game of football that weekend. I didn't understand the rules and couldn't tell the difference between the teams colours on our black and white TV.

Our romance blossomed over shared lunches and games of kick to kick every playtime. The dilemma of whether to play on the same team so we could win together, or opposite teams so we could stand next to each other, was a difficult decision.

As my passion for gymnastics, swap cards and skipping rope grew, I lost interest in being tackled and chasing an egg shaped ball.  I rarely keep up to date with football results anymore either - but if you ask me who I barrack for I'll probably always sing out loud - "Good old Collingwood forever, they know how to play the game, side by side we stick together, to uphold the magpies name..."

Did someone you love influence the loyalty, to your favourite sports team? Why does our loyalty for the players change but never the team?

Have you ever seen Aussie Rules football? Here's an advertisement, with a song dedicated to the real Cazaly, from the 70's. It still gives me goosebumps, 'there's a lot more to footy than really meets the eye.'

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26 Greatest loves of my life. Let's call him Barnaby. #atozchallenge

#atozchallenge

The whole class was standing in a circle. Baranaby stood in the East and I was in the North. His blond hair framed his head like a halo. His smile was timid but genuine. I was watching him bounce from one foot to the other, when before I knew it, I zipped across the room and gave him a kiss.

Mrs Mean was facing the other way.

I don't know what I was thinking.

I scurried back. No time to look. Can't get caught.

I wondered who saw me and what he was thinking.

Act normal. Nothing happened.

A stolen kiss. We both blushed. I'm in love.

I don't know who got the biggest shock. We never spoke about it, and it never happened again.

Mrs Mean would have smacked me if she saw me.

Whether your 7 or 70 has love ever made you take an enormous risk? What was the outcome?

Was it planned or a did it take you by surprise?

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26 Greatest loves of my life - Let's call him Adam. #atozchallenge

In Grade Prep my favourite game was kiss chasey, especially if Adam was playing.  It took days before someone was brave enough to suggest another game. Some kids protested, but most of us had our secret missions planned.

It was the only game of tag, where I didn't mind being 'it' first. Maybe it was his lanky legs but Adam was always easy to catch. When it was his turn to do the chasing, I would slow down and deliberately skip across his path. The hardest part was making it look like we didn't want to be caught.

Adam's mum let him buy me a hair clip with a butterfly on it, and I was the first girl to get an invitation to his birthday party. It was a weekend party and the first I was allowed to go to on my own.

On Saturday morning his present was wrapped. Mum was making alterations to my party dress and I was playing on my favourite tree. A big walnut that doubled as my acrobatic bars. I tried to do a back flip off the sturdiest branch and I crash landed and broke my wrist. No party for me. Doctors orders.

We didn't have a telephone. I had no way of telling Adam that I couldn't make it to the party.  I tried everything to convince my parents I was well enough to go. I even begged them to take me, so I could give him his gift and tell him I couldn't stay.

I was sure he would be upset, maybe even drop me. I thought about running away. I pretended my arm didn't hurt. I cried and yelled and got my knickers in a huge knot, until exhaustion finally wore me down.

By Monday morning, the martyrdom on my left wrist had set. Armed with Adams present my Mum dragged me to school. We met Adam and his Mum at the gates. He'd saved a party bag of lollies for me. My cast became the centre of attention.

I told Adam I wasn't allowed to play games like chasey.  He suggested I walk instead of run. It made perfect sense to me. So we waited, until someone was brave enough to say "who wants to play kiss chasey?'

26 Greatest Loves of my life #atozchallenge
Image courtesy of Clker.com

I wonder if the next two times I broke my arm was for a similar type of attention?

Have you ever played games, or bent the rules just a little, to get closer to a person you love?

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A to Z theme reveal - Not quite what I expected... #atozreveal #atozchallenge

I've decided to add all my links for the 2014 A-Z challenge posts here in my reveal post, so they are all together in the one post.  The A-Z challenge is a month long alphabetised challenge.  My theme is 26 Greatest Loves of my Life.


26 Greatest loves of my life - Let's call him Adam

26 Greatest loves of my life - Lets call him Baranaby

26 Greatest loves of my life - Let's call him Cazaly

26 Greatest loves of my life - Let's call him Dog

26 Greatest loves of my life - Let's call him Erik

26 Greatest loves of my life - Let's call him Father

26 Greatest loves of my life - Let's call him Geronimo

26 Greatest loves of my life - Let's call them Horny teenagers

26 Greatest loves of my life - Let's call her Ida

26 Greatest loves of my life - Let's call him Jeremiah

26 Greatest loves of my life - Let's call him Ken

26 Greatest loves of my life - Let's call it a Love song

26 Greatest loves of my life - Let's call her Mama

26 Greatest loves of my life... Nature

26 Greatest loves of my life lets call him Oh my Odin

26 Greatest loves of my life lets call him Peridot

26 Greatest loves of my life lets call it Quiet I'm reading

26 Greatest loves of my life lets call it Reflexology

26 Greatest loves of my life lets call him Sherlock

26 Greatest loves of my life lets call The Truth

26 Greatest loves of my life lets call him Ulysses

26 Greatest loves of my life lets call him Vent

26 Greatest loves of my life lets call them Wazza and Wyn

26 Greatest loves of my life - sounds like X's

26 Greatest loves of my life lets call him Yarra

26 Greatest loves of my life lets call him Zoro





Last month I asked for help choosing my theme for the A to Z challenge in my Alzheimer's, old-boyfriends, and aussie slang post.

1) Aussie slang - (to tempting to copy and paste)

2) 26 Boyfriends - (to revealing)

3) A to Z of Alzheimers - (to heavy for a light hearted challenge)

Check out everyone else's themes on the link list here

26 boyfriends was a standout winner... Perfect. Until I stating writing the posts and realised that
not everyone in my life needs to know about how many or how deep some of those boyfriends reached.

What I really want to share is why and how I fell in love. The fun, mistakes and lessons. This was supposed to be about different types of boys, but as I started writing the posts it became glaringly obvious that it was all about me. I couldn't write about love and leave out some of my greatest loves of all, not just old boyfriends. So a new theme idea was born.

Welcome to The 26 Greatest loves of my life.

There will still be a little smut, including my first kiss and that unforgettable first quiver, but I also want to keep it PG.  Some will read like a synopsis rather than the whole story.  Some of my greatest loves aren't even human.

I want to exercise my writing muscles, challenge myself.  My longest post is under 400 words, some of them are just a few sentences long.  Some are first person, some are third person.  There's even a poem or two and I might even chuck in some Aussie slang.  Fair dinkum I've loved some larrikins.

This challenge isn't just about writing, it's about connecting with other bloggers.  This year I've managed to get a good head start by scheduling half of my posts.  This will give me a lot more time to visit other blogs. The more blogs I visited last year the more visited me back.  It's a win-win. Positive comments are like rewards for effort, they become addictive.

Like many girls I started searching for love at a very young age.  I don't remember a time in my life where my relationships haven't been the single most important thing to me.  In order to have great relationships I had to learn to love myself.  If you are anything like I am, that was easy at first, became very difficult for a while, then greater than anything I imagined.

I hope you enjoy my 2014 #atozchallenge theme.  The 26 Greatest loves of my life.

Subscribe by email if you don't want to miss a post.  I promise never to spam you, I don't even know how to find out who has subscribed :)

Make it easy for other people to find you and leave a link to your post in the comments below.

It's not to late to join the the them reveal link list.  I've added it below (if the linky link works - if not click here.)

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Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list...

The challenge starts with the letter A on April 1st.  You can join that on the official A to Z challenge  page.

All the best to every participant.  Let the countdown begin.

How to add your twitter handle to blogger's share button - tutorial.

Most of us are familiar with the share buttons on blogger.

Blogger share buttons.

If you tweet a post, a share window appears that looks like this

How to add a twitter handle to blogger share buttons

Did you notice that there is no twitter handle on the above picture. Here is what it should look like.

How to add a twitter handle to blogger share buttons

Your twitter handle makes it easier for people to follow you on twitter as well as help you keep track of who is tweeting your posts. You can return the favour or show your gratitude if you know about it.

Honestly, I really didn't think this was a big deal, but I've linked into a group that seems to use twitter a lot (not big in my part of the world) and I figured a few more twitter followers might be a good thing.

I started with a google search and discovered that there isn't much information about adding a twitter handle to tweets from blogger. This could mean that it's common knowledge but I'm guessing it's something that has been overlooked.

Everything I did find and try either involved signing up for things I didn't want - adding things I didn't want, was too complicated or didn't work.

Finally after learning a few new things about bloggers Edit HTML template feature, and stumbling onto the right codes in this forum, I found a super simple solution that I'm sharing with you.



Under your design tab, click on template then edit html.

Then click on format template

Once you click on format template you need to search for some code to change.  When you press ctrl f or command f, a little box shows in the top right corner of the html screen.

The code you need to search for is:

expr:href='data:post.sharePostUrl + "&target=twitter"'

just copy and paste this into the search box, and the code will show up highlighted in yellow.  

You need to replace that code with:  

expr:href='"https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=@YourTwitterHandle%20"+ data:post.title + "&url=" + data:post.url'

Make sure you change the @YourTwitterHandle, to your own twitter handle.

Click on Save template and all your twitter handle problems will be solved. Well at least I hope so.

Here's my new code with the right twitter handle, highlighted in yellow, after searching for it in the search box.

I am no authority on the subject, I'm just sharing what worked for me. I suggest before changing any code, that you back up the code you already have.

I did that by copy and pasting my template into a text document. Don't skip this step, it came in handy when all the other methods I tried didn't work. I was to scared to use the back up button because quite frankly I haven't got my head around that.

This simple solution took me the better part of two days of searching, trial and error. Let me know if you have a better solution. Have you ever attempted to do something simple that took a lot longer than you expected?

All the best and happy sharing.

Alzheimer's, old boyfriends and Aussie slang.

Follower or followed, the 2013 A to Z April Challenge, probably bought us together.  I joined at the last minute and embarked on a sleepless month of writing, editing, re-writing and most importantly reading hundreds of blogs. The challenge gave me a new love of the written word and took me places I never imagined - did I mention hundreds of blogs i.e thousands of blog posts.  I even scored a monthly gig posting anonymously for another blog, bring on more of that kind of work - please.

If you want to join up click the link under the image.  Arlee Bird created the challenge, you'll find links to his page and all the other hosts there too.

sign up to the challenge link here

Last year my theme was Healing with Words - based around a deck of magic spirit cards that guided me through many of lives lessons, during my twenties.  Single words that were a seeming, random catalyst for change. A change that was desperately needed. The aim was to find my writing voice.  I'm not sure that happened, I dabble between poetic and prose, mostly prose, I have to edit out the rhyming a lot.

This year I have signed up early, with any luck I will get a lot of my posts written and scheduled well before the start date... or procrastinate, as is my way, and leave it to the last minute once again.

The one major thing getting in the way of being organised is I'm stuck between 3 themes.  A theme is not necessary, this in itself could be my fourth theme, but let's not confuse things anymore than necessary.

Here are my themes so far.

1.  , Aussie slang, as mentioned in my Reflections post.  For the traveller to Australia or a new immigrant these are invaluable, for the curious wordsmith a good laugh.  Some make perfect sense some make none at all... I'm pretty sure I could 'ave a go' without making a 'Wally' of myself, but 'fair dinkum' there are teatowels in every tourist shop with slang on them, and it might be a bit 'daggy.'

2. 26 boyfriends.  From my first crush at 5 years old to my current love story, and all the unrequited loves, mistakes, heart breaking and heart mending romances in between. A snapshot of the many boys and men in my life seems like a fun idea.  A is for Adam - the first love. B is for Brett - my favourite mistake. C is for Con - his mother hated me. D is for Dean - Summer of love love love. E is for Eddie - that cute Scandinavian kid. etc etc

and finally

3.  Remember the time... A journey into Alzheimers.  My recent trip to Australia inspired this one.  My mother was diagnosed in 2012 she forgets things and doesn't even remember she has Alzheimers.  I'm not sure where this theme will take me, the story is fresh.  While watching anyone succumb to a disease is horrible, forgetting can be fun and despite the tragedy of it all we managed to have a lot of laughs. They say comedy is tragedy with good timing and I feel comfortable sharing.  

So bloggers, help me decide should it be 1 2 or 3?

I'll be doing the big A to Z theme reveal on March 21st - find the linky list here


In the meantime, I'll be brushing up on how to do links and visiting some of my favourite blogs from 2013 to see who else will be signing up.

Gone fishing

I'll be back by mid February.  

Best wishes for the new year

Stop the chatter, silence and bad drivers.

Thanks search for silence in google images... sorry didn't get the link and am in a hurry :D

After the year 2000 fizzled into just another day, I remember saying and believing, that if you weren't depressed you were in denial.

Some people handle depression, anxiety and  stress better than others. I have basically lived with depression since I was born.  I cried a lot as a baby, big tears. So I'm told. Yet everywhere I go people comment on my smile. "You're always so happy," they say.
"Happy to see you," I say in return.

I'm not faking it, I am generally happy, smiley and friendly too. Some have even said I'm the most positive person they have ever met, and it's probably true, there are a lot of miserable people out there. I live with these feelings of heaviness, and a constant chattering mind, just like I live with bad drivers on the roads. I used to get so angry at them, chase cars that cut me off, tailgate slow drivers, yell at red lights, speed - all the time - I hated idiots on the road and I was one of them.

Now as we come to the end of Twenty Thirteen I realise a lot has changed. The chatter is less constant. I only ever seem to get anxious if I have misplaced something. I could probably control it but it's like a twitch that feels good to let out once in a while. I am also a much better driver. I still see dumb moves on the road every day and traffic lights keep turning red.  I decided a long time ago, that letting them annoy me was like signing a contract that every single time I get behind the wheel of a car my temper would be ignited. As if there isn't enough stress in the world.

Moving to a one traffic light town has helped, but the biggest change of all is a shift from being personally affected by everything and believing it is happening to me, to a more simple habit of observing the world around me.

Silence could very well be the key. Try practising a day or two of silence.  Joshua Becker in his article "A simple experiment to change your view of words" gives simple instructions on how to get the most out of silence. One step at a time. It's like a grown up version of the "who's going to talk first" game with a purpose, other than keeping the kids quiet.  There are no strict rules just try to remain silent and pay attention to what you hear.

To round things up here is my favourite track about silence.

Signing off for 2013 with a big thank you to all who supported my blogging adventure, and best wishes and peace to all for 2014.

Ida

It's time to move on.

Thanks happiness coach

Hi Gary,

I have been totally stuck on my dream board post.  I was sure it would be of great benefit to many people. I have been keeping busy.  I have started working part time in the local pub, and writing a blog for a business in Melbourne, it's a little naughty as well as a whole lot of nice, and we have agreed that I need to remain anon. on  that one.  I have also been crocheting a lot, people seem to really like all those little knots raveled together.

Christmas is around the corner, I can hear the souls of restless people making shifts in one direction, or another.  I myself, am preparing to travel Downunder for the warm solstice season, and some bonding with the nuclear family and rest of my tribe.

I completely avoided Nanowrimo this year, I couldn't bear the disappointment of another unfinished manuscript. I've decided I might try my hand at songwriting - I used to do that a lot as a kid, on the back step in the rain, when I was too upset to talk. Perhaps I'll start with a song a day for the A to Z challenge in April.

Your blog, and your It's all about this post, inspired me to put fingers to keyboard, mostly because I knew you would stop in for a visit, and I figured this would at least make you smile...It's no Sinead v's Miley, but it's my public letter to you (one of many I imagine)....  the gratitude circle keeps spinning.

Sincerely

Ida C

Dream boards.

Have you ever made a dream board?


Start by imagining or drawing 9 squares or circles.  Behind each square you put an image or a thought.  My earliest dream boards consisted mainly of kittens doing lots of different things.  Favourite story characters, horses, puppies, a day at the beach and cartoons also featured prominently. Once you have all your squares filled, choose or point to a number on your imaginary dream board, close your eyes and wait to dream.

I forgot about my dream board until I shared the idea with B2 (Bonus child 2, Boy 2, youngest Brother,) he was worried about having nightmares.  B2 loved the idea and let me put kittens behind his number 1, he choose puppies for number 2 and then I left him alone to work out the rest. Only nice things. Sweet dreams.

Thanks openspacesfengshui.com, you can try using the significance of each number to guide your dreams.

In honour of my childhood dreams, I think my number 9 will always be reserved for kittens. I will reserve a couple spots to sort out current issues.  How to dreams, problems to be solved, people I want to see or stories I want to write all make the list and if there is any room left over I just ask for something nice.

What would you rather dream about?
Have you come up with your own inventive ways to stop children being afraid of nightmares?

Injury shame and bragging rights.

When I was a kid I used to exaggerate and fake injuries.  If I had one or two mosquito bites I would cover my legs with pink dots of calamine lotion. I used so much lotion that I would refill  the bottle with shampoo, so Mum wouldn't know how much I wasted. Then there was the time a faked a sprained left wrist, so I could bandage it before a 'know your left from your right' test.

Sports injuries were something to be proud of. The more swollen, black and blue the better.  A slight tap to the eye would have me staring at the mirror to see if I was going to end up with a 'shiner.' People don't really care about other people's invisible pain, evidence of injuries bought me a type of nurturing I craved.

Growing up, I had my fair share of real broken bones, sprains, strains and enough stitches to make my Mothers skin turn a lighter shade of pale. In many ways sport was a form of self harm that gave me enormous satisfaction on many levels. Sliding into home plate was always celebrated but taking it to the extreme, risking injury, and going down for the team felt glorious, blood was a bonus. Better to be safe than sorry is advice I now give, but never once took heed of.

Fast forward, and I truly hate when I casually throw a ball and re-ignite a bicep injury, to the point that I can barely stir a salad for a few days. There is a glimpse of former glory but no-one will ever again see how powerfully and accurately I could throw a ball.  If I dare to run even a few steps without warming up, I risk tumbling over and my ankle harshly reminds me of the time I played a round robin softball championship on a sprained ankle, all day, and 'thought' I was a 'hero.'  My hips, shoulders, neck, knees and fingers will never fully recover... then there's my hamstring, but that can only be called a sporting injury if dancing in an underground night club on a Sunday morning is considered a sport (perhaps that falls more under the self harm label.)

Badminton stretching attempt.  Thanks Birdie events

At the doctors last night, after a playing our first badminton game of the season, I adjusted the ice pack on my calf because it felt good. I could feel it working to prevent swelling and I was hoping for the best possible outcome. I gave my leg lots of Reiki and kept imaging the two loud pops I heard earlier were just the tiniest insignificant muscle fibres that would only be sore for a few days and heal fast.  I remembered how  I used to fake putting ice on an injury because I wanted (everybody) to see the swelling. I also felt the irony of injuring myself, even though I had stretched more thoroughly than before any other game last season.  I even used to fake stretching once upon a time.  Instead of bragging I am humbled. I play with three men, I have to work hard to put us on an even par, was I showing off?  Would it really matter if I lost a point here and there, what part of my ego allowed me to get injured instead of just letting that bird drop? Then there's my new racquet, was that a waste of money? Is it worth missing out on a few games or perhaps even the season, for the sake of getting that one shot over the net?  And ouch, calf muscle injuries that go pop, pop really hurt.

The doctors verdict was positive.  He says I can play again in a few weeks, but he's also one of those old types that doesn't believe in physiotherapy. I'll get a second opinion, it's hard to trust doctors when you're and ex-nurse and a natural therapist living in a foreign country.  There are language, culture and treatment differences, and the horrific experience I had with a dentist here, is enough to make me very cautious of all medical specialists.  I am not going to complain about the forced rest for a few days, the Captain set up a dart board in the basement yesterday, so I should be able to get some practice in before Sunday's tournament.  I wonder if I can play darts while sitting on a chair bar stool?

In my efforts to find the perfect picture for this post I learned something new.  Static stretching can actually cause more injuries...based on my limited research I have to say it makes sense to me.  Here's the link to the article 'Stretching before exercise is counter productive.'

This post proudly bought to you by a 'I feel stupid and smarter at the same time' moment.

The eight natural doctors.

Go for a walk,
in the sun.
Take a deep breath.
Drink a glass of water.
Prepare a fresh meal.
Hug someone you love
laugh a lot or at least a little.
Rest and Repeat.

Thanks Free Range Stock

Movement

Sunshine

Fresh air

Water

Nutrition

Touch

Laughter

Sleep

Just add salt.

The first year I started cooking for my bonus kids was tough.  They seemed so afraid of some of the new foods I made that they would cry and even gagged a few times...they were used to their Dad cooking simple meals or buying them 'treats'.  I did my best to try and please them but there was no way in my lifetime that I was going to let these kids eat hot dogs, pizza and chicken nuggets as a staple on my watch.  Junk food was no longer to be considered a treat, and a whole lot more salad, vegetables and home made food was going to be on the menu.

Four things I did to introduce new foods.

1) Make a dish they have learned to love. The day before I make them something they never used to like but now do. I reminded them how they used to hate it, and praise their maturing taste buds. "When you were babies you only liked milk, now you are growing up and enjoy lots of new foods"... I encourage a conversation about the first time they tried something and the first time they liked it. I remind them that the food is the same as always but their taste buds are different.  I promised them that we only make them eat healthy, fresh food because we love them. If we didn't care about them we would let them eat all the rubbish they wanted and they would end up being unhealthy and most likely unhappy adults. I shared a few 'little known facts' based on my own experiences, like you only have to try a food 17 times before your taste buds learn to love it. The kids love reporting that they like a food before the 17th taste, though we never really keep count. It goes something like this. Child says "Ida I love celery now and I have only tasted it 9 times."  I say "wow you are growing up fast, soon you'll be asking me to cook mushrooms!"

Thanks Keli Nina Perkins

Add lots of salt and/or sugar.  If your kids love fast food and highly processed rubbish, all the real flavours come from salt and sugar.  I add extra salt to new dishes and let them add more salt, until I'm sure all they can really taste is the salt. Of course each time I cook the dish again I add more of what we like and a lot less salt. One chilli seed at a time (not the whole chilli) to build a tolerance. I introduce new flavours slowly, for example, I chop or wipe onion or garlic over the board then chop the other vegetables, so the subtle flavour of onion is on everything but you can't see it, then occasionally a few finely chopped pieces make it in to the dish... oops! It took a little time but now I don't have to keep onion in a separate dish for the adults, we all eat onion in our salad.

Keep them a little bit hungry and they are more likely to eat a new dish. This,I learned from a Grandmother who raised her 9 children, on a farm by herself after her husband died in his early forties. Serve a small breakfast and lunch and no snacks throughout the day. When the mid afternoon munchies arrive I offer them some water, if they don't want water then they are not really thirsty or hungry. If they are 'starving' I remind them that poor kids are lucky if they eat once a day, and they will survive the two hours until dinner time just fine.  No sweet drinks on the table, but plenty of water (for all that extra salt!).  Prepare the new food alongside a small portion of one their favourites. Give them too many choices and they are not going to try something new.  They are more likely to taste and appreciate a new food if they are hungry.  I also encourage them to help me in the kitchen and do little taste tests along the way.

Give them information.  What makes people unhealthy and fat, what vitamins make people's bodies grow strong, brains smarter and skin glow?  What is really in a hot dog and what is candy really made of.  I make them aware of how they are always hungry an hour or two after a pasta meal but rarely after a well balanced meal. I planted seeds and we watched them grow and tasted our produce with and without salt, accompanying other foods and decide what tastes better with what.

There were some meals where nothing seemed to work, so they ate a hefty serve of rice or potatoes, but with a bit of persistence they have learned to introduce almost everything into their diet, they even ate a mushroom and a brussell sprout each the other night, without complaining.  They ask me to make salads and flavoursome soups now, of course they still always ask for pancakes or burgers and I've heard them coaching their cousins about trying new foods, because they have learned that life is so much more interesting when your taste buds aren't boring or afraid of new flavours.