Work and The Hot Flushes

My mess is morphing as I pulled out all of my draws and 2 wardrobes yesterday, which contained clothes of 3 different sizes, small, medium and large. I have now resigned myself to the fact that large is it for me so, with great reluctance and sadness, I'm clearing out the other sizes. 3 dress sizes in 3 years does not auger well for the future! However, this task is not as straight forward as it sounds because there are some garments which have to be "tried on" (between sizes or out of date) , others which are sentimental, a small pile of garments that needs various repairs and another which I should have sent to the dry-cleaners prior to Christmas. And it is back to the office this Monday. 
Chaos reigns........ No preparation for work has been completed, which initiates lengthening bouts of the hot flushes as I draw closer to Sunday evening......The delights of being "middle aged".....I think it's time to meditate!

Back to Work

I feel heightened tension in my body as my holidays draw to a close. My long list of "must do or else" is still long and the clutter hasn't dissipated, despite the hours I have invested trying to make it vanish. I feel like a lemming running towards the cliff edge, despite seeing the deep water that lies on the other side...............
But I do have a vision!

My summer holiday of F’ s: continued ….Part 6

Fotos (apologies - photographs)

A tin house: Alsace

Sadly very few photographs have been taken. Will I ever have time to master my camera? Due to the encouragement of friends and family, I have tentatively entered 3 items into the Linden Postcard Show competition. For me, photography is a very personal form of expression and communication, so I feel emotionally exposed having work publically displayed and assessed in this forum.

Flicks (cinema)

What is a holiday without the movies?

Skilful cinematography, wonderful script and superb acting characterised The King’s Speech  –  a movie that lives up to its accolades.

Tiles on the floor of a chateau

Heartbreaker indulged our love of French comedy. With Romain Duris in the lead role we were assured of a good laugh. A charming, farce that is well executed and even pleased the male members of the audience who initially felt dubious, due to the movie’s title.

Fun, Fantasy and Funky

Bonnieux- husband's fantasy?

I must concur with my husband who has observed that there hasn’t been enough fun and fantasy (what ever that means) in my holidays, and my recent haircut, at chez coiffeur, is definitely funky.

Finally........Focus

Writing these “F” blogs has been quite cathartic ………..I now have a clear vision on which to focus, so it is now back, with renewed vigour, to finish, forward, file and flick. 

My summer holiday of F’ s: continued ….Part 5

French lessons.

These have been unintentionally side lined as I frantically try to get my life together finishing, filing, forwarding and flicking. Apologies to my French teacher, Angelique. An improvement in my French is a necessity if I wish to verbally communicate with my French neighbours, who, I am grateful to say, don’t speak a word of English.

Friends

I am not intentionally neglectful of my eclectic group of friends, but I am ashamed to say I still have quite a few I need to catch up with, in person, before my holidays draw to a close.  I enjoy the richness they bring to my life. Perhaps I will make this a secret friendship test – why should I always be the one to do the organising? Sadly I can see a few names being struck off my Christmas list. I must get that much needed vision in place…………

Family (of course, this is Christmas time)

Christmas is a time for family. Mine descend from far-flung places. I savour every minute we’re together and count my blessing to have been fortunate enough to have such a loving, supportive family with rock-solid values; and also to have married a man from a similar background. Like all families, we have faced real challenges and will no doubt continue to do so – together.

To be continued……………..Part 6

My Summer Holidays of F s:....Part 4

                                                      

Flowers
Gardens have burst into bloom after many years of drought and 

water  restrictions. There is much satisfaction gained from having one’s hands in the soil, watching the plants grow and respond to the seasons and picking the produce the garden provides. To me, gardening is green meditation. There has been a lot of meditating these holidays.

Fruit

With abundant flowers and water comes the fruit. Clearly I should have indulged in more fruit to diminish my flab. Unfortunately fruit and vegetables are predicted to become more expensive as their supply dwindles due to foul-weather and flood damage. A further challenge to my diet. 

To be continued……………..Part 5

My summer holiday of F’ s: continued ….Part 3

Floods 

Furious floods, flash floods, unrelenting floods ……….every where.

One of our nation's beloved poems by Dorethy MacKellar has temporarily lost its appeal.

…………..       I love a sunburnt country,


A land of sweeping plains,


Of ragged mountain ranges,


Of droughts and flooding rains.


I love her far horizons,


I love her jewel-sea,


Her beauty and her terror -
                  (a bloody understatement)

The wide brown land for me!   ………… 

Dorothea Mackellar
(1885 - 1968)


To be continued……………..Part 4

Hughes Creek in flood, Avenel
This is the bridge from which Ned Kelly jumped to save a fellow school mate from drowning

My summer holiday of F’ s: continued ……Part 2

Finish, Forward, File, Flick

study clutter

The 4 F’s, finish, forward, file, flick are the solution to banishing the chaos of clutter in one’s life. (see the blog “the New Cost of Time”) Like my weight,  my clutter has slowly returned to reside in unwanted places.  The study, wardrobe and vestibule and garage are so cluttered that they are non-functional. This does not auger well for the start of a new year. According to "Does this Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?" I have lacked a vision which has impeded the effective implementations of Finish, Forward, File, Flick. The chaos is not about the stuff but apparently underlining issues which I have failed to identify and address. Sadly, I need a magic wand to right my wrongs before work recommences; however, I am starting to come to terms with the fact that I will be begining the new year under less than ideal conditions which will only change, with much reflection and effort over a prolonged period of time. Poop.

Foul-weather

This holiday season these words have to be as one. Tropical weather in temperate climate zones that has made the floor wet with moisture and out bodies in a constant state of glowing. And it has interfered with my holiday routine of getting my flab under control (see previous entry). The foul-weather has also brought floods.

To be continued……………..Part 3

A Summer Holiday of F’s………..

This is my holiday of F’ s: fowls, fat, finish, forward, file, flick, foul-weather, floods, flowers, fruit, French, friends, family, fun, fantasy, fotos and flicks. And I have a vision………….!

Fowls

La bonne vie

Fowls contentedly strutting amongst garden foliage, has resulted in a seasonal excess of eggs. Home made ice-cream (5 yolks) and pavlova (6 eggwhites) are a great solution for the egg glut, although not so fantastic on my waist -line. This brings me to my fat. 

Receipes

Instructions must be followed carefully. The ratio of sugar to egg whites in the pavlova and sugar to egg yolks in the ice-cream are critical.

Ice-cream: 

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2009/02/vanilla-ice-cream 

Pavlova : 

http://cakescookiesandanoddroastdinner.blogspot.com/2007/05/margaret-fultons-pavlova.html

Fat

Blue Moon, Sicily - heaven

Each year we take a family photograph around Christmas time. I know that I have gradually put on weight after a nasty foot fracture and a 9 months stint of Warfarin to dissolve the resulting DVTs. Nevertheless, I was quite confronted by my image when the Christmas shot was printed. Since then, I have tried to lose the excess blubber, to no avail. Our foul, uncharacteristically tropical, weather has discouraged my usual holiday exercise program so I am feeling quite fat, despondent and so desperate that I have purchased and read Peter Walsh's book "Does this Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?" The title also reveals my other Achilles heal – clutter.

To be continued ………………..Part 2

Floods Across Australia - No Longer Singing in the Rain!

Like many Australians, I’ve fantasised about rain during our long 10 plus years of drought, as dams and water supplies across the country emptied, crops failed, stock perished, paddocks turned to dust, and water restrictions tightened, but this incessant rain has lost its appeal.

Slow floods; flash floods; interminable floods.

Isolation.

Desperation.

Lives lost. Livelihoods swept away, hopes and futures shattered.

And the financial cost – mind-boggling.

However, amongst all of this devastation and despair are amazing stories of survival, and bravery; heart warming tales of camaraderie and newly forged bonds……..Very black clouds with a tiny silver lining.

In the beginning ………………..

Where and where will it end?

A Piece of France

 

My French Folly is looking very lonely and miserable.

This week we toasted the purchase of our own piece of 

France, La Maison de Fraise, only to learn that la neige sur le toit ancien had become too heavy for some plastic which was sealing 2 two roof windows so les carreaux (window panes) have fallen in and the snow has followed ! My French dream definately didn’t include building snowmen inside le grenier. Réalité bites…… completely closing off these windows for the rest of the winter is  now  the our first priority. Apart from the damage which can be caused by a melting mounds of snow, the insurance policy on La Maison de Fraise will become invalid. 
An email to my guardian angel* in France has been dispatched toute de suiite. Thank goodness for the current favourable exhange rate. I hope this is not the beginning of mon rêve français turning into un grand cauchemar………

It was 40 °C  here yesterday - too hot for me but probably quite enticing if you have been enduring freezing conditions and deep snow for months!

* Postscript 2012: the guardian angel and his wife have turned out to be "wolves in sheep's clothing" which I have since discovered thanks to some wonderful locals in the village.

Current local weather conditions, France, Samedi 01 Janvier

Température de -2°C à 1°C

Soleil de 8:26 à 16:56

Taux d’humidité : 92%

Ma folie française. Dieu aidez-moi!

Finally signing for the French house (circa 1759) this week. Original condition, complete with a dank cave (cellar), a clos lit, flag stones, dirt floor, no sanitation, stone sink, dodgy wiring, a leaking roof and an oak beam which has to be replaced……..Another long story……Beware of vendors (not French) bearing gifts in the form of promises.  It’s challenging carrying out a transaction by email, which involves foreign law; a 14 page compris (contract) and 24 page obligatory inspection report in French. Google translate gives a rough outline of the documents’ contents but many paragraphs just convert into English babble. Must work harder at my French lessons and find a suitable translator toute de suite. 
Hmmm…. I think I need a shrink - or perhaps a whole professorial department of psychiatrists. I’m sure this whole saga is shortening my telomeres. So why do I persist?

In a nutshell life is always interesting, and a touch unpredictable here!

Passionate about France or Menopausal Madness?

I’m about to become an expert on 17^th century houses and the art of traditional basket weaving. Handy – if polite dinner conversation falters. Achievable, if I wasn’t approaching retirement with lean superannuation savings and only a paltry sum in the bank. And perhaps realistic for one who is energetic and didn’t live as far away from France as possible. Then there is motion sickness, a fear of flying and a lack of French language skills to further complicate the issue. My partner patiently refers to my current state of affairs as my mid-life crisis. Family members bluntly call it menopausal madness. Despite being very cautious by nature, I recently paid a deposit on a house in France prior to inspecting it! Perhaps it’s time for some French lessons?

Photo: courtesy of the real estate agent

Personal Organisation: The New Cost of Time

Courtesy of free downloads

“Nurture ourselves first so we can nurture others” say the life coaches. So I’ve taken their advice and at the cost of $120 per hour (excluding GST), with a 3 hour minimum appointment, I have employed a professional organizer to help pries me out of the clutter that permeates my office and now creeps throughout the house.

I am now suffering a panic attack over my dwindling bank account and stressing - how I can be so “reckless”.

Who have I become? In the past I have been an extremely well organized person, proficient with a diary, to-do lists, time management and filing. But lately  my familiar systems and focus have  been abandoned and replaced by the “Fire Brigade” system: responding to the most urgent problem and then once the “fire” has been doused, I walk away without cleaning up “properly”. Order has morphed into chaos which heightens my anxiety level – I am so overwhelmed that despite the professional time management course I have attended and the relevant books I have read on this topic, I’ve now reached the point of paralysis.

The idea of returning to work in a week brings anxiety attacks.

As a maths teacher I am in a role in which I have to be extremely well organized for others, but my desks and filing cabinets at work and home are pillars of paper and folders. There is less time to sit and reflect on the day and deal with any issues, including filing, as they arise. Technology – the thing which was going to save us - has created a paper trifid and a screen jungle as I try to locate electronic files on one of my many USBs or computers at work and home.

Professional organizers have become the new magicians. Appointments have to be made months in advance. Their waiting lists are long.

It’s reassuring to know that there are many other people need their services but why is it that our lives are so out of control that this new industry of professional organisers is in such great demand?

Why has our external world become so cluttered? We appear to have only one gear – fast forward. Victims of the time robbers, people are constantly “on tap” via email mobile phones, or worst still their sophisticated relative-the PDA.

In order to protect ourselves from our increasing litigious society we have created a paper trail that defies common sense and eats into our time.  Dealing with the red tape of regulations increasingly comsumes precious hours and develops more information that must be filed somewhere- and be able to be easily retrieved. 

Time is money. Translate that as “ do more in less time.”

Television, DVDs and computer games enable us to come home from the office and switch off , distracting us from doing those tasks that will actually let us be better organized and calm.

Retail “therapy”, that great stress-buster brings home more clutter.

The relative affluence and mobility of our society have also allowed us to have too many choices: we over commit ourselves and are constantly “on the go”.

Weekend and 24 hour trading have also interrupted the rhythm of the week. Mundane shopping tasks have infiltrated the “down time” of the weekend. It is interesting to observe life in Switzerland where the shops are closed on Saturday afternoon and on Sundays. People manage their time, as I once did, to shop within the prescribed hours, so the majority of their time in the weekend is free for leisure, the family and to organize the coming week. There is also a stronger sense of community in Switzerland that appears to have been eroded in Australia due to our frenetic lifestyle.

Are the explosion of violence and increased demand for psychological services in the community an indication that our internal world is staring to mirror our external cluttered world?

The cost of being disorganized can be far reaching. With each gain we choose we also experience a loss, and for many it is a loss of physical and emotional clarity. With a minimum appointment cost for a professional organizer of almost $400, it would be reasonable to ask “Do we value organizational skills more highly than other skills?” This is very basic work.  I think what is really prized is the emotional unburdening that occurs when one is physically well organized.

So what have I learnt from my nurture session? The key to success and emotional calm is straight forward, simplify your life by daily practising the four F’s; Finish it , Forward it, File it or Flick it.

And being told this has turned into a luxury item