I've lost my mojo.............

Yes, just as the title says, I've lost my mojo.

I finally came to this conclusion, when I was sitting down feeling a bit.......... hmmm....... like I've lost my MOJO!!!!!

Thankfully, it's not a depression thing, nor is it as bad as I had it once before many years ago.

I have no real reason to feel this way - best term would be I'm feeling BLAH.

All is good in my world.

I am happy.

The family is all good.

The home is all good.

Work is all good.

No one knows that I'm feeling this way - everything is going along as per usual.

I seem to have lost my ability to handle stress well. I am a stresser by nature, but (mostly) have always handled it well. Over the past two weeks, I have had some things happen that caused me a lot of stress - however it shouldn't have done this because the things weren't that bad or stressful. Things have been like this for a number of years - and I wasn't like this before.

It is sad, but I know that the terrible incident that happened to me about 4 years ago has damaged me in a lifelong way. Firstly, my blood pressure went very high (when this situation happened) and I needed medication to bring it down. Although I have tried to come off the medication, I am not able to - even after all this time. I also found that I couldn't cope with stress very well - mainly a stressful situation type of thing - and it is clear that this is still happening - even after all this time.

Of course, when I stress, I get sick. And yes after a huge headache and feeling sick, I then got a terrible lurgy and had to have 1.5 days off work. I'm still getting over the lurgy but feel a lot better now.

I have now recognised that I have changed. Of course I already knew this, but the things that changed that I didn't like so much - like my coping ability with stress & my blood pressure etc, I never accepted. I wanted it to change. I wanted it to be different. I wanted to get back to the pre-terrible incident me (well some of it). It wasn't happening.

But, I now realise, that with good change comes not so good change and I have to learn to accept that.

So, yesterday I decided that I had to do something about losing my Mojo, losing my passion, just feeling a bit BLAH.

Bascially that means re-focus and re-evaluation. Starting to make new habits, both in mind and body.

I am very grateful to the universe for what we have - we really do have a great life (amongst some challenges along the way).

We all have some downs every now and again. I'm looking forward to the UP!

Rach

xxx

Early holiday to the Gold Coast

After we moved here, I offered to take my sister and her family plus our family, to the Gold Coast for a holiday.

This was as a thankyou to her for showing me around the whole Sunshine Coast when we were looking for school's and somewhere to live.

We decided to go the week before school holidays, because I thought that the kids - Ben especially - would struggle with large crowds and queues.

It was a fun holiday.

I booked a house at Ormeau, which was about 15mins away from Movie World, for us all. It was very comfy and nice, in a great location and I would recommend it.

Garsan House on Air B&B

Here are a few pics of the holiday.

The kids had an absolute ball. The favourite ride was Scooby Doo rollercoaster. It was a bit lame as it is apparently undergoing renovations and basically was completely in the dark (I suppose so no one could see said reno's being completed). Not to worry - the kids didn't care a bit - they loved it. It wasn't babyish and just scary enough to give them an adrenaline rush!!!

We went to Move World, Sea World and Paradise Country. I got everyone a yearly pass for the three parks and as it's only about 1.5hours away, we will be back.

The cats went to a Cattery and were well looked after.  I can highly recommend this place:

Glasshouse Pet Retreat

The are really nice and have just taken over the business. 

The dog went and stayed at Mum and Dad's and she was very spoilt!

Now we are up for 2 weeks of school holidays!

Rach

xxx

Well that month went quick..........

All of a sudden we are in June and it's WINTER (brrr).  Where did May go?

Life here is chugging along at a fast, but happy pace.  

We celebrated mothers day.  I did very well - I'm just so lucky.

We celebrated my sisters birthday.  

Both Greg and I volunteered at school.

Greg continued to cut down trees!  Not too many to go now 😼

The centre of the yard is now clear of trees and we are waiting for the grass to grow over.

Below is what it used to look like.  Notice how you cannot see the house at all.  It was such a terrible jungle mess of trees and debris.

The boys are all enjoying school and life.  Rhys and Ben both learnt to ride their bikes without training wheels - well done boys.

Both then proceeded (at different times) to ride down the big hill at the back of the property without properly knowing how to use their brakes.  Both won't do that again!!  Lots and lots of tears, fence repairs and lessons learn't.

Greg and I went to see Avengers and Deadpool.  Both movies were good action movies.  Deadpool was funny and typical of what I thought it would be.  Avengers was really good but a bit sad.  It will be interesting to see what happens in the next movie.

We took the boys to a park at Maleny - Mary Cairncross Park which was nice.

And I got my craft on:

Lots more happening, life is great.

Rach xxx

Blogging BLAH.........

I haven't blogged for ages and there is no real reason, except I am lazy (and busy), but more so lazy.

It has now been a year since we moved to the Sunshine Coast.  We still love living up here.

We are very lucky, I think.  We have a beautiful big home, lots of land and live in a lovely town. The boys are very happy at their school and my sister and parents both live 10 minutes away.  Although I haven't made any close friends, I do have some friends from school and those relationships are developing.

Life is good.

Speaking of the house and land.  Greg is still clearing the yard and is nearly there.  This weekend is stump grinding - and there are a LOT of stumps to grind.

Just a couple of the trees he has cut down

So far he has made 69 trips to the tip, using our cage trailer that is filled with cut trees - mainly cocos palm trees, which are classed as a weed.  These basically filled the property when we bought it and I don't even think we realised just how many there were.  17 years worth of not looking after the garden basically.

BUT

We are now on downhill run and Greg is nearly finished.  The difference is amazing!  He has done such a great job.

We are also re-doing the front yard too.  This side part had some very ugly hibiscus plants and lots of weeds/grass etc.  We will grow a nice hedge and a student from work gave me some excess plants from their garden.  It will look great once established.

I have been looking for a buffet for the lounge room and I found a nice one on Facebook for $200.  A good clean and polish and it came up beautifully.  Now for some decorations and it will be perfect!

I am Vice President of the P&C - not really a job I wanted but as per usual, they were desperate for volunteers.  We actually have a really good team so I am enjoying it.  Greg helps at school during the week in Rhys and Ben's class.

We went halves with Dad with a gurney from Aldi.  I can highly recommend them for about $120 or so.  Our concrete had never been done and it was BLACK.  It took all the black off the concrete.  Wonderful!

We also got solar power put on.  Our last bill - and we did have LOTS of visitors - was $800!!!  OMG!!!!  The most recent bill - with solar for part of that time was $160 (with a $50 rebate for something from the govt).  So really $210.  It will be interesting to see what the next one will be as I think that will reflect our usage a bit more correctly.  The last bill was a bit of a mash up, due to the solar being on, but no new meter installed, the old meter was going backwards when we generated electricity.  That doesn't happen now, but it will be good to see the difference and compare.

On the work front, my contract was up and as I didn't know what was going to happen, I applied for a few jobs that had come up.  I got an interview for a temp job within the same organisation, that was very much like the one I had when I worked in HR and when current work found out that I had gotten an interview for that role they quickly offered me permanent part time.  I took the job as PPT jobs up here are very hard to get I believe.  So that is great news - to have ongoing job security.

It was a public holiday here today and Greg has been busy stump grinding all of the stumps out of the ground.  Big job, but most of it done.  There are still a few really big ones, but that will be a job for another time (and a bigger grinder).

The weather has been absolutely beautiful, not too hot and not too cold - perfect!  However this afternoon it started raining and has poured all afternoon and now into the evening (it's even a bit cold LOL).

Have a happy life!

Rach
xxxx

Happy Happenings #1

A lot has been happening over the past couple of weeks.

The boys started back at school.  Ben had a few tears on the first day due to so many people being around, but he settled down really quickly.

Michael is in Year 4 and is in a 4/5 Class.  He is happy.  He has two teachers - Mrs Craddock and Mrs Muller.

Rhys and Ben are in Year 1 and are in a P/1 Class.  Their teacher is Mrs Sugden and they are happy too.  They are next door to their Prep teacher from last year Mrs Innis.  She sent me an email saying she dearly misses having the boys in her class, but she does get to see them as she is next door.  We miss Mrs Innis too - she is such a loving, kind but strict teacher.  She always has cuddles for the boys.

Greg is still clearing palm trees and green waste from our place.  He is up to 32 loads to the tip and has many, many more to go.  Our clearing has made such a difference to the look of the place.

BEFORE

BEFORE

After - but still clearing

After

After - still clearing

Mum and Dad are settling into their new house.  They have bought some new furniture and it is really nice.  I love having them close by and see them quite a lot.

Speaking of new furniture, I have been looking for a mirror for the front entry for ages.  I was telling my sister that I was looking for a mirror and she texted me asking if I wanted her old mirror as she didn't really have anywhere to hang it anymore.  OMG I said YES!!!!! (I have loved that mirror from the day she bought it - probably over 10-15 years ago).

It was in pretty rough condition as it had been sitting for a long time and not really looked after properly.  I got it home and scrubbed it down with water and micofibre cloths.  I then put some O'Cedar Oil on it and it came up beautifully.  It took over an hour to get it looking fantastic again, but well worth it.

The bottom of the mirror in bad condition

Cleaned and half polished

The bottom of the mirror cleaned and then given some nourishing oil.  What a difference!

Greg then hung it up for me, which was a big job because it weighed a tonne!

But it looks beautiful and makes the entry look fantastic.

I have started up my crochet again.  I quite enjoy doing crochet at night and Greg and I have started watching the Walking Dead TV series.  So I do a bit when watching that.  I am making a bag.

I must say, I find the Walking Dead TV series quite a depressing show.  Humanity at its worst really.  But it kind of sucks you in because you want to know what is going to happen.  We are up to series 4 and only half way through at this point.  Somehow I think it is only going to get worse as it goes on.  I think they are up to filming season 8 at the moment.  I can't watch too many episodes at once - 3 is my max - as I find it too brutal and depressing to watch more.  I know it's fake (and I don't believe that a person/zombie can live for years without food &/or with only a head etc) but it does show the mean side of humankind, which I do believe would come out if something terrible happened.  In fact it is happening at this moment in war torn countries and everywhere really.  Some people are pure evil.  So we watch a few episodes a few times a week and that is enough for me.

We are getting solar power installed soon.  It was meant to be on Friday but it has been pouring down so one the rain stops it will be installed.  All the panels are being stored in the garage at the moment.  We have been desperate for the rain but I would like it to stop for a while so we can get our new solar panels put on the garage roof!!!

Work is going well.  It has gotten quite busy as it is the beginning of semester.

This week I did a display for Library Lovers Day on Feb 14.

It has rained all day today and the weather is quite cool, which is nice because it has been very hot lately.  The garden is loving all the rain too.

Have a happy day!

Rach xxxx

It's 2018 and a new blog name - Rachael's Happy Life!

Happy New Year 2018.

Another year clicked over while I was sleeping soundly in my comfy bed.  No hangover here thank goodness (I have had many, but not for the past 8 years or so YAY). 

I wonder what 2018 has in store for us this year?

Time will tell.....................

After a little bit of a thought process, I decided that I actually DID want to change the name of this blog, now in its 11 year! 

So much has changed in my life over the past 11 years.

Some bad things,

Some good things,

And some fantastic things.

The blog started off as Critter Cottage, then I changed it to Thrifty Cottage. 

But we don't really live in a cottage anymore (more like a big house) and I don't have as many critters as I did before (no chickens at this time).  While I am still thrifty, our goal is not to pay off our house anymore (because we have already done that).

So a name change was in order. 

This blog is about me and my family.  It is a record of goings on, so, when I am long gone, maybe one of the kids/grandkids will want to have a look??  If not, that is okay but I think I would have like to see what happened in the "olden days" if my parents/grandparents had a blog.

Rachael's Happy Life! 

I have a really happy life.  I'm very lucky.

Sure, life isn't always happy.  In fact I have had my fair share of sadness and despair.  I have suffered injustices and nastiness.  I have known true heartbreak.  I have seen things that will haunt me until the day I die.

But, I am happy to say that these things didn't break me (some came close) and I am still living a very happy life. 

This is a blog about ME, my family and my crazy life.

Love

Rach

xxx