~Reflections of Life~

           I have had a very slack year where this blog is concerned but a very busy one with RL.   I have stopped posting to my fb page Shabby Prim Delights, as I no longer have the time to spend searching Pinterest for pictures and while I am no longer active on it I have left it up for others to use the images for inspiration.

          Well, firstly the reason for no time anymore....is...drum roll..... I now finally have a job.  After 4 years of looking and applying and the hundreds of rejections and the hundreds of more 'no replies' I am now working as an aged carer for a wonderful company who care as much for their staff as they do their clients.  I get up looking forward to my work day where my jobs are varied as are my wonderful clients.  I can be doing anything from Walking/washing a beloved pet, to a few hours shopping, a quiet chat, and coffee, some light housework or a drive to the park.  The stories of the past are varied and delightful.  Growing old is not easy, nor is it one any of us looks forward to...me included, but I hope that myself and others like me help make it a little easier, and a little happier.

        My relationship with my birth family continues to grow and move forward.  With each visit, I learn a little more of them, and them me.  It's very comfortable each visit, with no awkwardness and its like I have known them a lifetime and not the few short years.  I visited the beginning of  December and will be returning in January for my sister Michelle's (M3) 50th Birthday.  On a sadder note, one of my other sisters has been diagnosed with breast cancer and has begun her battle with the dreaded disease.  She is way braver than I could ever hope to be and has always a positive thought.  I have no doubt she will win this battle purely on determination and sarcasm.  My only wish is that I could be by her side every step of the way, but as that is not possible I instead keep her in my thoughts and my heart.

            This will hve to do for now other than to wish you all a Happy and Wonderful  New Year from my family to yours.

~HAPPY NEW YEAR~

~Its New Years Eve in Oz....and I sit here refelecting on the year that has gone.

           This year I have spent time learning more about my birth family and talking with another of my sisters Tammy......and while all of this is still a bit like a dream,  I am actually starting to feel more connected with them.  I lost an aunt I had never met,....she was the first person I ever spoke to from my birth family and I will never forget her kindness and compassion towards me at one of the scariest points of my life.  RIP sweet Aunt Rosa ♥

          I had to put my mum in a nursing home this year as she just wasn't coping at home any more.  Its not easy to pack up someones life and downsize it to not much more than a few boxes and a couple of suitcases.  There was alot of memories to deal with and we had to pack up the last of my dads things and give them to charity (that was possibly the hardest thing), and while another chapter in my mums life is over she is now living in a beautiful nursing home that is like a 4 star hotel, with lots of lovely caring people around her and a social calender like she has never had before.   All of that has taken alot of pressure off of myself and my brother, so we are breathing a little easier.

          Its been a tough year with my furbabies having to say good bye to two of them.  First Charlie girl lost her battle with cancer....and then dear little Molly succumbed to the pain of brittle joints and old age. 

          One of the best highs this yeas is I got to watch my son marry his childhood sweetheart and also finding out I am to be a nanny again.  

  Well next year promises to be full of highs and lows again I am sure, and every day I am thankful for those around me, and that I can get out of bed and greet each day with a smile.

      I dont do New Years Resolutions because I think life is tough enough without adding to it....instead I just try to be a better version of myself.

      So from my family to yours......I hope you have a

(¯`v´¯)

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¸.·´.·´¨) ¸.·¨)☆☆

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...Happy New Year....♥.

~Time Flies~

Wow already day 2 of the new year.  Hubby and I had a quiet one this year...can you tell were getting old.  I hope your New Year was a safe and happy one. 

 My facebook page is going wonderful which is probably why I am hopeless at posting on here.  Even though I am not working (the paid variety) there never seems to be enough hours in a day.  I am studying again (Community Services) and try to do that for at least 3 hours a day and there is the housework, gardening and fb and pinterest....so the day goes past quite quickly. 

Pinterest is my other love and its good because it is actually stopping me from hoarding in RL.  I can collect everything I love in images and it satifies the need to own it all.  I still manage to loose many hours in the looking and pinning though.  Pinterest has opened my eyes to so much and as a recent comment on one of my pictures of my home mentioned....that we can live on different sides of the world and have never met and yet have such similar tastes. 

 I dont watermark my images and I always love seeing them pop up on others pages...it very humbling to think your style of decorating is good enough that others like it too.  However recently on two totally differnt pages I have found my photo with 2 other peoples watermark on it claiming it as theirs.  This did make me very angry.  Why would they try and claim something that they know is not theirs....I just don't get it.  I have shared thousands of images on my fb page and I am always very very careful to not claim or insinuate in any shape or form that I own the images posted and always provide a link or name of ownership or at least where I have found it if a link isnt available.  I actually love it when someone claims ownership of the images I post because then I can credit them  and 99% of the time people love it when I share their photo's because like me they find it humbling that others think their home is good enough for sharing.  

So if you get a chance pop over to my fb page here and say hi;  https://www.facebook.com/ShAbByPrImDeLiGhTs

and here is my pinterest page:

http://www.pinterest.com/shabbydelights/

oh and Happy New Year ...may 2014 be everything you want and more xx