Shambolic Living

Challenges and Goals – Is Creating A List Worth It?

Janine — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 21:35:24 +0000

Spring has arrived and we unwrap ourselves from the cocoons created during the cold weather. As the sun warms our thoughts turn to new beginnings, spring cleaning, getting ourselves back into action. In my world yet another birthday is rapidly approaching. Not as significant as a birthday with a “0” but a midpoint “5” is...

If you want to publish a book … you’ve got to WRITE

Janine — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 01:56:17 +0000

It is 10.54 am on my day off from my real-world job. When I decided to work part-time the aim was to spend my day off writing. Get a book published. Uncover that latent dream from underneath the grown-up world responsibilities of kids, mortgage, bills and … well you know the drill. This morning I...

The One Where I Try To Exercise

Janine — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 00:33:26 +0000

After the great shopping disaster where I was unable to find a suitable outfit for “my body shape” I decided with just four months of my Project 44 challenge left I probably should tackle the one goal I hadn’t even attempted yet. The losing weight one. The treadmill was unearthed from the garage when I...

What we need around here are some spreadsheets

Janine — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 21:35:13 +0000

It’s been 157 days since I launched into my “achieve every goal you have every imagined” year. There’s 209 days left until I will once again be facing a cake adorned with candles and lamenting the passing of my life. It’s becoming increasingly evident that organisation is the key skill I am lacking when it...

Project 44 – The Struggle

Janine — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 03:53:50 +0000

Regular readers will remember I embraced a mid life crisis late last year and decided to whip myself into a frenzy of self improvement for my 44th year on this planet. In one frantic 12 month period I was finally going to tick off some of my long standing to do/wish list items in my...

What’s a Perfect Life?

Janine — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:21:23 +0000

How would you define a perfect life? Then how would you get it? There’s a blog called Inspiration and Chai where a former palliative care worker has created a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. Bronnie Ware, in her work with the dying found there were five themes running through their list...

A New Year Begins

Janine — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 22:05:08 +0000

Well the first of my goals for 2012 is down the toilet. I didn’t win the $31 million Lotto draw last night. So instead of shopping for a new, highly expensive car this morning, I’ve got to settle for a cup of coffee (instant I can’t afford one of those fancy schzmancy machines) and a...

Letter to my 16 year old self

Janine — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:30:58 +0000

Have you seen the book “Dear Me, A Letter to My Sixteen-Year-Old Self“? An array of celebrities write a letter to their teenage self. If you could jump in the DeLorean and head back to the future to meet up with the kid you once were what advice would you offer? Here’s my attempt. Dear...

NaNoWriMo – The Confession

Janine — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 10:38:11 +0000

Big cheers please, my friend Michele from Savannah Photography completed the 50,000 words in 30 days for NaNoWriMo. I’m expecting that when her book is published the dedication will read “To my dear friend Janine who provided the link (literally) to NaNoWriMo that enabled me to produce this bestseller thereby rescuing me from a life...

NaBloPoMo Celebration

Janine — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 10:27:12 +0000

On this last day of November I can celebrate my successful completion of NaBloPoMo. We won’t mention NaNoWriMo – that will get it’s own blog of humiliation tomorrow. Day in day out I managed to get a post up every 24 hours for the month. I got up early and stayed up late to get...