Lightening Online

As March draws to a close, it’s time to evaluate my grocery spending for the month.

At the beginning of the month, I decided to take $600 in cash and put it aside for all grocery purchases throughout the month.  My grocery costs include cleaning items and personal care items (other than my make up) but doesn’t include take away (we have a separate budget for take away and eating out).

I have $184.05 in the bag.

This means for the month of March we spent $415.95.

With 4 shopping weeks in March (I usually shop on a Wednesday), that equates to an average of around $104 per week.

That amount included some bulk meat purchases and a pantry stock-up as well as some extra items for the baking I did for the funeral, so I’m REALLY happy with the outcome.

That $184.05 is getting added to my BHAG total.

April has 5 shopping weeks (and I’ll still have the same $600 starting amount) as well as Easter (so some extra goodies I imagine as we’re going away) so it’ll be more of a challenge.  I’m hoping to come in at around the $500 mark.

We’ll see how that goes.

Here’s my latest BHAG figures. Still a long way to go to reach my final goal by June 30th 2009:

Today is my 13th Wedding Anniversary. I can hardly believe that Farmboy and I have been married for 13 years!!!! Time flies when you’re having fun!

This was one of my favourite moments on the day:

Farmboy and I could have stayed there for hours, gazing into each others eyes.

I remember how hard it was to say goodbye to him the night before the wedding.  All I wanted was to never have to say goodbye again.  Now, 13 years later, I still find it hard to say goodbye.

A little while ago I was asked about my thoughts on marriage, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to share some of the things I have learnt in my time with Farmboy.

I consider myself very much a “work in progress”.  We don’t have all the answers.  But we have been blessed with a wonderful marriage, which is something I try never to take for granted.

1. Marry Your Best Friend

This is the single best decision you can make when choosing a life partner.  Sure, a spark is nice and can be an important part of a marriage relationship but more important than that is that you have a lifetime “best friend” to navigate life with.

2. Spend Quality Time Together

This isn’t always easy.  Life gets busy and it’s even harder when there are children in the equation.  It is important to not only spend time together but to spend time together where you can really focus on one another.   Farmboy and I have a regular time each Sunday afternoon where we sit down in the lounge with a cuppa and just talk.   This isn’t something we’ve always done but something we’ve learnt to do.

3. Spend Quantity Time Together

Quality time is important but it cannot replace quantity time together.  I’m not sure I’m convinced of the saying “absence makes the heart grow fonder”.  The more time Farmboy and I spend together, the more time we seem to want to spend together.  I’m not saying that spending time apart is a bad thing but I do believe it’s important to spend lots of time together too.

4. The only person you can Change is YOU

I remember one young couple who entered marriage with the husband thinking it would keep the wife happy (to be married) and the wife thinking she could change her spouse once they were married.  What a recipe for disaster (sadly, the marriage only lasted 5 years).

If we spent as much time working on our own “faults” as we did trying to fix those in our partners, I think we’d see a lot more successful and happy marriages.

5. Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Your Anger

I always found that a strange proverb when I was a child. The truth is, it makes a lot of sense. Everyone sleeps better if you can resolve any differences before the days end. I guess Farmboy and I are pretty lucky because we rarely disagree or fight and when we do, we’re pretty quick to make up again. That’s more down to him than me though, I’m sure. He’s pretty easy going and forgiving.

6. Maintain a Sense of Humor

Let’s face it, living together brings with some annoying little niggles.  We tend to mostly resolve ours with humour. It lightens the moment while still bringing the point home.

7. Find Out Your Partners Love Language

Love Languages are amazing and once you read about them, they really make sense.  We naturally express love in our own love language which may not be the same language of our partner.  Once you understand your partners love language, it’s so much easier to express your love in ways that they can understand and appreciate more fully.

The commonly accepted love languages are:

1.  Gifts

2. Touch

3. Time

4. Verbal Expression

5. Acts of Service

If you’re not sure what your partners love language is, watch the way they express love to others and you’re likely to get a good idea.

You can find out more about Love Languages at:

The 5 Love Languages

8. Romance is Found in the Unexpected

Commercialism would have us think that Romance is all about spending lots of $$ on a loved one.  To me romance is more about doing something unexpected. Whether it be a small love note, a flower from the garden, cooking tea for them or a back rub. There are 1000s of ways we can show our love in small and romantic ways.

9. Marriage Is A Lifetime Commitment

Marriages end for all sorts of reasons and I don’t want you to feel that I’m condemning anyone who has had a marriage fail.  For a start, it takes 2 people to make a marriage work and sometimes things just don’t happen the way we expect them to.

What I do find sad is the attitude some people have when entering a marriage that it may or may not work out.  It’s important to go into a marriage believing it will be for life.  If you don’t, it’s doomed from the start.

10.  Good Marriages Are Made not Found

Nothing worthwhile comes without effort and marriages are no different.  I have found there are times when things seem to fall into place really easily and times when it’s a real struggle to work through an issue or push through communication barriers.  It is an investment in time and effort that can reap wonderful rewards though.

Do You Have a Tip to Share?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on what makes a great marriage.  Feel free to share in the comments section below.

Today is our local show.  It’s a small show that can sometimes be lacking in excitement but provides a good opportunity to catch up with people.  I wasn’t sure if I was going to feel up to going but thankfully I’ve been feeling a little better.  It’s nice to be able to go as a family.

Lleyton and Farmboy are playing in a Volleyball competition and Trailer Boy is looking forward to the big bike race.

I’m feeling a bit bad that the kids haven’t entered anything this year.  Time seems to have just flown by and we just didn’t get organised in time.  Hopefully next year I’ll do better.

Anyway, providing I remember the camera, I’ll have some photo’s for you later.  I’ll add them to this post either tonight or tomorrow so please come back and check.

Update:  Here we are with some photo’s and update about our day at the show:

Our show committee outdid themselves this year with attracting lots of stall holders and some decent rides.  It’s so hard in such a small rural area it’s hard to attract these types of things.

The day was beautiful and the numbers looked to be well up on previous years.

Trailer Boy was so keen to go in the bike race but when we got there, he suddenly went shy and decided he didn’t want to compete.  They had to ride around the outside track where horses were working in the middle and he was scared of the horses.  I think he’ll be more confident next year now that he’s seen how it all works.

He did, however, have a small ride on his bike (away from the horses).

Trailer Boy on bike

The Dodgem Cars were quite popular and we even had to line up to have a ride which is great because there’s a higher liklihood they’ll come back next year if their takings were worth their while.

I balked a little at the $7 per ride charge (yeah, probably normal for the city but high for what we’re used to out here). However, with 2 in a car, it didn’t work out quite so bad.

Lightening with Lleyton on Dodgem Cars

I told Lleyton I wasn’t getting in the passenger seat when he gets his Learners Permit!!!! He had a great time though. As did Singstar Princess:

Dodgem Cars

Trailer Boy wasn’t quite so sure to begin with but he did have a go later in the day.

Lleyton and Farmboy sweated it out in the Volleyball competition and ended up coming 4th.

Lleyton and Farmboy Playing Volleyball

I love that they have simple things like bike races and beach volleyball that gets everyone active and involved. These are the activities that have really kept our show going over the past few years (without them I think it would have died).

I also love that many of the proceeds of the day go to good causes. Lunch was put on by a number of community groups as a fundraiser and this Hurdy Gurdy ride raised funds for the Flying Doctors:

Fun on the Hurdy Gurdy

This slide ended up pretty much finishing off the money we’d given the kids to spend. Lleyton went off with friends most of the day while the younger 2 stayed with us (but still had a budget).

Lightning McQueen Inflatable Slide

It certainly wasn’t a cheap day but much cheaper than the times we’ve gone to the Adelaide Show and it only comes around once a year.

Now we’re home, filthy and tired and all inspired to get more organised next year so we can enter some things in the pavillion.

I hope you’re all finding a reason to smile this week. Please feel free to add a link to your Smiley Saturday post below.

Image by cogdogblog via Flickr

I nearly didn’t go to netball training last night. I was feeling rather fragile and thought I’d be in danger of bursting into tears if things didn’t go well. Nothing serious I don’t think. Just hormones.

Anyway, I thought the exercise might help so I decided to go and take the chance.

And despite my post title, I am glad I did.

I really enjoyed it and feel like things are slowly coming back to me.

But, the most important thing is that I had fun. And lots of laughs.

And I realised something. As much as I want to improve, I need to stop taking myself quite so seriously and focus more on the “fun” part. Because getting frustrated with my lack of ability is driving me nuts!!! And sucking the fun out of the game. Wonder if I can do both (improve AND have fun)???? I hope so.

My legs are quite sore today. And I can feel the muscles in my arms as well. I’ve pulled up worse than last week! Not sure if I pushed harder this week or why they’ve done that.

Must be the week for pain from exercise I think.

My session in the gym on Monday was pretty full on. Actually, there wasn’t a lot of pain so much as complete exhaustion. You know the kind where you know you’ve given all you’ve got and there’s nothing left? That kind!

I’ve learnt something new about exercise this week. When you do stuff where you’re down low and moving to a standing position - it is EXHAUSTING!!!! AND a really GOOD workout! I’m not sure if it’s the lifting of your own body weight or what.

I’ve also learnt that burpees are my LEAST favourite exercise EVER invented!!!!

Question is, can I make this exercise my friend or will I ALWAYS hate it????

Aussie Home Loans have managed to convince one of their mortgage brokers that it would be a good idea to jump out of a plane as part of their latest marketting campaign.  Apparently it’s  a recreation of an ad that was made for Aussie Home Loans, only this time, no acting or stunt people involved.

This guy, Duane Brown, is apparently not real keen on heights (me either) OR flying (me either) so I’m not real sure how they convinced him that this would be a good idea!  I wonder how much they’re paying him?????

You can see more about what Duane has to say in the lead up to the jump on his You Tube page.

Anyway, this post is more about YOU than it is about HIM.

As part of this publicity stunt, Aussie Home Loans are giving away piles of cash.

You gotta be in it to win it peoples.

All you have to do is visit the Aussie Freefall Challenge site and pick some co-ordinates where you think Duane will land.

To make it more interesting, you can get bonus entries by finding hidden codes in various places.

One of the ways to find such codes is to follow Duane on Twitter.

And there is one hidden somewhere on LighteningOnline.com.  HINT: Go to the place where you can learn more about me. 

I think it would be really cool if a reader from this site won.  And since they’re not paying me to write this post, I’ll only charge you 10% of the winnings!  Well, how else am I ever going to make my BHAG????

There are some other bloggers involved in hiding codes on their blogs, so if you know of any (or are one), let me know as I’d love to add some links here to help people get as many entries as possible.

For an extra code, take a look around Servant of Chaos.

Image via Wikipedia

That is me at the moment.

Bone tired.

And tired of feeling tired. 

I’ve tried resting.

I’ve tried exercise (yeah, exercise is “supposed” to give you more energy - doesn’t work for me).

I’ve tried natural stuff (nothing like getting a HUGE credit card bill for stuff you don’t feel is helping you at all ).

I’ve tried eating chocolate.

I’ve tried not eating chocolate (okay, I haven’t really tried not eating chocolate - not for anything that’s last more than a couple of days).

I’ve tried sitting around feeling sorry for myself.

I’ve tried sucking it up and doing some stuff.

NONE of seems to help.

So now I’m just having a whinge to you.  Cos I can.

I will admit I’m kinda grumpy today.

I think it’s a premenstrual thing although I’ve been blaming my grumpiness for the past week on the same thing.

So, what do you do when you’re tired all the time?  Besides eating chocolate I mean?  I seriously need some help here!

Can you believe that??????

100 sleeps until our planned departure date.

Assuming we leave on time (and one should  never assume when married to a farmer), the time between now and when we leave is the same as the time we’ll be away.

This is both exciting and scary.  I’m not sure if it means we’re running out of time to get done what we need to do before we go or whether we’re going to be gone quite a looonnnggg time.

I’m not sure I’m going to get everything done before we go so I may need to sit down and work out what does and doesn’t matter. I’m almost too scared to write myself self a list because:

a) It’ll feel unachievable
b) I’ll send myself nuts trying to achieve it all
c) I’ll go away dissatisfied that my list isn’t complete

3 Kids And A Caravan

If you’ve yet to subscribe to our family travel blog, I’d encourage you to do so now.  Without regular internet access, we won’t be able to publish on a schedule but my plan is 4 posts per week - one from each of the kids and one from me.

You can use the following to subscribe directly to 3 Kids And a Caravan:

Subscribe in a reader

Just a note: if you subscribe via email you need to visit a confirmation link delivered to your email address in order to complete the subscription process.

Yes, I will still be blogging here but over there you’ll get a multi-faceted view of the trip and my own posts will be slightly different.  My plan for my posts over there is more of a “weekly round-up” type post whereas here will be my usual “brain dump” of whatever I feel like writing about at the time.

We Need Your Help!

I would really like to approach some companies with the thought of sponsoring our travel blog.  Not huge amounts but a few dollars for some spending money (particularly for the kids) on our trip.  The more interest the blog has in terms of readership, subscribers and links in, the better our chance of being able to do that.  So if you’re so inclined and would like to help us out, adding a link to your blog or blogroll, tweeting about us or helping spread the word in some way or anything else that might help us build a bit of exposure would be greatly appreciated. 

Somebody Pinch Me

I can hardly believe it’s 100 sleeps until we go!!!!  SQUEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s been a nice “normal” week this week. Less trips into town and life is starting to find it’s own rhythm. After such a busy start to the year, I’m really appreciating the slower pace.

A few of our smiley moments this week:

Sunday

An opportunity to catch up with old friends at a Thanksgiving Service for our friends baby who was born 5 weeks early AND had multiple complications in her first months of life. They spent over 2 months in Adelaide with her. A scary time with a wonderful outcome.

Spending some quality time with Farmboy over a cuppa - our weekly Sunday afternoon ritual.

Monday

Singstar Princesses enjoyment of her new dance classes. They apparently got all the way through the first dance this week. It’ll be performed at the end of year concert along with the other dances they learn this year.

Starting to get some of our finances back on track after a bit of a “wake up call”.

Tuesday

Positive parent-teacher interviews and that they brought us one step closer to our “big trip”.

Wednesday

Shearing went well and Farmboy had some great conversations with a close friend.

Thursday

The beginning of the football and netball season. In particular, Trailer Boy getting all dressed up in his “football clothes” and heading off to training with big brother and dad. Twas very cute.

Friday

Trailer Boy absolutely losing the plot with laughter over his new reader (Just as I finished typing that sentence, he came into the office with said reader wanting to read it again - how’s that for timing?). I love it when my kids get so much enjoyment out of a book. I’m really hoping I can get his reactions on video - it’s such a genuine belly laugh. Very contagious.

Taking a walk through my garden and discovering half a dozen butternut pumpkins on the plant that not that many weeks ago looked like it was dead.

Enjoying a meal cooked and served by Lleyton and realising there are some real bonuses to my kids growing up.

Laughing over a fun board game with Farmboy and the kids. It’s been a while since we’ve played a game together so it was good to get back to our “Friday Night Family Night” routine.

Saturday

Having fun with the Ultimate Blog Party! I’m meeting new friends, finding new Twitter pals and discovering new blogs. The atmosphere is awesome and so much fun to be a part of. I’ve never participated before so it’s all a new experience for me.

Happy Smiley Saturday

I hope you’re all finding a reason to smile this week. If you have a Smiley Saturday post to share, feel free to link to it in the Mr Linky box below.

Image via Wikipedia

The netball and football season for 2009 officially kicked off last night with our first training for all grades.

Trailer Boy was so cute.  He wanted to go to football training.  At 5, he’s a little on the young side but having a father as assistant coach gives certain privileges so we allowed him to go (on the proviso he listened and didn’t muck around).  He was so excited to put on Lleyton’s old Crows guernsey and Lleyton let him wear his spare footy shorts (size 10 mind you!!!!).  I wish I’d had time to take a photo but we were running a little late (maybe next week?).  Apparently he did very well at training and stayed involved for the entire hour + .   Farmboy even said that if he was keen enough he could probably get a run this year (get to play on a Saturday).  I’m not so keen on that idea given it’s an “under 12″  competition.

Princess Singstar was also very excited to be getting into netball this year.  I watched her training and you can see the results of her training year last year.  She’s no longer one of the “newbies” with a few in the year level below her beginning their training year this year.   I was able to get a second hand uniform for her last night which is a relief as new they’re $50.  It’s a little bit on the large side but then they were recommending I go larger anyway to get a couple of years of wear from the uniform.

Lleyton had a great night.  He joined the Senior Colts training when the juniors were finished and it looks like he might get a run with them some of the time this year (when they’re short).  He had the opportunity last year but wasn’t overly keen (which was wise given how small he is).  It’ll be interesting to see how he goes this year.

Farmboy thinks he’s going to pull up a little sore after his training last night.  He was pretty exhausted after a couple of days shearing followed by training the juniors then his own training in seniors.

And Me?

I’ve forgotten how to play netball!!!!

Which isn’t all that surprising but rather frustrating.

Let’s hope it all starts to come back to me soon.

Because it feels kind of silly given I’m no longer in my “first year”.

Anyway, time will tell.

It’s kind of messy at the moment while they try and work out the higher grades.  I think once that’s settled down and we can train as a team, it’ll get better (I hope so anyway).

Fitness wise I felt I did okay.

Ball skills?

Hmmmm…….

Footwork?

I can’t remember how to pivot and to remember which foot I landed on.

Court Play?

Well, admittedly we only had enough for half court (while the others were mucking around with team selection) and no bibs and a mixture of people so it did make it kind of hard.  I couldn’t remember who was on my team and generally had no idea what I was doing.

Other than really bad cramping last night, I seem to be pulling up okay - so that’s good.

Things can only get better from here, right?