About
About Me? I wonder what it is about me that you’d like to know? 
That I’m a woman in her 30s that feels like she’s still in her 20s? That my oldest child is about to hit double figures even though it feels like only yesterday he was a babe in my arms? That I have 3 children and would like 1 more but don’t have the confidence that I’m a competent enough mother to inflict myself on any more children? LOL. That I’m married to a farmer even though I explicitly told him the day we met that I didn’t want to be a farmers wife?
In May 2006 I had a nervous breakdown. This shocked many people, including my husband. I have to admit that I kind of half knew it was coming, even though I hoped it wouldn’t. Still, it has been one of the best things that could have happened to me.
Since that time and as part of my recovery process, I have had some wonderful people helping me to understand who the real “me” really is. For so long I had been hiding behind a persona that I *thought* people wanted to see.
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you will have seen something of the “me” that has been slowly emerging since that time. Blogging has been a fantastic way for me to express and understand who I am. Who I really am.
Sitting behind this computer is a REAL person. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that when we read blogs. I have my good days and my bad days. I have days where I’m organised and days where I’m chaotic. I have days when I’m happy and days when I’m not. I’m just a regular person and while I try hard to be as real as I can through my blog, sometimes it’s easy to get the wrong impression.
I hope you enjoy reading my blog and will continue to visit on a regular basis. If you’d like to know more about me, there is plenty to find amongst the archives of my blog. Feel free to browse and let others know about this blog. The more the merrier!
WHO ARE WE?
These are the character names I use on my blog when talking about my immediate family:
Farmboy - this is my DH who most of you are probably aware is a farmer. My DH looks like he was born to be a farmer. It’s hard to explain why, he just does (he also looks HOT in a blue bonds singlet but don’t tell him I told you that 
). If you’d like to know more about my marrying a farmer (and how I had determined NOT to marry a farmer, you might be interested in reading my guest post on Snoskred’s Life in the Country).
Leighton - my firstborn is very passionate about sport of any description. But it would seem that he is quite a whizz when it comes to tennis. Not that I’d know - I don’t even know what the rules are let alone how to play! He’s tiny, likes wearing his hat in all kinds of strange angles (including backwards) and would LOVE to one day be some kind of Leighton Hewitt. So it seems fitting. Oh, and he turns 10 in January. But please don’t tell anyone I’m old enough to have a child in double figures!!!! Sometimes I lovingly refer to him as my “absent minded professor”. He’s quite bright but can lack some simple common sense at times. Apparently that’s quite “normal”.
Singstar Princess - our only daughter turns 7 in a couple of weeks. She is VERY passionate about singing and given any opportunity will perform. She’s also my little princess. We were able to purchase a Singstar for the playstation the kids got for Christmas so now she’s able to be a real “Singstar Princess” - and LOVING IT!!!!
Trailer Boy - my 4 year old son has been rather a shock to the system after having 2 reasonably quiet children. He attacks life at a flat out pace! It amazes me how observant he is though. He picks up the tiniest of details when you don’t even know he’s watching!!! He LOVES anything that moves (cars, boats, planes etc) but his real passion seems to be trucks - especially road trains - and anything with a trailer.
Lightening - well that’s me (obviously). I’m passionate about my husband and kids and of course, blogging (in case you hadn’t noticed! 
).
WHY LIGHTENING?
Hey, did you know that Lightening is actually spelt Lightning? I guess it all depends on which “Lightening” you are talking about. The name “Lightening” originally started when I was in year 12 at school (the final year of High School for those not familiar with Australia). I have to admit that at times I can be rather gullible. I can also be rather “slow” to *get* jokes. The name “Lightening” started as a joke (me being the opposite of “fast as Lightning” so to speak).
Had my best friend at the time been able to spell, I may have been “Lightning” instead of “Lightening” which indeed would have turned out to be a sad thing. I think I was always meant to be “Lightening”. Not so much as a joke but as a life journey.
I like to think of my website as a place to share my journey in life. Learning to “lighten up”. Learning to smile and spread “light” into people’s lives. I like to think that as I get older I get more “enlightened” as to what is truly important in life.
If you read the description under my header graphic, you’ll find some made-up definitions of the word “Lightening”. I didn’t make up those definitions to describe who I AM, but rather to describe who I would LIKE to be. And what my goals with this blog.
I hope you’ll join on me on my journey toward self discovery and understanding and that perhaps you’ll help me to spread a little “Lightening” (smiling, laughing, joy……) in the world. 
