The prodigal daughter considers returning....

I'm thinking of taking up the whole 'writing on my blog' thing again.... but I'm wondering if anyone out there is still aware that it exists and/or would be interested in reading if I did?

What do you think, friends of cyberspace?!

xo Tammy

"One should be the leading lady in one's own life!"

Reprinted from patchesofheaven.blogspot.com

 

I came across a quote attributed to Kirk Douglas yesterday, and it got me thinking:

"Life is like a B-picture script! It is that corny.

If I had my life story offered to me to film, I'd turn it down"

While just a tad negative really, in some ways I think Kirk is dead on. I can't even tell you the amount of times that my (granted, overly dramatic) mind has thought "this is like something straight out of a movie".... and yes, I'm fairly certain it would be a B grade movie.

I mean, there was the time I half fell down a man hole at 11 o'clock at night in a torrential rainstorm in a dodgy part of town (horror movie, obviously... if my sister hadn't been laughing so hard on the other end of the mobile phone). There was the time just after September 11th when they shut down an entire terminal in the LAX airport and I was held (literally, by-the-shoulders held) by two armed army guys because they thought they'd found every type of explosive they test for in my suitcase (action movie? ... ).

There was the time I fell madly in love only to have my heart broken, but then when you flash forward to the last scene with a 'five years later' title, you'd find I'm doing just fine. That one would be your coming of age story. There was the night a bat flew into our house and a friend and I spent about 2 hours cowering behind doors and randomly waving our arms around before it finally flew out again, all on it's own (nature documentary?)

There were the college years and all those hilarious (if you have a teenage sense of humour) antics. There was the crazy family experiences that have settled into treasured family folklore (make way for the kooky ensemble cast). There are the many many times I've gotten lost only to find the page of the map I needed was missing, or the iphone had run out of battery (travel program / black comedy?).

The list could go on, and I suspect you've got your very own list of moments in your life when you've seriously started looking for the camera crew you know must be hiding around here somewhere!

And in the end, I suspect Kirk's kind of right. In reality each of these experiences would probably only make B grade movies. The script hasn't always been spot on, and we don't always come up with the best dialogue. The story arcs are often a little unbalanced - too much time spent in the exposition I would think. Colin Firth has yet to make an appearance in a single scene. My trips to the grocery store almost never happen against a Paris backdrop. Full orchestral musical scores would definitely add a little something something. The explosions are never big enough....

But I do think there's something that redeems this little life-movie of mine....

My acting tends to be superb.

xo tammy

The reason I love being an Aunty...

Could this fabulous brood BE any more fabulous? 
(Answer: No, they could not.  They totally, totally rock).

xo Tammy

How to Eat like a Rabbit

·       Roughly chop up half of a lettuce (if you’re a fancy rabbit, you’ll use a butternut lettuce. Yum!)

·       Chop up half a cucumber

(if you’re a REALLY healthy-eating rabbit you won’t peel off the skin).

·       Chop up a tomato

(and again, for you fancy rabbits out there, it will probably be a hot-house tomato because those smell the best in the store).

·       Chop up a handful of raw mushrooms left over from your roast vegetable dinner the night before.

·         Chop up half an avocado and soak it in lemon juice for a little bit

(If you’re a trying-to-lose-weight rabbit, then you’ll justify the half avocado by the fact that you didn’t use the whole avocado).

·         Open a can of Salmon, drain it, and crumble it onto your salad

(if you’re an actual rabbit, then you may not want to include the Salmon).

 And voila! Lunch for Rabbit Royalty:

Can you tell I’m back on my diet?!

xo Tammy  

Playing with Flair

Loved this video.  And really enjoyed the timely reminder that thinking outside the box and finding new ways to stretch yourself and enjoy life (even if you're still playing the same old song) can pay off with fantastic results and a lot of good fun!



xo Tammy

A typical day in the life...

"Just keep swimming, Just keep swimming"

(Another post I recently wrote for Patches of Heaven)

Just a short post today. More of a 'thought' really. But I've been thinking about the Cowboy Song lately.

The Cowboy song was one of the pieces I played for my preliminary grade piano exam. I can't remember how old I was - maybe 8 or 9? somewhere in there. But the Cowboy Song was THE hardest piano piece in the entire universe (not just on the planet earth).

I had a bit of a flair for drama as a child (something I've since grown out of, obviously), but in my mind I can still remember the absolute tragedy, anguish and 'Susan Hayward' of it all. Tears. Arms flung. Declarations of "never never never never". Sobbing. Mum encouraging me over and over and over...and over again.

I actually don't remember much of the 'middle' of this story. I know I eventually learnt to play the song, and went on to get a good grade on my piano exam. But I do remember years later coming across the Cowboy Song in my old piano books, and setting it up on the piano to see if it was as horrible as I remembered. And then, I couldn't stop laughing. The piece barely even needed 2 hands - It was pretty much played with the right hand, and with the occasional 2-3 notes joining in one the left hand. Pretty much your definition of the easiest piano piece in the entire universe (not just on the planet earth).

When the twins moved to Japan for their missions just over a year ago they were (naturally) struggling with the Japanese language. I remember writing to them when they'd only just gotten out there and that they just needed to keep plodding away: "As impossible as it seems now, one day, in the not too distant future, you'll suddenly realize that you're speaking Japanese fluently". And recently, I was delighted to point out that they did in fact seem to be speaking Japanese pretty fluently now :)

So it's helpful to remember sometimes, when we find ourselves at the bottom of a mountain, that if we just take that one step at a time, then one day we really will find ourselves at the top. In fact, sometimes it's not until we're completely on the other side of the mountain that we realize just how far we've come.

So I guess I'll just keep going with all this diet and exercise. Even if it seems a bit like the hardest thing in the entire universe (and not just the planet earth). 

xo Tammy