Love Actually..

Love, actually...is all around. That's one of the first lines from my favourite movie. I love that movie so much that I recently watched it in Spanish which was rather entertaining, but nothing to do with this blog entry!

But, love actually is all around if you take a step back and look at your surroundings. I have had some amazing gifts of love given to me over the years... some tangible, some not. Some obvious, some not so obvious. Some I haven't recognised at the time, but then the penny drops after the fact and you think, well, duh.

Today my family was told that one of my elderly aunties is very unwell. So unwell that she possibly only has days to live. I was thinking about my Aunty and Uncle... and I thought about how they have spent their whole lives together. And even in the past few years when my Aunty has been in a rest home, my Uncle, despite being unwell himself, has traveled quite a distance every day to go and visit her. Due to the nature of her illness, there have been times when she hasn't even known her husband is there, but still he goes every day. That's real love.

When I was having problems getting pregnant with my second child, a close friend of mine said that if we didn't have any success, then she would consider donating her eggs to me. That's HUGE! It shows that she loves me... and it also shows that she thought I was a good Mum to my first child. Fortunately we didn't have to go down that road, but it was brilliant knowing that someone would even consider giving me a gift like that.

And just as special sometimes are the little things. For example, I am frightened of thunder. Emmy came to me and said "Mummy, if it thunders tonight you can come into my bed and I will cuddle you until the thunder finishes. You won't need to be scared"... and recently I had a house guest for a few days. I did my best to look after this person well... I fed this person... they ate the food and said that it was yummy. Weeks later I found out that that person doesn't eat red meat... eeek...I had served red meat. Once I got over my embarrassment I realised that I had hosted either the most polite person in history, or that person loved me enough to not make a fuss about what I had served them. Maybe it's a bit of both.

I can think of so many more examples.... but I'd be here blogging forever if I was to name them all. I am lucky that I have so many good people in my life. Some people in my life I tell them that I love them often... others I don't tell them very often because they know I love them. Some I show my love to by baking yummy cakes and by helping out where I can. So yes, love actually, is all around. And I am a very blessed woman :)

Mrs Robinson... or Am I?

Well... It's been a long, long time since I blogged. I have hidden all of my past entries. Why? Because my life has changed so much over the past 6 months I am no longer the same person as I was back then.

2012 was perhaps one of the most challenging years of my life. I think all my readers will have picked up that my marriage broke up. So I was faced with being a solo Mum... looking after a household on my own... and trying to figure out who I was, and wanted to be as a person.

But it wasn't all bad... some really great things happened in 2012. I started volunteering at the toy library, I started exercising, I lost 30kg! and I got a part time job. I love living in Blenheim... it's great to be "home" again. And yes, I met some new friends... one more special than the others! ;)

Emmy is brilliant... She started school last April, and is doing so well. I am very, very proud of her. Actually I could not be any more proud than I am. She's got a little group of her own friends now (yikes!), and is succeeding with her academic work. She also seems to be a talented runner. Not sure where she gets that from. And she is a very kind, caring girl.

And Matty is unbelievably cute. He's growing big... really fast. As much as it pains me, he's not a little baby anymore. He's learning new words every day, and loves being with his big sister. They often just sit on the couch together, cuddling. Warms my heart. He always makes me laugh every day with his antics. And he's a super messy eater!!

So what's ahead in 2013 for me? That's a big question... I'm continuing cake baking and decorating. That is my passion. I want to make it into a career this year if I can. I intend to lose another 15-20kg (by not eating said cakes!). I'm going to save some money because I am going on holiday in July with my kids and the above mentioned special friend. Very much looking forward to that.

But most of all... I'm happy... and I can see my life becoming more and more rich and happy. I am a blessed woman. I am still Mrs Robinson... but a better version of Mrs Robinson. Lovin' my new life (most of the time). I am thankful to the people in my life who have supported me. I don't know where I would be without those people.