Archives for November 2011

Project 365 done and dusted

November 26, 2011 by Jen

How does one end a photo a day for a year? I wanted to take a photo of something with the numbers 365 in it but of course couldn’t find anything and I hadn’t planned ahead far enough.

Next best thing? Take a self-portrait. That’s what I did. I took quite a few photos before I was satisified(ish) with this one.

I feel a fantastic sense of achievement with the completion of this self-imposed project.

And the unexpected result of doing this project is that I’m going to have a photography exhibition early next year. I’m excited and scared all at the same time but those are natural feelings when you put yourself and/or your work out there.

I don’t know what I want to achieve with this exhibition. I don’t have a desire to be a professional photographer as I think that would take some of the fun out of it. At this stage I want to keep it as a hobby because it’s something I really enjoy.

I’ve decided to do another photo a day for a year project but I’ll start on 1 January 2012 and by my calculations it will be 366 photos because it’s a leap year.

Project 365 – the penultimate photo

November 23, 2011 by Jen

This was Day 1/365 of my Project 365 photos.

This is Day 364/365 of my Project 365 photos.

I’ve done it, except for today’s photo – the last one for the year. Will I continue with another year? Should I?

This is my contribution for Wordless Wednesday – hoping Trish gets her blog sorted out. If it’s not there she knows there’s problems.

How to cope after the breakup

November 18, 2011 by Jen

Most of us go through it at some time or another – the relationship breakup. It’s bloody awful even if it’s something you initiated. I didn’t initiate this one but upon reflection it has to be for the best. After all, who want’s to pine after someone who obviously doesn’t want to be with you, or who doesn’t want to work together to solve relationship issues? Not me!

Even though it’s been on my mind a lot I’ve generally been pretty good and here’s how I’m getting through it.

Look after yourself, eg have a massage. The day after the breakup I spent most of it in bed feeling a bit sorry for myself but I also dragged myself out of bed to go and have a massage. It just happened that it was a good friend who does shiatsu and we had a bit of a chat as well and she gave me some mechanisms for refocusing.
When trying to go to sleep – if you find your mind racing – and you have trouble getting off to sleep – count. On the in breath count up to ten and concentrate on this. If you’re counting you can’t think about anything else. I’ve since used this when I am thinking about other things. It’s a good meditation technique regardless.
Focus on the moment. Even if it’s just when you’re getting dinner. Concentrate on the smell and the feel of of the food you’re preparing for instance. Again, this gets your mind off other things.
Talking to some close friends. I couldn’t imagine not having them to unload to and as usual they’ve been fantastic.
Planning things to do socially. I’ve tried to keep myself busy since this happened and I’ve been succeeding.
Using this as a learning experience. Questions I’ve been asking myself: What is it about the type of men I pick? Without going into detail I think I’ve cracked it and Baggage Reclaim is an excellent website that provides some great advice about relationships. It talks about things to look out for, values in a relationship, red flags, and even what a healthy relationship looks like.
Exercise. For me I’ve started running. There’ll be more about this. I can’t quite believe it myself.
Look after yourself by eating healthily and gettting enough sleep. This was a bit hard initially as I didn’t feel like eating but my appetite has returned. At least I’m keeping my teeth healthy.

It’s a work in progress and I’ve found the hardest thing has been telling people especially as we have a lot of mutual friends. One friend was quite shocked. ‘But you seemed so good togther’, they said. That’s hard because we definitely were for the most part.

So I’d like you to add to this if you can. What’s helped you get through a breakup?

If you’re in a healthy relationship I’d like to hear about that too. What makes this one a healthy one compared to say the toxic ones you may have experienced in the past?

Electric toothbrushes

I’ve always been a manual toothbrush person. I know of a few people who use electric toothbrushes and always thought it was for the lazy.

Philips Sonicare electric toothbrush - adults However, I started using an electric toothbrush a month ago when I and my son were sent one each to try out – a Philips Sonicare 28 day challenge to see if our teeth improved.

Neither of us have ever used an electric toothbrush before and the first time felt really weird. It took a few brushes to get used to the vibration sensation in the mouth. I didn’t think my son was going to want to stick with it but he has.

I like the reminders it gives you as time elapses. Mine turns off automatically after two minutes.

Philips Sonicare electric toothbrush - kids The kids toothbrush comes with two different sized brushes depending on their age.

So what do I think after using it for 28 days?

I like that you use less toothpaste than you do on a non-electric toothbrush – we probably all use too much toothpaste anyway.

I like that my teeth feel cleaner around the gums than they used to. I think these toothbrushes help you brush better.

And I definitely reckon my son’s teeth are cleaner. I always used to hassle him to clean his teeth properly because you could see the plaque left behind and I can’t see that any more.

The only downside is that they take up more room on the bathroom cabinet and the cords are a bit messy. The upside to this is that their charge does last a long long time – I haven’t charged mine for at least seven days now and it’s still got plenty of juice. So if I could be bothered I could pack away the chargers until I need them.

Will we keep using them? Definitely. The non-electric toothbrushes are now relegated to trips away.

A couple of other bloggers I’ve come across did the same challenge and they have one each to give away. I didn’t organise for this but please leave feedback if that’s something you’d like to see here as well for another time.

To win one of these toothbrushes visit Beyond the Bump and Diminishing Lucy.

Words are getting closer

November 16, 2011 by Jen

Things are getting so much better. I’ll be back really really soon.

This is for Wordless Wednesday. A good excuse just to put up some photos and not say much – yet.

Moving on

November 5, 2011 by Jen

Am taking a big of a blogging hiatus.

I can’t write here when my mind is in emotional turmoil and it’s certainly been that for the last couple of weeks.

My two year relationship has ended and I’m understandably upset.

JJ is taking it much better than me which is also understandable and I love the matter of factness of a ten year old. It’s in the past mum, he said. Bless him.

I’ll be back when I can.