Happy Birthday to me!

Let's have a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday", shall we?

I turned 40 this week.

I'm more than OK with being 40. The last ten years have been a roller coaster of ups and downs. I'm physically and mentally healthier and stronger than I was at 30. I'm happier. And I have more skills to face the inevitable difficulties of life. I know how to look after myself now.

Here I am on the morning of my 40th birthday. Not too shabby eh?

I chose this outfit because I thought it would take me through work at the library, maths tutoring in the afternoon and then on to dinner. Yes, I had a busy day! 

Note the use of black opaque stockings. Please send fake tan advice so that I'll be able to ditch the tights as the weather gets warmer!

Those closest to me know me well. I'm not the sort of girl who likes to receive practical gifts for my birthday. No siree! It's luxury all the way for me.

My beautiful sister got me this ring. Love, love, love it! I've worn it every day since I received it.

My wonderful husband and kids got me this perfume. Likewise, I love, love, love it and have worn it every day.

We went out to dinner at a local Italian restaurant. It's a family friendly place with generous servings.

Check out my dinner. Chicken with prawns and asparagus, served on a bed of fried potato and smothered with a creamy Worcestershire sauce. I didn't bother counting the points.

Here are the kids hamming it up with their meals.

Oh yes, that is a car behind Alana. Don't worry, there wasn't a nasty accident involving a car driving into the restaurant. The restaurant has a theme and displays cars and car memorabilia.

Here's Chris and I looking happy.

And here's my dessert. Or what's left of it. Raspberry creme brulee...yummy!

I'm such a fortunate girl. Blessed. And even though I haven't got life all worked out yet, I'm looking forward to the next 40 years! Bring it on!

Things to see and do in London - Part 1

I'm trying to make some progress on the trip planning front. 

First task: make a list of all the things that we want to see and do in London.

Accommodation in London is frightfully expensive and our current trip itinerary has us staying there for 5 nights before we travel on to Paris. I've been encouraged to decide if we really need to stay that long!

Here is Part 1 of my list of places to see and things to do in London. They are in no particular order; but I have provided a link to a website for each one so that anyone interested can follow the link to find out more.

• Tower of London  

• Shakespeare's Globe

• London Eye

• The British Museum

• Maritime Museum and Observatory Greenwich

• Westminster Abbey

• Buckingham Palace

• St Paul's Cathedral

There are still many more touristy places of interest so I'll be needing a Part 2 for my list. And I think it's pretty obvious that I'll be able to fill in five days of sightseeing in London no problem at all.

Have you been to any of these places? I'd love your feedback on whether or not they lived up to the hype. 

Do you have any suggestions for Part 2 of my list? (Bearing in mind that I already have plenty of ideas!)

I wonder how we'll turn a huge wish list into a manageable itinerary?

And if our whole holiday is this action-packed, I wonder how tired we'll be when we get back!

I still here

I still here.

So busy running from one place to the next, no time to actually sit and think and process what I'm thinking. I find that this sitting and thinking and processing is what leads to blog posts. Without the sitting and thinking and processing, I don't know what I want to write. Wouldn't have a clue.

Here's a photo for your viewing pleasure. Last Saturday night Chris and I went to a friend's 40th birthday  party.

Here we are all ready to go to the party! Aren't we a handsome couple ;)

We had heaps of fun and did that thing where you hold out your phone in front of you to get a photo with your friends. 

So, yeah, that's all I got.

It's been a busy week.

Last Sunday we visited the travel agent. We sat down with a lovely travel consultant named Katherine and outlined our "World Tour 2012" plans. A couple of days later she got back to us with her initial proposal covering our flights and some accommodation in London, Paris and Orlando, Florida. Exciting! It's wonderful to have moved beyond the wishing and hoping and on to the actual planning!

I've worked a lot of hours this week between my time at the library and my teaching. I've been busy, also doing my bit to keep the house and family afloat, but I've been happy. The library work is going really well and I'm doing my best to make such a good impression that I'll be offered more work once my current block finishes.

Now that I'm at a healthy weight, I've been steadily building up my wardrobe. I'm really enjoying being able to fit into anything I like, and I'm trying to hold myself back from going the "mutton dressed as lamb" route. I see all these cute little dresses and tops - and I can actually fit into them - and sometimes I forget that I'm not 18 years old any more! I need to take a good, hard look at myself in the mirror to be sure that what I'm buying is "age appropriate". 

What do you think? Are there rules for dressing at (almost) 40? No bare midriffs, obviously, besides, no amount of weight loss will ever get my stomach back into midriff-baring shape! What about skirt length? I'm only 5'2" and I find that above-the-knee works best. And what about hosiery? My legs aren't fat, but they're snow white and have a few veins and a bit of cellulite. If I'm going to wear a short skirt, black opaque tights are my best friend. But come summer, I'll need to ditch the leg-wear. Does anyone know of a fake tan product that works miracles?

I've been meaning to take some photos of myself in some of my new clothes, but I just haven't found the time. Soon, I promise.

So, what have you been up to?

Pictures as Promised

I just got home from the hairdresser. Look how prettiful my hair is now!

I tried to take a full length photo so you could see me wearing my new "leather" jacket. Sorry, the picture quality is hopeless.

I ran the picture through one of the filters on Instagram to see if I could improve it a little.

In other news, I'm heading to the shopping mall tomorrow to pick up a few new items of clothing and visit the Travel Agent...