Looking Back, Moving Forward

Well today is the last day of my first ever 365 challenge. While it started as an incentive to take more photographs, for me it's morphed into far more than that. It's been great to enforce regular picture taking, but it's also been a great reflective tool for me, and has allowed me to re-invgorate another love; that of writing. Through exploiting my posts via FB, I have received a lot of feedback from friends who have, for the most part, enjoyed my daily blahs. I thank everyone who has commented on my blog or FB page, for that!
So the plan was to re-model the blog for the future, but unfortunately the Blogger interface will not allow me to do as I had intended.
Firstly, when I established the blog, I expected it to be active for a year. Momentsmemoriemusings@blogspot was disallowed so I named it msf2011 - which I now regret, seeing as I wish to continue. Changing the name is not a simple as it would seem, so if I want to maintain last year's entries as part of my blog as opposed to a link, I'm stuck with it.
Secondly, I thought that by adding new pages, I could make a dated entry on a page, re the topic of that page. Wrong. They can be edited but it appears that there is only one page that can be used as a blog
I have contemplated starting over, or switching to a wiki or weebly even, but have made the decision to continue with my current blog - incorporating some of the new features I hoped to chronicle on separate pages.
The 365 photo challenge will no longer be the focus for the blog, though it may appear from time to time. Latterly I found myself taking more and more photos for this forum with my iPhone. I have since installed a 365 app and Blogger on my phone, so will be using this exclusively for the 365 - with less personal requirements than this year. The 365 2012 page has more details about what I have challenged myself to. I may instead upload to Flickr or similar - yet to decide.
Another 'challenge' I have set myself is completing or initiating many of the things on my 50 List.
Other pages I had hoped to have were a 'Dog Blog' and a page to reflect on books read and movies seen - but that will now just be part of my blog itself.

So for the last entry of the year I am going to leave you all with some highlights of the 2011 year for me.

The first highlight is a repeat of what I have written about above - establishing and maintaining this blog. 16600 hits; who would have thought? Still only 9 regular followers however; perhaps I can increase this in 2012...

Other memorable moments, in no particular order least of all chronological, include the following, which link back to the post about them...

• Spending a great day celebrating family milestones at my parents' place
• The All Blacks winning the Rugby World Cup - watching this with Katie and attending the parade the next day
• Attending a RWC match, with some of the choicest people I know
• Having Stirling come and live with me full time
• Doing well with both Hugo and Stirling at Ribbon Parade level
• Stirling getting his first (and second) CC - only 6 to go lol
• Becoming brave enough to enter photos into MPS club nights, and being recognised for some of them
• Having one of my photos be on the cover of a 'real' magazine, and the same photo being used to promote how to take pet pics on a dog blog 
• Going to my first live gig for years and LOVING IT
• Having my family help me to give my house and section a face-lift
• Gaining a study award, which will see 2012 travel a completely different path than I am used to

To round off the 365 challenge, I am sad to say the shitty weather we have had lately has sucked the inspiration out of me, so I leave you with a shot taken at my home beach, Mimiha, last week. A manmade structure that rose out of the sand.

How to make the most (?) of a rainy day

In my little patch of the world right now, the weather is pretty darn rank.
For the holiday season, this is not the best thing. But being of Pollyanna leanings, it's not the worst either. A day like today gives one the perfect license to do sweet Fanny Adams all day, and that is just what I did.
Actually, on my lazy, languid road today,  I did achieve something. Bear with me as I meander towards its reveal.
I am almost at the end of my very first 365 challenge - completing an entry/photo a day on this blog. That, coupled with the fact that next year I will have the opportunity through not working full-time to manage my time creatively, new challenges for 2012 are in order. I'm not talking big change-your-life and heal-the-world challenges, or a bucket list, more like things I have been meaning to do, achieve or get back in to.
One of those things is reading. An addiction to the internet and far too much time in front of the TV, coupled with compulsory academic reading for my studies, has curbed my reading habit considerably. Once a voracious reader I have not completed a novel for two years!
Rediscovering the joy of reading is on my 'list', which will soon appear on a re-modelled blog. But rather than wait till the new year, I decided to start today, when the rain has kept us all indoors.
For the first time in eons, I made my coffee this morning, and went back to bed to read... this resulted in falling asleep again and not waking till 10am! (That's way late for a girl for whom being up by 7:30 is late, even in the weekends).
I then took my book downstairs and read intermittently throughout the day. This was not made easy by my furry friends however, as the pics below show... However as with other tasks I have set myself, I am determined to push through the 'barriers' to read at least a novel a month; my new-look blog has a page on which to record my reactions to them!

What a Difference a Few Days Makes!

As opposed to the madness of 5 days ago, at the supermarket today...

Parked almost outside the door
Trolleys galore lined up and waiting
Empty aisles
Cherries literally half the price
No checkout queue...

Almost a pleasant experience!

The Long Road Home...

Travel day today, returning from family festivities and celebrations. The route I choose to take allows a Paeroa pit stop for the boys - we have a little wander along this path before completing the second half of the journey.

A safe journey it was, but not helped by some idiots on the road. One group of collective idiots I endured over both recent journeys were the ones that travel ridiculously slowly... A significant section of SH2 on my route has been reduced to 90 kmph  - a 'safer speed' zone, and I don't have an issue with that. What does annoy me is the driver at the front of an ever increasing line who is choosing to travel at speeds fluctuating between 70 and 80ks. There is a constant message from the police for slow drivers to be considerate and pull over, but I have never seen or heard of a slow driver themeslves being pulled over and ticketed.

The other idiot was one who joined me travelling behind a slow car today. At the first safe opportunity I indicated to pass, with Mr Blue Integra on my arse. Not content with just passing the slow offender, he had to pass me as well, nearly causing an accident, and shortly after that he passed a tanker in an equally rash fashion. I contemplated calling *555, but instead hope karma would catch up with him. And when I saw flashing lights at the side of the road 5 minutes later, I prayed it would be the blue Integra. It was. I laughed out loud.

One Wise Man

It's been a day of family portraits, and those who have entered my blog via my FB page may have indeed seen some of the many permutations of family groupings that I photographed, and some I was photographed in, today.
My big brother turned 50 today, and the first occasion to celebrate this was an extended family one. It was great to see as many as who could make it including aunts and uncles, cousins, cousins' kids and one special family of childhood friends who were pretty much family when we were growing up anyway.
But the photo I am choosing to feature today is of just one person; the man of the day, my brother John. Solid as a rock, funny, intelligent, generous and great company. A brother I have always admired, looked up to and listened to.  And not badly maintained for a man of his vintage.

Reminiscing...

Some things I love...
I love Tauranga.
I love sushi.
I love my friend Zara.

Zara introduced me to sushi several years back, around 2000, when a little sushi shop opened up in the main street or Tauranga. Zara had lived a year on Japan, and I was unfamiliar with this cuisine and how/what to order, so I made her pick pieces for me. From then I was hooked, and to this day sushi remains my take-out of choice, and whenever I return to Tauranga I try to stop at the same little sushi shop.
Today I had the pleasure of seeing Zara, albeit briefly. Had our plans been more in synch maybe we could have gone out for sushi lunch? However as it was, a shopping excursion to Tauranga with my niece saw lunchtime coincide with our arrival outside my sushi shop. Or so I thought. I commented when I entered that things looked different, but it was not until we sat down outside that I realised the 'my' sushi shop was about 3 doors up! Seems Tauranga has also developed quite an appetite for sushi if two can co-exist in such close proximity...
The sushi was yum anyway, but I did feel I had let my original little shop down. Still my fave...

Anyone else eat too much?

Christmas ... a laid back day with simple but simply delicious food, including ...
Turkey
Ham
Slaatje
Salads
Salmon
Ambrosia
Ice-cream
Cake
Turkish delight
Peber Nodder
and fresh summer berries... prepared and modeled by the girl clad in cherries, Lisa. Who would not add pineapple because it was the wrong colour. I approve!
All consumed in typical Kiwi style outdoors, in the summer sun. It was great to have Esther spend Christmas with us - honorary 'daughter' and ex rotary exchange student of John and Frances. She brought the Pebernodder, which are very more-ish! Little crunchy biscuity delights which you can still squeeeeze in even when you have no room. I will still be full in the morning, that's for sure!
But with two family birthdays tomorrow and the next day, the eating fest is set to continue for a wee while yet...