Green magic juice

I've started following several healthy living blogs recently who all regularly mention 'green smoothies' as being an amazing super food which keeps the body healthy. I also bought a blender several months ago when I first gave up sugar, with the aim of making healthy smoothies.

To date I've made very few smoothies - despite the best of intentions though. Who am I kidding, I've just been lazy?

Anyway following my surgery and the bucket loads of antibiotics which they pumped into my system, it seemed it was time to assist my rather mixed up insides with a dose of green magic in a glass.

I would have taken a photo of what I made today but it doesn't look too appealing in a glass. Somewhere I also read that if it looks icky coloured (in other words regurgitated grass colour) then put it in a coloured glass and if it's a pretty green colour then put it in a clear glass.

The mind is a powerful thing and the colour is rather off putting. The mix I blended made two glasses, I'm on the second glass and it's not unpleasant just different. It's growing on me in fact.

My green thumb hubby (as opposed to my brown thumbs) has a multitude of green vegies in the garden which I could choose from so I added the following to my glass of magic juice.

Our vegie gardens in the front yard

1 whole ripe mango
1/2 banana
4 large romaine (cos) lettuce leaves
Ice cubes
Icy cold water to blend to desired thickness

Yummo, most of what I've read recommends to start with milder forms of green leafy vegies like baby spinach, romaine lettuce, bok choy etc and then work your way up to the stronger tasting green vegies like kale, chard, celery etc.

They also recommend an 80% vegie, 20% fruit combo. The thing is, if I'm going to make them and I'm going to enjoy them, then fruit will probably outweigh the greens for now. I figure any mix is better than nothing.

Vegies in the back garden

So the reported benefits of drinking green magic in a glass.

1. Energy gain
2. Proper digestion
3. Minimal cravings
4. Weight loss
5. Radiant skin
6. Cancer fighting  
7. High in Antioxidants

Here's a few pages to check out for some yummy smoothie recipes (green and otherwise).

• A Veggie Venture
• Mind Body Green
• Vixi - Green Smoothies

Of course for those of you who are one step ahead of me and already drinking these then please share some inspiration in the comments of what you put in your own magic juice.

It's all towards a healthier, happier me. I figure it can't hurt my stuffed up head either.

Concentration of a flea...

I have the attention span of a flea at the moment, it's more than a little annoying for someone who likes to be on the go and creating most of the time. My stuffed up head isn't helping the concentration levels much either.

But if that's the most painful or annoying thing in my life at the moment then I'm doing all right. Some have it so much harder.

Today is my 18th wedding anniversary, my mother had to remind me by sending me an e-card and talking to me on the phone. I'm a bad wife for not remembering, my hubby is just as bad - he'd forgotten also.

Some people make a grand thing out of their anniversaries, and that's okay too - but I guess we never have. We appreciate each other, and his care of me, our boys and our home this week following my surgery are all the gifts I need.

I finally put up the Christmas tree today, I think I've had my ostrich pants on the last few weeks - you know the 'if I bury my head in the sand then Christmas will wait for me to be ready' sort of feeling. I'm still not ready, but it's hard to avoid.

Tonight the news is again focused on the prank call to the hospital where Kate Middleton was staying and the resulting tragic suicide death of a British nurse. I understand the worldwide outrage - it was a dumb prank which backfired with tragic circumstances, but I'm also dismayed at the bullying and harassment of the two presenters at the centre of this.

Dumb prank - yes, thoughtless - definitely, but malicious and intended to cause harm - I doubt it.

Aren't we seriously running the risk of this event being even more devastating by allowing the ongoing harassment and abuse of this pair? They've been suspended from their jobs, they're being hounded and abused from every corner of the world.

Ease up people - everyone makes mistakes and no-one ever sets out to cause another person's death either directly or indirectly.

My thoughts are both with the family who have lost a loved one and also with the devastated presenters who are now in hiding for their own protection. Social media truly makes it's damaging presence known with occurrences like this. Everyone suddenly becomes a perfect human being and quickly turn their vitriol on the accused.

How quickly they forget that we are all human, we all mess up - when they can focus on the wrongdoing of another.

Hope your week is a good one, and tell a loved one that you love them just because you can.

Simple things which make the difference

Ask any female what will help make her feel better and I'm sure she'll mention a haircut somewhere on her list, probably after she mentions some time to herself and some pampering.

So, with that in mind I went and had my hair cut and blonde streaks put through it today and I feel a million bucks. Well maybe a little less than that, but it did perk me up and make me feel better after a week of lying around and feeling not my best. 

I covered up all of those delightful little grey streaks which are reproducing at a rapid rate. My tactful hairdresser commented on how lucky I am that because my hair is light coloured the grey isn't as obvious.

Really - to me it seems like a flashing neon light. I'm 41, what's with grey hair for goodness sakes?

I did all the survey and requirements to become a tour host for Novel Publicity and my first book arrived in my inbox today which is a little bit exciting. What an awesome way to get free books and help out fellow writers.

I know there's possibly lots of these kind of things in the blogosphere - yet sometimes I feel like such a beginner as I discover these new things - despite my two years of blogging experience. The badge is now in my sidebar if you want to check them out.

I've also just started reading a novel called Assumption of Right which is written by Devon Ellington who is one of the first writing blogs I started reading all that time ago when I first landed in the blogosphere. I'm loving this book so far.

I'm endeavouring to read the books of those writers whose blogs that I follow - it seems that if I like their words in blog form then there's a fairly good chance I'll like their books. To me this makes sense and hopefully as things work, what goes around will come back to me at some stage when my readers want to read my book (s). Plural because soon it will be.

But before I go off reading, I'm off to put some of my own words on paper first, have to make that plural a reality after all.

My day of firsts...

Today was my first day back in my car and driving since last Wednesday. Also was my first day wearing my contact lenses in over a week - it's been my longest time in glasses since I was 13. My first day of venturing into the outside world with no makeup, no hair styling and not being concerned.

I think I must have grown up this week, or finally realised that it's only me that cares about dumb things like that.

I also had no additional sleep today and left the house twice, I finally feel like I'm on the road to recovery. Now all I need to do is rebuild my energy levels because they are still pretty non-existent.

That leaves me with three days of writing time before I return to work. One thing that my resting time has given me is a chance to just chill and think over the ideas I have for my next writing projects - two of them actually, another novel and an idea for a non fiction book. All of it is gelling nicely and finally making sense, where before it was just a mess of ideas and thoughts.

Maybe that's what we all need sometimes, just to switch off from everything and let our minds and bodies recuperate. I know it's not entirely possible, we all have lives, responsibilities, stresses. None of that stops just because our body and / or mind needs a break.

Nor are many of us sometimes lucky enough to have family who can take on everything while we rest. My hubby and boys have been gold this week. They've kept the house clean, food on the table and removed every ounce of my stress. I have simply slept, rested and recuperated.

If it wasn't for the hideous pain and discomfort, I think a person could be tempted to schedule non-priority surgery regularly just for the additional benefits that come from it. No, what I really need to figure out is how to duplicate the well being and 'me' time without the pain or inconvenience of this week.

I signed up for this publicity book tour as well - hey if they want to give me a free e-book and ask me to review it on my blog - why the heck not? I'm all for assisting other writers, besides it's not something that I'm super savvy with yet - this book promotion stuff,  so I figure this is a good learning process for me as well.

I also found this awesome little snippet in my email in-box this week 30 Good Karma Things To Do With Small Gaps Of Time. I plan on doing a few more of these things much more regularly.

Hope you're having a good week, wherever you are and whatever you're doing.

The best laid plans...

Wheeew! it didn't just hurt a little, it hurt a lot. Today is my first day of being capable of sitting in front of my computer since last Thursday morning when they wheeled me into surgery. Since then I've slept 90% of the time, the other 10% of the time I was kind of in a daze of pain.

Felt awesome on Thursday afternoon when I got back in my hospital bed (well as awesome as you can when someone has re-arranged the insides of your nose, and knocked you out medically first - to do so)

Went home Friday morning, slept a lot for the next 36 hours and then was back in the emergency department on Saturday night looking like someone who could give Rudolph a run for his money with a bright red nose. Boy was I an unwell little chappie.

So two more days in hospital and three different kinds of IV antibiotics and today I feel almost human again. I came home last night and had a decent sleep and today have only had a 2 hour nap. When you're that unwell there's a certain little moment in time when you wonder whether you are ever going to feel normal again.

I was fairly miserable on Sunday night missing my family, sometimes you just need your mum (no matter how old you are) and mine was 4 hours away. My sister-in-law, sensing my distress, packed up her toddler and baby and hitched a ride with her parents who were already coming to Adelaide, just so she could check in on me.

A 14 hour day, almost 4 hours of travel each way, just so she could surprise me and give me a hug, is she gold or what? Go on that brings a tear to your eye doesn't it?

So my plans this week for reading, writing and relaxing - yeah you know that saying about the best laid plans. As someone who normally isn't sick and doesn't suffer from pain, I was unprepared for how completely unable you are to concentrate or focus when you're in pain or not well.

One thing I did discover though is that hospitals and emergency rooms are absolutely goldmines for coming across all kinds of characters from all different walks of life. The writer in me had to burst out somewhere didn't it, because I wasn't writing, I wasn't even reading.

Hospitals seem to strip away people's exteriors and lets you see the real person underneath. The whiners, the not so honest, the genuinely nice and decent and all of their loved ones as well, some of whom leave a lot to be desired also.

I obviously did a lot of observing and a lot of contemplating this week.

Also, with absolutely zip effort from me on the promoting front for my book - I still had 2747 additional downloads of my book - spectacular, so thank you if you contributed to this successful number.

So I'm hoping it's all downhill from here and I can at least have a few useful days of reading and writing before I go back to work next week - and a few more recuperative nanna naps of course.

Hope you all have a great week

It's probably going to hurt just a little bit...

So my surgery to have my sinuses / nose fixed is scheduled for Thursday morning. I'm allowed to be a little bit nervous aren't I? I'm not ready, although I'm not sure when I would be ready though - me and surgery, not such a good mix.

I got the phone call Monday morning that they'd had a cancellation, so this week has been a mess of organising everything at work so that I can be off for 12 days. Not so bad because there will be 2 weekends in that 12 days.

I'd love to say that I'm going to read and write and have a nice relaxing 12 days but I've been told initially it will be like having a really bad head cold and I'll need to rest, so we'll see.

I got a promotion of sorts this week with the establishment of the Project Management Office at work. We'll now be working across 7 projects as opposed to the one project we were initially on and I get a Manager title - woohoo. Lots still to be determined and worked out, but a little bit of comfort for me with all of the restructuring which has been happening.

One important piece of news to share - my book will be available on Amazon for this Saturday through Monday at no cost. This is the final three days of the Kindle Direct promotion. I know many of you already linked and shared links and purchased with the first of the free days in October. The response was amazing and if you already have, then thank you.

If you haven't had a look and you would like to help spread the word, so that I can get as many people reading as possible, then it would be greatly appreciated. Just click Amazon - be sure that the cost is $0.00 which will be dependent on which time zone you are in - the dates are US based. So for my Aussie friends - you'll possibly have to wait till Sunday here.

I'm doing this now, because tomorrow night I'm at dog training night with my puppy who is now the size of a horse (or close to) and then I'm in at the hospital at a sparrows fart on Thursday morning. Quite simply I'm not sure what state I will be in to let you all know on Friday about the promotion.

I do know that I'm looking forward to being able to breathe properly for the first time in too many years - I think my nose dive, face first off a swing as a seven year old is what probably caused me a few problems.

When I get back it will be with a clear head and an ability to breathe through my nose, and maybe just maybe that might help my hayfever and the stuffy head feeling that I suffer from 24 / 7.

Hope you all have a sensational week .

Bull headed - me, never!

Last night I dreamt there were two bulls in my front yard who kept escaping through the fence and getting onto the road. So of course I had to look up all the meanings for dreaming about bulls. 

To see a bull in your dream symbolises stubbornness, strong will, strength, and power. The dream may be telling you that it is time to take a stand and be more assertive. Alternatively, the bull indicates a rich, prosperous, and abundant life. Consider also the metaphor, "being bull-headed". You need to learn to compromise in a situation. Or it could be a pun on something that is "bull", as in crap or worthless. 

I think I'll take the rich, prosperous and abundant life definition, although I was actually told the other day that I have an assertive personality by a high level manager for which everyone assured me that from him that was definitely a compliment, and then he assigned me a task that no-one else wanted to take on. Love that!

I'm stubborn and strong willed as well - I think that sometimes I could quite easily annoy myself if I had to work and / or live with me. So I guess all in all, the dream is quite prophetic for where my life is at the moment.

I'm four weeks out from a 16 day break from work, not that I'm counting down the days or anything. I'm looking forward to some relaxing days of sleeping in and reading and writing. The joys of now having teenage boys who understand the need for sleep-ins and 'me' time that young children don't.

As much as I miss the days of having toddlers and the lead up to Christmas I'm also relishing the freedom and quiet of now having self sufficient children. I just borrow my grandson when I need reminding of the simpler things in life. There's nothing quite like experiencing the joy and laughter in a child's eyes when everything delights them and enchants them.

I'm off to spend the afternoon writing, all of the household chores are done, hubby is going to work shortly and so the rest of the day is mine. It's a hard life I lead sometimes, but someone has to do it. Have a great week everyone.

6WS - Are you living a legendary life?

A truly remarkable writing individual left the world this week, Australian author Bryce Courtenay may be gone but his legacy will never be forgotten. His first book the Power of One is one of my all time favourite books and if you haven't read it then you should.

He describes his first book as a book about 'one person's ability to touch another and empower them to help themselves' - no wonder this book struck a chord with me.

He wrote that first book at the age of 55 and went on to write almost a book a year up until his death; with sales of more than 20 million books in his lifetime - this man was and is a legend.

Further proof that it's never to late to achieve a goal, or start something new.

I saw an interview last month with this man and was inspired by his attitude, he knew he was dying and was living his final days exactly the way he wanted to - it was an enlightening interview.

I'd like to leave a legacy like that, be remembered for my contributions to the literary world. Lets face it, the man didn't get started writing until he was 55 - so effectively I have 14 more years to reach legendary status.

To be legendary - you don't have to be rich, you don't even have to be famous. To me being a legend is about being amazing and living your life the best way possible. People want to talk about you or know you because you're simply amazing.

So what are you doing this week to take you one step closer to legendary status?

 

I'm linking up with Cate who gives us all a place to visit and connect. Want to play along with Six Word Saturday, its easy? All that's necessary to participate is to describe your life (or something) in a phrase using just six words. For more information, try clicking here. Feel free to explain or not explain. Add an image, a video, a song, nothing