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Congratulations and welcome to friends, family and others who have found something of interest in my blog. The reason that I have created this blog is to share some of my experiences regarding my own journey of writing and publishing my autobiography. I am really excited and motivated about this whole process. I hope that what I write about is interesting to you and thank you for your encouragement and support.





Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Joy's year at a glance 2010

Hi Everyone,

Well as another year draws to a close I thought that I’d include you in on one of my annual traditions.  At the end of every year I write down all of the things that I have done and then go over them to remind myself of what I am grateful for.  This year I have drawn some conclusions and listed the lessons I’ve learned along the way.  If you don't want to wade through all of the in's and out's of my year, you will find the summary at the end of this post. Enjoy  :)


January

·        Continued to support Mum after her cancerous tumour was removed.

·        Was a bridesmaid in best-friends wedding.

·        Attended Survival Day event at Tandanya.


February

·        Attended a challenging meeting, which ended in a positive outcome.

·        Had lovely lunch with an old school friend at Fasta Pasta.


March

·        Celebrated my birthday by going to the Deadly Funnies and the Nunga Funny’s.  Brilliant!  I highly recommend it, it was a good laugh!

·        Had body measurements taken in preparation for the Aboriginal Women’s Fitness Program.

Jai's first day of school
·        Keith got given free tickets to go to the Clipsal 500.  Thank you!

·        Attended Jai’s first parent teacher interview.  All good!

·        Had a surprise afternoon tea for my Mum’s 70th birthday.  Made a beautiful PowerPoint presentation for her.

April

·        Had a lovely quiet Easter with family.

·        Had a week of relaxing annual leave.

·        Started first lot of x2/week gym sessions for Aboriginal Women’s Fitness Program.

·        Went to sister-in-laws 40th birthday.  Nice!

May

·        Went to Sydney to the “Happiness Conference”.  Brilliant and inspiring!  Caught up with my nieces' and sister while in Sydney.  All beautiful women!
 
·        Had lovely home cooked laksa at girlfriends’ house.

·        Went to the “Sorry Day” event in Adelaide.

June
·        Had a 4th birthday party for Violet at Tin Lids Play Café.  Great!

·        Attended Aboriginal Student Pathways Conference at UniSA.

·        Attended Aboriginal Power Cup (nearly had a melt-down, due to technical difficulties)

·        Took caravan away to Goolwa for a little family holiday with the kids.

July
·        Went to nieces’ 21st birthday party!

·        Attended Lord Mayor’s Morning Tea and the 2010 NAIDOC (National Aboriginal and Islander Day of Celebration) Awards and Flag Raising Ceremony.  Celebrated in UniSA Engineering student’s award presentation.

·        Attended NAIDOC March to Parade Grounds.  Followed up with family fun day.

·        Had a High School Reunion with class of 1989 Elizabeth High School Friends.  Fantastic night!

·        Attended the NAIDOC Ball at Adelaide Festival Theatre.

·        Entered 6 photographs in the “Our Metro Mob” exhibition as part of the SALA Festival.

·        Went to see Darryl Braithwaite in concert at the Highlander.  Brilliant night had by all!

·        Went my Bosses 60th birthday lunch at The Lakes Resort.  The loveliest meal with friends ever.

·        Went on the radio “Nunga Wanga” to promote “Our Metro Mob” exhibition.  My kids were at home wondering why Mummy wasn’t answering them back when they yelled at the radio.

·        Went to a meditation / yoga class at Mawson Lakes.

·        Took Mum and Keith to the launch of “Our Metro Mob” exhibition at Tandanya.  Was joined by a few faithful friends, which I was very grateful for.

August

·        More yoga!

·        Started the Corporate Cup for (12 week) with work colleagues – 4.5km walk around the River Torrens.

·        Became involved in a very rewarding Community Service Learning Project through work called the “Learning by Walking Together” Project.  6 Aboriginal students and mentors working together to develop a tourism brochure and tour for Kaurna Park (a local revegetated wetlands area).  The most rewarding activity that I did all year.  It was full of ups and downs.  I was stretched beyond my comfort zone and I learnt so much from this whole experience.

·        Participated in an artist talk at Tandanya talking about “Our Metro Mob” exhibition.  Very challenging, especially getting used to being classified as an “Artist”.

·        Joined Jai’s schools Aboriginal parent support group.

·        Attended my nephews’ 18th fancy dress “Country and Western” birthday party.  Fun was had by all.  Great band and highly recommend “City Cowboy’s”.

·        Entered 2 pieces in another art exhibition – Gawler Community Art Gallery. 

September

Jordan and Jai at the Show
·        Took the boys to the Royal Adelaide Show.

·        Attended my first and last “Zumba” class.  Great fun, but decided I need a whole lot more stamina and co-ordination for that one.  Too much like hard work.  Lol!

·        Started community engagement work with a local Aboriginal Community Arts and Craft Centre in Salisbury – Marra Dreaming.  This is a fantastic place that is just full of lovely people from all walks of life.  They are extremely welcoming and dedicated people and they need as many volunteers as possible.  Especially in the grant writing area, if anyone is interested.  I can guarantee you get back so much more than you put in with these beautiful people!

·        Travelled with one of my sistagirls to Canberra to meet an inspirational Aboriginal woman “Anita Heiss” at AIATSIS (Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies).  Got the fire in my belly to really get stuck into finishing off my book “Finding the joy within”.  Thank you Anita!  I am forever grateful to you!

·        While in Canberra (before the meeting) caught up with my beautiful friend from High School days, during a trying time in her journey.  Thank the Lord for the timing of that trip!

·        AFL Grand-final – Went to sister-in-laws for this big day.  It was between St Kilda and Collingwood!  Only to end in a DRAW!  Voiceless and frustrated we all went home for it to be continued the following weekend.

·        Another week of annual leave – got busy with researching and writing my book. 

October
·        Jai’s 6th birthday – Small party at my Mum’s, went to St. Kilda playground and another small party at sister-in-laws.

·        Went to Murray Bridge Aboriginal Football and Netball carnival -  Whoop there it is!  Raukkan won! 

Stall at Tandanya Art Fair 2010
·        Had a stall at the Tandanya Arts Fair.  Fun was had by all!  What a great way to spend a weekend!  Catching up with family and friends.  Made a few new friends too!  
·        Went to the Desert Country Art Exhibition Launch (SA Art Museum).  Awe inspiring art!  Beyond words!

November

·        Kids’ friends’ birthday parties all weekend – Oh Joy!

·        4 days of pure bliss!  Travelled to Queensland with 2 of my girlfriends and stayed on the Gold Coast in the most beautiful apartment (Magic Mountain) Highly recommend.  I am sooooooo grateful for the opportunity to join these lovely ladies.  A brilliant weekend was had by all!

·        Caught up with my beautiful niece and spent a day of quality time together.  Can’t get better than that!  I was reminded of what a beautiful country we live in while on my weekend get-away.  Sun, sand, sea and lots of love and laughs!  Thank you everyone!

·        Took kids to free Playford Alive Fete!  Great event for the whole family!
·        Decided to try and get rid of a long term wart from one of my little toes.  Went to podiatrist at Muna Paiendi.  Had a trial of new treatment, which involved numbing my toe and then stabbing it relentlessly until it started to bleed profusely.  Yukkkkkk!  But guess what – hey presto!  Nearly 12 weeks later it’s just about gone.  Yeah!!!! Sure was worth the small amount of pain!

·        Took kids to the local Christmas Pageant!  They loved it and it was all that much better sitting there in the soaking rain!  If you haven’t guessed it already – I love the rain too!


December

·        My family and I (Aunty, Uncle, Nana and Dad) all went to the kids Christmas Concert!  Fun fun fun!  All these little kids are soooo innocent and cute!  I wish that they could stay that way.  On this day, I was also strongly reminded to be grateful for my healthy kids!  Sometimes we all need this hey!

·        Found out some really sad news, nearly a year to the day from last year.  Despite Mum’s year of chemotherapy, another tumour needs to be removed in the New Year.  On the bright side, I have been able to spend another year with my Mum and I am beyond words grateful for that! 

·        Went to a Christmas dinner dance at Central Districts footy club and watched an 80’s band called “Fever”.  Lots of fun was had by all! 

·        This month I was let down in a big way!  I had been hoping, praying, affirming and believing that I would have been on/at the Oprah show in Sydney.  This wasn’t to be and I was devastated!  I am still reviewing what went wrong with my plans, but I think it’s  time to “let it go” and I know that there are bigger and better things awaiting me.  I did go for a lovely walk around the lake that day to try and make myself feel better.  Not quite the same impact! Lol!

·        Spent the most beautiful day with a few of my special work friends.  We shared a beautiful meal together followed by sharing our positive thoughts and comments about each other.  A few tears were shed by all, men and women alike.  I thank the Lord for my fantastic and faithful ISS (Indigenous Student Services) Team.  Love you all!

·        Went to my works Christmas lunch!  Had a beautiful meal at the Bombay Bicycle Club.  Then went out on the town to celebrate a year well spent!  Spent the next day remembering, why I hardly ever drink!  Final lesson for the year!

·        Went to watch someone get given a surprise car for an early Christmas present!  What a beautiful act of kindness, organised by the most giving person I know!  I am so grateful to have been witness to such a loving moment!

Well the years not quite complete, but so far it has well and truly out done all of my expectations!  I have learnt so much, which I will now try to briefly share.

Joy's 2010 Lessons in a nutshell

·        Forgiveness is the key to healing.

·        A life full of friends is like a garden full of flowers.

·        Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and the world cries with you.

·        Be happy with who you are!

·         Be grateful every day!

·        Home is where the heart is!

·        Live in the present moment!

·        Children are our future, so let’s invest our time in them!

·        You gotta be in it to win it!

·        Stretch yourself regularly! (Mind, body and spirit)

·        Do something you love and you’ll never work another day in your life!

·        Culture cures!

·        Work, rest and play makes for a happy Mummy.

·        Happy Mum equals Happy family!

·        Live life to its fullest!

·        Never ever give-up!

·        Dance with abandonment!

·        Instead of worrying about what you don’t have, appreciate what you do have.

·        There’s a reason for everything

·        Giving is so much better than receiving

I hope you have enjoyed this year as much as I have.

Until next time  :)  Joy 

7 comments:

  1. Hey Aunty Joy,

    Glad to hear you had a good xmas. Mine was great! I spent the morning with Jo's parents, then drove to the Bunyas and stayed the night with my parents. Wet, but lovely day.

    "Caught up with my beautiful niece and spent a day of quality time" - Aren't you just sweet?!

    <3 Kristy

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  2. Very lovely website...It really gave me joy to read this!

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  3. Dear Mary, Thank you so much for dropping in on my blog and I am thrilled that you enjoyed reading it. Hope you visit again and stay in touch via twitter, facebook, gratitude log or RSS feed. Much love and peace. Joy

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  4. Dear Kristy,

    Glad to see that you are still keeping up to date with my blog. Sounds like you had the perfect Christmas! Hope you have a great year in 2011 and keep me up to date with your progress. Lots of love as always. Aunty Joy

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  5. What a great idea about highlighting the key things that has happened in your life throughout the year. This is something that i will be doing this year :) Thanks Lorelle

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  6. Hi Lorelle,

    Yeh I love keeping a record of what I've done throughout the year. Instead of thinking "where did the year go" I can look back and know what I did or didn't achieve.

    Also thanks for putting in a good word at Link-Up for me. I'm really excited about sharing my thoughts on the National Apology.

    Joy

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  7. vicki-ann whichelloAugust 28, 2011 at 3:44 AM

    Hello Joy, Its so lovely to read your blog, its a great example of writing down all the events of your year. i loved your words and positivity , much love xo vicki whichello

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