Moving sucks

Maybe it’s because I’ve got paint under my fingernails, gyprock dust in my hair and have been cleaning and unpacking constantly for the past two weeks that I feel like an emotional wreck.

Moving house should be illegal. I know there are some people who really don’t mind doing it, but I am certainly not one of them.

Flat-pack furniture is another thing that should be prohibited. Things come cracked and with much less gleam than what they looked like on the shop floor… and it is just a pain in the arse to make! Bits don’t fit and parts that should slide in with ease don’t want to budge…

To give you an idea of my emotional state, as I was unpacking some kitchen ware the other day I stumbled upon some old-school bake ware that was given to us by Ben’s grandmother. I burst into tears upon seeing it. As most of you know I love cooking, and I like to think that I’ll make meals for people I care about using these items – just as they were used by Ben’s grandparents in the same way.

I don’t think that it really called for uncontrollable sobbing though? Usually I am not that bad…

Another thing – my neat freak persona hates the fact that one minute I’ll have a spotless house after three hours of scrubbing, vacuuming, dusting and mopping and the next I’ll turn around and it’s a filthy mess! They say that even after six months you’ll still be sucking up construction dust in a newly built home.

Great! I have another six months of this to look forward too…

And the dog. Oh, the dog.

I get that it’s a new yard Charlie, but seriously, do you want the neighbours to hate us before they’ve even gotten to know us? If I was a dog I would probably be excited about getting a new yard too, but please try and tone it down a notch!

The howling, chasing birds and barking at neighbours when they walk by with their baby in a stroller isn’t going to make us popular in the new street.

Honestly, I am glad my partner in crime feels the same way – with an aching back, sunburned skin and irritated eyes from sawdust, I am somewhat glad that Ben feels as shit as I do right now. He has transformed a mud pit into a stunning and perfectly preened yard.

At least we can see the prize at the finishing line and I am sure one day, we will sit back after all the cleaning, unpacking and hard labour and say yep, we did this and it’s all ours.

Please don't bitch to me, I don't care for your whingeing

Sometimes people just want to live a life of drama.

I’m talking about the kind of person who thrives off gossip, nastiness and plain old shit-stirring.

I understand that at times it’s easy to be angry at people and have disagreements – fighting with people you care about is an unfortunate part of life. 

However moving on with dignity without dragging someone's name through mud is something that a lot of young people on the Gold Coast need to learn.

I am nearly 30 years old and have been to three different schools. In my time (I sound like an old Geezer, but moving on…) I have been part of many friendship ‘groups’ and hung out with some people who in the end, I didn’t stay friends with for various reasons.

The term ‘group’ is toxic, especially when you’re an adolescent growing up and going through high school – so much so that who you hang out with defines who you are as a person. It’s bullshit!

Now that I’m older I have some incredible friends that I have known for over ten years. What I love about these people is that I think I’ve had fights and disagreements with all of them over the years, and we’re still the best of friends.

With us, the connotation of ‘group’ has been dropped – we’re old enough now to make up our minds about who we love and want to invest time in, and who we had been wasting our breath on.

Being bitter about a failed friendship is shit. Slagging off that friend is even more shit. It’s hard to let go of a friendship because you may hold good memories, but you can’t fix something that’s broke – it will never be the same.

I don’t care for petty gossip, whispers and other people’s drama – I just want to live my life and enjoy the people in my life who actually matter and bring meaning to my existence.  

This is my solemn vow that I, Ashleigh, will no longer waste any time on people who can’t see past their spiteful resentment and just be a nice person.

Maybe it’s what the Gold Coast culture has done to them? But then that’s no excuse – I was born and bred here and have lived her for nearly 27 years and I’m not a cold-hearted bitch.

People should take note – because being a bitch is a pretty ugly trait.

World Animal Week and Collars not Cruelty campaign

After a bit of a break (hey, it was my first wedding anniversary) I am back and wanting to discuss something very close to my heart.

Animal cruelty.

My husband and I are the type of people who will honestly tear up about a news reports about an animal that has been abused at the hands of a person or hearing about how it is customary for other cultures around the world to torture animals as part of their food processing...

My beautiful Cocker Spaniel, Charlie. Dogs deserve to live happy and full lives without cruelty and torture. No animal should have to suffer at the hands of a human unnecessarily.

I want everyone to remember this - animals don't have a voice and they can't fight back when they are trapped, scared or abused. It is not acceptable to treat any creature, no matter how big or small, young or old in a way that is not respectful of its life.

According to the WSPA website, 20 million dogs are killed every year in a cruel way. That's 38 every minute. People believe that killing a dog will end rabies - this is not true.

From today until October 10, it is World Animal Week and WSPA Australia is running a 'Collars not Cruelty" campaign to protect dogs from being drugged, gassed, strangled and tortured to death in the fight agains rabies.

I think that education is key - people need to know about what is going on so that they can inform others. Please go here to show your support: http://www.wspa.org.au/

This is a really important cause, and if you're like me and love your dog like it is your own child, you'll back this very important cause.

Remember that animals don't have a voice and it's not fair for humans to treat them in an inhumane way.

McDonalds loses Heart tick and beat for healthy options

Via AAP

McDonald's will lose the right to display the National Heart Foundation's Tick on foods marketed as healthy options.

The fast food giant pays about $300,000 a year so it can put the trademarked Tick next to fish burgers, salads and chicken wraps. 

But the Heart Foundation has told McDonald's it is removing the company's right to use the Tick, which has been used to promote its foods during the past five years, News Ltd reports.

A number of smaller takeaway chains, including gourmet pizza group Crust, will also lose the Tick, but the symbol will remain on supermarket foods.

The foundation's chief executive Lyn Roberts said the move was not a criticism of McDonald's but a change in direction to concentrate on ingredients delivered to restaurants and food outlets. 

The foundation also plans to announce a new plan to conduct random tests on restaurant and takeaway food for levels of saturated fat and salt.

What does this mean for you as a consumer? I know that I never went to McDonalds with the hope of eating something healthy – I went for the French Fries, Cheeseburger and McNuggets!

I barely go to the fast food chain, but at least they offered something that was deemed healthy so that people who wanted to the option of choosing something that was better for them, could do so.

What are your thoughts regarding this? Are you surprised that the ‘tick’ has been taken away? Did you or anyone you know actually choose the healthy options offered on the McDonald’s menu?

Let me know!

Tick-tock the life clock

Time is a precious thing for me and its speed is made more and more apparent as I look back at things I thought seemed so far away when I was a child.

For instance, when I was little, the thought of finishing school seemed like a never-ending journey. I think it was around the time I graduated from Year 7 that I thought “oh great, only another five years of school to go”. How I wish I could go back and cherish the simple things that I took for granted all those years ago.

I also vividly remember thinking that I would never own a car or a house (let alone a mortgage) because you needed to be super rich to have those things. And having a baby was just mind boggling… Those were all things that you did when you were a grown up!

Now I’m nearly 30 years old and these things are my reality – all the things I never thought I would have, all the stresses I saw my parents having to deal with are now mine, too.

All the responsibilities I never thought I would have, I have now. All the time I was at school studying hard and playing sport with my friends and going to the movies on weekends – life was so carefree and simple. It’s those times that I look back on and think about how those really were some of the happiest days of my life.

It’s funny looking through the eyes of your adolescent self – everything is so much bigger (literally) and scary (also, literally!) but at least back then, time was on your side. I was able to make mistakes and learn from them, I had the luxury of changing my mind (again and again) because I was in no rush to make my mind up. I could do stupid things and be young enough to get away with it… 

I am someone who gets excited by the future no matter how scary it once seemed – I love thinking about what’s in store.

But it’s as though now that I am deemed old enough to have my s*it together the pressure is on to make decisions, have a career, start a family, and carve out a life for myself and my husband… I no longer have the luxury of taking my time because people expect that by 30, your life should have a clear direction of where it is headed. I feel like I know what I want - but then how do you ever really know?

I can only hope that the direction I am heading in is a positive one – I’ll never forget the feeling of being over-awed about how hard it must be to be a “grown up” but at least I had time to figure out how to be one… where did all those years go?

Cancer Council - Daffodil Day August 26

http://www.daffodilday.com.au/

It's Daffodil Day today - Cancer Council's most important day of the year for fundraising to help find a cure for cancer.

If you think 1 in 2 people who get cancer is one too many, please buy a daffodil today or go online and donate - any donations over $2 are tax deductible.

The target to reach is $9.5 million for patient support and research - so far funds raised sit at $827,000.

Please get behind this worthy cause because every person is affected by cancer in one way or another.

Nothing is worse than a BRIDEZILLA

As wedding season comes a knocking once again (referring to Spring time for the guys reading this) I am feeling kind of reflective.

We were married nearly a year ago (October 2) and our first year of marriage has really flown by. Soon, some close friends and even some family members will tie the knot and being involved in their preparations has also reminded me of the not-so-fun parts of organising the big day.

At the end of the day, I found I was getting frustrated by really minor things that at the time, seemed major.  

I know mothers and soon-to-be mothers-in-law and some over-bearing friends can get a bit hassling – but they are allowed to be (to a point!) as they are only trying to help because they love you!

What is important to remember is that you have to consider others in your plans (suprising to some of you!) so keep this in mind.  

I know people say ‘it’s OUR day’ and get all caught up in what they want and have this crazy tunnel vision that just focuses on them (lets not kid ourselves – it’s usually the bride referring to herself here and being totally selfish/unreasonable!) and I guess this happens with every wedding because the bride is telling herself it’s all about ME, wait… US!  

A wedding day is special because it brings together people that have been part of yours and your fiancée’s life – so just breathe and let other people offer you some help, even if you insist on not taking it. There is no need to cause fights just before your special day because someone has requested something and you have to change plans slightly!

If things don’t go to plan on the day guaranteed as the bride, you will be the only one who notices it. Everyone else is looking at you and your new husband and I can tell you they are just happy to be part of the celebrations.

If you get feedback afterwards that one of your guests has been rude and complained about food, the father-of-the-bride’s speech and even criticised your dress… well, that’s when you have cause to get angry!

This is spoken from a bride who has been there and (unfortunately) experienced some of these things (including the horrible things mentioned in the above paragraph!).  

So, my advice is this – YES IT’S YOUR WEDDING SO STOP COMPLAINING – organise it and be thankful that you have a wonderful fiancée that wants to marry you and that you have friends and family who want to celebrate with you!

Stop whining about minor things because at the end of the day, it should be the happiest day of your life for you and your new husband.

No one wants to hear your crap anymore because there is nothing worse than a Bridezilla!