As 2016 comes to an end

Whats been on the desk this year???

Time for the annual desk clear off, after a busy and very fast moving year 2016. 

This year saw my eldest child finish High school and my youngest playing a lot of tennis and enjoying his Junior High School year. 

Me, I continue to work for the same company that i started with 18 months ago, with the occasional drive of the forklift around the warehouse and generally talking to much throughout the day. 

The desk - it keeps growing with an abundance as the dumping zone for anything that doesn't have a home. Swim bag, Bali souvenirs, receipts. The pile is now back under control again. Like life it is a rollercoaster and has its ups and downs along the way. 

This year saw me travel to Bali in October to attend the Ubud Writers Festival with some girls from my bookclub.  What else do you do in a book club, besides discuss books, read wine labels and enjoy the company of lovely friends for a quick trip overseas?

This was my first trip overseas in 23 years and to say i was shell shocked for the first 2-3 days was probably an understatement, new language, new culture, crazy busy traffic. 

I experienced the joy in a cooking class, Balinese style at Casa Luna - Honeymoon 2. This was an eye opener with a tour of the market in the morning and then learning how to prepare and cook the ingredients for a very tasty and for me adventurous introduction to Balinese meals. 

I met some lovely people from this class from Australia and overseas, and hope to keep in touch with them since leaving Bali. 

The writers Festival was very inviting and had so many interesting writers, authors and people involved in it. I was pleasantly surprised with the events i did attend , how much i enjoyed them and learnt a lot about other cultures, and discussions about their writings. My favourite being the cooking class, we attended a luncheon with Magda Szubanski at Maya Ubud resort, a Literary Jalan Jalan, walk and morning tea at Moksa restaurant Ubud - permaculture garden. 

To hire a driver and guide in Ubud is a must, to go and explore the outlying tourist points of interest. This made my visit to Bali very special , and to be able to share this with new friends and explore a variety of places with a lot of laughter and fun. 

I am not normally a fully spiritual or religious following person, but the impact of my visit has been huge, I found some inner peace and a new kind of motivation to set new goals in life and to re-look at who i am and what i want out of life. (no yoga classes attempted).

Rewind to 2-3 years ago on this blog site where i was exercising and trying to lose weight and stay healthy. This all fell apart with a new job and new stressors in my life. 

But now I feel i can regroup and get back on track again with my life. 

My goals include another trip to Bali in 2017. Where i can explore further places and less touristy places. To find a place in my heart and what it is in Bali that i have brought home with me, it is like a new type of peacefulness or calmness but i have yet to work out what it is. To bring creativeness back into my life and being.  To be able to walk up and down the millions of stairs near the waterfalls in 30 degrees and 90% humidity. 

So for now that is it for 2016 and i wish you a very Merry Xmas and Happy New Year for 2017.