My year in review....

I sit here, red wine glass in hand, kids asleep, 87 year old step uncle dozing on the lounge whilst listening to Carmen and no hubby 'cause i just sent him off to his best mates NYE party in the eastern suburbs; we were all suppose to go but the dreadful lurgy bug has had the better of us all week. Darn.

It's hard to believe that we have been home now for a over a year since our 18 month barging adventure down the canels of France. Karl is starting school in a month, Ciara is growing long legs and I, despite trying (not very hard!) are terribly busy still have not launched my biz.

It does not matter tho as I feel in total control, know where I am going and most of the time love what I am doing (the part where I don't surrounds emotions over 'stuck with the kids' so let's skip that bit...I'll grow out of it).  I have created an amazing circle of friends and support thru biz (love you ladies - you know who you are) & via pre-school (esp Ciara's Montessori)

In the last 12 months there have been quite few highlights....

1. - set goals (meet Julia Bickerstaff, re-connect with Suzi Dafnis and that guy - who ah yes Peter Switzer) - obviously I achieved the first 2, let's forget the last one...boys don't live online like us.
2. - written a biz plan and started executing with a iron fist. (ie don't deviate from time constraints of working tuesday and wednesday)
3. - got the house & sitters in order
4. - had fun with the kids, watched them grow, been there for them - not felt guilty
5. - started the Table of Fabulousness and thru it met the MOST amazing women. oh how i LOVE this....it's been my highlight.
6. - built a vege garden (well hubby did) and got a hen (organic dippy eggs for kids) and as of Xmas native fish (so they don't eat the frogs eggs / tadpoles)
7. - grown a little team with my interns and realised that it is people and a team who together create a biz that i LOVE best, so may have to re-look at biz plan. hmmm, task 1 for 2012  review iron fist theory.
8. - launched a beautiful cookbook for Rowie Dillion Indulge - Gluten Free gets a make-over
9. - not put on weight (just a bit of flab) - not half as fit as i was cycling everyday in France.
10. - assisted many talented women to help realise their biz dreams - you know who you are! x
11. - exercised my mind via getting back some biz skills and learning how to operate in the world online.
12. - created a Collaborative PR data base and in doing so set up a pretty awesome online CRM/CMS system in the cloud with Drop Box, Google Apps, Project blogs etc.
13. - organised a pre-school fundraising team to raise $8000+
14. - been to swim lesson twice a week (ALL YEAR) so Karl can now over arm and Ciara can survive if she fell in water.
15. - ooh and met Martha (how could I forget!)

I have been working on my luk beautifood kitchen | Cooking for Beauty blog as by all accounts my lippy won't be ready for a few more months so i thought it best to share a few of my secrets on what I believe makes for a beautiful woman...and guess what it is FOOD.  My plan was to start the NY with a Fresh Start....a new years resolution for you but I am not sure, we'll see how I go getting the first recipes up as i am still figuring out how to customise the columns x page in Wordpress. At least i have worked out how to plugin a forum, page printer and event manager....not to mention the Mailchimp subscribe form via HTML! When I do get the first luk newsletter out you will see my goals for 2012 there! At least i don't stress over these things ...easy does her.

So, I guess I sign off with a very big thank you for your support, (there have been 8500 page view this year), your comments, your inspiration and your patience.

I live by my mantra ..'live what you love' and that is what i am doing right now, hope you are too.

Bonne Annee for 2012. Take care. See you on the flip side.

Cindy x

kids & I at Timbertown...our first road trip!

Some of the Fabulous ladies...

cooking for the Table of Fabulousness has been such a pleasure

I have the BEST hubby in the world...just look at that smile
 (PS. 3rd in this years Syd to Hobart)