Top Ten Thursdays - Rules

It's top ten Thursday time and this week we're talking about rules - are they sensible, begging to be broken, ridiculous, or just ones that you live your life by. This was a tricky one, as I could go on and on about rules/laws that are outdated and cause discrimination, but decided instead to go with rules that we live by. They're in a random sort of order except for numbers two and one, as these are where they should be.

Rule 10: My husband has created a cake club which only has two members, us! If you've seen the film Fight Club or even seen any clips of it then you'll understand where these rules come from. The first rule of cake club, never leave cake! The second rule of cake club, never leave cake! My husband lives by this rule to the point that if I leave cake he will finish mine off as well (that is unless it's ginger cake as he can't stand ginger). Another of my beloved's rules is that vegetables have no place in a cake - he has a bit of a thing about this.

Rule 9: Never make eye contact with a crazy person, such as a man dressed up as a bandito at a Sydney festival. This is a rule that when I forget has got me into some awkward situations in the past - I've even had a marriage proposal on a bus when I stupidly made eye contact with someone. He didn't care that I was already married, that was okay as long as I married him as well.

Rule 8: Books make a home complete and you can never have too many. Even though I have a kindle and tend to read most of my books on that now, I still buy proper books and they join my piles of ones to read. Also, you have to buy proper poetry books, as electronic poetry books are just not the same. 

Rule 7: Relationships take work and sometimes you have to remind the other person how special they are to you, so before we were married I came up with the Laws according to Pamela J. I would write out a law on a piece of paper and leave it for my beloved to find, and over the space of two years they gradually built to the twenty you see below - note there are silly one's in there as well as that's very important too. I had a photobook made for my beloved a few years ago and I typed up the laws in the book for him even though he still has all the original laws somewhere.

Rule 6: If you're going on holiday be careful who you get to look after your home or belongings for you. The picture below is of my brother's lounge room which my friend Shaz and I decorated with newspaper and toilet roll. I think we did a fantastic job, as what you can't see in this picture is that we took pictures off the wall and papered under them so that it looked really lovely for them when they got home. Don't feel bad for my brother, as before we did this he had looked after my CD collection whilst I was in the Middle East and when I got them back not a single one of the 200 discs was in the right case - it also included the occasional note such as, are you having fun yet? 

Rule 5: If you're going to take a family Christmas photo that involves cats then be prepared to be scratched (and to have lots of people think you're a little crazy). I love all our Christmas photo attempts but especially the ones with Bertie in them as you can see in his eyes that he's not very impressed with the hat or having to pose with the brats who both look a bit demonic.

Rule 4: We came across this sign in the historic house of Highfield in Stanley, Tasmania. I love how polite, to the point, and totally Australian the instructions are.

Rule 3: The best way to hide your chin(s) in a photo is to pose like your contemplating life - my beloved has this rule down to a T. Now I'm meant to exclaim loudly, double chin, what double chin - he has a chiseled jaw line that rivals the models on the catwalks of Milan.

Rule 2: This is a quote by the great Maya Angelou that I have tried to live by for many years. I don't know how well I've achieved it but I will keep aiming for this outcome. I think if more people lived by this then the world would be a much better place (sorry, I'm starting to go off on a tangent now).

Rule 1: If you are lucky enough to find your soulmate to spend your life with, then treasure everyday, knowing that sometimes you'll have bad days and sometimes you'll annoy each other, but even more you'll have wonderful days and you'll share so much together. None of us are guaranteed another dawn so live in every moment and be grateful for every memory and hold them in your heart forever.

Why don't you pop over to Tamara's blog, CONFESSIONS OF A PART-TIME WORKING MOM to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with for their rules.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and take time just for you this week.

Pamela & Ken
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