You live longer once you realize that any time spent being unhappy is wasted. ~Ruth E. Renkl

The following posts will be mostly self indulgent, a time to take stock of my life so far I guess. So I thought I would start with the following image - me and my big sister, whom I love dearly. I think that my childhood was an extremely good one, being the youngest of five I was the one that was spoiled and indulged and obviously took it all for granted. It's what you do when you know no better.

We left Iceland when I was five, so really I should not have had all that many memories of my early childhood, but somehow Iceland was always under my skin. Most of my friends from primary and high school would probably agree with this and I doubt if any of them are overly surprised that I ended up back here. The next picture is one my sister recently gave me - it´s me defending my territory... the house that I now call my home.

Growing up in Australia was a wonderful experience - I loved it. I was blessed with having the very bestests of friends Tracy - who will feature prominently in the forthcoming entries... once I get around to scanning more randomness.

Here she is with me and her younger sister Greer at the front of my home in Perth... See how washed out the colour was - what do you expect in 40° degree heat.... but check out the tan...

I spent my formative years at Maddington Primary school... what a melting pot that was

This was taken during the second half of grade 3 the class had been split and I ended up in this one with a teacher that I really didn´t get on all that well with. Hence the sour look on my face I think... I am fourth from the left in the front row. This class contained what would be the core of friendships that would last so much longer than any of us could have imagined. In the back row, third and sixth from the left are my very good friends Dom and Jeff, the most wonderful male members of the human species that I have the privilege of calling my friend. They too may feature in future instalments.

When I was twelve I went with my mother to Iceland - our first visit to the "old" country after leaving it some 7 years before. Whilst there I got to meet cousins that I knew existed - but didn't "know". This short stay of 3 months was to be the basis of friendships that would grow and be extremely important in my future life. I think this visit also helped solidify my feeling of being "Icelandic Australian" rather than an Australian of Icelandic birth. The country and the feeling of being at home was embedded in my psychy. Iceland became my home away from home, a fixed place in my life.