In the Arms of an Angel

 

Three images of three mothers, including Mother Mary & Jesus
August 28th is a special day for Macedonian Orthodox Christians. It is a special day in particular for my family also.  This great religious holiday is the Assumption of Mary (Uspenie na presveta Bogorodica). 
For my family it is the celebration of another great mother, my Mum’s birthday. It is Macedonian tradition to name your children after the religious day that they were born on.  But instead of Mary, my Mother was named Vera, which means “Faith” in Macedonian.  And that’s exactly what she left us with. Faith that she will always be in our hearts, faith that I will love and teach my child unconditional love as she did me. Faith that she will always be looking down on us from heaven above, just like Mother Mary.

Happy Birthday Mum.

May Mother Mary bring Peace,
happiness, good health, love & success to all homes.   
Amen

Нека донеси мир, добро здравје, лјубов, срекја и успек во сите домови. Напомош денот. 

Words & Artwork by: Diane Kitanoski for This is Roshambo
Images: (Left) Zoran Kitanoski /  (Right) Dusan Milošević

Title: “In the arms of an angel” – Sarah Mclachlan 
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Absolutely Fabulous

There once was a little girl who had a wild and creative imagination.  Every time you were around her you knew there was going to be some fun.  On her 7th birthday she was at school and all of her friends were wishing her a happy birthday.  “Yes”, she thought, “it’s my birthday.  I think I should have a party,” she thought to herself.  And before you know it, little Miss 7 was inviting everyone over for a party at her house that night.

Yay, a party, how exciting!

After school she marched home with a big smile on her face, walked through the front door and promptly told her mother,
“Mummy, my friends are coming over for a party.”
“What party?” she asked.
“My birthday party.  They’ll be here soon.”

Exciting indeed but there was one little catch……… her parents hadn’t organised a party for her, or planned for any food, decorations or cake for that matter.  But little Miss 7 didn’t think about any of this.  All she thought about was what any normal 7 year old would think about, and that’s a party!

So Mum frantically ran down to the supermarket to buy an ice-cream cake for the birthday girl along with a few other nibbles and party hats.  Little Miss 7 had such a fun time with her friends that night that she went to bed with the biggest smile on her face.  She was the most happiest 7 year old in the world.

The End.

 

Fast forward to today and little Miss 7 has blossomed into Mrs 40 and Fab!  So fab in fact that she once again planned her own party. (sssssh, don’t tell her Mum.)  And be sure not to give “her” little Miss any big ideas about making her own birthday party.  I don’t think Mrs 40 and Fab will find it as funny as she did when she was 7!

Here’s to you my gorgeous friend, you were not always 40 but you have always been ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!!

(and you still bloody are, more than ever!)

Words & Artwork by: Diane Kitanoski for This is Roshambo
Title: “Absolutely Fabulous” The Pet Shop Boys
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So when the hackers hacked the system

Aaaaaand we’re back!

All of you that read my blog….(all 3 of you)….. may have noticed that it was down for quite a few months.  Well that’s because I was hacked!  Yep, hacked.  So when the hackers hacked the system it went a little something like this……

“Hello your website is being used for illegal purposes, so we have temporarily suspended it until you can ensure have
taken immediate action on cleaning your website files & deleted the unnecessary files.”
“Um, how do I do that?”
“Call your I.T person.”
“My I.T Person?”
“Yes Miss.”
“I’m the I.T person lady and I have no idea!  Can you help me.”
“No I’m sorry, your I.T person can help you.”
“I’M THE I.T PERSON!!”
“Ok then, anything else I can help you with?”

So after many, many phone calls and many, many “hey can I ask a quick question” to anyone in the I.T business, I finally ‘un-hacked’ my blog (is that a word) and I’m back!  So it’s the start of a new week and the start of a lot more stories to come.
Stay Tuned!


Words & Photography by: Diane Kitanoski for This is Roshambo
Title: “So when the hacker’s hacked the system” from Cheryl Crowe’s Heartbeat Away
All rights reserved © This is Roshambo

Could you be loved?

Congratulations Australia, you said #YES!

Today marks one of the most important days in Australian history.  The marriage equality debate ended today when the majority of Australians gave an overwhelming and clear message of #YES to same sex marriage.

 

Today, Wednesday 15th November 2017 Australians voted #YES for marriage equality.  This is history in the making people.  It feels, or rather seems so bizarre to even be writing about such a thing.  To be living in the year 2017 and only today have we said #yes to same sex marriage. Shouldn’t it be considered a normal thing anyway?  As the saying goes, love is love so why did we even have to vote on this in the first place, shouldn’t it have already been a given?  Regardless of what it should or shouldn’t be, or regardless of what it was…it now IS! It just is, and it’s about bloody time.  Remember the time when you had to dial the home telephone if you wanted to speak to someone? Well what about the time when same sexes weren’t allowed to get marry…remember that?! #history

Today we celebrate #loveislove #lovewillwin #marriageequality #proudtobeaustralian

As Bob Marley says, “…go to hell if you’re thinking is not right, Love will never leave us alone,”

“Could you be loved?’  Yes indeed my friend, that’s a big, fat YES from us down under!

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Words & Photography by: Diane Kitanoski for This is Roshambo
Title: “Could you be loved” – Bob Marley

Memory

They say time flies when you’re having fun, yet it rushes by us no matter what.  Time stands still for no-one.  When you miss someone and love them with all your heart the pain never fades, it’s just a longer time that you’ve missed them, even though it only feels like yesterday.  But it wasn’t yesterday…..it’s three years ago today.

Times goes on and so does love, that never stops.  You can’t buy time.  You can’t buy love.  But your heart can be rich, full of wonderful memories during the time you had together.

Not enough time if you ask me, but how much is enough?  Forever is enough I say.

Forever in our hearts.

Forever loving you.

Forever in our memories.

Love you Mum.  Thank you for the memories. Xx

All rights reserved © This is Roshambo
Words & Photography by: Diane Kitanoski for This is Roshambo
Title: “Memory” by Barbara Streisand

Let it be

 

Where has the time gone?  New Years Eve flew by us, so did January and February and we’ve already hit March!  Although the very beginning of the year always feels good.  The feeling of starting something new.  Start fresh, free of mistakes….thus far.  Everyone makes new years resolutions, I make the same one every year and never really stick to it.  It’s a nice idea at the time.  But let’s have a reality check.  What are you actually going to do this year?

Being a January baby, another year has passed me by and I’m a little older, a little wiser, and I realise that my resolutions need to be a plan in action this time around.  I’m too old to be a kid and old enough to say to myself, “stop mucking around kid, this is grown up stuff now”  (pun intended.)  I’m not going to bore you with the details or perhaps I should tell you what they are so I can be accountable.  I will give you one tip though….Be yourself!  Just be!  Live in the moment, be grateful for what you have around you and the people you have in your life, and don’t forget to breathe.  And be sure to add a dash of fun.

You can be awesome, be serious, be dedicated but I promise you if you just ‘be’, the rest will come naturally, and if you don’t succeed at first, try, try, try again because you have infinite chances.  Trust me, there’s nothing better to do than be the true you.  With the new month of March today and the turning of the season from summer to autumn, will you too turn a new leaf or have you been good this year up until now?

Have you still kept your new years resolution ’til now? (*note to self, blog more!!!!!!)

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Words & Photography by: Diane Kitanoski for This is Roshambo
Title: “Let it be” by The Beatles

You will listen precisely to each word

You will listen precisely to each word

moloko

Here’s a tip I worked out today to make washing the dishes not feel like such a chore. Why am I washing the dishes you ask, instead of putting them in the dishwasher? Don’t have one. Renovating. Oh, and that means no hot water at he moment either. Old school, boiling water in a pot on the stove. Correct, no electric kettle either. Much of a muchness. Back to the point…..come back to the year 2016 and plug your headphones into your iphone/ipod, escape, and listen to a brand new album (or an old one you’ve never listened to before.) Your wet soapy hands don’t allow you to skip tracks too easily, and besides that, you’re too busy critiquing the album in your head to realise that you’re doing a menial task. You could end up choosing of a cracker of an album that inspires you to do something creative…….like write up a new blog story, that’s the flipside.

Thank you Moloko!

 

Words / Illustration: Diane Kitanoski for This is Roshambo
Title: “You will listen precisely to each word” from “The Flipside – Moloko”

Happy

Rings1

All a parent wants for their child is for them to be happy.  (And healthy of course)  A lot of people think that money is the answer, but money doesn’t bring you happiness, it just calms the nerves.  As most of you know, I lost my Mum over 2 years ago, and it hurts everyday.  But she wouldn’t want me to be sad, she would want me to be happy, that’s all she ever wanted.    The happiest day in my life came three weeks ago……twice!  I finally found my Prince Charming and we got married….two ceremonies, two different countries, double the fun! (and stress)

My parents migrated from Macedonia and met as teenagers in Australia.  They got married in a “Church of England” as there were no Orthodox churches at that time.  My Mum’s dying wish was that we have her funeral service in the same church she got married in because that was the happiest day of her life.  I now know that feeling too.  I am blessed to have had such love from my Mum and even more blessed to have found someone to share that love with……my husband.

I started this blog two years ago as a birthday gift to my Mum.  For your birthday today Mum, I know you are watching because you are always with us, but I want to tell you that I am happy.

It’s bittersweet to say you’re happy when you miss someone, but that’s what life is all about.

The adventure begins…………….

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Words & Photography by: Diane Maslać for This is Roshambo
Title: “Happy” by Pharrell

Meet me at the coffee shop

When I was six my neighbour, and best friend, Suzy showed me how to make coffee, and it went a little something like this…. 1 teaspoon of coffee, 1 teaspoon of sugar, run the tap until the water becomes as hot as possible, fill the cup and stir.  Genius!  Good idea, not great coffee.  Plus, I was only 6.  My grandmother told me that if I drank coffee, I’d end up growing a tail.

Coffee 5

The next progression in the coffee chain was mocha.  My god-sister, also named Suzy, introduced me to this one.  Half a teaspoon of milo, half a teaspoon of coffee, a touch of water and stir like crazy.  Boil the water, (yes we were allowed to use the kettle by now), pour into the cup and add a touch of milk.  I don’t know if we actually liked the taste of it or whether we were more intrigued by the process of making it.   Just remember folks, this was the 80’s, no foxtel, no ipads, just channel 7, 9, 10, ABC & SBS.  Yep! (Oops, did I just give my age away?)

Coffee 9

It must have been the novelty of coffee that made me drink it as a kid, because as I got older I didn’t drink it at all.  I just didn’t like it.  In my early 20’s everyone was “catching up for a coffee.”  I felt like I was missing out.  So I went out on a coffee date.  What do I order, a cappuccino, latte, short black, long mach… a half double decaffeinated half-caf, with a twist of lemon?   Aargh!! I still didn’t like coffee and I didn’t like the guy anymore after that.  Let’s just say I liked coffee better than him.

Coffee 10

I thought I’d give the coffee game another crack in my early 30’s, so I went back to the good old mocha….but with real, melted chocolate, oh divine…..and fattening!  One of the guys in my office said, “I’m going to grab a coffee, want one?”
I said, “Yeah, , I’ll have a mocha please.”
He said, “How old are you, 16?”
I said, “Sort of…….double that.”

girl drinking coffee

Coffee 4

But the answer to your question, yes, I started drinking coffee.  Slowly I moved on to ‘just coffee’, but then the milk I had would change.  I went from full cream to skinny to soy to coconut to spelt to almond.  Why?  “Cut out all dairy out of your diet,” my Naturopath said….”Kill me,” I said.  The trick now was finding a barista that could make an almond milk latte that didn’t taste like dirt water.  I finally found coffee heaven, down the street at one of my local cafe’s.  The hell of it is that I can’t drink coffee anywhere else because, well basically, it’s crap everywhere else!  My coffee addiction has become a cafe addiction.

Not a bad one to have if you ask me.

Coffee 3

Meet me at the coffee shop, we can dance like Iggy Pop!

*Please note: Every now and then I make an exception and drink a small cup of Turkish coffee so an aunt or a family friend can “read”  my cup and lie to me about my future.

 

Photography & words: Diane Kitanoski for www.thisisroshambo.com 50 Anderson St, Yarraville.
Title: “Coffee shop” – Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Best coffee in town coming to you live from  “Wee Jeanie” cafe   50 Anderson St, Yarraville.
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