Category: momentous events

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#blog12daysxmas momentous events

Day 7 and the year is ending…

Today started with a song. I sincerely hope that means that it won’t end, in a few short hours, in tears! But in the style of @fionawb, I’m going to quote some lyrics here. They were the first thought past my brain this morning…

“The morning sunlight moves gently ‘cross our bed / the sound of distant traffic floats into my head”

and it had me thinking about how wonderful it is to have a large sliding door on the wall at the foot of our bed, with a gorgeously landscaped fishpond almost immediately in front. (We have a HUGE amount of privacy – I wouldn’t recommend this to just anyone!) But with the curtains open, the sunlight on water reflects onto the ceiling of our bedroom. It’s so incredibly peaceful, just watching the reflection move slowly. And listening to the distant traffic on the Bruce Highway, warring with (but thankfully mostly drowned out by) birdcalls is pretty magical.

Today I got busy. Cleaned out the house (even managed to push the vacuum around a bit!) and tackled Miss 6’s bed, as it’s been bugging me for ages. Silly me, when Miss 3 was big enough to move up out of her cot, chose expedience and bought two single doona covers. Was proud of myself, as I had managed to score prints that the kids would like (Miss 6 was into dinosaurs, and the other -for Mr 2- was blue and soccer-themed) but this quickly changed when I got them home and out of their packets. The extremely thin material (can’t remember the name of it now) was also absolutely PATHETIC at assisting the doona to hold its shape, so every morning Miss 6 wrestled with a very twisted doona, inside its thin, slippery cover. A difficult situation, when you’re trying to make your bed up on a top bunk anyway! (Mr 2’s wasn’t as bad, as not only does he not writhe around so much at night, but being on a normal single bed, there isn’t the height problem to deal with.)

So I finally talked myself into making another one. The first I had made (Nemo on one side, and Pooh Bear and friends on the other) had been Miss 6’s, but Miss 3 inherited it when Miss 6 got the dinosaurs. I’m not the best seamstress in the world (I just tried typing ‘sew-er’, but without the hyphen it looks COMPLETELY different!!!) so this was  a rather unusual occurence for me. But I got it done – and a pillowcase to match. Pretty pleased with myself.

Yes, it’s plain. Red. No, not her favourite colour, but just some material I had to hand. Still, it’s SOOOOOO much better than the twisted dinosaur one! Oh – and in case you’re wondering… here in our part of the world, we’re close enough to the water to get cool breezes pretty much year-round. So while the rest of the Sunshine Coast is in summer pj’s, we’re still under doonas! LOL!

That, and relaxing with hubby this afternoon while the kids enjoyed Madagascar on the PS2 (Christmas present) was my day. A very enjoyable one. Lots of reflection (not just the water! But thoughtful reflection on the year that’s passed) and sone tentative musings on possible New Year resolutions. And a conversation with Miss 6 about the *possibility* of waking her up to see the fireworks at midnight. And that was it.

All in all, it’s been a wonderful year. NEVER would have thought, twelve months ago, that today I would be a self-employed marketer. NEVER could have dreamed that I would be THIS happy. Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with so darn much! And help me to appreciate it far more than I do.

So I’m looking forward to 2012 with excitement… some apprehension (that’s the control-freak part of me talking)… and a sense that everything – at this moment in time – is ‘right with the world’. Maybe sometime in the next few hours I’ll muse those resolutions into a more solidified form. Maybe not. Either way, it’ll be great to see what happens!

Happy New Year, all! May you all have wonderful – and safe! – celebrations tonight, and may your 2012’s contain everything you wish for them, and more.

Til next year!

(oh, and the song was ‘Hold me in your arms” by the Southern Sons)

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momentous events Random thoughts

Heavenly.

Saturday morning + 6 year old + new playstation game + younger siblings interested in watching said new game = Mummy and Daddy being able to stay in bed a whole extra HOUR!!!

Yup – it was actually 7.03am when Miss 3 decided to pull on the arm, with a ‘It’s 6 o’clock, Mummy! Time to wake up!’

‘No, sweetheart. It’s 7 o’clock.’

‘Mummy, I’m hungry.’

Ahhhh. Bliss.

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momentous events

i. want.

I think I’m in love. I’ve just discovered something that i WANT. Very strongly. As in, very very very very very strongly!!!!!!(No, not a person – I’m married, silly! And very happily!)

But this, this overwhelming desire  – to HAVE, to OWN, for it to be MINE!!! – is so intense I’m feeling guilty! Is it bad to WANT something so badly??!!!

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#blogjune momentous events

Blogging June

This is the thirtieth time I’ve posted on my blog this month. I’ve done it! I’ve managed to blog June! Admittedly, not every day had its own post. In fact, well over a third of the month I didn’t manage to post at all. But thanks to an easier workload in this final week, I have been able to catch up, adding numbers of posts per day. (Deciding to finish that short story that’s been bugging me for a couple of months helped, too! Otherwise I think I may have just been filling in countless numbers of memes…)

So, today’s a day for congratulations. My final post in what has been, at times, a bit of an epic challenge. From family illness, through to a massive assignment load, then to worrying over being so far behind with it all, hence to memes, and then to Devilish Detail, it was been quite a bit of a journey! One I’m glad to have taken… but happy also to have finished. And yes, I think I’ll join in again next year – maybe I’ll be more practised in blogging by then, and can aim for greater consistency?!!!

Thanks, dear readers, for taking this journey with me.

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momentous events Random thoughts Uncategorized University studies Work

Ha!

The pummelling of Master Two’s feet against his wall awoke me this morning. He must have been listening carefully though, to hear if I would react, because (cheeky sod!) he stopped as soon as he heard me sigh and sit up in bed. It being 5.09am I lay back down again and my mind turned immediately to what I could be doing, were I to get up.

The Caboolture Show preparations hadn’t been finished yet, and the display will be set up today. Well, displays actually, because (as per usual) I’ve bitten off more than I can chew and requested an extra display space this year. Five weeks ago, I started running a Play Group attached to the school which contracts my marketing services. And silly me thought the Show a fantastic opportunity to let people know of its existence. When all is said and done, it IS a fantastic opportunity. But it wasn’t until yesterday midday that I realised quite how large the space was that needed to be covered. It is large. As in, LARGE. The ladies from the school, who have set up the display for the last few years, mentioned in passing that a display set-up takes all day. ALL DAY??!!! Wow! (And I hadn’t organised childcare!) And have we – the Play Group – got enough to fill that space? I knew that the school display would. Over 350 kids means that there’s definitely enough to cover the ‘school’ area. But the Play Group? We’ve only been running five weeks. Do we have enough? That is the question whose answer is making my stomach turn and keeping my anxiety levels at their peak. “So stop just lying there and get up and keep on going with the preprarations!” I thought.

Then my mind turned to the morning. Which car to take, what stops I would need to make on the way (newsagents for thumb tacks… but maybe I could use pins instead, as we’d be hanging shirts (unofficial Play Group uniform)… and then I remembered the Morning Tea.

As “Class Carer” for the school, I organise informal get-togethers for the families of my allocated grade. Year One, in this case. And the June get-together is a Morning Tea. And it’s today. So add in a stop, at the bakery, on the way to school… and then minus time that would be needed at the Show Grounds, setting up both displays.

And then I remembered that I also needed to take further time away from Show ‘set-up’ while on the Show Grounds, because I needed to find out where to submit Miss 6’s entry into the photo competition. She loves nicking my camera, or more recently, my iPod, and “snapping” (ha! Like they do that any more) away. And she’s quite good, too! So we talked about entering one of her photos, and (of course) she wants to, and (of course) I need to organise it. And (of course for the third time) it’s due today. Not that the photo has been printed off yet, or mounted, or named, or any of that other jazz that needs to happen before I eventually find the right place to submit it and finally hand it over.

“Submitting” an item led my brain to then think about the 5000 word report due Thursday – as in, in two days! – and try to allocate time this week when I could finish it in time. Which led to a mental run through of the rest of the week (Wednesday Play Group morning; Wednesday evening Violin teaching – oh! Hang on, no. My student’s away this week camping. Yay – more time! But will it be enough to get the assignment complete!??) and so by this stage, my anxiety levels were making me jumpy. So I left sleeping hubby all cozy and warm and quietly got up. Then I remembered. It’s June 7 today.

Happy birthday, Ceridwyn.

Ha! I don’t think it’s ever taken me that long to remember my own birthday before! So I wonder what else today will bring!

See you tomorrow, everyone! (And feel free to send me happy thoughts throughout the day – they might just keep me sane with it all!)

Miss 6's photo entry. Just cos it's so cute!
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momentous events Random thoughts

Once an addict, always an addict…

Hello. My name is Ceridwyn and I am an addict. I’m addicted to gambling. Especially BlackJack.

Last night I went to Brisbane. Attended my first ‘live’ Uni class in over 15 years. Thanks, btw, Katherine – it was a great one! But being in Brisbane – and alone, with no distractions of husband, kids, etc – presented an opportunity that was sorely tempting. You see, I absolutely LOOOOOOOVE the Brisbane casino. (And when I say ‘love’, I mean overpowering desire. Which I guess is probably more of a ‘lust’ thing. But anyway…)

I was in Brisbane, alone, the class had finished early so I had an hour before anyone suspected I was somewhere other than where I said I would be, and the Casino was right there. And so I was tempted. Very tempted. Just one thought was all it took, and suddenly every fibre of my being wanted to go those extra few blocks, walk through that grand entrance and up to a table, place my hand on that soft felt and place my first bet.

It would have been my first bet in years. Count them – seventeen of them. Yes, I’m an addict, but I haven’t stepped inside a casino since I was 20. And yes, that desire is still so powerful. Maybe it will never leave.

I resisted. And this morning, I’m glad. For the past fortnight, ever since I realised I was headed to Brisbane, I haven’t stopped thinking about the feel of the chips in my hand, the sight of the cards being flipped over, the rush of winning. Nor have I stopped remembering the times – ever so long ago now, but it’s amazing how strong some memories can be – when I would enter that Casino on a very regular basis, and come out half an hour later with $100 after entering with $50. Sure, that’s not a huge amount. Maybe that’s what got me addicted in the first place. Double your money as much as twice a week, and it’s pretty incredible what you mind can tell you you can do. So I had kept an open mind regarding what I would do. And when it got to crunch time, I took myself in hand and walked straight to my car. Yay me! I’m still swamped with the thoughts, the memories, the ‘what ifs’, but perhaps they’ll recede again…

So thanks for the memories, Brisbane – and here’s hoping that memories is what they will remain.

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momentous events Random thoughts Technology

Pride to the winds…

Today is going to be HUGE. Really, really, really HUGE! You know, one of those days that you’ve already invested so much of your time and effort in, even though it hasn’t yet arrived, kind of huge.

Today is photo day.

My new(ish?! Started Feb 14 this year) job is marketing St Paul’s Lutheran Primary School, Caboolture. And I ABSOLUTELY love it – it’s the best job in the world! And today is photo day. Today’s the day we get a Library of shots done by the best photographer I know. So I’ve been planning this thing for what feels like non-stop, for what feels like ages. (But is actually instead more like for several hours per day for the last three weeks.)

So we have a cast of close to 60, from 4 year olds to those well into their 50’s (actually, more like 60’s but I’m not entirely sure). We have close to 20 locations. We have props. We have costume changes (which in reality will look more like uniform changes, but that image doesn’t fit with my metaphor here, okay?!). And of course we have cameras and all their associated paraphenalia. And we have a LOT of work to do in a very constrained time period. So…

It’s Monday, 28th of March, and I’m off and running on what is quite likely going to be a strong contender for the prize of ‘Busiest Day of My Year’. Running as fast as I can with no thought to my technique or my looks – running with my pride to the winds.

Wish me luck – it’s a distinct possibility that I’m going to be needing it!

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momentous events Random thoughts Technology

WOOHOO!!!!!

I’m blogging from my Mac! I’m SOOOO ecstatic right now!!!! Thank you, God! Thank you Vodafone and a HUGE thank you to Daemon Singer from Footprint IT (already valued due to his prestigious standing as a member of goodoldtalk.com – but now heading towards that ‘priceless’ status that American Express likes to call themselves) due to his succinct and ACCURATE diagnostics. (Yup, the 2011 Telstra Ultimate is not compatible with the 2011 Macbook Pro.) And his donation of a USB case to contain my old Vodafone SIM, which (strangely enough!!!) works out to actually BE compatible with the 2011 Macbook Pro that I’m currently typing on (this keyboard will take a little getting used to, BTW!)

So THANKS, Daemon, AppleCare, Vodafone etc etc. And thanks in advance to Telstra for letting me out of the contract that I’ve just signed with you – even though you don’t know that you’re about to do that yet! But I can’t see how your ‘Ultimate Mobile Broadband USB Modem’ (which says on the box that it will operate on the Mac OS X 10.5 or later!) is actually all that ‘ultimate’ when it actually does NOT work on my computer. So thanks for that, too!

Here endeth today’s post. Now I’m off to play!

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momentous events Random thoughts Technology

Hey ho; hey ho! It’s to the store I go…

Today’s the day! Hopefully this will be the last time that I need someone else’s computer to write my blog!

Catch you all soon when my wallet’s a lot lighter! (And yes, Uni assignments… here I come…)

 

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momentous events Random thoughts

Bummed!!!

I blogged the other day about the i-envy that I suspect I have. Hubby had brought home a new phone (no, not an iPhone, but close enough, in comparison with my current one!) and I realised that I was just a little bit envious. I forgot to mention in that blog post that he had also told me he had been given an iPad a few months ago, and it was sitting in the techie’s office at work. Still in the box.

Yes, I screamed at him (mock scream, of course, BTW) and have been nagging at him for the past two days for him to bring it home so I could have a play. Check it out for myself, sort of thing. He had to find it, of course, but I guess my desire must have sunk in, because he brought it home with him tonight. Put it next to the HUGE box of chocolates that he had also brought home today, part of Miss Six’s school fundraising drive.

And you know when I realised that I really had it bad? When I opened the iPad box first. Instead of the chocolates. And I’m a chocoholic. Sad, really.

But the worst bit was? After ALL that excitement? I can’t really use the thing. No internet out here. No WiFi, no connecting to anything. Hence my purchase of the Telstra USB I’m using right now. Which makes it a bit tough to use an iPad!

So. All in all? I’m bummed. What’s the use of being super-excited about the iPad2’s smart cover (sorry, but I feel the need to include the link again, here. It’s just SO cool!) if I can’t even use the darn thing?!! Bummed.

Maybe hubby will agree to move?! LOL! Seriously though. Hmm…