Category: More about me

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family anecdotes

Cuddles

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Miss 4 and Mr 3 were invited to a birthday party last week. And when Miss 7 and I went shopping for a present, she saw a $6 teddy bear that she wanted to buy. We were in a rush though, and her pocket money was in her purse in her handbag, back at home; so we left the shop, present in hand but no bear. Fast forward a few days, and I was in the same shop again, this time with all three kids and Miss 7 proudly clutching her handbag, the purse of which contained $6.65. (Please excuse, dear reader, my long and strangely constructed sentences. Watching Gosford Park the other night has brought out the ‘Blogging Austenese’ style in me again!)
So she chose the softest, fluffiest bear she could find, and carried him ever-so-carefully to the checkout, where she was asked to pay $6.30.
“Strange,” I thought, so I queried it. Outcome? Store policy kicked in. If an item scans for more than its advertised price, you get it for free.
“Seriously?!!!” I said. “if I’d known that, I would have got one for each of them!”
Nevertheless, Miss 7 is the extremely proud owner of a free, soft, fluffy bear. Cuddles now sits happily next to Miss 7’s new fish tank – but that’s another story!

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Life places to visit

Paradise

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I am a very, very, very blessed person. I live in a free country, and in a very beautiful part of it. I have a wonderful husband and three gorgeous kids. I have a house to protect me from the elements, a vehicle to transport me and my family, a brilliant and fulfilling (although exhausting) job that helps to pay the mortgage and keep food in the fridge, and best of all I have a Saviour who considered me worth dying for.
Thank you, Lord, for blessing me so abundantly. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

(Photo taken this morning, at Kings Beach Pool, Caloundra)

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Life momentous events More about me

“Good Friday” – a day for faith

So today is Good Friday – the day that Christians remember the Saviour who died for our sins, so that we might not have to bear their penalty. Today, for me, is the day that takes most ‘faith’. To actually BELIEVE that there was a man, who lived over 2000 years ago, who was crucified, and who, after He was dead and buried in a tomb, rose again, conquering death, and now lives so that, should we put our trust (our ‘faith’) in Him, we too might not have to die, but can know that after our death we too will ‘rise’ and live for eternity in a place with no tears, no hunger, no pain.

I don’t write about my faith too much. But I’m a Christian and proud of it. I love that my faith is secure in Him who created the entire Universe, who created me, and who loves me far more than I could ever love myself.

Each day, one of my friends from Chancellor Park Community Church and I read a chapter of the Bible and discuss it in a forum she set up. She’s currently working over in Papua New Guinea (she’s a doctor) and will be there for the next two months. She’s missing her home and her husband terribly, suffering a little from culture shock and the realisation that practising medicine over there is COMPLETELY different to practising it here – and yet her forum entries are so uplifting and so full of faith and encouragement, they’re astounding.

So today, I feel like sharing here with you one of my forum responses of a couple of days ago. I had just read Thessalonians Chapter 3.

“Again, what an amazing chapter full of encouragement!

I’ve been thinking recently just how easy it is to be discouraged. How negativity and toxic self-talk can bring us down so easily and so effectively. I’ve come to realise that we have really only two options when it comes to the crossroads – we can face it (the negativity) and grow strong; or give in to it – the easier option but the one which restricts us and weakens us and in the end destroys who we are / who we want to be / who we could be. I guess it just comes back to faith, doesn’t it?! Faith in Him that He can grow us to be the people that we could be. Faith that we never encounter more than we can handle. Faith that we are where we are meant to be, and doing what we are meant to be doing, and that all things are in His hands – which is the safest place for them, anyway!
Be encouraged today, Bek. You are a wonderful person, doing exactly what God wants, and where He wants, and your being there and doing that, and sharing your journey with me here on a daily basis, is a true source of both encouragement and inspiration to me. I trust that He who we both serve will walk through today with you, and pray that your day today might be truly a wonderful one.”

That’s my prayer for you too, dear readers. That your day today might be a truly wonderful one – whether or not your share my faith with me and the many others who remember what happened on this day ever so many years ago. Have a wonderful day.

CC image courtesy 50%ChanceofRain at http://www.flickr.com/photos/fiftypercentchanceofrain/4513363944/

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Life More about me Random thoughts Technology University studies

Why I study…

I’ve decided that I really like studying for my Masters. From taxonomies to organizational structures and hierarchy in the informational architecture of websites, from database design to the uses of twitter for professional networking – it’s been a true stretch of the mind for me! And that’s what’s been really enjoyable.

So why a Masters in Information Technology? What’s IT got to do with becoming a Librarian?

Well, I’m a trained teacher. Since I started in classrooms, back in (cough) 1996, I’ve taught in State, Catholic, Independent, Lutheran, and Christian schools. I’ve taught Preppies through to Year 12. In Uni, I majored in English and Music, but I’ve also taught Drama, Dance, Film and TV, SOSE, QCS Test classes, Christian Studies, Independent Studies, and Sex Ed. I’ve been a Music Coordinator (x 2), a Head of English, and a Head of Middle School.

But I like challenges. I don’t like remaining in a position that I’ve been in before. Maybe it’s something to do with my claustrophobia, but I particularly dislike being ‘stuck in a rut’ – which, in my opinion, is remaining in a situation where there is little to challenge me. I love new experiences, and have never yet racked up enough time in any one position to earn ‘Long Service Leave’. But that’s okay for me. I’ve only got one life – I want to live it.

So 9 weeks after Mr 3 was born, I met with some web developers about my ideas for a social network for Seniors – and GoodOldTalk.com became a reality. Less than six months after its launch, I was thinking about my eventual return to teaching, and decided that it didn’t really interest me. But as a bookworm, the thought of returning to the classroom from within the four walls of the School Library made a great deal of sense. Step One was to look into how I could get qualified. A few phonecalls and I had a decision to make. To become a School Librarian, I could study a Masters in Education, which would qualify me for a School Library – or I could study a Masters in IT (within a Science faculty) and I would be qualified for School, Public, Academic and Special libraries. And seeing as I’d never studied a ‘Science’ degree before, I thought “why not?” And I’m very glad I did.

The Science faculty at QUT does the ‘student experience’ pretty well. Blended learning options, and podcasts made of all lectures, makes study-around-kids possible. (Believe me! I swapped to the Business faculty for an elective last semester and was NOT impressed with the resulting experience…)

So although study has its ups and downs, I’ve been ecstatic at (the majority of) my results, and the brain challenge has also been excellent. And I’m learning to code in html this semester, so that’s pretty cool (?!!) too… I think!

The plan, when I commenced, was to graduate as quickly as possible and then to be a Teacher Librarian. Graduating quickly isn’t an option for me any more, and my scope has broadened. Having friends on twitter who are Youth Librarians, Electronic Services Librarians, Medical Librarians, Academic Librarians, Information Managers, Historical Archivists and Library students, I now can see that my interests may be broader than the High School library.

So I wonder where my studies will take me! And I’m excited by the possibilities.

CC image courtesy cseeman at http://www.flickr.com/photos/cseeman/5938716870/

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family anecdotes Life Random thoughts

Happy Easter! (maybe)

Miss 7 brought home a few Easter chicks last week – Easter presents from teachers and friends, craft activities on the last day of school. Her favourite was a tiny pink fluffy thing, which she didn’t want to put away in her bag, but insisted that ‘she needed to be safe in her uniform pocket’.

Unfortunately… tiny pink fluffy chick, safe inside the uniform pocket, didn’t take particularly well to her rendezvous with the washing machine and dryer.

Whoops!!!

(On the up-side, Easter holidays leave more opportunities to visit gorgeous places with our dogs…!)

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family anecdotes Life

Innocent pleasures

There was a time, a week or so ago, when it stopped raining long enough for the kids and I to venture outside. We have a pretty tiny house, so having a large backyard is wonderful. Especially when it’s dry enough to enjoy it!

Being weary (as is my seemingly permanent state) I decided on this day to pull out the hammock dear Hubby bought me for a not-so-distant birthday. So I hung it up and jumped in, ready to laze – and then Miss 4 piped up with a “Jump on the trampoline with me, Mummy!”

I had just gotten comfortable, so said ‘no’ (Yes, I know. Yet one more example of how much of a #badmummy I am…!) but suggested that she place a ball on the trampoline and jump with that. Unfortunately though, she must have inherited some of my laziness (or is catching it via osmosis? You be the judge!) so rather than get off the trampoline to fetch the ball, she decided to use one of her boots as a jumping companion instead. And added one of her brother’s boots for good measure.

‘Twas very cute. See for yourself! (And yes, I know. The orientation’s wrong. D’Oh!)

[flickr video=6997116357 secret=1209f5a162 w=320 h=240]

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family anecdotes Life momentous events

Mr almost-3

My little boy has his last day of being 2 today. He’ll be Mr 3 as of tomorrow. Which is great – but also rather sad. I can’t believe it was really THAT long ago that he was delivered (C-section. Elective. Long story short, Miss 7’s was 33 1/2 hours and Miss 4’s was 10 and I’d discovered, respectively, that a) epidurals in the wrong place don’t help a great deal, and b) water births ain’t as easy as you’d like ’em to be) but I guess it must have been, because he’s about to be 3. No longer a baby, no longer a toddler, now well and truly a little boy, on his way to becoming a big boy, a youth, then a man. And if you’re thinking ‘Yeah, but that’s ages away’ – look how fast these last few years have gone! Heck, Miss 4 will be in PREP in less than a year – and it doesn’t feel all that long ago that I was holding her tiny body in my arms on the balcony at Selangor hospital (Nambour), and introducing her to the gorgeous world outside that hospital room. Now that’s all swallowed up in the busyness of mid-March, 2012, and life don’t seem to be slowing’ down any!

Well, best go. I’ve got a cake to make…

 

CC Image courtesy nojhan at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nojhan/1571935892/

Categories
family anecdotes Random thoughts

Metamorphosis…

Miss 7 has always been interested in bugs. Perhaps its something all kids like? Certainly Miss 4 seems to be developing the same curiosity. So when I arrived home last Wednesday, and went to open the front gate, I noticed a very fat caterpillar crawling along its top. Thinking that the girls would be interested in seeing it up close, I put it into Miss 7’s “bug catcher” ready for her arrival home from school.

She was ecstatic. She named it ‘Crawly’ and insisted that it watch her play on the PS2. The bug-catcher, with Crawly inside, then spent the night on the desk in her bedroom – but in the morning we discovered that it had become wedged between two of the plastic ‘leaves’. I extricated it, moving it into a clear plastic container so that Miss 7 could take it to school for show and tell. I explained that because it had been squashed – and for goodness knows how long! – it might not survive to cocoon / butterfly stage. Miss 7, of course, took that to mean that ‘when it became a butterfly, she’d be able to keep it, as a pet, so that she could look after it, because it won’t be able to fly properly’. Ha!

By that night, it still hadn’t eaten anything. It also showed an inclination for crawling to a high point and resting vertically, head down. I suspected that it wanted to form a cocoon and said as much to Miss 7, who agreed that we move it into a container where it could do so.

It started to form a cocoon by Saturday morning, and by Sunday morning, the cocoon was starting to turn a golden colour. Now, Tuesday morning, the cocoon appears to be completely formed, and is completely golden. And I wonder just how long it will take before the butterfly *does* emerge. If it does. Miss 7 is fascinated. I must admit, I’m intrigued too. I’ve never witnessed the process from caterpillar to butterfly before. When I was a kid, I remember taking a cocoon we’d found, into the house to watch the butterfly emerge, but I’d never seen the caterpillar form its own cocoon in the first place.

Will keep you updated, dear readers!

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Bloxham Marketing family anecdotes Life More about me Random thoughts Technology Work

Been busy…

So I’ve found the time to blog for Bloxham Marketing today – which has meant that I’ve had less time to write a post here, on my personal blog. Because I’m trying, in-between helping Miss 4 make a rocket ship (see left)

and supervising Mr 2 on my iPad (see right), to organise Mr 2’s entry into  the Early Childhood Developmental entree at Tullawong Primary College. So I’m going to cheat a little, and paste that entry below.

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Image-based promotion

Posted on March 12, 2012 | Leave a comment | Edit

Over the past two weeks, St Paul’s has had a poster campaign running at Morayfield Shopping Centre. We used the same posters that we had up over the Christmas period last year – and I’d like to credit the record number of enrolments the school received, to these posters. Well… it may not have been to these exclusively, but nevertheless…!

And last week, I was inspired by @connectyou‘s post on the new Covers for the Facebook Page Timelines – to be rolled out on the 30 March, but which are able to be ‘published’ beforehand. So yesterday, I got busy. Evidenced by three cover photos. Check them out!

Caloundra Christian College:

St James Lutheran College:

And last but not least… St Paul’s Lutheran Primary School:

So – what do you think?

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And now all I need to do is create Cover photos for the Bloxham Marketing page – and for my personal one too, of course!

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Bloxham Marketing family anecdotes Life More about me teaching Technology Work

Flattened.

Squashed. Like a bug that’s been steamrolled. That’s how I’m feeling after this week. I mean, I knew it was going to be a biggie, going into it, but didn’t really expect to be feeling like this at its conclusion…

Monday was work day. Head down, bum up, get-a-heap-of-things-done day, because the rest of the week would be drive-around-like-crazy day. It didn’t help that I had negative-gig left in my data quota due to a mix-up with Telstra this time last month. But, I had to get it done, so done it got.

Tuesday morning I spent at St Paul’s, getting stuff done on campus – stuff which would have been nigh-on impossible to do remotely, then it was pick-up-the-kids-from-care-and-drive-up-to-Minyama for my last (sob) Speech Therapy session with Suzanne at Sunshine Coast Speech Therapists. Lovely lady. Truly lovely. And even though that nodule on my right vocal cord isn’t gone yet, at least now I have some techniques to speak properly without exacerbating it – and hopefully it will go over time. Then I taught that evening.

Wednesday morning was meant to be playgroup-before-podiatirist, but Miss 4 and Mr 2 weren’t going to cope too well with that, so we ended up just visiting our neighbour in the morning, then heading out to collect Miss 7 early form school and driving down to Brisbane for her Podiatry appointment, then driving back to Caboolture for her swimming lesson, before driving to Morayfield for a *fun* time grocery shopping, then finally back up the Coast to home.

Thursday was diagnosis day. Miss 4 got dropped off at my mum’s at Currimundi while Mr 2 came to Nambour (Selangor Hospital) with me. Autism diagnosis confirmed, he then spent the afternoon back at my mum’s villa while I visited Tullawong Primary College, Medicare, the Family Assisstance Office, CentreLink, and finally Telstra (Yay! Got the internet working on my iPhone again!) before collecting the kids and heading home exhausted…

And Friday, I relief taught a very full-on Prep class. And Miss 4 managed to lose one sandal at care. One half of her favourite (and only!) pair of sandals. And Hubby fell victim to an unfortunate accident – our HUGE German Shepherd pup tripped him up badly in their morning run – which not only meant that a) he spent the majority of the day visiting doctors (X-ray of right wrist revealed just tissue damage thank God!) and dentists (teeth shaken about and chipped, but little other damage) and b) being laughed at because he’s limping and looks a sight – and his dog did it to him, but also that he’s completely out of action when it comes to helping with the kids because they don’t understand that they can’t jump on him anymore – plus he has zero use of his right hand / wrist anyway.

And Saturday morning was family-time. Half-great; half-tragic. I guess it’s no wonder that I spent most of Saturday afternoon yawning, if not dozing / less-than-conscious. Which is why I’m blogging now, at 3.07am Sunday morning. Nuff said?!

Phew! And it looks as though this coming week will be almost as full on…!!!