Category: Random thoughts

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#blogjune Random thoughts University studies

Biting the bullet.

I posted earlier that I was too chicken (what is it with animals today?!) to look at my stats for #blogjune cos I’d missed so many.

Well, I manned up (ha!) and checked. According to WordPress, I missed Days 9, 10, 11, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22. So by my count (and you’d better check it, cos my maths SUCKS bigtime) I’ve got 8 more posts to catch up on after this one. (Cos this is my second post for the day, right? LOL)

I read earlier today, “It’s easier to quit. It takes faith to go through.” (Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer and yes – I’m reading a book, not a journal article! Uni must be over?!! Yay!)

And that got me thinking about how often I ‘quit’. As in. get a bit bored of the same old, same old, and change direction. So I thought I’d bite the bullet this time. I know I’m quite a few days behind, but I’m determined. Plus we’ve got all those lovely memes that have been popping up everywhere on #blogjune, so that should help a little….

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#blogjune Random thoughts

Sheepish

Why does ‘sheepish’ mean ’embarrassed’? I mean, I get why ‘wolfish’ has connotations of slyness, being cunning and all that jazz. But since when were sheep so worried about their social standing that they could feel embarrassed when they didn’t quite measure up to their own expectations of themselves? Really?!!

Long story short, I’m a little disappointed in myself concerning this whole #blogjune thing. I knew that I’d miss a day or two, here and there, but here we are on Day 23 and I feel as though I’ve missed more days than I’ve posted. And I’m loathe to check the stats in case my suspicions are confirmed.

So yes, here I am, doing my best impersonation of an embarrassed sheep. Or whatever. Sorry!

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#blogjune Random thoughts University studies

whatever

I have been despondent for a couple of days now. Strange, considering it’s end of semester and there’s definitely a light at the end of the tunnel. Considering that the school won its display at the Caboolture Show, and the playgroup display that I can claim quite a lot of the responsibility for, came second in its own category. Considering that tonight Miss 6 did a screen test for her new modelling agency, and the Australian director (who was conducting the screen test) was so impressed he said, “She’s only 6? Wow! She’ll definitely get call backs with what she just did!”

So some things in life are going well. My brilliant mother bought me a Galileo thermometer for my birthday, which now takes pride of place on my kitchen windowsill (pics to follow when my camera is actually working again), Miss 3 is almost fully toilet trained (OMG that has take just SO darn long!) and Master 2 is having fun saying his new word “Mar-mee” and seeing my delighted reaction.

So yes, some things are good. My final assignment will be completed, and submitted, by the time my head hits the pillow. A good friend is visiting tomorrow for a ‘craft morning’. And also I get to go NOWHERE (boy do I LOVE those days!). My family is (almost) all healthy, the weekend is approaching, and the holidays after that.

So what the hell do I have to be despondent about? Just because I’ve crossed paths with three people that sucked the energy out of me this week? Three people, all in their own little worlds and with no forethought over their words or actions, decided in their own little ways to impact on my little world so abruptly and rudely? Honestly – why can’t I get past this?! It’s (insert swearwords for rest of sentence).

Sorry, readers. I know I’m behind in #blogjune, but I’m kinda over it all right now. Thanks for letting me vent. And I’ll try to blog in a better frame of mind tomorrow. When my final assignment’s done and dusted.

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#blogjune Random thoughts University studies Work

Loose reins

Regular readers of my blog may remember that I have described myself as a control freak. Even casual readers of my blog may have picked that up about me. I like to make sure that everything is done exactly the ‘right’ way – ie. my way. I micromanage – although I am conscious of this, and try not to! It hits me anew each time I realise that sometimes it’s best just to let people do what you have already asked them to do. (Especially as that’s why you asked them to do it in the first place!)

This also extends to my own direction in life. I like planning where I am heading, and working to make that happen. And I get usually  frustrated when stuff happens that impedes my plans. I guess I feel secure when most of the variables have been eliminated. But that doesn’t mean that plans can’t change mid-way. Hence the ‘loose reins’.

For someone who tends to keep a tight rein on every aspect of life, you might think it strange when I state that, conversely, I’m happy to change direction. Often. In July 2010 I commenced studying again after a break of 15 years. I’m enjoying the MIT(LIS) but by the end of this week, I’ll be facing a dilemma. I’ll have completed six of the eleven 12cp units, but three of the remaining five units are all Semester One offerings. So I’m up to choosing electives, and that means decisions.

Last week I was inspired by Tony Wilson, QUT’s director of Marketing and Communications. As in, REALLY inspired. He was guest lecturing the INN331 unit (that I scored a Disctinction for – Yay! Still SOOOOO stoked about that!) and I listened to the entire lecture with a smile on my face. Broken by the occasional “Oh wow”. He was speaking “my language”. (Well, the language that I’ve been learning ad hoc and by osmosis since starting my marketing job mid-February.) And his lecture got me thinking… why not complete some electives in Marketing?

An email to Helen Partridge later, and 9 minutes after that I had my approval. So as soon as I’ve finished these screencasts and article for INN690, the Minor Project I’m completing with @katiedavis as a very kind and understanding supervisor, I’m off to enquire about enrolling in AMN442 Marketing Management. Wish me luck!

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#blogjune Random thoughts Technology University studies

Stuff ‘n’ all…

I knew that I’d missed a post or two on #blogjune, due to busyness, illness, and just general other stuff. I just didn’t realise that my last post was June 8!

So. To some stuff that I feel like sharing today.

I am ill. I feel like death warmed up. But on the up-side, I only have two Uni assignments left to submit.

I am sick of typing on my gorgeous new Macbook Pro. I guess it is possible to get too much of a good thing. Especially when it’s being used for never-ending assignments that I’m kinda over.

Hubby and I took our three children down to St Paul’s Church this morning. First time that it wasn’t a “School Sunday” (as in, expected due to Miss 6’s participation in a performance). It went well. Highlight: Master Two (loud voice) “Mar-mee!” followed by running up to me for a hug from 10 metres away. He only learned to say it yesterday.

Miss 6 is perilously close to losing her first tooth. Finally.

The “recommended” shoes to fit Miss 6’s orthotics are $80 at Athlete’s foot, but only $50 at the recommended shoe shop in Brisbane. Not to self: GO THERE NEXT TIME YOU IDIOT!!!!!

Hmmmm… and now back to that assignment…

(Oh, and a PS… I got a Distinction for INN331. SOOOO stoked!!)

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#blogjune Random thoughts

The day in review

Good friends can make your day so much better, can’t they? Yesterday was pretty full on – after the (wonderful!) Morning Tea, I got to the Showgrounds only to find that the display space allocated to the Little Saints Play group had been re-allocated, and we hadn’t been told. By midday, we had been given another (small) space; by 2pm we had finished our display.

Quick grocery shop; home with Hubby and Miss 6 by 4.30. Grandma Babysitter for Miss 3 and Master 2 left, and then I noticed the runny nose. Coughing started soon after, and things went downhill from there. Have I ever mentioned how Master 2 is really whingy when he’s sick? He finally fell asleep at 1.03am. The coughing and crying started again two hours later.

On the upside, it was wonderful to post a very early #blogjune #day7 and get birthday wishes from @jzgarnett within an hour. It was wonderful to spend an hour or so with lovely ladies from @StPaulsLPS, all toasting me with TimTams and wishing me every happiness. It was wonderful to spend time creating a display with a lady who inspires me as a mother. It was wonderful to get texts and emails from friends and family. It was wonderful to check in on facebook late at night and read birthday well-wishes from people I hadn’t thought would send them; including from schoolmates not seen in decades. It was even wonderful to realise how much I was needed by a miserable Master 2 throughout the dark hours.

So. Not at Play group today (my boy would generously infect everyone else by the time he left!) and I’m tired… but I’m happy. Thank you, Lord, for my life. It’s wonderful.

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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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#blogjune Random thoughts University studies Work

Sheltering in the lee

It is not quite 4pm. Monday. I am at home, sitting on my bed, and the house is quiet. This is extremely unusual, and I love it.

Miss 6 needed to be brought home early today (still sick, poor love, and milking it for all she can get!) so Hubby and I vied for the opportunity. I won (his job is far more important than mine!) so brought her home while he gets to continue working and then pick up the younger two from childcare.

So here I sit, surrounded by papers. Papers from work, reminding me of urgent things to do and far more urgent things to do, drafts from Uni assignments due this week, due the following week, and feedback from assignments submitted two weeks ago… and silence.

Miss 6 is sleeping (?! yeah right! try ‘playing quietly’ in her bedroom,) and I can hear the clock ticking. Very strange sound to hear in daylight hours; normally it is the accompaniment I associate with working into the late hours of the night.

I like it. A pleasant sound. Strange to hear it with a backdrop of birdcalls instead of crickets. But this… this silence… it reminds me to breathe. To relax, if just for a moment, even when surrounded by all the trappings of my responsibilities, and just breathe. Just exist in the moment. It will be over soon enough… hubby will be home with the younger two, and then when they’re all abed, it’ll be time to dive straight back into the Caboolture Show prep (display being created tomorrow) and INN332 Final Report (5000 words due Thursday).

Okay. Just breathe. In… out… in… out…

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#blogjune Random thoughts University studies Work

Starting to resurface

It’s Sunday evening and I feel as though I’ve  been submerged in illness for a LONG time. Sometimes it’s difficult being a full-time mum to three under 7, a full-time worker, and a part-time student when your husband works such long hours too. Looking back, it’s only been a few days, but it feels like so much longer. I think I’ll lift the self-imposed quarantine tomorrow. Yay. Just in time for school, work, childcare, and what generally is the busiest day of my week.

I need a break. Or maybe just the last few days re-wound, so I can maybe meet all those dead lines I missed?!

It looks as though, unfortunately, my #blogjune posts will be shorter than I’d like due to my need to ‘catch up’. Bumma. Sorry, dear readers!

Til tomorrow…

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#blogjune Random thoughts

And it’s three from three…

The time on the screen of my Macbook Pro reads 2:09am. It’s Friday morning, 3rd of June and I’ve just finished cleaning up my third bout of vomit in three nights. What is it about my kids that they choose to vomit between the hours of 1am and 3am?

This time it was Miss 6’s turn. Again, a piercing scream woke me to my treasured Motherly duty of night-time vomit-cleaner. And this time, I entered the room with a feeling of dread. I knew I was too late… she’d already started. From her top bunk.

Amazingly, Miss 2 in the bottom bunk remained silent throughout. And Master 2, in the room next door, stayed asleep. Well, he stayed silent at least, and seeing as he seems to have inherited my light-sleeper tendencies, I’d say he slept through all the banshee screams my drama-queen eldest was making.

Impressive really, the volume of noise she was able to emit whilst leaning over the railing of her bunk and depositing her stomach contents onto the woollen carpet, and various other objects, almost two metres below. And I’d also have to give major kudos to Miss 2, awake but quiet, while vomit and screams rained down past her. Pretty darn amazing.

So. Here I am, after yet another clean-up of child, pyjamas, sheets (multiple – she’d managed to get Miss 2’s sheets on the way down), pillow cases, and a random toy and sock. Oh, and the cot-mattress I use to cushion Miss 2’s falls on the rare occasions she falls out of her bed. And I’m beginning to wonder what the rest of the month will hold, after the start I’ve had. I mean – I knew that my kid’s bedsheets were overdue for a change, but seriously?!!! Is that the way God intended to make me change them? I think I’ll be a more diligent housekeeper in future!

So it’s back to bed for me again, I think. Hopefully I shan’t be up again before the morning… it’s going to be a pretty huge day again and I need my zzz’s!

Night all. And happy #blogjune  writing! (Reckon I’d win the prize for earliest #day3 post!)

 

UPDATE: 4.22am

“Let’s see what the rest of the month holds?” Ha! I looks like I didn’t have to wait too long, as Miss 2 decided to take matters into her own hands and show me. Loudly and messily. And smash two of my theories at the same time.

My kids vomit between 1 and 3? Nope. Miss 2 decided to join in with her part of the action at 3.32am. Theory number one down the toilet (which is where I wish all of her vomit had gone, rather than over the poor carpet again! not to mention over her pillow, sheet, her pyjamas, and me!) and as for the theory that it was all about the sheets? Nope. I can go back to being a hopeless housekeeper, because the vomiting wasn’t induced by a Higher Power who was forcing me into keeping my children’s sheets clean. Miss 2’s new sheets, courtesy of her big sister’s 1.37am efforts, stayed clean all of… hmmm… (bad Maths skills in evidence again!) just over an hour and a half?!!

And so now it’s heading towards 4.30am. I’ve got a rinsed load of washing in the machine, full of pyjamas and sheets and doona covers, the skin on my hands is dry from all the washing and disinfectant use, and in the back of my mind my assignment is sitting, waiting, and my tired brain is telling me that there probably isn’t much point in going back to bed because Master 2 will be up in just over an hour.

Oh well. So much for those zzz’s I was after. Proposal, here I come. Prepare to be completed…