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Illness
I’m sick. And I don’t like being sick. But it was inevitable – a week of little people kindly sharing their germs with me has led to my finally succumbing. Okay – late nights with work, with study and assignments etc haven’t helped, but be that as it may, I am sick. I feel awful. And I’m not really up to sharing about my boy today. So I’ll just post this – me reading to my younger cherubs during our last holiday to Hervey Bay. Photo taken by Miss 7.
See you tomorrow, dear readers.
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Frustrated
Okay, okay. I know I’ve been badly neglecting my blog lately. And I’m over it. I really, really, really want to get back into blogging, but there just does not seem to be enough hours in the day!
And now I’m using a blog post to vent! Just not fair, is it, dear readers. Sorry.
But this is what’s got me so frustrated right now. It’s writing metadata for a website assignment that I *thought* I had almost sorted. Just a couple of bits and pieces to add, and then I can cross that task off the list and jump straight into the website review that I’m meant to have completed for my latest Bloxham Marketing client – by Thursday. And the website’s based on SharePoint, which I have pretty much zero knowledge of, so I can see a huge learning curve in front of me…
But back to the metadata.
I *did* go to that lecture! Well, virtually, anyway. I was in my pyjamas and sitting on my chair in our lounge room, but I *was* there, and I *did* complete the activities… but now I’m stuck, and I can’t find the answers to my questions! Not in the course Learning Resources, Assessment section, discussion forums, or in the #inn530 tweet stream. Arrggh!
So I turn to the web. I go to the QUT website, and ‘view source’. No Dublin Core metadata tags. I try the QUT LIbrary sites. I try various other libraries sites. I try council sites. I try school sites. I try social media sites. I then slap my forehead and try the Dublin Core site itself. But I leave bewildered and dumbfounded because even there, I can NOT find any examples of Dublin Core metadata tags. Why? Are they there and I’m not reading them properly? Or does no one use them? Because I’ve got questions that I’d like answered, and I’m having a bit of a hard time trying to figure it out on my own…!!!
It’s now coming up five years since we moved from Landsborough. We had built a four bed 2 bath brick and tile home there, back in the year 2000. After a couple of years, we extended it and enclosed a large patio, creating an entertainment room. We furnished this room with a lovely 6 piece outdoor setting – wicker-look chairs and tempered glass table.
Fast forward seven years and you see us moving house. To a cute (read tiny) place that definitely would not fit all of our furniture… well, not if we wanted to fit in there too. So we halved our furniture, keeping the outside setting and giving the dining table and chairs to Neighbours Aid Community Stores. Reason being, even though it was larger, the glass tabletop helped to not make our new dining / lounge area too crammed – and the wicker look fitted in with the holiday feel of our new place.
Fast forward again, to April 2012. Mr 3 has decided to develop the habit of spitting / dribbling any unwanted food out of his mouth – in full mouthfuls. Outside furniture copes well with this. Just take the chair outside, hose it off, wait half an hour, and then everything’s hunky-dory again. Bread, milk, cheese, tomato sauce, tuna, soggy chips, ice cream – it really doesn’t matter.
I was thinking about this, this morning after my little man decided to experiment with tipping his large cup of milk all over his right leg, and then screaming because he was surprised by the consequence.
Because it doesn’t matter if I hose off one chair, two chairs, or all six chairs in one go – they’ll still all be fine in about half an hour. And think that’s pretty cool.
I had my first violin lesson at the age of 7. I don’t remember it, but my teacher was Mrs Desley Lappan and I was in Grade 3 at MacGregor Primary School. I would have started with plucking the open strings, and then graduated after a little while to playing with the bow. I had a quarter size instrument, then as I grew, my parents bought the subsequent sizes until, by the time I was in High School and playing in the Queensland Youth Orchestra’s Junior String Ensemble, I was practicing at least half an hour a day, 6 days a week, on my full size violin.
I didn’t particularly enjoy it, but it was something that I was good at, and I liked it for that. By Year 12 I was practicing 2 -3 hours per day, 6 – 7 days a week, and I achieved a “B” in Year 7 AMEB in Violin (I also completed Year 6 AMEB Piano and Year 5 AMEB Musicianship, but that’s another story). I was playing by ear. I was also tutoring younger students from home, and playing (and touring) with the Brisbane Regional Youth Orchestra.
I never completed Year 8 AMEB. I stayed in the Orchestra a few more years, transferring across to Double Bass for my last little while there, and together with some other orchestra people, we travelled out to Goondiwindi once or twice to help tutor the students there. But I never continued with formal lessons, and thus never completed my exams. And I’m okay with that – I got to a good enough standard that if someone sings me a tune, I can play it. And reading music’s easy enough as well.
But today, I mainly play in church, and in lessons with my remaining student. (I had close to a dozen students a few years back, but decided that it wasn’t really what I wanted. Now I just have one, a good friend who’s ten years older than me.) And that’s exactly the way I want it.
For the past two Sundays, the music team that I’m a part of at Church, has been rostered on. We generally do a two-week slot every few months. So two weekends ago I played, and Miss 4, who had come to church with me while Hubby stayed home with the other two, sat on her seat in the front row, playing on my muted iPhone. During the second bracket of songs, the kids went out to the Church’s Easter Holiday program, and Miss 4 went with. But as the Easter program is different to the normal program, Miss 4 got confused and walked herself back down to the church. She then wandered down the middle aisle, up to the stage, saying loudly “I don’t know where to go, Mummy!” She walked up the stairs with her favourite toy, Spot, and over to me. I bent down, and asked her to sit quietly next to me until I finished playing, when I would take her. So sit she did. And play with Spot, “walking” him up and down the microphone stand, making him “talk” as she did so. Very cute, very funny, but not particularly conducive to “leading the congregation in worship”!! Luckily there were only two songs, so once we’d finished I quickly scooped her up and walked her up to the Holiday program.
Last weekend, my team was on again. Again, Miss 4 wanted to come with me to church, and the other two wanted to stay home. Again, I told Miss 4 that, when the kids went out, if she wanted to walk herself up, she could, or she could wait until I’d finished, then I’d take her. She decided on the latter, so stayed in the front row while the other kids left. Unfortunately, these two songs were long ones. And Miss 4 knew that she was missing out, so she decided to try and hurry me up, so I could take her earlier. She knew that going up onto the stage was not what I wanted, but she wanted to be close to me, so she left her seat, walked up the stairs, and then decided to play on the top couple of steps. And, not having Spot to play with this time, decided to hang, and swing from, the handrail conveniently placed there just for her to swing from. Throughout both songs. Again, very cute. Again, very funny. Again, not really what I’d wanted her to do!!! At least she was quiet this time though… and not being near a microphone…
After church, my Music Team leader asked me if I was right for next week. Apparently that first week that we’d done was just a fill in for another team. I said, ‘Sure” – but now I’m wondering what Miss 4 will get up to this weekend…!
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One hour later…
And we’re back at home. Miss 7, wrestling in the lounge with Hubby who is unexpectedly back home from surfing, announces excitedly, “Mummy! Daddy! Look!!! The butterfly’s hatched!!!”
And she was right.
What a gorgeous creature!
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Saturday mornings…
Mr 3, Miss 4 are watching Miss 7. She’s racing a skier – at least, it’s a person going down a snowy slope, but it might be a snowboarder, not a skier, I’m not too sure! – in the PS2 game “SnowDream” at Beerwah Library. We’ve chosen our books, DVD’s, CD’s and toys and Miss 7 has picked up some extra readers for the week, and now it’s play time. Before we came, the kids had Dora the Explorer and Diego to entertain them at home while I skyped, working on the proposal for an assignment due later this semester. Later, we’ll be making some lasagne together – one for tonight plus some smaller ones that we’ll freeze, and just hanging out doing what the kids want to do.
I love Saturdays. Especially when they’re like this.
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Facing fears.
This morning I finally faced some fears and googled ‘autism’ and ‘aspergers’. I discovered the existence of PPD-NOS and found out that a Gluten Free diet, or a GFCF diet, may be a possible treatment option for Mr2 – if he does indeed have it.
Something I read touched me deeply. It was from ‘Ten things I wish you knew’ – written from the point of view of a child with Aspergers. At the end, it said “Patience, patience, patience”. Something I know I don’t have enough of.
Also this morning, I read 2 Corinthians Chapter 10. What hit me was the idea of the peoples’ faith “continuing to grow”. Something I pray may happen to my reserves of patience.
Have a blessed day today, my readers.
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Time to relax!
Source: weheartit.com via Natasha on Pinterest
This week has been eventful, to say the least! And yes, that was indeed ‘pun intended’ – regular readers of my blog would know that in the past 7 days, my husband turned 40, my middle child turned 3 and yesterday, my eldest turned 7. Plus, the #blog5daysAustenese ‘event’ was certainly a more difficult – yet interesting! – journey than I had expected. It was absolutely wonderful for me to be completing this with four other brave souls, whose writing was nothing short of incredibly inspiring. Thank you so much, my friends! You guys are the greatest!
@jobeaz, at Macaronic
@Girlwithshoess, at Justgirlwithshoes
@kalgrl, at Feral Librarian Tales
@jzgarnett, at Randomly Yours, Julia
On the work front this week, I successfully achieved daily blogging and more-than-twice-daily tweeting. More time accessing information from my PLN led me to discover www.ifttt.com (my new fave website – check it out, if you haven’t yet!) and all of *that* led me to an email conversation with Alexander Tibbets, one of the guys creating ifttt, and *that* then led to an invite to connect on LinkedIn. So I finished the week with one of my 40 connections, one of the creators of my new favourite website. Pretty cool!!!
So. That’s that all done. Another week over. I wonder what next week will bring?
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What a weekend!
It’s 8.40pm and I’ve finally put down my tome. It’s taken several days, but I’ve finally finished Austen’s Mansfield Park. Apparently her favourite work, it is the one I find most difficult, the hardest slog to get through. But enough of that, I wanted to blog about my weekend.
My mother had asked, earlier in the week, if she could have my three cherubs from Saturday midday through to Sunday midday. Happy to oblige, I booked Hubby and myself into the Mecure Brisbane for the night, using my complimentary night’s accommodation courtesy membership in Accor Advantage Plus.
So Hubby’s surf Saturday morning was followed by my dropping off the kidlets, then a unhurried journey to the Mercure and after Hubby’s dip in the pool (water far too cool for my tastes!) we headed to Cafe Mondial, our latest favourite Brisbane restaurant.
Their chef does a gorgeous Veal Medallion, and what better way to complement this than to see Sherlock – A Game of Shadows, chased down with a Caramel Belgian Waffle.
We then discussed, but decided to avoid (studiously on my part!) the Casino, choosing instead to visit the sculptures outside Brisbane Square Library. And then called it a night.
So I was wide awake by 1am. I guess my body’s not used to so many hour’s sleep, all in a row! But the bed was so comfy, it didn’t take long before I was in the land of zzzzz’s again. And this pattern repeated itself until 6.
We talked during our buffet breakfast this morning about the luxury of a good mattress, as we had both slept so well. So we checked out, drove back to the Coast, and went and bought a new mattress. With an hour to kill before our freedom disappeared, we ended up under a pandanus tree at Alexandra Heads, sitting, relaxing, talking, and me tweeting about the #blog5daysAustenese challenge, with Hubby laughing at me for spending more time on my iHone HootSuite app than talking to him!
We collected our gorgeous three, and spent a relaxing afternoon and evening at home, me slogging my way through Mansfield Park.
So now it’s time to hit ‘publish’ and go watch Big Bang Theory. Til tomorrow, dear readers!
