Categories
Random thoughts Work

Catching up

So today I played catch up. I’ve been majorly neglecting sleeping, eating properly, and just the usual run-of-the-mill stuff that I always neglect, those of you who know me IRL. So today was catch up day. I washed clothes. I washed dishes. I shopped for food (and caught up on some sleep in the car while Hubby drove!) I cooked food. I cleaned various parts of the house. I even noticed a headache that didn’t want to shift. (It had probably been there for days, but I’ve been too busy to notice!) I started filing the never-ended mountain of paperwork that seems to be getting even bigger now I’ve scored the marketing consultancy at St James in Hervey Bay. (Absolutely BRILLIANT school, by the way!!! Really going places; it’s got an excellent team at the top – visionaries who also know how to successfully implement that vision. Which is pretty rare. And I’ve been in and around a LOT of schools! FYI, did you know that EVERY kid from Year 7 up has an iPod Touch which they use – in every curriculum area?! How cool is THAT?!!!)

And catching up on stuff today allowed me quite a bit of time for introspection. Which is cool. I’m starting to not mind the whole ‘figure out who I am’. And today’s thinking was in the context of my work life. Brought about courtesy of Craig Hewlett, President of 101.5 FM, who invited me to do a DJ-ing course at his station, yesterday. He seems to think that I’ve got a good voice for radio. (Poor guy had to listen to me for 6 hours straight at the St Paul’s Spring Fair Teen Space yesterday, and that probably addled his brains!) Anyway, he was pretty serious about the offer – it’s a paid course, and he offered to sponsor me to do it! How cool is that! Unfortunately, I had to say no (for the time being). Even though I’m always up for a challenge, even I think that adding something like that to my life would just be stupid. After all, I have 3 kids, and my eldest is 6; I run a website, a tutoring business and I’m the QLD distributor for another business; and then I’m working pretty much full-time as the Marketing consultant to two schools. Oh, and somewhere in there I’m also managing to find the time to study for my Masters in IT. (So stoked about finishing that 40%er last Thursday!!! And a HUGE thank you to Tony Wilson, QUT’s Marketing and Communication Director, for permission to use that awesome quote of his!!!) Which leads me to believe that, although working as a radio DJ would be such a cool thing to do, maybe now might not be the time to consider it. (Oh, and did I also mention I’ve been invited to join the Golden Key International Honour Society?! Pretty chuffed!)

So anyway, today I got stuff done. Not that I haven’t been getting stuff done recently, but today’s was different stuff. And that’s cool. By the way, I particularly dislike filing.

Categories
places to visit Random thoughts University studies Work

Hanging on by my toenails

I feel like a bug. Still alive – barely – and hanging on for dear life. I’m standing on the windscreen of the vehicle that is my life, and it’s currently going full-speed, flat out, non-stop.

Hopefully that vehicle’s not a train careering along a decrepit railway line, else I’m headed for a massive train wreck!!!

(On the up-side: I’ve completed two of my three assessment pieces for AMN400 Consumer Behaviour – which I’m loving, by the way – and I’ve painted seven street signs in the last two weeks; and I’m on top of the St. Paul’s yearbook to date; and I’ve started working (successfully, too!) at St James at Hervey Bay, both in person and over email, internet, skype; and Miss Three is now completely toilet trained; and – best thing of all – Spring Fair is on today which means that sometime around 4pm I’ll be able to breathe again!!!!!!!!)

Woohoo!!! LOVING my life right now!!

Categories
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.

Categories
Uncategorized

Not. Happy.

At all. Not in the slightest.

Our idiotic State Government has just decided to add 20 kilometres to every single car trip I make, by closing access points which join my road to the Bruce Highway.

Not happy.

 

Categories
University studies

Stoked as!

Just discovered that I scored a High Distinction in a course I finished last semester. That brings my total so far to 3 HD’s and 3 D’s.

SOOOOOOOO darn stoked!!!

Categories
GoodOldTalk Random thoughts teaching

Tired but happy.

All things considered, I’m doin’ okay.

I’ve spent the last three days in front of a Year 2 classroom. The kids were absolutely delightful – as all classes at St Paul’s Lutheran are, come to think of it – but coming hard on the heels of a fantastic ‘do-nothing’ holiday which followed several weeks of zero relief teaching days – three consecutive days was a bit of a shock for my sometimes-working- sometimes-not voice. (Yup. Haven’t seen a doctor yet. Probably should. I know.) It was also a bit of a shock to my kids too, I think. But they coped really well.

Mum, on the other hand, lost sleep. But that was because I’d had too much of a good holiday and hadn’t looked properly at my calendar.

You see, she and I set up the website goodoldtalk.com – a social network for Seniors. And last year, I attended the Senior’s Expo and Forum organised by Peter Slipper MP, on behalf of the GOT site. So we were invited back this year, and me in my un-organised post-holiday haze didn’t realise that I’d double booked teaching over the Forum day. Whoops! So I taught Year 2, and Mum was the GOT ambassador. With two other absolutely fantastic GOT members who also agreed to (wo)man the GOT stand. Apparently they had an absolute ball – I knew they would, but they were a little hesitant about it, having always left the ‘speaking engagements’ to me. But not only did they have a fantastic time of it, they scored another FOUR speaking engagements, and a radio producer of a local community radio station was so excited by the concept, that he’s signed up to the site, blogged already, and intends to promote us on the radio waves. Woohoo!!!

Pretty cool. And I believe that makes up for missing out on the cocktail party with the Hon. Bronwyn Bishop at Peter and Inge Slipper’s do last night. Seeing as I was dead-on-my-feet anyway!

Categories
University studies Work

Absolute bliss

I’m heading towards the end of what has been an absolutely incredible holiday in Hervey Bay, housesitting while the owner is at a conference in New Zealand. Poor hubby is still at work, so it’s me and teh kids staying in our pj’s until lunchtime, watching DVD’s and playing playstation, spending time on the beach and at the playgrounds, and (once the kids are in bed of an evening) I’ve been having oodles and oodles of ME TIME!!!!! It’s been just so incredible – a quiet house, a DVD library that rivals that of a DVD store, and hundreds of books that I’ve never read.

The first two and a half days saw me devour (ha!) the ‘Twilight’ series. I must say, I’m very impressed with Stephenie Meyer’s writing style! It’s no wonder that Twilight has the legion of fans it has. Kudos to her!

And then it was time to finish Miss 6’s blanket that I’ve been crocheting for the past 5 years. (Yup, it’s a bit embarrassing, hey. But a disclaimer – I’m not overly slow; I’ve just been busy…!) But that’s done now, and she’s very impressed with it. So was Miss 3, who immediately started nagging me to make her scarf. (I had promised her a purple scarf to match Miss 6’s pink one.) So that meant a trip to Pialba, which was worth it for the $2.97 sale on the wool I wanted. The colour range was also more than adequate, so I splurged and bought all the wool I needed to make Miss 3’s blanket as well. My plan is to start it after the scarf – maybe tomorrow? – and hopefully finish it before she gets married. (Ha! If the past is anything to go by, that may not be too unrealistic a prediction! And then Master 2 will get his scarf, and blanket, by the time he’s about 30. Hmmm… perhaps I should pick up the pace?!)

I’ve also been organising the creation of two retractable banners for St Paul’s, with the aim of their being made and delivered to the school by Wednesday of next week, our Open Day. But I’m cutting it a bit fine with that one, as the profs are still being negotiated, and there’s usually a five day turnaround on production… wish me luck that it gets finalised today!

I’ve also been busy preparing for, and pitching, Mr Shane Altmann, the principal of St James Lutheran College. It was pretty crazy, putting down on paper all the work I’ve accomplished for St Paul’s since starting there mid-February. And when I ran through it, I even impressed myself! Shane also seemed rather impressed when I pitched him my proposal yesterday; who knows but I may soon be the marketing consultant for their school as well…?!! That’d be pretty cool. Just as St Paul’s is majorly brilliant with their positive, supportive school culture, genuine care for each and every child, and very strong focus on academics, St James blows everyone out of the water with their iPod Touch program, now with one-to-one devices across the whole of Middle School. Considering that they’re only P-9 in 2011, there’s so much potential for their future! The possibility of marketing their college is an extremely exciting one. And add to that the experience of working geographically distant from the college, and making that work, I must admit a sense of real enthusiasm at the idea. Guess I’ll find out in the next week or so?!

And judging by the increase in emails from QUT, I’m guessing that Uni either returned for Sem II on Monday, or will be next Monday. Seeing as I’m now enrolled in INN440 Consumer Behaviour, roll on my first ever Marketing course!

Categories
Random thoughts

peevish.

Late, very late, Sunday night, I found a property I wanted. Not that I want to move, but sometimes I just run a few searches through realestate.com to see what’s out there for sale.

So I found, amongst others, an island for sale near Hervey Bay, a shack on large acreage which had (no joke) curtains instead of doors to the two bedrooms and a HUGE mural landscape painted on the wall, and… a property I instantly fell in love with. As in, one I decided that i WANTED. Badly.

Monday morning, I find out that no, this property is not for sale at 310K. That was a typo. Instead, it’s 590K. Which puts a whole new spin on things. So now I’m left with the knowledge that I still REALLY want the property, but can absolutely NOT afford it in any way, shape or form. (Let’s be realistic here… even 310K was pushing it! I’d need my best manipulative skills to convince Hubby of that one. At 590K, I don’t even stand the minutest of a chance.)

So. I’m peeved. Just thought I’d share.

(Anyone got a spare half a million they don’t mind lending me? LOL)

Categories
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??!!!

Categories
University studies Work

So stoked!

It’s a-happening! I’ve been given the green light! In just a few short months, I’ll know a whole heap more about consumer behaviour thanks to Professor Brett Martin and AMN400.

Woohoo!!!