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#blog12daysxmas

Day 7 #blog12daysxmas

On the seventh day of Christmas, my family and me…
– started a new routine, hopefully! Violin lessons all round, first up on a Monday morning. Hopefully this’ll last longer than my #selfie #photochallenge…
– Hubby cleaned my car, inside & out. How amazing is my man!!!
– I watched Disc 3 of ‘Once Upon a Time’ series 1, with both special features (commentary over episode). Very interesting to hear Robert Carlisle’s thoughts on it all!
– Went to North Lakes. Cos we could. And,
– Not that it’s happened yet, but I’m planning on waking Miss 7 & watching the fireworks with her at midnight… from the ‘crow’s nest’ section of the cubby house, of course!

Happy New Year, dear readers!!! (and check out my car!)

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#blog12daysxmas

Day 6 #blog12daysxmas

On the sixth day of Christmas, my family and me…
– woke late after a very awful night, Miss 7 up twice with sore legs and Mr 3 up too many times to count
– explored the idea of ‘being in a pit’ at church. And left with the thought “When life stinks, remember you need fertiliser to grow”
– spent a lazy afternoon snoozing and watching DVD’s… still working my way through Season 1 of ‘Once Upon a Time’

A lovely day. See you tomorrow, dear readers!

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#blog12daysxmas

Day 5 #blog12daysxmas

On the fifth day of Christmas, my family and me…
– went our separate ways, as Hubby took the kids to Kings Beach Pool and I went clothes shopping at Morayfield. New work; new wardrobe!
– after lunch, the kids & I visited our wonderful neighbour, and enjoyed cooling off in her pool; after which
– I gardened; Hubby rented DVDs, then he cooked tea, I put the kids to bed, then he watched Promethus while I caught up on Twilight numbers 3 and 4a.

A lovely day. See you tomorrow, dear reader!

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#blog12daysxmas Uncategorized

Day 4 #blog12daysxmas

On the fourth day of Christmas, my family and me…
– left Hervey Bay just before 7am, after a night of kid-free packing and cleaning
– stopped for breakfast at Maryborough McDonalds, then another playground break at Alford Park, Gympie

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– made it home by midday, and surprised Hubby who arrived home from fishing ten minutes later
– did a load a washing, fed the kids lunch, then crashed (for over an hour Woohoo!!!)
– went shopping for more clothes detergent… and
– we’re currently tossing up whether or not fish and chips on the beach is a good idea with these clouds… and I just heard thunder…

Oh! It’s good to be home!

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#blog12daysxmas

Blogging mojo

Okay, I know, I know. I’ve been pretty lax in this last couple of weeks, and haven’t managed to post every Monday / Wednesday / Friday, as I had hoped. Sorry, dear readers! Life kinda got in the way – and perhaps Miss 7 being back, home from school, may have had something to do with that busy-ness… but I’m not sure.

Anyway, I need to get my blogging mojo back again, I think, so I’ll be doing #blog12daysxmas again, here on Hmmm… – so this is an open invitation, to anyone who wants to join me! We start December 25, and blog daily for 2 days, on whatever topic you like. This ‘blogging challenge’ was the impetus I needed, and used, to get Hmmm… started three years ago. Maybe it can be yours too?

Think about it! And have a lovely day! 🙂

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#blog12daysxmas Life momentous events

From online to real life

I started this blog on December 24, 2010. I’d just finished my first semester of study in the Masters in IT I’m completing at QUT, and thought I may as well ‘bite the bullet’ and join the blogosphere. I just needed some impetus.

It was provided for me through the person of @fionawb – the Health Librarian at Caboolture and Redcliffe Hospitals, who issued a challenge via twitter, for people to join her in blogging over the twelve days of Christmas. And I thought ‘why not?!!’ – so I did. Even though we were on holidays and I was caravan bound with Hubby and three little ‘uns; even though floods caught us and we were stranded for a wile, and then found it difficult getting home; I still managed to blog daily and was very proud of myself for doing so. And I received very positive feedback from my fellow #blog12daysxmas bloggers, and had felt that I had joined a little ‘blogging / tweeting community of IT-savvy Librarians’. It was good.

Fast forward to this week. On Monday, I spoke to @fionawb for the very first time. It was rather an embarrassing conversation from my point of view – I was so over-the-moon to be speaking with her ‘in person’ that I giggled like a schoolgirl through the majority of the phonecall, and apologised incessantly for the rest of it. LOL! But she graciously appeared to overlook the first, and reassure me over the second, so that lessened my mortification a little.

The reason for our phonecall was to arrange to meet. Yes – face to face!!! And this happened yesterday; we met for coffee across from the Caboolture Hospital and talked all things twitter, Library, University, and life. It was SO good! To meet someone IRL who you’ve only interacted with over twitter (and a couple of REALLY dodgy drawings on my part over that ‘DrawSomething’ app) – to realise that such a person *really* exists – is flesh and blood, and not just a disembodied entity on the other end of a social network – is bizarre and mind-blowing and so incredibly cool!

Something I hadn’t really expected, was to connect so well with her. To laugh, to digress from topic to topic (well, that was probably more me than her!) and to share ‘mystery’ chewy dragees. To completely identify with the whole concept of working ‘solo’ and thus relying on our PLNs so heavily. To enjoy the “Okay, short life history… back when I was five years old…” moments – in fact, to almost expect them, from our interactions over twitter.

All in all, it was an amazing experience, one I look forward to repeating. Thanks, Fi, for being the highlight of my day yesterday. And I can’t wait to meet the rest of my PLN! Roll on NLS6!!!

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#blog12daysxmas #blog5daysAustenese #blogjune Random thoughts

Getting older, getting wiser?

Today is the last day of June. Today I’m finishing this #blogjune challenge, where I’ve tried diligently to blog every day. This was my second attempt at #blogjune, and I’m proud to say that I was a lot more consistent this year!

So, according to my calendar, I am one year older. I wonder however, whether or not it’s possible to measure if I am one year wiser?!

I certainly had a lot of new experiences this year. Since my last #blogjune, I have (in chronological-ish order):
Studied an elective outside the LIS sphere. I didn’t like it.
– Added six new clients to my new “Bloxham Marketing” business.
– Started, and finished, gymnastics lessons for Miss 7.
– Started, and have continued with, swimming lessons for Miss 7.
– Used the #blog12daysxmas challenge to start blogging regularly again.
Read so many Jane Austen novels that I initiated the #blog5daysAustenese challenge… and had four brave fellow bloggers join me in the journey!
Presented a 3 hour digital marketing presentation live on LEQ TV.
Plucked up enough courage to see if Mr 3 was autistic.
Had my daughter’s eyes tested, and sure enough Miss 7 now wears glasses for reading.
– Supported a good friend who was doctoring in New Guinea. We’d meet each other daily, online, and hold each other accountable in our Christian walks.

– Scored a HD in INN530 Online Information Services, courtesy of the truly wonderful @katiedatwork (still can’t believe that one. SOOOOOOOOOO majorly STOKED!!!!!!)

So… older? Yes. That bit’s inevitable. Wiser? I’m not so sure. I certainly hope so, though! And here ends the #blogjune challenge for another year. I wonder what will happen between this one and the 2013 version? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!

Thanks for sharing this journey with me, dear readers. Your support is far more of an encouragement than you could ever know. You guys rock!!!

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#blog12daysxmas Blogging challenges Bloxham Marketing family anecdotes GoodOldTalk More about me Random thoughts teaching Technology Work

My online identity – part two of two

Yesterday I posted (well, re-posted, actually!) an entry from my first-ever (and now inactive) blog. It outlined three questions that I return to again and again, when considering my online identity.

1. What do my images say about me?

2. What am I saying about me? and

3. What am I not saying about me?

Well, that was a little over 18 months ago. So what has changed? How do I now view ‘success’ in creating and maintaining my online identity?

Source: Uploaded by user via Megan on Pinterest

18 months ago, I was just starting out with online tools. Sure, GoodOldTalk.com had been up and running for a little over a year, and I had an inactive twitter account, and I had been on Facebook for a while, but that was about it. No flickr, no YouTube, and so on – and I didn’t even know that tools such as TweetDeck, HootSuite existed – let alone EverNote, Instagram, DropBox, StumbleUpon, Tumblr, etc etc etc.

Now however, I’ve been self-employed for a year. I’ve been running my own Marketing business, and not only have I seen the need to be in social media for Bloxham Marketing, but creating and maintaining social media accounts for my clients is an integral part of my business. Which has meant that I’m a lot more ‘out there’ than I ever have been.

This blog has also played a major part in the evolution of my opinion regarding my online identity. I started it Christmas 2010, using @fionawb‘s #blog12daysChristmas as an impetus. My PLN, formed for the most part by Librarians on twitter, was integral in maintaining this blog throughout its development, to what it is today. Through the relationships I now have with online friends, I have come to see that it’s probably okay to relax a little from that hard-liner stance I had, 18 months ago.

1. What do my images say about me? That’s been a toughy. I like to add an image to each of my blog entries, however when I want to write about my kids, and I don’t want to upload their images to the net, that’s a little problematic. So a few weeks back now, I dedicated a post to each, and included their photo (albeit, not a particularly identifiable one!) Plus, in my recent exploration of Pinterest, and its ability to easily embed (and attribute, of sorts!) into WordPress, that’s made my life a little easier. Now I feel as though I can show a little of who I am / what I like through the images I display – even though these images don’t necessarily have me in the frame or behind the camera.

2. What do I say about myself? Again, I’ve probably been more vulnerable than I had ever thought I would be. From entries about my gambling addiction (coming up to 20 years not being at a BlackJack table – as much as I still think about it more regularly than I’d like!) to my miscarriage, from my employment problems to my time in a cult, I’ve exposed quite a lot about myself… but then again, “my friends IRL know this stuff about me, and I’m comfortable sharing with them, so why not others?” is how I see it. Obviously, I keep my personal stuff on this blog, and my Bloxham Marketing blog is all about the work side of my life, however when I think of my online identity, I’m trying to reflect who I am as a person. As much as I’d like to cover up the yuk stuff, and pretend to be something I’m not, I have a feeling that I wouldn’t be able to keep it up for too long, and then you, my dear readers, would see right through it – and then, where would I be?!

3. What do I NOT say about me? Again, this has changed, in the light of my being far more open online than I had expected I would be. I’m still wary of PII, however as a self-employed business owner, I need to be contactable by potential clients, so my contact details are accessible in what I feel are the appropriate places. And as for embarrassing myself with inappropriate photos / videos / stories? Yup – pretty much all of them are in the “not sayin’!! basket”!

So – this is me. What do you think? Agree? Or disagree? I’d love to hear your thoughts…

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#blog12daysxmas Random thoughts teaching Technology

Oh, the joys!

On New Year’s Day, hubby and I took the kids to Bribie Island for the day, with some good friends and their three children. Afterwards, we ate at their place, and Miss 3 found Wall-E, a v-tech toy that belonged to the other family’s Mr 7. He was more than happy for her to borrow it for a little while, so for the past five days we’ve been regaled with all the sounds that accompany the dozen-odd educational games he plays.

I also instituted a new house *rule* recently, as I was completely and utterly OVER the wastage of food by my own three gorgeous cuties, at meal time. Miss 6 and Miss 3 currently earn pocket money (Mr 2 will start this as well, when he becomes Mr 3 in a couple of months) and they love spending it on whatever takes their fancy. But now, to teach them the value of food, if they leave any food – for example, crusts on their plate after their morning toast – then they *pay* me whatever amount equates to the amount that is left. Sometimes it’s 5 cents, sometimes 10 cents – and boy they learned to not eat a huge morning tea the day that they both left half their lunch, and had to pay back 25 cents each! Some might be horrified at me for my ruthlessness, but boy! it’s working! There’s a LOT less food wastage since they’ve learned that food costs money!

The thing is though, I’ve started paying them pocket money in 5 cent pieces, instead of 10 cent pieces. Which is no real biggie to Miss 6, but is quite the novelty to Miss 3. And her interest in all things ‘money’ led her to pretend that Wall-E was a short, kid’s version, of an ATM.

Long story sort, my friend’s Mr 7’s expensive v-tech Wall-E now has several 5 cent pieces floating around his insides.

Whoops!!!

 

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#blog12daysxmas Random thoughts

I’m thinking it’s Day 11, but I might be wrong…!

Okay, so I’ve mentioned several (hundred?!!) times on this blog that my Maths leaves a lot to be desired. But even I think that I’ve reached a new low point. Seriously – being unable to count to 12?!! But that’s the situation I find myself in when constructing a title for this post. Cos I looked back, and on New Year’s Eve I wrote that it was Day 7. Which means that today is Day 11. But according to my twitterfeed, others also in #blog12daysxmas are only on Day 10. So what’s up with me?!! (Edit – I’ve just had a thought. Back on Boxing Day, I read a number of tweets from people who were confused about exactly which day to start. So maybe that explains it…?!)

So today was a lovely day. I spent some time just hanging with a truly lovely lady and her three gorgeous kids, and then got stuck into more Bloxham Marketing stuff. (It was good to remember to remove the 2011 Church worship times from the St James website, too!) I also found time to watch a couple of taped episodes of the Big Bang Theory!

All in all, a good day. The best bit – spending time at Max’s grave. And smiling over the memories.

See you tomorrow for Day 12! (Or is it 11?!! LOL)