Are You Talking To Me?

Lately blogging has been tricky.  Mainly because I have found it hard to actually make the time to blog and partly because when I have made the time ideas are few and far between.  Which of course means I make even less time and it is all just one vicious circle.

On the rare occasions where thoughts have began to flow and sentences formed I have then proceeded to tear them apart and decide they are no where nearly good enough to warrant taking up precious time sharing with others.  Enough to  make me get back on the vicious circle ride that barely allowed me time to write.  Only to get off write and whingy post about nothing except whine whine whine and wait for in line to return to the never ending cycle.

Deep breath.

Actually it is not just blogging that has been a little tricky lately.  Life itself feels like it is currently set in a quasi struggle town that has been sucked dry of motivation and enthusiasm.  I seem to feel constantly drained and run down, unable to find the energy needed to happily coast through the day and adequately meet all the requirements before me.  Let alone exceed expectations.

I know greatness is out there.  I have seen glimpses so I know it exists.  I just can't seem to grasp it. 


More deep breathes.


When I first started blogging I would just write what was in my head.  I never put much thought into it.  I just wanted to practise writing.  For whatever reason, keeping a hand written journal/diary thing never worked out to well for me.  I struggled to make the time to do it.  I thought that using technology would make it more exciting and maybe encourage me to write more regularly.  Then I started to get the notion that if I was writing I should be read.

To a certain extent I was right.  At least to start with.  However the novelty of it all started to fade as I discovered all the other things one could do on a computer.  You know things like Facebook games, or Twitter stalking, not to mention the likes of Pinterest.  (Mind you back then Pinterest was no where to be seen but you get the picture I am sure)  The fact that I wasn't getting read as much as I expected was also what you might call disheartening.  The theory write and they shall read is not quite as easy as it sounds.

Sadly I didn't (and possibly still don't) have much idea on self promotion and the like.  Back when I started I had no idea on how to attract readers.  Sure I saw people talking about SEO content or something  along those lines but I couldn't really see how it involved me.  I thought that I just had to write and before long I would be a hit.  It appears as if I have an ego that is in constant need of attention. The whole writing for myself doesn't seem to work all that well for me.  I want to write to be read.

Of course if people are going to the trouble of reading what I am writing I want to ensure that they are reading something worth while.  Or at least not left feeling like they have wasted their time.  Which naturally starts to take me back to the never ending ride I mentioned earlier.

Not surprisingly I spend a lot of time thinking about what I may or may not write.  This is actually the third post I have thought about today.  The first I actually managed to begin drafting, which by the way, is a rather new process for me.  It is not yet finished but all going to plan it should be ready to link up with the lovely Jess for #IBOT on Tuesday.

The next is one that I have been thinking about for a few days.  It was going to be titled What ANZAC Day means to me, or perhaps ANZAC Day 2002, Ten Years On.  I haven't got to it yet.  It will be a hard story to tell.  One that will take me through a bucket load of emotional crap and divulge a range of secrets I am still not completely sure I am ready to share but also doubt I can hold onto much longer.

I actually came here to start getting it all out.  Given ANZAC Day is now been and gone I will probably need to come up with a new title.  Anyway.  Before I started writing it I fluffed around on FB for a while and reorganised the top sites window that appears when I open my browser.  From there I thought I would check out a few of my favourite blogs.  It has been a while since I did some reading and what better time to read blogs than Saturday night?

The first place I went to was Edenland.  I have no idea when I first came across her but it is only because Jess said she was so lovely that I have started hanging out there recently.  By the way lovely is a bit of an understatement.  She is AWESOME.  Truly inspiring both as a woman and a blogger.  In fact in many ways she is the blogger I thought I would be.  Maybe not with tattoos and rough as hell life but more so with the awesome.

When I read this post I felt like she was talking to me.  Like directly to me.

So far I don't have a post to enter but there are still a few days.

Somethings never change and some stay the same

I can't believe how much time I seem to spend thinking the same thing over and over.  Thinking yeah that is a great idea! Yeah! I should do that for sure! Life would be great if I did things like that! Full of gusto and energy in thought.  Only for some reason I never seem to actually make it happen.

Source

My entire life feels like it is a constant struggle to make something happen. At times I have no idea what exactly it is that is meant to be happening I am just sure that something should. After all that is what life is about isn't it? Things happening all the time? I mean if things didn't happen then life would be rather drull to say the least. (For the spellos out there I meant to have the letter 'r', I am hoping to make a new word, drull, it means, really, really dull...drull...help me get it out there :)

Right now I should be cleaning the house but I just can't face it. I hate housework and cleaning and all that domesticated crap more than anything you could possibly think of. Besides, how would I ever find time to write if I was forever doing housework? Oh wait...that's right apart from right now I haven't...(gets up to answer phone...loses trail of thought)

Anyway as I think I was saying right now sitting in front of my lovely iMac listening to some groovy tunes is a much preferred option to washing distugstingly dirty dishes (cringes as she changes song from heavy metal pollution...nearly 10 mins later...

Is it any wonder that I never seem to make anything happen? Sure plenty of stuff happens...but how much happened because I chose it to? Most of the stuff that happens to me is because I let it. Very little at times seems to happen because it was something I actively set out to do.

Let me try and give you an example..

Great. Nice time for my mind to pull a blank. I got nothing. This writing gig is not all that it is cracked up to be. I guess I will come back to that later...

For most of my life, or at least for as much of it as I can remember, I have been under the misguided impression that I am a talented writer. Somewhere deep within me I just know that I havewords of such wisdom that the world will look at me in awe...well may not awe but at least admiration or something cool like that.

The flaw with this grand notion of mine is that to be a writer I must actively write. And actively write is not just once every three or four times a month, actively write is at least five times a week. How else will these supposed pearls of wisdom be shared amongst the masses if I don't make the time to write? What better platform to spring myself to stardom from than blogging?

Only once again my plans are inherently flawed. My misconceptions and self created delusion set me up for the feeling of failure. You see I am of the opinion that I should just be able to get it right first time. Somehow my mind has twisted the facts to think that it is without error. In my mind I am a blogging superstar, one that is oblivious to the fact no one else knows that.

So when, after the first few posts and I have not reached a million hits in under a few hours, I get very disheartened and question all that I do. I am starting to think that I need to just bang my head against a wall a few times while someone stands there yelling “you just have to write you bimbo. Write and write and write.”

Over the years I have started so many blogs but for one reason or another they have never felt right. After much consideration and much doubt, I think I am going to stick with A Parenting Life, I think, oh gosh I don't know.....

Lately I have been thinking about creating a new blog called Fairy Wishes and Butterfly Kisses (another catch cry I am trying to create and get used by the wider community hopefully you might have already heard of it before now...)

Anyway I have managed to keep your attention for just over 720 words now and I don't really want to push my luck to much further. Not just with you as a reader but also myself in the real world. My house is in dire need of attention and darling hubs has been very understanding but as I am discovering everyone has limits and sometimes they do not need stretching, Which can be a contentious issue as modern ideology is often all about going beyond yourself but more on that at another time I think.

If you are still reading this, and boy I hope you are, please do me a favour and have a good look around. Click a few links, leave a comment, share a thought, whatever, I just like knowing people have stopped by.

Joining in with my fellow IBOTers for 

The Height Of Excitement

That was what I reached on Saturday.  And then some.
Words can not actually begin to explain just how excited I was.

You may recall that a few weeks ago I had a birthday.  I didn't actually say that much about it at the time but I received the BEST present ever.  Well technically I received a voucher for the BEST present ever, which is why I never went on about it too much at the time.  I knew that the time to go on about it was when the voucher had been redeemed.

Saturday was that day.

On Saturday I jumped out of a perfectly good air plane.

It was 12, 000 ft up in the air.
It took a tiny little plane twenty minutes to get that high.
There were five people crammed into.  It was very squishy.  I have no photos of this squishy plane or the people (all men but me) crammed into it because when jumping out of a plane accessories are limited, apparently my camera or any other photo taking device exceed that limit.

I wasn't overly fussed because the lovely man I was attached to as I jumped out the plane also had a video camera attached to him so he could make me a groovy little DVD to remember the occasion by.  While I may have watched said DVD at least ten times already, I am yet to put it on the computer to share here.  Though it is on the to do list.

Back to jumping out of planes though.

I can't remember how long we free falled for but it was a bit.  It was fast and noisy.  The sensation of the wind on my skin was unlike anything I have ever felt.  I have no photos of it as we were to high for the camera to pick up.

I then spent around 45 seconds...

...Just floating around

It. Was. Amazing.

Truly amazing.

I loved each and every second of it.  I would do it again in an instant.  It was the biggest rush I have ever felt.  Just pure adrenaline.  I still haven't stopped smiling from it all.

Totally the BEST thing ever.  EVER.

I am woman hear me roar

I also now have a new profile photo to put up around the place.

Joining with all the fellow IBotters
over at Essentially Jess for

Thankful Thursday - Certainly not a Haiku

This week for Thankful Thursday Kate was challenged to give thanks in the form of a haiku.  Which is a form of Japanese poetry.  Strangely enough when I was pondering over what to give thanks to earlier in the day it had started to take on a bit of poetry feel to it.  When I saw the prompt I just knew it was meant to be.

Well at least until I actually sat down to write it.  Turns out that writing in haiku is not exactly natural for me. (Not overly surprising really)  I did manage to get something out though and if you are just dying to read my efforts go here

I actually have so much to be thankful this week I don't really know where to start.  I had been thinking that I would dedicate this post to the local radio station.  I have been a regular listen for years now.  They are a community based station and therefore have less commercials than the commercial stations which is something to be truly thankful for.

As is the fact that they play songs I know.  Unlike the commercial stations that seem to play songs that I have never heard and generally feel could be used as a form of torture.  All those young hip hop, doof doof songs are just no good for sensitive (read old) ears like mine.

However it is not just their familiar and easy to listen to music that I am thankful for.  They also have some pretty cool competitions.

Recent times have seen me win two prizes.  The first was premium tickets to see Rhonda Burchmore.  With special passes to meet her after show with drinks and nibbles.  Super super cool.  Being incredibly frugal (read poor) going out for a night is something I rarely (read never) do.  Getting dressed up, heading into town, watching a show, and being out late was pretty exciting.  Not having to find the money for all of this was even more exciting.  Thankful is an understatement for my night out.

Fortune shined on me again when I shared a joined in with the breakfast crew's Worst Joke Wednesday.  The night before I was tweasvedropping on a conversation with Kate and Marita when I came across one of the funniest jokes I have heard for a very very long time.  Even just thinking about it now makes me giggle.  Especially since thanks to it I am now the proud owner of a $50 gift voucher to Hogs Breath.

For as much as I am thankful to be on school holidays I am not thankful that is only for a week.  It is just not long enough.  However come the end of June when it is time for our four week break I will be more than thankful.  Especially since Miss Nearly Eleven will be with us for the whole four weeks.

Which brings me to my next bout of thanks.  I am thankful that Miss Nearly Eleven will be home tomorrow.  She may only have been gone a little over a week but it gee it has been a long little over a week.  Miss Soon to be Six has been beside herself with grief at her sisters absence.  It will be nice for normal to resume.

I am thankful though that she has had the opportunity to have such a wonderful break though.  She has been off adventuring on the Gold Coast and taking in all that theme parks have to offer.  Talk about lucky.

Anyway I could actually go on forever about all the little bit of thanks I have to give...

thankful I can run, or at least try to...thankful that Easter was so enjoyable...thankful that my baby had a beautiful second birthday...thankful that I am feeling much more at ease about not having any more babies...thankful that the above mentioned baby, who is now really a toddler, is still happy to breastfeed (makes the whole not having any more babies thing easier)...

...but I won't because you need to head over to Kate's and read all (well at least a few) of the other great Thankful Thursday posts this week.

The Best iPad apps to Inspire Your Kids Creative Imagination

The following post was brought to you in collaboration with Flexicommercial.  Which just happens to be another one of my OMG is this what happens to cool bloggers? moments.  I guess in many ways this is like my first guest post

Photo thanks to Nadia Meslem

There’s no limit a child’s imagination. They invent worlds, find adventures and create stories every day – drawing their inspiration from everything and everywhere. Meanwhile, the digital age has ushered in a whole new set of tools for children to learn from. In 2010 Mike Elgan from Computerworld labelled the iPad as the ‘Children’s Toy of the Year’ and with the release of new, innovative apps every month the educational potential of the iPad continues to grow. Here are five of the best:

LinguPingu – Language Learning for Children ($4.49):

Children at a young age are incredibly receptive to new languages and this app provides a creative and fun starting point for a child’s bi-lingual or even multi-lingual vocabulary. LinguPingu uses a combination of visual animation and dialogue and is designed to amuse a child for hours. The languages to choose from are English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Chinese and Japanese.

Fairytale Math: Tea Party ($1.99):

This app invites your child on a journey with Alice down the Rabbit Hole to join the Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, March Hare and Dormouse for tea. In this creative environment maths becomes fun and the child is challenged to practice counting, make patterns with objects and practice addition and subtraction. This app will destine your children for a highly successful job in the commercial finance sector!

Deskplorers (Free):

The aim of this app is to combine history with fun and foster within children a passion for learning. The first season of Deskplorers called ‘Jump in Time’ takes children on a journey through history. Episodes in this season include Deskplorers Egyptians and Deskplorers Cavemen. Deskplorers educate children in history through simple but interesting stories filled with animation, images and sound effects. The storylines also include strong morals and are designed to encourage children to understand the importance of the values of trust, respect and empathy. This app is also an effective way for French-learners to practice their French as dialogues are available in French once a chapter is unlocked.

Children’s Classics ($4.99):

Designed by the highly respected artistic team from the innovative technology company ABCOM, Children’s Classics brings nine children stories to life with dazzling visuals your child will love. The stories include the morally driven ‘The Boy who cried Wolf’, ‘Tortoise and Hare’, and ‘Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs’.

Author Bio: Samantha is a creatively inclined parent who writes on technology and commercial finance.

Also because it is Tuesday I have linked it up with the more than awesome Jess for IBOT

The Post I Should Have Written A Week Ago

A week or so into March I received an email from a lovely PR lady.  One who was asking if I was interested in sampling and possibly reviewing some beauty products.  While one part of me was going, wow this is awesome I am slowly making it in the world of blogging, there was another saying something a little different.

It was saying "Really?  Have you really made it anywhere?"

After all this lovely PR lady couldn't even take the time to personally address the email to me. What's more what part of A Parenting Life, suggests that I am interested in beauty products?

Not to mention the fact I am the least like person to ever use a cream, or even lotion, let alone an actual beauty product.

My ego however took charge and before I knew it I was sending off a reply email that basically said yes please send me some of your beauty products.  After all who doesn't love the idea of free stuff.

As it turned out the beauty products were detangling treatments designed with children in mind.

As well as some rather cool washes and soothing relief moisture cream.  

Not exactly what I initially think of when I hear the term beauty products but certainly things I would consider using.  Cracking the big time felt never felt closer.

Coming home to find parcels on my doorstep was pretty exciting.  Opening to find they are beautifully wrapped and tied with pretty ribbon only added to the effect.  Perfect for beautiful bloggy photos I thought to myself as I laid my naive little eyes upon the goodies before them.

There they sat in the box for two whole days.  I didn't want to ruin the photo opportunity, because I just knew it could be epic, yet for some reason I couldn't make the time to take the photos I knew a good blogger  would take.  Eventually though I was faced with morning bed head that I could no longer endure.  There were more knots than I cared to deal with at quarter past already late for school. 

So I tore off the ribbon and cracked open the no more tangles detangling spray.

Well. Let me tell you it worked a treat.  Miss Nearly Six sat there oh so patiently and let me work through the mess that was her hair.  All without complaining, wincing or screeching in pain as is the case some mornings.  I did notice a bit of a smell but the ease with which the brush went through the hair I did not care.  Even though her hair is already shorter than longer, hair time has been somewhat of a battle of late.  I was relishing the ease with which battling was not occurring.

Moving on to Miss Almost Eleven I was feeling quietly confident and looking forward to a similar pleasurable experience.  All was going well, till I sprayed.

Turns out the smell I thought I got hold of earlier, my darling eldest had well and truly caught hold of it and was determined not to let go of it either.  In her honest opinion the detangling spray smelt like dog poo and there was no way on god's green earth she was letting me put it anywhere near her head. 

Instead she opted for me ripping the brush through the bird's nest that was her well past her shoulder length hair.

Thankfully though the shampoo and conditioner are much less offensive to the nose. While they may have left my hair feeling remarkably like straw, Miss Two didn't scream when she inevitably got some in her eyes.  Which was nice and made a pleasant change.

Now to be totally honest with you (which I always am) I still haven't actually used all the products. In fact, in the incredibly dodgy photos above I even neglected to include one of the products (the baby bedtime bath if you are interested)  We don't have a bath (nor a baby for that matter) so a few of the products were out of our market so to speak.  I do know a few new born babies that I could have probably accosted for a photo shoot but it turns out I just couldn't be overly bothered.  

Terrible I know.  But I kinda have a valid excuse. 

When I saw a number of other posts around the blogosphere, all reviewing the same stuff I became disheartened and began feeling a little used.  I was in fact not so special and unique but merely just one of a number of mediums used to influence your average mum who spent too much time on the internet!

Despite not really being a 'products' person I have managed to use these products at one time or another with my children and feel comfortable saying, while they are alright and do the job I have never experienced anything that would leave me raving about them. If ever faced with a situation where I am in need of such a product it is more than likely this is what I would choose. Maybe. Unless there was something cheaper.

Having said all of that though I want to tell you about my dry cracked feet.  They are dry. And cracked. And often ache. What bought wonderful relief to these dry itchy feet though was the Soothing Relief Moisture Cream.  That stuff is the bomb.  Seriously awesome I tell you.  It brought an instant relief that lasted for hours.  Quite easily better than some of the ridiculously over priced specialised foot creams that I have been tricked into buying over the years.

Anyway there you have it.  My views on Johnson & Johnson No More Tangles, Bed Time Sleep Better, and Aveeno Baby products.  Since this blogging gig is all about honesty I just want to let you know I was not given any cash for this review, however I did receive some cool products. Some I tried and some which I will probably re-gift to the next new mum I come across.  

All thoughts and opinions are my own and can never be bought or paid for.

I wish that I had the sense to ask for some extra stuff to give away.  Every house should have some of that Soothing Relief Moisture Cream.  My feet have never felt so good.  Oh well live and learn.  

Should I ever be asked to review something again I know now how to respond.

The Wanna Be Hairdresser

Yesterday was supposed to be the last day of term. For us it was the second day of holidays. If you could actually call recovering from lack of sleep a holiday.

The midnight run to the airport the other night has been hard to recover from. The absence of Miss Nearly Eleven has also caused great trauma for some members of the family, namely Miss Not Quite Six.

In a bid to cheer her up and based on the old adage a change is as good as a holiday we decided to cut her hair. I must admit the suggestion did spring to mind after I had mentioned (yet again I might add) my displeasure in the fact she continued to put her hair in her mouth. To which she responded with yes please.

All sounded like great idea.

There is only one minor detail. I am not a hairdresser. Nor have any of my previous attempts at cutting hair led me in any way to think I even have an inkling of talent or skill in the field of hairdressing. As my husband rightly put it 'that's why hairdressers get paid a wage'

Bless her little heart for having faith in me though.

Bless it even more for being happy with the final outcome. She went from a bob to a bowl. Only it is a rather jagged and uneven kind of bowl. I had to stop when I did though or else the only way to fix it up was with a razor.

At least she no longer needs to worry about knots.

No it is not that bad. Just a bit quirky. Which is not such a bad thing. I actually quite like it but my husbands reaction made me wonder if I wasn't a little biased perhaps? At least she is happy with it.

I should be writing something inspirational. There are so many people inspiring me at the moment that I want to do the same for others. Easier said than done though sometimes.

I should be making the time to make something matter. After all I have a spiffy new blog based on the concept so I had better start finding something to write about for it.

Deep sigh. Again easier said than done. Really though what I should be doing right now is making food. Tomorrow just happens to be the day Miss Soon To Be Two. Actually turns two.

Fairy wishes & butterfly kisses

Thankful Thursday - Inspirational and Thought Provoking People

Every now and then a person comes along that just makes you go wow. Be it something they do or something they say, it just stops you dead in your tracks and makes you stop and think not only about what they are doing but also the way you live your life.

Recent weeks has seen many occasions where I have been left in total admiration and awe of people and their actions. So much so that I couldn't help but share a few of them with you.

The first to mention has to be the awesome Eden over at Edenland. I am sure that most of my readers have already heard of her greatness but just in case you live under a bloggy rock here is the low down.

She is off in Niger, West Africa, seeing first hand the food shortage issues that people of the area are experiencing. Yep full on stuff. Makes whatever worries we might have as rather insignificant. There people, including children who go to bed hungry. They wake up hungry and more than likely spend a large portion of their day hungry. Thanks to the work of World Vision though there is hope.

Thanks to the work of the likes of Eden the word is getting out there that more help is needed. Bloggers helping make a change in the thinking of the world. Who would have thought?

The next person who has made me stop and think is also a blogger. And one I feel a bit special to say I have met in real life. She has just given herself permission to shine and the best part of sparkly Jess is that she not only sees but also creates and encourages other to shine. Just all round awesome and incredibly inspirational.

The third and final person that has left me thinking of late is not someone on the interwebs. It is in fact a lady that I have encountered in the - wait for it - real world. Gasp.

I have only known this wonderful lady a few short weeks but after every conversation I am left deep in thought. She seems to entice me into thought processes that I have not had for many years. Since I was at uni actually, which honestly feels like another life time ago some days. The best part is I don't think she even realises the effect she is having. I can feel my perspectives slowly changing and growing and I like it.

The world is full of such inspiring people and this week I am thankful for the ones that I have comes across in recent times.

Fairy wishes & butterfly kisses

Joining Thankful Thursday with another inspirational lady, Kate from Kate Says Stuff

Goodbyes Suck

Even when you know they are not forever. Goodbyes still suck. Big time. Well at least that is the case when you are putting your not yet eleven year old child on a plane.

I imagine that when saying goodbye to an evil axe murdering zombie it is not quite so sucky. However the chances of me ever having to do that are somewhere between slim and none. The whole putting child on a plane is a far to common event as far as I am concerned.

Sitting here in a rather empty airport at a rather ungodly hour of the morning is possibly one I the most depressing things I have done. Ok maybe I am getting caught up in the moment and being slightly melodramatic but it certainly is not a barrel of laughs here right now.

I just watched a mass exodus of people as the final boarding call for the flight went out. Talk about ways to empty a room quick. It was almost like they thought the plane might leave without them. All of them.

Apparently I am meant to wait here till the plane leaves. As if I am not being tortured enough saying goodbye to my flesh and blood? Now I am expected to sit fighting back my tears while I wait for takeoff. It is almost enough to drive a mum to drink.

Which technically I could. One of the things I love most about where I live is the fact alcohol is so readily available. Even at 1.20am the bar in the airport is ready and waiting for lonely lost souls to drown their sorrows.

Since I need to be driving myself home shortly I guess I will not be partaking in the comfort that can occasionally be found in hard liquor.




I am not even sure why am still here. I guess there is this tiny part of me holding on to the hope that she will suddenly run off the plane and say she doesn't want to go. I need to be here just in case...
Though I probably have more chance of winning lotto despite not buying a ticket.

-fairy wishes and butterfly kisses

Making the Move for Making it Matter

This incredibly awesome post (I heard self confidence was important) is proudly joining in with the wonders that are IBOT (I Blog On Tuesdays).  Despite me not actually writing it on a Tuesday.


For those new to here and new to IBOT it is a lovely little meme that the very groovy and slightly crazy Diary of a SAHM hosts every Tuesday.

You know that it is a really cool meme because a) lots of bloggers always join in and b) it has a really funky little button.  (That's it just to the left, click on it to go and discover more awesome IBOTers).

Since discovering the awesomeness that is Diary of a SAHM I generally have a post to link up most Tuesdays.  Let's face it you'd be mad not to.  One thing that I have learnt is that it pays to be super organised and have a Tuesday post ready to go well before Tuesday actually arrives. 

Naturally that takes thought, planning and organisation.  I can think and plan till the cows come home.  In fact I am right up there in both categories.  What I am not so crash hot on is organisation.  Perhaps I over plan and over think which leaves the organising side of things being far greater than what it actually needs to at times.  All I really know is that successfully organising something is not something I achieve all that often.

Sure I organise stuff all the time but successfully is another matter.  But I digress.  What I mean to say is that I feel slightly fraudulent harping on about blogging on a Tuesday when nine times out of ten I sit up most of Monday night in order to have a post ready to schedule in for first thing Tuesday morning.

Tonight when I sat down for said post all I could come up with was this.

Not terrible enough to hit delete (especially when it has been a few days since I last posted) and yet not something that was worthy of IBOT.  Oh the quandaries of life and first world problems.

Thinking that I still had plenty of time to come up with something awesome I hit publish and opened a new page already for a fantastic new post.  Then I had an even better idea.  Something I have been toying with for a little while just not really sure of the best approach.  I am still not really sure of the best approach so have just dived in blindly hoping for the best.

Regular readers will recall a little thing called Make it Matter.  It started a little while back to make little parts of my life matter.  It was a new way for me to look at old problems in a bid to create some enthusiasm for the mundane and boring which can fill a mother's world but still needs to be done.

I thought it was a cool idea.  It even had it's own little button so it must have had some cool element to it.

Anyway as cool as it may or may not have been it was not a meme that many took on (thanks muchly to those who did though) and as such I got all despondent and temporarily threw the towel in.  Now that the dust from my hissy fit has settled and I can see somewhat clearly again I am ready to take on a new approach to making things matter.

This whole time there has been this voice inside of me screaming, be it all too quietly at times perhaps, that making it matter is a winner you just need to keep at it.  I am not really sure why but A Parenting Life does not seem like the right vessel to make, making it matter, really matter.  So, the moment you have all been waiting for (drum roll please)

Making it Matter has a brand new home.  A place where I can share what I am making matter and how I am doing so.  A place that I hope you will find inspiration and support in.  A place to let you know that your struggles are not isolated or uncommon.  We all face similar battles and together we can get through them all.  One pile of washing at a time

It is still a sparsely decorated home but that will soon change so make sure you subscribe by email or follow through GFC or Networked Blogs.  They can be found on the side bar of the blog, which if you need the link again can be found here or at the tab at the top called Make it Matter.  

Either way head on over and check it out and let me know what matters to you and what do you need to make matter more?  For now what matters most to me is a wee bit of shut eye before the new day dawns.

Nothing like a late night ramble

Tomorrow will once again see me pack up Miss Nearly Elven and send her off on yet another adventure. This time she is off to the Gold Coast to spend the Easter holidays with some extended family.  How I wish I could go back to the day where I agreed it was fine for her to go off without me.  The joys of hindsight.

For all intents and purposes though sending her off is the right thing to do.  Apparently.  According to officials and people who know about this kind of thing.  There is a part of me that sees their point.  A larger part of me that doesn't really buy into it that much though.  It is possible that I am slightly biased in some ways but who wants to dwell on that?

This was supposed to be my IBOT post for this week, but I couldn't really think of anything coherent.  Since historically speaking IBOT posts tend to attract more readers I like to make sure Tuesday post are top notch.  This is not to say that the rest of the week is of a lower quality but Tuesdays are the day I like to put my extra best foot forward if you know what I mine.

My mind feels like it has been swept up in a tornado, there are so many different thoughts whirling around.  It is hard to catch one and hold on to it long enough to work out what it is really all about.  There is so much I want to share.  So much I have to tell.  The trick though is getting it all in the right order and sequence.  Like much of life it is all about priorities and working out what needs to be done first.  Not really one of my strong points, which is why my head is in the current jumble it is.

Having said that though, right now in this very moment as I am typing these words all seems very peaceful.  There is some opera diva quietly singing in the background.  Which is accompanied not just by an orchestra but also the sound of the dog having his nightly clean up and the bird gently ruffling her feathers as she gets ready for bed.  It really is the little things.

Speaking of not so little things I just want to make sure that you are aware of the wonderful journey that the very inspiring Eden is on. She has headed to Niger, Africa in a bid to spread the word of the food shortage that is being experienced in the area and the wonderful work World Vision does in their plight to help those faced with starvation and all that comes with it.

Actually Eden is not the only inspiring person on my mind tonight.  Sure he might not be making the same kind of impact but my friend Trev is off on his own adventure as well.  I only have sketchy details as when I said friend I was using the term rather loosely.  He is actually one of hub's friends.  Or at least he was, back when he was social and had friends before we were married.  Lately we have only caught up once a year.

Anyway thanks to the wonders of Facebook and blogging it turns out dear Trev has his back pack packed and is off on some walking adventure somewhere.  If you want to find out more here is what he has written so far.  Oh did I mention he is a great storyteller, it is in his genes, his mum is a bit of a famous author, so it is all well worth checking out.

Not another #DPCON12 Post

As much as I would like it to be the case, sadly this is not a post about how awesome the recent Digital Parents Conference was. Much to my dismay I was unable to attend. Actually that is not entirely true. I chose not to make the trek from one end of the country to the other just for a bloggers get together.

There were a heap of reasons for this. The first, and possibly the most obvious was because financially it would have put a heap of strain on the already tight purse strings. Sure we probably could have made it work but I decided it was best not too. Especially since all those months ago when tickets went on sale I was still trying to work out what I wanted from blogging. Actually now that I think about it I am still trying to work that out (scratches head)

Only it wasn't just the money that held me back.

There was the whole traveling so far, meeting new people and doubting whether I really was blogger enough to hang out with all the awesome bloggers that I knew would be there. Naturally now that it is all over I know that of course I am blogger enough to have attended. That and all the other crazy self doubting fears I let consume me have all disappeared and I am left purely with the bruises from the beating I have been giving myself for thinking so stupidly in the first place. Grrrrrr

Lucky for me I am pretty sure there will be plenty more bloggers conferences in the future and when the time is right I am sure I will be there. In the mean time though I can live vicariously through those who were brave enough to attend. If you wish to do the same check out this list of links

Fairy wishes & butterfly kisses