Saturday, January 31

Hmmmm ... ... ...

So the every day thing has not happened. Hands up all those who were surprised. Not me that is for sure. I did think though that after 31 days I might have had a few more than just 6 posts.

I am trying to find a perspective to make it look better than what it is. I mean there is no school that would really accept 6/31 as a pass mark, is there now. On no level is 5% acceptable. So how can I make 6 posts in 4 weeks a positive step to be coming a fully fledged writer?
It is slightly more than one a week so that has gotta count for something.

In a bid to make up for my slack efforts for the month I went through and published all the half posts that were left laying around. I think there were only three in total but again something is better than nothing.

Getting back to writing statistics.

Since I began this blog back in June 08 I have written (including this one) a total of 91 posts. 91 posts in 245 days. Just under 38%, a slight improvement for the month of January but still not a pass mark. Fingers crossed next month will be better!

Monday, January 26

I am, You are...

We are Australian.

For those of you not native to this great land where I reside, the above words may not sound all that familiar. For my fellow country men (and women) it will either remind you of the great band called the Seekers or a dodgy Telstra commercial that polluted our airwaves and possibly brought great shame to the above mentioned band.

Today is Australia Day. A day to celebrate all that is Australian. Beers, meat pies, big noisy utes, sports and possibly even sun burn.

In recent years there have been cries from some members of society to cease the celebrations as to them it is nothing more than invasion day. After all it was on this day some two hundred and thirty years ago that Captain Cook land in Botany Bay with the first settlers.

Given some of the atrocities that occurred in those first early years I can to some point understand why the Aboriginal community may not feel the need to remember and celebrate the day. However to me that was all in the past. I didn't personally do anything wrong and as far as I know I didn't even have any distant relatives that were involved. We can't change what has happened so let's just move on and be done with it.

So how does a true blue Aussie celebrate the birth of this great nation?

Of course it is each to their own, but to me it was all about fun and family. A nice quite day with all my family that live close by. We walked the children to the end of the road to see the ute parade, then back home for a BBQ by the pool.

For others it is about drinking as much as possible, thong throwing and possibly being a bit of a redneck. Which ever way it is I hope you enjoyed celebrating the birth of this great nation

Saturday, January 10

The Result

Ok so last night sitting outside and writing while my darling daughter went to sleep didn't work so well. None the less though I am giving it a second shot.

So what made it such a failure last night? I hear you ask. Well it certainly wasn't a case of writers block. Oh no, the words were more than willing to flow, there was no worry there. It was all her!

For some reason she decided it was battle time. Apparently as she informed me i could put an end to it all by letting her play an electronic device for half hour or an hour. Naturally I did not accommodate such a request and things went down hill from there. Alternatively she said she was happy to go to sleep on the couch, a request that was also denied.

Eventually though after much yelling and screaming and carrying on she fell asleep, as did I. So after nearly twenty minutes tonight I find myself with a similiar situation on my hands tonight. Only tonight she hasn't provided me with a list of demands that would see her sleeping in an instant.

Perhaps on some level it is slowly starting to sink in. That mum means no. For the first few years of my children's life I went to great lengths to not use the word no around them. I didn't want the negative connotation rubbing off on them.

Now however it sometimes feels as if it is all I ever say. It is not that I am an unreasonable mother, who wants to spoil all their fun, they just seem to be forever wanting to do things that common sense says is wrong or not advisable.

The joys of being a parent I guess.

Anyway it turns out that while not perfect tonight was slightly more successful than last so that is something. Not only that but I did manage to get a few words out here and there so it is a win win really. Between to day and yesterday I have managed to string together just over 1000 words so i am heading back to words my incredibly easy to attain goal. I have even done some work on few photos so I feel very productive! Guess that means I can go and be wasteful for a while.

This and That

I am not sure exactly when I last wrote but I know it wasn't yesterday. Which is not a good thing.

I just went and checked it was 5, yes FIVE days ago. I should be ashamed of myself. Two days into the new year and I am unable to find the motivation, inclination or even dedication to try and achieve an easily attainable goal.

I mean all I had to do was write at least five hundred words a day. It didn't even have to make much sense. i was happy for any old ramble to come out. As long as these little fingers typed out five hundred words a day a feat of wonder would be achieved.

But nooooo. Apparently that was too hard and I find myself starting to fail before the first week has even passed. I just don't understand why that is. Why when writing is meant to be something that I do for myself I am unable to do so.

No one is making me write every day. No one has even said I want you to write every day. It is meant to be what I want so why can't I do it? Why am I so easily distracted?

One of the mysteries of the world perhaps?

Not likely, I have a feeling I know the answer but would love to hear what you think.Followers will know that I am a big believer in looking for the positive side. In the past i have even gone so far as to say I was an optimist. Currently though I feel more comfortable being aligned to that of a realist.

As my life is that of great fortune reality involves a lot of positivity. Though sometimes it is not always easy to see.

Take tonight for example. After a incredibly exciting day which saw a beautiful rainbow lorikeet called Summer joined our family, my eldest offspring decided to turn bedtime into a battle.

At seven, nearly eight power struggles are frequent in our daily life. Sometimes she wins and sometimes I do. Then there are times when neither of us score a victory and we are both left licking our wounds.

Getting her to sleep has always been an issue. Unless everyone else was going to sleep then she didn't want to. For the first few years I was happy to share her bed time. After a while though things changed and my sleeping habits could no longer accommodate such early hours.

My days had become filled with work and house duties needed to be attended to at night. This meant that my little angel needed to be going to sleep by herself without my full attention. Somewhere along the line I discovered that on the couch in front of the TV provided the quick and easy sleep solution that I had been searching for. Even at four she was light enough to easily carry to bed once she fell asleep. Anything was worth a painless bedtime.

Naturally though there came a time when sleeping on the couch became inconvenient. Not to mention the fact her burning desire to test her precise levels of luck. As with most children she yearned to know exactly where the boundaries lay. So with time even the easy way out could become a battle.

Anyway back to the story at hand.

Tonight as the battle ensued i had what I thought was a brilliant idea. Since her biggest gripe about going to sleep upstairs was that she was lonely i could sit outside the room and do some writing. After all the whole idea of the groovy little laptop was so I could write anywhere, anytime.

So this is where you find me now. Sitting on my quaint little balcony enjoying the cool breeze that is trying to blow.
Unfortunately though my brilliant plan does not seem to be going to plan. :(
She is still fighting sleep like it is the devil itself. Perhaps it is time for a change of tactics. Will let you know how it goes!

Something is better than nothing

That is my motto for the day and the basis of this post.

Right know I can't think as my head hurts. Ten minutes ago though it was full of ideas. they were rushing around bursting with action ready to spring into fruition. I wonder if that is my my head hurts now.... too many thoughts at once.

Today has been somewhat productive in terms of writing, I have managed to steal a few moments to get some words out here and there. They are of course not the greatest words in the world but at least it is a start.

  • I have so far managed three separate blog posts which is probably enough for one day. There has to come a point when quality must begin to over ride quantity.
  • In terms of housework the house is in a reasonable condition. I did wash the dishes this morning but naturally there are still some more to do.
  • I also get a big tick for cooking one of the best dinners ever. In fact it was so good that I may actually devote a whole blog post to it but not just yet.
  • I am slowly introducing a schedule to my day. To make it an enjoyable transition the first event is a fun one.


Remember
Something is always better than nothing, the thought does not always count and it is never to late to spring into action!

Dreams and Limitations

As always the start of a new year inspires me to start writing. I am hopeful that this year it will be something that I continue you with rather than lapse into sporadic sessions on a haphazard basis.

Since my dear parents were kind enough to give me a funky little laptop for Christmas I feel some what obliged to write more regularly than in the past. There is certainly no denying that on some levels my parents are incredibly supportive. Like everyone though, even they have their limitations.

My youngest sister, who is the baby of the family has recently moved interstate. We are what some would consider as a very close knit family so the move took quite a toll on my parents, particularly my mother.

At times you would think that my sister has fallen off the face of the earth never to be seen again. In reality of course she is a mere four hour plane trip away. Her boyfriend, who she moved to be with is a pilot so she naturally gets super cheap travel and has assured us she will return regularly. With the wonders of modern technology we are able to web cam and talk to her as if she was just down the road.

Her boyfriends mother, who I have never met sounds like a lovely lady. She has gone out of her way to make my sister feel welcome and part of the family. While I find this quite comforting my mother is highly distressed by the fact that my sister seems to be settling comfortably into her new life.

It all gets back to the perspective that you take. Don't get me wrong I miss my sister greatly, she was greatly but I find comfort in the fact that she has been taken in and is not all alone. I wish that my mother could see that as well, but the ugly green eyed monster seems to be getting in the way. Since she is my mother it is obviously not possible to point out the error of her ways so instead I will listen to her complaints in silence

Thursday, January 1

Happy New Year!!!

So 2009 has arrived! Though I must say there was no bang to accompany it, at least not any near where I was. Rather than brave the crowds we opted for a quiet family event with close friends. Someone however forgot to mention the quiet aspect to the children who spent the night running around the garden screaming at monsters and ghosts.

The start of a New Years brings is often the time for resolutions and change. At least for most of the world. Personally I tend to avoid these like the plague. I love the notion of resolutions but the actual practice is something entirely different. Resolutions require dedication and commitment, both of which I am in short supply of. Not only that but the desire to change is also necessary and again I fall more than a little short.

Change, as I may have mentioned somewhere at some stage is not something I am really a big fan of. I know that change is important and it is in fact an integral part of life. Without change we become stale and stagnant. However, I really like the rut my life is in. I like knowing what is going to happen. The predictability and constants of my life provide me with a comforting stability that I don't really want to lose.

Having said that though there is a little voice inside my head which has been getting rather loud lately. No matter how hard I try it doesn't seem as if I can ignore the Wind of Change (WOC) for much longer. So it is with great reluctance that I publicly admit to the need for some personal change within my life.

In between the screams for adjustment the WOC has assured me that it is possible for things to happen slowly and with only baby steps at a time. In fact the WOC has had some very wise words that may actually be altering my deep rooted fears of change.

The first of these was that rather than use the word change I should think of it as growing or developing. This makes great sense as for the most part changes scare me, for some reason I have a negative perception of change. If I can alter my mindset as to what change is about then hopefully I will be able to begin to become more accepting of it all.

So I won't be rushing out with armfuls of resolutions, I will however take a few steps towards making a few modifications of my daily existence. I have seen numerous articles on how this is the worst time to actually begin such tasks so I will leave it a day or so before sharing with you what they will be.

If you are one of the many hundreds of thousands who have decided to make a change for the new year, I wish you all the very best with it. In fact to one and all I wish you all the very best for 2009.