Procrastination and whining at it's best

My Mum arrives this afternoon, which really  means the last thing I should be doing is sitting here trying to write. Which naturally just makes me want to write even more. There are still floors to mop, washing to fold and put away, beds to make, teenagers to convince to give up their bedroom for a bit. You know all the usual stuff.

Before I had the brilliant idea to write I had the even more ingenious idea to start a little blanket for the bird. Because, well, it is cold here and surely she must be feeling it as much as us. The fact that she keeps trying to crawl inside socks the girls so kindly leave laying all over the place is possibly testament to that.

Unfortunately though I when I walked away from my ball of wool to see to whatever child was having a problem five minutes ago the bird saw it as a prime opportunity to run off with my ball of wall. She deftly managed to drag it under the couch before I returned. I didn’t have the heart to pull it away from her.

After three months of not being on the road I guess life is well and truly settled into a new normality. I am still not exactly how much I like it. Not necessarily because we are here, I think I would feel the same regardless of where we are. It is just the whole being stopped thing that I am not a fan of.

Sigh.

Oh so much sighing.

I have just discovered that my coffee cup is empty. 

Oh the tragedy!!!

In my current apathetic state of mind I feel completely unable to do anything about it as well. I may also have made a promise to myself that I the moment I leave the comfort and safety of my arm chair I will actually do something productive. A promise I really don’t want to break.

Back to sighing.

Thankful Thursday

For a variety of reasons it is another short and sweet edition of Thankful Thursday this week. The reasons include having a sink full of dirty dishes, being incredibly tired, cold and trying hard to ignore sickly tickle in the back of my throat.

A lack of things to be thankful for however is most definitely not one of the reasons for the lack of length in my writing.

Without further ado here are just a few of the things I am thankful for this week

* Winning a double pass to the South West Mudfest. It will be the first time Mr A and I have competed in something together. I am super excited. Especially since there is a burger and beer at the end of it.

* Teapot's lovely teacher waiting behind with the girls last week when I was running late

* My mother arriving for a visit on Friday

* School holidays being just around the corner. Only one more week to go

* More family lined up for a visit in August

* Being able to get our hands on a second car at a ridiculously great price

What about you? What are you thankful for? 

Share your own post below or let me know in the comments.

An InLinkz Link-up

Thankful Thursday

Well this week I am not thankful that my time was the winner of the second State of Origin match. Though I guess I am thankful it was a great game of football to watch. 

Other thanks for this week include children being well enough to return to school. I can't help but feel that it is going to be a long winter full of coughs and colds. The little girls, particularly Zany, are still not the biggest fans of winter clothes. And just between you and me I don't really blame them. Initially I thought the whole wearing of jeans and long sleeves and beanies and scarves was a bit of a novelty. Now not so much. I am thankful to have them all though as they do keep me a lot warmer than if I didn't.

As I mentioned last week it was Zany's birthday. I am thankful that she had such a great day, despite not doing anything of great excitement. It was my first day of delivering my to my book round so the girls all tagged along and kept me company. I am thankful that for a first day it all went reasonably well.

On Tuesday I was able to go run. I am so so thankful that I did. It was long and hard and very slow, but it was also one of my best runs in I don't know how long. It felt so damn good.

I am thankful for kind words given to me via the blog, sometimes even from people I have not had the pleasure to meet. I am even more thankful to three beautiful women who took the time to message me in the week. The messages were all just random thoughts and feelings that they were having but I felt special to know that they had chosen me as the one they wanted to share with. Loneliness has been a strong feeling of late and without even knowing it these women eased it for me.

My final thanks for now is rediscovering one of my favourite bloggers from days gone by has started blogging again.

What about you? What are you thankful for?

An InLinkz Link-up

Brain emptying done wrong

This image, of flood plains out at Kakadu, has very little to do with anything in the post, I just like it. A lot.

I have been sitting here (not here as in the above image, just here as in my lounge) with the laptop open on my lap for nearly forty five minutes now. I had a scroll through the Bidding Wars page to see if there were any bargains I needed to bid on. There wasn't but it took quite a time to decide that.

From there I went and had a quick look to see if there was anything of interest in my newsfeed. There wasn't. Sarah over at Move Fuel Love, had shared a photo of Darwin sunset and the current temperature. It made me want to stab her eyeballs just a little.

It rained for 30 seconds this morning in Darwin and at almost 8pm it's currently 28C. BUT the sunsets sure are pretty  This is Winter in the Top End.

Posted by Move Fuel Love on Monday, 15 June 2015

Not only was the sunset amazing, as Darwin sunsets so often are, but at nearly 8pm it was still twenty eight degrees. Twenty eight god dam degrees!!! The only way I can even get close to such a delightful warmth is if I have the air con cranking up that high.

Oh how times change.

There once was a time when I had the air con cranking at eighteen degrees because I so desperately wanted to snuggle under a doona. Now I have it as high as I can, which actually happens to be only twenty six degrees, just so I don't have to wear five hundred layers of clothes.

It would be fair to say that winter and I are not the best of friends. I mean I do love being able to go for a run bang smack in the middle of the day and not dying from heat exhaustion but there is just a small part of me that is longing to be just a little bit warm without having to stand under scolding hot water. Because FYI it turns out that constantly showering in scolding hot water leads to a rather dry scalp which then in turn leads to dandruff.

There was no dandruff in my hair when I lived in the tropics and it bugs me insanely that my locks are constantly infiltrated with little white flakes now.

Sigh.

When I started this post, oh so long ago now, thanks to the concentration of a goldfish and being called on to go pick up the husband from hockey, I had planned on joining in with the ever so lovely Miss Cinders for her monthly emptying of the brain. Only when I went there just now I realised I completely and utterly missed the brief.

I thought (very wrongly) that it was a free association writing thing where you just sat and wrote whatever hair brain idea passed between your ears. As I have so clearly done. But it is not. Well not entirely. There are some loose statements to answer.

Double sigh.

Luckily I have more than one blog so I can pop over to APL and do it there. And even more luckily (totes acceptable grammar in the blog world btw) it is Tuesday and I have blogged so I can join in with EssentiallyJess and the IBOT gang

June - Emptying of my brain

Originally I was posting this over at Rhianna Writes, my lovely new little space on the internet. Only I misunderstood the brief and basically got it all wrong. Not that it really matters because now it just means I have a post for each blog which is a little bit winning. Especially considering how stumped my word flow has been of late.

Besides, Miss C, the brilliant mind behind the emptying of the brain, loves me and will get a massive giggle out of the error of my ways.

So without further ado let's empty this brain of mine.

Thinking - Far too much and yet nothing at all. My brain and mind are all over the place at the moment. I have far too many tabs open, in every sense.

One of those tabs is for this. A post I wrote way back in November 2010 about how I need to stop wasting time. The relevance for today is astounding. As is the fact that the linked within widget at the bottom of the post suggest a post titled Some things never seem to change from around the same era.

Feeling - Sad. Tired. Alone.

Yeah fun times here of late.

Watching - Today was a Mia and Me marathon on account of two sick little girls keeping me company. It is a children's show we discovered on Netflix recently and is all about a girl called Mia who thanks to a book given to her by her now dead parents can transcend into an elf world where she is an elf and can talk to unicorns.

Making me happy - Finally finding some words to write and not worry about whether they are worthy or not.

Listening - Right now some stupid TV ad. In terms of music lately I have been totally loving Shut Up and Dance. So much so I even purchased the album. Though really I should have just got the one song because that is all I have listened to.

Reading - Old blog posts. Like this one and this one. I have a terrible habit of getting sucked into suggested posts at the bottom of posts.

Eating - Whatever I can get my hands on.

Following - Kylie Purtell, A Study In Contradictions. She has some mad photography skills and a wicked sense of humour.

Outraged by - A sore back thanks to sleeping on a crappy bed with sick kids. I mean the bed is not crappy for them because they are kids and easily pleased but an old futon mattress is no friend of my back.

Waiting - for 8pm Thursday night when hopefully I will get word that there is a car available for me to buy. It is another Bidding Wars special but someone else actually pipped me at the post so I have to wait for them to not show up before I get the green light.

Loving - My electric blanket.

Thankful Thursday - The Zany Edition

Deciding what to write about for today’s Thankful Thursday post was pretty much a no brainer. You see nine years ago today I became a mum of two. That’s right, today is my dear little Zany’s ninth birthday.

This was taken back in March when we were in Pemberton, Zany would wake up every morning
and the first thing she wanted to do was feed the birds that hung around. She has an amazing way with
animals and at this stage says she wants to be a vet when she grows up

Over the last week or so I have found myself staring at her wondering how it is that she is actually nine. It really does only seem like yesterday that I was calling the midwife to let her know that the baby was on the way. Not any time soon mind you but definitely on the way.

It was a Sunday morning, about ten I think. The midwife, Josie, was already at the hospital and told me to take my time. Since she was already there she would get a room and set it up for me. I had been hoping to have a water birth. Though back then the public hospital would only let the birthing pools be used for pain relief, birthing, whenever possible, was to occur out of the water.

By the time Mr Awesome and I dropped Lovely off at my parents and arrived at the hospital, dear Josie had well and truly set up my room. That woman was beyond amazing and to this day I am thankful she was there for me.

We walked to a dimly lit room with candles gently glowing and the sound of Enya wafting through. It was all so perfect.

The hospital was relatively close to the ocean with the maternity ward positioned on a floor high enough to see the sea. While I may not be able to remember whether it is the sixth or eighth floor I do remember looking out the window and out across the water and being mesmerised by what looked like shimmering diamonds.

After a relatively short labor, around four hours I guess, my beautiful little Zany was earthed and in my arms. 

Now nine years later I am still blessed to be in the presence of an amazing little person. My baby has grown into a young girl who is kind, thoughtful and caring. She so often puts the needs of others before her own. Though there is always a point where she says no more and takes what she needs as well. 

She has a fabulous sense of humour and a laugh that is infectious. A radiant smile that can instantly lift me.

Of an afternoon when I pick her up from school she will break out into a run the moment she spots me. Smile on her face and arms out wide, engulfing me the moment she is within reach. It is without a doubt one of my most favourite times of the day. A blatant reminder of how blessed I am to be a part of her life.

I can only hope the next nine years are as wonderful as the last. I am so thankful that I get to call this precious soul my girl.

Other random things I am thankful for this week

• having my first unsupervised and paid day at work
• making awesome pumpkin soup
• as I crawled into bed Wednesday night remembering I had left said pumpkin soup on the stove and not yet written this post and getting up and writing this post while eating said soup
• the kindest and supportive comments over on Rhianna Writes
• a day that was just warm enough to wear shorts, the novelty of jeans has gone
• steaming hot showers

What about you? What are you thankful for this week? Join in with a blog post or just comment below

An InLinkz Link-up

Blog like there is nobody reading

While some might struggle with the concept of blogging like no one is reading, for yours truly here, it is a piece of cake. There is no one reading, well next to no one. Given that this little space of mine is incredibly new and I haven't really told people about it yet it almost goes without saying that next to no one will be reading whatever I write here.

Which is actually a bit sucky because over the years I have realised that I do like to think that people are reading the various random thoughts that have managed to escape my brain and enter the wonders of the internet.

I have never been a writer that has written only for myself to read. In fact quite the contrary. I seem to only be able to write when I am under the impression my words will be read by at least someone rather than no one. Well apart from a few tormented teenage diaries that I went out of my way to ensure were never read but that was well before the internet existed.

As much as this space here is a new one for me, I have been writing on the internet for many years now. From memory, my first post is dated January 2008. While it is currently over on A Parenting Life, it was originally over at Rhianna's Random Rambles or something like that. It was never a space I felt very at home in, even though I designed and created it myself. Perhaps that was the problem though, all the headers were made by me with very little graphic knowledge and I couldn't help but feel it was gaudy and rather ugly.

Over the years though I created APL as a place I loved dearly and was incredibly at home in. Before I left on #ouradventureofalifetime last year my readership and community had peaked higher than ever before. It felt all kinds of awesome. I felt like I was connecting to people regularly and sometimes even making a difference to people thoughts and days.

Once we hit the road though blogging regularly became rather difficult. Mainly because the road we hit was in the middle of nowhere and without internet reception but also because we were just so busy living life. Mind you even when I did manage to get something up on the blog it wasn't nearly as well received as my posts were before we left. Which was the exact opposite of what I had expected to happen. Before we left I was certain that sharing our adventure would lead to even more readers than ever before. Turns out no one was overly interested in reading about how great it was escaping from normal life.

I had expected that once life returned to normality that the blog would immediately return to the state it was in before we left. Needless to say it hasn't and suddenly it no longer feels like home. Which makes me a little sad. I had thought the answer was to be found here at Rhianna Writes because that is such a cool name but sadly that hasn't been the case, well at least it has not been the case yet but in all fairness it is still incredibly early days.

More than anything I want to be a writer. And have done so for as long as I can remember. It is the whole reason I started blogging. A platform to make myself feel like a writer.

There was a time when I was actually paid to write articles and have them published online. It wasn't a lot of money but it was enough to make me feel like a real writer.  They were mainly parenting related articles because I had read somewhere that you should write about what you know. As a stay at home mum I felt I knew little else than parenting. Which is how I came about the name A Parenting Life.

Even though I am still a stay at home mum and my life revolves around parenting it is not a topic I want to exclusively. Mainly because as I delve deeper into the teenage years I find myself less sure of what I am doing and therefore not in a position to write about parenting unless it is how to do it badly. Which is again one of the reasons I though Rhianna Writes might be a good idea.

One of the biggest things I have learnt over my time as a blogger though is that it is imperative to comment on other blogs. Which is perhaps where I have fallen down over the last twelve months. Something that I hope to get back now that life has settled back down a little.

With that in mind I think this is a perfect place to end this post, it was inspired by Raychel who has founded Blog Exchange and since it is Tuesday and I have blogged I am joining in with EssentiallyJess for IBOT so there may well actually be a chance this post will get read. Also joining in with Kristy for I must confess

Thankful for surprises

When I sat down to write this post I had thought I was going to say how while I am thankful to have had the opportunity to return as Thankful Thursday host it was something I was no longer going to do.

It is no secret that blogging has been a bit of a struggle for me of late. Even the creation of a new space was unable to help my words find a way out. I knew that returning to normal life would not be easy but I didn't think it would be quite like this either. Mind you I don't even know how to describe what quite like this is.

Sigh.

All of that is for another post though.

Back to being thankful.

As I procrastinated to find the right words I decided it was the perfect time to check my emails. Which took all of two micro seconds because not only do I check my emails fairly frequently I don't actually get a lot of emails in the first place. Since email checking had failed to take long enough for inspiration to hit I decided to have a quick squiz in the junk folder and then empty the trash folder.

I am so thankful I did.

As I was going through them I just happened to come across not one, not two but three notifications from last week where some beautiful bloggers had decided to come and join in with Thankful Thursday. I was so thankful it didn't even matter that one was not exactly thankful and only one linked back to me. I was just so pleased that a few fellow bloggers had taken the time to join in.

Though I must admit I was particularly thankful to read that this post had a safe ending.

the bigger than bid sand dune

I will leave deciding on the future of my Thankful Thursday hosting for yet another week. It is not something I really want to walk away from but it is also not something I want to be a chore or sound contrite about when I give my thanks.

Other things I am thankful for this week include

• having a long weekend
• discovering a rather awesome beachside camping spot only half hour from home
• being able to spend the long weekend at said camping spot with our buddies
• watching the kids climb the biggest sand dune I ever did see
• sitting around a camp fire
• the start of winter being much milder than I expected

What about you?

What are you thankful for this week?

An InLinkz Link-up