A blogging conundrum

Given my looming assignment deadline, working most nights and the expectation people have of a clean house and food regularly put on the table, not to mention clean clothes and what have you, I wasn't expecting to actually sit down and write a post for IBOT this week. Only when I came home from work and discovered two children not sleeping like they were supposed to be, blogging seemed like the only sensible way to deal with the situation so here I am.

The alternative was to give into their demands or rather hopes and snuggle up next to them and drift off to the land of nod with them. Which while sounds rather pleasant and appealing it is not nearly as wonderful as actually drifting in the comfort of my own bed.

Thanks to the joys of being a laptop owner I was able to sit on the end of the bed while they drifted off to sleep and try and tap out a few words of wisdom to share with you all. Naturally though those words failed me and I found myself heading towards Candy Crush in a bit to pass whatever elusive level I am currently stuck on.

By the time all children were finally sleeping though I had become so attached to the idea of actually blogging I just had to sit and give it another go.

Which is where I am now.

Desperately wanting to try and say something but not entirely sure of what that something is.

Due to my overwhelming feeling of commitments and a serious lack of hours in a day I have not been pulling my weight in terms of being a good blogger. And by being a good blogger I mean sharing all the comment love that makes blogging the awesome past time that it is.

In fact I am yet to even leave a comment on the wonderful thankers who joined in Thankful Thursday last week. Which makes me all kinds of sad. (I promise I will get there very soon ladies, I have read them all just not left a note to say so.)

All of this has left me wondering if I really should be spending this time right now writing away. Aside from all the other things I should be doing in real life there feels like a gazillion things I should be doing in the blogosphere as well before I let myself have the privilege of writing a post. If I don't have the time to read and comment do I really have the right to write?

But the thing is...

...there is a part of me that just has to drop everything and write.

It is almost as if the only way my brain is able to take stock of all that is before me, is if I stop and ramble on a bit here first. It is like a downloading of clarity if you will.

As a wise woman and friend pointed out to me I always have the right to write, we all do. However it is the right to link up and join in the community that is questionable.

Actually she never said the last bit but I felt it was implied and feel it to be quite true as well.

But the other thing is...

...as much as I need to just write I also need to feel that at least a few people have read whatever I have written and without linking up and joining a community that often never happens.

Oh the conundrums of being a blogger.

Ironically in a bid to seek some answers I am joining in with Jess for #IBOT.

So tell me how you feel about reading, writing and joining in with links

Living in the moment, planning for the future

Before too long this will be
my constant view

Lately these words seem to be constantly floating around my pretty little head. Living for the moment, planning for the future. I can't help but wonder if it is possible to do both. To me they just don't seem to go together.

There is no denying that I am very much a live for the moment kind of girl. I always have been. And for the most part it has served me well. Sure there have been occasions when I wished I stopped and thought about the consequences of the moment a little more while I was living it but on the whole it has served me well.

But what happens when the moment you are living in is not really as great as what you like but you can't do anything about it because it is all part of the plan for the future?

As a regular reader you would have probably heard about my impending #adventureofalifetime. Due to said trip I have returned to regular paid employment for the first time in over eight years.

I have always known that I was blessed to not have to work, until I went back to work though I just never really understood how blessed I was.

While I really enjoy the actual working side of things, at least at the start of the week, there is so much of it that I don't enjoy. Like all the extra organisation that is needed. The intricate planning of childcare arrangements and them being picked up (we only have one car), making sure dinner is organised on the nights I am working, less time to squeeze in a load of washing that should have been done days ago. All the little things that quite honestly I struggled with before I added twenty hours a week out of the house into the mix.

I don't like the rushing here and there, the having to be at another place at a particular time. The dump and run policy I have had to adopt at school because there is just no possible way I feel I could squeeze anything else into my precious time. The fact that sometimes when I drop Zany off at school I know I won't actually see her again until we wake up the next morning.

On top of all of that working makes me tired and cuts into my running time. Neither of which please me greatly.

I keep telling myself that it is all only short term and all for such a very valid reason. The end result of a few hard months will be well and truly worth it.

Deep down I know it to be true.

It's just I don't like living in a moment that involves waiting for the future.

joining in with the IBOT gang over at Essentially Jess

The difference of a year

This time last year I had just come to the end of the first real extended "me time" in nearly twelve whole years. I had selfishly abandoned my duties as a mother for an entire week. Leaving the children in the more than capable hands of their father. During my time away I had taken part in activities that were of benefit to no one other than myself.

I honestly couldn't even recall the last time I did such a thing. If in fact I ever had, well at least since becoming a mother.

So what was it that I was doing?

I had jumped on a plane and flown pretty much to the other end of the country to attend a conference. Specifically the Digital Parents Conference.

Looking back now I can't quite recall why I thought it was so important that I was there, but I did. And as such I pretty much moved heaven and earth to make it happen.

Perhaps it was because I expected it to be a life changing event?

One in which I saw my blog being discovered for all the wonders that I believed it to hold. Of course I am not saying it was not a life changing event, because even in the smallest of ways I think it was. It was not however the moment that launched me, or my blog into stardom.

Which to start with I must say I was a little disappointed about. Now however, not so much. Now with the passage of time and experience behind me I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that my blog reaching stardom is not the be all and end all I once thought it was.

The best thing about travelling so far and putting myself in a lot of rather uncomfortable situations, despite my stardom not being reached, was getting to met some rather love people. Particularly this one. As much as I love living in my tropical paradise there are not nearly enough wonderful people like her in it. Or maybe there are and I haven't found them, though I doubt it, because she really is a one of kind, kind of awesome chick.

While I would still love for my awesomeness to be discovered by the world at large, I realise that it probably won't. And in so many ways I am ok with that. Sure I am disappointed but I can accept it for what it is. I can also see how far I have come. Which, in case you were wondering is a bloody long way.

When I first started this whole blogging gig I never got any comments. Not one. Though I also didn't have any readers, so that quite possibly had something to do with it. It was all so incredibly disheartening. Being so certain I had words of wisdom to share with the world at large yet my voice remained unheard. Now at least I know that for the most part someone somewhere reads whatever I spew forth here. Which is incredibly nice.

However I also know that whether anyone reads or not I just need to write. Whether the words are full of wisdom or not, I need to free them from inside me.

I don't need to travel to the other end of the country to be surrounded by people I am too intimidated to talk to. I don't need to worry about what every one else is doing or how they are doing it. I don't need to know what is seen as the way to do things.

The best way to do it, is my way. Always has been, I just possibly never realised it till now.

Nothing like really living it up

Here I am again, still completely and utterly alone and unattended. 

image thanks to woodsy

And loving every single moment!

Sure there might have been a nano second or two where I thought perhaps I should have felt even just a tiny bit guilty for either a) not bring the apparently sick yet miraculously healed child home or b) keeping Mr A company at his work do, but rest assured it passed pretty quickly once I remembered just how darn amazing it felt to be on my lonesome.

Naturally the writer in me says quick full steam ahead to writers land, get out all those jumbled ideas that rattle around on a daily basis just waiting for the moment to be shared. Which of course is why I am here right now. Not surprisingly said jumbled ideas and thoughts seem to have disappeared, without a hint of a trace of reappearing. Isn't that always the way

Sigh.

In fact sometimes I wonder why I even bother trying to hold on to the hope that one day, just maybe I could be considered as a real writer. But then I tell myself a life without a dream to chase is no life at all. Aside I have a blog that makes me a writer doesn't it? (insert giggles as all the real writers in the world scream at me that blogging is not writing while all the other wanna be writers cheer me on)

The magic of the silence has just been broken. Mr A, decided to drag his sorry self down stairs and ruin my final moments of solace. Asking me to pack away all my craft supplies that are spread over the couch was perhaps not his best idea either. I have little to no sympathy for those with a hangover and fail to see how his self induced headache takes priority over my desire to create at some point today.

The return to the no me time has already begun. I am sure it is not too long till the children need to be collected and the craziness and noise completely return. 

Sigh, sigh and double sigh. Though really I guess that last one should be a triple sigh really shouldn't it?

But I should not complain because blessed is what I am. 

Instead I will enjoy the final mouthfuls of my now cold but still awesome coffee. As empty as it may now be, the inside of me is filled with a wonderful renewed energy, readying me not just for today but the entire week ahead.

My Inner 1950's Housewife

So if you are a regular and dedicated reader and follow me on various social media platforms yesterday you would have been privy to a rather exciting image. And when I say rather exciting I not over exaggerating on account of all the likes that were almost insantly given.

Awesome photo in question as seen on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram

Anyway when I shared the photo I promised that the next day would see more of this sparkling housewife. Specifically in the form of a vlog.

Yes that's right I had every intention of jumping out from behind the computer screen and in front of the  camera. Sadly we all know what can happen to the best of my intentions.

As it turns out my inner 1950's housewife is no more organised and together than the one I have trying to be for the last decade. Who would have thought?

In my and my inner 1950's housewife defence we were hit with a few unexpected surprises which delayed the already left to the last minute attempt of awesome. Things like children not going to sleep as quickly and easily as they are supposed to and a very drull year seven politics and government research booklet due in two days ago. Not to mention a lorrikeet with some long strands of something or other tied around her feet.

It most certainly had nothing to do with me not quite remembering how to use my video editing program or looking at myself too critically and thinking that perhaps behind the screen is much more advisable than in front of the camera. No siree none of that. Well maybe just a little.

Now I can hear the sighs of disappointment from here but try not to let the waves of sorrow overwhelming you because all is not lost. While there may be no video for you to watch right this very instant there will be. One day. I hope.

No seriously I have spent far too long thinking about this little beauty to not follow it through now. It may not exactly be the Oscar winning clip I first expected it to be but I am sure it will still manage to raise a wee giggle here and there.

So I am sure it is with baited breath that I leave you paitently waiting, but rest assured my 1950's inner housewife will be gracing a YouTube channel near you before long. While you are waiting head on over to Essentially Jess and join in all the fun of IBOT

The last day of holidays

It doesn't seem four weeks since school broke up for the mid semester break. Apparently it is. Tomorrow the chaos of the school term returns. 

There is no sigh deep enough to help me pass the relcutance with which I face tomorrow. There are no words to descibe the dread with which the dawning of tomorrow brings.

As I mentioned yesterday, I am struggle with the other reality of returning from time away. We may only been gone for a few days but it felt like much longer. Much, much, much longer in fact. The remotness and tranquility of where we were made it easy to forget about the reality of normal life. It felt like we were totally removed from civilasation and all of it's woes. 

Needless to say the return to suburbia has been brutal. Amplified only by the fact that tomorrow school returns.

There is a part of me that is deeply concerned about my desire to be removed from the normal way of life. But then I think who wouldn't want to run away from bills and housework and all the drudgery that fills a lonely housewife day? 

What would you rather, being confined to the monotony of day to day life where Mount Washmore and Mount Foldme compete with the leaning tower of dishes to see who can climb to the highest height or the vastness of the bush where dishes, clothes and commercialisation of life almost cease to exisit?

For me it is easy pickings.

I want to be surrounded by nothingness and empty spaces.

I want to be free from clutter and the unnecessary.

I want to breathe in gum leaves and fresh air.

I want my alarm clock to be choirs of birds greeting the morning sun.

I want to be free from commitments and responsibilities.

I want to blow about in the wind and land where ever that may take me.

I want not to be sad about school holidays ending because life is one big holiday full of life long learning

Things I Know - School Holidays, Birthdays and Interviewing Superstars

It feels like forever since I shared some of the things that I know. Which makes me want to say the first thing I know this week is that it has been all systems a go here for the past few weeks.

The excitement of the Digital Parents Conference led straight into the onslaught of birthday season in our house. It really feels like the last few weeks have been nothing but a blur.

But complaining I am not. For the most, perhaps even nearly all, there has been an abundance of joy, fun and laughter. Naturally there was the odd day where things all got a little too much but that is just part and parcel of living a life. I blogged, tweeted and shared and before long my worries seemed gone.

Image from here

So what is it I know right here right now?

I know I went to make this post all about my love of all things school holidays. But then I realised I had already done that here.

I know I then thought I could carry on about birthdays. Until I realised I had already harped on about birthdays quite a lot lately.

I know that every time I think about being in the same room as Samuel Johnson my knees seem to go weak. Not to mention the rapid increase in the beating of my heart. When I say beating I may possibly actually mean pounding.

I know that it is actually easier and possibly best not to think too much about it. Else I send myself into a state of worry that for some crazy ill fated reason it all never takes place.

I know I need to have faith that all will be ok. In the end it always is.

I know that the Love Your Sister campaign is beyond awesome. Really and truly. I could not urge people enough to get behind and show support. Have you checked it out yet?

I know I need to just remember that at the end of the day, regardless of what kind of acting superstar he is, Samuel is still just a brother with a very sick sister trying to make a difference.

I know that I am actually being super organised and writing this well ahead of time. Hence it is actually late at night right now. Which means it is time for this little blogger to head to bed.

Make sure you check out all the other things that people know and share with Miss Cinders

All I Want For Christmas

Is to be famous.

No not really, but I could certainly handle being a little more well known so please feel free to share and tweet with all your friends.

Source

A little while ago Essentially Jess shared with her #IBOT faithfuls her Christmas wish list. She then tagged the lucky five blogger of the mo's to share their own Christmas desires. From there, there has been a tagging frenzy that has seen some of the most heart touching Christmas wish lists ever.

Santa sure has his work cut out for him. In case you are interested a few of my favourites can be found at

iSophie

Take Charge Now

With Some Grace 

The Crafty Expat 

Handmade Tears and Triumphs  

Always Josefa. 

Anyway the very very lovely Kirsty over at My Home Truths, thought it would be nice if I share with one and all my heart's desires this festive season. As I started pondering over this I began to wonder if I had taken the time to do a similar list last year. Turns out I had. It is interesting to see how things have changed, yet also stayed oh so the same.

I am rather glad though that this year I don't feel so much of a need to get Santa to change things about me. Like a new haircut and clothes. I am still totally in love with my new do that I got at the start of November. Though part of me wants to go back to the hairdresser, just cause she is such an awesome kind of lady.

So what do I want this year?

I would really love for someone to

My airplane ticket has been purchased, accommodation is sorted. The last teeny tiny detail left to sort is the ticket to the conference itself.

If by chance you are interested in helping me out in that department, I promise you would get your monies worth. Your brand would be mentioned left, right, and centre from now until well after the said event. Ok that may be a slight exaggeration but I do assure you a fair deal and value for money. Feel free to check out my advertising page

While I am making crazy bloggy wishes, I would also like to be able to just drop everything and write the moment the urge hits. Regardless of dishes that may need doing, washing waiting to be hung or hungry mouths waiting to be fed. They could all just be put on the back burner the instant I am inspired and have something to say. They could also just wait there patiently for me till I was done and ready to return from the realm of writing.

Sigh

One of the things that hasn't changed over the last twelve months is my ability to keep house. Or perhaps lack there of. Since I didn't get my desired visit from Mary Poppins last year I am going to try for something a bit different this year.

This year I wish for a

Cleaning Fairy

How awesome would that be? Even if she was just a dishes fairy I would be over the moon. 

Of course I can hear Mr Awesome reading this and saying that rather than a fairy, or her magic wand, which would be my next request if a fairy were unavailable I should just give in to his desire for one of these

Source

But I just don't want one. And besides you still need some fool to constantly pack and unpack it. Don't need one of them if you have a cleaning fairy now do you?

Next on my Christmas wish list for 2012 is for breast cancer, actually all cancer, be a thing of the past. In the past week I have heard of two beautiful women diagnosed with this dreadful disease. Breaks my heart. I know that they are both two super tough cookies and will take this battle head on, but I also know I would rather they didn't have too. I wish that no one would have to.

But sadly that is just not the way the world works. At least not at the moment.

One thing I do really really really want is for my girls to have happy and full lives. Ones where they know not of serious worry. Are free from serious harms, including the likes of school yard and cyber bullies. Ones where they feel nothing but love and give out nothing but kindness and compassion above all else.

And my last wish for this year is that my book was more than just a concept in my head. More than just jumbled words floating around in the vacuum space of my mind. More than just a heartbroken memory that I once had on a dodgy usb stick. 

So there you have it, all I want for Christmas 2012. Gleefully joining with a brilliant little post that quickly gathered momentum over at Essentially Jess. 

Who just happens to be the hostest with the mostest for Aussie blogging's favourite Tuesday link up #IBOT! 

Which of course this post is joining in with, because it is Tuesday and I have blogged! Not only that but I just love a bit of comment love, makes sure you are out sharing as well.

Oh and since this is the last IBOT for the year I would like to wish all IBOTters a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May they both be filled with fairy wishes, butterfly kisses and plenty of cheer.

Thankful Thursday - A Brand New Day

This Thursday I am thankful for the pure and simple fact that today is a brand new day. A chance to learn from the error of the yesterday and start again.

I actually started this post yesterday. Back then it was going to be called A Tough Day at the Office. Only it didn't really feel quite right. I am mean I don't exactly have an office and the toughness experienced was more of a poor mindset than anything else. In fact I think it is fair to say that everything that happened yesterday was the result of a terrible attitude on my part. One that I am thankful to have left behind today as I prepare myself to tackle the day full of optimism and hope.

Getting back to yesterday though and why am thankful I have the insight today to not let yesterday's woes get me down.

Source

You know THE Kenny Rogers who sings awesome stuff like The Gambler and Lucielle ...

Well this Saturday the man himself is performing in my sleepy little town. Yep I know totally amazing huh? I still can't believe it. When I heard the news I dumbstruck. It was like a surreal dream coming true. I have loved Kenny since I was knee high to a grasshopper.

My parents had this boxed set record collection that had all his songs on them. Some of which I am still yet to find on CD. I loved it. I listened to it non stop. Whenever it was my turn to choose a record to put on it would be one of his. Even when we weren't allowed to have music on I would just sit there reading the song names and then seeing if I could play it in my head.

Even now I have a ridiculously large amount of his CD's. My pea sized brain, can not fathom the thought of him being in town and not seeing him. While I may live in a capital city it is one that is often over looked by awesome performers. We are too far away from the rest of the country to make it worth their while to swing by up here. To have a super star such as Mr Rogers perform and not go is just wrong.

Months ago when I first heard of the concert I was adamant that I would be buying tickets the moment they went on sale. Only when I found out the price I couldn't quite scrape together enough money for all of our tickets. Some $237 in total. Knowing the venue and knowing where I live I was fairly confident that tickets would still be available at the door so there was still plenty of time to get them.

Only now that time is nearly up and financially we are not exactly better off. Perhaps even worse because now, as Mr Awesome rightly pointed out, the $237 I think we should spend on tickets to the one and only Kenny Rogers would be better spent ensuring our car is ready for the upcoming road trip. Which I do get because $237 is a lot of money, but it is Kenny Rogers we are talking here. My brain can't comprehend not going. Nor can it come to terms with sitting in the park next to the outdoor venue and just listening to my all time favourite superstar.

Now here is where the bad attitude starts.

Normally I am quite happy to leave such problems in the more than capable hands of the universe. If I am meant to go then they will help me get there. Previously this attitude has served me well, and in the past I have been very well looked after by the powers that be.

On Tuesday I discovered that a local radio station is giving away a double pass each morning this week. It is not normally a station that I listen to but for such great reward I can do anything. I couldn't help but feel this was the universe giving me my chance.

Yesterday morning I was determined to be the winner of those tickets. The moment I came downstairs I tuned the radio in and began to listen for the highly anticipated cue to call.  After nearly an hour and a half finally it came. Naturally every other Kenny Rogers fan was calling in as well. The first fifty times I got the engaged signal.

With the landline at one ear and my mobile at the other I was certain one of them had to get through. Sadly I was wrong. I could hear the announcers talking they had already been through a number of calls looking for the right answer. Which I had of course.

Feeling slightly dejected I was about to give up when they put out a request for more callers. In an instant I was through. When the line answered and they took my details my heart was racing faster than I have ever felt. A knot in my stomach formed when they said I was second in line.

My knot quickly dispersed into a thousand butterflies when I heard the caller before get the answer wrong. I began thanking the universe no end. My faith strongly held that this what I had been waiting for and my dreams were about to come true.

Before the announcers even finished the first question I blurting the answer at them and jumping up and down with joy. I knew with absolute certainty I had it right.

Trying to regain my composure I ready myself for the next question.

In the TV series The Gambler, Kenny Rogers played Brady who?

My heart fell to the floor instantly. In fact I think I nearly collapsed. I had no frigging idea. None at all. Not even an iota of an idea.

Looking at my iPhone laying on the kitchen table I momentarily thought of turning to Google. Only that would be cheating and I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

"Is it Johnson?" my voice trembled. Already knowing it wasn't Johnson.
The universe had suddenly disappeared and left me to fend for myself.

The announcers might have given a bit of a "oh sorry, what a shame" before hanging up and moving on to the next caller, but all I could really hear was the beeping of the dead line. I was shattered, beyond mortified even, total devastation and on the verge of tears. All over a stupid double pass to a concert.

The bad mood, yelling and just generally poor behaviour that followed was appalling. Seriously appalling actually.

My poor girls, bless them, tried so hard to console me but I just wouldn't let them. I felt betrayed by the world at large. Unseen and unknown forces were suddenly working against me and I didn't want a bar of it.

Through out the day I tried hard to readjust my attitude. After all there are still two more days left to try again. However I can't help but wonder if the universe has totally turned it's back on my after my appalling attitude of today. I know if I were the universe I would not reward my child like behaviour.

Try as I might I could not find comfort in the euphoria that Michelle from Humpty Doo, who managed to answer the elusive question, must have been feeling. I am sure she too is a die hard fan and perhaps even in more of a dire financial situation than I.

The universe, much like the Lord, works in mysterious ways sometimes. I know this. Just sometimes, when it doesn't quite go the way I would like I feel like stabbing in the eyeballs with a fork. Should the universe of course have eyeballs.

Anyway today I am thankful that yesterday is over. A lesson has been learnt and I will try not to behave like a spoilt two year old anymore. Because you know what? As dire as our money situation might be to us, I know that there are many out there who are in a far worse situation. Far far worse. In fact at the end of the day I am not even sure I should be using the term dire. After all, we have a place to live, a car to drive, food on the table and clothes on our back. All of which I am incredibly thankful for.

Today I will be looking for all the blessings that come my way and not get dejected if things don't go as I think they should. I will make sure I am thankful for all that I have. Especially the the lovely Thai lunch a beautiful friend offered to shout me.

What are you thankful for this Thursday?
Head on over to Kate Says Stuff to share some other great thankful posts.

~fairy wishes and butterfly kisses~

On friends and coffee

So there is this girl right.

Source

Well actually she is a woman, cos she is like a grown up.  Actually she is not just like a grown up she is a grown up.

Source

You know married with kids and all that.  That's what being a grown up is all about isn't?

Anyway as a grown up she often felt very lonely.  It was a funny kind of lonely though.  One that was hard to explain.  It was almost like she felt like she didn't have any friends.  Only she knew that she was very blessed to have some incredibly wonderful people in her life.  A tricky situation to be in to say the least.

The thing was she wanted more.  She couldn't help but feel that there was still room for at least one more in her inner circle.  Someone who would be there in many years to come having sailed the journey of life not necessarily in the same boat but certainly a similar one and most definitely at times on the same waters.

Adding to her frustration on the matter was the fact that she even had a particular person in mind.  A like minded soul, yet full of enough differences to create an exciting and learning experience for both parties.  In so many ways she was certain that they had been drawn together for this very reason but something seemed to be holding them back.

Something seemed to be preventing the relationship from blossoming and reaching it's full potential.  Yet she couldn't quite put her finger on it.  Nor could she work out how to get around it.  Why would the universe put her so close to someone yet leave such a big distance as well?

Throughout her whole life people seemed to just drift in and out of her life.  It was like she was just one of those 'season' friends sent only for a reason and once that reason was done with all parties moved on.  Normally it didn't bother her.  She had adjusted quite easily really.  It meant that she never had to get too close to anyone which in many ways she loved.  After all maintaining friendships is sometimes easier said than done.

It was only in recent years that had started to feel the need for more permanency amongst her circle of friends.  Sure thanks to the likes of Facebook she was able to stay in touch with her high school besties but as for seeing them in person?  Another story altogether.

They had all gone on to lead exciting lives, lived many many miles away.  Not exactly conducive to coffee catch ups.  That's what grown up friends were supposed to do wasn't it?

Source

Catch up for coffee.  Or a glass of wine here and there.

She wouldn't really know, she had never had one of those friends before.

Flogging my blogging With Some Grace

Medication, Housekeeper, Nanny or All of the Above

After surviving the Bunnings BQQ fundraiser I greet Saturday night slightly before exhaustion.  The constant late nights this week are the main reason for any real lack of energy though.  That and the fact it is the end of an action packed school holidays that has seen much excitement and activity, but that is all another post in itself.  Due to being to tired we are having a Saturday night at home (don't you love the way that sounds like most Saturday nights we have something to do?) Which means I get a chance to catch up on some of my favourtie blogs.


The first one I stopped by tonight was Gemma over at My Big Nutshell who was raising the question what would you prefer a Nanny or Housekeeper?  She had asked her Face Book likers what they would choose.  The resounding result was a Housekeeper, so they would be able to spend more time doing fun things with the kids.  


Gemma however would opt for a Nanny.  She makes some very valid points as to why she has such a preference.  After watching her Vlog I found myself longing for a Nanny as well, even if only for a few hours a week.  Which is a bit strange to hear myself say as until now I feel a little lost if I am not looking after little ones.


One of Gemma's main reasons for a Nanny was so she could housework without being constantly interrupted.  Which got me thinking.  Perhaps that is why I can't get any housework done?  The kids keep interrupting me.  Which then got me thinking how lovely it would be if there was a Nanny around to help out.  I suddenly found myself flashing into a Brady Brunch style life where Alice was there flipping the eggs for breakfast while I buttered the toast she just cooked and sipped on the coffee she had just made.


Oh deeeeeep looong sigh.........


Wouldn't that be nice?  An Alice.  Someone who was just there to get on with those niggily little things that really give life that super sweetness.

Then as I picked up the freshly made (by Alice) lunches and put them in the respective school bags, Alice would clear the dishes and tidied the kitchen.  The children and I would calmly and quietly walk out the door off to start our day with a full tummy and a yelling free morning.  Imagine the things we could do if our day started off like that...

Instead my reality is a mad search for matching socks after a ten minute hunt for all the other needed clothes for the day.  Of course before all of this there was a 15 minute discussion over what breakfast should consist of and trying to find a happy medium between what is actually in the cupboard and what they desire.  Throw into this bits of not done homework, unread readers and a pile of dinner dishes that should have been done the night before.

Arrrhhhhh.  No wonder some mothers scream.  Or drink.  Or both. A Nanny would ensure readers are read, homework is done, breakfast is served and lunches made all without anyone turning into a bluthering mess.

Alternatively, Gemma suggested we could be medicated to numb the burning desire to yell and scream and stamp feet when things don't go as smoothly as if they would if Alice were around.  Which I gotta tell you I have wondered about myself.  Some times, on those days when nothing has gone to plan, when the too hard basket is overflowing, the thought of cooking dinner (aka surviving the witching hour) is too overwhelming and Mt Washmore has now become bigger than Mt Everest and there is a little person (or two or three) pulling at your leg...wouldn't it be nice if there was a pill that would just make it possible to have it all fixed in a sanely non yelling kind of way?

If there were some ingenious pill that could take all of that away, or make it some how copeable, I would take one in an instant.  Yes yes I know that I should just organise it so that crazy type of environment is never created but no one is perfect, least of all not even me. (like the positive note there)


Hmmmmm....

This post was started last night, but due to waking children and stuff like getting them back to sleep getting in the way I didn't get it finished.  Which is a shame as now I have lost my train of thought.  Grrrr... and since everyone is waiting on me to get this finished so we can go to the water park I am crumbling under pressure and unable to think.  Grrr...grrr....grrrr....If I had a Nanny or a housekeeper or just an extra set of hands then the fruit for said outing would already be cut and in the packed ice bag ready for departure.

Sigh if only....

A picture speaks a thousand words

Of course that is only the case if you pick the right picture.

I had planned to put a pic in this post but deciding on the right one became to much. Staring at the home page of the much loved stock.xchng I couldn't even think of a theme to search for to get me started and naturally nothing on the page was jumping out at me so I left it. After all it was late and I was tired and while it had been a while since my last post I just could be bothered to go through with it.

After many days, I have finally gotten around to completing this post (well I have finally gotten around to working on it again...only time will tell if I actually get to complete it this time round...she says as she steps away)

Tonight when I opened this post I thought rather than go through the whole stock.xchng thing again I would just use one of the scenic shots I recently downloaded. I am not exactly a budding photographer, but I do have a relatively flashish camera that every now and then provides me with a rather nice shot.

Anyways...when I went to check the link I inserted at the top of the page was working the following photo jumped out to me

photo credit goes to sundstrom click here for more awesome shots

It is titled the self absorb tree and it is the name as much as the picture that appeals to me. Right now, more than anything in the world I want to be self absorbed. I want to think only of my own needs, my own wants and desires, my own heartache and break... of course, as a mum, wife, possibly just caring female, this is not possible.