Feeling Obliged

That is why I am here right now. I feel obliged to. I had actually sat down to put some music on but then that turned to checking mail which in turn led to ducking into FB for a quick squiz. Socialising in the flesh might not be something I relish but when it comes to an online community I like to check it all out. I guess it is the invisibility that I find appealing. Or at least the perceived invisibility...

Ok well that didn't last long. DD3 decided that she was actually not going to have a sleep now after all. The phone ringing twice probably has something to do with that. As it turned out the phone was little more than a waste of time. The person trying to call me had a very poor connection which dropped out as soon as I answered. So all in all my tranquil writing conducive conditions are now well and truly dispersed. Grrrrr....

Even if I was only here because I was feeling obliged to I did have some really good stuff to share, well at least I think I did. Perhaps it will come back to me. In the meantime you should check out this blog I aspire to this level (though obviously without the drawings as I know that is not something in my artistic repertoire) I have heard that this author actually now makes her living out of new writing and that is what I would love to do as well

Time

It is something that I am constantly thinking about.

Apparently it is great for people to have time to oneself. Personally I am not sure I am sold on the notion. But perhaps that is just because as a mother alone time is something of a stranger to me.

Anyway this afternoon was deemed as free time. Only it didn't really go as I imagine free time should. I guess it is all about how you define free time. On this point the whole house is at a loss. When I heard that it was free time I thought oh goody I could do some writing.

Instead I ended up giving the girls a manicure, which I must say was great. I had planned to give myself a bit of a pedicure as well but I got bored and lost interest and only managed to take the incredibly chipped and nearly 2 month old blue stuff off.

Right now the children are all gathering round demanding attention and while it may sound terrible I just want to scream leave me alone, just for two minutes please leave me alone.

Instead I will leave you with this terrible post and hope for my time to do a new one soon.

You want me?

Earlier today I received a very flattering email. It has made me smile everytime I think of it.

Wanna know what it said?? Keep on reading

Well my dear friend and fellow mummy blogger Nicole over at Highlights to Housework has asked me to do a guest post on her blog.

Given the recent disasters to hit the eastern coast of Australia, she thought it might be nice if she got a few women to share what they were grateful for. My post can be found here

Yuck!

Grrr!

Stupid Blogger. I wanted to put a picture in of how awful my blog looks but for some reason Blogger wants to put this one first. Which clearly is not awful as it is the new Rambles look for a bit. Scroll down to see the atrocity I was faced with the other day.

Here is a screen grab of the awful layout and colours that I refer to in the next post. OMG! What an earth was I thinking????

Wow

Okay so I just stopped by to check out how I left things and OMG! It is worse than terrible.

As I sat here watching the pictures load, the image that appeared before me was one of terror and disbelief. I was so shocked by what I saw I was compelled to start writing. (Which ok is not such a bad thing)

Anyways I must admit that I knew to expect something terrible but it was just the level of terrible that really surprised me. Actually I am not sure that terrible even really describes the gut turning bile I witnessed... (runs of to find thesaurus)...

There is so much going on in the world at the moment. Currently one of the spotlights is on South Eastern Queensland, Australia. They are experiencing the worst floods since 1974. As I am writing this I suddenly realise that this is also the same year that Darwin had a visit from Tracy.

Now other than a topic of conversation the floods thankfully are not near me and as yet I haven't heard of too many people who know someone personally affected. Time of course will change that. The disaster is still in the making and there is much yet to unfold. Thanks (or possibly not) to modern communication we are able to practically watch the event take place.

My heart and prayers to all who will in one way or another be touched by this tragic time. May the casualties be as few as possible and the loss as little as can be.

2011 The Year of Trying

So welcome to the New Year. (A bit late I know but hey better than never) With DD1 away I am on something of an auto pilot at the moment. It is just easier that way. After all life must go on and all that. Perhaps why the meet and greet group has been such a good idea?

As you may recall I have been stepping outside old boundaries and trying something new. Now I know that the rest of the world has been out meeting people for quite some time but it has not been a regular part of. I look back to my early twenties and I wonder how I ever got by. I mean every day I was out there, in public meeting people talking to all sorts of different characters and apparently loved it. Quite frankly at this point in my life I could not think of anything worse, hence why I am a SAHM (with strong focus on the SAH aspect)

So my first two attempts at this new way of life have proved to be quite sucessful. So far all the people have been incredibly lovely and it has been nothing but a positive experience for me. In fact it has been so positive that I have a further two bookings made for the coming week and I am even considering extending this. However I am cautious not to over extend myself so I will probably refrain.

Other things I am going to try this year include, regular cleaning (I should clarify that regular actually means daily), regular exercise (again daily), and a heap of other fads that will apparently in the end make me feel like a better person. That is not to say I don't currently hold a positive self worth but it is important (or so I've been told) to always strive to improve oneself, at least in some small way.

So far my trying has really just been limited to the meeting people. Small steps. It is only early on in the year, I still have a further three hundred and fifty odd days in which to try. Initially I was going to set myself a minimum of one thing a day to try. However once I started to think about it all I realised that one a day is just not enough. Which poses a problem. You see one a day I think I could actually manage any more could be overwhelming and I don't want to set myself up for failure. I guess perhaps I am just going to have to try harder

So far so good

Well the whole walking and meeting new people went really well. The rain held off, while the black clouds prevented not just the sun's burning rays from coming through but held back a great deal of heat as well. We walked for around an hour and a half, covering nearly 5kms. Just enjoying the beautiful views and wonderful company. There was something quite relaxing aout just chatting with a stranger. I guess it is because you know it won't have to go to deep. It is like a first date where you can wet your toes before diving in.

To really top the morning pleasantries right off we managed to prevent any major children upsets or injuries.

This has left me with a rather good feeling about the meet and greet tomorrow. The only destructive factor is the weather. Which of course is beyond control. I must say though that I am fairly confident that mother nature will play along. After all it is for a good cause.

Trying something new

Now for some reason, whenever I tell this to people in the real world they always seem surprised, but the thing is, I am not really all that big on people. I mean I don't feel the need to have a lot of human interaction. Well at least not outside my little comfort bubble group (which is pretty much just my kids, mum, brother, sister and of course hubs)

Apparently, or so I am told, I am a real people person, what ever that means.

Anyway why am I telling you all this?

Tomorrow I am going to step right outside my little bubble world. I am going to meet a stranger. Yep that's right you heard me a stranger, someone new and unknown. I have a blind walking date with a woman I met over the Internet through a virtual mutual Facebook friend. Even better on Saturday I will meet a whole group of them all at once. Talk about jumping in the deep end!

Why the sudden turn around I hear you ask?

Well I am not really sure. Something just keeps telling me it is the right thing to do. According to Hugh in About a Boy, "no man is an island" Actually now that I think about it I don't think he did ever say it but if you have seen the movie you will know what I mean and if you haven't seen it well maybe you should :)

Ok, taking a rather right turn right about now I am in a quandary.

I just went to look for a link to firstly Hugh and then About a Boy. Finding the link to Hugh was particularly easy as Wiki is a somewhat perfect source. However I did find it rather disturbing to learn that my much loved actor crush is actually heading towards the ripe old age of 51. The startling disturbing notion here is that for me to not see that as old means I, myself must also be aging and that is not something I am ready to part with just yet. I mean I am sort of ok about aging, I mean I still look fairly youthful despite the old silver strand here and there but only if you look really really hard.

So once the realisation of having a crush on a fifty fella passed I went looking for a link to the movie. After all the movie was made some 8 years ago now so if my crush remains on that character it is much easy to accept any age gap. Anyway rather than find a link to the movie I stumbled across a page of quotes. I had forgotten just how many lines really hit home to me in that movie (hence my deep affection for it) Only as it has been a while since I actually last watched it and I am amazed at how much I managed to muck up the usage of my quote. Oh well, live and learn hey?

So rather than a post about my trepidation regarding the forging of new friendships I give to you the strongest of recommendations to go and watch About a Boy

Packing

Phew! Christmas is done and dusted for another year. In fact in just a few short days there will be a whole new year ready to begin. I am constantly amazed by the speed of time. It seems like it was only yesterday I was bringing her home from the hospital...yet reality is that it is now over nine years later and I am packing her up ready to visit her biological father for her first solo visit in many years.

(Deep sigh with lots of tension)

Anyway...

As always my desire to write is at it's greatest when writing is the least practical thing in the world for me to be doing. In this instance I should actually be packing for the afore mentioned trip or perhaps even sleeping before departure. As my husband just pointed out (in a rather loud tone) In under six hours you will need to be at the airport with packed bags.

Darling daughter number one will be away for around 2 weeks. I will be accompanying her for the first plane ride and then bio dad will collect her and take her for the rest of the journey. I will then spend a night in a lovely serviced apartment and return home. All up I am gone for around two and half days. Darling daughter number three will also come along for the ride.

This means of course that darling daughter number two and hubs will be hanging at home for a few days. Which is nice for them. And apparently me.

People keep saying "oh what a nice break for you" guess what? I don't think so. I didn't have children to have a break from them. I like having my kids around. I like the noise and chaos that it can at times entail. Ok maybe not all of it but certainly a lot of it. When they are not with me I tend to spend time wondering what they are doing.

(Another deep sigh...not so tense this time)

I really wish I could find a better way to communicate my sighs to you. I feel that they help set the tone for what I want to say.

Righto guess I better get back to the packing then...see you in a few days

Three days and counting

I just love Christmas! From the food to the decorations, to the joy and the bringing of people together. It is all just wonderful. Of course the presents make it pretty special as well.

Now I know that it is not always very PC to associate presents and Christmas but go see my mother. She was the one that would continually make each Christmas better than the last. She had much the same effect on birthday's as well. I say had not because mum is no longer with us but because I these memories come from my childhood rather than as a connection to now. I still love my mother dearly but I have reached a point in my life where there are people other than her who can affect my reactions to events and situations.

Anyway to be truthful I am writing this post well after Christmas and all that it brought with it. Today is Saturday 5th March 2011. I am tidying up my blog as it is considerably easier than tidying up the house. Blog tidying involves sitting while house tidying requires actual energy and effort.

As it turned out Christmas was quiet lovely. We had lunch in the Ballroom at Sky City Casino which did cost an arm and a leg was also worth every cent. The buffet was full of choice. There was seafood, roasts, salads, vegetables, fish and more. A beer and wine package was included but was not really used at our table. I understand why there is not an open slather tab on spirits and hard liquor but I do think that each person should get one or two.

This year Christmas was definitely not about the presents which warmed my heart greatly. The girls and I tried making presents (as always) but the success rate was low (as always) I thought that basket weaving and clay figures would have been lovely gifts but it turned out to be trickier than I had envisaged.

Photo credits can be found here

A world of rules

Rules. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

Personally they are something I struggle with. I am not a big believer in always following the rules. I understand that they have a place and they are there for a reason but at the same time I can always see exceptions.

However I get incredibly frustrated when my rules so to speak get broken. For example when darling daughter number one decides to not come home at the set time. While you could argue that this is not really a rule I see there as being little difference.

Essentially in my role of mother I can be seen as the office manager and as such I need to ensure that all employees are working to their best ability. This means I am also responsible for assignment designation and regular productivity. Naturally none of this can be possible with out some sort of schedule and time line. Therefore when I say please come home at half past three I mean please be home at half past three not three hours later.

At the end of the day there is a part of me that says don't worry about it, it is not worth the battle. After all she is only next door and there is nothing stopping me from going and getting her. It is not even as if she is missing out on something or stopping us from doing something. It is a rainy Saturday afternoon. It is just the principle of the matter. I said something and she should listen and respond appropriately.

Oh what to do?

Barbie?

The wonderful Nicole from Highlights to Housework often poses some thoughtful questions. Many a time I have read one of her posts and thought yes that is very true, I should write about that as well. Today however I have finally been compelled to actually do so.

So what did she say that managed to fill me with so much motivation?

Head over here to find out.

In short though she raises the question of whether Barbie dolls are an appropriate toy for young girls.

As the mother of young girls you can understand my interest. I too am torn between my adult beliefs and childhood memories.

As a child I had an interest in Barbie and her friends. I think the most my collection ever totaled was five, possibly six. I had two Ken's (one of whom was a cowboy who I had the hots for! I can clearly remember thinking I am going to marry a big strong man like him), the other was some jungle explorer or something. He had straight arms and was not nearly as buff as the cowboy. To keep them company there were a couple of different ladies. Including a lovely Spanish dancer who had shiny jet black hair that I just adored.

Unfortunately though my Barbies felt that the grass was greener so to speak. My friends seemed to have much more glamourous dolls, clothes and accessories than what mine where. You see their Barbie got to keep up to date with all the latest trends and fashions while my poor little crew had to make the best of what they had.

Despite this I still spent many an hour playing the with my little Barbie world.

As a women of the late nineties and a mother in the noughties Barbie is not someone that I actually rush out to encourage. After all she is blonde, has big boobs, a small waist and seems to get handed everything on a silver platter.

My eldest daughter managed to escape her early childhood without the Barbie influence. She was given a few here and there but never really developed much of an interest. Number two has shown a stronger inclination to the blonde bombshell only her preferences have been for the Fairytopia range of doll that comes with scented coloured hair.

Sure she has stood the test of time and survived this and that but still does that make her an appropriate toy for the next generation of women to lead the world? Though if she is to be rendered null and void and out dated, then who shall replace her? Polly Pocket? Bratz? I think not! Perhaps after all it is a case of better the devil you know.

So many ideas and so little time.

Why is it that ideas always seem so good at the time? LIke writing this posted seemed like a good idea but then when I started....hmmmm...

But here I am...struggling somewhat but here I am.

You see I really do want to be a writer. I spend large portions of my day where I think of wonderful things that I could write about yet when I actually go to write I am left with little more than this drivel.

So why don't I write as soon as an idea pops into my head I hear you ask? Well as a mother of three that kind of luxury is not one I have. Actually the being a mother part is not really the issue. The issue is with my shorter than short memory span. Heard of ten second Bob? Well I am like twice as bad as him. This means that should I leave the washing I am hanging out to go and scrawl down my latest great idea I will inevitably forget about hanging out said washing. Which will not become apparent till bedtime when we go to climb into bed only to be greeted by a bare mattress as the sheets are still waiting to be hung out.

Oh the trials and tribulations of life hey?

Tis the season...

I can not believe how incredibly busy the festive season is.

With around eleven days till the big man himself arrives my little part of the world has flown into a flurry. There has been Christmas concerts, school dances, lunches, bring a plates, morning teas...the list is almost endless. Especially for mother's such as myself who feel the need to be on every possible committee as well as agreeing to host an end of year joint party for daughters one and two.

Please don't think I am complaining though.

I love Christmas with all my heart. I truly find it to be a joyous and wonderful time. Some of my strongest memories revolve around the day. This year I will be having lunch in the Ballroom at the Casino. It all sounds rather lavish and I hope that turns out to be true.

Today was the first day of the school holidays. A much anticipated event in my diary. While taking my mum to work rather early (for me) in the morning was not an ideal start the remainder of the day was more than just enjoyable.

I managed to achieve a few little tasks here and there. I did a bit of baking with the kids. Well actually with the next door neighbour's kid but it was all good. I now have some of the yummiest shortbreads I have seen for a while. To top it all off I have some fresh milk to really enjoy it with. What more could a gal ask for?

Well speaking of this yummy treats....

Dear Santa

Little Miss L who is nine, typed up the following letter to Santa. It was just too priceless not to share. The only part I have changed is her name and a few formatting issues.

dear mr santa claus

I am writing to you to day to advise you of the present that I would like to resive for christmas this year. In my opinion I would like a laptop for christmas because I think it is a great piece of technology.

I would like a laptop for christmas because I would be able to research for my homework so I could finish it on time and the teacher would be happy with me.

I think I should get a laptop for christmas because I can look for games to play outside with my friends and family on special days like for e.g. mothers day, fathers day and Australia day.

Mum and dad like to be active and run and play outside I agree with them on this matter. So by owning a new laptop I can look for new better improved games to play outside with my friends and family.

In conclusion I think laptops are a great piece of technology and I would really like to resive one for christmas this year.

Kind regards

Little Miss L