Thanks

To all the wonderful people that have shown me kindness towards my writing I want to say a big thanks! Last night I went to bed with a mere nine people liking the FB page for this blog, only to check in this morning to have hit the 23 mark. By early evening I am at just below 30 and absolutely astounded.

I mean I know a few of them are dubious and there possibly by force (ie family and polietness) but there are also a few people on the list that I don't know. Which let me tell you I am more than just a little excited about.

Of course I must admit that with the new somewhat visible readership I do feel a little nervous. I feel a slight pressure knowing now that people think I am wittyor interesting or any of the other lovely things that have been said about me. What if suddenly I lose it and become dull and boring?

(deep gulp)

(deep breath) (short sigh)

Fingers crossed that doesn't happen and instead the momentum can grow and I shall one day prosper. Seriously though I sincerely appreciate everyone who stops by and has a read. Feel free to comment at any time, I really do get a buzz out of knowing who stops by.

Also I am interested in some suggested post topics. I often have the opportunity to write but sometimes my mind is blank so having a list of suggestions could be rather handy.

photo credits here

Knowing how often to nurse

One fear that is commonly held by new parents is how often to nurse their new baby. I would like to take this opportunity to assure all parents that they need not worry. Help is at hand.

I believe that the answer to this, and many other parental concerns is simple, trust your instincts. Parents of today need to develop their confidence and listen to not only their baby but also themselves.

While to some, on the surface, parenting may not seem very natural, the bulk of it actually is. New parents need learn to trust in their own judgment. By all means research and learn about different current thoughts and practices, but then parents need to make their own decision based on the circumstances relevant to their family's situation. Knowing when to nurse is no exception. Listen to your baby and your body, and you will always know what is right. This is particularly true for breastfeeding mothers. On many occasions the mothers body will tell her that feeding time is coming near as the breasts fill with milk. Read more

Just like Mum

Do you want your daughters to be JUST like mum? As a daughter did you want to be just like your mum? Are you just like your mum? Or the complete reverse? More than likely it is somewhere in between. Recently I have found myself pondering a lot over such questions. That and thoughts about role models.

Essentially as mothers we are also role models to our children. We tend to spend so much time worrying about outside role models (peers, celebrities, teaches) and the influence they have on our children that we may not always stop and look at the example that we are setting.

Recently I have been taking the time to think about the example that I set for my girls and I must admit there are times when I have not been happy with what I see. Thankfully though I have the good sense to not beat myself up about it too much. Instead I am going to turn it into a positive and change for the better.

And really at the end of the day it is all for the better. Spending less time on a computer and more time outdoors being active is a good thing. Trying a little harder to maintain tidyness is good thing and when I know I am on top of the clutter I am sure I will have more success in getting the girls to pick up after themselves. Right now it is rather difficult to enforce a 'everything has a home' policy when there are no homes for a lot of things.

Speaking of which I guess I had better get off of here and get started!

Live and learn

That is what I am trying to tell myself. As long as we learn from our mistakes they were worth experiencing.

About six weeks before Christmas, maybe even a little longer, my old desktop crashed and burned. When I took it to the trusty repair man who had previously managed to bring it back to life a few times, he informed me that he was rather busy and would not even be able to look at for nearly a week. Now due to my Internet addiction, I began to feel rather uneasy. The thought of not being online for possibly over a week was almost too much to fathom.

As it was hubs and I had been discussing the possibility of purchasing a shiny new iMac for some time. (yes that's right we are members of the Apple fan club) As much as I dearly wanted one I just could not justify the money. Especially while I have a working desktop.

Only now the desktop wasn't working and getting fixed was quickly becoming a less feasible option. After a quick chat with the sales guy and a few

demos of just what an iMac could do I was soon walking out with a rather large box tucked under my arm.

Anyway

It turns out that the iMac was all I hoped it would be and a whole lot more. One of the selling points that one me over was the iPhoto feature. It is a wonderful way of storing and viewing precious photo memories. Which are of some importance to me. So you can imagine my excitement when I went to plug in my external hard drive ready to copy said precious memories on to new flash toy.

Now imagine my heartbreaking as a few bright sparks and little fizzing sound later my hard drive no longer seems to be working. That's right folks the back file of almost every shot I have ever taken in the last 4 years plus a few extra disks from days gone by was gone. Lost in a computer void I had no chance of venturing into.

Hubs did take it to a few places (along with the old desk top) but without much luck. The only options remaining were going to cost close to an arm and a leg or a month's worth of food. Neither of which were viable so I had sadly resigned myself to never seeing the photos again. I did manage to find a few disks around the place that meant all was not lost. This all happened around the time that Queensland and Victoria flooded so it was rather easy to be thankful for what I had.

Then out of the blue one day, a ray of hope. Hubs had been talking to a one of the IT guys at work and it just so happened he dabbled in a bit of data recovery and would be able to try and retrieve our stuff. At the time of hubs sharing the joyous news with me he made it sound like this would be a mate's rates type of thing.

Cutting a long story short he managed to save our files only apparently our understanding of the mate's rates concept varied greatly. After a few discussions we managed to come to a mutually agreeable figure (which was still more than I

expected but apparently I am out of touch). I am still unable to decide if it was all worth it as the files are yet to be received at this end.

Anyway getting back to my point.

All this time I had been under the impression that the only thing of interest to me was the photos. I knew there were songs and videos on there as well but they are of little interest to me. They are out in the public domain and can easily be replaced, my personal photos are not. As such I have constantly repeated the phrase 'I just want the photos back...nothing else matter'.

Well today that all changed. I came across something else on there that I would dearly love to see again.

Way back in November 2008, I participated in my first NaNoWriMo I successfully reached the 50 000 word mark but never bothered printing the complete manuscript. After all it was at best a very rough draft. Regardless it was proof that I had some claim to the notion I had it in me to be a writer.

As you may have by now realised, today I became aware that the only copy of this untitled work was on that external hard drive.

So the lesson to be learnt?

MAKE SURE YOU BACK UP EVERYTHING!!!

In fact don't just back up. Have a few extra back ups around the place. In fact given how small some usb devices can be these days you could never have too many back up copies of things that are important to you.

Photo Credits here

An Irish Wish

ST Patricks day will always hold a certain special place in my heart for a variety of reasons. One of which is that I quite like the Isle of Green. Given that I have some Scottish and English ancestry I am not entirely sure where my love of the Irish stems from.

I think I love the way that they are so at peace with the whole Irish joke thing. Any nationality that is so fine with being the brunt of so many jokes can't be all bad. Or perhaps it is their love of beer, or perhaps my love of Guinness, or maybe it is my attraction to leprechauns, who knows. Either way in my book the Irish are well deserving of a day of celebration that people the world over partake in.

There have also been a few significant events in my life which have occurred on St Patty's day which to a certain extent I recall with rather fond memories but I will save those for another day.

Now I know that St Patrick's Day is still some five days away but I just received this Irish wish email that I am supposed to forward on to all and sundry to receive some good luck. Personally I am not a believer in the whole email chain luck thing but I do particular like the wish that it shared. So rather than clutter up my friends inbox I am going to share the wish here instead.

May there always be work for your hands to do

May your purse always hold a coin or two

May the sun always shine on your windowpane

May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain

May the hand of a friend always be near you

May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you

Photo credits here

First Steps

As you know this little beauty of a blog is still in the early developmental stage. I am like a pre walker who is ready for take off. My balance is nearly there, I am just teetering on the edge waiting for the first step, only not sure which foot to put forward first.

Earlier today I thought that perhaps I should post some of my Helium articles here as there are some great parenting hints and tips in there. Plus it would have the added bonus of generating some more traffic in that general direction. Which in turn would have the added bonus of me earning a little money.

It is tough though I want to be here just because I love it, which I do, but at the same time if I am here then I think I should be making a bit moola out of it as well. I mean if everyone else is cashing in on the whole Internet thing why shouldn't I. After all I spend so much time on the dam net that I should get a little in return don't you think?

See money has never really been of much importance to me. Before being a mum I was a hard worker and have always been gainfully employed. I mean I am still a hard worker now and the jobs I did may not have been physically challenging but I always gave my best and did an honest day's work. I have pretty much always loved whatever I have done, if I didn't like it I gave it in and found something else. I never had a dream job as such but I always had enough money to get by without to much trouble. Actually to tell the truth I am of the opinion the more you have the more you spend.

Lately though money has become a bit of an issue. You know the saying if it doesn't rain it pours? Well it is pouring here. If it is not one thing it is another and to tell you the truth I have just about had enough.

(short sigh)

Deep down though I know I don't really have anything to complain about. After all there are no holes in the roof so even in the rain we are still dry. We have food on our table and love in our hearts and really that is all that matters. A bit of pulling on the old purse strings here and there and all will be okay.

But enough of the doom and gloom as really things are looking up. Readership is slowly growing here and I have plenty of ideas. Plus I am actually writing a little. As for the Helium thing well part of me just wants to bombard with all my great articles and the other part thinks I should maybe do just one a week or so. Have like a Helium Friday or something? Any thoughts?

Photo credits can be found here

About Me

In a recent online conversation I suddenly realised that more often than not I will neglect to introduce myself. I much prefer to be an observer rather than a participant. Well at least in the first instance. There generally comes a time when I can no longer just sit in the corner and quietly watch what is unfolding before me. Then one of two things can happen. I either run away screaming or I dive in head first.

So on that note here is me taking a dive. Here are 8 things all about me

1. I am a SAHM mum to three beautiful girls, 10, 5 and 1, well that will be how old they turn this year, two of which happen next month. I love being a mother more than anything. Never in my wildest dreams did I actually think that my calling in life was to mother but now that I know it is I feel like a certain peace surrounds me.
   
   
2. There has been times in my life when I have actually been involved in formal paid employment, though I hope to never have to return to those days again. Aside from being the best mother I possibly can I also hope to one day be an acclaimed author. I am not really sure on the book's details yet but I know some where deep inside of me there is a best seller of some description inside of me it is just a matter of uncovering it.
   
   
3. I am also an Infant Massage Instructor. Though to tell you the truth I have never really instructed very many people. The hermit in me has made it difficult to put myself out there. I am rather passionate about the power of love and touch though.
   
   
4. I have at times been called a hippy and I have one friend that refers to me as an Earth Mother. I believe in angels, fairies, and all things magical. I will let the powers that be take over at times and trust the universe to take care of certain things at various times. I am not a huge fan of mainstream and like to take the alternative (what ever that may be).
   
   
5. I love the idea of homeschooling but lack the self discipline to actually carry it out. Plus teachers are a qualified trade as such and who am I to take that job away from the employment lines. I think that the education is flawed but show me something that is not. I am fairly involved in my children's school and find it hard to understand how other parents appear to not value education.
   
   
6. When I form an opinion it is held pretty fast and you can be hard pressed to get me to change it. I will always listen to another's opinion but often adopted an each to their own type of attitude. I worry a lot about offending people. I know that there are few who think the same as me and past experience has shown me that not everyone has the same each to their own approach. I tend to steer away from the it's my way or the highway kind of people.
   
   
7. I have a tendency at times to go on and on and on, both in person and when writing. I have at times been talking, thinking I was telling the best story in the world only to suddenly realise the person I am telling has tuned out. At least when being read it is easier for people to pick and choose what they want to be a part of without it being so obvious to me.
   
   
8. I just love love love Kenny Rogers and Johnny Cash. And Meatloaf. I wish that my taste in music was hereditary so we could all enjoy the same stuff. My children are much more in tune with my husband's song choice than mine.

Tidying Up

Something I constantly need to do much more than I actually do. Though I am fairly certain that I am not the only person to suffer from such a problem.

Anyways, one of the things I thought I might start to tidy up is the unfinished blog posts I have slowly been accumulating. Looking at the list of posts I decided to start at the bottom and tackle the subjects that had been on the list the longest.

Dated the 18th December last year it read as follows

I can't believe that this time next Christmas will be done and dusted. There are still so many things I had hoped to do. Fingers crossed that I managed to find the required desires to to get on with it.

One thing I have been meaning to do for a while now is links to a few of my favourite pages on this big wide web. To start with they will be sites that belong to people I personally know. Feel free to add your own suggestions and I strongly suggest that you check them out.

The first of these is....

And that was as far as I got. I am guessing that the link I would have been put up would have gone to either Nicole at Highlights to Housework, a fellow SAHM blogger trying to get the best for her kids, or Anna who is behind the brilliant mastermind behind the gorgeous mangolime I am just in love with her beautifully made MCN's. They provide lil T with a very stylish behind. In fact today's photo is a close up of one of the first ones I ever purchased. I am looking forward to her next growth spurt just so I can justify getting some more. I really should put on my to do list asking Shannon from Sparkels Photography for a photo shoot of DD3 in some of her funky underdaks.

Well I think that this will just about do it for now. No need to ramble on too much when there are still some nine posts still awaiting completion

Golly, golly, golly

So much going on. So many ideas constantly buzzing about, if only it were easier to get them all out and happening. Since I last posted I think I have attempted two other blog post which as yet have not made it to being published, plus a thousand or so other great ideas that failed to successfully form. Right now is really not the best time for me to try and write but I fear if I don't publish something right this very instant I will be forever doomed and never have a snowball's chance in hell of becoming the acclaimed writer I dream of.

Silly me was temporarily been under the misguided impression that I was slowly getting on top of things. I mean the housework had been kept to a semi well maintained status for a few days in a row, my writing had seen a slight incline in quantity and just general harmony seemed to reign. I have had a significant slap in the face in recent days and the reality of just how much work I have before me has become apparent.

Rather than tackle these difficulties face on I took the run and hide approach. It is my preferred option at all times, despite it's repercussions. See when you choose to deal with something later it is always worse. Time is not always the healing friend it is made out to be. Sometimes with time comes more. More mess, more troubles, more to do. Just more. Take the dishes for example. The longer you leave the washing up the more there is to do. So when you finally get round to doing the breakfast dishes form three days ago they now include plates from an extra five meals. A once three minute task is now an epic job... speaking of which...I still need to do.

Since it is a Saturday there is hope that I will be able to return once all the kidlets are in bed. DH is about to take them for a swim to ensure that energy levels are as depleted as possible. Tomorrow sees us heading to a Wiggles concert which is just a little exciting. There is also a chance we might have a picnic as well. For now though it is a quarter past housework time.

Still no recipe

For the past two days I have been thinking about how I would do up a recipe post of the most amazing dinner I cooked on Sunday night. Part of me wishes I had of been aware of how great the meal would be, so I could have preempted the possible blog post and taken a photo. But alas my psychic skills were apparently on hold that night.

Anyway right now I have much great things to worry about than the lack of a photo to include with the recipe post. I fear that I may actually have forgotten what I did that made the dish so very yummy.

You see it was not a very well planned out meal. It was thrown together on a whim, based on what was readily available. Here are few of the ingredients that easily come to mind; lemon, chicken, onion, rice, red capsicum, mushrooms, butter, ok so maybe I remember more than I realised...baby spinach leaves...hmmm

I think a recreation is going to be called for. That way I can overcome the photo issue as well...

In the meantime here are you my captive audience and I am struggling to think of how to end this post. Perhaps you should go and read some of my work over at Helium

Leaving it for later

This is by far one of my most treacherous traits. I am a of the mindset where, later is always better. If it is possible to put something off I will. Doesn't matter what it is or what the consequences may be I just figure that later works well.

Should 'one day' which is much like 'tomorrow' ever arrive I am going to be very busy. I constantly hear myself saying "one day I will..." or looking at a pile that needs to be sorted and think ...I'll get to that tomorrow...only for some reason tomorrow never seems to come.

Still feeling invigorated and not wanting to waste my new found energy, once Little T went to sleep this morning I started to fold some washing that was in the process of overtaking the couch. Now I don't know about you, but to me folding washing is one of the most mind numbing tasks a home carer can do. As I stood there sorting and folding, my mind inevitably started to wander and drift off into nothingness. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact it is not far from nothingness that some of my best writing ideas can stem from. That point where ideas seem to just appear without effort or thought.

Which is what started to happen. While my body went into autopilot my brain began buzzing with what my next post could be about and how I would put into words the recipe from dinner last night (I have noticed that all the 'good mummy blogs' shared recipes)... I suddenly began to think I should be writing instead of folding washing!

Of course if I sat down to write that would mean that the washing would get left...but not seizing the opportunity to write is somewhat of a foolish mistake, as who would know when I would again get the time or inclination and then ideas to do it again? The quandaries of life hey?

The final result? Well there is still washing to be folded, there possibly always will be. Washing is one of those ever more chores. Regardless how much of it you do there will always be more. It is just a part of life. Unless of course some bright spark out there can invent unstainable fabrics to make our clothes out of (hint, hint to any bright spark reading that is looking for something to invent) Clearly there was also a bit of writing so possibly a win win situation?

Oh What a Day!

Today was one of those where all of a sudden, everything in the house must be cleaned, moved and just generally assessed. Anyone who has stepped foot inside my house lately will be able to tell you that it was well and truly over due.

Given the mammoth task it is not surprising to say that there is still plenty for me to finish tomorrow. It was one of those projects where every step led to another five things to do. The end result though is certainly well worth it all though.

The new layout not only feels more spacious but also easier to manage. We have removed a number of common dumping grounds. Hopefully this will curb the tendency to dump. Some members of the household have a terrible habit of just leaving things where they were last used. The concept of actually returning an item to it's 'home' or where it belongs is at times too great to be grasped.

But enough on the awesomeness of my homes new layout. There are so many other things I want to share in the post. Like the amazing dinner I threw together (without having to go to the shops) I just love it when dinner can be done without purchasing a single item. I have been so busy today that the greatest distance I have been from the house was to take the rubbish out. I must also say that this point greatly delights me. I find something very comforting to know that I have not had to venture outside my own little bubble.

So all in all things look like they are on the up. I am somewhat in control of the house, my writing has gradually increased and I am slowly becoming more active. My new Ion Energy bracelet thing seems to be doing just fine so far.

Photo credits can be found here

And Breathe

2...3...4... and in 2...3...4 and

There a certain times today when that little mantra, as such, has run through my head. The circumstances surrounding my breathing and counting has varied greatly. In fact I am almost amazed at how many different situations can use the assistance of breathing and counting.

For example at the shops when children wanted to drag me in different directions rather than scream and twitch I simply took a deep breath and counted to ten, sometimes the tens were rather quick succession but I did not growl or let my temper get the better of me. I managed to restrict my raging urge to a stern sharp voice.

When I was running to the shops and back as part of my 1km time trial, my gasps of breathes, in between my huffing and puffing, were alternated with a run, 1, 2, run, 1, 2, as much as possible. To give me extra inspiration I threw in the odd 'I am awesome' chant. In case you are interested I took 9 minutes. I figure at least that should be easy to improve on. Should being the operative word. I am not exactly a master at pushing myself but that is a whole separate post.

Back to the breathing...

(Big breath in and straighten of shoulders with further breathes to try and regain focus) (Which appears to now be gone completely) :(

...

... ...

... ... ...

Nope still nothing... I am sure that is because of the awful music that the radio is playing at the moment. It is some techno boppy thing that just does my head in. If my posterior was not glued to this oh so comfy chair or my thunder thighs not achey when I walked I would perhaps go and turn it off or change the station. Since that is not the case though I will suffer, just not silently.

Seriously though I do find that some music will aid in my writing more than others. I have in fact a folder on my iTunes that is labeled possible writing songs. Though the fact that music can alter moods and affect situations is not exactly a ground breaking statement. If by chance you are interested in finding out more check here

(Another short sigh to contemplate what to write next) Which actually turned out to be nothing

Get Rhythm

Whenever I am feeling a bit down and out I tend to find comfort in some good old fashioned country songs. I am not really sure where this stems from. Possibly my father, he was a bit of a country, blues and rocking kind of guy and I know my mother likes the odd Johnny Cash song as well. I can't ever really recall listening to a whole lot of music as a child though.

I can remember the odd occasion when we would put an LP on to do the housework and I can remember spending hours reading all the song titles from the Kenny Rogers collection but that is about it, well aside from the parties. I have very fond memories of my parents parties. They would put the speakers in the windows that faced the front yard and we would just rock out. There were always a few other kids my age there as well and we would run and dance and just generally have a good time.

We never listened to much Johnny Cash back then but he is now one of my all time favourites and whenever I feel a bit low he is who I turn to. When I started this post I had intended to put a youtube video of one of his songs but instead I will leave you with this link to an early demo version of Get Rhythm

Uh oh

After nearly 18 months, perhaps even longer the mathematical side of my brain is not exactly in top gear at the moment, I think my body may be getting ready for the lovely (not) monthly red visitor. Some may call it Aunty Flow, Charlie, that time, but to me it is just a down right pain and one that I have not missed. Though I must say I don't use the word pain in terms of actual pain, I (touch wood) have not ever really to be one that gets terrible cramps or any of the other awful side effects that many women suffer from. I just find it a huge inconvenience.

So what has led me this conclusion?

Well for starters I can feel my hormones raging a battle against each other which resembles something similar to WWIII. As a result of this internal feud I have been in a bit, ok a rather bad, mood. The last two days have seen me yell and scream like a possessed fisher monger's wife. Which I think I actually prefer to the blubbering mess that I am today.

(Deep long sigh)

Anyway my house is more than a shambles, I can't even think of an appropriate word to describe just how disheveled the place looks. The washing is piled up almost to the ceiling, actually there are two mountainous piles. One waiting to be folded and one waiting to be washed and then folded. Arrggghh. It is like a never ending battle. One that I don't even feel close to winning and that is before I start on the dishes and just general tidying.

(another deep long sigh)

Some days it is just all too hard.