Hello! Well, the day has flown by and I feel I've done a gazillion things and none of which I can remember! Well, there was the three loads of laundry done and hung by school drop off, the vegie/fruit/bread/milk shop, the changing of sheets on beds, the baking of a slice and a batch of cookies and the preparation of a lasagne. Thank goodness for dishwashers, as I've already filled and emptied mine twice. And no, not with stuff I could have just rinsed, but yeah, different things and lots of them!
I'm just sitting with a cookie from said batch, and a coffee, and mulling over my day's achievements and the addition of energy to my motherhood mojo that I've been feeling these past few days. The fella's home, but I don't think that's got to do with the change in mood, I think it's more the decision made to just get up and get on, to be honest.
Since making the decision to actually Do The Stuff That Needs Doing, I've had that feeling of achievement return. After that, a little bit of happiness returned because of the achievements. Then some pride at the achievements fuelled my joy, and I feel back on the mend.
I've hit the kitchen again, determined to play Beat the Pantry. Beat the Pantry is a great game to play if you are strapped for cash, want to pretend you are, or just want to clear the pantry before the next big stock-up. It works exactly how it sounds - your job is to Beat the Pantry by emptying her out as much as possible before you have to go and get more stores (either at pay day, or when ever you normally do it). I do it to delay the inevitable massive shop that usually comes as a result of my cycle of storing up and then purging the pantry and I love it. I often find something that I got (like Lemon Chicken recipe base) that completely surprises me and I look forward to cooking. It's also a great way to remember how many Actual Ingredients we have and how much I now can make really from scratch.
Anyway, enough blabbering for the moment. I've really got to go and do something else, because there is still another pile of something somewhere, like all the time!
Until recently, I would whine and complain about how hard life as a stay at home mum was - No More! This blog is a gratitude journal to the gorgeous kids I have. Please, read and enjoy - and join in!
Showing posts with label intentions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label intentions. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Friday, October 8, 2010
Since July? Where've I been?!
Well I'm sorry, invisible people who are probably never visiting this place. I've been absent. Not absent of body, but absent of time. I've been doing what a lot of other mama's out there are doing and actually 'being' with my children and not turning on the computer a hell of a lot. It's been hard, actually, to find the time. I've been really wanting to, needing to, scream in to the nothingness that is this bottomless pit called the internet, but just thought I'd leave it.
But I'm back. For the moment anyway.
The monkeys are fine, with one learning to wriggle around on her bum and the other one learning how hard it is when you can no longer get everyone's undivided attention one hundred percent of the time. We've been doing lots of new stuff - building vegie patches, planting fruit trees and a grape vine, cleaning and decluttering and having loads of picnics. Outdoors is the place to be!
So I thought I'd drop a pin in the ocean and see if anybody is still out there, reading and blogging and wishing and hoping and dreaming....
We're dreaming of holidays at the moment. Nice, long holidays with a daddy that is home and yummy summer food and great summer company....
Bring It On!
But I'm back. For the moment anyway.
The monkeys are fine, with one learning to wriggle around on her bum and the other one learning how hard it is when you can no longer get everyone's undivided attention one hundred percent of the time. We've been doing lots of new stuff - building vegie patches, planting fruit trees and a grape vine, cleaning and decluttering and having loads of picnics. Outdoors is the place to be!
So I thought I'd drop a pin in the ocean and see if anybody is still out there, reading and blogging and wishing and hoping and dreaming....
We're dreaming of holidays at the moment. Nice, long holidays with a daddy that is home and yummy summer food and great summer company....
Bring It On!
Friday, July 16, 2010
SAHM and FIFOD
I've been asked a lot lately about 'coping'. So I thought I'd focus a bit on it, maybe there are mums out there that would like to hear the mindless drivel of a woman who spends 8/12 months of the year being basically, a solo parent.
Firstly I would like to clarify that I am not in a winner-takes-all whinge about single motherhood vs. sahming with a fifo partner. Solo parenting, in my book, (and here, I guess!), is the act of being the sole provider of care for a long period of time. Like days, or weeks, or in the case of women whom I envy but never want to be, the wives/partners of soldiers and their amazing class of folks that go for months at a time being away and having so little contact that even I would hide away and cry within the first week.
Ok, I'm sure I've forgotten some group or ten, but I'm hoping you get the point.
So I personally am a solo parent for 2 weeks at a time, with the fella coming home for one week each time he returns. The pattern is good. It's simple, predictable and has a rythym of it's own that we can fit around. If there are women out there, reading this, with a 'sometimes rostered' partner, my hat is off to you. I couldn't deal with a phone call in the afternoon telling me that the fella was needed somewhere else in the morning and there was no routine to it. It would drive me insane.
But anyhoo...
I have a 3 1/2 yr old that still likes to sleep in my bed, and an 8month old that would not like that at all. Their sleeping habits couldn't be more different - one's a mummy kid, the other a lay-me-down-and-leave-me-alone kid. They eat different, play different, but thankfully they get along just fine. The hardest times are when I am tired, or distracted, or heaven forbid- want to do something that doesn't have a participant need (blogging, anyone?!).
But then there is day ten. By day ten I am soooo over being on my own that I am a downright bitch. It's day ten today, which is why I thought I'd write this instead of chewing the head off of nearby toddlers.
So here is my coping list of do's and don't's (if I can find any don't's)...
*Eat properly. Make meals, not microwavable bits of plastic crap, and leave spaghetti in a tin (and the nutrient-empty things like it) to collect dust at the grocery shop. If the only way you can get a balanced meal on the table is to get a slow cooker, then get that thing cranking. By the end of winter, my slow cooker is hurting. It's wanting to go to slow cooker holiday school. My son is shocking at trying to get dinner in to after about 5pm, so I shove vegies and some meat in that thing in the morning, turn it on about lunchtime and that's dinner. I find the days when I have dinner prepared by 11am (not cooked, but veg peeled, meat thawed and ready) are our best days. Kids get needier as the day wears on, the cartoons or telly doesn't hold their attention and they want to get to the park or a friends, which, in all honesty, is an angsty mum's worst nightmare if she's not prepared for the dinner/bath/bed rush. So I beg you, make your dinner early, and if you don't like eating at that time of day then keep yours til later (with a glass of red, no?!). By making vegies appear in your diet every day you will have more energy to keep being the solo parent.
*Have a routine, and break it only sometimes. My kids, I am convinced, are going to learn to tell the time pretty soon. At 5pm it's bathtime, for about 15minutes, and then dinner, and then Ethan can watch the Simpsons (which I know is awful, but jees, we all have some crap we enjoy and it gets him to eat dinner at least!). After that godawful show is over, we retreat to the loungeroom and the tv is on and we begin to relax. By about 6.45pm I've got him to organise his book, and we brush his teeth, he wees in the toilet and the story begins. It's rare that he's out of bed after 7. He might be awake for a whole lot longer, but unless he needs to wee, he stays put. I won't go in to how I acheived this, but it took a lot of work. Alice fits in there, the whole time, because she's that annoyingly easy bub that at 6.30 I can lay in her own bed and then Ethan and I have some time doing the other stuff. The week is broken up usually, by things like school, my knitting group, gymnastics and Family Movie Night. The flow of the week is good because Ethan knows, for example, friday is gym day and we need to do certain things, and that after he finishes school on mondays he's going to be either hanging out with dad or he'll have the day off the next day to pick dad up from the airport (the in-between monday is a bummer, but we deal with it anyway). Family Movie Night was started about 4 months ago because I was sick of 'doing nothing' on weekends when the fella was away. So now Ethan and I visit the movie rental store on saturday afternoons, buy junk food (usually chips, godblesshissaltytastes!), and then we come home, clean the house and have 'easy tea' (code for a slack dinner of maybe savoury scones or scrambled eggs and fried mushrooms). After that we have our usual routine but instead of bedtime I pull out some big cushions, make him a bed on the loungeroom floor and we watch a movie together. Again, some nights are harder to keep him still, but usually he's wrapt and it all goes to plan.
*Have a fall-back plan. When Alice came along I had found myself being a lot more honest with my friends. I wasn't coping. So along came my friend that said 'if it's going to shit, call me and you can always visit'. So she's my "I'm about to kill this kid if I don't get him doing something with anyone else" fall-back plan. I can throw us all in the car, drive to her house and her kid will go feral with mine and tire themselves out while we have a cuppa and gush over our babies. It's friggin brilliant, because we have a pact that is two pronged...Our kids are both as 'bad' as eachother (Read: just cos you saw mine hitting yours doesn't mean it's the start or the end of the story), and Never Fall Out Over Kids - the kids will be friends and enemies 50 times an hour, but if you have an argument with a grown up over who's kid threw sand in the hair of the other kid you can find yourself in the shit with them for years. Or you'll dread them coming over. Either way, if your kid is painted as a villian by either you or your friend, you won't visit. And those friends are better saved for your days when every thing is rosy and you're going well. If your falling apart, on day ten, then the last thing you want is to visit someone who's gunna yell at your kid because they never see what their own is doing. So if you want a fall back plan, make it with someone who's as laid back as you are or it won't work because the relaxation you were looking for (the fake kind, but fake is still ok!) won't be there!
*Finally, be kind to yourself. I just told Ethan that he needed to leave me alone for 10 minutes, because I'm busy. OH NO!!! I told my child that I'm busy? What kind of a monster am I?!!! Well, an honest one. Because I Am Busy. I'm trying to get the word vomit out of my head and on to the screen so that the yelling in cyber space can be done. He's not going to grow in to Ted Bundy because of it, he's not going to be found in a corner sucking his thumb and not dealing with the world. So if you are not coping and have to have some time, TAKE IT and make it yours. I have a friend who knits while her baby is sleeping, and reads to her toddler while she's doing it. She gets the kid to turn the pages, and that gets her through the day.
Now, what do you do to get through? Please share. But right now, I'm off to the park...
Firstly I would like to clarify that I am not in a winner-takes-all whinge about single motherhood vs. sahming with a fifo partner. Solo parenting, in my book, (and here, I guess!), is the act of being the sole provider of care for a long period of time. Like days, or weeks, or in the case of women whom I envy but never want to be, the wives/partners of soldiers and their amazing class of folks that go for months at a time being away and having so little contact that even I would hide away and cry within the first week.
Ok, I'm sure I've forgotten some group or ten, but I'm hoping you get the point.
So I personally am a solo parent for 2 weeks at a time, with the fella coming home for one week each time he returns. The pattern is good. It's simple, predictable and has a rythym of it's own that we can fit around. If there are women out there, reading this, with a 'sometimes rostered' partner, my hat is off to you. I couldn't deal with a phone call in the afternoon telling me that the fella was needed somewhere else in the morning and there was no routine to it. It would drive me insane.
But anyhoo...
I have a 3 1/2 yr old that still likes to sleep in my bed, and an 8month old that would not like that at all. Their sleeping habits couldn't be more different - one's a mummy kid, the other a lay-me-down-and-leave-me-alone kid. They eat different, play different, but thankfully they get along just fine. The hardest times are when I am tired, or distracted, or heaven forbid- want to do something that doesn't have a participant need (blogging, anyone?!).
But then there is day ten. By day ten I am soooo over being on my own that I am a downright bitch. It's day ten today, which is why I thought I'd write this instead of chewing the head off of nearby toddlers.
So here is my coping list of do's and don't's (if I can find any don't's)...
*Eat properly. Make meals, not microwavable bits of plastic crap, and leave spaghetti in a tin (and the nutrient-empty things like it) to collect dust at the grocery shop. If the only way you can get a balanced meal on the table is to get a slow cooker, then get that thing cranking. By the end of winter, my slow cooker is hurting. It's wanting to go to slow cooker holiday school. My son is shocking at trying to get dinner in to after about 5pm, so I shove vegies and some meat in that thing in the morning, turn it on about lunchtime and that's dinner. I find the days when I have dinner prepared by 11am (not cooked, but veg peeled, meat thawed and ready) are our best days. Kids get needier as the day wears on, the cartoons or telly doesn't hold their attention and they want to get to the park or a friends, which, in all honesty, is an angsty mum's worst nightmare if she's not prepared for the dinner/bath/bed rush. So I beg you, make your dinner early, and if you don't like eating at that time of day then keep yours til later (with a glass of red, no?!). By making vegies appear in your diet every day you will have more energy to keep being the solo parent.
*Have a routine, and break it only sometimes. My kids, I am convinced, are going to learn to tell the time pretty soon. At 5pm it's bathtime, for about 15minutes, and then dinner, and then Ethan can watch the Simpsons (which I know is awful, but jees, we all have some crap we enjoy and it gets him to eat dinner at least!). After that godawful show is over, we retreat to the loungeroom and the tv is on and we begin to relax. By about 6.45pm I've got him to organise his book, and we brush his teeth, he wees in the toilet and the story begins. It's rare that he's out of bed after 7. He might be awake for a whole lot longer, but unless he needs to wee, he stays put. I won't go in to how I acheived this, but it took a lot of work. Alice fits in there, the whole time, because she's that annoyingly easy bub that at 6.30 I can lay in her own bed and then Ethan and I have some time doing the other stuff. The week is broken up usually, by things like school, my knitting group, gymnastics and Family Movie Night. The flow of the week is good because Ethan knows, for example, friday is gym day and we need to do certain things, and that after he finishes school on mondays he's going to be either hanging out with dad or he'll have the day off the next day to pick dad up from the airport (the in-between monday is a bummer, but we deal with it anyway). Family Movie Night was started about 4 months ago because I was sick of 'doing nothing' on weekends when the fella was away. So now Ethan and I visit the movie rental store on saturday afternoons, buy junk food (usually chips, godblesshissaltytastes!), and then we come home, clean the house and have 'easy tea' (code for a slack dinner of maybe savoury scones or scrambled eggs and fried mushrooms). After that we have our usual routine but instead of bedtime I pull out some big cushions, make him a bed on the loungeroom floor and we watch a movie together. Again, some nights are harder to keep him still, but usually he's wrapt and it all goes to plan.
*Have a fall-back plan. When Alice came along I had found myself being a lot more honest with my friends. I wasn't coping. So along came my friend that said 'if it's going to shit, call me and you can always visit'. So she's my "I'm about to kill this kid if I don't get him doing something with anyone else" fall-back plan. I can throw us all in the car, drive to her house and her kid will go feral with mine and tire themselves out while we have a cuppa and gush over our babies. It's friggin brilliant, because we have a pact that is two pronged...Our kids are both as 'bad' as eachother (Read: just cos you saw mine hitting yours doesn't mean it's the start or the end of the story), and Never Fall Out Over Kids - the kids will be friends and enemies 50 times an hour, but if you have an argument with a grown up over who's kid threw sand in the hair of the other kid you can find yourself in the shit with them for years. Or you'll dread them coming over. Either way, if your kid is painted as a villian by either you or your friend, you won't visit. And those friends are better saved for your days when every thing is rosy and you're going well. If your falling apart, on day ten, then the last thing you want is to visit someone who's gunna yell at your kid because they never see what their own is doing. So if you want a fall back plan, make it with someone who's as laid back as you are or it won't work because the relaxation you were looking for (the fake kind, but fake is still ok!) won't be there!
*Finally, be kind to yourself. I just told Ethan that he needed to leave me alone for 10 minutes, because I'm busy. OH NO!!! I told my child that I'm busy? What kind of a monster am I?!!! Well, an honest one. Because I Am Busy. I'm trying to get the word vomit out of my head and on to the screen so that the yelling in cyber space can be done. He's not going to grow in to Ted Bundy because of it, he's not going to be found in a corner sucking his thumb and not dealing with the world. So if you are not coping and have to have some time, TAKE IT and make it yours. I have a friend who knits while her baby is sleeping, and reads to her toddler while she's doing it. She gets the kid to turn the pages, and that gets her through the day.
Now, what do you do to get through? Please share. But right now, I'm off to the park...
Monday, July 12, 2010
School Holidays...
Now I know why teachers need a break!
Ah, it's not so bad. As a very self-assured three and a half year old, I'm only dragged away from doing my work about once an hour (or half an hour, depending on the tiredness levels), and he can be pretty well made happy with trips to the park on his new bike and doing odd jobs like making icypoles and jelly. So we're all relatively well-maintained at the moment.
Some random things going on though are things like :
*using the word 'no', and meaning it. For example, if mum asks you three times to clean up the floor because it looks like the toy gods have thrown up and no one can move their feet, then she says 'you have until the count of three to clean the floor, and if you haven't, what ever I pick up goes in to the cupboard for two days', you might just want to believe her. So now he's not using the entire of the wooden block collection, most of his toy cars, and dvd's are banned until tomorrow. I have a feeling that we might be better at picking things up today.
*I've been trying to appear more ladylike. Yeah, right? How do you know when enough is enough, and when do women who rise at 6am to blow dry and straighten their hair get their medals?! I have to confess I don't even own a hairdryer, and the thought of using a straightener just makes my ears hurt because I'm pretty sure I'll clamp them in my efforts. So far I'm getting to the makeup and decent clothes (trackydacks and stained tops are strictly for night time when I know we're alone now!) by about 9am. Hoping that eventually my obsession in to peeking in to the internet Rabbit Hole will pass by next week and I'll manage to make that '9' an '8' and be able to get Ethan to school and look like a human being. Now, this brings up a few issues for me. I feel nauseaus at the thought that to be attractive we must preen and obsess about looks far more than we do about our interior selves, and because of Consumption Rebellion's blog I was made aware of a youtube video (which I don't have the skills to figure how to put straight in the post) on this link - Katie Makkai's Pretty Poetry Slam so I am really aware of any subliminal message I'm passing on to my own children. I could go on about this, but I just encourage you all to check it out.
*Did you know that if a glass door has suffered, oh, I dunno, a small rock hitting it from a 3 1/2 yr old, that if the weather gets cold enough outside, it will shatter? Yep. That shatterring will result in a stay-at-home-mum who's also home-alone-mum shittering her pants, because she thought that there was someone trying to break in to the house via the back door. Call in the nice neighbours nice hubby, who assured me it would be ok, because it was far too cold for anyone to be out there breaking in to houses that night!
*I have itchy feet again. Well, not so much itchy feet, but a real hankering for the fella to be able to work locally. It feels like he's been gone a month already, and that feeling started only five days in to the swing. Urgh. But we've broken the 10% equity point on the mortgage, and we're quite a bit in front now. So I keep consoling myself with the thoughts that as long as we keep on keeping on, he'll be home soon enough. Like maybe after another two years. Again, urgh.
Ok, randomness and thought patterns aside, I really should wrap it all up and go do some constructive house work and the like before my absence is noted. Hope you check out that youtube link - it's great.
Ah, it's not so bad. As a very self-assured three and a half year old, I'm only dragged away from doing my work about once an hour (or half an hour, depending on the tiredness levels), and he can be pretty well made happy with trips to the park on his new bike and doing odd jobs like making icypoles and jelly. So we're all relatively well-maintained at the moment.
Some random things going on though are things like :
*using the word 'no', and meaning it. For example, if mum asks you three times to clean up the floor because it looks like the toy gods have thrown up and no one can move their feet, then she says 'you have until the count of three to clean the floor, and if you haven't, what ever I pick up goes in to the cupboard for two days', you might just want to believe her. So now he's not using the entire of the wooden block collection, most of his toy cars, and dvd's are banned until tomorrow. I have a feeling that we might be better at picking things up today.
*I've been trying to appear more ladylike. Yeah, right? How do you know when enough is enough, and when do women who rise at 6am to blow dry and straighten their hair get their medals?! I have to confess I don't even own a hairdryer, and the thought of using a straightener just makes my ears hurt because I'm pretty sure I'll clamp them in my efforts. So far I'm getting to the makeup and decent clothes (trackydacks and stained tops are strictly for night time when I know we're alone now!) by about 9am. Hoping that eventually my obsession in to peeking in to the internet Rabbit Hole will pass by next week and I'll manage to make that '9' an '8' and be able to get Ethan to school and look like a human being. Now, this brings up a few issues for me. I feel nauseaus at the thought that to be attractive we must preen and obsess about looks far more than we do about our interior selves, and because of Consumption Rebellion's blog I was made aware of a youtube video (which I don't have the skills to figure how to put straight in the post) on this link - Katie Makkai's Pretty Poetry Slam so I am really aware of any subliminal message I'm passing on to my own children. I could go on about this, but I just encourage you all to check it out.
*Did you know that if a glass door has suffered, oh, I dunno, a small rock hitting it from a 3 1/2 yr old, that if the weather gets cold enough outside, it will shatter? Yep. That shatterring will result in a stay-at-home-mum who's also home-alone-mum shittering her pants, because she thought that there was someone trying to break in to the house via the back door. Call in the nice neighbours nice hubby, who assured me it would be ok, because it was far too cold for anyone to be out there breaking in to houses that night!
*I have itchy feet again. Well, not so much itchy feet, but a real hankering for the fella to be able to work locally. It feels like he's been gone a month already, and that feeling started only five days in to the swing. Urgh. But we've broken the 10% equity point on the mortgage, and we're quite a bit in front now. So I keep consoling myself with the thoughts that as long as we keep on keeping on, he'll be home soon enough. Like maybe after another two years. Again, urgh.
Ok, randomness and thought patterns aside, I really should wrap it all up and go do some constructive house work and the like before my absence is noted. Hope you check out that youtube link - it's great.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Early Morning Wake Up...
Well, my babies are asleep. Well, he is, and I can hear her stirring on the other side of the wall in front of me. I just thought I'd pop in this morning, even though it's 5am, and say I've been busy, with raising and creating, worshipping a cartoon called DirtGirl, planting daffodil bulbs, knitting and learning to crochet. I'm a committed knitter now folks! Although it's a comical journey, as I have only made one jumper for Ethan that got immediately handed down to Alice!
Ok, so now she is really awake and I've just changed and dressed her while that photo was loading. Time to really hit the deck now, and do the normal household stuff that seems to await a mother every day - a load of washing is now already in, there's breakfast to be made (maybe french toast this morning...?), and we're off to the library at a much more decent hour!
Have a nice weekend folks.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Oh-Ah Friday....blow out!
Well I'm hoping on the one hand I have a secret following of thousands that showed up here on friday dyyyying to see our new lounge room....but in reality I know that the only people I disappointed was myself and the fella!
We finally got everything back in to the room last night, as it's all painted and we hired a carpet cleaner, and the room looks freakin' great (except a couple of the cracks are already resurfacing, the fella wishes he'd taken more time and sanded and reapplied plaster more delicately) in my opinion! I was going to buy some curtains, but after looking at the prices of ready-mades, I'm going to put those rather expensive sewing lessons to good use and make our own. I like that it's nearly change of season again, so shops will be cutting the prices of last year's fabric to create that fear amongst home makers that they must update with the brand new stuff, so hopefully I will be able to grab some fabric that is "soooo last year" for really cheap. But then again, I know me, and I know that until it is really cheap, I won't buy anything!
Ok, so there are no piccies yet, but I proooomise I am thinking about it!
Hope you've had a great weekend...
We finally got everything back in to the room last night, as it's all painted and we hired a carpet cleaner, and the room looks freakin' great (except a couple of the cracks are already resurfacing, the fella wishes he'd taken more time and sanded and reapplied plaster more delicately) in my opinion! I was going to buy some curtains, but after looking at the prices of ready-mades, I'm going to put those rather expensive sewing lessons to good use and make our own. I like that it's nearly change of season again, so shops will be cutting the prices of last year's fabric to create that fear amongst home makers that they must update with the brand new stuff, so hopefully I will be able to grab some fabric that is "soooo last year" for really cheap. But then again, I know me, and I know that until it is really cheap, I won't buy anything!
Ok, so there are no piccies yet, but I proooomise I am thinking about it!
Hope you've had a great weekend...
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Just a quick update from the trenches...
Hi all, and sorry for the absence! I'm sure you all missed me, I really am....
So I've been a while, doin' this mummy gig and learning how to do a school run, being the class tea towel and napkin washer for the week, getting my boy up and ready for his big days 5 times a week. It's not been exhausting or anything, and to be quite honest I think it's done him the world of good! He's still three, don't get me wrong - there are times when I'm just glad they have already banned selling kids on the ebay, because some days he'd be at a 'buy now' price that would compete with a loaf of bread.
But anyway...back to my big hopes this week (did you know that was what I was gunna rabbit on about?). I've gone and got me a sustainability assessment booked for this week, a solar panels quote is already underway and I'm thinking about changing our toxic, disgusting, rank carpet to solid wood flooring if the assessment covers it. But here's the catch - the loans stop on March 22. So I reeeeaaally need to get my A into G. Like Ricky-Mutha-frikkin-ticky. Yesterday would have been good.
So that is the first cab off the rank. We're also going to pull our fingers out this week (starting today) and paint the lounge room. We have a week til we have guests arrive, so working to a deadline, and with that lovely invention called school for Ethan, we should be able to knock it on the head within a week. We're not silly, and we're doing all the prep-work first, so I don't envisage any actual paint on the walls until at least wednesday, cos there is a lot of prep work unfortunately. The previous owners of this house, who built it, were not very forthcoming with the prep work nor with making sure things were done properly. We're talking stereo system wires hanging from corners, chipped and cracked paint, unsealed windows kinda work. So my enjo and my partner will be working over time this week! Oh, and just for the product placement, if you have a need to clean walls, I recommend the kitchen or bbq gloves and the green miracle. Does a more thorough job, quicker and easier than sugar soap or any kind of rank sticky chemical ever could. But I digress...
In a week, we shall be rewarded with beautiful, crack and chip free, nicely understated colour walls. I shall do the before and after shots, just for brag-book sakes. When I was little (ok, when I was about 10!), my mum and her neighbours used to have 'oooh ahhh fridays', and gees it was cool fun! What ever stuff you'd done to your house (and it was the 80's recession, so it was never much, maybe just a shelf, or even sometimes new tea towels), you got full bragging rights and an audience on ooh ahh fridays. I used to love it. Mum would make burgers (homemade, best ever burgers I tell ya!), she worked in a brewery so she'd buy a bottle of what ever and invite the neighbours. Was one of the fundamentally best parts of growing up where we lived, even though it only went for a couple years. But anyway, I hope to have our very own 'ooh ahh friday' this week....
Stay tuned!
So I've been a while, doin' this mummy gig and learning how to do a school run, being the class tea towel and napkin washer for the week, getting my boy up and ready for his big days 5 times a week. It's not been exhausting or anything, and to be quite honest I think it's done him the world of good! He's still three, don't get me wrong - there are times when I'm just glad they have already banned selling kids on the ebay, because some days he'd be at a 'buy now' price that would compete with a loaf of bread.
But anyway...back to my big hopes this week (did you know that was what I was gunna rabbit on about?). I've gone and got me a sustainability assessment booked for this week, a solar panels quote is already underway and I'm thinking about changing our toxic, disgusting, rank carpet to solid wood flooring if the assessment covers it. But here's the catch - the loans stop on March 22. So I reeeeaaally need to get my A into G. Like Ricky-Mutha-frikkin-ticky. Yesterday would have been good.
So that is the first cab off the rank. We're also going to pull our fingers out this week (starting today) and paint the lounge room. We have a week til we have guests arrive, so working to a deadline, and with that lovely invention called school for Ethan, we should be able to knock it on the head within a week. We're not silly, and we're doing all the prep-work first, so I don't envisage any actual paint on the walls until at least wednesday, cos there is a lot of prep work unfortunately. The previous owners of this house, who built it, were not very forthcoming with the prep work nor with making sure things were done properly. We're talking stereo system wires hanging from corners, chipped and cracked paint, unsealed windows kinda work. So my enjo and my partner will be working over time this week! Oh, and just for the product placement, if you have a need to clean walls, I recommend the kitchen or bbq gloves and the green miracle. Does a more thorough job, quicker and easier than sugar soap or any kind of rank sticky chemical ever could. But I digress...
In a week, we shall be rewarded with beautiful, crack and chip free, nicely understated colour walls. I shall do the before and after shots, just for brag-book sakes. When I was little (ok, when I was about 10!), my mum and her neighbours used to have 'oooh ahhh fridays', and gees it was cool fun! What ever stuff you'd done to your house (and it was the 80's recession, so it was never much, maybe just a shelf, or even sometimes new tea towels), you got full bragging rights and an audience on ooh ahh fridays. I used to love it. Mum would make burgers (homemade, best ever burgers I tell ya!), she worked in a brewery so she'd buy a bottle of what ever and invite the neighbours. Was one of the fundamentally best parts of growing up where we lived, even though it only went for a couple years. But anyway, I hope to have our very own 'ooh ahh friday' this week....
Stay tuned!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
I've been busy with both hands....
I'm sorry I am not going to be doing a long post. But there is good reason...I made this blanket, for my friend who's having a baby soon. It has created a knitting demon in the house, all because of Ravelry. What an amazing site! I can highly recommend that you go there, your friends go there, and anyone who loves to knit or crochet goes there. I've been lost there for days...and don't want to be found!
Have an amazing week everyone. I've been doing better than only a few weeks ago, and can't help but think that aside from all the assistance I've been getting for Ethan, in the form of remedies, that this new creative outlet has also helped.
Oh, and for anyone who's into hearing about the changes that others make in their conscious living, I have decided that we are only eating chicken products that have come from humane sources. Free range and roaming all the way!!! I made the change standing at the meat section of the supermarket the other day. Now to find a source that sells it in bulk, so the price is more competitive, and my mission will be easier on the pocket!
Have an amazing week everyone. I've been doing better than only a few weeks ago, and can't help but think that aside from all the assistance I've been getting for Ethan, in the form of remedies, that this new creative outlet has also helped.
Oh, and for anyone who's into hearing about the changes that others make in their conscious living, I have decided that we are only eating chicken products that have come from humane sources. Free range and roaming all the way!!! I made the change standing at the meat section of the supermarket the other day. Now to find a source that sells it in bulk, so the price is more competitive, and my mission will be easier on the pocket!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Hi, I'm Fairy from the GunnaDo Tribe...
Hi and nice to see ya!
I can't even think of the last time I actually posted, but here is another pocket of time I've found, with too many things running through my head that I'm excited about. I'm going to try to keep this post from being really long, but no promises (although no doubt the kiddies are on the side of keeping it short and will interupt me mid sentence of course!).
First, I can't wait to say that over the last couple of months I've been keeping a mental check on how much rubbish we produce here. It's quite disgusting. No, actually, it's REALLY disgusting. So I did change from disposable to cloth nappies when Alice got heavy enough for them, yeah. Cut down all those nappies that were going in the bin by about 95% that did! Ethan still has a night nappy, but unfortunately he won't wear a cloth one as he says they're uncomfortable. But generally, instead of 6 or so disposables in our bin a day, we're just putting in one. I'm happy with that. Unless we're going away for a really long stretch of time (like 8 nappies worth), then Alice will be wearing cloth all day and night. So maybe one day out of fourteen we're using disposables. Not ideal, but I'll get there.
But the green waste, that I was definitely NOT happy about. So I researched, I asked questions, I pondered, and then I went to gumtree and found a secondhand Bokashi Bucket! I am soooo happy that now I have really cut down our outgoing-to-the-landfill rubbish. No kidding, I'd love a compost tumbler, but the cash is in short supply and they just don't come up secondhand that often. I honestly cannot believe how much that little addition to my kitchen has cut down my trips to the big bin. I put a plastic shopping bag (yeah, I know, but hey, I'm learning!) in the kitchen bin three days ago, and finally took it to the bin this morning, and even then it was only a quarter full. Between my vigilant recycling efforts (Ethan starts kindy tomorrow so I've been keeping my yoghurt containers, etc in a stockpile for the teacher), my bokashi and the nappies, I've cut our landfill waste down from a bag a day to a quarter of a bag in three days. Unbelievable.
Ok, so my next gabble is that I've been knitting, and have nearly finished a baby blanket. My first knitted gift, and I'm proud to say it's not too bad. I've got at least two babies to 'buy' for this year, and I'm not actually going to 'buy' anything if I can help it, but rather do some making and gifting. Babies are adorable, cute, cuddly, and amazing. They also grow far too quickly to warrant buying them anything brand new that will last only a few weeks! Think of the environmental difference we could all make if we re-purposed all of our clothing for just the first three months. It would have to be significant, yeah?
I have also fallen in love, all over again, with hemphemphooray and Teresa's fantastic face cream. I bought the day cream some time ago (two, three months?) and it's still half full. I use it every morning and night, and it is just the best. So is the lip salve that I got. Look, I don't get any financial gain in telling you about hemphemphooray, but gees, just go and have a look if you're looking for an alternative to beauty products that contain hidden nasties. I've known Teresa for about a decade, and the woman knows what she's doing!
Ok, like I said, I'd get interupted. But I haven't, amazingly. So to leave you with a pic of our happy girl, I hope you have a great week.
I can't even think of the last time I actually posted, but here is another pocket of time I've found, with too many things running through my head that I'm excited about. I'm going to try to keep this post from being really long, but no promises (although no doubt the kiddies are on the side of keeping it short and will interupt me mid sentence of course!).
First, I can't wait to say that over the last couple of months I've been keeping a mental check on how much rubbish we produce here. It's quite disgusting. No, actually, it's REALLY disgusting. So I did change from disposable to cloth nappies when Alice got heavy enough for them, yeah. Cut down all those nappies that were going in the bin by about 95% that did! Ethan still has a night nappy, but unfortunately he won't wear a cloth one as he says they're uncomfortable. But generally, instead of 6 or so disposables in our bin a day, we're just putting in one. I'm happy with that. Unless we're going away for a really long stretch of time (like 8 nappies worth), then Alice will be wearing cloth all day and night. So maybe one day out of fourteen we're using disposables. Not ideal, but I'll get there.
But the green waste, that I was definitely NOT happy about. So I researched, I asked questions, I pondered, and then I went to gumtree and found a secondhand Bokashi Bucket! I am soooo happy that now I have really cut down our outgoing-to-the-landfill rubbish. No kidding, I'd love a compost tumbler, but the cash is in short supply and they just don't come up secondhand that often. I honestly cannot believe how much that little addition to my kitchen has cut down my trips to the big bin. I put a plastic shopping bag (yeah, I know, but hey, I'm learning!) in the kitchen bin three days ago, and finally took it to the bin this morning, and even then it was only a quarter full. Between my vigilant recycling efforts (Ethan starts kindy tomorrow so I've been keeping my yoghurt containers, etc in a stockpile for the teacher), my bokashi and the nappies, I've cut our landfill waste down from a bag a day to a quarter of a bag in three days. Unbelievable.
Ok, so my next gabble is that I've been knitting, and have nearly finished a baby blanket. My first knitted gift, and I'm proud to say it's not too bad. I've got at least two babies to 'buy' for this year, and I'm not actually going to 'buy' anything if I can help it, but rather do some making and gifting. Babies are adorable, cute, cuddly, and amazing. They also grow far too quickly to warrant buying them anything brand new that will last only a few weeks! Think of the environmental difference we could all make if we re-purposed all of our clothing for just the first three months. It would have to be significant, yeah?
I have also fallen in love, all over again, with hemphemphooray and Teresa's fantastic face cream. I bought the day cream some time ago (two, three months?) and it's still half full. I use it every morning and night, and it is just the best. So is the lip salve that I got. Look, I don't get any financial gain in telling you about hemphemphooray, but gees, just go and have a look if you're looking for an alternative to beauty products that contain hidden nasties. I've known Teresa for about a decade, and the woman knows what she's doing!
Ok, like I said, I'd get interupted. But I haven't, amazingly. So to leave you with a pic of our happy girl, I hope you have a great week.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
I'm going on a diet...
An internet diet. I have come to realise, well, not really...I've finally admitted to myself, that for someone with two gorgeous children, I spend far too much time on the internet. It's not productive time, either, it's stoopid, window shopping, browsing other peoples' lives' time. I need to stop envying others, and start enjoying myself.
I'll still be posting, probably more often than I have been lately actually, but I'm not sure about the way things will happen. When I was given all the fancy stuff I inherited, I made a vow to myself that I would use it, and currently the computer is in the way. Right now, in fact, if it weren't connected I would be sewing or knitting on the machines while both of the kids are asleep. But I'm not. I'm being a lazy so-an-so and reading blog after beautiful blog wishing some of the other crafty bloggers would come and decorate my house. But they aren't, so I need to do something about that!
So I wish you all a merry christmas, may it be a relaxing one with loads of love and not much plastic (credit or present-wise!). Drop me a line and let me know how much you loved your time off, your new socks, or the scarf that nanna made you in june that she's just given you now (and yeah, I am actually giving a friend of mine a scarf - and it's about 40degrees celcius here today!). I will love hearing all about your xmas cheer!
I'll still be posting, probably more often than I have been lately actually, but I'm not sure about the way things will happen. When I was given all the fancy stuff I inherited, I made a vow to myself that I would use it, and currently the computer is in the way. Right now, in fact, if it weren't connected I would be sewing or knitting on the machines while both of the kids are asleep. But I'm not. I'm being a lazy so-an-so and reading blog after beautiful blog wishing some of the other crafty bloggers would come and decorate my house. But they aren't, so I need to do something about that!
So I wish you all a merry christmas, may it be a relaxing one with loads of love and not much plastic (credit or present-wise!). Drop me a line and let me know how much you loved your time off, your new socks, or the scarf that nanna made you in june that she's just given you now (and yeah, I am actually giving a friend of mine a scarf - and it's about 40degrees celcius here today!). I will love hearing all about your xmas cheer!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
It's oh, so Quiet...
Good morning....
It's sleepy here at the moment. Well, it's also 5am here at the moment, so that explains why. I woke at 3.30am with Alice, as she needed a feed and a change, and by 4am Ethan was up as well. I'm not sure what woke him exactly, whether it was Alice and I or whether he just wriggled out of bed too much, but he's in my spot now.
I'm feeling a bit reflective lately. There are quite a few things that I've been thinking about...
I've been using a different tactic on Ethan for his behaviour, and I think it's working ok in my opinion. I get worried that other people see Ethan as nothing but a hassle, because of his age and his over-stimulated personality that just yearns to socialise with others. My sister is a good example of that. She used to think the sun shone clear out of his bottom, but now she hardly looks at him when she (rarely) visits us. It breaks my heart, because he still thinks the sun shines out of her bottom, he just doesn't realise that it's not reciprocated anymore. I also have quite a few friends with kids the same age, and it always feels like he is getting the blame for any hiccups that occur during play time. In my opinion, kids are kids. They fight and are best friends fifty times in sixty minutes, and as a teacher was once heard saying they are all "unique and special snowflakes...just like every one else". I think all kids at age two, up until about age 5 or 6, are absolutely unbearable half the time. But when I see my friends, they seem to err on the side of their own children all the time, and don't seem to think that there is a relationship between the kids at all, a to-ing and fro-ing of behaviour and reactions. I don't know, perhaps I'm being too sensitive lately? Having a baby can do that, in conjunction with a heavy dose of cabin fever!
I inherited the most amazing things a couple of weeks ago. My partners Nan passed away a few months ago, and left instructions that I was to be given as much of her fancy work stuff as I wanted. So I am now the proud owner of not only an overlocker, but also an Embroidery sewing maching, and two knitting machines. Basically Pop bought down the entire craft room and put it in my house. So we have been moving things around. A lot. My office is now going to be the new craft/fancy work room, and the computer is being moved to the rear of the house, near the back door. It made us cry, getting it all in the house, as I felt so lucky and loved by Nan to have been gifted so much. It really has made me think about her life a lot too, as she also mothered her five children while Pop went away to work. They were a real pioneering couple, and Nan knew that sometimes she wouldn't see or hear from Pop for months - their youngest daughter was nearly 6 months old before Pop even met her. I think, when I reflect on how hard Nan worked around the home, of how lucky I am now. My partner calls home every night he's away. If there is an emergency, or a death, or anything, he can be flown home within 24 hours easily. And without the distractions of malls, computers, mobile phones and the like, Nan did a lot of learning of her own, running those machines and making her childrens clothes and toys. She was such an inspiration.
Alice is settling in really well still. I'm just about ready to make up her cot and get her sleeping in there during the day, but she's still in the bassinette in our room during the night. She has been sleeping in her room in the bassinette in the daytime, as it's much darker than our room, and that's been going ok. We also were really lucky to be loaned a swinging cradle (battery operated thingamugig) and that has also given us much sanity when she's been hard to settle. A little colic, but nothing that doesn't sort itself out within about an hour, and she's still sleeping a lot. I'm guessing that all of that will change significantly over the next few weeks.
Anyway, that's the big report from here for now. I don't know if there'll be many posts over the next few weeks, as I'm considering moving the computer to somewhere that there's no net jack just yet, but I'll either keep you posted, or you'll notice the silence!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Well, we've got past the first week here in whiney fairy land and Alice is fitting in well. She's a seemingly contented baby, has taught me that she does NOT like mustard in her breastmilk (hey, I never knew!), and aside from that we've just had to start re-assuring her that the difference between day and night is that mum really likes to sleep at night! I think it's true what they say about mum's with more than one baby, because I am soooo much more relaxed this time than I was with Ethan.
We've been doing super-well with the stay at home challenge (as I now am calling it!). I am determined to get as close to pay day as possible without entering a supermarket or store (but the store part fell apart yesterday, as we had a birthday party and I forgot to pre-buy a present unfortunately). We've run out of fresh milk, but I just made up a load of powdered for myself and the uht is still going strong for the gentlemen of the house. We're having a couple friends around today, and I've even managed to not have to go out for them to be catered for too. I was having a mild panic attack this morning, because I 'always do potato salad' for our bbq's and thought I'd best run off to the market for the ingredients. Then I floated the option to my partner that we have coleslaw and pasta salad instead. "Yeah, sounds good" came the reply - well, good compared to going to the market I think!!!
So we've been becoming the masters of 'making do' this week. We have not done much other than have a couple of visitors, leaving the house only when necessary (trying to make our fuel last for two weeks instead of one is a huuuuge challenge for us, but luckily there's a lot of home-based entertainment: more on that in a moment) and have pretty much left the bank balance alone. Last pay I got a bit excited and paid too much off our debt, leaving us with very little in our actual spending account. Silly move! I usually wait to put the excess on until the end of the pay cycle, but for some reason (can I blame enthusiasm and pregnancy brain?) I sent our excess off to the bank at the beginning of the pay cycle, and that's why we're really watching our money. I don't think we'd be behaving any differently than we would have anyway, but it's really bought home how much difference there is between what we think we need when we have got spare money and what we actually really need when we don't.
Ethan is still doing really well, and despite our 'house-boundedness' we've kept our little adventurer happy and healthy. Yesterday we made delish Zucchini and Orange Cake from Womens Weekly's "Creative Cooking on a Budget" (also known as my Favourite Cookbook of All Time), and that will see us entertain our morning visitors, with maybe even a bit for afternoon tea after our bbq lunch. I like to think that in his future Ethan will make a great cook, because he's always encouraged to help me in the kitchen - so far he's learned many things that I won't go in to, but suffice to say he'll sit on the floor with me and find recipes in our cookbooks and natter away about 'what we gunna make' quite a lot. I love it. We've also put together some fantastic playdough from my friend Kristi's recipe. She makes a cooked playdough, and it can't be beat!
Kristi's Playdough....
Add 1 cup plain flour, 1/2 cup salt, 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar, 1 cup water, 2 tablespoons oil and some food colouring (but only a few drops!). Throw it all in the saucepan, over a low heat and stir, stir, stir, until the mix resembles playdough. Turn it out on to a hard surface once it's cooled a little and then give it a knead. Leave until completely cool and then let the kiddies have loads of fun!
So that's the relatively relaxing pace to our week this week. We'll have things to do this week, more visitors and some adventures to plan (zoo visit this week, as Ethan has decided he "needs to show baby sissa the efalents" so we've arranged a free pass and I'll pack the lunch). Aside from that, we're hoping to make it another 5 days at least until the next big grocery shop....Fingers crossed for me!!!
We've been doing super-well with the stay at home challenge (as I now am calling it!). I am determined to get as close to pay day as possible without entering a supermarket or store (but the store part fell apart yesterday, as we had a birthday party and I forgot to pre-buy a present unfortunately). We've run out of fresh milk, but I just made up a load of powdered for myself and the uht is still going strong for the gentlemen of the house. We're having a couple friends around today, and I've even managed to not have to go out for them to be catered for too. I was having a mild panic attack this morning, because I 'always do potato salad' for our bbq's and thought I'd best run off to the market for the ingredients. Then I floated the option to my partner that we have coleslaw and pasta salad instead. "Yeah, sounds good" came the reply - well, good compared to going to the market I think!!!
So we've been becoming the masters of 'making do' this week. We have not done much other than have a couple of visitors, leaving the house only when necessary (trying to make our fuel last for two weeks instead of one is a huuuuge challenge for us, but luckily there's a lot of home-based entertainment: more on that in a moment) and have pretty much left the bank balance alone. Last pay I got a bit excited and paid too much off our debt, leaving us with very little in our actual spending account. Silly move! I usually wait to put the excess on until the end of the pay cycle, but for some reason (can I blame enthusiasm and pregnancy brain?) I sent our excess off to the bank at the beginning of the pay cycle, and that's why we're really watching our money. I don't think we'd be behaving any differently than we would have anyway, but it's really bought home how much difference there is between what we think we need when we have got spare money and what we actually really need when we don't.
Ethan is still doing really well, and despite our 'house-boundedness' we've kept our little adventurer happy and healthy. Yesterday we made delish Zucchini and Orange Cake from Womens Weekly's "Creative Cooking on a Budget" (also known as my Favourite Cookbook of All Time), and that will see us entertain our morning visitors, with maybe even a bit for afternoon tea after our bbq lunch. I like to think that in his future Ethan will make a great cook, because he's always encouraged to help me in the kitchen - so far he's learned many things that I won't go in to, but suffice to say he'll sit on the floor with me and find recipes in our cookbooks and natter away about 'what we gunna make' quite a lot. I love it. We've also put together some fantastic playdough from my friend Kristi's recipe. She makes a cooked playdough, and it can't be beat!
Kristi's Playdough....
Add 1 cup plain flour, 1/2 cup salt, 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar, 1 cup water, 2 tablespoons oil and some food colouring (but only a few drops!). Throw it all in the saucepan, over a low heat and stir, stir, stir, until the mix resembles playdough. Turn it out on to a hard surface once it's cooled a little and then give it a knead. Leave until completely cool and then let the kiddies have loads of fun!
So that's the relatively relaxing pace to our week this week. We'll have things to do this week, more visitors and some adventures to plan (zoo visit this week, as Ethan has decided he "needs to show baby sissa the efalents" so we've arranged a free pass and I'll pack the lunch). Aside from that, we're hoping to make it another 5 days at least until the next big grocery shop....Fingers crossed for me!!!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Well, not able to sleep again....
Good morning fairy cyber land! I've been awake about an hour and a half...and counting. It's D-Day here, the final countdown. The day when I become a mother of TWO. Holy cow.
I have the most amazingly generous friends and family really. I'm very lucky. Last night we had arranged for friends to come up and spend the night with us in preparation for today, as our friend Nat is looking after Ethan today. She's fantastic - if anything a bit TOO fantastic! Ethan carries on like it's a day at the fair when she's around!!! So we've clued him in to the fact that he'll be spending today doing a couple of 'Very Important Things' with his Auntie Nat, and dropping me at the hospital, then letting daddy come back and help mum get the baby out, then he'll be wrapping the baby a present and coming to meet her later on today. I have absolutely no doubt that he'll carry on a beauty when his dad leaves to meet me in the hospital later, but that it will last about five minutes, he'll make sure that the show was a really good one and then keep playing with Auntie Nat all day.
Aside from that, I'm a bit nervous. I know there are people out there, in the world, who had no doubt that they would have a huuuuge family, that they knew how their life-path was going to go and worked really hard to make it all happen properly, following role models, parents and friends and family throughout their lives to see 'how it's done'. But not me. I was never going to really ever have children, or settle down. I was a gypsy travelling lady, moving my way from place to place and never letting myself get bored of the ho-hum of a job or a lifestyle for more than a year at a time. But that all changed about four years ago, when Ethan's dad and I reunited and settled down in to our own home. Now look at us! We're about to become a family of FOUR!!!
I'm nervous for my partner, because he's never spent a whole big chunk of time with Ethan before. Like most two-year olds, Ethan spends most of his time with his mum, at home, while daddy is away at work. When daddy's home, I say that I cease to exist unless it's a mealtime or Ethan has hurt himself or something similar, but even then I'm mostly here and there on adventures with them both. But not for the next few days at least. I guess I shouldn't be overly dramatic, as I am not as nervous as I sound - yesterday Ethan got his daddy to make him some noodles, which he did, and then they proceeded to share them straight out of the jug. So I kind of thought straight away - "this place is going to be the man-cave for the next week!" - because they're going to be doing all that gross boy stuff that us mother's Never Allow. Like eating with out a bowl, leaving the toilet lid and seat up, and not soaking dishes....not to mention wiping our hands on our clothes, throwing snails on the roof and sharing icecream with the dog. And that's just the stuff my partner will do!
So today I'll meet my baby, which I am getting to be a bit excited about. It will be a better day tomorrow, when the operation has worn off and I'm able to shower and go to the toilet without a bag attached to me, and then the fun will really begin for us all. I have prepared as much as possible, and will finish all this this morning with the packing of bags for myself and getting a bit of fruit ready for Ethan and daddy to bring me this afternoon. After that, who knows? The great big new horizon for us all!
I have the most amazingly generous friends and family really. I'm very lucky. Last night we had arranged for friends to come up and spend the night with us in preparation for today, as our friend Nat is looking after Ethan today. She's fantastic - if anything a bit TOO fantastic! Ethan carries on like it's a day at the fair when she's around!!! So we've clued him in to the fact that he'll be spending today doing a couple of 'Very Important Things' with his Auntie Nat, and dropping me at the hospital, then letting daddy come back and help mum get the baby out, then he'll be wrapping the baby a present and coming to meet her later on today. I have absolutely no doubt that he'll carry on a beauty when his dad leaves to meet me in the hospital later, but that it will last about five minutes, he'll make sure that the show was a really good one and then keep playing with Auntie Nat all day.
Aside from that, I'm a bit nervous. I know there are people out there, in the world, who had no doubt that they would have a huuuuge family, that they knew how their life-path was going to go and worked really hard to make it all happen properly, following role models, parents and friends and family throughout their lives to see 'how it's done'. But not me. I was never going to really ever have children, or settle down. I was a gypsy travelling lady, moving my way from place to place and never letting myself get bored of the ho-hum of a job or a lifestyle for more than a year at a time. But that all changed about four years ago, when Ethan's dad and I reunited and settled down in to our own home. Now look at us! We're about to become a family of FOUR!!!
I'm nervous for my partner, because he's never spent a whole big chunk of time with Ethan before. Like most two-year olds, Ethan spends most of his time with his mum, at home, while daddy is away at work. When daddy's home, I say that I cease to exist unless it's a mealtime or Ethan has hurt himself or something similar, but even then I'm mostly here and there on adventures with them both. But not for the next few days at least. I guess I shouldn't be overly dramatic, as I am not as nervous as I sound - yesterday Ethan got his daddy to make him some noodles, which he did, and then they proceeded to share them straight out of the jug. So I kind of thought straight away - "this place is going to be the man-cave for the next week!" - because they're going to be doing all that gross boy stuff that us mother's Never Allow. Like eating with out a bowl, leaving the toilet lid and seat up, and not soaking dishes....not to mention wiping our hands on our clothes, throwing snails on the roof and sharing icecream with the dog. And that's just the stuff my partner will do!
So today I'll meet my baby, which I am getting to be a bit excited about. It will be a better day tomorrow, when the operation has worn off and I'm able to shower and go to the toilet without a bag attached to me, and then the fun will really begin for us all. I have prepared as much as possible, and will finish all this this morning with the packing of bags for myself and getting a bit of fruit ready for Ethan and daddy to bring me this afternoon. After that, who knows? The great big new horizon for us all!
Monday, November 2, 2009
I can't sleep....
Well, cyber world, I have a confession. It's a confession only very few know, too.
On wednesday the doctors are going to put a sunroof in my tummy and my baby will be born. I know that c-sections aren't very often smiled upon amongst mums who've 'really given birth', but a couple of the ob/gyn's at my hospital have viewed and reviewed and then basically given me the best medical advice that they can. My body, unfortunately, is deciding that it's not quite sure what to do next. Inside, the baby is much the same. She's active, growing and in all other senses a regular 39week gestation baby. But she just will not engage and she will not turn to face my back. Much the same as with Ethan, I have been 'diagnosed' (?) with Failure to Progress.
I like to think of it as being such a good hostess, the guests don't want to leave the premises. When I was pregnant with Ethan, I had Gestational Diabetes, and the doctors do not let you go 'over' your due date with GD because of the risk of an early-aging placenta (and not feeding the bub right), and the high amount of complications such as jaundice. Ethan was born ok, but within about 24hours developed jaundice that took nearly 3 full days of treatment to get rid of, and another 3 days of tests after that to be completely clear of. I went in to be induced with him, and after 4 failed attempts, still had not had any contractions.
So in a nutshell, what I'm trying to say is that I kind of feel like I've cheated the system, and am about to do it again!
But I am excited! I didn't think I would be, considering it's all very 'clinical' in the delivery and we're well ahead of time what is going to happen, but I am. I can hardly believe I will hear her tiny voice for the first time in about 36 hours, and see what she looks like.
So here's to fingers being crossed, a safe and happy delivery and a fast recovery. I'll try and post tomorrow night before I go to the hospital, but otherwise, have a great week everyone and I'll be sure to share a pic or two when I return.
On wednesday the doctors are going to put a sunroof in my tummy and my baby will be born. I know that c-sections aren't very often smiled upon amongst mums who've 'really given birth', but a couple of the ob/gyn's at my hospital have viewed and reviewed and then basically given me the best medical advice that they can. My body, unfortunately, is deciding that it's not quite sure what to do next. Inside, the baby is much the same. She's active, growing and in all other senses a regular 39week gestation baby. But she just will not engage and she will not turn to face my back. Much the same as with Ethan, I have been 'diagnosed' (?) with Failure to Progress.
I like to think of it as being such a good hostess, the guests don't want to leave the premises. When I was pregnant with Ethan, I had Gestational Diabetes, and the doctors do not let you go 'over' your due date with GD because of the risk of an early-aging placenta (and not feeding the bub right), and the high amount of complications such as jaundice. Ethan was born ok, but within about 24hours developed jaundice that took nearly 3 full days of treatment to get rid of, and another 3 days of tests after that to be completely clear of. I went in to be induced with him, and after 4 failed attempts, still had not had any contractions.
So in a nutshell, what I'm trying to say is that I kind of feel like I've cheated the system, and am about to do it again!
But I am excited! I didn't think I would be, considering it's all very 'clinical' in the delivery and we're well ahead of time what is going to happen, but I am. I can hardly believe I will hear her tiny voice for the first time in about 36 hours, and see what she looks like.
So here's to fingers being crossed, a safe and happy delivery and a fast recovery. I'll try and post tomorrow night before I go to the hospital, but otherwise, have a great week everyone and I'll be sure to share a pic or two when I return.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Hello everybody!
I am uuuuunnnncomfortable! Very much so. In the middle of the night I wake up with leg cramps, I'm having a few brackston hicks, and the little lady in there is now big enough to make me feel like my sternam is located in a very inconvenient place - where her feet are actually meant to be.
But enough about that. Yesterday I held my own birthday/baby shower afternoon tea! It was soooo lovely to be surrounded by my half a dozen or so favourite-est girlfriends, people that I know I don't want to miss the opportunity to have one last really good gas-bag with before the bub comes in two weeks and I lose the art of conversation to the art of breastfeeding and managing a toddler, holding down the fort in the run-up until xmas and having my partner home from work for a month to help me keep on top of things and settle in to a routine. It was fabulous. I baked up a storm, made a pavlova look very appetising (I confess the pav part came from a box), and made some lovely fruit salad and some even lovelier percolated coffee. I love having my girlfriends over, and with the table being just the right size for seven of us it was a beautiful way to spend the afternoon, gorging ourselves on cake, fruit, and coffee. What an excellent excuse!
It makes me think this morning, while I just ate the last of the fruit salad with a little cream, about how it really was an important thing to do - to take a moment to savour the sweet things in life. My friend Mychelle will often remind me that as I pass a rose in full bloom, stop, like a small child and smell it. Breathe it all the way in, until you can taste the sweetness and really appreciate all the work that this little being has done, the rain water it has stored, the messages it has sent to the ground and back again, and the pollen that it has given to bees in exchange for a little tlc in the landing on her petals.
And that's one of the reasons that I decided to do the very unorthodox thing and have a baby shower, even though I've been there and done that before! I wanted to take time, with my favourite women, and welcome them and thank them in my home for looking after me during this time, and the time to come.
Friendships are fantastic, and there was a time when I didn't have any female friends at all. Back when I worked with all men, which I've spoken about before, I happily skipped over this fantastic part of being a woman. Well, not anymore...now I love the company of other women, and thank goodness I've been blessed with quite a few who feel the same way about life as I do, and have deep souls that they don't mind sharing...
But enough about that. Yesterday I held my own birthday/baby shower afternoon tea! It was soooo lovely to be surrounded by my half a dozen or so favourite-est girlfriends, people that I know I don't want to miss the opportunity to have one last really good gas-bag with before the bub comes in two weeks and I lose the art of conversation to the art of breastfeeding and managing a toddler, holding down the fort in the run-up until xmas and having my partner home from work for a month to help me keep on top of things and settle in to a routine. It was fabulous. I baked up a storm, made a pavlova look very appetising (I confess the pav part came from a box), and made some lovely fruit salad and some even lovelier percolated coffee. I love having my girlfriends over, and with the table being just the right size for seven of us it was a beautiful way to spend the afternoon, gorging ourselves on cake, fruit, and coffee. What an excellent excuse!
It makes me think this morning, while I just ate the last of the fruit salad with a little cream, about how it really was an important thing to do - to take a moment to savour the sweet things in life. My friend Mychelle will often remind me that as I pass a rose in full bloom, stop, like a small child and smell it. Breathe it all the way in, until you can taste the sweetness and really appreciate all the work that this little being has done, the rain water it has stored, the messages it has sent to the ground and back again, and the pollen that it has given to bees in exchange for a little tlc in the landing on her petals.
And that's one of the reasons that I decided to do the very unorthodox thing and have a baby shower, even though I've been there and done that before! I wanted to take time, with my favourite women, and welcome them and thank them in my home for looking after me during this time, and the time to come.
Friendships are fantastic, and there was a time when I didn't have any female friends at all. Back when I worked with all men, which I've spoken about before, I happily skipped over this fantastic part of being a woman. Well, not anymore...now I love the company of other women, and thank goodness I've been blessed with quite a few who feel the same way about life as I do, and have deep souls that they don't mind sharing...
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Are you busy?
It's always a busy day here on sundays. Kind of. Well, there's the obligatory catching up on folding and sorting washing, the putting away, the making of beds...you know, all that jazz. But then there's our regular outing to the farmers' growers' market. Ethan and I toddle (well, I'm closer to a waddle now) off there every sunday, even though now I get a lot of my fresh produce delivered. It's too hard to miss out and then find out, for example, that I could have bought strawberries for about $6 a kilogram, or got a box of apples for only $5 - like I did today with both of these fruits! The dehydrated apples were such a huge success with Ethan that I'm already dehydrating about a kilo of apple now, and I've preserved some lemons this morning that I bought last week for a dollar a kilo as well. The lemons are for my sister, as her and her partner are in to Indian cuisine and I think they'll make a lovely gift at Christmas. I will take some photos of them in the next couple of days, along with a few other pictures that I want to share of the presents I've been making and storing for my friends and family.
I wasn't sure about making people gifts, and my partner isn't really over the moon about it either. He comes from a family, like me, where it's usually just the size of the wallet that counts. But this year I'll be trying to stay afloat with one income and a family of four to feed and keep sheltered, clothed and happy, and I figure that the sewing machine was a gift to me, meant to be used, and if I can make a little boy or girl happy with a new library bag or a nan happy with a heat pack full of lavender and orange oil, then so be it. At some point, my friends and family are going to have to realise that just because my partner works away, it doesn't mean we have a huge expendable income. I feel rude saying it, but that's just how it is this year, and has been before but we've blindly gone in to credit card debt to pay for presents.
A girlfriend of mine and I were talking about it (we've both agreed to op shop for each other, and I'm soooo excited about her present I've already shown it to her!). It occurred to me that in years previous to this, when I've bought presents from shops and poured my thoughts about them for hours in to hours more of shopping for family and friends, the presents are often not really any better recieved than if I had just given them a card. I think that in life, we all think that the salutations we'll receive for something should be much higher, and the anticipation for times of year like christmas are too severely waited for, even as adults.
So that was what helped me come to terms with what many in my family (and my partners' family) will probably find a bit mortifying, if not humourous. But oh well, I don't care if they laugh behind my back to be honest. It's the thought that counts, right? Well, how much more thought in to a gift is there than when you've spent nights up sewing beautiful things, knitting, or preserving fruits so that people can enjoy a beautiful gift from your heart or a special treat on top of their morning toast or a late night treat on top of their icecream? Sounds pretty good to me!
So that's where we've been today and yesterday. Although I can't sew when I've got Ethan up, I can certainly do things like preserve lemons, make jam (although that is waiting until my partner is home!), and prepare other special treats. Ethan has loved the lemon preserving today, and the making of jelly for him as a treat, so it's been a busy day, well spent. And the total cost? About $15 all up for two kilos of lemons, 3 kilos of apples, and 4 large tubs of strawberries. The rest I already had, or was free!
Happy days, unless you count being asked if the "jelly is ready yet?" every ten minutes!
I wasn't sure about making people gifts, and my partner isn't really over the moon about it either. He comes from a family, like me, where it's usually just the size of the wallet that counts. But this year I'll be trying to stay afloat with one income and a family of four to feed and keep sheltered, clothed and happy, and I figure that the sewing machine was a gift to me, meant to be used, and if I can make a little boy or girl happy with a new library bag or a nan happy with a heat pack full of lavender and orange oil, then so be it. At some point, my friends and family are going to have to realise that just because my partner works away, it doesn't mean we have a huge expendable income. I feel rude saying it, but that's just how it is this year, and has been before but we've blindly gone in to credit card debt to pay for presents.
A girlfriend of mine and I were talking about it (we've both agreed to op shop for each other, and I'm soooo excited about her present I've already shown it to her!). It occurred to me that in years previous to this, when I've bought presents from shops and poured my thoughts about them for hours in to hours more of shopping for family and friends, the presents are often not really any better recieved than if I had just given them a card. I think that in life, we all think that the salutations we'll receive for something should be much higher, and the anticipation for times of year like christmas are too severely waited for, even as adults.
So that was what helped me come to terms with what many in my family (and my partners' family) will probably find a bit mortifying, if not humourous. But oh well, I don't care if they laugh behind my back to be honest. It's the thought that counts, right? Well, how much more thought in to a gift is there than when you've spent nights up sewing beautiful things, knitting, or preserving fruits so that people can enjoy a beautiful gift from your heart or a special treat on top of their morning toast or a late night treat on top of their icecream? Sounds pretty good to me!
So that's where we've been today and yesterday. Although I can't sew when I've got Ethan up, I can certainly do things like preserve lemons, make jam (although that is waiting until my partner is home!), and prepare other special treats. Ethan has loved the lemon preserving today, and the making of jelly for him as a treat, so it's been a busy day, well spent. And the total cost? About $15 all up for two kilos of lemons, 3 kilos of apples, and 4 large tubs of strawberries. The rest I already had, or was free!
Happy days, unless you count being asked if the "jelly is ready yet?" every ten minutes!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
It's busy here today...I hope.
Ok, so just a quick one today as it's already 6.50am and I've been awake (but not up) since 5am thanks to Ethan and his new sleeping habits! I did get him to lay in bed with me and talk for about an hour, but I'm still up, we're still here and we've still got our pj's on....!
Today should be a busy one. I've had a couple of party plan things lately; a liquor tasting night (without tasting any, which was an achievement considering I still bought stuff!); a clothes party (posted about a few days ago); and I did an Enjo demo a couple weeks ago that I've just taken delivery of. The first two I am actually receiving items from, and they should be here today, in the arms of my friend Sam. I'm very, very excited about them, because I get to finally show my partner what I bought him as a bit of a surprise. We don't usually do presents unless it's actually celebrating something, in fact, buying Crunchy Nut Cornflakes for him is a bit of a celebration around here, but next tuesday when he arrives home I'll be presenting him with a lovely bottle of bourbon as a gift for just being great (most of the time, anyway - he's not the messiah for goodness sake!).
I've got an ante natal appointment today, as we are at week 36 (or is it 37?). Hopefully the doctor will be able to give me some sort of indication about how the bub is going in terms of delivery, which I'm very nervous about. My partner is due home only 2 days before our due date and if he's away when the bub decides to arrive, I could be in a bit of a pickle. So fingers crossed all's going well and the baby will get to stay in the dark until then at least!
I've also got to go and get an apple corer. I don't have one, and I'm about to try my hand at dehydrating some apples today. So that's a job for first thing this morning, Ethan and I are going to grab some fresh milk and an apple corer to start up the dehydrator I borrowed from my friend the other day.
So a busy day here today, and hopefully all will go well and smoothly. We might wrap it up with a trip to the creek, and give Ethan what could be a last chance at wearing his gumboots before the heat arrives and dries up all the water over there!
Today should be a busy one. I've had a couple of party plan things lately; a liquor tasting night (without tasting any, which was an achievement considering I still bought stuff!); a clothes party (posted about a few days ago); and I did an Enjo demo a couple weeks ago that I've just taken delivery of. The first two I am actually receiving items from, and they should be here today, in the arms of my friend Sam. I'm very, very excited about them, because I get to finally show my partner what I bought him as a bit of a surprise. We don't usually do presents unless it's actually celebrating something, in fact, buying Crunchy Nut Cornflakes for him is a bit of a celebration around here, but next tuesday when he arrives home I'll be presenting him with a lovely bottle of bourbon as a gift for just being great (most of the time, anyway - he's not the messiah for goodness sake!).
I've got an ante natal appointment today, as we are at week 36 (or is it 37?). Hopefully the doctor will be able to give me some sort of indication about how the bub is going in terms of delivery, which I'm very nervous about. My partner is due home only 2 days before our due date and if he's away when the bub decides to arrive, I could be in a bit of a pickle. So fingers crossed all's going well and the baby will get to stay in the dark until then at least!
I've also got to go and get an apple corer. I don't have one, and I'm about to try my hand at dehydrating some apples today. So that's a job for first thing this morning, Ethan and I are going to grab some fresh milk and an apple corer to start up the dehydrator I borrowed from my friend the other day.
So a busy day here today, and hopefully all will go well and smoothly. We might wrap it up with a trip to the creek, and give Ethan what could be a last chance at wearing his gumboots before the heat arrives and dries up all the water over there!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Good Morning!
Well, after a beautiful day out yesterday, and a not so early night last night, I've already been awake for nearly two hours. Ethan is slowly (and I mean very, stubbornly, slowly) learning that he's no longer welcome to wake up and hop in to my bed during the night, and it is helping him sleep longer before waking up for his bottle (thanks for the tip on mixing milk with water Kristi, because I not only think it's stopping his hunger for milk during the night, it is increasing his hunger during the day). So he's sleeping for about 8 hours straight now before waking and then trying it on. Which gives me a bit more sleep myself, in a big long block, which is suuuuper nice after 2.5years!
So, long story short, I'm feeling well rested. I also changed my focus on food last week, and started to get my fruit and vegies delivered to my door. I am proud to say that we will have eaten nearly 9 kilos of beautiful fresh vegies since last wednesday! I usually use frozen, or skip them and have eggs on toast or cereal a lot, because basically it was easy and sometimes I just couldn't find quality produce for a decent affordable price. But no more! I got 9kilos delivered to my door with a dozen eggs last week and it only cost me $32! We have had salad and loads of yummy dishes, including Orange TeaCake (care of the Stephanie Alexander recipe below), and hopefully this week I'll try my hand at some Carrot Cake too. I've got some big plans to start learning how to store fruit and vegies in the forms of jams, cakes and preserved in oil, vinegar, etc. It'll be a bumpy ride, but you're welcome on board!
Orange Tea Cake in Muffin size
Prior to having the delivery, my iron levels were 17, and before pregnancy they were 53. I have no real idea what that means, but the doc said it's not great. Wonder what they'll be this week!
Anyway, I've just come in to share my delicious eggs this morning. Well, they have been shared, with Ethan, but this is what they looked like at first....
Our breakfast - we often just eat together,
I find Ethan eats more if he thinks it's mine!
I put in some baby spinach, mushrooms and some lemon zest and pepper. They were served on homemade bread, and only took me about 5 minutes from start to stacking the plate.
Which brings me to todays little lesson for me...I really am loving being a full time, no-job-that-pays-cash mum. I'm going to continue to have my moments, but today is another beautiful day, Ethan is already adventuring around the house, making roads for his car out of cardboard boxes (I MUST show you the car one day, his Auntie Kylie painted it herself and we think it's fantastic!) and looking out the windows at the people gardening and trimming the park across the road. We've got to go on our monthly book hunt around the house shortly, I've got to get dressed and we're going to our friend's home for morning tea before going to the library and then returning home again for the afternoon. So although I'm economising our outings to focus our centre more on our home, we are still keeping ourselves in the community and making even the most spend-less activities exciting.
Hope your adventures are many and frugal today, and that you find some inspiration in your children to keep a smile on your face.
Afternoon Orange Tea Cake Recipe (c/o Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion)
1 Large Orange or Mandarin
2 Eggs
125grams softened butter
1/4 cup castor sugar
225gram self raising flour
Preheat oven to 190celcius, butter a 20cm ring tin (or a muffin tray!). Combine all ingredients in a food processor and whiz for about 2 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Pour into tin and bake for 30-35 mins (or about 15 for muffin size). Cool for 5 minutes before turning on to a wire rack. Cool before icing.
Icing: Beat 2 cups icing sugar, 1 teaspoon melted butter, 1 tablespoon orange or mandarin juice, 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier until smooth, and then mix in 1 tablespoon of sugared or candied peel. Spread over cake.
*I didn't put on the icing, and I hardly ever do with any cakes I make. Ethan isn't confirmed as being 'sensitive' to anything, or having any allergies, but I myself notice a distinct change in his behaviour and ability to concentrate if he has too much added sugar in his diet. So I try not to add it to much at all, unless it's cooked in to a meal or snack. That's not to say that I would recommend an icing with liquer in it for any other children either! But it's in the recipe, so treat your self if you like!
So, long story short, I'm feeling well rested. I also changed my focus on food last week, and started to get my fruit and vegies delivered to my door. I am proud to say that we will have eaten nearly 9 kilos of beautiful fresh vegies since last wednesday! I usually use frozen, or skip them and have eggs on toast or cereal a lot, because basically it was easy and sometimes I just couldn't find quality produce for a decent affordable price. But no more! I got 9kilos delivered to my door with a dozen eggs last week and it only cost me $32! We have had salad and loads of yummy dishes, including Orange TeaCake (care of the Stephanie Alexander recipe below), and hopefully this week I'll try my hand at some Carrot Cake too. I've got some big plans to start learning how to store fruit and vegies in the forms of jams, cakes and preserved in oil, vinegar, etc. It'll be a bumpy ride, but you're welcome on board!
Orange Tea Cake in Muffin sizePrior to having the delivery, my iron levels were 17, and before pregnancy they were 53. I have no real idea what that means, but the doc said it's not great. Wonder what they'll be this week!
Anyway, I've just come in to share my delicious eggs this morning. Well, they have been shared, with Ethan, but this is what they looked like at first....
Our breakfast - we often just eat together,I find Ethan eats more if he thinks it's mine!
I put in some baby spinach, mushrooms and some lemon zest and pepper. They were served on homemade bread, and only took me about 5 minutes from start to stacking the plate.
Which brings me to todays little lesson for me...I really am loving being a full time, no-job-that-pays-cash mum. I'm going to continue to have my moments, but today is another beautiful day, Ethan is already adventuring around the house, making roads for his car out of cardboard boxes (I MUST show you the car one day, his Auntie Kylie painted it herself and we think it's fantastic!) and looking out the windows at the people gardening and trimming the park across the road. We've got to go on our monthly book hunt around the house shortly, I've got to get dressed and we're going to our friend's home for morning tea before going to the library and then returning home again for the afternoon. So although I'm economising our outings to focus our centre more on our home, we are still keeping ourselves in the community and making even the most spend-less activities exciting.
Hope your adventures are many and frugal today, and that you find some inspiration in your children to keep a smile on your face.
Afternoon Orange Tea Cake Recipe (c/o Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion)
1 Large Orange or Mandarin
2 Eggs
125grams softened butter
1/4 cup castor sugar
225gram self raising flour
Preheat oven to 190celcius, butter a 20cm ring tin (or a muffin tray!). Combine all ingredients in a food processor and whiz for about 2 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Pour into tin and bake for 30-35 mins (or about 15 for muffin size). Cool for 5 minutes before turning on to a wire rack. Cool before icing.
Icing: Beat 2 cups icing sugar, 1 teaspoon melted butter, 1 tablespoon orange or mandarin juice, 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier until smooth, and then mix in 1 tablespoon of sugared or candied peel. Spread over cake.
*I didn't put on the icing, and I hardly ever do with any cakes I make. Ethan isn't confirmed as being 'sensitive' to anything, or having any allergies, but I myself notice a distinct change in his behaviour and ability to concentrate if he has too much added sugar in his diet. So I try not to add it to much at all, unless it's cooked in to a meal or snack. That's not to say that I would recommend an icing with liquer in it for any other children either! But it's in the recipe, so treat your self if you like!
Monday, October 12, 2009
We're just not trendy....
Good morning blog-world! Well, just a quick one to say good morning (done!) and let you know that Ethan and I are off on an adventure to Pinjarra today to see a fantastic friend of mine. I love going to my friends home, because her and her friend are artists (must remember to ask if I can share the link to her husbands website!) and they just have a 'knack' for turning ordinary things in to the home and garden of their dreams. Ethan will enjoy a day spent with chickens and their dog, and their daughter will happily play with him as well.
So I'll update you with some photos, and maybe a link or two when we return. I've been a busy little lady myself these past few nights, as I am making a very large bag to take to the hospital with me when I have the baby in one month from now. It's huge. It's monumental. It's the first bag I've ever made that wasn't just two panels folded in half and sewed up the sides (and I've only made one of those too!). I managed to get shipped around the country in my first year of highschool, so after four different schools I found myself in cooking and woodwork for the first year of highschool, and until my partners' grandparents bought me a sewing machine I'd never even ever turned one on. So stay tuned, there WILL be brag photos for my first 'big' creation!
So I'll update you with some photos, and maybe a link or two when we return. I've been a busy little lady myself these past few nights, as I am making a very large bag to take to the hospital with me when I have the baby in one month from now. It's huge. It's monumental. It's the first bag I've ever made that wasn't just two panels folded in half and sewed up the sides (and I've only made one of those too!). I managed to get shipped around the country in my first year of highschool, so after four different schools I found myself in cooking and woodwork for the first year of highschool, and until my partners' grandparents bought me a sewing machine I'd never even ever turned one on. So stay tuned, there WILL be brag photos for my first 'big' creation!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Today's Clarity....
,
Ah, the sound of silence...
I just got home from visiting a friend and her daughter (both our children are around the same age), and Ethan quite literally flaked it in the carseat and has been transported asleep in to his bed. I just needed to remove his jeans, as they were wet from a morning of running around a wet backyard with his little friend, where they squeeled with delight, fed the pet rabbit, made sandy lunch and jumped on a trampoline.
But back to the main issue....Clarity.
The thing is, I am trying very hard not to panic about the impending addition to our little family and budget. It will take some further adjusting, some careful planning and some minor lifestyle refocussing, but I'm sure that when we sit down to consider our position, we will still feel like very, very lucky people. Our second try for a baby wasn't even really a try, but I hate the word 'accident' when used in relation to a family member, so I'll use the word, um....'surprise'. I've had a couple of conversations with my little-bit-anxious partner about the surprise we were lucky enough to receive, because he sometimes (like most men in their early 30's, I've come to believe) forgets that in comparison to The Joneses, some of those other couples think we've got it made!
We weren't trying to have another baby, it was more of a weekend romance for us because we'd gone away without our son for the night to attend (ironically) a wedding. We came back pregnant, and then later to find out it was a girl and we are still being told how 'lucky' we are because this is apparently a good thing to have - a boy and a girl. I don't understand why still, and wonder often if it is because of the old mindset that you have one for mum, one for dad and one for the country (although there'll be a sewing kit making sure that we don't end up with the one for the country!) and that is why we're considered blessed. I think also that two is a good number, but for all intents and purposes I'm a bit worried about the financial side of things.
We've never financially indulged Ethan, hoping that surprise outings to things like a circus, the zoo, and wildlife parks when we can afford it will fare him better than knowing that no matter what he does or how he behaves there are outings and treats planned way ahead of time. So far, so good. He is not the two and a half year old that demands take-away at the sight of a big yellow M (although he is addicted to the search for icecream, because we don't keep it at home!), he knows that things can be purchased from stores but doesn't demand anything, and is quite happy to see how toys work and walk away from the shelves tantrum free. He also loves to look in op shops, which I'm super pleased with because it's often not just the best place to find things, it means that those four 50cent coins he earnt last week putting his washing in the laundry will actually buy him something, and something of value far beyond the $2 outlay that he has spent.
He does know how to help around the house, without instant gratification such as lollies or chips, because he's never been able to open our fridge and find a local deli in there. We are basic eaters, with meat and three veg most nights, breads and cereals and fruits during the day. I joke to my partner about how, once he starts visiting his school buddies and seeing the contents of other peoples' fridges he'll think that he's visiting a magical land of processed cheese in stick shapes, biscuits which come Ready Made in plastic packets and cakes that can literally be opened and eaten. Here, because of both monetary and voluntary restrictions, if we want sweet things, we make them, and if he wants biscuits, Ethan never says 'can I have a bikkie out of the cupboard mum?', he says 'Can we make some biscuits please?' because that's how he knows they appear- first as raw ingredients, then as dough and then as cooked creations. We make bread together every few days (more if Dad's home with us), and it always turns out delish. I can't take all the credit for that though, because a girlfriend of mine has a partner who is an ex-baker and he gave me a tip to make every loaf fantastic and fluffy, and in case you are wondering it is:
*use a whisked egg in your bread's liquid ingredient component. For instance, my pre-mix (Laucke wholemeal if you are wondering) calls for 370ml water. Instead, I use in that measurement 1 whisked egg and half a cup of milk, and then the rest of the weight in water. It makes the bread beautifully fluffy and a little softer than normal plain premix on it's own.
the latest loaf that Ethan and I have made
So that is a skill we have between us that is developing by the week. And that brings me back to being clear and decided about how my family are benefitting from my being at home.
I often am a creature of much guilt, assuming that because I'm not currently contributing with finances that I am taking a short cut in to being the lazy partner, the blood-sucking leach that takes, takes, takes. But lately I've been reassessing all of that. It's occurred to me that I DO contribute financially, through the work I do at home with our son, and through my everyday work like making the house a home and doing what I usually consider 'basic' chores and every day run-of-the-mill activities. Alongside of making bread, I am in continuous stocktake of our home. I love our home (well, the parts that I still need to improve might annoy me, but I wouldn't change location based on those minor things!), and I love that although my partner goes away to work and pay for our home, I stay home and improve the running of our home to benefit the entire family. So I am putting together my lists, my projects and my desires at the moment to try and collaborate them with one another to better our household-running-ability.
I hope that this all makes sense. Some days I'm convinced my pregnant self only understands what I am saying, but basically I am trying the best I can, to do the most I can, with what skills I have and am developing. I think there are a lot of us like that here in blogland, and I hope you are enjoying your home and your life as much as we are here, at the moment and in the moment.
Ah, the sound of silence...
I just got home from visiting a friend and her daughter (both our children are around the same age), and Ethan quite literally flaked it in the carseat and has been transported asleep in to his bed. I just needed to remove his jeans, as they were wet from a morning of running around a wet backyard with his little friend, where they squeeled with delight, fed the pet rabbit, made sandy lunch and jumped on a trampoline.
But back to the main issue....Clarity.
The thing is, I am trying very hard not to panic about the impending addition to our little family and budget. It will take some further adjusting, some careful planning and some minor lifestyle refocussing, but I'm sure that when we sit down to consider our position, we will still feel like very, very lucky people. Our second try for a baby wasn't even really a try, but I hate the word 'accident' when used in relation to a family member, so I'll use the word, um....'surprise'. I've had a couple of conversations with my little-bit-anxious partner about the surprise we were lucky enough to receive, because he sometimes (like most men in their early 30's, I've come to believe) forgets that in comparison to The Joneses, some of those other couples think we've got it made!
We weren't trying to have another baby, it was more of a weekend romance for us because we'd gone away without our son for the night to attend (ironically) a wedding. We came back pregnant, and then later to find out it was a girl and we are still being told how 'lucky' we are because this is apparently a good thing to have - a boy and a girl. I don't understand why still, and wonder often if it is because of the old mindset that you have one for mum, one for dad and one for the country (although there'll be a sewing kit making sure that we don't end up with the one for the country!) and that is why we're considered blessed. I think also that two is a good number, but for all intents and purposes I'm a bit worried about the financial side of things.
We've never financially indulged Ethan, hoping that surprise outings to things like a circus, the zoo, and wildlife parks when we can afford it will fare him better than knowing that no matter what he does or how he behaves there are outings and treats planned way ahead of time. So far, so good. He is not the two and a half year old that demands take-away at the sight of a big yellow M (although he is addicted to the search for icecream, because we don't keep it at home!), he knows that things can be purchased from stores but doesn't demand anything, and is quite happy to see how toys work and walk away from the shelves tantrum free. He also loves to look in op shops, which I'm super pleased with because it's often not just the best place to find things, it means that those four 50cent coins he earnt last week putting his washing in the laundry will actually buy him something, and something of value far beyond the $2 outlay that he has spent.
He does know how to help around the house, without instant gratification such as lollies or chips, because he's never been able to open our fridge and find a local deli in there. We are basic eaters, with meat and three veg most nights, breads and cereals and fruits during the day. I joke to my partner about how, once he starts visiting his school buddies and seeing the contents of other peoples' fridges he'll think that he's visiting a magical land of processed cheese in stick shapes, biscuits which come Ready Made in plastic packets and cakes that can literally be opened and eaten. Here, because of both monetary and voluntary restrictions, if we want sweet things, we make them, and if he wants biscuits, Ethan never says 'can I have a bikkie out of the cupboard mum?', he says 'Can we make some biscuits please?' because that's how he knows they appear- first as raw ingredients, then as dough and then as cooked creations. We make bread together every few days (more if Dad's home with us), and it always turns out delish. I can't take all the credit for that though, because a girlfriend of mine has a partner who is an ex-baker and he gave me a tip to make every loaf fantastic and fluffy, and in case you are wondering it is:
*use a whisked egg in your bread's liquid ingredient component. For instance, my pre-mix (Laucke wholemeal if you are wondering) calls for 370ml water. Instead, I use in that measurement 1 whisked egg and half a cup of milk, and then the rest of the weight in water. It makes the bread beautifully fluffy and a little softer than normal plain premix on it's own.
the latest loaf that Ethan and I have made
So that is a skill we have between us that is developing by the week. And that brings me back to being clear and decided about how my family are benefitting from my being at home.
I often am a creature of much guilt, assuming that because I'm not currently contributing with finances that I am taking a short cut in to being the lazy partner, the blood-sucking leach that takes, takes, takes. But lately I've been reassessing all of that. It's occurred to me that I DO contribute financially, through the work I do at home with our son, and through my everyday work like making the house a home and doing what I usually consider 'basic' chores and every day run-of-the-mill activities. Alongside of making bread, I am in continuous stocktake of our home. I love our home (well, the parts that I still need to improve might annoy me, but I wouldn't change location based on those minor things!), and I love that although my partner goes away to work and pay for our home, I stay home and improve the running of our home to benefit the entire family. So I am putting together my lists, my projects and my desires at the moment to try and collaborate them with one another to better our household-running-ability.
I hope that this all makes sense. Some days I'm convinced my pregnant self only understands what I am saying, but basically I am trying the best I can, to do the most I can, with what skills I have and am developing. I think there are a lot of us like that here in blogland, and I hope you are enjoying your home and your life as much as we are here, at the moment and in the moment.
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