July, You Rock!!

It's about 6 weeks since I posted anything on here.

I've been busy.

Busy freaking out that the Workaholic's casual job was coming to an end and there was still no work in sight.

Busy deciding what to do about my study.

Busy trying to decide if we should break our lease and look for a cheaper house.

Busy rearranging my house so that I could get my studio space as I had planned when we moved in here 12 months ago.

Busy culling the millions of toys we have accumulated over the last six years.

Busy with three weeks of school holidays.

Busy arguing about the two embryos in the freezer at IVF Australia.

Busy babysitting my God Daughters twice a week.

Busy trying to ignore the fact that my 21 year old cat is on the way out.

Busy feeling sorry for myself.

Slowly things are resolving themselves.

The credit card we've been living on, went over its limit and a day later the Workaholic was offered a job. Totally out of the blue.  The same day I sold something on Ebay for a massive and unexpected profit and out of nowhere I received an email that I had won the June prize on www.productreview.com.au!  Good things come in threes too it seems!

July, You Rock!!

Things started looking up and with it our moods and motivation.

And this Ab Fab Olympic torch photo just cracks me up

The house has been almost sorted out to a level I can live with.  I decided what to do with my studies and my studio is almost up and running.

The most wonderful thing about this horrible year is that The Little Man is loving school.  The struggle to pay the fees during this crappy time has been totally worth it.  I cannot imagine him anywhere else.  Today his class are having a 100 days of school party.  The Mums and the boys are supposed to dress as superheroes.  He's going as Batman and I am going to wear his Super A cape that my Mum made him.

It will take us months to recover from six months of practical unemployment but we have a plan.  A plan is something I can live with.



So, how has 2012 been treating you?





Linking up with Maxabella and Kidspot for 52 Weeks of Grateful, because this week I'm grateful for all the good stuff that July is bringing.

The Letter of the Week

This weeks letter of the week was V.

It was a hard one because he was not interested in taking a van which I figured was the easiest option.  We put out a call for ideas and got, Vienna, vitals, vitamins, volcano, venison, vikings, viper, vomit, and venus fly trap.

It turns out someone had spent the long weekend making a volcano ala The Brady Bunch episode so that was out.  I thought vitamins was the way to go but as usual, The Little Man had other ideas.

He took a Visa Card.  I always give the kids the empty Visa rewards/gift cards for their shop and he had decided they were perfect.

I obliged with the usual sheet to accompany them.

Last week was a treasure week.  He took an old print of Captain Cook declaring NSW a part of the British Empire, that he got for a baptism present from his God Mother.  I was surprised by the choice, but it turns out they had been looking at a similar picture in class.

Next week was supposed to be E, but following on with the pirate theme of term 2 (tomorrow they are going to Pirate school at the Maritime Museum, dressed as pirates -aaargh!), it is another treasure week.  This time something that the Workaholic or I have that is old and we treasure. 

I have no idea...

Wordless Wednesday

Adventures with Bobo, the KM Mascot

Linking up with Trish from My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday.  Check it out!

Moving from Feeling Unemployable to Woman with a Plan

Before children I had a job.  A real job.  One where people would ask "What do you do?" at parties and be actually interested in my reply.

Then I quit and opened a bead shop while I was undergoing IVF.  Very satisfying but not exactly a highly respected career path.

Now I feel unemployable.

Yes it is a cliché.  Yes I am a cliché. 

This week has been a week of decisions.  When we moved into this house last July I had a vague notion that the back room in this house would make a good studio space.  This week after months of study stress, husband stress and most of all children stress, I decided I would go back to work which led to the startling discovery that my qualification has been superseded not once, but twice while I was off making and raising children.  I am studying something else entirely, something I like with a long term view to move into a different career.  I am not interested in upgrading a qualification in a field I ultimately have no intention of working in.

I'm stuffed.

If I want a job I have to upgrade or get an administration job. B.O.R.I.N.G.

Instead I started looking at retail space to rent so I could reopen my shop.  Of course it was not long till common sense kicked in and I realised after the 2012 we've had so far there is no money in the kitty to do this.  Even with the stock and fittings I still have.

My old logo

It was annoying because my time in the shop was some of the happiest and most relaxed times in my life.  I was so sad we had to close up when The Little Man was about 18months old because the arcade was renovated and we could not afford the post renovation rates.  

I looked at the back room and had a light bulb moment.

So I am busily working toward setting up my studio and knocking out a few sample pieces before Uni goes back and my time is once again limited.

Classes in beading, Art Clay Silver and a variety of other little crafty gems will recommence in the coming months.  I'm so excited and inspired.  I do love a good project!

It feels like coming home.

Have you had any potentially life changing light bulb moments lately?

The Letter of the Week

This weeks letter of the week was B.

As the Little Man had been to a birthday party on the weekend and one of the prizes he had come home with was a pair of binoculars, it was a pretty easy week for me.  We did not even discuss options, but I suppose we could have done, bat, ball, bull dozer, bionicle, Batman, bugs or a bear.

I do love an easy week!  Next week is another treasure week thanks to the Pirate theme they have this term.  He has to take something that he treasures that he has had for a long time.  It should be interesting!!

Wordless Wednesday

Linking up with Trish from My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday.

The Letter of the Week

This weeks letter of the week was N.

There were plenty of ideas for this week.  We thought about necklace, noodles, newspaper and nectarine.  We had decided on nickel.  Not the metal but a US 5cent coin.  The problem was, the jar with all the unchanged money from a variety of overseas trips was not unpacked at this house.  It is somewhere in an unpacked box.  So The Little Man and I decided it was down to nest or nut, as in nuts and bolts as his school is nut free.

In the end he took both.  The nest is in a local car park and the baby birds had hatched and we were all enjoying watching Mummy and Daddy finches looking after them.  The bolt the Workaholic dragged out of his hardware cupboard was a monster and too cool for a boy not to take for news!!

These are the sheets he took in for the news table.

Next week it is the letter B.