Running in Gale Force Winds

Yesterday the Little Man competed in his first school athletics carnival.

It was one of the windiest days I can remember.  Locally, there were tree branches coming down everywhere.  It's a very tree heavy area.  The SES was in high demand.  Because it is held on the school oval they decided to brave it.

The parents arrived bundled up against the wind and watching the clouds out of the corners of their eyes.

It was a well organised event, just as pretty much every event at his school is.  We were asked to be seated track side by 12:15 for a 12:30 start and were to take our weary competitors home at 2:30 after the presentation of trophies.  We were out of there at 2:30 on the dot.

At first I could not find the Little Man in the program, he was pointed out to me by another Mum n Division A of his races.  I had not looked there, who knew he could run? He's not the most athletic of kids!!

They ran into the wind.  They all ran in their tracksuits!  It was a freezing wind.

It was great fun and both the parents and the kids had a wonderful afternoon.

We did have a little hiccup.  The Workaholic had told the Little Man he would be there but about an hour late.  So when I called out to him as he marched out to say I was there, the Workaholic standing next to me.  He had actually arrived early and had saved me a seat.  After watching the Little Man's 2 races, he headed home out of the wind to finish some work.

The problem was that the Little Man had not seen him at all.  So when his teacher handed him over to me at the end of the presentation, he burst into tears and sobbed because "Daddy had not come like he had promised".  It broke my heart.  Myself and two teachers all tried to convince him he had seen his races, but he did not calm down until he got home and saw the photos and video that the Workaholic had taken.  Thank goodness I made him do that!!!

How he missed seeing his Dad when he ran by posing like this, I have no idea

I still do not understand the way the Workaholic's brain works.  Why couldn't he just stay like the other parents?

Apparently though, I am chopped liver.  My attendance was not required.  I should have just stayed home out of the wind!

It drives me a bit crazy to be the parent who does everything but gets passed over for the absent parent at every opportunity.

Best Intentions Scuttled by a Crazy Week

Last week I was so excited and renewed.  I had great plans for blogging, organising and generally moving on from the horrid start to 2012.

I fell victim to a crazy week.

Today I am renewing my commitment to getting on with the Plan. (I'm giving it a capital P from now on - it's that important!!)

It's been two weeks of The Workaholic leaving before 6am and getting home around midnight, so single parenting time again.

Although my personal stress really started on Thursday when I had to make cupcakes for The Little Man's 100 Days of School party on Friday.  I could have done without the extra task on Thursday evening.  Of course my child free Friday was hi jacked by the party at 12 till 1pm, mind you.  With pick up at 2:45 (meaning I need to be parked by about 2:20 - the traffic issues continue), my day was pretty well out of my hands.

Saturday was the usual Soccer for The Little Man with the added bonus of The Munchkin's presence.  He hates being there, making it a bit of a nightmare for me.  The rest of the day was spent referee their many scuffles and doing the washing.  No relaxation for me in there!

I worked all day Sunday, till very late, helping an Event Manager friend prepare for her biggest annual conference.  It was physically hard but brainless labour.  I spent most of my day with my ear buds in listening to Adele, Florence + the Machine, Carly Simon and Heather Nova (I sense a theme).  It was a welcome break from my kids and house to be honest!  The bad bit was that The Workaholic decided at lunchtime that he really needed to work (I only gave him two weeks notice) so he let the boys run wild.  They got EVERY toy out of the boxes sealed up and ready for the bin or the Salvos, from my epic toy cull a few weeks ago.  He still does not understand why I got angry when I came in the door at 9.30 to discover said toys strewn throughout the house.

Just a taste of the mess I came home to.

Anyway, that was nothing.  Monday was a write off because the Munchkin had been so overindulged by Daddy on Sunday (think soft drink, lollies and MacDonald's for dinner) that I could not inflict him on the rest of his Gymbaroo class.  Luckily I made this decision early, because by lunchtime I was unable to keep my eyes open or stop vomiting.  Not a good day.

Tuesday, I briefly considered doing a make up Gymbaroo class but decided on a trip to the park pre day sleep so he could burn off some of the remaining energy before My friend N dropped off two of her kids for a few hours babysitting after school.  Magically all four kids behaved wonderfully and ate their dinner quietly.  I made it through the day!

Yesterday and today I have to pick up, feed and look after my Event Manager friend's two kids.   I've been looking after them a fair bit this year so we have a good routine and it's not too taxing for me, on a regular week.

This week is not regular.  I'm hanging by a thread!

It's the start of a new month.  I've realised that this is a big mental factor for my ability cope.  We've had such a run of months where we did not have the rent, insurance etc on time, that its like my brain shuts down.  This month should not have been stressful.  The pay should be in, bills should be paid.  It's not and as a consequence, they are not.

I was not expecting the pay to be late.  It was not part of the Plan.  I did a run to Medicare to claim outstanding money.  I feel better with that cash in my wallet.  I even spent $10 on some orange PJ's for my orange loving Munchkin and $15 in the $2 shop on assorted items for his birthday at the end of the month.  Retail therapy really does help.

Tomorrow is Friday.  I have no commitments outside of the promise I made the Little Man this morning of some quality Mummy time after school tomorrow while the Munchkin is still in daycare.  It sounds like heaven.

So I am writing this, tidying up and resetting my attitude. Yet again.  Back to the Plan!!

I used to deal with being busy and broke so much better than I do now.

So how's your week been?

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!!