Thursday, November 26, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Tid Bits from a busy week!
I always seem to have weeks that roll along and then weeks that are jam packed! Friends are coming to visit at the end of the week so I have been doing some major spring cleaning which has been totally neglected while the big job hunt was on. I can't believe how the spare room goes from liveable to total disaster zone in just a few months from when the last visitors came to stay - lots of to do piles and toys everywhere! Dust inches think under my bed and too much reading material accumulating beside my bed. There are just not enough hours in the day.
The kids have been sick with colds which has meant they are waking up and causing major sleep deprivation and if their sleeping it's in our bed, so this means that myself and hubby aren't sleeping.
This week I started my new job and as usual have left any "maintenance" to the last minute. So at 5am the morning of my first day I have a major deforrestation job ahead of me. I would have thought that years of waxing and epi Ladying the hairyest legs ever, would finally be paying off but this is still such a chore ouch! and why am I always doing this at the last minute before a holiday or an occasion where I want to throw on a dress!
On my first day caught the bus or two buses which took about an hour, double the time of driving (on my second day) and so much for relaxing and reading a magazine! I had to stand the whole way in to town and had a huge walk from the end of the second bus trip which stopped no where near my new office! There are hardly any bus stops and I'm working on the fringe of the CBD, so much for encouraging people to catch public transport. So I think I'll try and carpool with hubby when he relocates into the city.
I still seem to be running around and getting the kids organised in a mad dash, while hubby cruises around in his own world getting ready for work! Need to start setting his alarm the same time as mine!
Other than a huge headache from my first day it went well. It is a nice friendly office. This is my third workplace this year, more than I've had in 15 years of work. I think once the first few weeks go by and I get into a bit of a groove with all that happens at the new company it should be quite enjoyable as far as work goes.
Watched an interesting interview with Isabel Allende on Enough Rope this week, it was part of the Elders series. It actually moved me to tears at one point when she spoke about losing her daughter. She is an author and talked about many interesting things including how lucky many women are to have the right to vote, work, enjoy so many aspects of life in the western world. There are so many cultures that still fight for these basic rights. To watch the interview click on the link http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/
So now my house is the cleanest it's been for months, I've whipped up a cake, the kids are sleeping at the same time, I've had a quick nap myself and can sit back and relax and enjoy the company of good friends over the weekend.
Actually it's time to get the roast on and have a wine I think.......
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The New Part-time Job!
Finally after all those hours of searching on the web, revising my CV, going to interviews with beautification stepped up to perhaps 10 minutes in lieu of the normal 30 seconds of getting ready time; to allow for make up, hair and dressing up in business clobber with heels to boot, I have found a new Part time job! I am hoping I've found that elusive role that will give me the optimum work/life balance.
I start next week so I've been splurging on some new business attire, now that I've ditched (actually returned) the horrendous uniform I was made to wear at my old place of work. I have had a lovely farewell morning tea today, and was given my fave - a box of choccies as a momento (of my 5 month stint) or should I say memory, as I'll have eaten them all probably by tonight.
I am looking forward to meeting some new people, challenging work, the slight possibility of career advancement in the following years and maybe a nice holiday next year once the paychecks start rolling in.
I have other dilemnas in the next few months to contemplate such as do I keep my daughter at kindy or switch back to day care. Kindy hours are not work friendly hours. Kindy is cheaper but I think our daycare is great! How many days will I work next year? Two days just at the moment which is splendid. I have the best long weekend every week - 5 days. Should I catch the bus or drive? Will I be able to fit in a gym visit which is in the same building? All my husband is thinking about is how the mortgage will look better and the house is more of a mess with the slightly longer hours!
Ahh the joys of domestic bliss.......
I start next week so I've been splurging on some new business attire, now that I've ditched (actually returned) the horrendous uniform I was made to wear at my old place of work. I have had a lovely farewell morning tea today, and was given my fave - a box of choccies as a momento (of my 5 month stint) or should I say memory, as I'll have eaten them all probably by tonight.
I am looking forward to meeting some new people, challenging work, the slight possibility of career advancement in the following years and maybe a nice holiday next year once the paychecks start rolling in.
I have other dilemnas in the next few months to contemplate such as do I keep my daughter at kindy or switch back to day care. Kindy hours are not work friendly hours. Kindy is cheaper but I think our daycare is great! How many days will I work next year? Two days just at the moment which is splendid. I have the best long weekend every week - 5 days. Should I catch the bus or drive? Will I be able to fit in a gym visit which is in the same building? All my husband is thinking about is how the mortgage will look better and the house is more of a mess with the slightly longer hours!
Ahh the joys of domestic bliss.......
Monday, June 23, 2008
The Mighty Clothes Airer
All hail the mighty clothes airer. This is one of the time and environment saving gadgets in my life. I am not a huge watcher of daytime tv and this has decreased even more so with the demands of two little ones in my life who also love watching ABC Kids. But I did happen to catch a Dr Phil program about mums and the demands of household chores. It explored a couple of mums who just never got to the important things they were constantly struggling with the housework, taking kids to school in their PJ's and not putting much time or energy into themselves or their lives just slaving away for their families. Mums tend to never sit still I always seem to be attending to something whether it be washing, putting away clothes, ironing, washing dishes, cooking etc. etc. There isn't much time left for spending time with our children, partners or even a little time to ourselves.
"Don't sweat the small stuff" great advice from a good friend. We are living in a home not a museum I tell my husband. It's nice to have a clean and tidy house but at what price? Your children won't remember your pristine cleaned bathroom or your immaculately cleaned floors. The only thing they want from you is your time, love and attention. Ironing - this was one topic I took the advice on board from the Dr Phil program why iron play clothes? (someone in my family who shall remain nameless irons undies) and I have to say I was partial to ironed pillow cases and teatowels but not any more! - I don't iron a whole lot. Firstly when I wash everything, all shirts including the children's go on hangers on a clothes airer. I have an inside laundry - very lucky I know, so clothes can be hung on the airer morning, noon or midnight as I have been known to do but whenever I can fit it in.
Most of these shirts now need little or no ironing. They are easy to put away as they are
already on hangers. I only iron the kids clothes for special occasions or if it's a cotton garment with lots of creases.
The airer saves me looking at the weather and wondering if it will rain or will I be home to pull the clothes off the line. I now rarely use the dryer, only if there is a large amount of wet weather and I run out of space. I can fit nearly two loads on the type of airer you see pictured here as I use all of the side wrungs to hang all of the shirts on their hangers, once I have draped all of the smaller items on the slats. I only use pegs on tiny things such as socks. Bibs can also be velcroed around the side slats.
This airer has made my whole life in the laundry a little easier. I spend minimal time on it and get a good result. It's fairly compact even with all of the hanging items and is easy to move around as it's on casters. Thing dry pretty quickly and in summer I wheel outside for quicker drying.
I think you can track these airers down at BIG W, Bunnings or Hills. I have seen three tier airers around since I bought mine maybe I'll look at an upgrade in the near future!
"Don't sweat the small stuff" great advice from a good friend. We are living in a home not a museum I tell my husband. It's nice to have a clean and tidy house but at what price? Your children won't remember your pristine cleaned bathroom or your immaculately cleaned floors. The only thing they want from you is your time, love and attention. Ironing - this was one topic I took the advice on board from the Dr Phil program why iron play clothes? (someone in my family who shall remain nameless irons undies) and I have to say I was partial to ironed pillow cases and teatowels but not any more! - I don't iron a whole lot. Firstly when I wash everything, all shirts including the children's go on hangers on a clothes airer. I have an inside laundry - very lucky I know, so clothes can be hung on the airer morning, noon or midnight as I have been known to do but whenever I can fit it in.
Most of these shirts now need little or no ironing. They are easy to put away as they are
already on hangers. I only iron the kids clothes for special occasions or if it's a cotton garment with lots of creases.The airer saves me looking at the weather and wondering if it will rain or will I be home to pull the clothes off the line. I now rarely use the dryer, only if there is a large amount of wet weather and I run out of space. I can fit nearly two loads on the type of airer you see pictured here as I use all of the side wrungs to hang all of the shirts on their hangers, once I have draped all of the smaller items on the slats. I only use pegs on tiny things such as socks. Bibs can also be velcroed around the side slats.
This airer has made my whole life in the laundry a little easier. I spend minimal time on it and get a good result. It's fairly compact even with all of the hanging items and is easy to move around as it's on casters. Thing dry pretty quickly and in summer I wheel outside for quicker drying.
I think you can track these airers down at BIG W, Bunnings or Hills. I have seen three tier airers around since I bought mine maybe I'll look at an upgrade in the near future!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Lose your handbag, lose your identity!
Now all of us girls love a bag and the prospect of buying a new one, is that of excitement and anticipation. But this was no ordinary bag. This was the dream bag, not necessarily a glamorous bag, but the bag of an expectant mother. Packed with tiny newborn nappies, fresh bibs, wipes, a sweet spare outfit in case of mishaps. This would be the bag that would take me through hours of retail bliss, while I pushed my gorgeous sleeping newborn in a brand spanking new three wheeler pram.
I picked out one of the trendiest bags around at the time, I had been eyeing it off for weeks. It didn't looked like a baby bag, more of a sophisticated beach bag which I would be happy to put my phone and wallet in and away we go.
Yes, the bag stayed in pristine condition whilst I did fit in some shopping trips in those first few months. However I did spend a lot of my retail therapy time in the mother's room feeding and changing my baby. As the weeks turned into months the sleeping princess also liked to be awake more and not in a peaceful state either but screaming her lungs out. So the baby pouch was used to maximize shopping time and the new pram became more of a trolley to wheel around the purchases I managed to make.
The bags contents also had to ramped up and was taken everywhere, because now we had food and bottles to take on every outing, as well as three spare changes of clothes for baby, one for myself, cloth nappies and handtowels to mop up all of the projectile spills my very spuey baby regularly had, toys, a floor mat for her to lay on, panadol for those terrible times of teething, immunisations and some little colds.
"Be Prepared" My old Girl Guide motto - I have to say that this bag was full if not overflowing with all the equipment I could possibly need. It was a little on the heavy side but I was never really caught out in the event of a nappy blowout or a hungry or sick baby.
Being my first bub I really never left her side for the first 3 months. BIG MISTAKE! By the time I was going to make my first outing without my baby and the "equipment bag" to a concert where I would be away for really not a long time, maybe four hours; I was a nervous wreck! I felt guilty, I knew I wouldn't be around to feed her and I wouldn't be able to just come home either. I squeezed into some pre-pregnancy clothes for this first evening away and I grabbed my wallet and phone. The outing was a success and my husband coped fine - I really had unnecessarily worried.
I guess looking back now I make this conclusion. It is healthy for new mums to take a little time out. I would say I definitely took too long to take that time away - just a few hours. It was harder to take this time out because I took so long to do it. Whilst I was going to plenty of mothers groups, shopping and catching up with my family, I always had my baby and "equipment bag" no matter where I went. Don't get me wrong I loved being a mum but should have taken some time for small pleasures such as a haircut, waxing or even a hot choccy! I really didn't extend my social activities outside of being a mum until my baby was 7 months. I made it too easy to take her with me everywhere instead of getting my partner to share some of the responsibility. I started heading out on my own and having more regular catchups with friends in the evenings, getting back out to dinner, coffee or a movie and this changed my whole outlook on my little domestic world. I definitely think that keeping your handbag is one of the ways to retain your little piece of independance. On the practical side you can leave on the run, without reefing all of your items out of you baby bag, and your partner can have the kids at home or head out with the "baby bag". (there are some great unisex designs) On the metaphorical side you may be a mum (I know it's not as simple as just a handbag) BUT you are still a women of the world and need to get out and experience life and do a few things that you enjoy whether it be alone, with your partner or friends.
The second time around with baby number 2 I kept both my handbag and my baby bag and had social activities which allowed me to head out of the house with friends much earlier than the seven month mark. I wasn't out every night of the week but a few nights a month where I enjoyed some adult conversation. I am a lot happier as a 2nd time mum, my life seems to have more balance. (check out my post "Life Culture Shock" for more on this topic for first time mums)
Apart from finding a forgotten sandwich in the bag, or even worse a bottle filled with milk or a stray sultana I love my baby bag - but I love my handbag too.
Check out http://www.oioi.com.au/
for a great selection of baby bags. I chose one of the messenger styles you can see below and it is still going strong after nearly 4 years of use!
I picked out one of the trendiest bags around at the time, I had been eyeing it off for weeks. It didn't looked like a baby bag, more of a sophisticated beach bag which I would be happy to put my phone and wallet in and away we go.
Yes, the bag stayed in pristine condition whilst I did fit in some shopping trips in those first few months. However I did spend a lot of my retail therapy time in the mother's room feeding and changing my baby. As the weeks turned into months the sleeping princess also liked to be awake more and not in a peaceful state either but screaming her lungs out. So the baby pouch was used to maximize shopping time and the new pram became more of a trolley to wheel around the purchases I managed to make.
The bags contents also had to ramped up and was taken everywhere, because now we had food and bottles to take on every outing, as well as three spare changes of clothes for baby, one for myself, cloth nappies and handtowels to mop up all of the projectile spills my very spuey baby regularly had, toys, a floor mat for her to lay on, panadol for those terrible times of teething, immunisations and some little colds.
"Be Prepared" My old Girl Guide motto - I have to say that this bag was full if not overflowing with all the equipment I could possibly need. It was a little on the heavy side but I was never really caught out in the event of a nappy blowout or a hungry or sick baby.
Being my first bub I really never left her side for the first 3 months. BIG MISTAKE! By the time I was going to make my first outing without my baby and the "equipment bag" to a concert where I would be away for really not a long time, maybe four hours; I was a nervous wreck! I felt guilty, I knew I wouldn't be around to feed her and I wouldn't be able to just come home either. I squeezed into some pre-pregnancy clothes for this first evening away and I grabbed my wallet and phone. The outing was a success and my husband coped fine - I really had unnecessarily worried.
I guess looking back now I make this conclusion. It is healthy for new mums to take a little time out. I would say I definitely took too long to take that time away - just a few hours. It was harder to take this time out because I took so long to do it. Whilst I was going to plenty of mothers groups, shopping and catching up with my family, I always had my baby and "equipment bag" no matter where I went. Don't get me wrong I loved being a mum but should have taken some time for small pleasures such as a haircut, waxing or even a hot choccy! I really didn't extend my social activities outside of being a mum until my baby was 7 months. I made it too easy to take her with me everywhere instead of getting my partner to share some of the responsibility. I started heading out on my own and having more regular catchups with friends in the evenings, getting back out to dinner, coffee or a movie and this changed my whole outlook on my little domestic world. I definitely think that keeping your handbag is one of the ways to retain your little piece of independance. On the practical side you can leave on the run, without reefing all of your items out of you baby bag, and your partner can have the kids at home or head out with the "baby bag". (there are some great unisex designs) On the metaphorical side you may be a mum (I know it's not as simple as just a handbag) BUT you are still a women of the world and need to get out and experience life and do a few things that you enjoy whether it be alone, with your partner or friends.
The second time around with baby number 2 I kept both my handbag and my baby bag and had social activities which allowed me to head out of the house with friends much earlier than the seven month mark. I wasn't out every night of the week but a few nights a month where I enjoyed some adult conversation. I am a lot happier as a 2nd time mum, my life seems to have more balance. (check out my post "Life Culture Shock" for more on this topic for first time mums)
Apart from finding a forgotten sandwich in the bag, or even worse a bottle filled with milk or a stray sultana I love my baby bag - but I love my handbag too.
Check out http://www.oioi.com.au/
for a great selection of baby bags. I chose one of the messenger styles you can see below and it is still going strong after nearly 4 years of use!
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