A Few Days Away

Tomorrow we are jetting off to Sydney for the week. Initially this trip was for a medical purpose, but as we are down to our last two weeks together for quite a while, the decision was made that we should all go. Kind of a last family outing for a long time.

We have an appointment with a well respected thoracic surgeon for my son. If all goes well this doctor should perform his surgery later in the year. We’ll know more about this after our visit. I must admit that my thoughts have been distracted from this worry for the past month or so. It is well and truly on my mind now.

We hope to hit some outlet stores and perhaps buy some warm clothing for my daughter. Her baggage is limited to twenty kilograms – not much when she is gone for twelve months! (she is a HUGE reader and cannot take any books with her, the thought of not finding enough reading material in English is horrifying her) We don’t think that we will send much with her at all. She can make do with what she takes or beg, borrow and purchase what else she needs. My sister backpacked for six months on two pairs of jeans, although for my daughter to do something like that would be miraculous!

Even though I will most likely be off-line for the week, you may just find news of me here or here, as I have arranged to meet up with some bloggers as we complete our whirlwind tour of the sights of Sydney. Now we are going to pack – as soon as my Pete fixes the handle on our suitcase…

Business Women’s Lunch

Yesterday I went to lunch with the very talented Kirsty.

Would you believe that we met through our blogs? I saw that she came to Townsville occasionally and made a leap of faith in asking to her catch up for a morning tea. Sussanah was convinced that she wouldn’t be a quilter at all when I met her, let alone a lady. Sussanah told me that only hairy men posing as quilters wanted to meet up over the internet for morning tea. Kirsty, however, is a girl and a quilter and  just my sort of person. We found plenty of common ground for discussion and have continued to meet regularly ever since. (Sussanah is now a blogger, so has become a hairy man)

Kirsty and I have formed a little club – a business women’s club. We both have ambitions in the quilting field, we both have ideas and aspirations. It is difficult for each of us to achieve these ideals alone. Firstly, there is motivation – it is so easy to procrastinate when you have only to answer to yourself. Secondly, there is self promotion – let’s face it, we won’t get any where unless we talk ourselves up. This is not easy for Australian women. It is, culturally, not accepted or appreciated to appear to promote yourself.  We do not, as a society, really like those who are up themselves and sit back in quiet anticipation of their fall from grace. (case in point – Lleyton Hewitt (not a girl, I know), Dannii Minogue – I could go on)

Basically Kirsty and I are sounding boards for each other’s ideas. We offer an ear and occasional advice. We are willing to talk the other up to the right people. (much easier than promoting yourself!)

So… our lunch

grilled chicken, mango and avocado

We wrote three goals into our matching diaries. We will meet again next month to review (and eat more food).

At the end of lunch Kirsty presented me with two inspirational magnets

Watch out for us…. We’re sure to go far!

This song goes with the previous post.

Last night I couldn’t find the appropriate song for my family, but it came to me this morning. You’ll have to link. I can’t for the life of me work out how to embed!

I Am…

amazed to discover how many chins I have.

in desperate need of a good haircut.

the luckiest person in the whole damned world.

I couldn’t love them more if I tried.

Another Year

Happy New Year to everyone!

I know that many people use the new year as a time to look forward and make resolutions about personal behavioural changes. I don’t like to do this. It is just another way for me to feel disappointed in myself when I don’t manage to achieve those goals. Instead I like to look back. I like to think about the previous year and reflect on what I have learnt about myself. In actuality this contributes more to my future behaviours than any list of resolutions.

So…2007… This year I went back to work on a part-time basis. I learnt that I do like to work, but that this balance is just right for our family. I could easily work full-time and earn plenty of money, but it makes us all miserable. We don’t get everything done around the house; ferrying the kids around is inconvenient and makes me resentful; life is fitted in around work. I would much rather forgo the extra money for our peace of mind and emotional happiness.

I learnt that I do actually like to work in a group of people. **I have always thought of myself as a bit isolated from the masses because I don’t really do all the popular things. This makes small talk almost impossible. Did I see that reality show on TV? No, I don’t watch it. Did I see that story on the front page of the paper? No, I don’t read it. Did I see the results of the football game? No, I don’t follow it. Do I love that new song by (insert name of skinny, skanky girl here)? No, I don’t listen to it. Despite this I may not be quite the introvert that I thought. I enjoy working toward a task in a group of people, but here’s the thing… I always end up as the leader of the group.  I try to sit back and just listen, but eventually I have to state my opinions – not in a bossy way – and people agree with me. This causes me a lot of concern, because I LIKE to be the leader of the group. I am not a follower (I already knew this about myself), but I’m not sure if I am entirely comfortable with having people follow me. I LOVE to be involved in discussion about/with management and some part of me could easily move in that direction, but that causes my peace-loving, left-wing hippy heart some pause for thought. I find it quite a paradox in my personality.  It doesn’t need resolution right now, I am happy just to recognise it and live with it.

I learnt that I am not at all frightened to stand up in front of a large group of people and talk. I can present a prepared piece or talk off the cuff and be equally calm. I am very pleased to have this skill.

I learnt that I need to trust my gut reactions to people. Three times this year I have had a negative/nervous response to an initial interaction with someone. I have been harsh with myself over this for being too judgemental and allowed the interaction to continue only to have it conclude in an unpleasant way. I don’t want that to happen again. I have no time for that sort of nonsense.

I learnt that letting go is not easy. This is a work in progress. I have always encouraged independence in my children, they have never been reliant on me (they would have been sorely disappointed!). I have never held on tight, but I have maintained control. I am struggling through the re-negotiation of this control. This is not an issue caused by my children. They are well prepared to take on life on their own terms. I have to be prepared to find out about it later – when they let me in – and that is difficult for me.

I anticipate that 2008 will be a challenging year. My Pete was making up little family slogans last night – It’s great in 2008! (he has the soul of a poet), but I know that may not be the case. Lots of changes, lots of learning. I am looking forward to a few of these challenges though, but more on that later…..

** May I just state that, ironically, I never feel isolated when blogging. I think there are lots of people who blog who are sucky at small talk too. I like that, it is one of the appeals of blogging for me.

Looming

We are going to the beach today to have some family photos taken.

Our family is in its last days in its current state.

Changes are looming large now.

Roll on 2008… there’s no stopping it now.

Holidays Induce

Family time:

Sussanah has put together a montage of our family photos. You won’t find my son in any though. He sat in a corner protecting his broken foot and missed out on being in any photos. A Christmas Eve visit to the surgeon meant that he was able to get rid of the crutches and will not require any further treatment. Good news!

For the first time ever we held my family event a few days before Christmas. Our sister has gone out of town, so we wanted to get together before she left. WHY oh WHY have we not done this before? It meant that I cleaned, organised and vacuumed the house early. It meant that a lot of the wrapping was done early. It meant that the children all received their gifts in smaller doses, so they stopped to enjoy and appreciate them more. It meant that we had rested the night before, rather than the usual lack of sleep on Christmas Eve. It was an enjoyable evening for everyone. I am voting to do it again in all future years. My Pete said to me on Boxing Day that it felt like Christmas had just come and gone this year. It was so easy. I’m certain this is the reason.

The lead up few days to Christmas always seem a blur of last minute list making, sticky tape, cleaning and baking. We stayed well away from the shops on Christmas Eve, finished the shortbread and Mary’s chocolate ginger by 5pm, felt super-organised, then waited for our children to go to sleep. Damn teenagers and their nocturnal habits. When we finally snuck the presents out we found that the ungrateful little disbelievers hadn’t even left us a snack and drink!

Post Christmas lethargy:

Since all of the flurry and excitement we have done almost nothing. I have watched more DVDs than I thought possible. Mostly this, all three seasons. I love it! The weather has been highly supportive of my slovenly few days.

Cloudy skies and big, fat raindrops have made it very easy to lay on the couch and watch TV!

Last night I spent the longest time taking photos of the rain as it hit a puddle. (a perfectly normal pursuit and an excellent use of my time) It was just beautiful to see a still shot of the concentirc circles on the surface of the water! This photo is the one that I liked the most.

How cool is that?

Oh well, time to get busy… although one of the children received Heroes on DVD, wonder where that is….

Retirement Plan

I’m looking forward to growing old with my Pete.

He already has a pretty good action

He may just need to improve his aim.

Fashion

Last week at a 6:30am meeting, my daughter was officially presented with her blazer to wear while on exchange. She apparently made a speech of thanks. I’m impressed that she was coherent enough to put words together – generally before 9am we find that grunting is her preferred communication.

SO, in January she will fly into what is arguably one of the most fashionable cities in the world wearing

a dark green polyester gabardine jacket with an orange emboidered kangaroo. To complete the ensemble is a mismatched blue and red scarf covered with grey emus, kangaroos, echidnas and kookaburras.

I hope she doesn’t get too close to an open flame…

PS Don’t even ask me how the foot is! In the ongoing saga that is my life we are trying to find an orthopedic surgeon to find out if a bone chip needs to be removed. Apparently surgeons like to go on holidays too. “This is a bad time to get an appointment.” Sorry – he should have kicked a girl months ago, then we’d all have a merry Christmas!

Running Away

Today Alice spoke about her escape plan.

After today I need one too.

How can this be my life???

I asked the doctor if I should be concerned that my son has broken two bones this year. Is there a reason that he is breaking bones more frequently than he cleans his room? Could there be something wrong?

His answer? Yes, he’s an active thirteen year old boy…

He’ll be available on ebay later today if you want him. Just make sure you have good health cover!