Saw this the other day and just loved it.....
When I was about eight or nine, my mom liked to cook food and every now and then I remember she used to cook for us.
One night that stood out in my mind is when she had made dinner for us after a very long and rough day at work, She placed a plate of jam and extremely burned toast in front of my dad. Not slightly burnt but completely blackened toast.
I was just waiting to see if anyone noticed the burnt toast and say anything. But Dad just ate his toast and asked me if I did my homework and how my day was. I don’t remember what I told him that night, but I do remember I hearing my mom apologizing to dad for burning the toast. And I’ll never forget what he said:
“Sweetie, I love burned toast.”
Later that night, I went to tell my dad good night and ask him if he really liked his toast burned. He put his arm on my shoulder and said,
“Your momma put in a very long day at work today and she was very tired. And besides, A burnt toast never hurts anyone but you know what does? Harsh words!”
The he continued to say “You know, life is full of imperfect things and imperfect people I’m not the best at hardly anything, and I forget birthdays and anniversaries just like every other human. What I've learned over the years, is that learning to accept each others faults and choosing to celebrate each other’s differences, is one of the most important keys for creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.
Life is too short to wake up with regrets.
Love the people who treat you right and have compassion for the ones who don’t.”
ENJOY LIFE NOW.
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Saturday, January 31, 2015
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Why do you Blog?
I am still ever conscious of the fact that I haven't really blogged much this whole year!
Does it bother me? Yes a little.
If so then why aren't I blogging much? I really don't know!
Seems I went off line after my op last year and when I finally found my feet again it was just as our world came crashing back down with news of my husbands imminent operation.
Blogging is always in the back of my head but just not as much as it use to be.
I have been looking at all the blogs I follow and looking to see what they blog about. News, current affairs, life, pictures, children, craft to name a few.
It made me take a look back through my blog to see what I had been blogging about?
Turns out it was all about family, mainly because I started my blog to keep my parents and extended relatives in foreign lands (or was that that I was in the foreign land and they were at home?) informed of how the boys were growing and what we had been up to.
I then realised that because of blogging I always had the camera with me. I was always taking pictures. I captured everything we were doing just on the off chance there might be something I wanted to blog about.
So with taking time out in the last almost a year, I have come to realise 1 major thing......?
I don't have my camera with me nearly as much and I think I am missing out on capturing what is going on in my boys life!
I have come to realise also that maybe I was blogging as a way to keep my boys childhood as a vivid memory, something that they can look back on and remember.
Maybe I need to change my focus on why I am blogging and look at it from a different angle.
Maybe I have to remember that I am not only blogging for me, I am blogging for the memories it will give my boys when they are older.
With that said, I need to take the camera with me more, I need to be capturing all of our life more just in case there is something worth blogging about!
Does it bother me? Yes a little.
If so then why aren't I blogging much? I really don't know!
Seems I went off line after my op last year and when I finally found my feet again it was just as our world came crashing back down with news of my husbands imminent operation.
Blogging is always in the back of my head but just not as much as it use to be.
I have been looking at all the blogs I follow and looking to see what they blog about. News, current affairs, life, pictures, children, craft to name a few.
It made me take a look back through my blog to see what I had been blogging about?
Turns out it was all about family, mainly because I started my blog to keep my parents and extended relatives in foreign lands (or was that that I was in the foreign land and they were at home?) informed of how the boys were growing and what we had been up to.
I then realised that because of blogging I always had the camera with me. I was always taking pictures. I captured everything we were doing just on the off chance there might be something I wanted to blog about.
So with taking time out in the last almost a year, I have come to realise 1 major thing......?
I don't have my camera with me nearly as much and I think I am missing out on capturing what is going on in my boys life!
I have come to realise also that maybe I was blogging as a way to keep my boys childhood as a vivid memory, something that they can look back on and remember.
Maybe I need to change my focus on why I am blogging and look at it from a different angle.
Maybe I have to remember that I am not only blogging for me, I am blogging for the memories it will give my boys when they are older.
With that said, I need to take the camera with me more, I need to be capturing all of our life more just in case there is something worth blogging about!
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Best Before or Rubbish
It is with a lot of interest I have been following any news articles that are out on whether we should get rid of the 'best before' date on food?
Does it make any difference?
Would it save a lot of food waste?
These are the important questions that are being asked at present by the European Union in their bid to save millions of tons of food that is carelessly wasted each year.
They state that on average, 15% of what we buy from the supermarket will get thrown away!
Most of this is because we will look at the date on it and it states 'best before xyz' so we work out it is past that date and out it goes!
As they have mentioned 'best before' is a guideline. It does not mean the food has to be used by that date, it is a guideline to tell you that they recommend it is 'best before' that date, however most things can be used up to even 1-2 years past this date, it just takes common sense when going to use the food.
Does it look good? Does it smell ok?
Just because those choclate biscuits say best before Feb 2014, believe me I think they will be fine today in May of 2014! Well when I am in need of choclate its good enough for me.
So it definitely gives us something to stop and think about.
How do we feel about the term 'best before'?
How does this affect the food we eat and use in our cooking?
Does rice and pasta really need to be thrown out just because it didn't get used before the best before date printed on the packet?
Definitely going to make me think twice before I throw something away based on the date rather than whether it is something I could incorparate in our menu for the following few days to use up than throw out.
However you have to remember to not get this confused with the 'use by date' on food which is definitely there for a reason and must be followed as it gives the date by which a product must be consumed rather than a recommendation.
Just some food for thought on a Wednesday morning!
Does it make any difference?
Would it save a lot of food waste?
These are the important questions that are being asked at present by the European Union in their bid to save millions of tons of food that is carelessly wasted each year.
They state that on average, 15% of what we buy from the supermarket will get thrown away!
Most of this is because we will look at the date on it and it states 'best before xyz' so we work out it is past that date and out it goes!
As they have mentioned 'best before' is a guideline. It does not mean the food has to be used by that date, it is a guideline to tell you that they recommend it is 'best before' that date, however most things can be used up to even 1-2 years past this date, it just takes common sense when going to use the food.
Does it look good? Does it smell ok?
Just because those choclate biscuits say best before Feb 2014, believe me I think they will be fine today in May of 2014! Well when I am in need of choclate its good enough for me.
So it definitely gives us something to stop and think about.
How do we feel about the term 'best before'?
How does this affect the food we eat and use in our cooking?
Does rice and pasta really need to be thrown out just because it didn't get used before the best before date printed on the packet?
Definitely going to make me think twice before I throw something away based on the date rather than whether it is something I could incorparate in our menu for the following few days to use up than throw out.
However you have to remember to not get this confused with the 'use by date' on food which is definitely there for a reason and must be followed as it gives the date by which a product must be consumed rather than a recommendation.
Just some food for thought on a Wednesday morning!
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
May May May
May I just say that I am amazed that we are now almost half way through this month!
At the end of April I decided that maybe I ought to get back into blogging, seeing as I have been away for a while.
So when I couldn't sleep at night I would lay there composing posts for the blog, I know sounds odd really doesn't it?
But suddenly I realise that we are half way into May and nothing, nada, nout.
So even though I am trying, I have to make a real effort to sit down and actually write something.
I was firstly amazed to come back to blogging and find that the site I used for my free background was no longer doing free backgrounds!
So whilst I sort something else we will have to go with this plain blogger one for now.
I wish I could say that I have heaps to tell you but we have been laying low whilst hubby recovers from his cardiac surgery so nothing much has been happening.
But that is all about to change....I know it will because I am determined to make it happen!
We will be here with bells on for the 2014 Scavenger Hunt starting in June and hopefully I can find my way around the new computer to work out how to up load photos to share with you all and how to store them in a new file.
Loving the new computer but getting frustrated with Windows 8!
Have changed my job so lots to tell you there, but that can wait for a rainy day post.
Hope you are all doing well and I will try to catch up with you all again soon.
At the end of April I decided that maybe I ought to get back into blogging, seeing as I have been away for a while.
So when I couldn't sleep at night I would lay there composing posts for the blog, I know sounds odd really doesn't it?
But suddenly I realise that we are half way into May and nothing, nada, nout.
So even though I am trying, I have to make a real effort to sit down and actually write something.
I was firstly amazed to come back to blogging and find that the site I used for my free background was no longer doing free backgrounds!
So whilst I sort something else we will have to go with this plain blogger one for now.
I wish I could say that I have heaps to tell you but we have been laying low whilst hubby recovers from his cardiac surgery so nothing much has been happening.
But that is all about to change....I know it will because I am determined to make it happen!
We will be here with bells on for the 2014 Scavenger Hunt starting in June and hopefully I can find my way around the new computer to work out how to up load photos to share with you all and how to store them in a new file.
Loving the new computer but getting frustrated with Windows 8!
Have changed my job so lots to tell you there, but that can wait for a rainy day post.
Hope you are all doing well and I will try to catch up with you all again soon.
Friday, November 29, 2013
Going Underground
The other day I bumped into a school mum who I had't seen for a while.
We had a quick chat and a catch up on our families and then she apologized for not being around recently.
Apparently, as she put it, they had gone 'underground'
In other words....her husband's younger brother, who was only 40, had died due to a heart attack and it had caused quite a shock to their system so they hid away and concentrated on their family for a while whilst they came to grips with life.
They had reassessed their life, their work, their family time and what their family stood for and where they were going. They had spent some quality family time together too.
I gave her a huge hug and told her she never had to apologize for stuff like that. It happens to everyone now and then, ok some people don't go underground with it, but I sometimes think more people should.
You hear of people getting themselves so stressed out trying to do it all, when in reality if they had just taken a deep breath and said 'no' for a little while then they would have got through still smiling!
So where have I been for the last 6-8 weeks......?
Underground of course!
I got a little stressed out after my operation and things just weren't running smoothly adding on top of that we got told my husband's heart condition was worse than we thought and that he would require surgery sometime in the next 12 months!
By the way, we are talking the big type of surgery here, not your namby pamby stuff, the big kahuna open the chest and stick your hands in for several hours type surgery! The one that takes you months to recover from.
He is fine, at present, he has no symptoms and all the tests, whilst showing that yes he has a heart condition that will require intensive surgery at some stage, show that he is doing ok and we don't need to panic.
So after going underground and reassessing our own family life, we are now back on top, feeling our way slowly upwards and feeling like we can breath again.
Oh and did I tell you there is threat of his job disappearing in July too!
So life goes on and we just breath slowly in and out and take little steps forward.
By the way....how are you?
We had a quick chat and a catch up on our families and then she apologized for not being around recently.
Apparently, as she put it, they had gone 'underground'
In other words....her husband's younger brother, who was only 40, had died due to a heart attack and it had caused quite a shock to their system so they hid away and concentrated on their family for a while whilst they came to grips with life.
They had reassessed their life, their work, their family time and what their family stood for and where they were going. They had spent some quality family time together too.
I gave her a huge hug and told her she never had to apologize for stuff like that. It happens to everyone now and then, ok some people don't go underground with it, but I sometimes think more people should.
You hear of people getting themselves so stressed out trying to do it all, when in reality if they had just taken a deep breath and said 'no' for a little while then they would have got through still smiling!
So where have I been for the last 6-8 weeks......?
Underground of course!
I got a little stressed out after my operation and things just weren't running smoothly adding on top of that we got told my husband's heart condition was worse than we thought and that he would require surgery sometime in the next 12 months!
By the way, we are talking the big type of surgery here, not your namby pamby stuff, the big kahuna open the chest and stick your hands in for several hours type surgery! The one that takes you months to recover from.
He is fine, at present, he has no symptoms and all the tests, whilst showing that yes he has a heart condition that will require intensive surgery at some stage, show that he is doing ok and we don't need to panic.
So after going underground and reassessing our own family life, we are now back on top, feeling our way slowly upwards and feeling like we can breath again.
Oh and did I tell you there is threat of his job disappearing in July too!
So life goes on and we just breath slowly in and out and take little steps forward.
By the way....how are you?
Tuesday, August 06, 2013
Month in Numbers for July
It took me until 3 weeks into July before I managed to post my June Month in Numbers! So I am doing well to get these up in the first week!
I happily read others that got posted and kept kicking myself to remember to sit and sort the post out for my first ever month in numbers.
Julie, however had no worries, she was just happy that we wanted to play along and express our life for the month in numbers.
I will give myself a break though, I was a little busy as my new month in numbers for July will show.
I managed 2 of the communal counts:
How many photos did you take = 101
How many did you get printed = 11, well that is how many pictures I got printed in July but they were not of pictures taken in July! Does it still count??
You too can join in with this data collection for yourself each month if you are interested. Julie has an amazing page over on her blog that explains all about what we are insanely doing each month.
It doesn't have to be anything huge, you could even just start with the communal count that Julie has started each month in conjunction with MiN.
For August we have to consider counting the following:
So feel free to join in if you please, we look forward to seeing you maybe in September with Augusts numbers.
Happy counting 1 2 3 4 5 6............!
I happily read others that got posted and kept kicking myself to remember to sit and sort the post out for my first ever month in numbers.
Julie, however had no worries, she was just happy that we wanted to play along and express our life for the month in numbers.
I will give myself a break though, I was a little busy as my new month in numbers for July will show.
I managed 2 of the communal counts:
How many photos did you take = 101
How many did you get printed = 11, well that is how many pictures I got printed in July but they were not of pictures taken in July! Does it still count??
You too can join in with this data collection for yourself each month if you are interested. Julie has an amazing page over on her blog that explains all about what we are insanely doing each month.
It doesn't have to be anything huge, you could even just start with the communal count that Julie has started each month in conjunction with MiN.
For August we have to consider counting the following:
- How many people visited your house this month? How many usually live here?
- What was the earliest time you got out of bed? Is this usual for you?
So feel free to join in if you please, we look forward to seeing you maybe in September with Augusts numbers.
Happy counting 1 2 3 4 5 6............!
Monday, July 22, 2013
Month in Numbers
Over the last few months I have seen people write a post about their month in numbers.
I never thought anything of it much.
Happily read their post, loved some of the things they had aspired to do in that month and life just went on.
One day however I suddenly wanted to know more! What was this all about, why were they writing this stuff down and how were they doing it?
Up popped a link to Julie's place and suddenly I understood this whole amazing world in numbers so much more.
Now I am a numbers person, drives my husband mental that I know my credit card number and can just type it in when required, might also drive him mad because that makes it so easy to use online when I want to buy something!
I was intrigued, I wanted to join in and have a go, so I did.
So I give you my month in numbers for June 2013
Apart from deciding how to display the numbers for the month, it was a lot easier than I thought to gather information.
July is already being collected and I look forward to collect more over the next few months.
If you fancy a different type of blog post that shows what you have been up to then why not consider rushing over to Julie's Notes on Paper and start compiling your own month in numbers.
I never thought anything of it much.
Happily read their post, loved some of the things they had aspired to do in that month and life just went on.
One day however I suddenly wanted to know more! What was this all about, why were they writing this stuff down and how were they doing it?
Up popped a link to Julie's place and suddenly I understood this whole amazing world in numbers so much more.
Now I am a numbers person, drives my husband mental that I know my credit card number and can just type it in when required, might also drive him mad because that makes it so easy to use online when I want to buy something!
I was intrigued, I wanted to join in and have a go, so I did.
So I give you my month in numbers for June 2013
Apart from deciding how to display the numbers for the month, it was a lot easier than I thought to gather information.
July is already being collected and I look forward to collect more over the next few months.
If you fancy a different type of blog post that shows what you have been up to then why not consider rushing over to Julie's Notes on Paper and start compiling your own month in numbers.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Life Changing
When I was little I loved children. I always wanted to work with them.
Ok as I got older I realised the power of them and decided that in fact I didn't want to work with them quite as much as I thought, although I would still like to be a school teacher rather than a nanny.
I always knew I would one day have children.
In my very early 20's, I was living in a community where everyone I knew was getting married and having children. I loved hugging all the little babies and helping to look after the young ones but my choice of life at the time, I was training to be a nurse, didn't fit in with marriage or kids, ok I was also lacking that other half of the equation!!
I did wonder at one stage during my 20's if it was ever going to happen but I think that had more to do with the amount of weddings I attended in a 5 year period more than whether I was actually at a stage to deal with it.
In my 30's my life took that turn. I was in that stable relationship and life was in tune and mid way through I had our 2 sons. Life was right and children were the perfect part of it.
Do I wish I had had them earlier? Sometimes.
I watch some of my friends who have kids older, much older than mine and wonder what life would be like if my boys were older whilst I was younger than I will be when they get to being teenagers? However the pay off of the experiences I have had prior to having the boys is the ying and yang of the story. I have had experiences that some of my friends are only just starting to consider now their children are older. Each to their own I guess.
Now in my 40's life is changing.
My days of having children are over, as much as I would have loved to have had more children, it wasn't a happening thing and I will always be grateful to the 2 beautiful boys I have the privilege of growing.
And next week life will change further as I under go a hysterectomy.
That finally chapter in the birth of children is leaving me. At present if I wanted more children, I don't by the way, actually got passed that feeling a few years ago, I could have them, well I need a complying partner but you know what I mean.
Anyway I am actually at peace with the change about to happen. Luckily Steve and I are both in the know and had discussed things prior to the first appointment so it didn't take us very long at all in the appointment to agree to the plan and set the ball rolling.
I am not looking forward to the first 2 weeks post, the discomfort and tiredness, but I know the full 6 weeks will do me good.
I am however looking forward to the lack of pain that comes from this decision and living a freer life.
Ok as I got older I realised the power of them and decided that in fact I didn't want to work with them quite as much as I thought, although I would still like to be a school teacher rather than a nanny.
I always knew I would one day have children.
In my very early 20's, I was living in a community where everyone I knew was getting married and having children. I loved hugging all the little babies and helping to look after the young ones but my choice of life at the time, I was training to be a nurse, didn't fit in with marriage or kids, ok I was also lacking that other half of the equation!!
I did wonder at one stage during my 20's if it was ever going to happen but I think that had more to do with the amount of weddings I attended in a 5 year period more than whether I was actually at a stage to deal with it.
In my 30's my life took that turn. I was in that stable relationship and life was in tune and mid way through I had our 2 sons. Life was right and children were the perfect part of it.
Do I wish I had had them earlier? Sometimes.
I watch some of my friends who have kids older, much older than mine and wonder what life would be like if my boys were older whilst I was younger than I will be when they get to being teenagers? However the pay off of the experiences I have had prior to having the boys is the ying and yang of the story. I have had experiences that some of my friends are only just starting to consider now their children are older. Each to their own I guess.
Now in my 40's life is changing.
My days of having children are over, as much as I would have loved to have had more children, it wasn't a happening thing and I will always be grateful to the 2 beautiful boys I have the privilege of growing.
And next week life will change further as I under go a hysterectomy.
That finally chapter in the birth of children is leaving me. At present if I wanted more children, I don't by the way, actually got passed that feeling a few years ago, I could have them, well I need a complying partner but you know what I mean.
Anyway I am actually at peace with the change about to happen. Luckily Steve and I are both in the know and had discussed things prior to the first appointment so it didn't take us very long at all in the appointment to agree to the plan and set the ball rolling.
I am not looking forward to the first 2 weeks post, the discomfort and tiredness, but I know the full 6 weeks will do me good.
I am however looking forward to the lack of pain that comes from this decision and living a freer life.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
The Clock
Many years ago I discovered that I didn't need to wear a wrist watch when the one I had broke, you see everywhere you turn there is a clock.
At work due to the nature of my work there is a clock in every room and usually one on a colleagues chest. We are nurses after all.
When out and about there are clocks everywhere, or at least there use to be, until some bright spark at the mall decided that if they took the clocks away then people would forget what time it was and get carried away with spending lots of money! Seems they forgot that everyone has a phone on the nowadays so time is something we can still attempt to control.
Have you ever tried to go the day without looking at your phone to see what the time is?
It is actually quite easy to do, it is amazing where you can find out the time without trying too hard.
However we still have clocks at home. There are 2 in the kitchen (on the wall and the microwave), 1 in the family room, 2 in the lounge (stereo and cable box). 1 in each bedroom and at least 2 in the study (computer and wall).
I seem to like to be able to turn and see the clock! Not sure why? Maybe it has to do with seeing how much time I have left to relax in, how much time until I can send the boys to their room for the evening!
We had a nice clock on the wall in the family room, we had had it for several years until I dropped it!
I replaced it with this one
At work due to the nature of my work there is a clock in every room and usually one on a colleagues chest. We are nurses after all.
When out and about there are clocks everywhere, or at least there use to be, until some bright spark at the mall decided that if they took the clocks away then people would forget what time it was and get carried away with spending lots of money! Seems they forgot that everyone has a phone on the nowadays so time is something we can still attempt to control.
Have you ever tried to go the day without looking at your phone to see what the time is?
It is actually quite easy to do, it is amazing where you can find out the time without trying too hard.
However we still have clocks at home. There are 2 in the kitchen (on the wall and the microwave), 1 in the family room, 2 in the lounge (stereo and cable box). 1 in each bedroom and at least 2 in the study (computer and wall).
I seem to like to be able to turn and see the clock! Not sure why? Maybe it has to do with seeing how much time I have left to relax in, how much time until I can send the boys to their room for the evening!
We had a nice clock on the wall in the family room, we had had it for several years until I dropped it!
I replaced it with this one
One that use to be in the boys bedroom, but it kept stopping on me. We changed the battery but alas it would still stop or loose time! It was only an interim clock anyway but better than nothing until we remembered to buy a new one!
So we replaced it with this one
This picture is deceptive as this clock is actually the size of your average car tyre in diameter! Yes it is large but it is gorgeous and I so love the new clock my husband chose.
Only thing is.......the one from the boys bedroom is sitting in the study, battery is still in the thing and would you believe it hasn't stopped since coming down off the wall, still ticking away and doing fine!!
Sure it is doing it to make me feel guilty everytime I walk past it!
Thursday, March 07, 2013
Everyday......
Life goes on.....
everyday and on each and every one of those days I think about blogging and what I can write and then the day slips on by and I have sadly got nowhere near the computer!
Ok I lie a little, I have got real close to the computer but there has been so much else to achieve that blogging has not been on the agenda! Even my Face Book posts have dwindled done to bare essentials.
Work takes over
my life at present, even though 1 of my days during the week has now become a volunteer day, suddenly I am now out of the house 5 days a week.
Last year it was 4 and man do I miss that 1 day! Please come back day, all is forgiven, I will use you wisely....well to an extent I am using you wisely now so maybe I shouldn't complain so!
My 2 jobs
are calling me daily and I am finally, after 3 weeks (reason why I have not been around!) I have managed to get into some sort of pattern working at 2 different jobs, however as they are both based at the hopsital I am finding that there is a little cross over in the roles, mainly from one direction rather than both.
2 days a week I am a nurse in a fixed department. I have to be there at a set time, I finish at a set time and people rely on me to be there. We work as a team and I am scheduled to be in a certain place on the days I am rostered, I have 3 days that I am available to them and they get to choose which 2 days of the 3 they want me to work.
My 2nd role is as a tutor to the student nurses on clinical placement at the hospital. I have 5 wards that I cover and when I have a student on placement on one of my wards then it is my responsibility to meet with these students weekly to ensure they are getting everything out of their time in the clinical setting.
They do work shifts so getting to meet with them can sometimes be a small problem. I have 1 set day a week when I am free to go and find them and I have 1 other day a week that changes depending on which day my other role has chosen to give me off.
This is where the challenge can enter life as at present I have 7 students to see each week and even though I have Mondays, they are not always rostered to work on a Monday so then I have to fit all 7 1 hour meetings into 1 day!
Believe me
this does not work sometimes, (due to their rosters) and so there are times when I will finish my nurse role at 5pm and then switch hats to my tutor role and go and find a student who is working a late shift and meet with them then.
All meetings are pre planned with the student weekly according to their roster but sometimes it takes a little juggling on my part, especially if they are on night shift!!
So the first rotation of students is just coming to an end next week, I will have been through the complete cycle once and I will have a greater understanding of what is required from each meeting and how they can be fine tuned. Which given the fact that at some stage for a 2 week period when there is a cross over of rotations of students going out on placement I will end up with 12 to see in 1 week.
But despite everything
I am loving my life so far this year. It is keeping me on my toes, it is offering challenges daily and I am excited to be going to work, which given the last 5 months of last year is something I am grateful for.
everyday and on each and every one of those days I think about blogging and what I can write and then the day slips on by and I have sadly got nowhere near the computer!
Ok I lie a little, I have got real close to the computer but there has been so much else to achieve that blogging has not been on the agenda! Even my Face Book posts have dwindled done to bare essentials.
Work takes over
my life at present, even though 1 of my days during the week has now become a volunteer day, suddenly I am now out of the house 5 days a week.
Last year it was 4 and man do I miss that 1 day! Please come back day, all is forgiven, I will use you wisely....well to an extent I am using you wisely now so maybe I shouldn't complain so!
My 2 jobs
are calling me daily and I am finally, after 3 weeks (reason why I have not been around!) I have managed to get into some sort of pattern working at 2 different jobs, however as they are both based at the hopsital I am finding that there is a little cross over in the roles, mainly from one direction rather than both.
2 days a week I am a nurse in a fixed department. I have to be there at a set time, I finish at a set time and people rely on me to be there. We work as a team and I am scheduled to be in a certain place on the days I am rostered, I have 3 days that I am available to them and they get to choose which 2 days of the 3 they want me to work.
My 2nd role is as a tutor to the student nurses on clinical placement at the hospital. I have 5 wards that I cover and when I have a student on placement on one of my wards then it is my responsibility to meet with these students weekly to ensure they are getting everything out of their time in the clinical setting.
They do work shifts so getting to meet with them can sometimes be a small problem. I have 1 set day a week when I am free to go and find them and I have 1 other day a week that changes depending on which day my other role has chosen to give me off.
This is where the challenge can enter life as at present I have 7 students to see each week and even though I have Mondays, they are not always rostered to work on a Monday so then I have to fit all 7 1 hour meetings into 1 day!
Believe me
this does not work sometimes, (due to their rosters) and so there are times when I will finish my nurse role at 5pm and then switch hats to my tutor role and go and find a student who is working a late shift and meet with them then.
All meetings are pre planned with the student weekly according to their roster but sometimes it takes a little juggling on my part, especially if they are on night shift!!
So the first rotation of students is just coming to an end next week, I will have been through the complete cycle once and I will have a greater understanding of what is required from each meeting and how they can be fine tuned. Which given the fact that at some stage for a 2 week period when there is a cross over of rotations of students going out on placement I will end up with 12 to see in 1 week.
But despite everything
I am loving my life so far this year. It is keeping me on my toes, it is offering challenges daily and I am excited to be going to work, which given the last 5 months of last year is something I am grateful for.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Catch Up Time
Even though there has been the odd post I really haven't got totally back into blogging since the holiday time. Hopefully I can get this sorted as the pictures are mounting up in my file waiting to be loaded into a post.
Grow Your Blog Party
Firstly, welcome to all my new followers. It is so great to have you here and thank you for stopping by. You are most welcome whenever you feel like it, please don't think you need an invitation to drop on by, the door is always open.
It is lovely to meet new people and see how the other half are doing things, with this in mind I still have a lot of blogs to go and visit (something like 400 in total) so I may be busy for a little while jumping around the place saying Hi to people.
If any of you are interested in meeting some new people, then pop on over to Vicki's Place and go on a little blog hop to meet some new friends.
Work
My first week is going well and the people are making me feel right at home.
They are trusting me from the word go and so each new day I go in I am being allowed to do a little bit more. This is helpful as it is making me feel like I am there rather than spending a whole week just standing around observing and getting very bored and frustrated because I am not allowed to touch anything or anyone (patient that is)
Garden
Our garden, as I am sure you will see throughout this year is a work in progress. At some stage I will do a rather long post about our back garden and where it was when we got the house 5 years ago and where it is now.
It is easy to just say that at one point the far end was 1m lower than the top end and there were no steps to get you there, just a nice slope down.
So over the last year we have been shipping in soil on a slow basis and leveling it off. As this is a work in progress then we have also been making sure other areas of the garden are kept looking nice.
This past weekend we tackled an area that I had always wanted to get tidy but just never did anything about,
The succulents sat outside the garage.
The next 2 pictures show you the area in the distance and the mess it looked. Please note these pictures were not taken with the succulents in mind, I forgot to take a before picture at the weekend, so I went back through my files to find something that showed you the area, sort of.
There were several of them, all sat around in pots. We had had lots of succulents when we lived in Auckland 5 years ago. When we left we took little pieces of the ones we liked and potted them when we got here in Hamilton, however that is all we have done with them so they have become right at home in their pots and nothing else has happened to them, well apart from living outside the garage door that we don't use. Many of them had out grown their pot and 1 or 2 had even become root bound in the pot!
I wanted to build a wooden flower box to house the succulents in just where they were but when we started looking at it the price was slowly creeping upwards and I only wanted to keep it simple.
So I discussed with hubby what I wanted and he made a few suggestions and suddenly away we went.
As we took the chimney down a few years ago then we still have several hundred bricks in a pile around the place, so he suggested we use them. Glad we did in the end as it is now in keeping with the other flower areas around the garden.
We culled a lot of the plants as some of them had become just too big for what we required. Even though we separated them to smaller pieces we just didn't need so many of the same thing around the garden.
I got given the Pukekos as a leaving present when we moved from Auckland. I was telling the boys how I would like some garden ornaments (maybe a frog) to place round the succulent area and hubby remembered we had these. So he found them in the garage and I think they look great in their new home.
Really happy to have finally cleaned up an area that we see and pass every single day. Lets just hope the succulents are as happy in their new bed as they were in their pots.
Grow Your Blog Party
Firstly, welcome to all my new followers. It is so great to have you here and thank you for stopping by. You are most welcome whenever you feel like it, please don't think you need an invitation to drop on by, the door is always open.
It is lovely to meet new people and see how the other half are doing things, with this in mind I still have a lot of blogs to go and visit (something like 400 in total) so I may be busy for a little while jumping around the place saying Hi to people.
If any of you are interested in meeting some new people, then pop on over to Vicki's Place and go on a little blog hop to meet some new friends.
Work
My first week is going well and the people are making me feel right at home.
They are trusting me from the word go and so each new day I go in I am being allowed to do a little bit more. This is helpful as it is making me feel like I am there rather than spending a whole week just standing around observing and getting very bored and frustrated because I am not allowed to touch anything or anyone (patient that is)
Garden
Our garden, as I am sure you will see throughout this year is a work in progress. At some stage I will do a rather long post about our back garden and where it was when we got the house 5 years ago and where it is now.
It is easy to just say that at one point the far end was 1m lower than the top end and there were no steps to get you there, just a nice slope down.
So over the last year we have been shipping in soil on a slow basis and leveling it off. As this is a work in progress then we have also been making sure other areas of the garden are kept looking nice.
This past weekend we tackled an area that I had always wanted to get tidy but just never did anything about,
The succulents sat outside the garage.
The next 2 pictures show you the area in the distance and the mess it looked. Please note these pictures were not taken with the succulents in mind, I forgot to take a before picture at the weekend, so I went back through my files to find something that showed you the area, sort of.
I wanted to build a wooden flower box to house the succulents in just where they were but when we started looking at it the price was slowly creeping upwards and I only wanted to keep it simple.
So I discussed with hubby what I wanted and he made a few suggestions and suddenly away we went.
As we took the chimney down a few years ago then we still have several hundred bricks in a pile around the place, so he suggested we use them. Glad we did in the end as it is now in keeping with the other flower areas around the garden.
We culled a lot of the plants as some of them had become just too big for what we required. Even though we separated them to smaller pieces we just didn't need so many of the same thing around the garden.
I got given the Pukekos as a leaving present when we moved from Auckland. I was telling the boys how I would like some garden ornaments (maybe a frog) to place round the succulent area and hubby remembered we had these. So he found them in the garage and I think they look great in their new home.
Really happy to have finally cleaned up an area that we see and pass every single day. Lets just hope the succulents are as happy in their new bed as they were in their pots.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Falling Into Place
Life is falling into place for me and it feels great.
After 6+ months of unemployment and the frustrations that come with that I really feel that everything is going where I want it to go.
I have a job, got offered it more or less on Christmas Eve. 3 days a week in a department at the hospital.
Then when we returned from a wonderful 3 weeks away at the beach (more to come on this later) there was a message from a company that I had an interview with 5 months ago!
Am I still interested in their position!?
I was shocked to say the least as they had never ever got back to me at all, nada, zero, silence!
So after meeting with them during the week and then having to meet with a manager at the hospital to renegotiate things, which was surprisingly simple and all just fell into place, I have reshuffled all my hours and have the ability to do both jobs, nicely and fitting into my life how I want it to fit.
So as of Monday I start my new life, my life that I want, doing what I want, when I want to do it and believe me......it feels great.
Now I just have to work out who is doing all the cooking and cleaning around here now that I am out of the house full time again!
After 6+ months of unemployment and the frustrations that come with that I really feel that everything is going where I want it to go.
I have a job, got offered it more or less on Christmas Eve. 3 days a week in a department at the hospital.
Then when we returned from a wonderful 3 weeks away at the beach (more to come on this later) there was a message from a company that I had an interview with 5 months ago!
Am I still interested in their position!?
I was shocked to say the least as they had never ever got back to me at all, nada, zero, silence!
So after meeting with them during the week and then having to meet with a manager at the hospital to renegotiate things, which was surprisingly simple and all just fell into place, I have reshuffled all my hours and have the ability to do both jobs, nicely and fitting into my life how I want it to fit.
So as of Monday I start my new life, my life that I want, doing what I want, when I want to do it and believe me......it feels great.
Now I just have to work out who is doing all the cooking and cleaning around here now that I am out of the house full time again!
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Life Goes On....
It sure does folks, life has just been racing by and I feel like I haven't been here for a while?
A quick check of the last post and it was over 10 days ago, so not really that bad at all.
So where have you been I can hear you all wondering?
Living life I will answer, but there are a few things I will share with you.
Study
As you are all aware I have been completing my Bachelors of Nursing over the last 2 years. Only had 4 papers to complete. Not too bad...1 paper every 6 months, which mainly consisted of 2 essays.
Well I can finally announce that paper #4 is complete.
Yep, 2nd essay got placed in the mail last night.
Done, finito, finished, end of story....I have done it and survived.
I just have to wait the next 3 weeks for the mark to be available and then it is official but I am quietly confident in myself, so I have no doubts that I have just achieved my Bachelors Degree!
Labour Weekend
New Zealand has just had Labour Weekend this past weekend. The weather was not the greatest nor was it the worst we have had. It didn't stop us as a family going to our caravan and having a great time.
The boys got to play with friends they have known for a while but were able to cement the relationships a little further. 1 of the nights they both got invited to sleepovers in some else's caravan so we even managed a night without them. Bonus!
We managed to get the plants cleared from behind the caravan with the help of my mum who came to spend a night with us, luckily we managed to get this achieved on the 1 sunny day we had, so we were very lucky. It looks great now, all we have to do is get some form of platform down to keep it level and it will be awesome in time for the Christmas break
School Holidays
The school holidays only finished the week before Labour Weekend, so I feel like we had only just got over having a lovely 2 weeks with the boys and then everything was due at this time. The holidays were fun and I had a lovely relaxed time with the boys. It was the best holidays I have had with them for a long time.
Work
Even though I have yet to secure a permanent job, I was lucky enough to gain 2 days work with my cousin at the office she works at. They are responsible for the regalia that is used in the graduation ceremony for the local University. So for 2 days I got to celebrate with all the graduates as they collected and returned their regalia for their ceremony. It was the most joyous happy work I have ever completed. Everyone was so proud of themselves and extremely happy it was over. We congratulated everyone when they collected their stuff and they were so full of smiles. It was a great 2 days, plus I got paid to be there, bonus!
I also managed to score a single day job as a patient actor for the nursing school. So I spent a day sat on a bed in a room whilst nursing students got to do a basic assessment on me. Nothing bad just the same thing every 30 minutes. It was interesting and hey it paid some more money so wasn't going to pass on the opportunity. They have even offered me a 2nd day next week which I have accepted.
On the permanent work front, there hasn't really been anything in the last few weeks.
However I did have a meet and greet, which I think turned into more of an interview yesterday at a private ear clinic just round the corner from me.
They were lovely and I feel I related with them amazingly and that I fitted really well. The director of the company was awesome and I feel we gelled really well. I happily joined in with the other staff over morning tea.
I definitely handed back my application form later that day and I know through the sneaky grapevine that they have sent reference checks out to my referees. So fingers crossed for this. I think it would be a great little place to work. Yes it is a small private place but it seems friendly and inviting and I think I will fit in just nicely there.
Hobbies
I have several hobbies...reading, sewing.
Although I have never let myself indulge too much whilst I have been growing the boys. Also as mentioned in a post a while ago I am terrible when I read as I get lost in what I am reading and everything else disappears out the window until the book is finished! Not that we are talking about wild classic novels here, oh no, we are talking Danielle Steel and other family romance novels, the really heavy girl stuff. If I find a series then I am typically screwed as if I find I am enjoying the first then I just have to have the rest of the series and I want to finish them all just as soon as I can!
Well with the study now complete and the boys also leaving me alone for more time nowadays then reading is suddenly taking over again. Roll on summer.
However I have found a new hobbie....one I knew I would eventually get into but to an extent I needed to let the times catch up with this hobbie...as I have finally taken up scrap booking, digital scrap booking too.
Man is it easy to loose yourself for hours doing layouts on the computer?
I will post about this more in a while as I have lots to say and as I am only using a trial edition of my scrap book programme I can't post layouts until the activation key comes through next week. Keep you posted on that one soon.
So there you have it. I have been a little absent but not quiet in any means.
A quick check of the last post and it was over 10 days ago, so not really that bad at all.
So where have you been I can hear you all wondering?
Living life I will answer, but there are a few things I will share with you.
Study
As you are all aware I have been completing my Bachelors of Nursing over the last 2 years. Only had 4 papers to complete. Not too bad...1 paper every 6 months, which mainly consisted of 2 essays.
Well I can finally announce that paper #4 is complete.
Yep, 2nd essay got placed in the mail last night.
Done, finito, finished, end of story....I have done it and survived.
I just have to wait the next 3 weeks for the mark to be available and then it is official but I am quietly confident in myself, so I have no doubts that I have just achieved my Bachelors Degree!
Labour Weekend
New Zealand has just had Labour Weekend this past weekend. The weather was not the greatest nor was it the worst we have had. It didn't stop us as a family going to our caravan and having a great time.
The boys got to play with friends they have known for a while but were able to cement the relationships a little further. 1 of the nights they both got invited to sleepovers in some else's caravan so we even managed a night without them. Bonus!
We managed to get the plants cleared from behind the caravan with the help of my mum who came to spend a night with us, luckily we managed to get this achieved on the 1 sunny day we had, so we were very lucky. It looks great now, all we have to do is get some form of platform down to keep it level and it will be awesome in time for the Christmas break
School Holidays
The school holidays only finished the week before Labour Weekend, so I feel like we had only just got over having a lovely 2 weeks with the boys and then everything was due at this time. The holidays were fun and I had a lovely relaxed time with the boys. It was the best holidays I have had with them for a long time.
 |
| Alex being as cheeky as always! |
Work
Even though I have yet to secure a permanent job, I was lucky enough to gain 2 days work with my cousin at the office she works at. They are responsible for the regalia that is used in the graduation ceremony for the local University. So for 2 days I got to celebrate with all the graduates as they collected and returned their regalia for their ceremony. It was the most joyous happy work I have ever completed. Everyone was so proud of themselves and extremely happy it was over. We congratulated everyone when they collected their stuff and they were so full of smiles. It was a great 2 days, plus I got paid to be there, bonus!
I also managed to score a single day job as a patient actor for the nursing school. So I spent a day sat on a bed in a room whilst nursing students got to do a basic assessment on me. Nothing bad just the same thing every 30 minutes. It was interesting and hey it paid some more money so wasn't going to pass on the opportunity. They have even offered me a 2nd day next week which I have accepted.
On the permanent work front, there hasn't really been anything in the last few weeks.
However I did have a meet and greet, which I think turned into more of an interview yesterday at a private ear clinic just round the corner from me.
They were lovely and I feel I related with them amazingly and that I fitted really well. The director of the company was awesome and I feel we gelled really well. I happily joined in with the other staff over morning tea.
I definitely handed back my application form later that day and I know through the sneaky grapevine that they have sent reference checks out to my referees. So fingers crossed for this. I think it would be a great little place to work. Yes it is a small private place but it seems friendly and inviting and I think I will fit in just nicely there.
Hobbies
I have several hobbies...reading, sewing.
Although I have never let myself indulge too much whilst I have been growing the boys. Also as mentioned in a post a while ago I am terrible when I read as I get lost in what I am reading and everything else disappears out the window until the book is finished! Not that we are talking about wild classic novels here, oh no, we are talking Danielle Steel and other family romance novels, the really heavy girl stuff. If I find a series then I am typically screwed as if I find I am enjoying the first then I just have to have the rest of the series and I want to finish them all just as soon as I can!
Well with the study now complete and the boys also leaving me alone for more time nowadays then reading is suddenly taking over again. Roll on summer.
However I have found a new hobbie....one I knew I would eventually get into but to an extent I needed to let the times catch up with this hobbie...as I have finally taken up scrap booking, digital scrap booking too.
Man is it easy to loose yourself for hours doing layouts on the computer?
I will post about this more in a while as I have lots to say and as I am only using a trial edition of my scrap book programme I can't post layouts until the activation key comes through next week. Keep you posted on that one soon.
So there you have it. I have been a little absent but not quiet in any means.
Tuesday, September 04, 2012
My Day
Today is a special day to me, it is my day to reflect on being a parent.
It is my day to look back and remember that small moment of life before we had kids.
It is my day to sit back and think about what was a head, not that we could have changed any of it.
You see our oldest is 9 tomorrow and when he was born all those years ago, I had the pleasure, sort of, of being in labour at home by myself for the whole day.
You see it was that typical 1st baby lark of not really thinking I was in labour and generally ignoring it. It was only at about 4.30pm when I finally called the midwife that we got a small gist of the fact that this might be it and things may be moving.
Steve had gone to work in the normal fashion but I hadn't bothered to tell him about the braxton hicks I had had at 2am, or the next 1 I had at 9am, I mean gezz, I was 38 weeks gone, it was part and parcel of everyday to me.
But something made me start to write down the times when I realised I was having them every hour or 2, and when they went to every half and hour after that. Yet I still didn't call him and ask him to come home to me, I just knew he would be home at the normal time of 5.
Which he was by the way, although he did know the midwife had been to visit so he did come home knowing that things may be changing.
And changing they were....
Here we are now, 9 years later and I can still remember that Thursday in 2003 like it was yesterday. I can tell you things that were on the tv that evening whilst I danced around the living room.
I can remember eating a tuna fish sandwich for lunch.
I can remember that my dad called from overseas, but try as I might there was no way I was sitting down to take the call.
I remember Steve and the midwife suggesting I get some rest as we were probably in for a long night! But there was no way I was able to sit or even lie down, not my thing in labour, I stand.
I remember that in fact the weather was pretty much how it is today....sunny in parts with the odd shower and lots of strong wind, hashing everything around.
And now here we are, 9 years later, I am at home today on my own. The boys are at school till 3, Steve is at work till 5 and I am sure if I turn the tv on at 2pm I will probably come across Oprah (just like then) or something similar, but today I am not having tuna fish for lunch, although that does sounds really nice.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Sad Loss
Today I heard some news that hit my heart hard....
Sadly Neil Armstrong aged 82, (5th Aug 1930 - 25th Aug 2012) the first man onto the moon, had lost his fight against heart trouble. He had died following complications to heart surgery he had a few weeks ago.
I actually had grief for someone I don't know.
However in a small way I do know him. Or at least I know about him. I have taken an interest in him.
You see back in 1986 my parents moved to America and why to this day I will never understand, we ended up living in a small city in North West Ohio called Wapakoneta (pronounced Wapa kon eta) also known as Wapak.
It is a small city, pop of just over 9000, located on I75 at junction 111.
Its main claim to fame..........it is the birth place of Neil Armstrong. It is where he was born on 5th August 1930.
When we lived there in 1986, his parents were both still alive and they lived on the renamed street of Neil Armstrong Drive and they were lovely people, I know I met them.
Well more like I spent sometime with them holding a hosepipe over a ladder whilst people ran the marathon around the town that was part of the annual Race to The Moon.
We held a hosepipe up because the summers in Wapak are hot.
Just today I checked with the local paper and they were in the 90's (about 32c for all of us) so yes hot, but then in the winter they get cold cold and have snow, so from one extreme to another.
It is a small Indian city, where when we lived there I felt time had forgotten it.
Lima is the closest large place and was the place to go for civilisation!
Although you could survive very nicely without ever leaving Wapak.
Kids in typical fashion would complain about the size of Wapak and the lack of up to date activities however many seem to fall back there to live and raise their own families, so it can't be all that bad a place to be.
So to all my friends in Wapakoneta, Ohio, you are in my thoughts and prayers, as you go through this sad time.
And to everyone else, the next time you see the moon at night, look at it with love in your heart and show a smile or wink for Neil Armstrong, the man who made history but to this day felt he never did anything special apart from just doing his job.
God bless you Neil Armstrong, you will be sadly missed
Saturday, August 18, 2012
17
This past weekend I found some new blogs, this all came about because Rinda, who organised the scavenger hunt I am currently undertaking, did a catch up
This allowed us (all 70 of us) to link up with her and go and view what the others had been photographing for the hunt.
One blog I got to reading mentioned about being 17, at the time she was 17 but everyone else that linked up to the post were writing about when they were 17.
This got me thinking to when I was 17, to when I turned 17, which if I have to be honest is just coming up to 25 years ago! Yes I turned 17 in 1987.
When I turned 17 my parents were living in America in Ohio.
My brother was with them going to Junior High and I was in England at boarding school on my own.
I was just starting my last year of my O Levels, yes I was in the group of students who were the last to complete O Levels, everyone after us took GCSE’s.
I was loving life and having a lot of fun. I was loving school where I was taking my normal courses plus singing in the choir, playing the clarinet. I remember during this year going on choir trips to other schools to sing evensong.
I remember that when I flew back to school after Christmas I got stranded at Newark Airport about an hour before my flight was due to leave. It had started to snow and the flight from the day before had been cancelled. I was not a happy traveller when I managed to get in touch with my dad before my flight left.
The Easter after I turned 17 my parents were not sure if they were going to be in the US so I stayed in England for the holidays on my own and travelled around to stay with relatives and friends. I got to stay wherever I wanted, I planned my itinerary and had a wonderful time travelling between people and staying a few days.
When the school year finally ended my parents were still in America so I flew over there ready to go to High School. I got to go to Band Camp ready to start the new school year and had a great summer hanging out with friends I already knew in the small town we lived in.
Sadly I never made it to High School, immigration caught up with my dad and gave us 7 days to leave the country. It was a great 7 days too.
So there is a sneaky view of my life coming up to 25 years ago.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Sleep
This is one of those precious moments in this household.
I know as a mother I can not be expected to get sleep but I can at least try.
Unfortunately there are several factors which always seem to stand in my way of sleeping, or at least disturbing my sleep. These factors do not always happen all at once and it may be a few days in between them occurring, but these are the factors I have to deal with on a regular basis that prevent me from having a great nights sleep, and let me tell you I love sleeping.
Factor 1
The children, yes I know, before we start I am well aware that by having children then I gave up all right to having a good nights sleep from the moment that little line turned blue!
It was as if your body turned on itself and said “let’s really show her what she is in for!” and I have not had great sleep since!
The boys do not tend to wake in the night much anymore, however when they did it was always, why I don’t know, me that they wanted. Not daddy…it had to be mummy! 85% of the time it was me they came to, always!
Eventually it got to the point where 50% of the time they came to me, it was as if Ben had a shift in who he wanted and suddenly he started always going to Steve at night, but Alex still came to me. Now I had no problem with this apart from the fact that what Ben would want at night compared to Alex, well lets just say I still lost out. Ben would wake for waking's sake and would come and find Steve because he couldn’t sleep or because he was cold. Simple to deal with, let him crawl in next to you and all go back to sleep. Simple, good night all.
Alex on the other hand would come and find me, stand next to the bed naked and proclaim “mummy, I’ve wet my bed!” Tell me…how is that fair?
If it was a simple I am cold or can’t sleep, then he would climb in with me and proceed to take over the entire bed! Thus still no sleep for mummy.
Factor 2
The 4 legged animals in the house.
Yes the cats can rank as high as the children when it comes to my sleep. We have 2 cats, one is great at night the other needs to be shot!
1 seems to have learnt that if you curl up quietly and sleep all night then you get to stay in and keep warm, the other has not learnt this lesson and still insists on playing at 3am.
The playful one will happily sleep the evening away on our bed or even on our lap whilst we watch tv. She will snuggle with me when I go to bed and then Steve will throw her out when he goes to bed otherwise she jumps at the door all evening because she can see a light on inside and this has to = someone still being awake!
However on the odd occasion that he has felt sorry for the cat because it is so cold outside he has left her snuggled next to me.
Great until she starts playing at 3am and then guess what….she jumps all over me, disturbs me, bugs me, until there is nothing left to do but pick her up and chuck her outside.
She never goes near Steve at night, so all his good intentions go out the window as I am the one that has to deal with her in the middle of the night.
The amount of times I have cursed him in the middle of the night and again the next morning when I am so tired because of him leaving the cat in all night!
Factor 3
An odd one but the weather, guarantee that if it is raining outside then I will wake in the night and listen to it. If the wind gets up then I will wake to that too, it blows the curtain and thus I wake up and if there is a thunder storm well I may as well get up and do housework…I will be awake until such time as it finishes.
I never use to be this sensitive to noise but since having the children (their fault again) I am more of a light sleeper, as I am listening out for them a little more.
Factor 4
My husband!
Enough said really………. he snores, usually at 2.41am, yea funny how it is always at about the same time of night.
He grunts and groans to himself as well. And as for the restless legs he gets, sometimes the bed bounces around as his legs jump and then he gets restless and turns over every 10 mins.
Makes for such a fun sleep……for me!
I know as a mother I can not be expected to get sleep but I can at least try.
Unfortunately there are several factors which always seem to stand in my way of sleeping, or at least disturbing my sleep. These factors do not always happen all at once and it may be a few days in between them occurring, but these are the factors I have to deal with on a regular basis that prevent me from having a great nights sleep, and let me tell you I love sleeping.
Factor 1
The children, yes I know, before we start I am well aware that by having children then I gave up all right to having a good nights sleep from the moment that little line turned blue!
It was as if your body turned on itself and said “let’s really show her what she is in for!” and I have not had great sleep since!
The boys do not tend to wake in the night much anymore, however when they did it was always, why I don’t know, me that they wanted. Not daddy…it had to be mummy! 85% of the time it was me they came to, always!
Eventually it got to the point where 50% of the time they came to me, it was as if Ben had a shift in who he wanted and suddenly he started always going to Steve at night, but Alex still came to me. Now I had no problem with this apart from the fact that what Ben would want at night compared to Alex, well lets just say I still lost out. Ben would wake for waking's sake and would come and find Steve because he couldn’t sleep or because he was cold. Simple to deal with, let him crawl in next to you and all go back to sleep. Simple, good night all.
Alex on the other hand would come and find me, stand next to the bed naked and proclaim “mummy, I’ve wet my bed!” Tell me…how is that fair?
If it was a simple I am cold or can’t sleep, then he would climb in with me and proceed to take over the entire bed! Thus still no sleep for mummy.
Factor 2
The 4 legged animals in the house.
Yes the cats can rank as high as the children when it comes to my sleep. We have 2 cats, one is great at night the other needs to be shot!
1 seems to have learnt that if you curl up quietly and sleep all night then you get to stay in and keep warm, the other has not learnt this lesson and still insists on playing at 3am.
The playful one will happily sleep the evening away on our bed or even on our lap whilst we watch tv. She will snuggle with me when I go to bed and then Steve will throw her out when he goes to bed otherwise she jumps at the door all evening because she can see a light on inside and this has to = someone still being awake!
However on the odd occasion that he has felt sorry for the cat because it is so cold outside he has left her snuggled next to me.
Great until she starts playing at 3am and then guess what….she jumps all over me, disturbs me, bugs me, until there is nothing left to do but pick her up and chuck her outside.
She never goes near Steve at night, so all his good intentions go out the window as I am the one that has to deal with her in the middle of the night.
The amount of times I have cursed him in the middle of the night and again the next morning when I am so tired because of him leaving the cat in all night!
Factor 3
An odd one but the weather, guarantee that if it is raining outside then I will wake in the night and listen to it. If the wind gets up then I will wake to that too, it blows the curtain and thus I wake up and if there is a thunder storm well I may as well get up and do housework…I will be awake until such time as it finishes.
I never use to be this sensitive to noise but since having the children (their fault again) I am more of a light sleeper, as I am listening out for them a little more.
Factor 4
My husband!
Enough said really………. he snores, usually at 2.41am, yea funny how it is always at about the same time of night.
He grunts and groans to himself as well. And as for the restless legs he gets, sometimes the bed bounces around as his legs jump and then he gets restless and turns over every 10 mins.
Makes for such a fun sleep……for me!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Confidence
I have confidence in sunshine
I have confidence in rain
I have confidence that spring will come again
Besides which you see I have confidence in me
I have confidence in confidence alone
Besides which you see I have confidence in me!
Just as Maria sang in the Sound of Music, confidence gets you everywhere.
I have confidence, I know I do as I am a strong, stubborn independent woman.
However over the last few weeks my confidence has been shot to pieces and I have managed to question my ability to do my work!
I have resigned from the current position I am working in. I am being brave and do not have a position to go to. Not for lack of trying either.
I am currently, till Friday anyway, working at a desk job looking at the business side of the hospital. It has been interesting, I have learnt some stuff but it is not me.
I do not have the business knowledge to do the job and that has become apparent.
It was a little kick in the head to have them acknowledge this as well and they have been very nice in letting me take time to find another position before kicking me out on the street.
However it is very obvious that they don't have much confidence in me and I am therefore loosing confidence in myself. I know I don't know how to format a document in the way they require. I know I don't know how to word certain things how they would like it to be worded so it sounds and looks great. I don't have that business knowledge.
I am grateful for the time they have given me to secure another position but I can't keep sitting in an office where they seem perfectly happy for me to sit doing just about nothing, everyday.
It is knocking my confidence. It is knocking my confidence in my ability to achieve anything, to obtain anything to even have the ability to do my old job.
So I am out of there. I have walked. I have given them the paper required and taken my leave.
I currently have 3 job applications that I am waiting to hear on. All 3 jobs have closed and I am waiting to hear if I will be interviewed.
The waiting game is sometimes the hardest part.
So life is a little slow at present. My enthusiasms is a little low. Doesn't help that it is currently winter here and that can make you feel low and lifeless anyway. At the end of the day snuggling in bed and reading a book is great fun, but I can't keep doing that, there is more to achieve.
I am still here, I am still reading blogs and commenting, I just don't have anything to write about at present, although I do, I have an award to write about that I received. I have a post about the Fieldays that we attended last week. I have a swap that I took part in that I wanted to write up and several other things. But I just don't seem to want to at present!
Is that bad?
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