Doing a load of washing and having all of the socks come out in pairs
Having a long enough extension lead to vacuum the whole house without having to change powerpoints
Chanbe going down for a sleep without a fight
A nice sunny day where Chanbe and I can spend lots of time outside
My favourite bread on special at the supermarket
Hubs taking Chanbe to the park so I can have a sleep
All of these things have happened in the last week and have made my crazy stressful life just a little bit easier.
Because I’m currently up to my eyeballs in life, and getting closer and closer to my “limit”, I’ve decided on a few things that I have to let go of, to keep a hold of my sanity. And number one on my list is nappies. No, I’m not going to stop using nappies all together (though, Hubs did want us to try it…) I’m just not going to use our lovely cloth nappies. Actually, Chanbe hasn’t really been in cloth nappies regularly since a month after I broke my foot, with all the packing and moving and broken foot and all. But I started using them again last week and it’s already stressing me out trying to wash them every second day and get them dry and put them together again.
So what I’m actually going to do is go back to just disposables, but not feel guilty about doing that. I can’t do everything and I have to stop putting so much pressure on myself to do it all. I know that we will go back to the cloth nappies eventually, but for the time being, it’s disposables all the way.
I don’t think Chanbe is fussed either way… (even though he has pooh on his jacket in this photo… ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! That one was for YOU Hubs 🙂 )
Hubs and I are sitting at the dining room table, sipping herbal tea (yes, we’re old) and pressing refresh on the computer. Intern applications are due tomorrow, and Queensland Health have a page displaying all the intern positions available at each hospital, and the number of applications that have been submitted. Our first preference of Cairns isn’t looking good. It seems everyone has suddenly realised how awesome it would be to live in a tropical climate. Especially those of us who are about to endure sub-zero minimums for the next 5 days. Yeuch.
Everything has been a bit ho-hum around here lately. We spent a few days back in Mount Beauty this week which was very up and down for me. We arrived on Sunday for church and ended up having lunch with the minister and his wife – they are 2 of our most favourite people we have met in recent times. Even though there are close to 3 decades in age difference, we are very close to them and have a lot in common. We then headed to the student accommodation to unpack and settle in for the few days to come. Hubs took Chanbe to the park for a bit of a play, and since he hadn’t had his day sleep, the little guy had a pretty early night which left Hubs and I to an evening of stew and Tin Tin. The food was better than the movie 🙂
The next few days were a blur of wind, rain, horrible weather in general, sore throat, coughing crying non-sleeping toddler, farewell dinner for the boys put on by the medical centre (a great night out) and not much sleep. We ended the trip on a high though, with beautiful weather and my second favourite breakfast in the world (second to the breakfasts that Hubs makes for me) of eggs benedict with fresh ham and locally-made corn bread. The drive how was nice, and apart from having to unpack and all that comes with it, it’s good to be home.
It’s hard to be in this headspace at the moment. Hubs is in stressy study mode; I’m floating about trying to keep my head above water; and Chanbe is (hopefully) oblivious to it all. I know I’ve been writing a few of these posts lately, but that’s just how life is at the moment. It’s kind of hard and kind of sucky, but we’re getting there.
Now I think I might splash out and have a hot chocolate, right after I press the refresh button…
So you know how I broke my foot a few months ago? And how I was still recovering from gastro last week? Well, as they say, bad things come in threes, so I needed the trifecta.
Enter the V-Slicer for onions. Exit a chunk of my fingertip.
Oh Yeeeeeaaaaahhhhh. I did it while we were preparing for Dad’s retirement party last Saturday. Actually, I did it after it had started, so my dear mother in law swept me away to the chemist to get some goodies to wrap it up with. (Thanks Ma!) It’s still sore when I bang it on things (often) but I believe it is healing well.
So that’s it for me as far an injuries/illnesses go for a while, okay???
I often find myself in a bit of a tizz. I feel overwhelmed by my tasks and can’t get my head around what to prioritise. When this happens, I end up doing one, or all of the following:
– I sit around watching Chanbe play (which is a lovely way to pass the time)
– I flit about from room to room, and look at what has to be done but not actually do anything
– I eat chocolate or chocolate-related goodies
– I pick a fight with Hubs about how I do everything around the house, even though it isn’t true, but you know, whatever
– I blog
– I play words with friends
– I watch the minutes pass by and get annoyed that I’m not one of those people who can just get in and get stuff done without complaining/procrastinating
And I know what needs to be done. I know what needs to change. We need a routine. We need structure. We need to do regular things on regular days at regular times so I can feel balanced and, for want of a (much) better phrase, “in control”.
So what does a routine and structure look like for us? At the moment, Hubs doesn’t really have regular hours and days that he is at the hospital, as he is in study time; Chanbe and I have mothers group (yes we still meet every week!) on a Thursday afternoon; I have decided on Tuesday and Friday mornings for Chanbe to be in care so I can go to the gym and do things around the house; I want to do some regular sewing and crafting; I want to take Chance for a walk and play in the park most afternoons (weather permitting) to get us both out of the house and to get my foot moving again; I want to go to our fruit and veg lady each Friday; I want us to go to Church each Sunday morning; I want regular “alone time” with Hubs.
That’s not too much to ask, is it? The problem (read: my excuse) is that we have so many interruptions in the next 3 months that I don’t see the point in initiating such a routine. But I know it will benefit us if I do. So, starting Wedneday week (we are away next week and the following weekend, back that Tuesday), I will try and get some sort of structure to our week happening. I may even make up a chart. Oooooh I do love a good chart!
Wish me luck!
Here are a couple of videos to give you a giggle on your Friday afternoon.
First of all, introducing the one. The only. Chandini!
And next we have Chanbe telling us about all the animal noises he has been learning lately.
Have a great weekend, and if you’re in the Brisvegas region next week, I might see you round.
Today is Mothers Day (in Australia), and what a day it has been so far. Last year, I got very spoilt with a beautiful Kenwood mixer, and since that was my first mothers day, I figured things would be a bit more low-key this year. But then, I remembered who I’m married to…
I woke up to the sounds of our little man, who is the reason we celebrate mothers day in our house, and went in to bring him to our bed for some cuddles. He wasn’t in a particularly cuddly mood, so Hubs got up with him around 6:45am (neither of us are morning people) while I turned over and promptly went back to sleep. At 9am I awoke to the smells of another delicious breakfast being cooked for me (Hubs actually cooks me breakfast at least once a week anyway!) and a hot cup of tea sitting on my bedside table.
I came out to the living area and was greeted with cuddles and presents!! What better way to start the day?!
Even though we are on a pretty tight budget at the moment, Hubs kind of ignored that for the greater good (my extreme excitement and happiness!) and surprised me with:
I’m so so so tired. But so very happy. We are still unpacking our new house but we have made a real dent and I really think we’ll be done by the end of the weekend. And then we can just relax and really enjoy our time here. It has been pretty amazing having Mum and Dad around to help, especially since I’m still hobbling on my foot, and thankfully Hubs has been around a lot to help with the unpacking and setting up. We still have a few pieces of furniture to buy, but things are going well.
I went to mothers group today which was so great, and have volunteered to host next week at our place. Exciting!
We’ll hopefully get back on line next week (I’m currently using Mum’s “dongle”) and hope to be back to regular blogging, with photos, very soon.
I finished reading Vivian Cash’s autobiography last week, and have just been pondering over it. There have been a few books that have really impacted on my life, like April Fools Day, The Mayne Inheritance, Mao’s Last Dancer, and now, I Walked the Line. These books have changed the way I view things, and not just in a fleeting way. There have been permanent changes, and there are so many things about this book that have really haunted me. Johnny and Vivian met just 3 weeks before Johnny was to go to Germany for 3 years as an airforce officer in World War II, and two-thirds of the book are the letters that Vivian received from Johnny over those 3 years. They were so devoted to one another that they waited that long to be together. They just knew they were meant to be. For the last year he was away, they wrote to each other every day. EVERY DAY!!!??? The letters are just so full of love and adoration, you can’t help but wonder how everything fell apart.
We spent a very relaxing few days with our rellies in Sale (actually, it’s Stratford, but most people have never heard of Stratford), enjoying the unpredictable weather. We spent Friday fighting the heat (30 degrees!), cleaning out the car and giving Chanbe lots of rides on his new trike:
It was seriously SO hot that day. The wind was gusty and we had the air conditioner on inside. Chanbe was getting a little too cocky on the 3 steps down from the deck to the gravel, and took a bit of a spill 🙁 It actually looked a bit worse than it was. After the initial shock and tears, he was unfazed. My little bruiser.
On Saturday, my great uncle had to take my great aunt (they’re great in more ways than one!) to the airport in Melbourne as she was flying over to England for her mother’s funeral. Her mother was 97! So it will be a great celebration of a wonderful long life. So we went in to Sale (much bigger than Stratford) to do a spot of shopping, along, it seems, with half of the town! It was crazy! We didn’t do too much else, other than make delicious lamb shanks for dinner (sorry Hubs 🙁 I’ll make you some next week).