Alive

With all the things that have been on,  and the assignments that I had left to complete, Sunday was it for me. I worked all night through to the morning.
I could have stopped, as there would have been time in class to complete it. However, adrenalin took over and I kept powering through and finished my assignment!

I am surprised that I held up pretty well through the day for my class, there were a few moments when the brain did not engage with the mouth, but all in all I got through the day.

The other thing was that I did not looked trashed at least no one mentioned it. Or is it because I already look like that from sleep deprivation in general? 

So last night I was tempted to skip Zumba again!
Thankfully or fortunately I didn't. I felt like I had to go, you see I usually drive a friend there, and I did feel bad that she'd miss out again for the second week in a row. So I dragged myself there. 

It was a good decision! An hour of moving my feet to the music, waving my hands in the air and jumping up and down was invigorating.
I was pumped and felt ALIVE ! Those endorphins really got me going, you know that moment when you feel so vibrant and full of life, that you can take on the World! 

Sometimes we do stuff we don't really feel like we want to do at the time because we say we're too tired or it's too hard, but it always yields far greater benefits than we can imagine. Last night was it! 

So today, I'm just going to do stuff I don't want to do and see what happens! 

Linking up for IBOT with Jess today!

PS - I ordered the wine!

Exhausted

Is it just me or are you feeling it too? 
It seems like the year is moving way to fast with just so many things to do and get to. Then throw in a child that wakes in the middle of the night. Makes for one exhausted mum!

Admittedly some late nights were self inflicted - like watching a chick flick was good for my sanity right?

Tonight I was suppose to head out for a zumba class, I chose to ditch it instead. I opted to have a nap. I know that going to the class would have been good, but the sleep was needed.

2 hours later, I am up and writing this. Am very thankful that it was Daddy's night to put Little Man to bed. Am feeling refreshed though 

There were other plans for the blog tonight, but truth be told, I ditched it too.

I've just looked at my diary and already feeling the weight of events scheduled in the next two weeks, alongside trying to get all my assignments done, and making sure our household continues to run. The to do list keeps growing, and it looks like I am just going to have to focus on the urgent things - and not the important just to keep my head afloat. 

Thankfully, there is light at the end of the tunnel, I just have to get through the next 2 weeks. I am just going to have to do one thing at a time, and hopefully everything else will fall into place. 

Just rewrote my todo list, am already feeling a bit less daunted by what I have to get completed. 

What tips do you have for an exhausted individual? Are you feeling exhausted too?


Linking up for IBOT with Jess today!

The present

When your head is stuck on decisions that really when one thinks about it, not really meaningful in life scheme of things, things that have been coined first world problems.

Life throws up a speed bump. It rattles your world and makes you stop. It causes you to pause and consider what is important in life.

I've had one of those weeks. 

In the wee hours of the night this past week, I am woken by M. Half asleep, all I recall of the event is ...in pain, going to the medical centre..."

Waking now! I reply "want me to drive you?"

"You can't, the boy"

"oh yes! ok." I roll back to sleep.

A little while later, I hear the keys in the front door.

Just as I slip back to sleep, I am rewoken by " going to the ER"

Now am really awake. I ask "what's wrong?"

"They don't know, they said to go the ER."

Realising there is nothing I can do, all I can say is "I love you! keep me posted"

The front door shuts. I lay semi conscious on the bed, in my helpless state all I can do is pray.

Fast forward 30 mins, my phone buzzes with an incoming text advising me of what is happening. I remain semi awake till daybreak.

The next 36 hours are a bit of a haze, as I reorganise diaries, sort out arrangements for the Little Man, and work out how to get the car which had been taken to the hospital.

Tests are completed and thankfully nothing is found. He is on the mend. 

I certainly got a wake up call from this experience. One that reminds me that sometimes I am so caught up in planning for the future that I forget to live in the present. Over the week, we have spent more time living, doing things in the present, having fun and enjoying the moment. At the same time  trying not to worry too much about the future.

 



What are you doing to live in the present?

Linking up for IBOT today!

Spring - cultivating relationships

Spring time is a  time for spring cleaning, a time to planting, and a time to cultivate.

Which has gotten me thinking about friendships.

As I reflect on the on new friendships I have made in the last few years - having a child has created opportunities to make new friends, starting TAFE has done this too. 

Of course this place called the web and blogging have added to it.

I feel the opportunities have been created, as I have made concerted effort to put myself out there and share who I am.

Before child, few new friendships were made. This was one place that lacked investment. Perhaps due to the issue of time and feeling like I had more than enough friends. But then I also see that little time was invested in cultivating the relationships that existed.

I read this article on Simple Mom yesterday on  and found it quite insightful.
How often we get caught up in making our lives look perfect, that we fail to take hold of the opportunity to build relationships. We're too proud to invite people into our lives because we are held back by the messy house or fear that people might not like us.

Me ?


With some hindsight, this Spring, I am making effort to cultivate relationships.
This past week, I have caught up with a good old friend, by old I mean of longstanding in years, someone I grew up with. Over a coffee and a brownie of course.

It was invigorating to catch up someone who knows me well. Am already planning to meet up again soon!

What about new friends?

On Thursday I am heading to the Gold Coast to Probloggers to learn, but just as important  to meet some bloggers I have been building relationships in the last year or so. I will of course be making effort to meet new friends too!
So please say hi if you see me!


Have you made any new friends lately? What have or will you be doing to cultivate and grow your relationships?

Blogging with Jess today, it's Tuesday!

Inspiration comes

I don't know why I am surprised, but it's already half way through the term,  I am still enjoying this new season of life as a student. 

Last week in class, we had a discussion on creativity, specifically what inspires us, being that the course is to make us into masters of digital.

For some in the class inspiration comes from travel and seeing other cultures; seeing exhibitions; spending time in nature; reading magazines. Someone said people watching gave them inspiration. Another skateboarding. Another doing random things.

Now the skateboarding answer really got me thinking - my classmate said that he loved doing it because it had unlimited potential. I get that. 

My answer was a little different to that, was surfing the net, I love finding something new, a new place to visit or  seeing a technique on photography  that people use and it spurs me on to give it a go. 

There are other things that inspire me too, like watching the sky turn from blue to pink to yellow just before the sun sets. 

The discussion then turned to how we as creative people foster creativity. 

One answer for sure was the need to just do!

And so a challenge was put out there that we should do something random this week. I chose to go somewhere i had never been before. More about that another time.

Of course being at TAFE has given me more cause to be creative, doing things I've not done before or at least for a long long time. 

Here's some of the work i did in class last week.

Where do you draw inspiration from? Have you done something creative lately? Go on you know you want to. x

Meet Herman

A few weeks ago, our church hosted an event featuring Kate Bracks - the MasterChef winner of 2011.

Aside from a cooking demonstration of a lovely 3 course meal, Kate also shared with us why she believes in God.  I was captivated by her, she has such an engaging manner and such a lovely lady. She had time for every person who wanted to have a natter. Do check out Kate's website.

As part of the goodie bag that we received with that evening, was a recipe card and an introduction to Herman - a sourdough starter.

I'd never met Herman till now, but in the last few weeks , Herman the German(as he is affectionately known) Friendship Cake has become a dear friend who's found a permanent spot in my kitchen. I've made the starter twice now.

So what is Herman the German Friendship cake. The whole premise around Herman is that you make his starter and  share it with others; or share the love as some would say. The others make it and share it with their friends and so on it continues to multiply.

What I love about this is that you make the starter and give it away. And to do that requires you to actually see a friend. It's so easy these days to text or instant message, we don't actually make the effort to see them. This gives us a reason to drop in, and cultivate our relationships in person. 

When did you last cultivate a friendship? I seldom do it, but when I do make the effort, organise a time to meet and actually execute, I find myself wishing that I had done it sooner. I say go share the love!

This is what Herman the German looked like when cooked. Word of warning though - Herman is deliciously moorish! 

Here's the recipe for Herman's starter, you can also find a pdf from the Herman website.

Starter

Day 1   Put me in a large mixing bowl and cover loosely with a tea towel.
Day 2   Stir well
Day 3   Stir well
Day 4   Herman is hungry. Add 1 cup each of plain flour, sugar and milk. Stir 
           well
Day 5   Stir well
Day 6   Stir well
Day 7   Stir well
Day 8   Stir well
Day 9   Add the same as Day 4 and stir well. Divide into 4 equal portions and 

           give away with a copy of the instructions. Keep one portion.

Day 10 Now you are ready to make the cake

To make the cake

1 cup sugar

1 cup of flour

1/2 tsp sals

2/3 cup cooking oil

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla essence

2 apples cut into chunks

1 cup raisins

2 heaped tsp cinnamon

2 heaped tsp baking powder

Topping

1⁄4 cup brown sugar

1⁄4 cup melted butter

Mix everything together and put into a large greased baking tin. 

Sprinkle with a quarter of a cup of brown sugar and a quarter of a cup of melted butter. 

Bake for 45 minutes at 170‐180C. 

Test the middle with a clean knife; you may need to cover in tin foil and bake for a further 20 minutes to make sure your Herman is cooked properly in the middle.

Linking up with Jess today on I blog on Tuesdays.

the mind wonders

A email arrived in the inbox from daycare - in the title read the word 'LICE'.

Straight away the mind wonders to the evening before,  Little Man was scratching his head a lot when we were reading before bed... It continues down this thought path finding more instances of head scratching. Panic begins to set in, and the following flows rampant through my mind - Maybe he has LICE! What to do??

An urgent call is made home - can you please watch and see if  scratching is occurring. Funnily enough just as the conversation is taking place, he is apparently scratching his head.

On my return home, I tell him that we are going to play hairdressers. I was to be the hairdresser, he the customer and proceeded to check for those nasty little things. He thought that was great for about a minute, and then 'mummy can i have the comb, i want to use the comb'. 

With great persuading, we manage to get through the process with a comb and conditioner. Thankfully nothing found, aside from a scab which he had been scratching...

Crisis averted for the moment! It's amazing how our minds play on our fears, and impact on reality, when really it's just not real.

Linking up with Jess today on I blog on Tuesdays.

First week of 'School'

I survived the  first week of 'school'. It was not as scary as I thought it might be. 

I confessed to the better half the night before classes started that I was not sure if i was going to stick at this.

He said - "finish what you start", apparently I am not good at this finishing thing.. So I now I am even more determined to stick it out. Nothing like trying to prove someone else wrong to get the fire in the belly going!

I had flashbacks of when I went to university over 20 years ago. Everyone trying to find their feet and navigating the intricacies of an institution, making friends or not.

Most of my classmates are Gen Y'ers and some are teenagers - which makes me significantly OLDER than than ALL of them. 

Not that age has anything to do with learning, but it does impact how and what we learn.

So with a week of classes down- I am not feeling too overwhelmed just yet. The teachers have been great so far - really engaging  and really excited about what they are teaching. For that I am excited! How much difference an enthusiastic teacher can make! 

Here's one of the tasks completed this week is this. It's been a while since i've picked up a drawing pencil, so it was good to know and remember past skills learnt. Quite satisfying I must say!

Ever have a teacher inspire you? Remember doing shading drawings at school?

Door Opened

The past few weeks i have been feeling a bit blah and just a bit run down! 

Then I got a email about a role that I had applied for and was advised that I wasn't successful.  I wasn't fully convinced that this was was the right role for me, but the rejection was still taken personally.

For the next few hours that day - I was in a daze, my self esteem somewhat injured, and I think for the first time really uncertain about what I was suppose to do and feeling useless.

But something else happened that very day, somehow I was able to pick myself up and dust myself off and charge boldly into the next chapter of my story. 
Perhaps the realisation that I am capable of something else and more, that it was time to move ahead and do something new. I spent that evening researching and looking at various options to re-skill myself in the digital arena. 

I had been speaking with a friend and they advised that I should just try and open all the doors and see what happens. Some will be slammed in my face, others will open with great possibility. It happened that day,  I had one door close on me that day, and another door opened.

A quote from Mark Twain also stuck with me this week.

“The secret to getting ahead is getting started.”
― Mark Twain

Yesterday I opened a door and got started. I enrolled myself in a TAFE course. It feels right and I am excited, yet am feeling somewhat daunted. Will I be any good at this? 

Remember what it was like to start school? I start school this week. 

Linking up with Jess today on IBOT.

The Nike tag line applies

It's been a while since i have created for me - what with moving house multiple times this year. Whilst it had been on my mind to actually to execute, it never happened. However in the last month, I had the urge and i took action. I actually created - making some cards, and actually gone on a photo shoot for myself. 

I felt a high after the photo shoot last friday, there was an excitement in creating that i had not experienced for a while and it was good.

It was good excitement! I loved it! 

I'm thinking that i should have more of these 'Just do it' events  in my life more often - scheduled in of course.

Sourced: from the internet

So anything that you have been just thinking about doing for awhile? Perhaps the nike tag line applies to you too - 'Just do it'.

Love to hear about your endeavours!

Linking up with Jess today on IBOT

Cyber smart?

How cyber smart are you? Last week i attended a social media session for parents run by Digital Smarts. It was good to learn about what is out there and what as parents we can do to try and protect our kids from the nasty side of it. 

When I was growing the internet was not apart of everyone's daily life(ok i am old), today it pervades all aspects of life. Access via mobile phones and wifi networks really changes the dynamics of how and when we interact. 

Whilst I like to think that i am pretty savvy with technology, I also learnt that there is a lot that I don't know. The technology continues to evolve at a rapid rate, today we can tweet and instant message.

A big portion of what was discussed was more relevant for parents with children in primary school and beyond, talking about the social networks that children are using. There were  points that were relevant for me as a parent of a toddler but also as someone who uses social media.

Key takeaways for me

• What is said/printed online stays online. 
• The common courtesies that we expect in face to face real interactions should also exist online.
• Technology is not bad - it's about how it is used. 
• We can take action to protect our children, we can control their use of technology and we can educate our children.

Little Man is only 3. And we do use the internet with him on the ipad. He loves watching clips on you tube, usually something transport related. however if he happens to accidentally hit featured or most viewed - I'm shocked to say that even I'd be scared.

I can only imagine what the world will be like when he's in his teens. In the meantime, I'm going to continue to try and be as educated about this cyber age that we live in. I expect it will be even more dynamic than the one that we know today.

For me it was time well spent understanding what I as a parent can do and decide what i should do.

Does your child use the internet or social media? How do you ensure that they are safe? 

Tea Anyone?

What do you get a group of women to do on a wet winters afternoon?
Have tea of course, a most civilised activity!

It was not without a purpose - a dear friend wanted to mark the occasion of a significant birthday, and so the plans were put into action to celebrate the event!

The said event was held at  Boronia Tea Room (formerly known as Boronia House) in Mosman.

An historic house now restored to it old glory and now serves high tea daily.
The glorious surrounds was a prefect spot for high tea.

So what was on the high tea menu? There were various options available including sparkling wine or champagne, all with T2 teas and delightful morsels both sweet and savoury served on 3 tier trays. They even have a little ladies tea menu - so cute!

 I have to say that my favourites which were sweet of course were the lemon meringue tarts, - the tangy lemon curd was delicious! It was closely followed by the lemonade scones!

We had a fabulous afternoon of food and conversation. What a great way to celebrate and hang out with friends!

Have you been out with friends recently? 
What's a must sweet or savoury on your 3 tiered plate?

Linking up with Jess on I blog on Tuesdays.

Steph x

Eating out with a 3 year old

For the last year or so with our active Little Man - dining out only occurs for a date night or at family friendly restaurants equipped with high chairs

As Little Man is now getting a little older and can sit still for a little longer , we  recently ventured out to have dinner at a local restaurant - a little Taiwanese restaurant near where we live.

Now as with most people with young kids - we generally have dinner quite early on weekends. We arrive at the restaurant shortly after it opens at 5pm and get our pick of tables at this very small restaurant.

For the first time ever, Little Man sits on a stool at the table. I had visions of my child running amok and creating chaos, disturbing other patrons in the restaurant. All my fears were unfounded, my boy was a perfect little angel and didn't try to escape from his seat at all!

He amused himself whilst we waited for the meal by playing with the  paper cover from the chopsticks. 

From the menu we tried out pork and chive dumplings, stir fried noodles, shallot pancakes and deep fried fish cakes.

Now, when we were in Taiwan - we had these amazing shallot pancakes, with flakey pasty and just delicious, the pancakes here were really good too, though very different to what we had expected. Perhaps they were great because they were deep fried. Whatever it was, Little Man had multiple portions of this dish.

As to the dumplings , DH proclaimed them to be some of the best he's ever had. And the Little Man - he liked them - ie he ate them.

There were no incidents whatsoever to account for, no displays of bad behaviour from Little Man, no tantrums which was kind of disappointing with my expectations. 

Little Man is growing up too quickly!  He's getting really good with using his own chopsticks(aka Thomas), and even knows where which fingers fit. I'm certain that he is going to perfect this chopstick holding skills unlike his mum!

I feel like we are at another milestone, where family activities can include meals at restaurants and not have to worry as much with Little Man behaving badly or making a mess.

3 things I learnt about eating out with a 3 year

• bring your child's own utensils - saves worrying if they have the right implement
• go somewhere that serves dinner quickly
• talk about the food that is being served - it's amazing how much they remember

We had such a great time out as a family and plan to do it again.

What was your first experience with your child eating out? Any tips for a newbie parent who brings child out for a meal? 

Linking up with Jess on I blog on Tuesdays.

Steph x

Networking

It's 3 months today since i left full time paid work, how quickly the time has flown. 

Over the past few weeks  - i have been catching up with old contacts - sorry i should say "networking".

Just in case you're not aware - networking is the latest buzzword for me, at least that is what my outplacement consultant has said it should be. "You're not just catching up for coffee -  you're networking."

So networking i have been doing - over coffees and lunches - connecting with people to see if they know of any opportunities that might be available. There is the added bonus of actually getting to hear about people's lives.

So have you been networking lately? Who with? Maybe you want to network with me? 

Linking up with Jess today on I blog on Tuesdays.