Decisions, decisions

A little while ago I was navel gazing, trying to decide what I wanted to be when if I grew up. Remember this post?

Since then I have done some more navel gazing and been playing around with some of those online career / aptitude tests. And apart from the test that thought I should be an art or music therapist (I do not have an artistic or musical bone in my body!) there were a number of career choices that I have either done or thought about doing. Public sector work? Check. Finance? Check. Office Manager? Check. Now for the things I haven't done but have wanted to: writer, editor, journalist (not so much anymore) and teacher's / educational aide.

That last one is something I have thought about a lot. I enjoy helping in class but more than that I enjoy helping children one on one with reading. I am currently reading with 2 children and helping out in Girl Childs class most morning's.

So I did some more surfing the interwebs and discovered a few places where you can get a Certificate III or IV in Educational Support. Some on line and some with contact hours. Unfortunately, the local face to face course started last week. I decided to enquire anyway.

And if I can get myself to a class on Thursday I can start a week and bit late and if I study a full time load 3 days (5 hour days) a week then I can have a Certificate IV by Christmas.

Woah... I feel a little overwhelmed here. I need to decide by Wednesday afternoon. I know full time hours but I'm not sure what the part time load will be. Mr E. is supportive and thinks I should enrol full time. But I have concerns.

I would have to stop helping at school 3 days a week. I know that Girl Child's teacher relies on the parent helpers and therefore my absence could disadvantage the class. I also will miss out on my readers who need all the practice they can get. One day is also when assemblies are held at Girl Childs school. So if she gets an award or is singing with the choir then I would miss those. Now I understand that parents who work full time miss out on assemblies and other things at school all the time. But I have chosen to work at home so that I can make these things for my children.

Also I will still have work to fit in around study as well. Now i need to make some deisions and quickly. When I was at uni they always said you need to study the same amount of time as you have in class. I'm not sure if that will be the case here. I also have worked out that I need about 10 hours sleep a night to function without my head being overly ouchy.

Mr E. may be starting a uni course next year and I'm not sure both of us studying at the same time would work for our family. Arghh.

Any fortune tellers out there? I need a glimpse in the future.

Grateful 28 July 2012

Hello. I'm running a little late with my grateful list but here it is.

One bunch of the flowers that Mr E. bought when we where away are still alive. While they don't look as happy as before they are still mostly going strong.

School went back! While these holidays went really well (I've told people that I wasn't tempted to eat chocolate or drink alcohol) I was still happy for school to start again. I love the children but I do enjoy having my own space.

I burnt dinner. Now that seems like a very odd grateful to have but it's because our new stove has been installed! We have been talking about replacing our old oven and cooktop for about 3 years and we have finally one it. Now all we need to get is a splash back and we'll have a more modern and properly working kitchen.

Very shiny.

I'm going to a Gala Dinner on Saturday and while I had a dress to wear, it was a summer one. So this week I have bought a shrug and some heels to wear. I'm grateful that I have had people to help me out, that my shopping excursions have been fruitful (and inexpensive) and that Mr E. doesn't hate everything I've bought.

The shrug

My new shoes

So that's it for me, tonight. Drop by to see what things others are grateful for, this week.

These School Holidays Part 2 – At home

So while we did some cool stuff when we were away, we were at home for the majority of the holidays. Here’s some of the other things we did.

We replaced the old dog beds, first by making a hessian cover and then with a ready made cover.

     

We discovered that the hessian stretches with two Labradors on it so it was back to the drawing board.  I found a ready made cover in almost the right size.  It looks so much better!

We did a 200 piece puzzle.

 

I needed photographic proof because I doubt Girl Child will want to do this particular puzzle again.  She was very frustrated.

We went to the Movies.  Boy Child went with friends and saw Spiderman.  Mr E, Girl Child and I saw Katy Perry.  Her costumes were amazing.

 

A movie staple for Girl Child and I.

Girl Child also made a Fairy House.  She found a website that had ideas for building fairy houses out of natural materials that you find around you. She is developing plans for Fairy schools, amusement parks etc.

 

Girl Child’s Fairy house.

We didn't do any cooking (quite surprising as it’s generally one of our holiday activities) but I found some new GF treats at the supermarket. They  come in Berry as well and both flavours are yummy.

There was also lots of guitar playing and drawing (Boy) and play dough creations and practicing balance and steering on a bike (Girl). They both even starting cleaning their rooms without being asked.  Very impressive.

I’m lucky and got to sleep in a fair bit.  That may have been why these holidays seemed nice.  I hope yours were too.

The July School Holidays - Away

This time around the school holidays have been lovely. We have done quite a few things at home and away. Given the photo intensive nature of these posts, I’ve broken them into parts. Here is a pictorial view of our holidays when we went to Sydney to stay with family.

We saw some of the 18th Biennale of Sydney at Cockatoo Island. For those of you who have no idea what the Biennale of Sydney is (I didn’t) here is the blurb:

Held every two years, the Biennale of Sydney is Australia's largest contemporary visual arts event, showcasing bold and innovative contemporary art from around the world.

In order to get to Cockatoo Island we went to Circular Quay and boarded the Ferry. The Biennale have free Ferries running to and from Cockatoo Island but if you can’t be bothered hanging around for the next free one you can pay and ride on the normal ferry services.

Watching Circular Quay as we pulled away

Sydney Opera House – taken by Girl Child on my phone

Installation by Jon Pylypchuk in the Dog Leg tunnel. Image found: here

We also really liked the other installation in the Dog Leg tunnel by Daan Roosegaarde. 

The Sydney Harbour Bridge from the top of Cockatoo Island

Accommodation on Cockatoo Island – campsites (with the tents already set up) also available

Luna Park on the way back to Circular Quay (Girl Child’s photo)

We went to the beach but didn't swim, much to the kids disgust.

We did the usual things we do when we go to Sydney, hang out with family, eat at Boy Child’s favourite restaurant (it’s in Coogee).  This visit, the Biennale at Cockatoo Island was almost the icing on the cake. For me though Mr E. had two bunches of flowers and dinner waiting when we got home.

The 18th Biennale of Sydney is open from 27 June to 16 September 2012 and is held in various locations around Sydney.  Check it out!

Memories

Mr E. wants to reorganise the house. A huge part of this will be dealing with toys. Neither child will willing give up any toys that they have outgrown, no matter that they never play with them. I'll have to do it when they aren't in the house. Unfortunately, I'm struggling with memories. When I look at some of the things, I remember that my Mum gave them this or that. I struggle with packing those up and end up wallowing on memories - good, bad and ugly.

I wonder if I take those things away from the children, will they forget about her? She was a good Grandmother and I want them to remember that. Girl Child barely remembers her at all as it is. She was three and a half when Mum died.

I wonder if this is something that other people think about? Or is it just because we never got a chance to choose things of hers for the children? Or me for that matter either.

We have recently been to visit my extended family as we do most school holidays. Every time we leave my grandmothers house she gives (or tries to give) us something. She is attempting to give stuff away because she feels it will be easier on everyone after she is dead. I'm sure it makes it make her feel better but to me, its kind of being slapped in the face by her mortality. This time around, I was given a blanket that my mother crocheted before I was born. It's nice, bright and I am glad I have it.

In our case, we never had to clean out a house. In some ways I'm grateful but the things that we got from her house were the things she wanted us to get (and in a very short space of time) rather than being able to consider which things that had meaning for us.

So, how do I keep the memory of their grandmother alive without getting sentimental over every little thing? If your grandparents died when you were young, do you have any items of these that are precious to you?

Grateful 7 July 2012

After joining back in with Maxabella and the Grateful Gang last weekend I found that it wasn't as scary over there as I thought. So I'm playing again.

I'm grateful it that a friends long awaited edition to their family was born this week. The baby was early and is in NICU but as they have waited a long time they are very grateful.

We will be getting a minor kitchen renovation soon. Our oven has been dying for quite a while and the cooktop is dodgy. Recently we bought a dual fuel unit which is going to arrive on Monday and then we can get it installed. Very grateful that we had the money available to buy something we have been talking about for a long time. Is it sad that I'm excited about having a griller again? Our stove / oven will look something like this:

Image from www.smeg. com.au

While I've managed to get the cold that is going around, it hasn't completely knocked me around. I'm grateful that one day after I dropped Girl Child at school I had the opportunity to go back to bed and I slept until 130 pm.

School is on holidays so that means we got school reports. I'm grateful that we got no surprises (although we were pleasantly suprised by the postive nature of some comments) and that academically both kids are where they should be or better.

That's it for now.