Digging It Out, Letting It Go....

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  I've been digging my way out of my little black hole for a few months now ( with varying degrees of success ) but, over the weekend i realised something: for the first time in a while i am excited. Maybe excited isnt quite the right word, but i find myself looking forward to things, excited at the prospect of what is hopefully to come.

  
  

  We are waiting very patiently for a pre-approval on a house loan ( my fingers are crossed for an answer this week! ) and we would then like to buy a house and land package; Tullys first birthday has been and gone but I am now hoping that my little man gets a spot in preschool, which would please him no end; we have a beach holiday coming up at Xmas and a sojourn to Sydney in January around my 30th birthday. There are, of course more day to day things on the horizon that i'm looking forward to, but i've found that rather than being anxious about these " big deals " i have, somehow, " let go " and I am now looking forward to the future rather than worrying and stressing about what is yet to come.

  
  

  Dont get me wrong - i mean, i'm still sweating on that answer from the bank, but i'm not fixated on it and having to control the urge to ring EVERYDAY to see if there is an answer. I'm daydreaming about that house but if we dont get the money we need and we cant build my world wont fall apart - yes i'll be disappointed but there are other options and we can get back to the homeownership dream later.

  
  

  It all seems so simple doesnt it : Just. Let. Go. But in the depths of that black hole, when that pin prick of light waaaaay up the top seems so bloody small, letting go is about the last thing you can handle doing. " Letting go " means acknowledging that so much is out of my hands and that no matter how much i stress and worry and ponder on it, it wont effect any potential outcome. I dont know how i did it this time around, but some part of me just voluntarily gave up that hold.

  
  

  And now i'm trying to make everyday a positive, to start the day out with the attitude that ' today WILL be a good day " and trying to overcome any obstacles that might get in the way. Some days i succeed in doing that, some days i dont. For the most part, the days are starting to be sunnier, even when i do have the odd cloudy patch....

Dear Tully, Aged 12 Months - Happy 1st Birthday!

To my little Muffin ( and Daddy's little Woo-Woo ),
Happy birthday my gorgeous girl! I'm a day late writing you this letter but with all the fun we were having playing yesterday it kind of skipped my mind. And we do have fun, because the past few months have seen you develop into a very cheeky, funny little lady with a BIG personality.

Having fun smashing a cake....like a pro!

You 'talk ' non-stop, jibber jabbering all day long to anyone who'll care to listen; you've learnt to play peekaboo and chasies and think pretending to go to sleep is the most hilarious thing ever. You take after your Mummy by using your eyebrows to full effect when you speak and you take after your Daddy by getting a bit grumpy when you're tired ( he he, sorry Daddy ). Your brothers influence is everywhere - you love playing with trucks and blocks, excitedly yell ' toot toot! ' when Thomas the Tank Engine is on and love to explore in the backyard - copious amounts of dirt and leaves being eaten, of course.

Since my last letter you have:

* expanded your vocabulary, at least two fold. I think your favourite word right now is Ma-Ma ( Grandma is very pleased that you love her so much ) though it was pretty funny when Flynn popped off and you looked at him and told him ' poo! '

* learnt to crawl. I wasn't so sure it was going to happen but you got there in the end, even if your style isn't exactly conventional.

* sleep went backwards for a while but you've come good and are back to just the one wake up a night. Mostly.

* taken your first steps. Numerous little steps in fact. Mummy has a feeling that walking isn't all that far off!

And that be it for now my love. From the tiny newborn you were a year ago you've grown into our precious little sweet pea, a beautiful little girl we would all be lost without. And Mummy loves you very, very, very much. To the moon and back even.

Love you Curly Fries!

Your Mummy

Over All? We Love Our Overalls!

So I completed one of the items on my ' looking forward to ' list. Oh yes, those right there are the overalls that I was looking forward to making for Tully. I had been gifted the fabric and had spent a bit of time Googling tutorials for girls overalls, and Pinning inspiration, so I took a leap, drafted a pattern from a pair of pants and a tank top that fit her, and that's what I came up with.

They aren't perfect - I've redrafted the pattern so that the pant legs come up higher over her waist, and the brace part is shaped differently ( and will be much neater inside! ) - but overall I think I did OK. For one thing they look cute, and furthermore they fit alright and Tully managed to crawl around all day in them without having them fall apart. I think I can call that a pass?

So that's one thing gone from the list - though I might replace it with ' looking forward to sewing some overalls from Tully - mach 2 ! '

On The Horizon - Things I'm Looking Forward To In The Next Month

• 1. Making Tully a pair of overalls - i was gifted some corduroy leftovers and rather than make a dress or a pinafore, i decided i'd like to try my hand at something a little trickier. I've surfed Pinterest, read some tutorials and i have drafted my own (basic) pattern. My fingers are crossed that i might get enough time this week while Flynn is at daycare to get creative.

  
  

  2. A date with my husband - there is no calendar date set for this one but sometime in the next month i'd like to go out for a nice Thai dinner with my husband, sans children. I even have a cute new skirt to wear, courtesy of Kirsty at Obsessive Creative Design, via the competition i won a month or two back over at Little Old Souls :)

  
  

  3. Tully's 1st birthday - i know, i know... you cant believe she's almost one! Neither can I, but the fact remains that our cheeky little baby-woman is turning one in Tminus 27 days. There will be no huge party, but there will definitely be birthday cake, which means i best get cracking and come up with something cute and memorable for her first special day.

  
  

  4. A bank holiday on August the 5th - which doubles as the 'picnic day ' for my company. And that, my friends, means a day off from work with kids still booked into daycare.... which means a whole day to myself. It may sound a little selfish but i'm very much looking forward to a whole day of reading, sewing, watching a movie, taking a nap, exactly when i want to and without interruption.

  
  

  5. A photo shoot for Tullys birthday - we're doing what is known as a 'cake smash ', which is going to be a) unbelievably cute and b) just a bit fun because the photographer is a good friend of mine. Plus, my baby girl is quite the piggy-guts so i'm sure she'll have no problem smashing the cake up for eating!

Missing - Again!

Damn you depression for stealing my motivation. Again. My blog mojo has gone missing and just all your fault. You,sir, suck hairy dogs proverbials. 

That is all.

No Flynn, Its Not Christmas

• Its that time of year again - toy sale time! I will freely admit that i love the annual toy sales from the big department stores : anything that saves me money on Christmas gifts, makes it easy for me to hide said gifts ( just leave them on layby until the day you want to wrap them! ) and, thus, makes Christmas that bit less stressful is a winner with me. I even enjoy browsing through the catalogues multiple times and picking out what gifts the children in my life might like. What i dont like is trying to get Flynn to understand that he isnt getting those gifts for a long while yet.

  
  

  

  
  

   All the parents out there will feel my pain - trying to explain to a very small person that yes, it IS a Christmas catalogue but NO it isnt Christmas is very, very frusturating. At 3.5 years old Flynn is old enough to want to trawl his way through the catalogues, marvelling at all the cool new toys, and very helpfully directing me to the pages which contain something he would like ( for the record.... that means EVERY PAGE ). However, he isnt quite old enough to wrap his head around the idea that things on sale so you can save money for a time of year that is still months away.  Everyday for a week i've been asked:

  " But Mum - is it going to be Christmas tomorrow ?"

  " No Flynn, Christmas is still a long time away "

  " But Mum, Aunty Pippy already bought me some toys. Do i get them tomorrow? "

  " No Flynn, those presents are for Christmas "

  " But Mum - is it going to be Christmas tomorrow ? "

  
  

  ....Cue eye roll and tearing out of hair. I have started explaining to him that there are 7 birthdays in our family before its Christmas time, so he'll just have to wait til all the birthdays are over and done with before he can even think about getting any gifts for himself. I plan on hitting up the Big W toy sale the day after it starts, so once my shopping and lay-bying has been done the already dog-earred Big W catalogue may have to go mysteriously missing...

  
  

  Are you a Toy Sale-r? Do you lay by or pay outright and then hide the gifts from little prying eyes? Has your husband also picked himself out a gift from the 'toy' catalogue, like an adult sized child?

All Wired Up!

• I'm just throwing this out there but has anyone seen the episode of " The Big Bang Theory " where Sheldon drinks heaps of coffee and ends up running around the apartment, high as a kite on the caffeine, thinking his Flash Gordon? Yes? Well my friends - that was me on the weekend, all hopped on caffeine so i could drive the return leg of a long roadtrip and stay awake at the wheel. I dont normally drink caffeine ( yes, you read that right, this here lady does NOT drink coffee ) so the mega can of Mother energy drink my husband bought me worked a treat!

  
  

  Long story short, we had to drive roughloy 4.5 hrs down to Wagga Wagga to pick up our new truck. Obviously, we travelled together on the way down, then Mick drove his truck home, leaving me to man the ship ( as it were ) in our car. Its not that i havent driven long trips before - i used to do it all the time in my early 20's, visiting friends who had left town - but since becoming all domesticated and having my husband do all the driving on roadtrips i've become accustomed to snoozing away in the passenger seat. That just wasnt an option this time, so a big can of caffeinated, guaran-ed energy drink and a refreshed IPod playlist and i was raring to go.

  
  

  So raring to go in fact that my husband wondered what was wrong with me. I think he may have been able to see me in his rear vision mirror, going full rock star kareoke style behind him in the car, all loopy on energy drink and pretending to be auditioning for The Voice. Which, mind you, i would totally have made it on because i am an awesome roadtrip kareoke singer.

  
  

  And, for the record, i would definately be Team Ricky ( swoon ).

  
  

  Tell me i'm not the only one - roadtripping solo is the BEST place for your best rockstar impression.... right?
  
  IBOT time again over at EssentiallyJess .... Come join us!

  
  

  
  

What A Week!

Don't you just love when things ( finally ) come together? In the space of a week we have a) sold the large truck we have been using in our courier business for the past 18 months; b) bought a smaller truck ( we'll be travelling 4.5hrs to take delivery of it tomorrow ) that will be more suitable for us and save money in the process and c) accepted an offer on our duplex. Though I'm trying not to get too excited until the contracts are signed and there is money in my bank account....can I just say STRESSES BE GONE!

The only down side is that Miss Tully has picked up a little cold, is all snuffly and snotty and not quite herself. Though, even with that, I have been privy to some wonderful ' I'm sick and I just want my mummy ' snuggles and I have to confess I've loved it. Ooh, ooh....and Tully is finally crawling, though not in the traditional sense. She moves her hands in the 'proper' manner but she gets up on one knee and just drags the other. Even so, after only about 10 days of confidently moving about, she's starting to get quick! No more leaving things on the floor anymore because nothing is safe.... Which Flynn learned when Tully tore up 'his' very special Myers toy catalogue. Oh, the devastation....

And so tomorrow we road trip to Wagga to collect the new truck, and next week its all about waiting for contracts to be signed. Things are looking up people, things are finally looking up!

Two Peas

• Two peas in a pod - thats how most people described my children just after Tully was born. Despite Flynn being a boy and Tully a girl, they did look very much alike when she was a brand newbie, so 'two peas in a pod ' it was. However, now that she is almost ten months, its becoming apparent they are not as alike as some people first thought.

  
  

  For starters, Tully is growing into her own face - she looks much less like Flynn than she did when she was first born ( and, in fact, is starting to look very similar to myself at the same age ). They've also hit - or not hit - milestones differently. Flynn crawled at 9 months; Tully is 10 months this week and has developed a hybrid crawl/bum shuffle type thing, but can pull herself up and cruise along the furniture like a pro ( which Flynn couldnt do til just before he turned one ). Flynn got his firs tooth at 6 months old and had 8 by the time he turned one; Tully got her first teeth at 7 and a half months ( the bttom two popped up within a week of each other ) but has had nothing since.Tully hit the first words milestone before Flynn did ( though both are proving to be very vocal regardless of vocabulary! ).

  
  

  But the one difference that has hit me most this week is a difference in personality - Flynn, at 10 months old, was a very affectionate baby. He was always up for a cuddle, gave the biggest, sloppiest kisses and if he was even remotely tired he would burrow his head into my shoulder, stroke my hair and fall asleep. Tully? Well, she seems to be more of the Miss Independent type. She does give cuddles sporadically but her version of cuddling is to nuzzle her head into your neck - no arms involved - and her kisses, though as equally as sloppy as Flynns, are very few and far between. Dont get me wrong - Tully does show affection, by reaching out to be picked up, or cruising along the furniture till she's tapping happily on your legs, or by calling out and waving. Its just that, after having a super affectionate child like Flynn ( who, at 3 and a half, still randomly kisses me during the day or asks for a hug ' just because ' ), Tully seems obviously less so.

  
  

  Sometimes i do wish she'd just curl up on my lap and snuggle, or that she'd give me a big, drooly smooch hello when i pick her up from daycare, and i'm hoping she may grow into that behaviour a little more as she gets older.... but i may also have to acknowledge that the Miss Independent thing is just her way. In the meantime i'm going to relish the chance to rub my cheek on her fluffy head while she has her bottle, to give her cheeks a few tickly kisses everytime i pick her up, and to lie my head on her tummy after a nappy change and let her play with my hair, while i still can. Goodness knows time flies that quickly i dont know how much time i have left before either of my kids are too big for that sort of thing....

  
  

  Are your kids affectionate, or quietly standoff-ish? Do you have 'peas in a pod ' or very different little people? Do you sometimes wish they were different either way or lovingly accept them as they are?
  
  
  Linking up with IBOT over at Essentially Jess!

  
  

A Heavy Glass

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  I read something yesterday that really struck a cord with me - that our problems are like a glass of water. That is, a single glass of water may not weigh all that much, but the longer we hold onto it the heavier it will appear to become. If we only hold it for a minute, it wont trouble us much. Hold onto it for an hour, our wrists may start to ache a little. Hold that glass of water up for a whole day and our whole arm will begin to fatigue. So it is with our problems - if we think on them only for a minute and then let them go, they dont trouble us too badly.... but spend the entire day holding onto them, pondering and wondering and fussing over them, and they will begin to seem very heavy indeed.

  
  

  I HAVE to learn to let things ago. I've always been one to think too long on things, to twist them and turn them, exploring every possible avenue and outcome, until they start to weigh too heavily on me. Thats whats been happening the last fortnight or so - i've taken an idea and run with it, and the more i mull it over, the more scenarios seem to occur to me. Like everything, it has its potential positive and negative outcomes, but of course i can only seem to focus on the worst. Its giving me headaches, heart pains and many nights of fitful sleep. ( Nevermind that Tully is teething and i havent been getting much sleep anyway ).

  
  

  So .... i have to learn to let things go. To pay them some attention, just for a minute, and then move on until they actually NEED the attention again. If i cant learn to control my over-active mind, my physical health will suffer. I know that sounds dramatic, but its the truth.

  
  

  Who knew that wanting the best for your family, and wanting it so badly, could be so bad for you?

  
  

What Do They Say About Change?

* Please note that this post contains products that I was gifted. Opinions are, of course, all my own.

Oh yes.... They say change is as good as a holiday. And, after the past two weeks I've had I could use either one, or the other, or possibly even both. Seeing as a proper holiday is not due to happen until Christmas, it was a pleasant surprise to find an email waiting for me from the good people at OO.com.au, offering me my choice of a complimentary home wares product.

Home wares, without my own house to put it in? At first, I thought it was the Universes idea of a cruel joke but then it dawned on me - the one space Mick and I do have to ourselves at the moment is our bedroom. And the best way to change up a small bedroom in a house that isn't yours? A brand spanking new quilt cover!

 I had a look through the OO website ( which, for those not in the know, is pretty much a virtual department store. Its for everything! ) and settled on a pretty set in teal, green and white.

Luckily my husband isnt overly fussy - he's not one of these blokes who can't cope with ' girly ' prints - but even if he was? The quilt cover is reversible..... Winning!

So now, thanks to OO.com.au, i've discovered a great new place to shop online and I've had a little change to what is my only sanctuary at the moment.... Now - who wants to gift me a holiday?

And, because its Tuesday, you should join me over at EssentiallyJess for I Blog On Tuesdays!

Old Mc-Tully

Just a quick one for today because its waaaaay cute and I feel the need to for people to see it. I have already posted it to my personal Facebook page not if you didn't see it there here is a short video of Tully singing ' Old McDonald Had A Farm ' , ably accompanied by her Pop, as filmed by her aunt, and featuring a last minute cameo from Flynn towards the end. Turn your volume all the way up and enjoy!

And Then Life Got In The Way

Crazy, messy, stressful life. I haven't posted in a fortnight because all those daily happenings have felt somehow magnified into huge obstacles, big stresses that have been getting me down and keeping me busy.

When I have had a free minute I've been choosing ' Game of Thrones ' over the blog ( surely you can forgive me that ), or watching a little TV or torturing myself running hypothetical numbers through online calculators, and fretting over possibly having to live with my parents FOREVER.

In short..... I've been very much preoccupied. It won't happen again. Promise!

#MyThreeWords

Together You Rise

Stay strong, pull together, and help each other up. You're in our thoughts Oklahoma.

Dear Tully, Aged 9 Months

• Dear Miss Tully,

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  I know it is cliche but oh, how the time flies.... 9 months already! My memory isnt the best, but i'm sure the months never flew by so quickly when your brother was a baby. But here we are, and you're 9 months old, and getting cheekier and chubbier by the minute. Grandma says you are chubby the same way i was... that is, you are entirely squishable, with beautiful chubby baby rolls on your legs that are just begging to be tickled and squeezed. Plus you have that cute chubby baby bottom or, as Flynn likes to call it, ' squishy bum '. And dont you love to show it off - even though its coming into winter and is starting to get quite chilly, when it comes time to strip down for a bath you get a giggle on. You stand up on those chubby legs and shake your little booty, giggling and squealing until everyone in the room laughs right along with you. In fact, watching your baby version of 'rump shaking ' is one of my favourite parts of the day ( insert smiley face here ).

  
  

  Aside from loving your nudie/bath time, you get a real kick out of standing up. Someone helps you pull yourself up onto a peice of furniture and you stand there proudly, stomping your feet up and down, trying to decide whether you should take a few steps sideways or not. Despite that indecision, you have managed to cruise once or twice, and you have even taken one small step towards me without holding on to anything. However, even though soooo many people tell me you should be, you still dont crawl, though in the past week or so you have developed a funny little bum slide thing that helps you move around ( albeit quite slowly ). I'm not sure that you'll ever crawl - you never liked your tummy time, and though you'll lie down and play quietly for a few minutes at a time now, you still crack the poos and squeal eventually, the same way you did as a newborn.

  
  

  You're also a foodie in the making - you will pretty much try anything you are offered, and i couldnt name a food  that you have outrightly rejected. You have learned that when someone offers you something, you say ' ta' - and though i am proud of you using your manners, it is quite amusing watching you lean towards others peoples food, opening and closing your hand, demanding 'ta!ta!TA! '. The big grin, complete with two bottom teeth, that we get when we share our food with you makes the sharing well worth it though. Those two little teeth cut through somewhere around Easter but its only now that they've popped up high enough for us to see when you smile...and, i have to say, they've only made you exponentially cuter!

  
  

  I'm a little sorry to say that your near perfect sleeping has gone down hill a little, but i think we can blame moving house for that. However tired i may be sometimes, i'm trying to focus on all the awesome things your achieving - the standing, the bum sliding, the learning to clap and to wave bye-bye; your burgeoning vocabulary ( we have 'bub', 'mum', 'dad', 'pop', 'poo', 'go' and 'ta' down pat ); and the sweet little personality you're developing. Sure you scream like a pterodactyl when you feel people aren't paying you enough attention ( earning you the nickname " Tully-dactyl " ) but you are also quite free with your smiles, your snuggles and will happily burble at almost anybody. In short, Daddy, Flynn and I think you are just a little bit awesome-sauce.

  Now, lets just see if the next 3 months go as fast as the last 3 - and then we'll no doubt have a smiley, cheeky, chubby one year old on our hands!

  Love you Muffins,

  Your Mama Bear
  
  Tuesdays? Play along with IBOT at EssentiallyJess!

  
  

What Is Going On Here?!

You know what I heard today? A school crossing guard in Melbourne was banned from giving the kids he 'guards ' high fives. Too dangerous or some such crap. And last week Flynns daycare 'mum' told me they cant use toilet paper rolls for craft as its unhygienic, and egg cartons can't be used in case kids are allergic to eggs. ( Looks like Flynn will have to do the 'banned' crafts at home ). I mean.... What in the actual crap is this country coming to?

No high fives. Half the stuff we used to do craft with is banned. No blowing out candles on a birthday cake in case of germs. No cartwheels in the playground and no gumboots at playgroup in case the kids trip over. Trust me - my son is 3 years old - he does not need to be wearing gum boots to trip over!

I'm kind of worried what all these ridiculous rules are going to do to do not just to our children, but our society. When will all this government sanctioned ( or, at the very least, rules from a governing authoritarian body ) nonsense going to stop? They are taking all the fun out of....well...everything! At this point I think I may encourage my son to rebel against these so called 'rules' just so he gets the chance to live a little!

Is it just me? Are there ridiculously over-the-top rules and regulations that you just can't wrap your head around?

Playing along with EssentiallyJess for IBOT!

Mondays - Who Needs Them?

• Seriously - nobody actually likes Mondays do they? I've come to find that if i'm going to run across a crazy customer or patient, they come in on a Monday; that my colleagues and I do a lot more whinging on a Monday ( so much so i've taken to calling it Ranty Pants Monday ); and lets not forget the fact that Monday heralds the start of the working and school week. Boo! So did it really suprise me when Mick rang this morning to say he'd had a slight mishap with one of our work vehicles and smashed a window? No, not really - it is Monday after all!

  
  

  Ok, no - Mondays arent always that bad, but a smashed window your van isnt exactly the greatest way to start the week. Plus, it was raining, which is always a downer. But i wasnt going to let this particular Monday get one over on me. Oh no, not this little black duck! I turned this particular manic Monday on its head : seeing as my husband was no longer going to work ( after all, you cant be expected to drive a four hour round trip with a busted out window in the rain... ) i decided to invite him on a lunchdate. A CHILD-FREE lunchdate, which we very rarely get to have. And it was lovely - just a basic bistro meal and a stroll in the rain, just the two of us.

  

  That's my husband - he's a sexy bitch!

  
  

  
  

  So thankyou, Monday, May the 13th, for getting all your crappy Monday-ness out of the way early on and giving me the opportunity to make the most out of a bad situation !

  
  

  
  

18/52 - Show Time!

Tully - Raaaaah!

Flynn - piloting a 'bumper boat ' at the show

• This weekend we took the kids to the annual Dubbo Show, for a few rides, some extremely expensive hot chips and a bit of fun. Tully, of course, is not old enough yet to have any idea whats going on, but at 3 and half years old Flynn is old enough to be entranced by the lights, the sounds and the shouts of the carneys.

  
  

  He went on the dodgem cars with Daddy ( or, as Flynn calls them, the ' bumpy cars ' ), took three rides on the giant slide with me and rode the inflatable boats all by himself. He was very pleased with himself, steering around the little inflatable pond with one hand, smile a mile wide, as happy as a pig in mud. Of course, what made him even happier was being able to pick a show bag. Showbags seemed to have changed a bit since i was little ( all i can remember is really cheap toys and lollies that were almost guaranteed to rot your teeth ) but after a bit of discussion and a few changes of mind, Flynn settled on a Thomas the Tank Engine bag which came with a backpack, lunchbox and a rewards chart.

  
  

  Which, of course, is actually a score for me - relatively cheap new gear to take to daycare and a sticker chart that i didnt have to spend forever drawing up myself!

  
  

Yelling Never Helps

• I had the misfortune of receiving a phone call at work today, in regards to a complaint about service in the branch where i work. Not that i'm in charge of that type of thing, but when i delved a little deeper to figure out what this persons issue might be i discovered that said complainer had made a colleague of mine cry last week. Why? Because he yelled at her - he stood in the branch and ranted and raved at a junior employee who has no control over anything. A-hole. So, after passing his complaint on to management who actually CAN help him, and me relating stories of other crazy clients to my poor colleague, I have decided to post this very helpful little list. Please find following top 5 tips on how to make a complaint. Nicely. Without making anyone cry.

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  1. Yelling never helps - seriously, i dont know why people think yelling at customer service staff is going to solve anything. We aren't deaf, and a lot of the time you are yelling at someone who doesnt have the authority to do what you want them to do. Plus, yelling only pisses us off and makes us less inclined to go out of our way to help you. Even if you dont have much nice to say, keeping your voice at a normal speaking level is a much calmer way to go about things.

  
  

  2. Try and use people's proper names - or should i say, DON'T be condescending. For example, my name is Amy. Please do not repeatedly refer to me as 'love', 'sweetheart', or 'girlie'. I may be a mere woman, but i am not a doormat. If you makes you feel like a big man to yell ' Listen here girlie! ' in my face you sir are a chauvenistic pig!

  
  

  3. Make sure you actually have grounds for a complaint - that is, please dont come in going off your chops about something completely minor that is a common occurence and can be easily fixed, or something tha you perceive to be entirely unfair but really is completely within the realms of normal trade. By all means, ask the question if need be but do it nicely - coming in, pointing fingers and ranting and raving, only makes you look like a goose.

  
  

  4. Don't shoot the messenger - most people on the retail shop floor are just underlings. Very few of us actually have any say in whether you can have a refund, or an exchange of goods or a written letter of apology ( or whatever it is that you're after ). If you really must go off your rocker because you are that angry/annoyed/disgruntled, then please save any and all yelling for higher management, who are better equipped to deal with it, and have the authority to boot you off the property before you make someone cry.

  
  

  5. The customer is not always right - i'm sorry  but sometimes you just aren't. I dont know who first sprouted that line but it isnt an actual rule. There are actual rules ( the Department of Fair Trade can help you with those ) but just because you are the customer and you say something does not automatically make it right. If it turns out you are wrong, please just be gracious enough to accept that and move on. An apology to the junior colleague you made cry might be nice, but if you cant put your big kid underpants on and say sorry, then please just sulk out without any further fuss.

  
  

  P.S Consumers, and retail staff of the world - you're welcome!

  
  

ReCapturing That Natural High

• Last Tuesday night i took my first yoga class in almost 4 years. I havent been to one since i was pregnant with Flynn ( though i have been trying to practice at home, however sporadically that may be ) but before falling pregnant i considered myself a total yogi. ( Not quite the in the tradtional transcendental meditation/contortionist sense though ). I loved my twice weekly yoga classes - in fact, i loved them so much i had enquired into training as a yoga teacher. I had spoken to my instructor and had looked at various teacher training programs and was just in the process of saving some cash when i fell pregnant. Suffice to say, over the past 4 years i have really missed a regular practice, so when a friend of mine told me about a class she was interested in taking, i jumped at the chance to go along with her.

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  I'll admit to being a little nervous before the class started - would i still be as flexible as i used to be? Would i remember what the poses were called or would i have to follow along like a total newbie? Would my muscles remember the correct postures for each pose? I got to the venue a little early, rolled out my mat and gave myself some time to stretch before the class actually started. It turned out to only be a small class - just the teacher, myself and 6 others - and unbeknownst to me, it was a 'power ' yoga class. I balked a little on the inside... what had i got myself in for?

  
  

  I needn't have worried .... it was freaking fantastic! Yes, the whole 'power' aspect was new to me ( its more of a cardio based workout than traditional hatha or iyengar practice ) but i knew every pose as the teacher was doing them and was able to keep up to her pace without keeling over, dead and sweaty. Plus, i had a certain amount of 'muscle memory ' and was able to snap into relatively correct posture for each pose and had a much better degree of flexibility than i thought i would.

  
  

  So - go me! I'm so glad that i was able to find the cash to pay for the class ( which had stopped me from getting back into regular practice sooner ) and also that i was brave enough to throw myself back into it, especially in a class of people i wasnt familiar with. I cannot wait to finish at work today so that i can quickly grab the kids from daycare, dash home, change, wolf down a quick snack, and head off for another class!

  
  

  Is there an activity you would love to take up again? Maybe something you did previously, but various circumstances have held you back? Or something you'd love to start?
  
  Playing along again with IBOT over at EssentiallyJess  !

  
  

When In Doubt....

.... Post an E-Card!

Because seriously, I do like talking to you lot about me and mine, I'm just so tuckered out tonight that I don't really have anything to say. I've done a bazillion loads of washing today, and done last months invoices from start to finish ( print, sort, fold, stuff ) and cooked tea for 7. Right now, my brain is just not functioning well enough to write anything too in depth. So, when you're wanting to post to your blog but you doubt you can get out anything vaguely coherent.... Post an E-Card!

Its Just....A Little Crush

• ( Ok, so did i get that song stuck in anyone else's head ? )

  Do you remember your first celebrity crush? The one where you were ( most probably ) in primary school and you thought it was actually plausible that you would meet said hot celebrity and they would fall madly in love with you? Even though, in reality, you were probably at least a good decade younger than them? I do, and all those memories of the first sweet blush of celebrity-lovin' came rushing back to me this weekend after a conversation with our soon to be ex neighbours.
  

  

  
  

  Imagine, if you will, me chilling out the front with two pre-teen girls, one 9 years old and the other 11. The conversation may have involved the words 'cute' , ' totally hot ' and ' oh my god, i just love them all! '.... the them in question being One Direction. Apparently, when you are 9 years old, One Direction are just the bees knees and it is quite acceptable to write your name as Mrs A. Tomlinson/Styles/Malik all over your school books. ( Or not, because her mum told her off for it ). I had read all about the One Direction phemonenon in trashy mags and seen it on morning television, of course, it was just fun to see one of my little acquaintances so in love with the idea of ( unrequited ) love. I thought i was all cool and hip asking whether they had posters of Justin Beiber aswell, only to be informed that he's ugly. And a player. Way to show your age Amy....

  
  

  Which brings me back to my original question - do you remember your first celebrity crush? Because I remember mine.... at the tender age of 6 years old, i wrote my celebrity crush a fan letter. I dont remember exactly what i wrote but it probably went something along the lines of " You are so cute and i love you and i watch you on the television all the time and one day, when i grow up, i'm going to marry you! '. And, in all probability, i had to get my mum to help me write it because thats quite a lot to say when you're only 6 ( how. embarrassing. ). Its also quite young to have your tiny little heart broken when said celebrity crush does NOT write back with a proposal of marriage.
  

  

  
  

  So... Johnny Depp, if you're reading this, its not too late - I am off the market for marriage, but a declaration of your undying love, however late it may be, would go a long way to healing my broken 6 year old heart....
  
  And guess what? Its IBOT over at EssentiallyJess!
   

17/52 - Moving House

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  Tully - rocking the pixie ears

  
  

  Firstly, just to clarify, there is no photo of Flynn this week because he had his grumpy pants on and wouldnt sit still enough for a photo. In his words - " I dont be in photos Mummy! "

  Secondly - the move itself has gone relatively well. We still have a few small cleaning jobs to do, and the laundry needs painting, but that shouldnt take too long. We also still have some clothes in the cupboards that need moving to my mums house, though there isnt exactly much room left to stash anything else. Actually, thats been one of the trickiest parts.... trying to find room in my parents house for four peoples worth of stuff. The unpacking has been slow going, but i did have a few willing helpers for a while. Thats why Tully is wearing a hat thats too small for her now in the photo above - my neices thought the best place to put it would be straight on her head! I dont know about you, but i kind of think it gives her a cute, elvish quality....

  
  

Welcome ( Back ) To The Neighbourhood

• The time has come - the big move is tomorrow. And by big i mean " holy crap - i'm almost 30, married with two children, and i'm moving back in with my parents!! ". Yea, that big move. 95% of me is completely comfortable with it, and the other 5% is kind of worried about lack of personal space and how many other adults i have to share the bathroom with....

  
  

  I'm not kidding myself - it will be really noisy sometimes; undoubtedly there will be a time when someone sits in my spot on the lounge and I'll want to go all Sheldon Cooper on them; at some point i will huff and puff and run off crying to our room because i just CANNOT put up with my mum anymore. But those things will be small, and fleeting, in comparison to the reasons why we are making the big, backwards leap. I am keeping in the back of my mind that these several months sacrifice ( possibly up to a year ) mean we can save money for a better future for our children, and we'll be able to foster an unbelievable sense of family while we're at it.

  
  

  So, on the day that we celebrate the sacrifice others have made to defend the way of life we are so fortunate to have, Mick and I make a small sacrifice of our own, and know that in the scheme of our (hopefully) very long lives these months will no doubt pass in the blink of an eye....In theory. Ask me again in a month or two - i may have to poke an eye out by then, or at the very least have bought myself a set of industrial ear plugs....