Sail the blues away

To say it has been quiet round these parts of late, is an understatement to say the least.  In fact over at A Parenting Life, I managed to write a post explaining why it had been so quiet on the writing front.  Mind you there were more reasons than I could admit to in one post so I had to then write the real reasons I was quiet on the writing front.

Both of which were rather poor bugger me whiney kind of posts.  Which I really try and avoid as much as possible but there must be something in the air of late.  I know that many say the onset of winter brings with it sadder than normal moods but you have to remember that I live in the tropics.  My winter is still like most people's summer.  In fact this is our peak tourist time because the weather is just so darn awesome.

Perfect for endless days at the beach and what not

Having said that though, as I sit here typing this, I am dressed in a track suit and curled up trying to stay warm.  It is all relative.  Below 22 degrees celsius is cold for me.  Below 18 is like freezing.

Thankfully I got the whingy whiney out of me.  Either that or I have managed to once again lock it away.  Regardless my complaining for now is done.  Promise.

It had been in there way to long.

Interacting with people will do that to me.  Well interacting with too many idiots in too short a space of time will do that to me.

The school holidays are under way now so my interaction is much easier to control.  It is easy to stay out of the idiots way when we don't have to go to school every day.  In case you missed it  a woman at school rubbed me the wrong way.  Like really rubbed me the wrong way.  I am so thankful our children are different ages that I will never have to share a class with her.  She is a do gooder that does more harm than good.  At least in my opinion.

Needless to say it has been hard to make things matter of late.  I have still been running a few times a week so at least that is something.  My one constant that I have been able to hold on to.  Providing me with hope that I can go on.

Which of course I can.

I still get mad at myself letting the little things get to me.  Did you know there are real people out there with real problems?  Not just a melodramatic mother craving for attention, trying to show that she may well just be more than a mother without having a career as such.

Mind you I can't help but wonder if sometimes I let the magnitude of everyone else's problems pile up on top of me.  Only to then have them weigh me down and turn me into the world is such a shitty place believer of late.

Source

Of course I can't help but notice that lately lots and lots of people seem to be in a similar boat to me.  One that is leaking, but at a rate you can empty out quick enough to stay afloat.  Perhaps there is something in the air after all

Though every now and then it gets a bit touch and go.

Source

For now though all is well and it is smooth sailing

Source

It's Tuesday, and I have blogged.  

Yay!!  Which of course means joining in on the wonders that are #IBOT

Check out here for more great #IBOT posts

The Things I Know About Running

I know that running has been a great way for me to get myself active and on the path to a fitter and healthier me.

I know that after the first few weeks of making time to go for a run, it actually turned out to be a lot easier than what I expected.  That is not to say it has all been easy but it most certainly has been rewarding and something I want to do for the rest of my life.

I know that until recently I have never really though of myself as a runner as such.  And while I will not ever be likely to run quite as well as these guys

Source

I know that is ok.  I can proudly say I can manage to slowly run for thirty minutes.  In fact thirty minutes is no longer enough.  Since completing my couch to 5km training a few weeks ago I have been feeling the urge to do a bit more.

I know I really enjoyed completing Day 2 Week 1 of my new running app.  Bridge to 10k.  I wasn't joking when I said that the 5km was no longer enough.  This week consists of four ten minute runs with a one minute break in between.  Including the five minute warm up and cool down I am active for around fifty minutes and traveling around 6.5km.  I know I feel like a super star!

I know that if I go too long between runs I get grouchy and grumpy.  Little things that shouldn't bother me do start to do so.  Which then of course leads to big things that tend to get blown up even bigger and before you know it there has been an explosion of epic proportions leaving us all worse for wear.

I know that I kinda like saying I am addicted to running, since you know it is so healthy and all, but I feel a little pretentious doing so.  After all I am still such a newbie that sometimes I wonder if I really should even call what I do running.  (If anyone knows of the speed that signifies the start of running rather than jogging or even walking, please let me know)

I know that being able to notice a difference in my appearance has made me want to run more.  It has also made me just a little more conscious about how I fuel my body and what I put into it.  All of which can only lead to more good.

And the final thing I know this week is that I love being able to link this post up to so many fabulous link ups

@ Bbeingcool

@ Singular Insanity
@ With Some Grace

Make it Matter Monday

Well here we are again.  Monday morning and all hell is breaking loose.  Though when I say all hell is breaking loose I actually mean that my house is beyond a shambles and there are a thousand and one things, probably more, still waiting to be done.

Not that I am overly concerned by any of it.  Which is why am here, instead of madly rushing around trying to do ten things at once in a bid to have some hope of actually getting it done.  Despite all that needs doing I feel relatively relaxed.  I am sure there is some tightness when I think of what the weeks ahead will entail but on the whole life is great and I love the concept of constantly ensuring I am always moving forwards.

The past few MIMM posts have contained things I have hoped to make matter the previous week(s).  Ideally there would also be all the things I did manage to make matter.  For the most part they would really just be about all the reasons why I did not do all the things I set out to.

So with that in mind I have decided to change things around a little this week.  After all beating myself black and blue about that which can not be changed is rather pointless and not really in line with the whole moving forward concept.

Last week the thing that mattered most was the planned camping trip.  It was only for one night but since it was the first for the year it was all worth it.  Well, I did go a little overboard.  After all it was only for one night but the kids needed new sleeping bags and mats.  The stinky old swags that Mr Awesome and his brother had as kids were just no longer going to cut it for the bigger girls.

Without a word of a lie I spent the entire week filled with pure excitement at the anticipation of this camping trip.  The thought of getting away from it all was just so exciting.  All the fresh air and beautiful weather of late had me hankering to be in the bush.  It is the perfect time of year to be outdoors and at one with nature.

While the front of the tent faced the beach this is what was behind us

Once our sporting commitments were over we disconnected from the world and headed down the track.  All that mattered then was relaxing and being together.

Open fire baked potatoes for dinner and tired legs from all the running on the sand meant for easy and early bedtime.  Leaving adults for plenty of time to be mesmerised by the flickering flames of the fire.  Snuggling in close to get as much warmth as possible.

Pure bliss

I may have come home to more washing than I care to think of but it was worth it and I will do it again in a heart beat.  So with that in mind I will leave it here for now.  The beeping from the washing machine tells me that what matters now is hanging out some washing and putting more on.

What Matters? - Open and Honest Communication

It goes without saying really that open and honest communication is not only the best form but should also be the only way we communicate with each other.  Sadly though this is not always the case.  Sometimes due to fear, shame  people do not alway openly communicate.  Sometimes this is through no fault of there own and sometimes with a bit of bravery and understanding it can be worked through.

As much as possible I like to think that I am an open communicator.  Both in the real world and here in the blogosphere.  There is never any doubt about the honesty aspect but there are at times instances when I know I am not as open as I could be.  This is particularly true in real life.  If anything I am probably more open about things on the blogs than I am in person.

For example, the other week I won a prize from a Facebook page.  The prize was a lady cup.  Which I am pretty excited about because I have been eyeing these off for a while but resisted buying one in case I didn't like it or it didn't work or whatever.

Even though I am sharing knowledge of my win here, there is only one person in the real world that I would discuss this with.  She has one already and is one of the most open and honest communicators about women stuff I have ever come across.  There is no taboo or off topic when it comes to the female body with this chick.  Which I love.  I know that there is no way me talking about the lady cup with her would make her feel uncomfortable.  You see when discussing such issues it is not only my comfort I consider but also how the other party to the conversation may be feeling.

As a rule I am not particularly comfortable discussing delicate women things.  I am of the belief that those personal monthly moments are just that, personal and therefore not necessary to discuss publicly.  Why I am so tight lipped on this I am not sure because I am far from prudish, but I have just never had a group of women I could sit down and chat about such things.  I can't help but wonder if I never found these women because I was never brave enough to broach the subject.

Up until now though it has never been an issue and I have given it little to no thought.  Now however I am the mother of three girls.  One of whom is 11.  Which is kinda code hurry up and find a way to start talking about all this secret women's business.

The thing is I don't want my girls growing up not feeling comfortable with their bodily processes.  I want them to embrace it and feel at one with their body.  Which I am sure is quite doable with open and honest communication about the changes they will one day go through.  Sounds so easy when said like that doesn't it?

Now ideally I should be able to go to my mother and as for some guidance on the matter, only that just won't work on this one.  Obviously mum had a go at explaining the birds and the bees and all that to me when I hit puberty.  Let's just say I was not exactly impressed with how she went around it.  If the truth be told she is partially responsible for my inability to discuss all of this.  You see I figure if she had of handled it all differently I wouldn't be struggling with what to say now.

I don't want my daughters going through life feeling embarrassed or shame by something that happens each and every month to just about each and every woman.  Yet I can't find a way to introduce the topic.  Then to make things even worse I start some self beating about the relationship I have with them because surely if it was a fantastic as I think it is in my head I wouldn't feel at such a loss on how to go about all of this.

All I know is I need to work something out.  And quickly.  Every passing day is one day closer till I have no choice but to discuss it.  I remember my first period.  Having no idea why I was bleeding from there.  Mum had a best friend over.  A woman I had known all my life and loved almost as much as my own mother.  I still couldn't go out and tell them.  I thought something was wrong.  I hoped that if I just changed my knickers it would stop and go away.  If only it were that easy.

In a bid to try and get my head around some of this I have turned to Google.  Apparently one way to go about it is with a first period party.  Complete with girl to womanhood cups and plates

Possibly a little over the top?

The outside of the card doesn't do much for me but the words inside are a bit nice

I keep telling myself that when the time is right I will know just what to say.  I hope this is the case.

What about you?  Do you already know how you will deal with this?

Joining in over at Diary of a SAHM for

 

Make it Matter Monday

Last week there was no making it matter anything.  Last week was a bit of a standstill in many ways.  In fact last week was such a waste of a week I am not even sure why I had to endure it.  I achieved nothing, got nowhere and am more than glad that it is all behind me.

In my defense I did have a sickly child which brought with it broken sleep and constant demands.  However I also managed to waste quite large portions of the days playing stupid (yet addictive) computer games.  Thankfully that is all behind me now though.  A new week has started and I am ready and raring to go.

Little Miss Too Sick For School is no longer too sick for school and happily returned to the classroom today.  It was actually a little tricky to see who was more excited, myself or her.  Don't get me wrong I love having them around and have even briefly contemplated the possibility of home schooling, but last week there were things I wanted to do that having a sickly child stopped me from doing.  The first few days I was full of understanding and compassion but by Friday it had been replaced with frustration and a lack of patience.

Back to this week though.

When I last wrote about  Make it Matter Monday, I was going to write myself up a schedule for the weeks to come.  One that would allow me time for simple things like running, writing, quality family time, helping at the school and socialising, both for me and the children.  Needless to say that never happened.  Which in some ways is not a bad thing as I just realised that I should have included some form of housework to the list.

As I sit here I feel I can honestly say that the house is more in order than it has been for quite some time.  There are still a few little areas in need of attention but on the whole it is not too bad.  Let's just it is all manageable at the moment and I feel far from my usually feeling of being overwhelmed by it all.  Which I must say is kinda nice, especially after my stay in struggle town last week.

In fact this week is even off to such a great start I managed to get my Martha Stewart on before school.

Not only did I get my Martha on but I managed to take a happy snap and Instagram it, 

giving more hope that I may one day really cut it as a blogging super star.

So goals for this week

• exercise - I would like this to actually read running but Miss Eleven has decided that riding to school is the latest trend and being the over protective mother that I am this mean I too must ride to school with her.  Which kinds sucks as it cuts into my running time but I can still get fit from bike riding so I guess all is not lost.
• writing - I really want a week of scheduled posts in place.  
• set up a weekly plan (even if it is just a loose one)
• stay on top of the housework - you know simple stuff like do the dishes before they stack up to leaning tower levels, do a load of laundry a day, yadda, yadda...
• finish cleaning the fridge - seemed like such a good idea yesterday when I started.  Halfway through though I lost interest and put it all back.  Turns out the job was much bigger than expected and not able to be squeezed in before dinner preparations.  Live and learn I guess.
• clean one cupboard - I am sure part of the reason why I am so disorganised is because I have cupboards full of crap.  Crap that is not longer needer and should be moved out of my house.  I plan to tackle a cupboard a week till they are all done.
• Get my head around a heap of school council dramas and provide some solutions- Urgh. 

On top of that I am helping out in the canteen for two days so it looks like a pretty full on week.  Which is both good and bad.  The old saying if you want something done ask a busy person keeps playing in my head so hopefully having a lot on my plate will mean I get a lot done.  

There is also a lot of in between the lines stuff I want to do as well.  Stuff like bake more snacks, have lunches sorted in advance, try meal planning, the list is probably endless.  There are a few reasons why am not going into to many details.  The first being I don't want to bore you and the second being if I don't get them done I won't beat myself up too much.

So on that note I better step away from my beloved Mac and get things done!

I did it!

Yep that's right ladies and gentlemen I did it.  Not once but twice as well.  Go me right?

What's that? You have no idea what I am going on about?  Oh sorry let me stop and explain, in my excitement I might have got a little carried away.

As some of you may be aware over the last ten weeks or so I have been taking part in my own personal Ease into 5km program via an awesome little app by Blue Fin that I got for my phone.  The long and short of it is that it is an interval training program that is designed to get you running 5km in eight short weeks.

When I started going faster than a walk for more than 30 seconds seemed impossible.  I seriously question how on god's green earth I was going to be able to jog let alone run for a whole thirty minutes.  (Which is apparently how long 5km should take you.)

It has been a long tough slog.  One that has seen me repeat days on more than one occasion.  In fact there was one particular day that saw me repeat it three times before I felt I could honestly say I completed it.

Despite what ever doubts I may have had at the start I can now say that if you stick with it this kind of training really does pay off.  Just yesterday I went 5.15km in around 39 minutes.  Twenty nine of those minutes were jogging with the other ten consisting of a five minute warm up and the same again cooling down.  This follows a 5km run in around the same time last Friday.

Technically I am not sure what I am doing is really running.  If it is, it is a slow run, not that it really matters because at least I am moving more than what I was three months ago.  Which is all that matters.

Of course what matters even more is that I now actually feel fitter.  In fact I am quite proud of the fact that I can go at above walking pace for quite some time.  After the first ten to fifteen minutes I struggle a little and may or may not reduce my pace to walking for no more than thirty seconds mind you.  I am confident though that in another week or so it will be more like twenty minutes before I need a little breather.

Oh and did I mention how some of my shorts are now a little baggier than they once were?

There is still one more run before I officially graduate from the program which I am quite looking forward to.  Only then I need to work out what will be next.  I am torn between starting the Bridge to 10km or just focusing on improving my 5km time.  Really though all that matters is I keep going.

One thing that I have noticed about all this activity though is that I really am starting to feel quite great about myself.  The days that I run I feel happier and less stressed.  Mind you I only really noticed how good it made me feel when there was a week that saw no running.  By the end of the week I was grouchy and easily irritated.  A couple of runs though and all of that is gone and I am left feeling strong and awesome.

Joining in

Cutting it fine

At 11.37pm I am cutting it fine for today's post.  As always there could be lots of excuses.  Stuff like Miss I Don't Like Sleep, putting up a fight when it was finally time to go to bed.  I say finally because we sat up very late chatting and looking at stuff on her iPod.  It was just such a lovely time.

The problem was we had spent the night at a friends house so by the time we got up to bed it was already rather late and way past bed time.  Still what's sleep when you can have a wonderful time laughing and having fun?

Today's plans were meant to be

• bake a few muffins
• sell some more stuff
• come home and have a sleep

I did bake a few muffins.  Twenty in fact. Raspberry.  The first dozen were cooked perfectly.  The others I think were a little too brown at the base.  Thankfully they were only being sold for $1.50.

Thanks to getting up not very long after 5.30 I was at the school with plenty of time to set up what few remaining gifts.  I must say it felt rather nice knowing that someone else was taking care of all the food preparation and set up.  Previous years have seen me try and struggle relatively alone.  Mind you I can't help but wonder at times if this is because of the way I come across to people at times.  I am pretty sure it is a post all of it's own though.

Sadly the one thing on my list that I didn't do was come home and have a sleep.  I did come home however managed to successfully elude sleep.  Not from want of trying mind you.  Neither of the two younger girls transported very well from the car while asleep and as such I was left unable to catch some much wanted z's.  Can't win them all I guess.

Given that tomorrow is Saturday and that I only have less than three minutes to hit publish else it will be timestamped Saturday rather than Friday I must bid you all goodnight xx