Okay. New developments…

It’s been a week (okay, just over!) since my last post. A lot has happened:

– KRidwyn.com has been launched – and that’ll be the place where this blog will move to. So yes – this will be my last post from this address (and I’ll have to work out how to re-direct traffic from here to there automatically. Chalk up yet another job to the ever-growing list, huh?) but I’m pretty excited about getting my *own* real estate online, as it were. So hopefully, dear readers, you’ll join me over there?

– in the move from this URL to that one, we discovered that it’s impossible to just hit ‘export’ and get all the site content moved across to the new place. Sure, it’ll move all the text, but bad luck if you had images that you wanted on there. So unfortunately, KRidwyn.com is devoid of pretty pictures. At the moment. (And another job to do…)

–GoodOldTalk, the website I run for Seniors, finally was able to make it back online after being offline for over seven weeks. Which was a HUGE relief, but now leaves me with a lot of stuff to clean up…

– I was able to get the countertop material for BOTH my kitchen and my bathroom and my ensuite (which hasn’t even been built yet) for a HUGE discount; so I’m majorly stoked about that one!

– Miss 8 was finally diagnosed with dyslexia (which I *knew* she had! but no-one believed me…) and she was also diagnosed with Irlen Syndrome as well – so that was pretty cool. Once the diagnosis is made, you can do something about it, huh?!

– Miss 5 decided that she didn’t know how to ‘do things properly’ so she’s been asking us all week “how” to do the simplest of things, like brush her teeth etc etc etc! She wants to learn how to do them better, I guess… and…

– Mr 4 decided that not only could he sit on the toilet – but he could also tell me when he needed to go!!!!! This caused a HUGE celebration!!! 🙂

Well, now it’s time to head into what is shaping up into another huge one. And it’s got me thinking: maybe I should just accept that fact that this life *is* the new ‘normal’ – and just get on with it all?

What do you think?

(Oh, and feel free to leave any comments you may have, here…!)

Today…

Today I feel alive. Today I feel renewed. Today, I feel as though I *may* actually be able to say “I am back” with some semblance of confidence! “I am back” to being ‘me’ again. “I am back” in the world of normal people who eat and breathe and sleep and who talk, laugh, and interact with one another, both IRL and online.

It feels like ages. It feels as though I’m just beginning to emerge again. It feels as though I’ve been in a state of ‘exist and survive’ for the last several weeks – where to eat, to sleep – even to breathe – has had to happen on autopilot because I’ve been just *that* darn busy! I can honestly say that I’ve been at my limits – and that’s pretty far, because if you know me, you know that I’m a pretty intense kinda person, a ‘burn the candles at both ends’ kinda gal. I’d prefer to ‘squeeze everything I can’ out of life, because I don’t believe in reincarnation and I know that I’ll be 39 in just a few months, and life don’t go backwards! 🙂

Yes, life’s been busy this last little while. But I can honestly pray, like I heard that the Israelites do, “Thank you, God, for sustaining me to reach this season…” because I know that without His protection, without His seeing me through, I wouldn’t have made it through to today without the measure of sanity that I still have. Which is, surprisingly, quite a bit, considering.

So. It’s 6.34am and I’m off to charge into my day. It promises to be full of laughter and happiness, so I’m keen to get started.

Have a great day yourselves, dear readers!!!

xxx

C

Wednesday’s words

So I thought I might try something new – just do some random scribbling every Wednesday. Playing with words. Playing with the feelings that words create. And not worrying if they form sentences, or rhyme, or make a whole lot of sense. Just cos!!! So here goes…

 

Whoops.

I knew it the instant I’d done it, that I’d overdone it this time. Strained my voice just that *little* too much. I could physically *feel* my throat start its aching. And it’s the type of ache in the throat where you just know. Know exactly what’s coming next. Know because you’ve been there before.

Ache. Soreness. Discomfort. The beginnings of pain.

Loss. The temptation to whisper, knowing that whispering will just make matters worse.

Knowing that it will prolong the recovery time.

Knowing, and feeling helpless.

Powerless.

Useless.

I like to think that I have a large, intense personality, barely contained within my small physical frame. The surprising amount of volume that I can muster, from said physical frame, forms a huge part of this personality. the kind of volume that has been developed with decades of singing, decades of teaching.

My volume, and my ability to use it when needed, gives me confidence. Strength.

The ability to communicate, to have input into the lives of those around me just by opening my mouth, gives me… well… power.

Without it, I feel less.

Inadequate. Stripped.

Defenseless.

 

Moral of story: STOP!!!!!

Next time, preferably, *before* you get to that ‘whoops’ moment, Ceridwyn!!!

 

 

Happiness is…

I am so truly, incredibly, utterly blessed. I’ve scored a job working in the same school where my daughters go. I get to teach them both Music. I get to look through the windows of their classrooms as I walk around the school. I get to see them at break times, while they’re eating; while they’re playing with their friends. I get to liaise with their teachers about the day-to-day things. And they get to see me as a teacher, which in some respects is a more confortable skin for me than the ‘mother’ skin is.

It’s pretty darn cool, let me tell you!!!

Hump day happenings

So yesterday was Wednesday. Hump day. The day of the inaugural ‘HumpDay Happenings’ with the awesome Jenny Venier, over at BloxhamMarketing.com

Why not head over and check it out?!!!

Sleeping in

Hubby likes to sleep in. Fair enough – he has an extremely intense job, and he needs his recovery time.

I’m an early bird. I’ve never really enjoyed staying in bed when I could be up and doing stuff. (I go to bed late too, but that’s probably an insomnia thing…) I’m always up and about by 6. Often by 5.30 – and regularly, much earlier.

Our kids seem  to follow my ‘early rising’ habits, which Hubby doesn’t particularly appreciate. But it was funny, the conversation the other morning.

Hubby: “You slept in until after 6.30 this morning, [Miss 8]. Well done!”

Miss 8: “Yes, I’m learning. I like sleeping in! I try to sleep in until 7 o’clock on weekdays, but Mummy won’t let me!”

(It was at this point that I choked on my toast. I laughed, hard, for a long time. We have to leave for school before 7.30 if we’re going to get there on time – and getting them ready by 7.30 only happens when they all are out of bed by 6am.)

It was really a very very very funny moment!

Dodgy Internet

I live in the best place in the world. Seriously. It’s AWESOME!!! In fact, the ONLY negative thing about this place, is the mozzies. Yeh – they’re pretty bad.

It’s quiet and peaceful. You can hear the birds, and the rain on the tin roof, and yourself breathing (when the girls are at school, that is!). There’s power. There’s water (lots of it, at the moment! Praise God for full rainwater tanks and a full bore again!) and mail delivery and rubbish collection. No, there’s no town water. No, there’s no shop. In fact, there’s no street other than ours, in the suburb LOL! It’s pretty darn wonderful.

There’s no cabling down our street, either. Judging by how we were one of the last few to get our power on the other week, I doubt we’re too high on the priority list for the NBN. If we want internet, we use dial-up (yes, dial up!) or Wireless Broadband which comes from the more populated areas over in Caloundra. Which is fine with me. The web-based Bloxham Marketing business is more than happy to use Telstra’s 3G network.

The trouble only happens when it’s raining. Or humidity is greater than normal. Then the internet gets dodgy. And that’s annoying. I’m trying to get work done here, people!!! Boost your signal, will ya?!!

See you tomorrow, folks! Have an awesome day!!!

 

Last week’s post…

Well, I wrote this (voice to text on my iPhone) on the way to Brisbane last Monday morning. And I finally get to post it today – one week later! I guess that’s just an indication of how busy life’s been! LOL

* * * * * * *

Hello, everyone! Yes, I am back! Sorry that it’s been such a long time… it’s just that, since my new job started, I have been really busy… in fact, I’ve been the busiest I have ever been – in my life! I haven’t had time to even scratch myself, let alone eat properly, or sleep! At least, that’s what it feels like…
That being said: no, I got to bed before 11pm last night, and didn’t wake up again until 5:30. That’s more sleep than I had over the last few weeks, so I’m feeling pretty good today!
Which means that today, I am able to find the headspace, and the time while I drive, to blog again!
So. Yesterday, I drove down to Brisbane for the first day of the New Librarians Symposium (NLS6). I figure that I had better start attending professional development for this ‘Library’ sphere I’m aiming to enter one day. It was pretty brilliant!
And not only for the teaching and learning that I received, but also the amazing networking opportunities. I went, knowing that I would meet, in real life, people I have been interacting with, over Twitter, for the past 18 months or so. People whose blogs I read. People who read, and sometimes even comment on, my own blog! Seeing them there face to face, realising that they are real people, that they actually do exist, was such a surreal feeling! I went, knowing that I would see three familiar faces, people that I had met before. I left last night, feeling that I had met about a quarter of the entire number of delegates!!!
So today, I’m driving down to Brisbane, ready to do it all again for the second day of the same conference. I must admit, I’m quite looking forward to it!
Have a great day, dear readers! 🙂

*******

So – that was spoken into my iPhone as I left home, 6.30am. Finished by the time I reached the highway. And well before I hit the traffic jam that started just after Caboolture. The traffic jam that lasted ALL THE WAY to Brisbane, meaning that I didn’t arrive until 9am.

Yes, that’s right – 9 am!!! Two and a half hours for what normally takes 1 and a quarter! (With traffic!) Needless to say, I wasn’t happy when the homeward journey that night was just as bad… 😦

iPods, iPhones, iPads, iDevices everywhere!

I am an Apple convert. Ever since my frst purchase of a MacBook Pro back in February 2011, and an 8Gig iPod Touch (as part of a Uni student deal that the Apple store was making at the time) I have been impressed. I also bought myself an iPad2, about a week before the announcement of the creation of the iPad3 and its release date. (Oh well!)

So as my cherubs got bigger, and the peer pressure was on for them to have DS’s (it was pretty incredible for me to realise just HOW MANY families bought one of these handheld gaming devices – for EACH child – at a cost of around $300 for the device and then $50 per game!!!) I knew that these would never be an option for my family. I mean- seriously! Who has a spare $900 lying around – and that just for the devices!!! You’d need to then buy games for them – and at around $50 each??? No way. Nope. Not going to happen. Not just for gaming, anyway!

I was glad then, that I’d paid that little bit extra way back in February 2011 and had the Apple experience. Had an iPod experience (my last foray into personal music devices had been the Walkman, back in the 80’s!!!) I was glad that I now knew how iPods worked, how iTunes and the App store worked, and just HOW MANY apps you could get out there that were educational as well an=s gaming ones – and HOW MANY were absolutely FREE!

So, for me, the decision was made. Why by a DS at around $300, and games for $50-odd, each, when you could buy an iPodTouch for less, and the games were free? (and educational!) And with an iPod, they also have access to a camera, a videocamera, a clock, a calculator, and music / media – and even FaceTime?!!! To me, it seems a bit of a no-brainer.

Yes, some people are surprised that my children don’t have DS’s, and that Miss 8 had an iPod Touch before her seventh birthday – I guess these are the same type of people who believe that iPods and the like are for grownups (and teenagers) and who would probably spend the money on DS’s for younger children. The way I see it, an iPod is cheaper and will have a much longer shelf-life in their lives. And they KNOW that it’s a ‘grownup’ device. For my kids, they have to earn it. I tied it as a reward to their reading skills. Once the then-Miss 6 read me ‘Robert the Rose Horse’ (by herself) then she’d earned it. And her younger sister is well aware of the arrangement, and practises her ‘homework’ (reading) every day, knowing that she’s getting closer to earning her ‘own’ iPod Touch – even though she hasn’t started Prep yet! (Not til next week, anyway – although Vacation Care went well this week…)

So anyway, that’s my thoughts on the matter. No, my children don’t have iPads. I don’t think they need them, anyway – they’ll use them at school, and they have mine to use when I’m not using it – and I’m not one of those mums who will just ‘give’ my kids iDevices or other electrical items ‘just cos’ (I’ve seen families where the children all have iPads – and they’re aged 7, 5 and 3, and I sure didn’t see too many educational apps on there!!!) but I think that what I’ve done is appropriate and fair.

Plus, it’s also market research! This way, I can get my kids to check out and play with apps that I plan on using in my classroom this year, to see if they’ll like them! LOL!!!

Have a great day, dear readers!!!

Website Fun

Do you want to know something funny? I’m blogging this onto my iPhone, using Siri. I absolutely love this voice to text function! But as I was trying to dictate the title of this blog post, it absolutely refused to recognise the word ‘Fun’! Maybe, for some reason, the two words websites and fun should never be together?!
Never mind. I’m actually pretty excited about today. Because today, I’m going to be playing with websites!
The very clever Paul, ICT guru from down at LEQ headquarters in Milton, is coming up to St Pauls today, just to visit me! And we’ll be playing around with the creation of the new St Pauls website. Very exciting stuff!!
So… what’s on your agenda for today? Whatever it is, have a great one, dear readers! 🙂