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!!!

I am sick.

Not surprising, really. Hubby used to call my lifestyle ‘burning the candle at both ends’ but even *I* know that  my life is ridiculously busy. Something had to give. Sigh.

Here’s to getting better quick!!!

How tough are you?

I like to think of myself as tough. Mentally. I know that I have me a pretty strong willpower. Physically? Not so much. Emotionally? Nah – I’m kinda a marshmallow, really, when I’m honest with myself…! But mentally? I know I’ve got “grit and determination” in spades. So when I first heard about ‘Tough Mudder’ I thought ‘Wow! That would be FANTASTIC!!!’

In their own words, “Tough Mudder events are hardcore 18-20 km obstacle courses designed by British Special Forces to test your all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie” and some more: “To get through mud, fire, ice-water, and 10,000 volts of electricity you’ll need teammates to pick you up when your spirits dip. To get over 3 m walls and through underground mud tunnels, you’ll need teammates to give you a boost and a push. Tough Mudders are team players who make sure no one gets left behind. To that end, all Mudders℠ are expected to uphold our ideals and exhibit teamwork and camaraderie both on the course and off it.” (Find out more here)

My opinions haven’t changed, even though I’ve looked into it quite a bit more. It’s tough. It’s muddy (remember Emu Gully, Jo?) and it’s a challenge-and-a-half. So I’m up for it. Circumstances have prevented me from forming a team for this year’s Sunshine Coast challenge in August, but apparently they’ve signed up for a 5 year contract, so I’m planning to be one of the first to register for the 2014 event.

Bring it on!!!!!

CC image courtesy DVIDSHUB at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dvids/8482383303/

Value for money

The other week, I was visiting Beerwah Library to change picture books & readers for my cherubs. I had an extra minute, so I thought I’d have a quick look through their boxes of ‘for sale’ culls.
I must admit some surprise to see ‘Breaking Dawn’ there. Having wanted to read this again, recently, I thought it a fortunate find. Still more so when I went to pay for it and found it would only cost me ONE DOLLAR!!!
How incredible is that!
Here’s hoping that your day is an amazing one too, dear readers!

And another week gone…

Where are they going? We’re into March already?!! What the??!!! This just isn’t cool. Is it just me? Or is this year speeding by far, far quicker than last year did?!!

I swear that there are less than 24 hours to the day…

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?!!!

Happy birthday, little bro!

On this day, back in 1976, my little brother was born. He was a pretty cool little brother – I remember playing with him heaps when we were children.

Now, he lives in London. I last clapped eyes on him when Miss 8 was about 8 months old. He’s only ever seen Miss 5 & Mr 3 in photos & over Skype.

But he’s coming back to Aus this year. WOOT!!!!!!!!! SOOOOOO can’t wait!!!!!

Until then, Happy Birthday, bro. You’re the best!!! 😀 😀 😀

A rainbow *sob*

Yesterday was a memorable day. My pretty much non-verbal, autistic, Mr 3 blew me away.

“Mummy? When [it] raining… when it stop… [we see] rainbow. Okay?”

Precious words from the gorgeous lips of my (no longer non-verbal!) little man!!! It was lunchtime, and he was busy munching on his favourite sandwich – sprinkles – and we were listening to the pelting of the rain on our tin roof. And he just started talking, right out of the blue (well, grey, actually, if that phrase is referring to ‘sky’ LOL). He’d obviously been thinking about when the rain would stop (although for most of the day, it just poured and poured and poured; the type of rain that you think will never ever end) and he verbalised what he’d been thinking about.

What a tear-jerker moment!!!

And what made it more special? Posting about it on Facebook and getting SO many supportive comments and ‘Likes’ from online friends. It was just SO incredible to be able to share it with those who know me, and know Mr 3 & our situation, and to see that they were as touched as I was by it. One comment especially made me think. Katherine Howard, I’m looking at you! She mentioned that it was “a lovely observation to verbalise” – and I couldn’t agree more! The idea of the ‘rainbow’. The beauty, after all the miserable-non-stop-rain; the happiness after the perpetual dreariness; even the promise of hope from the original Noah-and-the-Ark Bible story . It perfectly mirrored what had just happened. My little man, talking, after so many months of not. So unbelievably precious!

Wow. Just wow! It was a special, special day. 😀

Thanks for letting me share that with you, too, dear readers – and have yourselves some incredible days today, too! 😀

And speaking of money…

We have, what one of my best friends calls, a ‘postage stamp’ of a house. It’s tiny. It’s 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom cum laundry, with open plan and cathedral ceiling for the lounge / dining / kitchen, so it feels a lot more spacious than it is. But with Hubby, me, and three growing kids, it’s getting smaller and smaller by the month. So we’re planning to extend.

We started with our grand designs. Our pipe-dream of what it was we wanted. Add a parent retreat, double storey of course, so we could take advantage of the views across to the Glasshouse Mountains. Garage. Study. Deck. Ensuite & walk-in wardrobe.

Then we met with a builder, and were rather disappointed when it came to discussing costs. Whittled our plans down. And down again. And again. And again.

Now, we’re happy with our plans. We’re still going to be adding a fourth bedroom (we *really* need to separate Miss 5 and Mr 3) and an ensuite to the Main bedroom, and a little study will adjoin the lounge room, but our overall vision is much, much reduced from our pipedream.

So all we need now is to wait for it to happen! (Oh, and pay for it all, of course!)

With $200 I can…

It’s interesting, isn’t it, the value that we people place on things. $200 is a lot of money – in some respects. In others, it’s a tiny amount.

I blogged the other day about the Proloquo2Go app – and how I felt as though the $200 I spent on it was worth it, to hear my son go from pretty much zero speech, to now volunteering, audibly and fairly intelligibly “Look, Mummy, look at all the bubbles” (washing his hands in the bathroom sink). Is $200 a lot for an App? Yes, absolutely. I don’t disagree. Nor do I regret paying it; I’m daily witnessing the results!

I guess… it’s what you compare it to. See the expenditure as ‘just another app’ and it seems ridiculous. See it as ‘educational’ and then it gets classed with other such educational expenses, right?

–       It’s cheaper than Miss 8’s glasses. And HEAPS cheaper than her 6 weeks of ‘Vision Therapy’ that she attended

–       It’s more expensive (but not by much) than one term’s worth of swimming lessons. For one child, that is…

–       It’s cheaper than Miss 8’s orthotics; but it’s about the same price as the school shoes we bought for her just a couple of weeks ago

–       It’s more expensive than school books, or school uniforms (when you buy them second hand LOL) but it’s ¼ the price of school fees for a term

–       It’s roughly equivalent to Hubby & I eating out at our favourite restaurant… twice

And I could keep on going, but I’m sure you get the idea.

When it comes down to it, value is in the eye of the beholder. Do I feel as though the expense was worth it? Yup. Absolutely. And I’d do it again in a heartbeat!