Happy New Year. We aren't doing anything, I didn't even realise it was New Years Eve until yesterday.

Work has been craaaaazy. The 'office lady' (as in, person who does a lot of the office work but also does everything else like we all do) took some time off to go and see her parents interstate, so its just been me and the two bosses and another guy that has been called in on a couple of days to help at a couple of funerals. We had fifteen funerals in one week, yep, fifteen. It was mental. I have been totally thrown in the deep end, with varying results, lol, no major cock-ups though. I am really tired and need the weekend very much!!

Not all of the funerals have been full services. Some have been No Service No Attendance. They always make me so sad. Imagine dying and nobody comes to your funeral.

Coronation Street seems to have been taken off over the holidays. Spewin'

Nothing much else happening around here to be honest. Not even much knitting. No sewing. And I still haven't sent off a Secret Santa gift that was supposed to go at the middle of December. Oops.

The christmas pav, Callum opening his christmas present wearing his Jimmy Giggle pyjamas that he got for his birthday, and his birthday cake. I was so tired on his birthday but I managed to get this done.

Christmas was nice, a bit quiet this year but still quite festive. The kids got spoilt, I always say we don't go crazy and then I see the pile under the tree. Its easy at this age though because demands aren't all brand name specifics and toys are quite cheap. I overheard a conversation between Baden and Santa that mentioned a Monster Truck and I was already a bit unsure about what I had bought, so I raced off to buy him a Monster Truck. And he kept nicking Callum's Pillow Pet that he got for his birthday, so I grabbed him one of those as well.

I got spoilt, I got gold hoop earrings, bigger ones than I already have, I only wear gold hoops so its nice to have another pair. I also got a pair of pinking shears! and a Coles Myer voucher that I am going to use to get some new work clothes. I don't have any nice clothes to wear. I have two work uniforms, one for funerals and one for transfers, but in between times in the office we just wear normal clothes and I really need to update and get some nice pants and dresses so I am not scratching my head every morning.

The weather has been terrible lately so the pool is green, so even though its hot today we can't jump in it.

And the Willie Wagtails are back, under the eaves of the laundry, in the same nest. Three more babies!

Finally its the weekend and I can sit down!! I just want to sit and knit and watch the shows I have taped (granny!), but I have other things to do as well. Its nearly Callum's birthday and of course christmas is coming at the speed of light. I haven't done my christmas shopping yet so I might go and do that this afternoon. I have no idea what to buy.

Work is still great. I am back in the funeral industry. I worked in it years ago and always knew I would go back. I thought I would wait till the kids were older but the opportunity came up so I took it. So far its been really good. I know this work isn't for everyone, I don't know why but that's fine, there are plenty of jobs I would never want to do. I find it a great privilege to do this work and everyone likes to feel that there is a point to what they are doing and I definitely feel that way. I loved it the last time I was in it and I am loving it again.

Apart from that, just the usual. I am looking after a little dog this weekend and this morning we went out to garage sales and went a little further afield than we usually do, and I suddenly remembered that I had my phone on silent, and sure enough, the guy had been trying to ring me. He was on his way to the airport, still had the dog with him and was in a bit of a panic because I wasn't home when he came out here and I wasn't answering my phone. I rang him and he turned around. I felt terrible so I said he could have the first night for free. I am pretty annoyed with myself actually, but no use dwelling on it I suppose.

Callum's daycare lady has expressed concern that Callum isn't talking yet. He's nearly two and doesn't really talk. She said we need to encourage him to talk when he wants something he has to ask for it. LOL, gawd. Its nice that she cares about him but seriously, the kid will talk when he is ready, I have already 'been there and done that' with the last kid and now he chatters away non-stop. I have kids who talk on the late side of normal. I do not have late talkers! there is a BIG difference and it kind of shits me that people are so hung up about it. Besides that, he sings at the top of his lungs and I can tell the difference between when he is singing "twinkle twinkle little star" and the Fireman Sam theme song, so what's the problem? He understands everything, he definitely communicates with us in his baby garble, and the odd word does come out anyway. Just not worth stressing about. If you can tell the kid is 'asking' for a drink or whatever, then just give him the damn drink.

Steve and I have been joking that if we don't make him talk then she might not let us have him overnight anymore, ha ha. But nah, she is lovely and she loves Callum to bits so she is just showing that she cares.

Sorry for the silence. Been busier than a one-legged arse kicker lately. Got a job and started on Wednesday. So far so good. I was very nervous before I started and was extremely close to ringing them and saying I had changed my mind, but I toughened up and faced it like a woman, with a little bit of help from some Rescue Remedy! I got myself quite wound up and I think that actually turning up was one of the most challenging things I have ever done and I am quite proud of myself. But, if I wasn't such a drama queen in the start then of course I wouldn't face challenges like it, ha ha ha.

Well, the little stray dog has gone home, his name was Spud and I saw a sign with his lovely mugshot on it up at the shops so I rang them and took him home.

Apart from that, just been busy busy busy busy BUSY!!

Not much to report, I have had my head stuck in a book for the past week but I had my exam this morning so now I am as free as a bird. I dunno how people cope doing four subjects per semester, I am flat out doing one, but I still haven't had a full night's sleep so that makes things difficult.

Callum is now sleeping for part of the night in a toddler bed beside my bed. He still wakes up a couple of times and comes into my bed to be fed back to sleep but at least it stops him kicking me in his sleep. That was the killer, he would be asleep but kicking me like a bloody donkey every twenty minutes, I couldn't stand it.

Not much knitting going on, still doing the Wonderful Wallaby and the teddy bear's jumper. After my exam today I went out for lunch with a couple of girls in my class, well, women I should say, they're 'mature age students' same as me. And then I popped into a little wool shop and bought some lovely Heirloom Colorado in the grass-green colourway that I have been thinking about since my last visit to that shop. Gonna make a little jumper for my friend's little bloke.

I found a little dog wandering on the road the other day. I called out to him and he came over. I was going to keep driving but it was a Westie and you don't generally find many Westies without a home to go to and as a Westie owner I felt the need to make sure the little fella was okay. So I looked around for anyone who might have been walking him, and talked to a guy in one of the houses but he didn't know where he was from. So he came home with me. I took him to my cousin who groomed him to within an inch of his life, he was so matted and his skin was a bit sore so the fur all came off, no Westie "furnishings" could be saved, so he's looking pretty fugly at the moment but probably feeling a lot better.

He's old. Probably twelve or so I reckon. Maybe older. He aint no spring chicken. Apple is actually on heat at the moment, I didn't even realise but when this little dog came into the yard she made it quite clear that she is on heat. She has been bugging him every few minutes. But he aint no spring chicken as I said. And he has made it quite clear that that ship has sailed so there won't be any little Westie puppies around here any time soon. I will still keep an eye on her though, just in case I missed a miracle, but yeah, don't think so. I don't know where he is from and don't have his paperwork or health history anyway so probably just as well. But what are the chances of an undesexed male being in my yard right when Apple is on heat. It would have been lovely. But yeah, probably just as well, I would have had to sell the puppies without papers and I have already decided not to breed Apple, she's seven now so I already made that decision about six months ago. I still want to be a breeder, I have my breeders prefix and everything, but it just never happened with Apple so maybe in a few years I will think about it again with another doggy.

So anyway, I decided to keep his McScruffiness for a couple of days, fatten him up a bit and then ring the pound to see if anyone has reported him missing. I am not taking him to the pound, he's so old and they will just put him down. I would rather he spend his last days here if we can't find his owner, but surely his owner isn't too far away. I don't know if he is chipped, going to go and get him scanned on Tuesday and put a sign up at the shops.

Poor old fella. I don't even know his name. He had no collar and was in terrible condition. He had burnt paws from the hot road, his coat was so long and matted. No fleas though. Surely somebody loves you little fella. Why were you walking on the road?

I will keep you posted.

Remember this? gawd, its taken ages and has been a complete pain in the arse to knit, wish I had never bothered!! next time I think I will just pay the eighty bucks, lol.

So anyway, knit in Bendigo Luxury 8ply. Very nice to knit with, lovely and soft. Its pretty small because it should have been finished at the start of winter and now its summer, but it hasn't been blocked yet so I can probably stretch it out a bit. Baden is skinny anyway, he grows up but he doesn't grow out, so he will probably still fit it next winter anyway. And if not, well, I have a spare son to grow into it anyway, lol. Callum has got so many jumpers, he has all of Baden's hand-me-downs plus plenty of his own because I love to knit for him.

Currently on the needles is a Wonderful Wallaby hooded jumper for Baden, knitted in about a size 8 to fit him next year, yarn is Lincraft Surprise which is an acrylic (I know, acrylic, but its actually quite nice, is quite warm and lovely and soft). Also on the needles is a cardigan for Baden's teddy bear. He has suddenly adopted a teddy bear, at the ripe old age of five, its just one from the pile of teddies, I don't even know where he came from, but he is now called "Buttons" after the other Buttons Teddy we had a while ago and he comes with us everywhere and sleeps with Baden every night. So I am knitting him a jumper.

I have been studying quite a bit, its hard when I don't get much sleep because my brain doesn't cope well, I can feel the gears graunching when I try to remember things, but I only have to pass, I don't expect great things, just a pass will be lovely.

Less than a week on the Lite n Easy and I can tell I have lost weight already. Not a huge amount but it's definitely working.

Not much else happening around here this week. Bit of knitting, bit of studying, bit of everything but nothing much else to report so far.

I should be studying, so I have cleaned the house and now I am blogging, lol.

I am really really fat at the moment, the fattest I have ever been without being pregnant. So I have started back on the Lite n Easy this morning. I am keeping track of my progress by weighing and measuring so I know when I have lost weight. I find it very motivating to keep track and every week write down the new numbers. I am going to test out my poor old arthritic ankles as well and hopefully do a bit of jogging.

No more news on the job front, things have slowed down in that respect but hopefully something will happen soon.

Baden had his school orientation last week, they went for an hour or so and drew a picture and the teacher read them a story. They go back for another session today and then there is one more next week and then that's it till they start next year. He was good, he was happy for me to leave and seemed pretty unfazed by the whole thing, he has been institutionalised by daycare and knows the score, and he's already five which I think makes a big difference.

On the knitting front, well, I have been trying to study and feel very guilty when I knit so I haven't done much. I am stuck in hood-land at the moment, its so boring, why is it going so slowly? Once its done there is a bit of seaming and then its finished, just in time for summer, lol, oh well. He won't fit it next year either. I took too long to finish it. I am too easily distracted.

Callum went to his daycarers house today, and the bus came to pick them up to go to the council playgroup while I was still there. I had to wait for them to leave because the bus was parked over the driveway. It was a very very odd sensation watching the bus drive off knowing my sweet baby was in there, driving away from me. It was just really really weird. I followed it for a while and then it went around the corner and was gone. With my baby in it. Very strange.

And in other news, the All Blacks won the World Cup. What a nail biter that was, it was bloody awful, they only won by one point. I was hoping for something a bit more relaxing than that but the french took us right to the line and played extremely well. Poor old Piri Weepu really didn't bring his A-game and after being treated like a god for most of the tournament he fell from grace and was eventually replaced. Stephen Donald saved the day and is now the new hero. A bit of a spunk too just quietly, if you're into that sort of thing. You know, the athletic good looking kiwi type...but each to their own, lol.

Actually I contacted them and told them not to rip me off and they put more money in, so that's allright. Now they are just a distant memory. I saw the job advertised during the week. Basically they are just full of shit. I feel sorry for the next person, I bet they quit as well, just like the person before me.

But, forget about all that, I have been doing some knitting this week. Above is a pic of an "In Threes" I made for Rivi who was born three weeks ago. This is my 'go to' pattern for baby girls now. I have made quite a few of them. The yarn is Sirdar Crofter which comes out in the fairisle effect without me having to do anything but knit but it always gets rave reviews, lol.

I have a few projects that are in the stages of needing to be finished off. I hate finishing off projects, I luff starting them, lol. But I finished a little duck jumper for Callum, I bought the buttons first (from Benji, my favourite button maker in the universe) and then bought the wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills. Its classic 8 ply which is nowhere near as splitty as the 12ply and comes in quite a good range of colours for kids so I will definitely be using it again.

I am also still knitting Baden's skull jumper. That is in Bendigo Woollen Mills yarn as well but its in the Luxury 8ply not the Classic 8ply. I am up to the armpits of that and heartily sick of it and its summer now anyway but I will finish it because he currently only has one handknitted jumper that fits him which is an unthinkable situation!

I have a lot of wool in my stash at the moment, all in quantities to make a jumper for either of the kids. I am starting to think about my next project, I have some beautiful burnt orange heirloom yarn that I want to use next. But first, the finishing, argh. I have to do the collar on another one for Callum and then that's finished as well. Actually that's a re-do because I already did the collar and it was too small. And then I can dive into the stash and start sketching some ideas. Basically I have abandoned the notion of using a pattern for the kids jumpers now. Its all just done out of my head and scribbled on the back of an envelope. I do unpick and re-knit things quite often because I stuff up the numbers so it would be much easier to knit from a pattern in some ways, but I like being able to make one-off things of my own design.

Ah, and just to top off a lovely story with a perfect ending, my pay just went in and they have totally ripped me off.

I have no recourse because we had a verbal agreement, nothing was on paper. The rate they have paid me is ridiculous and there is no way we agreed on anything near it.

So, good for them. I hope they choke. I am moving on with my life and will take the very interesting lessons I learned with me.

Well, I did like the job, quite a lot actually. Unfortunately the owners son is the general manager though, and there every day, and is one of the most unpleasant nasty and sarcastic people I have ever met in my life, ever. I found out that the person who did the job before me left after being constantly degraded and treated like shit for two years. I have no idea how she lasted two years, she must have the patience of a saint but she just upped and left one day recently, everything on her desk was exactly where she left it and she walked out.

I smelled a rat the first day, by the second day I knew exactly where the rodent was. The third day was UNBEARABLE, like mental torture. One of the hardest days of my life. And then I went back and knew I was going to quit. I can't do that to myself, nothing is worth that constant grief. So I told myself that if I could be mentally strong enough to last one more day (today) then I would reward myself by never having to go back there again, it was like a test of my fortitude, and I did it (so proud! lol), and then on the way home I pulled the car over and rang the big boss (who I had seen once since I started) and told him that I wouldn't be coming back.

The work was interesting but this guy made it boring. He was the most annoying, belitting, negative presence and was constantly whingeing about everything and everything was just SUCH a hassle for him. He would stand behind me watching me do something that I had just learned, waiting to pounce. And every time I needed to ask a question he would reply with "Well, I am very busy at the moment". He was so sarcastic, would ask a question instead of giving an answer, ugh. Just a really unpleasant person. Even on the phone to customers he was very offhand and short. If he wasn't the bosses son I doubt he would be still in that job. Ah nepotism, some people are so lucky and so undeserving!

Oh, I am not going to expend any more energy describing him because he has exhausted me in the last week.

So anyway. WOT-EVVA. I never have to go back there again and I am sick of looking for jobs and juggling the kids and the house and our lives so I am going to take a break. The kids are both in full time daycare and I need to address that situation before it sends us broke, but I don't have to do that right now. Or even tomorrow. I will think about it the next day!

I have been doing a bit of applique this week. Baden and I designed the top one, its supposed to be a dinosaur but ended up looking like a turtle, and the bottom one is actually a turtle.

Now, what was the last post all about then. Well, I got a job, and I wasn't really looking forward to it all that much, every time I thought about it I would feel quite depressed. It just seemed boring and I just thought it was a bit junior for me, and anyway, I lasted three days. It was boring and way too junior for me but mostly it was the boring bit that got me. I hate being bored. The first day was exhausting, the day just dragged. The second day was slightly better, but not much. The third day was full of messages from the universe, all the stars aligned to lead to the point of me knowing that I needed to be elsewhere.

The lesson that I thought I was learning that I think I have realised already is that I need to keep studying and get my degree so I can do what I really want to do with my life. But yeah, as I said, I have already figured that out so was a bit peeved that I seemed to be re-learning it. Anyway, I lasted three days and then I quit.

But I already had another job lined up, which I started today. I was looking forward to starting it, the set up reminded me alot of a job I had years ago which I really enjoyed. So today was the first day and it was really good, I think I am going to like it alot. So...good.

Oh phew, thank goodness for that ay Universe! I think we have things sorted now. I can't say too much until after Wednesday, and I know the last post was a bit dramatic, but all will be revealed in the next few days.

And in the meantime I hope to have some more knitting pics and maybe even some sewing.

And in other news, a wee baby girl was born tonight. In her own home, the midwife didn't make it in time for the big reveal but all went well and the news was on facebook shortly after, lol, I just love that. So very exciting. I have made her a little jacket and can't wait to give it to her but I have a bit of a chest infection at the moment so I will have to be patient and wait for my cooties to go before I meet the Worlds Newest Person.

So I had my first day at work today so this will be brief because I am knackered.

In summary: oh dear.

What the hell are you trying to tell me, Universe? What is the message? I need it loud and clear and very plain and obvious. You know I am not the sharpest tool in the shed.

So, what gives? Seriously.

I think I might sort of know. But why does everything have to be such torment? Is it because I don't pick the messages up till I am slapped in the face with them? Because if so, I think I have got it now. I really think I have got it. But I was already heading there, so wtf?

Here are the results of some of my garage sale activity in the past few weeks. I didn't go last week because I had my poxy accounting exam but I did go the week before and bought a little silver cake stand for $2. I thought it was the most adorable thing and can't wait to have little cakes and sandwiches on it next time I host a baby shower or whatever. And then yesterday I found a matching one, for even less than $2 because it was in with a whole pile of stuff that we paid $5 for. So now I have two adorable silver cake stands.

And the second picture is of a knitting book that I bought for $1. I have borrowed this book from the library at least five times, probably a couple more than that. I knitted the Elmo jumper out of it and consult it all the time for the stitch counts of sleeves and follow the instructions for the neckline. Last time I borrowed it I actually took a photo of the pattern on my phone so I would have it on hand, so I don't need that anymore. So that was an excellent score, very very happy with that.

Last week I had my last week at knitting group before I go back to work. We had a morning tea and it was very nice. Everyone said goodbye and good luck and I got flowers. I don't start my new job till next Wednesday but on Tuesday I have a study group in the morning and then I am going to go to a lecture with my friend Lucy, to see what the Business Law subject is like because I have to do it at some point. I am excited about starting work and a bit nervous, mostly nervous about fitting my life around business hours and making sure the kids are happy and looked after. I am going to give it my very best shot and if it works out that's great and if it doesn't then I will think of something else. You don't know till you try.

I had my Accounting exam this morning. It was pretty horrible actually. I had no sleep thanks to Callum, and my brain felt very foggy. I could tell it was foggy because I had trouble with simple equations and my recall was fuzzy. I am a bit pissed off about that actually because I did study quite hard and shouldn't have to deal with sleep deprivation as well as having to learn all that crap.

So tonight we are trialling a new system called "Callum sleeps in a different room from me and Steve deals with it". I don't care how he does it, I just want to sleep from one end of the night to the other, uninterrupted. Its been a long time. I am looking forward to it and I deserve it.

Yawn.

This is Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. I learnt about this years ago at TAFE and it really resonated with me. The reason I am writing about it now is because it has recently become very apparent to me that I am at the top level at the moment. I have a very strong urge to achieve something significant and be successful. I spent a lot of years in the purple section after a childhood that wasn't terrible but didn't send me off into the world fully equipped so I had a bit of catching up to do in that section and that takes time. Its nice to be above that now and having moved through the green section without really realising it, well sort of realising it I suppose. I think its the result of consistent contentment over the past six years. It's nice.

And now the red is calling me. I am very motivated in my studies. Haaaaate accounting, but I still study. I have an exam on Saturday and I have studied. Hard. I want to pass so I can move on to the next subject. I want to go to uni full time. That's probably do-able but at the moment I have my new job to think about. I still don't actually have a start date though, I had to go for a medical (drug and alcohol test!). I don't take drugs or drink alcohol so I am not too worried about the results of that.

I wish I had done this earlier. I wish I had the drive to succeed earlier, instead of being stuck in the lower segments. I feel ripped off a bit. But what can I do about that? Nothing I suppose. I accept it for what it is. Plenty of years in my life to go. I feel annoyed because I can see that the potential was always there, but I was stuck in the lower segments because of events that weren't of my own doing. Ah well. Here now.

Here now.

Well, I got a job today. So that's cool. I have another interview on Monday as well which I am still going to go to, just in case I like that job better (if I get it of course).

Man I HATE this accounting unit. I really really really HATE it. Its soooooo boring and the lecturer is boring as well, so that is boring x boring which equals boring to the power of a billion.

And even worse, the lecturer is also the one that takes the tutorials and they are one after the other on the same night so its hours and hours of utter boredom. And I am not learning anything either so its boring and confusing which is even worse than just plain boring.

But enough about that. I had an extremely busy week, including hosting a baby shower at my house which was just luffley. I am very blessed to have a great group of girlfriends and we had a very nice day. The weather was beautiful, sunny and warm but not too hot, so the kids ran around outside and played in the sandpit and in the dogs water bucket which is always very popular round here, lol. I was very organised so I wasn't stressing at all, it was all very chilled. And then about ten minutes before everyone was due to arrive a bird flew into my house!! It was flying round and round and round and round and round the loungeroom. I was chasing it and got so dizzy. I was yelling "Bird, get out Bird, you can't be in here Bird, I can't have a bird in my house Bird, BIRD, GET OUT!!". And then he flew into the bathroom. I was a bit frazzled so I just shut the door and forgot about him for a few minutes. When I opened the door he was there flap flap flap, I can't STAND things flapping, I am terrible at things flapping near me, even when the kids get too close to my face flapping around I can't handle it. So I shut the door again!

Then my friend Britt arrived. I greeted her at the door with "There is a bird in my bathroom". She was like "hi, ...um what?". So anyway, I closed all the doors except the back door and opened the bathroom door and ...nothing. No flapping. I had to poke my head in and Bird was sitting in the shower. So anyway, in the end he flew out the door, what a relief. What a madhouse.

And in other news, I have found a family daycare spot for Callum, so he is there today. The lady is very nice and he seems to like her alot, she has a lot of toys. I took him there yesterday for two hours for a little practise run, then he went today for a bit longer. Today he went straight for the paints and I hardly even got a wave goodbye. So he is going to go there two days a week for a few hours so I can get some stuff done and look for a job of some description.

And being away from him for those hours might give me a break from the breastfeeding hormones and get my body kickstarted again so we can try for another baby in the next few months. Personal information on the blog today, lol! We are just thinking about it at the moment but are both pretty set on the idea so we will see what happens. I want to get fit and healthy first though, so I will hit the gym as well. My cousin has an engagement party in October so I want to lose a bit of weight before then as well so I can look nice at the party.

I have had an extremely busy week, I had dental surgery under twilight sedation so my teeth are nearly all fixed, I have to wait six months for the implant to heal properly and then I go back for the permanent ones. My front tooth had a big crack in it and it broke when I was under so he had to dodgy one up out of some stuff and he has given me quite a green coloured one, it looks a bit odd and makes me feel like a bit of a bogan but I guess its character building and in six months it will be all sparkly again so I am trying to be good natured about it.

I have about twenty stitches in my gums and my lip was numb into the third day but its all good now.

And in more exciting news my husband and I went on a date! We went to a Celtic Night at the RSL. I had fun, it was a bit dry but still fun anyway and the food was lovely and I had a few wines. My lovely friend Mel came over and looked after my kids, Baden was very excited about this and is still talking about it so they were obviously fine. It was so nice to be out and just be us and we didn't spend the whole night talking about the kids either. I yakked away with everyone on our table, I was so glad to be out, lol, yak yak yak, about this and that. They had some highland dancers there and I gotta be honest, they were bloody terrible, if it had been my kid dancing like that I would have been snapping my head off, so probably just as well I don't have a kid that does highland dancing! I didn't yak about that though, I kept that to myself, lol.

I missed my bagpipe lesson this week due to the dental work and I am going to wait till the stitches are out. But Baden had another drum lesson and he's going well, and I also enrolled him in Little Athletics. I also missed uni because of the dentist and now I am quietly packing myself about it because I am finding the subject so hard, I am seriously thinking about getting a tutor just to get through it. Accounting is so boring and so lame and I just want it over and done with!

Of all my parenting moments I have recently experienced one of my biggest achievements.

My 5 year old has a bedtime. A real proper official bedtime. It took four and a bit years for me to work out how it all worked, there were no tears and no tantrums and he has taken to it like a duck to water. His bedtime is 7.30pm every night, just like a normal kid! It's amazing!

I started off a few months ago when I had had enough of this feral kid still awake at 9 o'clock every night. He didn't ever go to sleep in his bed he just fell asleep on the couch and then was transferred to bed. We had wanted him to have a bedtime for ages, well, mostly me, Steve didn't seem to care, but I didn't quite know how to go about it. I would never leave my kids to cry themselves to sleep, not ever. I know my beautiful boys will probably cry themselves to sleep at some point, some girl will have broken their heart or they will have faced some disappointment in life, plenty of time for that later.

So, first of all I picked a number, might as well start at 8.30pm for "bedtime", so I told him all about bedtime and he seemed to think it was a good idea so the first night I went in with him and read him about ten stories, then turned out the light and rubbed his back till he fell asleep, it took a couple of hours. What a marathon. But I was determined so the next night I did the same thing. This went on for about a week, then one night he asked to go to bed at 8 o'clock, so off we went at 8 o'clock. Then I decided to see what would happen if I brought it back to 7.30pm, and it went well. He is getting up a lot earlier in the morning, which is good because he used to sleep in so late! I cut the stories back to three and I don't budge on that and now he doesn't ask for more, he knows it's three stories. Pyjamas, brush teeth, wee, hot water bottle filled, three stories. Then I turn out the light and rub his back for five minutes, I tell him when there is a minute left, then I get up and say goodnight, he says goodnight and I walk out.

He is going to bed easily and happily, he is getting up at the same time as Callum in the morning and he is bright and bubbly and happy.

So far I love having a 5 year old. And I love having a kid with a bedtime. I really really really love it. I can't believe I pulled this off, a few months ago it seemed like a miracle that other people did but not us!

For my next trick I would like to get Callum to sleep through the night. I think that really is in 'miracle' territory though...

I have been a mother for five years. I can't believe it. Baden is no longer a baby or even a toddler, he is five years old.

We took him to the Aquarium for his birthday. He had a party at daycare on the Friday. I made the fire engine birthday cake which he loved.

He had a great day. I know this because he told me.

So now that he is five he gets to start all the cool hobbies that I have been hanging out for him to start. First up was drum lessons, he has been asking for a while, I kept trying to steer him towards the guitar but he was quite insistent that he really preferred the drums, so I rang a drum teacher and asked him what he thought. He told me to bring him out for a free trial and he would tell me honestly whether or not he thought Baden was ready. So off we went. I could tell in the first few minutes that he was going to give the all clear. Baden was listening intently to the guy and doing everything he was asked, mainly just counting the beats and drumming four times on each of the drums and using the bass drum with his foot at the same time and remembering previous instructions. He did really well and he looked so cute, this little blondie on this full size drum kit, lol. I was very proud of him. So proper lessons start next week.

And we start athletics soon. Been hanging out for that one. I loved athletics when I was a kid so I have been brainwashing Baden about it since he could walk.

So that's about it for now. One hobby of his own request and one hobby stage mothered, lol. That's enough for now.

I love parenting newborns and babies up till about a year old, then it gets more challenging for me, two and three year old's do my head in, four year old's are a bit non-eventful but five year olds so far are back to being awesome because that's when they start doing fun stuff.

Yesterday was my birthday, I am 42, which according to the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is the answer to everything in the universe. I learnt that when I was in the army and we had a test and one of the questions was how many dimples on a golf ball and I can't remember the actual answer but they said if you had put "42" you would have also been right!

I had a nice enough day. We went to sewing group, I forgot my stabilising paper so couldn't do any applique, grrr, I always forget something. Then the kids and I went to the shops and I bought one of those granny shopping trolleys. I have always wanted one, just waiting till I got old enough, ha ha ha, and yesterday was the day especially since they were on sale! I will use it for sewing group because it so hard dragging my kids and sewing machine and sewing stuff inside.

We went out for dinner, it was nice, it was a buffet so I had a lot of seafood. I got a Spotlight voucher for my birthday which is always nice but I think this is number six so I think I will take it off the list of suggestions, lol.

Gosh, people who have family around them honestly don't know how lucky they are. I wish either Steve or myself had a mother that lived close by, well maybe not me, lol, but I wish I had married someone with a mother close by that we could have babysit our kids sometimes. Even a sister or brother would do! How unlucky can you get that you marry someone who grew up in the area (ish) and their bloody parents have moved far away!!

Its so hard when you have to go to appointments and things, its such a juggling act. Going out anywhere nice is far down the list when you use up your favours on more banal activities like the dentist.

I have a bit of dental work coming up, its going to be very expensive and not much fun, and of course I have to offload Callum so I can go. Steve often takes days off work or I time things so he is already home from work, luckily he starts early and finishes early most days, LUCKILY, that is the most lucky thing about the whole situation. If he worked office hours or had to commute then we would be well and truly stuffed.

Also luckily I have a group of wonderful friends and I am so grateful for them. In particular there are some who are always the first to offer, not empty offers, REAL offers that they go through with, you know who you are, and let me just say I LOVE YOU.

Next year Callum will be old enough to go to the daycare and I can't wait. Just to be able to have some predictability and to be able to time things around days when he is there, even one day a week will be fabulous. I know he will be fine there, he already makes himself at home when we pick up Baden and Baden will be there at the start before he starts big school in February I am going to start Callie there in the christmas holidays.

In the meantime, I might look into family daycare or something one day a week for Callum, even a few hours a week would be very handy to run around and do things. Baden was such an easy baby, I used to take him everywhere, he came with me to the dentist once and he also used to come to the chiropractor, he would sit in his stroller just quietly watching. Callum won't even sit in the damn stroller to start with, lol, he is not the best shopping companion either. He has different good points though, he is very lovable but really really shit at sitting quietly in the pram. You know it's true Callum!!

Aussie aussie aussie, oi oi oi. Its official, I am Australian.

I attended the ceremony and received my certificate on Monday night, that's me shaking the mayor's hand. I have actually met the mayor before, we got our heads in the local paper when we planted some trees together at the local skate park, well, the council worker planted them and the mayor and I turned up and threw a bit of mulch on them and said "cheese". The neighbourhood centre where I go to knitting group donated the trees, and I am on the committee of the neighbourhood centre and nobody else could go (or wanted to) during the day so I was volunteered to go and plant the trees with the mayor.

He remembered me, I had to remind him of course, but he definitely remembered me, which was lovely. And after the ceremony (which was just wonderful by the way, bagpipes and everything) we got talking to the local MPs and they gave me their business cards etc and said if there were any issues I was to let them know. Next election will be my very first vote in my life. When I became eligible to vote in NZ I couldn't be bothered, and its not compulsory and I didn't give a fig about politics. Then I moved to aussie and wasn't allowed to vote anyway. Since having children I have become very interested in politics and I will enjoy having my chance to vote.

Anyway, being the good kiwi girl that I am (bwahaha) I like to save a buck where possible, so the next day it was off to the uni with my certificate of australian citizenship to see if I could put my degree on tick like everybody else. And the answer was "yes", so I am continuing.

I got my results back and I passed the unit with distinction and got 87% on my final essay and got some very inspiring comments so I am going to keep plugging away at it and I am very happy about that.

My little family came and watched me become a citizen and a couple of my girlfriends Ains and Mel came along, I felt very loved. And the guy behind the flag in the photo above? That's Mel's uncle, who she didn't know would be there, how random is that, lol. He was handing the plants out. We got given a native plant each.

And Callum reached his arms out to give one of the politicians a cuddle so in another photo there is Steve and I and Baden and the mayor and the local MPs and there's Callum being held by the pollie, lol, gawd he's so cute. Callum I mean, not the pollie.

Still loving the applique although I have been distracted by the patchwork a bit. My course has finished but I didn't finish my quilt. Aww. But my teacher said I could go to her house one day and finish it, so I might do that or I might go to some patchwork classes that are at a shop near me.

In other news, I have decided to withdraw from my uni course. Another aww. I know its a bit sad but there is some stuff happening around here and uni is very far down the list at the moment. I am going to do it, just not right now. I am definitely going to continue though, I really enjoyed it and was doing really well, I get my final result next week and that unit I did will be credited when I do go back so it wasn't a waste of time. When I go back I will be an australian citizen so I will be able to put it all on tick, which will be much more fun that having to pay it all up front! I will probably do some classes during the day, I am just waiting for Callie to get a bit older, I am not quite ready to leave him yet.

Speaking of older, its my birthday this month, gawd, and of course its Baden's as well, a week after mine. He will be turning five. If we lived in NZ he would be off to school, but here everyone starts on the same day at the beginning of the year so he has to wait until January. I enrolled him the other day and they have orientation in October. He is very excited.

The other baby has arrived, made us wait till 44 weeks, far out. A healthy little girl named Saffron, what a beautiful name. It's my cousins name too.

Patchwork yesterday was a bit of a bust, I bought 'wadding' instead of 'batting'. Traps for young players, I did ask the folk at Spotlight but you can't rely on them anyway so it serves me right. I got the borders put on anyway. Next week is the last week. I have learnt alot. The main thing I have learnt is that I need a craft room, and that project is well underway now.

My husband was very busy while I was at patchwork class. I sold Baden's car bed because he never slept in the blimmen thing so the lady came and picked that up and Steve took the kids out to the garage sales I now have a new bookcase for my craft room. I was looking at one at Vinnies during the week for $60 but this one is MUCH nicer, same style but bigger and newer, and it cost $30 so I like it even more LOL. And clever hubby also bought a long sideways mirror which is what I have been  harping on about since we bought our house, that our loungeroom wall needs a long sideways mirror. It cost $60 at another garage sale and I am absolutely stoked with it. Well done hubby.

Babies, babies everywhere at the moment. One was just born the other day, one is still cooking but due any minute, a few women in my 'mother's group' are preggers at the moment which is very exciting, and my next door neighbour is pregnant with a little boy after having two girls so she is very excited. I think that little bloke who is going to live next door will have quite a few jumpers handed down to him in the next few years.

I have been knitting a lot in the last couple of days, trying to get my unfinished projects finished so I can start knitting straight away when my order from Bendigo Woollen Mills arrives for the jumper I am going to knit for Baden. He goes to school next year so this winter is the last one that he will need more than one jumper because the kids wear a uniform at primary school over here. So I better get cracking. I finished one little cardigan today, I am nearly finished Callum's dachshund jacket, pics will follow soon, I have another cardigan for him that I have totally lost the love for and I have a little vest for a little buddy of mine that I need to do the neckband and the ribbing around the sleeves. I need to get cracking on that too.

There are a few other things I want to make. Mostly little baby girl cardigans. One is called Little Butterflies, I was going to buy the pattern but I really wanted to take a look at it first because sometimes I buy things and then don't use them, which pisses me off. The worst part about buying online is that you can't flick through the pattern before you commit to buying it. In a shop you can look through it and get an idea of whether or not its something you would want to knit. And you can't re-sell them if you don't use them. I don't mind spending money on a pattern but I don't like wasting money on a pattern that I don't end up using so I am being very picky lately.

The other one I am looking at is called 'In Threes' which is very cute but I am not sure if I want to buy the pattern or not, because it's in worsted weight so I would have to do some maths to put it into 8 ply and by the time I have done all that I could probably just design something of my own or just knit something I have already paid for and just change it slightly. Hmm. Anyway. I will think about it. So far I have decided on nothing! Sometimes I think its easier to design something of your own than follow someone else's instructions anyway so I might design my own 'Go To' baby girl pattern.

I have knitted a couple of pairs of booties and done quite a bit of applique lately. And my patchwork is coming along nicely. Steve spilt coke on my squares last night so my craft room idea is also coming along quickly. I need to get the hell off the dining room table and I can't even articulate how much I would love a door between my craft work and sticky grabby little fingers. It's going to be FABULOUS!!!!

Well, looks like there was a bit of a personality transplant around here after all. Total surprise, a very lovely and unexpected one.

Tomorrow is Worldwide Knit in Public Day and there is a gathering in the city but I will be Patchworking in Private so I can't make it.

Its also our wedding anniversary. I don't think we are doing anything for it, maybe go up to the RSL for dinner with the kids or something, but I must confess that it's not a day that I get all sentimental over. I mean, I love being married and I am glad that we did get married but I don't really see the fuss about the anniversary of the day we got married. I mean, we chose that day, it didn't happen by chance or karma or destiny or magic or anything, we just decided on it. We eloped to Fiji so it didn't matter what day of the week we got married so I decided I would like to get married on a Wednesday because I'm a quirky bugger and Steve had no real preference for any particular day, so the Wednesday that we were there just happened to be 18th June. That's it.

I am, however, a sentimental old fewwwwl about the day we *met*. I love that day. I get a bit calf-eyed about that day and ramble all day about it and ask my husband silly questions about what his first impression of me was and whether or not he dreamed we would get married one day and how weird it would be if we hadn't met, blah blah blah blah blah. Every year. Same conversation, same questions. I love it. But that's in January, not tomorrow.

So there won't be anything much happening tomorrow except of course if my husband takes it upon himself to provide a whirlwind of surprise romance that he has lovingly planned down to the last detail.

So, barring a personality transplant around here, nuffing much, ha ha. And that's fine on this occasion. Although dinner at the RSL will be nice, we don't get out much so anywhere is fabulous, and the RSL serves a buffet which is beautiful. So I am happy.

But anyway, I have patchwork in the morning while the unromantic, gorgeous, kind, honest, hardworking and dependable man who married me looks after our babies. Sadly I am not as good at patchwork as I hoped I would be. In fact, I think I suck at it a bit. I hope I improve because I want to be good at it. I spent the whole four hours last week cutting out my material and three and a half hours into it I realised that my tape measure is out by one millimetre because my kid has stretched it while being a superhero and tying up bad guys. So all my patches are out by one millimetre which means I will spend tomorrow re-cutting my fabric. Grrrr. One millimetre doesn't sound like a big deal but it will mean that the whole thing is bollocksed and I think I should start off doing things by the book.

I am going to try and actually get something done, because its the third week and it only goes for five weeks.

A plain long sleeve T shirt, a rainy day, a 4 year old who is mad about fire engines and his mother who is mad about applique. The fire on the sleeve was Baden's idea, which I thought was pretty cool. It was very fiddly to do though and I won't be doing it again, but it looks awesome.

And of course he LOVES it, which is the main thing!

Last week we bought a new dishwasher because the one that came with the house died. It was a long slow death but when it was over it was definitely over. I think Callum helped it along, he is a Button Pusher Extraordinaire. I often find clothes in the washing machine still dry because the sneaky little munchkin has wandered in when I have left the door open and turned the bloody thing off.

But we can't blame him for the oven because he can't reach that. So that is this week's appliance on the blink. It has been on the way out for ages, it's probably as old as the house. It's brown, which was all the rage once I am sure! We had to use a special door-staying-closed device when it was cooking, to keep the heat in. But last night I tried to close the door and the whole thing just went WHUMP and now we need the door-staying-closed device on the whole time just to stop the door falling down. The door for the grill fell off a while ago, lol, gawd.

We wanted to renovate our whole kitchen, which meant we were going to get everything all lovely and shiny at that time so we just put up with it, but now it has become more of a one at a time kind of situation. It would have been nice to be able to plan it a bit more because there are a few things we want to change around.

But we're getting there anyway, the fridge was replaced not so long ago, replacing my little old single-gal-living-in-a-granny-flat one with a lovely big stainless family-sized jobby. Exactly the same situation with the microwave. And now the new dishwasher matches, and the new oven will match both of those. Noice.

Colour guide - tells you all the colours that are in this piece of fabric!

What I have chosen so far, need one more.

And the cotton.

So, I went to my patchwork course and I looooooooved it. My first project is a 42 square basic quilt. I love this idea because you can do anything you like on the squares, applique, whatever. I am just making a plain one first to get the gist of it all, but I am going to make one at home at the same time. So I will go to class and do one, then come home and do what I learnt on another one.

I already learnt heaps. I have trouble matching colours of fabrics, that is my biggest weakness, but I learnt that there is a colour guide on the bottom of the fabric. Holy cow, that's bloody magic!! Just learning that little gem was worth the price of the course, lol. So I have already bought my fabric and it was much easier to match it all up. I would love a few squares of chenille in this one, I think it would look awesome, but chenille is a bit hard to find at the moment.

And I bought the cotton, its 100% cotton,  not the usual polyester thread I buy. I dunno why, the lady told me to buy it and I bought it. And I already have a rotary cutter and ruler and mat. So I am all set.

The best part was that I could come home and go through all my old craft magazines and didn't have to flick past the patchwork pages.

I am really looking forward to next week's class. There were some ladies there who started last term and they have made so much cool stuff, after just one term. Promising. Very promising.

Okay, so uni is finished for the semester. Next semester I am thinking of doing a unit on Business Law which looks quite interesting.

So I am on holidays now, I get to say 'I am on holidays' now that I am at uni one night a week, because you can tell the difference between that and the rest of my life, ha ha.

We are thinking of heading down to see the inlaws because Steve's brother is down from the Gold Coast. They haven't been back for about fifteen years due to family dramas. When we got married I thought I was marrying into this lovely little normal family...HA!

And I finally went and got my throat checked, its been bugging me for months but everything else always got in the way, stupid pelvis, stupid arthritis, I didn't have time or energy to check out stupid throat, but it was getting too annoying. Anyway, doctor thinks maybe thyroid is enlarged or something, have to get some more tests. I have no idea why this has happened, I don't know of any family history, tis all a bit random.

And I have been busily knitting and doing a bit of sewing. I start my patchwork course on Saturday. squeeee, I hope its as good as I am, um, hoping, lol. I am doing lots of applique and having fun. Today I discovered a product called FrayStop, so now I think I have discovered everything there is to discover about applique and can now just get on with it. I am quietly thinking of opening a wee etsy shop or something, but that is just a speck of an idea that is currently germinating and could go either way really let's be honest, lol.

Look at my cute baybeeee!! He is so funny, there was no music, just the voices in his head ha ha. He is so lovely and funny I love him so much. My favourite part is when he stops drumming to join in the backing vocals, or whatever the heck it is he is doing, ha ha ha.

I have just finished my final assignment for the unit I am doing at uni. I have thoroughly enjoyed studying this unit and I have learnt so much. It has been quite difficult at times, I think my husband was more supportive in theory than in reality, but I have managed to finish and I am quietly confident that my essay is a Pass. I did my absolute one-hundred percent best so that's all I can do. So my last workshop is Thursday but since I am finished I get to bludge until then. And then I have to decide what unit to do next...!

I started a little dachshund cardigan for Callie and ran out of wool so I am currently awaiting more for that, so I put it to one side.

Then I started another one, top down seamless plain cardigan in some Bendigo Classic that was originally going to be a cardigan for me (so I have lots of it!), and now I have got to the body part and have decided to put some intarsia on there, maybe a giraffe or something, but I don't have any other 12 ply so I have to get some more, so I will just put that aside for the moment...

So...um...I guess I will start something else at knitting group tomorrow!!! I might re-start the Olearia that went a bit awry recently. I started on the needles specified in the pattern because I have been getting gauge in most things lately so I didn't bother to check, but it was far too tight, so I need to go up a needle size, just like in the good ole days.

I saw this little skull jumper the other day at David Jones and thought it was lovely. It's just machine made out of acrylic of course, but I love the hood, how the stitches are picked up from the bottom of the neckband and I love the colours and the stripes. I am going to steal the idea for my own designs. I think I would put a cashmere mix or a really nice soft acrylic in the hood so its lovely and soft around the neck.

I took a photo of the price too. Eighty dollars for a machine knit acrylic jumper that is probably made in China. I wonder how much the machine operator was paid for their efforts. People always ask me to knit things for their kids and offer to pay me but I have never agreed to do so and I never would. I don't knit with cheapo plasticky acrylic for a start, so a quality acrylic or acrylic and wool mix is going to be at least five dollars a ball and a four year old needs about seven or eight balls of wool. And then there is the hours of knitting, it takes hours and hours to knit a jumper. That is when I get a chance of course. And then there is the time to factor in which is pretty precious to me these days and I have a queue a mile long of things I want to make that I will never get to.


And I have my doubts that people are even talking about something close to eighty dollars when they are speaking of this payment they want to make.
I love to make gifts for people though. Of things I want to make because I felt like it.


Anyway, not sure of the point of this really. Maybe the irony of something so cheap and nastily made being $80 in a poncy shop but real quality made with love in every stitch is viewed as being something you can buy on the cheap. Well, you can't. Not from me anyway. Go and ask someone's nanna ;)

Top pics is sheeps. There was a pattern but I just nicked the idea rather than follow the pattern. And the bottom picture is my socks wot didn't win nuffing at the Show. Callum  has worn sheeps nearly every day, its been so cold lately.

I think the pink jumper that I mentioned in my last post is going to jumper heaven. Its sitting on my knitpicks cable with my 5mm's and as soon as I take it off for another project then I am going to pronounce it dead. I hate knitting it and I have a million other things to do that are more fun.

At the moment I am dyeing some Bendigo Luxury 10ply. Its cream, I bought it for another project that is now also dead, Rest in Peace Arwen. I am dyeing the yarn orange and will probably make a Baby Yoda out of it.

I also have another idea for a jumper for Callum. I have seen an idea that I am going to nick and do my own pattern. But in the meantime I have started an Olearia cardigan for my next door neighbour's little girl.

Anyway, all this lingo. At least I know what I am talking about.

Mostly :)

Been a bit absent lately, have been busy but nothing worth blogging about unfortunately.

I have one more assignment to go before I finish my unit and then have to decide what to do next. The government has just kindly announced that in the next budget they are removing the substantial discount for paying your uni fees upfront. Thanks very friggin much, just when I start, how bloody typical. So there's an extra couple of hundred dollars down the gurgler.

Speaking of things that gurgle, our dishwasher has packed it in, so we went shopping for a new one today. And we looked at vacuum cleaners as well. How very domestic.

In knitting news, I am currently knitting a jumper for myself, out of Jo Sharp cotton. I bought it ages ago and it cost a lot of money, and I had a project in mind for it, but then decided not to go ahead, so its been sitting there. I impulsively cast on for this project after a lady at knitting group made it. But anyway, I already hate it. I hate knitting with cotton, and I hate Jo Sharp cotton the most. I am not sure if it will survive, but part of me wants to beat it at it's own game, because if I abandon it then its going to sit there forever, a sad little pile with part of the cotton knitted, from over a hundred dollars worth of poxy cotton, leaving not-enough balls of unknitted cotton to do anything. It does happen around here, but not usually with that much expense.

I have another project which is adorable and I am enjoying. A teeny babby sweater. But more about that later.

I have a few other things to finish off. I am a terrible finisher-offer. A great starter and a great muller-overer, but not a great finisher. I take the finishing work to knitting group because I can sit and yak and it forces me to get it done because there is nothing better to do.

Sewing group has started up at the same place as knitting group now. For two hours every Monday. So I sit and sew for two hours every Monday while someone watches my kids for two bucks. Then on Tuesday I sit and knit for three hours while someone watches my kids for two bucks. Sewing group was my idea. I just need to think up a few more groups for all the other days of the week and I will never have to look after my own kids ha ha ha.