I'm so bloody tired

I don't mean a bit tired from a restless night, I mean chronically exhausted from working + child-rearing + coaching + housework + administrivia + never getting an unbroken night's sleep... everything. No break. Ever. I crave a holiday like you would not believe. I have no mental space, no inspiration, no creativity, no urge to have a conversation with anyone about anything because my brain doesn't function. I struggle to even relax and read a book because I can't concentrate on the words on the page. I struggle to meditate because I doze off.

Last Friday I dropped Annabelle at daycare early so I could sit in a cafe and have a coffee before work. I bought a take-away quiche while I was there and put it in the fridge at work for lunch. Not two hours later, someone at work asked me what I had for lunch and if I wanted to share a tin of tuna. I said I didn't have anything and actually handed over money to someone to go out and buy me a tomato and avocado so I could make a sandwich. I kicked myself for not buying something at the coffee shop. No shit. I TOTALLY forgot I had bought that quiche until I was making a quiche at home on Sunday. Duh!!

And how about this one? I'm up to about Take 893 when it comes to getting passports for Annabelle and I. Every time I think I'm good to go, I read through the application and realise I've forgotten something. Last week I realised I needed my marriage certificate and I appear to have lost it. So I have to send away urgently for that fricken thing so I can then send away urgently for the other fricken thing. No worries. Downloaded the form, ticked the boxes, photocopied my ID, calculated the fee and sent it off between my gazillion other things to do for the day. Got a phone call today from the NSW Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages...
"Sorry Mrs Dunn, I can't process your application".
"Oh really? Why not?"
"Well it says here you got married in Brisbane"
"Yes, that's right"
"Errr.. Mrs Dunn, we're the NEW SOUTH WALES Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages".

I'm so bloody tired.

Oh fucken jeezus, Dad...

.. is what Annabelle said to Mel this afternoon when he was telling her off for something. She has also been heard to say it to her Dora doll in general conversation. Something along the lines of "Here Dora, Let's go to the shop. What you want Dora? Lollies?? Ok. And marshmallows? Ok. Do your seatbelt Dora. Good girl. Ok let's go. Oh Dora, you crying? I give you cuddle. Better now? ok. *sigh* Fucken jeezus Dora....!"

There's a five year old boy at her daycare who is constantly in the Director's office on "detention". He's got a foul mouth and a crappy attitude. Apparently LOTS of parents are complaining about their kids' picking up bad language. Amazing that one child could have that much influence in a centre of 80 kids.

Fucken Jeezus.

ok, this is the last change

I changed the design of my new blog (again), deleted the trivia posts and added some pictures, so I think I'm ready to start fully blogging again. I've changed the settings so you can get to it by typing my URL of www.cassandradunn.com.au and I'm about to delete my Typepad blog which I pay about $10 a month for because this one is FREEEEE!!!

I still need to fix up some links like on the Store page and add some content, but so far I'm happy with how it's looking.

I cancelled my interview for Org Psych today

HA!!! I cancelled it! Who does that?! All the cool kids are scurrying around Adelaide attending interviews left right and centre and hoping to goodness they get into any course that will take them so they don't end up without an offer and having to get a *gasp* JOB!! And here I am cancelling the damn interview when someone else much more worthy could have had that spot.

I'm so proud of myself because the instant I did it (like half an hour before I was due to front up for it :-0) I felt a great sense of relief. And not just relief for getting out of an interview but for getting out of that feeling of obligation like you *should* do something just because you've been offered it. No matter how much you actually don't want to do it! I was reading through the course description today and no kidding I was gagging at the thought of it. Not a good sign.

Not to mention that my job that I thought I hated and needed to leave, is actually much better now. I had my performance appraisal with the Big Boss this week and it was really good. So I could handle staying there and helping homeless kids, not to mention paying off our mortgage for a bit.

Which isn't to say I wouldn't take an offer for Clinical Masters if it presented itself, but not Org Psych. Org Psych sucks dogs balls. Someone else can totally have my place.

Who said it sucks?

Ok, own up. Is it one of you or is it some spammer?? I noticed my new blog has got like.. 84 hits :-0 which is just mainly from people searching for images (and stealing my bloody images which I bloody well pay for but that's another whinge).

So anyway, I noticed a few votes in my poll and I know the positive votes came from some of you because I can see that the only links to there were from here (I can see what's going on, don't you worry about that). But now I'm getting all these randoms ending up on my site and they're saying my image header sucks and I want to know if it really sucks or if it's someone just being mean or if it's something thinking they're being funny.

So fess up it was you. And you can't just say it sucks, you have to say what it should be instead.

PS. I haven't heard anything about any Masters courses yet. *pouts* I think I can safely say that's a big fat NO from Flinders, but I won't hear about Adelaide Uni (Health Psych) until later in the week, or even next week or the week after..?! And I have one more interview. It is very nerve wracking, let me tell you but I'm almost at the point of not caring less. I will write a new post about that.

How my interview went

I've been a bit tardy in giving the update, mainly because my head kept spinning for hours afterwards. I had NO idea what to expect from this interview. I mean it's a uni course FFS! I had called my friend Hayley from 4th year (we topped the whole school and she is doing Clinical Masters at Bond now, the smarty pants) and she told me about some interviews she'd had and said they were hard so I started to crap my pants then. But I knew it was only 20 minutes. And really... how much can you get grilled in 20 minutes?

WELL.... let me just tell you. They asked the obvious one of why I want to do their course and what I intend to do with the qualification. You'd think you'd be expecting that one but I'm sure I sounded like a blithering idiot. Then it was your relevant professional experience. Ok, that was easy. Then they got harder. They had a sample referral letter from a GP with minimal information in it and you had to say what info you would be seeking to get from the initial assessment with the client. They asked a scenario question about a new treatment being advertised and how you'd decide if you would use it with your client. They asked about a time I'd received unfavourable feedback and how I handled it. And about what I would do if I found myself unable to meet course requirements due to personal issues.

Seriously, all this in TWENTY MINUTES! I felt like I'd been put through the wringer by the end of it.

When I got back to work afterward it, I had an email inviting me for another interview - this time for Organisational Psych at Uni of Adelaide so that made me feel better at least to have more options if I totally fucked it up. Though Org Psych is not my first preference that's for sure. On Monday I have an interview for Health Psychology at Uni of Adelaide. That would be better but still not my first preference. The best thing that could happen is that I get a call on Monday morning telling me I got accepted into Clinical at Flinders so I can cancel the other interviews. I SO do not want to do more interviews.

eeeeekkk

I got another interview. This time for Health Psychology at Adelaide Uni. Now that is good and bad. It's not Clinical which was my first preference but Adelaide Uni is very prestigious so it's good that I got shortlisted for anything at all! Anyway, I did NO health psych subjects in my undergrad degree so I'm not sure that's a good thing, but it's about using psych in a health context - promoting good health and also counselling sick people. Not sure it's what I really want but if it's my only option, I'll do it.

But I don't have time to be nervous about that one yet because in 2 hours and 20 minutes I have to front up for my Clinical interview at Flinders. I'm totally crapping my pants. Will keep you posted.

Do you like this picture?

I was thinking of using it on my new coaching blog and also on my new brochures that I'm having printed. I thought it was quite cute and even though it doesn't yell "coaching", it does say balance and peace and it's quite bright and funky and would appeal to women I think (well it appeals to me, anyway). But that's what a lot of clients ultimately are looking for.

Have a look at it on my new coaching blog/website that I've been working on and tell me if you think it works. On MY NEW COACHING BLOG I can change the image at the top to anything I want, so if you think a different kind of picture would work better, feel free to offer suggestions.

Family Fun Day

We had Mel's work's family Xmas day out on Sunday and it really was a good day. Here are some pics.

In the jumping castle (took a while to warm up to the idea but in the end we couldn't drag her out. Had to bribe her in fact).



Annabelle with the clown, who is actually one of Mel's staff members. Wasn't sure what to make of the clown, or anyone else wearing funny hats or suits.


Loved the face painting though. Walked around holding her hand up in the air as if the butterfly was actually sitting on it. Too cute.


Pony rides. Lasted all of about 5 seconds. Ponies and clowns both in the "dodgy" category.


Santa. Also dodgy. But if he's got a present, she'll sit on his lap for as long as it takes.


Finally a present!


She does love a good book. And mum and dad didn't even have to pay for this one. Even better!


And me and her together. We actually have NO photos of us together because I'm the one always holding the camera. It shits me, so every now and then I force Mel to take photos of us. They usually turn out ugly and I delete them, but I think this one is ok.

I got an interview

I got a call from Flinders University inviting me for an interview for the Masters of Clinical Psychology. It's this Friday and apparently will only go for 20 minutes (that sounds easy). If I get accepted, or put on the short list, I will get a phone call before next Tuesday.

What this means is that if I get accepted into Flinders, we could potentially still get our trip to Fiji (YAY!!) because uni wouldn't start until March and we could go after school holiday season at the end of January. The problem with UniSA is that classes start on 27th January so we'd have to go on holidays before then, which sucks the big one because there is NOTHING available. Not that I can afford to be picky and choosy when it comes to Masters programs but you know.. if I can manage an island holiday AND a Masters degree, I would be very happy.

So please send me all your positive vibes!!