New beginnings

I can't even tell you what a relief it is to have resigned from my job. Partly I wish I'd done it sooner so that I could be FINISHED already but of course I've had to give notice which means I'll be back there for the next two weeks. Considering I only do three shifts a week it's not so much of an imposition but you know....

So now, apart from the hours I am attending uni (which is the equivalent of two and a bit days per week but spread over four days, thanks because that's convenient) and the couple of hours I spend coaching, my time is my own. Obviously I have out-of-class work to do, and there's plenty of that... but apart from that, I can think of SO MANY THINGS to do with my new spare time that if I'm not careful I'll end up just as time-poor as I was before.

So here are some ideas/options I'm pursuing:

- Firstly I only attend classes Monday to Thursday. Previously I worked whatever hours I wasn't in class which was CRAZY so I've been taking Fridays off to do my uni work. Now that I'll (hopefully) be able to do the uni work on those four days instead of WORKING, I'm planning to keep Annabelle home on Fridays rather than send her to child care. That will save $65/wk in fees as well as give me a bit more time with her, which I'm very happy about.

- I've registered my interest in doing some behavioural therapy work with autistic and learning delayed children in their homes. It isn't very well paid but I think it would be great experience and obviously I have an interest in working with kids. You do two x 2hr sessions per week with each child and they require you to work with 2 children minimum to keep up your registration once you're trained, so that would fill 2 x half days. I'm still a bit unsure about it because it also requires travel to their homes and I don't want to end up feeling stretched, but I'm going in for a meeting to find out more about it next week (I hope). It can't hurt to check it out.

- Yesterday I went and looked at a healing centre which has a room available for rent a couple of days per week. The idea would be to rent the room for a day or half-day to do coaching because a few coaching clients would easily replace the lost income from my job. The centre is perfect. There are other practitioners in there doing naturopathy, acupuncture & chinese medicine, kinesiology, counselling, reiki etc and the building itself has a great vibe about it. It's also in a fantastic location with lots of foot traffic and easy parking. The problem is I DON'T HAVE ANY CLIENTS HERE so I can't justify paying for the room. But if I don't pay for the room, how do I get the clients? *sigh* What to do?

... So I think I just accounted for all my spare hours plus a few more didn't I? Still, it's great to have a feeling of choice and options instead of the feeling of being completely stifled and restricted and overwhelmed which is how I have been feeling these past months.

As Big Kev would say "I'M EXCITED!" :)

And now I'm off to do a step class for the first time in about ten years so wish me luck with that.

Swine flu funnies

I love that my friend's kid wanted to stay home and play with Transformers today because he reckons he's got "the pig cold". How bloody cute is that?

And thanks to Kezza for forwarding me this gem.



oh and of course.. How did the pig get on the roof?

It flu.

boom boom

well.... I did Y

And to be honest, in the end... X might have been a small part of the decision but ultimately I just really wanted to do Y for a whole range of other personal reasons. X was an excuse. But I didn't need one.

I feel like a weight has been lifted.

Today I resigned from my job. HOORAH!!!!

Decisions...

I said if X happened I would do Y.

Well it looks like X is going to happen. Now my logical mind is questioning my decision to do Y. But I think I need to do Y. Not just because of X, just for my overall sanity and life balance.

Have to go. If I make any life-changing decisions, you'll be the first to know. Well... you'll probably be more like the 17th to know but you know what I mean.

later x

Hi Ho, Hi Ho....

Well it was back to uni and back to work for me this week. I have to say that while it is only Tuesday so still very early days, I'm feeling surprisingly motivated and perhaps even quietly confident about getting through the rest of semester. Even if the rest of semester does involve a piece of assessment being due EVERY. SINGLE. GODDAMN. WEEK!

I'm calm. I'm in control. I've got a study plan dammit. I am the epitome of Serenity Now. I don't know if it's all that St John's Wort I've been dosing up on, or if the break really did me more good than I thought but whatever it is, I just hope it keeps up for the next nine weeks...



In other news to hand, Maverick left for Singapore today to do a hideously expensive course paid for by his company. It involved lots of pre-reading so he's been up at all sorts of crazy hours trying to keep on top of that as well as his uni course and his job. I honestly don't know how he functions during the day, but he does.

And Annabelle of course gets more and more gorgeous but you knew that already. I hate long days like today when she's in child care from 8am to 5.30pm. Not just because it's an awfully long day for her, but I miss her SO much and feel like I didn't get to see her at all. I'm still teeter-toitering around the idea of leaving work so I can cut down one of her child-care days. Funny that I never seem any closer to a decision about that. hmmm....

Animal Barn Fun

Miss Annabelle and I went with some friends to the Animal Barn this week. It's at Hahndorf about 20 minutes from the city. Hahndorf is a gorgeous little German-themed village in the hills. It has lots of specialty stores - puppets, candles, beeswax, alpaca wool... really niche type things. And of course being German themed there is a Birkenstock store. My favourite!

I wish I'd taken pics of the actual town because it is stunning at the moment with the autumn colours. The main street through the village has arching trees that form a canopy over the top and right now the oranges and yellows of the trees are amazing. It was a rainy day too so it would have been a gorgeous photo. Ah well.

Here are some pics of the animal barn anyway.

Umbrellas out, people.

I have to credit my Aunty Julie for these gems. I don't know where she finds this stuff. She clearly spends too much time on the internet. tsk.

So first there was this: (just watch it, trust me)



And as you are about to learn it was totally worth enduring, only so you can appreciate this fabulous piece of work.

A Gaythering Storm from Jane Lynch

Have you tried the hangman game yet?

Well have you? It's quite fun! I put these things here to entertain you so I hope you enjoy them.

This is a test

I just set up email posting and this is supposed to post straight to my blog.

If that's the case then WOWEE there'll be no stopping me. :-D

I love it