{vent ahead} Relationships

Today I called my Pop to say hello.. last night I realised I hadn't spoken with him in over 10 weeks and I was appalled at how fast time goes by & how my family over recent years has seemed to drift apart where communication is concerned.  I know, I know, life is busy.. there is always something to do, but have we really gotten so busy that we no longer have time to check in with our loved ones, just for a quick chat or a pop in to say hello?

I saw my Dad the other day, must have been the first time since Christmas, his visits are always so far and few between that I start to worry when he shows up.. He popped in between jobs to see Mr 1. who he has probably only seen  4 times in nearly 2 years. When my parents lived next door I saw them daily, but now they live 1 hour away this isnt uncommon.

Mum I see at least once a week, we usually speak every other day and i'm sure this sounds great to many, but it isn't where we used to be at. It too has been a deteriorating relationship. Predominantly due to stress & busyness. 

My inlaws are also strangers to both Hubby & I. Ask him what his parents are up to & he wouldnt have a clue. We once found out they were on holidays through his workplace, we didnt even know where they'd gone until my eldest Stepson told us. We usually see them every other weekend as they tend to pop in only when my Stepchildren are home. which used to bother me no end, but now I figure its the norm & I can live with that.  My Mother in Law isn't one who will go shopping, chat with me or pop in for coffee when the kids are at school  (not that I drink coffee). That was the relationship that Mum had with my Dads Mum, but I guess I just lucked out in the extended family warmth side of things. It's all standard issue when it comes to the in laws.  
As far as the majority of my family goes, we are big talkers & we are close but I'm finding that were speaking less of late too; 

My Nan rang me the other day, we hadn't spoken in about 1 month we had a quick chat on the phone and caught up on all the in's and out's of what has been going on over the past four weeks, it was nice.. and afterwards I always think ~ I must call more, we must catch up more.. but it never happens.. days turn to weeks and sometimes weeks to months.

Friendships is another area.. Don't get me started on that!   Remind me, what are friends again? Because i really have no idea & I think social media makes it worse because you are constantly reminded of all the events you are not invited too & see that other people out there actually have decent friends. I have drifted away from a lot of my friends over the past 12 months & whilst it doesn't really bother me at the same time, it's that lack of communication... No one said to me, I don't like it when you said this.. Or I don't like it when you do that.. People just drift away for no apparent reason or just stop caring.. 

Normally I'm too busy to notice all of the above, as I said days turn to weeks & weeks to months very quicky, but lately I have found myself feeling more & more isolated with no one to talk to & it's sad in reflection. No one to share thoughts with or bounce ideas off of. No one to vent to or even feel close to. No one to share the good or the bad with. {aside from Hubby of course} which the poor man has to hear it all. 

I guess it's called 'effort' and with time {if I ever find any!} ill keep making those phone calls & trying to strengthen these flailing relationships. Because family & friends are important at the end of the day ~ I just don't feel very important at the moment. 

{vent over} 

Sorry but I thought getting all this off my chest might serve as good therapy. Hey it's a lot cheaper than a psychologist :) 

P.S if any of the afore mentioned folks read this, please no pity visits, if your attitude changes radically overnight it won't be too hard to realise that you've read my blog post :) 

Wordless Wednesday - Wednesday 29th May 2013

Today's pictures come from the past two weekends! We purchased some 'end of season' VIP passes to Seaworld, Movieworld and Wet & Wild, so have spent the past couple of weekends visiting each of the parks.  So far we have been to Sea World twice & Movieworld once.. it's a bit too cold for Wet & Wild so we probably won't get to that before the end of June when the passes expire! We've been to all the theme parks before, but the kids never tire of it and it was exciting taking Charlie along as he's older and could go on a few of the rides in the kids sections (these rides are more my style anyways!)

Enjoy :)

Connecting with Trish from My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday!http://mylittledrummerboys.blogspot.com.au/?m=1

Day 19. Blogs I love..

Quite clearly I haven't been 'blogging every day in May' as I have fallen behind quite a bit.  However, i'v decide to pick up and start from today again with 5 blogs I love; 

1.  Sunny Side Up :  I love, love, LOVE this blog.. I have read it for such a long time now and find so much inspiration and awe inspiring beauty in Erin's posts.. what about the new house? Amazing, a girl with 5 kids could only DREAM of a house like that.  This blog is definitely worth a read if you haven't before. 

2.  A Little Delightful:  Bianca's blog is very pretty and has always been one that I enjoy reading. 

3. Mummy Smiles is another blog I have always enjoyed reading. 

And a few I have recently picked up on;

4. Life Love and Hiccups &

5. Mummy Daze 

These plus many others always offer a great read when I have a spare five seconds to actually read blogs.  Which I don't get much spare time to do anymore, but when I do, it's nice to know they are a great go-to list that doesn't disappoint. 

Day 6. What Do I Do

Growing up I was always certain of 2 things.. I was going to be a Teacher & I was going to be a Mum. I had never had an inclination to be anything else and had my goal firmly set at the young age of 8. In 2005 I became a Mum and in 2008 I graduated Uni with a Bachelor of Education in Primary Teaching. So today I am a Mum first & foremost and In the past I have done relief teaching. I am still hoping to return to relief teaching although I realised just this morning I let my registration lapse 2 days ago! Eek. I guess amongst the cleaning, cooking, tending to a crazy puppy, playing with Mr 1 and playing nurse to Mr 8 who is home with a cold I will now need to find time to re-apply! I find both of my jobs rewarding although I find being a Mum the harder job of the two.. You constantly wonder what you can do better, what you did wrong & if your doing enough. The pay rate is better for relief teaching, I love to think that every minute of my time is worthy of $1.00, however, the love of my children is payment enough for being a full time SAHM.

In the future I'd love to return to teaching just so I can start saving towards a bigger house & a bigger future for my family. But for now I'm happy staying at home with the kids.

Day 5. My Son ~ My friend, My inspiration & My Blogging Friend!

Today is the day to publicly announce ones affection towards a blogging friend. Unfortunately, although I find many of the Blogger's to be super wonderful & inspiring Women, I don't really have any 'Blogging Friends' as such ~ maybe next time ;)

So today I would like to write about my eldest Son, Mr 8. In part, he is a Blogger so I am actually openly admiring him. But even before starting up 'Mega Igloo' I have always been his biggest fan! I was impressed when he asked if he could start up a blog, he is a keen little writer & I loved the fact he wanted to share his passion for Club Penguin with the wider community. He helped me set up his blog & each day he eagerly checks his stat's & thinks of ideas for his blog. He has shown a lot of dedication to his blog.

He's a very entrepreneurial child, always devising things to make & sell ~ to his family of course. But he has suggested selling things on eBay. He came to me at 4 & told me he no longer liked a particular toy & could i sell it on eBay lol. He's both a spender & a saver which he didn't inherit from me, a pure spender :P

He's the type of Son that everytime we are outside, he will pick me a flower, he makes me presents & tells me he loves me often. When his Dad & I parted ways when he was 16 months, he was my lil' man, it was just the two of us making a life together and since meeting my new Husband 6 years ago, he has adapted well with the change of becoming a little Bro. And when Mr 1 was born nearly 2 years ago, he has dived superbly into the role of Big Bro also.

He loves school, has a lovely group of friends & is a great student. Recently he started Auskick which he loves. I can see so much of myself as a child in him as he is eager to learn, but he also is hesitant in some areas. I'm hoping over the next few months we can help him to overcome some of his limitations so that he truly can live life to the fullest ~ I know he's going great places.

Day 3. Things That Make You Uncomfortable

 

 

 

Linking with 'Story of My Life' for their Blogging Every Day in the Month of May challenge. Today's topic is things that make you uncomfortable. I'm the kind of person who feels uncomfortable about many things, I spend a lot of my day feeling uncomfortable because I suffer a little from anxiety so my anxiety makes me over think things, which then make me feel uncomfortable and sometimes worried about all sorts of crazy things!

 

But here goes; What makes me uncomfortable?

 

1.  People getting in my personal space! I'm not terribly comfortable with touchy-feely people that feel the need to get really close to me when conversing or who feel the need to kiss me or cuddle me.. I need my personal space.

 

2.  'Nose-air'  yes, you read right.. the air that comes out of people's noses when breathing.. I hate the feel of it, it's warm and gross and freaks me out.

 

3. Having to sign the kids in when they are late for school. I feel like the office lady judges me and I always feel the need to offer a reason even though it is usually Miss 11 has gone feral or Mr 8 wont touch his shoes without washing his hands several times.  Even if the kids are 2 minutes late, you have to sign them in, it adds a lot of extra stress on one in the morning!

 

4. I'm a bit of a helicopter Mum so I feel really uncomfortable if someone elses child is doing something that seems dangerous to me, yet the other parent is oblivious and feels that it's 100% safe.. My stomach does flips the whole time.

 

5. When I see pictures of peoples kids on Facebook in ill-fitting child restraints in the car, with their straps loose or hanging off. Or worse yet, peoples kids NOT in car seats!  It makes me feel mad and uncomfortable.

 

6. Wet floors, wet hand-towels, wet towels.. anything wet in general.. Uncomfortable plus!

 

7. Cigarette Smoke, it chokes me.. I literally can't breathe around it and am really sensitive to it.. Iv told a few people in my time what to do with their smokes. For me it ruins whole events and nights etc when I just can't catch my breathe and smoke around my kids and watch out! 

 

8. Swearing.. I'm all for an appropriately placed expletive, but some people just take cursing to the extreme. 

 

9. Drunk people make me uncomfortable.. no one needs to see that.. it's lame, immature and unnecessary.

 

10. Trying on clothes.. literally uncomfortable, so can't wait to lose a couple of kg's.

 

So there you have it, I could probably fill a list to 100, but thought it best to stop at 10. 

 

What makes you uncomfortable?

Day 2. Educate Us on Something You Are Good At.

 

 

Blogging Every Day in the Month of May over at 'Story of my Life' has set the topic for Day 2 as 'Educate us on something you are good at or know a lot about' ~ hrmmm.. That's a tricky one and after much consideration aside from making a good Spag Bol, applying for a job is my next area of speciality.

I don't know why, but Iv always had a knack for applying for & securing jobs.. Iv always got every job Iv been interviewed for, so much so that in the past I was fortunate to 'take my pick' from multiple offers. I'm a little out of practice now because I haven't really worked in a few years & being a relief teacher wasn't really a game of skill, however, here are my tips;

1. Create a great resume & cover letter. Don't waffle on too much in either, be concise and allow your resume to stand out. I found a decorative header with your personal details on it, always gave a nice touch. Start your cover letter with 'I'd like to introduce myself to both you & your company' ~ this line has worked every time, Mum even got a job based on this line & many have complimented me on the tone that this introduction sets. Whilst you should have a universal cover letter, you should also personalise it for each job you apply for.

2. Set yourself up a folder with copies of your resume, a universal cover letter for random handouts and pop in a page with all your important details on it for ease of filling out applications such as bank details, tax file # etc. Pop in your quals & certificates too for fast & easy reference during interviews.

3. Dress to impress.. Even when handing out resumes, first impressions count. Do not wear your daggies when meeting prospective employers, dress in interview attire even if your handing in an application at the jeans shop or Macca's, they need to know your a professional.

4. Go alone.. Do not hand out resumes with a bunch of your mates.

5. Be polite, when working in retail we once had a Mother/Daughter come into the store who were very rude. Later that day, the Daughter came back with her resume.. It was filed in the bin, because FIRST IMPRESSIONS COUNT & people remember!

6. Always hand your resume to the Manager, ask for them. If they aren't available, come back.

7. During the interview be calm & don't waffle.. Answer their questions and don't be too nervous, they want to catch a glimpse of the 'real you' ~ however, at all times remain professional. Fill them in about your weekend, AFTER you have secured a job, not at the interview!

8. Always put an open availability, you can change this later. But your application will appeal more if you appear flexible.

9. Get lots of experience. I found working many part time jobs in my younger years gave me great experience to gain jobs as I got older. Start off in take-away and build your way up, a lot of employers value the training program's that larger companies offer.

10. Enjoy! Whilst applying for jobs can be a tedious thing, particularly if there is financial pressures behind securing a position, but enjoy & don't be disheartened. If you lose the passion to job search, you will lose your spark. And it's that spark that will set you apart.. So remain cheerful & keep motivated. If you are knocked back 1 or 1500 times, the right job will be out there. Perseverance is all part of finding it.

I hope in part my tips have been useful.. Thanks :)