Friday 27 April 2012

Mr Busy ... Still Odysseying a Messy Room

Would you believe that some four years after I first posted about Mr Busy's Odyssey into the world of cleaning up his bedroom we still have issues?  Well...I suppose you would if you have precious little people in your house!  I went digging back through my blog archives because I knew I had posted about this before.  And so I had.  In 2008!  The last post has before and after photos (above is the after!).  His room has changed a little since then but at 5am I don't think he'd appreciate a camera flash waking him!

This time the room cleaning adventure did not begin with a mother going off the deep end about having to clean up that room.  Again.  I think I've figured out that his messes get overwhelming and even I can't fathom the idea of doing it on my own.  Yesterday's adventure, however, did begin with a very whiney boy bemoaning the fact that he'd lost a padlock he needs for a class event today.  I brushed him off first thing in the morning with "I'll deal with that later"....and so we did.

Before I go on, you must know that a few days ago, when he was searching for this elusive padlock, I had said "It's probably under all the rubbish in your room.  Go and throw some things out and  you'll find it".  His response?  "Oh no Mum, there's nothing to throw out in my room."

Oh.  My.  Goodness.  If that's "nothing to throw out" I'd hate to see his idea of what rubbish really is.  Seriously, the boy collects rubbish like I collect thimbles!  We threw out 3 bags and a big box of rubbish, plus an old broken school bag and a few other boxes that didn't fit in the bags.  And after we finished putting things away and throwing things out I vacuumed.

Is there anything more satisfying than an expanse (however big or small) of beautifully vacuumed carpet?  I think not.

And I found the padlock.  Under the rubbish.  Right where I said it would be.

This time I have no such dream of Mr Busy maintaining a clean room.  Perhaps this is one that will need to be handballed on to the poor woman who ends up marrying him.

Thursday 26 April 2012

Game On Day

The week has flown by so fast before I really realised I haven't posted in a while.  And when I signed in to Blogger everything had changed!  Isn't that the way of things?!

Tuesday was a completely full-on day - but so inspiring in so many ways.  The day began with leading staff devotions at school.  Tuesday is normally one of my days off but I had to prepare for the afternoon so I just took my Uni stuff with me and stayed put for the day.  I always find it completely nerve wracking when I lead staff devotions.  There's something about sharing with your peers (most of whom are more educated and experienced than I am!) that is quite overwhelming.  I try and remember that we're all at some point along the same faith journey and I have something valid to share with those who are further behind me on the road.  It helps a bit.

In the afternoon I taught our Yr 3/4's for a dance and drama assignment I have to turn in at the end of the Uni semester.  I had to video about 20 minutes of the lesson as well.  Miss Mischief took control of the video camera so I didn't have to worry about it at all.  The children were wonderful.  Everything went exactly as I had it planned and I think we all enjoyed ourselves.  I was again reminded how much I love teaching and how far away the end of my degree is!  I feel like I did with my 3rd pregnancy - I didn't want to be pregnant I just wanted the baby.  I know I need to learn more but I feel quite impatient!

I'm back down to earth now.  Dh brought home a new vacuum for us so I've put it to good use already.  I've got an afternoon scheduled in Mr Busy's room to deal with the pig sty pile of stuff under his bed.  I believe there is a padlock he desperately needs hiding under there somewhere!!!

Tuesday 17 April 2012

The March of Motherhood

Photo Credit:  annegeddesbabypictures.com

I was reminded, today, that the years of Motherhood march by all too fast.  One of my very dear work friends came in today with her hubby and newborn son.  Oh what a sweet little boy he is - perfectly handsome and just absolutely gorgeous.  A reminder of what my own children once were.  I remember being in the middle of those baby and toddler years and thinking they would never end.  Indeed it was eight between welcoming our first child and the last one heading off to school.  Eight years is a long time when you're in Motherhood Peakhour!

But this little boy made me think I could just watch him sleep in my arms all day long.  And I looked at my own little boy standing beside me, nearly looking me in the eye and wondered how on earth he'd managed to do that?  When did that happen?  And who said he could go and grow up on me like that?  I still remember to stroke his soft smooth cheeks every now and then.  Before they get all prickly with manliness.  Don't get me wrong - I can't wait to see what kind of man he grows into.  But Motherhood just flies by so fast.

Enjoy your beautiful little boy, A.  He is so very precious and just perfect.

Wednesday 11 April 2012

Sushi


We spent the past Easter weekend away with some friends, which necessitates a bit of food organisation between our two families.  We each do two dinners, bring our own breaky stuff and figure lunch out in the middle there somewhere.  Seeing as how I had a house full of potential 'guinea pigs' I figured it would be the perfect time to try making sushi.  Because all new recipes should be tried the first time when other people are relying on the outcome.  Actually, I don't necessarily believe that, it just seems to be the way it always works for me.  Something about the buzz of someone else to feed and being inspired by all the yummy things available.

I went and watched a friend making sushi a week or so back and she made it look easy.  I figured if she could do it so could I.  And you know what?  It was.  My sushi easily looked at well done as if I had bought it...apart from a few stray grains of rice stuck to the outside of the rolls.  Man that rice is sticky!  I filled mine with smoked salmon, cucumber and carrot.  I did a couple with ham for Miss Sunshine who does not like smoked salmon.  And we wouldn't want to waste such a precious ingredient on one who wouldn't appreciate it anyway!

All in all, a great success.  I may just post a recipe sometime soon.  I have a numeracy competency test to complete before I do anything else....and I'm back at work tomorrow.  How is it that holidays seem to go by so fast?

Thursday 5 April 2012

Further Perspective About Sugar

I came across this video a while back.  I can't remember how I found it - you know, you google something, you click from link to link like a monkey swinging between trees and next thing you know you've come across something useful amongst all the junk out there.  Joan Ifland is also an academic in the field of nutrition and food addiction.

Food for thought.

Wednesday 4 April 2012

Sugar is Evil...Want to know why?

During February our church engaged in a church-wide fast.  We've never been in a church that really taught much on fasting so it was a new experience - sad to say such a thing at my age.  Our pastor gave some really solid teaching about the how-to's and the how-not-to's and what to expect.  One of the gems he shared was that sometimes the revelations we seek come after the fast is finished.

I chose sugar as the thing I fasted and set some very clear intentions for what I was praying about. One of the things I was seeking was for God to reveal what I needed to know about my health and wellbeing in a variety of areas.  Turns out my pastor was right.  The revelation came after the fast ended and I returned to my normal sugar consumption, which is pretty low compared to a vast majority of people these days.  How I felt after eating sugar is the same as how I feel when I eat wheat.  Hmmmmmmm, interesting.  Last night, after pondering this for quite some time (Uni started and I got busy, ya know) I decided to google my way about the internet and see what I could find.  Well I found gold in the form of yet another YouTube clip.  I found a lecture presented by Dr Robert Lustig called Sugar: The Bitter Truth.  The lecture begins with him discussing the formula for weight loss and how incorrect it is.  Just because you eat less calories than you expend does not mean you'll lose weight.  He had me completely, right there.

Did you know that fructose is metabolised in the very same way as ethanol (alcohol) and causes the same damage?  Did you know that the message to eat less fat coincided with the increase of heart disease?  Did you know that when we decreased our fat intake we increased the amount of sugar we eat?  Didn't think so.  Grab a cuppa and watch this video.  Yes it'll take some time, but it might be an hour and half that makes you a healthier person.  And let me know what you think.  I'm off to google some more....because I think I'm avoiding my assignment!

Sugar: The Bitter Truth
 

Tuesday 3 April 2012

A Teaspoon of Light

Image Credit: solsistershandbag.com

I've been studying away, hard at work while the children relax in front of the TV (or any other screen I permit them to) and baking, and reading...and whatever else they find to amuse themselves.  My Dance and Drama work this week showed us how powerfully these elements of the Arts are in helping people make sense of the world around them.  We were introduced to 'A Teaspoon of Light', which is a project undertaken by artists and university staff to work with children, rebuilding their hope for the future after the earthquakes in Christchurch. Parts of the clips may be tedious, but hang in there.  They are a powerful, beautiful, tangible example of how the human spirit can be assisted to overcome great tragedy.

A Teaspoon of Light - Clip 1

A Teaspoon of Light: Clip 2

 A Teaspoon of Light:  Clip 3 - bringing it all together

Really, make time to watch these clips. I suspect we all need a teaspoon of light every now and then.
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Other happenings Beyond My Picket Fence...

We've all survived our various school camps.  Mr Busy and I enjoyed Sovereign Hill together.  It is my favourite camp and I've had the privilege of enjoying it with all three of my children.  I suspect it may be my last as a teacher's aide, however.  I don't work with the next group of children who will go, and then I will be teaching myself beyond that.  It's a little sad.  Not so sad, the mouse that nibbled a block of chocolate I had stashed in my suitcase while I was away!!!  The girls went to Canberra together for a full week.  Miss Mischief, the child of my soul, bought me back two thimbles to add to my collection.  Miss Sunshine brought home tales and photos, which I've yet to sit down to look at.

My health is slowly improving.  I'm down to half a tablet for my vertigo and managing relatively OK most of the time.  I'm quite tired though, because being 'not quite well' is very wearying.  Now that we're into school holidays I realise that the Term 1 break speeds by quickly between necessary assignment work and Easter away with friends.  I'll be taking my assignment with me - but everything else is well up to date so I have a whole week just to work on that one thing.  Lovely!