Just Nicky

Hello ‘09 January 1, 2009

And so it’s another year.

In spite of the futility of the exercise, I find myself making resolutions at the start of every year - I can’t resist it. I wasn’t going to formalise them this year, but the other day Mark asked me what I wanted to achieve and he wrote it all down. Here ’tis:

Get out of bed at 7am 5 days out of every 7.
Go for a half hour walk 6 days out of every 7.
Go to the gym 3 times a week.
Drink at least one litre of water every day (I know it’s still less that the recommended amount but, given that I currently drink none, it seems a good starting point).
Do 1 hour of housework 6 days out of every 7.
Include vegetables in our dinner at least 5 times a week.

While the pragmatic (some might say pessimistic) part of my mind tells me that these things are unlikely to happening, the optimistic part is certain it will all come to pass if I just give it a try. The optimistic part of my brain sounds a bit like all the self-help books I’ve ever read, plus the development courses Telstra sent me on all rolled into one annoying, chirpy voice. I want to believe it at the same time as I want to punch it in the face. Notwithstanding that, I am going to give it a try, but I need to avoid slipping into perfectionist hell where missing a day or slipping up once brings it all crashing down.

In an effort to avoid that I’m going to take that Emily Dickinson quote I posted a few weeks ago as my personal mantra for the year:

To undertake is to achieve. ~ Emily Dickinson

My goal is to see just making the effort as the achievement, without unreasonable expectations attached.

Fingers crossed …

Christmas Kids December 24, 2008

Christmas Kids by MarkOMeara

Hello all,

We are too slack to send cards but all the same we wanted to share a little something to mark the moment. So here is a slightly blurry photo of Finn and Leila.

We are all well but very very tired. Finn starts school next year, Mark goes back for his third year of teaching, Leila is on the verge of moving from single words to proper talking and Nicky still doesn’t realise just how lovely and clever she is.

We hope you are all well and hope to see or speak to you before too many more years pass.

Mark, Nicky, Finn and Leila.

It’s beginning to look a lot like … December 20, 2008

It’s beginning to look a lot like … by Nicky P

Kinder’s over.

School’s finished for the year.

The presents are wrapped.

We’re almost there.

You know it’s time to clean up when… December 8, 2008

you find a form and cheque that you were supposed to post for the kinder 3 weeks ago.

Ah well, they’re not late yet.

Money’s a horrid thing to follow, but a charming thing to meet. ~ Henry James December 5, 2008

Bracelet by Nicky P

We received a couple of letters from Centrestink today telling us that we had been shortpaid our childcare benefit and family tax benefit and that they were putting the difference into our bank account. Sure enough, when I looked, there it was. A nice little windfall, all ready to be spent - well, some of it, at least.

Mark got the complete series of Get Smart, Finn got the much-anticipated Batman Lego game, Leila got a baby doll and I got the bracelet I was going to get for Christmas.

It’s one of those Pandora bracelets which are currently appearing everywhere. I like it because I’ve always wanted a charm bracelet, but didn’t like the idea of dangly charms. On this one the charms come in the form of threaded beads which go onto a snake chain. So far I have : (from left to right) a heart lock, a rose, a little spacer thingy, a red glass bead, a heart, another red bead, another little spacer thingy, a teapot and an Aquarius symbol.

A Quote for the Day November 19, 2008

To undertake is to achieve. ~ Emily Dickinson

Child’s First Sock in Shell Pattern, 1899 November 9, 2008

Child’s First Sock in Shell Pattern, 1899 by Nicky P

This pattern was originally written for a child’s sock but has been adjusted to fit a woman.

I used some leftover baby wool to knit these socks so I don’t expect them to wear as well as one knitted out of actual sock wool. They’ll look cute, though, and that’s what really matters.

Evening Stockings for a Young Lady, 1900

Evening Stockings for a Young Lady, 1900 by Nicky P

After what seems like a long time I’ve knitted myself a couple of new pairs of socks. Although, now that I think of it, there was another several months ago…

This pair are knitted in an Opal yarn with silk in it. I’d never heard of it until I stumbled across it on Ebay and had to have it.

These socks have a round toe which is very much like finishing off a beanie: the decreases are done at even intervals around the toe and the yarn is then drawn through the last stitches, the same as on a beanie.

A 2 Cat Night November 5, 2008

The way she spent Christmas day by Nicky P

Over the last few months we’ve stopped shutting the cats in the laundry of a night. Cosmo is over his need to pounce on Mark all night and, as he and Zelda are starting to get on a bit, it seemed reasonable to let them sleep in the warmer part of the house.

Cosmo has become a fixture on our bed, spending at least 20 of every 24 hours there. He sleeps on the other side of me away from Mark. I get the sense that the bed has become ‘his’ and he allows us to use it for the warmth we provide.

To begin with Zelda did not venture onto the bed, but she gradually started to spend the odd night here and there with us and it’s becoming more frequent. She comes in over the top of Mark’s head and sleeps in between us. She generally waits until everyone is settled before she comes in and Cosmo is happy to ignore her when she does this. The only time she got there before him ended up with Cosmo chasing her off the bed, over Mark’s face. It was not pretty.

Last night Zelda didn’t join us until after I’d been up with Leila. I’d cuddled up to Cosmo, but was still a bit cold. Once Zelda snuggled in on the other side of me, though, I was lovely and toasty. Cats make the best hot water bottles.

On Hold

Finn’s visitor is not coming today. Finn woke up very early this morning with a snotty nose and he has been poorly behaved and silly since. I’m tired and snotty and so is Leila. There has been some shouting and a time out already so I decided today was not the day for the testing. The project manager will call me back later to arrange another time in a couple of weeks. I feel bad about cancelling, but I don’t think things would have gone particularly well today. There’s information about the study here, by the way.

In the wee small hours of the night I had an idea about how to manage my time, remember the things that need to get done and track my progress. I’m not going to detail it here, because I don’t remember much of what I thought at the time, but it all boils down to a form of project management. I’m going to think about it some more today (now that I’m not buzzing furiously around the house trying to make it presentable) and see how viable it really is.