Just Nicky

Autumnal March 27, 2008

In the space of a week the season has turned. Of course, our weather being what it is, we might still have a toasty day or two, but the cold does feels like it’s settled in. Part of me is glad of the rain and the opportunity to rug up rather than sweat. The rest of me though is a little chagrined about the clothes line full of wet washing, trying to find warm clothes that fit the baby (most of her warm stuff is still too big) and being stuck inside with small children.

Mark and Finn came back from Phillip Island early to look after me and my popped cyst. I’m very glad they did. Having someone else to clean and dress the thing was a godsend. It wasn’t easy doing it one handed and the sight of it actually made me feel a little faint. I also just like having my boys home in the warm and dry in weather like this. I worry about people being cold and wet. The fact that those people seem not to feel the cold or be at all concerned by the wet is of no consequence.

Much as I might like to curl up on the couch with a book (cold, wet days always make me feel like that), the princess has to go to childcare today, Finn has a swimming lesson and we are having guests for dinner.

Eating my breakfast is probably a good way to start.

Ow and Eewww March 26, 2008

I have a sebaceous cyst on my back which has turned feral in the last couple of weeks, as these things do.

I’ve been to the doctor and have antibiotics to take and an appointment to see a surgeon to have it removed - it’s that big.

But that all might be an academic exercise now because the thing popped about an hour ago.

So now I have a hole in my back that is oozing blood and pus. It hurts and - worse - it smells.

Ick.

Twitterpated

So I’ve joined Twitter.

I’m not sure why.

Here I am.

Hitting the ground running March 25, 2008

Being the cock-eyed optimist lunatic I can be at times I enrolled myself in two subjects for this study period. One was the psych subject I dropped last year, which I figured would be easy since I’d already done half the work and the other was a introductory sociology subject that sounded easy and didn’t have an exam.

I haven’t even opened a book until today because I was waiting for a quiet moment to have a look at dates, get my head around it all and so on. With Mark and Finn off to Phillip Island I got that moment this afternoon and was a little horrified by what I found.

The first assignment for the psych subject is due in two weeks. I completed the same assignment last year and did well on it so I don’t have to do it again from scratch, which is just as well. The first assignment for the sociology subject was due last Friday !! Who makes an assignment due on Good Friday for heaven’s sake! Thank goodness, it’s not difficult one, though. Just a 500 word response to the reading (which I haven’t done) for the first 2 weeks. It’s just that it’s already late.

At moments like this I do wonder about my sanity…

A Quote of the Day March 19, 2008

You’re not obligated to win. You’re obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day. — Marian Wright Edelman

I’ve been naughty March 12, 2008

Online shopping will be my downfall. So many lovely things in the world. So little time and money to buy and hold them all.

I just bought one of these. There are days when it would be very handy hanging in a prominent place.

Then I bought this. How could I not?

I found both of them via poppytalk, which I came across via sew green.

These also arrived today. I bought them for Mark since he’s in desperate need of a decent pair of shoes (yes, you are…). They cost more than he would willingly spend on shoes, but they are gorgeous - better in real life than in photos - and I know he’ll wear them forever.

I’d better head for bed before I do any more damage.

Edumacation - my crazed musings March 11, 2008

For some reason today I am preoccupied by the subject of Finn’s education. Where will he go to school next year? This is another side effect of not getting enough sleep - becoming immersed in an apparent, yet non-existent, problem.

Logically I know that Finn will probably go to the local government school and do fine, if not exceptionally well. But I am nervous about it. I worry about him running into teachers who don’t allow for his hearing problem, kids who are cruel and so on. That school seems like a big unfriendly place, an impression not helped by Mark’s experiences with them as both student teacher and casual employee. My emotion keeps overriding my intellect and I’m having trouble letting go of the need to line up alternative educational options for him.

The problem is that there really aren’t any. He could go to the local Catholic school but, as a “Non-Christian child” he is at the bottom of their list of kids to enrol. Besides, every second word on their website makes my stomach churn. Although I know that’s just who they are, the belabouring of their religious focus is hard to take and a reason why I don’t particularly like them as an alternative.

Aside from that there is the anglican ‘grammar’ on the other side of the freeway. I once liked the sound of them, especially their ‘equestrian programme’ which seemed to consist of dusty ponies in dusty paddocks - you had to admire their chutzpah. But the vagueness and lack of interest shown by the teacher we spoke to at their open day when we asked about kids with special needs - like she had no idea what we meant - put me off in a big way. There wasn’t even a policy she could parrot at us. In any case, our financial circumstances aren’t going to allow for fees like their any time soon.

And then we’re out of viable alternatives. Distance, catchment area rules and so on are going to make any other school in our area difficult to arrange. And, in terms of educational style, there is simply nothing else on offer. There are no Steiner schools close enough to us to consider. All the Montessori schools are on the other side of town and the Maharishi school is miles away too.

I know it’s dangerous to mess with your kids’ education, but I figure if there’s a time to try alternatives, earlier is better. I don’t want to subject Finn to 7 years of a traditional primary school only to find that starting each day with transcendental meditation would have done him more good. And maybe basket weaving would be of more use to him at 5 than learning to read…

See: Not enough sleep leads to ludicrous imaginings.

Finn will be fine at the local school. And if he’s not, we’ll find a school that works for him - even if it means moving to Reservoir.

I promise I will have an early night tonight and will be sane again tomorrow.

… Well sane-er anyway…

Hibernating Early

I am not going to see my shrink today. I just don’t feel like talking about myself (and what’s my blog entry about? me, of course. appreciate the irony.). I’m going to ring and tell her Finn’s sick. Is it wrong to use my son in my lie to avoid going? Probably, but I’m going to do it anyway.

I’m also going to get out of the kinder as quickly as I can when I drop Finn off. I really don’t want to get sucked into that vortex today and be the president. I just want to be an ordinary parent, without having to think about that stuff. I may have to stuff my finger in my ear and run out of the kinder to manage it, but I’m willing to try.

I feel the need of quiet and solitude and this is one of my few chances this week. I know that I feel this way because I’m tired. Going to bed at 1am and getting up at 6.30am is not the 8 hours sleep I need to be reasonably human. I should probably push through it, blah, blah, blah, but I’m not going to and there’s no one here to make me. I miss Mark.

This week will be the longest he has been away from home and me in about 5 years and the longest he’s ever been away from Finn and Leila. It’s a concept that’s difficult for all of us to deal with - perhaps not so much for Leila, but most definitely for Finn and I … and the dogs. It’s a reminder of how important he is to us all. And how lucky we are that this is not a regular part of our life.

Could be the story of my life …

A year from now you may wish you had started today. - Karen Lamb

Goods 4 Girls and Gladrags March 3, 2008

I’m sure that reuseable menstrual products are a good and very worthy idea. But the thought is just a bit too much of a leap for me in terms of being environmentally aware. Perhaps I have too many memories of stained clothing from when I was a teenager. That said, I think this is a marvelous idea.

Goods 4 Girls is a group that is collecting new reuseable menstrual pads to send to African communities. Young girls in Africa often miss school because they have no reliable way of controlling their menstrual flow. Makers of disposable products have started donating pads and tampons to help with this, which is definitely good, but the used items then place a strain on the largely non-existent waste disposal systems in these areas, thus creating an environmental and health hazard. So reuseable pads are a much better option for these women.

Gladrags, an online retailer of alternative menstrual items, is supporting the initiative by selling a Goods 4 Girls kit which will be sent on behalf of the purchaser. I’m going to purchase one now.

Found via Sew Green.