All okay….so far.

So, it’s school holidays.  Today is Day One.  So far we’ve managed to avoid blood spilling, hissy fits or severing of limbs.  Although it’s not yet lunchtime. 

I think this remarkably good behaviour is due in part to the new disciplinary schedule I’ve implemented.  I’ve typed up two lists – one for each of the kids.  At the top of each list is the toy or possession they love the most in this world.  As soon as a fight breaks out, the offender loses what is at the top of the list.

I must admit, I’ve hesitated in undertaking such an arrangement as this.  Trying to be the perfect mother, I’ve leaned more towards rewarding good behaviour than punishing bad behaviour.  But once they start inflicting red marks on each other, I think it’s time to bring in the big guns.

It’s working.  All morning long, they’ve been getting on remarkably well, kissing and cuddling each other, sharing toys and even preparing snacks and drinks for each other.

I might just be onto something.

Remember me?

Yes that’s right. I’m the one who was supposed to be writing in here every day.

I started off well. And of course there are little stops and starts along the way when life throws you a few curveballs that you need to dodge. But not to worry. Life’s all about learning. And stopping things. And then starting them again. So I’m starting again.

Lots of interesting things have happened since I last wrote in here. We eventually sold our house, after many offers and counter-offers. We survived a dreadful bushfire that came perilously close to our house in the weeks before the sale became unconditional. We were saddened and distraught, along with the rest of the country when we saw the devastating and horrific aftermath of the bushfires that simultaneously burned around Victoria on the same day. We moved to a new house which we are currently renting while we save up some more money to buy ourselves another house (this one definitely won’t be in the bush!), and our littlest girl Alice became a big Grade Prep schoolgirl.

The house we are renting is much smaller than the one from which we came. Consequently we’ve needed to ‘reallocate’ some of our goods. We’ve decided a big garage sale is in order and are currently sorting through old stuff that we hadn’t seen for the four years we lived up on the hill.

So…..until……tomorrow – yes I really do mean it – bye for now!

Yes, I’ve been slack

So I only lasted 11 days.  Well it was hard work.  But I’m back.  So how about we just ignore the fact that it’s nearly two months since my last post, and pick up where we left off?

I’m good with that if you are.

Okay then.  Today I am thinking positively about the fact that although we’ve yet to sell our house, (which in turn limits my ability to practise my hobby of real-estate watching), today has been a beautiful Spring day.  There must be a hundred different shades of green around me right now, teamed up with a blue sky and fluffy white clouds.  The washing is dry, the roses have bloomed and everyone is well and happy.

There you go!  See you tomorrow!

Day 11 – What? No Internet?

Let’s just ignore the fact that I’ve missed the last couple of days, okay?  All this positive thinking tires you out.  Sometimes you forget to do stuff!

So today, I came home from work to check my email, and guess what?  That’s right.  No connection.  What?  I paid my bill.  What’s going on?  A frantic call to the technical people didn’t help either.  So I just had to wait.  Now anyone who has internet access these days will tell you that waiting for the little cyber gremlins to get their act together and reconnect you back to the universe is not easy.

But what did I do?  I did …… housework!  Not at all exciting, I know.  But a job that had to be done.  So thank you cyber gremlins.  Thanks to you, I now have a lovely, tidy house!

Day 9 – Messy bedrooms

Yes, I can count.  Yes, I am aware that I missed Day 8.  Yes, I feel very bad about it.  But that’s okay, because I’ve forgiven myself and here I am at Day 9. 

My bedroom is a mess.  In fact, if it were just my bedroom, it would not be a mess.  It would be exceedingly tidy.  But I share it with a messy man.   Consequently it is…….messy.  Mess upsets me.  I know there are bigger things in the world to worry about than mess.  But it gets to me.  Especially when I try very hard to keep it tidy and the significant other comes along, happily tossing items of clothing wherever he sees fit.  This happens every day.  So every day I pick up said items of clothing and put them in their rightful place.  Today, I decided not to.  Today I turned around and walked away. 

How is this positive, you ask?  Well, I don’t really know, except that I feel just a little lighter, so I think it may be a good thing.  Tomorrow may be different.  Tomorrow I may see the mess and decide that there’s absolutely no way I can leave it there. 

But that’s tomorrow.

Day 7 – Rain

They say rain is good.  And, living in a place where our only water source is from a tank, I’d have to agree.  But there’s still something about rain I don’t like.

Anyway, today it rained.  Poured, in fact.  Wet, cold, noisy rain.  And while I may think all I like about it filling up the tanks, it still doesn’t do a lot for my state of happiness.

But – at least now I can have a shower that’s just a little longer than usual.  At least I can keep up my habit of drinking 3 litres of water a day.  At least I can do three loads of washing in one day and not worry about running out of water.

Well, when it stops raining, that is.

Day 6 – Thinking Positively about missing Day 5!

It’s alright.  They tell me it’s normal to lapse every now and again.  So Day 5 kinda’ slipped by without any positive thinking being done.  I should add that, as far as I can remember, there was no real negative thinking done either, so I guess we’re about balanced.

We interrupt this month of thinking positively…….

……. to bring some exciting news about my little Maggie.  She wrote a story all about friends and submitted it to the local newspaper writing competition.  Third prize in her age category!  We’ve just returned from the big presentation night.  What a little star she is! 

As you can imagine, we’re all spewing forth great bucketfuls of pride and happiness at her achievement.  I told her that I know how she feels because I won third prize in a short story competition once.  (I then went on to confess that I was 18 years old at the time, not seven!)

So I didn’t need to think positively about this one.  How could you think any other way?

The Month of Thinking Positively – Day 3 – “Nice weather; isn’t it?”

Yes it is.  Today was what some would safely call a “nice” day.  Not hot (hardly!) and not cold.  Sunny, although with a slight chilly breeze.  So a friend of mine said to me “oh that’s typical.  A lovely sunny day and we’re stuck inside!”  True enough.  But without even thinking, I said “Well don’t worry.  At least we know there’s lots more good weather to come.”

Positive thoughts without even trying.

The Month of Thinking Positively – Day 2 – Shapely Arms and Messy Carports

You know I got halfway through today when I realised that I hadn’t even thought up an opportunity to think positively about something!  Everything was going all right by itself thank you very much!  But then………

The Real Estate Agent is bringing a prospective buyer through the property tomorrow.  I resisted my initial urge to instantly switch to panic mode and instead, calmly made a list of the jobs I needed to get done before tomorrow.

Top of the list was to finish cleaning the windows.  I started them weeks ago, but then it rained, then it was too sunny, then I had to go out and do something vitally important like save the world or something, and so, the remaining windows never really got done.  But it could be put off no longer.  I grabbed the window cleaner and the scrunched up newspaper, and off I went, scrubbing and cleaning until I felt my little arms were close to falling off!  I began to get that feeling; you know the one you get when you think you’re the only person in the world who works really hard and that no-one else appreciates all that you do?  Yeah, that feeling.  But then I thought……

Just think of how shapely my arms are going to be after this!  Yes!  I like shapely arms.  I do.  And now, not only will I have such shapely arms, but I’ll also have clean windows!  Another woo-hoo moment!  This positive thinking is fun!

And if that wasn’t enough, then I moved onto the carport.  Now let me tell you, our carport is shockingly dirty.  Leaves, dirt, dried up globs of mud.  I set to work, sweeping up the leaves and dirt and shovelling them all into the bin.  All this at 5.30 pm when by golly, it gets cold up here!  But guess what?  I wasn’t cold!  In fact, I was warm!  No need to light the fire tonight!  (Well not just yet anyway, but when I cool down?  That could be another matter.)

Aah, it’s working.  I’m feeling good.  Bring on Day 3!