Just a quickie

Just a quickie to say;

1. I am feeling a lot lot better. I have a voice again, a croaky voice but a voice nonetheless; and

2. I got to speak to Peter last night because he was in Darwin. Talking to Peter makes me happy.

Everything is rolling along smoothly here. I have lots to say but I will save it for an entry tonight. I have to go and do Ninky's hair and get us all out the door for work and school.

Hoo Roo

I'm Sick - Send Sympathy Now...

I am sick - still. I came down with a cold the day before Peter sailed and it has been all down hill from that point. As of yesterday I have NO voice whatsoever. The official diagnosis by the wonderful Navy doctor is sinusitis/laryngitis and I am pretty sure than she threw in a complimentary pharyngitis diagnosis as well.

Today I was supposed to chair a meeting at work regarding traffic and car parking management on the base. There was so much I wanted to say but it was so hard whispering to a large group of people that I basically handed it over to my boss. Of course my boss did a sterling job and in hindsight it was probably best that he did run it. There was bad news to be given and nobody would dare boo him for delivering it. Me on the other hand - they would have booed me to the other side of the country! It all worked out pretty well but I was glad when it was over. I could feel people thinking "oh, that whispering is SOOOOO put on - there's nothing wrong with her - she's just big attention seeker". By the time I left work today (with a day's sick leave tomorrow) I was completely sick of the sound of my whispering. It was funny though, because whenever I whispered to someone halfway through the conversation they would start whispering too!!

My project is not going at all! I am in hang in there mode at the moment. The children go to the lady next door for school holiday care. Tomorrow I am going to let them sleep in and send them over between 10am and 2pm. That way I will be able to at least follow doctors orders for 4 hours and rest my voice completely.

I got to speak to Peter today. Well not really. He couldn't understand me on the phone so he really just spoke to the kids. It was lovely to hear his voice though.

That's an entry for today I suppose. Not much to say and no inclination to say much more anyway.

Until next time.

Finances

It is now Friday of the first week of my enforced single motherhood. All in all it hasn't been a bad week. I have been a bit ill but apart from an annoying croaky throat, I am feeling quite well. The children are fine. Work has been a giant pain in the rear end - endless frustrations. I can cope with that though, because the only way is onwards and upwards.

Now as for my project, I must admit to have really started nothing at all :-( This week has really been just about surviving. I am going to use this weekend to get organised a kick off with a bang next week. I need to do some cleaning, some washing, some ironing, some menu planning and have some time with the children. So much to do.

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I need to address the finance aspect of this big project of mine. It is simple really. I need to create a budget and stick to it. I need to work out goals to set. I need to menu plan and do shopping lists.

Sounds very easy on paper (well the screen anyway).

Must put it into practice.

Brief entry today. It is 6:18am and I have children to wake up and I need to get ready.

Today is the funeral of my husband's dear friend Vince. I know that Peter is sad not to be there to say goodbye. I can't get there either.

You are in our thoughts Vince. We will always remember your big smile and your big personality. RIP Vince.

This is a newspaper article written about Vince.

House and Home

I am now a single parent - albeit only for six months but I am doing the job on my own nonetheless. *sigh* My darling's ship sailed one hour and 24 minutes ago.

On Saturday we went out and go some groceries and came home and had a lovely lunch together. I rang my very nice boss and he was more than happy for me to take today off. On Saturday Peter and I took Ninky and Roo to the beach. We also took Benny the Maltese and Polly the Labrador. It was such a lovely sunny day but the wind was quite fierce. Peter and I did not go into the water but the children had fun. They swam and ran and had a (not too successful) run on their boogie boards.



Poor Polly is irrationally frightened of water. So frightened of water that she really only has a bath every couple of years when I take her to the vet and have her sedated so the can bath her. She vomits and shakes and in the past groomers were sure that she was about to have a heart attack! On Saturday she surprised us by allowing Peter to lead her into the water that was a couple of inches deep. She seemed alright with it. Peter however, took it a bit to far and saw her tolerance as an opportunity to rinse a bit of the Lab "stink" off her. He picked her up and carried her out into water that was about chest height on her. To say she was not impressed would be an understatement! She flailed about and dragged Peter out of the water (she was on her lead) at 100 mph! She was then so distressed, that she had a bad attack of diarrhea and vomited repeatedly on the beach. I was concerned that she was going to die. She did not die, though when she got home she flopped on her bed and only moved once to eat dinner later that night. She was exhausted. Poor thing. I will make sure she doesn't have to endure that ever again. I have to say that she does smell a lot better though!

Saturday night Peter cooked us a lovely dinner and we watched some TV together until fairly late.

Yesterday we got up pretty early, got Peter pack and fed all the animals. Then we jumped in the car to head to Sydney. We stopped in at Kiama and had a look at a childrens clothing shop that sells lovely clothes at huge discounts. Ninky got some lovely clothes and Roo got a camouflage shirt and a nifty hat.
We went into a cafe to get some lunch. Peter had taken the children there a few weeks ago and I recalled that they had raved about the food, the great service and the price. However, yesterday was a different story. The place was full of flies and we waited ages to b served. Then finally the waitress came out and served a table full of teenagers who had just walked in and weren't even ready to order. We were not impressed so we voted with our feet and went up the street (getting soaked in the process because it was bucketing down) to a lovely little seafood cafe. There we had excellent service and a wonderful meal.

Next it was back into the car and on to the flat in Sydney. Soon after we arrived there Peter had to go down to the ship to do some work in preparation for today's sailing. He took the children with him so that they could see the ship. I chose not to go because I have spent more than enough time on Navy ships THANK YOU VERY MUCH!! I took the opportunity to have a sleep. That was a mistake though because I woke up feeling terrible. Sore throat, stuffy nose and a head ache. Ninky had woken up the same way earlier that day.

When Peter and the children arrived back at the flat we headed up to Kings Cross (which is about a 1 minute walk away) to get some dinner. I had forgotten just how seedy and disgusting that place is! Uugh! I used to spend so much time up there shopping, night clubbing and dining when I was a young, single sailor. I knew it had some unsavoury characteristics back then but there is nothing like having young children with you and looking at something through "Mummy eyes" to make you see the ugliness of a place. Drunks, druggos, prositutes. Not nice. It's a shame because there are a lot of decent people and great businesses there as well. Anyway, we purchased dinner (and some cold and flu medicine) and headed home in the drizzle. I felt worse as the evening wore on and ended up going to bed quite early.

This morning we were up at 6am and I felt even worse. Ninky was feeling terrible as well. We tidied up the flat and made the beds quickly. Then we were all ready by 6:30am. We jumped in the car and headed down to Woolloomooloo so that we could drop Peter off. He had made me promise that I wouldn't cry because then he would cry. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) I was feeling so ill that I couldn't muster up at tear. The kids were fantastic and remained dry eyed (but sad faced) and we gave Peter cuddles and kisses and bade Peter farewell with a wish for fair winds and following seas.

Then I burst into tears as we drove away.

I would like to say that our trip home was uneventful but I can't. Poor Ninky vomited all over the front of the car, necessitating a stop in Kiama to purchase wipes, rubber gloves and plastic bags. Before I could stop Roo had "gone out in sympathy" and vomited out the back window of the car. Once that incident was dealt with we were back on the road and arrived home without further incident. Gosh I hate dealing with vomit!

So now we are home and the menagerie was pleased to see us. I feel better but Ninky is tucked up on the couch watching TV and making intermitent requests for water/soup/lemsip/cuddles.

It is cold and raining. A lovely day to be tucked up inside.

I have a lot of housework to do. I also need to get my uniforms ready for tomorrow. Today is the change to winter uniform. I like winter uniform so much better than summer. It is so much easier to take care of and looks so much smarter than the summer uniform.

I can't wait until we get issued with the new cams in September. They are going to be really easy to take care of!


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Now, regarding the house and home component of the project. I have quite a lot that I want to achieve in the time that Peter is away. In a later post I will detail all of the individual projects that I want to do around the house. They include things such as painting a wall in one of the living areas, creating an outdoor cat enclosure, redoing the whole front garden, planting a privacy screen along the pool fence. That list is nowhere near exhaustive but it gives you an idea.

More than anything though, I really want to get organised. I waste so much of my time procrastinating and half doing things. I want to develop routines and for this I will be availing myself of the advice of the Great Fly Lady. I have long been a fan but have never got around to actually implementing any of her strategies. Now is the time!!
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That's it for me for now.

This blogging business is quite time consuming! I started over an hour ago. I am quite a fast typist - so most of the time has been working out photo uploading I think. I will get faster as time goes by I imagine.


Hoo Roo.

Family Togetherness

The plans that Peter and I had made for this weekend have gone out the window. Pfft....gone! He should have been home from Sydney by about midday yesterday but due to issues on the ship he didn't leave Sydney until around 3pm and didn't get home until after 5:30pm. So we went and had dinner (which was lovely as always) at the Chinese bistro at the local club. Then Peter said that he wants more time at home before he goes away. So now, we are not going to Sydney until tomorrow morning. Peter is still going to take the kids to the Power House Museum as planned but we will stay there tomorrow night and the kids and I will leave when Peter goes down to the ship at around 6:30am. This is all of course on the proviso that my boss says that I can take Monday off when I call him! Fingers crossed.

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Sooo - we now have the family togetherness part of the project. This is something I am very committed to. While Peter is away it is more important than ever that Ninky and Roo get a really good dose of my attention. Now that we are coming into winter there are a lot of things I want to do with them. Things such as - teaching them how to cook, doing crafts, going for bushwalks (no snakes at this time of the year!!), going for bike rides and having regular day trips to places. I really want them to look back on this period of their Dad's absence not as a miserable time spent missing him but rather as a time where they got to do some great stuff with Mum.

Besides, it just occurred to me the other day that I really don't have many "hands on" parenting years left. Ninky goes to high school in 18 months or so and Roo goes the year after. *sigh* I remember when they were born everyone told me "make the most of it because the time goes so quickly". Well THEY were right this time. The time is slipping away.

I had better get off here now and go and practice some whole family togetherness while we still have a father and husband. We are off to the shops briefly once Ninky wakes up (she loves her sleep ins) and the we are going to build sandcastles at the beach. It looks like a lovely day out there this morning.

Weight and Fitness Plan

Well, it is now only three more sleeps until the project kicks off. Three more sleeps until Peter goes away for what, at this point in time, seems like forever. He is coming home today for his last night with us here. Then tomorrow, we are all going to the flat in Sydney. We will go out for a nice dinner tomorrow night. Then on Sunday morning Peter is going to take Ninky and Roo to the Star Wars Exhibition at the Power House Museum while I spend a couple of hours reading a book and enjoying my last Sunday morning as not being a single parent. After lunch we will drive back home. The ship is having a massive send off on Monday morning but we decided that it would be best if we didn't go to that. Apart from the fact that I hate teary public farewells, just before sailing is Peter's busiest time so there wouldn't be much point in us being there. No doubt I will have a bit of sniffle with the children in the car on the way home. I know for certain that I will do a silent clock watching countdown to their sailing time whilst I am at work on Monday.

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Now, the purpose of today's post (which I had intended to do the day after the first post) is to give a bit more detail on the lard busting and fitness getting part of the project. I thought I should address that first because that kicks off on Monday come hell or high water. I don't officially have my medical fitness status downgraded until I see the lovely Dr H on the 29th of April but I need to start as soon as possible.

I don't see the need to make a big song and dance about this so I will keep it brief. Besides, I will be doing weekly updates over here on the arse shrinking progress. Don't go looking NOW though because it is not set up yet. Of course if NOW is after the date of this post the by all means trot over and have a peak to see how I am going.

The eating part of the issue will be handled via this method here. It seems simple and straightfoward. I simply can NOT start another bloody diet that involves counting anything, weighing anything or going to a meeting. I have dieted in one form or another for the last 25 years and I am sick to death of it. Marilyn's plan looks balanced and completely workable.

The getting off my arse part of the project (technically called exercise) is also fairly straight forward. There will be three parts to it. The first is that four weekday mornings a week (the days that I work) I will do a quick DVD workout in the lounge room. I will gain extra credit for difficulty for this workout because I will no doubt spend most of my time hopping around trying to avoid Roo's lego bits all over the floor! I have heaps of exercise DVDs from all my past good intentions - so there are lots to choose from. I like to exercise in the morning because it gives me more energy for the day. The second part involves following the plan given to me by the Physical Training Instructor at work (hence forth known as L). I have given an undertaking to participate in the programme as he has written it at least three times per week. At this stage that will be Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. The third part of this plan is extra family activity. Riding bikes with the children, taking them for a beach walk or walking the dogs.

I have three main things that I want to achieve through this part of the project;

1. I want to be healthier (and therefore pass my medical);

2. I want to be fitter (and therefore pass my fitness test); and

3. I want to wear nice clothes instead of sacks.

So that, my non existant readership, is what that part of the project is all about.

Let's Start at the Very Beginning

Welcome to my big project! This is going to be a huge challenge and I am sure that I am up to it. Before I explain what the challenge is I will give you a bit of back ground about me.

My name is Linda and I am 39 years old. I won't be able to say that for much longer because the big FOUR OH is looming on the 4th of November this year. I am in the Navy and I live in one of the most beautiful places on the face of this earth - right near Jervis Bay, New South Wales, Australia. My husband Peter is also in the Navy and he is posted to a ship. He is about to take off on a six month deployment and it is this absence from home that is the catalyst for this blog. Peter and I have two children Ninky aged ten and Roo aged nine. They are not their real names but they are their real nicknames. I am not comfortable with giving out their details online.

My family and I have a lovely house, very close to a beautiful beach, backing onto lovely bush, with a swimming pool and a big yard. We have a lot of pets. I mean a LOT of pets. We have 2 dogs (Benny a 10.5 year old maltese and Polly an 8.5 year old labrador), 7 chooks ( or chickens for non Australians LOL), 1 duck (unoriginally named Jemima) a guinea pig called Samuel L. Guinea Pig, a yabbie and 6 cats. Yes you read that correctly - we have SIX cats. Well technically we have 3 cats, a 6 month old kitten and 2 two month old kittens. The presence of so many cats is a very long story that I will save for another blog post in future. Let's just say that we all adore them even though the keeping of so many cats is a lot of work and it goes without saying that all the fun jobs (such as cleaning litter boxes and cleaning up hair balls) are my responsibility!

We are a pretty happy little family. Obviously the children miss Mum and Dad when they go away for work but all in all we all love each other and get along well. We are very fortunate to have so much and I know that I don't take it for granted.

Now having said all that, there is a reason for the commencement of this blog. Whilst we have a good life, as with many things in this world their is room for improvemet. Some of this will be to make life better for an individual member of the family, some to make it better for all, some of it short term and some of it to make things better for the future. There are 5 main areas that I want to tackle during this six month project of mine. They are (in no particular order);

My Weight and Fitness.

I have a LOT of weight to lose. I won't go on and on about it. I could rave about the history and the agony of it all but to what end? Basically, I am over 40kg's overweight and it is affecting my health and my happiness. It is also impacting on my work as I am starting to "grow out of" my uniforms (a really gross look) and I cannot currently pass my annual fitness assessment. The Navy agrees that my weight is a major problem and as of the end of April I will be being enrolled in a rehab programme, the goal of which is to get my weight back to an acceptable level (different to my goal which is to get back to a healthy weight range) and get me fit enough pass my fitness test. I will explain the plan for this later.

House/Home

We live in a HUGE single story house that has four bedrooms and four living areas. I am a chronically disorganised person and as such my cleaning and housekeeping routines are ad hoc at best. I want to learn to be organised and have routines in place to ensure a pleasant living environment and days free from chaos.

Two more habits that I want to cultivate are menu planning and once a month shopping. There are a number of reasons for this. The first is to reduce disorganisation. The second is to reduce costs. The third is so that I don't have to spend anymore time shopping in nearby Shitsville (I will elaborate on Shitsville later on) than I have to. I have a large chest freezer and a good fridge and lots of cupboard space so it is certainly achievable.

I want to establish a small container garden that I can manage. In our previous house we had a massive veggie garden and it ended up not being used because it was too much to manage. I think I would prefer a couple of pots of things that we use (ie baby spinach, broccoli etc) that I can look after well.

While Peter is away there are some improvements that I want to make to the house and the backyard. Things like planting a privacy/shade screen only the side of the pool, getting a path concrete, making an outdoor cat enclosure and revitalising the front garden, just to name a few.

Finances

I won't go into too much detail here but the main aim is to get a budget going and stick to it. Peter and I earn very good incomes and I want to capitalise on them. We don't know how much longer we will stay in the Navy, so I want to review our long term financial goals and work out how we are going to meet them. We have a couple of small debts plus the mortgage. We also want to go on a cruise out of Hong Kong in November so I want to save for that. My goal is to save $1000 a month for the months of May, June, July, August and September. I think this is perfectly achievable. There will be more details on this later when I have given this a bit more thought.

Family Togetherness

I want to spend more time with Ninky and Roo. They are great kids and I know that they crave my attention. I have applied to take "Part Time Leave Without Pay" for the duration of Peter's deployment to assist with meeting this goal. This means that I will have every Wednesday off. Effectively I will only work three and a half days a week because where I work we work nine hour days so that we have a half day on Fridays. Hopefully all this will take some pressure off me and give me more time to get things done. Then I can spend more time with the children outside school hours. There are lots of things that I want to do with them but I will expand on this later.

Children's Education

Ninky does really well with reading and writing. She is in Grade 5. She struggles a bit with maths and I really want to focus on getting her maths skills up over the next 6 months. I purchased the Mathletics programme for her and she has already had a go at it. I can see that it is going to help but I am going to have to help her too. I also want to get into the habit of listening to her read each night.

Roo does pretty well with maths but struggles with reading and writing. He is in Grade 4. He does not have any learning disabilities - he is just simply classed as a reluctant reader and writer. Roo and I attended a programme called the Parents as Tutors programme at the University of Canberra last year for 12 weeks. It was fantastic and helped both of us enormously. During the term that just finished we were still settling in so we stopped using the method we learned. My goal is to get back to what we were doing because that makes Roo so much more confident. Besides that I gives us some great time together :-)

So as you can see there is a lot to do it a relatively short period of time. I know that I (or rather we) can do this. I know that it won't always be easy but I know that it will be worth it.

The project kicks off officially the day that Peter's ship sails. The 20 April 2009. It officially ends on 09 October 2009 when he gets back. Hopefull both of use will experience smooth sailing!