Guidance

Another busy weekend driving children here there and everywhere - sports, parties, work, classes.  Not much time spent reading unfortunately.  I have to finish Middlemarch by Thursday in preparation for a final exam in two weeks.  I'm not totally sure how to make the time to do this.  I seem to just manage snippets of time in which I read five pages. Reading at night in bed is impossible - I read two pages and I'm asleep!!  I'll have to lock myself away tonight, the coffee pot beside me, and just finish it.

In the meantime, I've been helping TD No. 1 research universities for next year!  Not an easy task considering she's once again changed her mind about what she wants to do and where she wants to go.  The guidance officer at school doesn't help by telling her that because she's quiet (?) she might be better off applying to a smaller university!!!  Unfortunately, she didn't think to tell her that the smaller university - which happens to be the one I go to - would require TD No. 1 to take two buses.  Me thinks TD No. 1 thinks that good old Mum will be around to drive her to and fro!  Me also thinks the guidance officer should be providing a little more guidance and telling students to apply to the uni that offers the best course requirements, not the best social environment!

To sign off, I would like to say a big congratulations to all my fellow mature-age bloggers who have recently graduated - and there seems to be a lot of you.  You all continue to inspire me to make my dreams happen.  Thankyou and good luck!

Calm before the storm?

I'm halfway through reading my very last novel for the semester and I feel so calm!  All I have pending are two exams coming up in four weeks and I'm not altogether sure how to prepare for them but I'm worried the calm I feel now will soon give way to stress! 

I finally got one of my essays back yesterday and was happy with a Distinction - but not jumping for joy.  Although I'm still determined to give everything 100%, I feel as if some of my passion for university has gone astray.  My new goal is to have my degree finished by mid-year 2013.  This means completing three subjects a semester - I know I can do it and I actually think it will be less stressful than doing two!  I have more time to think and worry while doing two subjects whereas doing three, I just know I have to get it done!

I'm really missing being in the workforce and came across a great job with a theatre company the other day as an Arts Administrator.  Isn't it ironic that I left my job as an administrator in order to find something better, only to be considering going back into the same field, albeit in a different capacity? 

I suppose it's taken this little journey of mine to realise what I'm best suited to but what I'm learning on the way is giving me the confidence I need to realise that!  I just hope I haven't burned all my bridges.

Mum's the word

Sometimes you get discouraged because I am so small,

And always leave my fingerprints on furniture and on walls.
But everyday I am growing, I'll be grown up someday,
And all these tiny handprints will simply fade away.
So here's a final handprint just so you can recall,
Exactly how my fingers looked when I was very small.

Today as I was rummaging through all my keepsakes (yes, I admit it, I am a hoarder!), I came across the Handprint Poem. I have, as I'm sure many of you also have, received this poem on numerous occasions over the last 17 years - for Mother's Day. I remember the first time I received it from TD No.1 when I picked her up from kindy. The card had her little handprint on the front and as I read the poem I distinctly remember becoming so overwhelmed with love and emotion, as I still am to this day whenever I read it.

Happy Mother's Day to all my fellow Mums and Moms. I hope your endless love and tireless devotion is duly rewarded with breakfast in bed!!

Time flies

After yesterday's somewhat miserable blog (sorry people!), I was determined to post some happy news on the homefront.  Last Friday TD No. 1 had her Year 12 formal (prom to all my American friends) and doesn't she look absolutely beautiful?  Yes, of course I'm biased and for all of our many disagreements, I couldn't have been prouder.  I had to stop myself from bawling when she came home after having her hair and makeup done.  It wasn't so long ago she was a 3 pounder, spending many weeks in a humidicrib (not sure of the spelling!), now she's a beautiful, intelligent young lady- what mother wouldn't be proud?

I'm just reminded of what a big year it is for our family this year.  TD No. 2 has her semi-formal soon (more dress shopping - yeah), No. 1 Son graduates from Year 7 and I will be another year closer to my degree!  How the years soon get away from us - all the better to make the most of them I say.

What's happening to me?

Well, the holiday's over and it's back to uni today for me.  I can't say that I'm terribly excited and I can't say that I'm overly bummed either.  I haven't had any results back yet but when I do, they'll either motivate me or depress me even more.

Now I know I said a couple of posts ago that my family is my 'passion' but as much as I love them, I really need a new passion.  I don't know if it's because I've been home for over a week but when I'm not stressing over study, I'm stressing over housework!  Not what needs to be done so much as what no-one seems to be able to do.  I think by 8 o'clock in the morning everyone is pretty much desperate to get to school or work - anywhere as long as it's away from me.  Hell, I wish I could get away from me!!  I think I've just come to a point in my life where it's just really hard for me to live with other people. When the kids were young, I suppose I could mould them and control them to a certain extent.  Now they're teens, it's like sharing a house with another three completely different personalities - five people, each with their own querks and irritations.

Anyway, it's not quite time for me to enjoy the bliss of living on my own just yet, so I've decided I seriously need a hobby.  I'm so envious of people who manage to find joy and fulfilment in a hobby e.g. Sarah @ Secret Housewife.  I love hearing all about her allotment but most of all, I just love the passion with which she tells of it.  I'm not exactly sure what my new hobby will be - probably something physical seeing as I think I need it for my body and more so for my mind.  I'd like to start jogging again and have my eyes on a 5km run that's coming up in September.  I don't have a running buddy but I think hauling my ass out of bed at least three times a week to go for a jog will do me and my family the world of good.  I wonder - am I going through menapause or am I just trying to find myself?