S...mother!

Yesterday, TD No. 1 graduated from high school, today, she's driven away with her friends for a week on the Coast.  I can officially no longer smother her with sunscreen, order her to wear a hat or demand she be home by a certain time.

Although the last couple of days have been quite emotional as I slowly come to grips that my little girl is no longer a little girl, I feel quite okay with it all this morning.  I think we're going to become better friends now that she's almost an adult and I'm proud of the fact that she's entering the big, wide world.  It is scary to see her driving away in someone else's car but unfortunately, I can't wrap her in cotton wool.

On the upside, SH No. 1 and I can start enjoy more 'us' time and I still have two other children I can smother and boss around!!

Catharsis

What would you say to your sixteen year old self if you could go back in time?  That's the premise for this great book by Joseph Galliano, Dear Me.  It features the letters of 75 well known personalities, writing letters to their sixteen year old selves.

Check out the website and make your own contribution.  I did and boy, what a cathartic experience!

Liebster Blog





 A big thank you to my mate, Sarah, over at The Secret Life of an Unknown Housewife for giving me a Liebster Blog Award and my apologies for not acknowledging this award sooner!  The Liebster Blog Award is given to blogs with fewer than 200 followers (I'm lucky to have 34!), containing good content and warranting more support.  Yep, that's me.  Although, I must also say that through my little blog, I have come into contact with some great people who I like to call friends!

The Liebster Award rules are -

1.  Acknowledge who gave you the Liebster Award by thanking them and linking back to them.

Thank you, Sarah!  I was happy to hear you say I reminded you a little of yourself, because I feel the same. XX

2.  Reveal 5 of your top picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.  N.B. These are in no particular order - they're all entertaining!

1.  Diaries of a Neurotic Non-trad - Nicki is a straight talking New Yorker, studying for her Masters in Mental Health Counselling.  She tells it like it is and I love her!

2.  Rantings of a Middle-Aged College Student - Connie is also from the US and also a mature aged student, studying full time.  A fellow Libran, I love reading about her journey through college.

3.  The Non-Traditional Student Blog - Betsyanne provides some much needed and welcome advice about studying as a mature aged student and has given me some great tips about my own journey.

4.  Studying Parent - is from UK and was my very first follower and I have been following her since she was an undergrad.  Has just completed her Masters in Victorian Studies and is applying for a PhD!  Very inspiring.

5.  The Mature? Student - I've just started following The Mature Student, also a mature-aged student with three grown sons - another inspiring blog! 

3.  Phew...where was I?  Oh, right - the rules.  No. 3. - Post the Award on your blog.

4.  Enjoy the love and support of some wonderful people on the www!!! Keep posting, keep commenting and keep being positive.

That took longer than I anticipated but it was worth it to share some great blogs.  Like I said, as well as  making some friends through these blogs, they are a great read. Although I don't get to read them as regularly as I would like, they all provide me with the inspiration to keep going with my lifelong goals as a mature-aged student!  Enjoy.



Wrong? Moi?

In  my last post ''What's in a name?', I explained how my dog Bindi was named because I heard Steve Irwin had a crocodile named Bindi and I thought it sounded like a cute name for a dog.  Yes, I know his daughter's name is also Bindi, who doesn't?  He named his daughter Bindi Sue, after both his crocodile and a pet dog.  How do I know this?  An interview he did on ABC years and years ago called, 'Enough Rope' with Andrew Denton. So, basically, straight from the Crocodile Hunter's mouth.  Now, when I got an annonymous comment telling me otherwise, I became like a dog with a bone, or better still, a crocodile with a dog!  For any other doubters, this information can easily be accessed on the Crocodile Hunter website  under 'Did you know?'. 

Sorry, Annonymous but I just had to prove a point!

What's in a name?

Bindi girl

This morning as I was sitting on the deck trying to get my required daily dose of vitamin D, I was watching my little foxy, Bindi, as she sat there turning her head from side to side at the early morning sounds going on around us.  Bindi will be 9 in December, which isn't too old but it's getting up there.  She's starting to go grey around her face and eyebrows but apart from that she's still as foxy as ever.  I don't know why but for the last few months I've been thinking about what sort of dog I'll get next and more importantly, what I'll name her.

I don't know about you, but I had the best time picking names for my children, although come to think of it, Supportive Husband won out in the end!  But the pets have all been named by me.  Bindi was named after the little prickles we get over here called bindis and also because I heard Steve Irwin had a pet crocodile named Bindi and I thought, what a cute name for a puppy.  Some of the breeds and names I've come up with for my next dog are - a German Shepherd called Hera, after one of Zeus' wives; a black and white Maltese Cross called Coco, after Coco Chanel; and this morning I came up with a black Cocker Spanial called Miss Ceili, after Whoopi Goldberg's character in The Colour Purple.  Poor Bindi - I wonder if she knows I'm already thinking of her replacement?

This got me to thinking about my own nicknames - I have quite a few.  When I was a little girl, my Daddy called me Urgs because apparently when I was a baby, all I said was 'urgle urgle'.  When I was about 15, he started calling me Tootsie.  Now, I don't think it was because I look like a man impersonating a woman!  I'm pretty sure it was after a horse that won him a lot of money!  My brothers called me Caz and this name stuck and eventually my closest friends started using it.  When I started uni, this is how I introduced myself and now, this is what everyone knows me as - even the lecturers.  My Mum, for whatever reason, has just started calling me Schmoopy - I don't even know how that started.  And Supportive Hubby calls me Babe, obviously because I'm a babe!

Now this brings me to my real name, which I'm very rarely known as or called.  It contains part of my Mum's name and is a derivitive of an extremely popular English name which means, 'little woman born to command'!  Even when I tell people my real name, I'm inevitably called the popular English version.  No, I'm not going to let the cat out of the bag and reveal it but you're welcome to guess if you like.

With all these names, it's no wonder I'm continually having an identity crisis!  How about you - what's your nickname?