An update...

It's been a while since I blogged on here... Too long... And lots has happened in the past 5 months ... the days have flown, and continue to fly.  
 
I'm sick today.  Head cold... sore throat... headache and tired...  The housework is on hold... the boys are half fending for themselves... I hate being sick.   Gives me too much time to think.   The germs allow non-positive thoughts access into my world.  I am melancholy and reminscent... I miss my old life and that time where all was right in my world.    Don't be mistaken tho, I am grateful everyday for what I have now too.  I have amazing children.  I have amazing people in my life.   I have my job and my goals.  I have a lot to smile about.   But today i'm sick. 
 
Still, enough about that... Let's bring this blog up to speed on the happenings since November...
 
I turned 40... Can you believe that!  I know right.  I failed my 40 things before 40 list.  Big time.  Life just wasn't on my side.  I ran out of time. I hate that I failed.  But i'm rolling it over and starting a 50 before 50 list.  Surely in 10 years I can do it.  Maybe.  There's still some entries to do on my 40 things blog for things that I did complete so keep an eye out for those... 

My party!  Blog post coming for that one too.  Mixed feelings about it to be honest.  Sure, I had a great night and an absolute ball setting up and packing up with my two oldest babies...  But I also felt some sadness.  Totally understand the challenge was always going to be the time of year (my party was 5 days before Christmas after all) and totally understand that people had other commitments and circumstances... but that didn't stop me missing them on the night.   There were other factors that disappointed me too, but here is not the place to air such things.  That's the way the cookie crumbles.  I will hold dear the fond memories from that night instead. 

Christmas.  Very very quiet.  We had Mackinnon home this Christmas.  "My year".  (Did I ever mention shared care sucks).  We stayed home.  We just chilled.  

2015 arrived uneventfully.  I think I was asleep by 11.  However the 2015 goals list was ready to go... and like all good social media addicts facebook recorded the event:

"Happy new year! It wouldn't be a new year without a status in its honour would it, so here goes 2014 you lovely year you... First international trip, kicked hubby to the curb, turned 40. Great year!!!
Bring on 2015... First up we're moving to the city... Yep this country girl has fallen in love with Newcastle and is relocating... Career goals have been set and it's all very exciting... My baby starts kindergarten... And I'm continuing my mind, body and soul journey... Come at us 2015..."

So first up... moving to the city!  We did it!!!  On January 28th we made the move.  We found ourselves a home in Waratah West.  We liked everything about this house, from the quirky yellow kitchen to the spiral staircase to the baby blue bath.  I'm guessing it's circa 1960-70.  And downstairs I have a MUMMA SHACK!  Yup.  My own little corner of the world.  It's a work in progress.  But it's going to be pink and fabulous and girly.    I love living in Newcastle.  It's exciting and close to where I need to be.  We are discovering amazing food places and my work-life balance is so much better.  The kids have settled into school well and Callum goes to a great dance studio. 

Yes, my baby started kindergarten!  Not a tear.  Not a concern.  He was ready for this.   I on the other hand can't believe all of my babies are at school.  It's the end of an era. 

And we got a dog.  Yes really.  She's growing on me.  I'm getting used to being responsible for another living creature.  The kids absolutely adore her.  They play with her constantly.   She's crazy and active and noisy. 

 

 

Work is going great.  I am settled in to my new role and love working with the team I am in.  I miss my old team tho.  A lot.  I have just started a Frontline Management course through work also. 

 

So that's the update.  The main things anyway. 

 

Until next time, stay amazing x

 

 

 

 

 

The Mockingjay Part 1 ~ a review

Yesterday we went to the cinema to see The Mockingjay Part 1.  Great movie.  Thoroughly enjoyed it.   A friend asked for a full review.  So far all i've given is an overview.  So here's the review from a single working mumma of 3 (which has absolutely nothing to do with this review and is totally irrelevant by the way).

 

The movie picks up where Catching Fire left off, with Katniss Everdeen as a hot mess with some sort of post-traumatic breakdown going on.  (I relate girlfriend, I relate).  She's in District 13 and sexy Gale Hawthorne is there as well. (Come on girl, "have you seen him"). 

 

Peeta's in the Capitol and it's game on.  But a different sort of game this time round.  The first two movies were action-packed with Hunger Games events, whereas this movie focuses on a post-games war..  Action is mostly replaced with drama and war progaganda is strong throughout the movie.

 

Katniss decides to become the face of the revolution.  There are still some amazing action scenes as she visits some of the other districts with a film crew.  Throw in an unexpected kiss, a fabulous and catchy Katniss tune, a mission impossible type rescue mission and a reunion that wasn't as hearts and roses as it could have been and you've got the basis of a good movie. 

 

Gone are the flamboyant and colourful costumes.  District 13 are having none of that nonsense.  We are reunited with the character of Effie Trinket part way through the movie and she is both charming and amusing  and quite possibly one of my favourite characters this time round. 

  

The stormtroopers peacekeepers are back too, in their white suits, heavily armed with machine guns and loyalty to the Capitol.   Apparently these guys have a minimum 20 years of service and not allowed to marry or have children in that time.  (The jury is out on whether this makes them happier little peacekeepers or not).  

 

Now i'm keen to go back and watch the first 2 movies again.   I have to be honest and say that when I watched the first movie the mum in me couldn't get my head around children being put up as tributes.  Why couldn't they be 18+?  I decided to go on a one-person strike against the franchise.  No way was I watching Catching Fire.   But I did, and it sat better with me, and I looked forward to The Mockingjay.  Now I am left to count down to Part 2. 

 

So the Mockingjay part 1 ending wasn't as cliffhanger as I would have liked.  Quite the opposite really.  But it hasn't deterred me -  this series and I have unfinished business now.   

 

And there's my review of The Mockingjay Part 1. About three things I was absolutely positive.  First Katniss was a hero.  Second, there was a part of me — and I didn't know how potent that part might be — that admired the determination and strength of Katniss. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably perving on Gale the whole movie. 

 

Enjoy!  

 

It's on the bucket list...

 

So I want to start with post with this really cool story...

In April, whilst cruising through Germany, we went to the onboard cinema and the movie playing was 'The Bucket List' starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson.  Two terminally ill men escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die... The movie was so inspiring that it inspired me to create my own bucket list blah blah blah...

Ok, only half true...  Only half a really cool story... Yes, we went to the cinema, yes 'the bucket list' was playing... but thats where the story finishes... We didn't watch all the movie and it wasn't really my inspiration HOWEVER I did finish watching the movie after I got home and absolutely loved it... And whilst I had already started a bucket list I did start to think more seriously about it...

So what's on my bucket list huh? 

Travel.  Of course lots of travel.  It's my passion.  So many places to see, so many things to do, so little money to do it... Every week there seems to be somewhere else I want to visit as I hear stories from people who have been there or I read about a destination.  The list is looking a little like this so far...

• Go salmon fishing in Alaska
• See the bears at Knight Inlet Lodge
• Eat macarons from Laduree in Paris
• Watch the great migration
• Visit Amish county in Pennsylvania
• Book the Penthouse Hotel Suite at Beverly Wilshire -Beverley Hills
• Watch the PBR in the States
• Cruise the Mississippi on a steamboat
• Eat at an American diner
• Take a balloon ride in Cappadocia
• Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower
• Shop in Singapore
• Visit Harrods in London
• Have a white Christmas in Canada

 (Just to name a few... there's so many more that I could add)! 


So apart from travel what else do people put on their bucket list?  What else have I got?

I want to see Ulysses butterflies just for the sheer beauty of them.  I want to see flocks of flamingos just for the thrill of seeing so many pink birds together.  Maybe pat a baby panda.   Let go of a floating lantern... 

I want to own a pink SMEG fridge. ASAP.  I dream about this fridge. 



As if this isnt the most delicious thing!

I also want to:

• Fly first class at least once.   (I feel this will be my one lifetime splurge)
• Get tickets to the Ellen show.  Ellen rocks. 
• Have one of those picture perfect Christmas trees straight from the cover of a home magazine.
• Have a bonfire party on the beach. (This is the adventurous me).
• Go to a famous ballet performance.   (This is the cultured me). 
• Collect every Disney movie DVD.  (This is the immature me).
• Become a foster parent.  (This is the nuturing me).
• See my days out in a retirement home (This is the old me).  Bingo on Fridays. 

And to conclude one last simple thing:

Be shut up with a kiss.

I just want to be rambling on and on about nothing in particular and have him look at me and shut me up with a kiss because he can't wait a second longer.  (This is the romantic me).  And if this so happens when I am in the nursing home it better not be on Friday...

Because bingo is serious business...

You quirky little thing you...

Quirk: noun oddity of personality, way of doing something

We all have them.  We're all a little weird.  A little odd.  Have those little things about us that can seem strange to others.

I like being a little bit quirky.  I've always sat a little left of centre... I like to be different.   I just don't where that line lies between 'aw thats such a cute thing' to 'OMG is she for REAL, get that girl a straight jacket STAT?!??!"

Well you can be the judge!  Here is no particular order are 20 of my quirky, weirdy, randomy things...

1.  I don't eat whole strawberries.  They have to be cut up. 

2. I talk to my computer.  A lot.  So much so that I warn the person sitting next to me upfront.  They soon tune out to me. 

3. The milk goes in first when making an instant coffee.

4. I only eat off plates made of ceramic material.  No plastic/melamine/metal etc.  Disposable plates at a BBQ are the exception.  Same rule for cups. 

5. I will ask for a paper takeaway cup for my coffee when sitting in. 

6. I only drink room temperature water.  I will ask at a cafe/shop/service station etc if they have any.  Otherwise I will wait for it to reach room temperature.

7.  Apples have to be room temperature too. 

8. I will round my bills up so I pay an even amount.   Volume controls have to be on an even number too.

9.  I have to wear kitchen gloves if I am hand mixing anything. 

10. I separate all the colours in a packet of m&ms and have a method to eating them involving numbers in each group.

11. I drive myself crazy with conspiracy theories.  The world is flat.

12.  I use kitchen scissors to cut everything when preparing food. 

13. I can't help but google spoilers for TV shows, movies, books etc.

14. I only wear small hoop earrings.  Or studs at a push.  Fancy earrings make me nervous.

15. I don't stop for petrol until it is absolutely necessary.   However I have only ran out of petrol once.

16. I cannot deal with soggy cereal.  Or too much milk on cereal.

17.  I make lists about everything.  To-do's are my favourite.  That baby always has something going on.

18.  I refuse to wear jeans and joggers. 

19.  I have 5 apps I check on my phone as soon as I wake up - emails, facebook, instagram, my bank account and pinterest

20. I have an order of washing up also.  Drink bottles, then glasses then plates then everything else then cutlery. 
 

Being a mumma...

 

Today I spent the day with my two oldest boys in Sydney.  It's school holidays and my 9 year old desperately wanted to go to Slimefest (great marketing Nickelodeon... exactly how many times did you play that ad in a day before I succumbed and bought the tickets just so I didn't have to be called to the lounge every time the ad came on??!?!?)  So off we went in the hopes of being slimed (no, not me, I opted for the "parent zone") and watching a concert.   

I'm a working mum.  A single working mum.   I often get asked how I juggle it all.   And to be honest I don't know.  It's just what I do.  A day at a time I guess.   Am I good at juggling it all?  Hell no.  I have copious amounts of washing to be folded.  The shower needs cleaning.  Sometimes the kids eat breakfast on the run.  I forget school notes.   And some days I have working mother guilt. 

I went back to work after 8 years of being a stay at home mum. Before my first day at my new job I had analysed, over-analysed and then re-analysed the whole working mum thing.   I didn't have confidence that I would pull it off.  I was still married at this time, so had the support of another parent to help out, yet I literally did not look past the day at hand for a long while.  But it worked out.  Soon it became our new routine.

I am very maternal.  I absolutely adore my children. I love just having them in my presence and would naturally do anything for them. 

When my first son was born I was the over-achiever mum.  I fell in love with him and I put all my energy into being the perfect mumma.  Yep, we painted our own Christmas wrap, I was the playgroup co-ordinator, we read book after book, the only CDs in my car were kids songs, every article of clothing matched, every toy was analysed and I almost photographed the face off that kid. 

His brother came along just before my first son went to school and the toy box grew and the clothes were handed down but I still invested so much into being mum. 

By the time number 3 came along I had a 10 and a 5 year old, so I now had 3 children at 3 different childhood stages.    My parenting skills set hadn't changed but with number 3 playgroup didn't have the same appeal,  Christmas wrap is bought at the shops and yes he really has checked shorts and a striped shirt on.   I'm now that mum who rolls her eyes at every Elf on the damn shelf post and bento lunchbox with snow peas and hommus picture.   Ain't nobody got time for that.  (No offence Elf on a shelf and bento box mummas, I've admitted I had my time).

Do my kids drive me crazy?  Yes, yep, uh-huh.  In the last week my 5 year old dropped his bowl of cereal at the front door as we were leaving, my 9 year old had to be told 6 times (yes I counted) to put his shoes on and my 14 year old used a swear word at me for the first time when he wasn't happy.    Would I say I am a great mum tho?  Well I try.  And that's all any parent can do.  I'm winging it just like the rest of us.  I don't always get it right.  Sometimes I am out of my depth.  

I actually struggle to put into words how much I love my children.  Unconditional love.  They can drive me to the brink of insanity and with one smile bring me back again.  They trust me.  They love me.  They open my eyes by showing me the world through theirs.  They are learning the ways of the world and growing and exploring and I am honoured to be part of this. 

I love having fun and adventures with the boys.  I like to have one-on-one time with them as much as I like having them all under my wings.

I am their mumma and they are my babies. 

Hearts and roses and all that mushy stuff...

 I've been married twice.

 

I was 21 when I walked down the aisle the first time. Such a magical day.  The stuff fairytales are made of.  So young and in love.  Deep as the ocean love. Soulmate stuff.  For the next 4 years we both worked full time and in our spare time we had fun.  Winter weekends were spent with me watching him play soccer, followed by drinks at the pub, followed by drinks at our house, followed by lazy Sundays.  We played indoor soccer during the week, a few seasons of volleyball.   We bought our house and we entertained.  We did projects around the house... and in 1999 we prepared the nursery,  ready for our little millenium baby. 

His brother came along almost 5 years later. 

We were married for 10 years. 

Then one day my world was turned upside down, spun around 10 times, thrown against some walls, run over by a truck, spun around some more and then when it landed, dazed and concussed, the world I had known for 10 years was gone... It was now just me and 2 boys. 

I was still in a vunerable state when my second husband came along.  He did teach me to laugh and love again, but in hindsight we were never the right people for each other.  My gorgeous number 3 son came along very quickly in our relationship, and we struggled with our methods of parenting, amongst other things.  After 6 years we made the decision that we'd given our relationship the best go we could and moved on.  We co-parent our son, which means that every other week he's with his dad.  Does that hurt?  You bet it does.  But it's not about my pain, its about our son.   Its about what is best for him.   He needs to be with his dad as much as his mumma.  

So now i'm a single mumma, and to be honest I am ok with it.   More than ok.   I am a busy girl.  I like being busy.  I always have something going on.  I have goals and plans and projects.  I have my kids.  I'm not looking for a relationship.  Internet dating scares me. I'm happy to leave it in the hands of the universe as to who I cross paths with and when. 

But just in case the universe is needing a bit of a heads up in the future I've complied a list of what i'm looking for.   Did I mention I like lists?

In terms of looks I don't think I have a 'type' to be honest.   Nice eyes.  Nice arms.  Ian Somerhalder.

However if he ticks these boxes a bitch might just power walk...

A taste for adventure
Initiative
Openness
Smart-ass comebacks and a quick wit
Culture
A sense of fun
Intelligent
A sense of humour
A love of travel
Class when required and the wisdom to know it

So there you have it... my man list.  High expectations right?!  (Take it lightly tho, remember this is for fun).

I already know he doesn't exist...

And that, in a nutshell, is my hearts and roses and all that mushy stuff... The past, the present and the future...

Post number 1... Who am I?

 

If you're reading this you've come to my little corner of the www...

I've played around with the idea of this blog in my head for a while.  Then I added it to my 40 things before 40 list.  And finally here it is. 

So where to from here? What's this blog about? Who am I?

Well at this very moment I intend for this blog to be a mix of random stuff... mumma stuff, cooking stuff, funny stuff, travel stuff, craft stuff, life stuff... anything really... I will probably surprise myself with stuff.   

And who am I?  Well i'm an almost 40 year old single mumma to the most wonderful 3 boys.  It is my pleasure to be their mumma.  My oldest is almost 15, followed by a 9 year old and a 5 year old.  Three different personalities.  My sensitive and thoughtful big boy with just enough attitude to make him a normal teenager, my talented and charismatic middle child and my strong-willed and energetic 5 year old.    These humans have taught me the power of unconditional love. 

I work in travel.   I am passionate about my job.  I love my job, I love my colleagues, I love the industry.  I want to travel everywhere.  I want adventures and memories and photos. 

I'm gluten and dairy free.  Yep, i'm one of 'those' people.  Have been for years.

I like to cook.  I hate to clean up. 

On occasion when the mood strikes me i'm crafty.  I wouldn't say i'm a crafty person, but if I want to do a project I usually will.   I'm very impatient with projects tho.  Want the end result 3 minutes after I start.  If there's a shortcut i'll take it.

I can sew.  I only discovered this last year when I made this.  Something that I don't get time to do but I like it when I do.  Again, impatience is an issue.

I'm addicted to Pinterest.  I love memes and ecards.  I'm a social media fan.   And i've been known to be a fan of the selfie.

My dream house has floorboards, a conservatory and a rose garden.  There's also chickens and ducks and a vege patch.

I like cute dates... with my kids, with my friends...  Hell, i'd even go on a cute date with a man...

I'm the middle child. 

I like make-up. 

My favourite Christmas thing is nutcrackers.  And  a candyland theme.  But Easter is my favourite annual celebration. 

I have a bucket list and girl crushes.

If its pink and pretty and feminine I love it already.   I'm a girly girl.   

I love party planning.  I'm a details girl.  It's all in the details. 

Audrey Hepburn is classic.

My favourite movie is Marie Antoniette.   I have lost count of how many times I have watched it.  I could watch it back to back. 

I swear too much.  I don't drink enough.  I try not to judge.  I will keep your secrets.

And I blog...