Thinking

Why is it that in bed last night I thought of a million funny things to write in this blog but this morning I couldn't really remember them?

Husband is home now so he's taken baby for a bit. That means I should be doing stuff like sterilising equipment for expressing, so I can, shock horror, get someone else to feed the munchkin. Or perhaps I should have a shower? Or perhaps just do some shopping online... No... I have to quit that. I should be selling stuff on eBay not looking at Yoox or theOutnet. Sigh.

Partners in Aid

I sit on the board of a volunteer NGO called Partners in Aid. I'm currently the honorary secretary. I seem to have a lot of ideas and then not a lot of time to get down and do them. I mean, clearly I have a bit of spare time as I sit here typing a blog... Anyway, I eventually get stuff done but it would be better for my soul I'm sure if I did things quickly. As a crazy lecturer once told me, it's not that I don't have time, it's that I haven't prioritised things as I think I should. He wasn't talking about me, he was talking about procrastination in general. I tend to do alright academically.

I'm also super keen to go visit the projects we sponsor - in India, Bangladesh and the Philippines. Time and money again. Plus I guess my husband isn't real keen on me taking out baby to a third world country. He worries a lot about food.

Renovating

Our house was built in 1914, which makes it kinda old. It's weatherboard, with a 1990s extension up top that is pretty darned ugly. I'd really like to change a few things about the house but it's not an option at the moment. Poo. So we've made it livable in time for the arrival of our baby. I fell pregnant a whole lot easier and sooner than expected. I wasn't really meant to be able to get pregnant and yet first time we took a risk bammo - bambino. Which also meant I was knocked up at my wedding, which I was adamant I didn't want to be.

I thought I'd enjoy renovating more than I have done. I think I'm more designed to potter in the garden than paint doors and such like. I did enjoy tearing out the two kitchens (the upstairs extension was a self-contained area for the previous owner's carer) and pulling out nails and sorting wood to re-use it. It's been a pretty big job and it has exhausted us at times, but there is light at the end of the tunnel now. Which means I can select furniture. I've spent a lot of time ambling through the op shops and second hand furniture places of Geelong but am yet to find the few pieces I want. I've even looked at a few places selling new furniture but that seems exorbitant when there is so much second hand stuff out there.

Why a blog?

Why a blog? Well because "everyone" keeps telling me to write one. Or even just to write. It's nice that my friends think I'm funny.

What labels should I put on this entry? Cogitation?

So a bit about me. I'm 37 or so (I often forget), I have been married for almost one year to a boy who grew up with me in the same itsy bitsy Western Victoria town, and I have a nearly 3-month old baby girl. I spent most of my twenties doing the work-travel-run out of money-work-travel thing, which meant I was back at uni finishing up the ever-handy Arts degree in my early thirties. Since then I've collected a couple of Grad. Cert.'s, one in Development Studies and one in Sustainability. I'm kind of keen to finish up with a Masters but time, money, enthusiasm... All of these things get in the way.

I'm a stay-at-home mother for the moment, but am thinking I'd like to get back to work. I think this for a few reasons - one it'd be good for my baby to spend some time with another care giver and other children. And two if I was earning a bit of an income we could finish renovating the house. Or so my husband tells me.

Speaking of renovations, we live in a nice house in a nice suburb in the town (city) of Geelong. The house is almost 100 years old and needed a lot of work when we moved in around 18 months ago. I went without a kitchen for a long time whilst heavily pregnant. I don't recommend that. When we bought the house, my builder husband told me it'd take 6 weeks to get the house done. We're still going. It's starting to look pretty good though. I'd like to completely change the back, as the kitchen is tiny relative to the house. I'd also like to get the garden finished. The front is almost done (despite the painters having a good go at accidentally stomping on it).

I'd not ever really spent a lot of time in Geelong before we moved here (from my little flat in Southbank), but it's proving to be a nice enough place to live. I think wherever you live it's about the people and experiences you gather around you. Which sounds wankier than it's meant to.

So I might go onto another post now...

My first entry.

It's 10 o'clock at night and my baby is asleep, my husband is watching Sunday night telly and I'm sitting on the computer waiting for iTunes to download an update for my iPhone. Exciting stuff. I'm a wee bit sunburnt (should that be sunburned?) after a day in Torquay. I kind of didn't want to go because I thought it would be a bit of a nightmare with Rachel (aforementioned baby, 12 1/2 weeks old). But it turned out to be alright, quite easy in fact. Bit like most stuff related to this baby shenanigans. We got there, had some lunch, Rachel went to sleep, we went for a walk, I fed her, Simon (aforementioned husband, 37 1/2 years old) took her for a walk whilst I was supposed to have a nap in the shade (I spent most of the time playing Scrabble on my iPhone), we walked some more (Rachel slept), had coffee (Rachel slept), went and got fish and chips (Rachel howled), and then went to eat the fish and chips looking over the beach. My fish and chips were cold because I fed Rachel first but other than that, well, I shouldn't say other than that, as in fact - the fish and chips tasted pretty good cold. Then we came home and Simon gave the baby a bath whilst I pottered around doing laundry and such like. Kinda easy.

Rachel has yet to be sick or unmanageable. I think my opinion on babies being easy might change when she gets sick or plays up.