Health Un-News

So there appears to be no underlying cause for my heart acting up. What kind of deal is that?  So I still have to lose weight, eat healthily, exercise moderately and drink less coffee and alcohol.  Where is the fun in that?  

Well marking continues - almost done.  11 papers to go.  So sick of marking.  Children at daycare today.  Must get things done!  So much to do.  I feel like the White Rabbit!  

Am going to a tax seminar next week.  How exciting!  Well it is for me!  Very very interested to see who or what turns up.  It is in Canberra - more than three hours drive away so I will be spending the night before in a HOTEL on my OWN in the city.  I booked a room with a spa so I can have a nice time.  Will get there at 2PM on the dot so as to enjoy spa and quiet and stuff.  

Meanwhile my eldest learnt an important lesson.  Don't be cruel to animals or you lose your friend (the other mum and I agreed that ending the play visit was the most appropriate punishment).   Interestingly they both blamed each other for the idea but of course it was the stupidity of two silly boys together that caused the idea. 

Healthy Heart

Well my heart is not doing what it should be doing.  It is all tachycardia-y and irregular.  So I went to the doctor and the doctor checked my BP.  160/110 which is BP for red alert!  Am on beta blockers.  So far it is still not settled and have a headache.  If it gets worse I will have to go back to the Doctor.  Suspects are: the implanon = my body hates female hormones.  And the other is my thyroid.  It has been really sudden onset.  

So upshot.  Have to cut back on caffeine (goodness knows how I will work as much as I have to with reduced caffeine), fat, salt and exercise more.  Sigh.  As if I need more things to do and less "rewards" in the way of food.  

Life is hard right now.  

60 papers to go.  

More marking

Thus I did mark and mark and mark until I could mark no more.  And still they said unto me - yay verily we need you to do more.  And I did reply But how will I possibly do all I need to do?  And then I had a revelation.  The revelation was thus.  I should no longer sleep and all will become clear unto me.  

We shall see how that goes shall we? 

Student amusing quote of the day (for yesterday) " and then the company put the money into the suspense account."  

Ikea for Dummies

Am marking tax papers now - having finished Business Org papers.  Much easier to mark - lots of numbers! 

Paper count: 15 down, 67 to go!

Went to IKEA today with the whole family.  Bad bad idea.  Saw what I want in one instance but what a horrible hassle the whole thing was.  Have decided I will just buy locally even if I have to pay more for more or less the same thing - at least I won't have to drive so far and push people around or be pushed around and queue only to find things not there or not the colour I want etc etc etc.  GAH!

I love IKEA and yet am tormented at the same time.  Does it count as an abusive relationship you think?  

C is for Car.

Well what a busy day today!  Started out by going to a friend's place to let our boys all run around.  And a small victory was granted today - my friend Kerrie can take my two boys on Fridays for semester!  Such a relief.  I was worried I'd have to back out at the last minute!  Daycare - where they go 2 days a week cannot take them, my neighbour who is very good with kids is unlikely to be able to take them and my usual babysitter/nanny has a class herself that day that she cannot reschedule.   GAH!  But luckily Kerry who is a very nice person can take them!  

The next part of the day after we got home was to drive a 230km round trip to pick up my marking.  Only to leave 1/3 of it behind.  Not. My. Fault.  My boss forgot to give them to me.  And only discovered this when I was 1/2 way home.  He's going to come down tomorrow from Sydney and drop it off for me.  Phew.  I suppose I'll have to clean house for a bit so it's not a total disaster.  

Finally home again and next door for pizza with the neighbour and her three kids.  Sadly it didnt go to well as the kids were all tired and wound up and couldn't quite get along.  I left a rather nice bottle of bubbly there too.  Dammit.  

Now both my busy boys are in bed and I am putting off the marking.  Husband is out with workmates for a drinks/dinner event.   I am seriously thinking of going to bed even though it is only 8:10PM!  

Promotion!

Well.  That was quick work of the Universe!  Just accepted a promotion to Unit Co-Ordinator of a LLB subject.  That means teaching law students tax not trying to teach accounting students a law subject (tax).  Happy dance. 

Envy

I try not to envy others.  Not for any spiritual reasons but because you never know the full story - what sacrifices were made, what choices wished to be undone, not really.  

But boy I felt it tonight.  A friend from high school has just made partner at one of the major firms.  International firm.  Not in my area but hey partner is partner.  She has a child, a mortgage (although it must be getting smaller by now) looks great, travels heaps and has a husband with a demanding career.  But to do what she has done - and she deserves it - she would have not done what I did.  Work part time.  

I bet she didn't play Bob the Builder crossover with Lego Lightning.  I did.  

Playing Bobs is the right thing to do.  Isn't it?  

Success is just a meal away

Well the endless fruitless attempt to get my children to eat a reasonable dinner was not a complete failure.  

We had

Microwave chicken (from Aldi - actually quite good - skin comes up crisp and spicy) Mummy got to eat extra skin as neither child eats it.  It has flavour or something.  

Mashed potatoes (ignored as usual - my kids only eat mash made by someone not living with us)

Spinach fried in a splat of olive oil with garlic, spring onion, celery and broccolini.  Also a spider came out of the spinach as it was cooking!  4 year old ate once I explained the spinach makes you big strong and do smelly loud farts.  Anything to get them to eat greens.  It works actually.  

mashed sweet potato - ignored.    4 year old had a hissy fit when sweet potato was put on his plate.

Nuked frozen peas - eaten by both.  2 year old mostly to drop half masticated onto floorboards.  I thank everyday that I have floorboards.

Also my brother - the one who lives with us - won't eat orange food.  Except carrots.  

Then each child ate fruit for dessert.  Youngest 1.5 bananas and eldest 3/4 apple.  

Mummy ate chocolate (for dessert!).  And drank a glass of wine.  

Exercise

Yesterday: rode new bike approx 25 minutes (still learning gearing on new bike); vacuumed house for 1.5 hours (it hadn't been done for ages)

Today:

Where is the balance?

I am looking for a way to balance the work life family thing.  Everyone has the same advice.  You need to prioritise and make decisions as to what is important.  But I say sometimes everything is important and all at once!  How can one manage parenting two active boys, a toddler and a pre-schooler and work a professional job that demands "facetime" and after hours work? I am a casual law lecturer for two Universities.  

In addition to parenting and lecturing  I am also supposed to do all of the following:

a) exercise 30 mins at least 3 times a week (although I have also read 1 hour a day every day - what is with that?) or I will get fat and die of health failure

b)  have sex with my husband twice a week or his mental health/our marriage will suffer.

c) continue legal education so I don't accidentally lecture from the stone age

d) keep a clean, decorated, renovated 40 year old house (it needs more cleaning, more decorating and basically a new houseworth of renos)

e) cook healthy nutritious family meals on a budget (admittedly generous) but if anyone knows how to cook a meal that both a toddler and a preschooler will like on the same night please let me know.

f) Everything else a woman is supposed to do.

All of them seem hugely important all the time.  

So far my polciy has been to sacrifice vast amounts of so called metime and sometimes sleep to manage it all.  

I think I had better stop blogging and get back to marking.  2 papers down and 105 to go.  Or something.