Really? It's February already?

Umm, but it was just New Year, wasn't it???? Obviously I've been so absorbed in life in the real world I've totally lost track of time, kinda like when you happen across one of those dreadful "disease of the week" midday movies. You know the ones: you sit there telling yourself "this is terrible", "oh look, another cliche," and of course "I really should turn this off and do something more productive like, hmm, cut the grass by hand, blade by blade"...but nevertheless you're still watching 90 minutes later as the final credits roll, possibly even a little choked up by the funeral/wedding/reconciliation with estranged family member. I've even seen the same bad movie twice since BJ was born, and even the first time I could see exactly where the plot was heading, but I just couldn't turn it off 'cos I wanted to see how badly they could execute it. (It's called The Spring and "stars" George Eads from CSI in case you too have a penchant for bad movies)

So what's been so absorbing since last I was here? Let's see...

I've embarked on a new course in an effort to find a career that will let me work from home, set my own hours, allow me to still have playdates and coffee with friends and help out when the boys start kinder and then school. So I'm doing a course to become a medical transcriptionist (MT). A glorified typist? Maybe. But it fits the above criteria, it's something I'm interested in (I've always had the idea of becoming a medical receptionist once my kids were in school, even before I had kid, so it's really just a variation on that) and it's not an industry that every woman and her dog are trying to cash in on. I've also been lucky enough to find a reputable company that will train me up and does work for some very reputable hospitals and universities, which of course is a bonus - makes a nice change from the usual "make $1000s in just a few hours a week" type work-from-home schemes.

I've also been working on decluttering - a very looooooooong process seeing as I'm a hoarder and always have been. Not two weeks ago I got rid of some textbooks on Freecycle - including books from uni ('93-'97) which I will never ever use, and even from Year 9 in high school. That's 1989. Nineteen years ago. Why I ever thought I'd need a French vocabulary book again, I do not know.

My darling grandma also passed away during January. She'd been living in a nursing home since last year and had become a frail little old lady with dementia, so it wasn't a shock, more of a relief that she had finally decided that it was ok to "let go". She'd written out some of her memories (she thought "memoirs" was too posh for her LOL) and I've got some plans to post a few bits and pieces in the future.

And now I'm off to check on the boys; they're being a little bit TOO quiet for my liking...

Dipping my toe in

A few weeks ago I bought myself some bathers (swimmers, cossie, maillot - depending where you grew up) so that we could take the boys to the beach and pool this summer. In a fit of enthusiasm for losing weight and getting fit, I also decided that I'd go and swim laps at the pool a few times - plus it would mean they'd get worn more than twice.

Today, I even went and bought some goggles and swim cap. They look hilariously ridiculous....but maybe they'll distract people from looking at my huge bum and deathly pale skin.

And now it's crunch time. If they're not going to be a waste of money, I need to go and actually use them. Go and pay my money at the gate, put them on and get in the water. Hope I can make a whole length of the 25m pool without passing out. Try not be overtaken too often by the next slowest person using the slow lane. Maybe I could limp a little so it looks like I'm taking things easy while I recover from an injury or surgery?? Nah, I'd probably get which side I'm limping on. Or slip over and genuinely hurt myself - on the other leg.

I can do this. I CAN DO THIS. Which is worse - to be a little nervous or embarrassed by how I look now? Or not bite the bullet, and be embarrassed that I still look the same (or worse, fatter and unhealthier) in a few years time?

Personalised Stationery

Some time last year while surfing the web I rediscovered VistaPrint, a company I'd come across a couple of years ago that produces custom printed products. While I didn't need anything straight away, I signed up for their newsletters so that I wouldn't forget they existed.

Fast forward a few months and I needed a couple of Christmas gifts for the grandma's. One of VistaPrint's newsletters arrived and I had a brain-wave - personalised photo calendars! I set to work with their online tools, choosing templates I liked and uploading photo's of the boys. Pretty quickly I had designed two individual desk and wall calendars they wouldn't get anywhere else, complete with family birthdays and anniversaries marked on the appropriate dates. As an added bonus, as part of a pre-Christmas special, they were FREE - I only had to pay the postage & handling.

Now, I have a bit of a thing for stationery, so I also got a rubber stamp with my name & address on it, a magnetic note pad for my fridge (it says "Another one of Anne's lists"), and invitations for BJ's 3rd birthday party - I stopped myself there otherwise I would have kept going and spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars ;-) I was really tempted to get some address labels with our caricatures on them, but wasn't sure of how John would react.

The quality was fantastic and of course, the grandma's were very pleased with their personalised calendars featuring their grandsons. They do a wide range of products (I like their notepads with magnetic backing), and you can supply your own completed design or use VistaPrint's tools, templates and logo's to design your own custom stationery for yourself or your business. Next year, I'm going back for some personalised Christmas cards, maybe with our caricatures on them (see mine below - lots of fun to create!)

Going down???

After a pretty woeful attempt at losing weight late last year - a grand total of 800g over 12 weeks - I'm giving it another go. I put on a couple of kilo's over Christmas and New Year 'cos I was just eating and drinking whatever I felt like - which involved lots of things like chocolate, cake, biscuits, softdrink, wine...you get the idea :-)

So I'm embarking on another 12 week challenge with the wonderfully supportive girls over at Living in the Suburbs. I've been a good girl and drinking my water, eating more fruit (any fruit is more than none!) and avoiding chocolate most days. And I'm very pleased to say that after the first week I've lost 1.3kg *doing a happy dance*.

My downfall seems to be that I lose some weight, so I tell myself "I lost weight last week, so I can afford to eat this/that/the other and I'll still do ok". This time around I'm going to try changing that to "keep doing the same thing and I'll start making some real progress towards my goal and get there a bit quicker".

I've put a ticker on the left sidebar - if it starts to go backwards you have my permission to hassle me and demand "what's going on over there, Anne?"

Money Money Money

I've decided that I'd eventually like to move this blog to my own website. To do that I need to pay for a domain name and hosting. To do that I need to find a way to earn a few extra dollars as our budget is fairly tight right now and I have other plans for my fun money (the money I can spend each month on whatever I want, without having to be accountable to John)

OK Anne, let's consider some options. Delivering junk mail? - too weather dependent, don't want to have to go out when it's stinking hot or pouring rain. Selling stuff on ebay? - I certainly have lots around here I could sell but I have no control over how much I'll earn, plus eventually I'll run out of things to sell (they don't let you sell your kids!)

So I've decided to give sponsored posts a try, starting with payperpost. Will I make enough that John can quit teaching? Highly unlikely:-). But if I can bring in a few extra dollars so this hobby pays for itself, I'll be more than happy - after all, my other hobbies certainly don't do that (although they could if I got motivated enough to actually complete and then sell my craft projects)

You can check out my disclosure policy on the left sidebar.