the harvey circus

What an amazingly FAST year!
With two Clowns at school, and the littlest Clown at Kindy, this year has been one filled with loads of running around, drop offs and pick ups, house renovating stuff, sport, homework, sight words, readers, finding my exercise mojo and making that part of our week, fitting in a new job, a puppy addition to the circus, Marc going on loads of business trips and diving into a new role. To say it’s been a massive year is probably a perfect description!

My plan initially was to blog (more than not at all!) and cruise through this year, helping Reuben transition to Prep and enjoying Ella’s last year before all three Clowns are at school. Well that didn’t really happen too often… I am thankful for our regular coffee dates and the quiet Monday’s we had at home after full on weekends, just us girls at home, cleaning up and regrouping with a Barbie movie (or three) and some down time before the next round of craziness started each Tuesday.

So living through instagram as my social media outlet has been my thing this year. I love instagram. I love my little community of real life and virtual friends around the globe. I love the support and friendship and real life antics of these people that have become part of my everyday. Checking in with my ig friends has kept me sane, kept boredom at bay, kept me laughing, has made me shed a tear or few, found me a bargain, taught me things, opened my eyes to yet a wider world.

It’s a special place, that instagram.

2015 though, is going to me yet another crazy year, I’m sure. But one that has a little more focus on me and what I want to achieve in the next twelve months. I have plans, people! Plans that need action! Plans that need my family to start the process of supporting me, not necessarily me supporting them 100% of the time.

Now it’s time for a break though, to start the school holidays on the right foot, with loads of down time to recharge and rest those weary kid brains. Time for our family to have a proper break before 2015 takes hold with both hands and doesn’t let go.

M xo

It’s been a funny break, this lot of school holidays. I wouldn’t even call it a holiday or a break really. Maybe that will come in the Easter break. I really hope it does. We all need it. Already.

We have had some major changes around our parts. Mainly, moving house right before Christmas. Which of course meant great upheaval and mess and chaos and anxiousness and uncertainty and pressure. But excitement and happiness and relief and contentment, too.

Change is as good as a holiday, right? Well we made a change IN the holidays, so what does that mean? Well, for us, it has meant that there really hasn’t been a holiday. Not at all. Not even much down time, where we literally act like sloths and laze about for a few days straight. Nup. That hasn’t happened. And this family generally requires that time to get it (back) together. To regroup. To refocus. To reset. Not this time though. There has been too much to get done, with deadlines.

I am not organised. I have not been organised for about three months, if I am honest with myself. And I hate it. I hate this place I’m in. It’s not me. Not at all.

I completely bombed out at Christmas. Acting so unlike me, and not having presents ready, Christmas cards were not even thought of, let alone sent out. We didn’t fit in as much of our usual Christmas traditions. We didn’t make it into the city to see the lighting of the tree. We missed out on quite a few Christmas events. I didn’t have Christmas day/ Boxing Day food prepped or even thought of until the very last minute. I even ran out of sticky tape and wrapping paper at the eleventh hour.
To me, it was a Christmas Fail.

And I will do much better this year.

Then there has been the unenthusiastic, on strike cook. It’s as if all motivation and inspiration has done an exit stage left from my brain. It keeps getting to 5pm and I have no desire to get started and nothing in mind for dinner, much less the ingredients on hand to make anything remotely decent for the Circus. So very unlike me. I love to cook, just seemingly not right now.

Exercise and good diet have been a distant friends. I could blame the heat, but that is just a pitiful excuse. I could blame the holidays, in general. That I will take on as a genuine reason. Oh and house packing up, moving, painting, unpacking, adding in Christmas to the mix as well, and you don’t really have a great routine going to make that time for myself.
In hindsight though, I think I should have at least stuck fast with the excerise. I think it would have kept me more focused. More patient. More fun to be around. More normal. More me.

School prep has been slow too. Thankfully, my former organised Self, decided to purchase all the boys school uniforms and paraphernalia long before school finished for the year. However, I of course was not able to order books and stationery etc etc that far in advance, so I kind of conveniently forgot about all that other stuff that has to be done. It’s all done now. But not in my usual fashion.

But it has now hit the business end of the holidays.
Procrastination can’t be allowed in anymore.
There has to be a turning point.

Now. It has to be today.

Because tomorrow is the beginning of Reuben’s schooling career.
Because Owen is embarking on Grade Three.
Because Ella starts Kindergarten on Thursday.
Because Marc already knows he has a massive year ahead, work wise.
Because I need to get my shit together so we function well.

So. As I sit here, confessing my holiday sins, I have mustered up enough effort to make a batch of banana choc chip muffins for the poor kids lunches.
Dinner prep has started. At the very least, today I thought about it way before 5pm…
I have almost finished getting the boys ready for school tomorrow.
Three books that require contacting are staring me down. Waiting for the sticky face off that must happen sooner rather than later.
Two spanking new school hats need labels ironed on.

Good luck to all those Preppies and Parents starting school this week. And to all those starting in new schools, I hope you make at least one friend on your very first day. I’m sure you will do great. Smile. Be kind.

So I really don’t like having to call Centrelink, or any government call centre really, but right now, I have been waiting on hold for 38 minutes, trying to sort out something that I thought I had easily (and quickly) updated through their online services.
But no.
No no.
I am on hold.
Being tortured with their awful elevator music. It does not have the desired calming effect at all.
Waiting to see what I did incorrectly to completely stuff up my whole little Centrelink world!
Why isn’t this stuff just easily done?!
Why oh why do I choose the worst time seemingly possible to have to call them?!
And waiting not so patiently means I’m not exactly in the best frame of mind once I do finally get to speak to someone…
Luckily, most of the time, the poor person on the other end of the line is really polite and super helpful…
Still waiting….!!