How to Apologise to a Client When You Stuff Up

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November 13, 2015

This post has been written in collaboration with Fresh Flowers

Have you ever stuffed up on a job? I have plenty of times. Often the mistakes could be rectified, but it would take time (and sometimes some money) to fix. When I’ve tried to fix a mistake, I have sometimes forgotten the cost to a client. The business world does not accommodate mistakes very easily because they cost time and money to fix.

Mistakes are also the first memories that come to mind when we’ve left a job. I still remember one of my biggest mistakes at work and it happened over 10 years ago.

I was working as a telemarketer for a transport company and I had to ring up warehouse managers to organize appointments for our Sales Reps.

Anyway, before I made one particular phone call, I read the notes that I left from the last time I had rung and realized I had booked an appointment with this particular Warehouse Manager. I checked with the allocated Sales Rep to see if she had gone to the appointment and she told me she didn’t recall receiving the paperwork to do the appointment.

I remember feeling the heat go to my cheeks and the frustration that I had missed organizing the paperwork for the appointment. I had a quota each week to meet, so I doubted I had made the mistake in the first place and internally blamed the sales rep as they had obviously misplaced the paperwork.

I rang the Warehouse Manager to apologize for not showing up to our appointment and asked if he was still interested in meeting up with our rep. He was quite shirty on the phone and told me he wasn’t interested in any future appointments as I had wasted his time and stood him up. After I hung up, I didn’t know what to do.

I went to my manager and explained what had happened. He went into PR mode and organized a bottle of wine and flowers to be sent to the client. At the time I didn’t question the flowers being sent, but I understood it was a tangible apology for wasting this Warehouse Manager’s time and also a way to keep the door of opportunity open for future appointments.

I can’t recall if we got another appointment, but I do know we did what we could to rectify an honest mistake. Many businesses can shrug off the responsibility of apologizing, even if the mistake was unintentional.

When I changed careers to plumbing, apologizing to clients would include calling them on the phone to say sorry, or doing an extra favour on another job – like not charging for a variation on the next project. More often it was simply going back to the job and fixing up the problem or paying someone to fix it if it was something we couldn’t fix ourselves.

No one likes to stuff up, but apologizing to a client is always a good start. Often we can get defensive over our mistake, but owning it and doing something practical to rectify it is a good way to finish the interaction with a client on a positive note. Giving a client an “I’m sorry” gift also wouldn’t hurt.

Don’t ever underestimate the power of flowers when offering an apology. Flowers will always brighten someone’s day. If ever you need an “I’m sorry I messed up” gift, you can order a bouquet from Fresh Flowers and have the flowers delivered in Brisbane and most capital cities. It’s a great way to apologize if your client is in a different city to you. It’s as easy as going on their site and ordering.

Have you ever had to apologize to a client? What did you do to apologize? Have you ever apologized using flowers?

This post has been written in accordance to with my disclosure policy.

Fish Before You Flush #HIT

By

Rebecca Senyard

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November 12, 2015

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I love plumbing questions. I enjoy being tested when it comes to my plumbing knowledge. Some questions are easy to answer. Other stump me, so I usually ring my dad. Often it’s to get reassurance that what I’m going to reply with is the right solution. I’ve had some funny questions over the years and I’ve had some serious ones that have required me to do a bit of digging.

One common question that would perplex me was the question of ‘Help! I flushed this down the toilet and I’m not sure if I need to ring a plumber to retrieve it?’

Sometimes it would be a child flushing a pear down the toilet, other times it would be adults saying they flushed anything from a brush to a hair clip down the toilet.

I would wonder why and how? How could you flush a brush down the toilet? What would possess you to drop a brush down the toilet and flush it without retrieving it?

It wasn’t until I had my own ‘near flush’ experience that I realized how easy it is to reach for the button before retrieving said item.

When I was on holiday with the kids at Turtle Beach Resort, our ensuite was quite long and narrow. The toilet was next to the vanity basin.

As I was removing my gator clip from my hair to straighten my curly locks, the unthinkable happened. The clip sprung out of my clasp and landed perfectly in the toilet bowl. Splash

clip in toilet — I reenacted the scene for your viewing pleasure. That is not a turd, it’s my clip.

Great! Esther had used our toilet and she is a fan of the if it’s yellow let it mellow movement.

Thankfully she had flushed that afternoon and the water was semi-reasonable.

Without even thinking I went to press the button to ‘wash’ my precious gator clip down the Turtle Beach Resort sewer.

Thank goodness I stopped myself. But I had to eat humble pie and I realized how easy it was to ‘accidentally’ flush before I fished.

Queensland Urban Utilties (QUU) are warning residents not to flush the wrong things down their sinks, pipes and toilets. It can not only cause an expensive plumbing bill if said item gets caught down the line, it adds extra work at the sewage treatment plant. QUU spend $600,000 each year disposing of this rubbish from the sewerage treatment plant. Only three P’s should be flushed down toilets – Pee, Poo and Paper.

If you use flushable wipes, use them, but dispose of them in the bin and not down your toilet. I like the convenience of a cleaning wipe but I know not to send them swimming down my sewer as ultimately they will clog my sewer. Wipes are adding to the work QUU do when treating our sewage. They remove 120 tonnes of wet wipes from their sewage network. That’s a lot of wipes. And that’s a lot of extra expense that someone has to pay for…

So my advice is fish before you flush. Don’t flush anything foreign down the toilet, unless of course it’s the Indian food you scoffed down the night before. 😉

Last week on Home Improvement Thursday we had two blogs link up. It was a busy week with Nicole and Nikki preparing for the Love Your Home event, which I shared about earlier this week. Erin from Seven Little Australians and Counting linked up to share the progress of renovating their home and the arrival of their roof materials. If you want to follow a blog that shares the highs and lows of building and renovating, Erin’s blog is one you should follow. Best of all they are getting the family in to help with the build.

We love when you link up and look forward to reading your posts this week.

If you’re a DIY, home organization, building, renovation, home makeover, home decorating, home maintenance or trade related blogger we’d LOVE you to link up with us below.Here are the HIT rules for how to link up and what you need to do once you have linked up.Linkable posts, must centre around the topics of DIY, Renovations, Home Organisation, Home Improvement, Home Makeovers, Home Styling, or Home Maintenance.

You can share 1 post each week. Please make sure they are new to the “Home Improvement Thursday” party.

Linking is simple, find the little blue button at the end of the post that says, Add Your Link, and then pop in your URL, and follow the prompts. Your link only needs to be added once and it will automatically show up on both of our blogs… it’s that easy!

Grab our #HIT button and pop it on your sidebar. Don’t forget to share it with others.

Follow the blogs of your fellow #HIT family, and leave a comment. Please visit and comment on at least three blogs that are near you on the list.

Leave a comment on the post below so we can return the favour and comment on your post.

Don’t forget to follow The Builder’s Wife and The Plumbette.

An InLinkz Link-up

Love Your Home Event at Masters

By

Rebecca Senyard

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November 10, 2015

21

Bloggers are very creative and generous people. Most bloggers are driven to share their knowledge online to help and inspire others.

The Love Your Home event organized by Nicole from The Builder’s Wife was exactly that, except rather than share knowledge on a blog, she decided to share it in person at one of her favourite home and hardware stores, Masters.

As you know, I have a love hate relationship with most hardware stores. But I still shop at these stores for tools and hardware for maintenance jobs around the home.

On Thursday night, Lauren and I headed out to the event, eager to get some home styling ideas.

Lauren was not only my date for the night, she was my chauffeur.

Earlier on in the day I received a text from my date, asking for advice on what to wear. I replied with ‘most likely wearing pants and a top and closed in shoes’.

I didn’t expect Lauren to telepathically read my mind and wear a similar outfit.

The Plumbette and Create Bake Make — #everydaystyle twinning with Lauren from Create Bake Make

Lauren came bearing baked gifts, which my girls happily received, and promptly asked if they could have some before they went to bed.

These recipes will be on the Create Bake Make Blog in the next couple of weeks.

Once the girls were settled with their babysitter, Lauren and I headed off to Masters. It was raining and there was a storm heading our way.

The night started off with Nicole taking us all on a tour around Masters, explaining the must have tools every woman should have and where to go to get different products.

Nicole The Builder's Wife — Nicole from The Builder’s Wife

After the tour, Nikki from nooks & cranny shared how to make a moss ball. Lauren and I got our green thumbs on and got to work making our moss ball. I couldn’t believe how ~~messy~~ easy it was. I rarely have great results from DIY, but I was pretty impressed with my moss ball. So impressed I forgot to take a picture of it. But here’s Lauren’s.

Once the moss balls were finished, Angela from Interior Solutions Brisbane showed how to style an outdoor setting using wall paper as a backdrop and layering cushions and textiles.

The event went for 1 hour and was informative and fun. We all left with a goody bag and arrived back into Lauren’s car like drowned rats from the storm.

By this stage the lightning was pretty scary and I reassured Lauren that we wouldn’t die because Brisbane would be lost without their best baking blogger and plumbing blogger. we still have much knowledge to share with you! 😉

I think it’s fabulous seeing bloggers get out, presenting their knowledge and ideas with their readers and community. I try to make an effort to go to most blogging functions because I believe it’s good to support our blogging colleagues. The turn out was enough for the event to be intimate, and not overcrowded. Holding an event like this is just another way of connecting with readers and sharing knowledge in a personal way.

Special thanks to Lauren for giving me a lift and being my date.

When was the last time you went to an event to support a colleague? Would you be interested in attending a similar event in Brisbane and what would you like to learn? Who would you like to hear from?

I’m linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT.

How to Fix a Broken Pipe When it’s a Couple of Meters Underground

By

Rebecca Senyard

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November 5, 2015

6

This post has been written in collaboration with Nuflow Technologies

If your plumber has given you a quote to fix a broken pipe underground that requires excavation and shoring, you may be shocked at the quote. But there may be an alternative that can fix the problem without the need for excavation. It’s less laboursome and may be a more affordable solution.

History of sewer pipes in Brisbane

When sewerage was first introduced to Brisbane, the pipes were clay, known as Earthenware. As houses have been renovated or newly built, these pipes have been left as is or replaced with PVC.

Once a sewer pipe is laid underground, the only way to access the pipe is through an inspection opening (IO) or man hole. The IO is big enough for a camera to be put down to locate breaks or blockages. It also gives access for jet rodding machines to blast out a blockage.

A common issue for houses, when it comes to blocked drains, is when tree roots have grown into the pipe which causes a partial blockage on the main line. This blockage backs up the toilets and makes any waste water difficult to flow down the plug hole.

If a pipe is bowed or broken, with tree roots growing through the break, there are three options to fix it.

Leave it as it is and call a plumber every couple of years to remove the blockage when needed.
Excavate the pipe and replace the broken piece
Get Nuflow Technologies to line the orifice of the existing pipe to seal the break and prevent further blockages.

Many years ago, when Jacol Plumbing was busy with commercial work, we were working in a building in Queen Street and Suncorp was the new tenant. It was found that the sewer line into the building, which was the original earthenware with cement joints, ran directly under the ground floor, and was broken and kept blocking the toilets.

There was little in the budget to replace the pipe and Suncorp were only going to be in the building for 5 years, so they were reluctant to spend the money on excavating, shoring and restoring the ground floor for occupancy.

The only solution, to avoid excavating and making a mess of the ground floor, was to engage a plumber who was experienced in Nuflow Technologies. The plumber was able to seal the earthenware sewer pipe, manhole to manhole. The blueline technology repaired the broken sewer which meant little disruption to the ground floor and saved a fortune in expense of excavating, shoring and labour time removing the old pipe and replacing it with new.

Nuflow Technologies isn’t just for commercial pipes. It’s the best solution for houses that have broken sewer pipes due to movement and pesky tree roots. Some sewers can be 3 meters deep which makes it a difficult and expensive exercise to excavate and repair. But a simple seal with Nuflow Technologies can fix the problem. It’s the best solution on how to fix a broken pipe when it’s a couple of meters underground.

To find a plumber in your area who is experienced in installing Nuflow Technologies, head to the website for more details.

Ever experienced a blocked sewer at your house? Ever been given a quote to fix a broken pipe underground?

This post has been written in accordance with my disclosure policy.

My First Kindergarten Excursion & Plumbing is Art

By

Rebecca Senyard

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November 3, 2015

12

This time last week I was heading to the train station with Esther to accompany her and her class for their annual kindergarten excursion.

Esther and I on the train, heading to Ipswich

Esther was excited the moment she was told about the trip and I had to admit, I was pretty excited too.

I remember loving excursions as a youngster and still remember my first excursion to the QLD Museum when I was 6. I remember being fascinated by the Dinosaurs and the outer shell of the plane that crashed into O’Reilly’s rainforest. Well at least I think it was that plane. I do remember feeling sad when I saw it.

One of the benefits of being a stay-at-home mum is being available as an extra set of hands at excursions. It was one of the parts of parenting that excited me when Jacob and I talked about having a family. To be able to watch my own kids in wonder, discovering new things, as I did many years ago.

The excursion included a train trip to Ipswich and we spent most of our time in the Ipswich Art Gallery which has a children’s gallery section that encourages children (and their parents) to use their imagination.

We were told to use our imaginations to make something that fit around the themes that were up on each of the four walls. One wall was about boats (or under the sea), another about birds, another about flowers and the last wall was about the city.

Esther and I got to work on creating a rainbow. Esther’s craft was a deconstructed rainbow of sorts on a card with pipe cleaner springs. I got to work making my own rainbow. Sometimes Esther got into me for not paying enough attention to her craft. I probably got a bit engrossed in making my own rainbow. But I loved it because all the stuff was set out for us to use and the kids cleaned up their mess. It’s easy to zone into your creativity when you don’t have to prepare or think about the mess. This was my creation….

After the kids got to share about their ‘art’, it was time for a story. The kids have been learning about rhyming words. The teacher asked the kids what rhymed with cat and the kids would reply with a word. When the teacher asked, “what rhymes with log?” Esther was quick to shout out ‘BLOG’, which had all the parents and teachers laughing, myself included.

After some playtime and lunch in a nearby park, Esther and I had a peek around the displays in the gallery.

Of course I was drawn to this artwork by Christopher Pine. Who knew plumbing could be artwork? Plumbers can add ‘artist’ to their list of skills. While I don’t want to criticize the artist’s creativity, I was bemused to see rusted gal pipes put together to create something… new.

The excursion was fun, although we did have some tears caused by high expectations around the park, which I think was elevated from being hot and tired.

It was a great excursion. Esther enjoyed it so much she has asked to go on holiday to Ipswich. I told her we’d go out for another day trip instead.

Sometimes, I do forget to be grateful for being able to work from home so I can be available during the day with my girls.

I can’t wait to attend more excursions and the sports carnivals so I can cheer my girls on at the sidelines.

But best not to get ahead of myself.

Have you ever gone on an excursion with your child? Ever seen some ‘surprising’ art?

I’m linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT.

I Don’t Like to be Tricked, But I Like to be Treated: Halloween and the Christian

By

Rebecca Senyard

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October 31, 2015

4

Halloween. It’s everywhere. And it never used to be (in Australia) but it’s become another date on the calendar to celebrate – another excuse to dress up and indulge in trick or treating.

The shops get in on the hype too. I fell for it and bought 4 bags of chocolates for $10 simply to treat myself and the kids.

Everyone has different views on Halloween. I’ve read Christian views and I’ve read those that see Halloween as harmless fun for the kids.

For me, Halloween is an indicator on the calendar that it’s two months till Christmas.

Even on Thursday, as we were going grocery shopping, Esther was telling anyone who wanted to hear.

“First there’s Halloween, and then there’s the Melbourne Cup and then it is Christmas. But we don’t celebrate Halloween and we don’t celebrate the Melbourne Cup but we do celebrate Christmas.”

As a parent with young children, I know there are going to be a few battles in the future about what the world celebrates and what we as a family choose to celebrate instead.

I’ve never been particularly scared or worried about Halloween. For me, the dress ups are ridiculously unreal, although recently they have been quite gory and horrific. My Facebook page has been full of kids looking more morbid than fantasy. I understand them as not being real. But my girls don’t have my understanding and they don’t have my spiritual maturity.

When I was a teen, our first trip to Disneyland was over Halloween. The main street of Disneyland was decorated with pumpkins and spider webs and the parades had a Halloween theme. We watched on, but didn’t flinch or frown despite not celebrating it.

I even vividly remember going on a Hollywood house tour in Beverly Hills where we were shown the houses of famous celebrities. During the tour on the mini bus, the driver doing the commentary was explaining the buzz about Halloween and the extreme costume parties. He was quite proud about his costumes and the previous year he had come 2^nd with his costume. Someone on the bus asked what he dressed up as to come 2^nd (as the competition could be quite competitive). He hesitated to answer as he looked back in his rearview mirror at my brother and I. He told everyone he couldn’t tell us, but after more prompting he told everyone he dressed up as a vibrator. My dad laughed, shaking his head, and my mum pulled her typical face when she’s not impressed. I had no idea at the time what a vibrator was at 13 years old, but I did a google search when I got home to find out.

Anyway, for me, the atmosphere seemed hyped with fun, and not with an intense focus on the gruesome, which is what seems to have happened in recent years in Australia as Halloween has come knocking on our doors. The scarier and morbid, the better.

Some communities in Australia have embraced the tradition and others are placing signs on their letterboxes to say no to trick or treaters. Everyone is entitled to how they will celebrate Halloween.

The real question about Halloween for me is who does the celebration glorify? You see we have Christmas which celebrates the birth of Jesus and we have Easter which celebrates the death and resurrection of the same man. A man, who I believe every human needs to have a relationship with to make sense of the world we live in, whether believed in or not.

Halloween celebrates death and its focus is on reaching out to the dead. The origins of Halloween come from a pagan background and it has strong roots with practices that connect with the dead and evil spirits. Both are practices God has warned not to partake in Deuteronomy 18:10-12 simply because we do not know the spirits we are encountering. Dressing up as a demon/ghoul/ghost and screaming at a demon (which are very real) will not stop a demon possession contrary to what Halloween customs teach. Demon possession is real and flirting with celebrations that encourage this practice is dangerous if you don’t have the spiritual maturity to handle it. And even if you don’t believe it, as parents we are protective of what our kids watch on TV, but when it comes to Halloween – it’s just harmless fun.

The thing is many don’t understand the spiritual attack that can come from participating in Halloween and I’ve seen many Christian families shrink away saying their children will take no part in the activities. I don’t blame them.

Yet, I have a different view.

For me, we won’t be celebrating or offering treats because our girls are too young to understand a witch or scary ghoul knocking on the door is not real.

But I know Esther will ask me about it next year when she’s at school because this year the school that Esther will attend is sponsoring a community event in our suburb. So what is seen as evil and demonic, is actually bringing our community together.

My response is rather than rebuke the celebration, I will join our community and represent a godly aspect to Halloween. Similar to a Red Frog response to Schoolies Week.

Halloween is the perfect time for us Christians to talk about the afterlife. What do we think happens when we die? Are there really ghosts? Are there demons? Are there good spirits and bad spirits? What about angels? Is there a God? The questions can be numerous and if Christians are to shut their doors on Halloween, we’ve lost an opportunity to love our community and to offer an answer that our community is desperately searching for – and it’s quite simply the meaning of life and is there an afterlife? Halloween stemmed from a fascination with the afterlife, and if Christians aren’t there to offer an answer, how are people to understand or know the hope we have in Jesus? Instead they see religious fun police saying ‘you shall not do this…’

Some Christians may view this response as wrong, and yes, I could be ‘flirting’ with danger, but for me I see it as an opportunity to love and to get to know my neighbors better.

In what aspect we take part next year, I don’t know. But maybe we will open our home for trick and treating and offer positive affirmations attached to lollies. I know Esther would get more joy from giving away than receiving. But I’m also mindful of her little mind seeing scary people rock up on her front door. I’m still not exactly sure what to do.

After being encouraged this week to find my ‘word’ about my current circumstances and situations, I derived my response to Halloween from reading 1 Corinthians 10:23-33, with special emphasis on 31 and 33.

‘So whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God – even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many so that they may be saved.”

These verses can be read as to not partake in anything evil so you don’t cause a brother or sister to stumble, but allowing them to stumble blindly with no Christian representation, I believe, is a lost opportunity. God is not surprised by Halloween and I think Jesus would have said a word or two about the afterlife. And any demonic activity would be stopped in His name. He would be there rebuking demons and setting people free.

And that is why Christians shouldn’t shy away from Halloween. You don’t have to ‘celebrate’ it by getting dressed up, but you can make a difference by offering an alternative that sows hope and life into the child that encounters your front door.

What do you think about Halloween? I am open to all opinions and discussions.

How to get Your House Ready to Rent

By

Rebecca Senyard

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October 30, 2015

2

One of the benefits of owning your home (either with or without a mortgage) is having the choice of renting your home out should your life circumstances change. No matter the circumstance, renting out your house is not a decision to be made lightly. There are many things you need to consider before you decide to rent your house out. At present, there are more renters than houses, so renting your house in this current market can be a smart move, however there are things you need to do before your house could be considered ready for tenants. With that in mind, I have put together a list of how to get your house ready to rent as a lot of what we put up with when we live in the home will need to be rectified before you can advertise for a tenant.

1. Paint the walls of the house. Just like a freshly painted house will attract buyers, a freshly painted rental house will attract renters. Despite it being a renters market, with more renters than houses available to rent, you don’t want to limit your rent scope. Consider painting the walls a neutral colour. If your bedrooms have pink feature walls (because they used to be your daughter’s rooms) paint them neutral so you don’t limit the scope of families who may want to rent your home. QPaint suggest using a quality paint over a budget paint for a flawless finish.

2. If you want to charge utilities like water to your tenants, you will need to ensure your property has its own water meter and is water efficient. Taps and showerheads need to flow at a maximum of 9 Litres per minute. The toilet needs to be a dual flush cistern that flushes 6.5 Litres for a full flush and 3.5 Litres for a full flush. Once those criteria are met, you are able to charge the water usage to your tenants. The sewer usage charge and fixed access charges cannot be charged to your tenants. For full details, check out the Residential Tenancies Authority. To ensure your house meets the water efficiency criteria, ring a licensed plumber who can check your taps and fixtures for you and change them accordingly. Once the check is finished they can write a certificate, certifying your house meets the criteria.

3. Ensure there are no electrical hazards onsite by organizing an electrician to do a check and write a letter of compliance. Your electrician will be able to check all sockets and light switches. Ensure there is a safety switch installed.

4. Ensure the right smoke detectors are fitted in the house and have new batteries. Test all smoke detectors to ensure they are in working order.

5. Check all the locks on the property and make sure they work and you have a few spare keys for each lock. You will need to have adequate keys for the tenants and the agent who manages your property.

6. Check all appliances are in working order and make a note of their manufacturing date. Put a kitty of money aside to assist with maintenance of these appliances on your property.

7. Ensure you have building insurance or a landlord insurance policy that covers the replacement of the house should the inevitable happens while you’re not living in it.

8. Also ensure you have insurance in case your tenants vandalize the property.

9. Clean the house – includes the appliances like dishwasher and oven to the windows, floors, carpet, bathrooms, outdoor areas and bench and cupboard surfaces so the house is ready for the new tenant.

10. Check for loose tree branches and remove accordingly. Check the gutters and ensure all debris is removed. Ensure the pavers and pathways surrounding your house are evenly laid to prevent them becoming a tripping hazard to your tenants.

11. Fix anything that is broken like fences, downpipes and letterboxes to ensure the house is in optimal condition for your tenants.

12. If your property has a pool, ensure the fencing surrounding the pool meets regulations. Ensure your pool meets the current legislation for pool maintenance and safety.

13. Check security systems and ensure they are in good working condition.

14. Ensure pest inspections are up to date. They should be scheduled annually. If they aren’t done regularly, you won’t be able to claim termite damage on your house insurance so it pays to ensure this is done.

If the list overwhelms you slightly, don’t be afraid to hire professionals to assist with the presentation of your house. Doing some research into reliable removalists like Muval can be a great help in moving furniture and belongings out of the property and into your new home.

The electrical, plumbing and termite inspections will need to be done by licensed trades in those fields.

Qpaint can ensure your house is painted both inside and out for maximum presentation.

Your local pool supplies shop can also offer a regular maintenance service to ensure the pool is well maintained.

Also remember any bills associated with getting the house ready for rent and any maintenance bills incurred during the rental period can be claimed at tax time.

Have you ever considered renting your property? Anything I should add to the list?

A Breast Check Scare and a Baby Dedication

By

Rebecca Senyard

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October 27, 2015

26

Life is really like a box of chocolates. You never know what you will get. I think each week we are given a new box to open and we can never predict what will be in the box. Last week my box included an unexpected scare and delightful celebration.

Our week started with coming back from our holiday on Monday with Esther complaining of sore ears. It was around 2:30 in the afternoon that I rang our doctor to see if there were any available appointments and there was one opening at 3pm, so I nabbed it and asked if I could also get a pap smear done because it was well overdue. With Jacob home, I’ve been multi-tasking like a boss to get as much done as I can with the extra help at home.

Esther ended up with ear infections in both ears and a raging sore throat that required drops and antibiotics. I’m glad I was able to get her into the doctors when I could. I booked in for another appointment on the Wednesday to get my moles checked because I hadn’t had that done since before Phoebe was born. Unfortunately the doctor didn’t have time to check them all there and then.

Wednesday came around and a thorough check of my skin showed that none of my moles were suspicious and all looked well. My doctor then said he wanted to do a breast check which I thought, sure why not, expecting to get the same bill of health that I’d just gotten about my skin.

After a detailed feel and a few arm movements up and down, my doctor felt a lump that I hadn’t noticed before. He said he wanted me to get an ultrasound to check the lump.

I naively just thought it might have been left over breast milk tissue and that it would just be nothing. I had the ultrasound and it went for a while. This kind of got me a little worried because couldn’t they tell it was just old breastmilk? I was told I had to book in with my doctor to get the diagnosis the next day.

My mum drove me to the doctor and we found out I have two lumps – fibroadenomas, one in each breast around 9mm wide. They don’t look to be cancerous but I will need to get them checked in 3 months time to see if they grow.

Of course I did a google search on them and despite the fact I was told they weren’t cancerous, I don’t like that I have them. And even though I was calm during the check, ultrasound and getting the results, the whole experience reiterated how much of our health and age we can simply take for granted.

October is breast cancer awareness month and my experience is a good reminder that we can’t become complacent about breast health. None of us are immune to cancer. I’m just thankful my doctor was onto it when I wasn’t, which brings me to my next point: going to your doctor to get your breasts checked annually is a good thing to do – especially if you are young like me (I’m 31). I would not have picked up what my doctor did and would have assumed it was normal breast tissue after I recently stopped breastfeeding Phoebe. But you can’t make assumptions, and being vigilant with checks is vital.

We ended the week on a high though as I booked Phoebe’s baby dedication on Sunday. Of course the date didn’t suit everyone, but I was reluctant to change it because I’d been meaning to do it since Phoebe was 6 months old. I also didn’t want to book the dedication in November and December when family would be busy with end of year and Christmas party engagements. Sadly some immediate members of the family weren’t able to make the service.

Our church does family dedications a little differently to many churches as they have one date each month that is set aside for baby dedications. They line all the families up on stage and pray a blessing over each baby. It worked out well that I dressed the girls in the same dress as it was easy for our family in the audience to pick us out on stage.

My gorgeous girls in their matching dresses. Mags is ready to walk off set.

The prayer was special and we received a little certificate and bible for Phoebe.

For Jacob and I, it was special to thank God for her birth and the gift she is to our family. When the pastor talked to us about Phoebe on stage, Maggie wanted to tell everyone that she was wearing the same dress as Phoebe. It was very cute.

As I held Esther and Maggie’s hands and looked at Jacob holding Phoebe, I realized how abundantly blessed we are and there is nothing I want more than to be the best wife and mum to my family.

How has your week been? Have you had your necessary health checks this year?

I’m linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT.

The Blocktagon Kitchen Reveals

By

Rebecca Senyard

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October 26, 2015

1

Kitchen reveals are usually one of my favourite parts of The Block. We’ve seen some amazing kitchens produced by previous couples on The Block and last night was sure to please with some really well-thought out designed spaces. There were also some – not-so-well-thought-out decisions that the judges had no hesitation in pointing out. Personally, I think Dean and Shay should have been in for the win, but I have no doubt they will rake it in at the auction, and really at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.

Kingi and Caro produced the winning kitchen last night. The biggest hit with the judges (and myself) was the digital touch screen splashback. A great idea for bringing up a recipe to bake or play some music while cooking. It was the standout feature of the night of reveals and was what gave them the extra half point to win the cash last night. The kitchen space was definitely well thought out, but I’ve never been a fan of black cupboard doors as they show sticky fingers as fast as you can say sticky fingers. Maybe they have a finish on them to prevent the fingerprints? I hope so.

Kingi and Caro Kitchen The Block — Kingi & Caro’s Winning Kitchen, Image Source

Kingi and Caro Touchscreen Splashback — Kingi and Caro’s Digital Touchscreen splashback

Whitney and Andy produced a much lighter and brighter kitchen, that had mixed reviews because of the space between benches and the mix of retro and modern appliances. Overall it was still a lovely kitchen, so long as you have inspector gadget arms to work in it.

Whitney and Andys Kitchen The Block — Whitney and Andy’s Kitchen, Image Source

I loved the idea of the herb garden in the benchtop, but when thought about practically, it’s not ideal. Although if it was in my kitchen, my girls would give them a great watering with their spilled drinks.

Andy And Whitney Herb Garden Kitchen Bench The Block — Whitney and Andy’s Kitchen Herb Bench, Image Source

I wasn’t a fan of Suzi and Vonni’s kitchen. I don’t like the all black cabinetry and I prefer a clean island bench space. But that’s just my preference. The judges brought up the same concerns I had. It still is a great kitchen for cooking and entertaining.

Suzi and Vonni Kitchen The Block — Suzi and Vonni’s Kitchen, Image Source

The judges didn’t like the mirror and wooden panels on the walls. Overall it was a nice kitchen, but it was very dark and had some elements that just didn’t work.

I really liked Luke and Ebony’s Kitchen, except for the big sink in the island bench. If you’ve read my posts before about The Block, you would know I’m not a fan of the sink in the island bench. It’s hard to keep clean and uncluttered.

Luke and Ebony Kitchen The Block — Luke and Ebony’s Kitchen, Image Source

I loved the artwork in the kitchen that gave the space a bit of colour. The kitchen had a bright and airy feel to it.

Luke and Ebony Kitchen Sink — Luke and Ebony’s Kitchen Sink, Image Source

Lukey and Ebony Kitchen — Side view of Luke and Ebony’s Kitchen, Image Source

Dean and Shay’s kitchen was my favourite. Simply because of the views. I could imagine sitting at the side bench and eating breakfast or drinking coffee and reflecting on that view. We understood why Dean and Shay chose to flip their apartment design around so the kitchen could get the views. I thought it worked well and so did the judges, but not enough to secure the win last night.

Dean and Shay Kitchen The Block — Dean and Shay’s Kitchen, Image Source

Dean and Shay Kitchen — Dean and Shay’s Kitchen with city views, Image Source

Which kitchen was your favourite last night? Do you have any ideals when it comes to a kitchen?

Five Tips on Getting Your Backyard Ready for Christmas

By

Rebecca Senyard

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October 23, 2015

2

I don’t want to alarm you, but Christmas is 9 weeks away. Kind of crazy huh? Didn’t we just start the New Year?

Around this time of year, families delegate who will host Christmas Day. If you are the lucky host this year, and your backyard is looking like a Sahara desert rather than a tropical oasis, now is the time to get your yard looking good for Christmas Day.

If your backyard is already landscaped, you may want to get the lawn and gardens looking great for an outdoor lunch or family game of cricket. Here are five tips to get your backyard ready for Christmas.

1. Spring is the perfect time to inspect the condition of your lawn. In most cases it may look a bit brown and dry after coming through winter. Now is the time to feed your lawn with a quality slow release fertiliser. Find an all-purpose fertilizer as some fertilisers have been designed for different grass types. If you’re like me, and you don’t know your Sir Walter from your Cooch, buy an all-purpose fertiliser that can work on any grass type. It will generally feed your lawn for up to 3 months. If weeds are a problem, invest in a weed killer and apply liberally. On our lawns we use Urea and we don’t have a problem with weeds. If we do get the occasional weed, Jacob will pull it out from the roots. Always pull weeds from the roots to ensure they don’t grow back.

2. Weeds are often more of a problem in the garden. You can invest in a weed killer, but often mis-application can kill the plants in your garden, and if you have kids or pets, you may refrain from spraying chemicals in the garden. This can be a big job, but removing weeds by hand can be strangely satisfying.

3. Once all weeds have been removed by hand, inspect the garden for dead branches or plants that may need to be removed. Replenish with new plants and re mulch the gardens as this will keep the moisture in the soil during the hotter months. Gardening can each week will help the backyard look good for Christmas Day.

4. Check your irrigation pipes are in working order. If you don’t have irrigation and use a simple hose, check that your hose, sprinklers and nozzles work. Nothing worse than using a hose nozzle that leaks more than it sprays.

5. Invest in some outdoor prettiness. Clean the outdoor furniture, or buy new if it’s a bit worse for wear and can’t be fixed. Wash down all the furniture and spray underneath chairs and tables for spiders that like to take up residence in the hollow parts of the furniture. Buy citronella candles and devices that can help keep mozzies and insects away while entertaining.

Of course, if you are a little overwhelmed by the amount of work needed to get your lawns and gardens in tip top shape for Christmas, why not hire a gardening maintenance service to do it for you? AC Maintenance are experienced in commercial, residential and acreage grounds maintenance. Hiring a professional means the job will get done, with optimum results. It also means your weekends can be spent relaxing rather than sweating it hard in the yard.

Who’s hosting Christmas for your family this year? Who maintains the lawns and gardens at your place?

Gold Coast Homewares Shops #HIT

By

Rebecca Senyard

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October 22, 2015

10

For the last month or so, Jacob and I have been researching patterned pots to house a fiddle leaf fig in the corner of our living room. All the ones we found online were quite pricey once the shipping fees were added. We resorted to looking at some local homewares shops, as a lot of our research on instagram suggested certain boutique style homewares shops would stock different pots. With that challenge in mind, on the way home from our holiday at Turtle Beach Resort, we did a quick google search for Gold Coast Homewares and came across this post from Mum Little Loves. If you’re looking for the best homewares shops on the Gold Coast, this post is the one to read. Today, I’m going to share with you three of these homewares stores that are located side by side. They were perfect for us to visit with our girls in tow. There is nothing worse than getting in and out of cars when visiting stores with kids.

The Beach Furniture, Village Store and Biku are located at 48-54 Bundall Road, Bundall

The first shop we entered was Village which had a fabulous collection of tribal, eclectic homewares. I didn’t get any photos in this store, but here is a selection of photos from their Instagram account to give you a feel for the store. I stopped by the black and copper candle holders because they looked elegant grouped together and teamed with other batek patterned ornaments. Village was the first store we walked into and was in between The Beach Furniture store and Biku.

After Village, we entered Biku and I was drawn by all the copper homewares. Such a great collection of homewares and furniture on display. My eyes caught two cushions that were in the sale section, but my attention was quickly drawn to my girls who didn’t like to stay in a section too long. I ended up buying the two cushions as they were originally $125 reduced to $45 and they suit our living room perfectly.

The back cushion is the new cushion, the front cushion is my Kmart Hack

The Beach Furniture store had a lot of handmade, rustic and beach style pieces that didn’t necessarily suit our home. Except I did walk away with a lantern which I have converted into planter to sit on our coffee table outside. Will share the details about that project on another post.

Unfortunately we didn’t find our pot, but I did buy a few items that I didn’t realize I needed. 🙂

If you’re looking for a nice morning out, head to Bundall and visit these stores. The styling is gorgeous. I may have gone home and wished I bought more!

Last week on Home Improvement Thursday, I was away on holidays, so Nicole from The Builder’s Wife has featured last weeks link ups. I’m looking forward to seeing this weeks posts.

Do you enjoy homeware shopping? Got a favourite homewares shop you want to share?

If you’re a DIY, home organization, building, renovation, home makeover, home decorating, home maintenance or trade related blogger we’d LOVE you to link up with us below.

Here are the HIT rules for how to link up and what you need to do once you have linked up.

Linkable posts, must centre around the topics of DIY, Renovations, Home Organisation, Home Improvement, Home Makeovers, Home Styling, or Home Maintenance.

You can share 1 post each week. Please make sure they are new to the “Home Improvement Thursday” party.

Linking is simple, find the little blue button at the end of the post that says, Add Your Link, and then pop in your URL, and follow the prompts. Your link only needs to be added once and it will automatically show up on both of our blogs… it’s that easy!

Grab our #HIT button and pop it on your sidebar. Don’t forget to share it with others.

Follow the blogs of your fellow #HIT family, and leave a comment. Please visit and comment on at least three blogs that are near you on the list.

Leave a comment on the post below so we can return the favour and comment on your post.

Don’t forget to follow The Builder’s Wife and The Plumbette.

An InLinkz Link-up

Our Week at Turtle Beach Resort

By

Rebecca Senyard

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October 20, 2015

10

This time last week we were relaxing at Turtle Beach Resort at Mermaid Beach. Although when I say relaxing, I really mean it was a change of routine and scenery from the usual week at home. Holidays with three kids aren’t exactly relaxing but we still had a good time anyway, despite me getting sick on the last few days of our holiday.

I had booked the one week holiday using our timeshare at the beginning of the year as I’d heard great things about the resort, but had no idea how awesome it was going to be for our kids.

The resort itself is not near the beach, it’s on the opposite side of the Gold Coast Highway, inland. This didn’t particularly bother us as we knew we’d have to drive to our favourite beach anyway. But for some families this could be a deal breaker.

What the resort lacks in proximity to the beach, it makes up for in pools and activities. The resort has 3 swimming pool areas as well as a Splash Zone, a mini waterpark, which 2 out of 3 girls loved. Maggie wasn’t so keen on the slides and had to be coaxed into using the little baby slides, while Phoebe had no hesitation sliding down with daddy, again and again and again. And Esther surprised me be going down the fastest slide multiple times too.

Turtle Beach Resort Splash Zone — Two of the fast slides at Splash Zone

Splash Zone Turtle Beach Resort — The water splashing out of this bucket could wind you. It’s pretty spectacular to watch. Esther loved it.

Every day I would check the weather and Google would tell me it would be overcast, but we had blue skies nearly each day.

One of the days that was scheduled to have rain, we decided to go to Robina to do some shopping and do our yearly visit to Max Brenner. And thank goodness it’s an annual treat because I nearly died at the cost. The mess wasn’t pretty either. Although everyone literally licked their plate clean, there was chocolate on little faces, fingers, up and down arms and of course on clothes.

Max Brenner Robina — Esther chose this mousse cake from Max Brenner

Maggie was covered in chocolate... so was her dress. — Maggie was covered in chocolate… so was her dress.

I forgot to pack bibs for Phoebe so resorted to using one of her t-shirts when eating out.

I hadn’t packed spare clothes with me, so we headed to Cotton On Kids and bought the girls new dresses. Apparently it’s quite common for parents to treat their kids to Max Brenner and then head to Cotton On for new outfits because their kids have dowsed themselves in chocolate. Glad to hear we were following tradition.

Maggie and Esther in new dresses from Cotton On. Was conned into buying matching necklaces.

Phoebe loves her new dress and charmed the staff with her wicked smile

Last Thursday we headed to Greenmount Beach and the water was freezing. Maggie was quite happy to sit and make sandcastles which was fine by me. The sandbar had created a shallow lagoon that was perfect for Phoebe to walk in. If you’re looking for a great family friendly beach, Greenmount is perfect. There are always lifeguards on duty and I find the beach isn’t too rough.

By Friday I had a cold and wasn’t feeling up to doing anything too strenuous. Unfortunately the girls didn’t understand that mummy wasn’t up to swimming. We headed to the pool anyway, and the swimming made me temporarily forget I had a cold.

Overall we had a great week. It was strange to go away and not buy any new clothes. We did eat out a lot though and I enjoyed not having to cook dinner.

During the girl’s afternoon nap times I would catch up with the world by reading some blogs. So many bloggers are going through tough health issues at the moment. And I’ve been praying hard for Bruce and his gorgeous wife Tracey, but things haven’t been looking good on that front. Please keep them in your prayers.

On the eve of going on holidays, I read this post from Mrs Woog about buying shoes and drinking coke. Life can change unexpectedly and quickly. I’ve been stressing about a lot of things this year and it has been a very challenging year for me, which I’ve been unable to blog about. Life is never absent of problems is it? I’ve stressed about a lot this year and it’s been quite emotionally and mentally draining. Yet reading issues that others are currently facing has given me perspective to ensure each day is lived gratefully and generously.

Our holiday was much needed for a change in thinking, although today, I hit the ground running trying to keep up to date with my inbox and spending the day helping at Esther’s Kindy.

How has your last week been? When was the last time you went on holiday? When is your next holiday?

I’m linking up very late with Essentially Jess for IBOT.

A Van or Ute for Tradies?

By

Rebecca Senyard

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October 16, 2015

8

This post has been written in collaboration with XL

When you’re starting out as a plumber, or any trade really, there are a lot of upfront costs like purchasing insurance, tools and deciding which type of vehicle you will use for work. A tradie’s vehicle is the moving workhorse behind their business. The vehicle supplies and stores material, it transports workers to different sites and it becomes a mobile office. The biggest decision around purchasing a vehicle when you’re a tradie is deciding whether to purchase a ute or a van. Dad and I have owned both and I will share the pros and cons of both with you.

Vans

When we started our maintenance service, we supplied a fully stocked van for our plumber to use. The van was great because you could install custom shelving to organise fittings and fixtures, everything was contained in the van so it was weatherproof and locked away from thieves, and it didn’t matter what state inside the van was after a full day of work, it was hidden away from view.

There were limitations. The limitations of using a van included

Limited space to pile and remove old fixtures from site.
Couldn’t load the van with bedding sand or gravel if needed for drainage projects.
Limited by the opening of the side and back van doors on what could fit into the van – this was awkward for hot water units.
You would have to get into the van to retrieve fixtures and fittings.

Utes

I spent a lot of my time as an apprentice and licensed plumber driving my dad’s ute with canopy tool boxes, and my own ute which had an empty tray – specifically for loading up fixtures and larger material supplies.

One of the cons of owning a ute is having all your tools (and whatever is loaded in the tray) exposed to the weather and thieves. You also need to cover the contents of the tray with an approved net to ensure nothing flies off the back of your ute when out on the road.

XL provide canopies that offer tradies a smart solution to organizing the back of their utes. There are even canopies that line the outer rim of the tray, so the middle of the tray is free to load up with bigger items or excavating materials.

The decision on whether to choose a van or a ute comes down to budget and a bit of pride in what you prefer to drive. I personally think a ute is sexier than a van, but that’s just me.

In the end I think vans work well for maintenance plumbers or tradies who do small service jobs, but utes work for commercial plumbers who go from site to site and carry a variety of goods in the back of their truck.

If you’re a tradie, which vehicle do you prefer? Do you think Utes are sexier than Vans?

This post has been written in conjunction with my Disclosure Policy.

For Where Your Treasure is, There Your Heart Will be Also

By

Rebecca Senyard

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October 13, 2015

20

My girls are obsessed with little bits and pieces. The bits and pieces can be a compilation of parts from toys, little toys, Barbie accessories, bracelets and plastic jewellery. They love anything little. It’s the kind of stuff that I would call crap, yet they are treasured by my Esther and Magdalene.

Magdalene is forever collecting her ‘treasures’ and putting them in a plastic basket I originally bought for the bathroom to store their bath toys in. She will insist on redecorating her side table with these treasures and doesn’t appreciate my flare for placing selected toys on her side table.

side table dressing for a little girls room — From this…

Esther also loves her little treasures – bits of Barbie accessories and My Little Ponies collected from buying a few McDonalds Happy Meals a couple of years ago.

Esther with her treasures — Esther playing with Maggie’s collection of ‘treasure’.

The treasures clutter the girl’s rooms, but I dare not throw away their treasures because they are theirs and it’s a battle I need to let go as they learn to how to manage their toys and look after their belongings.

To me, as their mum, the treasures are plastic bits of crap that I would happily throw in the bin, but to the girls, the crap is seen as treasure, special items to play with and store.

While I was cleaning up Magdalene’s trash and treasure pile for the millionth time, I thought about the little things in my life that I treasure.

What things do I hold onto, despite them having no real value, that keep me occupied?

Living in the Western world it could be any myriad of things and I don’t think there is anything wrong with having a healthy interest in decorating our home or maintaining a collection of some kind, providing we don’t become obsessed with it. .

I remember writing this post three years ago about a box of trophies I found in a store room that dad and I had to work in. As a young girl, trophies were my treasure and I worked hard to get them.

Nowadays, I work hard to treasure the time I have with my girls while they’re young. It’s not easy to treasure this time because these kids don’t think like me. They create mess and their dependence on me can be tiring.

But often it takes a stranger to walk into your house, who appreciates what you have, to make you realise the life you have is a blessed one. Even though it’s not always easy, the life Jacob and I have created together is a dream some young people wish to aspire to. That realization brought instant gratitude to my heart. It’s something to treasure and protect.

This week I’m away on holidays and I intend to spend time with my family, hang out at the beach and reflect on what I treasure. I think there are some treasures that need to be released and other parts that need to be treasured more.

I am always encouraged by the scripture in Matthew 6:21 ‘For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’

I don’t want to be obsessed with the temporary, but it’s really hard to do when you’re in a busy season of mothering little kids and being influenced by what is shared on social media.

But God sees my life beyond the Instagram filters and the Facebook highlight reel. He sees the struggles and the mental fight I battle to get through each day. He also reminds me of the fruit. Fruit I often forget each day.

It takes hard work to find valuable treasure. Temporary treasure is easy to find, and in some cases worthless.

If you find yourself obsessing over material or temporary things, maybe your heart is in the wrong place and maybe it needs to seek new treasure?

What do you treasure in life at the moment? Do your kids like to collect plastic toys and call it treasure?

I’m linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT.

Inspector House-get: The Importance of Building Inspectors

By

Rebecca Senyard

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October 6, 2015

10

This is a Sponsored Post for Action Inspections

I remember when Jacob and I were getting our first house ready to put on sale. I read up on what needed to be done to make sure our house was visually pleasing to prospective buyers.

Magnets had to be taken down from the fridge.

Cushions had to be plumped and placed like so on the couches.

Everything had to be put away and cleaned off the kitchen benches.

Bentley’s poo had to be picked up from the yard.

Lavender oil needed to be diffused by a tea light oil burner to ensure the house would smell lovely instead of possible dog.

The bathroom had to be immaculately clean.

The floors had to be vaccumed and washed.

No washing could be on the line.

Bentley’s water and dog bowls had to be put away in case a buyer didn’t want to buy a house that accommodated a dog.

The list went on.

I wasn’t too worried about whether prospective buyers would have an issue with a dog in the home because I was hopeful that our new buyer would be looking for a home that could accommodate their four-legged family members.

Within three weeks of putting our house on the market our house sold. I was a bit ballsy in refusing the first offer which had our real estate agent shake his head – thinking I was greedy – when in actual fact I knew our house was worth a little more compared to similar houses in the area. I was right. A second larger offer came through – to the surprise of our agent.

But this post isn’t about how we sold our house, it’s about what happens in the coming weeks as the contract is signed and is conditional due to two inspections – a Building Inspection and a Termite Inspection.

Both are as important as each other, and both should be done by separate contractors who are specialized in the area of building or termites.

When we got our building and termite inspections done I was quite nervous. What would happen if the building inspector found something wrong with our house that we hadn’t known before? What if termites had attacked our house despite the fact we had removed the retaining wall sleepers that were infested with them 12 months prior?

Both the building and termite inspectors had positive reviews about our house and we sighed with relief that our sale was going to be unconditional.

It’s important to choose a reputable, reliable and trustworthy building inspector. Many building inspectors are affiliated with real estate agents and this relationship doesn’t always mean a building inspector has done a thorough inspection for the new owners.

Independent Building Inspectors like Action Inspections work to ensure the house you purchase isn’t a dud and won’t have potential issues that will cost you money (and stress because hello mortgage!) to fix in the future. Independent building inspectors are more truthful and won’t gloss over any issues.

Unfortunately, my dad and I have been to homes that young people have purchased and the building inspector hasn’t done a thorough job (or they’ve ‘saved’ money by not getting one done) and bathrooms have had to be ripped out and reinstalled properly or we’ve had to get other plumbers with heavy jet rodders to unblock shower wastes that have been blocked up with tile mortar. A building inspector would have picked this up straight away by simply turning on the shower and watching whether the water pooled at the bottom of the shower tray. And this particular house did because the shower tray filled up quickly like a swimming pool.

Don’t be caught out when you purchase your next home. Action Inspections give potential owners a pre-purchase building report which will give peace of mind and ensure no costly building or plumbing bills in the future. They also have a downloadable inspection checklist you can use yourself to take with you and do some checks of your own around the house you are looking to put an offer on.

Have you ever had issues with a building inspection after you purchased or sold a house? What happened? I’d love to hear your experiences.

This post has been written in accordance with my disclosure policy.

Why Being a Tough Mother is like Doing Tough Mudder

By

Rebecca Senyard

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October 5, 2015

9

In the last year or so, my personal Facebook newsfeed has been filled with pictures of mums giving Tough Mudder a go.

I look at the pictures of mud and shudder because I know that it’s not something I want to do.

But I have learned never to say never because whenever I say never, I find myself a year or so later in the very position I told myself I wouldn’t be in.

Despite the mud and grit and obvious hell competitors put themselves through, the course is not about winning. It’s about team work and camaraderie as teams compete in the course together. Team members who are ahead on the course help up team members who are a little behind.

Isn’t it the same in life? When we go through tough seasons, we need our friends to encourage us along the way, friends who are going through our season and friends who have come out the other side?

Being a mum is tough, it’s even tougher doing it alone, but when you have friends that are competing in a similar season or who are on the end of the season you’re entering, encouragement is what gets us through the next obstacle.

It’s been a relief to share with other mums what I’ve been struggling with lately and to find they too have been struggling or have struggled with the same issues. It’s like we’re all in this one big mud pit together, trying to squelch ourselves out until we face the next problem obstacle. There are mums on the edge of the pit reaching out to those of us in the middle and there are mums about to enter the pit who need an encouraging hand to help them along.

It’s so tempting to be insular when life with kids gets hard, but being open with other mums can be refreshing, not just for your friends, but also yourself as you work out how you manage to get through this season.

I’ve found the Bible to be a great encouragement when going through difficult times, no matter how many memes on Facebook bag the wisdom out of it.

When Mary fell pregnant to Jesus (you can read about this in Luke 1:1-56) and went to stay with her relative Elizabeth who was also pregnant and a couple of months further along, I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall to listen to their conversations. Would Mary have complained about the sore boobs, constant need to wee and the inconsistent waves of nausea and morning sickness? Would Elizabeth have just nodded her head knowingly? One question I have is if Jesus was perfect, would Mary have experienced the perfect pregnancy?

It’s not something I’m going to lose sleep over, but I do know that God ordained both Mary (a virgin) and Elizabeth (an older, barren woman) to be pregnant at the same time so they could talk about their experiences together and share their burdens during an unknown and unexpected season of life.

Who are your ‘tough mudder’ friends in this season of parenthood? Do you tend to go insular when you have problems or do you feel confident in sharing with friends about what you’re going through?

I believe being a tough mother is just like competing in Tough Mudder. The course is exhausting, but at the same time exhilarating, painful but worth the outcome in the end. There are mothers ahead who are willing to lend out their hand to help and encourage, and there are mothers behind who are looking towards you as they reach your hand to get to where you are. We’re all in this together and if we pull each other along, eventually we will finish the course, each with our own story to tell.

Have you ever competed in Tough Mudder? How are you feeling in your parenting role right now? Who in your life needs a little encouragement?

What Needs to be Done Around My Home & Home Improvement Thursday #HIT

By

Rebecca Senyard

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October 1, 2015

9

Now that we are truly in Spring, I have been in this crazy state of wanting to make over or fix certain areas of our home. There have been things that have been bugging me around the house that really need to be fixed. As an example here are just some of the things that need to be attended to:

Replace the pendant light over dining table – I broke our existing light by whipping my scarf around one of the bulbs which can’t be replaced.

This is our current pendant light. One of the bulbs shattered when I accidentally whipped my scarf off and it caught the bulb, shattering it on the floor.

Change the photos in frames and create a visually pleasing wall art collage behind our lower buffet

Notice the side sunset shot on the right? — Notice the side sunset shot facing us right?

Change the cushions in our outdoor area – some aren’t water or sun proof and have faded or gone mouldy during the wet weather.
Fix the outside down pipe that has rusted and now has a hole.
Update photos in frames around the house.
Cement in between our pavers outside.
Paint the walls.
Change light bulks in the kids playroom. Out of 6 downlights we are down to 1 working.

The problem with trying to start or even finish these projects is time, money and kids. I’m also indecisive about the type of pendant light I want over our dining table. I’ve fallen in love with a copper pendant but I’m not sure if it will be big enough for our dining area.

How do you tackle jobs around the house? Are you like me and want to get all the things done? What needs to be done at your place?

Last week on HIT, Aaron from Mayfair Plumbing shared tips on selecting new tapware and toilets. Sometimes, it’s best to get advice from plumber before selecting your taps and toilets to ensure they will suit the existing services in your home.

Charlene from Teacher by Trade, Mother by Nature shared her results following Peter Walsh’s #31days2getorganised program. The junk draw looks fabulous. Who has a junk drawer that is in desperate need of organizing? Truth be told I have a junk cupboard. I might have to let Phoebe have a go at unpacking it so I can reorganize it.

As always, Nicole and I enjoy seeing who links up each week. Don’t forge to enter our Kmart Styling Challenge. I also have a Kids First Aid Course ticket and First Aid Kit giveaway and a $100 Mortein Gift Pack to giveaway.