Practice What I Preach

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July has been a busy month. It’s been a month of celebrations and hard work. I’ve been dealing with issues that I honestly never thought I’d have to deal with. And I’m hoping in the not too distant future I can blog about them because the issue that I’m dealing with currently can happen to anyone. In a way I’m glad it’s happening to me because I’m learning a lot. Especially about human nature and what it means to turn the other cheek. And I don’t mean that in a ‘hit me once and hit me again’ way. It means, ‘hit me once and I will offer you my other cheek but you will check twice before hitting me again’ way. Do I sound cryptic? I am a bit. And I’m sorry to open a blog post like that but life is just full of surprises isn’t it?

Last week I didn’t have the best parenting week with my girls. I turned into a bitchy, screamy and teary wife and mother. I was tired and sick and a bit over life. I was over my girls not listening to me and having to repeat everything I said. I was over the house looking like a construction site – except with bits of paper, pipe cleaners and glitter EVERYWHERE. I try to be the ‘fun mum’ which I enjoy doing, but I don’t enjoy having to clean up the mess. And while I was being that ‘fun mum’ crafting with the girls, Phoebe grabbed the newly opened PVA glue bottle and drank half the bottle while my attention was on Magdalene and her disaster of a craft that had glitter sprayed on the coffee table and floor. Sadly Bentley doesn’t eat glitter so I had to get the vacuum out to clean up the mess, but not before ringing the poison’s hotline to find out if Phoebe would be ok after ingesting 25ml of PVA glue. Both Phoebe and Magdalene have had conjunctivitis this last week. I may have laughed at the irony that Phoebe not only had gluey eyes from the conjunctivitis but she had attempted to glue her insides as well.

Heart attack central. If we don't strap Phoebe into her chair, she will turn around to see what else is coming from the kitchen!!
Heart attack central. If we don’t strap Phoebe into her chair, she will turn around to see what else is coming from the kitchen!!

The poisons hotline advised just to monitor her for any reactions like vomiting or diarrhea but there was nothing majorly poisonous in the PVA glue to worry about. That was a relief. And Phoebe was fine. Thank goodness.

I was looking forward to last Friday night where I had been asked to present the Female Excellence Award at the Migas Apprentice and Trainees Awards Night. I bought a new dress just for the occasion last weekend. Which was a task in itself because I have a belly and sadly, dresses that I used to be able to wear, are no longer wearable on my current frame. I ended up finding this shift dress at Veronika Maine and belted the middle to show my shape.

In my Veronika Maine Dress, ready to attend the Migas National Awards Night
In my Veronika Maine Dress, ready to attend the Migas National Awards Night

I knew which heels I was going to wear with my dress and on Thursday morning when I went to slide my feet into said shoes, they were too small. In fact all the heels I had for winter were now too small. I also noticed my $20 cheap ballet flats had holes in them. A quick call to mum was all that was needed to get my feet looking and feeling the goods. We headed to Garden City with the three girls in tow – still recovering from their conjunctivitis, and bought… 5 PAIRS OF SHOES. The sales were ridiculous and it would have been crazy not to have taken them up. I’m now a size 10/11 in the foot department. I should try out for the Australian Swimming team because I officially have flippers. But with a dugong middle.

Maggie and her new Frozen shoes. These weren't part of the 5 pairs of shoes bought either.
Maggie and her new Frozen shoes. These weren’t part of the 5 pairs of shoes bought either.

Anyway, I will do a separate post about the Migas Awards once I get more photos. It was an interesting night. I wished I had thought to bring someone along with me because I literally knew no one when I arrived. I had to rely on my extrovert socializing skills to make conversation. Which is not a bad thing but it made for an awkward conversation at the table I was seated at. I was placed between a couple who refused me to sit further along so they could sit together. Fun times.

Table setting

Steve Bradbury was the speaker of the night and I could write a separate post from the gems he shared in his speech, but one thing I remember him saying was how important it is to write your dreams and goals down. It’s great to visualize, but it’s important to write them down.

The thing is, when you’re busy with family and other responsibilities it can be hard to put time aside to dream and write down your goals. I haven’t done it for a while and I wonder if that’s why I’ve been feeling a little stale lately?

Next week Jacob has a week off where I can get to do just that. Time to work on my blog and catch up on the Brandlicious course which I am officially 3 weeks behind on.

I’ve also been mindful about putting into practice what I preach about having a margin in my life and stressing less if there are no ticks on my to do list.

August is looking to be another busy month but I’m hoping July’s run will make August less stressful and overwhelming. Here’s hoping.

How have you been feeling lately? Have your kids been sick this winter? What are you looking forward to next month?

I’m linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT.