Rookie mistake

Ok so this is pretty embarrassing, I was just doing a bit of maintenance on this here little website and I discovered that the Facebook button to your right was actually installed wrong. Instead of sending you lovely readers to my public page dedicated to this website, I was actually sending a whole heap of strangers to my private profile. Oops.

Thankfully for the sake of my own privacy, I have my security settings on Facebook pretty tight, and the fact that no one contacted me to let me know, plus I had no spike in the amount of random strangers wanting to become friends with me tells me that maybe no one has been pushing that button.

Well it is fixed now, so for the love of my self esteem (which is in no way linked to how many people like my Facebook page) please click on that pretty blue button now and come send some love my way. I will give digital cupcakes to the next fifteen people who like me on Facebook. If that isn't a sign of desperation then I don't know what is. I know, how about a photo of me putting on a sad face?

Sad crazy lady is sad.

Yeah I'm gonna stop now before I humiliate myself any further. CLICK THE LIKE BUTTON!!!

National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence

So in case you can't tell from the title of this post, today is the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence. I wish that I could say that given we are living in the 21st century with smart phones and cars that can reverse parallel park on their own, that bullying is a thing of the past. But sadly it is still as much a part of life as it was when I was in school. Of course bullying these days is somehow more sinister because the perpetrators can reach you anywhere thanks to the internet. Once upon a time your home was a safe haven far away from all the jerks you had to spend your day with, but these days they can follow you via websites like Facebook and Twitter and attack you in the privacy of your own lounge room.

I don't know if I have ever revealed this here, but throughout my school life I was picked on by bullies. It started in about grade 2 or 3, and continued until I graduated high school. That is ten years of being a victim. It did get easier once I was in year 10, I started standing up to the bullies, I even screamed in the face of one particularly nasty cow in the middle of class then stormed out of the room before the teacher could stop me. I also had the good fortune to finally find myself a good group of friends who whilst unable to stop me from being a target, did make it easier to cope with. But in those ten years I was called names, spat on, beaten up, had things thrown at me and made absolutely miserable by dozens and dozens of children. I can't even say for sure why they picked on me. It could have been because in their eyes I was just too different. I had a large family with not a lot of money, we were religious and kept to ourselves mostly, and I didn't join any after school clubs or sports except to take part in the school musicals, and that just seemed to add fuel to the fire. Of course I never let it stop me, I loved the theatre, and it was the perfect escape for me from all of them.

Well as you can tell, I survived the bullies, and the rest of school and am still here almost eleven years out from graduating stronger than ever. But I was one of the lucky ones. There are some people out there who give in to the bullies and don't make it out alive. So it is to prevent more victims that days like today are created. Of course there are any number of resources out there for anyone who is a victim of a bully, or a parent of a victim, or even the bullies and their families too. Facebook has a page on their website giving advice on what to do if you see anyone being harassed via Facebook here, Beyond Blue has any number of information sheets on their website for you to check out here not just about bullying but also about depression, eating disorders and everything in between. But for anyone who is here and needs advice right now, let me give you the piece of advice my mum always gave to me when things got too tough. One day you will be out of high school, and you will be living your life, and it is going to be an awesome life. And the little brats (I paraphrased there) who picked on you in high school will be out of your life, and completely unable to hurt you any more. So until then you just have to stick it out and know that it will not last forever.

And she was absolutely right.

I am a winner!!!

So this is just a quick hello and howdy doo for all of you my lovely readers, I know that it has again been too long between posts, and I know I promised to you all in my last post here that I would hopefully be able to explain what payroll consolidation means, but when I got to reading my last chapter, I realised it was just revision of everything I was meant to have learned through the rest of the book, and either the chapter title was the most misleading title ever, or I was missing the point somehow. I was also horrified to discover I must have been asleep through most of my last fortnight of studying because as I sat there staring at the words on the pages, I still had no idea what I was meant to be doing. Luckily I tend to be better able to concentrate on things when I'm thrown in the deep end, so I learned more in that last chapter than I had while supposedly reading the rest of the book.

Ben and Tristan popped in for a quick visit this afternoon on their way to an information session for a musical that a local theatre group is doing next year, so they got to visit with Miss K, and mum and I got to give Ben some birthday money because as the title birthday money would suggest, it was Ben's birthday last week. I actually meant to write a special blog just for Ben on his birthday, but yet again it got to blogging time and I was just too tired to come up with anything so instead I'll just wish him a happy belated birthday today. (I did actually speak to him on his birthday so don't think I really did leave it a week to wish him happy birthday). Now the next birthday on my calendar is my little sister's this Friday and I promise to have a blog post dedicated to her on the day, mainly because several weeks ago she changed my birth date on Facebook and I had to explain to about twenty well meaning friends that their birthday greetings were 5 months too early and that they needed to try again in May, and now it is time for my revenge. Be afraid Natty, be very afraid.

Now on to the title of my blog today. I'm sure you're all thinking I'm just trying to be positive and think good things about myself, but today I truly am a winner. Several days ago I liked a page on Facebook called Little Birdies, which is a small business owned by an old friend of mine from my high school years. She has a daughter about one month older than Miss K and she makes gorgeous head bands and hair clips for little girls. Now I was invited by my friend to like the page, so I didn't realise it at the time, but she was holding a competition for all of her new page likers to win some of her head bands and hair clips. So imagine my surprise this evening when I got a message from her saying that my name had been picked as the winner and I had my choice of two of her lovely hair pieces. So I have chosen my prizes and they are being mailed off tomorrow from WA. Now all I have to do is wait for the mail to come and I can share pictures of them with you guys. With Miss K as the model of course.

It is ridiculous how giddy with excitement I got when I read her message, as the last time I won something it was blank video cassettes so this is so much better. And the timing is perfect as well as Miss K has suddenly become quite interested in her appearance and looking pretty. She loves wearing jewelry and hair accessories, and we can't go out until she's put perfume on. She has even started trying to put make up on, and loves watching my baby sister put her face on before going out to parties. So this prize is a welcome gift for Miss K.

Well that's me done for another day, I'm off to bed to no doubt dream about payroll tax and salary sacrificing. So until next time my wonderful readers stay awesome.

Dear diary the Facebook games edition

So I'm back again. Did you all miss me?? I'm sure you're all thinking that since I haven't been around here blogging very much lately I must have been out doing lots of wonderful and exciting things so that I had something to talk about with you today. Well I might have been cleaning like a woman possessed all week to make sure that I'm back on track with the 30 day challenge. Or I could have been passed out drunk all week in a depressed haze. Or more likely, I have been sitting on the couch all week drinking coffee and chatting with visitors.

One thing I have done way too much of this week is played Facebook games. When I first got onto Facebook back in 2008 I played Farmville. I actually came slightly obsessed with the game. Even when I wasn't on the computer there would always be a window open in the background with my farm growing and doing whatever it did whenever I wasn't looking. That game became my life for a while until I realized that I was spending more time harvesting pretend crops and feeding pretend animals than I was socializing with real people. So I gave up on games for a little while. Then the games got too advanced for my antique of a computer so it wasn't worth playing them anymore. Then I moved to mum's house where we only had a wireless modem with 3gb of downloads per month so it was pointless even thinking about loading the games up because that took up too much internet.

But now that I have a new internet connection and a lovely new computer I have gotten back into the Facebook games. There is now a new Farmville game, and it is so much better than the old one, so I'm back to harvesting pretend crops and building pretend hen houses and picking imaginary olive trees. It is a little bit sad that I have so much time for growing pretend strawberries, but the pot of strawberries my friend gave to me last month sits in the same place it did the day she gave it to me neglected. The strawberries themselves don't seem to notice but I can't help but feel a little bit guilty that I'm not as excited for them as I am for my pretend crops. And my hidden object game. And my solitaire game. One of the joys of having an addictive nature is that when I find something that gives me a mini high I grab onto it with both hands and use it for every drop of happy that I can squeeze out of it. But the fun never lasts and I am finding myself once again losing my enthusiasm for computer games.

It could be that the nice weather that today brought with it is starting to show glimpses of what summer will be like and I am starting to want to be outside and be active again. I miss the constant sunshine and the lazy evenings that summer brings with it. One of my cousins has come down from Darwin this week for a short visit with his family and when I caught up with him it was raining and miserable and as we sat outside having a cigarette he told me about the constant 35 degree heat in Darwin and for a moment I was so jealous of him. Of course the wet season in Darwin is not as fun as the dry season, but I could handle having summer all year long.

The best part of the warmer weather is that Miss K can finally go outside. We have spent the last couple of weeks trying to get her used to grass, after spending months avoiding it because it was too wet and muddy. Today she finally walked on the grass on her own instead of just standing at the edge of the footpath and poking at it with her fingers. Her suspicion of it has been amusing, but once she realizes the opportunities that await her once she stops restricting herself to the narrow strip of concrete that runs down our yard, she won't know herself.

Well this wasn't really an update of my week, but that's just because there hasn't been anything to report. Unless you want a recount of every single cup of coffee I drank this week, but I'm sure you've all got better things to read than that. I will tell you though that Miss K and I are both doing great despite the fact that we are now both on week 2 of this horrible cold that refuses to leave us alone. My bad mood is slowly lifting and I have found the motivation to clean on several occasions this week, but there will be more on that tomorrow for my 30 day challenge update.

So until then I bid you all adieu my lovely readers as I am now off to hibernate. Stay awesome.

Dear Diary the Fathers Day edition

Well another week has come and gone, and this one was so uneventful it almost seems unnecessary to write a diary entry today. If it wasn't for the fact that today is Father's Day I wouldn't really have much to talk about.

Miss K got to see her dad this morning for an hour, we were going to take her to the local McDonalds for a play on their equipment, but I forgot there was going to be a car show in the same area today, so given the lack of parking for three whole blocks leading up to Maccas (And these are bloody great big blocks too) we ended up going to the park instead. Miss K got to show her dad that she can take a few steps unassisted now, and she had so much fun playing in the pine bark around the equipment. Plus the weather this morning has been just glorious, so it was quite pleasant sitting back on my picnic table watching all the kids and their dads playing.

It's Father's Day for my dad too today (strangely enough) so tonight most of my brothers and sisters will meet up and take him out to tea at a pub in town. It's our favourite place to go for special occasions, especially in the warmer weather because there is a small playground outside where the kids can go to blow off some steam, but it will be too cold for anything like that tonight. But the food is delicious and the staff there are lovely so I'm positive it will be a lovely evening.

Miss K is her usual cheerful self at the moment, I haven't had to put her in my bed again since earlier last week thank heavens, and despite still swimming in boogers she maintains her usual sunny disposition most of the time. She has become somewhat fussy about her food over the past few weeks, which has come as a bit of a surprise for me, especially since before now she would eat anything you put in front of her. But all of a sudden she has started refusing meals if she doesn't recognise something, or the texture isn't one she is used to. With that in mind I cooked a recipe for macaroni and cheese yesterday that I found on Pinterest. She has had instant mac and cheese in the past, but this would be a lot different. For one there was a lot less salt in my recipe which probably meant it would be a lot blander. It was also grainy because for some reason that's what happens when you add pre-grated package cheese instead of grating it yourself. So I was holding my breath when I gave her the first mouthful and praying like crazy she wouldn't spit it out and start throwing a temper tantrum because I really had nothing else as a back up. But to my relief she loved her macaroni and cheese and even helped me finish my plate.

I mentioned earlier that Miss K walked to her dad, every day she gets just a little bit closer to walking on her own. She has gotten to a point now where if I put her on the ground standing up she can stand there unassisted, and she will take a few steps on her own, but she goes much further if there is someone close by for her to walk to. But a couple of times she has taken a few steps without anyone having to prompt her, so now all we need is for her to realise she can do it by herself and she will be unstoppable. Everyone keeps telling me that soon enough I will regret encouraging her to walk, but what they don't realise is how hard it is to watch other kids much younger than her already able to do this, and not worry that this means there is something wrong with your child. I know that every child develops at their own pace, and Miss K has already shown that she will do most things at a later age than the average child, but for once I would love for something to come easily for her.

Well I guess that's it for another week, I'm sure any of my regular readers may have noticed my page looks a little different now. I've been playing around with my layout to try to make this place look a little more like my own personal space, and not so generic. There may be more changes in the future once I have learned a little more about what I am doing, so stay tuned. As always there is the Facebook button at the top of the page, for anyone who hasn't done so already feel free to like us there and get direct links to any new posts as well as regular updates on Miss K and myself as they happen. So until next time, peace, love and tacos.

I can speak HTML

So for any of my loyal followers who have been with me for a while now, or anyone new for who is just popping in for their first visit, you will notice a shiny new button to the right of your screen. That's right I finally figured out how to add a new button to my page. It only took me a whole week of screaming at my computer and goodness knows how many websites designed to explain computer code for dummies before I finally nutted it out. And of course once I knew what I was doing, it was ridiculously easy, and I even managed to edit the code even further than the tutorial told me to, because I wanted it to say something that didn't come with the normal template.

But the point of all of this is LIKE ME ON FACEBOOK!!!!! The button is right there now, you don't have to keep trawling through my posts to find the one where I spoke about having a Facebook page, you can just look to your right and there it is. So go on people, I know you all love me, and I know that you all have Facebook accounts, because come on, who doesn't have a Facebook account these days? So go ahead and click that little button and gain access to all of this and so much more.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and do a happy dance to celebrate being able to vaguely understand HTML code

Dear Diary the eventful week edition

Well it's that time of the week again, and what a week it has been. There have been some major changes this week for both me and Miss K and I am bursting at the seams to share them all with you.

So today I'm going to start with Miss K for a change, and it has definitely been a big week for her. We are currently trying to encourage her to start walking by herself. At the moment she is happy enough to walk as long as someone is holding her hand. My sister and I sit on the floor with her and we can manage to get her to walk several steps between us, as long as there is chocolate involved. But once the chocolate is all gone her motivation to walk disappears and she resumes crawling everywhere. She shows signs that she is ready to walk, but she just hasn't gained the confidence yet. But tonight was a big night for her, she managed to stand all by herself for a full 20 seconds before she realised that she was standing unsupported and freaked out. Then she dropped onto her bottom like a tonne of bricks. So that was a pretty exciting moment for me. It was also the first time I managed to contain my excitement when she stands up alone, as I usually start making noises which just brings her attention to it and makes her fall down. So a huge step forward for both of us. Another big development for Miss K is that she has finally discovered the word no. Now at bed time or when we share a shower she starts shaking her head madly and yelling no. It's very cute and fun to watch, but with all the jiggling, it is getting just that little bit harder to hold her. She has also started saying grandpa this weekend, but coming from her mouth it sounds like ba pa. Again very cute and I get her to say it as much as possible.

As for me, this week has also been a big week. As mentioned earlier in the week I'm starting a 30 day challenge to see if I can't get better organised and on top of my housework. I won't go into everything on this post because it is big enough to deserve a post of its own, but needless to say this week has been a huge learning curve for me, but I haven't given up yet and I feel that I may be on my way to being a better organised and tidier person. That's not to say I haven't hit any stumbling blocks along the way, for one Miss K is spending more time in her bedroom at the moment, just because most of her toys have been moved in there, but the extra time in her room has come with extra cleaning for me as every time she goes in there she absolutely trashes the joint. And just in case you think I'm being over dramatic when I say she trashes the joint, I actually took pictures of it the other day as evidence.

See? Trashed.

So from being a room that I had to give a small tidy and dust to once a week it has now become a daily job. Occasionally I get Miss K to come and help put her toys away for me, and once I even managed to tidy it up while she was fast asleep in the cot. But I am beginning to feel this is a losing battle, and I'm at my wits end as to how to stop her upturning every single box in the room. It's all good for her as she can't fold yet so I can't get her to help tidy up the bibs and body suits. But I'm now beginning to regret buying so many of them as I have to re-fold each and every one of them every night. 

On the family front my little sister is settling into her new home nicely, I think she's loving living so close to work as she can now be on call for whenever they need her, instead of needing at least an hours notice to start work so she could figure out how to get there. She has actually moved into a flat very close to where I was living before I moved back to mums house, and apparently my old neighbours in the block of flats next to mine were having a party last night that was so loud she could hear them even though they are several blocks of land away from her. Glad to see some things never change. I've told her if she hears a really loud television set being played it would be my old next door neighbour who is as deaf as a post and used to have her telly blaring all day. I never had to watch telly when I lived there because I could hear hers perfectly, even with all my doors and windows closed.

Well that's me done for another week, my little brother is coming down tonight for a quick visit, and I'm waiting to hear from him as he'll probably be wanting a lift from the train station. It just means I can't get into my pyjamas until they get here. The things I do for my family.

Just a quick reminder as well, you can now find me on Facebook here so come on over and like my page, you'll get updates as soon as I've posted another wonderful blog for you to read, I also get to update on what is happening with both me and Miss K more regularly there so you get to see more of us. Don't miss out.

IT'S OVER 1000!!!

Hello readers, look to your right, now back to me, now back to your right, now back to me. Gotta love old spice man. Now really, look to the right of this page. Up the very top of the page is a hit counter, and it is telling me that I have finally received over 1000 hits on my website. I have been checking this every single day, just so that I didn't miss the magical moment, and I wasn't disappointed when it finally came. Of course there were no balloons descending from the sky, and the marching band didn't appear out of thin air, but it was still exciting.

So to celebrate hitting this milestone, I have decided to create a page for my blog on Facebook. Once I figure out how to put links on my sidebars, there will be a link on my sidebar (funnily enough). But for now, you'll just have to follow this link to see my new page, which will then lead you back to here. If you appreciate all of the hard work that goes into creating this blog, then please feel free to like my page, so you can get regular updates, and I'll even let you know every time I've posted on here so you can rush over and read me. For any of you eagle eyes out there, if you look to your right again, there is a button labelled join this site, which is another way to receive notifications that I have updated my blog. There is one lonely follower on that list right now, and I know for a fact that he hasn't come to visit here in a long time, so it would be great to see some more names on that list.

So for now I bid you adieu, and please check me out on facebook for more hillarity. https://www.facebook.com/singlemumplusone