Six updates on a Sunday

Well, its been a couple of weeks, and honestly life has felt a bit overwhelming lately (I think I say that often lately, maybe its just this stage of life?). Just very VERY busy at work, busy weekends, and of course, parenting.

Life might be busy, but Ive still been taking time to stop and be grateful for our beautiful weather and surrounds

Parenting is getting easier in some ways - the kids don't need to be supervised constantly, which is great! But at 5 and 8 they need A LOT of attention from me, and there is constant interaction, as well as a lot we still need to do for them as parents. It is lovely, and they are adorable, and I'm infinitely grateful I get to be their mum, and it is also exhausting, especially because as I get older I feel I've become a little more introverted (I definitely used to skew extroverted), and need some alone time. BUT I'm about to get A LOT of alone time coming up this week, which is very exciting. More on that a little later. So here are six updates from the last fortnight:

1. We hosted a neighbour BBQ last weekend, with 4 families joining us, and it was really nice. We had some new neighbours move in earlier this year, and we hadn't really caught up with them yet, so we invited them over, along with neighbours from 3 other households, for an afternoon/evening BBQ. There were 8 adults and 6 kids, and it was nice to get to know our new neighbours, as well as facilitate other neighbours getting to know each other more too. It had been a very flat out morning, taking E to rockclimbing, followed by Al and cleaning the house and back patio, getting food ready, etc., but I was really glad we did it. The last guests stayed until after 10pm, and their kids and ours played so well together.

2. O is not continuing with soccer. He was just very tired after school for practice on the weekdays, and then overwhelmed by the chaos of the game on the weekend (to be fair, the Under 6s games are total chaos!). He's still in his first few months of school, and comes home so tired (he's REALLY into school so that's good), so for him, keeping after school low key for the time being might be the best bet. We would like to start him in swimming lessons soon (he's done so well with Al teaching him, but its time to learn properly). Maybe we will look to start that next Term (from July).

3. I'm heading interstate this week to spend 5 days completing a Commerical Fiction Writing Masterclass! It really hit me when I put my leave in formally last week (I had notified everyone at work but hadn't done the online form yet). I am actually taking an entire week of annual leave to travel BY MYSELF and spend a week doing something JUST FOR ME. There is a little bit of guilt but mostly just gratitude and excitement. Since the kids were born, I have traveled for work before without the family (up to 2 weeks for overseas conference and research trips), but I've never taken extended time by myself (perhaps two nights max to visit family or friends). Al knows how much this means to me, and how much I've struggled at times lately with the full-time work and parenting juggle, so he has been incredibly supportive about me going. So grateful for this - I wouldn't have gone without his encouragement. My plan is to make the most of the time for my mental health. Of course the main focus will be learning (from a Bestselling novelist who runs the course) and writing, but I will also take long walks, do some journaling, planning and dreaming, and enjoy quiet, solo time. I'm sure by the end of the week, I'll be missing the kids desperately, and will be so glad to come home to Al and my babies, and hopefully my cup will be full in a way it hasn't been for a while.

4. The kids have some fun things planned while I'm away! Al parents are coming to visit for a few nights while I'm away, and their uncle and cousin will also be visiting the weekend I'm away, so they will have lots of fun family time to distract them from mummy's absence. I think its also going to be good for them to spend a bit more time with Daddy, rather than relying on me so much. This is not because Al isn't willing to spend time with them normally, but their ages and personalities mean that Mum is the preferred parent right now. Poor Daddy misses out at times. I'm not going to pretend that O particularly isn't going to be sad. (E was the same at that age, very clingy to me, and now O is in that stage). BUT E survived a couple of my longer work trips when she was that age, and O will too.

5. I'm looking for a good book on Perimenopause, if anyone has any suggestions? I feel lately that I'm really feel the effects of these fluctuating hormones, from weight gain to moodiness, to irregular cycles and beyond. I feel like I need some education on what is happening biologically, and what practical strategies I can try to reduce the symptoms, without going down the HRT route yet. I mean, I can probably guess healthy eating, strength training, etc etc, but I think that understanding the reasons behind the benefits of these lifestyle strategies will help motivate me to really implement them in my life, as I've been lacking some motivation lately!

6. Finally, a YouTube content creator I'm loving is Chani Japan. YouTube gets a bad rap, but there are honestly so many great content creators on there. Chani Japan is made by a middle-aged Australian woman from Brisbane who moved to Japan on her own a few years ago, and shares calming, down to earth, and relatable videos about her everyday life, her perspectives on her journey, and the highs and lows of living in Japan. She bought a cheap abandoned house in the Japanese countryside, and has renovated it. I guess its a bit of a video blog, which is why I enjoy it, like I enjoy blogs in the written form. Plus she has a gorgeous cat who she takes on walks around her neighbourhood - so cute.

Anyway, those are my updates for now. Its Mothers Day in Australia (and perhaps the US too?), so happy Mothers Day to all the Mums, and thinking of those who are finding this day hard for different reasons. We are joining my parents for a late lunch this afternoon at a restaurant right on the beach, and its beautiful sunny, mild weather today, looking forward to a nice day.

Cute picture E drew of me and her for Mothers Day ❤️

Have a great Sunday everyone!