Library volunteer

Monday:

A few weeks ago Aiden's school library asked for volunteer helpers and I put my name down. It took a while to get the roster organised, but I started my one session a week today.

I really enjoyed my morning at the library. The teacher/librarian Debbie had only asked for half an hour but I stayed until 11:00. I think she was only planning to get parents to help with putting books on the shelves and maybe covering them. She seemed delighted when I said I was nearly a Library Tech, she showed me the computer system (very similar to the one we used at TAFE) and I did the returns on the system as well as re-shelving the books. All basic stuff, but she was actually teaching classes the whole time and only had a few minutes to show me in between kid-wrangling so it was good I was confident with it. I didn't do the loans today because students don't have their own library cards, the barcodes are all in a folder and Debbie knows all the kids' names so she's much quicker. I would have to ask every child their name and find their barcode. 

She's about to go on holidays for three weeks to China, they've only just found some one to replace her, I'm guessing the new person won't know the kids' names either! 

They use the 'Oliver' computer system which was also the one used by that other local school I was going to apply for a job at before I found I wasn't qualified - so it might be a common one at least in schools and therefore very good that I'm getting some experience with it. I learned what to do if the book was returned overdue (nothing!) or if they wanted to borrow more than the four allowed (let them!) or if a book was returned two years after the student left the school (excellent, finally!). All looks great on the resume!

It was definitely organised chaos, there were the classes that Debbie was teaching (researching sharks online) who returned and borrowed books, and also several groups of children (including my niece Emma) returned big baskets of books from their classrooms, and a few kids running in for other reasons like they left their mouthguard in the library on Friday. And they all seemed to accept me as a librarian and asked me stuff and gave me books to return. And an empty plastic bag, which I had no idea what to do with, but I accepted it as if I did. Turns out if they forget their library bag, the librarian gives them a plastic bag to use. It was great. 

I felt all businessy too (but still friendly and approachable), I wore a new outfit of navy pants and a white top and my ankle boots and strutted my way up to the school. Look at me, off to work! lol. The boots are very comfortable, as shoes go, but can't compare with sneakers. I was glad to get home and change after two hours on my feet. I'm not used to even low heels. 

This morning I weighed 74.9kg, a bit less than last Monday.

Last night a branch of the family who are always included in the Sunday dinner invitation but who rarely come, came. Without telling us before hand. So I didn't make enough crème brulee for everyone. And they are practicing Lent, so are not eating meat. I can usually cope with these large dinners, I'm used to it now, but still go into a bit of a brain meltdown when I have to deal with last minute stuff like that! The kids got ice cream instead of crème brulee, and the Lent adults insisted they were fine with whatever, which in this case was tortillas with just a bit of salad instead of the beef and chicken fajitas everyone else was having. I would have been so happy to organise some seafood for them if I'd known they were coming! I found it very stressful. I could have rushed around and tried to whip something up, but I decided if they turn up without notice and say they're fine, I will have to take them at their word.

Is it normal to not let your child eat sugar but be fine with them chewing on a crayon? Non-toxic doesn't mean edible!

Nap

Monday:

Today I weighed in at 79.2 kg, which is a loss of 1.1 kg this week. Excellent. Especially considering Thursday and Saturday happened. I was very good yesterday despite being surrounded by temptations.

Yesterday morning I took Jasmine shopping for several hours to get some stuff she needed, then in the evening cooked dinner for 14. Big family dinner. Ping's parents are over from China, Ping is due to have her baby in about four weeks. Her parents expect to stay for about a year. Which is lovely, but they stay in Ping's house which is a little hard on Nick. No matter how much you love your parents-in-law, having them live in your house for a whole year is a bit of a strain. Especially as they don't speak a word of English, he doesn't speak Chinese, and come from a different cultural background. They have some different ideas about child-rearing. They stayed before for about nine months when the first baby was born. Both very nice people, but it's still going to be awkward at times.

Baby Lucy was one of the visitors and I got to have lots of cuddles. Four weeks old. So cute.

It was a very big day and I was so tired today. I even crawled in to bed for a while in the afternoon, after I'd done the grocery shopping. I don't have many naps these days, but I needed one.

Today's drama with the pool; the tree removers ground down the stump of the biggest tree and left the rest in the ground, which is what they contracted to do. The excavator ripped it out of the ground and left it to the side, not taken away with the rocks and dirt because it's not "clean fill" (which can be used in other building sites). It's no-one's responsibility. It is huge. I've got to find someone to take it away and dispose of it somehow.

I think I need another nap.

Sunday

Sunday:

Today I got to sleep in! I did wake at around 6am and couldn't get back to sleep for a while due to my pelvic pain, but finally I did and didn't wake again until 9. Awesome.

Quiet day of games and a bit of housework.

My niece Emma was sick so that part of the family couldn't host (or attend) Sunday dinner, Tim went out and bought some ingredients and made Butter Chicken for us and his dad. Yummy. So much nicer than pre-made sauces or even restaurant versions which I always find really sweet. I had cauliflower instead of rice with it, and a little scoop of ice cream (instead of pie and ice cream) for dessert. A bit too much camembert though, while waiting for dinner. Nothing wrong with cheese except it has a lot of calories!

I was worried I'd struggle getting back on my diet after five days off (which should have been three), but it's been fine. I've had cravings, and eaten a bit of dark chocolate, but overall done well. I still need to tighten serving sizes but I'm happy with what I'm eating.

Not very action-packed

Thursday:

Let's see, a summary of my action-packed life over the past few days?

On Tuesday Tim forgot to take the lock for his bicycle when he rode to the station, so after I got the kids to school I drove over and locked it up for him (it was still there!.) I was a bit nervous about doing this. Firstly I wasn't sure where he parked his bike (I found it easily from his instructions) secondly I was only 95% sure that it was his bike I was locking (it was) and thirdly I was scared I would get the combination wrong when I was locking it was he wouldn't be able to unlock it on his way home (didn't happen).

Yesterday we went over to Tim's cousin's house for dinner, the one that lives a block from the beach. Tim met us there after work. Jasmine needed a couple of things for camp so we went shopping on the way then had a churros share plate at the chocolate and churros café. I'd had one dessert there before but not tried their speciality churros. They came with chocolate dipping sauce and strawberries and were delicious. And we shared so it wasn't too much. Then we found parking at the beach and went to a playground for a little while. I sat enjoying the view and the fresh ocean breeze while the kids played. Unfortunately Aiden fell off a low wall and scraped all the skin off his knee on the way down. Not a deep wound, but wide. And covered in sand. He limped to Matt's apartment (actually Jasmine gave him a piggy back part of the way) and we cleaned him up. He was very brave.

Dinner was great, and very kid-friendly. Tacos with all the ingredients in the middle of the table for people to choose, which is how I serve them at home. It's such a relief when hosts cater to children (and fussy adults like me). Dessert was similarly served, ice cream with a huge range of toppings available - strawberries and blueberries and chocolate sprinkles and caramel sauce and other things. It was a great idea.

Jasmine was off to an overnight school camp today. I didn't even check her packing, the school gave her a list, so I hope she's ok! She has packed for herself for years but I do usually check. She even labelled everything herself after I reminded her to. Her other school went to this very same camp location last year (it was a much longer journey from Canberra than from here!) so she knows what to expect.

My work on my book is going well. I am making some drastic changes which was hard to get started but now the ideas are flowing. I think it will be much better for the changes.

I went for a walk today but it was very hot. I think this is the longest string of days above a certain temperature in recorded history here. Autumn has just begun so maybe it will get cooler soon.

Family Day

Sunday:

Our tree is up! We've gone with purple and silver this year, with a splash of gold to bling it up. Over the years we've gathered a variety of colours and some years we put them all on, other years we have a colour theme.

My brother Darren came to visit today. He said "late morning" but I knew not to expect any particular time, and indeed wouldn't have been surprised if he didn't make it at all. So we went ahead with our day, put up the tree, did a bit of cleaning. Aiden had been hoarding some packing materials and waiting very patiently; Tim helped him hammer in some nails to make a... well... some bits of wood nailed together.

Darren arrived at 2:30. He admired the house and I fed him a late lunch (we'd had ours) and he played with the kids. For those of you new to the blog, I'm not very close to my brother. He has obsessive compulsive disorder and is also a hoarder, and was very hard to live with back when we were kids. Of course it's even harder being him. I don't like going to his house because of the hoarding and the filth, but he is welcome to visit here which of course is much easier now we live in the same city. He is fond of my kids and very good at telling weird stories, a skill he inherited from our dad. Like about the competition for the naughtiest child, or about a goat called Norbert who is made out of cheese.

I spent much of the afternoon cooking, and in the evening Tim's family came over for dinner in our new Sunday tradition. Ten people in all. We don't have our new table yet so we put our small dining and kitchen tables together.

In the past, family dinners that included us were rare because we lived further away, and they therefore became a sort of party, with plenty of junk food. But if we're sharing dinner every week, alternating with my sister-in-law, we need to tone down the excess calories. I tried to keep it relatively healthy, with a pre-dinner nibble of vegetable crudités and hommos dip, then roast lamb with lots of vegetables and cauliflower "rice" (and gravy!), then finished with ice cream with raspberries and honeycomb. We did still have alcohol and fizzy drink, brought by other people. I feel like there is no need to start with chips and lollies or have supper an hour after a big meal. Food is part of the equation, but we're really there to enjoy each other's company.

Most people left around 9 (which is still a bit late for all the kids with school the next day), Darren told them a bedtime story then played computer games a bit before he left. It was a good day. I was exhausted by the end of it!

And we still didn't get much unpacking done. I'd love to have it all done by Christmas, but that is less than three weeks away now so I don't know if it will be!

Sunday dinner

Sunday:

Today we put up the new artwork and did some more unpacking. I've finished the kitchen now. Gradually working our way through the house from front to back. We still have the kids bedrooms to finish and the big one - the study/rumpus.

Nick, Ping and little Emma came over for our new regular Sunday family dinner (grandad is away this weekend). Everything went well except for when Emma was saying "mine, mine" and I said "actually that is mine" as I took it away (she'd already damaged it). Boy that kid can scream! She's not really used to being said "no" to. We've had a slightly rocky relationship ever since I wouldn't let her stick her finger in a pencil sharpener.

Last weekend they made a yummy mango dessert but then poured sweetened condensed milk all over it. So sweet! I only had a couple of bites. This weekend I did home-made unsweetened Greek yoghurt with mango pieces in it (and a chocolate ball on top) and I think they found it a bit tart. The mango made it sweet enough for me. And yet they have their tea with no sugar, and I can't give up my little bit! It's what you're used to, I guess.

Tim and his brother want to take us all camping next weekend. I didn't go last time a year or more ago, and really don't want to go this time but feel like I should. I don't find anything appealing about camping. What is there to like? Horrible beds, mosquitoes and flies and spiders (remember this is Australia!), no respite from the weather, camp food. The kids are all excited about campfire potatoes (yuck) and burned marshmallows (yuck) and kayaking (hurts my damaged shoulders). Sounds like a weekend of misery and torture to me. I would be happy to stay home and let them all go like last time, but for some reason they want me to go and are making all these allowances for me, like an air conditioned cabin so I get a proper bed and a lockable door, while they stay in tents. So I feel like I have to go. What a waste of a weekend. Since I've agreed to go, I will now endeavour to change my mindset and look forward to happy times, and try not to ruin everyone's fun with my grumpy resentful attitude. At least the weather is supposed to be good. Anyone got any nice things to say about camping?