Pause

Truthfully, I need a pause. Sam happens to be in the throes of an infection as well as cutting some eye teeth, and he is not eating, not sleeping, not wanting to be anywhere or with anyone other than me. I'm exhausted. And that's why I'm posting one of these.

I'm thinking about...
how freaking fast this year is going by. How is it even possible that it's already something stupid like 15 Fridays to Christmas?!

I'm watching...
movies again. Did you know, before May this year, I had maybe watched a total of five movies - at the cinema or elsewhere - in the last few years! Then I took my Mom to see Mothers' Day for Mothers' Day, followed by my trip with Zac and his buddies to see Finding Dory, and thereafter Bad Moms - and I'm on a roll! We also recently had our first pyjama movie night in our home where we basically bring out all the pillows and blankets and camp out in the lounge watching a kids movie together. At least this way the tv on the wall actually gets some action!

I'm listening to...
kids karaoke. I kid you not. Zac recently got a CD of children's songs and choruses, and it has that split track feature. So as you can imagine, once Zac has learnt the lyrics to all the songs, he only sings it with the backtrack. And Sam's beginning to want in on this action too. It's really cute to listen to, until I get asked to sing along - and then reprimanded for not knowing all the words!

I'm loving...
the good space I'm in with my family. Being married with children is hard. Add to that working full time and having other extra curricular commitments, and it's easy to get lost in all the busyness. Recently Andel and I have recommitted to make it a priority to spend time together chatting, hanging out, and generally touching base (deeper than the usual, ""hello, how was your day? please grab a child"). So, when the kids allow, we try have a sneaky treat and cup of tea in the kitchen before bed, and we spend more of the weekend enjoying the simple (free) things with the boys. It's been so much fun, and really such a fill-up-my-love-tank thing, that I have some withdrawals on a Monday.

I'm busy...
writing out hundreds of reports for the end of term. I won't lie: this is my least favourite part of my job of teaching Physical Education from year 3 to year 12. It really baffles me that in spite of each person's uniqueness, I struggle to write something different for each student.

I'm going to...
Girlfriends Getaway tomorrow! The local movie house offers this once-a-month, girls only, preview experience, and this month's film is Bridget Jones' Baby. So who better to take along than my mom and sisters. We are so looking forward to leaving our husbands and children at home having a feel good, night out together.

I'm battling with...
contentment. The older I get the more I wonder what happened to all the dreams I used to have, and whether or not I've really made any kind of difference in the world yet. I'm struggling with the fact that we work hard and long to make money to pay for things that we have little time to enjoy, and to provide for the people we love but who constantly seem to be getting what's left (as opposed to the best) of us.

I'm resolving to...
try to get active again. It's September, the weather is good (most of the time, anyway), and I need to get out into the fresh air, so I'm reinstating some kind of training programme. On a Sunday afternoon you will now find Andel, the boys and me (plus whoever wants to tag along) on a walk on the beachfront/forest/park/mountain getting our bodies moving.