autumn in Brisbane

I know autumn isn't a big deal in the northern hemisphere, or even down in Melbourne and Canberra where the weather is colder but in tropical Brisbane we have very few "proper" autumn trees that change colour and lose their leaves. So I really look forward to seeing the odd tree blazing with colour. The back entrance to E's school has a lovely avenue of deciduous trees so we've been really enjoying the colours, especially against the bright blue sky.

Today is the second day of the two week school holidays for June/July. It's just lovely not to have to get up and think about school lunches and ironing uniforms and jumping in the car to drive to school. G has a cold so we are having a nice, lazy time just hanging out at home and pottering around. E has a friend here to play today so I have three little girls munching their lunch while I grab five minutes to blog.

Too overwhelmed to blog much

WARNING - THIS POST IS BASICALLY ME COMPLAINING ABOUT MY LIFE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Sometimes, I honestly do find life overwhelming. Well....actually...only since becoming a mother. I feel quite often that I just can't get my head around all the things I have to do/take care of/be responsible for. At the moment, this includes

- family of two adults and two children
- dog who is failing dog obedience and scratching the wood off our front door as he wants to be in the house with us all the time
- house which never seems clean or tidy and is perpetually full of dust, dirt and dog hair although we sweep it every day or so.
- car which keeps filling up with tiny dead leaves, dog hair, empty McDonalds chip packets
- mother who nags me about when am I going to wean Greta (the answer is when I find a quicker, easier way to get her to sleep at night).
- Part time job which is currently undergoing a restructure and for which I am constantly arriving late and leaving early due to juggling children who are either sick or crying as they don't want to be left at daycare/before school care for two days a week
-bills/paperwork/tax to do
- etc etc etc

Trying to juggle all this stuff means that things that should be pleasurable (like scrapbooking, blogging, etc) either feel like just another thing on my "to do" list or a guilty pleasure because I should really be tidying the house, playing with my children or vaccuuming the car or something I am just too exhausted to be even contemplating.

Hence, I'm not blogging much these days, but I am still checking in with your blogs as they brighten my day.

I did have a rare and fantastic day off this week. I paid an extra $50 to G's lovely Family Day Care carer and drove home giddy with the thought of some 4 and a half hours all to myself. I honestly almost cried with anticipation. Of course, I tried to fit too much in (pick up dinner from the shops, go to video shop to get "Twilight" DVD, go to Scrapbooking shop to browse without having to say "DON'T TOUCH THE PAPER!" to my children, do a page of scrapbooking to finish off Emma's album from 2007 etc. As one of my girlfriends said "If you were nearly crying with happiness at having a few hours off, it was worth $50".

I have been reading Erkhart Tolle's books lately, and just love his philosophy of living life one moment at a time and letting go of all the bullshit that goes round and round in our heads - worrying about the future and holding on to old stories/hurts/stuff. I have been trying to do it and when I do...it is a revelation. Life becomes an adventure instead of an endurance race. So...I'm sort of letting go of trying to keep up with blogging and just doing what feels like a good thing as each moment comes along whether it is playing lego with the girls or getting on top of the ironing (not that I have done that yet - LOL).

Of course, life is still full of lovely moments - autumn leaves and rainy days and homemade chicken soup. I met the mother of one of E's favourite boy buddies in her class last week. I do love him for the times he gives E a cuddle when she doesn't want to be left at Before School Care on a Friday morning.

I hope to be more positive about life next time I blog! Time to do the after school pick up (in the rain...I really need some gumboots so I can stop getting my socks wet and start splashing in the puddles with the girls)

This and that....

Just a few photos in this post to illustrates some of the little happy details of my life over the last few days.....the sunlight on a vase of autumn leaves .....my little girl in her beanie because of the cold snap we are having.....the impromptu tea party my big girl organised for me this afternoon as a surprise (complete with three tablecloths of varying sizes, a sprig of geraniums in a vase and tea, soy milk and sugar served up in our wedding teapot, sugar bowl and milk jug. Also.....the dog looking cute with his paws and head over the baby gate which keeps in his 'room' at night

My work world

I spend so much time on this blog blathering about my day to day life mothering at home, that I thought I'd take my camera to work and take some pictures of my work life in the city. I love setting off two days a week on the train for the city. I like the walk to the train...I like reading on the train.....I like eating whatever I like from the city shops for morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea.....and I like being paid to research and write history. So it's all good. So as long as the girls are happy where they are, I am happy to toddle off to the coalmine, so to speak. So....here's some photos.

Here is the public square outside my building. The coloured boxes are part of the same building and house the library etc. There are often interesting things going on here (more interesting than a skateboarder, that is) like demonstrations, marches, entertainment from various cultures etc.

This is my favourite sculpture in the city. It's in Anzac Square which was constructed after World War I to commemorate those who died in the war. Sadly, the number of memorials has grown to include the Second World War, Vietnam War etc. The above sculpture honours the work done by Australian Army Nurses - a topic close to my heart as it was the subject of my history thesis.

The view through the window of my favourite florist shop always brightens my day.

One of the heritage listed buildings in Queen Street - the main street of the city - now closed to traffic which is great. I wish they would exclude cars from the entire inner city and make people walk, cycle or catch trains and buses.

The view from our office - overlooking the square you saw earlier. The building with the arches was the government Treasury Building built in the 1880s. It was converted to a casino a decade or two ago, causing considerable grief to many of the people who work in the heritage field here.

I took this photo while walking across the Brisbane River to do some research at the State Library. The green trees and ferris wheel are part of South Bank, a great public parkland with an artificial beach where you can swim. Sounds tacky but it's actually a lovely place to hang out, especially with kids. There's also lagoons/streams with boulders etc where kids can swim and paddle and lots of playgrounds and expensive cafes. It was the site of World Expo in 1988 and was later redeveloped as "the people's place". It is next door to the Performing Arts Centre and also has the Conservatorium of Music in the grounds. All very cultural.....

This is my squeaky new work building again with a glimpse of the funky art outside - made from colanders, I believe.

Well.....that's it. A brief tour of my working day. Today, however, is a home day and it's after 7.30pm and a six year old girl is waiting for Mummy to come and lie with her in bed for a cuddle.

See you soon.

I