Love, bubs and life on our little farm

I don't love too much spontaneity. My life is hectic and I roll from one thing to another but I like having it all timetabled and written into my diary.

So thanks to the chaos that is my work at the moment (aahh nothing like a change of gov to throw the cat among the pigeons), I got one weeks warning that my work trip to the US is a goer. So now I have 7 days to prepare for 11 days away - I am desperately sorting clothes, power plugs and organising maps and airport links. And trying to ignore the pangs of guilt - flying out on the morning of Bronte's second birthday, not even having time to have a cake with her pang, leaving the girls for the longest time I have ever left them pang, knowing how hard, tiring and lonely it is going to be for Jase pang. The girls were with the babysitter last night as Jase and I both had work functions to be at and I felt rotten that they went to bed without seeing me all day with only 7 days of trying to give them maximum love and cuddles pang.

Uurggh. Having a career and being a Mum - a minefield of emotional guilt trips.

Must really concentrate on the whole pro list. All expenses paid trip to two beautiful US cities to achieve one of my career goals I set a few years ago and was never sure I would get to ever tick off, not to mention the little bit of free time to explore and sightsee.

This is actually my third international trip paid for by work/study funding. I do feel very lucky. Though it is going to take over 24 hours and three flights, four airports to get me there - I am guessing that travelling sans children will feel so easy that I won't be too fussed lol

This is one of my hotels.


I have plans for shopping - a new handbag is on my list, and of course duty free scotch for the ever patient husband!

If I had a dollar for everytime someone said to me, "I don't know how you do it", well.... I would be buying myself a coffee every second day of the week.
 Normally, I internally shrug and think "what is there to 'do'? It's just life" But I am feeling a little worn out this weekend, like I haven't got much left and I have had those flashes of how/why do I do it.....

Bronte has been sick and Hubby and I had to tag team days off work to look after her. The list of things to to-do at home and at work has never felt longer - we spend hours a night working on work we have brought home from our jobs, the girls birthdays are 2 and 4 weeks away and so is their party. Elka's school is constantly demanding us to attend "parent events" during work hours that we struggle to find time to get to. I am possibly flying to the US for a work trip in 1.5 weeks time but am still yet to have the trip confirmed and flights booked, so I can't plan for me to be away properly. I have more work conferences than I care to think about in the next few months and they always manage to clash with Hubby's work events, so that involves organising our babysitter. I am supervising two Masters students (why did I agree to take two!) who need full time support and work reviewed. I have my second job lecturing at uni to squeeze in, preparing exam questions and marking assignments. I am trying to get my horse trained and up to competition standard, we are organising the major earth works to put a new arena in for me, building metres and metres of retaining walls for the new house extension area, we have huge gardens to care for and the paddocks and fences all need work. Hubby is trying to get fit and enter some marathons so he needs time to go for runs. The girls want to play with friends, do dance lessons and so on and we need to get them back into swimming lessons, let alone make time to see our friends. There are just not enough hours in the weekends for all of this.

There are not enough hours in the weekdays for that matter! In the evening, by the time we have arrived home, fed all the farm animals, the kids, played with them and put them to bed, prepared lunches for the next day, cooked dinner for the next night (since we get home late), done some work on our laptops, hit the gym weights and exercise bike and fallen into bed, it is 11.30pm and we finally get to chat and catch up.... to the loss of sleep. The kids have taken to waking us in the night to tuck them back in and then the alarm is unrelenting at 5.30am the next morning.

Recently, I have found myself wondering if life would be easier if we lived in a city suburban house with a tiny backyard that takes just 20 minutes to mow, that is only 10 minutes from shopping centres, the kids schools and not a monster commute to work. No farm animals to feed and rug, no fences to repair, no farriers to schedule, no bankrupting yourself to just buy the timber for one tiny piece of landscaping, no mud, no cleaning gutters to ensure your water tanks are clean for drinking, no watching the weather to worry about rain - just existing and "easy".

And then I get out of the car after my big commute and look out at the sun streaming through the gum trees, watch the girls delight in the joey jumping alongside the mother kangaroo up our driveway, hear the koalas grunting in the trees above the house, see my beautiful horses watching me expectingly and the ducks come waddling up from the dam, and laugh at the girls throwing on their gumboots and racing around the gardens or feeding the chickens.

And I wonder that "easy" might also feel a little empty in comparison.

This quote sums up what keeps me going...




And today - as busy as we were, we took the time to laugh at this idiot. My silly horse who is determined to annoy Hubby (having kicked him in the ribs last week) pulled up a plumbed in irrigation tap today and then was reluctant to hand it over. Life is never boring!

Not a sponsored post ( but would happily do one Revlon! Hehe).

 I am a lip gloss wearer from way back. I have happily worn my MAC lip glosses for years. Mainly because lip gloss is so easy, it goes on lightly and your lips feel great. I would always try to like lipstick but it would dry my lips or wear off unevenly and I would need to be near a mirror to keep checking it was not looking weird (uurgh when it wears off on the inside of your lips and not the outside - shudder!)

 But all of a sudden, I am wearing lipstick, lovely intense colours and they last - thank you Revlon ColourBurst Lip Butters. It is like lipstick and lip gloss had a baby - soft and easy to put on, shiny and wears off gently. No lip staining, wearing and bleeding. (Yes I sound like an ad but am really just so pleased!) I even put their bright red colour (Candy Apple - cute name!) on without a mirror and feel confident that it is all good. I love the boost of wearing red lipstick!

They are $22 each at Priceline but I snapped some up in the last buy one, get one free sale - bargain! This one below is Pink Truffle - I wear this nearly every day when I am not feeling boom-boom enough to pull of my cherry red lips.

 When was the last time you wore lipstick?

I am a big fan of the Bloggess. If you have never read her blog - do yourself a favour and read this post at the very least. And this one.


She makes me smile at the end of long tiring day. I have been impatiently waiting for her novel to be released and it has finally arrived. And it is good. I am torn between reading it slowly to make it last and devouring it as fast as possible. I think hubby wants me to go the fast option as he is waiting to read it after me.

well not really but I finally bowed to fashion pressure and bought a pair of coloured denim jeans. I am still unsure about them, they just smack of the mid 90s to me (or was I the only one getting around in coloured denim then? I wasn't well known for my style back then so I could have been), so I just grabbed a cheap pair from Cotton On ($40 too easy).








They fit snugly (for now) and I love the dark plum colour - I have a heap of cream, grey and black tops that are I am looking forward to wearing with them. I got a great zebra print scarf from Witchery in plums, creams and blacks which will get quite a run with these jeans, I think. Likewise, I have bought a cute pair of low motorcycle style ankle boots and they are great with skinny jeans.

I think I am selling this look to myself hehe.

Has anyone else embraced the coloured denim? Anyone brave enough to do the bright reds or blues?