Not Recommended

I don't recommend attempting the following:

In one same week:

• starting a major diet/exercise regime (12WBT) AND
• having your husband overseas AND
• having a job that is new in itself, so getting ready in the morning is still 'interesting' AND
• having to get your daughter ready for day care for the first time (when your husband normally does that) each morning, whilst trying to get yourself ready, and deal with her separation anxiety AND
• starting that week with a weekend away at a women's retreat, so you're already behind before you've even started your week

Nope, totally don't recommend it!

Yep, totally experienced it!  How did I 'survive' (I've put that in inverted commas, because because I don't feel I really survived it, but I'm here on the other side, still breathing, so there is some element of survival):

• being kind to myself, first by stopping the exercises.  I forced myself to do exercises on Monday, even though, after a very long day, I really didn't want to.   I decided on Tuesday that exercise wasn't going to actually help me this week: just stress me out, make me feel guilty if I didn't do it and take up precious time that I didn't have much spare of.  I'm not saying that exercise isn't important, but I am saying you have to realistic.  Even Michelle Bridges acknowledges in her preseason tasks - "external excuses outside of your control".  While sticking to just the diet aspect of the program, from the Monday morning weigh to the Wednesday morning weigh in, I'd lost an amazing 1.3kg!  By the end of the week, however, even trying to stick to the menu plan was stressing me.  With so many extra factors lumped on my life this passed week, not having flexibility with what I was eating was having me stressed.  Where possible, I tried to move the menu items around to fit how energetic I was, therefore, what meal preparation would suit.  A kind friend that I debriefed with yesterday had wonderful words of wisdom to share with me.  Be kind to myself.  It's okay if I don't stick to the program.  My expectations of myself were too high and I needed to drop them.  As long as I make sensible food choices, it doesn't matter if I don't stick to the plan.  What a weight off (pun not intended!).
• there's not much I could do about Big Spring being overseas, but obviously if we'd realised everything that was going to happen this week and how it all fell together (or fell apart!), then a few months ago, we might have reconsidered agreeing he should go to the States for a conference (the 20-20 vision of hindsight is amazingly clear!).  However, having WiFi/internet available, has been a blessing to talk to him for free and the invention of Skype is so amazing.  Every night Little Spring and I chatted with Big Spring and we had our nightly bedtime routine, including blessings and prayers together.  Such commitment from Big Spring to do this though: he had to get up at 5am to match Little Spring's bedtime.  And he's not a morning person!
• again, there's not really a lot I could have done about my new job.  If we'd realised how big a week this was going to be, perhaps we would have reconsidered me accepting the position, but for just such a short period, it doesn't seem a very realistic way of making that decision.  We maybe could have deferred my start date for a further few weeks, but I don't think that would have been very realistic for my employers.
• in regards to getting Little Spring ready in the morning, it was a matter of getting as much ready the night before, which was quite difficult at the end of an already long day!  I had teed up with work, however, that I'd be getting into work late while Big Spring is overseas, so it took the pressure off getting out the door on time.  Addressing Little Spring's separation anxiety has been stressful and emotional.  It's unfortunate that we were dealing with it in this particular week, but no matter when she started day care, we'd have to deal with this and push through.
• I could have cancelled the retreat, but it was something I was really looking forward to and, although it had me starting my week on the back foot, I was SO glad to have gone... I really appreciated the bible study and it was wonderful to bond more deeply with some beautiful women from the church.  I had so much fun!

Shopping Spree

What a pity that I had to go out and buy news clothes for my new job coming up!  A friend and I had a wonderful day today shopping for many outfits for this special occasion.  I managed to find a few bargains and get some discounts here and there, so the damage wasn't quite so bad!  The photos aren't that great (my camera takes beautiful pictures during the day but I've always had issues with night time/flash shots), but this gives you an idea of my plunder for the day!

 1. Gorgeous black dress with white polka dots and a bright red belt (we ran out of time to find some beautiful matching red heels to complete the outfit).

2. Stunning black pinstripe dress with a flattering flaps on the hip (I think my favourite purchase of the day).

3. Some new, simple black heels to complete each outfit.

 1. Gun metal grey slacks with slight stretch for a beautifully comfortable fit!

2. Black pinstripe below the knee skirt with belt.

3. Basic black below the knee skirt.

1. Stripped ruffle front shirt.

2. Basic red stretch shirt.

3. Cute little cardigan to throw over an outfit when slightly cooler in the office (jackets are a little redundant up here, so a cardigan is a practical, essential alternative!).

4. Another stripped, pleated shirt.

Can't wait to wear them for 'real' in the coming weeks!  My first day will be here before I know it... and so much to do before then!

Big Changes

So, yes... as I was saying in my last post, I'm going to be starting back at work next month!  Does it seem like this has happened out of the blue?  That's because it did happen out of the blue!  Here's the story...

Big Spring and I have previously discussed me going back to work part-time while putting Amy in 3yo kinder next year, but when an opportunity arose recently, we decided to relook at things and assess the possibilities.

Big Spring received an email from MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) asking him to let his church know of a vacant position for “Personal Assistant to Regional Director (RD) and Senior Staff /Receptionist-Office Coordinator”. After some discussion (especially because the job ad mentioned that the role is full-time but applicants wanting to work less hours may be considered), we decided I should get more information on what the actual role was and what ‘less hours’ meant. They emailed me the job description and said they would consider less hours for the right person – they wanted the role to work for both parties, so would negotiate accordingly. As I read through the job description, I fell in love with the role. I then started looking on MAF’s website, to find more information about them. As I read through what they do, I got so passionate about wanting to serve with them.

After much more prayer, we decided that I should apply for the position, so I emailed my resume. They advised they would contact me by the end of the following week, however, the next day, I received an email saying that HR had a meeting and decided to get selected applicants to go through a practical exercise to help in their selection for interview. Wow! One step closer to the position! I thought the practical (a week later) went really well and later that day, I got a call to say they’d like to interview me, so a time was arranged for the following Monday.

What an interview… it went for 1hr 15min with a panel of 3 people. I felt that some of it went really well, but for (what seemed like) much of it, bumbled my way through it and thought it was just disastrous and figured that was the end of any hope of getting the job. As I left, they told me that I should find out by the end of the week if I had been successful. Imagine my surprise when I received a call the following morning saying that they were delighted to offer me the position! I took them up on the offer to think about it for the day before accepting. After continued prayer and much thought, I rang back in the afternoon to say that I would love to accept the job. Oh my goodness!

Obviously in between all of this going on, Big Spring and I had a lot on our minds! I was constantly thinking about it and praying, pleading with God to give me a clear answer whether this was the right thing to be applying for the job. We took each step as it came and hoped and prayed we were following God’s Will.

So what does this all mean for us? Well, I’ll be working from 8am-3:30pm Monday to Friday. Little Spring will be in child care 4 days a week and Big Spring will look after her on his day off. The one we are most likely to send her to is literally just around the corner from us, a minute’s walk away, so nice and close.

I’ll be starting on 13th August and of course have a mixture of excitement, nervousness and everything in between!

If you'd like to know what MAF is and what they do, click on the link above to take you to their website.  If nothing else, please check out their "Impact" page and watch some of their videos.  It's truly inspirational stuff!  Here's one in particular, from their US site, so you don't even have to leave this page!

Reverse Maternity Leave

Reverse Maternity Leave \ri-ˈvərs\ \mə-ˈtər-nə-tē\ \ˈlēv\ n. opposite or contrary to <reverse order> a period of paid absence from work, to which a woman is legally entitled during the months immediately before childbirth.

I came up with that little definition by splicing together the definitions of the words on their own.  And why would I do that?  Because I had to come up with a name for the period of time I am currently in and how it feels.

I don't speak for everyone, of course, but I think for many women, when they leave work on maternity leave, before having their baby, they spend the time preparing the home... cleaning every nook and cranny, baking and cooking up a storm to stash in the freezer, ensuring the nursery is just right and ready to bring home baby, frantically trying to fit in all those projects you know you won't ever touch again after baby comes along and treasuring the quiet time to relax and kick back, because you know you'll forget what "quiet time" and "relax" means in future and they will, in fact, become a redundant concept!

So, what does this all have to do with me?  Well, I’m now thinking about all the things I need/want to get done before I return back to work next month.  The list is growing in my head and I know it’s going to have to spill out onto paper if I want to keep track of everything.

“Hang on, back up,” I hear you saying.  “Before I return back to work next month?”  Yep, you read correctly!  If you haven’t already heard, you’re probably thinking you’ve missed something!  And you have, except it’s not your fault because I haven’t written about it on my blog until now.  I’ll tell you more about it in a minute, but in the meantime, I want to get back to this “Reverse Maternity Leave” concept.

As I was saying, I have a growing list in my head of all the things I need/want to get done before I start work.  I’m thinking about:

• getting the house thoroughly clean now so that I can try and maintain the cleanliness on a much more manageable level.
• baking and cooking to put in the freezer so we have ‘emergency’ food for the times I don’t feel like cooking or don’t have time after a long day.
• starting to look at what routines I’ll put in place to manage my time well (using my activity list – I’ll need to make some new tags!)
• organising all the things Little Spring will need for child care – clothes labelled, spare clothes in abundance, toilet train her (Big Spring is doing a wonderful job of taking that in hand today!), paperwork to enrol her, register her with Centrelink in order to claim the costs, start taking her to the centre a few times, to help familiarise herself with the other kids, staff and surroundings.
• fitting in some pampering for myself to feel nice and refreshed for my first day – massage (got a voucher for mother’s day… the perfect time to use it!) and pedicure/manicure.
• buying new clothes – I got rid of all my corporate wear when I decided not to return to work after my maternity leave ran out.  I figured that I’d had all the clothes for so long that I was due new ones when I eventually went back to work anyway!
• trying to knock off some of my 36 to 36 list, especially the ones that involve helping me clear out my office here at home.  It’s a huge, unorganised mess at the moment and it deflates me every time I walk in here!

All this feels very similar to how I felt when I left my last place of employment before having Little Spring way back in 2009!  There are obviously some different tasks to when I went on maternity leave, but the concept is the same.  It got me thinking about a name for this period and I did try inventing a whole new word, but couldn’t come up with anything catchy enough, so a splice of words that gets the meaning across would have to do!

Now, I did promise to tell you more about this new job of mine, but I think that this post is already long enough, so instead, I’ll do a whole new post on it.  Stay tuned for the next post, or if you’re reading this later down the track, I’ll link you to the post here.