Work Travel

I've just started packing for a week away at a work conference next week. I had never really been away for work, until I got this job, but after 3 years of regular travel, I've learnt a thing or two about how to pack well.

My top 10 things to pack are:

1. a sleeping mask - because you never know who you'll share a room with, and it's nice to be able to go to sleep when you want, not when everyone else wants
2. your joggers - so you can get some exercise to make up for the huge amounts of artery-clogging food you're offered
3. a packet of paracetamol - headaches always seem to accompany a day of meetings
4. your own pillow - there's nothing like having the comfort of your own pillow to make up for a different bed
5. your phone charger - leaving this at home brings much heartache
6. slippers - there's nothing nicer for the end of a long day or for those early mornings when you're waiting for your turn in the shower
7. a mattress protector - sleeping on a plastic-coated mattress covered in just a sheet is not my idea of luxury
8. something to read - if you get woken up early and you can't get back to sleep, at least you have something to do without having to get out of bed
9. a headlamp or torch - to help you read without disturbing other
10. going out pj's - it's time to leave the daggy t-shirt and shorts or the fancy lingerie at home and pack decent pyjamas that you don't mind being seen in

Now I just have to follow my own advice and make sure I pack it all...

Mother Guilt

I had two children home sick yesterday, one of them very ill. Yet, I had a work commitment that I needed to fulfil. Have you ever been in that boat?

In the end I settled the very sick child into bed with the phone and ran out the door, fixing up my work matter in one hour, and returning home to find him still fast asleep. As I was driving back home, I had a real sense of not being a good mother. What mother does that - leaves a sick child at home for work?

I've discovered in the last decade of mothering, that these decisions pop up all too often. Should I go on that work trip or stay and see that special concert? Will my child cope if I don't see them win a ribbon at the sports carnival because I've got a client to see? Is feeding my children toasted sandwiches for dinner really that bad when I've got so much work to do?

I've decided that parenting is all about the 51%. It doesn't matter what you do 49% of the time, as long as 51% of the time, you get it right, and throw in a few peak moments in the year where they know without a doubt that you love them to bits.

An article in The Australian on the weekend (25-26 July, Inquirer 19) covered just this topic of "The Struggle to Juggle". It said that the most telling finding from the Australian Work and Life Index 2009 were that a large proportion of women "feel rushed or pressed for time". The researchers felt this was because generally, all workers work more than the want, but also because women carry the major burden of running households.

It just reminded me that life is all about balance, maintaining the spheres of work, caring for yourself and your family, maintaining your home and having fun in some sort of functional equilibrium. I'm not saying it's easy though!

Inoculatte

I've been reading the book 101 Things to Do Before You Diet, by Mimi Spencer. It's all about taking up a healthy lifestyle, rather than getting caught up in fad diets and wasting hours pondering how your body is going to ruin while you stuff your mouth with cake.

I've really been enjoying the book which is full of commonsense, plenty of research and bucketfuls of fun.

Today I stumbled across the concept of 'inoculatte'. It's a term dubbed by the Washington Post to the habit of "taking coffee intravenously when you're running late" and indicates a greater social problem with food - not having enough time to prepare healthy meals.

I work in an organisation where people consume heaps of coffee, and as a non-coffee drinker, it's easy to get sucked into the hot chocolates to match their high consumption. This paragraph today just reminded me how important it is to plan meals, no just run out the door and think about lunch at 12pm, which I've been getting into a habit of when I go into work.

Mimi talks about how life has always included food, and that there is so much more to food than the simple eating. We need to remember the social aspects of eating, like eating together around a table and enjoying a conversation, all the while slowing our meals down so we aid digestion as well as connection with others. She also talks about taking pleasure in our food, and not getting caught up on the guilt of particular foods and then gorging ourselves on those foods to deal with our guilt.

I know I've spent plenty of time thinking about eating healthier this week, and as a result, I've actually been enjoying my time in the kitchen, rather than dreading it. I can only hope that this continues!

MasterChef Winner

With an afternoon sleep under our belts, my husband, the 3 kids and myself all lept on the couch to enjoy the finale of MasterChef. We only got into the series a couple of weeks ago, but it really has lifted everyone's interest in food, cooking and the presentation of meals.

For dinner last night, I put a whole lot of leftovers on the bench with a loaf of bread and the sandwich press and let everyone make their own meal. My daughter was careful to 'plate' her dinner as proudly as Poh or Julie tackled the dishes later.

What I liked about both Poh and Julie was their desire to win, but their happiness for the other and the acknowledgement that both have learnt so much that neither can view themselves as a loser. So often in this world, we get caught up with someone being the winner, without realising that even those who come 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc have gained something they didn't have at the beginning.

I'm glad Julie won, because I think she represents every Mum, who straps on the oven gloves at 6pm each nights and tries to serve up nutritious meals that appeal to a picky clientele with a discerning palate. She clung to her cooking roots, but looked for fancy ways to present old favourites. I think that's a good analogy for parenting in these modern times - presenting old ideas and values in new, innovative ways.

Meanwhile, I've got a breakfast to prepare and plate...

State of Origin 3

Yesterday on my way to work I saw this intriguing scene at a house opposite Suncorp Stadium where the 3rd State Of Origin match was played.

The people who live in this house obviously didn't have tickets to the game, but spent the night enjoying a few drinks and soaking up the atmosphere of the game, from outside the stadium, not in it. They might not even have been watching the game on the TV, just following it by the rise and fall of the crowd's mood.

It got me thinking about how we can often forget to enjoy what we do have and make the most of the things around us, and just keep wanting what other people seem to get so effortlessly. If only we could all be content to enjoy the roar of the crowd and a few beers with friends, rather than chasing the action in the middle all the time.

It reminded me how important contentment is to a good life.

Swimming Squads

My kids returned to swimming training this morning.

It took some effort, being the first day of the school term. I'd packed the towels, goggles and caps the night before and put the drinks in the fridge ready to go too. But the morning required that effort to get up, get the swimmers on and leap in the car as the sun was peaking over the hills.

Ordinarily, my oldest child would be swimming in the darkness, but I thought he should ease back into the pool, particularly as he's throwing off the end of a cold, so we arrived at the pool at 6.45am reading for 7am plunge.

After about 4 laps the kids looked tired. It had nothing to do with the pool - it was a balmy 29 degrees, but the kids had got out of condition over the last 3 months while they've been concentrating on hockey and soccer. By the end of the hour they needed all the encouragement they could get to pull on their school uniforms, down a quick breakfast and head off to school for the day.

A part of me doesn't really like pushing the kids to do swimming as there's such an big expectation on them once they get to squad level, but my eldest boy wants to be age champion this year. He's got a good shot at it, but he's going to have to work for it too. He'll be needing to put in 3 or 4 90-minute sessions a week if he wants to do it. That's a pretty big commitment. Then there's the other 2 kids, who gain a lot of fitness from swimming. It's a good sport for Australian kids, because we have such long summers, so we're keen for our kids to be confident swimmers. But how much is too much?

Only time will tell, but I find that as a Mum I walk a fine line between letting the kids do everything, keeping the kids active enough, balancing the family budget and helping them realise their dreams. Share that around 3 kids and it can be pretty exhausting.

After the kids got to school today, I needed to sit down with a cup of tea and have a rest - it had been a bit of a shock to my system too, and I didn't even get wet! Lets see what Thursday brings, when we next head back to the pool.

Appliances on the Blink

Have you heard that old saying, "Bad things come in3's."?

Our dishwasher stopped heating water before the last school holidays, so we've been washing up by hand ever since. It's only really started bugging me this week, so I've decided to finally pay someone to get it fixed. And of course, that bills going to be in the hundreds of dollars.

And the last couple of weeks the washing machine's been making a horribly loud (and suspicious) whooshing noise when it spins. Sometimes I feel like it's almost cheaper to throw the machine out and just buy a new one, and with two appliances on the blink, the costs are mounting. Could I have another appliance about to die too?

I don't really believe in coincidences, any more than I believe in horoscopes. I think you can create a coincidence out of just about any circumstance, and most of the time, I put things down to God's timing rather than some random alignment of the stars.

But is there any truth in that old saying?

I think it's more likely that we're so busy looking for 3 things to go wrong, that we create problems for ourselves. It's the old idea of having a 'glass half full' view on life. I hope that's how it is, because with the repair bills for both appliances due this week, if anything else breaks down, we'll be doing without it for quite some time!

Amazing Race 14

There is building excitement in our house, with the Australian premier of Amazing Race 14 less than 2 weeks away.

This series has captivated our hearts - we love the oddball contestants, the arguing and strategy, but most of all, we love the travel. I think we're all armchair travellers, and because we haven't been able to see this big blue ball we live on, we really enjoy seeing the contestants flit from one country to another, scrambling over one another to win the $1 million prize.

We've got into a great habit of taping the programs and then watching them on Friday nights with a few like-minded friends as a great end to the week.

It goes to show that even the smallest of rituals in a family can have the best payoffs, so with the ice cream stocked up and the odd bottle of wine stored away, bring on the games!

Bushwalking

We went bushwalking at Binna Burra in the Gold Coast hinterland over the weekend. It was the most beautiful country I've seen in a long time. Massive waterfalls, enormous trees, craggy escarpments - it was just such lovely country.

But the highlight for me was the 16.6km hike that took our family of 5 (including our 7 year old) 8 hours. Sure we saw all these things, but it was the other things I saw that really stood out for me:

• I saw a family, who despite bickering over what TV shows they watch or who gets to sit where on the couch, actually love being together.
• I saw our kids helping each other out over the boulders and through the muddy sections, guiding the footsteps of those walking behind them.
• I saw us as parents learning new things from our kids and new things about our kids.
• I saw our quietest child, who has the least faith in himself, emerge as the leader, setting the pace and taking charge.
• I saw a family who found all sorts of things to talk about - faith, life, dreams and love.

If I could trade those 3 days in for any other 3 days in this life I wouldn't do it. They were some of the most precious days I have ever lived. It goes to show that it's not the big holidays that necessarily leave the biggest memories, because it's all about the quality of those memories.