Moog's meanderings

My mum said to me at the weekend that it’s very difficult to make the transition from working to being a ‘housewife’.

I do find it hard to reconcile what I do or don’t do with myself and whether the time that I have spent was worthwhile. Obviously there’s the ‘work’ type stuff I do voluntarily, but obviously no-one’s going to sack me if I don’t do things for that so although I do a lot, there are times I let things slip and miss opportunities through complacency and laziness. The rest of the time – quiet periods between things committee related – it can be hard to figure out what’s important. Obviously things like getting the car tax renewed are important (I did that yesterday). The other problem is that I was brought up to believe that one has time to do the things that one wants to do. This is in the sense that if you want to do it badly enough or it’s important enough (to you) then you make time to fit it in, trading off against whatever else. I have often struggled with this, especially when I was working stupid hours and didn’t have time (or energy) to do a lot of things I wanted to do. Now that I am a Lady of Leisure, I find that perhaps I don’t want some of the things I thought I wanted as much as I thought I did. Or is is just a lack of motivation? I am sure that the time I have could much more effectively be spent in a lot of ways, but somehow I just don’t seem to have the drive to make them happen.

Big Things that I’d really like to achieve but have been putting off and/or finding excuses for not working towards:
- Getting Chartered (CEng). I have been thinking about doing this for about 2 years. I talked to my boss about him supporting me when I was still doing Manufacturing. I never had time to get on with figuring out the forms and things. Same is true of when I was doing research. Now I don’t really have an excuse, I suppose I do have time. But how can I justify that I can do all that stuff when I am not working and have no boss to support my application (3 people are needed to support it, by the way). And it seems a lot of effort (not that I’d really know as I haven’t attempted it yet) for something that may be of little value to me. I am not working now, not sure when I will be (depends on what happens with Children among other things) and not sure whether it will be in Engineering when I do. On the other hand, it surely can’t hurt to have the qualification.
- Working towards the Japanese Exam. Yes, we have an exam mid-May. I won’t be continuing Japanese in September because the cost will go up massively (about x5, I think) thanks to our Government removing subsidy for that sort of thing for those who are already educated to a certain level. In the mean time, having done it for 3 years it would be nice to get the certificate to say that I did it, even if I don’t use it much. I do enjoy the Japanese but somehow never get around to doing any work in between classes. On the odd occasion that I do, I make better progress and feel good about it. I enjoy doing the work, it’s just getting down to it. Motivation again?

Ok, so all the other things aren’t really Big Things. They are things like doing more sewing and getting better at it, using the machine properly and learning as I go. Learning to knit and being able to do something constructive that’s also relaxing. Finding more time for reading – I love reading, but somehow it doesn’t seem ‘constructive’ in the way that I have come to perceive it. Spending more time with God is a biggie. Somehow it’s always in the back of my mind, but it’s one of those elusive things that is easy not to do. I do go to the bible study group on Tuesday evenings from time to time, that’s easy because you actually have to do something. The having a quiet study time at home is a lot harder because it’s about not doing other things. Very difficult when there’s stuff everywhere in the house that needs doing – too many distractions! Get more exercise – walking, swimming (need a maternity swimsuit if I am going to do that). Do some of the Alexander Technique stuff at home – another thing that makes a really big difference if you just stop what you’re doing and ‘let go’ for a few minutes’, but those ‘few minutes’ are so elusive.

Sorry if this seems to be a bit rambling, but it’s what’s been going on in my head. I think my biggest problem is that I have too much time to think…

It was lovely having a few weeks not making the trip, but I was down on Friday for a meeting and have another today. Having spent the weekend doing other things it looks as though I will once again be reading my committee papers on the train. Hey ho!

The weekend was good though. We had planned to spend Saturday morning at the allotment but ended up having a lazy breakfast and then the rest of the morning was wasted picking up hubby’s car from the garage where it’s been for 3 weeks because they weren’t able to figure out the problem, arranging to take it to a proper dealership, explaining the problems and what had been tried (in great detail) and then trekking around getting it there and getting hubby back. They reckon it should be done in a couple of weeks (of course, dealerships don’t keep stock of parts, so they have to diagnose the problem then order and wait for the bits to arrive before they can actually fix it). That is assuming that they manage to sort it out…
We ended up spending a lot of the afternoon catching up on paperworky stuff that we needed to go over, and my brother and his wife joined us for a lovely BBQ in the evening. It’s amazing (and somehow seems a bit mad) that we’re able to sit outside and do this up to about 8pm in APRIL!!! We very much enjoyed the evening and my brother enjoyed meeting and playing with the cat (who is rather more sociable than their cat!). Hubby and I ended up watching quite a lot of TV as we’ve finally got round to watching the DVD of 24 series 5. It’s rather addictive as all of them are.

Yesterday was another day which didn’t exactly go as planned.. I did get around to cutting hubby’s hair (I’m not exactly an expert or anything – it’s just a bit of a whiz over with some clippers) which we’d been meaning for me to do for a couple of weeks. We went to the AGM of the West Midlands group of Lupus UK which included a quite interesting talk on Lupus and Pregnancy, then we stopped at the allotment on the way home. It’s going to be wonderful having fresh lettuces in a couple of months!

So, I guess I’d better get off the internet and sort out my stuff to take to the meeting….

I know I know – I’ve been promising pictures for absolutely ages. Well, there’s a lot to show for all the hard work that’s gone in and Hubby remembered to take his camera along at the weekend so I thought that it was about time I posted some pics.

The green short bushy things in the bottom left picture are the broad bean plants – just flowering so hopefully we’ll be having some actual beans in the next month or so.. Behind those there are 3 types of potatoes under the ground.

In the bottom right picture, the things under the cages are baby lettuces which my Dad grew from seed and passed on to us (he always grows far too many!). Also Hubby has planted parsley, shallots and beetroot on that side.

On Monday Hubby and I both spent the morning at the allotment so I can say that I have helped with some of it. At the end of last year after we got the plot we did quite a bit together, but I haven’t really done much this year. It was good fun though and the weather was nice (hence the umbrella in the picture – to shade me while pulling out the couch grass roots!!). There’s a tremendous sense of satisfaction that comes with this kind of thing.

Thanks for your input, Rain! You’ll be pleased to know that I did make chicken curry. Very nice it was too (if I do say so myself!), and hubby also seemed to enjoy it. I must do indian type cooking more often, I do like that kind of thing! )

Shall I make chicken & mushroom pie or chicken curry for supper tonight?

Well, it’s the end of the week, everyone has gone home and I seem to have survived intact!!

It’s been a lovely week, if somewhat tiring. Cadbury World was actually reall good fun – there were 5 adults and 5 kids, and we all had a great time. It’s pretty expensive though – I recommend that if anyone is thinking about going swap your tesco clubcard points for the vouchers you can use to gain entry to this kind of attraction.. We were all absolutely shattered at the end of it but it was definitely a worthwhile excursion.

Yesterday we were left with just Hubby’s sister/her hubby/her two kids. They all spent the morning digging and planting at the allotment (forgot to take pic’s, but will post some soon..) which is coming along really really well. Mr Moog spent the whole day there last Saturday with my Dad, and there are two beds now nearly all planted with things. The Broad Beans are doing really well, and the lettuces that Dad grew from seed seem to be taking ok. There’s also shallots, 3 varieties of potato and as of yesterday beetroot and parsley. Mr Moog also sowed Leeks in the garden which will be transplanted later.

We spent the afternoon at the Nature Centre. The weather was glorious and it’s the first time I have been since they’ve had the lemurs and meerkats. We all had a lovely time and then popped over to Cannon Hill Park to play frisbee. A good time was had by all. It occured to me later that it’s probably about time I hauled the sunhats out again otherwise I will find my Lupus flaring up.. (note to self: put them somewhere obvious and a definitely spare in the back of the car)

So this morning we had a nice lie in and a lazy breakfast. I have discovered Dove’s Farm Gluten Free Organic Chocolate Stars (breakfast cereal). They’re so chocolatey that they even turn the milk brown!!! And they’re yummy. Highly recommended even if you’re not on a Gluten Free diet!! )

Now that you’re all up to date, I think that I might take advice from the cat – curl up and snooze (or perhaps even read a book).

I am currently enjoying a short break between the madness of all the family coming and going.. Hubby has taken them all out to the park and possibly the Nature Centre. I have just made chocolate brownies and am enjoying sitting for a while before the next lot of family arrive… Cadbury World is our plan for this afternoon (very exciting!!). I am pretty tired, not from partying too much or staying up late, but I suppose I am just not used to having a houseful and am not used to having lots of children around.

The poor cat is surviving quite well and hasn’t been teased too badly. She’s currently on the blanket on the sofa enjoying a little peace and quiet. She’s getting more confident and companionable as the days go by… I think she’s going to be very happy (as am I having a furry friend!).

Anyway, the next lot are just arriving so better get going….

Some of you might know that Hubby and I have been considering getting a cat for some time. We had decided some time ago that (given the demanding nature of both our jobs) it would be better to wait until we were more settled so therefore able to provide a more stable environment for a pet. We had agreed that around the time of having a family would fit in with that idea. So, over the past couple of weeks we’ve been visiting the local RSPCA rehoming centre. I reserved a lovely little cat about 10 days ago and I brought hubby with me the following day to see whether he would fall in love with her aswell. We were both besotted and as of yesterday (having passed a home visit from the RSPCA) are the proud owners of a gorgous blue-creme cat aged about 8 months…