Life returning to normal...for 3 weeks

Our third school term starts tomorrow and I'm a bag of mixed emotions.  You see, at the beginning of the second term I handed in my resignation. 

I want to be a full-time stay-at-home-mom.  This is something I never thought I would say, but hey, here I am!  And tomorrow marks the beginning of a 3 week return to school to tie all the loose ends together.  What a scary thought! My husband and I have been living on a combined income for the past 5 1/2 years!  We literally only had a single-income household for 5 months and then I started working as an OT.  So we're diving into this unknown financial abyss.  Not sure how that's going to work out for us.

However, I know that this is what I want for my child.  To have a mom that's always (well, mostly) available and to be able to organise our household so that my husband knows that when he comes home at night there'll at least be a cooked meal for dinner.  I can't promise a clean house or ironed washing whenever he needs it but at the very least I can attempt to be an emotionally and physically available mother to our child.  You see, I was privy enough to see my baby's first steps this holiday!  What a wonderful gift!  To share my baby's developmental milestones WITH her :-D

I will still be volunteering every now and again (to not completely lose my touch) but for the biggest part I'm going to discover this new world!  I'm sure there'll be days that I would want to pull my hair out at the mere sight of a house that needs tidying or dishes that have to be done.  But I hope to soon fall back into my maternity-leave routine (although my baby doesn't sleep NEARLY as much as she did back then!).

SOOOOO, because life is returning to normal tomorrow, I've:

• Packed everyone's lunches
• Packed the nappy bag
• Put out clothes for myself and my baby
• Put all my necessary paperwork for tomorrow together.

I have a HEAP of work to do when I get back to the office tomorrow, having to make sure that all my kids have the necessary treatment plans / home programmes to lessen the workload of my colleagues when I'm gone.

I'm excited and scared at the same time for what the future holds!  Only GOD knows how this will all pan out.  Thank YOU, GOD, for being in my past, present and FUTURE!

I wish all of you a wonderful third school term!

Catching up...

Can you BELIEVE that we're already in the 3rd month of this year?!?!?!?! CRAZY!

So far this year has presented itself with loads of ups and downs...

• Kids that don't listen to you when you SPEAK to them, annoys me to no end (not referring to my nieces and nephews). Kids who choose to pick fights, and then also prefers to avoid the fact that they are the common denominator in all fights, really is like stepping on my sciatic nerve and grinding it with your boot's tip.
• The Government in general seems to be useless, especially the GSSC - they're quick to jump on the bandwagon and force you to pay back money that they wrongfully paid to you and you actually informed them about it. But when they've taken your money illegally, it's PERFECTLY FINE for them to take longer than 6 months to sign a sweet piece of paper to give your (rather big amount of) money back.
• Missing my parents a lot, have not seen them in more than 3 weeks - which is a lot for me!
• Missing my baby brother to no end - last year this time we made plans to visit for the weekend. We visited, and JUST after the weekend we found out I was pregnant...
• Missing being pregnant, and not having a baby to show after being excited... and frustrated at the process of falling pregnant again (having to sort out a huge cyst on my right ovary and getting the MMR innoculation, now having to wait before we can try again).
• Being stuck at my work / home for most of the week without a car - ugh.... just REALLY wanna get out!

The pick-me-uppers in my life:

• My husband wakes up EVERY MORNING at 04h55 and starts to run a bath, then makes me breakfast and Pink Nesquik Milk before leaving for work.
• Seeing my husband smile from EAR-TO-EAR about his new job, and experiencing him coming home with a little skip in his step, instead of dragging his feet because it never ends..
• Hearing Thinus' key turn in the front door at night :-D
• Chatting to my family, my parents, my brothers, my sisters, my nephews and nieces.
• Making plans to visit friends, being frugal and hopefully saving some money in the process.
• Visiting with my family and friends on Tuesday, Thursdays and sometimes Sundays.
• Going to church.
• Practising Lancet with our interschool-team, and getting rid of pent up energy, frustration and showing all-round appreciation for kids who try their best, never mind the TONNES of odds stacked up against them!
• Practising for the revue / musical production at our school - these kids are amazing, REALLY! They try so hard, and succeed in things I, for one, can definitely not do (I suck at coordination).
• Baking, baking, baking and some more baking...
• Reading any available quilt-blog on the internet, downloading patterns for clothes, bags, quilts etc.
• Planning our trip to Bloemfontein as well as the other trip to the Western Cape for a wedding at the end of this month.
• Talking to my parents on the phone at 06h30 in the morning to discuss things like a person's sagittal plane and how exactly that cuts you up i.e. anatomy.
• Being grateful for amazing people around me.

Okay, that's me. I've caught up. Hope the rest of your week's a good one!