It is funny, I tend to plan most things in life, and if it is not in the plan at that moment well it usually doesn't get done. I have an ability to block it out and focus on what is to be done now, not later.
I bought the block of land back in 2000, and the house went on first, then later the pool. The landscaping activities have tended to focus on the front of the property first, and then work backwards. I guess I thought that people would come in the front first, so best to start with making an impression there.
But in the back yard there are a couple of holes. Well not the sort that you would put a foot in, maybe a football team. There is one that I have mowed around for 13 years, often stood over with the brush cutter and prayed that nothing would rush out at me!
With some left over soil from the pool renovations, I thought I should put it to good use. After the lawn grows through, there will be no more mowing around the hole! And with the pool decking in, the brush cutting has been significantly reduced. Pretty soon I will have nothing to do, and loads of time on my hands.....big problem that!
Super exciting, our dwarf avocado tree is having its first fruit this year. I hope it tastes awesome as we only have the one. Maybe next year we will get more. The tree needs to gaze over towards the mulberry and lemon trees and notice how they supply the family. Or it could look to the lime tree and think well I just need to do a handful and I will be above your output!
After 18 months of dating, I thought we could celebrate the day with an outing the partner would surely enjoy! A session of kayaking up the Brisbane river. Despite it's brown colour and local inhabitants of fairly sizeable bull sharks, we took the plunge regardless.
The brochure said kids over 8 were welcome, cool we fit that criteria. But I was slightly concerned over the single kayaks and having to paddle oneself. No problem, there is a rope, so you can simply tow the little darling. Well at this point the little darling has departed and left some independent evil troll. Although clearly lacking in any sort of body strength, skill or coordination, the mere embarrassment at being towed up the river by your Mum was too much to bear.
This is where the romantic trio parted ways and left the two of us to fend for our selves. The troll did have some solo time during the couple of hours, and surely enough to earn herself her very own big girl blister!
Not exactly a day that went according to plan, but oh well, at I hope I score points for trying.
Some of the finishing touches are getting done. I am not so excited about the location of the new playhouse for the neighbours, so we hatched a longer term plan to restrict their view. But first, we are going to need some big pots.
Perfect size! Now for something to go in them....
Looking good, a few years and we will hardly notice. And from the kids point of view, they can party in the jungle house with a tropical bamboo back drop!
There was much excitement on the 1st of December, the child busted out the decorations as soon as she could. Despite my hatred of hanging all the decorations around the house and the tree, this appears not to be a genetic condition!
Thankfully as she gets older, I tend to do less and less decorating. It is a perfect team because come the 1st of January, I will be bounding around with equal enthusiasm, tearing the stuff down and whipping those boxes away!
Now this Christmas obsession runs deep, it also extends to Christmas music, so for the next few weeks we are bound to have carols running at home before breakfast, in the car to school, home from school, and even during dinner if she can get away with it! Despite all my bah humbug, it is impossible to be around Christmas music and not have it radiate into your mood. No doubt I will be singing along.
Now this little project has to have been running for almost a decade! But I wanted to make sure it looked awesome, and well the cost of it all really did warrant some significant savings. So here is the almost finished product. It is about 99% done, a couple of finishing touches to go.
The organisation I work for has Agile embedded in as part of its culture. It was really amazing to come to a large organisation and not see a single Microsoft Project Gantt Chart anywhere. After you get the swing of iterations, breaking down work and conducting huddles and retrospectives, things really start to move.
Last year when my personal goals were not going in the direction I wanted, at the pace I wanted, I started to use retrospective planning at home. What is working well, what is not, and what do I need to change? It only took 30 minutes and a wall chart to regain some focus and prioritise what needed to change.
I had heard of some Agile legends at work taking the approach into their families, but upon listening to this TED talk, I think that I may start to take some of his ideas into my family life.
Communication is essential in life, at work and home. Often the at home piece is the one to suffer. I think some of the out takes from the talk may bring some new skills to the family unit. I really love the concept of a weekly family session, and re-cutting time.
I recently watched the talk again, and was impressed by the concepts. The report card from school indicates that time management, working independently and organises belongings are all on the general rating and not the consistent level.
So we kicked off our daily checklist approach of chores and general getting organised things to do. A morning checklist and an afternoon one. Now we are responsible for our own washing, ironing, cleaning the bench in her bathroom, cleaning her own room, we sure do need a schedule to keep things organised.
I think that the best part is no nagging, or very little. I simply ask have you done your list. There is also an age old debate about paying your kids pocket money that is tied to chores. I think it is important to teach them about money, finances and budgeting. But equally important is that people understand 'everyone does helping' in our house. One of my parenting goals is to raise an independent child, one who is able to take on the world, fully prepared when she decides to fly the nest. So in house we settled on a standard weekly allowance that has to be split between giving, saving and spending, and then if your checklist gets done with no nagging then you get an extra bonus for spending.
So now I have some more freedom in the mornings, and the first day results?
Ready ahead of schedule and sitting at the bench doing some big girl reading. Sigh parental proudness happening here.
