I almost missed Christmas – the whole Christmas season!
But it wasn’t my fault – and for very good reason.
I won’t say it had nothing to do with my slacking
And I won’t even blame it all solely on packing!
My intentions were good, I just had to postpone…
And only because I do not have a clone!

Try as I might, I can’t be here and there
There’s only one me and that just isn’t fair!
I’ve had more than enough to keep 12 of me busy
So my one measly brain has been all in a tizzy.

See, back in September I had a great thought
A marvellous plan of the gift-giving sort.
“Christmas is not just about spending money,
The presents I give should be heartfelt – or funny!”
I made up a list of gifts right then, it’s true
I’d order them early, before they were due.

It would have been perfect, had it all gone to plan
But soon after that, you-know-what hit the fan.

The house we were renting was put up for sale
Assignments were looming – I feared I would fail
My puppy turned three and my baby turned one,
My mother-in-law came to stay with her son
Lil Miss Awesome forgot how to sleep
(though mum-in-law claims to have heard not a peep)
My best friend got a job and he moved far away
But he gave us a Lease – in his house we would stay!

With my parents away and my husband at work,
It was all left to me – I was going berserk!!
I had to do most of the move on my own
Without any power, the Net, or a phone.
I thought I could manage – we weren’t moving far…
Then someone slammed into the back of my car.

So my plans for the presents had to be pushed aside
But family and friends, please remember – I tried!
“My intentions were good but it all got too hard
So you’ll have to make do with this heartfelt Gift Card.”

A very belated Merry Christmas to all my blogging buddies!
Thanks for reading – and here’s hoping I can get my act together in 2012
(I’ll keep the bad rhymes to a minimum, I swear.)

Ok, so technically this isn’t a photo, but I still think it’s appropriate for this week’s challenge because in this blank page I see endless possibilities – the possibility for a fantastic novel, or for the (seemingly inevitable) crippling writer’s block that strikes whenever I actually have the time to write. Which is not very often these days.

I might blog about this soon but just in case you don’t hear from me for a little while, these are my current excuses:

1. I have several major assignments due for Uni
2. I am in the process of moving house
3. Lil Miss Awesome is turning 1 in a few weeks so I have her very first birthday party to plan
4. My mother-in-law is coming up from interstate to stay with us for said birthday party

And, of course, all of these things are happening at the same time – and during a period where Lil Miss Awesome has decided that sleeping is a waste of time! They say if you want something done, you should give it to a busy woman, but, if you want it done right you should probably give it to a well-rested busy woman who isn’t notorious for procrastination and being easily distracted…

I can’t say that I was very inspired by this week’s photo challenge theme of “Fall”. For a start, if we’re talking seasons, then in Australia we call it “autumn” and it won’t be here for months, so I couldn’t just go outside and start taking new photos. Then there’s the fact that I’ve been busy with Uni assignments this week so I haven’t had time to put my own spin on the theme and take some creative “Fall” photos the way I’d usually try to (I was thinking something along the lines of “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall…”). So, anyway, just so that I could contribute something to the challenge this week, I had a look through my collection and found this photo that I took in autumn last year.

The Hobbler absolutely made my day today by nominating me for The Versatile Blogger Award, and I can honestly say that this blog would never have achieved such extraordinary heights without her influence. All kidding aside, I somehow stumbled upon Hobbling Around while I was still toying with the idea of starting a blog, and I’m glad I did. Witty humor, advice, nudism - her blog just has it all, and although The Motivator gets the credit for inspiring me to start my blog, I probably wouldn’t have kept it up if it hadn’t been for The Hobbler signing up as my first subscriber (before I really had any content, mind you – how’s that for optimism?) and leaving an encouraging comment. So thank you very much Hobbler, keep up the great work – and for anyone who hasn’t already done so, go check out her blog!

Now, apparently to accept this award there are a few things I need to do. Here goes…

The Rules:

• Thank and link to the person who nominates you.
• Share seven random facts about you.
• Pass this award on to five new blogging friends.
• Contact and congratulate the awarded bloggers.

The Random Facts:

1. I’m a sleepwalker (when I do actually get to sleep). So is my husband. It looks like Lil Miss Awesome is doomed.
2. I love horror movies but I refuse to watch them in front of Lil Miss Awesome because I don’t want her to grow up to be as twisted as I am*, so – since she seems to think she doesn’t need sleep – I haven’t watched any horror for a long, long time. Which is probably a good thing considering I have to get up so many times during the night…
3. My eyes change colour depending on what mood I’m in. Really, they do. For example, if my irises are green that means I’m in a good mood, if they’re dark blue then I’m most likely upset (or about to be hit with a killer migraine), and if they’re black/red then I’ve probably been possessed by some demonic spirit… either that or I’m slightly annoyed… I don’t know what colour they turn when I’m really angry because nobody’s ever survived to tell me.
4. I haven’t quite figured out what I want to be when I grow up, but I’m working on it!
5. Prior to pregnancy there was only one movie that ever made me cry (‘Goodbye, Mr Chips’ – the 1939 original, not some crappy remake). Since then, there have been several. Warning: DO NOT mention the movie ‘Up’ in my presence unless you have a box of tissues on standby. And, yes, I do realise that Up is a kids movie and that it’s not supposed to be sad.
6. I hate poetry (well, at least all the poetry we’ve studied as part of my English major) but when I was a teenager I wrote a couple of poems that ended up being published in an anthology. I keep waiting for a good opportunity to throw the fact that I’m a published poet back in my creative writing teacher’s face – you just wait, next time he complains about me being closed-minded about poetry he’s gonna cop it…
7. I’m not scared of spiders, snakes or even Freddy Krueger…but don’t get me started on cockroaches, leeches or *gulp* oompa loompas…

* I should point out that my parents did not expose me to horror movies as a child, I’m just naturally twisted.

And The Awards Go To:

• Blond Zombie I’d say that I have a lot in common with Blond Zombie - but that’d just sound like I was talking myself up.
• Classy Gallie Ok, so most of her posts make me feel old and uncool but she cracks me up nonetheless.
• H.E. Ellis A great blog and hopefully one day I’ll get around to reading her book, The Gods of Asphalt.
• Mommy-fied I love this blog because my baby is roughly the same age as Mommy-fied’s so I can totally relate to her posts.
• Typical Tracy I’d actually be very surprised if Typical Tracy hasn’t already received the Versatile Blogger Award, but I’m nominating her anyway.

And an honourable mention to Brooke’s Random Ravings - hopefully she gets around to posting some new ravings soon

Get that camera outta my face.

To be honest I was a bit stuck with this week’s photo challenge. I don’t have a collection of ‘face’ photos to choose from the way I did with ‘textures’ and I’m a bit swamped with Uni at the moment so I don’t have a lot of time to spare (that’s also why it’s been a while since my last confession). Then my fantastic idea of photographing the “many faces of Lil Miss Awesome” fizzled out when she decided she’s feeling a little bit camera-shy today. Luckily, Danger Dog came to the rescue. He’s always happy to strike a pose and I think he’s very photogenic – just look at that cheeky little grin!

Danger Dog: Master of Camouflage

Oh, and just in case anybody’s wondering, Confession #4 is on its way (hopefully in the next few days). Really, I swear.

Hmmm. Anyway, for the moment I think I’ll just stick to what I do best and just use the Weekly Photo Challenge as an excuse to avoid studying

“Please find attached my assignment. This essay took more effort than any other I have ever written…unfortunately it is also the worst essay I have ever written. Sorry. I’m not really a moron, I swear!”

*Sigh* I really miss my old brain.

Some of the other things I miss about my pre-motherhood life

• Sleep!!!  Including, but not limited to:
  • Averaging more than 3 hours of sleep per night (or at least having the option to put my insomnia to use on one of my many unfinished projects)
  • Having the option to go to bed earlier than 11.30pm without being woken up 45 minutes later
  • Blocks of sleep lasting longer than 45 minutes
  • Sleeping-in on… well, any day would do
• Long hot bubble baths that aren’t interrupted by an attention-hungry baby…
• Being able to set my own schedule without having to allow for play time, nap time, feeding, changing etc
• Being able to leave things to the last minute because I can always make time later…

Oh, and being allowed to take my migraine medication would be nice too…

Things that I now couldn’t do without

• Being greeted every morning with big smiles, cuddles and kisses
• Having someone actually enjoy my singing!
• My own personal entertainer – who’d have thought that peek-a-boo was so hilarious?!
• Having an excuse to watch Monsters Inc. and various other kids’ movies
• Listening to cute babbling stories punctuated with giggles
• The excitement of hearing my little darling call me “Mama” for the first time

As much as she is driving me mad at the moment, choosing to have Lil Miss Awesome is still the smartest thing I’ve ever done, and I wouldn’t trade her for all the brain cells and luxuriously long bubble baths in the world.

Although a couple of hours’ sleep wouldn’t go astray…