10 things I plan to do in the next little while

Ooooooh a 3 year plan. Exciting, isn't it? Well, further to my 101 things to do in 1001 days, which I'm halfway through or thereabouts on the calendar but only 1/3rd of the way through!!, I'm feeling the need to revisit, reconsider and rewrite. Yes I will admit that there are things on that list that I don't want to do anymore (blue high heels? What was I thinking??), and things that I want to add and focus on. So I'll update my list, and am going to write another one eventually because that's #101 on my list.

But in the meantime, here are 10 other things I want to achieve before the end of 2012.

1. Complete my Bachelor of Midwifery
2. Study to be a breastfeeding counsellor with the Australian Breastfeeding Association
3. Become an accredited child birth educator
4. And maybe do a breastfeeding course too
5. Learn how to use my Nikon D40
6. Learn how to edit my photos
7. Run a course in babywearing (that's something percolating at the moment)
8. Master my breadmachine
9. Work out Who Am I
10. Enjoy Summer :)

Branching out into a new form of expression

Yesterday I dropped the car off at the mechanic and walked home with Sally on my back. I had packed my camera into my bag as I left the house - it was a minimal bag with no baby stuff, my keys/wallet/mobile triad, water, sunglasses. camera.

 

I took my time and wended my way through the suburbs back to my house. It was a short walk (3-4km perhaps?) and lovely mild Spring weather.

Sally went to sleep on my back pretty quickly and so I was even less inclined to hurry home. We'd had a pretty ordinary night as she's cutting another tooth and going through a brain growth phase. At just less than 6 months she is now adept at rolling over back-->front and is mobile. Not crawling or creeping but enough so she can move and throw up on my boot this afternoon though.

I took the opportunity to use my camera (which is just a point and shoot Sony DSC-W180) and test out its marco function.

I love taking photos and this week I bought a "new" camera which has upgraded me from "I take photos" to "maybe I'm a photographer". I bought a second hand Nikon D40 from a professional photographer with an extra two batteries, 18-55 Nikkor lens, charger, strap and a UV filter.

I want to be knowledgeable about photography and cameras and so forth but I also want to just explore an artform. I'm not artistic at all. I'm crafty and creative but art, not so much. Is photography an artform? Not prepared to open that can o' worms right here but is this the artform that I've been looking for?

Oh yeah, back to the photographs. This one above is awesome - I loved the dew and didn't realise it had a bug in it as well but I will get into Lightroom and see how much I can blow it up.

So for giftmas this year, expect photographs from me :). And yes please for photography tips, or suggestions of equipment or things to photograph. I like little things, and flowers because of their colours. And rainbows. I'm not brave enough to get into photographing people yet but I want to!

10 things I planned to do today... and the things that I did do

Funny how a day at home with plans to clean and neaten and Do Things goes to pot, hey. Here's my delusional list and my actual:

1. Clean the kitchen benches
2. Make the bed
3. Tidy the bedroom - clean the bedhead off, dust, sweep
4. Do a load of nappies
5. Fold Sally's clothes
6. And the nappies
7. And the basket of adult clothes
8. Clean up the freezer and see what's in there
9. Bake a cake
10. Tidy up the loungeroom 

It's a delusional list. I have a 5 month old babe. It's not like I was going to get all of these things done! Even on a good day. Do I have overblown ideas about my productivity, or am I slack? Cause what I have done is:

1. Load of nappies
2. Load of adult clothes
3. Showered and bathed us both
4. Run the dishwasher
5. Spent 2+ hours boobing on the couch
6. Twice
7. Bought a "new" camera and learned lots about it
8. Didn't go crazy in the grey cold weather that replaced the hint of Spring we had a few days ago
9. Played on the floor
10. Cleaned off the bedhead, tidied the bedroom floor and played with Sally

I know, it doesn't matter. The house is fine and lived in. Sally is happy, fed, carried, loved and safe (and asleep atm). I am dressed and even have shoes on!

I watched Oprah today and the segment was about OCD. One woman had a lot of issues with cleanliness and shared that she spent 5 hours a day cleaning the house. Her house was spotless and unlivedin and I thought huh I'm not doing too badly to have a house that is a work in progress and I don't spend any where near that amount a day and if that's what it takes then I'm not doing that.

I did start a post yonks ago about why we have clean houses. It's no longer to avoid disease or keep vermin down (past a point, of course). Beyond hygiene, is there any need to obsess about a clean house? And is having a bathroom with hair on the floor, a bit of dust on the ducks, a smidge of scale on the glass - which is still cleaned each week or so - a sign of a bad housekeeper? A bad person? A bad parent? Is disorder and clutter a bad thing as well? Is it disorder and clutter or just how I live my life? Yes I can find things that I don't use very often if they're in the right place but things I use all the time just live close to where I use them.

Hmmmm.