life goes on, the same as always but different: i keep trying to build my profile as a doula and i think i am succeeding in creating an online presence, people do sometimes refer to me with questions about babies and children, but it isn't translating into work.
i've written a couple more blog posts for a parenting magazine, one about vaccination and one about....well, about waiting i suppose. i'm happy to do it and i've had nice feedback and heaven knows i like nice feedback but it doesnt put crowns on teeth, shoes on feet or food on the table.
my husband isnt working at the moment and is contracted not to discuss that situation so i guess i wont, except to say it has all been a bit of an adjustment. we are living on savings and my question is, for a normally conservative person, how much more conservative do i need to get? or do i just go on my normal way and work on the theory of abundance?
i continue to shop at sydney's major fruit & veg market most fridays and i enjoy that; if i was a bit less reserved i would ask some of the stall holders if i could take their photos. each and every one of them is larger than life, my absolute favourite is a guy who wears a hat made from apple cartons, i laugh every time i see it but now that autumn has arrived i wont be seeing it until next summer.
i've managed to lose some weight, not sure how much because i dont really know what i started at but it is at least 3kg which is great. if weight loss was linear i would be on track to lose 10kg this year but of course, weight loss is not usually linear so we will see what we will see. i have become a lot more aware of what i put in my mouth and that is a good thing. i'm considering it all to be a win.
the family has expanded by a factor of two rabbits. honey and django are sisters, 9 weeks old, rather adorable, permanently hungry and razor sharp of claw. the name honey is up for review. rabbits are a delight, even when they make ribbons of one's skin.
my visits to the immigration detention centre are at a temporary standstill due to a ham fisted and ill advised attempt to supply contraband. i did know at some level that alcohol was not tolerated in that place but i didnt really think about it. my six week exclusion will end just in time for my birthday. it's all a bit silly considering that my identity was not even verified at the time, it could have been one of my many enemies setting me up. it's all tragically funny or funnily tragic. or something.
i'm having a bad run with my back at the moment, i've probably been to the chiro five times already this year and i have a wicked stiff neck again now. i want a personal chiropractor and i keep suggesting it as a possible career path for my kids but they just roll their eyes and talk of music, science and cake making.
aside from all of that, what i think, feel and experience is all the normal stuff: what will i make for dinner? why are we out of milk? is there fresh bread for tomorrow's sandwiches? why are there four used tea towels in the kitchen? why doesnt anyone but me notice when the bins need emptying? all the big questions, you know.......
Of course you're the only one who notices mess in the kitchen because you're the only one who's been cleaning it for so long.
ReplyDeleteAdvice? Yes you need to be even more conservative, except when it comes to advertising your services.
In the past 15 years we have gone from living on X amount to living on a 1/4 of that and the income is still shrinking. *shrug* the step from conservative is to frugal. We've got our entire living expenses including gas and groceries down to less than $700 a month. That would be ten times harder if we were still feeding the locusts known as teenagers but still Kylie there are always more things to cut and ways to lessen the drag on your savings.
Couple of easy ways...use laundry water to flush toilets and if you have rooms that are not used turn off all the breakers that feed power to those rooms, don't water your grass, and if you garden catch and store whatever rainwater you can.
Mark,
ReplyDeleteyou do very very well with your money! i couldnt do that if i tried but i'll take your advice on board and hope things change.
sydney went through a number of years with dwindling water supplies and restrictions so we long ago gave up using water on gardens but our habits with water are not so frugal as they were at the peak of the drought!
My role in the home is as a fairy. The cooking fairy, the cleaning fairy, the laundry fairy, the replacing toilet paper fairy...
ReplyDeleteAnd I am too large to be comfortably described as a fairy too.
I hope you can resume your visits to the detention centre soon - I do find that so inspiring. And won't even start to talk about what I think of our asylum seeker policies.
I hope life becomes a little less frugal - soon.
Take it from an old hand who has seen these periods - this too shall pass.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you're still not getting the doula clients. I suppose people are still not convinced that having a doula really brings a whole range of benefits. How to convince them, I wonder?
ReplyDeleteAs Mark says, I guess there are always more ways of cutting down on household expenses without feeling too deprived. But it's a shame you have to do so.
Yes, the big questions, the ones we deal with daily but never seem to write about. I appreciate you writing about them. I too wonder about towels, where they come from, why they're there.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the vaccination article, rejoiced over your weight loss, but felt bummed that work isn't picking up. Do the long-time doulas you know do better in this regard?
I know three other families that have been through this in the last 12 months, I'm afraid industrie's are doing more redundancies then new employment . Is there some sort of temporary work you can do in the meantime ? Could you still do this whilst waiting for the Doula work to pick up ? I'm sure you are a whiz at saving money, we do waste a lot on unnecessary things, you don't realise until you have to ! In the meantime chin up and take care ! Fee
ReplyDelete"what will i make for dinner?"
ReplyDeleteGiven your husband's unemployment, might I suggest rabbit stew? No, I thought not. I have personally buried three dogs and two rabbits in my backyard, and have occasionally dug up other people's pets. Rabbits are awfully sweet, and I can't even imagine eating them. I'm so sorry that you're having to live on savings, and I do hope you become a doula tycoon soon.
You fall off the earth, kid?
ReplyDeleteI hope your back is better.
ReplyDeleteindeed it is, mister snow!
ReplyDeletethanks for asking
xx