Hi there

The Steelers Club in Wollongong is proudly donating their lovely Eastern Terrace Room to Lorraine Lea Linen's "Party for kids with cancer" Fund.

Date : Tuesday 19th Aug

Time: 7pm for 7.30pm Start

All host credits AND consultant profits are going to be donated.  We are also donating a further $10 for every party booking we take on the night.

We even have a couple of special guest towel models, Justin Poore and Kirk Reynoldson from the Dragons!!!

Just a gold coin donation to get in and a healthy spending habit for gorgeous linen is all you need for the evening.  Bring your sisters, your mother and your friends to fill a table.  All hosts to book and fill a table of 10 will receive a 40% item on the night!  How good is that!

To Book your table now please call Dionne at the Steelers Club reception on 42272255 or email on dmccoullough@steelers.com.au or minti mail me for more details.

We will also take outside orders!  This means you can have a look on the website to see if there is anything that takes your fancy.  We can put it in with the fundraiser orders so it will count toward the donations.  All you have to do is email me with your order and I will sort it out for you.  Feel free to contact the club or Lorraine Lea Linen to check authenticity, my name is Dionne McCoullough.

www.linenparties.com

www.steelers.com.au

As I have mentioned in my previous blog I have recently become a Lorraine Lea Linen consultant.  I was sent an email from my area manager the other day saying we are seriously lacking in consultants in the following areas Campbelltown, Camden, Mt Annan, Bowral, Robertson, Corrimal, Fairy Meadow, Dapto, Gerringong, Kiama, St Georges Basin, Vincentia, Milton, Tabourie Lake, Batemans Bay (not sure of all the suburbs), Mourya, Bermagui.

Now, like I said, I have only just started so I have no real loyalties yet so I can be completely honest about my personal start up journey.

Your start up kit costs $590 but you only need $150 up front, the rest they take out of your profits as you do your parties.  You get stacks of stuff in your kit.  A single bed quilt, and quilt cover set.  A Euro Pillow and a standard pillow, heaps of stationary.  Sample pillow cases, A sheet set..... Heaps! 

You need 8 parties with in 4 weeks to start up.  This isnt hard.  I thought it would be but its not.  One of the other ladies didnt really have alot of friends so she took her catalogue to the local shopping mall and showed it to the girls working in the shops and scored heaps of parties!!

There is soooo much support within Lorraine Lea!  Its not just "Here's your kit now off you go" LIke it used to be.  I had a whole day "Kit up"  Where my manager showed my how to set up and how to sell how to do everything really.  I wont lie, there was a lot of work in the first few weeks getting started, It was a bit over whelming but now that I have my kit together and all my catalogues in order, I have 2 days a week where I spend half an hour making confirmation calls etc, 1 night a week where I update my catalogues (usually on the lounge with hubby after the kids go to bed) and then I have my parties.

I originally wanted to do 2 parties a week but I now cut myself off at 3.  It is really not hard to get the ongoing party bookings.  I have been making decent money too.  Its not great, and its not predictable but its "spare money"  Its great if you can live off what you are bringing in now but you dont have much savings or holiday money.  I wouldnt want to include it in a mortgage repayment or anything like that but it is good to have a little lying around for when your radiator blows up.  Last week I made $1000, this week I made $250?

I love it coz I work the days I want and Im home with the kids.  I spent 5 yrs travelling and moving with my husbands work so I was pretty much a 24/7 housewife and mother.  I had no life and no friends.  It was depressing.  So now we are back home I am trying to make up for lost time.  Its great to be out there socialising again.  Meeting new people and contacts. 

If you are interested at all, I can send you a 5 min dvd to watch and that will fill you in on some more details.  Just minti mail me.

www.linenparties.com

Hi All

I have just joined up with Lorraine Lea Linen.  

To start up I need 8 parties under my belt within a 4 week period.  I have 5 locked in so I need 3 more.

If any of you lovely minti members is interested in hosting a party please let me know.  I need them locked in by this Monday so I can start having parties by mid July.

The website is listed below.  Go on and have a look at their stuff.  There is HEAPS more in the catalogue than there is on the website but even the stuff on the website is gorgeous.  I have a linen fetish so I will struggle not to spend all of my commissions every month.

www.linenparties.com

My uncle has started his own net based business selling silver jewellery. It is really nice stuff and not expensive either. Please go and check it out. http://www.tanjohsilverjewelry.com

What to do...... What to do...... 

My 11yr old, David, is getting his "manly hormones" in and I am at the end of a very short stick as to what I am going to do with him. 

I will give you a quick update on what has been happening in our lives so you can all understand where I am coming from.

We have recently moved back to our home town although my husband is still working in our old town which is 5 hrs drive from here, which means, he doesnt live with us through the week.  He comes home on Friday afternoons and goes back on Mondays.  This is what I am pinning my sons latest behaviour on.

Since hubby is away all week, David is strutting his groove thang around my house like a stallion during breeding season!  He thinks he is running the show, ruling the roost and bringing down the house with his new testosterone and I dont like it one bit! 

Do you know what the little punk said to me yesterday?  "What's cookin good looking"  He says this as he's swaggering through the door with his mates and his pimp daddy attitude.  He is a completely different boy when the Big D is home on weekends, he wouldn't dare swinging his bits in front of his old man so why on earth does he think its ok to speak to me like Im the hired help when his dad isnt here? 

I have always been a strong mother as I was on my own with him for 6 yrs.  I was a mother to be feared!  Even other peoples kids feared me as there were no exceptions to my rules and every child that entered my domain followed my rules or copped the consequences! 

So what has happened?  Have I gone soft in my old age or has my son grown out of being afraid of my consequences?

Im thinking its a combination of the two....  I think that since I married my husband, I have often been the softer parent as he can be quite strict and harsh.  I figured my son already copped it once from the big fella so I neednt go there.  Now that Chris isnt around on a full time basis my son no longer fears the wrath of the mamma bear.

Hmmmmmmm what to do...... what to do. 

As I sit here with my Beer (yes I have started beer o'clock just to cope with the demands of my men folk) Im feeling awfully staunch as i envision scenes of me with Daddy's thong in my hand slicing and dicing at my 11yr old terrorists ass as he screams "please mummy I'll be good, I'll be good"  Is that even legal anymore or are they still in the process of outlawing any form of punishment that allows us to have any real control over our children?  Ahhhhh the good old thong.....  I have many memories of my own of the my mum chasing me around with the good old thong......

So apart from flogging the ass off my preteen monster what the fuck am I supposed to do with him?  I have tried sending him to his room, banning xbox, grounding him..... all these things just seem to make him worse!  If he's not sprouting cheeky blurbs infront of his mates he is skulking around the house like a bear with a sore prick!  Some nights I think about all the wonderful things I want to do with him the next day but the minute it gets out of bed it  is bitching and moaning about how its bored and there is nothing to do?  Where was I taking him for the day or who could he invite over? What was all that shit I bought him for xmas then???   I spent good bloody money on buying him enough shit that I wouldnt see him or him from him for atleast 6 months! 

It seems to be all about him for the last 6 months..... He wants to know everything I am doing, who Im on the phone to, what do they want and then he starts telling me things he wants me to tell them??? WHAT^ THA???  How the fuck does he figure that I am, not only, his house keeper and cook but now I am his fucking receptionist, relaying messages??  Oh MY GOD it has turned into a monster!

I thought I had a few more yrs before the teenager in him reared its ugly head.... 

As some of you might know, I have been having a few problems with Sebastians sleeping habits at night.  Well we did the controlled crying for 2 nights and the 3rd night he slept right through!

Its amazing how sleep deprivation can alter the way you look at your child.  After the first couple of days, even 3 or 4 it doesn't really matter.  You think "that's what babies do".  But after a week of only getting 4-5 hrs a night you start looking at this creature a whole lot differently. 

I didnt want to play with him, I forced smiles.  It was horrible.  I am happy to report though that after 2 good nights sleep I am well and truly ready for the next round of torture he decides to throw at me  (My mum is talking toilet training already )

I am also happy to report that we have found a home based day care lady to take him 1 day a week to give me a break.  We dont have any family or friends here so I am with the kids 24/7 and it can get a little noisy in my head some times.  So I have decided to kick him out on Wednesdays so mummy can have a noise free day.

I cant wait!!  I am sooooooo looking forward to having a "me" day.  I can go to the hairdressers, I can do some sewing, Hell, I can sleep all bloody day if I choose!  It will be so nice to have those few, sweet hours where nobody wants anything from me!  Now I just have to keep my hubby off me.  I know what this will mean to him........  FREE SHAG DAY!!!  He will think that coz the kids aren't here it will be a perfect opportunity.  I know I should be thinking the same thing but I have to be selfish and say that all I want is 1 day a week to be left alone!  I will have to have a chat in advance I think and warn him.

Well, thats all the latest with us. See you round like a fruit loop[.

It's been almost a month now since I went to the doctor and got my happy pills.  I have to say that I am devo'd I never had them before!  I feel normal for the first time in yrs!  It's great!

Have you ever seen the quit smoking ad where they have those nasty little nicotine receptors with the sharp teeth bouncing around all crazy?  Well, that's what my head felt like every single day.  Like all my thoughts and fears were bouncing off the walls insanely.  Now.... it's all peace and quiet up there.  I can actually listen to my positive (sane) thoughts when I start to think nasty negatives.

Things are alot better with hubby and the kids too.  Im not screetching at my eldest every time he opens his mouth or even looks at me sideways.  Im not having a breakdown every weekend when hubby doesnt help with the house work and most importantly Im not crying all the time from the exhaustion of getting up several times a night with the baby.  It doesnt bother me anymore.... I just get up and do it!  When bubs is having a tanty I dont get anxious anymore either.  I just deal with him.  LOVING THE HAPPY PILLS!!

I thought that the pills would make me all "Stepford wife" and I wouldn't feel anything ever but I feel completely normal, I still get cranky with pms, I still get grumpy when Im tired and I can laugh at my favourite shows.  Before when I got crabby, it all spiralled out of control and my head went dark and closed in on me.  Now, its full of fresh air.  It's so nice to be in control again.

So thank you to all of you who dropped by my blogs to show support.  It really helped to know I was cared about. 

Where to start, Where to start.......

Ive been feeling abit down lately.  I can feel the depression creeping up on me again.  Im trying to fight it and Im trying to get rid of the negative thoughts but bloody hell its hard some days.  I cant pinpoint where it started but I think its just been sitting in the wings waiting to snatch me by suprise again.  It has been a rough 2yrs and I have been fighting it best I can but at every turn there is another shitty thing waiting to get me.  Sure there have been good things aswell and Im sure my problems are smaller than most peoples but they are mine, so ofcourse that makes them 10 times worse.

We have decided to move back near our families which I am having mixed emotions about.  I want to go home for the support and the closeness but at the same time I dont want to go for those exact reasons.  We have been away for almost 4yrs now and we are quite comfortable just dealing with our own stuff.  Families can add so much drama but I think thats what I need right now.  We dont do anything on the weekends, We dont have a life, some drama might be just what I need.  Life can feel so mundane.  I feel like I am always cooking cleaning and looking after kids.  We dont have any friends here and to be honest, I cant be bothered.  I made friends in our last town and I dont know if I have the energy to go through all that getting to know the fast version of people again only to leave.

I have not had a good run health wise since we moved here and I think that has played a big part in things.  First I was pregnant and threw up for the first 6months then I had him and was exhausted.   Then I was on 3 different kinds of contraception which left me bleeding, sick and exhausted for 7 months and over the last month I have had my tubes tied, and just as I was recovering from that I got Kidney stones and just when I had recovered from that I got a bloody head cold!!!  My body is crashing and burning on me and I feel absolutely exhausted! 

Thats what prompted the decision to go home I think. I've had enough of doing everything on my own.  Hubby works night shift so he is not here to help out much and  I pride myself on being a strong independant woman but there is only so much I can do. 

Now we just have to wait to try and get a job.  In the mean time I have to try to stop the never ending stream of tears that well up over the most ridiculas things.  I get angry at myself for letting this happen, for not being stronger, for not being able to cope.  I know I shouldnt beat myself up but, those of you who get depression will understand that "should" is a dangerous word!  "I should be stronger"  "I should be able to cope"  "I should have a clean house"  "I should be perfect" 

No matter how old we get we always want our mummy's in the end.

I swear Im losing the plot, going down the gurgler, a sandwich short of a picnic, just plain loco.  It has been raining here for about a week now and I cant stands it no more!~!!!!

Any of you that suffer depression from time to time will no that cloudy, miserable rainy days can be public enemy number 1!  I feel so caged.  Me and the little fella usually go for walks to the shop atleast every other day simply coz  I hate sitting around the house all the time.  The walls close in on me.

My poor 11yr old has copped the brunt of it today.  I let him stay home from school coz of the miserable weather and man did I regret that an hour after the bus left without him!  Im very used to my own space so today, not only was it rainy and miserable but my eldest was home as well as hubby (grumpy coz he came off night shift and stays up all day) and the baby has decided to teeth again this week. 

I went bananas.  I dont even know if Im making sense right now.  The big one is sitting on the floor 3meters away from me watching tv with his head phones on but laughing sporadically and it is making me want to rip my ears off!!  I feel like running outside in the rain naked and screaming at the top of my lungs.

Do you think Im ready for the funny farm?  I certainly do. LOL

 I read in my baby book that no matter what time you put your baby down he/she will still wake at 5-6am.  I had one of these babies, he would go down for the night at 6pm and was up and ready to go at 5-6am.  He went to bed so early coz the book also said not to let him sleep past 4pm. I thought there was nothing I could do about it, so I suffered through months of 5am starts.

Recently I put my little fella down for a late nap at 3pm coz he was super tired and there was no way I could keep him off the ropes until 5.30, like I did most afternoons by bouncing around like an idiot and letting him touch "naughty stuff", he was having none of it!  So I chucked him in his cot and he went off to sleep.  He didnt wake up until 5pm.  I was a little worried about what this would do to his schedule and was panicking that he would not go to bed until 10pm (another thing it said in the book). 

Anyway, we had a really happy night, bub was up to have dinner with us for once, he got to see his daddy who is usually still in bed (shift worker) when he goes down for the night and he eventually had a bath at about 7.30 and was in bed sound asleep by 8.30.

The next morning he didnt get up until 8am!!!!!  He started to stir at about 7 but didnt want to get up until 8!

I thought it must have been a fluke but I tried again the next night, and again the next and what do you know, my baby is in the best routine he's ever had!  He goes down for a nap about 2.30 - 3pm and sleeps for anywhere up to 2 hours and he is happy as larry all night long!  Why????  Coz I IGNORED THE BOOK!!!!

How many other ways could my life been easier if I ignored the book?  How much more sleep could I have gotten if I ignored the book?  How much more sanity could I have if I ignored the book? 

Im not saying that I should be your new guru and you should ignore the book and listen to me, I know nothing!  What I am saying is ignore the book and listen to you! 

How much of our own instincts do we ignore when it comes to our own kids?  How many unrealistic expectations do we have on ourselves and our children due to all the information we have now?  I mean, our parents didnt seem to have such a rough time raising us, nor did our grandparents.  They didnt have mothers groups or the internet or virtual parenting groups online.....  They just did it. 

My mum often asks me "how did you kids survive with me putting soft toys in the cot or giving u peanut butter at 6monts or how you still have any teeth in your head with the honey on the dummy trick"  I tell her "dumb luck lady..... dumb luck"  But it's not dumb luck, it was instict that made us survive, nothing but good old fashioned mothers instinct. 

They didnt have u-bewt baby books for the cave men yet they managed to keep enough babies alive to start civilisation and they even left a few "not quite right" babies on the mountain.... (the dingo's really did get their babies).

The books and baby whisperers of our day are convincing us that babies are capable of sleeping through the night from birth and now they can bloody well talk to us too!  Dear God, I have an 11 yr old that wont shut up asking for things, I dont need the baby bossing me around just yet.  I think all these new aged gurus are doing nothing but doing our heads in.  Now we think there is something wrong if our 3month old isn't sleeping through the night so we pay a stranger a couple of grand to come in and make it sleep.  We would be better off using the $2k to go to a spa for the week end! 

Well thats all the preaching I can do for the moment, its 7am and my baby is starting to stir.....  Im off to Burn the book. Ciao!