tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77407031315997704132012-01-01T22:11:16.868+13:00Celebrating the TRYumphs & Tradgedies of Single Parent LIFE!Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.comBlogger124125theawwwbutmumhttp://feedburner.google.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-30601762701088672012011-09-26T21:49:00.000+13:002011-09-26T21:49:43.388+13:002011-09-26T21:49:43.388+13:00

So......today we begin Week number 10 of our 20 Week journey with the Vocational Police Preparation Course (yes if you've ever thought about this as a career option, check out the link and see if this course is a fit for you!) To pretend that this is anything other than massive amounts of HARD WORK, EFFORT, DETERMINATION and SINGLE-MINDEDNESS would be an outright lie!  To pretend that over the

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-57827624233654098422011-08-20T17:31:00.000+12:002011-08-20T17:31:37.174+12:002011-08-20T17:31:37.174+12:00

After a blogging hiatus, I find myself tentatively dipping my toes back into the arena.  Dipping only because so many of you amazing people have asked what's going on & why I haven't been blogging about the whole POLICE PREPARATION course. So as today (SATURDAY) marks the end of our 4th week of 18, I thought it would be the perfect time to look at what's been happening, where I started from and

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-40312122883953596472011-06-14T10:50:00.000+12:002011-06-14T10:50:49.475+12:002011-06-14T10:50:49.475+12:00

Mmmmm you're thinking - and what exactly does that mean????  I still had about a month to keep my "cat in my bag", but since I was officially outted this week (thanks Lei & Maraea!), I'm going ahead and sharing my big secret with the world.  Cue the drumroll....stop it, not the EYEROLL, I said the DRUMROLL, this is big I tell you, BIG! Remember back to January when I posted on - My New Years

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-45054981369656745092011-02-16T13:48:00.000+13:002011-02-16T13:48:52.615+13:002011-02-16T13:48:52.615+13:00

We all know the story of the wonderful journey to find "The Wizard Of Oz".  The Scarecrow hoping to find his BRAIN, the Tinman who pined for his HEART and the lovable Lion who knew his life was incomplete without COURAGE.  Last but not least, Dorothy, with her HEART aching over having her precious pup, Toto taken away, was racking her BRAIN over what to do when the tornado struck sending her

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-8779652276913813072011-02-11T11:47:00.001+13:002011-02-11T11:50:51.731+13:002011-02-11T11:50:51.731+13:00

Yesterday, much to my astonishment, I found 1/2 an hour of free time, so I decided to see what  our girl OPRAH was sharing with most of mankind.  Flicking on the TV, the screen screamed the phrase "ARE YOU NORMAL?".  I spent the next few minutes in hysterics, as with the help of the ever-forthright Dr Phil and manned with statistics, polls and survey facts they answered a varied spectrum of

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-57162818902526222462011-01-21T11:30:00.000+13:002011-01-21T11:30:47.553+13:002011-01-21T11:30:47.553+13:00

This is the view from our Christmas/New Year Holiday.  This view greeted me for about 20 days.  I feel asleep each night to the sound of the waves and woke to the continued melody of their soulful song......absolute BLISS!   The kids and I spent our days feasting on spectacular grandparents,  playing hard.  We fished, we built castles, huts and memories.  We hiked, swam, rode our boards, bikes

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-23480308473593506842010-11-22T22:01:00.000+13:002010-11-22T22:01:26.471+13:002010-11-22T22:01:26.471+13:00

"Not in the clamor of the crowded street, not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng, BUT, in ourselves, are TRYumph and defeat" ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I have just had the most incredible "WHY DIDN'T I SEE THIS ALL ALONG?!?" moments.  Something so simple, that I offer unconditionally to others and that I raise my children to believe.  YET - here I have been, living my merry little life

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-35324164101419103432010-11-17T16:51:00.001+13:002010-11-17T17:40:12.427+13:002010-11-17T17:40:12.427+13:00

Let me set the scene. The GYM is perfection.  New.  Clean.  Pristine.  Set in the grounds of the YUPPIEST school in the city.  It's the kind of building where you check your feet first BEFORE you walk through their doors.  Where you wonder if bringing ALL the rest of your children and their mates was maybe NOT the best of plans. Every Saturday afternoon we are there so that No2 can participate

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-76363619375111722052010-10-30T13:33:00.000+13:002010-10-30T13:33:18.341+13:002010-10-30T13:33:18.341+13:00

NAKED.  Not such a scary word.  NAKED in an office, on a CD cover and all over my television, to me, that IS scary. No I'm not a prude.  BUT I am concerned about the way we may becoming oblivious to the apparent normalacy of inappropriate NAKEDness. It seems I went to sleep and woke up in NAKEDland!  Are we becoming so morally decayed that NAKED has become the new black??  That NAKED can now be

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-48585620859642950742010-10-26T20:23:00.000+13:002010-10-26T20:23:38.990+13:002010-10-26T20:23:38.990+13:00

Many many questions.  Endless hours, days, weeks, months - lifetimes of questions, queries, what-if scenarios.  Each with it's different age-perspective and answer requirement.  Of course no one tells you that when you first decide to have the child.  Na-ahh! No-one warns you that you will need to be a live version of the Encyclopedia Brittanica and the Collins Dictionary - indeed a walking

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-87567991950485221472010-10-16T19:25:00.000+13:002010-10-16T19:25:34.265+13:002010-10-16T19:25:34.265+13:00

Do you like me moan and wail your way through the winter months?  The sickness, the rain, the cold and that endless supply of never-dry laundry that matches the never-ending complaints of house-bound children! Do you like me watch the calendar days pass with eagerness as the warmer weather hints start to show.  That first blossum tree.  The first morning you awake to light.  The sounds of singing

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-14714888347022349582010-10-15T11:10:00.000+13:002010-10-15T11:10:04.653+13:002010-10-15T11:10:04.653+13:00

Every four years the Commonwealth Countries of the world gather together to celebrate sportings elite.  For eleven days, we sit glued to our TV screens seeing to whom the medals of Gold, Silver and Bronze will be awarded.  On this the final day I confess to watching far more than my share of TV - scowling at any child in my home who DARED to reach out to MY remote to swap a channel!  My sport

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-24849882006955473082010-09-29T15:31:00.000+13:002010-09-29T15:31:14.624+13:002010-09-29T15:31:14.624+13:00

A couple of evenings ago, No3 and I were watching "Extreme Makeover - Home Edition".  The 'move that bus' moment came and just like EVERY single episode EVER made the FEMALE cried. This particular cry was not pretty.  It was a howling, keening kinda cry.  Piercing in it's ability and distracting in a torrential rain, snot flowing way.  No3 (who is currently 6) sat quietly watching then made what

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-72800466974087884962010-09-19T13:28:00.000+12:002010-09-19T13:28:32.522+12:002010-09-19T13:28:32.522+12:00

"It's not so much what happens to us but how we deal with what happens to us"James E Faust - Oct Gen Conf 2004 It was the most splendid of Primary Presentations today at Church.  The kids sang beautifully.  There were the usuals too - the kid that cried, the kid that picked his nose, the kid that thinks the microphone means he should shout, the kid that forgets his words, rolls his eyes and

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-26092090265064276482010-09-16T20:13:00.000+12:002010-09-16T20:13:31.862+12:002010-09-16T20:13:31.862+12:00

Apparently something I learnt from my amazing Mum has indeed rubbed off on me. I grew up in a household that openly talked about everything, without shame or judgment.  My Mum's gene pool is Irish/Polish based and Catholic.   Schooled by Nuns and forever determined to break that mould, my Mum made sure we had it different.  So the 'Uncle' that became the 'Aunty' fitted in fine and life as we knew

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-64252036223021205342010-09-14T18:35:00.001+12:002010-09-15T07:38:24.200+12:002010-09-15T07:38:24.200+12:00

I received the most beautiful of emails today from an amazing friend.  I read it once and thought WOW.  I read it again and thought THIS has to be shared because it's TRUE, it's REALITY and it's the most POWERFUL Mummy lesson.  So I take no credit as the author of what follows.  My only hope is that is empowers you like it has me ♥ "It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-77513807593834382852010-09-13T13:12:00.000+12:002010-09-13T13:12:06.912+12:002010-09-13T13:12:06.912+12:00

That's me - front row - third from the left.  This FLASH from the past arrived last week, some 25 years after the fact.  I noted immediately a few important FACTS - My legs were not the WHITEST in the world, once upon a time. I really wasn't any where near as FAT as I thought I was back then. I was SMILING in a photo - must have been the first and last time. As much as I had blocked out that

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-42163265240826329102010-09-09T14:05:00.003+12:002010-09-09T14:08:35.822+12:002010-09-09T14:08:35.822+12:00

I love it when a phrase, a thought, a quote or even a song leaps off the pages of the internet and into my heart. There is power in that little moment, that reminds me I am of worth and strengthens my connection with heaven. I had one of those moments yesterday whilst preparing for this evenings Enrichment Meeting, when I read the following article "Daughter of God - M. Russell Ballard" and

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-75300629663301807492010-09-08T12:06:00.000+12:002010-09-08T12:06:21.831+12:002010-09-08T12:06:21.831+12:00

For some women it's LIPSTICK, others MASCARA.  Maybe it's SHOES or a new HAIRDO.....it's that THING that makes you feel PRETTY & POWERFUL & just plain ready to face the world even when you'd rather not.  You put IT/THEM on and all is right in the world.     Yes????  I know YOU get me! For me it's PERFUME!  I love to smell good.  Cancel that - I love to smell not just good, but sexy, pretty,

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-77459623145953224892010-08-31T12:56:00.000+12:002010-08-31T12:56:13.223+12:002010-08-31T12:56:13.223+12:00

Hear me now people!  Today I am enforcing my "24 HOUR PITY PARTY" rule - those new to my blog may not have heard of this.  When times getting a little too rough, 'SHE WHO LAUGHS-LASTS' must enforce this rule.  For 24 hours ONLY, I get to cry if I want, moan and grumble, feel sorry for myself and get it all outta my system so that I can slap that game face back on tomorrow. As I type I am

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-12941933182688787142010-08-13T11:25:00.000+12:002010-08-13T11:25:12.896+12:002010-08-13T11:25:12.896+12:00

ENRICHED!- totally how I feel this great morning thanks to an evening with some amazing women last night.  Once a month throughout the world Latter-Day Saint women join together for a special meeting called "Home, Family & Personal Enrichment Meeting".  It's purpose is summed up in it's name really and I am truly blessed to be able to organise our little corner of the world here in Temple View

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-4274719021383212252010-07-27T14:08:00.001+12:002010-07-27T15:16:33.762+12:002010-07-27T15:16:33.762+12:00

I don't know about you, but somedays stumbling through this journey that is Motherhood, seems to be like trying to walk through quicksand.  One minute you think you've got it covered and then before you can utter the dreaded Mum phrase of 'NO' one more time, you're sinking!!  It's so easy to get sucked in by the worlds idea of what is best and to forgo those whisperings and impressions that are

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-87008899199685990452010-07-21T16:45:00.000+12:002010-07-21T16:45:13.262+12:002010-07-21T16:45:13.262+12:00

Recently our landline phone died.  It has lived with us for some 6 years and before us, it had another loving family who's lives it blessed for just as long.  This wonderful piece of technology was not as pretty as some of it's counterparts.  Alas, being older it was not slim in nature, infact 'built like a brick' would be an apt description.  It was often dumped on the ground,  misplaced,

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-26882307773215761052010-07-18T13:51:00.000+12:002010-07-18T13:51:22.663+12:002010-07-18T13:51:22.663+12:00

"We get on our knees and we ask the Lord to help us live in obedience to His commandments.  We get on our feet and resolve to be better people than we were when we knelt down.  Our beliefs will govern our actions.  God help us to be those who are not faithless, but believing."~Gordon B Hinckley Love the word RESOLVE - To make a firm decision about.  To cause one to reach a decision.  To work out

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7740703131599770413.post-9499147791559756532010-07-16T17:28:00.001+12:002010-07-16T17:29:26.171+12:002010-07-16T17:29:26.171+12:00

Who woulda thought that on a rainy afternoon on the last day of school holidays, a 12 year old boy and a fix-it-man would have so much to offer this mostly tired, sometimes ticked off but always looking for the lesson, single mum. In the interest of full disclosure my first love affair came about because of "The Karate Kid" - only I don't remember him being THAT young and since he adorned ALL of

Mandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606748827227131781noreply@blogger.com2