Rainbow Sock Monkey

I’ve been struggling to think of something to buy for Oliver’s birthday present. What do you buy for the boy who already has it all (by way of a sister with a large quantity of toys, books etc). I’ve asked relatives who enquired to buy him clothes (in size age 2-3, ha!) but have been umming and ahhing about us. I was going to not buy him anything but then I didn’t want him to ask in the future “mum, what was my first birthday present?” and not have an answer. Not that it’s likely to happen, but you know, mum guilt and everything.

So anyway.. to celebrate the launch of a client’s site, I decided to use it to find something nice for Oliver. Perfect test case, supporting a small business and the opportunity to boost a client’s profile? Win win all round I say.

So here we go, this is what I found:

rainbow-sock-monkey

Very cute, & as Oliver has a thing about toy monkeys will hopefully go down well. I bought the rainbow coloured one just because I like rainbows ;) Cheap enough to not break this month’s budget too, which is probably going to get blown on food at the end of the month, eek.

Posted on: May 12, 2013 · Category: Interwebs 2

I hate thinking up titles

If you’re a super duper smartypants you may remember that I recently alluded to some things happening here that would hopefully be the catalyst for a positive change in my daily routine. Yes indeedy, as of Monday (yesterday) Karl started working part time: that is, 8am-1pm in his existing job.

You can read the various “why”s over in Karl’s entry but in short the theory is that this gives me all morning to dedicate to the kiddos, and then from about 1:30pm-4:30pm of an afternoon to give to my work while Karl wrangles the monsters. This means I can get more done in the day, which means I should be able to actually have evenings to myself instead of eyes glued to the laptop.

We’re on day 2 of the new hours and already I think it’s working. I mean, I’m still working in the evening because I have so much to do and I’m desperately trying to get a couple of jobs knocked on the head (btw, never work with Drupal) but I’m not switching my laptop on until the afternoon which means my stress levels have plummeted. Instead of darting out of the room to try and cram a few minutes work in every 5 minutes (which inevitably leads to interruption from the kids which means I then get pissy) I can give them my full attention. AND, even though I’m “only” dedicating a small block of time to work instead of the whole day, I’m actually clocking up more time working overall. Case in point: yesterday I managed nearly 4.5 productive hours instead of my usual 2-if-I’m-lucky. (If you work 8 hour days in an office with hot coffee, sod you.)

Financially we will be worse off in the short term I imagine, but only while I get to grips with getting more work in and billed – at which point my hourly rate should more than make up the difference in working hours.

I just hope that this is a permanent change and not just fluke, because I have been so stressed lately I’ve come close to jacking the whole bloody lot in and going back out to work. Cross your fingers, eh?

Posted on: April 16, 2013 · Category: Work 8

One thing after another

I’m taking a moment to moan.

“What’s new?” I hear you cry!

I know, I know, so much for the ‘Acknowledge one positive from every day’ goal in 13 things for 2013 (and I still haven’t told you what I decided to do for #13!)

Must fix the tiny text on that post. And the tabindex thing, as that’s intensely irritating. Anyway, where was I…

I’m just under a wee bit of pressure at the minute. Turns out that trying to raise 2 children, start a new ‘business’ & trying to fit a full days work in to max 3hrs of an evening don’t actually go that well together. Even worse, when something goes tits up as has done day after day recently – teething, cold, teething, another cold, more teething (and that’s just Oliver, let’s not get into Izz & her colds, irregular withholding and now bloody conjunctivitis too) – that tight squeeze, that just-about-grasping-on-to-sanity thing comes crashing down around your ears and there’s bugger all you can do about it.

I am so grumpy lately. Proper shouty grumpy, saying things in front of the kids I wouldn’t normally, and probably shouldn’t be saying (may include words beginning with F). I’ve said things TO the kids I wouldn’t normally say (stop bloody whining, just go to frigging sleep, etc etc).

I should be working now, obviously, but if I don’t take 10 minutes to sit down and ramble tonight I think I may explode. That can’t be a good thing.

I’ve a couple of projects both several months behind, poorly kids, Karl going through a major upheaval at work, I go days without adult conversation, and I can’t switch off at night. It feels quite strange to be complaining about a situation that many wish to be in: too much work. 2 beautiful, amazing, funny children. A partner who is still here after all these bloody years (although after making ZERO effort on Mother’s Day, he’s lucky about that one).

I could take on less work, turn things down, pass things on, but that’s not going to pay my bills, is it?

Still, it could be worse. And I think I’ve learnt more in the past 9 months of self-employment than I did in nearly 10 years as an employee, so that’s nice. Or something.

I guess what I need to do now is find that mysterious work-life balance. What is that again?

Posted on: March 12, 2013 · Category: WTF 6

Self-employment 6 months on: the good, the bad & the ugly

It’s roughly 6 months since I registered as self-employed and told my mostly-fantastic (he’d kick me for the mostly part) boss of 6 years that I was going to leave. Now’s as good a time as any to give you an update on how that’s going.

The Good

I have spent the past 6 years protesting about interacting with clients, thinking that talking to people was something I was no good at, something I needed someone else to guide. One of my biggest worries about being responsible for myself was that I would not have the motivation to talk to people, to sell myself to them, to help them choose me. Despite this I have managed to secure 2 ‘big’ website contracts, ongoing work with a local company I’ve been working with over the past 6 years and multiple small jobs offline and through social networking.

The Bad

I’ve made mistakes: mistakes that have cost me money. Two ‘big’ ones that spring to mind (that could have been worse, thankfully):

Mistake 1: I entered into my first job, albeit a small one, with no contract or list of what I would and wouldn’t be doing. I had to wait for nearly 2 months to be paid. It ended well, but more out of luck than judgement.

Mistake 2: I have underestimated the amount of time I would spend on back-and-forth communications with clients. Getting specifications finalised, agreeing development schedules, bug testing and feedback, etc. I know this stuff ate a lot of time when I was employed, but when you’re working 9-5 it’s easy for it all to blend into the background. I need to make sure there’s more time for this so that deadlines are not abandoned later on as unrealistic. This brings me to…

The Ugly

I have yet to meet a set deadline. It’s not all been my fault: client hold-ups (deposit payment, tweaks to original spec docs, changing of minds etc) are a big factor — not a problem but ever present nonetheless — but I seriously underestimated the effect that juggling kids and work would have on my ability to a) concentrate and b) get something done. Oliver’s daytime sleep “problem” has been particularly damaging to my estimated timelines! Thankfully, everyone I’ve worked with (or am working with) has been fantastic & supportive. I can only hope that this continues, and that I can use this knowledge to create more realistic schedule in the future.

Posted on: December 4, 2012 · Category: Work 9

Intense

I intended on taking part in NaBloPoMo this month. You can see how well that’s turning out for me.

I am writing this whilst rocking side to side, in the hope that my little dude (fastened securely to my chest) will go to bloody sleep. Indeed, Oliver has gone from super easy laid back baby to a super intense ball of woe in the space of a few weeks. Even putting our feeding issues aside, everything seems to be bothering him lately.

– pause to mop up regurgitated milk —

Where was I? Ah yes. Oliver. He appears to be teething, and unlike Isabel who took it in her stride for the most part, he mostly just cries, drools and chews. The extra drool is making his spewing worse (he’s gone from happy-chucker to sicking up viciously acidic curdled milk) which in turn means he won’t sleep lying down. For 3-4 nights last week I only slept for 20 minutes at a time because as soon as I put him down he woke. I’ve managed to get some sleep by propping him up on a pillow half an inch from my face (the proximity is mostly because I’m panicking, probably irrationally, about a young baby being that close to a pillow).

The extra vom is making him resist feeds which makes him grumpy which stops him sleeping which makes him more grumpy which causes crying which makes him windy which makes him grumpy… you can probably see where I’m going with this.

So anyway, as you can imagine this is having a knock on affect on day to day. I’m star … mop up puke #2 … starting to have problems keeping track of my temper which makes me grumpy and naggy with Isabel. Work is slowly slipping behind, and that in itself stresses me which makes the above worse. I’m getting to the top of the work-mountain but it’s taking my evenings up and that’s not ideal for any of us.

It’s also Isabel’s birthday tea on Saturday and I’ve done absolutely nothing for that yet. Oh, the stress.

There’s not really a point to this post. I just wanted a good moan. As you were…

Posted on: November 6, 2012 · Category: Parenting 4