Day 11 - Living it up in Castlemaine

I'm up in Castlemaine staying with my parents for a few days - so I can pick my dad's brain because it is his Network & Internet Security course I've been studying. Nothing like having the lecturer all to yourself for a few days to teach you one-on-one!

I just love it up here in Castlemaine - it's such a gorgeous town, lying approximately 1.5hrs NW of Melbourne. Mum and dad have been living here for a few months now, in a sweet little cottage close to the centre of town.

I had a lovely wander through town this afternoon - just having a look at what there was. Lots of wonderful stores from fashion to food, from gardening to art. Definitely not a boring little country town! And there is still so much to explore! One shop in particular caught my eye - it had a Prudence clone in the window.

For those of you who don't know, Prudence is my beloved teddy bear who has been with me for a number of years, and has been through many good times and some very bad times. I ventured into the shop and there were about 10 Prudence clones! I was shocked - not that there were other Prudence-like bears, but because of how much she has changed since my mum first gave her to me. She has definitely been well-loved and shows it!

Here is a Prudence-clone, and what my Prudence looked a lot like when she was new:

But now, after a lot of loving, she looks like this:

A little more of a grey than white, a bit worn around the edges, and a bit more squishy... but a whole lot more loveable that any of the brand new clones! There's nothing quite like your teddy bear :-)

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Day 10 - Wordless Wednesday

Day 9 - Windows... will the updates never cease???

There was much excitement this morning when a parcel arrived at our house... Well, much excitement from me as the parcel was for me and contained my brand new laptop! YAY! So off I went, doing a minimum of chores as possible, so I could unpack my new toy and get it up and running.

Then Micro$oft interfered... slowly at first, but then with full force. All went smoothly (on the most part... Office was a bit stubborn...)  *until* it came time to patch the system. Yep, to run Windows Update. Now, there are always going to be updates regardless of how new the machine, that's just the way Microsoft works (or, can be argued, doesn't...)

So, 79 important updates and a few optionals.

"Fine - go for it!" I said.

"Nope, sorry. Can't install all 79 updates at the same time, but I didn't tell you that and I'm not going to tell you now which ones go with which!" said Windows.

Fine. Just dandy. Thanks Bill. Why didn't I buy a Mac, or better yet install Linux...

But I persisted. Cautiously installing 1 update at a time at first, and then a few at a time... and after about 7 hours (no exaggeration!) I had all the updates - important and optional - installed and had rebooted my laptop more times than a brand new laptop should be rebooted on its first outing...

And I'm an IT Consultant. Not an incompetent one either - incase you were starting to have doubts... So how do you non-IT types cope with your Windows PCs???

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Day 8 - LOLCats - Funny website!

Have you ever come across the website LOLCats? You really should check it out! It has some hilarious photos! Here are just a few I pinched...

ROFL!!

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Day 7 - A relax, minus the kids...

Yesterday the girls decided to stay up at their grandparents, so hubby and I had a nice sleep-in this morning, and the whole day to ourselves! First we went to the Tutankhamun exhibition @ the Melbourne Museum...

We have been to the exhibition once before for Abigail's birthday. But we wanted to go again, just us, to have a close look at everything and take our time. It was, as it was the first time, absolutely spectacular!!!

We than had a super-yummy lunch at a little Japanese cafe we frequent in Little Bourke Street (aka Chinatown).

We then came home, and hubby did some work while I did some study (cracked the first puzzle in my security course! Yay!) and then we watched "A Knight's Tale"

Followed by "Master and Commander"

As for the rest of the evening? Food, setting up my VM guest for my security course (it's fun to me!!) and watching more movies!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

x

Day 6 - I'm grateful for... Time with my family

Today was a beautiful sunny day (albeit a bit chilly) and was one of those days that I got to simply relax with my family and play with my girls and just do nothing much. We went out and visited hubby's parents in the country and the girls had a fabulous time running around in 5 acres of bushland.

The old swings ...

... were abandoned in favour of a "new" swing set that was a donation from a neighbour ...

And hubby had a great time the bulk of the afternoon perfecting the flying of a miniature helicopter!

Abigail then decided to start building a cubby house...

While Leah decided to help with the gardening...

While I snuck inside to do a bit of study, but was caught by Abigail...

It was a wonderful, relaxing day that we all really enjoyed! It was great to just get away from it all for a few hours (OK, so I did sneak some study in... but I can explain!!!)

Pop over to Maxabella Loves to see what other people are grateful for!

Day 5 - And the school holidays begin...

It's true - the girls finished up term 2 today at 1pm. We are one of the schools that is either (a) stupid for having 3 weeks holiday in the middle of winter, or (b) smart for having 3 weeks holiday in the middle of winter so everyone can go skiing. Not being one for skiing, I vote for (a). I haven't even seen real snow in my entire life! Seriously!!!

As the school holidays don't tend to take into account the lives of those who work, even I, who am pretty flexible working for myself and now studying, have appointments that I can't just cancel. What to do with the girls? Grandparents!!! I packed a suitcase, bundled the girls into the car and took them out to hubby's parents for the next few days. That gets me through until mid-next week!

I think schools should dispense with holidays all together. I don't mean, or in any way suggest, teachers to give up their holidays - not at all! As the daughter of 2 teachers, I know the teachers really need the break! What I'm suggesting is 2 sets of teachers - one set teaches during the standard terms, and the other set teaches during what is currently the school holidays. Sounds good to me! Hey, and we pay enough in school fees - the least they can do is teach the full year! ;-)

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Days 4 Catchup - Not happy, Jan!

Only 4 days into my challenge and blogger doesn't let me post for some reason... No idea why - just wouldn't let me post (or comment on other people's blogs for that matter) hence no post from me yesterday... not much point in doing it now, but thought I'd let you all know that I didn't fail this early on - it was a technical error beyond my control!!!

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Day 3 - Where have all the bookshops gone?

Today I went to have a browse through the networking and computer security texts that are out there. Well, I *attempted* to see what was out there... But the bookshops have vanished! I knew this was happening; first McGills, then a few others here and there, then Borders (and Angus & Robertson) who went in to voluntary adminstration and they are going, going, *almost* gone.

Myer and DJs don't count as I don't think either of them would recognise a decent book if they fell over it. Even the academic bookshops have packed up and left (except, probably, for the uni bookshops - must check them out...)

What little I did find had the most pathetic computer range of books you could think of! If you were a non-technical "Luser" you would come away thinking there was nothing more to IT than the Internet, blogging and designing websites... Aaaaarrrgggghhhhhh!!!

With [almost] everything available online (e.g. at Amazon) and at usually a lower price, even when you do factor in the exorbitant shipping charges. And then there are the electronic or eBooks that are exactly the same content - assuming you can part with the tactile pleasure of a "real" book - available for your Kindle, Nook or whatever your preferred eReader.

This always held the potential to put general bookshops out of business and force bookshops to become a very unique, niche, narrow market offering, but I didn't think it would happen so fast! But then, looking back, Australians tend to either embrace new technologies completely and enthusiastically or not at all...

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Day 2 - Parent/Teacher Interviews

It's that time of year again - the end of semester 1 and reports are out and parent/teacher interviews are under-way. I got mine over and done with this afternoon, after receiving the girls' reports yesterday. No suprises in the reports, but the interviews we the wrong way around! The one I expected to have a lot to talk about had virtually nothing to talk about and the one I thought would be straight forward was anything but!

Confusion... But both girls are happy and socialising very well with their peers, so that's all I really care about at this point in their education - they are only in prep and year 2 after all! (And yes, they can both read and write and do all that basic stuff you need to be able to do...)

P/T interviews are weird - but maybe it's just me. I feel like I'm back at school having been called in to see the teacher or something. Ridiculous, I know, but that's the feeling I get none-the-less... It's like I'm being critiqued as a parent rather than being updated on how my daugther is going at school. But, like I said, that's just me and maybe I'm paranoid...

We are all becoming exhausted - as we always do at the end of term - so we are looking forward to school finishing at 1pm on Friday! Only 3 more sleeps!

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Day 1 - Back to the Books

I have been fumbling around for ages now trying to figure out what I *really* want to do when I grow up. I really found myself at a loss and quite distressed - growing up I always knew exactly what I wanted to be. Of course, whatever it was could change on a daily basis... But at least there was *something* I knew I wanted to be.

Now, a thirty-something mum of two, who kept a vague contact with the IT industry through a bit of consulting work while being a stay-at-home mum, I am ready to get back to the workforce. The kids are both at school (prep & year 2 this year) so I have time to get back to 'me' - and 'me' wants to get back to working. "Use it or lose it" - as they say - is so very, very true.

I considered retraining and changing industries completely, or staying in IT but focusing in Project Management with a view to becoming a Program Manager. I was moving into PM work before I had the kids. But none of that was quite the right fit... In searches for courses and jobs ni the IT industry, network security occasionally popped up. That area sort of simmered in the back of my mind as I continued to research postgrad courses and career paths.

Then I started to look at security stuff - just a peek. I got more and more intrigued and more and more fascinated. Then forensics popped up. Bingo! I found my little niche in the world of computers. I found what I *really* wanted to do! So I'm officially back to studying security and working my way towards a career in forensics. And I'm having a ball!

It is so liberating; such a relief to *finally* figure out what I want to do when I grow up! And as a bonus I get a new laptop as my current one just can't keep up ;-)

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The Inaugural Post - Welcome!

Inspired by my good friend over at Keep Cate Busy, I have decided to set myself the challenge of blogging every day for the next year. Beginning tomorrow, as the Inaugural Post desn't really count...

So, a little about myself. I am a thirty-something, happily married mother of two beautiful girls - Abigail (8yo) and Leah (5yo) - and live in a gorgeous 1890s Victorian home in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. We even have a "princess turret"!!

By trade I'm an IT Consultant, and have just gone back to study to specialise in forensics. Fascinating stuff!! Well, I think so, anyway! I am an avid collector of artist teddy bears and am even known to make a few of my own designs from mohair or using a technique called needle felting.

I love music, movies, and lots of other stuff that I'm sure will be revealed in the coming year. I am definitely a cat person - my two beautiful boys passed away a couple of years ago now, at the ripe old age of 15, but I still miss them so much!!

Oskar & Doogie

So I'm off now to fiddle with my blog settings and the like... see you tomorrow for Day 1!!

xx