Archive for the 'Postgrad Study' Category
Reverse psychology is a funny ol’ thing, isn’t it?! Let me ’splain. I received a job-offer yesterday. It caught me completely off guard actually. I went to have a lecturer of mine sign some paperwork associated with a big administrative nightmare I’ve been undergoing at Uni this last couple of months. And she offered me a sessional teaching position for Semester 2 this year - Head Tutor for Usability Engineering 
Last time I took a position it was also for this lecturer. Evidently she has a lot of faith in me. Faith that I’m not sure I have myself, but hey. I tutored in Java for a semester, and it was a valuable experience for me to have.
But let’s recap. Baby - due June 20. Semester 2 - starting July 24. Hmmm… seriously short interval there, doncha think?!
Anyway, because I was taken by surprise, and also quite flattered by the offer, I didn’t say NO immediately, even though that was my initial reaction. Then, after I told a couple of people, their reactions of “Ooh, that’s a bit soon, don’t you think?” started making me examine the possibility and thinking perhaps it might be doable after all.
The driving concern behind that thinking is that I worry I will have a gaping hole in my CV between graduating Masters and a possible return to the workforce. And if I don’t return to the workforce, then what was the point of the Masters in the first place? I’ve always had some difficulty with being ‘just’ a stay-at-home-Mum, even though I know it’s such a valuable gift to give to my children.
Ok… moving on. Looking for some additional feedback to help me decide, I posted on the Wagon BB that I was thinking of saying yes, and did everyone think I was crazy? Well, apparently no-one thought I was crazy to think of taking this on when I will still be counting weeks since the birth on one hand.
Which is the point at which I made up my mind to in fact turn down the offer. See… reverse psychology! Or something. I compared it to that magical way of making a decision - flip a coin, see what the answer is, and if you don’t like the answer then you’ll know what you wanted all along 
I started remembering those early weeks. Though I recovered quite quickly from my caesarean, the sleep deprivation kicked me for six. And Finn was a relatively good sleeper. What if Small is a rotten sleeper? Or I have a second caesar from which I don’t recover quite so quickly?
I’ve been pretty much stressed out for most of Finn’s life while I’ve been completing this degree - remember this post? I owe it to Finn, to OtherHalf, to Small, and most of all to ME, to take it easy for a while. If and when I decide to start my next career, I’ll just have to struggle with ‘the gap’ and finding the right job when I get there. And if I don’t… well, my education will still not have been in vain. The enjoyment and self-satisfaction I’ve gained from being back at Uni have been worth the stress and hard work.
Yes really!
January 18 2006 | General Ramblings and Postgrad Study | 2 Comments »
Ahem. Hello! Remember me?
Sorry. I seem to have been in a bit of a blogging-minislump lately. Coinciding with a stitching-minislump, unfortunately. So what have I been doing? Well, sleeping, shopping, studying, and stuffing my face, mainly 
New Year’s Eve, aka Finn’s Birthday, was quite something. The hottest NYE since… well, ever! In Melbourne the temperature eventually climbed to 42.9C (that would be 109.2F for some of you). In the part of the state where we were - somewhere north-west of Bendigo, it was somewhere close to 46C (that would be oh, about a million in Fahrenheit terms, I think). I say “somewhere close”, because opinions were varied between those who had thermometers attached to their cars, and we had no other measuring device. Suffice to say, it was Not Good. Much like an oven, really. We managed to summon enough energy to sing Happy Birthday for Finn (He’s THREE… OMG!) during the afternoon at some point, but mostly we just sat around in my Father-in-law’s half-renovated, non-airconditioned house and melted into people-puddles. The point where the power failed and our one little pedestal fan was no longer, that was really, really Not Fun.
At close to sunset (temperature still v.high 30s, at least), we drove up to nearby Melville Caves, where we ate prawns, drank champagne (though neither for me 
), and watched the sun set. Well, kind of. Visibility was a bit poor due to the bushfires raging across the state in Stawell.
We had plans to stay the night with my FIL and drive to Mum’s (about an hour-and-a-half away) in the morning for another mini-party for Finn. But at around 11pm, with one grumpy boy on our hands, temps still in the mid-to-high-30s, little hope of restful sleep, and no shower to be had in the morning, we decided to pack up and drive across the state right there and then. So that is how I came to see in 2006 as the only person awake in the car in the middle of nowhere. (After saying the obligatory “White Rabbits”, I woke OtherHalf to wish him Happy New Year )
The change in the weather didn’t come through until mid-afternoon on the 1st, but how blissful when it did. I celebrated by burning the wagon! Yes… that’s right. I SHOPPED FOR STASH! I’m glad I managed to last out the year, but heck, I’m not doing that again I headed over to Stitching Bits and Bobs and reduced the size of my wishlist by 8 charts, some beads and sparklies to kit out Mermaids of the Deep Blue, and a few other bits and pieces (or bits and bobs, I guess!) My package should be here any day now, I’ll be sure to take a picture for you!
Christmas and NYE (and shopping) having taken the wind completely out of my sails, I pretty much slept through January 2nd and 3rd… and then I went back to uni on the 4th. Eeeek! I have been immersing myself in the exciting :neutral: world of web servers ever since, and that’s what I’ll be doing for the next few weeks, oh joy. After that…… FREEDOM! Free, free, free as a bird! No more studying for me, for at least… err, well, let’s not make any promises we can’t keep now, shall we?!
Anyhoo… here’s a couple of NYE pictures for you. These were taken up at the caves. 1) Happy Birthday Finny Banana! 2) Happy New Year to 3 generations of boys 
January 13 2006 | Family and General Ramblings and Postgrad Study and The Kids | 1 Comment »
In case you’re wondering where I’ve been, just remember this post. I’m just taking a breather while I try and survive the rest of October. Of course, it’s not helping that every time I do have a little bit of time online, I end up thoroughly irritated by some-little-thing-or-other. I just don’t want to blog about that stuff right now. I could blog about uni, but you don’t really need to hear about how dreadfully my exam prep is going, I assure you!
There are other things going on in my life at the moment, too. Good things, mostly. Things that deserve blogtime. The house… and other stuff. Which will come to light at the appropriate time, but not now. Right now, I just need to get through the next four days, and then… sleep and sleep and sleep. Oh, and stitch a little, too - I’m just going to be able to squeak my Redwork exchange into the mail on deadline day, I think.
‘Til I resurface, hope you’re all having fun And Laura… mondo congrats on the house-signing
October 25 2005 | General Ramblings and Postgrad Study | Comments Off
Happy Birthday Me
Finn decided I was in fact turning 88 So sweet.
I feel that at 30, I should probably feel like an adult. Normally, no, but this week, with pressures from all directions, I think I do. Reached my goal of no grey hairs though!
Because of said pressures, there will be no big celebrations. I’m not a big one for parties even on a good year, but this year it’s just impossible to stop and breathe, let alone party. I’ll be spending this evening writing sql and php, and if I get a chance, a Usability report. Joy 
However - once the next few weeks are a mere memory, I plan to sit down with my brand new Will & Grace DVDs (Seasons 1 & 2)… and STITCH! That will be sweeeet
…
PS. I decided I was not allowed to be miserable and stressed on my birthday (well, not all day anyway), so Finn and I trundled up the street for coffee and cake. Orange flourless cake, to be precise. Ooooh. My body, having become accustomed to high protein, low fat over the last 3 months, has a little bit to say about that kind of abuse. But heck, it was worth it! Now… I hope Mum doesn’t decide to bring cake over later
October 11 2005 | Family and General Ramblings and Postgrad Study | 7 Comments »
According to Blogthings. Just in case you were wondering
And…
“You’re an expressive, offbeat blogger who tends to write about anything and everything. You tend to set blogging trends, and you’re the most likely to write your own meme or survey. You are a bit distant though. Your blog is all about you - not what anyone else has to say.”
Well damn straight. Who else is it going to be about?!
Don’t know about that setting blogging trends bit though. It took me until 2005 to even start this thing, so I’d say I’m pretty far behind in trendset-iness.
I’m not really interested in making my blog purple, so nyah, Blogthings. I have many ideas running through my head for my perpetually delayed template re-jig, not one of them is purple.
Dum de dum…
This post is rather full of good nothing-ness, isn’t it? I need more nothing-ness in my life. I would rather be stitching, but in the 10 minutes I’m taking a study break for, I would get next to nothing done, and would want to stitch for the next 2 hours, instead of slaving away on a Web Databases assignment.
Speaking of stitching, I received goodies yesterday! So happy - Laura sent me a wonderful chart, (which Finn promptly decided I should start stitching for him, but since he deleted a vital chunk of my Usability Engineering assignment on Tuesday, he’s not in line to be demanding anything of the sort 
). Sorry, I digress. It’s Unicorn, by Peter Underhill. Finn does have a point, it would be pretty funky for a boy’s bedroom Then Mum arrived, and forced new fabric on me! A beautiful bluey-purpley solo from Silkweaver - and a huge piece, too. I’m envisioning a Mirabilia Fairy on it. Can’t wait to stitch again.
Before I disappear, here’s the 5 second update on the Grrr things in my life (in case you care):
~ Auto-pinging: I think not working. Let’s see how it goes this time. Will manually ping if necessary. Update: nope, it IS working. Yippee!
~ Car: fully repaired as of today - ask me again on Sunday! 
~ Washing Machine: not working, but problem finally diagnosed.
~ Washing Machine Company: won’t replace, will repair.
~ Stupid motorist who hit my car and denied it: Hmmm, I actually don’t know. Must find out what’s going on with that. I’m kind of curious to know what story she’s going to come up with
September 22 2005 | Blog Blather and Counted Stitchwork and General Ramblings and Postgrad Study | Comments Off
I am now getting to that point in my Masters degree where, because I “don’t work” (aka I am “just a mum”), I am beginning to be asked what my plans are for when I finish. Courtesy of the wacky dudes at the Southpark Studio*, I am now able to demonstrate to you visually, exactly what “my plans” are:
Exhibit A: Mel before finishing Masters degree:
Exhibit B: Mel after finishing Masters degree:
*Link discovered on Robin’s Nest. Thanks Robin
September 17 2005 | General Ramblings and Postgrad Study | 1 Comment »
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