grateful for what I have – Mummy To Twins Plus One

Sad about unforseen events. Feeling better when I think about what we have already.Image courtesy of Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I’m a bit down in the dumps. I was all set to purchase a ticket to go to Problogger in August but that has been put on hold. Why you ask? Well it is all about finances. Hubby has been on a long contract with his work and has been told that he will be only renewed till the end of July. It is not only the fact that I was looking forward to taking the family to the Gold Coast again, and learning more about the business of blogging, it has implications for the rest of our life. Paying bills and keeping a roof over our head is more important than a blog conference. Although I know that is true I am sad to not be able to go this year.

Do you have plans to do things and then unforeseen events throw a spanner in the works? I was thinking of making a slick presentation to organisations for sponsorship but as tickets go on sale Monday (Yes Monday the 3rd of March tickets go on sale! I was so close to getting one) I don’t think I have time. I could buy a ticket and then work on the other variables but have decided against it. I don’t want the stress and worry if things don’t work out. Do you do this to yourself? Think if I just got the ticket, then all the other parts will fall into place? I have been thinking like that, but I need to snap out of it.

I was lucky to go to Problogger last year. 1stAvailable.com.au ran a competition and the first prize was travel to the Gold Coast and a ticket to the Problogger Conference. I won this competition and it was joy to be there and take the family on a holiday to experience my much beloved Queensland (I grew up in Queensland and miss it so much, I dream of taking the kids there again. Especially where I grew up Hervey Bay and Fraser Island)

After I dropped the kids off at school I drove to the post office. I sat in the car just thinking about it all for a while. It is rainy here and just a bit miserable like my mood. I decided that it is not the end of the world, I am grateful that we have our house, our health, the kids are happy and content and that we are together and happy. Like everyone more money would help the situation and of course allow us to do more, but we are doing o.k. There are others in the world that have it tougher than I do and I just need to be thankful for what I have already.

Do you catch yourself thinking that you are worse off for not going to something? I sometimes do, but it is really not a major issue. It would be nice, and wonderful but it is not the end of the world.

Hubby is hoping that things get sorted out before the end of July and I am trying to earn money to help out. I will be adding things to the blog that you can download at a cheap cost (I want to keep things reasonable so that it is available for all) and also have some freebies that you can use as well. So stay tuned for that.

At the end of the day, I am still working at putting last years learning’s into action. I am hoping that I can purchase a virtual ticket and this will allow me to have access to the talks and audio at the conference.

What are you grumpy about currently? Has realising that you are blessed with things already helped you deal with not going to something you desperately wanted to go to? I am feeling much better about the decision to not go now, thinking about what I have and feeling grateful for has helped so much. Send in your comments.

Update: I have decided to email some brands and agencies that I have worked with before. Why not see what happens. I can offer advertising, sponsored posts, updates while at the conference, tweeting and updates on all social media, showcasing the use of your product or service, and much more! Contact me if you are interested.

Large family small house

We live in a small house. It is fine and suits our needs. However we do require more space for the kids, more storage as this house has none (this makes it terribly hard as we want to keep some things but need to remove items to make a small house more liveable), and as a growing family we feel that we would like to have more room.

I know other people make do with a small house, no storage and just what we have and have more than 2 children. We are lucky that our house is affordable and we are lucky that we are able to live in an area that is cost effective for us. That said, yesterday there was an article about a family who has 15 children. Yes you read that right. 15 kids, I’m not sure that I could do 15 but if that is what makes you happy and you are able to sort it all out that is great. However I do believe I might have a breakdown if I was in charge of 15 children. At times my two test me to my limits so cannot imagine how 15 would push my buttons.

Maybe I am not the right person to ever have 15 children, and two is just right for me? I have considered having another so that would make it three and who knows it might be three and four if I am lucky to be blessed with another set of twins. Who knows it could happen, not sure but you never know. I planned on having one child before and I got 2. I was very lucky to have the twins as my first kids, just amazed and delighted with how it turned out.

After reading the article about the family with the 15 kids, it stated that they are in the same house that they moved into when first married. The husband has only added an extra three bedrooms to their original two bedroom cottage. So me and the hubby wanting a bigger place with space and storage makes me sound entitled to more but not deserving. We only have two kids and there is two adults. Our house is fine for us but not sure how it would be with more children if we were ever so lucky to do it again. (Not happening at the moment)

It makes me feel greedy that we want a bigger space, when a larger family is in a house that is not that much bigger, well a little as it has now five bedrooms and we only have three; However in the article it mentions that they still only have one bathroom and toilet. We are lucky that we have one main bathroom with a toilet and a second toilet in case someone is in the main bathroom. This is a great addition as there have been times that we really need this, I cannot imagine having to share with 15 kids, this I feel would be a challenge.

I have also looked at what this large family have done with the space they have and it makes me feel grateful for what we have. We don’t need much more in the scheme of things. It would be nice to finally be building our new house, but we are well, happy and fine in the one we have at the moment. So other than wanting the start of the new house to happen soon, not having the bigger house is not a big deal really, just a bit of a pain with not having places for things. What do you think?

I’m sure it is what you get used to and I don’t know if I could get used to it. Could you? Do you have a large family? Send in your comments.