Happy 9th Birthday Padawan Learner!

My little boy is nine today!

This afternoon the birthday boy and 15 friends (yes, I know, way too many) will go bowling. Having started at a new school this year he wanted an equal representation of friends from both schools and he has been indulged. Will I survive 16 crazy nine year-olds at a bowling alley? Who knows...

In the tradition started last year I present Padawan Learner's answers to The Birthday Questionnaire:

How old are you? Nine

What is your favourite colour? Yellow

If you could be an animal, which animal would it be? A Cheetah because I'd want to be a FAST animal.

What is your favourite food? Pizza

What is your favourite drink? Milo

What do you want to be when you grow up? Rugby Player (Wallaby) and a Scientist

Where is your favourite place to visit on Holidays? Thredbo

What is your favourite subject at school? Maths

What subject to you like the least at school? HSIE (Human Society in Its Environment, or in 1970s terminology - social studies)

Favourite book? Just Macbeth by Andy Griffiths

Favourite TV show? Ben 10:Alien Force and The Secret Saturdays

Favourite Movie? Transformers: The Revenge of the Fallen

Favourite music? Pirates of the Caribbean: The Lost Pearl (theme music)

What or who makes you laugh the most? Andy Griffiths

If you could change your name, what would you change it to? Tom

Happy Birthday Padawan Learner!!!!!!

401 Posts and a Ripple Blanket

In celebration of my 401st post I show you my latest finished object: a Neapolitan-flavoured ripple blanket crocheted for the 1yo daughter of a friend. This blanket was completed on Tuesday night and is already well-travelled having visited both Perth and China recently.

It is very snug and had been looked-upon lovingly by the cats of the family. However, their attempts to sit upon the blanket have been unsuccessful and it will be wrapped this evening ready to pass to its new owner.

Next on the to do list? Either a pair of socks, for me, or a blanket promised to dad for his birthday.

Where the girl from The West travels to The West of The Far East

A day or so after starting my new job I was asked to a one-day meeting of my fellow HR Managers from the APac region to be held in China in July. In Chengdu.

Where is Chengdu you ask?

Think Western China. Think last stop before Tibet. Really. Apparently you still can't go to Tibet unless on a registered tour, but that's another story.

Here's a map to help.

It may be more familiar to you as the location of the 2008 earthquake.

So what did I think?

Well, apart from the long distance to travel for 1 1/2 days of meetings (six flights of four or more hours in seven days) it was well worth the trip.

I spent most of my time in a conference room. I also spent a good deal of time thinking I was going to die from over consumption of extremely spicy Sichuan food. But apart from that I experienced things that make such visits all worthwhile.

• Ate an amazing 16-course lunch where every course was either steeped in, covered in or made from five types of tea (white, green, black, yellow and oolong).
• Played Mah Jong, in China, to local rules (I won).
• Caught local taxis that were driven as if they were bicycles.
• Caught a ride in a taxi that went through red lights, pedestrian crossings and the wrong way up one-way streets.
• Was spoken to by a 7yo Chinese girl, in perfect English.
• Was told that Chengdu was the 'laziest city in China'. I think a better translation is 'most laid back city in China'.
• Realised that there are certain medications that one should take when visiting a country whose national cuisine is likely to upset a delicate western stomach.
• Found that, in the absence of such medications, flat Coke is quite a good cure-all.

There is, apparently, a local saying that roughly translates as "The Sun is High and the Emperor is Far Away" which would aptly describe the laid back approach in this city far from the sights of Beijing.

Waving again

Well that felt better. Sometimes writing something down is all you need to turn the corner and feel better about a situation.

I wrote down my frustrations with work and they've largely stayed on the page.

Since my last post I've been thinking about all the good things that come from being back in an office.

• People listen to me. As the parent of a Tween and a Tween-in-waiting this is becoming a rare thing.


• Not only do they listen, but even more weirdly, they often do what I say...immediately. This takes a bit of getting used to.


• I have to pretend to be a grown up. This means I have to 'look for solutions, not problems'. I can apply this to dealing with the kids when I get home. Useful.


• I get to talk to grown-ups. Although some of the grown-ups I talk to hold that title a little dubiously.


• The kids pack their school bags more carefully because they know that I can't run their forgotten hat/homework/school project up to school later.


• The kids have fewer options and have to make (sometimes tough, for them) choices.


• I value my spare time more and jealously guard it against interference from work or home tasks.

I've been wondering should I have taken a role with fewer responsibilities? But then had I done that I wouldn't have the flexibility I have now. I can move my days around as I please and I can work from home if needed. All I have to do in return is have my job on my mind 24/7.

What I miss the most is the ability to drop everything to watch a netball game, or go to a school performance. I'm hardly ever at either school anymore and I don't feel in touch with what's going on there.

But, on balance, I think this job is a Good Thing. It's just taking some time to get used to.

Oh, and believe me I'm still right on with this*.

*apparently you can buy this as a badge. Google it, you'll find it.

Not waving, drowning

Don't panic, it's really not all that bad, I just like the title.

But returning to paid work after five years is a little like slowly drowning. I wonder would it be different if I was in a stand alone role with no other accountabilities other than completing the work in front of me that day. That, however, is not the role I have. You know the story, you've all heard it loads of times before.

Girl gets part-time job that is really a full-time job. Outwardly others say how fortunate she is to find a job like that. Senior role, travel opportunities, a seat at the Excom. But she has three employees, two of whom have told her that the third employee bullies them. She has been given a hospital-pass of a project that is slowly spiralling into the ground which, in the days she is not at work, threatens to go belly up. There are so many fires to fight that it is hard to see the wood for the trees. She feels the weight of stress across the organisation of people desperate to keep their jobs despite them working impossibly long hours in a company hemorrhaging in the GFC.

And to top it all off there are serious hygiene issues being faced in the women's bathroom. Really. Think your worse thoughts and then double them. Why on earth is this an HR issue I ask?

Friends either tell me "I told you that sounded like a crazy job" or "welcome to the club".

These are not helpful comments. Is it worth being mentally exhausted every night, is it worth not wanting to blog lest you appear boringly negative, is it worth not reading as much, not knitting as much, not writing as much?

I can tell you that if part of last night's Lotto jackpot came my way I wouldn't have gone to work this morning.

So, it was fabulous to see a new order of yarn arrive in the mail

I've started on a crocheted blanket for a 12 month old girl. It strikes me that it is in fact a Neopolitan Icecream Blanket.

And I've finally got around to winding up the yarn that I bought from Suse. Do you think this looks like a pair of socks? Not yet, but one day.

These are the things that relax me so I think I'll go off now and meditate into my crochet and forget about work.

Oh, and I read The Slap. Gave it 4/10 at my bookclub. Clearly I have been living in a Jane Austen inspired bubble.

PS. I hope you have all been well. I look forward to visiting you again soon.