Swinging

Learning what the dog gets up to everyday!

I think I've gotten into the swing of things with this whole parental leave thing. I still haven't got the nesting bug so it's more 'forced' domesticity. Apparently that's a good thing though because everyone keeps saying when you get a strong urge to nest then you're getting pretty close. I must be one of the only people who doesn't want to go into labour until their due date. Granted Hubby still has his exams so that plays a big part in it all but we've also got so much stuff we want to get done before hand (including 2 very yummy dinners to celebrate 8 years of uni being over!).

I forced myself out by my lonesome yesterday (which is a huge thing with me), it was just a trip to the Post Office but I had no idea where to go that being a naturally anxious person it was scary. How sad does that sound! People would never guess unless I admitted it because I'm pretty good at forcing myself to be a people person but the nerves are insane. I think it just goes to show how important it is to talk about things and not bottle them up. I do discuss it with some friends and family but I still don't think people truly understand it. For example the idea of going shopping alone absolutely terrifies me but when I actually do it it's ok. My next 'scary' thing for this week is going and lodging my Parental Leave forms with Centrelink (Australia's welfare/benefits Government department) but having worked in their call centre and dealing with some of those people I think I'm allowed to be a little nervous.

I picked up my birth pool liner (there's something else to tick off the list), got myself a passport application to change my surname and one for Pecan along with stamps. I'm going to self address and stamp the announcement envelopes - I love finding random baby preparation tips (please feel free to leave any of your own below).

I've started working on Hubby's Christmas present which will be 12 date envelopes for 2012 - I stole the idea from Find joy in the journey. It was/is good fun to work on and I'm uncovering lots of different things to do in Perth (although most of it is done on the cheap because we still don't know what is happening job wise for the Husband). I'm really trying to get into the DiY present mode for Christmas and beyond because I'm over spending so much money and half the time the people don't even really care about the present. Also I feel like last year it turned into a competition with my SiL (and it got a bit mean but in that hidden girl way not outright) and we don't even earn near the kind of money they've got coming in. Plus this year we gave my Hubby's little sister dessert and a little elephant to hold her rings and she loved it and that was all under $20! Although I say all that and I spent WAY too much money on Hubby's end of uni present...but he definitely deserves it and I know he'll love it.