Saturday, June 15, 2013

A day in the life...Saturday 8th June

The ease of the iPhone camera and instagram and a battery I kept forgetting to charge meant that I was not giving my SLR much love in the last few weeks.

On the list of things to do one day was to complete a "day in the life" project - the natural extension of Project Life but instead of taking one photo a day, a day of taking photos.  To document the special and the mundane to view life through the lens.  A way of reconnecting with a real camera.

Shared the thought with my blogging/project life-ing/photographing/desserting friend petitpixeldesign and the challenge was set.  We just won't 'fess up that we delayed the day by 24 hours when we forgot to get started first thing Friday morning.

A winter-y Saturday in Bendigo with a chill in the air, dappled weakened sun and a farmer's market - a festival for the camera.

Over 175 shots for the day - even with a couple of lazy do-nothing hours in the middle that didn't attract much camera attention.  Made me realise there is so much to capture.  And given me a goal to learn to make my presentation as pretty as Petit Pixels

Here's some faves 



scooter fall







I'll be the lawyer dad









the exciting purchase from the square market

old green bean coffee and crochet



mid-winter Marks street



twitter time


making yet another iMovie


hallway football


juggling

checking out the garmin stats

off on a ride

Playdough time

The excitement that your aunt brings you sushi from Melbourne (and then refuses to be in the photos)




Masterchef reactions to dinner

A little trip planning


And then it was the end of the day, time for some reality TV



Thursday, June 6, 2013

It's been a while



It's been a while since I have written here.

I got a bit worried that there were too many words about the darling baby that I missed so much, that I was becoming too monotonous.

Even thought my head is constantly full of thoughts about Thomasina, what happened when she was here, what would it be like if she was still here now, I began to notice that she wasn't in the thoughts of the rest of the world so much.  I thought I had to pull back to make others comfortable.

Life went on.  Other people had births.  Other people had deaths.  Other things got tough.  People stopped asking.  People stopped mentioning.

I tried to make the words dry up.

There were other things to do, too many things to do.  Too much of other peoples crap to deal with.

But that absolutely devastating sadness remains.  I go about my day, everyday, but Miss T is never far from my thoughts.  A sight, a sound, a smell fills my head with memories and loss.  A coincidence, a comment means it bubbles to the surface.

I feel like I am a volcano with molten lava bubbling under the surface, kept down my constant use of "mindfulness" living in the moment, "glass half full", "cognitive behaviour therapy".  The effort of getting through a day, making sure I don't upset anyone around me.

There are sweet spots, times when people show amazing kindness.  My friends who send random messages and links to let me know they are thinking about Thommy - a dress they think she would have rocked, something she would have had in her room, a photo of Harper Beckham pointing out Miss T would have worn that outfit better.  Tears at seeing the dolls pram that would have been perfect for Miss T right about now.  The thoughtfulness of an acquaintance who takes the time to mention "I am so glad I got to meet Thomasina".

For each of those, there are many, many more times when I have to hide my hurt, my upset faced with yet another act of thoughtlessness.  Do you think how it feels to me to hear about the illness or death of an elderly person who lived a long life.  Do you think how it feels to me to hear about someone with a sleepless or not feeling too flash baby - at least they have a baby that is alive.  Have you even noticed that some days are so hard.  Have you ever offered if there is something you could do to make it a little easier.

Sometimes I feel like a cartoon of a crumbling mountain - you know the scene where the cracks appear and then it crumbles to the ground in a pile.  Sometimes I fantasise about what it would be like to let the cracks spread.  What would happen if I just let the crumbling happen and didn't get out of bed.  Instead I just keep dealing with each little crack, keep putting one foot in front of the other.

I had a really rough day one day last week.  Some random things happening which meant Miss T was closer in my thoughts than some days.  And then something else went wrong.  Things bubbled up.

Made me realise that I had let slip some things that help control the bubbling.  A couple of months of missing my massages, missed gym sessions and not writing here.  I now know that I need to make sure I set aside time for these things.  To help manage the pain.  To focus on the sweet spots.