Ulog No. 36: "Back from Hibernation"

It has been almost two weeks since my last post. I really needed that time to recharge, get things sorted out, take a break and clear my mind of things that had been bothering me for weeks. Quitting university (or putting it on hold, as I may decide to resume my studies in the future) has definitely helped me unload the huge burden that was on my shoulders for months. When I was enrolled in Uni, it felt like there was a lump in my throat, or that my neck, arms and legs were chained, or something really heavy was weighing me down that I could not breathe at all.

Thankfully, by the grace of God, I am in good spirits now and at peace after making a major decision in life. I know that I made the right decision when I felt nothing but peace and joy afterwards. I have the support of my husband and he understands why I need to quit Uni, which in doing so will affect my current employment at school, but again by the grace of God, the outcome is not that much of a big deal - only that my pay rate will decrease by a few dollars starting Term 4 (commencing in October 15th this year). I am still grateful that I am still employed in the same centre doing the job (I call it my "ministry") that I really love. God is really good! I could not ask for more!

I apologise, by the way, to those who commented on my previous post, I have read the messages but was not able to reply - I am really sorry, but I want to thank you @minismallholding, @quochuy, @bananamemos and @eaglespirit from the bottom of my heart.

The past couple of weeks though was pretty eventful for me.

I took the Australian Citizenship test and got 100%. I will formally pledge to be an Australian citizen in an oath taking ceremony which I still don't know at this stage when that's going to be. I was told I had to wait 6-8 weeks for the schedule. All I know is that I'm really excited and I can't wait to have an Australian passport. I am still Filipino by heart but I consider Australia as my home now.

One of the South Australian country shows was held in our town showgrounds on the 18th and 19th of August. Our school always participates in the show by setting up a Play Shed as well as School Coffee Corner, which is one of many ways that we serve the community. The Play Shed provided a free, quiet place for families to spend time to rest and relax in the midst of the busyness of the shows and carnival rides. Two days prior to the Show, I was delegated the task to prepare some simple crafts and activities for children who would be coming in to the Play Shed.

Some of the activities were the following:

Sand Filled Stress Balls

Mini-Golf

Rocket Craft and Faerie Wands

There was also a photo booth, bowling, calm corner, baby toys area and shaving foam sensory tray (always a big hit every year). I was rostered to do double shift on Saturday (August 18th), unfortunately, I couldn't go because my husband's distant relative passed away on Wednesday that week and the funeral was on the same day as the Show. My mother-in-law, John and I drove to Adelaide on Saturday the 18th. We left our town at 6 AM and arrived at the church just before the funeral service started.

We didn't get back home until Sunday night, so it meant that we had to pick up our cats, Kimmy and Miki, on Monday. Another night that I had to miss my cats.

This week is another busy week for all of us, teachers and educators. On Tuesday, we had another Bush Kindy session. We had bonfire and children enjoyed roasting marshmallows. I bought 3 bags of marshmallows but now I know, one bag is enough even for a big group of children. We don't want to feed them with lots of sugar unless we want more stress throughout the day. The highlight of our day was meeting Jack, the Joey.

It was my first time to see a baby kangaroo, let alone touch it. It's one of the cutest things I have ever seen!!! But poor thing, the mother kangaroo died so Jack will be weaned and nurtured by a very nice couple who found them on the bush.

Because I wanted to surprise the children at our Centre, I decided to make a Grug costume. It was a last-minute decision because I am not really comfortable dressing up. But because there's a child in our Centre who loves Grug, I thought if I dress up as Grug, that would make his day.

This child is obsessed with Grug that he always carries a Grug book everywhere, or if he's not playing with his peers, he is at the writing table drawing Grug and the scenes in the Grug book, such as playground, Grug's house, mailbox, roads connecting his house to the playground, hospital, school, etc.).

On Thursday, I was not even prepared for the Dress-up Day. I worked full day shift and got home around 5 PM. Before going home, I went to Harris Scarfe, Target and Cheap-as-Chips (there are not many shops in our country town, unfortunately) to look for a costume because I realised I should participate in our school event. However, I couldn't find any costume. I thought this should not happen again. Next year, I will prepare for Book Week starting February so I won't have to rush to find a costume.

So I went home with nothing. I searched Google and Pinterest for ideas, and I thought maybe I could do a Grug costume. I thought I'd need a skirt, a hula hoop, and brown and yellow paper. I found a long skirt in my closet (I only have 1 skirt that is long enough for this costume). The problem was that I didn't have paper and a hula hoop, and not to mention, my husband and I had to go to a house dinner we were invited to. Clearly, I didn't have time to pull this off. I told John we should go to my school first before going to dinner because I needed just a few things. And so we went. I found a small hula hoop and brown and yellow crepe paper - perfect!!!

Then we went to dinner. We stayed until 10:15 PM and all I was thinking was I was running out of time to make this costume. I could not ask John for us to leave so soon. He hardly goes out and he's really enjoying his time. So I decided I would just be patient and forget about what I needed to do. If I could not finish the costume, so be it. I would not dress up for book week, and besides, I never really liked dressing up anyway.

As soon as we got home, I went straight into the study room to start working on my costume. The adhesive spray that I bought a few months ago came in handy. I used it to spray on to the skirt so the crepe paper would stick. I thought this was quite easy. When I tried to put it on, the paper fell apart, and I realised putting the skirt on was the difficult part. I was getting frustrated. I decided I would just watch Netflix for the time being whilst I calm myself down.

After an hour, I went back and resumed working on my costume. I analysed what the problem was with my costume. First, the glue had not set in when I decided to put the costume on. Bad mistake. Of course, it needed time to dry up, otherwise, all the paper would just fall apart.

Second, the skirt was not big or loose enough. It had to be loose so I would not stretch the fabric when it was time to put it on.

Lastly, I was just being impatient. I wanted to try it on as soon as I saw the costume I was making looked so cute. And it was also because the fact that I didn't have time left anymore. It was already almost midnight and I wanted to go to bed as quickly as I could. But my impatience cost me even more time to consume for this costume, and I needed extra time to gather myself and calm down. When I thought I was ready, I resumed working on my costume again.

All I needed to do was to have PATIENCE and problem solving skills!

• Skirt - not big enough? Fine, I cut the skirt all the way from the bottom part up to the waist part, but not entirely so that the waist part would be around my neck (I hope you get what I mean).

• Not enough crepe paper? I'm glad that I didn't rip all the paper that I had already used the first time. I carefully removed some of the paper from the skirt that didn't stick and used them again.

• I WILL NOT TRY THE COSTUME ON ONCE IT'S DONE!

I finished the costume in less than an hour, and I went to bed around 2 AM. I know! It's crazy! I could have finished at 12 midnight had I thought about this before... but everything we do always involves TRIAL AND ERROR AND PERSISTENCE!

I placed the costume on the back rest of a chair and left it there to dry. I woke up at 7:30 AM, had a quick shower, got ready, neatly and carefully folded my costume and put it inside a paper bag, and arrived at school at 8:40A.M. I wasn't late, thank God!

Then I asked one of the teachers to help me put the costume on. The paper did not fall apart. Yay!!! Then I went out and the children, especially that child who's obsessed with Grug, were very excited and said, "Mrs. V, you're Grug!" Children were, of course, dressed up in their costumes, and they all looked so cute!!! We had Catboy and Gecko of PJ Masks. There were also 3 Dorothy's from the Wizard of Oz. Red Fox. Horton, the Elephant. Kangaroo with a Joey in her pouch. Little Red Riding Hood. Nemo. Cowboy. Little Mermaid. Ninja Turtle. The teachers at our Centre wore a pirate suit, Winnie the Pooh and Grug - that's me!

And then I came home to a news update that AUSTRALIA HAS A NEW PRIME MINISTER! I guess the only drawback of being an Australian citizen is compulsory voting but not being able to vote for the head of the government or of the country. I have nothing against who the Prime Minister is, but how often the Prime Minister is replaced in this country, which is quite funny. Actually, there is a "Keep Calm" image that's going around on social media that says:

Yep, I am keeping calm! Hahaha!!!! Thank you for reading! If you have any comment or feedback, please reply in the comment section below. Thanks and bye for now!

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_{All photos are my own, except for the Discord banners (provided by @baa.steemit, @steembulls, @flaminghelpers, and @itestify), #ulogger GIF file by @phantum04 and footer image by @bearone of @teamaustralia.}