Rhythms and Blues

(Remember Biorhythms? They were big in the '70s')

I think I've worked out my rhythms.  No, not those bodily functions, way past that.  I've realised that my moods have a kind of pattern.  Sometimes they are influenced by events and what's happening around me and sometimes they build up over a static period in my life and I feel like I might sink into a really big, black hole.  And until I experience a bit of the 'Black Dog', I can't feel the euphoric rush of creative inspiration afterwards.

This has happened recently where for some time after my trip to Christchurch I became more and more moody, OK let's say depressed, for no particular reason.  It could have been the effects of seeing that beautiful city in ruins, it could have been the experience of feeling the tragedy through my body when I entered a vacant lot which housed one of the buildings where many died.  It could just simply be the effort of daily life of working and being a mum when I returned home.  No big problems in my life, I live a very fortunate life (these days!) in a very fortunate country.  I'm very, very lucky.  So when that crappy mood hits me I also carry the guilt of having no good reason to feel like shit.

That's when something has to happen to break the blah's.  And it usually comes in the form of a night out with fun people, good music and a bit of drunken dancing (unfortunately its immediately followed in the morning by what my Mum used to call "a sick headache", otherwise known as a screaming hangover).  It was a last minute offer from Mr Moneymaker's little sister, Aunty Moo, last Thursday for a night out and I jumped at the chance.  I'd just had two weeks of spending my school holidays being a taxi driver for Nugget's and Chicken's activities, the first week with no backup as Mr Moneymaker was in China.

I was also getting very frustrated with my lack of sewing skills during my 'Mess Makeover', turning our garage into a kids' paradise.  Somewhere in the last 32 years I have lost all of my sewing skills - I can't even put a straight hem on a curtain!

So along with quite a few days of domestic bickering (which always seem to happen after Mr M returns from an overseas trip), I was VERY ready to let loose.  There was a bit of logistics to work out (daughter had to be dropped off at work and picked up and taken to a sleepover while her brother was going to be left alone at home while we were at dinner) and unfortunately Mr Moneymaker would miss out on the after dinner fun at the pub.  Though his sister Moo couldn't wait - she almost jumped out of her skin when I told her it was Live Band Karaoke Night!

Great night, singing, dancing and yes some amount of vodka was consumed (with the inevitable 'sick headache' the next morning).  Aunty Moo outdid herself (she's a very talented singer) with the last song of the night, "These boots were made for walking".

It took me a couple of days to notice the change in rhythm in my mood but it did change.  After a fairly relaxing weekend and some interesting Twitter conversations, I found myself suddenly full of inspiration and creativity - ideas for my blog, a business concept and a way where I could use my administration skills to put together a network for back-to-work mums.

For now I've got my groove back and as long as I keep the momentum up, I can keep the Black Dog at bay.

How do you keep yourself on the up?

*Joining up with Essentially Jess and IBOT*

Love the Web, but books are better - and TV of course

(these are just some of the books by my bed I will get through eventually)

I do love a good book.  Unfortunately I try to read too many at once (I'm in the middle of four at the moment), which is another symptom of my "ooh look and the bright shiny thing" syndrome.  But as I've been set a task for one of these books, I'm promising myself to get through one at a time, starting with:

(this is me multitasking in bed - book, choc, tv, laptop all in bed)

My Notorious Life by Madame X - a book by Kate Manning which is for a review with the wonderful guys at Soup.  I'm quite enjoying it as it's based on a true story about a woman in New York City during the late 1880's who became infamous for being a midwife who not only helped women with birthing but also with birth control and also terminations.  The style is written as if it was from Madame X's journals and some of the words are annoyingly asterisk'ed out which is supposed to reflect the times when a lot of literature was censored but I believe (and 99% of the other reviewers on the Soup forum) as it was written based on a personal journal, it realistically should not be censored.  And it wasn't referring to words that we all haven't heard before - particularly the medical terms!

(find Kaz Cooke's ebooks here)

Another bright and shiny thing that had me occupied the other night when I really should have been cleaning out my laptop (and no, that's not code), is one of my favourite authors, Kaz Cooke, has brought out really useful ebooks for us all.  She was a bit of a lifesaver back when I was first expecting, with her book "Up The Duff" - so much more practical than all those other pregnancy bibles, it's a good chuckle and written in a language I could relate to.  I highly recommend checking out these very inexpensive ebooks and if you know someone who could use the free "Escaping Control & Abuse: How to Get Out of a Bad Relationship & Recover From Assault", please pass it on.  I'm not in any sort of sponsorship deal or even know Kaz Cooke personally, I just really admire her work.

Now seeing I'm writing this while watching TV, I need to have a bit about what I'm enjoying at the moment.  Right this moment I'm laughing at Alan Carr: The Chatty Man.  He's talking to Jennifer Saunders who I've always loved, way back when she was 'French & Saunders' (I still sing that phrase every time instead of saying it - look it up if you don't know what I'm talking about) to being obsessed with Absolutely Fabulous to the extent I video taped every episode when it aired on TV the first time.

(here's a clip of the best of Series 1 & 2)

So there's a little bit of what I've been reading, browsing and watching lately.  And it's a great distraction from my Mess Makeover project which after the shopping at Ikea part became quite frustrating when I couldn't work out how to use the sewing machine - big domestic fail.  But here's a hint of what it might look like in the end:

*Joining With Some Grace FYBF*