The latest in Magoolieland.

In the physical world, a whole lot has been going on. In the pixel world, notsomuch. Our family’s reality has changed quite a bit since we moved back to Australia. The hubby has to travel more and work longer hours in his work life, I’ve had to find a part time job (which I started last week and I’m loving) and we have so many more people to catch up with. I thought it would all make my brain explode but strangely, it’s just become part of the new normal. My family is still grieving over the loss of my Dad two months ago and although I won’t go into it, it has been a tough road so far and I know it will be tough for a while to come. Aspen had a ‘Grandparents Afternoon Tea’ at her daycare last week which was really special. We’re very grateful that we get to spend time with our ‘Glammy’ even if Grumpah isn’t here too.

Aspen has settled into the whole daycare thing really well and has also pretty much sorted out toilet training too. It’s such a relief for me as she’s been pretty slow to take on board new things in the past (crawling, walking, she’s still not talking at her age level – my theory is that she just has to do things at her own pace when she’s comfortable to do it). We’ve even made some new friends. I got to meet Kelly of Be a Fun Mum last week. It was great to meet someone I clicked with and who also has some wonderful kids who get along with Aspen. I love it when that happens! I’ve also been finding new cute places in the area – I recently discovered Moo and Bear in Morningside and am already ogling a few things as stocking stuffers!

This weekend was spent in the pool at our place and at a friend’s. We also got to feed kangaroos and check out the koalas at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. It’s been really lovely. In the land of blogging however, things haven’t been going as smoothly as they previously have. After more than half of my blog content was deleted, the wind went out of my sails. I seriously considered packing it in if I lost all my readers because of it. I have also had many hurdles reinstating my blog business (if you make money from your blog, you really should be trading as a business in order to invoice advertisers/do paid guest posting, etc) so in the background, the email machine has all but stopped. I’m hoping that since my readers DIDN’T disappear as I had expected and my tax stuff SHOULD be sorted in the next two weeks, I can get back to business as usual. Don’t give up on Li’l Magoolie just yet, please!

The biggest things that’s been weighing on my mind blog-wise is that I’d like to raise some money for charity this year instead of doing giveaways at Christmas but I’ve been wracking my brain about the most effective way to do it that will earn lots of money for a charity and have gotten nowhere. In the meantime, it’s almost Christmas and I’ve probably missed the boat. The longer I think about it, the less chance I have of doing anything at all. I got a kick up the butt yesterday when I read a quote by Mother Theresa: “If you can’t feed a hundred people, just feed one”. Even if this comes together at the last minute with only a few products and money raised, it will still be money that can be used by those in need. By hook or by crook, I’m going to do it. Stay tuned in the next couple of days for a last-minute Christmas charity fundraiser idea. I’m thinking a ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ charity auction. Also, for those advertisers who’ve been patiently waiting for me to answer their emails, I’m going to put together a special linked sponsor post for a super cheap price which you can list your business on if you’re interested. Again, give me a couple days to figure it out.

I have also been asked to contribute to Houzz.com – you may have noticed the reference to my ‘ideabook’ on the right hand side. I pick a topic and find some of my favourite products in that category from all over the internets. Feel free to click over and have a squiz! Also, I’m recreating my printables which were deleted – starting with the No-Glue Favour Box (it also works wonderfully as an Advent Calendar). Because I spent tonight recreating it, new posts won’t be back until Tuesday. Sorry about that.

…So the blog should be back to normal by the end of the year so it’ll hit the ground running in 2012. As for our little family, we’re slowly getting used to the crazy heat of Brisbane again and settling into life here surprisingly well. Just thought I’d share where things are at. Back to the sweltering heat!

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