sleep

Boston’s Room – A Photo Update

by Chavah Kinloch on January 17, 2011

He’s in everyone! It’s not completely finished, I still have to accessorise and add a few extra things but for the most part, the hard work is over. I’m letting out a huge sigh of relief.

We spent just a few hours on Saturday finishing off the paint job and moving furniture in once it was dry. It didn’t take long at all and with grey overcast weather it was the perfect temperature to work  on this room.

Boston is smitten with his new space. He runs around in it like a psycho, squealing with glee. In fact, the other children do the same thing. What’s even better is that we haven’t had any sleeping issues either, he’s adapted like a pro. I love my kids for always doing that!

Boston wanted to get involved. It’s as though he really understood that this was HIS room. He’d helped sand and put on plaster already (or so he thinks) and this weekend he thought he’d help paint and put the doorhandles back on.

I discovered that these new paint colours make an awesome backdrop for photographs (see above and below).

And now, without further ado, here are some photos to update you on this room. I’ve added the extra things to come, into the photos, to give you an idea of what will be coming into the space. We’re so close to finishing!

Also, I have come to a conclusion on fabric! Yes indeed, I have chosen something :D Now I just have to work out how much I need and how soon I can get it. Darn the start of the school year for taking all my money.

Because I’m such a great hostess here at Creating My Reality, I made sure to take some photos of fabrics that caught my eye while I was out hunting on the weekend. There were 2 major contenders but the one I’ve picked is actually one that has been on my mind for a few months. I spotted it in the store on a previous visit and have brought it up in multiple conversations. When we were back at the store on the weekend I had to have my husband dig through masses of fabric to find this specific roll again. He’s so good to me. Thank you honey.

All this time since I’d first spotted the fabric, I’d been trying to figure out if I could use it in this room or not. I was leaning towards not but after seeing all of the furniture in the room, I believe I can. There’s still plenty of visual space for me to clutter up with colours and patterns so I’m going for it. The whole concept behind this room was to create a space that entered into my mindspace; stylishly quirky, full of colour, love and art.

The fabric I’ve chosen is also a lot kinder on the wallet than it’s runner up. Strangely that didn’t come into the equation this time around but I’ll count it as a huge bonus.

Can you guess which one I’ve picked?

I do love all of these fabrics and hope to get my hands on each of them but the fabric I’ve chosen to use for the curtains is….

Fabirc #2. Obviously…because it’s yellow/black and white. *blush*

My runner up was the colourful polka dot fabric next to it; which costs about 4 x the price.

And that, my dear friends is where I’m up to. So far, so good! It’s all worth it.

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21 Days of Accountability – Day 6

by Chavah Kinloch on August 17, 2010

Where did he go?!

Today the only thing on my mind is sleep. So that’s the theme for the day. I mentioned yesterday that Boston was up all night and day screaming. (He doesn’t cry, he yells at the top of his lungs.) Well lucky for me, he did the exact same thing last night and this morning… and is still carrying on but has stopped long enough for me to blog. Oh wait, did I say lucky? I meant WTH!!! I hate that after kids get sick they think it’s ok to change their entire routine.

I’m now battling a migraine and poor Andrew isn’t in good shape either.  We’ve got it sorted though. I had an epiphany in amidst all the screaming at 4am and he’s getting chucked in his sisters’ room while she bunks in with the boys for the next 2 weeks as we try and churn out the rest of his room renovation, finally. Coz you know…renovating with a bunch of kids around and no sleep is easy as pie… Wish me luck.

The sleep thing is frustrating for a few reasons.

1) I’m finally feeling tired like a regular person and it’s exciting to think that if I fall asleep before dawn I might be able to enjoy a morning. I want this really badly.

2) I am a terrible person when I’m sleep deprived.

3) I have no energy after being up all night. (Still working out though. )

4) In order to lose weight and for my body to recover from the exercise, I have to sleep to promote the growth hormone that restores muscle. Sleep is a key ingredient!

So now that I’ve written this (with a now screaming again kid on my lap) I’m going to go do more Mum stuff.

My challenge for today – get some sleep!

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The Heck With Sugar and Spice

by Chavah Kinloch on August 2, 2010

Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts. That’s what little girls are made of! The heck with sugar and spice.

Bethany Hamilton

I came across this quote a few months ago and have wanted to share it since then. Isn’t it great? It takes us women out of the ‘sweet’ box and shows that we’re just as intent on doing what we really want to do as any man out there.

I’m sorry for being so quiet last week. I had an awful week as far as rest goes. I spent the entire weekend sleeping and cleaning because I was barely able to function after five days of insomnia.

I don’t mind the lack of sleep, what bugs me is how badly it affects my ability to string sentences together. It renders me incapable of focusing and in turn my essential daily communication and work suffers. So all going well, this week we’re back to normal!

I’ve got some new businesses to introduce you to this week, by women who were once little girls but have grown to fit the exact description in the quote above. Well, maybe, like me, there’s still a bit of sugar and spice in them hehe. I look forward to sharing their details with you! I hope you’ll join me.

Catch you then :D

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Suffering From Insomnia

by Chavah Kinloch on January 3, 2010

I’ve only encountered a handful of people out there like myself. We’re the insomniacs. The ones that lie awake in bed while others sleep peacefully, blissfully unaware of any sleeping difficulties. I swear, I will lie in bed awake for at least 3 hours, no matter what time I head to bed. 8:30pm, 12am, 3am…Even if I’m really tired I’ll slip into bed thinking “Great, I’m so tired tonight, yay! I’ll fall asleep easily.” but then nothing.

Insomnia is defined by:

  • Difficulty initiating sleep
  • Difficulty maintaining sleep
  • Early morning awakening
  • Non restorative sleep

This will, by far, be my biggest hurdle in getting my fit healthy self back (aside from that pelvis thing). From my past experience I learned that we need to boost testosterone in order to build muscle and create ‘growth hormone’ – the thing that restores cell damage. Yes, I know I’m female and testosterone is that thing that guys have. We do have a bit of it in us too though ladies.

Do you know how to boost this growth hormone? There are a couple of ways but primarily it’s SLEEP. More sleep = more testosterone = more growth hormone = more muscle = more calories burned = slimmer me = happy healthy me again!

Work out hard, eat right, sleep well. It all looks so simple written down. Not so simple when you’re running your own business, have 4 small children, 1 of which wakes up multiple times a night due to teething, another that just woke up complaining of a sore stomach, another that had a blood nose at 1am and one more that basically yells all night and wakes you up all the time because you think you hear crying….it looks like I passed on some weird sleep issue to that one!

I’ll sort it out though. I’ve done it before, I can do it again. I read an article when I was a teen that mentioned most people fall asleep within 7 minutes. I remember lying in my bed as a teen and willing myself to be like a regular person. I eventually managed to master falling asleep within 7 minutes. Then I became a Mum. So for about 1 year of my life, I slept well.

The others I know that have sleep issues are the creative type. I tend to think that’s why I have such a hard time. What happens is that as soon as my head hits the pillow and I’m done focusing on my daily life, images and ideas start to flood my mind. It’s not just one or two things. It’s HUNDREDS at a time. I can literally see things in my mind as though they were right in front of me (not in a crazy way lol). I can hear words for ideas to create something the next day, week, month etc. It’s nuts.

Some nights I’ll sit up and write hurriedly in a book or piece of paper that I keep nearby and others I’m so exhausted and my eyes feel like they’re burning because they’re so tired that I just have to lie there with these images going round and round in my head until the next morning when everyone else is awake and I’m finally tired enough to dead myself to the world.

So, you can see my dilemma. I LOVE the creative part of myself. It helps make a lot of things in life extremely easy for me. Sleep, however is not one them. So wish me luck. I’m out to conquer this beast that has forever plagued me.

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