hooray for grandparents (and uncles and aunties too)

These two fabulous individuals (mr nw's parents) are looking after one very lucky baby this easter so we can run away and be all medjeeval.

These people may pop over and help too.

(sorry to the 4 people pictured for picking the dodgy photos of them, but they are my favourite ones)

hmmm

I want to preface (can you preface after something has been published?) the previous post by saying that yes I'm in an unhappy place (have been for a while) and yes, I do realise that I probably will offend someone (if not several someones) and no, that isn't my intention or desire. This in't even a delightfully passive aggressive way of being mean to my friends or a 'woe is me' thing

This is a way for me to get things off my chest and figure things out.
If you're pissy at me, let me know
I started my blog because I needed a place to rant, to get things off my chest in a way that didn't involve shouting at people.
If you think this is all about you, then may be it is. That's up to you to decide (dear god, I sound pompous)
This is an issue that has been bugging me for a while.
It just came to a head today.

I think what part of it is, is the lack of kindness and thoughtfullness I expect from people (myself included some days).

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!

I've been spending alot of time recently thinking about life, the universe, everything and I've come to the conclusion I'm not in a good place in it.

I'm bored of people bullshitting me.
I'm bored of people cancelling on me.
I'm bored of being given the watered down version of how people feel.
I'm bored of rudeness (hmm, which is what this post is bordering on).
I'm bored of people being inconsiderate.
I'm bored of self-destructive behaviour.
I'm bored of bad manners.
I'm bored of people not understanding what they mean to me.

This post is not about anyone in particular, it's about everyone.
It's about me needing to change how I percieve the world and my relationships with people.
It's about me needing to 'toughen up'.
It's about me needing to say how I feel a bit better.
It's about me needing to snap out of it and realise that it's not all about me.
It's about people needing to realise it's not all about them either.
It's about me possibly deleting this post two seconds after hitting 'publish'.

it's just been one of those afternoons

You know the ones.
Hissy-fits left right and centre and not just from the 1yr old.
It's hot, it's muggy, no-ones happy and he's sick and teething.

However, after an afternoon of temper tantrums being thrown one after the other, the dinner being thrown across the room, the bath that ended early because of a toy filled water being thrown across the room and the battle getting into a nappy and pj's, he just laid his head against me and made a happy snuffly sound

All is forgiven.

who doesn't love a personality quiz

The Everything Test

There are many different types of tests on the internet today. Personality tests, purity tests, stereotype tests, political tests. But now, there is one test to rule them all.

Traditionally, online tests would ask certain questions about your musical tastes or clothing for a stereotype, your experiences for a purity test, or deep questions for a personality test.We're turning that upside down - all the questions affect all the results, and we've got some innovative results too! Enjoy :-)

Personality You are more emotional than logical, more concerned about others than concerned about self, more atheist than religious, more loner than dependent, more lazy than workaholic, more rebel than traditional, more engineering mind than artistic mind, more cynical than idealist, more leader than follower, and more introverted than extroverted. As for specific personality traits, you are adventurous (69%), innovative (64%), intellectual (56%).

Stereotypes Young Professional 90% Old Geezer 83% Punk Rock 73%

Life Experience Sex 40% Substances 35% Travel 15%

Politics Your political views would best be described as Liberal, whom you agree with around 54% of the time.

Socioeconomic Your attitude toward life best associates you with Upper Middle Class. You make more than 0% of those who have taken this test, and 3% less than the U.S. average.

If your life was a movie, it would be rated PG-13. By the way, your hottness rank is 0%, hotter than 0% of other test takers.

TAKE THE TEST
brought to you by thatsurveysite

I can walk over here

I can walk over there

goodbye

ooh such a perfect morning

I have had one of those lovely mornings where everything just works.
Slept in (woohoo 7am)

elped get Torby ready to go to grandmamas for the day including the de rigeur sqealing o the bed whilst kicking our legs in the air.
Waltzed onto train
Perfect cup of coffee for free (buy 5 get one free)
Did useful work stuff including very complimentary meeting.
Confirmed I'm enrolled ina 2day course i wanted to go to
Left after a few hours and did some shopping.
Home, eat nummy lunch and an afternoon of slugging and warcracking ahead.
What more could a girl want.

It almost makes up for Torby 'adding a little something' to his bathwater last night.
Give you a hint. It wasn't a bunch of flowers

Tuesday Ramblings

An update on life.

Due to Torby's love of crawling and subsequent lack of walking and not falling down and wanting to crawl, we won't really be going to Festival.
Too hard to deal with any child at a camping event and once you add in big frocks, dirt and crawling, it's more than we are willing to deal with.
We will however, be going down for the set-up weekend. Much easier as no frocks, we can leave whenever we want etc.,
We may also see if the fabulous grandparents can look after him for a few days and go down by ourselves.
Eh. We'll see.
Means we can do other fun easter stuff. Just not sure what that is yet.

Also, it looks like I will become Rowany Seneschal. At least, that's the current plan. Things beyond my control may change.
It will be interesting and hopefully I will do a good job. I like Admin stuff. Mmmm databases!

You've already heard about the new 3days of work a week plan. My bargaining chip was that I now get to start earlier than 'coretime' allows. Means I left work at 4pm yesterday but had done 9hrs 10mins of work (not inc. lunch) It's a bit cunning.
My boss has also just approved a 2 day Project management course-y thing for me in April. Hurrah!

I finished a sewing thing!!! w00t I say!
A lovely pair of white linen hose. All hand sewn. So cute. Now I just need SOMEONE *cough* BT *cough* to finish my garters.
So, I think any sewing I may be doing on the weekend will be for the ever lovely JD so she will not be narkoo at Festival.
She's making a lot of German stuff. Nothing more German-y than posing under a tree wearing nothing more than a chemise, hat and wispy diaphanous veil. I shall hem the veil for her :)

What noise do puppies make?

A kind of Bwowwowow noise if you believe my son.

We read a lot of Hairy Macleary books at casa de huntington-smythe and our particular favourite is Caterwaul Caper

Quite particularly the pages in which all the dogs are underneath the tree that Scarface Claw is trapped in and they all make a noise
'Yip Yip" said Schnitzel von Krum
'Bow Wow Wow Wow' said Bitzer Malony
and so forth

From the repeated readings of this page (and I do mean repeated) Torby has started making the Bwowowow noise a lot.
Mostly at pictures in books and as he thrusts the book at you to read one more time.

This morning, he saw our cat and Bwowowow-ed at her.

We nearly wet ourselves.

For Sale : One Baby

Comes complete with the following;

Ear Infection
Upper Respiratory Tract Infection
Chronic Nappy Rash
Teething
High Pitched Squeal
Clinginess
Temper Tantrums
Refusal of all Food Except Grapes and Corn

Please make offer.
Extra discount given to Gypsies

The pants that make my ass look great but make my legs look short

I'm a huuuge fan of the Threadbared website and this post in particular.

What will yours say?

just so Finn can fill it in..

Grabbed from Wenchilada's LJness

Tell me about yourself.
cut and paste into the commenst and respond.

1. Can you cook?

2. What was your dream growing up?

3. What talent do you wish you had?

4. Favorite place?

5. Favorite vegetable?

6. What was the last book you read?

7. What zodiac sign are u ?

8. Any Tattoos and/or Piercings?

9. Worst Habit?

10. Do we know each other outside of the interweb?

11. What is your favorite sport?

12. Negative or Optimistic attitude?

13. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?

14. Worst thing to ever happen to you?

15. Tell me one weird fact about you:

16. Do u have any pets?

17. Do u know how to do the macerana?

18. What time is it where u are now?

19. Do you think clowns are cute or scary?

20. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?

21. Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?

22. What color eyes do you have?

23. Ever been arrested?

24. Bottle or Draft?

25. If you won $10,000 dollars today, what would you do with it?

26. What kind of bubble gum do you prefer to chew?

27. What 's your favorite bar to hang at?

28. Do you believe in ghosts?

29. Favorite thing to do in your spare time?

30. Do you swear a lot?

31. Biggest pet peeve?

32. In one word, how would you describe yourself?

33. Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?

here's one i prepared earlier

my next recipe is called
'DV's piss-easy 6P pasta'

Step 1
chop up some pumpkin into cubes, toss with a little (i do mean a little) bit of sesame oil and salt and lashings of pepper throw onto baking sheet with a some whloe garlic and bake until yummy.
Step 2
dry fry some pine-nuts, put in bowl. Fry some chopped up pancetta or prosciutto.
Step 3
boil some penne
step 4
boil some peas
Step 5
Combine all ingredients plus lashings of mint (trust me) and some basil and some yummy olive oil and some parmesan.
Step 6
Eat. Maybe with extra parmesan.

Tip.
if feeding filthy lovely vegetarians, put pancetta in seperate bowl to be added individually. This way they become what is known as 'meat sprinkles'

working 7 to 3, what a way to make a living

And now I'm doing it for three days a week, not just the two I've been enjoying for a while.
I'm so good to my boss.
Well, that and they'll pay me.

spotted on a t-shirt yesterday

Just because you have one,

doesn't mean you can't be one.

oh, the sluggyness

I've had a delightful weekend.
There was the girlie night including the late night drinking. (see previous post)
There was the lovely dinner cooked by Mr Tops last night despite three babies going ballistic all at once.
There was the visit to the Portugese Fair at Petersham today and the gorging on tarts.
There was the shopping with well-rested child.
There was the naps.
There was the delicious roast lambykins cooked on the barbecue.
There was the playing of World of Warcraft and the watching of my 'stories'.

It was lovely and low-key and I didn't have to clean or cook (for more than two people).
What more could a girl ask for.

A 12 yr hunchbacked zombie wharfie

Last night, was a very very enjoyable evening having a 'ladies night' watching A Hazard of Hearts at my sisters house.

The movie is remarkably bad (I don't want to give away any major plot points, but there are smugglers, gambling, cads and blaggards), the acting suitably atrocious, and much mirth (and maybe some wine) was had. Helena Bonham Carter really does walk and look like a 12 yr hunchbacked zombie wharfie.

I haven't laughed so hard in a long while.
5 stars

food, delicious food

I've just been catching up on some of my favourite porn sites food blogs, which remnded me that people have asked for a few of my recipes.

Bear (that doesn't look right) with me, a lot of my cooking is done by feel and taste and smell and whatever is in the fridge.

The first one is Nachos.
This is based on the 'recipe' given to me by my sister Meaghan. it's what MrNw woo-ed me with when we first started going out. If a boyfrend is willing to call up your sister who is also a friend of his to get her nachos recipe because you miss it knowing full well that he will be lauged at and mocked, you should keep him.

So, to feed about 6-8 people you will need,
The goo
3 tins of beans, I usually use 2 mexe-beans and 1 red kidney bean but any sort of combo is fine.
1 jar of fire roasted red peppers
onion
garlic
2 packets taco seasoning
1 jar tomato passata
a capsicum
can refried beans

Cut onion into slices and fry off in teensy amount of oil with the garlic, add the jar of red peppers that has been drained of most of it's oil.
Add real capsicum that has been slicedinto strips.
throw in drained beans
add taco seasoning and two empty bean cans of water.
add refried beans
add in some of the passata. You want a runn but not too runny consistency. let simmer on stove until it looks about right.

get two baking dishes, add corn chips and a little bit of grated cheese, top with goo and more cheese.
Bung in oven until brown and yummy

Guacamole
Chop some red onion (maybe a quarter), coriander (lots) and chili (depending on how hot you like it) uber fine and throw into a motrar, or is it pestle? Eh, whichever one is the bowl. smush up with some salt and a little bit of lime juice. When it has formed a paste, add to avocado and stir through,.

Put on top of nachos with lashngs of salsa and sour cream and eat untill you feel sick.


I don't think I've forgotten to mention anything.

At least it's not Charlotte

In the corner of our shower we have 2 daddy-long-legs spiders.
I like them, they remind me of growing up amongst the hordes of them that lived in our bathroom, toilet, anywhere really.
They remind me of the time dad passed on the little factoid that they have one of the most deadly poisons ever inside them... (it was abig pause as I got whiter and whiter) but thehad short blunt little fangs that couldn't hurt me.

I have called them George & Georgina

A party to celebrate my ageification

We had my birthday party yesterday to celebrate me being a big grown-up.

It was fun and casual and had lots of children.
It's the way I like my parties these days.
So very very different to my 21st.
Although I think I stayed up later at this party than at my 21st.

Thanks to my friends who came and helped me celebrate this milestone.
It meant a lot.

I want this song

If anyone has a copy or can get a copy of this song for me, I will love you forever.

MC LARS LYRICS

"Mr. Raven"

We got EAP in the house tonight, Edgar Allan Poe.
America's favorite anti-transcendentalist.
We're taking this back, way back, nineteenth century style.

[CHORUS]
Who's that (who's that) rapping?
Who's that rapping at my chamber door?
Mr. (mister) Raven!
All up in my grill like, "Nevermore."

Kick it! Once upon a midnight dreary, while I kicked it weak and weary,
Dark and cold just like Lake Eerie, Brand New sample, someone clear me.
While I nodded nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping.
Up like, "What?", this thunder clapping in my brain like graphic Halflings.
Staffing me, I put down Milton. Cell phone mute like Paris Hilton.
Open window, halfway built-in. Times a changing like Bob Dylan.
Twenty-pound bird black as could be, cold feet cold eyes aimed straight at me.
Grim face, grim stare, death carnivore, quothe that raven "Nevermore."

[REPEAT CHORUS]

I miss Lenore, my Annabel Lee, taken by angels from me.
Alone with books (hey that's me!), harbinger of death visiting me.
I said, "Can I help you, evil prophet? If you got a problem, look, I'll solve it."
He checked my hook, DJ revolved it, perched on Pallas, chalice dropped it.
"Tell me sir, please, if you can. Am I good or evil man?
What can I say, what can I do, when will I be rid of you?"
"Nevermore," quothe he at me, hating on this fresh MC,
Satanic raven, Niche glee, killing me softly like the Fugees.
Now I feel worse, my verse is terse, joy inverse just like Fred Durst.
Call a nurse, disperse my thirst‰ put this process in reverse.
Wish I•d had some warning first, MC Lars, '88 hearse.
Now I'll never be Slug or Murs, under that black raven's curse.
The raven•s eyes still have the seeming of a demon that is dreaming,
Lamplight over him still streaming, hear my screaming, hearme screaming!
My soul still floats there on that floor and shall be lifted nevermore.
Afflicted calm, like Michael Moore, canonized piece, US folklore.

[REPEAT CHORUS]

Who's house? Raven's house!


It was around a few years ago and made me laugh a lot.

I wants it.

This stuff amuses me. Sad, I know

1. What is your occupation?
Umm, I actually don't know my title anymore. I do reports and analysis on leave (mostly sick leave at this point) for a section of NSWP
2. What color are your socks right now?
Not wearing any. last ones I wore were a dusky blue
3. What are you listening to right now?
The sound of my child opening and closing the front door
4. What was the last thing that you ate?
Some peanut butter on toast
5. Can you drive a manual car?
Nope. Can't drive any sort of car
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
I would like to say soemthing exotic like burnt siena, but probably just brown or black
7. Last person you spoke to on the phone?
A friend about borrowing my old purple shorts to wear to a sports carnival at the school he teaches at
8. How old are you today?
30
9. Favorite drink?
White Wine
10. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Does Gymnastics count?
11. Have you ever dyed your hair?
Dye early, dye often is my motto
12. Pets?
A cat called Stampy Aloysius Huntington-Smyth the first (the frst born child substitute)
13. Favorite food?
Really couldn't tell you as it changes repeatedly. Yep, I'm fickle
14. What was the last movie you watched?
Miss Potter
15. Favorite day of the year?
My birthday or Christmas or our Anniversary
16. What do you do to vent anger?
Storm around the house being grumpy/throw things (soft toys) or cry usually
17. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Marvin the Monkey.
18. What is your favorite, autumn or spring?
Spring probably
19. Hugs or kisses?
Depends on who from
20. Vanilla ice cream or chocolate?
Vanilla
24. Living arrangements?
One husband, One child, One cat
25. When was the last time you cried?
This morning - some sad story in the magazine
26. What is on the floor of your closet?
Too much stuff to mention
28. What did you do last night?
Played World of Warcraft until 12:30am
29. Favorite smells?
Clean laundry
30. What inspires you?
Courage
31. What are you afraid of?
axe-wielding maniacs under the bed
32. Plain, cheese or with-the-lot hamburgers?
the lot, no tomato
33. Favorite dog breed?
Dobermen Pinscher
34. How many years at your current job?
4
35. How many states have you lived in?
2
36. Have you ever been on a motorcycle or driven machinery?
yes to both
37. Favorite TV show?
Lots. enjoying watching old Will & Grace episodes at the moment
38. Favorite day of the week?
Saturday
39. Is your house phone a cordless?
Yes
40. Ten centimetres of snow, or 40 degrees C?
Oh, the snow.

If you want to do your own, please do.

Intelligent design?? Don't make me laugh

Whichever monkey/ape/homo erectus/whatever it was that decided to keep the whole 'my body will just try to push these great big lumps of enamel up out of my gums' thing, as a lot to answer for.

Surely we should have evolved past this.

Don't even get me started on the whole childbirth issue.

my niece

So, in case you didn't know (i.e living under a rock) it was my birthday on Tuesday.

I was around at Meg's house before we went out to dinner

My eldest niece announced very very excitedly that she got me a present, 'helped' me to open it, accepted my compliments on choosing a particularly gorgeous handbag from Leo Monk (oh how I love handbags), denied getting any help from her mother, insisted I then look at the card (which had strangely enough been signed in strange two yr old-esque writing by isobel, zoe, mum & dad, hmmmm) and take it in and out of the envelope, remark on how it's got leaves (that man's a skellington, I've got new socks) on it and then get distracted by some type of shiny thing.

Yep, I think we're related!