Tuesday 31 March 2009

what a day

Wake up at some inhuamn time, read book, try to fall back asleep, toss and turn in disgust for a bit, give in and move to the couch.
Read book on couch and eventually pass out for a few more hours.
Wake up at still inhuman but at least reasonable hour.
Hve shower to wash the zombie away.
Sit on couch and read until munchkin wakes up and is cute.

Discover stupid car parked in front of our driveway.
Hmm no way to get our car out.
Police called, fines written, spare keys found by someone else in stupid car owners house.
Car moved.

Dropped Torby off at daycare very very very late.
Got to work in time to check my emails and then leave to go donate blood.
Donated blood. Very careful to read my book while the man put the needle in. Still Ow!
Felt woogy and flushed so made to wait in chair for a few more minutes before being released to go drink my milkshake and eat my sausage roll and cake. Made appointment for 6weeks time to do it all again.

Came home.

Lay on couch.

Played warcrack while eating lunch and drinking lots of water.

Nw and Torby come home and are cute.

Fight Club and the sewing and the late dinner and the overtired child wrangling and the organising campsites.

Back on couch and gathering energy to change sheets on the bed before collapsing into it with vows to sleep through the night.

*Yaaaaawwwnnn*

Monday 30 March 2009

amusing



C&H

thumpy

Have been looking at tiny writing and my screen all day.

Now have thumpy thumpy headache.

Hope the Panadol makes it go away.

thump

thump

thump

send more coffee. Stat

Friday was nachos, nachos night. Saturday was babysitting the nieces, Sunday was being a wedding dress sewing minion, feeding ducks and swamp monsters and big big fish and TURTLES!! in the park and unexpected dinner company and more sewing.

This week I give blood, get new contact lenses (I feel really odd wearing my glasses when I'm in a frock - just so wrong. Almost as bad as having my hair uncovered) do lots more sewing (one more frock for Oliver, finish my shifts and underskirt, attach new breastband to V-neck underdress and repair Meg's purple spanish) cook and freeze appley pancakes for festival, make hats for M&S wedding and pack for set-up Sunday.

Easy Peasy.

Have scanned in some more old photos and will put them on Flickr tonight. One of them even proves that I used to have long hair.

I had to clean my work desk last week for a visit by the big big big big boss. Was very odd coming in this morning and seeing it so sparkly clean.
Soon fixed that!

Now to stop yawning (come on coffee, do your thing!) and procrastinating and actually start working.

Don't wanna!

Friday 27 March 2009

MissCharlie put us onto a great show called How Green Was My Valley Tales from the Green Valley.

Fabulous BBC doco about a bunch of historical experts running a farm for a year as it would have been in the 1620's. There's no drama or histronics, no-one has a hissy fit over not being allowed to wear their nailpolish and no-one gets filmed in the shower. Loves it!
It's gorgeous and interesting and the people are so interested in what they're doing and happy to get a chance to put in to practise all this stuff they've read about

Loved it so much that I ordered my own copy. Yay for English postal system and it's zoompy delivery to Oz. Took about a week and a half.

Tuesday 24 March 2009

wheee

Yesterday I knocked my phon off the top of the toilet at work onto the tiles.

Phone go Smash!

My brave brave phone that had survived being tortured by Torby on a daily basis and a swim in soda water finally died.

So I went out and got myself a new phone.
Silver lining, meet cloud.

I was very good and didn’t put us into the porhouse and get an iphone. With all it’s shininess and Appleyness.

I now have a Samsung F480 phone. It’s all touch screeney and everything. Is taking me a while to get used to it all but it has a 5mp camera. Especially good as I never remember to bring my camera anywhere.

In other news, I’m really looking forward to setup weekend and Festival and all the joyousness and the sitting around and chatting and eating and drinking and watching the kidlings play and be cute in their frocks and hiding little fluffy chickens (not real ones) for them to find on Sunday and hanging behind the bar and market day and dancing and watching the fighting and court and then coming home and having a really really really long shower. Am not looking forward to all the washing and airing and packing away that will then have to happen though.

And before that is cooking nachos for eleventy billion people a few people for sister's birthday and a DrNik dinner and a wedding sewing hell and setup weekend and a visit from ImpishDoom and all sorts of good stuff.

Oh yeah...and that sewing nonsense.

Monday 23 March 2009

Weekend recap

Finally made the Morrocan Chicken of deliciousness last night. Was very very nummy. Think I'll make it again for Festival. Just leave out the potatoe to avoid having accusations of feeding my husband horse food hurled at me.

Friday saw me being brave and taking Torby into town to get brass rings from fishing shop (to sew on frocks). We then took a bus (oh the excitement) down to chinatown to look for happyshoes forTorby(not so successful) and then another bus home. I don't think Torby realised how looong it would take but he was very insistent to do it. We invaded Meg&Jamie's house for dinner (another train. yay!) and Torby got to see IsobelZoe after a weeks absence due to lurginess. He was very very excited. If he had a tail it would have been wagging.

Saturday we picked up a freshly arrived in Oz Dr Nik and took him to MissJimmy's birthday do. She was delightfully surprised. A lovely afternoon/evening ensued involving mysterious dutch alcohol, a puppy that Torby loved to boss around (Sit Barney, sit. Good dog. Barney don't do that. Don't lick me Barney. Barney, what you dooing?) and catching up with people. I think that Jimmy's mum and brother were pleased to see Torby after not seeing him for ages. There was much bonding between Myles and Torby. Tres Cute.

Sunday we marketed and then sewed, sewed like the wind. Would have achieved more if I hadn't pinned the sleeves into my shifts the wrong way and then had to unpick them. Sigh. Ooh and bought a bike for Torby and a chair from a garage sale. All for the princely sum of $8- Daen has repaired both of them and will bring them back for the parents house soon.

Now my fingernails are yellow from the turmeric in the chicken and I'm vaguely refreshed from an early night and ready and raring to work. Okay, that last bit is a bit of a lie.

Hope everyone's weekend was just as delightful.

Friday 20 March 2009

oo the purty

Old Italian Lace Book

looks funky
(A few nights of crappy sleep + finally getting over lurgy) * a munchkin who declined his afternoon nap yesterday = a DV who passed out on the couch at 7:30 last night, woke up briefly at 9pm when Nw came home and then promptly took herself off to bed.

I woke up at 5:30 this morning but haven't felt this un-zmombified in ages.

Almost wishing I hadn't canceled my Friday night plans now. Oh well. Shall make this for ninner and watch last half of Hogfather with husbando.

festival accessories



Hats for Torby and I (not perfect but will suffice) and a belt and pouch for keeping of treasures (all handsewn and everyfing :P)

I'm still very excited about the finding of the hats.

Tuesday 17 March 2009

Victoly!

After hunting everywhere for a straw hat for Torby for Festival, I popped into our St Vinnies on the way home to see if they had any trashy good books.

What did I spy?

A kids straw hat and a me size one.

Have removed extra hideous decorations from both and mine fits better now and we shall soon see if Torby's does.

Oh and a nice bowl for Torby to use at Festy.

Woot!
MissCharlie put me onto a new bookshop, Infinitas, in Parramatta (where I work)

It does sci-fi, fantasy and horror and is awesome.

It shares space with BlokeyStuff which carries Giant Microbes.

I think I know what all the kids are getting for Christmas.

Monday 16 March 2009

In lift just now, I was the tallest person by a mile.

I am giant woman, hear me loom!

yay

DrNik and MissImpish are a-visiting before Easter.

Squueee!

I get to meet the doomling at last.

Double Squueeeeee!

Then Festival in all it's lounging around in frocks and drinking and eating and chatting glory.

Triple Squueeeeee!

It's shaping up to be a fun (and oh-so-busy) couple of weeks.

Oh and in sewing news, Torby has a frock and a short coat and will soon have a super warm coat and another frock, I have 1 functioning shift and a fabulous sister who did her magic and got me 2 more shifts out of 4 metres of linen (I sewed rings on Bellabel's frock as an exchange and started sewing down the cases on her farthingale) and Nw has nothing new but a great sense of accomplishment at having a well-dressed son :)

Sunday 15 March 2009

I....just...ummm...words escape me



Hair for babies.


Because you can't start gender programming early enough!

Oh the freaking wrongness.

Hairspray!!

Via HoydenAboutTown

Thursday 12 March 2009

Because I know you're all on tenterhooks...

I actually slept through!
Hoorah! hoorah!

Wednesday 11 March 2009

Aaargh

You know when you are falling asleep on the couch at 8pm but you know that you're going to have a bad night's sleep and be awake at 2am?

Yeah, that's me at the moment.

I'll let you know how it goes

Tuesday 10 March 2009

There are times I strongly suspect my husband loves me..

As a child, I was given flat lemonade and colouring-in book or comic book to cheer me up when I was sick.\

This combo (substitute the comic book for a trashy mag now that I'm older) can cure anything!

We're both home with the lurgy today and he came home from dropping Torby off at daycare with some lemonade. He'd already pulled the magazine bit out of the Sunday paper for me.

I think I'm in love.

Monday 9 March 2009

I founded a new webcomic


AbstruseGoose is amusing me a lot

Sunday 8 March 2009

the weekend that was

Anniversary dinners (Nw's parents - yummy taiwanese) and birthday parties (MissC is now3yrs old give or take a decade or so) and swimming with children and getting sewing done (Torby is closer to non-narkooness at Festival).

Now I'm on the couch, smelling of chlorine, with holes in my fingers and feeling all content and happy.

Well, content and happy and in need of a shower before bed.

Friday 6 March 2009

bugger

phone + glass of water = sadface

Thursday 5 March 2009

cool weather makes me go squee.

I love autumn cool
Making stew for dinner, yay!
Yes this is haiku

Wednesday 4 March 2009

Tuesday 3 March 2009

question of the day

Why do people put their money to pay for coffee on the counter rather than actually giving it to the person?
Am I the only one who finds it rude?

Monday 2 March 2009

A torby record

Part of the reason for this blog is to record Torby growing up (my memory is so bad that I figure this is the only way)
So;
Things he does that make me smile.

Pretending to be a turtle. Especially when he has his day-care backpack on (it looks like a turtle). There is also the pretending to be a frog (jump, jump) a kangaroo (hop, hop) or a lion (roar!)

Insisting on using the remote when he watches dvd's. He gets so pleased at being in charge.

The sheer excitement over little things like setting the timer on the microwave or counting out how many fish fingers for dinner.

Using 'he/his' for everyone. Mummy is a good boy, he had a good sleep'

The sweetness of cuddling up to me in bed in the morning and petting 'his friend Stampy' Sharing his blanket (the precious, precious blankie) with Stampy is pretty cute as well.

Singing songs. Yes, he sings about as well as I do. There goes that dream of him being an opera singer.

Wrapping things up and giving it to me as a present.

Lots and lots of counting.

Reading books and words on tv, buildings, anything. He now sounds out the letters. We're unsure how much he actually knows what he is doing when he spells out some word and then says a completely different one. B U G...Ant!

Shooing everything. Shoo plane, shoo. Shoo birds, shoo. Shoo rain, Shoo!

Helping Nw do the washing up. He stands on the chair next to him and gets water everywhere and has an absolute hoot.

Chatting about what's happened during the day. 'Jhett (a boy at daycare) was very naughty, Jhett pushed me' or 'biscuits and coffee with megzz, megzz go work now, daddy at work too' I love glimpsing the world as he sees it and what is important to him.

Offering to 'kiss better' when I say I'm sore. Also patting me on the back and asking if I'm okay when I cough.

"you very naughty mummy, you say sorry!" if I've done something wrong.

Taking turns at who chooses the music in the car. 'Torby's turn all the way to the shops, daddy's turn all the way home'

Having 'picnics' on the living room floor.

The delight at the ladybugs we have living on the plant at the front of the house. We often pick one off a leaf and let it crawl around on his hand. His face just about splits in two from grinning.

The look he gets and the pitch his voice gets when he's asking for something he knows he shouldn't have and is unlikely to get. 'I can have an icecream now?'

The whole toilet training has it's amusing points to..the aforementioned 'helping' me when I'm on the toilet and the delight at getting a treat ( 'I did a whiz and now I get a trreeeeaaattt!') and now putting the star on the cupboard Rather than getting a treat for every whizz or poo, we're going with stars and every x amt of stars he gets a big treat. It was 5 and now 8 and then it will be 15 and then we'll probably stop.

His favourite places to go are isobelzoe's, grandma's house and to daycare. Also very very fond of coffee and biscuits with megzz ( I think it's a little bit because he likes the company and a lot because he gets coffee just like the adults (a babycino) and biscuits). These are the options we usually get given when we ask him 'guess what we're going to do today'

Asking for 'my friend torby' stories at bedtime. These are stories I tell him in place of reading a book. I'm a really bad story teller and he insists that they be about him so he'll get stories of what we did that day or how many people love him or what we;re going to do later or when I get really desperate (ie if I have to tell him more than about 3) then stories of what Torby the adventureer did in warcrackland. He likes it when I tell him about killing the big bad dwagon. Yes, I am trying to turn my son into a nerd. Given his parents, it won't be that hard.

Asking where people are. Every so often he seems to do some rollcall in his head and wants everyone's location. He has also decided that we're going to go see AJ in Melbourne soon.

He really is a beautiful boy who makes me smile a lot.
He has his bad/annoying/frustrating/tiring moments and moments when I could cheerfully hand him over to the gypsies and moments when I wonder what the hell he's going to be like when he grows up, but on the whole, it's all good.

Sunday 1 March 2009

Birthday weekend of goodness.

Cat Empire - went orf! Support act was Paprika Balcanicus (warning: is annoying myspace page so music will happen but at least it's really good music) I got their cd and really do love the manicness of it. Was rfeally odd to realise that this was the last gig that MissKrin will be at with us at. Got a wee bit teary at the end of the night. *sniff*

Afternoon Tea - delightful company and yummy food but service was nonexistent, buffet style kind of randomly placed about the room so you went hunting for your food and when it hit 4pm, everything got whisked away and the bill was presented. Must remember to not go back to Swissotel for afternoon tea.

Friends of Cheeses picnic - very pleasant way to idle away a Sunday afternoon and am now so full of delicious cheeses and feel that I have well and truly staved off oesteoporosis for a few more years.

I have seen a lot of my chums, received some delightful and appropriate presents, eaten good food, drunk lovely wine, danced to amazing music and laughed a lot. I feel well and truly birthdayed and glad to be alive and living my life.