1 sleep to go, 1 sleep to go

Wheeee! 1 sleep to go!
aaand I only have to be at work for half the day today.
aaaaand I'm just waiting for the munchkin to wake up to open the last box on the advent calender. His excitement over it all is the bestest part of the morning.

Now, the chanaces that I will blog again (I know, I know, I've been so very prolific this year) before Christmas are very slim, soooo......

Have a very very very lovely Christmas and I hope you get to spend it with whoever makes you happiest.

Mwah!

Last week was lurgy week. Like shark week, but with less amphibious mammals.

Home for the week with a throat full of razors and wondering how I got hit by a truck without noticing.
However, the week also contained Torby's birthday and associated dinner and celebrations (sooo many cupcakes were made) and a lovely dinner with the daycarer of awesomeness and the amazing friend we have made through that connection.
Was deelightful to have such nice reasons to drag my sorry arse off the couch.

The weekend was all about The Annual Chrissie Pissie (hurrah)and taking the munchkin and the nieces in to have their photos taken with Santy Claus (joyous chaos except for the bits where I could have strangled the kids and everyone else in that line).
Oh and naps, lots and lots of naps.

So, this is my first day back at work and it really is nice to be out of the house and engaging my workbrain again and having access to the shops and the nommy Japanese lunch place and hearing random snatches of music and decent christmas carols
Although now that I've had my soothing and slippery and comforting noodley lunch, I'm ready for a nap.
Please?
Pretty please?

shhh secret!

Due to weird people (weird as in, I don't know them rather than the weird people I do know) trying to become my contact on flickr, I've become paranoid and made everything private.
If you do want to see photos of mine, let me know and I can add you to the list of people who don't weird me out with their randomness.

It's just like having your name at the door of a nightclub, only involving less loud music.

Happy Birthday Little Man

In the last 5 years you've done so much.
You've learnt to breathe and eat and talk and walk and run and skip and read and reason and do puzzles and play games and write and do maths and sleep and tell bad jokes and laugh and sing and dance and hop and give the most amazing hugs.
You are a constant source of wonder and amusement and love for your parents and our world is better for having you in it.

Only mildly speechless with rage

So, a chum on facebook announced that she'd had an awesome week. Her long term partner had asked her to marry him and they'd recieved the call to say that an offer they'd made on a house had been accepted.
Yay!
Right?
Well, apparently not.
Apparently she was to be punished for having good news and sharing it with the world.
Apparently this was considered rude and uncaring of others.
Apparently her having happiness and joy in her life was selfish.
Apparently others are struggling with singledom and increasing house prices and illness and and and and she should just take a moment to think about that before celebrating.
Apparently she had to be reminded of this.

Luckily she has someone in her life who helpfully pointed this out to her and she'll know better next time.

I mean, how dare she be happy when others in the world aren't? How dare she celebrate that things are going right? How dare she be well and prosperous and loved?

The nerve of some people!

Yay for having a pool just a few minutes walk away.
That is all

10 things about my weekend

1. I looked after the munchkin and the nieces for Saturday night/Sunday morning/afternoon. Thankfully Spyd & AJ came down and stayed over and Megzz n Smurg visited for ninner (mmm chinese take-away). Made me feel not so bad about not going to the cocktail party.

2. Sunday mornings = the markets and gozleme and fruit and veg from the cold comfort farm people and the kids romping about and face-painting and pleasantness.

3. Yeast is tricksy and frustrating when it doesn't do it's rising thing.

4. Cinnamon Rolls (ala Pioneer Woman) make the house smell really really good

5. I really like my house. Spent 24hours at M&J's with the kiddlings and whilst they have a great house (no, really, it's awesome), it's not my house.

6. Home delivered pizza and flooping on the couch with the freshly-returned-from-Canberra husband is a delightful way to spend a Sunday evening.

7. Birthday parties for Torby's friends are great. He gets to play with his chum/s (at a bowling party in this case - oh the glee) and I get to chat with the grown-ups (I really like this mum, she's awesome) and I have a not-so-secret love for wrapping pressies.

8. Torby is quite good at bowling. Well, Nw (and me on one occasion) are quite good at positioning the ramp that he rolls the ball down. He won the game? match? set? thingy on Saturday. Probably all that practise with Wii bowling.

9. I watched far too much lifestyle/food pron programs on Sunday. There is a reason i want Foxtel and it's the same reason it's probably for the best that we don't.

10. I (in my entirely unbiased opinion) think that Torby and the cousins are a pretty awesome bunch of kids.

Fud

despite being oh-so-tired and grumpy (sorry Nw) because of it, I managed to make nummy food last night.

Roast beetroot and sweet potato (they needed cooking) sprinkle with salt, pepper, paprika and umm rosemary. bung in oven...wait until husband comes home with protein.

Chicken Thigh fillets that were smeared on the inside with pesto, sprinkled with salami and a teensy bit of cheese, then folded over with some ham on top.
Bake in oven until done (20-30mins?)
They kinda deep fried themselves in the oil that oozed from everything, but were really quite good.
Oh and serve with leftover pasta and peas that the kids didn't eat.

(I've omitted all steps involving stomping around the kitchen and growling at everyone- they aen't nescessaryand in fact, not recommended)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I..I...I...dropped my ice-cream

Torby woke up screaming last night (well, very early this mornig I guess)
I rushed into his room ready to collect him off the floor where he'd broken his arm or something
But, no.
He'd had a bad dream.
A bad dream where he had a lovely ice-cream and dropped it.
It's hard to comfort you child when you're trying really hard not to laugh.
Just sayin'

nomnomburpnom

My fridge is evil.
It contains little carrot cakes made from the fabulous St Stephanie recipe (replace walnuts with crystallised ginger)
They all have a delicious layer of lemony cream cheese icing.
They are sitting there on a plate taunting me with their deliciousness and whilst I tell myself they're healthy with the carrots and the..umm....ginger? lemon ?...healthsome stuff, I'm not sure I can convince myself they're a substitute for dinner.
THIS IS WHY I DON"T BAKE!!!

hey! I have a blog!

My oh my I've been a neglectful little sasuage haven't I. Poor poor unloved blog.

I've had about enough brain for facebook updates but no ability to form anything longer than that.

Hmmmm
I've won two things recently (thus upping my lifetime total by 200%)
First there was the Lego Creationary game from Planning with Kids
and now a pack from Lovely Little Parties via Frills in the Hills
Two lovely pressies from two utterly fabulous blogs. It's pretty exciting

I'm horrified and excited that Christmas is getting closer. Nowhere near done on shopping/making pressies but I have most of them planned.

I made cute invites for Torbyboy and Zozo's party. 1 pdf of a 'fortune teller' from DrawPilgrim and some time spent on the computer replacing text later and tadah! Hooray for 2 days at work alone in the office.

Speaking of the munchkin...my oh my he can drive me insane sometimes. How is it that a 4yr old can have mood swings better associated with teenagers.
Last night he went from normal and cute to howling banshee who hated everyone in the world and especially us then to a sad and clingy creature who loved us and was very very sorry all in the space of half an hour. Oh the joy of bedtime. *twitch*

Today I'm taking him to the second of the Kindergarten Transition Mornings at his big school. Last one the parents got 'the talk' all about what to expect next year and a bunch of housekeeping stuff. This and the next session, we're expected to sod off for a few hours.
It's all a bit exciting and terrifying.
Can't believe I have a child who is going to school next year! Eeep!

I still have photos to put on Flickr from the Great Norfolk Island Family Adventure. When my flickr uploader starts behaving and not crashing everytime..grr

I think that's enough of a catch-up for now. It's certainly enough links for one post

fry up somechicken, mushrooms, onion, turkey chorizo (found it at the supermarket and were curious) and asparagus.
Add white wine and a smidge of cream.
Pop in a bowl with pasta and go nomnomnom.
That is all

woot

we went, we saw, we walked, we talked, we bonded, we ate, we drank, we swam, we looked and we listened.

An amazing family holiday and we had a hoot with a capital wheeee!

Is very very nice to be home now though.

Will write more details when I have more brain (daylight savings + time difference + 2 flights + not enough sleep = woogly brain)

I think I may take a leaf out of Torby's book and collapse into bed and go zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I love being able to lie in bed and blog/facebook/whatever. Oh Ethel my iPhone, where would I be without you!

I am full of the slugginess bought on by lack of sleep. Asthma baby strikes again!

We've had a deeelightful weekend so far of Friday birthday ninner, afternoon tea of cake overload and today we meet the grandparents to see a kids theatre show and then lunch.

Oo and I successfully purchased Superman jammies with detachable cape for Torby yesterday which makes me laugh.

Now to drag my arse out of bed whimperand hang washing up and start the long process of making our house presentable so KT doesn't think she's living in a crackhouse when she house-sits for us.

Ten things I love about the munchkin.

I love that his vocabulary is expanding almost hourly. He's been reading really well for a while now and enjoys sounding out words and asking what things mean and what they rhyme with and and and. He likes to sit in bed and read stories by himself now and not just as a delaying tactic at bedtime.

I love the father/son nerdy bonding time that occurs when they play Lego Starwars together. It's Torby's most precious and beloved game at the moment and he estra loves it when Nw is home to play it with him. I think that Nw secretly loves it as well. Given that both of his parents enjoy computer games, it's nice to see that he does too. He's also very very very fond of card and board games. I like that he uses his brain and figures stuff out and remembers rules and strategies (not always succesfully, but we're getting there).

I love that he's having a great time at pre-school and it really has helped with him dealing with crowds of kids better. I love the updates I get when I pick him up of an afternoon. I hear about how he read a book aloud to the other kids, how he looks after the little kids, how he and another boy will be the lead dancers in the christmas pageant, how he leaps off the play equipment and hits his head. Okay maybe not the last one.

I love that he still loves hugs and kisses and snuggles. As annoying as it can be in the morning when I'm trying to eat breakfast and check emails and he decides that he needs to sit on my lap and have my arm around him, I will really miss it when it stops. Getting told 'I love you so so much mummy' is also a pretty good way to start the day.

I love that he is getting independant and confident. That he wants to do stuff on his own, that he is looking forward to school next year, that he runs all the way home from preschool but still stops at the roads so he can hold my hand across, that he uses my keys to open the gate when we get home, that he has figured out to pull a chair over to the lightswitch when he wants the lights on and we're too asleep/lazy to do it for him, that he will happily sleep over at people's places.

I love that he tries to negotiate. 'I have a really good idea....I will have 2 treats tonight and then tomorrow I will only have 1' was last night's effort. You can imagine how succesful that was. In fact most of his "really good ideas" make me laugh. The other day we got 'I have a really good idea. I will stay home and play starwars with no-one to look after me and then I'll have treat for dinner.Yes? yes?'

I love that he will storm off to his room in a huff. Not because I like that he gets grumpy or upset, more that I know I can then go in after a few minutes and talk about what happened and why he got upset and why he feels the way he does and ways to fix it. I like that he is figuring out ways to deal emotions rather than just give into them. It's a long slow lesson that even I haven't quite got the grasp of sometimes.

I love that he is starting to eat a wider variety of food. okay okay it's just pasta and chicken that's been added to the repetoire, but it's something. He will now mostly try things without having hysterics over it. Once again, we repeat the mantra 'he eats lots of fruit and vegetables, lots of fruit and vegetables'

I love that he enjoys the garden. He will go potter out there and come back munching on some parsley or mint. Love that the cousins will go out there when they're over and the weather is good and plant things..sesame seeds for instance.

I love that for all he is growing and changing and becoming such a big brave clever kid, he's still my baby boy and still needs comforting sometimes. He still retreats to us and demands hugs, he still carries around his special blankie in the mornings, he will still cry out for us in the middle of the night if he has a bad dream, he still likes to sit on my lap when he's tired and needs a quiet moment. I dread the day when we're no longer so immediately nescessary. Dread it and look forward to it as it will show that we've done our job of raising an independant human being who can function usefully in society. But mostly dread it.

Yesterday I went and picked up Torby's document of identity. (victory!) I almost didn't believe it was actually going to happen there after my experience with Australia Post.

In a direct contrast, the people I spoke to at the Passport Office were lovely and helpful and useful.

6sleeps to go.

Dinner at Restaurant Blancmange was deeeeeelightful!
The walk to and from was lovely and slightly spooky through Petersham Park. Parks at night are always a bit spooky and never to be attempted without company.
We ate dericious food (mmm velvety melty house-cured trout mmm) and drank a really nice bottle of wine (Principia Pinot Noir 2007 for future reference)
The service was lovely and charming and amusing.
Not only did Nw get a sparkler and Happy Birthday written on his cheese plate but I must have mentioned it was our wedding anniversary as we got a lovely scoop of blood orange sorbet with Happy Anniversary scrawled on the plate.
We got to chat and giggle and argue over correct knife and fork placement and pretend we were grown-ups again.
Deeeeeelightful!

It's been an 8 years (plus the 4pre-wedding) filled with ups and downs and good bits and bad bits and boredom and over-excitement and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Yay with added Woot!

Yay for today!
Today marks 8 years of marriage and 41years of there being a Nw on the earth.

Nw got awoken with pressies and a handmade card and birthday breakfast (nuttella on bread, laden with many candles) and many hugs and kisses from the munchkin (and possibly just a few from me)
Tonight we ditch the munchkin and go out for lovely dinner to celebrate 8years of mawwiage.
Friday I make nachos.
Saturday is other people's birthday afternoon tea celebrations.
There is also talk of more food on Sunday.

Along with last weekend with it's dinner at Perama on Saturday (mmmm porkbelly baklava) and Sunday yum cha, September has apparently been decreed the month of food. I'm not even ready to contemplate the week on Norfolk Island with the family and the amount of delicious food that will be consumed. (because all food consumed on holiday is delicious..it's the rules)
I guess it's just giving my stomach training for the whole christmas period.

Only slight off on a tangent...there are only 3 weekends in December! Christmas Day is on the last Saturday this year. Very rude of it I say. Doesn't it realise how much we need those weekends. Munchkin's birthdays (*cough* keep 4th December free *cough*) and christmas parties and shopping and sca events that are just around the corner so probably should be attended all have to be squeezed in.
Woe woe is us with our delightful social occasions and friends and family to be seen. It's a dreadful life, truly it is.

Apparently I've been far too happy of late and my brain would like me to maintain the cranky.

No really!
Another night of weird dreams but this time all of them were annoying.
Instead of visions of sugar plum fairies dancing through my head, I got a cavalcade of people eating with their mouths open and twitchy legs and Youth of Today (tm) being rude and lads with their pants halfway down their bums and various other petty annoyances some of which really are too insane to be shared.
What on earth is my brain doing to me???

Ninner tonight...

I have some chicken mince (Coles now does free-range chicken mince - Hoorah) and a memeory of making little thai-esque meatballs that were yummy.
Apparently we also ate the recipe and Taste.com.au is refusing to give it to me.
So....

thai chicken patties in lettuce cups?

lemongrass and ginger chicken rissoles?

coriander chicken balls with rice noodle salad?

I think the last one was the closest.

and yes, lets not dwell on the fact that I have cookbooks sitting in the bookshelf behind me and quite a few of them deal with Asian food.

The trials and tribulations of getting Torby a 'Document of Identity for travel to Norfolk Island'

Attempt the First.

Make appointment at Australia Post.
Attend Aust Post with all the forms and pictures and passports etc.
Man 1 looks at all documentattiona nd suggests that it's unnacceptable because the top and the bottom of the form were clipped when they printed, blue ink is used and the guarantor signature goes a mm or 2 outside the box.
*twitch* *twitch* *twitch*
Man2 comes along,looks and allows the blue ink (it's dark blue) and the signature but not the clipping. You can still scan the barcode and read all the writing but it's still not allowed. Have to come back on Monday.
Froth with rage, return to work and try to get everyone arrested.

Attempt the Second

Attend new appointment armed with newly printed form that Nw fiddled with to make sure it prints out okay, all the other associated documents including a letter from my Superannuation Company in case they want something with my address.
Woman1 looks at all the documentation, gets me to write Camperdown instead of Sydney, asks for address, I hand her the letter, she announces that it's not proof enough because it doesn't have my full name on it and I will need to come back with something else so she can tick the box.
I pull out all the cards in my wallet and show that half of them don't have my full name and ask why on earth is this letter not enough especially when it's not anywhere on the form from the website that I should bring broof of address in anyway.
She goes, checks with someone, ticks the box.
I grin. She scowls.
She asks me for the certified copies of my passport, his birth certificate etc. I state that I don't have any as I wasn't told to bring any. She sighs, photocopies, and certifies.
She declares that his photos are unnaceptable as his head is a mm too low.
I explode (politely) and state that his photo was deemed okay last week and why on earth wouldn't it be now
She asks who approved it, I state that I didn't feel the need to get his name and date of birth as I didn't believe it was going to be an issue.
Oh yeah, we're practically bestfriends at this point.
She confers with someone. Photo is allowed.
She demands that I do a priority service because we haven't allowed 15days turnaround.
I reply that it should only be 12 days according to the website because surely Australia Post is capable of delivering a form to the passport office 5 streets away within a day or two. I am however paranoid enough that I was planning on priority service anyway.
I pay, she hands me reciept and documents.
I do a victory dance.
I'm expecting an inviation to dinner any second now.

15 sleeps to go!

dreams

I commented over on Facebook that I had had a night of odd dreams.
There was the one where MissJimmy decided to conquer her fear of fish by wearing a fish costume for 4hours a day.
There was the one where I had to collect all the coffee beans in the world (no I have no idea why, but it was very nescessary at the time) - it was not as hard as it sounds because I had a coffee bean tracker and could do it all through my computer. Sattelites and robots were involved.
There were a few others that I can't really remember. All of them were amusing and odd. Except for one.
The one that got me frustrated was that I spent a weekend being fed by people but it was annoying because everyone was making food that I normally make and it was making me cross.

I should explain. I firmly support sharing recipes. It's the same as sharing where you got those shoes from or what book has that picture in it and where that fabric came from etc etc etc. It's polite and nice and to do so and I'm never entirely sure why people don't.
I am quite fine with people then making the food that I that the recipe is for (indeed a bunch of the food I cook comes from someone else's brain or a recomendation of a cookbook).
My problem seems to be when people make that food and then feed it to me. Not that it's happened very often at all. People generally have enough of their own yummy recipes and books that it's never really been an issue. Apparently though it's enough to make me dream about it and wake up feeling slightly grumpy. I know, I know, I pick odd things to get woogy over.
Mind you all I have to do is think of Jimmy in her fish suit and I cheer back up again.

My brain scares me sometimes.

Slow cooker

So, we bought a slowcooker a few weeks ago. The appeal of having the bulk of ninner be mostly ready when I get home is strong. I do wish there was a timer option for when it turns on though. We really need dishes that take at least 8hrs and preferably more. That's the time between Nw leaving in the morning and me getting home in the afternoon. This lends itself to dishes that are very gloopy. Which is nice but I would like to find something less gloopy to add to the slow cooker repertoire. I have hopes for the lambshanks we'll be having tonight.
I did use it to make dessert for Saturday night (lemon custard creams) which worked a treat.

Anyone got good recipes?

drugs are good mm'kay

Torby has his asthma puffers;
Nw has his anti-inflammatories and Vitamin D tablets;
Stampy has her anti hyper-thyroid cream, antibiotics for any infection she gets from scratching her face and neck open (a side effect of the old thyroid drugs), drugs to settle her stomach and one other one that I can't remember now;
I have...nothing.
I feel all left out.
Healthy, but all left out.
:-)

oo-de-lally

The new movie of fascination at Casa du Huntington-Smythe is none other than the 1973 disney version of Robin Hood.

Yay for liking the same movies I did as a kid.

Oh the thrills and excitement of life around Casa de Huntington-Smythe

The whole family (except for Stampy of course) will soon have new glasses. Nw got his eyes checked and picked out new frames yesterday. Yay!

We bought a slow cooker on the weekend and tested it out last night. Well, we used it overnight because I wanted to be home for it's first use in case something went horridly wrong. Figured we'd hear the smoke alarms in our sleep. In fact I knew that we would because I set them off while browning the meat. D'oh. However, it all went well, nothing melted or was on fire this morning and hopefully dinner tonight will even taste good.

We got a digital set-top box (after discovering that the old one we had in a box somewhere no longer had a remote and rattled with cockroach poo). The new one works and there was much rejoicing! Yay for ABC2 and Go and all the other channels I hear about and can now see.

Am sending the lads off to a pub somewhere on Saturday night to have some super-fun-out-of-the-house boytime and they can begin their Sunday with a hangover. Us lasses shall stay at home with the children and eat salads and maybe sip a light sherry or something suitably feminine and discuss how to be better wives and mothers. *snort*

20 sleeps until Nw's birthday and our wedding anniversary. Soon the magical number of married years will be 8 (I think)
28 sleeps until the big family adventure to Norfolk Island. Really really looking forward to it.

May have to have a bbq in between there to celebrate.

Saw Cat Empire last Sunday. Oh baby how they go off in concert. Much leaping about and very very good music and my betsest CE gig buddies (minus MissKrin who was missed) and all was really good with the world. Until of course the soreness sets in. Ouch ouch ouch. Did I mention ouch?

Yay for food and tv and gigs and glasses and fathers of children.

Genetics, can't beat 'em really.

Both Nw and I are short-sighted and I have an astigmatism.
Guess what??? Torbyboy is also short-sighted with a mild astigmatism!
I know, I know big shock really.

Well it kind of is because neither of us needed glasses until very early teens.

It was picked up in a standard screening they do in preschools to the 4yr olds. Picking it up before school is always useful.
A visit to the lovely Paedeatric Opthamologist (if you need to go to one, I really do recommend Annandale Eye Care ) confirmed the results.
He was very grumpy waiting for the eye drops to dilate his pupils enough for the doctor to have a really really good look. Bright and fuzzy world was not a winner apparently.
The glasses we then ordered from the Optometrist arrived really quickly (ordered Thursday, picked up Sunday morning) and he's been wearing them ever since.
I think the world not being a bit fuzzy is a novelty for him. Also been told by everyone that glasses are awesome has helped a bit :)

In other news, we voted and apparently we were two of many in our electorate who turned into greenies. Grayndler is now a not-so-safe Labour seat. Yay.

I walked down to Oliver's school-to-be to vote because the weather was absolutely glorious, filled in a bunch of boxes, had a sausage inna bun and then kept walking to the shopping centre. Cool but pleasant mornings with blueblue skies and trees and flowers being all explodey with flowers and leaves and nice houses to look at. It makes me very happy.

Oooo, and babies have been born! One was planned in advance and one was 9weeks early. Both happy and healthy by all accounts. Yay for more babies in the world. Especially well loved and wanted babies.

My biggest niece turns 6 today and tonight there will be ninner at 'The Restaurant' in celebration ahead of the party of much girliness on the weekend.

So now I must go and find an awesome card to go with the one that Torby is making in preschool.

Oh how I love days like this. The sun is warm and sunny. The sky is oh-so-blue and high and there is still a bit of a chill in the air. Loves it we do.

About a fortnight ago we acquired 4 free folding teak chairs. They're all weathered and in need of some sanding and oiling but will be useful for outdoor chairs and camping. And did I mention, Free!
So, guess what I did yesterday afternoon?
I've only done the first coat on one of them but man it's made such a difference. And it was really quite pleasant to have the sun on my back as I stood there painting away.

It was a weekend of usefulness really.
We spent the bulk of Saturday doing washing and reclaiming our herb garden and backyard from the weeds and the cat poo. (oo, slight detour from topic, Stampy has been diagnosed with HyperThyroidism - as well as the cancer. It explains the ravenousness and the extremely runny poo and now there will be tablets twice a day for her. Lucky Cat. They've already started working. Yay!)
Saturday night was ninner up t'mountains (not useful bet very enjoyable)
Sunday was naps (including Torby - the surprise nearly killed me) and food shopping and Nw doing things with brewing and me restoring chairs and then ninner at the pub with M&J and the girls.

I enjoy getting the opportunity to potter about in my home. Bit-by-bit things get done and it's very pleasant and productive.

Weekend before last I got to do lots of cooking and cleaning and feeding of people and drinking of wine and all sorts of good stuff. Including a visit to Featherdale Wildlife park with Torby's two best chums from A's. Such a hoot was had. Photos etc can be found on Flickr (look, see, just over there to the right, they're probably right there on screen)

Last Friday, we had dinner at the local bowling club where the kids made friends with random other kids within seconds, Torby ran into a preschool chum and on the whole, packs of local children ran around and around while the adults ate food and tried to talk through the squealing and giggling.
A visit to the grandparents and a delightful dinner at MissJimmy's (the food = nom, the company was lovely and the view was utterly spectacular) was our Saturday.
Sunday was a big sleep-in for me, and then alone time in the afternoon for Nw. He stayed at home and pottered about and revelled in having the house to himself for once while Torby and I went out to MissPip's for a birthday afternoon tea for Spyder. More delicious afternoon tea treats than you could poke a finger sammich at and lots of sitting around with the laaaaaadies in the sunshine while the kidlings did lots of running around (tears from everyone under 6 at one stage or another but was mostly minimal. Not that any of them will confess to getting tired or that sugar makes them a bit hyper and ratty - oh noooooo)

All in all, it was a really really good weekend and I feel refreshed. I think the fact that there was sunshine (mmmm warm sunshine) and I got to be out in it a fair bit has helped my mood considerably.

Ooo and I get to be Jimmy's hot date for La Sonnambula on Thursday night. Yay!

It's only been 8 years.

I picked up my new glasses today. Squee! It's great to be able to see clearly again. My prescription is a bit weaker this time but tweaked more for the astigmatism. So technicimal.
For the first time ever I also have prescription sunnies. Fanciness I say!
I like both new frames a lot more than I though I would ( you know that uncertainty after you decide on something) and I really really love that they are shiny and clean.


The old, the new and the sunnies.

I seem to have a thing for rectangular frames.

Miiiiiiiisty morning

There is something very pleasant about walking to the train when it's a foggy morning. Streetlights become glowy patches of light and everything is softened and muted. Loves it I do.

Testing testing one two

Have holes in both arms from visiting the vampires today. Damn me and my sluggy veins. In other news am testing a blogger app on the iPhone while watching NCIS whilst lounging on the couch with the lovely husband who made dinner for me. It's a terrible life I lead I tells ya.

Location:Home

Am starting to slosh from the amount of water I'm drinking in preparation for visiting the vampires. Slosh slosh slosh

I'm feeling all virtuous and grownup now.

In the last week or so I have;

Organised bank/ savings accounts for Torbyboy
Found lost super and sent in the forms to get it transferred
Reinvested super into sustainable australian Investments
Signed us up for private healthcare
Changed our address at a few more places (Only been living there since october last year - wouldn't want to rush these things)
Reconfirmed with the school of choice that Torby is enrolled there for next year.
And the big one...

Lodged our tax returns (by phone) and discovered that I will probably get a very nice refund. Yay!

See, all growned up!
Or at least doing a passable imitation of one for a short amount of time.

The time has come the walrus said...
...to open a bank account for the munchkin.
Bankwest have some magical super savery one that I've read good things about so off I will trot tomorrow to finalise the process by showing lots of ID to them and answering a billionty questions.
This also then prompted me to rethink about pocket money etc...
The method I think we'll go with is start on his 5th birthday and he'll get $5- week (which at this point I imagine will go swiftly into his account)
Any extra pocket money can be earnt by doing chores around the house or completeing specific tasks (most likely introduced when he is older and understands a bit more)
I'll also be putting money into his account straight from my pay so he has something in there and can keep earning high interest.
We'll see how it goes and adjust as nescessary I guess.

I'm just hoping he grows up to be better with money than I am and doesn't have the compulsion to see a zero balance in his account as soon as possible. Hopefully these methods will assist in that.
Otherwise he's doooooomed.

We used to live next to a disused box factory. I loved the quiet and the privacy and the view up over the roof from our living room window.

Then the council sent us a letter saying they were going to knock it all down and build some townhouses and did we have any objections? We decided that we didn't want the bedroom windows of 3 of them to be able to see into our windows (especially Torby's room) so Nw made a submission with drawings and everything and presented it at the relevant meeting and it seemed that yes, that problem would be fixed.

A few months later and we start hearing thump and crashes etc from the factory site and rightly deduce that the demolition has begun.

Then we notice that the roof that we used to look out over is now gone.

Then I was home on Monday and dozing on the couch (I can haz lurgy)when I'm awoken by an all mighty noise and look out the window to see the arm of a digger (I'm sure it has a real name but anything that's not a forklift or a crane is a digger) pulling chunks off the roof and clearly they've ripped out the other wall etc.

I watch this in fascination until the digger rips down the wall that I can see (oh the loud screechinesss) and I get to wave to the nice man.
They swiftly sort everything into piles..bricks, other useful stuff, waste and stop for the day.
I boggle at just how different my view is now. I can see the backs of houses from the next street over and the trees in the park and and and.

Yesterday they came back and demolished the next section of the wall which was an old brick building that was overgrown with some green vine at the back corner of our property.
Nw and I were having a sleep-in when it all started but Torby was watching in fascination from the living room and having a chat/shouting through the window to the man whenever he could.

The swiftness of the change startles me and I'm oddly looking forward to the construction and seeing it all change again...if they could do it silently that would be awesome though.

Photos are over at Flickr

Oh and we got another letter from the council that seems to suggest they've left off the modifications that we requested for privacy so Nw has to go back in and visit them. Lucky lucky Nw.

Fark the environment, I want to be a pruney lobster!!

We have one of those new-fangled inswtant hot water heaters.
It's awesome because we can change the temperature to low enough for the munchkin not to burn himself in the bath.
It's awesome because after living in so many houses with teensy hot water heaters that barely last a shower, I can now luxuriate for hours on end under the water until I'm bright red and pruney.
Good thing we're not in a drought right?
right?

Oh, teh happy

Tonight is "catch-up with MissImpish and be invaded by some fellow warcrack nerds and feed them nachos" night. Yay.

I have lovely activities and adventures planned for the next few weekends. Yay. Some of which involved me having a cunning plan involving other people cooking us ninner. Yay for friends who like me and my presumptious ways.

Going to see Stephen Sondheim's 'A Little Night Music' at the Opera House next Thursday. Yay! For the last 2 years, Dad's christmas pressie to Meg and I tickets to the show of our choice. Is a pressie of much cunningness. Yay for cunningness. This year Mouse and Hunnnyydddd are joining us which will be luverly.

I think I've made a new friend at work (well, at work but in the area that I last worked in). There's tentative plans for ninner and everything. Yay for possible new chums.

I am still full of sneezy, snuffly snot and not at 100% yet but the trucks have stopped running me over. Even stayed awake until 9:30 last night and the constant low grade headache has dissapeared. Yay.

I've accomplished things at work this week. Yay.

I've been on a hunt for simple but cute flat slip-on shoes and yesterday I found some that were very on sale. Yay.

Next Tuesday I have my appointment to give more platelets. Yay? Ooo I know..Yay for having a workplace that allows me time off to go visit the vampires.

I am headcold girl, hear me wheeze and snuffle and sneeze and croak.

A lot of my week has involved welding my arse to the couch and drifting in and out of naps when I don't have to be at work. It would be great except that my head is one big exploding mass of mucous and keep falling in the path of trucks apparently.

Betcha you're jealous.

I rallied enough to have a pleasant if snotty weekend - mainly because the couch really was getting a DV shaped dent in it and I was starting to get twitchy from lack of socialness.
There was dumplings and creating a noodley dish with duck and pork that was deemed edible, there was eating own bodyweight in lambshanks and playing Settlers of Catan, there was markets and a child-free afternoon and the pub for dinner. Oh and naps, lets not forget the naps.
I even got tea and toast in bed on Sunday...I think it was the pathetic shuffling about in my bathrobe that got me sent back to bed and brekkie delivered..hmm must try that again.

This week we have the excitement of starting 4 days a week at preschool and 1 day at A's. He's looking forward to the extra time there and I'm looking forward to it being easier/quicker to collect him in the afternoons; preschool is 5mins down the road and A's is 4 suburbs away.

We also have a visit from the lovely MissImpish and Doombaby. Yay for interstate visitors! Hmm must get the backhoe into Torby's room so they aren't forced to sleep on a pile of play-dough, dirty socks and lego. I like to spoil my guests that way, crazy I know.

food and cuteness

I made beef stroganoff last night and it was quite tasty. I'd grabbed a recipe card the other day whil in the supermarket and it wasn't until I looked at it properly when i was home that I realsied it was a Masterchef/Coles reciope. You could tell it was Coles because anything that could be a Colesbrand was mentioned ... COLES(tm) Worcestershire sauce for instance.

Despite using non-store branded items (gasp), the recipe worked. Delicious flavoursome buttery, sour creamy papprikay beefy goodness
Is definate stodge food to get you through the cold Eastern European winters. I shall type it up when I'm at home so I never have to hunt for the card.

In other news, we got the photos we'd ordered from Torby's preschool photoday. The cute! It burns! A lass called Melanie Birt ( http://www.melaniebirtphotography.com/ ) took the photos and I was heartily impressed. Now to decide if it's too wankery to have a trio of photos of your child on a wall. Hmmmmmm.

Yestertday was the Day of the Happydance

Called the school that we really want Torby to go to next year to find out when we would find out if they had a place for him.
The school of choice is a little Infants (K-2) school down the road that looks awesome and most of the kids on our street will also be attending. It's not like there are any bad schools in our area but I had my heart set on this one.
Long story short, we are once again within their area (last year we were, then Dept of Education changed the boundaries and we weren't but the principal yelled at them a lot and now we are again - Oh okay, that was the long version) I did happydance of happiness..the happydance of joy will come along after we get the confirmation letter next month sometime.

At the moment, Torby goes to A's (family daycare lass of awesomeness who has looked after him since he was 6mths old) on Mon, Tue, Wed and a local preschool for Thu, Fri.
On Wednesday's one of the boys who started at the same time is there so that's good fun for him but there are a lot more babies at A's on Mon/Tue and he gets bored, despite A's best efforts.
This translates to him never wanting to go and it always being a bit of a hassle to get him there etc etc.
One call to the preschool to find out that they had a spot on Mon-Tues opening up in 2 weeks and one chat (by Nw) to A to see if it was okay that he only goes there Wednesdays and we have it all sorted. Is nice that he will still go there once a week and see her and all the other kids.
More happydances ensued.

A playdate with 2daycare chums is happening on Sunday (happydance)

Found a good noodle place down the road from work (minor happydance)

A friend is now officially in remission from the evil C word (major happydance)

I'm choosing to ignore the horridness that was actual work yesterday and the fact that I may be coming in on Saturday etc etc etc.. Much nicer to dwell on the happydance moments instead.

Mission Accomplished

Nw and I ran away to Melbourne last weekend.

Routine needed to be broken and new people and places needed to be seen.

We got to hang out with warcrack chums and see new baaaabies.
We got fed and entertained by the lovely Impish and family.
We got to spend time with MissDawn and stain our lips purple eating black cherry macaroons at the Art Gallery.
We got to scoffle Lord of the Fries.
Nw got to go to an AFL match to watch stripey people battle it out.
I got to sit in a bar and drink wine.

It was awesome and we came back less blah than when we left.

Where was Torbyboy while all these adventures were a-happening I hear you ask...

The t'rfiic Megzz stayed over on Thursday so she could take Torby to preschool on Friday morning as we would be in the air by the time it opened.
He was then picked up by his beloved Auntie M and Unky J and the nieces who he stayed with all weekend.

The mightiness of our friends and family cannot be overstated!

Platelet day

So yesterday was Platelet Day and I survived.

They say it's common to get tingly lips and a manky taste in your mouth from the anti-coagulant they put back in with the red blood cells and oh how I got that. Chocolate milkshakes are a good way to make it all better. The manky taste in my mouth was also caused by the calcium tablet in water they first gave me. bleurgh!
Apparently, because they are taking a big bunch of calcium out of me, they feel quite strongly about replacing it. Weird I tells ya.

I also got the pale-and-pasty-white-either-going-to-feint-or-pass-out-or-do-both feeling. Lowering my head was very effective but I would still keep getting occasional woogy feelings. Nothing unmanageable just less than ideal. It was also really really nice to move my arm again once it was all over.

However, the whole thing only took 64minutes, not the 82 that was the original plan(my platelet count had increased since last plasma donation) and I don't have to do it again for a month (I gave a double dose this time) and it's a good thing to do (tm)

Oh yeah, and I had the perfect excuse to lie on the couch after I got home and have dinner made for me for the second night in a row. Totally worth it.

I am amazed...

.....amazed that Torby doesn't need to go to the toilet for a crap until 2minutes AFTER he's been put to bed.
The control he has to hold it in until the right moment to ensure sleep doesn't happen and the whole blanket swooshing production has to be done all over again.
Utterly astounds me.

bwave so bwave

My resolution for this year was to be brave.
Not jump-off-a-tall-cliff-and-wrestle-crocs-brave but try-new-things-brave.

One of the things I'm doing is giving blood. I hate the needle quite a lot. Only way I can do it is not think about it too much until I'm in the chair and then it's too late to back out without embarassing myself) and it makes me feel so so sleepy and my arm always hurts a little bit the next day but it's a good thing to do(tm) so I'm doing it.

I currently give plasma which takes longer but is a bit more interesting at least. They take some blood out, spin it in a centrfuge, siphon off the plasma and then give me the red blood back. Repeat twice more and I'm done. The blood is a bit cooler when it goes back - feels so very very weird. I'm even trying to keep to the schedule of going every fortnight (opposed to the 6weeks for whole blood donation). Good thing I have a workplace that allows me to time for this kind of thing and a boss who encourages me to go.

It was mentioned to me yesterday that I might want to think about giving platelets next time. I have a lot apparently (yay for genetics) and it's roughly the same process, just takes twice as long (82minutes exactly apparently). It's an awesome idea as it mostly goes to cancer patients and only has a 5day shelflife so there can't be stockpiles of the stuff and given the number of friends and family who have had cancer and the guy at work whose daughter is currently undergoing treatment for the leukemia they discovered last week, we're all about the cancer. (sorry for uber-long sentence there, are you exhausted from reading it?)

So, I've made the appointment for the 15th. I just need to focus on the good stuff and less on the having a needle in my arm for almost an hour and a half.
/shudder.

weekend round-up

I made Canelloni on Friday for the first time ever. Glad I decided to start early otherwise everyone would have been eating super duper late. They were fiddlier than I thought but really quite delicious. Filling the tubes with the goo really did feel obscene though. Remind me when I get home to link to the recipe.

Saturday was Settlers of Catan-a-thon at lovely warcrack chums' house. We played, we ate, we giggled at the gorgeous 10mth old baby. Was a hoot and must be done again.
Where was Torby while all this hooting was going on I hear you ask...well.. he was at a sleepover in the mounatins with the beloved Noodle. rejoice! rejoice!
Megzz n Smurg had taken him up the mounatins on Saturday morning and Meg & Jamie brought him back home again on Sunday
Yay for home-delivered munchkin! Yay for lovely Spyd & Gordy who fed and watered and entertained him for 24hrs! yay for a sleep-in for both of us.
M&J and the girls loitered around our house on Sunday(hiding out from their renovations) and I made the kids shell peas for their lunch. It's like the salt mines I tells ya. Salt mines with far too much giggling and demands for more peas!

A dinner at 'The Restaurant' (aka The Newington Inn and all it's family friendly glory) rounded out a very pleasant weekend. Torby fell asleep about 2seconds after lights out. Not at all tired you understand. noooooo.
Mind you, I made it to about 9:30 before trundling myself off to bed as well.

yeah!

via the Big Caption

Because I make it a ot and always have to go looking for the recipe (story of my life)

Bill Granger's Caramel Chicken

Is full of delicious salty sweet sour win.

gah!

There is an escalator that is wide enough for two people, the people on the lefthand side are standing still, the people on the the righthand side are walking up.
It's peakhour at the the train station and there are a billionty people funnelling their way onto the escalator in two lines depending on wether they want to walk or stand.
Why on earth would you then step onto the righthand side (where people are walking) and stop??
Why??
Why aren't we allowed to carry tasers to deal swift justice to these annoying people??
Why???

update that i know you've all been waiting for...don't try to deny it..

I have been a neglectful little sausage of late haven't I?
I do apologise.

Hmm what is there to say...

oo I know....

Torby has asthma. This was diagnosed after we trotted off to emergency on a Friday night a few weeks ago because he had been extra wheezy all week and it seemed to be getting worse. We arrived, they popped an oxygen mask on and kept giving him ventolin. Soon after midnight, they popped us in a bed on the kids short stay ward (well, Torby got the bed, I got the fold out chairbed thing and Nw got sent home.)
Hourly ventolin ensued for the next 24hrs.
Wee hours of Sunday morning he came off the oxygen mask.
Sunday afternoon we were allowed back out into the world again laden down with various medications and an action plan.
Was not an ideal way to get it diagnosed but is good that it was and now we can manage it all better.
I was super proud of the way he behaved and how okay he was/is with everything. He's a great kid (not that I'm biased you understand) The only tears (from him at least) were when we thought that the nasal prongs would be better for him than the mask - more freedom and whatnot. We were wrong. So very wrong.

That weekend also saw Nw with a swollen and painful wrist (after a specialist appointment later it has been diagnosed as possibly rheomatoid arthritis or psoriasis - weirdness) and Nw's mum also unwell.
Our grand and lovely plans for that weekend were shot (including any notion of Mothers Day) although I did get to go out to the pub on Sunday night with a chum visiting from Melbourne and a few other warcrack nerds. Was kinda awesome and just what I needed after the weekend o'doom.

Mothers Day happened for us all the following weekend and it was very pleasant indeed. Brekkie in bed and markets and lots of pleasant chats.

Nw's mum and dad have organised for the entire clan to go to Norfolk Island in September. Tickets and accomodation have been booked and I'm ever so excited. Will be nice to hang out for a week with family we don't see very often and I think Torby will have a hoot with the other cousins.
The island also looks gorgous and I've never been there before so I'm looking forward to exploring.

Okay, I think you're now caught up on the major things. My synapses only seem to fire in short bursts these days. More facebook status update than blog post. Sorry 'bout that.

Torby and I didn't walk home from the station today, we went on a bear hunt instead.

It was awesome

Day of woot

Despite a shaky start (no gloves and really cold hands and missed my train by seconds) today is turning out good.

I found a floorplan of our office and wrote down who sits where - One step closer to remembering who everyone is. I like maps and plans.

On a less work related level, I made an appointment to get my haircut this afternoon. Everyone loves haircut day! This will be followed up with Fish&Chips with the boys and then Yoga with MissCharlie.

Oh and the apple I'm currently munching on is all crisp and sweet and tart and appley.

Yay for today

It's good to know where I stand

Scene: 6am and the munchkin has just woken up and decided that we need to be awake to.I've convinced him to lie in between us for a bit and we were chatting quietly...

Torby:I like you
Me: I like you too
Torby: I love you
Me: I love you too
Me: Did you know that my two favourite boys are you and daddy
Torby: My 3 favourite girls are... Isobel, ZoZo and AJ, except AJ's a boy but he's still my favourite.
Me: Aww can I be one of your favourites?
Torby: Silly mummy.

*sigh*

What I did on my holidays

The Festival - The bits that I wasn't sick for were lovely. The weather was very pleasant, the company delightful (as always) and the ritual of it all very comforting. We even had Lyrebirds near the campsite that thoughtfully came out each day and were photogenic and pretty and a goanna that waddled across the path and climbed a tree.

The Frock - I maded a new one! A lovely blue and red Italian. It's cute, it fits, it worked and I got to wear it. Quite happy with it.

The Tent - We inherited Nic & Murray's monster tent they used at Family Camping after christmas. It was dubbed the Taj Mahal. It's a weird design where you walk into a big open centre space and there are 3 sleeping pods around the outside. It's all kinda awesome and our futon fit in a pod but was uncomfortable to have 2 adults sleeping in there..the angle of the outside wall is too steep. So Torby and I shared the bed and Nw got to sleep on the stretcher in the other pod. At least for that first night. After that it was just one of us with a huuuuuge tent and a really comfy spacious bed. Kinda awesome in it's own way.
I think next year we'll see if the kids are big enough to sleep in a seperate tent and they can have the Taj and Nw and I will return to our original tent which is not quite as spacious but certainly big enough if we don't have to squish a Torby in as well. We shall see.

The Plague - Torby got the plague (oh okay a chest infection of some sort) and combined with his (probable) asthma, we all(him especially) had an utterly miserable night on Thursday. It culminated in going back to bed soon after daylight and thehn throwing up. The boys went away after that i was on my lonesome. Would have been nicer if I wasn't worried about the munchkin, sad that Nw didn't get to stay onsite and utterly sick and miserable lacking in sleep and fevery myself. Yep, having the shakes and cold clammy too hot, too cold, wheezy, snotty gunky experience whilst camping in frocks and no easy way to get home is not an experience I ever want to repeat. I was a bit more human by Friday night so got to be fed (thanks Spyd) and have a glass of wine with a lot of ice and stayed up until at least 8:30.
The boys visited again on Saturday but left before the Feast that night. Torby was still miserable and sick.
Fliss volunteered to take me home with them on Sunday so I could be sick and plaguey in my own house with the munchkin and Nw could have two nights at Festival with driving back and forth so much. (The original plan was for him to come back with Torby on Monday, pick me and a load of stuff up aand take us home and then come back and have Sunday/Monday night there)

I still can't laugh without it disolving into a deeeeelightful cough and am still a bit headachey and feeble but the three days at the end of last week the doctor made me stay home for (instead of returning to work) were useful. Torby still sounds about as good as I do but is also on the mend and we've been sending him to daycare/preschool since Wednesday as I think he was getting a bit bored and scratchy at home.

The Weekend - Was nice to be sociable (a dinner, a bbq and a lunch) this weekend as I was really missing everyone. I didn't quite get my social fix at festival due to plague and leaving early so I was very keen to see people now that it's all evened out. Yay for food and wine and munchkins and chums

The Plans - Looking forward to next year (and the Conquistador party that is being planned to celebrate The Lemmings being around for 20years) and still looking forward to taking a break the year after and going somewhere else and doing something else. Don't know what yet but I've been going to Festival for ummm 13years? 14years? and Nw has been for 20. Really is time for a break methinks.

Wednesday morning randomness

Yoga will now happen on Wednesday night not Saturday morning. I called them up to diuscuss deferring the 8weeks I'd paid for until next term after I realsied that I'd miss out on a few too many classes (includong the fiorast one which I was too drop dead asleep for). The lass noted that there really was a class on Wednesdat evening and the printed timetable had a typo. This is awesome as Saturday mornings are the morning I'm most likely to be asleep for (very early mornings all week plus no naps makes me a bit ratty by the time the weekend happens) however, it does mean I won't be attending with MissCharlie. Next term will be better I hope.

2weeks in and I'm still enjoying my new role and working in the city. I've even manged to remember the names of a few people.

As of last night, I have a 2 peices of a bodice and 2 eyelets sewn in. I plan on making the eyelets, purtting it on and then sewing the shoulder seams up. Then applying trim (as long as it fits and the shoulders work) etc etc etc. For such a simple frock (basic little frock based on the Raphael girls - made it before and it's a lovely easy style that is good for camping in) it's been doomeed from the start so I don't have many hopes for it actually working but we shall see.

Torby and I have been getting to know the other kids and their parents on teh street a bit more. Is nice that he's feeling a bit more comfortable and included around them and I'm enjoying chatting to the parents. Yay for neighbourhoods and communities.

Looking forward to BBQ at our house on Friday night to celebrate MissKrin being in town. Will eb jice to catch up with her and Jed and to see people.

Am still feeling disorganised and slightly apathetic about Festival. Usually by now I'm starting to get a little bit excited but apparently not this year. We're starting to dicuss maybe not going the year after next (next year will be the Lemmings 20th Anniversary so Nw realy should be there for that) A year off is sounding really really good.

Having said that, we will most likely get there and have a hoot. just like every other year.

But now, work awaits (mmm graphs of Monthly Budget Variances - betcha you're jealous) and there will soon be a fire drill and I've got to find the hard hat and torch I'll be using (am back-up firewarden - clearly didn't step back fast enough) and be ready to put on shoes that are less high and pointy toed. Falling down stupid firestairs is generally not a good look.

$120 Food Challenge

Is my new website discovery.
I can't remember where I saw it linked first but it's quite cunning.

The tagline is $120 dollars - 14 meals - No Pressure

Yay for lunchtime adventures

Megzzzzzz came and met me for lunch today and then we wnet shopping.
Lunch was in a salady/sammichy hole in the wall that was super duper packed. Delicious but squishy.
Lincraft was actually useful for once. Well, the staff weren't and it's full of large amounts of crud and it's not at all organised, but it actually had the plain coloured cotton that Meggzz wanted, the curtain rings I wanted, the little mini chickens I was looking for (for hiding around the campsite at Festival so the children can have their easter hunt that involves no chocolate) and also had some raunchy blue and gold brocade that I don't need but bought anyway. It's so purty.

A trip to Victorias Basement was needed to buy a vase for a lass at worl (well, not really at work anymore as she's retiring and it's her job I'm now doing)
It's a fabulous place full of house pron - and full of soma especially ahem..haunting.. pieces.
Scary to walk through it's cramped aisles with a handbag though, so much breakableness, so little space.

But now I'm back and in my absence, people have piled my desk with work to be done and soon it will be hometime and I get to collect Torby from daycare and attend his final swimming lesson and I should probably find the half of my desk that is covered in paper and boxes and scribbly notes.

oh the dedication

I've been enjoying Yoga classes with MissCharlie. it's nice to be reminded that I can stretch and be flexible.
We finished our 8weeks of Beginner classes and now we should do the Beginner2 classes (for the continuation and stuff)
These classes are either Tuesday morning (will be at work instead) or *whimper* Saturday mornings at 8am.
Oh the horror

I have been brave and bitten the bullet and all sorts of other things and booked.

Goodbye lazy Saturday mornings at home, I will see you again in 2months.

Good Bad and Meh 15th March Edition

Good
Started new job. I am being an Exec Assist again. This time with it's based in the city. I love the city. I love new stuff.
Getting home from work and my boys are waiting for me to go food shopping.
It take me 30minutes to get to work, not an hour.
Torby choosing me to read bedtime stories last night - he usually prefers Nw
Torby going to sleep with minimal fuss last night and then sleeping until just past 7am. I guess a day of running around in parks will do that.

Bad
Torby has always been a fussy eater. He hates trying new food. Tonight I waged a battle and it ended in tears (for us both)
It's the utter refusal and the histronics when asked to try anything perceived as new that makes me see red.
He's gone to bed without any real dinner inside him and quite distraught. I juust get to sit here and feel like the worst parent in the world.

Meh
Had a few flat days but I think I know why and I've decided that there is nothimg I can do about and I know how to avoid it in the future so there is no point in the meh. See, I'm just like a grown-up

wheeee

It's my last day at work before I switch jobs and locations.
There will be cake soon and then a lunch with some chums.
Not entirely sure if/when any work will get done. *shrug*

Yay for lovely Fridays.

gorgeous calligraphy

A lass called Margaret Shephard does them and I'm in awe of her talent.

Lots more here or here

A day I wish to not repeat

0300 - 0430 - toss and turn in bed
0431 - get out of bed, have shower, get dressed, potter about
0605 - head off to train station
0710 - arrive at work
0711 - become swamped under mountain of work
0900 to 1230 - waste hours of my life in a pointless training session
1230 to 1245 - scoffle food and try not to think about amount of work to be done before hometime.
1245 to 1730 - get enough work done to allow the panic attacks to cease.
1731 - decide that 10hrs20min is more than enough time to spend at work for a day and head home.

Luckily, once the deadline has been reached tomorrow, it will all be calmer and I can go back to plotting ways to maim the lass whose job I'm doing for putting me in this position. Seriously, what on earth has she been doing for the past fortnight?? Clearly not her job, so I'm curious.

mornings

I am quite fond of this time in the morning.
I'm up and showered and dressed and having brekkie.
The boys are still asleep.
I get to potter around a bit before giving them both good-bye kisses they most likely don't notice.
Then I get to walk up my nice street in the growing light.
The bridge that I walk on before descending to my train station gives me the most amazing views.
And then I get to sit and read and and the trains take me to work.

If I'm very lucky, Torby will even wake up just before I leave and I will get kisses and hugs which makes my morning extra sparkly.

MrNw likes to flick channels and thus we occasionally end up watching something unexpected.
Nothing quite beats the fascination that Torby has shown in random sports though.
Yesterday it was some motor racing thing that we flicked past and today it was 10pin bowling.
When the bowling ended there were many demands that it come back on and tears and recriminations over the knowledge that there was nothing we could do to make that happen.

Strange child

Happy Birthday to me!!!!

Hooray I have survived another year!
Hooray I have lovely family and friends!
Hooray I will get to see a lot of the people I love over the course of the weekend, starting with yesterday. (Boo that I don't get to see everyone but that would involve more organisation and in some cases airtravel)
Hooray!
Hooray!
Hooray!

Uno

1 is the resin identification code used in recycling to identify polyethylene terephthalate.

Just thought you might like to know.

How many polynucleotide strands are there in a DNA double helix?


2!

Yay

Coincidence?

Apparently there are three golf balls on the moon AND three sleeps until my brithday.

Coincidence? I think so

:)

4! 4! let's sing a song about 4

how many is 4?
one more than 3!

also, in computeryness, it is the number of bits in a nibble, equivalent to half a byte

Oh Timmy, you're so licky

5 = The Famous Five books written by Enid Blyton

and for yesterday...

The number that the sixth album by Dream Theater "Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence" was based around. The album has six songs. The sixth song — that is, the complete second disc — explores the stories of six individuals suffering from various mental illnesses.

this time next week...

7 = the number of chakras presnt in the human body
(in honour of my yoga class attending self and despite how crystal sucking & dolphin hugging it sounds)

I'm 32 years old.
I've been dressing myself for a very large chunk of those years.
You'd think that I would be used to NOT putting on my pants until after I'd put on my knickers in the morning.
This morning I proved that theory wrong.
Took me a few minutes of wandering around the house wondering what I'd forgotten to do before I realised.
The fact that I've survived this long really is a miracle sometimes.

mmm Fibonacci

The number 8 is a Fibonacci number, being 3 plus 5. The next Fibonacci number is 13. 8 is the only positive Fibonacci number, aside from 1, that is a perfect cube.

Apparently I looked as tired as I felt.

An hour ago, Torby decided I needed to lie on the couch with a pillow and blanket and bear and he would read me a story and I could sleep.

He read me 'Pants', gave me a kiss and then I'm not sure what happened because for the next 30minutes I was a drooly lump of asleepness.

I do feel much less zmombielike now.

Guess how many sleeps are left?

Hint:
A polygon with nine sides is called a nonagon or enneagon

Yesterdays (because I was slack but I know how much you are all enjoying my birthday-centric facts) :)

10 = atomic number of neon
10 = number of sleeps

11 sleeps to go

This amp goes up to 11

Quote of the Day

When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it.
- Bernard Bailey

Did you know..

In English, twelve is the number of greatest magnitude that has just one syllable.

It's also the number of sleeps until my birthday

Just sayin'

the combo of PMS (well as of an hour ago..first day death) and the rain making my bones ache (I blame my mother) has made me very sore and twingy.
Icanhazsexchangenao?

my day in numbers

1 snotty wheezy child who couldn't breathe properly
5 hours at the hospital
1 dose of steroids
3 doses of magic smoke (ventolin through a mask)
3 puffers
1 dv with pms
1 hour doze when we got home
1 sleepy husband
2 bottles of champagne chilling
5 people coming over soon
1 lovely and t'riffic sister who has done the shopping for dinner tonight.

alright

This song ( The Decemberists - The Rake Song) has been stuck in my head for a few days.

Great song..... leads to some very odd dreams though.

monday morning randomness

For the first time in forevety, I'm re-reading Katehrine Kerr's Deverry series. Had forgotten how much I like it. Spent a large part of yesterday evening lying on the couch reading the first book.

For the first time in a slightly less forevety amount of years, we had caprioskas. Numnumnum. The excess lime issue has been dealt withn and a new bottle of vodka will need to be purchased soon.

The boys did not go a-visiting the grandparents on Sunday. Granpapa has shingles :(
I still managed to have a doze on the couch. I'm clever that way.
Torby even had a nap as well. Not that he was tired you understand. He was very vehement about his lack of tiredness. The fact that he was half-asleep and being carried into the house from the car while he was proclaiming it didn't really help his cause.

In between sleeping in (until 10am!), shopping and dozing on the couch, I managed to make chickeny vegetabley noodley soup for freezing and lunches and roasted some capsicums.
I think dinner tonight will involve roasted vegies and sausage lumps with the capsicum and some pesto and salady leaves.
It's a variation from the Dinner Plan (tm) for this week but I think it will work.

The Dinner Plan (tm) has been very useful for trying new recipes.
Is cunning when the new stuff I'm making can also be made for more than 2 people (with leftovers).
One of the things that stresses me out with cooking is timing. Not such an issue when it's just the two of us. We can, and have, eaten roast carrot for entree, then the roast chicken and with some roast potatoes for dessert (for instance). I'm just not convinced that everyone else wants to eat that way. So it's nice that a few recipes I've tried have been able to feed guests with a minimal amount of swearing on my behalf.

We spent a large part of Sunday reformatting and updating a laptop we got given. It's destined to be Torby's 'busy' when the current one (my old laptop) finally dies. The poor piece of machinery is missing half the keys and has been dropped so many times it's a wonder it hasn't exploded. Hmm it's probably the large amount of toast crumbs and apple juice that have been drizzled into it that's keeping it all together.
The new(to us at least) one is still shiny and has keys and a cd drive that opens easily and doesn't have a fine coating of stickiness. It's quite miraculous.

19 sleeps until my birthday!

The Dinner Plan (tm)

On Friday at work, I spent a completely productive hour finding interestying food to make, sorting out what day I would cook it on and making a shopping list.

This all comes about because we're trying to eat better and save money. Getting to work, trying to think of what to make for dinner and then when/how the ingredients can be bought makes my brain hurt and often ends up involving takeaway that may or may not be good for us.
Also compounded by the schedule of picking Torby up (me - Mon, Thu, Fri / Nw - Tue, Wed), activities planned (Fight Club, Yoga, Swimming), the time Nw gets home from work (too late to pick ingredients up on his way home unless he's also collecting Torby) and general care factor.

So, anyway, we now have a list of what to cook for the week and a plan of family shopping on Sunday (accomplished) and then I can pick stuff up on the way home on Wednesday (no Torby to collect and plenty of time between leaving work and having to be at Yoga at at 6)

So this week we're having;

Sun - paella (was deeelicious and enough leftover for a few lunches)
Mon - Asian Stuffed Omellette
Tue - FC
Wed - lamb cutlets with vietnamese-esque salad
Thu - lamb filo pastries
Fri - braised pork cutlets with fennel and borlotti beans

It's a good mix of can make in my sleep, super quick and new and interesting.
Hopefully this will counteract my natural inclination to avoid planning.

On the weekend I;

fed people dinner
got fed dinner
heard all about Bellabels first day at big school
admired new haircuts
ate a devilled egg
had a few naps
watched Big Bang Theory, Dollhouse and Castle
cooked more pumpkin soup.
froze soup in lunch sized amounts.
made more paella than intended.
giggled at the munchkin chasing chickens
did far too many loads of washing
got to spend time with ZoZo
visited Ikea
did shopping according to The Dinner Plan (tm)
played warcrack
discovered that there is no backspace button on the mac keyboard
discussed music


On the weekend I did not;

pattern anything for festival
vacuum the floor
roast capsicums
set off the flea bombs
attack Torby's room and get rid of excess clothes/toys
go swimming
organise various things I need to post

the combo of yoga on Wednesday night and swimming yesterday has made me sore today.
The upside is that my arms weren't as noodly as I was expecting.

I made bacon & haloumi stuffed mushrooms ( http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/17326/bacon+and+haloumi+stuffed+mushrooms ) last night for ninner... very nommy

Due to various activities and working and picking munchkin up from daycare, I think we need to plan out the weeks meals so that shopping can be done when convenient. That much order in my life scares me though.

mushy introspectiveness ahead

I was thinking the other night about how much my life has cahnged in the 4years since Torbyboy came along...

I have met people I may not have.
I have developed greater friendships with some and lost touch with others.
I have changed my priorities and my world view a few times.
I can no longer read/watch the news - too many dead babies.
I have become more insular.
I have worked hard at maintaining some semblance of my social life.
I realise how lucky I am to have the life that I do.
I have battled with depression and won (for now).
I have fallen more in love with my husband because of the way he is when he is with our son.
I have experienced more guilt and frustration and feelings of inadequacy and been more scared than I ever had pre-munchkin.
I have experienced more joy and love and beauty than I ever had as well.
I cannot imagine a life where I don't get to sit around in friends backyards watching the kids play and giggle and muck about.
I do not want to imagine a life where I don't get to pick my baby up from daycare and take him to swimming lessons before going home and playing a game, making dinner and then reading him stories and administering kisses.
I have become a lot less tolerant about some things and a lot more tolerant of others.
I now appreciate the beauty of alone time, the luxury of lying in bed all day and reading, the joy of popping down to the pub with some chums on a whim.
I am a lot more familiar with the workings of hospitals that I would ever have wanted to be.

I had thought that this is the life I chose, but at the time of choosing, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I'm glad we did it anyway.

Happy happy

Happy Australia Day!
Happy BBQ Day!
Happy Lambchop Day!
Happy Pavlova Day!
Happy 'our country may have it's issues, but on the whole we're kinda awesome day'


oh and

Belated Happy Haircut Day!

Nummy nummy moroccany vegetabley stew

From Mibsy and one day he'll tell me where it originally came from.

Boogie with Stew
----------------

Ingredients:

01. Olive Oil ............. 2 tbsp
02. Water ................. 6 cups

03. Cauliflower ........... 1/2 Cut into florets
04. Carrots ............... 1 Cup diced
05. Garlic ................ 6 Cloves
06. Mint, fresh ........... To garnish
07. Onion ................. 1 Large, yellow
08. Potato, Red ........... 2 Diced
09. Yellow Squash ......... 1 cut in half-moons and sliced
10. Zucchini .............. 1 cut in half and sliced

11. Almonds, sliced ....... 1/3 cup
12. Figs, dried ........... 1/2 cup coarsely chopped
13. Raisins ............... 1/2 cup soaked 15 minutes in warm water

14. Black Pepper .......... 1 tsp freshly ground
15. Cardamom .............. 2 tsp
16. Cayenne Pepper ........ 1 tsp
17. Curry Powder .......... 2 tsp
18. Salt .................. 1 tsp
19. Honey ................. 2 tbsp

20. Couscous .............. 3 cups uncooked
21. Garbanzo beans ........ 1 15oz can
22. Tomato, diced ......... 1 15oz can
23. Tomato paste .......... 1 small tub (or a tin of tomato sauce)


24. Plain yoghurt ......... Small tub of GOOD QUALITY.

Instructions:

First, cut everthing up.

In a heavy stockpot, heat the olive oil(01) and saute the onion(07),
garlic(05), potatoes(08), carrots(04) and cardamom(15). Stir until
fragrant.

Add the zucchini(10), yellow squash(09), and cauliflower(03),
curry powder(17), salt(18), black pepper(14), and cayenne pepper(16)
and stir. Drain the raisins(13) and add to the pot along with the
tomatoes(22), tomato paste(23), honey(19), and garbanzo beans(21).

Stir everything in, then cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the
figs(12)
and almonds(11), and up to 1 cup of water if the stew appears dry.

Simmer covered for a further 30 minutes or until the vegetables are
tender.

Follow the instructions on the couscous(20) packet for cooking the
couscous.

To serve, fluff up the couscous with a fork. Spoon a mound of couscous
on
each plate and form a well in the center. Ladle a portion of stew into
the
well. Garnish with several tablespoons of yoghurt(24) and fresh
mint(06).

Dot Point Day

Starting 8 weeks of Yoga tonight with MissCharlie. I haven't done any since Uni. This may hurt. This may hurt a lot.

My first week of FT work has been good so far. The killer will be tomorrow morning when I don't get to sleep in and then meet Megzzzzz for coffee and bisskits. Instead there will be the taking of munchkin to preschool and trying not to cry.

Is odd that I'm so teary about him starting care for two days. He's been going dto daycare since he was 6mths old. I'm used to him being looked after by someone else. I've seen the advantages it's given him. We all love it. Why then is the thought of him going somewhere for an extra 2 days making me emotional. Is it because it's a different place? because he's getting older? because I'm hormonal? All of the above? Mystery!

Went shopping yesterday. Managed to get a few tops, a skirt and a bra for not that much over $100- The shopping gods were with me it seems.

All the tops were shades of dark blue. This was not planned.

Am getting to learn new stuff at work. Is nice to use my brain again. Is nice to not be so very very bored.

Loved the cooler weather we had earlier in the week. Am not looking forward to the hotter weather we have coming up.

Still in love with our house. It still needs work and it definately needs a big clean. But it's ours and it's comfy and it feels like home.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

Pumpkin Soup ala DV

1 butternut pumpkin cut into biggish cubes
2 onions into half moons
some bacon chopped up
Garlic clove or 4 roughly chopped
a lump of ginger, grated (I roughly chopped it this time which makes it too lumpy)

Throw into a pot with a smidge of oil to get some colour.

Add the chicken carcasses you've been saving in the freezer.

Not-quite-cover with water and stock (yes, yes, the stock may have been overkill but it still tastes good)
leave to bubble and simmer along until pumpkin is soft.

cool a bit

ditch the chicken carcasses and make sure all meat scraps are left in the pot.

smoosh the pumpkin up a bit.

decide is a bit too runny and put the stove back on and let bubble away until reduced a bit.

smoosh pumpkin some more

add lashings of black pepper and a bit fo salt

it's all yummy and a bit smoky (from bacon and variously baked/barbecued chicken carcasses) and I look forward to scoffling it for various lunches.

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaawn

Thursday night was coffee & bisskits turned wine o'clock (we had to console ourselves you understand) and I got to bed around midnight.

Friday night was The Snowdroppers at The Annandale Hotel. Was a hoot and music was great, night would have been better without the fuckwits who were determined to push in front ad create as much chaos as possible. I finally crawled into bed around 1.

Last night was eatinbg of own body weight in deeeeeelicious lambykins and pumpkin at P&F's house. Due to 2 games of Settlers of Catan, we all left rather late. 1am again for bedtime.

Three nights in a row of late bedtimes has left me a weeeeeee bit sleepy today. Combined with the muscle soreness from dancing on Friday night and I really just want to lie in bed all day.

yummy breakfast at the markets and a nap will have to suffice though I dare say.

I've dropped Torby off at preschool for a few hours.
He had a big attack of the shy when we got there but soon wandered off to play on the slides and things.
I barely got waved at when I said g'bye.
*sniff* my baby is all grown-up and leaving me*sniff*

I'll go back and pick him up soon and see how it all went but there haven't been any phonecalls so I'm assuming it's all good.

Off to see The Snowdroppers tonight. Yay for live music and bouncing around with chums.

It's finally ended

After nearly 4 1/2 years, I'm about to return to full-time work.

I found a childcare place down the road from us that has a spot for Torby on Thursdays and Fridays.
He'll still go to the lovely A's for Monday to Wednesday (oh the tears when he goes to school next year and leaves A's. He's been going there since he was 6mths old. *sniff*)

So I saw the preschool place yesterday and they confirmed they had a spot for him.
This morning I asked my big boss if he wanted me back fulltime and he practically hugged me. I also mentioned that if I had to look at the same spreadsheets and deal with the same data that I'd been doing for the past 4years anymore, I might go insane.
I called the preschool again to make sure they hadn't changed their mind and also lined up an appt on Friday to drop him off for a few hours so he can get used to the place.
I was informed this afternoon that I would be trained in a new role so I could relieve in it when needed.
Yay for new things to learn and do. Even if it will only be for part-time for now.
Yay for more opportunities to do interesting work.
Yay for more money (well a return to my FT pay and a few more opportunities for Higher Duties i.e extra money and responsibility)
Yay for Torbyboy interacting with more kids and more adults and a different care structure.

Boo for not having our 2days together at home.
Boo for an end to our weekly date with Megzz for coffee and bisskits
Boo for me having to work 5 days a week.
Boo for getting up at 5:30 every weekday (although, I guess, Yay for being able to start work at 7 and leave at 3 if I choose)
Boo for not getting to involve my son so much in my day-to-day life

All up, it'll be worth it and given that I was all excited and bouncy today when it all fell into place, it's a good decision. It will be good for all of us seperately and as a family.
Please remind me of this in a few weeks time.

thanks

ugh

A night of unsettling dreams has left very very fuzzy around the edges.

Ugh I say

late nights = tetchy days

Wednesday, M&J and the girls dropped around for ninner. It was lovely, the kids ran around like porkchops. Bedtime was about 9:30 (by the time all the ritual had been observed etc)

Thursday was a bit special in regards to overtired Torby.

Friday was a bbq at Fliss'. (Hooray for afternoon's in the sun might I add). Many kids running around like porkchops (except fopr when they were calmly standing in line for icecream - I have photographic proof and everything)
A few of them (Torby included) stayed up late and watched 'My Neighbour Totoro'. Eventual bedtime - about 9:30 (he passed out in the car on the way home)

Saturday was a weeeeee bit special.
Saturday afternoon the boys went off to Pete n Ana's for fun and frolics while I stayed home feeling like death warmed up. (Needless to say, I felt a bit better after i woke up at 3am to hurl what dinner I'd managed to eat)
From all reports, the kids ran around like pork chops and had a hoot.
Bedtime was about 8 (I think)

Sunday was mostly okay.

Anyone see a pattern emerging?

I love that he's now old enough to stay up late and run around like a porkchop and even watch a dvd or play games quietly. It means greater freedom for us and him. The price to be paids the next day is certainly less than it was when he was younger, but it's still there. Hateful consequences. Why must you vex me so.

Tonight shall be a very early night for him I think.

Hmm, is 5pm too early do you think?

cordial

I'm making my very own cordial. Using this recipe for ginger and lemongrass cordial

It certainly smells good.

EDIT: It tastes good too. Next time I may increase the lemongrass though or let it steep for a bit before adding ginger.

links for the day

Evil Overlord List

and

100 quotes every geek should know

Congo, congo, everybody congo

We have made it home from the week of camping with family. 7 adults, 4 kids and 1 in-between (he's 11yrs old so he was allowed to eat with the adults)
It took 5hours to get there and 7hours to get back - stoopid Princes Highway going through a billion towns.

We spent the week in the ocean, playing on the sand, fishing, catching beachworms, sitting around the table eating and chatting and drinking, we ate good food, the cousins played well together (mostly), the view was amazing, there was fireworks on the beach for NYE, I have a tan line from my swimmers for the first time in forever, many hats were worn, much sunscreen was applied and I kind of miss being there.

However, work must be attended on Monday and it is kinda nice to have a real shower and finally be completely free of sand.

But, oh how nice it was.

There are a few photos on flickr...the others took more and I'll put them up when they return and give me copies.