Storm season

We are definitely in storm season now. There is nothing I love more than a good lightning show, and thunderous cracks. But, please, no more storms on Tuesdays for the next five weeks. My weekly escape was rudely called off because of all the storm action.

So instead, here I sit, trying to write a half decent blog post, but yet again I fail. I read other blogs and wish like anything that I could write like those people. I've never been much good at written expression though, so don't really know why I set myself up.

I'm four!

So, Mr Stubborn hit the big 4 today. So hard to believe. I can remember when he arrived with such clarity, it could have been yesterday.

I can sadly and officially say that the baby and toddler years are behind us now, it's such a bitter sweet feeling. No more nappies, no more having to cart all the paraphernalia around, no more stroller.

He had a fairly good day, even if he was stuck at childcare. But he got to spend it with his three best buddies, so I am sure that was a bonus for him.

For dinner he wanted pizza, and ice cream, so I killed two birds with one stone and made an ice cream cake :)


His main present was a remote control Meccano car, which has been a hit, I highly recommend it.

New Shoes

I've got new shoes, and they suck, nearly as much as the pair I bought before them, and the ones before that too.

What is going on? I try shoes on in the shops, and mid to late afternoon too, just to make sure my feet are at their fattest. I don't know what the fuck is happening, because when I have worn new fucking shoes, they are too small. Do I fall in love with them just a little too much in the shops, and over look their snugness, or is there some weird shit going on? My feet are size 11, yep, massive hoofs, yet the shoes I am buying are not working. Can they (my feet that is) have grown again to make me a size 11.5, or even worse, size 12?

I've got some massive blisters happening at the moment and they really hurt :( . On the bright side, that's the worst thing I have to complain about, so things can't be too bad.

OK, off to try and wear my shoes in with a pair of socks on, maybe this will work? I could invest in some of those shoe stretcher things, but they take weeks to work, and I don't believe my boss would be too impressed if I rock up in some Birkenstocks.

HELP!

Discipline

So, Miss Perfect and The Middle Man have started Taekwondo, and are totally loving it. I'd been umming and ahhing about what they would do over the summer months. I could fork out more money for swimming, but they get enough of that at home, and can both swim anyway, plus, they do it at school during the two summer terms. Miss Perfect was keen to go back to gymnastics, but it's so far away, and The Middle Man wasn't really interested. So, after much research, we settled on Taekwondo, and what a bonus when I discovered it was on in our very own school hall :) . Twice a week they go, and after two whole weeks they are already getting the hang of it. The Middle Man can do push ups that the majority of the population would be jealous of (his star jumps though make me almost wet my pants with laughter). Miss Perfect is getting the hang of the combinations, and won't be ready for the next grading in three weeks, but most definitely will be after that.

Unfortunately Mr Stubborn is still too young, but as soon as he is "of age", he'll be donning the cute little dobok too!

Some of the benefits of Taekwondo are: builds confidence and self-esteem as well as self-discipline, respect, concentration and courtesy.

Now, respect and courtesy have been lacking around here lately, so anything that can instil a bit more than what we currently get is an absolute bonus.

Going well

So, the new fitness regime is going well, bar a weekend away "camping", and a touch of gastro during the week.

I've had a couple of people ask me this week if I've lost weight. I don't know if I have, as this time I am vowing not to weigh myself, otherwise I know I will turn into an obsessed psycho about it all.

So, just wanted to check in and say "so far so good"

It's time

Finally I am ready.

Ready for what you may say?

Well, this is going to turn into one of those blogs that focuses on fitness and weight loss.

I have been stressing about my increasing weight for a long time now, but haven't been mentally ready to tackle it - too much other shit going on which has affected me in ways that it really shouldn't.

But now. It's game on!

I'm not happy looking in the mirror, in fact, I've noticed myself avoiding the mirror, and photos. I'm not going mental for 12 weeks or anything like I did before, heck, I've put all that weight on plus more). This is going to be a process that will take at least 6 months.

But, just you wait, I'll be one smokin' hot mamma at the end.

Holidays

You know what?

This has probably been the most enjoyable holidays we've had in our history of holidays.

Week one was spent at the beach, me, my kids, and a friend with her kids. We achieved our goal of tiring the kids out so much during the day that they would be fed, bathed and in bed by 6.30 each night. I know - a miracle, right?

After the kids went to bed, friend and I cracked open a bottle of wine, indulged in a couple of glasses each, then moved on to either G&T or some ill-gotten boutique beer (don't ask!). We then pumped the iPod and played some tunes. I was excited to see her playlist included some hard Australian rock from the mid 80's. I think that seeing someone's iPod tune list is like seeing into their soul. This friend and I matched pretty darn well, I knew there was a reason that we just seemed to click, and yes, I am going to tragically announce that it is our closet love of Australian Crawl.

OMG.

Did I just say that out loud? Okay, so now you all know my biggest secret, it is officially out, and not a secret anymore. I really wanted to marry Brad Robinson (guitarist), he was the hottest thing on two legs as far as I was concerned. Unfortunately he died in 1996 from lymphoma :(

MATH is taking The Middle Man on a bit of a camping adventure for three nights to Fraser Island on Thursday. It's going to be a bit of a camping festival here for a couple of weeks, as the following weekend we are camping (if you can call it that), at the Big 4 Holiday Park with some other families, and I am sure a great time will be had by all.

Well, that's my update for now, am going to list some more things on ebay now, I wasn't joking when I said on Facebook not to sit still at my place if you come over!

What the fuck?

Seriously, these Crocs have to go. Does anyone own a pair of these?

Cleaning

At some stage last year, I went through a maniacal (is that a word) cleaning phase. My house sparkled, it shone, it was blindingly clean. Sadly, that is no longer the case :( . I've cancelled several appointments with the Climate Smart man as I couldn't bear the thought of a stranger coming into my house as it is/was.

So, today I started on Mission Make This House Sparkle.

And?

I failed.

Dismally.

I did start to clean the oven though (which is in bits). I cleaned the door and one of the racks from inside. But, that's it. I toyed with the idea of using some of my hard earned cash to just pull it out and install a new one. But, I didn't do that either.

I seriously have a case of the CBF's. This needs to be rectified soon though, as the Climate Smart man is due on Monday, and I refuse to cancel for the third time.

So, if anyone has some magical cleaning mojo, fairy or whatever, please send it/her my way.

Look!

MATH won't let me ride to work any more. I don't know why...


Not less than 24 hours after my previous post, I suffered a mishap on the way home, thanks to another rider. (I have to clarify this point, the accident was not my fault, in fact, I was thinking only milliseconds before the accident how much I was enjoying it).

As you can see, I busted the wheel in a spectacular fashion. I managed to not bust my hand as the doctors were suspecting, don't quite know how I got out of that one. I have grazes over several parts of my body, a sore arm from the bloody tetanus/whooping cough jab, and a nasty infected hand. Today I am feeling not so sore, and have more movement in my hand, which means fortunately/unfortunately I will be able to see out this last week of my contract.

The other rider seemed to be OK, but he contacted me yesterday and said that he has several broken ribs. MATH is cross with him, I feel sorry for him. He was a nice bloke, and let me get over my initial fright by swearing at him in a most unladylike fashion, then offering to push my bike for me, as well as his own, all the while keeping quiet about the pain that he was in.

Hope you get better soon Os.

Checking in

Hectic is one way to describe my life at the moment. Wake up at 6am, head off for work at 6.45am, work a full day, then come home, dinner, blah blah blah, go to bed, then start the same old shit over again.

But, I confess, I am rather enjoying it. Mostly, I am enjoying the lesson that this is teaching MATH. It ain't cruisy being the parent that does all the kid shit, and finally, finally he is recognising that. Yeeha.

I don't think I have blogged about the fact that I am riding my bicycle to and from work (hence the 6.45am start), that's a 26km round trip ladies and gentlemen. Happily, this has helped me in many ways:

• I don't get this shits sitting on the bus waiting for morons to board and get off, having to stop every 5 seconds (or so it seems)
• I am exercising whilst commuting and not stressing about howthefuckamigunnafitinagymsession
• Something weird is happening to my skin - I've been suffering from millia for a few years now, and I kid you not, it is just disappearing
• I've lost 4kg in 3 weeks without altering my diet all that much
• I am starting to be able to see my long lost definition around the quads

Oh, OK, I could go on, but I won't.

Only 1.5 weeks of the contract left though, so am making the most of my freedom (being in the city centre and having decent lunch breaks is not all that conducive to saving all the money I am earning) ;)

2 days

I had two days at my new "work" yesterday and today.

One word to describe my working environment would be peaceful.

As it is an international company, there are many lurks and perks of being an employee, even if you're only temporary ;)

Cappuccino's on tap. They also have a "Chill Zone" that takes up half a floor of a large inner city building. It looks like something you'd see in a movie - seriously. There is a library corner that is full of all the latest magazines, and a games table - board games.

I think I'm in love.

I told MATH that I would quite happily accept a part time job there if ever there was one going in my area.

Back to normal life tomorrow. Please let Mr Stubborn be in a happy mood. These 3.5 year old tantrums are going to be the death of me otherwise.

In a funk

Wow, I have been in such a foul mood the past few days. I think the kids are scared of me at the moment - heck, I'm scared of me. Not good.

In other news, I got to the bottom of the problem concerning MATH and work. It is all sorted, let's just say that I am the one that copped him releasing his anger at a situation within his workplace. So, phew, he is not going to resign.

My news. I scored a 5 week contract working. It will be a full time gig and I am absolutely crapping myself. Not about the actual work, but rather how it is all going to work. Mister Stubborn will be going into full time care, Miss Perfect and The Middle Man will have to go to OSHC. But, thankfully a gorgeous friend has offered to have them for 2 afternoons, so that will mean they'll only need to go there 3 days. I am so scared that I won't make it home in time for them to be picked up before the relevant places close for the night. I am scared that they will hate it. I am scared that they will think I am neglecting them. I am scared that they will act out because of it, and mostly, I am scared of being back in a corporate environment. I don't have any fucking clothes! And, being the fat arse that I am at the moment, I don't want to go and fork out a motza for clothes that I will wear only a handful of times.

Agh.

The blogs are slowing down

Come on people, I'm bored!

Not much has been happening. I think MATH is having a bit of a mid-life crises which I am finding very hard with. He seriously needs some help - seriously. There appears to be a bit of tension going on in his workplace, which I am very worried about. Luckily his industry hasn't been affected as yet by the GFC. However, the male dominated office seems to have more bitchiness happening than a lunch break in a girls high school. *sighs*. MATH isn't coping too well with it at all, and made a rather scary phonecall to me a couple of hours ago. Sorry MATH, but you resigning and us selling the house isn't an option. You have a FAMILY to look after.

Fuckity fuck fuck

On another note, Miss Perfect and The Middle Man started Auskick on the weekend. Miss Perfect astounded me with her near perfect drop-kicks. It's quite a good marketing ploy these Auskick dudes have happening. Week one they all got a footy. Week two they will all get a pair of shorts (hopefully not a la Warwick Capper style). Week three they get a t-shirt, then week four is the backpack, drink bottle giveaway. Keeps the kiddies coming back I guess.

Our holiday

So, we had a lovely little holiday over the Easter school holidays. I don't like to announce on here that we are going away, so it will always be after the fact that you hear about it.

This was seriously one of the most relaxing holidays we have had since having children. Them getting older each time we go sure makes a difference. We didn't do much, mostly just relaxed and bummed around. I think I read three books while we were gone - not bad considering it was only 5 nights!

Here are some snapshots.

MATH and the kids in the tunnel at Underwater World. We have an annual pass here so will get there a lot more often over the coming 12 months.


Mr Stubborn after an exhausting swim in the pool


The cousins getting ready for their piscatorial adventure. Nothing was reeled in, but there was lots of bait stealing.
Once the novelty of fishing wore off, the tortured the yabbies that they'd pumped earlier by having yabby races.

He is 5!

This post is just under a week late due to being rather under the weather. Nearly 100% again though, so watch out ;)

Well, as my title says, he is 5! The Middle Man that is. It was last Tuesday to be precise.

Yet again, I was struck by how proud I am of the the family we have created. For some reason I tend to get very nostalgic on the kids birthdays. But, I want to take this opportunity to thank the gorgeous boy for all he has brought to us. Many, many laughs, some scary bits when he was about 2.5 and was very ill, lots of love, cuddles, smells and the ability to buy Lego guilt-free. Of course there is lots more, but that is what comes to mind right this very minute.

Darling boy, I was so worried when I saw you for the first time and saw a penis. Eh gads, I thought, I can't "do" boy. But let me say, that you are the best thing since sliced bread. You are just what we needed.

Love you lots. xxxcutting the cake - he ordered a carrot cake

kissing Miss Perfect 'cos he touched the bottom

They just keep growing

Today marks the 7th (or is it 8th?) year since the arrival of Miss Perfect. Very cliché I know, but man it goes quickly. I have been having some vivid flashbacks today of the snuffly little noises she made the first few hours after she was born. Strange flashbacks to be having, but I am so glad that I have remembered them.

Who would have thought that I'd have such a beautiful, well mannered, mature, intelligent, caring, gorgeous, helpful, adorable young lady on my hands?

Thank you, little lady, for making the past seven years a wonder.

Love you lots. xxx

I stole the idea for the birthday picture from another blog that I lurk in - no appropriate behaviour , have a read, its a corker!

She can't be mine

Seriously. As if any child of mine would write this:



I am baffled, I truly am. And yes, we have pointed out that if she loves school so much, perhaps she should spell it properly.

Oh my god, what if I am raising a nerd, ? What if I am raising a bunch of nerds? I'll be out-nerded.

If you have any suggestions as to how I could anti-nerd them, without making them not like scool, please leave a comment.

Because you asked, and other news

Ellie, these are for you. Please excuse the feralness of the original chair coverings. As I said in my previous post, what were we thinking with cream seats? I am pretty sure it was less than a month that we'd had the chairs before they started getting destroyed. And, I will admit that we do not sit at the table every dinner time.

Before:

After:
And Ellie, I thought of you when these cushions were purchased. My lovely mother-in-law bought them for me yesterday during our Ikea tripPlease excuse the drops of water on the couch.

Yesterday Miss Perfect start gymnastics. It is an hour long class, and I don't think the smile left her face the whole time. Let's hope that the enthusiasm stays and that she is not bored in the next 3-4 weeks which is what has happened in the past with after school activities.

She was very proud to get a t-shirt from the gym, it is a tad large so she has decided to wear it as a nightie. Last night she was showing The Middle Man and Mr Stubborn some of the things that she did, one of them being that back arch that we could all do when we were young. See how the boys are trying to copy her.
In other news, MATH hits the big four-oh in two weeks. I have been madly trying to come up with ideas to make it special. He has made it perfectly clear that there are to be no surprise gatherings of people. So, instead we will be packing up the family and heading to the beach, along with other family members. I have part of his present but am still shopping around to get the best deal on the other part of the present.

I just haven't

I just haven't blogged, well, because there has nothing to blog about, until now.

And, this is not very exciting either, but I have finally managed to re-upholster our dining room chairs. They were embarrassingly dirty from numerous spillages over time. When we got them, they were upholstered in cream. What were we thinking?

Now, they are a not very fashionable blue. But they match our unfashionably blue couches, and, should hide the stains a bit better than cream. Again, what were we thinking?

The next task is a trip to everyone's favourite, IKEA, to buy some fabric with which I am going to cover some painters canvas and put up on the wall. I could paint something myself, but don't have the inclination to. Plus, when I get sick of the fabric, I just take them down and re-cover with something new, with no regrets.

So ends a productive weekend. Lets get back to the daily grind tomorrow.

Forgive me blogger

I have been very slack again, nearly two weeks since my last post. But I figure why blog if there is nothing to blog about?

So, life is boringly normal. I have been working on our budget over the last couple of days, and have found a way that we can survive on MATH's income alone, and still save some money! Yippee. This doesn't mean I will stop working, no way, it just means that I can set my mind to paying off my tax debt from last year without feeling guilty that I am not contributing.

An update on the squids, because I know that you are wondering.

Miss Perfect has taken to Grade Two like a duck to water. They have a "Spelling and Dictation" test every Friday, and she has got ten out of ten every week. Her reading is amazing. She brings home these books to read, I have a quick skim and think to myself, oh crap, there will be lots of tears involved with this one. So far she has amazed me, barely skipping a beat. I can't believe in that just over a month she will be seven!


The Middle Man has taken like a duck to water to school as well. He seems to be very happy and has made lots of new friends. I am beginning to worry that we may need to hire a hall for his birthday party! (well, not really). He is full of love at the moment and calls me his Sweet Mummy, and also tells us numerous times a day that he loves us. The best one is when he says - you look sooooo sweet mummy. Awwwww.


Mister Stubborn continues to amaze, frustrate and entertain us. He is a typical three year old. Full of attitude one minute, then apologies the next. He is a caring little soul though, and could see me getting quite upset whilst talking on the telephone to my mother today, and was saying "don't cry mummy, don't be sad". I wasn't crying. Yet. His beautiful little words calmed me down.


And, just to show you that we are not completely weird...


And this one because I thought it was lovely that Miss Perfect took a book about trains from the Home Reader basket so that she could read it to The Middle Man.

At this time tomorrow

I will be FREE! Free of husband, and free of children for three whole days, and two whole nights. To say I am excited is very much an understatement.

I will be joined by three wonderful friends, who I am sure, will enjoy being free of their kids and their husbands.

Wine, cheese, magazines, hammock, what more could a girl ask for?

Have fun MATH, enjoy being the kitchen slave while I am away. xxx

Confession

OK, am about to make a confession, that will probably leave half my readers wondering what the fuck is wrong with me, and the other half will be nodding their head, knowing that they either have, or would do something like this.

So, tomorrow morning I was meant to be meeting a friend for coffee and a catch up. We had a standing arrangement last year during school time for this, and had tentatively agreed to carry it on this year.

But then, over the past few weeks I have become addicted to my old mate Gym again, in a hhuuuugggeee way. I mean 5 or 6 times a week, and sometimes twice on the weekend. Tomorrow morning happens to now be the time for one of my favourite classes. So, weighing it all up, I have decided to go with the option that will expend calories, not gain them.

So, I rang said friend and told her that I could no longer make Tuesday morning coffee. I didn't give a reason, as a) I didn't want to hurt her feelings, and b) I didn't want to lie. Luckily for me she didn't ask.

We're moving

I am still in the vague early stages of moving, just thoughts really. But this move will be a good one!

Want to know where we are going?

Sydney, well, Bondi to be precise.

I'm gunna get me a TV show with Channel 10. Either based on my professional life - Bondi Graphic Designer, or my personal life - Bondi Mum.

What do you all think? Want to pitch some ideas to me? Am sure I can get you worked into the show somehow.

Happy Australia Day

Are you doing anything to celebrate our national holiday? Me, I'll be ironing school clothes and putting labels on them. We have some lamingtons to eat, and some lamb to cook on the BBQ.

And now, because I promised, some pictures of our holiday. We also managed to catch up with my good friend Ellie as she lives in this beautiful part of the world.

View from our modest cabin. It serves its purpose, the only thing I would change is possibly the addition of an air conditioner which would be cheaper to run than the three fans we had going each night.

Some boogie fun by Miss Perfect and Mr Stubborn. They had a great time, and we found it to be an activity that would make them have a mid day snooze.

Before going to dinner at the local pub. Nice food, most of us chose from the 'Schnitzels R Us' menu, but I did get food envy when I saw the wood fired pizza that Snr Hillbilly (of Ellie fame) had ordered.

We wanted to see the turtle hatching, but given that the action had been at 1.30 in the morning previously, we made do with visiting the information centre.

Shell collecting - I think Mr Stubborn was a tad confused as to what a shell actually was...

Miss Perfect, need I say more?

The drive home, I wish I could do this in the car, but no matter how tired I am, just can't do it.

The Murph

I am dedicating this post to our beautiful little puss who passed away on Monday night, compliments of a car. We are in no way blaming said car, or it's driver. Cats simply do not belong on the road.

All of this happened while we were on our holiday. Mother in law and brother in law kindly buried him in the front garden, in his favourite spot where he used to sun himself.

RIP Murphy. xxx

I will upload some pictures from our holiday next time. Need to re-charge the camera battery first.

Lesson #1

This post is a bit embarrassing and may get deleted later...

So, this morning I got up with the birds to go for my run. The start of Week 2 again, however, this time I plan on neither injuring myself, or getting sick.

Herein lies the lesson. When you get up with the birds to go for a run, try and do your ablutions first *insert blush here*.

I was as far away from home as I get when the first, ahem, urge came along. No worries I thought, you'll be right.

Then the urge got a bit stronger. And stronger. And stronger. I was actually worried that there could be a bit of turtle head action to come (luckily there wasn't).

Picture me jogging along (or, actually try not to picture that), chanting to myself "clench Jodes, clench". That door was clenched tight, tighter than I ever thought it could be

I made it home in the nick(ers) of time.

And, I am so glad that my story ends that way, it could have been so, so much worse.

In future, I might head to the gym and run on the treadmill, to be close to the toilets, but I really like running outdoors, the treadmill seems like a bit of a cop out to me without all the hills and undulations, let's face it, I am highly unlikely to voluntarily increase the incline on the treadmill, am I?

And, if there are any other runners out there, please, please, please tell me that this has happened to you at some stage...

The excitement builds

OK, so I know it is still over a week away, but the whole family is keenly anticipating our trip north to Bargara, where hopefully I will get to spend some time with my good friend Ellie.

We are looking forward to days filled with nothing but swimming, lazing and reading. Although our accommodation is basic, it will still be very relaxing and believe me, it is much needed.

Miss Perfect has been carrying around her money tin that she has diligently been putting money into each week, so she can buy an ice cream while we are on holidays. By the weight of the tin, I think she will be able to buy the whole freezer!

So, only one week of school holidays for me to get through by myself, then the following week at Bargara. I am planning on continuing on with my resolutions.

1) Drink less coffee. Check. I am sure that I went through caffeine withdrawals while I was lying on my death bed last week. I had an Iced Coffee earlier on in the week, but didn't even finish it.

2) Eat less, exercise more. Well, have definitely been eating less, and am starting back on the exercise tomorrow morning with Week 2 of the C25K (am repeating the week), then Boxacise in the evening.

3) More home made cooking. Check. Did a few bits and pieces of baking during the week, which is a huge difference already.

4) Try and be more even tempered. Hhmmm, it has been up and down.

5) Cover Miss Perfect's and The Middle Man's books without swearing. I failed. Dismally.

Am pleased, and let's face it, item no. 5 was never going to happen ;)

2009 here I come

I have started off this new year definitely not as I want it to continue. Sickness really, really sucks, specially when your significant other doesn't seem to realise just how sick you are until you go to the doctors and the word "hospital" is mentioned. Anyway, feeling heaps better now, and hospital was avoided :)

I am not usually one to make resolutions as I know how hard they are to keep. But, mine start today...

1) Drink less coffee, a lot less. Keep it to one cup a day, preferably none. I haven't had a cup of coffee since Saturday, and I've just noticed that MATH has left me with barely any coffee in the jar today, it looks like another day will go by.

2) Eat less, exercise more. Sounds simple. My sickness has seen a weight loss of 2.5kg since the start of the year. I am sure that once I start eating normally - the new normal, not the old normal - it should be easy to see the numbers on the scale head downwards again.

3) More home cooking. As in not as much of those pesky jars of ready made sauce etc that were slowly creeping into the shopping trolley more and more frequently during 2008. I also plan on baking a lot more so the kids can have something nice in their lunchbox each day.

4) Try and be more even tempered with the children. If I am even tempered with them, hopefully they will be with each other.

5) To cover Miss Perfect's and The Middle Man's school books without uttering any expletives. Yeh, like that's ever going to happen.

And, that ends my resolutions. Lets see how I go