Dear Gift Buying Family

Dear family members who may like to buy me a birthday gift,

Thanks for thinking of me! As you know my 29th birthday is coming up and I thought I could give you guys a hand by making you a quick little list of things I might like to be gifted this year. And no, its not a crazy hypothetical list like the one I did for Santa - these are real time, real place, things I actually would like to unwrap after some wicked indulgent birthday cake.( Wickedly indulgent birthday cake is NOT part of the list ).

First of all, I wouldn't mind getting a cute, comfy, set of PJs. This was actually prompted by a conversation I had with Flynn whereon he told me that's what he would like to get for me, but the more I thought on it, the more I thought it was a good idea. I like PJs, I like sleeping in PJs, I early morning cuddles with my babies in PJs, and I happen to currently be wearing two mismatched pairs, so a cute new set would be entirely wanted AND appropriate.

Next, the ' A Song of Ice and Fire ' series of books by George R. Martin - also known as the ' A Game of Thrones ' series. They were on my Christmas list but were one of the items that didn't quite make the Christmas cut. I'm kind of dying to watch the ' A Game of Thrones ' TV series but I refuse to watch it before I've read the books. If I don't receive the series for my birthday, I will be forced to buy them for myself, instead of spending more money on fabric at Spotlight. Mama does not want to lose her Spotlight money!

Lastly on the list - perhaps a voucher for a beauty treatment or a massage would be nice. Actually, how bout you combine those ideas and get me a pedicure and lower leg massage. Apparently Aquarians are supposed to suffer from ankle and lower leg ailments and I am so feeling that lately! Maybe its a leftover symptom from all the crappy circulation you have as a pregnant lady but my feet and ankles are killing me! You get me that pedicure/massage and jot only will I get some pain relief but I'll get pretty little toes-ies are aswell. May be with some sparkle?

And that be all. Of course I will accept gifts that are not on the list, this letter is simply to give you some direction. ( But not One Direction, because I'm not turning 12 and they kind of make me vomit in my mouth a little ).
Thanks a bunch,
The Impending Birthday Girl

The A-B-C of A-M-Y .... Rehashed

I was doing a  little reading of my archives and it occurred to me just how much my life has changed since I first started this blog - so many things that I wrote about back in 2007 and 2008 really don't ring true anymore. So I decided that I might rehash a meme or two, with answers that are more 'me' now. Plus, a lot of you weren't readers back then so these memes will be kind of new to you anyway! You can find the 2008 version of the ' A B C ' meme here:
A. Attached or single?
Very much attached now - married, in fact, to Mick, my gorgeous hubby. I might be a bit attached to my kids too.
B. Best friend?
It wasn't along after I did the original meme that I had a falling out with my best friend at the time, so this is one answer that has definitely changed. I guess Mick would be my best friend now, or if we're talking about people I'm not married to I'd say K, a friend I met through mothers group.
C. Cake or pie?
This one is really hard. I like me some pie, I like me some cake, I'm just not sure these days which I like better. I think I'll go with pie.
D. Day of choice?
I like Fridays. Flynn is at daycare so I get a bit of time to myself, and then there is the promise of the weekend. I think that sometimes the weekend itself can be a bit of a letdown, but you don't know that on Friday - Friday always has that positive ' woo, its almost the weekend! ' vibe to it...
E. Essential item?
Leaving aside things like money or car keys, I'm still going to go with a pair of well fitting jeans. I live in them during the winter, and a pair of nice jeans with a white tank and gorgeous heels never fails to make me feel sexy.
F.. Favourite colour?
This one is easy ( if only because Flynn and I talk about it so much ) - its red!
G. Gummy bears or worms?
Gummy bears. Although I am partial to a sour worm or two, I prefer gummy bears, especially at the movies.
H. Hometown?
Dubbo, NSW. Also known affectionately as DubVegas ( you know, in that it is NOTHING like Las Vegas ). My family live here and we have an awesome zoo. Wana visit?
I. Indulgence?
Since having children my number one indulgence nis being able to sit by myself for am full hour and read a book, uninterrupted. Preferably in PJs and with a nice warm cup of chair latte to keep me company.
J. January or July?
Always January. Its summer, its my birthday and, quite frankly, the cold of July sucks big hairy ones.
K. Kids?
Two of - my son Flynn Charlie who turns 3 next week ( omg! ) and my daughter Tully Maree who is already 4 months old. Again - o.m.g.
L. Life isn't complete without?
My beautiful little family. Oh, and the interwebs. Major withdrawals if my internet ever goes down!
M. Marriage date?
Remember, remember the 5th of November.... The 5th of November 2011 that is.
N. Number of brothers and sisters?
Two brothers and one sister, all younger than me. I know I've mentioned it before but even though one of my brothers is deceased I still always count him. We've also told Flynn about his ' Uncle Eli ' and will take him to lay flowers on his grave on Xmas Eve.
O. Oranges or apples?
Apples to eat, orange juice to drink.
P. Phobias?
Clowns - I cannot believe I forgot to mention that in the 2008 meme! After being made to watch Stephen Kings ' It " when I was 7 I've always hated clowns. I'm really going to have to think hard about whether I ever take my kids to a circus....
Q. Quotes?
' it won't rain all the time ' - Eric Draven, " The Crow ". It was my favourite back then and is still so totally applicable now.
R. Reasons to smile?
My babies! And my husband! And when I',he made something cute and I dress Tully in it for the first time!
S. Season of choice?
Spring - it means the end of horrid old winter but its not stifling hot like summer. I like me a happy medium!
T. Tag five people?
No. You may tag yourself if you like though...
U. Unknown fact about me?
Mum... That I'm just a little but excited about going to Sydney for a few days after Christmas. I can't wait to see Flynns face when he goes on the ferry for the first time!
V. Vegetable?
Pumpkin - a really good piece of roast pumpkin is the bomb. Also, you can make it into pumpkin pie, which is dessert, and dessert is even more the bomb. Mmmm...
W. Worst habit?
Hands down its procrastination. Which is what I've started the cleaning schedule ( which is going great ) because I want to work on eliminating bad habits.
X. X-ray or ultrasound?
I've had both but I have to say I'd prefer to have an x-ray over an abdominal ultrasound. Holding in all that water is a right royal pain in the bladder!
Y. Your favourite food?
It really does depend on my mood. I mean one day I may be totally in live with a chicken dish, the next I'm salivating over cheesecake. I just cant choose a favourite and you can't make me!
Z. Zodiac sign?
Aquarius - not exactly to the letter but close enough

And there you be, the A-B-C of me. Possibly an introduction to anyone new around here, and hopefully a laugh for the rest of you!.

Dear Santa, I'd Really, Really Like...

Alright, so I'm a bit late to the party but the awesome-sauce Kylie from A Study In Contradictions has tagged me in the ' all I want for Christmas 'meme that being doing the rounds of the Australian blogosphere... So here I am, finally getting my list done for Santa!

1. An instant and non-evasive tummy tuck - yes I'm all for body loving and self-esteem and such, but if someone could just help me get rid of my post-baby pudding belly that would be awesome. Plus it would make my jeans just that more comfortable - bonus Chrissie present!

A little shack like this will do me just fine!

2. A 'forever home ' - I'm not going to be greedy and ask for a mansion or anything like that ( although hey, Universe, if you choose to smile on me then so be it ). I'd just like a beautiful family home where we can raise our kids comfortably. Preferably with four bedrooms, a big kitchen and a fairly modern bathroom. Oh and a big backyard where I can banish Flynn to when he needs to get out some energy and I need a break ....

Just for the record that's a gather and I can do those....

3. A complete working knowledge of how to sew clothes to fit myself - because I'm still pretty much a novice sewer and I don't technically know to accommodate my own bootylicious-ness. I got myself some curves and if I just knew how to drape/gather/tuck/dart to flatter the hourglass shape I'm currently rocking, I would spend all bloody day at my sewing machine. So many ideas and images of what I'd like to make, so many YouTube tutorials to watch before I know how to make them properly...

So hawt, but I bet so uncomfy...

4. Shoes, shoes, shoes, glorious shoes! - or, more specifically, insanely beautiful high heels that are actually comfortable for more than five minutes. Please.

5. Some kind of beam-me-up-Scotty, blink-and-your-there, teleportation type device - because it would make it sooooo much easier to put what little time off Mick does have to good use. That's not asking much right?

30 Weeks

So congrats to me - i'm officially 30 weeks pregnant today, which means this little bubba is 3/4 of the way done baking. As of tomorrow i can officially say i have less than 10 weeks til my due date, though i'm hoping that Miss Jelly makes an appearance a bit before that because i dont know if i can hold out another 10 weeks! Maybe my baby brain is preventing me from accurately remembering my pregnancy with Flynn but i dont recall being this achey, heartburn-y or uncomfortable at the 30 week mark last time. Dont get me wrong, the miracle of growing a baby is amazing and i feel very privileged to be lucky enough to do it for a second time.... its just i swear this girl loves shoving her bum right up under my ribs so i cant breath properly, or sit upright comfortably for more than an hour at a time! Just my luck, she's probably stubborn like her mother....

Apparently, thats what Miss Jelly looks like in there!

Anyhoo, aswell as being able to start the single digit countdown as of tomorrow, the 30 week mark is also a time to reflect on the things i still have to do before Miss Jelly makes her arrival. In no particular order:

* Get the cot mattress and pink bedding out of lay by - mattress from Flynns cot unfortunately got a bit mildew-y in the shed and had to be thrown out.

* Set up the cot and and reconfigure the furniture in the babies room. It all got moved around when Flynn went into a " big boy bed" so now i have to put it back into baby formation.

* Make the second piece of fabric wall art i'd like to make. I finished the bunting yesterday ( sooooo excited! I'd love to show you but seeing as it has her name on it i'm going to have to keep it a secret! ) and i'm going to use the remaining fabric stretched over a canvas to hang on the opposite wall to the bunting.

* Brave the Big W Toy Sale, where i may or may not use my burgeoning bump to get me through the hoardes of other crazy mums. I will not , however, be tripping up there at midnight... screw that, my sleep is far too precious in this 3rd trimester to be bothered shopping at midnight!

* Wash, dry and fold all the tiny clothes - i've gone through all Flynns old stuff and kept all the vaguely unisex stuff, but i'm kind of secretly excited by the new pink/purple/red cuteness....

* Pack 3 bags - one for me for the hospital, one for Miss Jelly, and one for Flynn, in case he has an overnight stay with Poppy during the labour.

* Get my chef on - i intend on cooking up some casseroles, curries and pasta bakes to freeze so that we have something nutritious to eat in the first few weeks after bub is born, just in case i dont feel like cooking. ( Which, lets face it, i probably wont, at least a few times ).

Plus, i'm sure there are plenty of other things i'm forgetting, things that seem so trivial that they'll slip my mind until the very last minute... which will, of course, send me into a flap.

(Late) Friday Flip Offs

Its been a long time since i've done a " Friday Flip Offs "-  a list of things that have irked me over the past week - but after the week i've had this week i'm feeling the need to get a few well earned flip offs of my chest!

* To the last 3 unfinished clues in my otherwise perfect crossword puzzle - you annoy me. Why must you star eup at me from the otherwise well finished page? I probably wont sleep now because i'll be racking my brain to think of the answers.... FLIP OFF!

* To the lack of affordable maternity wear in this town - i do not have bucket loads of money to spend on clothes i will only wear for a few months. Why isnt there more on offer at the two leading department stores here ( a shout out to you Big W and Target ). I have found a few things i like and have just bought a size or two bigger than normal, but then this brings up the problem of approriate length to fit over my ever-expanding bump. Either get some more nice stuff for pregnant ladies - in more colours than just black, white and grey! - or.... FLIP OFF!

* To my beautiful son, whom i love very much, but who is very heavy - Mummy loves you, and i know you've been feeling a bit yucky this week... but i just cant have you sitting on my lap for hours at a time anymore. You're getting too heavy to sit on top of me, on top of my bump and after 6 days of it my hips/pelvis/stomach are absolutely killing me. I've cried a few times because its hurt so much. I love you baby but could you possibly either a) snuggle with Daddy for a while, b) learn to snuggle next to me instead of on top of me or c).... FLIP OFF!

* To the firm of electricians who charged me way too much - its not fair to take advantage of me because i wanted the work done quickly, and because your a bigger firm and thus have more people to pay. All i wanted was 2 powerpoints and a tv point installed and now i find out you charged me 3 times as much as another local electrican could have done it for. If i hadnt been so desperate to get a powerpoint in Flynns new room so he can put a heater in there i definately would have told you to.... FLIP OFF!

A ( Mothers Day ) Weekend By The Numbers

1 - block of chocolate included in my Mothers Day present. Cadburys new " Marvellous Creations " Popping Candy flavour ( which is, by the way, awesome! )

4 - number of times i shared some with Flynn, who knew exactly where i had it and kept going " 'Scuse me Mum? I want some! " with the biggest grin on his face.

6 - loads of washing done over Saturday and Sunday. It would have only been 4 but i had to do 2 rewashes because the stupid bloody dog keeps pulling stuff of the clothesline. He's still only a pup, and i love him, but if he doesnt stop stealing washing i'm going have to kill him!

10 - combined total of books i bought at two different book sales. 9 of them were picture books for Flynn, and the other was a novel for myself. Not exactly sure when i'll get around to reading it tho - it might just have to make a nice addition to my bookshelf for now.

60 - minutes i spent snoozing on the lounge on Mothers Day afternoon. Flynn and Daddy went off into the new playroom to play trucks ( and Mick tuned Flynns radio into a live football game ) while i drifted in and out of a nice, restful, nana nap.

3 - number of dvds i tried in our dvd player before i came to the sad conclusion that it has died in the arse. No Mothers Day afternoon spent watching " That 70's Show " for me. Boo to that!

2 - number of tv shows Mick and I watched after the lovely chicken tikka curry he made for dinner : " Modern Family " and " New Girl ". ( For the record, Schmidt cracks me and Jess and Nick just need to hurry up and get it together already! ). After that we perused the tv guide, found out there was nothing much else worth watching ( Masterchef just isnt doing it for me this year ), so we turned the telly off and had a chat and went to bed early instead...

562 - approximate number of times that Little Jelly kicked me in the belly button/bladder/ribs to make her presence known over the course of Mothers Day. Its nice to know she's going ok in there but getting super-Ninja kicked all day long isnt exactly the most comfortable of presents!

Future Motivation

So after yesterdays dreary little post, i'm trying to keep the motivation on track. I figure the best way to do that is to just post as often as i can, everyday if possible, whether i have much to say or not. If i dont have anything to actually talk about, maybe i'll just post a photo or a music video or... i dont know... just something. I've found in the past that the best way to find motivation is to just start " doing ", and "doing " regularly, until whatever it is becomes a habit that you enjoy.

And so, in the interests of keeping this blog alive ( and to take up sometime, seeing as this office is beyond quiet today ) i thought i might make a small list of things i am looking forward to in the next few months ( not exactly in chronological order, because i have a slight case of baby brain and i forget specifics like dates ):

1. Anzac Day - sure, its nice to get a day off during the middle of the week, but Anzac Day is also my Dads birthday. We see him pretty much everyday, but i'm looking forward to getting Flynn to draw him a picture or do him some "craft " and watching both of their faces light up when Poppy unwraps it. We're also planning on taking Flynn to his first Anzac march this year, so that important too.
2. Having our garage converted - from a garage into a bedroom/playroom for Flynn. It will mean more space for Flynn to play, less toys in my loungeroom ( in theory ) and once Flynn has moved out, his old room will be ready t set up for Little Miss Jelly!
3. " Elmo's World Tour " - this Sesame Street stage show is coming to our regional theatre and got Flynn and myself front row tickets! He loved The Wiggles but Elmo and the Sesame Street gang are Flynn's favourites, so i'm looking forward to seeing his awesome "excited " face!
4. Roadtrip to Sydney - just me and Mick. As we're business owners now, and Mick is really the only driver we have, he cant take annual leave for at least the first year or two... all of which made me think that we need to take every opportunity we have to get away ( ie public holidays ) or to make our opportunity. So i got all sneaky and booked us a weekend down in Sydney with the aim of doing something that we would each enjoy. So the Saturday morning we'll have a sticky beak at the Baby and Toddler Expo at Homebush, and then in the afternoon i've booked us a one hr ride around the city, out to Bondi and return, on the back of a Harley Davidson trike. I'm not sure which bit i'm more excited about ( aww hell, i'm dying to get on this trike! ) all i know is that we better get nice weather or we'll have to reschedule our trike tour - which would mean a roadtrip down with a small baby sometime later this year.... :/

And thats about enough for now. There is Mothers Day of course, and i'm still tossing up whether to attend our belated ten year school reunion on the June long weekend.... and how can i forget there is a baby coming sometime in August! I just know that i seem to cope better, to function better, when i have something on my calendar to look forward to, to keep me going. Its so much easier to make it throughe the day when you can say " Man, today sucks the big one... but hey, i get to see Elmo next week! "

Something To Talk About - " Choose 5 " Link Up

So Melissa from " The Things I'd Tell You " has decided that she'd like to start a weekly link up, wherein she'll post a subject/theme/idea dn if you feel inspired you can get on board and write your on post. Which is what i'm doing this week because this weeks topic is hot. Or should i say hawt?
In a fantasy world, forget about spouses and loves, if you could fall in love with {or be best friends with, I don't think it should all be about who you'd shag , so lets have some from both categories } a movie or tv character, name 5 you would choose. Not the actors but the movie characters. You have to tell us why.
So here goes:

1. Noah from " The Notebook " - yes i know its a stereotypically mushy chick-flick adored by women everywhere. But Noah is pretty much the most romantic male lead ever ( to the point where women weep - hell, they SOB - at how sweet he is... ) and the fact that he's played by the divine Ryan Gosling doesnt hurt either.

2. Wesley/The Dread Pirate Roberts from " The Princess Bride " - Wesley gets the nod because a) " The Princess Bride " was one of my favourite movies as a young girl; b) the film was probably my first taste of romance and; c) he's romantic AND he's a pirate. Oh, and he can sword fight, and rock climb, and outwit a Sicilian, all with a flip of his perfect hair, a wink and a grin. As you wish...

3. Mr Darcy from various incarnations of " Pride and Prejudice " - seriously, how was there any doub that i WOULDN'T pick Mr Darcy? I havent seen the Colin Firth version ( i know, i know ) so i'll go with Mathew McFadyen played opposite Keira Knightleys Elizabeth ( i seriously have a girl crush on Keira KNightly, but thats a whole other post ). Perhaps not as physically gorgeous but there is something about that stand-offish , repressed passion that really draws me in.

4. Roux from " Chocolat " - i have two words for you: Johnny. Depp. Do i need to explain further? OK - how bout a movie set in France, in a chocolaterie, where Johnny plays a handsome gypsy who knows how to play guitar and fix things? I want to replace Juliette Binoche, take him out on that barge and jump his beautiful gypsy bones...

5. Hyde from " That 70's Show " - this one is purely because Hyde is bad boy 70's super fly, and i want to run my hands through his white-boy afro. ( oh, and over his bum in those tight 70's style jeans. Yea, i think i'd like me a piece of that ...)

List? Check!

I'm considering becoming a list person.

You know the ones - those highly organised people who make " to do " lists, and then manage to get everything on that list finished? I want to be one of those. If it means i can keep my house tidier and the general unavoidable toddler chaos more confined, then i'm willing to give it a shot.

My list will be a little more boring than this one...

I did try it once, when i was still a young singleton living on my own. I wrote down all the little jobs i wanted to get done that week ( i may even have broken it up into days, which is slightly more anal than it needs to be... ) and then i ticked them off as i got them done. It worked - having it all spelt in black and white on the front of the fridge helped keep me on track. I felt a sense of accomplishment when it was all ticked off, even if it wasn't anything groundbreaking. It was just standard stuff like " Fold clean washing ", " Vacuum carpet ", " Tidy Tupperware cupboard "... but it meant that my house was neater and tidier and, for me, a happier place to be.

So what say you? Are you a list person? I'm considering starting next week and doing one especially for Monday through Friday , so i can get myself and the house ready before the wedding, and so i dont forget to pack all the important stuff to take on the honeymoon!

The Week That Was

So - you may have noticed that not only did i go AWOL for the four days that i mentioned i would be Rockhampton, but that i also gave myself the rest of the week off from blogging too. As much as i like to keep things up to date, to keep the posts coming and the blog chugging along, i think i need a wee little break every now and again. But what did i get up to with all that spare time away from the blogosphere?


Monday: Dropped Flynn off at daycare. Did not get so much as a " Goodbye Mummy, i love you ". Cursed him under my breath for being such a turd. Got dropped to the airport, checked in ( along with my partner in crime, J ) only to find our fligh out of Dubbo was going to be 40 mins late. Made it to Sydney, checked in on a different airline, met up with the 4 other NSW staff members headed to the conference, and wolfed down some Maccas in time to make it to our gate for boarding to Brisbane... and found out this flight would be 40 mins late. Spent the majority of the flight wondering if we would make our connection to Rocky. Got there just as boarding opened, caught my third flight for the day and landed in Rocky pretty much on time. Dinner time actually. Checked into our rooms, freshened up and met Queensland staff members for tea. Not enough meal allowance to order dessert ( boo! ). Head to bed absolutely exhausted.

Our accomodation - The Edge

Tuesday: Full English  style breakfast ordered at 8am, made the conference room at 8:55am. Actually interested in the mornings presentations. An hour for a pub lunch - at a table of 19 managed to sit myself across from the chattiest staff member there. Get a case of threethirtyitis mid afternoon and struggle to stay awake in front of the boss. Break for the day just before 5pm. Back to the room for a freshen up and a dose of Music Max. Meet 6 other keen staffers for diner ( the rest were pikers - boo to them! ). Find a great boutique pub bistro and have one the nicest dinners i've had in a while - including dessert! Order the apple tart tartine and am gobsmacked when it is not just one slice but the WHOLE BLOODY TART. Do the best i can to tackle it but, even with sharing a piece, can only manage to finish two thirds. Can barely walk back to the motel... am too full of apple tart.

Home of the best apple tart tartine ever - The Heritage Hotel, Rockhampton

Wednesday: Bacon and egg breakfast ( again ) ordered at 8am, made conference in time to get the seat right next to the national boss. Yay. Dont mind so much as very interesting round table discussion til morning tea, and then discussion on customer service. Big boss puts confidential notes in front of her on the table - apparently thinks that i either cant or wont sneak peeks at it when she isnt looking. Lunch at the same pub. I dont know how but i manage to get the seat next the big boss at lunch aswell. My salmon is slightly overcooked but the lemon/lime/bitters goes down well. Stay awake and alert for the last afternoon session. Finish the book i started on Monday before dinner. 17 of us head to the same boutique pub as Tuesday night. After a lovely chicken scallopine i decide to tackle the apple tart again. This time make it two thirds of the way through by myself. May have finished the whole thing if it werent for few Midoris i'd already consumed ( yay for open bar tabs! ). Make it back to the motel despite my enormous apple tart belly. Repack suitcase - couldnt be arsed doing it at 6am.

This is NOT my boss - ha ha, i wish!

Thursday: Up at 6am and at the airport an hour and 10 minutes early for our flight, thanks to a particularly edgy staff member. Grab a crappy airport cafe breakfast ( tastes like cheesy cardboard ). On and off our first flight before the time i would usually leave for work. Potter around Brisbane airport and invest in a new book. Also bought $11 worth of mixed lollies ( rip off ). Brisbane to Sydney is uneventful - so uneventful in fact that i manage to drift off for a half hour nap. Grab some lunch with J, do a couple of laps of Sydney domestic and then settle in at our gate to wait for boarding. Actually have a flight with REX that arrives AND leaves on time ( incredible! ). Spend the flight trying to rest but giggling at the conversation from the couple behind me ( work in tv production, bitching about their bosses, filming out west, planning on driving to their destination 4 hrs from Dubbo at twilight - bad idea! ) J and I were two of the last people off the plane but the first thing i notice is Flynn pressed up against the terminal window, marvelling at the plane. Once he notices me he gets all excited and runs towards me as fast as his little legs will carry him. One huge mummy huggle and short drive later, i get tea cooked for me at my mum and dads. Mick drives us back to our place where, after putting Flynn to sleep, i collapse into bed, totally cactus.

Friday: A regular day at work, except that we're playing catch ups from the four days we were away. Barely have time to scratch myself. Make up a batch of spag bol for tea because, frankly, i couldnt be bothered doing gourmet. Again, i hit the sack before 8:30pm. Around 10pm i hear Flynn wake but Mick is still in good daddy mode and goes to him, and ends up sleeping in Flynns big boy bed with him. Good job Daddy - a calmed child and i get the whole bed to myself!

Saturday: Am gifted a sleep in by my gorgeous fiance. Feel so rested up on waking that i finish our shopping list while i tuck into my cereal. Go out and buy some new work shoes while Mick goes down to his shed and washes his work truck - meet back at home and then head out for groceries. Pop to the neighbours with Flynn for a quick visit when we get back. Flynn loves the little girls and teh dogs next door, so far is a bit scared of the mum ( big sook ). Once he figures out that K has swings, a trampoline, a pool AND can ply him with lollies they'll be good friends. Lots of cleaning and clothes washing done in the afternoon. Made some yummy chipotle chicken wraps for tea and watched " Monsters Inc " before bedtime. No wild saturday night for this little black duck!

Sunday: Flynn gives Mick his Fathers Day presents in bed, but instead of saying " Happy Fathers Day " he says " hello Cookie bird! " ( methinks he was dreaming about his aunties talking parrot... ). Go out to local nursery/cafe for Fathers Day brekkie with my parents, my younger sister and my brother and his family. Yummy French toast and fresh orange juice. Also lots of being dragged by the hand to see the fish in the pond. Flynn lets a combination of teething and finally becoming clingy ( which i thought he might, once i came back from Rocky ) turn him into a complete and utter feral child. Combination of sookiness, squealing and toy throwing drives me up the wall. Manage to get him to fall asleep after an hour and half on my lap. More sookiness when he wakes up which thankfully wears off when we go to my parents for bbq dinner. Good food, big laughs. Come to the conclusion that both my son and my father may just be nuts. Still, settle into warm bed to watch " Underbelly: Razor " with a big smile on my face....

Census Night - Woo To The Hoo!

Census night - is everyone excited?!? No? No? Thats probably because the Census questions are boring.... which is why you need to do the " New Adventures in Dreamworld Alternative Census "! In the spirit of knowing all about my readers, and thus my very little community, i have composed this list of Very.Important.Questions that you all need to think about answering:


1. How much money have you spent at the petrol station on lollies/drinks/magazines you dont need?
2. Are Josh and Jenna the most annoying reality tv couple ever?
3.Are you Team Edward or Team Jacob, or are you over the age of 18 and really dont care?

4.How much did you contribute to the national economy by spending half your annual income at the Target/Big W/Kmart toy sales?
5.How many times a year does your partner do a load of washing - without being asked?

6.Would you consider the area you live in to be: City? Suburb? Rural ? And would you consider the state of your home to be: Pristine? Liveable? Post-Children Apocalyptic?
7.Have you stopped watching " Sunrise " on Channel 7 because Kochie is a major dickhead?
8. When was the last time you were able to take a shower/have a bath without a child being present?

9. How often do you have roast dinners, and is you meat of choice: Chicken?Lamb? Pork with crackling?
10. How awesome do you consider the author of this blog?

Ok, i think that should give me a good handle on you guys. Feel free to answer in the comments or to steal the questions for a post of your own!

Friday Feel Goods

So - i was working by myself today. No other dispenser, and no optom, which also meant no patients...which all equals not much work to do. And what better way to keep myself amused at work ( you know, when you arent allowed access to Facebook ... ) than to make of all the things that i enjoy in life. The feel good things. The ones that make me smile instead of causing me unnecessary worry ( and bloody frown lines.... ). Things like:

* Warm days during winter. Its no secret that i hate the cold, so when we do get a mild/warm day in between the frost, i like to make the most of it - take Flynn to the park, play out in our front yard, or scour through our (small) garden looking for ladybugs or caterpillars.

This got a really big " woooooooooow! "

* Flynns excitment - his childs enthusiasm makes me smile. For example, the other day he found a caterpillar on our tree and it was like it was the most amaaaaaazing thing ever, in the whole wide world . ( And lets face it, when your only 19mths old, caterpillars probably are pretty awesome ). Ladybugs and the moon and dandelions are illicited the same " Wow Mummy - wow! " on the first encounter.

* Dessert - i've got a sweet tooth all year round but winter desserts are just so ....good. Great. Warming. Comforting. I'm thinking tonight would bea great night for a crumble and ice cream. Ooh, or homemade cheats apple danish.

*A good book - i'm a bit of a reader. I have been since kindergarten.... its only now that i have a family and, thus, very little time to myself that i appreciate a good book, the escapism that it offers. I'm in the middle of " The Shifting Fog " by Kate Morton at the moment ( yea, yea, i know - i'm only a few years behind everyone else... ) and if i had the opportunity to just sit and read and read i'd finish it in one sitting...

I am SO hanging out with these people next week!

* Text flirting with my fiance - and you can get your minds out of the gutter. I dont mean "sexting ", i mean playful little messages through the day, or a random " Love u babe xx " out of the blue. Its nice that we still do silly things like that, and that they still make me smile.

* Having " things " to look forward to - like a roadtrip to Sydney next week where we will stay with Micks aunt and unlce, catch up, go and see Cirque Du Soleil and do some shopping. Excited!

Maxabella Interviews Me!

Ok, not quite - no, Ms Maxabella from MaxabellaLoves actually interviewed herself today, but she encouraged us to play along and interview ourselves too. And me being the meme whore that i am decided to give it a shot!

My earliest memory is... catching the XPT from Dubbo to Sydney with my dad. Actually, i'm not sure if its a memory of the event or i'm remembering the stories my Dad tells about the trip. I was 3 yrs old and apparently the water fountain on the train kept me amused for hours...

Image from here

My school report usually said... " Amy is a very diligent student, and a pleasure to teach ". Ha! ( Nevermind that sometimes it was followed by " She can, however, be a little too opinionated at times... ")

My first relationship... was in primary school with a boy named Kenny. We kissed behind the girls toilets, sat next to each other in the playground, and held hands when we walked home from school. I think it lasted about two weeks. Brief, yet very intense...

I don't like talking about... whats bothering me, deep down. Oh yea, sure, i'm fine to blab about it to the world on my blog, but when it comes to revealing deep dark secrets to my loved ones, i go mute.

My most treasured possession is... my engagement ring. I had to have it re-sized a few weeks ago ( yay for losing weight! ) and i felt a little naked without it. Ask me again in 4 months and my answer will probably be my wedding ring..

My father always told me... " stop picking on your brother/sister! " Yep - i was a bit of a shit-stirrer as a kid, and my brother and sister were easy to rile up ( can you tell i'm the oldest ? ) Other than that, i think my father impressed on me that every choice we make has a consequence, and we need to own that choice, whether we're happy with the result or not.

There's me, being gorgeous... no, wait. Thats Anne Hathaway...

In the movie of my life, I'd be played by... somebody goooooooorgeous dahling. Like me, you know? I'm going to go with Anne Hathaway, even though she is taller, thinner and more beautiful than i'll ever be.

I wish I had... enough money, or enough equity, to build a home for my family. A place we can make our own and raise children. With an amazing kitchen and a big backyard. And a dog. Named Buster.

I wish I hadn't... wasted so many years as a teenager/young adult living entirely within my own mind and worrying about would happen if i stepped outside my little box. What a great way to miss out on so, so much stuff...

My most humiliating moment was... falling off a dance platform ( or " the top box " at the 'Mersh as its known - Polly may know what i'm on about ) at a local club, and landing on my arse amongst the other dancers. My crazy, drunk-dancing friend " accidentally " danced a little too far to her right and booty-bumped me right off the edge. Shame, Amy, shame.

My guiltiest pleasure is... bad reality television. Though i dont stray as far as " Jersey Shore " ( and hey, thats only because i dont have pay tv... ) i will admit to being a fan of such fare as " Big Brother ", " Pimp My Ride " and " MTV's Next! "...

My last meal would be... eaten.very.slowly. Relished even. I'm thinking something wholesome and comforting if i'm about to go to my grave - roast chicken, potatos and the most awesome baked pumpkin ever. Steamed green beans. And garlic bread. And then a decadent chocolate cheesecake for dessert. Mmm....cheesecake ( cue Homer Simpson style drooling... )

Trust Yourself - Come Alive

Another of the #Trust30 posts - and just for future reference, for the ext month or so you can assume every post is a #Trust30 post unless i say otherwise...
( By Jonathon Mead) Life wastes itself while we are preparing to live. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you had one week left to live, would you still be doing what you’re doing now? In what areas of your life are you preparing to live? Take them off your To Do list and add them to a To Stop list. Resolve to only do what makes you come alive.
Bonus: How can your goals improve the present and not keep you in a perpetual “always something better” spiral?

One week, in the scope of things, is not a very long time ( though much longer than the 15 minutes were given in the first prompt of the #Trust30 challenge ). It might be long enough to organise that sky-dive you've always wanted to do, or take that short trip up the coast that you've been promising yourself, or to dance on the table tops nude at your favourite pub. But, in the scope of things, one week really is not that long a length of time. So, if i did only have that short time left, what would i want to NOT have to worry about? What would i want out of the way so i could enjoy the time i had left?

I'd quit my job - that ones a given. Not only would i not want to spend my last 7 days on Earth working, but i wouldnt want to be working for the company that i am now.
I'd hastily arrange a marriage certificate and licence and tie the knot, even if our parents and Flynn were the only ones in attendance. And...
I'd take my brother aside and tell him to grow up. None of us are sulky teenagers anymore and that means more empathy and less selfishness and immaturity.

Those are the three things that i'd want to get off my plate - off my " To Do " list, so to speak. So why dont i do them now? Why are they still loitering on that list of things that need doing, just not in the forseeable future? Well - the wedding IS in the forseeable future. With only 5 months til our big day i think we can pretty much take it as a given that this WILL happen. Quitting my job? Well, being the responsbile adult and mother that i like to think that I am... i cant quit without another job to go to. I cant just leave my family hanging for the sake of my own happiness. It might be sad to say, but sometimes we need to put our own satisfaction and happiness aside, just for a little while, to benefit the greater good. I wont do it forever though - in fact, i am currently looking a other employment options and should they not work out i fully intend on not going back to my current job after my next period of maternity leave. ( Having another child is also at the top of my " To Do " list....unfortunately that one doesnt have instaneous results, and wont be hurried ).

And the brother thing? Lets just say someone needs reminding about the importance of family, and the way its supposed to work. He also needs reminding that just has he aged so have others, and though he still wants to see them as they were, theyve grown and matured and so should he. The reason i dont say this to him in the here and now is because, right now, it isnt exactly my place. And, even if it were, there would be repercussions that maybe i dont want to deal with. ( Selfish? Yes - perhaps this is a slight case of the pot calling the kettle black.) So i dont say it, though if it isnt said soon - by me or whomever else - it might end up being too late.
So thats that - those are things i'd need to do to allow myself to breath and feel alive for my last week on Earth. After those were out of the way... sky-diving? Freaking hell yea! Trip up the coast? Definately - Mick and Flynn included. Nudie table dancing at the pub? Even with only a week to live, methinks not....

Smile For A While

Bare with me while i babble - i'm just going to write, even though i dont have anything specific to say, because i want to. Need to, even. See in the wake of the personal tragedy unfolding in the blog world, and the devastation in Queensland ( and northern NSW and now Victoria ) and hell, the untold suffering the world over, i want to write, but i dont want to write anything sad, or sensitive, or sorry. I would love to write something extraordinarily uplifting, a post that would get linked to and Twittered about, that would be sent around the world to bring a smile to the face of people everywhere. Sadly, i dont think i really have that in me. At least not today. With that in mind, however, i thought i could at least bring a smile to one persons face, in the hope that smiling is contagious. And so, ladies and gentlepeople, here is a short list of 5 things that have made me smile in the past fortnight of gloom:

1. Flynn turning around and blowing a raspberry " pfft! " noise really loudly after his Daddy had...erm..."passed gas". Seems he is already, at one year and 20 days old, a typical boy who finds farts funny. Who am i kidding? Farts are funny to everyone!

2. Losing weight - i know, finally! For those of you following along with my Operation Slimdown, keep your eyes peeled for an official update next week.

3. Finishing two books inside of two weeks - its not a record, but i reckon its pretty good, especially with a demanding little person crawling around. I read " The Persimmon Tree " and " Fishing For Stars ", both by Bryce Courtenay, back to back ( you know, seeing as one is the sequel to the first ). I really enjoyed the " The Persimmon Tree " but felt that " Fishing For Stars " got bogged down a little too much in unneeded details, which made it a bit harder to get through.
 
4. Swimming in the afternoons. Our neighbour has gone away for a few weeks and granted us full permission to use her pool ( as long as we also clean the filter ). Its been nice just to be able to pop across the road for a quick dip when we get home from work, and Flynn is beginning to love the water. Ooh, and bonus smile: he looks so cute with his big fat tummy in his swimmers!
 
5. The idea of being able to go clothes shopping soon - not on a grand scale, but rumour has it that my mum and dad are going to give me some cash for this purpose for my birthday. I havent been able to go clothes shopping for a while - baby stuff and maternity-leave-without-pay put a bit of a dent in my clothes shopping budget - so the thought of being able to take a bit of time and find a few cute things has made me smile...

2010: A Dreamworld Year In Review

Woowee - what a year! My first as a mama and as an engaged woman, its had its share of ups and downs. And what better what to put everything in perspective, in its place ( and the crappy things to rest! ) than with my annual wrap up of the year! Oh, and reminder - anything that is my " best " of the year is my favourite; anything that is " worst " is utterly crappy in my humble opinion. Agree or disagree, but dont argue the technicalities in the comments, ok?

BEST FILMS:
1. Sherlock Holmes - ok, technically this come out in the last week of 2009 but i was stuck in hospital with a newborn and didnt watch it til 2010, so it makes the list. Also, it features Robert Downey Jnr and i think its the general consensus that he is one of the coolest dudes in the universe.
2. Eat.Pray.Love - bah to anyone who's laughing at this choice! It was my favourite book of last year, so why would it be one of my favourite films this year? A little schmaltzy, sure, but its still appealed to my love of travel, of self-exploration and the romantic in me. Javier Bardem ? Delish!
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt1 -  i only saw this on Monday but i loved it and i cant wait til the last film comes out next year. And no, i still havent read any of the books, though i want to. I think i'm gonna wait til i see the last film ( so i dont spoil the film series for myself ... ) and then read all the books...
4. Precious - oh.my.God. If you have not seen this film, go rent it now. Its certainly no light, fluffy, rom-com and it had me in tears more than once, but you need to see it for the strength of the acting alone. Its hard, and its harrowing, and its probably altogether to real for some people, but its a film that will stick with you.
5. Hot Tub Time Machine - awesome! I loved this film - this was funny in the way i was expecting " The Hangover " to be ( but it wasnt it ). Totally crude and juvenile but an easy, hilarious way to spend the afternoon, without having to think too much or make too much effort. What a cack!
Notable mentions : " Beneath Hill 60 "; " Iron Man 2 "; " Shutter Island "; " Alice In Wonderland "

AND THE WORST?
I have to go with " Cop Out ". Not that it was an awful film, only that i didnt watch a lot of new films this year, and the stuff that i did watch was pretty good ( you know, because i had to be selective with my time ). So this gets my "worst " nomination because the average/ok film out of a really good bunch. Sorry Bruce Willis.
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BEST SONGS:
1. " Whatta Want From Me? " by Adam Lambert - i love me some good pop and i think Adam Lambert has been one of the great pop finds of 2010. And he has in own thing going on without verging into total weirdo territory (  i'm talking to you Lady Gaga ).
2. " All My Life " by Thirsty Merc - i loooooooooooove this song. Its on the list to be played at my wedding. Sometimes, when i'm alone, it even makes me cry. A great Aussie band producing great Aussie music ( and it doesnt hurt that they hail from my hometown ). A beautiful love song....awww!
3. " Teenage Dream " by Katy Perry - Katy Perry annoyed me for a while when she first came out but the more i listened, the more i realised she had some really well crafted pop songs. Like this one - its sweet, it makes me feel young ( which i am, but young as in " before baby " young ) and it sums up the way i feel about my relationship with Mick. Another for the wedding dancefloor playlist.
4. " Grenade " by Bruno Mars -  this one was only released in the past month-ish but it is really damn catchy, and i l.o.v.e his voice. I also love the sentiment and the harmonies in the chorus. Oh, and the video clip. And his hair is ace. That is all.
5. " Forget You " by Cee-lo Green - waaaaaaaaah, i love this song! Its funky and upbeat ( despite the subject matter ) and hot damn it makes me wanna dance!
Notable mentions : " Love the way you lie " by Eminem ft Rihanna; " If its love " by Train; " Need You Now " by Lady Antebellum

AND THE WORST? "Only Girl In the World " by Rihanna. Sorry, but RiRi has majorly grated on my nerves this year, and everytime i heard this song come on the radio i switched stations. Too repeative for my liking and her voice is beginning to annoy me aswell. Bah! Oh, and also, anything by Ke$ha... yuck!
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BEST BOOK -  " The Hour I First Believed " by Wally Lamb which i already blogged about here. It was just an awesome, awesome read and its really stuck with me. If your a big reader and you havent already read this, get your hands on this. In fact, do yourself a favour and read anything by Wally Lamb - the man is in my top 5 favourite authors.

BEST TV SHOW - Aside from my unwavering obsession with " The Amazing Race ", i've really felt myself fall in love with  " How I Met Your Mother " this year. I've always liked this show, but the second half of this year i started to not want to miss an episode and it dawned on me that HIMYM is like the new " Friends". Ensemble cast, really funny but still poignant, and everybody seems to love it. And they especially love Barney, and even though its a bit of a bastard. Legen....what for it!....dary!

PERSONAL HIGHLIGHT - anything involving my son learning a new skill. But seeing as there are too many to choose from there, i'll go with the Tim McGraw concert back in September...good times with Mick away from our baby, dancing til our feet hurt and staying out late!

PERSONAL LOWLIGHT - breaking up with my best friend. I've already talked about it enough so i wont go into anymore details, but suffice to say it sucks arse bigtime, even more so because i really had no say in it, and even now 4ish months later i'm still bitter, and confused, and hurt.

And thats it ladies and gentleman! Tune in tomorrow ( or whenever i get around to it ) for my New Years resolutions. Wishing you all a happy New Year and hoing everyone gets to celebrate in style ( even if that means stained-tshirt, at home with the kids, eating dip and crackers with a West Coast cooler kind of style! ) tonight - pool party at the neighbours for us!

Check Out The Smoochiness!

Oh yea, thats right - i got one thing off my to do list!

I found this great little template on the Microsoft website, downloaded, added the sweet smoochy picture, changed the background and voila! - Save The Date cards. Sadly, i forgot that they were formatted to be a 5x7 size and got them printed as 6x4's ( which meant that the text at the bottom got a teeny, tiny bit skimmed off the edge... ). But, seeing as they arent actual invitations, i'm not going to worry about re-doing them and have stashed them in with the Xmas cards to be mailed tomorrow. I figure putting them in one envelope saves on paper, and on postage. Oh yea, i'm a tight arse eco-warrior!

So thats one thing ticked off. I'm halfway through Flynn's Santa sack - which i'm hand sewing because i dont have a sewing machine - and only have one Xmas present to go. Way to work Amy! Ooh, and i found a make up artist for my wedding who'll do my makeup for free . Again with the tight arse-ery. Turns out its kind of awesome when one of Mick's workmates wives is a beauty therapy teacher at TAFE and is also an awesome lady who offered to come round and do my makeup, as a favour from a friend. Your awesome Ange! And that is all...now, if i could only manage to get all the washing on the room of our floor, washed, folded and put away...

Books!Books!Books! - How Many Have You Read?

So.... i came across the meme on Kylie's page over at A Study In Contradictions   and i thought i'd play along. See, apparently the BBc has published a Top 100 booklist ( i'm not sure of what the list actually is tho - best books ever in, like, history? Bestsellers? Who knows... ) and they've come to the conclusion that the majority of people have only read 6 of the 100 books listed. Really? Only 6?
The aim of this game is to highlight in bold those which you have read, and italicize the ones you started but didnt finish, or have read parts of.
Feel free to play along!

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen ( one of my top 5 favourites.. )


2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien


3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (also a top 5 pick )
6 The Bible

7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott  ( i read this when i was 11ish - i would love to revisit it now )
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare ( i've read " Romeo and Juliet " and " Taming of the Shrew " )

15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien

17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk

18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger ( i have to admit though for all its hype, i wasnt really a fan... )

19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald

24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame ( started this as a kid - i dont recall ever finishing it )

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis

34 Emma -Jane Austen ( This is my current read - i'm halfway through and i gotta say Emma is not a likeable character at all... )
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen

36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis

37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving

45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood (One of my Top Ten)

49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding

50 Atonement - Ian McEwan ( loved the book, loved the movie... sooooooo want Keira Knightleys green dress! )

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel

52 Dune - Frank Herbert

53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac

67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie

70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

72 Dracula - Bram Stoker (read this earlier this year and really enjoyed it )
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson

75 Ulysses - James Joyce

76 The Inferno - Dante

77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78 Germinal - Emile Zola

79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

80 Possession - AS Byatt

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker

84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom ( its kind of short, but its really ...well...good. Inspiring good. )

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton ( read some of the books as a child, but not all of them )

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94 Watership Down - Richard Adams

95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Meme Time!

So my last post was a re-doing of a meme that wasnt really a meme because i'd never been tagged for it ( Got it? Good ). Today, my post is an actually meme because i was tagged for this one, and awarded some bloggy love, by the lovely Hayley at Our Unique Journey. She thinks i'm a Kreativ Blogger!

And, with so many blog awards, come the rules and regulations of the meme. This one wants me to tell you 7 random things about myself. I can't promise they'll be NEW things but i'll give it my best:

1. I secretly enjoy watching childrens television shows. I know in years to come i will probably be sick to death of them, but right now i enjoy both the programs themselves and the bright look they bring to my sons face. At almost 9 months old he's still a bit little to really WATCH tv, but we sit down together at 12pm and watch " Sesame Street " ( Elmo and Grover in particular get a huge smile ) and he also enjoys " The Magic Roundabout ". However, i shant be letting him watch shows that dont use proper language, such as " In The Night Garden ". I cant stand that show and cant understand why anyone would let a child who is developing their language skills watch a programme where all they do is babble nonsensically.

2. I enjoy driving in Sydney. This is possibly because i dont actually live there, so everytime i have the need to drive in there its because i'm on some little adventure. I'm sure if i actually resided in Sydney i'd feel different but for the time being i dont mind driving on the M4 or negotiating the one way streets in the city itself...

3. I never thought i'd have my first child with a man that i had only known a matter of months and wasnt married to ( i always pictured being married first, not that it matters ) but you know what ? The world works in mysterious ways. And i like it.

4. I'll admit it - i'm a pimple picker. I know your not supposed to pick and squeeze at them, but i just can't help it. If i feel a big hard, yucky lump under my skin, i have this compulsion to get it out. Yes, it'll probably scar, but i just cant help myself. Hey, at least i'm not a nose picker....

5. I failed my drivers licence test 3 times. Yep - 3. The first time i actually hit  a car while trying to reverse parallel park ( actually, it was when i was pulling out of the park... ), and the other two times had to with the " blink off " at roundabout road rule here in NSW. I'll cop to the first test, i should have failed that time, but the second and third times were just revenue raising.

6. I think i'm becoming a Zumba junkie. I'd always been in love with yoga ( and still am ) but almost 9 months after giving birth and not having shifted any weight, i decided to give something a bit more hi-impact a try. And i love it! I dont have to be a born dancer and you dont even have to get the steps 100% perfect all of the time, you just gotta feel the music and move. And its way fun!

7. I have a habit of surfing real estate websites for houses in my (pretend ) price range, even though i'm not yet in the market for a new home. We live in a duplex which the bank  I own, but at the end of next year or early 2012 i'd like to buy an actual house to raise our family in. So, even though its a year or two away, i like checking out what kind of homes are out there waiting for me to buy one day...

So there you be! I know i'm also supposed to give this award away to 7 of bloggers of my choice and link to their blogs...blah blah blah...but as i've done this meme before, i might skip that it this time. However, if you want the Kreativ Blogger award leave me a comment telling me how awesome i am ( ha! ) and i might just give you one...

I'm Building An Ark - But I'm Not Growing A Beard

I was listening to one of our local radio stations this morning and, in anticipation of the heavy rain that has been forecast for the next few days ( which, mind you, i bet doesnt eventuate.... ), the morning dj team were discussing whether they had better build themselves an ark. All that had to make it with was some newspapers, some Blutack and a pen but hey.... it got me thinking. If that Biblical flood was a-coming, what would i put on my ark?
( Please note that, like all good hypothetical things, such as deserted islands, my ark will be fully electric. Its a pimped out ark, okay? )

My family -  this one's a given. Mick, Flynn and the rest of my immediate family. Extended family i could give or take but we gotta take Poppy and Grandma and the rest of them. Also , we're going to assume that my friends have their own arks so they dont need to hitch a ride with me.
My computer -  and internet connection. We have to stay connected to the rest of the world ( well, all those people who were savvy enough to prepare for the watery Apocalypse ... ) and how else are we going to know when its safe to come out and dock?
Books - lots of them. Something for everyone to read - everyone except my dad and my brother, who are not such big fans of books. Maybe i should take some magazines aswell, just so they have something to entertain themselves with. Booby magazines are banned though!
Food - uh. Duh.I'd be getting my bake on before we set off into the great unknown - heaps of freezable pastas and casseroles and yummy, yummy cakes and slices. We wouldnt want to run out of food and have it turn into a whole plane-crash-in-the-Andes cannibal type situation, would we ? Because if it came down to that i think i'd be one of the first to go - my bootiliciousness would be delicious!
Blankets and pillows - and possibly beanbags and mattresses. We wana be comfy in our ark because Gawd knows how long we're gonna be in there.
And finally....
Deoderant - lots and lots of it. And maybe dry shampoo. I suppose we could rig up some kind of shower in this electrical ark of mine, and there would be plenty of water to go round, but failing that we gonna need some kind of BO buster.... it'd be stinky up in that house ark!