Friday Flip Offs Time

Good Friday to you all, and welcome to Friday Flip Offs - the time of the week to get all my stresses out into the virtual world so i can enjoy my weekend. Proudly brough to you by Gigi at KludgyMom.

To the rain - i know that we need you, that farmers you need you for their crops, that you need to fill up our dams so we have drink water blah, blah, blah... but i want a bit of sunshine. I want to take Flynn out for a walk and to let him play on a blanket on the grass. Its been raining and cold and dreary for 3 days now, and its forecast for at least another 2 days more. My Australian summer-time-girl heart just cant bear it much more. Take your grey clouds and FLIP OFF!

To the kids on " World Strictest Parents " - grow.the fork.up. Seriously. I watch this show ( you know, now that " Masterchef " is over ) mainly so i can marvel at how bad your behaviour is and so that i can yell at you via the tv. Maybe if your parents and had yelled at you a bit more, or disciplined you properly at some point, you wouldnt be such idiots. I kind of feel bad for your parents because they put up with you, but i kind of dont because clearly you are a monster of their own making. ( And yes, before anyone points it out, thats kind of judgemental. Probably also very much true in 95% of cases ). Get over yourselves and learn some respect or FLIP OFF!

To the rocky road slice i made on Tuesday - you aren't exactly a fail. I followed the recipe, you turned out fine, Mick loves you. However - I am not a fan of your biscuit base. I was so looking forward to a yummy, scrummy, marshmallowy, chocolatey, chewy slice to snack on over a few days and what i got was a marshmallowy, chocolately slice with a crunchy base. Crunchy - its just not my thing ( at least not with a rocky road topping ). Your whole crunchy biscuit thing killed it for me. I would much rather you with a brownie base. So, unless you can magically turn chewy in my fridge overnight, either disappear into Micks lunchbox or just FLIP OFF!

Thats it this week. All pretty trivial, which i suppose means i had a good week.... enjoy!

A Vote For Me Is...

...a vote for, well, me! Which is what this quick little note is all about. If you could, pretty please, head on over to Blog This! and vote for me in this weeks poll, that would be muchly appreciated. See you tomorrow for Friday Flip Offs!

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!

You Want It?

My button, i mean. I finally sat down and Googled and figured out how to make one. So for anyone who wants it, its down the page there a little. Oh, and if anyone wants to figure out how to add the HTML ( or whatever ) right below the button that would be nice. Til then i can email the code to whoever wants it. Does that make sense ? Good. Go get my button!
*NOTE* Thanks to Lori and her link in the comments section, we now have HTML!

Good Cop, Bad Cop

I think I may be the bad cop in our parenting relationship.

Not this kind of bad cop though - Mick wishes!

See, in the last day, Mick has twice "rescued" Flynn from a place he didnt want to be - in his cot, going to sleep ( a la Project SleepyTime ) and on the floor having his tummy time. Though the self settling is getting better, sometimes Mr Flynn is still trying his darndest to resist going to sleep. I, being Mummy, am happy to let him cry for 10 minutes and then go in and settle him, knowing that the whole thing is beginning to work and he will eventually fall asleep. Last night Mick says " you want me to go in this time? " and. happy that Daddy was wanting to help out with the Project, i obliged. Next thing i know Mick is back - with Flynn in tow. " He didnt want to go to sleep " he says. Well yes, i know that, but he would have if you'd given him just a few more minutes. Flynn, meanwhile, still has his dummy in but his smiling his little head off. In his mind its Flynn-1, Mummy-0.

And then there was tummy time. Flynn is not really a fan. He never has been, but i think now that he's older he's starting to get frusturated that he can lift his knees and belly off the ground but he still cant move forward. I have tried telling the poor little bloke that he wont learn to crawl unless he has his tummy time, even if he doesnt like it. I have even discussed this with Daddy. So i put Flynn on his tummy and within five minutes he's having a whingey cry. I tell him he's ok, you'll be alright and go to the kitchen to get a drink....and come back to find Flynn off his tummy and on Daddys lap. " But he was crying, he didnt want to be on his tummy " says Mick. Grrr.... Flynn-2, Mummy-0.

Then, this morning? For the first time ever Flynn has a cuddle with Daddy and then, when Mick hands him back to me....Flynn turns his little head, reaches his arms out to Daddy and starts his whingey noise. I want my Daddy! Although i'm glad that he's finally past his clinginess, and loved the look of joy on Mick's face when he realised he was the " wanted " one this morning, methinks this also means that Flynn knows Daddy is a softie - and that Mummy is the hard arse.

Zumba? No - Zumbo!

Time again for another Blog This! challenge. This weeks challenge is:
If you can think of a situation where you'd love to be a fly on the wall?

- your funeral?
- your boss' office?
- your favourite designer's drawing board?
- set of your favourite movie?
- your heart-throb's bedroom?
- perhaps it's the prime-ministers office????
What would you like to see/hear/happen?

After much thought ( and not wanting to use one of the examples ) i've decided that i would want to be a fly on the wall in Adriano Zumbo's kitchen.

There are only two possible reasons that you wouldnt know who Adriano Zumbo is: a) you are one of those weird people who dont watch " Masterchef " or b) you are one of those weird people who aren't Australian ( joking, joking... ) and therefore can't watch " Masterchef ". In any case, Adriano there is a master patissiere and has been featured on the show a handful of times, presenting his dishes as a challenge to the contestants. He's done the croquembouche and 7 layer chocolate cake from last season, and this season he caught Peter out with his macaron tower and tripped Alvin up with the V8 cake. All of which, of course, i wish i could both make and eat.

A selection of Adriano's yummiest...

So - i wish i could be a fly on the wall of Adriano's kitchen so i could be witness to his creative genius. I would love to know how he comes up with all this incredible ideas and then see how he perfects them. How many times does he attempt a 7 layer chocolate cake before he finds the perfect combination? How does he decide that its 7 layers and not 6 ? What gave him the idea to try beetroot flavoured macarons, and then combine them with a raspberry flavour - and put them on a bloody styrofoam tower? I'd love to be there ( hidden away of course - i suppose flies arent really encouraged in a commercial kitchen... ) as he had a new idea, tested his flavours, come up with a recipe and officially created something new. And, seeing that i'm a fly and they taste with their feet, i could fly down and sample everything! Although it'd have to be a small taste of each - i'm thinking with a fly-sized body i could give myself a huge sugar hangover with all that yummy, sweet, Adriano Zumbo goodness......

Friday Flip Offs

Happy Friday everyone! And what better way to celebrate the end of the working week ( well, for some of you ) than with another Friday Flip Offs, brough to you by Gigi at KludgyMom...

To the old bird who cut me off at the roundabout - when there are two lanes marked, that means you need to stick to the lane your in. It doesnt mean you can take off from the outside lane and just veer into the inside lane, where i happen to be driving. Even if it did mean that you would still need to use your indicator. Which you didnt. Learn the road rules and try sticking to them or FLIP OFF!

To the fat that refuses to shift off my belly - yesterday i had a positive attitude toward you, today i dont. This may have something to do with the fact that you made my favourite pair of jeans too uncomfortable to wear today. I'm trying to get out there and walk and get rid of you but its not happening quick enough for my liking. Why dont you take the hint and just melt away? Come Monday, when i've convinced Mick to move our exercise bike from the freezing cold garage to the nice, warm, loungeroom you know what i'm going to say to you belly fat? FLIP OFF!

To those foreign sales guys trying to sell miracle cream at the mall - when i'm pushing a pram that contains a small grumpy child, does it look like i have time to stop and trying your fancy hand cream? Does it look like polishing my nails to a nice silky shine is my number one priority ? Just because you're cute and have a nice foreign accent does not mean i want to stop and chat to you, or that i'm going to be convinced into buying one of your incredibly expensive products. Do me a favour - next time i'm at the mall, and you see me coming, and you see me avert my eyes so that you cant catch my attention and stop me, dont step out in front of my pram. If you do i will either be forced to mow you down and crush you beneath my baby wheels or you'll be told to FLIP OFF!