30 June 2011

It’s the end of another Financial year here in Australia which means I have much busier doing work stuff than normal.  I think I worked about 12 hours on the weekend.  Luckily only one job has June 30 as the end of the financial year.  The other one uses a calendar year.  Which is much better for me.  Of course despite 30 June being the end of the financial year you don’t actually finish the financial year off on 30 June.  You have to get the staff their Payment Summaries out by 14 July and then a file to the Australian Taxation Office in August.

A long time ago the best thing about End of Financial Year was working in a finance area which had End of Financial Year drinks.  Our office would close up for the afternoon, go out to lunch and then party on.  Okay, seriously the partying wasn’t very long.  Generally by  6 I‘d be on my way home.  But it was the whole once a year let your hair down thing that I enjoyed. 

I think people who knew me actually found it odd that I really did  let my hair down then.  I didn't actually dance on the tables but I do know that as non smoker, discovering me smoking cigars was quite disconcerting to my colleagues. 

So it everyone who has been working hard doing end of financial year stuff, I know you aren't actually finished today, but enjoy whatever celebration you have.

Also I’ve finished another NaBloPoMo.

We can now:

Write On Wednesdays #4 - Two Fat Ladies...

The Write On Wednesdays Rules: First of all, I am not a big fan of rules. Feel free to get creative with the writing exercises - there is no right or wrong. But please try to visit the other members of Write On Wednesdays and leave a comment. You can grab the button for Write On Wednesdays from my sidebar if you fancy doing so.

Write On Wednesdays Exercise 4: Two Fat Ladies (88!):  I am sticking with the timed theme. It is much easier to find a spare 5 minutes than a big chunk of time to write.  Grab the 8th book from your bookshelf. Open it to page 8. Scroll down to the 8th sentence. Write this sentence at the top of your page. Set your timer for 5 minutes and write the first words that come into your head after your writing prompt.  Stop when the buzzer rings! Do this exercise over and over if you wish. It will be interesting to see where all our different prompts take us.

The line in the book I got was:  I promised I’d come down and tell you, so here I am.

I don’t want to talk about it but if it will help then I guess it’s okay. You see there were flashing lights.  And a weird space in the sky.  No, don’t laugh I’m not joking.  And no I’m not on drugs.  There were flashing lights.  Oh for Christ’s sake don’t make any jokes about probes.  Now I know why i never bothering mentioning it before.  I didn't want to be labelled the crazy one.  I don’t know why I bothered coming down here.  You are juvenile.”

He got up and walked toward the door.  He looked over his shoulder and grimaced at them .

“Thanks for nothing bozos.” 

He walked out shoulders set, his posture radiating anger.

“So guys? What do you think?  Did he really believe in the whole alien abduction set up?” 

“Dunno.”

“If not, he’s a damn good actor.  And he’s pretty pissed at us.  I’d hate to be around when he realised it was a set up.  To screw with his head…..”

Um…interesting.  The first book I picked up is called Undead and Unemployed by MaryJanice Davidson.  It’s the second book in the Undead series.  The line I got was written as part of a police interview.  So it wasn’t even straight dialogue.  I almost got another book because I wasn't sure how I’d go with it. I found that I basically just did dialogue and had to add punctuation in later to help it make sense.  I have no idea where a faked alien sighting came from.

Take 2 is from the The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

He was beginning to be really frightened now.

It wasn’t just the thought of the unknown but more the effect that it could have on him and his family.  Why is the unknown so scary anyway?  Is it just because we have no idea how to react to it?  Because we s humans have no concept beyond those in our minute little minds? 

Although frightened he stood tall to face his tormentors.

“You don’t scare me.” he ground out through clenched together.  “You can’t hurt me.  You are just part of a dream.  A nightmare.  And I will wake up.  Then you won’t be able to hurt me any longer.”

In bed he rolled over.  The edges of the nightmare lessened as he touched the soft object.  He grasped it with both hands. The nightmare faded even more and his breathing settled from it’s frantic pace slowly.  Slowing down to normal.  He grabbed the soft…..

I think I liked my first one better. With the second one it’s as though I swapped between the character and the tormentor in the first paragraph. That kind of disconcerted me.  Then somehow I went back to the characters point of view but I feel I’d changed the age of the character in the mean time.

Feel free to comment and critique as desired. 

I look forward to reading everyone’s stuff tomorrow.

I am Mother, Hear me whisper

Yes I know it’s supposed to be Hear ME Roar but in this case there is no roaring. I am just whispering.  As a mother when one of my children are threatened my my first instinct is to protect them.  Fairly standard I think.  But what happens when your child needs protecting from another child and that child’s parents are standing there doing nothing?

What do you do when you have seen that child lash out at their parent and adult’s response is “Mate don’t do that”? Or when that child lashes out at their  sibling and the parent does nothing at all?

This is the dilemma I currently have.

There is a child at school who is gets away with all sorts of things name calling, kicking, hitting, swearing you name it it’s probably been done.  why is this an issue for me? Well,  a few days a week this child often hangs around in the same area  after school with as we do.

This child (let’s call him P) has problems relating to others.  Not just other children, adults as well.  Recently  P has teased Girl Child and called her names, pushed her off the play equipment so she banged her head and dug his fingernails into her so that there were red marks left on her skin under her shirt.

P’s parents do nothing. When P hits their profoundly disabled sibling there is generally no response from the parents.  When P hurts other children there is no response. Only occasionally is there a response.  Generally that happens  when P is hitting a parent and swearing at them and that’s when the comment “Mate, don’t do that” is trotted out.

There are a few of us who don’t know what to do.  Our children are being hurt by another child in full view of the parents and there is no response from them at all. P doesn’t get asked to clam down or stop hurting or hitting or whatever. How would you deal with this?

It seems most people are afraid to say something because P’s sibling M is disabled. Because P’s parents have M who is unable to do basically anything themself. I have chatted to P and M’s parents so I know that M’s needs take up a lot of time. But I’m concerned that P’s issues are being ignored and therefore other children, my child is getting hurt and teased. I find the longer this goes on the less I want to interact with P’s parents.

Would you approach the parent of an unruly child? Would you change that approach if you know the parents are worn down from caring for their other child?

I want to say something to P’s parents. I want to say I don’t like P’s behaviour. I don't like it when P hurts Girl Child and you ignore it.  Ignoring P’s bad behaviour is not making this situation better.

I want to say: Telling M that people won’t like M because of P’s behaviour is not appropriate either. Nobody has an issue with M.  P’s behaviour doesn’t reflect on M, it reflects on you as the parent!

Please help me.  Someone needs to say something.  There are at least 3 parents who watch this child hurting others and nobody does anything.  I am just as guilty as the rest. Prior to now I have been worried about ruining the relationship I was building with P’s mother.  Right now I don't care about that. My child has just as much right to play safely after school as everyone else does.

Is there any tactful way of saying “Your child is a brat. Please stop P hurting my child”?

Am I an old fuddy duddy?

Even writing fuddy duddy makes feel feel old and …older.

Maybe times have changed a lot since Mr E and I hooked up over 17 years ago or maybe it’s just that my thoughts on this are completely different to OMG I can;t believe I’m typing this the younger generation. Wow, typing the younger generation makes me feel like a fuddy duddy as well.  So maybe I am one.

The scenario is:

A couple have been in a relationship for a few years.  They break up as one partner basically wants more freedom (think move interstate, travel, change jobs every 3 months, those kind of things).  They have property together.  They decide to sell the property but until they do  they continue to share the property. That they are remaining friends and there is a spare bedroom.

This is where I feel odd about the whole thing.  The now former couple are still sharing the same room.  In fact, still sleeping together in the same bed.  Now I get the whole friends with benefits (FWB) scenario.  Hell, it sounds like a great deal if you can keep your emotions separated (which I couldn't) and no one gets hurt (which I would – because I’m a sucker like that!) BUT according to the one party I have spoken to in this, it’s not a friends with benefits scenario.

Apparently it’s more like this:

Image from http://mattressvancouver.wordpress.com

Why?  There is a spare room, a spare place to sleep.  I just don’t get it.

See for me – if someone had basically said you are the millstone hanging around my neck stopping me from enjoying my youth (okay major poetic license there), after the tears and the anger and the more tears I think I would barely be able to be civil.  Let alone share a bedroom.

Now if I was the dumper in this case, if you were dumb morose enough to still want to sleep in the same bed with me, I’d be happy to cop a feel all night, every night. I guess I won’t care about the dumpees feeling at all.

FWB I can cope with. Basically giving away your self esteem for human touch makes me wonder how much self esteem you had in the first place.

Um… I’m very Judgy McJudge Judge this morning aren't i?  Can someone explain this in plain English to me?  Because all I can see is two people getting hurt more than they currently are.

Thank goodness June is almost over!

I have been doing work all day in order to get the company file ready to go to the accountant tomorrow and completely forgot that I am doing NaBloPoMo and therefore should be blogging.  Oops.

So, it’s almost midnight,I’m cold and tired, with nothing to say except:

If you are still up – GO TO BED!

Night all.

Day Zero Update

This week I did something that many of my fine readers would have already done. I learnt how to apply make-up.
Scary thought for me really as I'm lucky if I wear makeup more than once a year and the majority of my recent makeup experience has been stage makeup for Girl Child for dance concerts.  I must admit I am getting better with her makeup and now I have some actual technique.  Well, maybe not technique but more idea than I used to have anyway. 
Who knew that I was always applying makeup incorrectly?  I guess I did because otherwise why would I have put it on my Day Zero list.  I now know that apparently my lips are my best feature. I know that the green concealer stuff works at reducing redness but apparently is noticeable under UV lights in nightclubs. 
I need to practice but hopefully now I have some technique I will be able scrub up nicely next time I get dressed up to go out.  Hopefully Mr E and I will get to out go to dinner again one day soon.
While I’m updating the Day Zero list, I managed to miss the Lunar Eclipse on 15 June 2011.  It was at 4 or 5 am and I was asleep.  Oops.  I may have to find something else to add into my list.
On the upside, I have signed up for Postcrossing! I need to decide if I’m willing to put Whining on my profile and get working on getting my postcards out there.  As if there wasn't enough of my in the world as there is!

My week in Blunt cards

I have recently discovered Blunt cards. Obviously this site has been around for a while but it was only recently I found out there was a whole website with these things. Yes, I am often slow on the uptake.

So Instead of a proper post today I thought I would show you all how my week was in cards.  If you haven’t discovered these yet go over and check them out.  These are just the cards that I feel represented parts of this week for me there are lots more and funnier ones to check out.  If I drank,  I would have had many more options to present to you.

Enjoy my week in Bluntcards!

Most of the week:

A few times:

 

Thankfully not too often:

 

Right now:

 

But this one is just NOT true:

 

All cards courtesy of http://bluntcard.com

I remember#2: W.O.W. Exercise 3

Okay I have tired this exercise again.  I did it twice this afternoon.  This first one was a blow out but thought it was interesting to see where my brain actually wandered off to.

I remember nothing….absolutely bloody nothing.  Scary really.  Another day another empty head. Nothing to see here move along.  Nothing to see anywhere really.  Not sure why i
’m bothering to even try this one.  It’s obvious that I have no brain for this right now. Omm, omm, omm.  Nope no relaxing, not powering my brain at all. no ideas. dammit. dammit, dammit, dammit, how bloody long can 5 minutes go for ? 5 minutes 3000 seconds… is that right?  can i actually add up. nope still nothing………

It’s amazing how long 5 minutes can be when you have nothing.  Of course the next time I did the exercise I had stuff and the 5 minutes seemed to short.

I remember being little holding hands. Having my feet in an adults shoes.  I remember a kind, caring face looking down at me, I wonder if I remember or whether I only remember because I’m seen photos? 

I remember what the cupboard in that house look like.  And that wasn't something that is in any photos.  I’ve described them to people I knew from that time and yes I can remember cupboards from a house I lived in when I was about two maybe younger.  I can remember the bedspreads being that chenille fabric and I remember there was a garden with a tree.  The tree had an old tyre swing on it.  But then I wonder if I’m remembering something that someone has old me.  Aren’t memories weird.  Some aren’t really mine they are from things I have heard spoken about but others might be because I have seen photos.

So this is it.  The previous one is here.

I wonder what Gill has got cooked up for us next week?

I Remember# 1 W.O.W Exercise 3.

The Write On Wednesdays Rules: First of all, I am not a big fan of rules. Feel free to get creative with the writing exercises - there is no right or wrong. But please do try to visit the other members of Write On Wednesdays. You can grab the button for Write On Wednesdays if you fancy doing so.

Write On Wednesdays Exercise 3 - I remember: Write "I remember" a the top of your page. Set a timer for 5 minutes. Use "I remember" as your prompt and write down the first words that come into your head for 5 minutes. Stop when the buzzer rings! Do this exercise over and over if you wish. I will try to do it every morning this week. I'll let you know how I go...I am hoping that the thought of having to tell you all about my progress will be the motivation I need to keep at it!

I remember when lollies were 2c. When 2c coins actually existed and not just on a basket on top of the fridge for historical value. I remember eating cobbers before I was GF and could eat everything.  I loved Fantales and cobbers.  Which I guess are pretty much the same thing.  Now I don’t like chocolate what is with that?

I’m eating an apple and writing this thing for the exercise number 3.  I’m glad I have managed to stick with every exercise so far.  Sometimes I have problems with follow through.  Hopefully this won’t be the case with this.  I need to get this done soon because it’s late and I’m tired and I need to get to bed.

Wow it’s funny how writing you are tired can stop the flow of the exercise.  And now it’s time.  I made it.

Umm..well I had a lot of typos in fact in one place I had no idea what I was trying to write at all. I’m going to try and do this again tomorrow when it’s not so late and see what I can come up with.

Things that make you go hmmm

Tonight for dinner we were having roast pork sandwiches. Boy Child has had issues with food and it’s only been in the last 8 months that he has even eaten meat other than chicken. Having a roast pork sandwich is a big thing. In fact tonight’s may have been the first he has had.


I made him two (he wanted BBQ sauce – how weird is that?). All was good until he dumped his plate on the bench with less than half of one eaten. He wouldn't eat the rest because he thought he had seen mould on the bread.

Now the bread was fresh yesterday and it had been used for sandwiches for lunch. I hadn’t noticed anything while I was making the sandwiches for dinner. Mr E and I searched his sandwich for the offending mould. There were some brown marks but none of the blue he swore he saw and insisted was mould. We moved the sandwiches around some more and there is was. A little blue speck. Not even the right colour for mould. It was a piece of fluff from his pyjamas!

Thankfully, he was okay with that and ended up finishing his dinner. It could so easily have gone the other way. This speck of fluff could put him off pork and sandwiches for ever. In fact it probably has. Apparently, now pork makes him feel sick. Poor Boy Child. I wonder how long it will be before he is prepared to risk it again?

I want, I want, I want

This seems to be Girl Child’s mantra at the moment.  I want Littlest Pet Shop, I want Zhu zhu pets, I want a Barbie, I want chocolate, I want chips.  Me? I want a break!

I lost it with her this evening after about 20 I want’s.  I went all Bad Mummy on her and said if you stop saying I want I’ll give you McDonalds for dinner.  Doh! Bribery and corruption. Bad parenting moment there.

Well, it worked.  I got peace and quiet for about 20 minutes. We got McDonalds for dinner and I ran away and hid in the bathroom having ‘Mummy Time’ aka don’t come near me or I will lose the plot.

Win all round really.

I just thought I’d revisit an old blog header.  That is so not me but I wish it was!

You really would think that as the grown up in this situation I would have a better way of dealing with it. As it was basically: shut up and I’ll give you something you are not asking for; but you will ask for more in future because you know what to do to drive me to the edge!

When it was bed time i asked her to come for a chat.  We discussed that constantly asking for stuff makes me sad. That she has lot's of stuff and she really doesn't need anymore.  But the thing I tried to get her to understand is just because we go somewhere like dance (we are there weekly, sometimes twice a week)where there is fundraising chocolate she doesn't need to have one just because she can see them.  Especially when I have brought food with us.

I know I’m a big part of the problem.  I will often buy her a cupcake or a muffin when we are out.  Now it seems she just expects it. I’m more than happy to buy something occasionally but not if I’m getting nagged for it. So help me, help myself.

What can I do now? Our chat included not asking for things at certain places – like dance and swimming.  But how can I break the I want habit – without losing my mind? If you have managed to get over this phase (I hope it’s just a phase) with your  sanity and a good relationship with your child intact how did you manage it?

Note: she does not get everything or even most things she asks for.  Sometimes if she really wants something I will put it away until she has saved up enough pocket money for it. Or a bigger ticket item occasionally gets bought and put away for whatever special occasion is coming up. But most of the time my answer is no.  Have I created this ‘I want’ monster? I don't remember Boy Child doing this at all.

Head over to Maxabella Loves where she is discussing this topic on a much broader scale and far more eloquently than I!

Support groups

What do you think of them?  Whether they are for single parents, parents of Special Needs children, people with mental illness (including depression / PND etc.) or Something Anonymous they are out there.  You can find them in real life and on line.  You can find some that meet daily, monthly or yearly or something in between.

So you go to them?  Do you laugh and think people who go to them are losers?  Or do you think that they are beneficial at times but can become mired down in negativity where people feed off each other’s neurosis or crises or whatever?

I’m in the latter category.  I kind of think that groups can be useful and relevant if they are useful and relevant rather than becoming an all out whinge fest or one upmanship on who’s life is the worst.

But I’m having a dilemma.

There’s a group to which someone else joined me up.  It’s an online group about a particular subject but where it is becoming very clear that members of the group are expected to interact both on line and in real life. If you don’t interact enough on said group the owner / moderator tends to get a little narky and writes things about how meet ups are only so many times a year and that it’s an interactive group and everyone should participate regularly.  Comments have been along the lines of: THIS is not an information group or a group for lurkers.  Now that has only been mentioned recently it was not mentioned in the past.  And obviously someone was told to pull their head in a little because it did become less authoritative in the following few days.

I don’t want to burn any bridges but I struggling with how a support group can be supportive when you are told in what ways and how frequently you must participate.

What do you think?  Can support groups actually support?  And what if they are being extremely prescriptive about the level of participation?  Note: it's not a 12 step program where it’s generally known that there are 12 steps to follow etc.  Can a support group run effectively if one person decides how things should run and basically ostracizes those who don't play by those (at the time unwritten) rules?

Today I’m Grateful for…18 Jun 2011

I’m grateful for the public health system in Australia.  While it’s not always great, I managed to get an appointment with a neurologist a week after the referral was sent in.

I am grateful that I have a follow up appointment with the neurologist in 6 months.

I’m grateful that I will be sent for an MRI at the hospital in 5 months.

I am grateful that this will all be free. I think it will be anyway.

I’m grateful for people who ask questions and don’t assume.

I am grateful for people who get it!

I’m also very grateful that someone who is working at the swimming pool cafe today makes decent coffee.  We have stopped buying coffee most of the time because when certain people are working the coffee sucks!

If you want to play along to see what others are grateful for today, drop over to Maxabella’s.

 

Note:

I’m not really sick.  I’ve just had a bad headache for 13 or so weeks.

Introducing the newest member of the household:

 

Our new fridge arrived today.  After we moved the contents of our old fridge in, it seems to be a little bare.  I guess that happens when you go up a size.   As Boy Child said “We don’t have much food, do we?” Yes, that is one empty looking fridge.

For some reason Mr E decided to put beer or cider or something in one of the Deli drawers and one of the vegetable crispers has tubs of fundraising cookie dough and muffin mix in it.  The whole middle shelf is empty apart from the water bottle.

The children are both having issues because the new Fridge is really big (we have gone from a 400 or so litre combo to a 510 litre combo) and it smells weird.  Plus it sticks out of the space a lot more than the previous one.  Hopefully they will get used to it quickly.  I knew Boy was going to have an issue with it but I didn't expect she would.  Today, someone with a child on the spectrum asked me if I thought Girl child was too.  She certainly has traits but I don’t think there is enough to get her over the line.  I’ve been told a few times that she isn’t but when both children have the same issues with the new fridge you start to wonder.  I think it’s just the fact that most people don’t like change showing itself.

I hope that the newest member of the household enjoys their time with us.  I hope it is a very long and useful time.  The other fridge is now in the garage and still okay after 17.5 years of being with us.  It’s so far outlasted our marriage!

I think I should go and buy some food tomorrow.  We can even fit 3 litre bottles in the door and the door will still close now!  So what should i buy?

What would you buy to  fill your new, much larger fridge?

Write on Wednesday- Dialogue Detective

Write On Wednesdays Exercise 2 - *Detective Dialogue: For this exercise you need to be a little bit sneaky. And brave. You need to be around at least 2 other people (or a small child who will happily chat to himself and/or imaginary friends). Write down a conversation/ dialogue exchange as you hear it. Feel free to write down things that accompany the dialogue (E.G. gestures, interruptions, accents) but don't worry about this too much. It is more important to capture the way words are used in natural speech. Try not to let anyone know what you are doing. It might alter the natural flow of their words (it could also be a tad embarrassing for you!). If you can get out to a park, cafe or shop like Naughty Mumma, then this is a wonderful chance to get some new writing ideas and get some practise in dialogue writing. If you can't get out (and I know this is a reality for some of us) you can copy down the dialogue between your partner and your child. Or the conversation between two of your children or even one side of your partner's phone conversation. If you are really stuck, turn on the TV and copy down the dialogue between a couple of TV characters.

I have been quite slack on this task.  I have  written two conversations here. 

This first was from a TV show.  I couldn't keep up with the dialogue.  I cannot type that fast.  I tried about 10 different conversations and this was the one where I managed to actually get the most written down.  It’s between a father and a son which is then interrupted by one of the boy’s friends.

“The photos are pretty hot.”

“What photos?”

“The photos on Girls gone wild. The ones Shane has on his phone.”

Door knock

“Hello. Mr …” He is quickly cut off.

“Hey, where did you get those photos of that girl?”

“Everyone at school has them. They are everywhere.  They went viral.”

 

 

This second one probably doesn’t actually meet the goal of this exercise as I am one of the participants. So I figured that I cheated on this task.  The conversation is actually between me and Boy Child.  I liked it bounced around between the topics..

“Katie says that there’s a year between college and university. So I can be doing what I want by the time I’m 26.”

“You don’t have to have that year off.  It’s called a gap year. ”

“Well there’s a year between Year 12 and University where you can just do whatever you want or earn money.”

“Yes, that’s called a gap year.  Some people have a year off to decide what they actually want to do at Uni.  Or travel. You don’t have to have have that year off though.”

“Oh, okay.  Then I can be doing what I want by 25 then.”

“So you’ll finish Year 12 at 18 and then go to Uni.  You still want to be a Dr then?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of Dr? Neurologist, cardiologist or what?”

“Well not a Dermatologist.”

“You don’t like skin?”

“Well I don’t look after my own very well.”

“Because it”s dry?” He nods “Have you been using that cream?”

“Yes.”

“Regularly?”

“Well I used it twice.”  Pause. “On the same day.  Last week I think.”

 

So there you go. I hope this counts.

I’ve got nothing (again)

I was planning on participating in Write On Wednesday today, but I haven’t managed to do the task which was be a dialogue detective.  Thankfully, the linky will be open until sometime tomorrow so hopefully I will manage to eavesdrop get some inspiration in the world around me.

Check out everyone’s entries over at ink, paper, pen.

I’m starting to be adventurous in

The kitchen!

What were you guys thinking?

On the weekend Girl Child and I made Chantal’s 80 cookies for under $7.00.  You may know as I posted about it earlier.  Later that day I also made Glowless’ Very Vegetable slice.  This we ate with Beef Stroganoff for dinner . 

Now for all you foodies out there (what are you doing reading my blog?) this may seem slightly odd.  But I have made no secret of my culinary inadequacy.  Those who have been around a while may remember the Lamington post?  They were yummy but the conversation I had in order to get the things I needed was very …. interesting.  After that there was the blueberry muffin epic fail.  There was also the Pizza post but I think I have already made my point.

So I’m not sure what is going on with me however, with the cookies and vegetable slice being accepted and eaten (okay, no vegetable slice for Boy) this evening I made pork schnitzel.  It was yummy.  I have been making decent Gluten Free chicken schnitzel for quite a while but moving into pork was adventurous and went down really well.  Yay for me!

I was quite impressed with it and we had jacket potatoes with sour cream with carrots and zucchini.  Quite different to what seems to be the house favourite here – Sausages.

Maybe our tastes are maturing!  Or maybe if you don’t feed people enough they will eat anything! LOL.  I’m not even watching Masterchef much this year at all so I can’t be under the influence of that.  Maybe it’s because PPMJ (have you ever read her menu plans?) won’t adopt me, so I’ve had to start branching out on my own.  Whatever it is, as long as there are more successes than failures I’ll be happy.

But if this goes on too long my family may just start to think I’ve been abducted by aliens.

I think it’s cookie time now. Good night.

ETA: Gnomeangel and Suger’s Food Revolution (Melissa from Suger Coat It has a another blog) also do tempting recipes.  I have made a Gnomeangel Curry but the 2 people playing at home (Mr E. and Girl Child) said it was too spicy.  They are wusses!

Delusions of belonging

It’s weird but I thought I would have mentioned this before but I just did a quick search and I couldn't find it.  So I’m sorry if you have read some of this previously. I don’t like this long weekend very much. It’s a combination of factors – all family related.  Which bring me to my delusions of belonging.

My extended family live about 3 hours drive away (if you don’t stop).  We probably visit them every school holidays for at least a few days. and for a while my aunt and uncle would come here once a year tacked on to their weekend away that they have every June as it generally coincided with my mum’s birthday.

Every June long weekend the majority of my extended family come half way to where we live and have a get together.  With their family and friends. We were invited once probably 5 years ago, although it could have been the year my Mum died so 4 years ago.  We have never been invited again.  Not sure why and I’m afraid to ask.  But it cuts me up every time it happens.

Happy family and friend photos on Facebook. Comments about the family but we are not included.  I guess it’s because I have spent most of my life interstate and I guess we are kind of out of sight and out of mind. However, it’s the June Long weekend again and my family are about 90 minutes away celebrating a big family event.  I’m sad.  My cousin’s are all there, with their spouses and children and some of their family friends.  My heart broke when I read that my cousins brother in law’s post on Facebook about how happy he is to be part of their extended family.

The fact that my In Laws don’t care about us at all, unless they need something  (I had a heated conversation with a Sister in Law recently about this) and my family not even offering for us to visit them for a few hours for a big event I’m shattered.  Absolutely shattered.  I know that they are closer to other people due to having strong social ties but it’s like we are a complete afterthought or in this case a non thought.

I had delusions that after my mother died we would be accepted as part of the family again but apparently not.  I call at least and email few times a month, we go and visit at least 4 times a year.  These people have known me all my life.  I even spent parts of my childhood with them.  They were closer to me than my own parents.

When you are happy and celebrating you’d rather be with people you know and like rather than with people where all you really share is a blood tie.  But it still hurts.

All I can do is put on a happy face next time I talk to them and hope that my mask doesn't crack.

Fat Mum Slim’s Cookies

During the week Chantal (aka Fat Mum Slim) posted her recipe for 80 cookies under $7.  So having discovered a can of Sweeten condensed milk in the cupboard I thought that Girl Child and I would embark on the adventure of making 80 cookies.  In different flavours of course.

So yesterday we bought a snickers and a Caramello koala for the top of some.  I wanted to make some jam drops but Mr E wanted mostly chocolate.  I was not impressed as I have now been off chocolate for almost 13 weeks.  Anyway he was too busy doing other stuff so this morning Girl Child and I got into it.

We made:

Strawberry Jam Drops;

Some with Caramello Koala on the top;

Some with with a Snickers on the top;

Plain ones;

Cornflake and sultana ones (Girl Child liked the sound of these) and

Some with Cocoa for the Chocolate ones Mr E. wanted.

Those of you who have been around here for know that I am NO culinary or domestic goddess however, these cookies turned out pretty well.  Here are some photos to prove it!

The yellow container has the Caramello and snickers ones, the bottom clear container Jam Drops (please ignore the very brown one in the front there), the middle  has the plain and cornflake and sultana cookies.  The tray is the Cocoa cookies just out of the oven.

The verdict? Girl Child gave us an A for the Jam Drops and a D for the Caramello ones.  She also thinks the cornflake and sultana ones are DISGUSTING. I’m blaming that on the cold she has.

Boy Child liked the snickers ones and the cocoa ones.  Mr E. likes the the cocoa and snickers ones as well but neither of them have tried the Jam Drops, Cornflake and Sultana or plain ones as yet.

If you are into cooking or baking or want to see want kinds of cookies you can make try out Fat Mum Slim’s 8 cookies for under $7.  Just make sure you have more baking trays when we do!

X-men = Hugh Jackman shirtless

Not X-men: First Class as it’s only being released in June 2011so I can’t comment on that. But classic X-Men is great.  Especially with the comments between Cyclops and Logan.  Things like:

[commenting on the X-Men uniforms]
Wolverine: You actually go outside in these things?
Cyclops: Well, what would you prefer? Yellow spandex?

[Cyclops doesn't know if Logan's an imposter]
Wolverine: Hey! It's me.
Cyclops: Prove it!
Wolverine: You're a dick.
Cyclops: Okay.

 

Now most of the photos of the chest are out of the other movies so I will just leave you with this one:

http://www.allaboutjackman.com/images/2000XMenWolverine.jpg

 

Not much more to say than that really is there?

I’ve got nothing to say

But as I’m doing NaBloPoMo I have to post something.  So this it it.

I have nothing to say that’s worth reading this evening.  I’ve had a vaguely busy week and am looking forward to this Queen’s Birthday Long weekend.  Which of course isn’t on the Queen’s (Elizabeth 2 that is)  Birthday at all.  For some reason I think perhaps this celebrates the birth of Queen Victoria but I could be very confused.  And despite it not even being 8.30 at tonight I’m too tired to research right now.  I’ve been wanting to go to bed since 6.30 so I’ll leave it here.

Catch you all tomorrow.

It’s all perception

Remember how I started seeing a new bloke? Well, during the week I started to get a little buyer’s remorse when it came to him.  You see, he sent me for blood tests but then there was no feedback.  And that made me bloody a little frustrated.  I felt that I had moved from one Dr who never got back to me to another who, while being good looking and much more approachable (aka Dr Jesse in honour of photo of Jesse Spencer in my previous Dr post), was just the same.

To make matters worse in my mind, I then discovered that my test results had been at the surgery since last week but I had been told that they weren’t all there.  However, when I checked again a few days later, the person I spoke to explained that some tests were combined and the results had been back all along!  So, I made an appointment to see Dr Jesse and stewed on the miscommunication.  Stewed and stewed and maybe, just maybe some ranting occurred.

Mr E. offered to come to the appointment with me, mostly because his perception was I would go off at Dr Jesse or that I would burst into tears.  Thankfully I did neither. I took some deep breaths and did the adult thing, I behaved like a grown up.

Dr Jesse was really nice. He doesn't need to see me unless getting into the specialist he is sending me to will take more than 8 weeks.  Plus, all I have to do to get the medication re-prescribed is call.  Sweet! I had painted him with the same brush as Dr Hopeless but really it was just my negative perception. Funny how once I was there and talking to him I was no longer annoyed with him.

A few people I have told that will take weeks to possibly months to get into the specialist are unimpressed.  To them it’s a sign that the health system is broken. To me that fact that I have finally been referred is a relief.  That there is someone else I can see is a bonus.  Now I’ve got a better, more positive attitude.

You see, sometimes it’s all in the perception.

Write On Wednesdays Exercise 1 - Very Pleased to Meet You!

Darn it.  I should have done some blog reading before I did my blog post earlier.  Because if I had I would have discovered this really interesting blog called Ink, Paper, Pen.  Gill over there will be running Write On Wednesdays and today is the inaugural edition. See the button in the sidebar?  Go on press it and check it out.  After you have read my first Write on Wednesday Exercise – Very pleased to meet you!
I sit on the lounge, legs up, ankles crossed.  Despite wearing socks my toes are cold and I know I will need to have a bath or shower so I can sleep.  My head is pounding.  No different to every other day for the past what 13 maybe? weeks.  I wish the Panadeine Forte would kick in soon.  I can hear the sound of TV's on different channels battling for supremacy. Thankfully it’s only 2 TV’s tonight rather than the sometimes 3 that clash. I need to check that Girl Child is asleep but I am tired.  I want to eat something sweet but I can’t be bothered.
Thump, thump,thump.  How long does this bloody stuff take to work? I’m cold, I’m tired and I’m whingey, again.  I’m really starting to piss myself off.  Pull yourself together E.
In another room Mr E.’s Twitter thing is making that weird chirpy noise.  It does it all day every day until I go in and mute the volume.  I joined Twitter, you know.  I don't use it very often but sometimes I like it. I’m not going to get addicted to it.  The last thing I got addicted to was chocolate and look at me now.  Addiction broken! 
How cool is that?  Pity breaking the chocolate addiction hasn't helped me to lose weight.  I’d love to have a healthy BMI again. It’s not that over weight but losing a good 10kgs would help.  Hell less than 10 kgs would get me into a healthy weight range. 
Boy Child has dropped by to chat about what would happen if humans could regenerate limbs.  How would it work would the fingers grow at the shoulder or last?  Umm…I don’t know mate. Maybe the arm's would grow and then the stubs on the end become fingers kind of how I think babies grow in utero… okay so I don’t say In Utero.  How many people would say In Utero in conversation with a 12 year old boy? 
Mate, can you check on your sister for me?  She’s asleep, cool.  Okay, I think I’m done here.  Oh, look Alex O’Loughlin on an ad on TV. Nice.

So that’s the first Exercise done.  Thanks to Gill for this. 

I thought I’d use a prompt today

Giving my whininess in recent posts, I decided a prompt would be a better option.  So the prompt I have chosen is one from the discussion over at NaBloPoMo Prompt Suggestions.

Are you more inclined to blog regularly when your writing is commented on? Do you get discouraged when your posts are not commented on?

I’m inclined to blog regardless of whether I get comments or not.  I really enjoy getting comments but have found that lately I’m really bad at commenting on other blogs so figure perhaps other people are at times too. I have blogged about commenting before here. But I’m writing this more about why I blog more than anything.

I started blogging for me.  Perhaps in a way it was also for our marriage, as I’m sure  Mr E. was over hearing me rave about stuff all the time. Also because I wanted (or want to) write.  It was always my dream that I would be a writer or a journalist or both.  Of course I never really wanted to write screenplays or even normal plays and definitely not poetry.  In a way blogging allows me to indulge myself, to give me a creative outlet. Plus having commenters makes it feel as though people are interested in what I have to say.  An interactive audience, so to speak.

I blog more when I have things on my mind or when I’m doing NaBloPoMo. I think I blog my better posts when I’m not just doing a brain dump.  Of course brain dumps are good and I use them often (see my PINT posts!) but they are not the same as actually writing.  In fact it’s yesterday’s PINT post is what triggered this one and my need to flex my writing muscle.  Plus the need to actually engage my brain.  I’m in awe of people who can blog frequently (or like Deep Fried Fruit – every single day!) and can actually post decent stuff without the drivel I seem to revert to on occasion.

I do enjoy having an audience who comments and it does encourage me.  Whether having no commenters at all would discourage me, I’m not so sure.  I think I would still blog but I would probably have more brain dump posts than anything else.  I guess the blog would become more of a release valve for the weird, random thoughts in my head.  And I’m sure you would all get sick of that!

So now, over to you lot.

If you had no commenters would you still blog?  Would it change your blog?

 

Post It Note Tuesday 7 June 2011

Here, I am again in all my passive aggressive glory.  And I even had a 4 hour sleep this afternoon.

 

 

But it’s not all doom and loom, so let’s end on a high note:

 

You can play along by going over to the Only  Parent Chronicles.

I’m planning on being back tomorrow in a better mood.  Or at least pretending I’m in one.  Night!

Day Zero List as at 6 June 2011

I have updated my Day Zero list.  I now have 101 things on my list!!! How great is that.  I’m very impressed. According to the site I have completed 9% of my list so far.

Now if I’d had influenced someone else to create a Day Zero List and Go to a Roller Derby Game I would have had 2 extra things completed.  But they weren’t.  Drat!  So without further ado here is my list. Blue are completed items and the red ones are in progress. 

Finish this list of 101 things

Go on a picnic

Update my resume

Have a Dinner Party

Write to someone who has inspired me

Exercise at least 3 times a week for 3 months (12 weeks).

Lose 2 kgs

Lose 5 kgs

Lose 8 kgs

Lose 10 kgs

Lose 12 kgs

Keep weight off for at least 6 months.

Start the Couch to 5 km run thing.

Complete the Couch to 5 km run thing.

Participate in a 5k walk/run

Get a passport

Have a Family holiday to New Zealand

Go to the Art Gallery and / or Museum 5 times

Go to the Theatre twice.

Donate Blood regularly (at least 5 times in 1001 days)

Attempt to read the 50 of 71 Greatest Novels of All item that I haven't read as yet

Learn card making and make them instead of buying them

Put in the forms for a school hours job

Blog everyday for 2 months a year (February doesn't count)

Plant a vegetable patch possibly with fruit trees.

Take the children on a bush walk / hike

Organise my workspace and then tidy it once a month

Try Zumba (that dance exercise thing) at least 5 times

Write and post (snail mail) 10 letters to people

Cut back on caffeine. Try to get down to 3 or less a day (any caffeinated beverage)

Drink more water 5 glasses to get up to at least 1.5 litres daily

Take vitamins for 1 month

Participate in National Blog Posting Month twice a year (not counting February)

Participate in National Novel Writing Month (November)

Go Camping for at least 2 nights

Restart our worm farm

Finish my course at Tafe

Try to be houseproud and actually make the house visitor friendly

Have a BBQ at home

Have someone / people over for coffee 5 times

Menu plan at least a week worth of dinners and stick to it

Change readers at school once a week for a term

Call my family interstate at least once a month

Have a games afternoon / night with the family every few months

Go out with my husband on a date 5 times (2/5)

Volunteer somewhere once a month for 6 months (not necessarily consecutive)

Clean out my clothes and get rid of things I will never wear again

Watch a Monty Python film in its entirety.

Have a LOTR fest and watch all three movies in a weekend.

Donate 100,000 grains of rice on freerice.com (0/100,000)

Re-learn to touch-type

Organise my books

Complete the 5000 Question Survey (0/5,000) I can’t remember where I am up to, though.

Write down my answers to the "50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind"

Read David Allen "Getting Things Done"

Clean out the pantry

Tidy the Linen cupboard

Learn how to use / apply make up

Use the face scrub / exfoliate I have at least 5 times

Use the body scrub / exfoliate at least 5 times

Use moisturiser for 30 days

Go on the Million Paws Walk with Dogs

Get to school before the first bell for 10 weeks

Organise and have time with each child separately and do something they want to 5 times each

Write and send Christmas cards before 10 December

Go to bed before 10.30 for a week straight 5 times

Answer the 20 questions you should ask yourself every Sunday once a month for a year

Find out what is involved to get tested and go on the bone marrow register

Be able to fit my wedding ring by our 16th anniversary. Sep 2011.

Don't log on to Facebook for 1 week straight

See the sun rise and set on the same day

Take the kids swimming in the river

Successfully grow a plant (but preferably more) from seed

Watch An Inconvenient Truth

Learn how to make (and actually make) Gluten Free pasta

Bake a roast chicken

Bake an apple pie

Learn to cook an Indian meal from scratch (no jars allowed)

Make ice cream from scratch

Write a short story

Write all my bad memories on paper, burn this paper afterwards

Fly in a hot air balloon

Go rock climbing

Learn to locate all 50 US states on a map

Send flowers anonymously to a friend in need

Write a letter to myself to open in 10 years

Expand my vocabulary by 100 words

Make a list of 100 things that make me smile or laugh

Learn how to make a paper crane

Write on 20 creative writing prompts. http://creativewritingprompts.com/

Improve my posture

Do the 200 sit-ups challenge (www.twohundredsitups.com)

Read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Compile a List of 101 Inspirational Quotes

Sort photos and make an album

See the Total Lunar Eclipse on June 15 2011.

Make a wish at 11:11 on November 11, 2011

Have dinner by candlelight

Write my name in the sand

Make a list of 100 things I like about myself

Participate in Postcrossing and send 25 cards  (thanks to Gnomeangel for the idea!

So there you have it.  I will try to keep the Day Zero Page updated in case you are interested in how I am going.  I knew a few bloggers who were doing this.  Are you still around and if so how are you going on your list?

Mr E. started his own list a while back, does anyone else want to join me? 

Do you get Buyer’s Remorse?

Remember Thursday’s Post about my really sucky week?  Which really wasn't that sucky I was just feeling sorry for myself?  Well our washing machine chose Friday to die.  Not die exactly, more like leak a great deal more than it had been for the last few months. 

Given it had been leaking for a while and was 17 and a half years old we were tossing up whether we should get it repaired.  The first available appointment to get it checked out is next Friday costing about $120 for15 minutes and the house call, then $30 plus for every 15 minutes. Oh and parts. Ouch.  So we figured that the cheapest we could get out of this for was $150 minimum.  So I began researching how much a new washing machine would cost.

So with my ‘short’ list of 9 machines we went browsing after swimming yesterday. We discussed the pros and cons of the various machines and then decided to look at fridges.  Yes, our fridge is still fine but given that people have been saying it was odd that our appliances have lasted survived as long as our marriage (over 15 years but the appliances are older) we decided fridge browsing was a good option too.

There were a few that looked like they would fit in our space so Mr E took photo’s of the signs and we came home.  Having mostly agreed on the washing machine yesterday I did some more research on pricing and then checked out the 3 fridges we liked.  What did we do before we had the internet?  I checked out review sites, and stores pricing all without leaving my home.  How lucky do we have it?

So today we set out to double check the pricing at the stores.  Our first stop netted us the last of the particular washing machine we wanted. Then we discovered that the next model up of the fridge that had the best reviews would still fit in the space we have available.  So armed with my research we negotiated and now have a new washing machine, a fridge on order and a blown up credit card.

Of course, driving home I started rationalising why I made the decision I had. We got a fridge bigger than I had expected and the deal we got was better than I had anticipated. Mr E. says I always suffer from buyers remorse.  He thinks that I don’t like spending money so even getting a good deal makes me re-evaluate what I have done.  I think maybe he is right.

Shopping is so not my thing.  Spending money is not something I’m good at - especially when it involves maxing out the credit card. But we needed a washing machine. Once I’d cleaned out before the old one I discovered it has obviously been leaking way more than I thought.  I hope that this new machine really does make Life Good!

Do you ever feel buyer’s remorse? Is it only related to big ticket items? Or can it also be things like pairs of shoes or handbags if you already have about 20 others?

I’m grateful for… 3 June 2011

Coffee with friends.  Yes, I know it’s on my list often!  I don't like chocolate anymore so I need to have a vice.

 

http://www.dreamstime.com

 

Girl Child getting an award at Assembly.

My family for letting me go to bed at 6.30pm last night.

I think short but sweet works today.

Oh, wait Girl Child is grateful that the clothes we ordered on line on Tuesday night arrived today.

Want to join in? Head over to Maxabella’s.

Waking up Happy

So after yesterday’s whining post I thought I would start off Friday with Happy stuff.  So instead of writing my own I thought I would steal borrow some cool, happy and uplifting stuff I found on other blogs while reading last night.  Obviously many bloggers were in a completely different place to me or were blogging their way to a happier state of being.

Image found here: http://www.netpaths.net/blog/chart-outlines-path-to-happiness/

So let’s begin with: Pink Patent Mary Janes’ post: Yeah, Baby.

Then there is An Attitude of Gratitude over at My Reflections.

Naomi (of Seven Cherubs fame) has 30 days of happiness and is posting a blog every day on How to be Happy.

And just for laughs here is Mrs Woog’s foray into the publishing industry.

Enjoy!  I hope you are waking up happy today!

So I’ve had a really sucky week

But the thing is, in the grand scheme of life nothing has really happened.  No one has been seriously injured, I haven’t had to turn anyone’s life support off (like the family of Senior Constable Damian Leeding yesterday) or attend a funeral.

All the angst has been due to crud in my own head.  Fancy that!  I think I need to take a leaf out of DFF’s book (check out Tuesday’s post) and change my attitude.  After all the little things that have driven me crazy are just that… little things.

So I think I will be going to bed early.  Because despite laughing myself silly at Damn You Autocorrect last night I still woke up in a funk. 

Note: to self bed early means that you are less tired and therefore your eyes leak less.  And it seems and though they have been doing that a lot (people don’t take you seriously when it happens almost every time you talk to them!). And seriously you have nothing important going on.

Okay, I’m (hopefully…LOL) done with the whinging for now. I’m sure I can hear the sighs of relief from all over the interwebs.

 

Oops I did it again…NaBloPoMo

Yep, at some point in my madness today I signed up for the June 2011 National Blog Posting Month. I thought maybe the idea of having to post every day would kick start my blojo again.  Of course, suddenly realising that I have to post tonight before bed freaked me out.

So here I am blogging about nothing just to get the the runs on the board. Cool pun there as the theme for this month is Fans.   Geddit?  Yes, I really should go to bed before I add more stupid puns.

And yes I think this counts as vaguely decent post.  I’m quite sure I’m delusional.  I even ranted at an in law on the phone this evening. I think maybe that proves it.

Night all!