shrinking yoda

2010-01-09T16:53:00.005+13:00

My Goodness it's 2010 already!!!

Inspired by Mim's post early December I made our family pillow cases for Christmas Lootage.
This is my first time attempting embroidery... I'm quite happy with the result.

And some close-ups:

25 Things You Had No Desire to Know

2009-12-15T11:46:00.001+13:00

Because I am any meme’s whore

1. Name someone with the same birthday as you. Chris Lilley

2. Where was your first kiss? Can’t remember…
3. Have you ever seriously vandalized someone else’s property? Does school property count? I broke into my school supply shed with a boy I was seeing in 6th form to have a little “cuddle” and we found some spray paint. I thought it was rather irresponsible of the school to leave spray paint just “lying around” in an easily “breakinable” shed so I wrote on the wall just what I thought of the dep. Principal. HA! Rebel. The guy I was with (who turned out to be a real CUNT) was pissing his pants! Coward.
4. Have you ever hit someone of the opposite sex? Yes several. I’m not proud of myself either
5. Have you ever sung in front of a large number of people? No.
6. What’s the first thing you notice about your preferred sex? I have no idea...
7. What really turns you off? Vomit.
8. What do you order at Starbucks? I avoid starbucks like the plague it is. (except that one time I had a migraine and was shopping and NEEDED it)
9. What is your biggest mistake? Not being more open with my highschool best friend before she died.
10. Have you ever hurt yourself on purpose? Several times
11. Say something totally random about yourself. I am cruel.
12. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celebrity? All the time, Drew Barrymore, Kate Winslet, any other hot girl you can think of...
13. Do you still watch kiddie movies or TV shows? Sometimes esp. Studio Ghibli.
14. Did you have braces? Three years baby.
15. Are you comfortable with your height? Unless I’m in a tight spot, yes
16. What is the most romantic thing someone of the preferred sex has done for you? Made me cry.
17. When do you know it’s love? When you still laugh every time he farts.
18. Do you speak any other languages? no
19. Have you ever been to tanning salon? Ewww No.
20. Have you ever ridden in a limo? Many times.
21. What’s something that really annoys you? Being ignored.
22. What’s something you really like? Kiss mommy time (When James’s watch goes off at 8pm and Liam yells it’s KISS MOMMY TIME and both James and Liam fight to get to me first)
23. Can you dance? I expect so
24. Have you ever been rushed by an ambulance into the emergency room? No, but rushed to the hospital and dashed straight to the delivery room with seconds to spare.
25. Tag 5 people! No.

One word meme

2009-11-25T09:31:00.001+13:00

I have been a fan of memes since they were invented, this one stolen from Mim. Hope I can do it justice.

1. Where is your cell phone? Pocket
2. Your significant other? Yummy
3. Your hair? Sexy
4. Your mother? Love
5. Your father? Complicated
6. Your favourite thing? Happiness
7. Your dream last night? Odd
8. Your favourite drink? Cosmo
9. Your dream/goal? Attainable
10. The room you are in? Workroom
11. Your hobby? Abandoned
12. Your fear? Isolation
13. What do you want to be in 10 years? Well
14. Who did you hang out with last night? Family
15. What you're not? Disappointed
16. The last thing you did? Commented
17. What are you wearing? Enough
18. Your favourite book? Many!
19. The last thing you ate? pancake
20. Your life? Perfect
21. Your mood? Anticipatory
22. Your friends? Funny
23. What are you thinking about right now? Summer
24. Your car? Neglected
25. Favourite gadget? Nokia
26. Your summer? Coming
27. What is on your TV? Penguin
28. When is the last time you laughed? Tuesday
29. Last time you cried? Dunno
30. School? Decisions

Jamie's birthday, reptile park and the rest of the Central coasty stuff

2009-11-18T14:52:00.006+13:00

Heather, Luke and Jacob all came up for the night and Luke spent quite some time on the cake! Aaah much munchkin was played! The next day, after an AWESOME breaky at a café in the Entrance both families headed down to REPTILE PARK

We spent a few more days hanging around the Central Coast with Pelican feeding,

and beachy goodness

we popped up to Newcastle for a day trip too!

And I think I’ll save the second half of our trip for another day because this is HUGE already

2009-11-18T14:45:00.002+13:00

Ok where was I... AHH drinking

The next morning we picked up the rental car and we started our journey up the Central Coast to stay for a week in Long jetty! In the map you can see now far Auckland and Sydney are and the "A" is where we stayed.

The next morning was James’s birthday and we woke up to a DUST STORM. Can you see why the place we stayed at was called Long Jetty?

James told me that he was going to cut off all his hair so we spent half of James’s birthday in a mall!

Luckily the wind died down and we had some time at the beach!

Sydney holiday

2009-11-18T10:50:00.005+13:00

19 days, and more than 250 photos worth of holiday…
Let’s keep it brief eh?
First day in Sydney ROCKED hard.
We had a lovely day hanging out with Hen and her wee family at the botanical gardens. William and Hen’s son Jacob liked the freedom of running around and looking at the Bats!

We also went to the Cupcake shop. NOM NOM NOM!

In the evening we had dinner at Lowenbrau with Mim and her awesome family where much drinking was had!

Looks like I've run out of room... Continued on the next post...

OK don't pee yourself

2009-11-18T10:46:00.003+13:00

I know it's a shock to see me posting again

Mim gave me an award like 10 days ago and I STILL haven't put it up

BAD BLOGGER!

Ta mim =)

I'm boring. Don't read this

2009-08-28T15:14:00.005+12:00

CAUGHT YOU!
and after I asked you not to... tut tut tut!

Well I haven't much to say.

Liam's still having trouble potty training.

We've taken to going around bottomless at home when we are not busy

Please enjoy the nakedness!!!

I have one much longer but it's probably WAY too long

My mum can be heard in the background of the other vid vowing to never dust again.

Awesome. The next picture is of the utter JOY william is getting from chasing us with the duster that has been freshly contaminated by babyballs... he LOVES making us scream.

I had a nice lunch today in Albert park. It's finally warm enough to sit on the grass and enjoy a picnic. Liam found a few acorns that Totoro left him (aaaw geeky boy) and we collected them for his new girlfriend.

That's all

Enjoy the pix

The value of sleep

2009-08-19T14:35:00.007+12:00

I thought it was about time I had a rant. I know you've all been missing them so here goes...

I didn't have a good sleep last night... Let's go back a couple of hours and tell the tale from the beginning of the night. I did everything you can imagine to ensure I had a good night sleep. After a walk around the block then unwinding with telly I'd prepared bags and clothes for the next day of work and creche, I hopped in a lovely warm bubble bath and read a little (I know!!! Librarians who read in the BATH!!! I should be strung up n shot!)

I get to bed around 11.30pm and snuggle down for a nice 8 hours.

WRONG.

I'm a bad sleeper. even after a very relaxing bath I can't sleep

GUESS WHAT??? I WAS TOO HOT! the weather is warmer now and I can't go straight from the bath to bed without being too hot to sleep. FREAKNGREAT!!!!

I'm lying there for an hour and James starts DIGGING in the bed. WTF? I mean REALLY WTF?? He mumbles something like "Oh sorry I didn't realise I was doing that" NO KIDDIN?? you're ASLEEP!!!

ok I'm not too miffed. It's like any other night (Although the digging thing is a first). Just about nodding off close to 1am to the dolcet tones of my son's snores down the hall and James's musical whistling nose and there is a CRASH.

What was that? I'm thinking. Better go investigate.

SOOO after walking around the house discovering I'd left the slow cooker on high. EEEK, Turn it off, I find my shaver fell off the bathroom wall hitting shampoo bottles and creating a hair product avolanche. Sweet. No axe murderers in the house or appliances to catch fire. BACK TO BED.

and finally SLEEEEP. Oh sweet reader that is not the end. IF ONLY!

So less than two hours later I am abruptly woken to swaring on the street and "OW OWOWOWOW". followed by slaming of doors and the like. I get BACK out of bed. I try to look out the windows but because of my bath and the rain outside earlier on in the evening our windows were all fogged up. I move to the study for a better look and find a CAR HAS PARKED directly outside MY BEDROOM. The couple associated with the car having a full blown row at 3am!

I give it about three minutes before I give up and call the police. No way I'm going to let them get away with that behaviour on MY street. The cop was lovely, she asked me to stay on the line till a "Unit" had arrived just in case the car left. Whilst on the phone others in the neighbourhood also rung the police. Within half an hour from the beginning of the fight, the police had come and calmed the situation right down. Another 20 minutes of muted chatter from the couple and the officers and they leave.

Head hits pillow and sleep comes around 4.20. I managed to sleep for about three hours before William climbed in bed with me FRESH AS A FREAKN DAISY.

I'm not too grumpy today. Just a little slow.

I really value the moments of deep sleep I get and am getting those less and less. I might have to move to the spare room for a couple of nights.

Last Saturday night was even worse (believe it or not) we had a party down the road! It was one of those parties you hear about in the news a couple doors down from us... Hundreds of people turned up they had a live band and made an incredible noise all night till 5am!
After calling out Noise control and finding out that several neighbours had already they sent another car out to shut them up at about 5.15am, I FINALLY slept from about 5.30 but had get up for work at 9.30. I spent the day feeling pretty wretched, headachy and angry.

What's going on with people today. James couldn't understand the mentality of Blasting music or yelling in the streets in the early hours of the morning.

William on the otherhand I believe could sleep through anything.

have a couple photos of the sleepy bear. The last one was just on Monday. He hardly ever falls asleep in the car in the afternoon but aaaawwww.

yeah I'd have to agree

2009-07-01T09:43:00.001+12:00

Your rainbow is intensely shaded red, pink, and black.

What is says about you: You are a grateful person. You appreciate mystery. You may meet people who are afraid of you. You get bored easily and want friends who will keep up with you.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

Muffin tin monday (er Thursday)

2009-06-12T08:54:00.004+12:00

Another stolen idea from eternal lizdom

So what we have here is cheese and rice crackers on the ends, Grilled Bacon, fried leftover potato, carrot sticks and seedless grapes...

William checking out his odd dinner...

I'm not sure about this one... It's his usual silly face. might be eating a bit od spud.

Verdict... A hit!

Unfortunately silly boy filled up on bread so didn't finish his cheese and spuds, but all the grapes, carrots and bacon disappared. Then James n I faught over the fried spud!

More pix

2009-06-11T11:23:00.005+12:00

At first Georgie didn't want to hop in the bath with Liam
Then she saw all the fun he was having!

Playing in the garden with Georgie and her big sister Amy

Big boys bed!!!!

New Meme!

2009-06-10T10:24:00.004+12:00

The trick with this one is to type your first name followed by "needs" into Google and then list the first 10 results that pop up. OK I cheated a bit because of double ups but I think most people do the same...

Here we go:

Emma Needs

Emma needs serious help (Always!!!)
Emma Watson really needs to learn to wear her bra (hahahahaha)
Emma needs a belt rather badly.... (ok this is another waston one, I'll skip over any more Emma Watson ones.... http://hp-stars.com/EmmawithComments.htm!)
sexy emma needs a real man (er.. got one thanks)
Emma needs a love song (this one is AWESOME who knew there was a french "60's pop" hit with this name?) you can read more here….http://www.musicomh.com/albums/one-two_0706.htm it's bad!
Emma Needs's professional profile on LinkedIn (nah...)
Emma needs more prayers (touching link to very sick baby not included....)
Emma needs a new home (touching LINK to doggy needing a home included... isn't she sweet?)
Emma needs BG check (quite a good flickr pic of little girl on beach checking her blood glucose..
and lastly
Emma needs a mani (nice to end with a link to a blog... WARNING it's extreeeeemy pink!!!)

Happy birthday little man

2009-06-07T15:16:00.006+12:00

In LOVE!

2009-05-20T11:38:00.003+12:00

What a difference feeling well makes!
I'm in love with life again
I'm happy.
Willaim's a DREAM and everything is AWESOME.

I've had the bestist couple of days with my charming wee man. We went to the museum on Monday (international museum day) with my folks. Dad took the photo below...

Then I went to Waiwera hot pools yesterday with my best mate and her wee one. Woo! Road Trip...

And the best news of all is Liam's FINALLY getting the potty training thing. William was a total ANGEL at the pools, THEN at home I took all his bottoms off at his request. "I want to be roodynoodies" He didn't go wees on the toilet and I had houseworks to do so I put the potty in the lounge and said if you need to go hop on the potty.
I was folding laundry and he says "OOH Im going to do BIG wees all over the place" and I told him Quick hurry to the potty and he sat down and pooed!
he pooed on the potty this morning too! That's THREE since Saturday.

After he gets so much praise he says "you are sooo proud of me"

=)

OMG two in one day!

2009-05-06T12:21:00.002+12:00

OK don't get your hopes up it may not last but I thought I'd share my son's latest achievements with you.
No he's not potty trained.... he's potty mouthed!

Here is a conversation last month regarding sweets in the shapes of marine animals:
Me : Which one do you want william?
W : Shark one
Me : can I have the dolphin?
W: I want the dolphin
Me: Ok then I'll have the fish
EATS FISH
W: F$%K sake! I wanted the fish...

Me: What was that William?
W: I said I wanted the fish.....

OK the proud mum in me was pretty impressed that he used the foul language correctly AND he COVERED it up. but I was quite QUITE unhappy to hear that come from my son's mouth.

OK Fast Forward to yesterday shopping
He's in the shopping trolly and someone passes us and he mumbles under his breath : OH here comes another idiot"
WHAT??? WHERE did that one come from? Me driving perhaps?
sigh

I'm having trouble with the little booger telling fibs too!
this morning for example I say to my obviously REEKING son: do you heve poos Liam. NO mummy (with a steamer in his nappy) WHY???

sometimes I don't know whether to laugh or cry!
also the latest is AFTER he's quitely been picking his nose he'll proudly state "I'm not picking my nose"
WTF?

ooooouuuuuuucccccchhhhhhhh

2009-05-06T09:06:00.003+12:00

OK another down blog entry...
I'm feeling happier with myself with a little loss over the week BUT I've hurt myself.

I went out to dinner with my friends. Had an awesome time BUT my Little man WHO IS NOT SLEEPING AT CRECHE!!! fell asleep at the dinner table.

Being the only one he likes snuggling with asleep (DUDE I'm made of snuggly bits) I held him for about an hour... I woke up the next day and my old shoulder/neck injury which cropped up and continues to bug me from about when William was about 8 mths old came to visit along with the mother of all migraines.

I called in sick spent the day in bed trying to get comfortable. Poor James and William had to spend the day trying to be quiet so mum could rest! Pity he had a PLAYDATE!
I'm trying to be kind to myself.

Could do with a holiday... Gotta wait four months. POO!
At least I have a party to organise
I do like the organising.

kinda bla

2009-04-30T10:07:00.002+12:00

sorry

I have had trouble getting the energy up to blog lately, you know the drill... Been busy with work, study and home life.

Tauranga was lovely so I guess I have my post break blues or something... I went down for a librarian workshop and enjoyed it thoroughly and the lovely time spent with my little family.

I don't know... Life is sweet. I have so much to be thankful for. Loving family and a job I like. I'm excitedly planning William's third birthday (not till June but it's fun to start thinking) the sun is shining outside (sometimes) but in the bath last night I sobbed and sobbed.

I sometimes get hit by waves of grief I can't explain. It was so incredibly hard to get myself up, dressed and make it into work. Now I'm here it's not so bad.

It might be about my self-image. I’m really HATING myself at the moment again. Trying but failing miserably with WW... most of the weight I'm gaining is from drinking. Sometimes I skip meals or have too little throughout the day that by the time I get home I'm dizzyingly starving and scoff down any old thing. I gotta start using the crock-pot more so when I come home hungry there is hot healthy wholesome food waiting for me.

I'm tired
I need a hug and I'm feeling so guilty for feeling down.
I’m angry with myself
Short tempered with most things too.

Will try harder.

zoo and wedding

2009-03-25T11:43:00.005+13:00

For those who don't know me on facebook, yesterday William and I hooked up with seven others to have fun at the zoo. YAY

Also have a couple wedding pix on me....

Sisterhood Award

2009-03-18T08:39:00.002+13:00

MIM kindly shared this award with me

I'm at home with a cold so this might get out of hand...

=0(

First, share memories or thoughts of childhood or adulthood sister-friends. Funny, sad, whatever

1. I had a great childhood. There were heaps of kids in my neighbourhood and we had mostly abandoned farmland just accross the road. Many days were spend playing at eachother's houses making up plays and forcing syblings to watch us or playing at the "farm" There was an old orchard with two abandoned cars which were our "forts" and we'd collect lemons and plums as ammo and bombard the other's forts. Sometimes I wish I was 8 again.

2. Growing up I had many friends, I drifted from clique to clique. At 13 I was even part of a gang called LACE (Lyndsey, Amber, Camelia and me (Emma) snigger!!!. At around 14 I formed a very strong bond with a girl who had many of the same interests as me and we became very close friends. Every weekend we'd spend the night at each other's houses. I think both my and her parent's were a little worried we spent too much time together. Neither of us did well in school. Maybe what our parents thought was true but maybe that's what we as teenage girls needed. Michelle (my best friend) was born with a hole in her heart and had a pacemaker. Her heart gave out at only 18, so we were only friends for four years. Maybe being in "eachother's pockets" (my mom's phrase for us) was one way of getting a lifetime's worth of friendship in the short time we had.

3. There was a small moment in my life where I was almost completely friendless (hard to fathom isn't it?) After Michelle died my other two close friends married eachother and moved to the States. I fell into a deep depression, having failed to get into teachers training the day before my best friends death I was really lost. Eventually I got a part time job shelving at MIT started up some night classes and decided I wanted to get a BA. My grades were shocking and I needed a step between so did a one year course at Auckland Uni where I met the sweetest person alive. Marlita (MILLY) is amazing. Although she studied an entirely different degree (science!) we became fast friends, going to the beach, sharing meals, pubbing/clubbing, camping together over the holidays. Three favourite memories are grape picking/wine tasting /camping in St Martins bay, playing computer games together (Go Discworld and Sam and Max!!!) and taking the ferry over to devonport, ordering hot chocolates at the Java cafe (Which had couches and board games upstairs WOO!) Milly and I still have lunch together most weeks as we both work really close to each other.

4. This is becoming more of a life story aint it? WOW! OK Giggling with Heather! Man can she laugh. Heather and I met doing our Library degrees. I can't believe how bad an influence we were on eachother... Even passing notes in class!!! Someone companiable to share a drink and talk to who has similar interests and goals in life. What more can you ask for in a friend? Well it dosen't hurt that she's married to my hubbies good friend. Heather met Luke through us... James n Luke went to school together. It's awesome to get together as a foursome, there is no wierdness where anyone feels left out. We just couple off (Heather n I with some drinks and the couch) the boys with talking geeky or gaming. HEAVEN. I haven't quite forgiven Hen for moving to Sydney. I am workin on it though and Sydney isn't that far away. My favourite memory I cannot share or James will kill me. It involves dinner at their place and my big stupid mouth. The evening ends up with a very sorry Emma proposing to make up to a very put out James!

Better stop here William's tearing the house apart

The second part is to pass this on.

so here you go Hen and Pen...

Are we too busy?

2009-03-15T10:27:00.003+13:00

A reoccurring theme that crops up when talking with friends and family is how busy our lives are. The more I thought about it the more I wanted to (being the nerd I am) physically see my schedule to perhaps help me slow down. I’m an organising FREAK I Love control, I love being busy and I procrastinate like a pro. So step into my world.

9th – 15th March
Monday: Laundry, wash up, visit Mum n Dad, spot of cooking for the week, Dinner out with friends from the States.
Tuesday: hot-pools with Ellie and Georgia, (about an hour drive each way) make tea, go shopping after Liam goes to bed, fold laundry watching Boston Legal.
Wednesday: Die hair, Work and dinner at the in-laws.
Thursday: Work, pick up DVD player for mum, back into town for Dinner with more friends.
Friday: Work, Massage, (Discover the dress I wanted to wear to Bex’s wedding next Thur is probably too short) spend lunchtime in a panic looking for a new dress. Admit defeat. Go home and furiously clean up house before friends come over to play…. Play
Saturday: Wake up regretting amount of booze drunk, Work. Make tea and extra stuff for the rest of the weekend, Attempt to re-button Liam’s waistcoat for the wedding while watching Angel season 4 the house always wins Find a dress for the wedding in bags downstairs (narrowed it down to two) Put said dresses in the wash. Have the first early night in AGES.
Sunday: Work, Readings for class… Take up William’s pants

16th – 22nd March
Monday: Laundry, spend quality time with William, concentrate on the potty training!!! Maybe make a “I miss you” card for Pop pop, IF William sleeps try get my online status working for uni. dinner at the in-laws
Tuesday: Pick up petals, visit Mum and Dad, homework if William sleeps, find smart shoes for William, dinner, wedding rehearsal at 7.30
Wednesday: Work, last minute check of clothes and pack daybag for William
Thursday: Rebecca and Jeremy’s wedding.
Friday: DAY OFF!!! Recover from Jeremy and Rebecca’s wedding… homework, perhaps get a bit of study in…
Saturday: Work. Homework
Sunday: Work Homework

So now what can I do?

pix for you

2009-03-13T15:49:00.007+13:00

I thought I'd put in a couple of happy pictures since the last blog entry was pretty heavy.

Although as stated before I lost my rag with the little booger I ALSO had a lovely time swimming with him. Loads of giggles. Here is my friend Ellie and her bub Georgie pie who is a week younger than Liam.

Out and about with Wills.

OK it's not a great picture but I thought it should be put in too... This is the teddybears picnic. The best thing was going to the museum afterward to see the "CANO" Don't know exactly what it is but Liam LOVES the volcano...

AND Weird n Wonderful is great too

Check out Liam and Daddy lookin at Gekos (see Squiffy looking at the Gekos too? he is a very happy and educated bear)

MOMMY AWARD

2009-03-11T13:30:00.002+13:00

To begin with Liz has asked me to write about something I feel bad about involving being a mom to: "Get it off your shoulders. Once you've written it down, you are NO LONGER allowed to feel bad. It's over with, it's in the past. Remember, you're a good mom!"

OK it’s a shocker!!! Please don’t call the authorities to take William away from me!!!! I have a pretty long fuse but at the end of it a firecracker temper and I'm also incredibly reactionary... I've always been a bit violent and when I’m hurt I tend to lash out. There are times when William's spent the day testing me, pushing my buttons and if I’m unwell or tired or if I’m hormonal I sometimes get pushed too far and as a result he gets manhandled (picked up and stuffed into his room) by me or even smacked in anger (Something I absolutely HATE doing)

One such incident happened last night. Instead of relaxing in the hot pools I spend most of my day running around after a naughty boy. We’d had an exhausting day swimming most of the time out he didn’t listening to me and ran around so I was almost hoarse from yelling all day whilst my friend’s daughter was an ANGEL sitting patiently waiting for William to stop being a (Fill-in-the-blanks) (I quite like the term Sodlit) I’d been so patient with him and his constant running off and not listening. He didn’t have a nap on the way home so by 6pm he was a feral wee beastie. He was sitting on my knee for snuggles but continually reaching up and scratching my face with his kitten-like fingernails. After pushing him away several times and telling him “Stop it I don’t like it” I got a particularly nasty scratch on my lip I snapped and ended up striking out.

I sat with him and explained afterwards that hitting was wrong and mom's sorry and I shouldn't have done it and we should always try to be kind to one-another and even if I didn’t leave a mark on him it's still heartbreaking to betray his trust I felt sick at upsetting him.

William was put to bed with a bottle of milk, cuddles and a HUGE talk about good and evil and the importance of sleep. I’m not sure how much he understood but he forgave me and I him. It just sickens me that I’m not the role model I wished I could be for my son.

I am devoted to my son and he's 98% adorable and only like 2% feral beastie I just wish the Feral beastie wasn’t too much for me to handle.

Secondly to remind myself that I am a good mom, list SEVEN things I love about William, I love doing with William, or that William loves about me. These are the things to remind myself of EVERY DAY that I rock

1. Watching him sleep and his sleepy talking. Every night we tuck William in before we hit the sack. He will always say “love you too” in his sleep if you say “Goodnight William I love you” James loves reading Oh the places you’ll go to William and they love the line: “hang-ups and bang-ups can happen to YOU” and William will argue back: “No yooouu daddy/mummy” Once James n I were tucking William in and James whispers “I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to …” and William sleepily replies: “No yooouumummy”

2. I love the fact he’ll always kiss you back if you kiss him.

3. I ADORE listening to him play… He’ll be sitting on the floor and the funniest conversations will be invented between animals, cars really anything.

4. I may have mentioned it before but William found my voice… I never was a singer until I had a wee baby to sing to. Now I don’t care and sing whilst walking, at home or anywhere.

5. Williams giggle. Is there anything yummier than a wee person being tickled? Sometimes he goes “stop mummy” when I tickle him and I stop, he takes a breath and says GO! Lol

6. Looking at life from a different perspective; who knew Auckland had so many diggers, concrete mixers, ladybirds, rocks, snails, Fire engines and broken glass?

7. Although it can be sometimes exhausting I love spending time with him. I like taking William out to fun places like the beach, hot-pools, parks, bush, library, shops but also like sneaking down to the crèche in the afternoon for a quick cuddle or a wee walk.

The G word

2009-03-06T10:54:00.003+13:00

I have a shockingly bad habit I've decided to quit

Quite common in mine and hubbies circle of friends we have used the word Gay in what would seem a derogatory way. We’d ironically say that public displays of hetro affection (including ours)was soooo Gay! But then, as habits do, it spread to describing other things such as a overly pimped out car for example.

I don’t want Liam growing up using this term, what does a 2 year-old know of irony? I also want to stop my potty-mouth around the boy too.

Any ideas?
Thoughts?
Feelings?
Spankings?

2009-03-04T12:53:00.001+13:00

Semester’s begun, Fun fun fun

It's Sooo busy at work. It’s funny it feels like we are half way through the year and it’s only the first week for the students. (It's taken me almost an hour to type this between questions) poor scared first year students not knowing what they are doing. PLUS the library system is having a meltdown and isn’t letting people login so I’ve had several kids and frustrated staff come up asking if they have their passwords wrong. It’s a bustlely hive of activity outside PHEW.

We took the budgies from Crèche home on Friday and returned them today. Liam’s loved caring for them. I must admit it was fun having them for a while. Yesterday morning I put them out on the grass and popped a big container of water in their cage and they went nuts bathing themselves and drying out in the sun.

I took Liam to Piha yesterday, we had the best time. (MAN I forgot how narrow and windy the roads were!) We stopped first at the information centre which had lovely puzzles and awesome views and even geckos to look at. We are TOTALLY going back, its free and not too far from home.

We then had about two/three hours at the beach. William learnt about the dangers of surf beaches and got bowled a couple of times. I stayed within reach but didn't "rescue him" but encouraged him to "JUMP UP HERE comes another wave QUICK" I want William to have a good respect for the sea but also realise he shouldn't panic but try stand up. He also found a rubber fishing lure (no hook or anything) and played with it for a very long time. We dug a hole on the tideline and filled it with water so it could "swim" but after about half an hour playing a HUGE wave came in and washed out our wee hole and sucked our "fishy" into the deep blue. Poor William couldn't understand why Mum couldn't get the fish back.

There was a little blond boy a tiny bit bigger than Liam playing on the beach with his Dad and they played together for a bit chasing gulls very yummy. ALSO very yummy was my egg burger and chunky fries on the beach. (Thus the need for two expert gull chasers)

My son LOVES bugs

2009-02-27T13:50:00.004+13:00

I don't have a lot to say but wanted to share some pictures taken on the weekend.

Look What I've got!

I was hanging out at my mates place on the weekend when William found a beautiful fat Mantis. He's a fearless and gentle wee boy. We've always stressed to him to "Let the bug come to you."Don't you just love the look on his face?

Yummo

And to top it off a lovely family picture

AAAAWWWWW

A Librarian’s lunch

2009-02-26T15:54:00.002+13:00

Golly I’m predictable. Any normal person would have gone to the park with their 2year old on a nice sunny lunch-break
Me I go to the library (YES. I DO WORK IN ONE) but not a public library.

There is an exhibition of fairy tales and fantasies for children which, (according to the library website) celebrate:
magnificent illustrations showcasing some of the world’s best illustrators
classic fairytales that children have pored and pondered over for more than a hundred years
the development of children’s fantasy literature .
On display were first editions of:

Beatrix Potter’s Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck (1908)
Lewis Carroll’s Through the looking glass, and what Alice found there (1872)
E.H. Shepard illustrations for A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh (1926)

There were many more beautiful books including some WICKED ASS pop up books, I walked around carrying William pointing and exclaiming in whispers. He recognised characters and stories and whispered (mostly) back to me.

On our way to the main part of the library I put William down on his feet and said “Well William I really enjoyed that, what beautiful books” he replies “they are very special”
AAAWWWWW

We then got a couple of picture books and I grabbed a lasagne and got a wee cupcake for my VERY well behaved monkey.

Penny I think you are the only Aucklander that regularly reads my blog… The exhibition finishes this weekend, if you haven’t already seen it. It’s not “BLOW YOUR MIND” awesome, but it’s still pretty cool

Not-so-newlyweds game

2009-02-26T09:06:00.003+13:00

Stolen from liz James n I have done the “newlyweds game”
Results below (I’m in pink and he’s blue)

THEN we swapped the Questions and answers to relate to me

(James Green Me Pruple)

1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?

Something Whedon Buffy/Angel

Something Whedon Something Whedon

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?

Salad? N/A

No dressing Naked

3. What's one food he doesn't like?

Salad The aforementioned salad

Tomatoes, Mushrooms, Brussel sprouts Mushrooms

4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order?

Water Steak

Something with Vodka cranberry juice (with or without vodka)

5. Where did he go to high school?

Avondale College Avondale

Papatoetoe High Pap High

6. What size shoe does he wear?

8 7.5ish?

7.5 7

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be?

Geeky Models mostly orky stuff… Models

DVDs DVDs

8. What is his favourite type of sandwich?

Ham and Cheese Ham and cheese

She likes infinite variations luncheon meat and tomato sauce on white bread

9. What would he eat every day if he could?

Roast Pork (Although at his stag do he learnt there IS a limit to how much crackling one can eat)

Roast pork... or perhaps macaroni

Emma couldn't eat any one thing forever it would bore her Cookies

10. What is his favourite cereal?

CEREAL? By favourite I assume you mean least hated, rice bubbles

She eats cherrios or wheat bix most often I suppose but that doesn't mean it's her favourite Sultana bran

11. What would he never wear?

A Baby costume Soylent leather (LOLS)

A padded bra Fat suit

12. What is his favourite sports team?

Does Bloodbowl count? N/A

I'm not sure this applies IPW

13. Who did he vote for?

He won't say. I don't have to answer this one

It's a secret ballot you know I don't have to answer this one

14. Who is his best friend?

Me. Emma

Me perhaps Depends. James because he’s the one I want to spend the most time with
Heather because I can talk to her about anything, ADORE making her laugh
Milly because she’s so sweet and I know she’s always there for me no matter what

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do?

I left this one blank but maybe ball him out in front of people or our son (not that Liam isn't a people... I have a temper) Not sure

Talk over her and finish her sentences Sees himself as that nerdy pimply no-friends geek when really he’s popular, sexy and sooo wonderful (puke puke)

16. What is his heritage?

Kiwi mostly he’s ¼ Irish Irish I guess

English/Irish Mostly POM but 1/4 Irish and Born in NZ

17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake?

Sponge with cream and Jelly lollies on the top Sponge cake

If I bake it'd be a disaster cake, but she'd like a sultana cake. A BIG ONE.

18. Did he play sports in high school?

Does Bloodbowl count? Theatresports

I don't think so Does sexing count?

19. What could he spend hours doing?

Playing on the computer Blobbing

reading reading

20. What is one unique talent he has?

***Blushes*** That would be telling! My nose clicks (After reading my answers he says he prefers my answer!)

Extreme common sense in all situations super observant

Another meme from Mim

2009-02-20T11:25:00.008+13:00

My lovely firstborn..

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED?
Yes

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME?
Yes. James and I were married 1 / 4 / 05

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS?
Over the moon

4. HOW OLD WERE YOU?
32

5. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT?
I was on my way to work on Saturday (Luke’s birthday) and my boobs were a little tender. I knew right there I was up the duff… I went down to the pharmacy and got me a test and did it in the loos at work. When I came out there was a student washing her hands and I wanted to jump up and down and hug her.

6. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST?
I rang James at home

7. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX?
Yeah. I did, and I found out in my second scan WITHOUT being told.

8. DUE DATE?
June 6 2006

9. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS?
Only a little bit. James was kind enough to make me breaky in bed before I got up. It helped.

10. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE?
burgers… But I always do. lol

11. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST?
Cafés. I found it hard to eat correctly at work

12. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX?
Boy.

13. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING?
only a little but am so glad I have a boy

14. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY?
about 2kg

15. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER?
yerp

16. WAS IT A SURPRISE SHOWER?
Nope. Control freak me had to know

17. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY?
Not until the birth

18. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH?
Auckland hospital. Just

19. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR?
I woke up around 7ish with very slight cramping. Sent James off to work saying I’ll call him when things get more exciting. Watched a couple of movies (probably ate something but don’t remember) went for short walks and sat on my swiss ball on the deck. I Phoned James around 2ish when the cramps were getting more intense. I think we may have watched another movie together… Everything was very relaxed and calm and nice. We got to the hospital around 6ish. I was 3cm. We stayed for about two hours and were sent home. THAT’s when everything went wrong. I writhed on the bed at home for half an hour, had a bath to try ease my pain. Got out, dried myself. My water broke AFTER I got my undies on DOH! Then a very frightening dash to the hospital. William started crowning in the car on the way to the hospital. I was determined not to have him in the car. James kept his cool and zoomed along the Motorway at 120kph. We got to the hospital, I needed a wheelchair and was rushed into a room (we’d called sometime during that rush so they were expecting us) I got my pj pants Down and leaned on the bed and William promptly fell out. (was caught)

20. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL?
Stated above but I navigated “it’s ok to go through red lightsAAAAAAA. Oh no! roadworks! Go off here AAAAA and then AAAAAa down Whatsersname street. AAAAAA”

21. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH?
It was so fast but I guess a midwife and James was in the room.

22. WAS IT VAGINAL OR C-SECTION?
Vaginal.

23. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN?
One stinkin panadol (lol panadol’s not in the word dictionary and is trying to change it to parasol) I borrowed Penny’s TENS machine but it just aggravated me. The bath helped a little but I would have been happy with a little gas (but we DIDN’T have time) I had HEAPS of gas afterward tho…(stop laughing!!!) The surgeon took about two hours to put me back together again. (BADLY) Gas felt like about four glasses of wine. mmmmmm

24. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH?
2. something kgs I think… Gotta checking

25. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ?
11.44pm 06/06/06 (Just made it! Can you imagine James's disapointment when they sent us home saying he wasn't going to be born that day. Liam proved those silly midwives wrong)

26. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER?
William Michael.

27. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY?
2 ½

Jandals BAD

2009-02-20T10:31:00.002+13:00

OK not the smartest idea. It’s a muggy “casual Friday” so I’m in a skirt and tee shirt today and I decided to wear Jandal/flipflop/thongs to work. It’s also RAINING. The polished concrete/pebble tiles surrounding the Hikuwai plaza were like ICE.

I was coming down the stairs toward William’s crèche (below the tree you can see) and fell on my butt. I’m ok just pissed off.

I was being careful. I’d put Will down and said “Go slowly. It’s slippery” because I’d already seen one guy fall on the stairs. Whilst sitting in my dirty puddle comforting a very traumatised wee boy another girl slipped right beside me. ALL three of us were in Jandals!

I was looking for a picture of some Jandals and came across THIS article on the dangers of these hazardous footwear . I might have to start thinking of wearing different shoes to work.

Book circle

2009-02-19T08:57:00.003+13:00

Thanks to Penny for organising this and making Potato peel society the first book knowing I'd already read this one and be quite busy this month. (for those interested I have finished my paper and also am doing another one this semester!)I read this one last year. I was in Jason's bookstore, wasting time looking at kids books and picked it up on a whim! ALSO got Vegetable-Glue which was six kinds of awesome.

I, like most of you, LOVED LOVED LOVED it, as did my mother-in-law and friends who have borrowed it from me. I think what captured me early on were the underlying themes which are close to my heart. Love of books, Love of people and struggle! I ADORE the way the society came about and the clever way they swindled the Germans out of a swine.

Didn't you think the characters were almost tangible? maybe because it was intertwined with so much history. History like mimbles I knew Little about, which also made the book so appealing.

I have cheated a little, I've been reading the next book and am AGAIN totally in love (was up till the wee hours with it this morning) Anyone having trouble getting this I MAY lend it to you)

That's my favourite thing about a good book.
Sharing it!

paint it black

2009-02-18T14:14:00.001+13:00

My blog is usually black

Now it's blacker!

For more info go here: http://creativefreedom.org.nz/blackout.html

Sad day

2009-02-14T13:06:00.003+13:00

My Auntie Maria passed away last night.
I was expecting it but I am still incredibly sad and angry.
Maria was an incredible woman. Warm, sweet and loving. Mother of four fantastic boys that have grown into lovely men. (Three of which are terrific dads)

She will be mourned and missed. Taken away WAY too early. My mum made me cry today, she emailed me with “She is in a better place and probably hanging out with Freddie Mercury as we speak … She will be greatly missed. But don’t be too sad – she has her wings at last.”

Goodbye Maria… So sorry I didn’t get to spend more time with you.

25 things

2009-02-13T11:56:00.001+13:00

1. I like popping popcorn
2. My fingernails have always been thin
3. I feel small and cute standing next to tall men.
4. Occasionally I forget my age
5. As a little girl I pretended to have asthma and glasses to get attention, now I have both.
6. I’m going to drive across America one day
7. I have disproportionately little hands and feet.
8. I only started really drinking coffee about a year ago
9. Absinthe brings out the gay in me
10. I can control my hiccups
11. There is always a song playing in my head if I like it or not
12. I loved being pregnant and miss it
13. I’m an impulse shopper
14. Sometimes my “touch quota” gets too full and need time alone
15. I dream vividly most nights
16. I’ve landed in LA six times and never left the airport
17. Gifts make my day
18. I have a thing for red shoes
19. Chocolate and coke make me happy but McDonalds’ cheeseburgers cure my migraines
20. I never did well in high school
21. Sometimes I go to bed without brushing my teeth
22. I gossip. Can’t help it.
23. My eyes are a forgettable colour
24. I like general knowledge and revel in telling James something he didn’t know
25. I obsessively check my blog to see if you’ve left a comment. Yes you!

I'm BACK!

2009-02-11T13:46:00.005+13:00

OK this isn't going to be the most engaging entry or anything just a couple of pictures I thought you would enjoy

Firstly James, William, my parents and I went to Glenbrook vintage railway on Sunday and had a GREAT day, heaps to see including: Steam traction engines, Clydesdale horses ploughing, vintage tractors threshing, reaping and binding, vintage cars, models and displays, live Big Band and Trad Jazz music and much much more.

William went on two wagon rides and James even got to drive a vintage tractor called Princess!

Then we left William with my parents till Tuesday. I have a cold so it was good to actually spend a little time recovering. My parents took Will out and he was aloud to choose two wee goldfish to go in his very own fishtank. (William's first pets I guess...)

Then he had fun in the pool.

It's been pretty hot (nothing like Oz) but yucky nontheless... Auckland hit 100% humidity on Saturday. EEEEWWWWWW!
More later...

Dear regular Bloggers... I aten't dead

2009-01-31T17:49:00.004+13:00

Just a quickie to say hi and I'm alive and well.
(ALTHOUGH I did BLOG this morning)

My paper "developing professional practice" is going well.
One more week of class and then a bit more time to finish off the main assignment and I'm free.

I have been lurking on my regular blogs but haven't had much time to leave comments
I still love you all and read and enjoy your writing.

I'm also pleased because I found out I'm going to go to the Liaison librarian workshop in April down in lovely Pay of Plenty. I'm hopefully giving a talk about how cool LibGuides is so YAY me!

I'm looking forward to joining in on penny's reading roundup thingy. I'm off to buy some of these books tomorrow. Although I'm a librarian I'm the WORST library user. I end up HATING the fact I can't keep and share a good book!

It Starts TOMORROW!!!I've read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and have lent my copy to Penny but since I read slowly I might start early (Once the course is over naturally)

March: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close / Jonathan Safran Foer
April: In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto / Michael Pollan
May: The 19th Wife / David Ebershoff
June: The zookeeper's wife / Diane Ackerman
July: Letter to my daughter / Maya Angelou
August: PS I love You / Cecelia Ahern
September: Beautiful Boy/ David Sheeff
October: Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
November: The girl with the dragon tattoo / Stieg Larson
December: Love in the time of cholera / Gabriel García Márquez ; translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman

I am grounded, I am humbled, I am one with everything

2009-01-31T12:51:00.002+13:00

I LOVE Kimya Dawson

Most of my friends know I’ve been pretty down on myself lately, I’m unhappy about my weight (pushing 120kgs that’s over 260 pounds for those American’s reading) but still lack the motivation to do anything about it. I kinda put that side of my life on the back burner for a year and ended up gaining about 10kgs. Not the end of the world you know but not what I call a healthy choice either.

I really awful thing happened on my way home yesterday. I was yelled at while walking home with a William by very rude kid/s (I’m not sure of what age, sex or even direction the voice/s came from) he/she/it/they yelled “Hey Fatty, HEY FAT BITCH….” I didn’t know what to do. I was with my baby boy and didn’t want to draw any attention to it (he didn’t notice so no harm done for him.) I was quite surprised at the nastiness and complete randomness of it all and just ignored it and kept going on our way.

Although I didn’t want it to the incident made me powerfully sad. Sad because I was unhappy with myself and had reached the conclusion that I really need to drop some weight and this didn’t help my self esteem any but also sad for the kid/s that have that level of viciousness in them. What on earth must be going on in a child’s life to make them want to randomly attack an innocent woman on the street with a small child.
On Facebook last night I was lucky to chat with Mimbles (always a soothing salve for the soul) and woke up feeling my usual self. At work this morning I again popped on facebook and was clearing out videos when I came across this

So I burst out crying. I thought I was ok when I woke up but I guess I wasn’t quite there yet…

Kimya’ lyrics knocked me on my ass with:
She said 'I like giants
Especially girl giants
Cause all girls feel too big sometimes
Regardless of their size'

Then embraced me with: “I'm smaller than a poppyseed inside a great big bowl
And the ocean is a giant that can swallow me whole”

And Finally She lifted me to my feet and dusted me off:
“So I swim for all salvation and I swim to save my soul
But my soul is just a whisper trapped inside a tornado
So I flip to my back and I float and I sing
I am grounded, I am humbled, I am one with everything
I am grounded, I am humbled, I am one with everything

Thanks Kimya

wordle

2009-01-21T14:15:00.003+13:00

Thanks to Penny I have a new thing to stick my url in and make a pretty thingy

I think it has been influenced by my movie meme so I might have to do it again without meme.

NOw without movie meme mucking things up

the L word

2009-01-15T16:46:00.007+13:00

Photo credit: bird on Flickr

I'm playing an alphabet game, MIM has given me the letter L so I get to come up with 10 things I like that start with the letter L. Not an easy task (But notice it's in lemon)

1. Liam’s lovely locks
Although it makes him look a bit like a girl, I love William’s curly blond hair. I know it won’t last, it’s already getting dark but it makes him the scrummiest. Just today at lunch a 21 year old girl from Brazil totally fell in love with William and ran around Albert Park chasing him.
I had to stop her from running off back to Brazil with him although she did promise to mail him back via Fed-ex.

2. Lifelong learning

I can’t think of any reason one would want to stop learning stuff. It keeps your brain active and I REALLY need to do that with mine! I’m starting another paper at the end of this month. It’s about time I got into a bit more study.

3. Luxuriously lounging with Literature from my Library
I had to put reading in here somewhere. For me there is nothing more relaxing than curling up in bed with a good book, or even a mediocre book. At the mo I’m reading the Dreaming Stones. I’m liking parts of it.

4. Lifesaving losec!
Where would I be without taking those little capsules every day? Vomiting acid that’s where! I want to find the person who invented that little drug n kiss them. Perhaps the reason I put this one in is because I forgot to take mine this morning and am regretting it.

5. Long and loud laughter
You know the kind that makes your cheeks hurt? (maybe both kinds if you are in polite society) Be it with family, friends or chuckling alone there is nothing more uplifting than laughter. I find myself laughing with William daily and at our weekly dinners with the McFadgens we tend to compete for laughs! I think the most I ever laughed was at Michael Hurst’s Brain Dead the Musical. It was the Funniest thing in my life so far.

6. Lusty, laid-back and loyal lover
I can’t blog about the ten things I love without the mention of the wonderful man in my life… Loyal is probably the one word that describes James’s half of the relationship; unfortunately it makes him sound like a Labrador. ALTHOUGH I really should add LAZY there too (sigh)

7. Languishing with a little Liquor
I bought a lovely big box of liquor (approx $500 worth) over Christmas and I’m having fun mixing cocktails and revisiting old friends. I’m no boozer but I must admit I’m enjoying the experimentation. Latest one was flamed absinthe. Mmmmmmm burny

8. Lively London
I quite like London. I feel so at home on her streets that the moment I left the train station on my last trip back, a car load of lost tourists stopped and asked me way to Hyde park and I was able to point them in the right direction. Just thinking of the parks, museums, architecture, history and people make me incredibly nostalgic.

9. Lashings of Lemon meringue pie
Need I say more?

10. Lastly but not leastly? Lingo or Language
I was quite tempted to leave this one blank LOL
Although I can’t spell to save my life I believe I have a reasonable vocabulary. I just wish my amazing pool of English language and phrases locked in my brain was somehow linked to my lips. I have so much trouble verbalising sometimes. I get quite frustrated with my lack of flare during conversation. I have the most embarrassing story of being at a library opening with several library managers from around the country. When they asked me what I thought of the basement level I stood and said well it’s quite (and I pause for a positive word for claustrophobic…) and say SHORT. I wanted to DIE!

movie meme: "I've seen '184' out of 239 films"

2008-12-23T16:19:00.005+13:00

If I had more energy I'd post movie pix alongside some of my faves...
I CAN'T BELIEVE serenity's not on this list... Perhaps it's a given.

I'm ashamed of some of these and some of them I haven't seen from start to end but have seen enough of them.

MAN I'm a movie whore!!!

Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
() Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
(x) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
(x) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane (Flying High)
Total: 9

(x) The Princess Bride
(x) AnchorMan
(x) Napoleon Dynamite
(x) Labyrinth
(x) Saw
() Saw II
() White Noise
( ) White Oleander
(x) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
(x ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 18

(x) Scream
(x) Scream 2
(x) Scream 3
(x) Scary Movie
(x) Scary Movie 2
(x) Scary Movie 3
(X) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
(x) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 28

(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
(x) Harry Potter 5
(x) Resident Evil 1
(x) Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
(x) The Village
(x) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 38

(x) Finding Nemo
(x) Finding Neverland
(x) Signs
(x) The Grinch
(x) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
(x) White Chicks
(x) Butterfly Effect
(x) 13 Going on 30
(x) I, Robot
(x) Robots
Total so far: 48

(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
(x) Universal Soldier
(x) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(x) Along Came Polly
(x) Deep Impact
(x) KingPin
(x) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
(x) Joe Dirt
(x) KING KONG
Total so far: 58

( ) A Cinderella Story
(x) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
(x) Final Destination
(x) Final Destination 2
(x) Final Destination 3
(x) Halloween
(x) The Ring
(x) The Ring 2
(x) Surviving XMAS
(x) Flubber
Total so far: 68

(x) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(x) Practical Magic
(x) Chicago
(x) Ghost Ship
(x) From Hell
(x) Hellboy
(x) Secret Window
(x) I Am Sam
() The Whole Nine Yards
() The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 76

() The Day After Tomorrow
(x) Child's Play
() Seed of Chucky
() Bride of Chucky
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You
() Just Married
(x) Gothika
(x) Nightmare on Elm Street
(x) Sixteen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
(x) The Grudge
() The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 84

(x) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
() Joy Ride
() Lucky Number Slevin
(x) Ocean's Eleven
(x) Ocean's Twelve
() Bourne Identity
() Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
(x) Bedazzled
(x) Predator I
() Predator II
() The Fog
(x) Ice Age
(x) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
(x) Curious George
Total so far: 92

(x) Independence Day
(x) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
(x) Christine
(x) ET
(x) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
(x) Maid in Manhattan
(x) War of the Worlds
(x) Rush Hour
(x) Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 102

( ) Best Bet
(x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(x) She's All That
(x) Calendar Girls
() Sideways
(x) Mars Attacks
(x) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
(x) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
(x) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 114

(x) X-Men
(x) X-2
(x) X-3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
() Sky High
(x) Jeepers Creepers
() Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
(x) Freaky Friday
(x) Reign of Fire
(x) The Skulls
(x) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
(x) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
Total so far: 129

() Swimfan
(x) Miracle on 34th street
(x) Old School
() The Notebook
(x) K-Pax
(x) Krippendorf's Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
( x) The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far: 134

(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 140

(x) Baseketball
() Hostel
() Waiting for Guffman
(x) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(x) Elf
(x) Highlander
(x) Mothman Prophecies
(x) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far: 146

() The Jacket
(x) Kung Fu Hustle
(x) Shaolin Soccer
(x) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(x) Shaun Of the Dead
(x) Willard
Total so far: 154

( ) Club Dread
(x) Hulk
(x) Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
(x) Chronicles Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
(x) 28 days later
() Orgazmo
() Phantasm
(x) Waterworld
Total so far: 160

(x) Kill Bill vol 1
(x) Kill Bill vol 2
(x) Mortal Kombat
() Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
(x) The Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
(x) Re-Animator
(x) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 166

(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x)Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
(x ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
(x ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 174

(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
(x) The Matrix Revolutions
(x) Animatrix
(x) Evil Dead
(x) Evil Dead 2
(x) Team America: World Police
(x) Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
(x) Hannibal
Total so far: 184

Now Add them up and...

Put "I've seen '184' out of 239 films" in the subject line and repost it

Summer's here!

2008-12-19T10:49:00.007+13:00

I had a very good day yesterday. William was a good boy at school, ate well and was his usual delightful self.

We had our staff picnic in Albert park. Goodness knows what I'm doing here...

AND THEN we topped the day off with dinner in mission bay (http://www.missionbay.co.nz/default.asp?s1=Gallery) William ended up in the fountain in his singlet! It was SUCH a lovely warm evening. Poor boy got so grubby and wet looking for crabs under rocks along the shore that we put his legs in the fountain to rinse off. That was it! He was totally in the "swimming pool" and didn't want to come out. There were a couple of older boys in their undies too. so cute!

William wasn't exactly blue but a bit shivery when he hopped out. While William was playing in the water James ran to the car for a fresh nappy and shorts and we used Will's singlet as a towel to dry him off and I wrapped him in my cardie and snuggled for a bit to warm him up.

We then went home and sat around the computer for a look at the 2008 photos of William the creche gave us for Christmas (HUNDREDS OF THEM!!!)

Still squeezed in a Bath for William, He put in all his animals too (probably time they got a wash) I did a spot of washing up from the night before's baking and then we got the CHRISTMAS tree out and decorated it, LOOKS great, photos will be coming

Wrestling High Tea in the library with Mother nature?

2008-12-13T16:27:00.001+13:00

I'm having a particularly great Saturday

I brought my bone china tea set to work today so we had high tea in the library. I made club sandwiches and brewed a rather strong pot and Melissa, of library-cake fame, baked some yummy sultana and walnut scones which we had with jam and cream. Mmmmmmmm So dignified and refined.

Tonight is the TOTAL opposite of dignified and refined. New Zealand’s own impact pro-wrestling Grrrarr!!!! For the first time this year I’ve actually made time to go to the wrestling! I used to go quite regularly, even when pregnant, until Liam thought it was a good idea to do his own wrestling moves inside me. We don’t know if it was because the noise frightened or excited him! A friend of mine, Glyn is the wrestler savage_beast and we started going to support him. It’s incredible. Tonight its audience bring a weapon night. We are bringing a foam mace LOL!

Lastly I just had the loveliest “mother nature” moment. I needed some fresh air so popped downstairs to my son’s crèche. It’s closed over the weekend but I can reach my hand through the fence and I sprinkled today’s old tea leaves on the vegetable garden. As a thankyou from Mother Nature I look up and see big plump BEANS. These beans would have been probably missed out by the teachers and kids being at the back of the vine! Yummy find. The teachers have done a splendid job showing the kids where food comes from by having them completely involved with planting, tending and harvesting vegetables in their own little garden. So far they have harvested spinach, carrots, lettuce, spring onion, peas, potatoes and radishes. There are tomatoes, corn more beans potatoes and probably a lot more. They also cook with the food they harvest. Yesterday they made potato pancakes! One wee girl, smaller than Liam ran up to me yelling “I GOT A TATO!” whilst proudly clutching a spud. So incredibly wonderful.

Christmas Epiphany

2008-12-09T11:37:00.002+13:00

I was reading eternal lizdoms blog today about Christmas gifts. During middle of my comment I had a TOTAL epiphany. I wrote about how lucky I was having had a pretty stable happy childhood with my fair share of magical Christmases. My comment was about that and also how amazingly welcoming James’s family is and how I ended up crying on my first Christmas with them because I was totally overwhelmed by their gifts.
The best thing about Christmas personally is the OMFG gobsmacked look on someone else's face when you give the perfect present. It dawned on me that James doesn’t really get overwhelmed at all…
Each year I try and try to get a reaction from James via the GREATEST gift, but have to admit defeat. I get him the BESTIST prezzies but being he an Aspie, I guess, never gets that GIANT rush of joy that other people do.
At first I thought it was tragic that James doesn’t get that wicked rush of joy when opening presents. I would get disappointed I didn’t get a "OMG OMG OMG!!! that's just what I wanted YOU ROCK!!!!" from him. Every time he opened something that I had been dying to give him I’d expect a reaction. When I didn’t get it I felt a little bit of a failure. Now KNOWING that my gifts do make him happy and he genuinely likes the gifts I’ve been able to shift focus on the whole gift giving experience.
I won't be breaking my neck trying to achieve the impossible “magic reaction” This year, for example, I was tempted to get the entire back catalogue of Penny Arcade comics. YES that would have been WICKED cool, but we have had MASSIVE expenses this year we are trying to not go super-crazy with the gift giving. Instead I’m making him something (Hope he loves it) It would have devastated me watching him open the comics and then quietly sit and read them without probably looking up. He’d be WAY too interested in wanting to read them.
James and I had an email conversation about it this morning and he’s confirmed it. He agrees that when he gets a gift he's all: “Yeah that's cool. Just what I wanted. Thanks.” And I think he’s so interested in looking at the gift (reading manuals and trying to absorb the gift) that I guess he gets so engrossed and focused to get the simultaneous joy a gift gives. Don’t get me wrong, he's genuinely happy to get the gift but he’s hardly never pants-shittlingly overwhelmed.
It reminded me of something his Mum was saying about when James was little, they had to FORCE him to open presents at Christmas and on birthdays because once he had one toy he was happy to play with it.
Initially when I talked to him about it, James actually apologised to me. I had to assure him that I’d never wish for him to be different. I couldn’t imagine him being as emotional as me (I’m quite the opposite: HUGELY empathic, excitable and passionate) I think he’d probably be a sulky temperamental sod and I totally couldn’t put up with that!

Is it all a bunch of hooey?

2008-12-04T10:49:00.004+13:00

I'm the first to admit that I'm a sceptic but I'll give anything a go
I've been to a chiropractor this week and am still in considerable pain but my wallet is much lighter.

I want to know what others think about it
Am I being screwed out of my hard earned money or maybe it will be the cure for all that ails me, who knows?

I put my neck out on tuesday morning and was desperate for relief
I got xrays and a full body test and yesterday was given the results. I've been told I need constant care (three times a week at $25 a pop)till Christmas

Taking Dr Nicks advice I went for an evening walk last night AND will be buying a new pillow. It still didn't stop me waking in pain throughout the night whenever I moved my neck.

Perhaps instead of throwing all this money at a chiropractor I should spend it on a holiday or a bike???

I'm taking a break today Partly because I think I'd cry if I got my neck "adjusted" today and secondly I didn't make an appointment. I'll go back again tomorrow and then think about it more...

and one for James... and one for William

2008-12-03T10:57:00.003+13:00

01. First Name - James
02. Favorite Food - Roast pork
03. Hometown - Greenbay Auckland
04. Favorite Colour - Blue
05. Celebrity Crush - Natalie Portman (Perhaps... not really sure)
06. Favorite Drink - L&P
07. Dream Holiday - Hanging out
08. Favorite Dessert - Ice cream, cream and Jelly
09. What I Want To Be When I Grow Up - Happy
10. What I Love Most In The World - My family
11. One Word That Describes Me - Geek
12. My Blogging Name – I have no blog

01. First Name – William
02. Favorite Food - potatoes
03. Hometown - Auckland
04. Favorite Colour - Orange
05. Celebrity Crush - WALL-E
06. Favorite Drink - milk
07. Dream Holiday – playing on the beach
08. Favorite Dessert - grapes
09. What I Want To Be When I Grow Up – loved
10. What I Love Most In The World – lollies
11. One Word That Describes Me - Cute
12. My Blogging Name – blondie bear

Flickr Meme

2008-12-02T09:04:00.005+13:00

The Rules:

1. Answer each of the questions below using Flickr
2. Choose a photo from the first three pages.
3. Copy the URL of your favourite photo into this site.
4. Then share with the world.

01. First Name - Emma
02. Favorite Food - Cookies
03. Hometown - Waitakere
04. Favorite Colour - Cadbury purple
05. Celebrity Crush - Brendon Fraiser
06. Favorite Drink - Peach Tea
07. Dream Holiday - Road trip across the US
08. Favorite Dessert - My lovely man (Originally I had James but that was bung)
09. What I Want To Be When I Grow Up - a great-grandmother
10. What I Love Most In The World - Family and friends
11. One Word That Describes Me - cheeky
12. My Blogging Name - Yoda

1. Emma, the moth, 2. 14th August 2007 / Day 226, 3. Piha, 4. Purple Padlock, 5. brendon fraser , 6. Breakfast 31.1.08, 7. On the Road, 8. __Lovin'_in_All_Stars__, 9. Great Grandma Rosemary's Shells, 10. Baby elephant Impunga sits up on his big brother Vus'musi, they are best friends., 11. tim biskup 07 - tigerlily shooting away the pain... ^o^/, 12. Look into my eyes! You will bring food.

I found it REALLY hard to stick to just one photo. Also some of the pictures I chose were blocked so I had to go back and try again. Pity because there was an amazing picture of a woman with her hands over her eyes kneeling in front of a bath with rubber duckies that I really liked (not that it had ANYTHING to do with Peach tea but I think that's the cool thing about the mosaic meme. I chose from the first page of photos because I didn't have the patience to look through 36 pages of pix.

MOTATAT

2008-11-30T15:10:00.003+13:00

James, William and myself went to motat today (the post title isn't a spelling mistake, that's what William calls it... aaah bless)

We met my Mum and Dad and had nice a picnic out there.
It's a STUNNER of a day. Hot, sunny with a slight breeze. Along with the usual stuff they had a lollypop making demo which was pretty cool BUT they charged $2 for kids to make their own sweets. We didn't have any cash on us AND Mr. had the greebliest hands.

I'm at the in-laws right now visiting Mike. He's just got back from the UK and James is catching him up with gaming geekiness. Liam is asleep so I thought I'd finish my off NaBloPoMo while I can.

I'm pretty proud I actually survived it considering I have had pretty stink health. The migraines are getting less frequent and hopefully my asthma will let up and I can actually get out and enjoy being active with my boy.

I'll upload photos tomorrow if I have time.

=0)

Grrr Arrg

2008-11-29T21:27:00.003+13:00

I blogged yesterday about the work Christmas party
SOMETIMES it can be seen OTHERTIMES it looks like Alphabutt is the last entry I did

**That seems to have sorted itself out**

phew.... I HAVEN'T failed NaBloPoMo!!!!

I also couldn't get on it last night to upload photos **Now done yay**
It works it works it works
**Happy dance**

Twitter the other day added thirty days to all my twitter times...odd.

UPDATE
Yup, It's totally nuts!!!

I checked my archive and the above post I wrote and published this morning was on record as posted on the 25th November!
AWESOME.
I Really hope this works.

This is the third time I blogged today.

Christmas parties

2008-11-28T12:11:00.004+13:00

Today is the first of three Christmas parties we have at work
They get smaller and smaller
AUT staff, then AUT library Staff and finally AUT Liaison Librarian picnic.

The theme for today's party is KIWIANA

got a few pre party pictures of the kid playing around in the quad with the sheep and kiwi (not real)

it's overcast and windy
=0(

More later

The party was REALLY tame. Although the clouds were blown away and it was super hot. The lines for Lunch were so long I didn't even bother with it. Just went straight for coke and cake.

mmmmmm

Alphabutt lyrics

2008-11-27T09:28:00.004+13:00

I really LOVE my new Kimya Dawson CD
so does William
It was choice to see his wee face light up when he heard Bobby-O for the first time (besides me singing it to him)

It MAY look like I'm running out of things to post for NaBloPoMo but I think there is a real NEED for the lyrics of these AMAZING songs to be posetd somewhere on the interweb.

In no particular order
(Perhaps it's preference)

Bobby-O,
Bobby-O, Bobby-O
Skinny younger brother of Fabio
Rode his horse down to Mexico
Oh Bobby-O,

His horses’ name was Rambo
But Rambo was really slow
(How slow was he?)
He didn’t go
Oh Bobby-O,

He got a job down in Mexico
Teaching water aerobics in a sombrero
All the old ladies sure thought he was a pro
Doing jumping jacks in a pink Speedo
Oh Bobby-O,

He did something naughty
What it was we’ll never know
But the hotel owner said “Man you gotta go”
Pack your bathing suit and don’t forget Rambo
Oh Bobby-O,

Bobby-O, Bobby-O
Skinny younger brother of Fabio
Rode his horse down to Mexico
Oh Bobby-O,

Panda Bear
You are my little panda bear; little panda bear
I love you, yes I do
And all the funny things you do, I love you
Yes I do

You are my little panda bear; panda bears are rare
Yes it’s true, there’s only a few
And there’s no other one like you
I love you.

I change the Lyrics for William and sing:

Blondie Bear
You are my little Blondie Bear; little Blondie Bear
I love you, yes I do
And the funny things you do I love you

You are my little Blondie Bear; Blondie Bear’s are rare
Yes it’s true, there’s only 2
And there’s no other one like you
I love you.

Smoothie (Made me cry and cry)

Hey Papa, make Mama a smoothie
make mamma a smoothie right now
Hey Papa, make Mama a smoothie
coz when Mama drinks a smoothie little baby goes WILD

And it starts splashing and a-splishn like a school of little fishes
If a school of little fish was in me
Then glub glubglub like a fart in the tub
like a fart in the tub inside of me
and then the head and butt start rollin
like two balls bowling, perfect games on the lanes inside me
then a great big kick up under my ribs
that feels like nothing else
but assures me of the health and the length and the strength of my little baby

Because when baby is feelin lazy
Mama goes crazy thinkin something’s wrong
And then Mama runs to Papa and she sings him this little song

Hey Papa, make Mama a smoothie
make mamma a smoothie right now
Hey Papa, make Mama a smoothie
coz when Mama drinks a smoothie little baby goes WILD

And it starts splashing and a-splishn like a school of little fishes
If a school of little fish was in me
Then glub glubglub like a fart in the tub
like a fart in the tub inside of me
and then the head and butt start rollin
like two balls bowling, perfect games on the lanes inside me
then a great big kick up under my ribs
that feels like nothing else
but assures me of the health and the length and the strength of my little baby

Hey Papa, make Mama a smoothie
make mamma a smoothie right now
Hey Papa, make Mama a smoothie
coz when Mama drinks a smoothie little baby goes WILD

Shameless plug

2008-11-26T13:32:00.002+13:00

Although I don’t have the greatest readership I thought I would use this forum to plug my Brother-in-law, in-law’s new music vid.

I think it’s quite groovy
It’s kinda got a Jack Johnsonny vibe. All’s good as long as you don’t say he sounds a bit like Jamiroquai
He HATES Jamiroquai

Enjoy.

Bit of trivia. His girlfriend is one of the girls in the bar. woo.

OOH Two for Tuesday!

2008-11-25T15:37:00.003+13:00

One thing I forgot to mention in zekes-bleeding was that he was BOTH unwarranted and unregistered when it broke down. It was REALLY lucky the cop that stopped to see if I was OK didn’t check those things because I had NO IDEA. I thought James had done the rego that week so wasn’t having preverbal kittens. Little did I know that he tried to register the car only to find out he had let the WOF run out.
(KICK BUM)

When do you actually call it quits on a car?

We just got a quote for Zeke... He needs new break pads, radiator, wheels and side mirror. We've been quoted around $1400 for the repair work. I don't think that the car is actually worth that much BUT once it's fixed we could probably get years more from him.

I don't want to give up on such a reliable little car but perhaps we are being silly. Toyota Rolly's are pretty popular and I'm sure we could have gotten second hand parts BUT these things all take time and effort and quite frankly I don't think we have the energy or know-how to do it.

I guess James and I just have to bite the bullet cough up the dough and get poor Zeke roadworthy again.

What does she do all day?

2008-11-25T14:31:00.004+13:00

Perhaps I'm grasping at straws topic-wise, but I thought I'd blog about my job today.
I’m sure you have that burning question: What does a Emma spend her day doing? WELL lucky you… I'm going to answer it.
Sorry Penny. I guess this one will be dreadfully boring for you since you too are a Liaison Librarian!

Firstly I LOVE my job. It's varied enough to be interesting but never too stressful or exhausting. Or perhaps I've just forgotten how busy the beginning of the year gets because it's November and I'm taking it easy...
There is also the added bonus of having the creche in the same building and I can go down for hugs instead of afternoon tea (much better calorie-wise)

Firstly to clear up some confusion, Academic libraries all seem to have different names for the same type of job. Liaison/reference/subject... librarian I believe are all much of a muchness. I guess most of us are happy with our positions, I’ve heard it can be hard to get Subject librarian jobs because once we’re in we NEVER LEAVE.

Here’s a basic way to look at my job by breaking it down to three main components:
Collection Development (choosing books/journals)
Information Literacy (showing students how to find journals and books by teaching classes, creating guides, setting up appointments and sitting at the help desk)
Chatting with Lecturers about the above two things.

By November one should have spent their entire budget and usually there are no more classes to teach. So again you ask... What do I do all day? (besides update my blog lol)
To be able to manage the workload at the beginning of the academic year I like to use quieter times to prepare lists of books that I should purchase next year. At the beginning of each semester we have Orientation and plenty of classes to keep us busy AND at the same time we are also given our new budgets. It’s always great to have a nice rather long list of books to pick from easily and order to help churn through the budget.

I've also had fun touching up my libguide and offering assistance to other librarians working on theirs. I’m still finding the freedom of being able to update things myself pretty cool. I also like bestowing suggestions on those who are just starting their guides. The latest was offering the picture for the early_childhood LibGuide… (yep I did get permission from the teacher and parent of the kid facing the camera)

There is always desk shifts on the reference desk (again VERY quiet this time of year... so quiet I'm ACTUALLY writing this whilst sitting at the desk.) Conferences, forums and meetings.

So I guess I do do work at work.. Awesome!

New Addiction

2008-11-24T08:36:00.001+13:00

No not drugs or drinking… I got a link to this game magic pen from my sister in-law. Its pretty great BUT you end up saying those four fateful words. “Just one more go…”

James and I actually fight over it “no you’re doing it wrong” “Oh let me have a go I CAN DO IT” I’m sure we sound more like arguing children not a happily married couple with a kid!

Right now Liam is watching Cars, he can almost single-handedly operate the DVD player. I’ve a busy day ahead, Washing up after last night’s dinner and gaming. I also need to do a spot of clothes washing, bake banana muffins and then pack the boy’s bag for Granny’s. Toss in a quick dash around the shops for more Christmas presents on the way to Mums and then I need to pick up James from work (Zeke’s in the garage getting a makeover)
Sooo cute I was just about to upload this and check my email before getting on with my day and I hear “Help me Mommy; Help I’m stuck” Thinking the worst I run to rescue my boy and he’s stuck behind our recliner. He had like three food clearance on the other side but was trying to squeeze himself between the wall and recliner. Silly monkey!

OK enjoy the game (or hate me for showing you it…) James and I are both almost finished all the levels (I’m on the second to last one, he’s on the last.

waaaarrggh

2008-11-23T16:45:00.003+13:00

NO I'm not angry it's an Ork war cry and the name of the game try to play fortnightly. Tonight is roleplaying night (Probably the last one for the year) and I'm getting my Waargh on. (Although Technically I don't play an Ork)

The Game is a made up D10 game based on loosely on Gorkamorka

The game’s been running quite some time; I believe James has been playing this same game since before he met me. OK MOST of the original characters have died off, the gamers however (well some of them) remain the same.
Tonight we should have probably six.

Initially James kept me informed on campaigns and stories from the game and had an idea which I TOTALLY ran with and CRUSH was born. I'm a steamroller/terminator/Ork/WALL-E. When I entered the game I was terrifying. Speaking only in Latin with a vocabulary of 20 words I was magnificent to behold.

Like WALL-E I'm incredibly old and a little kooky
Much like the terminator I am powerfully destructive and quite quite task oriented. (I was built to crush rocks but after about 1000 years I kinda want to make EVERYTHING flat)
I'm about the size of a steamroller with a roller wheel in front, demolition ball tail and little T-rex hands.

After several game sessions I end up going to a MEK (Ork mechanic) and get more GUBBINS put in my head which made me more Ork-like This gave me a vocab (thank goodness) and a bit of an attitude and now I think I’m the NOB (boss) Still goal oriented I have one thing I MUST do. Unfortunately I don’t think GM James will let that happen. (Open the door I came out of)
Should be a good night.

WWWAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH

The Cure

2008-11-22T17:16:00.004+13:00

No I'm not going to talk about the popular 80s Goth/rock band
I'm going to bore you all with migraine stuff AGAIN.

Can you tell I'm finding NaBloPoMo a bit of a struggle today?

I've tried giving things up and adding other things to my diet. Cat scans, preventer and reliever drugs and nothing works all the time.

I am sensitive to Tyramine and once cut everything I could out of my diet containing high amounts of the stuff, it helped but I also suffer stress, menstrual and even seasonal migraines too so YAY ME

The only thing I have found that helps most of the time is eating a McDonalds Cheeseburger and Fries. It made me start wondering what they put in their food.

It's not just the combination of protein, salt and carbs that does it because BELIEVE me I've tried plenty of alternatives: Subway, vending machine chips and nuts, even Burger King...
Is it the placebo effect? I doubt it because I REALLY want it to work when I'm trying alternatives and once BELIEVED that it was salt, carbs and protein that was the key

SO what REALLY goes into a "Happy Meal?" Perhaps the secret ingredient is serotonin...

Either way it works for me and it worked last night where neurofen and coffee failed. (I KNOW I'm weak caved last night and took pain killers but I don't think pain killers had time to be a be absorbed into my bloodstream before I lost them along with my coffee and lunch...)

Looking forward to a quiet day at home with my lovely boys... Maybe we'll wrap some Christmas presents.

=0)

HeadOn (It goes on your head)

2008-11-21T14:27:00.007+13:00

Desperate for pain relief that will not cause an analgesic rebound migraine, (YES I HAVE ANOTHER FLAMING HEADACHE!!!) I ask the pharmacist if Headon is full of crap. Her answer was ... Well we sell a lot of it. ***note to friends it IS full of crap***

SIGH.

OK I dubiously fork over my EFTOPS card and go back to work and give it a go.

First of all it kinda burnt. I think my pores were pretty open from my march up the hill in the hot sun!
Being quite uncomfortable after about fifteen minutes, I give up and go to the bathroom and try to rinse it off.

****WOW****

OK try imagine sucking a VERY strong peppermint and then downing an Ice Water
brrrrrr

My forehead is incredibly cold (not to the touch according to other people though).
When I put my hands on my forehead it feels like I'm touching it with ice.

I think my headache is a little better but I can't really tell. I might just be distracted.
I have to admit it is getting me through the day. I ended up with a very bad migraine instead lucky me!

Google seppuku
For those unfamiliar with the term can check out the comic it comes from Google_seppuku (Content may really really offend)

Basically we use the term for when we find something on Google images we wish we didn't. I’m sure it happens to everyone from time to time. Today's was the worst I've had. So here’s my word of warning. When looking for today's illustration for my blog I searched in Google image for "Headon"
The results made me dizzy and feel incredibly sick. There were upsetting images of little aborted babies in pieces. It was much worse than the search I did ages ago for a jumper and got images of suicide victims.

Can ya’ll tell I'm having the bestist day? I might go home for a good cry.

twenty days down, batteries not included.

2008-11-20T16:37:00.004+13:00

Now in purple....

Well I've made it through 20 days of blogging without stumbling
Maybe I can make it... WITHOUT blogging about my shoes
;0)

I thought I'd regail you all (all three of you) with another cute story

About a week ago, when I was stiff from too much Nintendo Wii. I was sitting on the floor and twisted my back and it REALLY HURT. I kinda crumpled sideways and lay really still on the floor.
Liam was next to me and after mummy not moving for about 30 seconds James told him that mummy was a bit little broken and we needed to be very gentle with her. Liam then found two AA batteries James had taken out of the camera and left on the coffee table. He sat down beside and started stuffing them up my trouser leg:
“There you are mummy, I have a batteries for you”
After a while I was able to sit up and had fully recovered within an hour. I’m sure the batteries helped.

I have the most thoughtful sweet little boy!

Christmas shopping

2008-11-19T15:32:00.005+13:00

PHEW I'm "baarr humbuged" out already.

I did the silliest thing. I picked my boy up from creche on my lunch break and asked him if he wanted to come buy presents with me. Firstly I couldn't find his shoes so he went bare foot and I had to carry him most of the way.

THEN we went to Smith and Caugheys to look in their window. It's decked out amazingly as usual. I didn't have my camera on me so I stole the below image of a previous years display but you get the picture....

William was ENCHANTED. We then went to the shoe shop because it was wrong and bad to walk around the city with no shoes on! I FINALLY found a pair that looked good and fit him (hardly any in his size!!!) I guess there isn't much of a market for kids shoes in a downtown shoe store. I notice that the Farmers store in the city doesn't have kids clothes either. THEN lunch which was lovely (Just a foodhall meat pie and cake with tea) BUT there was a string quartet. aaaw. Again enchanting William

Finally we get to Borders to look at books and my time is basically up. I searched on their database and find NONE of the books I had in mind (POOP) William and I look briefly at kids books and I pick three for little friends and then drag William to the checkout complaining because he wants me to buy the entire shop.

Up the hill back to work and creche. (I’ve only just stopped wheezing)
I stop by and leave my bags with books and junk at my office on the way to drop the little guy back at creche. Running extremely late outside the library and Liam stops to take his pants off because he's too hot.

AAARRRGH!

The clingasaurous then didn't want to let me go back to work. After 160 cuddles, a nappy change, refusal to read him books or engage in any games I finally am able to sneak back to work.
I think I'll have to have very short lunches for the rest of the week to make up for that one. Maybe I should restrict my Christmas shopping to Mondays after I've dropped the little man off at my parents' place.

Although I really do like spending time with the little guy

My boys (Hope it’s not too saccharine)

2008-11-18T18:28:00.002+13:00

OK. I’m sorry if you are tired of this subject, I know I already rave about my little family. I just felt like dedicating today’s post to my very sexy husband James and lovely little Blondie Bear William aka Liam.

James is truly my soul-mate. Although sometimes I can get short tempered, impatient, childish and even petulant he loves me unconditionally. I know without a doubt that whatever I need he will get for me. James will happily hop out of a warm bed even if he’s really sleepy, he’ll gladly go fetch my water bottle, glasses, my bag or the moon if I ask. (I believe this is totally fair because he can fall asleep at the drop of a hat and it takes me AGES especially if I have to get up.)

I believe am an intelligent, strong and perfectly capable woman yet I still like having my manly man do things for me. There are things I haven’t yet learnt that he has some idea about. The other day, for example, I realised the hard way how little I knew about cars AND they do in fact scare the crap out of me! James can patiently sit and fix something that I’ve lost my cool with and being Mr Fix-it also makes him feel ever-so manly.

James is an awesome Daddy and he’s really passionate about fatherhood and wonderfully involved in raising his sweet boy. He comes up with the cutest little “daddy son” games spydars was invented by James.

He makes me feel amazing about myself. I’m sure you’ve all heard “you’re only as old as the person you feel” James being five years younger than me surely keeps me young. I love the fact he can have a laugh. Let his gorgeous hair down and be silly.

And Liam WHERE DO I START? You started as my precious little Jellybeanu and have grown into a busy, funny, smart, caring little boy. I know mums are biased but it’s true that you are getting more and more adorable by the second!

You have already taught me so many things, you have given me my loud mommy voice to sing songs to you. You reminded me that splashing in the bath, spinning around till you are dizzy and blowing raspberries are super fun, that bugs/rocks/flowers/trees/cars/spider webs and fire are really cool to look at and you made me notice EVERY concrete mixer that passes us when we are in the car. Your radiant smile can brighten my day and a snuggle and kiss can melt my grumpy mood.

I’m incredibly blessed to have such amazing boys in my life.

It's going to be really weird tomorrow

2008-11-17T23:27:00.003+13:00

I've changed my working hours and from tomorrow I'll be working Tue-Sat till semester 1
Mum and Dad offered to take Liam so our new routine is Drop the boy off on Monday and they drop him off Tuesday night.
William's really comfortable with sleepovers and has been doing them for quite some time
He loves all his grandparents and we are very lucky to have them.

Hope he is a good boy tomorrow

The weird thing isn't going to be the fact he's not around... It's breaking our routine and not going to work with him. (his creche is below the library)

My parents are planning to take William to the airport.
They live about 5 minutes drive away and it's the best place to take a toddler in the rain.
HEAPS of room to run around. Airplanes to look at and there is a HUGE indoor playground to play in.

Sorry it isn't the most scintillating blog entry. Poor James has been trying to get a game to work tonight.

He hasn't been able to get it running
He's sad.

Better go give him snuggles

Cyber snuggles to my readers too

Happy Birthday Zacky baby

2008-11-16T21:26:00.004+13:00

(AND NOW WITH CAKE)

Today was my best mate's little boy's first birthday
The weather held up nicely and we had a lovely day.
James, william and I all caught a little sun on our arms and faces (not too much)

William stayed up till hometime (after 4). He fell asleep in the car on the way home and is still in bed at 9.30
I'm hoping like anything that he's down for the night.

The only fly in the ointment is that I forgot the camera.
I'll have to wait for Milly to send me her photos... I do recall taking a pretty good one of William,

Zak and Georgie in the sandpit together **ta daaa!!!***

and the CAKE!!!!
OMG!!!

Lucky Milly, Her mum's best mate is a cake decorator and makes the MOST beautiful cakes.

Hope to get pix up ASAP
Well, folding laundry is calling (Watching Buffy Season 1 too!!!)

Another photo of Amy (Georgie's sister) "wearing" Party hats

=0)

Zeke's bleeding.

2008-11-15T16:22:00.003+13:00

On the weekend I get to drive Zeke our little green toyota hatchback to and from work. I noticed the oil light go on half way to work and thought to myself that I should probably ring and tell James about it when I got to work.

I never made it (well in Zeke that is)

Zooming along the motorway in the fast lane (because my exit's on the right) it all turns to custard. I look at the temperature gage and it's hot. EEK! I notice the car is slowing down, all the warning lights come on and Zeke starts making quite a straining high pitched sound so I thought OK not going to make it, better pull over. The thing is, it's really hard to do so at 70kph when all the traffic on the other three lanes are zooming by at 110!!! Holding my breath I dodge three lanes Saturday morning drivers and make it to the shoulder and shakily ring James to save me.

"OH isn't there oil and water in the boot, can't you just top it up?"
By this time I'm pretty freaked out and cars are zooming by me so fast the little car is shuddering.
"I don't know how" I wail pathetically "I can't even get out of the car"

So poor pyjama clad James has to break his lovely Saturday morning routine of watching cartoons with his boy to come rescue me. William but up a MAJOR fuss, he wouldn't get his clothes on and protested passionately until James said "Mummy's car is Broken and we need to go SAVE her. She's frightened and crying." Well that got him in the car!!!

Da da-da da da-da-daaaaa McFadgen boys to the rescue!

Half an hour later with oil and water in the car we set off. James following in case something else goes wrong. I make it off the motorway to the first set of traffic lights. There looks to be SMOKE coming out from the engine. Hazards back on I gesture for James to come and he swaps cars with me saying it's probably excess oil burning off or something. So I jump in Moby (our nice White station wagon) with William and say "meet you at work"

FANTASTIC MOVE!!! Now I have NO BAG, NO PHONE and a 2 year old!

I circle the city block around AUT looking for signs of James and give up park and take William into work (arriving an hour late) James had actually PARKED Zeke in my work parking building and wasn't too far behind me entering the library.

I now have a stinking headache and still an hour left sitting at the information desk (Of which I've had 6 enquiries)

I'm still trying to stay away from pain killers (mostly) so popped out for a subway 6-Inch meatball sub and vitamin drink to try cure my inevitable stress Migraine and pop in to see how poor Zeke is... There is a rusty trail of water running about five car-spots from our poor car. After ringing James AGAIN he assured me that it was like that when he left it and I have to try put more water in it before I go home tonight. If LOADS of water goes in the leak is extensive if not it's just a small leak.

Fingers crossed.

Birthday photos

2008-11-14T10:46:00.006+13:00

On the ferry on the way to Waiheke Island. Looks like the boys are having Loads of fun.

An abandond half sunk boat provided William with much imaginitive play time. By now he was pretty tired after walking along the beach. He REALLY didn't like the walk back...

Look what I've got daddy... The best thing about talking along this beach was popping the sea weed along the way. As satisfying as bubble wrap!

I had the lovliest time

Sorry there aren't any photos of me. We did try but the camera's batteries died.

I saved my Favourite for last.

AAAWWW! Beautiful.

Dada Dum de dum; Dada Dum de dum

2008-11-13T13:37:00.004+13:00

Reading the NZ Herald this morning, James finds an interesting article on robotic legs.

Near the end of the article we all start to freak out.

OK anyone remember 1984?

James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger (yes I had to look up the spelling!) made a certian film...

Judgement day ring any bells?

So I Find Cyberdyne industries web page and YUP it's legit!

Not ONLY have they called thier robotics industry Cyberdyne, they are calling the robot HAL.

Fantastic!

OOOH fun from Penny.

2008-11-12T10:05:00.003+13:00

Penny, a lovely friend of mine, has posted an interesting bit on her blog Walking Upside Down which has inspired me to give it a go and have my blog analysed.

OK the results are in.

I started with the Readability calculator thing and was shocked to see I apparently write at a college undergrad level... considering I just usually whatever crap comes into my head I'm stunned.

Then I moved on to the Typealyzer that analyses my writing and decides which side of the brain I use when writing my blog. Aptly it has interpreted me as a Performer!!

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colours and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don’t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves. The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

Lastly for giggles I checked the gender of my writing using Genderanalyzer and for a change I'm very highly a chick!

VERRRY INTERESTING...

Hope other bloggers take this and have a play.

OOH Talking of PLAYING!!! Mimbles blog Mim's muddle is responsible for MAKING me waste almost an entire day playing games at http://www.sporcle.com/games

Golly!

SloMoPoFo

2008-11-11T23:23:00.002+13:00

OK
I've had a really long and lovely day
Spent the last two hours cuddled up with James on the couch watching Season 1 Buffy DVDs... aaaww

The morning was spent hanging out with Liam, cleaning clothes and pottering. Made it to my parents by 1030. When I got there I saw that they had blown up balloons and put up Happy birthday banners up
Aaawww
We had cakes and prezzies and then popped out for a spot of shopping.
Yesterday on Waiheke Is. my sneakers died so I needed to pick up some new shoes and other bits n bobs.

all n all a lovely day.

OK Before I go a wee bit of trivia.
EVERYTIME I mention NaBloPoMo James insists on calling it SloMoPoFo
I asked him if it meant anything to him
It turns out SloMoPoFo is a game he played in Theatresports so called for Slow Motion Poison Forearm. It's a game where you have to fight CONVINCINGLY in slow motion. But being in slow motion you can see the other players moves WAY ahead of time BUT you STILL have to react in slo mo. The only way you can KILL your oponent is to touch them with your "poison forearm"
FUN!

OK night then
Off to bed!

PHEW JUST made it.

Sounds fun.

Happy Birthday To ME

2008-11-10T19:39:00.003+13:00

I had the loveliest day...

apart from being a little hung-over from my half bottle of vodka binge last night.
Silver lining: I thoroughly enjoyed myself last night

missing the 10am ferry to Waiheke Island and having to exchange the tickets for an hour later
Silver lining: William Loved watching the boats come in and I had a LOVELY coffee and cakes at the Seattle café.

our tour bus kinda crapped out on a hill and we had to wait for another one
Silver lining: The replacement was MUCH nicer and smaller so could go on some of the roads the bigger older bus couldn't go on. We also crapped out just opposite a gallery and we had a we squiz inside

totally knackering ourselves
Silver lining: I needed the exercise

and Liam getting grumpy because it was a REALLY long day
Silver lining: Liam was mostly a really good boy. He was also SOOOO CUTE!!!! he made it all the way back to Auckland and we stopped in McDonalds for tea knowing that he'd fall asleep on the way home and we thought we could just pour him into bed from the car... Unfortunately he was TOO tired and actually fell asleep eating fries. I REALLY wanted to take a wee video but ran out of batteries. (BUNG)

It was nice seeing the Island again. I used to live there when I was 11. My family rentedZoe Bell's parents place in Oneroa. (http://zoebell.com/) I hadn't been back for over a decade. Things sure have changed. Some things were the same though. Nice to see they still have the old 4square, the beaches are still stunning and there is still a tire swing on Oneroa beach.

I did take a few photos and will be able to post them on Wednesday (sorry about the wait... I left the camera software at work. Haven't loaded at home yet)

James is asleep on the study bed behind me waiting to use the puter... might run a bath and have a soak.

=0)

Helen Clark made me late!

2008-11-09T16:00:00.004+13:00

I was driving to work last weekend and admittedly I was ALREADY running a little late. James had parked the car facing the wrong way so instead of turning the car around and zipping down the motorway I decided to carry on straight and go via Sandringham… It usually works out about the same… WRONG!!! On this particular day due to election hype, Helen Clark (Sandringham is in her electorate) seemed to be having some kind of fair. AWESOME.
Last night I stayed up for the election and although I wasn't late I am pretty tired.

I did vote yesterday and also spent most of my day giving directions on WHERE to vote to several people. I think the general public got mighty confused because AUT was one of the places people could come to vote early but didn't have booths on the actual day. The closest was down the road at the open polytech.

No big surprises for the election.. I think everyone knew that it was time for a change here and people have grown tired of Helen.

Today is also my last Sunday for the year. Next week is the last week of the semester and then we are on to Summer School. Our library closes on Sundays till Semester One next year. It's bitter sweet. Yeah I get to spend a day with James and William BUT I loose the double pay on Sunday AND have to find care for William for Tuesdays. Mum and Dad have gladly offered to take him though so it's not such a Biggie.

Ok

Library cake

2008-11-08T17:20:00.002+13:00

Every second Saturday, two of the greatest library assistants EVER bring ingredients and bake a cake in the microwave for afternoon tea.

The first was individual chocolate chocolate chip cupcakes make in cups. THE best so far is Banana walnut, recipe below.

Ingredients:
Melted butter, to grease125g butter, chopped, softened155g (3/4 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar2 eggs, at room temperature3 large overripe bananas, mashed200g (11/2 cups) self-raising flour, sifted160ml (2/3 cup) milk70g (2/3 cup) walnut halves, coarsely chopped
Icing195g (11/4 cups) pure icing sugar, sifted2-3 tbs fresh lemon juice70g (1/4 cup) finely chopped walnut halves

Instructions:
Brush a 1.75L (7-cup) capacity microwave-safe plastic ring cake pan with melted butter to grease. Use an electric beater to beat together the butter and sugar in a large bowl until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition until combined. Stir in the banana.
Stir in half the flour and milk until just combined. Repeat with remaining flour and milk. Add the walnuts and stir until combined. Spoon into prepared pan and smooth the surface.
Place on a microwave-safe rack or upturned plate and cook, uncovered, on Medium/500watts/50% for 14 minutes or until a skewer inserted into centre of cake comes out clean (it will be a little sticky on top). Set aside in the pan for 3 minutes. Turn onto a plate and set aside for 30 minutes to cool.
To make icing, place icing sugar in a microwave-safe bowl. Gradually add lemon juice, stirring until a firm paste forms. Heat, uncovered, on High/800watts/100% for 30-45 seconds or until runny. Pour icing over cake and sprinkle with walnuts. Set aside for 10 minutes to set. Cut into slices to serve.

SPYDARS & SMIGGLES

2008-11-07T15:41:00.005+13:00

OK I'm going to have to save Fridays for cute stories and rants

First a cute story

William likes playing his spider game. He makes his hand a “baby spider” and Mum or Dad have to be Mum or Daddy spider and we talk is little voices usually goes a little like:
“hello mummy spidar I’m a baby spidar”
“hi baby spider; are you having a lovely day?” and so on.

The other day Liam and Daddy were playing this game and watching telly at the same time when Liam kneeling on the floor pipes up “Here you are Daddy SpiDar, here’s a baby for you” He actually found a real spider (not small either!) and made James’s Daddy spider come down to talk to it.

When the boys were both on the floor next the spider Liam says “He’s your family you love him”
I guess we must be doing something right raising such a cutie.

And now a RANT

Five things that make me really happy

My family
esp. good morning snuggles and breakfast in bed with my wee Blondie Bear (Apart from the crumbs)

Being thanked.
I love being useful/helpful (Guess that’s why I’m a librarian) The most rewarding thing for me is when I get a student who has looked and looked for an article or book and I’ve been able to get EXACTLY what they want. There was this one student who wanted something really specific. I think it was the morbidity rate of a rare disease. She had gone to several databases, librarians and websites without any luck. I tried a government health website and with the help of our friend Google discovered that there was an ENGLISH and AMERICAN spelling for this disease. Once we had the right spelling we were away laughing! It was the most satisfying thing to see student’s excitement when I saved the document for her.

Having a good day
It may sound lame but you know those days where everything goes right for a change? No great amazing splurge of money, affection or even perfect weather. You know the day. The one where you wake up ACTUALLY refreshed and not running late. Traffic is good and work seems to fly and maybe interspersed with talking with family/friends online. You might have a yummy lunch with a good friend/family member… maybe get a walk in after work. Go home to a good meal great conversation and warm bubble bath with or without children topped off with a snuggle on the couch with your loved one watching something halfway decent on the telly or DVD… Wonderful

Hotpools Te Aroha is by far my favourite place to soak. Feel free to browse their website: http://www.tearohapools.co.nz/spa_home.php

McFadgen Dinners: we try to get together at least once a week to enjoy McFadgen company. Sometimes it’s just Liam, James, his mum and I. Other times it’s up to seven of us. It’s so lovely to sit around a table with my family and just talk, laugh and eat. (My three favourite things)

James says I'm a rotten LIAR because sexing isn't on my list (smiggle)

I'm feeling myself

2008-11-06T22:17:00.002+13:00

OK har har haw double entendre aside, I feel NORMAL.
And for me that's a big deal.
No headache.
I almost cried on this evening talking to James.
I sat on the couch and said
"hello; I've been gone a very long time haven't I?"
he agreed but said I was always partly here...

WELL NOW I'M BACK!!!

Planning on having an early night too.
Promise to make this blog more interesting soon.

kisses... Em.

Fireworks and Librarians

2008-11-05T22:27:00.000+13:00

It was the final day of the LIANZA conference and I went along for half a day.

I tried really hard but was so pale and week that I took a taxi home just as why were serving lunch.
Halfway home I realised that my bag WITH MY KEYS in it was on my desk at work
DANG!
I gave James a call and crawled onto the couch in the garage till he got home to let me in.

It’s also Firework night or Guy Fawkes night here... It's not too noisy now and I'm still feeling rather ill.

Hoping to make it into work tomorrow.

Still Painkiller and coffee/coke free.

Detox

2008-11-04T22:40:00.000+13:00

I woke up again today with a headache. It's happened so often lately that I seriously couldn’t remember the last day I didn't have large amounts of coffee and pain killers to just function throughout the day.
So I sighed THAT's ENOUGH and decided to spend the day in bed.
James took the day off and kept the Liam monster at bay.

So far no pain killers or caffeine and I'm still alive. (Although I have a neck ache and my entire face is numb)

ALSO I REEK!

I’m running a bath so that will take care of that. I’m also hoping that I’m not in too much discomfort tomorrow and can make it to the last day of the LIANZA conference.

What I wanted to talk about was the last couple of weeks (probably contributing to my overwrought state.

House Sitting and Arse soup.
I had a really busy couple of weeks in the end of October and I’m now happily enjoying a little Rn’R. My Mum-in-Law flew to Abu Dhabi to visit her hubbie who’s currently working out there. The day after she leaves Bex, my sister-in-law, has her gallbladder out. Fearing her feeling alone and rejected I did my best to fill the gap my Mother-in-law left so visited/text as much as I could.
Most nights I wasn’t getting to bed till after midnight. One crazy day included a full days work, visit Bex in the hospital, go home feed ourselves and attempt to feed the boy, put Liam in the bath and then drive over to the In-laws’ while James put the boy to bed. Feed the cats, clean cat puke from the couch, bed and floor (poor kitty) try to pat all four cats. Empty the mail box, email the inlaws so Mum-in-law wasn’t worrying about her daughter or house and drive back home, make Liam’s lunch for crèche the next day and then have a shower/bath because I know I’m going to be too tired in the morning to wash myself. (PHEW)

Later in the week after Bex’s second op and discharge I made the most disgustingly healthy soup (steamed courgette, green beans and celery) Before work Saturday morning, I delivered the now lovingly named Arse soup along with baby food and a basket of fresh fruit and veggies. In an amazing show of support I had arse soup for lunch too.. It was not awesome at all.

Throw in costume making for Halloween and I’m one worn down Yoda. Good thing I like being helpful. One thing I really enjoyed whilst house sitting (hangs head in geek shame) was ordering the McFadgen shelves. It pained me to see Terry Pratchett’s books spread over four shelves. Trilogy’s separated and genre’s mixed. Sitting in the lounge now fills me with a sense of calm and order knowing that books by the same authors are reunited (STOP JUDGING ME!!!)

WOW What a Rant!

More tomorrow

Its aLive.

2008-11-03T09:48:00.000+13:00

Aaaaahh what a lovely thing to wake up at 9.30 in the house ALONE
William spent the night at my parents place last night (we were going to have a gaming night but was cancled)

Sleeping in is such a rare thing for me.

Monday and Tuesday are the days where I get stuff done. Washing, shopping and hanging out with my lovely boy. Today is no exception. I have mountains of laundry to do and I promised to pick up a wee washer for my Dad for his air gun thingy on Dominion Rd. I don't like Dominion Rd. There is never any parking. Then pick the boy up. I want to look at suits for William in a shop out near my parents place. I'm REALLY hoping to get a little navy pinstripe one to go with his red sneakers (YES I'm that much of a geek I want to dress William as the 10th Dr!!!)

Then back to West Auckland for Dinner at my in-laws.

OK the main theme of my blog today was going to be about my LibGuide... but as usual I've blabbed about myself instead.

Here goes...

My Boss was asked to speak on LibGuides for about five minutes at the LIANZA conference today so my libguide is now LIVE. It’s a bit of a buzz to think I’m probably one of the first NZ librarians to have a live Libguide.
Check it out if you want (Not at all exciting unless you are a librarian, and even then it’s still just “work stuff”
I’d been working on my LibGuide for a couple of weeks (off and on…) and think it’s looking pretty snazzy. I’m just glad the program is wonderfully intuitive and fun to use.

Also adding to its coolness there is a LibGuides application on FaceBook and I’ve added my institute.

I wonder how many librarians had to look at my ugly mug today… lol

Better get dressed.

MMMMMM SORBET

2008-11-02T10:52:00.000+13:00

Although I am sure this post will say the 1st November , being a Kiwi we are several hours ahead of the rest of the world and it’s actually the next morning… (just to clear that up)

I’ve become a little obsessed with my new frozen dessert. Home made sorbet, well I don’t know if you can officially call it sorbet but it’s YUM!
OK real easy.
Step one: Grab a can of fruit in syrup (the bigger the better!) Open can and eat a little of the fruit (as to make room for expanding in the freezer)
Step B: find an even space in the freezer and Freeze entire can
Step TORU: Take out can and using a kitchen whizzer thing go nuts
Step on me: EATs
VIOLA
Things I’ve learnt along the way: when freezing canned plumbs it is VERY IMPORTANT to take out the stones BEFORE you freeze!!! I only thought of this two hours AFTER I put the can in the freezer I ended up standing at the sink with the hot tap running, defrosting my fingers after every de-stoning. Old Ice cream containers are awesome for keeping your sorbet in. A drop of vanilla goes nicely with pears.

Today (NOV 2!!!) is also the lovely Jacob Cartner's first birthday. Hopefully Heather (from Hen's adventures in Oz) will be blogging about his party. WISH I could have been there.

Kisses to the Birthday Boy

Well I think that's my lot for today.

Red Hot Chilli PEPPER

2008-11-01T11:23:00.000+13:00

AND NOW WITH PHOTOS!!!!
aaaaw bless!

I really hope I can survive NaBloPoMo.
Here is my first post of HOPEFULLY many...

Last night my son’s crèche had a party with the theme of "Healthy Eating".

As usual I went a bit silly with the costume-making and went “all out” with William’s costume. (I think I was up till 1am both Wednesday and Thursday nights making it!)

I started, as usual looking online for costume ideas, Being a big Red Hot Chilli pepper fan and quite liked this one: cute

When William woke up yesterday morning I said (drowning out his “leeemealooone mummy”) “Good morning my sweet boy. You get to wear your costume today” then later when I tried to get his track pants and jumper on he got cross with me: “That’s not a costume mummy”
Needless to say he went to crèche yesterday morning fully dressed in his costume making all in his wake smile or at least make that stupid raised eyebrow puckered lipped “aaaaaawww” face that most people make when they see ever-so-cute baby ducklings/kittys. I simply had to go to the crèche via my work to show him/my hard work off.

When we finally got to Will's crèche several of his teachers dashed inside for their cameras and many of his little friends ran to him laughing. One boy thought he was a DINOSAUR. lol

I quickly changed him back into his play clothes after he was suitably fussed over and made it into work a little shy of 9am.

We had a pretty good party. Each teacher had a table where they were making something yummy. We had fruit Skewering, pumpkin muffin making, sushi rolling and heaps of yummy activities. The highlight of the night was when I won a basket of fresh fruit (Raspberries, strawberries, a pineapple and a pawpaw, various packets of seeds, a lovely metal children’s gardening set and Kiwifruit body scrub). Yay me!

Those who know me also know I have a compulsion for being incredibly inappropriate and I can’t think of a social situation where I haven’t raised eyebrows. Liam’s crèche naturally is not exempt. Whilst sitting at the sushi rolling table William tried a piece of pepper (not to his liking but Good boy for trying it) I exclaim, probably too loudly “OOH William! That’s cannibalism!” You could have heard a pin drop!

Well this WAS a long post (Probably won’t last the Whole month posting this long!)

OK it's not the most exciting vid but don't you just wanna bite him?
YUM!

Stolen from Heather's blog. All about my lovely man.

2008-08-09T11:58:00.000+12:00

1. What is his name? James (Jamie to his family)
2. Who eats more? Depends he can do more in a sitting but I snack a LOT
3. Who said, “I love you” first? Me. It took him almost a year to understand his feelings and then when he first said it he tried to take it back (I wouldn’t let him!!!)
4. Who is taller? Me I think but it’s close
5. Who drives most when you are out together? He does.
6. Who is more sensitive? Not sure
7. Who does the laundry? Me
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? James… I have to be closest to the door
9. Who pays the bills? Mostly me
10. Who cooks more? Me. The last time James cooked for his family he ended up in the A&E with pretty bad burns.
11. Who is more stubborn? Probably me but he sulks. Both of us get over stuff really quickly
12. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? I’m never wrong!
13. Who has more siblings? He has 2, I have 1
14. Who wears the pants in the relationship? We both wear pants. I’m dominant though… It’s the way James likes it
15. What do you like to do together? At the moment snuggling on the couch watching dvds. It’s soooo wet at the moment.
16. Who eats more sweets? Depends on the sweet, Cakes chocolates and cookies are my domain and he likes lollies.
17. Guilty Pleasures? Letting the washing up pile up so much we need to get takeaways because there is no room to cook (UM!!!)
18. How did you meet? In the student pub. Neither of us were studying at the time.
19. Who asked whom out first? Not sure… I think it was a mutual thing
20. Who kissed who first? ME!!! I totally jumped on him at the bar!!!
21. Who proposed? Erm… Probably leave this one blank or I’ll get in trouble.
22. His best features and qualities? He loves me (and his cute cute cute bum)

Sick, Tired and Cold

2008-07-27T11:08:00.000+12:00

Well I've been really sinusy for over three weeks now.
I've given up milk and hoping to see an improvement any day now (sniff)

LOVING the Pseudoephedrine!!! I am also still using Otrivine before bed but am afraid my nose is starting to crack and will probably drop off in no time.

I saw the first Daffodils this week! That for me is like a glimmer of hope that soon the weather will clear and get warmer. It will be lovely to be able to hang out with my boys in the evening. I'm looking forward to picnics in Albert Park after work.

OK enough moaning about the weather lets talk about my awesome boy.

William is having a little trouble fitting in over on the big kids side at his crèche.
He’s been biting both people and his clothing. I read that biting clothing can be a sign of stress in a young one. To help him settle and also be there to prevent biting I’ve been going down and having lunch with him. The biting seemed to happen just before lunch when it gets crowded with a lot of busy little bodies finding their seets and I think he was getting overwhelmed.

I’ve also set up playdates outside of crèche to hopefully form stronger friendships which may intern make it a bit easier to break into the cliques.

Lastly I made William a necklace to hopefully stop him chewing up his clothing. Chewing on his clothes is a right pain in the neck because he gets wet down the front of his top and his sleaves.

I got a nice string and threaded it through some stretchy rubber tubing. (the kind the physiotherapists give you) Tied a nice chewy knot in the middle and tied the string ends together. I needed to cover the string in tape to make it stiff enough to thread through the tube. I then soaked the rubber in hot water, then mouth wash and then rinsed it off. This gave it a slight mint taste. Mmmmmmmmm

I made it just big enough to slip over his head.
Liam took to it straight away! Very cute. He calls it his “necka lalase.”

I must admit I’d love to give it a good chew myself. Both James and I are chewers. I just noticed recently that chew on the security swipe card that is hung around my neck.

Some people may disagree and think that I’m replacing one bad habit with another but for now I think he needs a little security blanket while he is having trouble adjusting to the move from the baby side to the over twos. PLUS if he has his necklace in his gob he hopefully won’t be physically able to bite others.

He happily settled into bed without any fuss on Friday afternoon. After he had his lunch I tucked him into bed and asked him if he wanted his necklace. He eagerly took it and snuggled under the blankets munching on it. For the rest of the day there were no incidents and we made a HUGE fuss over how good he was.

I’ll see if I can get a photo of William and his “necka lalase” soon.

Adventures in Baking

2008-07-20T15:24:00.000+12:00

Well not really a "shrinking" topic is it???

I think I've been posessed by my grandmother! I'm baking up a storm.
It all started when I wanted to make cupcakes for my son's birthday in June. I wanted all his little friends to have a treat including the vegans.

I found this AWESOME recipe

Fluffy White Cupcakes
makes 22 cupcakes
1 TB white vinegar
1 ½ scant cups plain soymilk
2 1/8 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 1/8 cups sugar
½ cup oil
1 ¼ tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. coconut extract (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180º.

Spray 22 muffin cups with nonstick spray or line with paper cupcake liners (I like to spray the inside of the muffin papers with nonstick spray to help the cupcakes release). Set aside.Place the vinegar in the bottom of a liquid measuring cup and fill the cup with soymilk to equal 1 ½ cups. Stir well and set aside (the mixture will curdle).

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another mixing bowl whisk together the soymilk mixture, canola oil, and extract.

Add the wet to the dry ingredients and beat until smooth using a hand-held mixer, stopping once to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Fill each muffin cup with ¼ cup of batter. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then remove cupcakes from the pan and place on a wire rack.

Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

I made several batches to "practice" and then for his and his friends birthdays.

My Fav. batch was for his wee girl friend's birthday. I piped melted chocolate on overhead projecter sheets with templates of Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet's faces on paper undernieth. Once the chocolate had set I pushed it into the iced cupcakes
They looked WONDERFUL

Other wonderfull kitchen experiments have resulted in what I like to call

CUP PIES.

http://homecooking.about.com/od/dessertrecipes/r/blcookie83.htm

I changed the recepie and replaced the peanut butter chips with just chocolate.
mmmmmmm

OMG
Macaroons!!!!

Little man LOVES them...

real easy. (off the top of my head)

Two egg whites
half a cup of sugar
a teaspoon of vanilla essance
2 1/2 cups of coconut

stir it all up in a bowl

Bung spoonfulls on a tray and chuck it in the oven at 170 for about 10 minutes.

AWESOME

I like to drizzle melted chocolate over them.
YAY

It's been WAY too long!!!

2008-06-29T17:23:00.000+12:00

Well I thought I'dgive blogging another go.
I stopped because well I stopped losing weight (silly I know)
but this blog began as a way to keep track of my shrinkingness.

Well Who cares about that part... Lets get on to more important stuff...

On Mimbles latest blog entry she has the below list... so I thought I'd give it a go too.

Can anyone tell I used to study victorian lit???
=0P

The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed. Well let's see.
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicise those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Put an asterisk next to the books you'd rather shove hot pokers in your eyes than read
5) Reprint this list in your own blog so we can try and track down these people who've only read
6 and force books upon them ;-)

01. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
02. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
03. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
04. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
05. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
06. The Bible (as a child and I doubt I did it from cover to cover)
07. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
08. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
09. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare – Almost done!
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy One day I WILL!!!
25. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
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
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini (I liked a thousand splendid suns)
38. Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwel
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (HUCKK POOHEY)
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
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
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 (well I started it about 6 times...)
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. The 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
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
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 - EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
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

The year is slipping through my fingers

2007-12-12T21:20:00.000+13:00

WOW 2007 is nearly up

I'm suffering a small bout of depression and haven't had the energy to post.

The weekend away was lovely but exhausting. My brother-in-law and I managed a cool dip in the Kai iwi lakes but the McFadgen boys stayed out of the chilly waters... Here is a pic of my sexy man at the lake.

NO girls you CAN'T have him he's ALL MINE

=0P

Gosh it's getting muggy. I'm regretting having not lost another 10kgs. I've been up and down lately with my eating. I lost the plot tonight with a plate of sweet and sour pork (feeling pretty sick now)
Tomorrow night is the Staff xmas do (WOO)
I will endevour to behave myself.

More soon.

Love n Kisses
Yoda

OK I get the message!

2007-11-29T14:39:00.000+13:00

sooo... I haven't posted for a while

My excuses are: I've been partly busy with the kid, got a little addicted to facebook (hehe)
and partly because I haven't got any weightloss to report.
IN FACT!!!I'm back up to 109.5kgs from 107.
=0(

I'll take a bunch of photos this weekend whilst up in Dargaville and this blog will totally rock.

You'll see!!!

I was looking at a bunch of videos lately and saw one that was taken back in May. It was of William's first steps... I'm sitting in the background looking like Jabba the Hut. What a great thing to see!!! I should have it blown up to remind me not to slip back to old habits.
It reminded me of how far I've come AND where I don't want to end up (AND I would have if I keep going the way I have been this month)

I've been pretty bad lately but I haven't gone back 100% to my wicked ways.
Just the odd cookie and takeaways here and there...

One thing which is really UNFORGIVABLE though, I've gone back to picking! (esp when I'm cooking)
SMACK BUM!
I will have to put pictures up on the fridge!

I'm taking it one day at a time slowly getting back into the swing of things
I've eaten exceptionally well today:

Marmite and toast with a lite hot chocolate at breaky
a Banana and cuppa at morning tea
and a can of apple juice with lovely tuna salad sandwich for lunch.

I have two salads to choose from tonight (Classic and Coleslaw)
(I'm making American hot dogs for the boys tonight and will have to restrict myself to sharing one with William)

OK non weight related stuff
I'm down to working four days a week while the Library shuts on Sundays over summer school. This gives me time to spend with my boys all summer. AAAH
=0)

Sunday James, William and I went to the Auckland Botanic gardens with my parents
All was lovely until we left and mb wee boy fell in the fountain
http://www.microimaging.co.nz/images/discovery%20mktg%20images/Auckland%20Botanic%20Gdns1.jpg
In the picture here... you can see how it's ground level. Liam was lying on his belly dangling his fingers in the water and somehow toppled forward!!

I was right next to him and he didn't even have time to swallow any water but we all got a big fright.

We had a GREAT day Monday hanging out at home together. I think I did about 1000 loads of washing and cleaned up the house a bit... I let William go naked in the back garden and have water play. I believe it's a good way for him to discover how his body works and all...

Tuesday I had a really busy day. Started off visiting William's wee girlfriend Georgia who's a week younger than him, then to my best friend's place to hang out with Isaac (her new 1 1/2 week old boy!) After lunch I drove up to Orewa to visit the in-laws who are holidaying up there.
William was very happy to see Nana and Pop Pop. There was plenty to see and do and he had the best time UNTIL he got stung by a bee!
OMG I felt so helpless! poor little guy!
We didn't have anything on us except antiseptic cream. He eventually calmed down and was distracted by some visiting ducklings. aaaw.
The best thing about Orewa is not the stunning beach nor is it the fact it's not too far from Auckland NO the GREAT thing about Orewa according to William is the ROAD!
Its AWESOME!
The main road was really busy. We sat on a low fence and waved at all the massive trucks making them toot their horns
He LOVED it. Oh my... we even had a couple concrete mixers and an ambulance which flashed it's lights. We were pretty warn out by the end of the day and Will slept in the car all the way home. When he woke up at home remembered the sting on his little hand and cried for nearly an hour. There was nothing we could do! I gave him a bath to cool him down and then sat on the couch with him wrapped up in his towel and sung to him.
Finally the combination of momma cuddles and singing calmed down but I started crying with relief and couldn't sing. Good thing Daddy took over in the singing department.

Gee! I don't know how parent's cope when their kids get really sick.

I didn't sleep well at all that night, I wanted to keep checking up on the boy to make sure he was breathing ok because I heard allergies to beestings can manifest really slowly.

He woke up the next morning fine but was quite warm all day but today he's a box of birds. I left him this morning at crèche looking for bugs...

Well that's it for now.
(OH don't cry!!!)

I promise to post next week with holiday snaps and more stuff to talk about.

15 days of nothing much

2007-10-26T12:17:00.000+13:00

Well life has kinda been stagnating for the past couple of weeks. I haven't had my head in the game for quite a while. I got sick and then just lost the mojo…

But I haven't TOTALLY gone off the rails either, just not going HARD OUT anymore. I think that’s what has been good about WW. It’s made me think about portion size and really BAD foods to stay away from. WW has also given me an awareness of when I’m snacking so I can sometimes stop myself when I find myself eating after meals.

I guess this is what you are supposed to do when you reach goal to maintain your weight. Pity I’m not there yet eh?

My weekly challenge is to loose a KG this week. Not sure if I will but I’m hoping for a loss.

Having a stressful week. My mum broke her wrist yesterday and will need some pins put in so she had to stay in hospital overnight waiting to have a CAT scan. She will have to go back in next week to have the surgery! I’m waiting to hear from my Dad this afternoon to let me know when she’s home…

I’ve had some yummy healthy dinners the past two nights. Lamb shank and spuds done in the crock-pot with fresh corn on the cob and a LOVELY beef stew on rice last night. Thinking of the lamb is making me hungry.

OK better go have some lunch.

Yoda

AAAaaahhh to be noticed!

2007-10-12T09:56:00.000+13:00

Finally the hard work paid off and I got what I've been hoping for... Someone to notice and say OH my goodness Emma you've lost so much weight!
I know it's incredibly vain but I wanted it BADLY. In my mind it wasn't real until someone who didn't know I was actively trying to lose weight looked at me and actually noticed.

IT’S soooooo REAL BABY

OK I'm a realist and not ashamed to admit that I'm doing it to LOOK GOOD! It’s not the only reason or even the most important reason but it's still up there. Other reasons range from wanting to feel proud of achieving my goal (I NEVER FINISH WHAT I START!!!) to being able to keep up with my boy as he gets older, to feeling more comfortable in my clothes and, of course let’s not forget being healthier and sexier in general.

The past couple of weeks I have been sick as a dog so my intentional weightloss has been on the backburner. I’ve eaten anything that will stay down so that was mostly salty junk food and bread washed down with sugar laden fizzy drinks… I have finally got my apatite back so I better start watching what I eat again.

I also quit WW. OK it’s not as drastic as it sounds! I can’t afford to be a member anymore but I’m still going to visit the boards for support and I’ve made a spreadsheet of most of the foods I eat so can chart when I feel I need to. The major thing I’ve learned in this journey is to be conscious of what I’m putting in my mouth. The irony here is I’m typing and eating Pizza! At least I’m conscious of the fact I’m doing it (hehe)

Wacky weekly challenges end of week 4!!!

2007-09-30T15:07:00.000+13:00

Gosh!
Isn't time FLYING.
Soon it will be Christmas. I'm really looking forward to Christmas. Firstly I just LOVE it and secondly because my dear friends from Oz are heading over and I am missing them incredibly.

OK enough sidetracking...
I am very close to completing my "sky tower challenge" I decided to make it the 1267 steps to the sky deck! v's the 1026 steps to the observation deck...

I'm doing ok with the eating (not tracking very well!) I just had pumpkin soup for lunch with some yummy fresh wholemeal toast...

I've set myself a new Challenge this week. One raw carrot, and two apples a day.
and alongside the food I'm going to start sit-ups. Monday (tomorrow) I'll do 15 and then add one each day. (hence starting low!!!)

This will be on top of my 30 minutes a day AND physio exercises for my shoulder (When I remember to do them!!)

Some of you have posted what you will be doing next week....
Here is a reminder for you:

MIMBLES: will be hitting the sack by 10pm every night and restricting the puter for 4 hours a day.

Welcome aboard BEX!!! who will be exercising each day and not using her exercise points. She's also cutting her points down to 20 a day.

ANNE is sticking 100% to Core and will drink extra water each day and do some Pilates
(I will be asking how this goes and If you remembered how to do it =0p )

Welcome Alicia who has challenged herself to drink 2L of water a day...

and Robyn who is going to stick strictly to core foods and continue to add stairs into her daily walk time!

Chrissy will have at least 2 fruit serves everyday and her water and walk and climb 1267 steps (PHEW!)

This week's challenge for Newcomer Jo is:
* to Drink at least 1 litre of water per day
*Eat fish once this week (often left off our menu but shouldn't be) (I might nick this for next week I'm the same!!!)
*Exercise 30 minutes x 4 times this week. (I am a hater of exercise)

Sunnyday is going all out with

* Increase the intensity of my walks and gym sessions

** Try a totally different dinner every night of the week

*** Vary my lunch's

**** think positive

***** Do stomach exercises 5 times

DEDALUSDIGGLE's challenge is:

*To drink two litres of water a day

** To do 5 thirty minute walks this week

*** To eat a salad each day

**** To eat all the meat I bought yesterday before it goes out of date, and without going over my points

Shazzywamble is going to go out for a walk everyday (even if it's for only 1/2 hour)and will also concentrate on water and make sure I drink 2+ L water per day.

SMILINGEYES Joins us with her challenge:
*make wise food choices when eating out
*eat at least one piece of fruit each day(have no trouble when at work but forget when at home)
*exercise 6 out of 7 days this week
*try 4 new recipes

OK that seems pretty good. I'll check up daily on the message boards as usual to make sure you are all managing with your challenges.
It's awesome to see so many new faces joining in.... I guess the invitation worked.
Let me know how you are getting on.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow's weigh in. (Hoping to officially go over the 10kgs lost and maybe even 10%!)

****OK update. I managed the 10kgs but not as easily as I could have. I was so great right up till last night and then I've totally gone off the rails. I am still going to eat my carrot and apples today AND do my situps... Will try harder to resist the crappy food tomorrow.****

Week 3

2007-09-19T12:13:00.000+12:00

Happy Talk like a pirate day.
Yarrr

Well I be doin fine. I had a lovely two days with the little landlubber... Zoo and Chipmunks play park (shiver me timbers)

Lost another kg so my spirits are up

So close to that 10kg mark I can smell it.

Maybe next monday!

Having trouble eating all my vegies. Will be good tonight

I have HEAPS of fruit for lunch today.

(no skurvy for me yarr)

I hope to upload my photos of the zoo tonight

Still doing ok

2007-09-15T10:38:00.001+12:00

Its the end of another successful week. I’m looking forward to Monday’s weigh in. I’m finding walking just 30 minutes every day is too easy I’ll have to step up the exercise.

It’s semester break at work so it’s reeeaaallly quiet here on the weekends.
Skin’s still awesome
=0)

I am still having shoulder problems. I woke up yesterday with two lumps at the base of my skull and had my physio guy look at them.. Turns out to be stress points connected to my shoulders. (they are bigger today! Yikes)

I was going to go for a walk last night but ended up playing in Albert park with the under 2s from my son’s crèche in the afternoon, which included climbing a tree, chasing after kids and pushing prams so I think I TOTALLY did my 30 mins and deserved a peaceful night.

The weather forecast lied and it’s a LOVERLY day here in Auckland
I might go for a walk downtown to find a good place for a pedicure for Friday night.

I decided to do a tally of losses since I started the weekly challenges to see how much we’ve all lost... Might be interesting eh?
So far Mimbles, GInny and I combined have lost 2.3kgs

New me

2007-09-12T16:45:00.000+12:00

I'm feeling so FRESH! I had a hair cut today and am feeling a lot less frumpy.

I have in total lost 8.3kgs and still nobody has noticed...
MUST NOT GET DEPRESSED!

OK lets look at the positive....
My skin is DEELISH!!! I started a new skin regime (OK my last was er... washing!)
I use Nivia goodby celulite on my butt, belly and thighs, and Aveeno extra dry everywhere else.
I feel BEAUTIFUL. literaly.
It's so amazing! Here is the best thing, for about 2 years I've had bumpy skin on the tops of my arms now its GONE!

Woo Hoo! (DH is very happy with his wife's smooooth new skin)
I'm hoping that this will also help with the sag factor. My poor skin has been stretched out to this size for more than a decade.

Guess what else is gone??? My gastric reflux... I'm kinda skeptical about this one... expecting it to come back any day now but WOW I've been drug free for over a month. (HOLY MOLEY)
I'm chalking this one up to an apple a day and fat free diet... (can't be the weight itself because I've had reflux since I was in the 70s)

I'm doing OK with the exercise this week. I didn't have enough time for my 30 mins of walking so got in two 10 min walks and run up 5 flights of stairs (I think that's enough!)

Wacky weekly Chalenge week 2

2007-09-10T14:56:00.000+12:00

OH MY GOOOODNES!
I just typed a bunch of stuff and then it all missapeared

WHAT????

OK let me try remember what I wrote (SIGH!)

um
Hi and welcome to week 2 of my weekly challenge.
I think most people doing the challenge are doing something similar to me, which is walking or exercising for 30 minutes a day.

I've switched to core and am doing much better

I am in a great mood! The scales are moving in the right direction (Down another 1.8kgs)
I think last weeks weigh in was a little up due to retention.

I haven't done my 30 minutes yet.

I better go and track my day's eating... I had the YUMMIEST pumpkin tortilinni soup for lunch.
=0)

Week 1 of my weekly chalange

2007-09-05T10:22:00.000+12:00

Day 4...
Still positive. I think I'll see results on the scales this week. I went for a jog after dinner last night. I didn't get too depressed at my inlaws even when my FIL asked DH if HE had lost weight. He was wearing pants that are now WAY too big for him. I was a little crushed but didn't get as down as I'd have expected.
My hubbie is in the 60's so a small loss makes a HUGE difference. Because we are both eating healthier, he's losing weight too. I've been encouraging him to eat pies and chips at work so he dosen't get too skinny!

I have come to a kind of Zen realisation that people will notice one day. I'm actually now hoping my inlaws don't notice for a while longer because my sister inlaw is going away for over a year.

How cool would it be if she didn't know and then came back in like 2009 to see only half of me!!!!
Wait that would make me only 56 and a half kgs.... MAYBE NOT eh?

=0)

Day 3....

Well I think I'm doing ok...

I have tried to chart (having trouble finding the time)
I have been eating reasonably well but could do a bit better.

Managed to drink over 2L water yesterday between washing the car, scrubbing the floor and general housework.

I'm having trouble getting past this plateau. I should take my own advice that I give others. Shake things up a bit. I might go for a walk in the rain after my physio.

I’m very proud of those who have joined the challenge.

Happy yoda

2007-09-02T10:30:00.000+12:00

Hello faithfull readers.

I'm having a brill day. I went through my wardrobe this morning before work and can fit a few more outfits. My confidence is up and I'm feeling very cheeky and Dare I say it SEXY!

James took photos of me this morning and as you can see I have a waist!
I'm sooo looking forward to hips, cheek bones and a jaw line.

My Wacky Weekly Challenge starts tomorrow and I'm not prepared.
I will have to do a spot of shopping if I want to stick only to core food.

I debated last night whether to tell my inlaws about the weightloss or to continue to use them as my litmus test. James pointed out that they ARE pretty unobservant AND see me every week so maybe not the right people to use. I however stayed strong and kept it to myself. I'm going to try really hard to not get my hopes up every week to only have them dashed.

Like a young Rachel Hunter said "it won't happen overnight but it WILL HAPPEN"

yoda

Wacky weekly challenge

2007-08-31T15:58:00.000+12:00

Today I posted an idea for small weekly challenges and I'm happy that I have company. Since it's a new month coming up I think a great day to start is Monday 3rd Sept. I will post reguarly on the message borad but use this blog as a way to keep track of progress.

I have been thinking of ideas for small weekly challenges. I love the idea of alternating each week, one week concentrating on food more and the next week on exercise.

I will add anyone who is keen to do this on this blog to keep track of everyone's progress. I am also open to suggestions.

Here is my personal challenge, below that are others who have joined me.

Week 1: Meticulous charting. NO going over points!!!
Week 2: 30 min walk in EVERY day (this can be broken up to two 15 min walks...)
Week 3: 6 servings of fruit n veg EVERY day!
Week 4 Skytower challenge. Climbing 1267 steps in a week

ROBYNANN

Week 1 - Stick to core plan every day
Week 2 - 30 mins exercise every day
Week 3 - Drink 2 ltrs water every day
Week 4 - Do 30 mins exercise + add in walks up steps every day

MYSELF
Week 1: 2l water daily
Week 2: 30 min exercise daily
Week 3: Eat extra veg, eat only Core food
Week 4: 30 min exercise daily, walk

Mimbles
Week 1 - track meticulously.
Week 2 - 30 min walk every day.
Week 3 - 2 serves fruit and 5 veg every day.
Week 4 - 15 min weights/sit-ups each day.

07NEWME

and

PIXIEWANNABE
Week 1: Stick like glue to points total
Week 2: NO EATING MY STRESS! Walk "urge to eat" off.
Week 3: 10000 steps a day plus usual gym visits
Week 4: Adding 1 extra gym session + combining past 3 weeks.

Welcome Em and Ginny!!!!

Em
Week 1 ...stick to my points no takeaway

Week 2... Exercise at least 30 mins everyday

Week 3...Exercise at least 45 mins a day

Week 4...Exercise at least 60 mins a day including weights

Ginny
Week 1 I am going to track everything and keep within my points

Unflattering before photo

2007-08-30T11:15:00.000+12:00

As most larger women I find it much safer to be behind the camera than infront of it. This was sneakily taken at the Zoo a while back when I was at my heaviest.

I will try to take a photo every month to see the shrinking mostly for myself but I hope to inspire others too.

It's funny because it's the opposite of my best friends blog who is recording her wonderfully expanding belly.

In the Beginning

2007-08-30T10:21:00.001+12:00

OK
I thought it was time I started a bit of a blog.
Mostly this blog will be used to track my weight loss. So far I've been on Weight Watchers for just under three months and I've lost 7 1/2 kgs.

I'll try put photos up but I'm not sure what I'm doing so it may take a while as I figure out what I'm doing here...

This first entry is short because I'm testing out what this blog thingy can do.

I'm looking forward to posting again.

Yoda