My mind is blank

i have a few minutes to sit down. So i thought i'd get back on my blog, seeing as i dont know how busy i will be the rest of the week!
Hmm.. where to start?
Ive been busy, a new video game (hey! i saw u roll ur eyes!! lol!!!) Its not really a new game, its a game that DH got when it was released, i watched him play and hated it.. im not sure why my opinion changed, but now im playing it. ;)
Also, my younger brother is visiting. He flies in tonight to the much disabled melbourne airport. I personally really like sydney domestic airport.. I guess i have a high standard, but if theres a airport in a city i expect easy travelling like via train?! but no sydney has that, i doubt brisbane has a train to their airport.. but thats Qld! lol! Does brisbane have any trains? But melbourne has trains going everywhere (perhaps more stations than sydney?) and melbourne has the trams also.. anyways its a pain getting from the city to the airport, hopefully he can find the airport shuttlebus called skybus. hopefully..
I went out shopping to find another airbed (yes we have a futon but its rock hard to sleep on!!!) instead i came back with 2 types of glue so hopefully we can mend the one with a hole? k-mart had a sale on their airbeds and they've sold out. I also went out for a new towel, sheet. I've yet to go to the laundry mat, clean, dishes and make some biscuits or cupcakes. (and perhaps more video games?)
tuesday, i had planned to go to the dentist only i waited for hubby to give me the all clear that he had the day off... and so i was ringing up on the monday to find out there was no appointments at 3 other dentists for 2 weeks?!!! and when i asked for a friday the first one was on the 16th..
then they say.. oh and a quick quote $58 for the checkup and if u havent been in awhile $258 for x-rays!!! *DIES* Most people fear dentists for the drills, needles, shame etc.. me i fear going for the bill!!! I'm thinking will i walk out of here with any money?! what if i cant pay? what if my bank card doesnt work?

So anyways i booked tia into childcare for the tuesday afternoon and james went to work for the morning and came home before lunch. So for the 1st time since march we had time alone! We went and had kfc and then played DDR for a hour! It was awesome. It was a great change even for 3 hours! to walk at a normal pace, not having to stop for her to pick flowers..

A weird thing happened last night, my scales were being kind! At night?!! usually at night ive gained like 1-2kgs so i dont bother looking unless its in the morning. But it was lovely to me! So i checked am i leaning on anything? is it level? moved it around to see if it was still in the unkind spot.. lol! But apparently it was as i moved it around it was being even more kind!!! now if it could only be so kind on weigh day!!! i might just test the batteries shortly just to make sure! LOL!!!

so anyways hopefully i wont be too busy this week, i need to catch up on alot of blogs ^^

arent u happy

that you don't work where my hubby does?! hehehe! Mainly because i make the naughiest things ever and send them with hubby to be eaten. That way i can get my fix of playing with chocolate, looking at chocolate.. and then taking pretty pictures to remember chocolate?! ha! These are brownies, with added chocolate (in the mixture) with dark chocolate and white chocolate ganache (ganache is usually equal parts of cream & melted chocolate)Tiffs Brownie recipe: (been making them for years not sure what coook book they came from.. think it was a kids one!)
Ingrediants: (aus metric measurements)
200g butter
1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup plain flour
some extra chocolate if u want

Melt butter a saucepan, add cocoa. Make sure it doesnt boil! Take off the heat. add the brown sugar (+ extra chocolate) Stir. Add the eggs quickly and stir in well. Add plain flour and stir.
grease or line a laminginton tin/square cake tin with greaseproof (make sure its not the cheap kind as u dont want to be peeling the paper off each piece!)
Place in oven at 180 deg cel for 20-25 mins. Leave to cool , then remove.
(i cut the brownies up now to avoid that icing and crumb mess u get when u cut a cake etc and the icing isnt set or the knife isnt sharp/hot enough for a clean cut)

Ganache:
equal parts of heavy cream to equal parts of chocolate.
Add the cream to a saucepan and bring to slight boil/simmer. take off heat add chocolate and whisk til melted & combined. Pour into a bowl and place in fridge. Let it cool to a spreadable consistency. It goes harder with more chocolate or softer with more cream. ;) they also use this to make truffles or truffle filling! (but with quality chocolate)ah no wonder mine turned out a bit hard, i misread and thought they were meant to cook for 40mins! doh! i guess i will make another batch next week?? cooked for the right amount of time for soft fudge brownies!

fat pants

Grr!
So i got rid of pants ive had for years.. they were usually very comfy, when they got tight i knew it was time to loose some weight. But they were old so i had to throw them out..
So i decided i would go up a size (even tho i previously said id never get a bigger size than these pants) They were a size 16 from target, the usual female black pants that only seem to have fake pockets and not real ones?! what the?! yeah those ones..
anyways i went to k-mart found a pair for $17, a size 18. I liked the style and bought em.
Got home and tried them on.. and they dont do up! what the???!!! i have a size 14 i bought in 2006 when i lost 15kgs.. that i can still squeeze into (not stretchy, only worn a few times) and yet i cant do up a size 18?!
so i figure the pants dont have their original tag because someone else also bought a size 18 and took them back..
and i think i will do the same! how awful! meanwhile i will wear my size 16 jeans that are a tad tight.. (always around my waist)

Anyways today im off shopping, booking Tia in for tomorrow for childcare, maybe get some guts to make a dentist appointment! Also going to make some brownies for hubbys work and use my exercise dvd! and i better remember to call my mum tonight! and next week my brother comes down for a visit (haloween actually, hahaha!!)

edited to say:
i took the pants back and got my money back. I went in and found a different styled black pants a size 18 also i got it on and the upper thigh was tight and i could tell they were not going to be comfy around the waist, so i stopped there and left k-mart. I WILL NOT EVER BUY PANTS FROM K-MART EVER AGAIN! (not that i have in years) i think i will stick with target! seeing as i can fit into the size 16's and some size 14's!!!!!
-forgot to make dentist appointment! doh! made the brownies, forgot the exercise dvd, drank the DIY slim shake for break & lunch (MEGA BLEH!!) i actually ate a apple today!!!! OMG! yes thats how vile the shake is that i would eat fruit afterwards just to get my mind off it and the taste out of my mouth!!!!

Churros a new addiction

pic stolen from:
travelblogs
I confess, i have a new addiction! not that i need another addiction! (however it might just be short lived)
A new shop opened up, and i was sick of KFC so i had churros instead..
i had dark and white chocolate covered churro loops! Tia had the milk chocolate one.. and wow a chocolate overkill! perhaps too much.. i cant stop thinking about churros but in the same thought i feel a bit sick, like i said chocolate overkill!
and im being silly thinking.. please not be deep fried.. plz.. but i dont think thats possible!Anyone else had a churro experience? the link for the franchise (only 3 stores in melb) the pic above is the milk or the dark version. we got 3 loops for $5 or $2 each.

i visited hubbys work yesterday and was thanked for the cupcakes being so 'girly' from the only woman working there 5 days a week, putting up with all the boys! hehehe.. i said they were cupcakes that alone makes them girly.. (nevermind the pink paper cases or pink chocolate..)

I went past the op-shop nearby, went thru their stuff.. alot of brand name (even Calvin Klein) clothes but alas to small! all their clothes were reduced to $3! I picked up some board shorts for hubby (of course i might wear 1 pair if i could fit into them)

Politics rant

oh yes only 5 weeks til the election.. so i might get on top of my rant box more often.. ho hum!
So whats new?
the silly interest rate thing (true i dont have a home loan, glad i dont. BUT we do have a credit card.. and every so often the banks will put them up (but not very often at all) coz of inflation/interest rate hikes etc)
the last elections i was a howard supporter.. and so were most people.. yes? he promised to keep interest rates low.. despite NOT having any control over it! So since then its gone up a few times.. now today inflation info comes out and the RBA thinks about another rate rise so close to the election that the current government jumps up and down saying it has no right to rise it due to whats happening in the U.S.A... Howard tells us we as a nation have never been so well off.. yet today i hear that he apparently now understands that alot of people/families are under pressure.. yet the treasurer or PM couldnt recall the correct price for a loaf of bread/milk etc on radio awhile ago..
this is just how i see it, and i just get mad at two-faced people who will say anything to be seen as understanding etc.. when for many years they would throw a few $$ to make us happy and then go about their usual head-in-the-clouds attitude.. meh!
I truly must be getting old if i actually care about politics.. ><
i'd really like to see some new big project done.. that ISN'T sports related! *sigh* I'd really not like to fear going to hospital with no private health care cover.. or just waiting in a emergency room.. (whether or not its state or federal problem.. its a big enough problem nationwide to make it a federal problem)

Feelin spoilt part 2

all the mobile charms & capsules from the vending machine (and only 1 good guy!) 8 I love egg, 1 disney princess, 1 hello kitty surfing edition & 1 gundam something. i think we got a bit carried away we eventually ran out of $2 coins.. lol!
(pic~ more-than-likely-bootleg hello kitty & charming kitty mobile charms that i put on my bag, since my mobile is already very crowded.. it was from a small shop in a arcade i think.. buy 1 get 1 free for 2bux.. and now i cant sneak up on people and make a constant jingle where ever i go).

My mobile kitty collection by ~o0dust0o on deviantART


(pic~ look its the melbourne central cone view from swanston st from memory..)
Re the hot rods: had some more today weren't as hot.. or as hot as wicked wings, definitely differ from batch/store etc.. ^^

Re: hello kitty shop is (im sure DH would luv me to edit him out so there is no proof he looked/was there but i'm 2 lazy) the real thing, no bootleg stuff here! (it wasnt open when we 1st walked past, had to come back later)(pic~ My hello kitty membership card! and a free sticker!)

Forgot to get pocky at central, so found them cheaper in chinatown.. ^^ Got 2 boxes for gifts, but the rest is for us ;)

Unfortunately the bottleshop in chinatown had no Goshu 40 sake (finest sake) so DH went without :( but he still has his other cheaper sake! ^^ but it would have been nice, considering its the only place that we found that does/did stock it.
We walked back towards flinders, as we decided to visit Magnation (in another attempt to get DH 3d world magazine) which we did find, YAY! And i found this awesome magazine Kateigaho internation edition of KIE its all about Japan's Arts & culture! Its so hard to read!! (its in english) but its hard to read coz its overloaded with awesome stuff, pure overload! you look at the pictures or start reading one page and your mind says 'whats on the next page? why dont u stop reading and go back to drooling over each page again.. over and over'.. and argh! So i havent read much, its a seasonal magazine (Thank God) but im wondering how much 9,520Yen is as thats a 12month (4 magazines) subscription! (jus checked $91 roughly.. phew!)

(pic~ bitter dark choc truffles from patchi, 1 box is a gift ^^)

Then I think we headed home, had some lunch and I asked for a perfume! ^^ (I’ve been wanting it since I saw it on special for half its usual price!) so that’s another perfume to cross of my list ;) hehe! (perfume~ Hillary Duff with love)

(pic~ Max brenners, 1 dark Venezuelan hot choc & 1 milk Venezuelan(sp?) hot choc & the all-famous chocolate lick for Tia. I quite liked both, the milk was sweet, the dark was rich n heavy, also DH had a different theory on how to hold a hug mug by drinking from the pointiest end.. who knows?!)

(pic~ flinders st station, pidgeons & seagulls)

Got home (best train trip back from the city ever! The time flew past!), tried to have a nap.. but couldn’t fall asleep so I stayed up and played poker online (not real money) and lost $900 ouch! (thank goodness its not real! I don’t gamble with real money!!) played more games, made dinner.. ate & watched iron chef the sardine battle.. chen wins even with a sardine, sour cream icecream! Played more video games with DH now and then went to bed.

Sunday was cool! Playing video games with DH, then out shopping (for sake) played some DDR. It’s a super hot day! Like a summer day, the spring we have been having was more winter-ish since its rained a lot. Even today is overcast, but its hot! (think I got sunburnt, dammit!) talked DH into getting a Wii.. got it home and then found out it wasn’t turning on, so DH had to walk back (not happy bout that) and get another one. While out, it was surprising that Tia saw something she wanted and asked for it!(she doesn’t normally.. but has started too) Very cute.. it was a Disney princess game for the wii but its not out yet unfortunately, although a 4 year old doesn’t understand why they have a box but no game!

(pic~ street entertainer near chinatown, i promise to show u more of this guy soon! ;) Sound and all..)

Feelin soooo Spoilt!

(pic~ frankston station on the opposite side the train comes in on..looks dingy huh!)
Gosh!

Well where should i start?
LOL! Ok friday night we took the train in to the city, all nice and slow which was so nice compared to the usual rush-rush some trips/vacations/outings have.. we got into the city at 8pm, checked in at the formule 1 hotel.. to find out that it was a different room and wasnt exactly made/cleaned.. (see pic) we figured they had over-booked the standard room so we got the upgrade (just a extra bed) then we went out into the city and i took the role as 'tourist' taking photos of just about everything.. trams, lights, buildings.. that was fun! (pic~ flinders st station i think)
Had bad takeaway, KFC.. hot rods just about burnt a hole in my mouth soooo spicy! people sitting next to us were french tourists turning a shade of red eating them too. To think DH went for the interview and had the job there if his current Job came thru.. funny enough all 3 jobs DH went for, 2 offered and 1 tried to talk him out of taking the job! And the one he has now is the one where his Boss tried to talk him out of accepting the position as a production worker! ^^ God came thru for us!
(pic~chinatown)
I love being in the cities at night! Especially in sydney.. but melbourne was close!
Walked around a bit, went to chinatown... and the rest is a bit of blur.. DH and I hardly slept at all the night.. it was awful, perhaps to hot (aircon is noisy and right over the top of tia.. not to mention the aircon sucks in the curtain so they are really all BADLY designed rooms.. but for a cheapie hotel who can complain? OH and thanks to the irish guy who decided to have a chat in the hallway at some sort time in the morning when i was almost off to sleep.. ARGH!)
the next morning we set off to go shopping! Had maccas breakie one of those evil deluxe breakfast deli choice rolls ( 2 bacon, 2 sausage patties, 2 eggs on a 6inch roll).. walked to melbourne central.. and we were like... oh how many times did we walk past this place?! lol! (before finding our flat we lived in the city in cheap hotels, the same formule 1 (once it opened) & hotel enterprize which is opposite southern cross station)

So i took DH and Tia to max Brenners (no surprise there!!) and to patchi (for more chocolate browsing etc) went to Borders (to get a magazine for DH, but they were out! I got book 3 in my Rozen maiden manga series & Tia got a powerpuff girls book)
~~ pictures & more to come~~
So we went back to chinatown.. Went to the Sanrio shop!!!! HELLO!!!!!!!!!!! thats right, i got spoilt!!! The Hello kitty shop!!! *faints from prices!* i was encouraged from DH to get something (so we could leave!) and because i was getting spoilt! i got a new wallet and another wallet/pocket thing either for a camera or my palm (which i rarely use) and tia got a sheet of stickers for $5!! OW! 0.o It felt good be surrounded by hello kitty stuff (however i think testosterone and hello kitty clash, there was another couple in there and the dude said, 'i'll wait outside' i bet they hear that as much as a bra/underwear shop! hahah) I also got a hello kitty membership and yes, i cried! weird? perhaps.. LOL! (not that i care)
In the chinatown/target arcades are these mobile charm capsule machines.. and theres usually a hello kitty one.. (and there was) but there was also ones for I love Egg!!!! (the cops n robbers series!) to be cont..






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Now playing: Rihanna - Shut Up and Drive
via FoxyTunes

thoughts

I've been busy lately, i normally use that term very lightly.. as in ive been busy... playing video games! or i've been busy shopping, cleaning and video games..
LOL! i dont envy busy people! But once in awhile i enjoy a day where i dont get to sit down and play video games or become a vegetable in front of a soapie.. (rare as that is)
Ive been busy shopping, then i've spent more time in the kitchen. (i fear this will be another bradly scatter-brain post) yesterday i made 4 batches of my fetta meatballs and put them in the freezer. I had to use up some ham i had in the fridge (as i bought more) so i made pizza pinwheels, 2 batches. One went into the oven, the other into the freezer! (as i heard a good tip was to freeze them beforehand, as i have trouble with it all just falling apart) The next day i took the pinwheel log out of the freezer and let it thaw for a bit til i could slice it up and the freezking trick worked a treat!!

I also can't get out of my head the best advice i heard for proving yeast. (needed in the pinwheel & my naan recipe) that the water used should be the same temperature of blood. It sounds gory to me now.. but fascinating and it does work ;) really well..
Today Tia went to her childcare/socializing session, i then continued to the shops, i walked past a cafe in the shopping mall (it usually smells like drool-worthy real butter on a warmed croissant) but today it smelled of bacon and reminded me that amongst all the tidying,organising of this morning i hadnt had breakfast.. so i avoided getting something healthy (as i would bawk at the price and get something cheap from maccas) and avoided deciding to get a roll at a bakery (as i knew i would end up telling myself that a cheese n bacon roll, pastry is healthy or end up with some yummy danish scroll!) so after getting sake, i was feeling dizzy.. (i dont usually miss breakfast) So i went and got the milk, decided on a breakfast bar of a nice kind (not a bowl of breakfast cereal compacted into a bar) one of those A.O ones? and a energy drink.. Mother, even tho i dont like it, it was cheaper than water, milk or juice.. and i thought i could do with a sugar hit.

Anyways got home (all fine and buzzed!) and now its time for operation laundry! 3 loads today! clothes, towels and bedding! (good thing my book is so interesting) I now have laundry hanging on my curtain rods and sheets hanging on wardrobe doors.. and duvet covers hanging over more curtain rods! As usual, it was lunch and right next door is the fish n chip shop! I could smell the burgers, i could smell the chips! argh! I decided i'd resist and just keep reading. Now i've eaten 4 pieces of lite peanut butter toast at home, but im trying to convince myself its better than 2bux of chips and a battered sausage (which i dont normally eat.. but the deep frying makes it taste better?!!!)

and my thoughts?

Well while on my childless walk to the shops.. 2 guys past me (at different places along the walk) and were friendly and said 'morning' or 'hi' it had me thinking.. i walk this way nearly all the time with Tia would they have been so friendly if she was with me? (does it really matter? i guess it does) without DH or Tia with me.. what do i look like? A university student? a worker on a day off? what do i look like when its just me, tia and the shopping trolley? are people judging me? (am i meant to care? do i care? should i care? why on earth do i care?) Ok, i probably look like a single mum, who cant afford a car.. (but then the buses around here are not the ones im used too.. its like they belong doing trips between cities or something! u wouldnt take a shopping trolley on them!) but then whats so wrong with being a single mum?
In this western society we are OK with divorce, so why arent we OK with single parents?, why do single parents feel so shunted and look down upon? and dont we live in a western society that believes that living with someone, not getting married and having kids is OK? yet if that relationship falls thru then they both can become single parents..

It just has me thinking..

We allow people to take their journeys, whatever it may be.. but then went they hit end of the tunnel, even tho we know a divorce with kids is going to lead to a blended family or a single parent family then people believe those kinds of people have some sort of shame? as if they failed? or something? and then that makes them beneath others who a) are married or b) are single??!! Or am i completely wrong? (i just agreed in my head with some sort of OK-ness with communism can u believe that?! lol)

Am i better than a single parent, just because im not?! Hell no.. but why does it bother me so? Is it because im being judged or feel like im being judged wrongly? or being shunted coz of someone judging me? *sigh* Is 25 still young? hell do i even look 25?! Theres this mum from the childcare centre, she admits to having greys and dying her hair.. and she is short! And she looks no older than a day past 15!! (but she must be close to her 30's!)

Well i had better run off and go collect Miss Tia (who will as usual not be happy about leaving)

I hope everyone has a great weekend! (and that u guys have had a great week!) apologies but no time to make my post all pretty and give it pictures ;)

Cupcakes anyone?

Made my favourite cupcake recipe! Never fails on me! =D I decided i would go out and go get some nice cupcake papers, i always see lovely cupcakes with lovely papers.. and its been awhile since ive used them too (horray for less washing up!!).. so i thought why not? maybe i will go out and check the cake shop!

So i did, i walked out of the shop with a little star chocolate mould, pink powder food colouring and some nice pink/purple cases and ended up being over charged by $1.30! i guess the guy decided to give himself a pay rise? maybe he has a sight problem? Not happy bout being ripped off..
*sigh* (i also noticed his cake figurines were double the price and the exact same as from the cheap mass-china-imports shop) I went to woolworths, noticed they had some nice cupcake papers for bout half the price so i got them too.

anyways it was fun, i was making them for hubby's work (so i can cook and not get fatter) so i followed the recipe exactly (shocked? lol!) DH said they went well, everyone loved them... BUT he made a joke 'if u can eat one of these cupcakes it shows your confident in your masculinity, just do something manly afterwards', there is only 1 female at his work.. so he suggested the cupcakes to be not so cutesy next time! *meh!* (he is just lucky i didnt put the pretty all-pink sprinkles i have in the cupboard on them! that i resisted!) I didnt have much icing mixture, but then at the end result, not sure i would have iced them completly anyway! I had chocolate stars left over so i made another batch (not following recipe/measuring, as i felt lazy) just for us.

Classic Cupcakes Makes 12

Ingredients

• 2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 125g butter, melted, cooled
• 2 x 59g eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon Queen Natural Vanilla Essence
• Sprinkles and lollies, to decorate

• Icing

• 1 1/2 cups pure icing sugar
• Pink food colouring, optional
• 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons water

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease a 12 x 1/3-cup capacity muffin pan. Alternatively, line holes with paper cases. Combine flour and caster sugar in a bowl. Make a well in the centre.
2. Add milk, butter, eggs and vanilla to flour mixture. Using a large metal spoon, stir gently to combine.
3. Spoon mixture into prepared muffin pan. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Stand in pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
4. Make icing: Sift icing sugar into a bowl. Add food colouring and water. Stir until smooth and well combined. Spoon icing over cupcakes. Decorate with sprinkles and lollies.

Source Super Food Ideas - March 2004 , Page 74

Recipe by Dixie Elliott


*i added some white chocolate to the saucepan when melting the butter!

Btw maria, i made a mistake the tiramisu (low fat) was with low fat ricotta and not fetta. (my bad!) i should learn to remember fetta goes in meatballs, ricotta goes in sweet stuff. (had to check the recipe, and this recipe uses kahula! yes much better than whatever marsala tastes like!! bleh!) the recipe is a ww? 10 serves at 3pts each.. ;)

Dreams, tag ur it

i considered myself tagged from christines blog! lookie!!!I found a pic of my clock/radio/alarm clock!

But here is a tag for all of you. Dreams. What dreams do you have on a ongoing basis?

Mine:
(1) Getting to highschool, not knowing what my timetable is, what class im meant to be at (comes from high school final year, (year 12) where i lost a copy of my timetable and then relied on my memory and what classes my friends had)
(2) Going to school, shopping or somewhere and not wearing shoes or clothes..
(3) Driving dreams (even tho i dont drive or dont know how) im doing fine til i relise i dont know how to drive!
My nightmares include: Flying dreams with telegraph poles/power lines!!!(fortunately i've never hit them!), Swimming with fish, sharks, sting rays etc.

Need a hand voting?

So its finally been called. The aussie election! *yawn* We had to wait forever for a date.. now we have one! But now we will have to endure 6 weeks of the in-ur-face campaign BS from all the parties.. as if there wasnt enough government adds on tv already trying to convince us that they have done the right thing.. *yawn*
So anyways, the enrolling deadline is this wednesday! As to anyone who moves house between wednesday and the election??!! what happens? ><>Vote-a-matic featured on News.com.au (i liked my results) Its a handy dandy thing especially if your not sure on what the parties are supporting etc.. The leaders question is pretty transparent.. and as for the buffoon actor on the videos, dont bother listening/watching to it. I dunno i really dislike that this is what they chose as a 'working class' person.. bad sense of humor, dress sense etc.. Meh!

whoops

I know i said previously that i didnt have my pocky boxes to show you.. but i had taken some pictures of my fridge as i had seen on Christines blog awhile back? And i saw that in a photo i took there were my boxes of pocky. (on top of the fridge) On my fridge i have my week 1 challenge goals and written a note to myself to keep me out of the fridge. Most of the fridge mess is on the side. (pizza vouchers, tax deduction reciepts, fuel dicount vouchers (which i send to mum) bowling info (not that we go bowling) etc
Maria gave me this awesome oriental fan & a pretty card ^^
This is a photo of the bitter dark chocolate truffles from patchi. We had them last night and they were very nice, bitter but very rich.. and surprisingly soft. I would definately get them again!!


On another note, Tia's childcare have made friday a whole day! So today she went from 9.30 to 2.30 (instead of 12.30) so that was great! And as usual Tia did not like the idea of leaving! (she had really missed it when they shut for the holidays!)


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Now playing: Gerling - Enter Space Capsule
via FoxyTunes

Tia and her hat!

Tia wearing the pink/silver hat that Maria gave to tia, when i met Maria on my birthday! Unfortunately i've noticed my camera is best used outside. Inside at night gives yellow tones and looks terrible and it was dark inside today (just before we went out) so its a bit yellow.. the hat really is a nice pink!

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Now playing: Enigma - Love Sensuality Devotion - Greatest Hits - 10. Sadeness (Part I)
via FoxyTunes

Forgive me!

I have been very busy, how? i have no idea.. the same old cleaning, walking, shopping and video games.. making sure i email my mum who i will call tomorrow.. checking info on a event on the weekend in the city... perhaps look into a hotel room
i checked out the new tiger airlines they have melb to rockhamptop, mackay? and some other interesting places for under $50! like fully crazy but nothing to melb-sydney or melb-canberra or melb-townsville and the flights werent until next year?
anywhoos also been looking at rentals.. (online) but there dont seem like very many, looking at a 3 bedroom place, fenced, good spot (close to shops, schools)

Its been hotting up recently.. but theres always rain some time of the night/day... which is great!

I made time to sit down and draw yesterday. (above) from my Rozen maiden manga (japanese comic book).. which i will share more about laters when i get a breather! Her name is Hinaichigo and she is one of the 7 Rozen maiden dolls.

I bought savoiardi biscuits the other week (cheaper at the import deli store, made in australia tho!) along with some italian style cream cheese/mascarpone. Decided on doing a tiramisu (hubby loved the low fat one with fetta which i hated!) so this is the 100% naughty version.. altho when i went to make it i didnt read the recipe properly and added the sugar with the egg white (when it was meant to go with the egg yolk) so i threw the egg white n sugar mess in the toilet and walked down to the corner shop and got more eggs and started over again.. now since i dont have a electric beater.. its kinda soup looking.. i should have beated the cream more.. but i was lazy. and instead of marsala (like who has that in their pantry?) i used my butterscotch schnapps.. so we shall see how it all goes.. hmm.. i hope it tastes better than it looks!

I havent had time to fiddle more around with my blog. Im sorry if its hard to read. If so u can try highlighting it, then it should be easier to read. I had tried the background in a green version but u couldnt read it if the font was black, white, red, yellow, blue, pink... u name it i tried it. I think it has more to do with the type & size of the font. i've bolded the whole post, so hopefully that will help a lil.

As for taking pictures of the stuff i got in the city... well a few of the empty boxes of pocky got thrown out.. :( But the Tiramisu Mousse Pocky was great! Mousse means the chocolate/tiramisu bit is softer and more of it! yum! and hubby took the rest of his mens pocky to work to share /show with his friend. so that box is gone too, all i have left is the strawberry box, safely unopened!!!

Also someone got confused with truffles.
Did i mean fungi or chocolate? Isn't that cute! That person weirded me out when i said i got truffles and do we want to have them now. that person said they would like the truffle with something else.. (which i thought was weird) now i doubt u can buy little truffles for $1.50 each!! lol!

Thank you maria for pointing out to me the dinner with the iron chefs! (even tho it was like last week? when u did so) wow i'd love to go too!!! but $500?! for 7 courses! i said to DH if u take me to that i would eat every eel, crab, fish, duck, caviar and drink every yukky wine they serve with it (good no doubt but im not a wine drinker)! LOL! me?! eat that?! well.. yeah 500 bucks and cooked by those 2 awesome guys! gosh! And then the idea was tempting to DH. (well yes it would be to watch my face eating something fishy)

Thank you Tina for the fab award.. that has inspired me to think of new faces i can pull at the camera next time.. hahaha! :D

Did i mention this previously? not sure if i did or not. DH has been offered the spot at the general manager, his boss (the owner & current general manager/director) has been given awhile now to think about it, consider it.. DH just got a pay rise (we celebrated at maccas!!lol!) for completing a review of the company and since then he has completed the quoting system and is working on other databases too. This week he got put into the general manager stuff, hiring people, calling references and stuff which he is enjoying.
This means tho that i have to work harder at our project and do more drawing. (to learn) so i can draw for our project. *sigh*

thanks for all the help on the frozen milk. I appreciate it! I have found its ok to leave the lids on and all the milk in the bottle (they just inflate a bit) How do u guys defrost it tho? It seems to take a few days in my fridge!

Blogger headache

Been messing around with my blog.. and have created a big mess.
Not sure if i have the time to fix it and complete it today!
apologies

Chocolate day!

Heres a pretty slideshow of chocolate day. Met up with Maria and her lovely girl! (whom Tia loved) Had chocolate at Max Brenners at melbourne central.

Girls had chocolate licks (melted chocolate and a dippy like spoon). Maria had a italian dark chocolate? i had a jave dark chocolate drink? and we both shared a chocolate & cinnamon babka with our girls.
Thank you Maria for you gift! I got this pretty oriental fan! (will upload laters)
Did some great shopping, got pocky, lots of boxes! 2 bitter cocoa truffles from patchi, a book of selected poems of Robert burns (for DH), a AFL bulldogs scarf (for DH), the 2nd manga in the rozen maiden series (FOR ME!), 4 candles from bayliss which were on clearance for $1 each! pretty white ones, magnolia scented (tho they dont smell much) for the bathroom. (i like candle-lit showers! especially good when i have a headache!) trying to think what else i got?.. hmm.. ah well, it was a great trip!
this is the big tourist attraction in the building (another old building)

It was awesome seeing shops in melbourne that i'd only ever seen in magazines e.g witchery, seafolly, calvin kleins... i didnt know sushi sushi was a chain sushi joint, i only noticed today that, its the sushi joint in our local shopping centre!

Been busy... really going to have to plan my days and what i need to do. As i have been playing to many video games lately. I've also had a odd week, its very rare i spend all day waiting for a plumber! (and not be able to get shopping, laundry done..)
I haven't done any exercise dvd's all week and i havent bothered to do any crunches either (which i did last week instead of the dvds)
and if i continue to do nothing i will keep this 'preggy' belly which i have kept for 4 yrs! argh!

Have u seen this woman?

Last seen: In the kitchen

Crime: Writing down every food/drink thing in the kitchen, organizing dinners for the week, organizing the pantry, fridge and freezer and cleaning the oven.

Reward: how much does organized crime go for these days? (lol!)

eva tape

thats funny it didnt publish what i wrote after the video.
just wanted to say the tape is a spoof is PG rated, not that funny but its meant to be. good to see the hype turned out to be a spoof.

ahh i see now..

About the plumber, they said there had been a misunderstanding with the appointment, the plumber thought it was a different day, i think his wife/partner/gf rang up or maybe his secretary i dunno but he said the same thing that he was running late, screwed up this appointment from earlier today.. wonder if they would have been so polite if the plumber turned up on time and i wasnt even home? hmm

So we had macdonalds for dinner last night, hubby got a pay rise! and thats how he wanted to celebrate?! lol!!!
DH been very busy doing alot of work at home! They had a consultant come in for a week and then write a report on suggested changes etc.. i didnt like the guy very much, he wore a pink shirt on his 2nd day!!!(i think thats gutsy, I personally dont like pink shirts) the thing is, his name was James! (same as my hubby) and me & DH know all about people with the name James! They are sneaky, sneaky people (still very nice tho). (i also have a brother called james, (the twins) but i think that james is the nicest out of the 2 boys!)
anyway.. hubby made his own report in 2-3 nights (at home), 36 pages long! All nicely formatted, very professional! And everyone at his work was blown away! The next big thing he decided to finish at home all last weekend was a excel sheet aka 'quote system' when DH was stumped he was surprised that i could follow some of the math formulas.. (i suck at maths)
I did get some DDR done, DH was keen on it.. and i chose a song that i hate (and terrible at) by accident and sucked.. and it wasnt the same without going Vs with hubby (we have Tia sit down at the side, she is happy to watch the screen and i know that she is in one spot and hasnt wondered off) so then DH gave into my sookyness and we did vs and i got my first C grade! YAY! (all the other times we have gotten D's) then with the last credit DH decided he had to beat my C grade.. he didnt tho :p but good to see he had fun.
We got home and our feet n legs were killin! OWWW!

EVA LONGORIA SEX TAPE

grr.

well, yesterday was a waste of a day. I had planned to clean up in the morning and have lunch then wait for the plumber to come at 1.30pm and then go out do some shopping for dinner and DH lunch then come home and walk down the road to the laundrymat and do a load of washing. That was the plan.. and i thought i'd be able to get away with it.

But happened was i was still waiting for the plumber to arrive at 4pm! I got a stroke of genius (after maria called) They had called me on my mobile to arrange this time and i just had to look up the number from my recieved calls list (pray it wasnt a private line as the number doesn't show) and so i did that called up and politely asked if i had the day & time correct as the plumber hadn't arrived... the lady was very nice and i kept getting put back on hold and off as she talked to someone (obviously talking to the plumber on a diff phone) i had, had enough waiting around i was happy to change it to another day.. but she insisted that the plumber was still in the area and he would be 30-45mins away.. oh joy.. the plumber came around 5pm and left around 6pm (it was a easy job of putting new washers on the bathroom taps and changing something in the toilet so it would stop running, jobs i could do myself i could be bothered to learn how)
meanwhile DH came home and figured why i was in a foul mood. Then came the art called 'dinner'.. truly dinner is a art form.. getting it done, getting it right.. bleh! sausages on bread was the plan.. only i had no bread, walked to the corner shop and they had no bread?!!! argh! so i got flour.. thinking i can make bread.. or something.. but to make bread would take a few hours.. i didnt have that time.. so then i thought.. i can cook the sausages for dinner tomorrow and have the nachos for dinner tonight! yay! i am saved! thank you brain! That will teach me for not planning the meals.. i really need to get back into the habbit of doing that!

So today has been busy.. Been out shopping, had lunch, found presents then remembered ive got milk and meat and how long have i been walking around? had better get back home and put them in the fridge!

Got home, and im pretty sure i got the wrong size underpants for Tia, perhaps she will fit into them in 1-2yrs time.. or maybe they just look big? I wrote a letter to my former emplyers/doctors/workmates from the doctors saying we had moved to melb, DH was working doing something he loves, getting paid heaps (rub it in their noses, since they didnt believe it would EVER happen) all very polite.. and then it got to the bit of what i am or have been doing in my life.. and like usual i was uhh... oh crap! 'still a stay at home mum, pretty busy not sure what to do next' is what i wrote! I have been thinking of studying but my <3 isn't in it yet.. (i had to send a request for our medical records to be sent to our new doctor, so i thought i'd write a letter and not be complete snob) Thats done and mailed..

Also had to grab some cordial and bread from the corner shop as i had forgotten to get them at the shop. Did a load of laundry down the road.. thought about going to the arcade (for DDR) but by the time i had hung up everything and changed it was 4.30pm, bit too late..

Im trying a new daily moisturizer.. i couldnt go past it for $11, i couldnt resist the save $11! when the garnier ones were $11 save $4! so i think its working, considering the past week i've been up til midnight-2am and the rings under my eyes are looking better. HA! i've just been really into my book or video games lately!

Bleh! today i had kfc (which made me feel quite ill! half the reason i decided to go home from shopping without everything i needed) and now hubby wants to take me out to dinner, nothing to fancy apparently.. he said 'maccas is ok if u like', i dont consider having dinner at maccas a date! but it shall do.. and its across the road from DDR and hopefully thats still open! *cross fingers* YAY!!! So today foodwise is a huge blow-out.. i had better behave the next 2 days so i can eat tons of chocolate without feeling guilty doing so on friday in the city!

so thats what i've been up to, hope ur all taking care of yourselves.

@Tina. i think i remember u freeze milk, i was wondering if the milk expands heaps that u might have to empty some of it? or can u just put it straight into the freezer with the lid on and everything?

@maria. got the 3 frames working.. altho they lost their colours.. think i can retrieve ur widgets..

Whatcha been up to?

Well the weekend is over and its the dreaded Monday. (cleaning day)
Hubby spent almost all weekend working at home, i've been told this means he can come home from work on time this week and play video games with me 'party with you' was his words...
saturday, james got his robosapien media robot. I got a game Halo 3. Had a macdonalds brunch (the 3wk challenge of no fast food is over! yay!) and then went to a arcade/laser tag place thats usually empty (and it was) and had a go at dance dance revolution (DDR) what the? yeah i wasn't sure if you guys would know what im talking about.
id love to be as good as these guys, clearly they have to much time.. pros doing ddr

Malcolm in the middle, dad does DDR

and something more like my attempt

lol! this 5yr old ddr player shames me!

enough vids, you should have an idea now..
WOW! its alot of fun, i was laughing thru my attempt, strangely i forgot about anyone that may have been looking at me (parents picking up their kids from a laser tag party) because at least i had the guts to get up and do it! I was so sweaty and my knees were weak afterwards(had a few goes at it and did a vs with hubby) yes i beat him! haha.. and for 2 bucks we got 6 credits (theres 3 levels u can complete with 1 credit if you pass the level) some of the best arcade value EVER! lol!

answers

1) i feel for any woman who has difficulties or cant give birth naturally. :(
2) Did you get nice treatment in hospital?
- hmm, yes the day shift people weren't as nice, the night people were better.. i did like one particular nurse. Um, i was having problems with tia latching on and feeding properly the poor thing was starving and here i was with a case of supersized rocks of a chest when the milk came in. i think i over did the 'have baby on the nipple to make the milk come thru thing'. I avoided nurses and they avoided me, i found they scuttled around trying to be un-noticed. When i wanted help instead of pressing the button and waiting, i went straight to the main desk!! Where they all are gossiping while theres all those lights lit up.. there was a pregnant nurse in the wing also and the nurses would let her have a nap on her night shift. Each nurse would come in and see i was having problems and suggest a new way to feed, then the next one would come in and say 'why are you doing it that way?' do it this way.. and so on.
ARGH! I was getting tired of everyone walking past the public ward room and looking in at me, so i loved putting the curtains around, but then the day nurses would come in and put them back :( there was this mum who smoked and would just go out this fire escape door, but then she would leave it open or unlocked and this made the nurses really mad and they said it was a secruity issue . (i overheard it at night)

3)how big Tia was at birth? Tia was 8 pounds 10 or 3.925kgs and 52.5cms in length.
4) i know i said a scientologist could have envied the birth, it was still the most painful thing ever in my whole life.. i was just so wrapped up in my own la-la land! (i was determined to evict Tia!!! lol) i only pushed for maybe 20minutes, im guessing its much more painful if u have to push for hours, i couldnt imagine that! I had alot of people praying for me (besides myself) that the birth went well and that it was what i wanted and not so painful/long etc..

4) Facebook. yeah people are using their full real names much more so than on myspace. I guess it does make it easier to find people.

5) Eat and stay thin" from Joyce Meyer. I dont remember the full book, but her diet is from memory just eating what you need and nothing more.. healthy salads and stuff.. not low carb or anything else strange. Its more of a why you should look after yourself better, how to not focus on food etc..

6) Do your cupcakes (or cookies) have flour in them tiffany? Oh they certainly did! I'm not a fan of flour free cakes.. or egg free (or substitutes) cakes.(thankful that i dont have gluten intolerance and i feel for anyone who is and/or is allergic to chocolate!) My cookies had pieces of almonds and cooking chocolate and lasted 3 days.. and my cupcakes had uht custard in it as i needed to use it up. They weren't really 'diet' or healthy with the sugar and light canola so i added the protein powder and psyllium to rationalize it/make them give more of a 'fuller' feeling. I usually put psyllium & protein in pancakes and call em poocakes!!!! LOL!

7) skinny people trying to drop a dress size. i totally understand with the whole, they struggle with 10kgs at 60kgs! and here i am trying to loose 20-45kgs! I heard a add on tv while making breakfast.. think it was jenny craig. basically this chick saying she wasnt happy being a size 14 and now shes a size 8-10 she can wear bikinis! hullo?!! anyone can wear a bikini! Its just a self esteem issue! In truth any weight loss program will try to sell to you that you are fat and that you need to spend your money on becoming a acceptable public rake figure that can wear a bikini... On the other side, if you have 30-45kgs to loose you have a daily points of 20+ , however a person at 60kgs trying to loose the last 5kgs or more (depending on height and self esteem) has probably 10pts a day! and that i cannot imagine doing! (rough figures only, not exact.. my guess anyways) so i guess they do struggle in that their bods dont use/need much energy and therefore dont get to eat much or much sugar/fat etc. I can relate with the skinny people giving diet advice! The weirdest one i heard was eating frozen grapes, apparently very nice to snack on.

8) Scottish heritage- My pop is big into tracing the family tree, he has gone way back and traced em to peasants living on a lords land in scotland and late last year they went over there and (got lost alot) and checked the place out. English heritage- all i know is my dads grandma, uncles and aunts and himself live/came from england (on his mums side) and his dad was most definately living in england and also came over.. but thats as much as i know, no one has bothered looking up the family tree, dont have much to go on, myself. But i think the last name 'Fairclough' *shudders* speaks english enough, loud n clear! I've chosen to not keep in contact with my dad's, mum. My dad's dad died 10+yrs ago of a brain tumor. (i never knew him)

Thanks maria for sharing your secrets! ^^ i can relate to alot of them!