Enough of the heat already...

So yesterday places here in Australia were hotter than the sahara, then kenya and so on... Im just thankful that i still live by the coast! Where there is a great breeze off the water and if need be theres the beach. (if i brave the UV rays, no shade etc)

Hubby decided i would be spoiled and at 11am we all headed off to the shops!Goodbye 27deg heat in our house ;)
It was much hotter outside! Hurrying off with nappies and formula supplies we went off to go shopping. Hubby decided he would look at water pistols.. i was more interested in the slime gun ;) only draw back is the expensive slime refills x.x

But we came back with none. James decided he'd had enough shopping.. we'd gone to myer (several times) in which we all came out smelling; James- Kourkos or something like that. I like frangipani (found some interesting body mists) and Tia like lime and coconut. I also found a pot that said perfume balm, but there was no tester. :(

When i got back at 3pm with the kidlets, it was 33deg cel in the house. It rose to 36 deg cels and then started dropping when i noticed it was cooler outside.

Decided to have a very early night, not even staying up to finish watching iron chef. I woke up at 5 am to a storm.. a few minutes later (we had our window open) there was a huge crackle of lightning and flash what seemed just outside. The noise was huge! I was pretty freaked out and checked outside to see if there was a tree on fire or something.. but everything looked normal.
Today has been a really nice day (max of 22deg c) with rain and storm up to lunch time. It was not until 10 had a break with the news that we found out that overnight or yesterday many lives had been lost, with fires burning in our state. :( I hope the houses lost were insured, that the people affected will go on to bigger and better things as they start over.

Happy Australia Day!

Hope youre having a good one!!!

Observations on how to celebrate being australian on Australia Day in our house:

-There was talk over wearing a aussie flag as a super hero cape & getting drunk (to a american xbox360 friend... Yes having a xbox360 is a VERY CHEAP OPTION FOR LONG DISTANCE CALLS/CHATS!!! ($299 console + $60 headset. lasts until 1) kitten chews thru headset cord 2)you have no broadband 3)xbox360 dies) so far the boys have had a few drinks... (but it is still only 5.30pm-ish here as a type!!)
it would be polish imported vodka they are drinking too.. lol.. shame its not the aussie made & exported sake made by Sun Masamune *link*( they usually drink. Go shu nama, Go shu blue & go shu... with the expensive Go shu 40 only at special occassions!)

-Someone had vegemite?!?! I found it left out.. not sure if someone just wanted to smell the australian spirit? lol!!! As people had for breakfast: cheesy baked beans n toast (boys), fruitloops (tia) and lite PB on toast for me. :)- Someone (no guess as to who eh!) had gone shopping and bought food! Coming back with the very australian.. wagon wheels, steak, white bread, frozen chips, some brand of salt n pepper squid and a box of beer battered flake... oh and the very cute finger buns in safeway today (4 for the same price of 1 at brumbys!!!!)So Lunch was steak sandwiches with white bread (tom sauce for me, HP sauce for the boys :/ yuk!) With the yummy rice bran butter or is it marg?! gah.. anyways its on special this week @ safeway 2 for $6 (save $2) and the oil is on special too $2.78?

I finally got a calendar for this year!!! Its actually a 17month calendar but those extra 5 months have long gone! (last year) Ive been eyeing it off at officeworks... i saw alike ones in k-mart etc but after christmas and the sales all that are left are boring calendars.. altho i did see a slow cooker recipe a day calendar you know the little ones the size of a post-it on sale at myer but still $20-odd! :/ and of course the day i had $0! ah well... ;) one that got away! hehe
anyways my calendar was $14.. it has 5 spaces at each day, stickers and a pocket for ("reciepts, coupons etc... lol) ive noticed it has international holidays marked on it e.g martin luther king & a coming of age day in Japan..

anyways have a good one!

Wrestling with time management.. etc

well..

wow..

its been awhile since ive sat down and blogged.. for me it feels like its been forever.. *fingers crossed this wont stay a draft..*

Ive been busy... and looking at that sentence.. i almost feel like its a half truth, (while trying to ignore my semi-dictionary mind telling me that is soo cliche) and boring. Seriously how boring would blogs be if all they said was "ive been busy.." or something along the lines of .. ive been absent, forgive me.. read me again.. i promise i'll try to be more interesting, more pictures, more often.. only for your concious telling you.. dont commit.. you can't do it.. nows not the time for a big blog project.. x.x And then for me i feel like i'm stuck.. in between what i want to do, what i want to achieve and what i know i can do.. and what other things take priority.

Which leaves me with time management..
and..
fessing up..
toTRUTH!

What do i spend my time on? Where am i most of the time?
(*insert noise of rusty cogwheels* as tiffany tries to remember what she did last week..)
hmm...
Well i cant recall exactly what i did all last week.. i can recall the weekend.. pfft! that is easy!
Saturday james and I played fable II. Alyssa had a good day but with a annoying trend of snack feeds at 5pm, 6pm, 7pm and 8pm before finally going to sleep.
Sunday james and i played fable II co-op doing the troll (like a very fat treeant), balverines (think werewolf) mission, spire mission (think evil gothic looking cornetto building). Alyssa had her annoying feeds, had a chicken satay stir-fry and the girls had a bath together.. it was hot and yukky..

but generally.. my week days..
i've worked out equal a load of washing every day. (not including towels or sheets)
generally some house work (not always the dishes.. as i loathe it..and put it off) my spring cleans i seem to be doing thru the weekdays end up with more mess as i dont always find a 'home' for something and i get distracted.. and it doesnt go anywhere....
Some relax time which includes lunch, watching the view or playing video games
do revolve around getting tia to and from kinder on those days..
do revolve around alyssa and whether she is happy fed, dry, comfy, entertained, cuddled and close by.. anything noisy waits till she is awake!!!!!!!
my weekends.. no housework gets done, i struggle to cook most of the time, generally do stuff with hubby games, dnd.. usually doesnt feel right either until we have all gone out to the shops together at some point during the weekend (even tho im trying to stop that 'want' as it ends up with blowing the budget and going on the evil (but not as evil as some) credit card!! x.x

lately been doing major spider killing.. and dead/dying spider avoiding.. i am completely paranoid. (i did wake up one morning and looked up to see a daddy long legs quite close to my pillow on the bed head bit.. too close for comfort!!!!) there was one daddy long legs (rather huge) that i never got around to killing as it was always on the move.. never stayed in one spot.. i did a dumb thing and watched it for a bit and then lost where it went.. i feel my spider woes make for a whole blog post in itself!!!!! EEP!!!!!!

What i'd like to get done:
Blog wise- New layout, colours, pictures, update side bits, twitter, visit & read more blogs more often.

Health wise- Manicure & pedicure, Wii fit every day, keep to planned meals, go to bed before 11pm no 11am and 4pm snacking on junk.. eating more salads (with help from growing our own)

House wise- Clean and organise and keep it that way! Kill all spiders, Work on folding & putting away clean clothes and not just have baskets of clothes everywhere.. Kill fleas in the house (where on earth did they come from??!!) start packing away winter clothes, blankets and wash summer stuff

Garden wise- Keep it weed free, grow grass back on nature strip, get my seedlings to grow bigger, get some lettuce & spinach seeds, encourage james to finish his backyard project, dig up a garden patch for veggies, get a lattice thingy for jasmine to climb, kill all red back spiders..

Family wise- have some planned outings, especially since tia is old enough to appreciate a trip to a zoo, movies or aquarim etc, more time with tia working on her sounds, counting etc. Get to church every sunday! Send out thank you notes (still), Stick to budget, take more photos & remember to upload it onto pc. find tia a dance class or activity to do with other kids. exchange details with the parents of tia's friends from kinder so she can play with them over the holidays

Christmas wise- organise & finalise meals/menu, organise sheets etc for guests, think about table piece, where christmas tree will go etc, find & do christmas cards, think about presents & budget, keep buying a few christmas food stuffs each week, Does anyone know a good whisky and brandy to cook with?????

Shopping wise- Stick to budget, buy only whats on the list, get some new shorts and t-shirts for summer, buy another fan for summer

hmm... think i will have to print this out and put it on the fridge!!..

whats ur opinion?

A few things have happened this week..

A ZIMBABWEAN man has been jailed for two years after he sold urine to residents in a mining town claiming it was cooking oil, according to state media reports.

i would have been pee-ed off (no pun intended) too if that bottle cost me a my precious half billion dollar note too.. (not that i know how much was paid for it) a gross way to make money... beats my entrepreneurship young years of selling bad perfume mixed with swamp water as perfume as a kid... not that i ever got to the door knocking. And not knowing about the legal age of working, insurance, taxes or anything i did try to start a kids-gardening service for weeding gardens at 20c a bucket (full of weeds) (we only advertised bout 4 houses on our street)

Taser guns are being sold in the same way tupperware parties are held in the us. So i guess the next crime wave will be tasering each other.

"Women are asking for it, and there is a lot of interest," Ms Shafman said of the stylish C2 Taser models that retail at $US350 ($364), plus a $US10 registration fee.

"The biggest hit seems to be fashion pink at the parties."

Sure, perhaps id buy one.. but then whats me stopping from going nutters and tasering some guy who looked shonky who walked past? is it really so much safer than a gun, what if something did go wrong? and if i was attacked would i be able to get it out of my handbag in time to save myself? whats stopping it from going off in my handbag? and could i legally taser a dog who wanted a piece of me? they could make a real small model for that for kids for that reason.. but then can u really trust the kiddie tasers not to come out during a petty fight over the remote control? the whole thing is scary if u ask me!!!!
Look at how good our dollar is at the moment! US$350= A $364 whoot!!! How good is the aussie dollar going!!! Hubby is wanting a special 3D mouse... and found while he could order it in from a aussie company for $120 he could order the same mouse in from the usa for us$40 even with the conversion, postage it works out much cheaper?! *linkie for page about 3d mouse with youtube video demo*Then theres the artist Bill Henson in deep-deep-do-do over his nude photos of a young girl and boy. Is it art? Yes it is art. BUT! In this age, alot of effort has been poured into protecting our kids, their innoncence, their vulnerabilities and its not like we need anymore kids or teens in the nude in photos... any child who had been abused in that way would be rightfully offended that someone could do the same and call it art, hang it in a gallery and get away with it!.. If it had been a painting perhaps he may have gotten away with it.. and for sure many nudes painted back thru time sure they weren't accepted by society at the time.. Those saying its art and portraying innocence and exposing their vulnerabilities, i dont believe it requires any talent to take a nude photo of a kid/teen to show that! I think its plain to see that in a photo of a teen fully dressed and under many layers of jackets, lol.. We are also in a time when sexualisation(sp?) of kids is banned in advertising material (and thats them being clothed!) and so u may as well say nude kids/teens are banned full-stop!

today we all went out bed and mattress shopping! whoot! we have 2 furniture places a walk away(not ikea) and then theres a 'bed specialist' place (likely to be more pricey) in the other direction. We found a good bed and mattress. The bed, tallboy and 2 bedside tables in a package was $699 (down from $999 apparently) Hubby also found a new, nothing special, but practical desk to replace the old one we have for $99 (that and he needs a desk to fit 2 monitors on so he can do his graphics stuff better) they are both huge whopping 22inch+ screens ones a old sony one the other is our nice flatscreen one that came with the pc.

Myer bargains!

We were recently blessed with myer giftcards. And its been interesting.
One bargain i found was men's trousers. Marked down to $30 from $60 with 50% off.
So i think we got 6-7 pairs of pants for $15 each! Thats insane, you couldnt possibly find trousers new at a price like that! 0.o I have been reminded that i shouldn't overlook the possibility of bargains found in myer! (especially, i guess at end of seasons!)

a big difference complete with kind scales

Went to the new doctors yesterday, was awesome! the same price=nil, but aircon, pretty, quiet a separate toy room for kids! lol! Nothing to fancy but soo much better than previous doctors!
i guess i didnt get it off to a good start, the doctor was quite friendly and had some sort of european accent, but i couldnt put my finger on which.. its another doctor with a unpronounceable name too! lol! altho this time not of greek origin.
what did i do? i tried to um bypass the pee in the cup pregnancy test, seeing as im 12weeks. he said we were 100% but he wanted to be 200%. So yeah i went and pee-ed in the cup, as you do. ho-hum.. lol.
while i was out, doctor quized hubby on previous pregnancy, twins in family(both do, but the higher chance one is on hubbys side) and how the Tia's birth went...etc
he asked me my LMP(last known TOTM). yay! i got weighed and height measured (kind scales may i add then the ones at home by -6kgs!*shock*) got my BP taken! ankles poked to see about fluid retention, listened to my heart beat and breathing.. so yes it was incredible. lol.. a huge difference! I was told that the ultrasound and checking at 11weeks is mainly for over 30's who have a higher chance of birth defects etc and it would be linked to alsorts of testing.. which im not keen on so i said id rather not have it, which he seemed pleased about. (i like doctors who dont give scripts and things that aren't necessary and just use up tax money)

My ultrasound will be at 18weeks. ;) which makes more sense now remembering back.. he didnt lie about when results would be back (2-3days not a week! geez! and i could use the pathology in the next room and not have to go to the hospital pathology.. always do your own research to what your doctor says where you have to go for tests)
i had a few chuckles with the pathology guy while my blood was being taken etc.. told him bout the old doctors mistake and he said he had a few from his old work e.g asking him to test a pap smear from a male and stuff like that.. lol.. he was pretty darn good at getting blood, with the strap and the poking in my arm no veins really popped up that noticeable, i dont know how he did it but (and i dont know how i managed to watch it actually go in) without super big blue veins popping out he just went in diagonally and filled 3vials of blood.. *felt a wee bit dizzy* I dont hate needles (unless they are the used druggy kind..*shudders*) but i dont normally watch the needle go in, the blood go out, since my year 10 immunization nurse told me to look the other way while she chatted.
Looked for a aircon, had the aircon condenser portable thingy in mind however the sales guy convinced hubby it would not cool down a hot room (then why would you buy it? for use in spring? whats the point?) and said that a different kind of portable air con $600-$800 models would cool down the house. *rolls eyes* im sure it would, but not keen on spending that much. We went to the shopping centre, had iced coffee and bought this whopper 45cm chrome floor fan from target. In comparison to our little desk fans this thing blows!! wow! last night it was too cold to be without blanket(and subject to the low setting of the fan) and to hot under the blanket, lol! what a conundrum! lol! oh and yay for more video games!
It was hot yesterday, its hot already today at like 8am.. sunday, monday and tuesday next week look a lovely 10degrees less hot! woohoo!!!!!

6 days till christmas

Yup! Its under a week to go now!! Gosh!!!
Hubby finishes work well thursday, friday he will go to work (get paid etc) but everyone is cleaning the place and then theres the work sausage sizzle party at lunch.. and then home?
For work people im making like the picture above altho they are rocky road christmas tree chocolates i will be making cherry ripe chocolate trees. I think its better to do the cherry ripe snack size in the choc mix along with some coconut & glace cherries. Im not sure everyone would like what they suggest; marshmallows, peanuts & turkish delight. I've never been a big fan of turkish delight! bleh! Hahaha *just thought of lion witch and the wardrobe*

oh noes.. theres even a song about turkish delight.. lol.. enjoy!



and another thing i cant stop thinking about. I love victoria secret shows! i like some of the underwear but seriously screw that i want them to sell wings! LOL! check out the star at the end worn by heidi klum.. I enjoyed it probably more this year (not due to the spice girls, bleh!) but to the aussie on the show our Miranda kerr.. i remember it was when i was in highschool that she entered the dolly model contest and won! At that age none of us worked or got enough allowance to buy the magazines to we were always in the highschool library reading all the dolly and girlfriend magazines! wow we were dorks!! giggling over the dolly doctor and sealed sections.. its scary to think back to that section and realise how many girls out there have no idea about sex, stds etc.. and yet they are being sexually active.. yikes.. anyways back to the show, the wings, the pretty long legs and long hair... hahahaha!! i thought the christmas section was heaps funny! lol! (its a shame not all of the christmas section is in that vid)

anyways ive got some chocolate making to do and perhaps i will make a cheese ball tomorrow ;)

a interesting time..

Been a bit quiet haven't i? I must admit ive been busy and having fun! ;)

My anniversary went well, hubby got a few hours off in the morning on friday so we could have breakfast together. breakfast was sooooo good! I decided The Coffee Club, yum. had a Mocha & a bacon, egg & cheese on a toasted focaccia bun for $9.50. Normally any breakfast that i didnt have to make is amazing, but this was really good. nevermind that it was a friday and the last day of Tia in childcare for the year, so we did have to wait until she was dropped off at 9.30!!! I was starving!

We then looked at jewellery shops and i didnt find anything i liked, but i did get my engagement ring polished and cleaned for $2. The guy who did it (typical blacksmith look) was cheeky and kept going on about how i must be gripping something metal alot to get so many marks and scratches. *rolls eyes* no i don't.. its just had 6 years of ME! lol!

I decided i'd get something nice to wear for the christmas management party that night, i've seen all the maternity clothes before in the other shops and nothing was dressy enough! So i decided i'd go to this shop called Big City Chic! lol! ;) The lady was so helpful, i couldnt stop smiling when she said i looked like a medium! nevermind that a medium in this shop is a 18-20. ;) i tried it on a nice white top with polka dots, black lace band under the bust and sleeveless.. it didnt look flattering, just a tad to big also. So in a hurry i decided on this black sleeveless top with the beads and sequins (the other one in the pic is a dress) Lots of room for a bigger bump later! ;) Grabbed another coffee (or in my case a cocoa locco) from gloria jeans and headed back with hubby till we had to split, him off to work and me back home.
Picked tia up and went back out shopping deciding that i need a new pretty hair clip, saw a few in diva but $2 bux more than i wanted to spend, found what i wanted tho in a different shop!
It was about time to leave or call a cab, but the line was busy! doh!!! So i walked in my normal joggers and when we almost go there i changed into nicer shoes, that i havent worn in completely! haha! Everyone was there, the girls and the boys in 2 different groups! lol! I had apple juice everyone else was drinking beers or some nice wine the boss had picked.
It was a interesting evening, a shame towards the end. So much food! gosh!

For drinks there were apparently the best ever prawn crackers & cashews. Entrees were spring rolls, prawn battered & deepfried on a sugar cane stick, prawn & veg rice paper rolls, pork balls and basil leaves and lettuce leaves! 1st course was satay chicken and rice, 2nd course was a interesting mild viet curry veggies and a bread roll to use as a dip, 3rd course was a DIY meat & veg fondue? lol! There were portable gas stoves with a boiling pot and we got little special spoons to place meat (chicken, beef, squid, prawns, fish, scallops) and a plate of veggies to put in & some vermicelli noodles and a nice terriyaki & sesame seed sauce. we were all quite full as you can imagine. (i didnt take my handbag so i had no camera! doh!)

It was awesome, i don't think i have had Vietnamese food before but this was great. then there was a fruit platter and later tea and biscuits but we never got to that, by then it was 11ish! Tia was really well behaved, the boss of the restaurant had a little boy around 5-6ish who was a real gentlemen and drew on the tables (the food is quiet messy so theres paper covering the tables) with her and played. she was upset at leaving, nevermind it was way past her bedtime!
It really was so kind of them to put that kind of a dinner on! gosh!

Also good news, i'm 9 weeks pregnant so i will go for my ultrasound after christmas, perhaps early new year since we come back on the 28th. james really wants twins! thats crazy! lol! I also chickened out of living thru morning sickness and bought anti-morning sickness tablets basically ginger and vit B6 in the tablets. I tell you what they burn they are so hot! have to get them down very quickly! They are working pretty well, however some things will make me sick whatever i take!
is it 1 week till christmas today? i still havent done any cards for family or sent any gifts to qld for christmas! My bad! Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Another great chocolate trip.. i mean city trip ;)

What a day! Im glad to be absolutely energy-less! :D
We missed our train that would have gotten us there on time, it seems they have put more trains on in the morning (as usually there was a train 1 hr after that one) so there was only a 15 minute gap between the one we missed and the one we got on! (which was waiting already) The morning was awesome! Windy, cold-ish and some light rain! What a break from the heat and sun!

Got in and waited for the other special people to arrive, read in a directory about the clock how it does this marionette opening thing on the hour. maria and jenna arrived and we waited for the clock thing.. and so was 2 different school groups and other tourists.. it was 3 minutes late! funny!Off to the usual chocolate feast place, max brenners. Jenna had a Popsicle fondue (very interesting!) Maria had a 1/2 or 1/4 strength cappuccino in a kangaroo mug, it has a extra pouch at the side of the mug where melted chocolate can be licked.(photo below) (Tia had a milk hot chocolate (which i didnt actually ask for, but oh well.. she can consider herself spoilt for the day) and a chocolate lick now $2.20 (gone up 20c)I had a dark chocolate mocha which was rather on the dark bitter side than i expected and a rich brownie(which the waiter forgot about til i said i was still waiting on it, she still did a good job remembering our order off the top of her head, how many times did we test her? lol).
Tia enjoying the ribbons from the presents Maria & Jenna gave us! Also wearing her funky necklaces that she got! *forgot to try out the torch tonight, will have to try it tomorrow. ;)Maria and I!
Presents i received. YAY! presents! =D Much appreciated! A Tea towel with christmas theme, (we have survived with only 2 tea towels all year.. lol!) a purrrty basket with mini christmas puddings inside, a good health magazine (which i thought would be great to read on the trip home, but spent more time pointing at 2 pages that were 100kj & 400kj with tia pointing out chocolate, chips, strawberry, cheese, sushi etc lol!) a sample of some special baby bath stuff and some stickers! whoot! ;)

A trip to krispy kreme while the queue was short picked up a chocolate glazed creme filled, to share with hubby.Breadtop for lunch! Wishing there was a local one! Love their little buns, rolls, donuts not keen on pork floss buns or chicken & mushroom donut lol! But they have alot of yummy stuff. Also decided to pick up for later. Some choc chip buns & some Red bean Mochi.Central Groceries? Is the asian imports grocery shop where i stock up on mens pocky and look at the daifuku & other mochi (made in taiwan tho, i rather either Japan or Aussie made.. picky arent i)
A visit to L'Occitane, came across a Honey Massage nectar.

Light and soothing. Blend of propolis, royal jelly and honey from Provençal hives soothes; linden extract and bisabolol extract calm and help reduce irritation. Natural honey aroma pleases the senses. Use as a comforting massage lotion or as a body lotion. Suitable for adults and children ages three and up.

On my wish list! Not oily which is great, i hate giving a massage only to get oily hands and think about how terrible it is for hubbys skin.. especially if he falls asleep. Smells good, not over bearing like some cheap stuff!

It was great day! In L'Occitane Tia was asked if jenna was her sister, lol! And after that Tia was very happy to call jenna 'sister'. Tia cried when went to go home on the train, she wanted her sister! lol! Very cute.

Now to get some sleep... Night all! ;)

Melting

Summer has hit! After months of nice cool weather and lots of rain we have had like a week without rain, and its been so hot!
The kind of hot weather that you wish you had a pool, beachside apartment, air conditioning or a car! Walking in the heat is a pain, especially with the flies! I keep telling myself i will be ok if i keep my mouth shut! That doesnt stop flies going kamikaze up my nose or full throttle at my forehead.. whats with those weird ones?

Today has been a Godsend! Rain! Storms.. all very pleasant, nothing very close, no downpours just a constant drizzle of rain!

Im not a summer person! In fact if i was a billionaire i would spend winter in the northern hemisphere and get a freaking white christmas and spend winter in the southern hemisphere!

Did you know dominoes pizza now has salads on its menu? Theyre like $7bux.. i wish they would just bring back the lite cheese! lol!

its only just lunch time and so far today i have eaten:
3 pieces of raisin toast, 2 pieces of peanut butter toast, pieces of watermelon, 1 choc chip cookie and for lunch 2 pieces of cheese on toast melted with satay sauce (my favourite) with the weather so nice i might have a coffee for the first time in ages!

hubby was sick saturday night, i stayed up till 2am just to make sure he was ok, knowing that if i slept he would probably wake me each time he had to race to bathroom.. heheh i thought i was the one meant to be vomiting?! lol! Tia and i spent the night eating pizza and watching the movie Elf, which she loved!
during the day when hubby was still well we went out shopping had iced coffees, did some ddr, enjoyed the air conditioning and bought a christmas tree and some LED lights.. its the biggest tree our lil family has ever had 91cms and cost $17.99 from k-mart on special! whoot! We got battery operated LED lights that are low voltage, which means they arent glass or going to break easy and Tia can touch them. However i was in a rush and it was only a pack of 10! lol! so we have this big empty tree with 1 line of lights lol! Oh and we have plenty of gadgets all hogging up power boards in this house so the lights running off batteries is awesome. If ever i build a house i will have power points on every single wall!!!

more yawns

so very tired. What a day!
First off, i got sucked into a interesting video game..
then we were off to get Tia and her hearing check done... that went well, until the end and Tia was more interested in playing with toys than listening for sounds. Turns out they are pretty sure she is very normal with her hearing.. but we can re-book if we want to attempt to finish the test again. No charge, so that was cool. Then we did some shopping out that weird way.. i was getting cold so i bought myself a jumper for $7.50 good thing one clothing shop was still selling winter-ish stuff!

Since i was walking past the doctors, thought i'd go in and make an appointment. When i got there, it was empty and the doctor was catching up on paper work.. hahahaha i thought wow! i bet i will get straight in! And yes i did! woohoo!

Did some more shopping afterwards, got some pre-school learn to write books.. i have looked at Tia's recent drawings (on the kitchen bench!!! grr!) and she has drawn/written the letters: p,b,y,m ??!!

Waited around for 90mins for hubby to leave & lock up work. had a coffee to wake myself up.. then tried out the new chicken range at macdonalds.

The new chicken deluxe burger, has a mix of iceberg & spinach leaves?, like a cesaer sauce and a interesting more breasty chicken patty that is crumbed, 1 slice of tomato and a slice of natural looking cheese. The chicken dippers are pretty tasteless, breasty.. the end result. If you want a chicken burger or chicken pieces go to kfc! 1 small chicken deluxe burger meal, a chicken deluxe burger with bacon & 3 chicken dippers will put you back $17!!!!!!!!!! Its expensive and if ur cravin kfc it is not even comparable!

We then got a new xbox 360 game, Assassin's creed. went and bought sake, checked the arcade but for some reason it had shut 1 hour early, so no ddr. Maybe thats a good thing, since im so tired lately.

thursday

this could easily turn into a very big post but here it is in short form!

1) Tia is booked in for a $85 full hearing assessment next week.

2) I went out shopping, i was going to do a big shop, get a home delivery BUT i forgot my re-usable green canvas shopping bags. doh! and also realised there wasnt any urgency for food anyways.

3) I found a nice new pair of black pants! they are quite odd in that the waist band
can roll done/up. no fly or buttons (or belt loops) they could easily be mistaken for maternity pants! (as they cover the belly if unrolled!) Theyre called 'bengal pants'

4) i decided i'd go to the hairdressers!!!! *dont die of shock there!!* (i dont like salons!) i sat down and waited, i knew which person i didnt want to get and of course i ended up getting that hairdresser.

5) i got shampoo, cut and blowdry for $32.. i did not think that was possible! ah the wonders of 'just cuts'!

6) the woman was brutal, it must be coz my scalp should be getting sensitive?, the way she dried my thick long hair ended up giving my hair knots which she would brush out.. OWW!!!!

7) its been years since ive been to a hairdresser. in that time i had a church friend who is a hairdresser, she did my hair for the wedding and when i won a makeover at a church raffle.

8) I visited DH work. He didn't notice my hair cut!!!!!! LOL!

9) We went out with Dh boss & his wife (who also works there as a boss) do you know any employer that is truly that generous?! it was to celebrate DH 30th birthday! We got picked up in their nice mercedes 4WD 6:15pm(i didnt know mercedes made 4WD) with lovely leather inside! Went to a italian resturant called Michelangelo's.

10) we had a garlic focaccia bread (that was round), they had marinated olives, salt n pepper squid and i tried some dukkah and turkish bread. tia had a kids lasagna and salad. Tia and i had pineapple juice and the others had some nice wine.

11)i had chicken parma, james had a steak..

12) they organized a sparkler in a scoop of icecream for the birthday boy.

13) we got dropped off around 10pm! it was a really good night, altho the men could have talked for hours and hours if we had let them! ;)

14) i had the worst night sleep ever!

DH 30th Birthday

it went well yesterday. I got a call early in the morning from DH telling me how his office was decorated with metallic big paper cut-outs of 30's everywhere, a cluster of balloons with the number 30.

Tia and i? well we were off to the beach, but we had to go to go-lo or reject shop to find a cheap bucket n spade for the beach!

Tia was sooo very happy and excited she was going to the beach! So i used a few times to remind her to behave.. or maybe i used it as a threat! hahaha!

We had to get home to order pizza online to arrive for DH lunch. DH asked me later how the pizza person knew it was his birthday and i said i had the name for the order as 'birthday boy' hahaha!

He had cake at his work that the boss's wife had made! (he bought home 2 pieces for Tia and i) I havent tried it yet, but its a orange and poppyseed with a strawberry and chocolate on top of the icing.


When we got home, i played some video games, cleaned the house, put tia in the bath. Then told her to get ready for DH birthday party and helped her into a cute dress. ;)

I put the bought yum-cha in the oven, started on a beef stirfry. I made sure we had some nice sauces for the yum cha, sweet chilli and plum sauce! I love my plum sauce. Unfortunately only the spring rolls did not contain fish or shrimp! Tia loved it, DH loved it. All good! ;)

I decided i'd do something light for DH birthday dessert/cake, i knew he was having cake thru the day, i knew i didnt want to be stressed or in the kitchen all day and i knew i didnt want anything 'heavy'. So i decided on a pav/meringue thing, i did have egg whites in the fridge BUT i dont have a electric beater, so i decided to be lazy and buy some nests all done! After dinner i decided to keep with the birthday cake tradition and so i put this interesting thing together with toothpicks, however they did crack it did hold altogether for as long as it needed to! I decided on caramel top n fill, since hubby isnt into berries that much.. he is a BIG caramel fan tho.
So i was surprised with Nestle top n fill caramel!(hadn't tried it before) i could pipe it! woohoo! And it tasted exactly 100% like the caramel filling from a bakers for caramel tarts or caramel eclairs etc. It was gorgeous! Its so deadly! I could so live on it! lol! only its not very kind calorie/fat wise! He blew out his candles, dished it out and put some double cream on top! yum!
DH got for his birthday: slippers with mario (a Nintendo character) on them(which he then told me he doesnt like slippers), A bottle of Galliano Amaretto & The godfather blackhand edition game for the wii. (he bought himself the game tenchu z for the xbox 360) and thats about it.

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)

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..)