im awful at coming up with titles...

While i could write non-stop bout things happening in australia today.. i thought.. maybe.. perhaps.. then i thought maybe i should write about what i've been up too... so i'll give it a shot ;)

Weve all had at least 2 rounds of the cold virus...

Hubby has been loosing weight, cutting back too much smaller portioned meals. I never knew a mans belt (as they gain weight) could hold such a time-line "i was here when we moved to melbourne, here when Alyssa was born" etc. Im happy for him, makes cuddling easier when its just 1 big belly in the way!

Tia has lost 1 front tooth and now the 2nd front middle tooth is loose.. so in 3-4 days she will be lookin' a bit weird with no front top middle teeth! She bought home a bean plant from school, its now in the garden! Wonder what kind of bean plant it is exactly...

Alyssa is up and walking (or "toddling" as we call it) She figured out how to open cupboard doors today! (argh!) She loves cups and tries to drink from them (doesn't matter if they are empty) She chases the cats (at baby speed) and squeals! (meanwhile the cats look scared) She finds them when the curl up in the sun on the floor and mwhahhaha goes in for the attack! She has waved once and is learning & saying "ta" (baby for "please can i have it?" and "thank you!")

My pregnancy is going well. The baby is still pretty active. almost 8 weeks to go. Have my 1st hospital/midwife appointment this month. LOL! Yes i finally rang them up.. TMI- i have 'roids from hell (should be a title of a horror movie!!)
My feet get fat and puffy quickly. My right foot I've hurt, so when i step a certain way or something i get instant pain and then hobble for a hour or two... but usually its fine. My feet will love the relief when this bub gets out! I seem to wake in the middle of the night, needing liquid to drink & needing to pee.

Ive been having alot of Branxton Hicks. I find it hard to believe that some study could come out and say that Sex does not trigger labor... As i get fake labor pains (branxton Hicks) after being intimate... not to mention it triggered off the other 2 births! (i have a laugh when i remember scenes from movies where they with the BH/fake labour pains. think its the real thing, pack up and go to the hospital to end up coming home!) I like how the baby is where it is, i dont need extra effort to feed it, no dirty nappies and it doesnt cry.. it just disturbs my sleep! :) But i am looking forward 2 getting my body and bladder back to myself, the 'roids to go, my feet to not get so puffy, fit into normal clothes, not waddle and loose the reflux & heartburn bleh!! :)

so thats bout it from me... i havent done anything interesting! Not even reading (listening to the kids read their books) at tia's class, as Alyssa has the cold.. and a 11month old can't cover her mouth when she coughs. (not to mention alot of the girls can't keep their hands off her, not kiss her cheeks etc..)

Alyssa will be 1 soon!!! (still blue eyes!)and um we still plan on having Tia's birthday party... even tho that was back in may??!! :)

Stay Swine flu safe ;)

oh and thank you 2 maria for the award!! I w

Off the boob..

Just thought you might be interested in a update..

Im happy and sad... Its just like last time too (with Tia now 5yrs old)!

Ive breastfed Alyssa for 6months and 2 days. What was different this time around is Im Pregnant and my nipples r sooo sensitive.. also Alyssa has had a 4-5pm bottle every day since she was 5months? Tia however went from all breast milk to all bottle. I stopped with Tia as i was Over the leaking thru the night, leaking thru the day, leaking during feeding.. messy side of breastfeeding...
This time my supply seemed to even out or even drop some days i suspect due to falling pregnant. So i had a earlier relief of that wet feeling!

On saturday morning I got the WORST bite from her i screamed! It was sore all day (preggy sensitivity not helping) I put off feeding her breastmilk till the afternoon.. i felt her go for a bite and took her off.. I put it off again till the 5.30am sunday feed and felt her go for a bite and took her off & put her to bed. (she did feed one side and apparently that was enough for a hour) Each time the fear would build up more and more.. ive gotten thru fear of baby on my nipples alot with Alyssa a few times now.. but enough was enough. (Alyssa hates the nipple shields now lol)

So im happy that i no longer have to hide away in a parents room to feed her.. happy that she could even go to occasional care.. you know just that relief knowing if im not around (like out shopping) she can be fed by anyone (minus tia)

Its also pretty cool as Alyssa is awesome at holding her bottle. Her hands would pinch, scratch and be sooo busy when i breastfed her.. for a long time i would have to wrestle her little hand/arm as she liked to push my boob like she was holding a bottle.. not nice!

She is on some pretty expensive :/ formula at the moment..its nice this time around that she isnt on the cheapest formula like tia was (from memory it was a nestle tin)
Alyssa is on "s26 gold alpha pro. 0-6months" How on earth do they come up with a name that?! Whats so Gold about it? (besides the amount of $gold u spend on it!)
Anyways the biggest downside is we all HATE the smell of it! IT SMELLS LIKE VOMIT!!!

Alyssa may have vomited maybe 5 times when she was on breastmilk. she was awesome (unlike her sis who didnt have reflux but just the normal lil spew with burp) However now on formula she does puke after a feed.. probably due to the fact that once she has finished her bottle she is up on her tummy (and sometimes hands and knees) getting around on the floor. :) So that probably is the cause of it..

That's right, Alyssa will be crawling in a few days. At the moment she is awesome at "comando crawling" (on tummy using toes to go forward) shes had turning around while on tummy down pat for awhile now too... lately its been alot of up on hands and knees rocking while sometimes a hand might move or the knees might move just a little bit..so shes taken a few one-off crawl steps.

5 quick confessions

Time to fess up 5 things about yourself, what youve done this week, month, year or your whole life.. and then tag a few friends!
I tag: Maria and Johnhohx

1) Im afraid i never taught Tia to pick up and put away her toys after she finished playing with each single one... so her room goes from bombshell (not a inch of carpet to be seen) to cleaned up. I often get annoyed on how 'clean your room' means to her go play in your room.. instead its better if i stand in the doorway and instruct her 'pick up all your clothes', 'now pick up all your books' etc.. it drives me nutty. i feel for the pain i must have put my parents thru for 17years about my room!!!! rofl

2) i cant stand the amount of money spent on the cat. Biscuits, kitty litter, kitty milk, toys, mushy food in foil packs... registered the cat for $30! Have to take it to have the rest of its immunizations?!, wormed weekly.. i suppose its not all that bad!

3) Im lazy when it comes to laundry. I dont check pockets, i dont check that everything is the right way out (i will unravel hubbys socks so they get washed) i only separate the laundry into blacks and colours (whites go in the colours) anything new and coloured gets washed in with the blacks first, im lazy but not silly!

4) when im bored, i just troll online news sites.. even tho i could be doing the dishes, ironing, mending clothes or toys..

5)Seems every 6months i go thru a chocolate crackle thing.. altho i loathe looking at the block of copha!

KFC Chicken Melts

picture taken from this blog found via google and it was the only one..
Hubby had it when it first came out and ive seen people eating them every so often in the food court.
KFC chicken melts is: a large tortilla, chopped shallots, chopped tomato, grated cheese and a few pieces of popcorn chicken. I have never actually seen it served with the cheese actually melted!!!!!!!!!!(only in pictures) Its pretty sucky, overpriced and a huge mess to eat. Its a tortilla folded in half and then cut into 4-5 pieces..

Heat Rash

A heat wave had hit melbourne.. and it was a few hours till my mum and sister flew in/took the train and arrived. This was Thursday.
It was a easy 30 deg plus day, Tia and i walked at 9.30am to her daycare, then a 20min walk in the path of the sun and no shade to Hubby work to drop off the brownies i made the night before(which he forgot to take that morning) *which i had a sit-down and cool down in the air con* and then walking 20mins back in the other direction to the shops. At about 1.30pm i left the shops, walked home in the heat. 2.30pm back out in the heat 10min walk there and back to pick up Tia.
Trying to clean the house, organize bedding, towels, pillows and other chores.. before doing another 10min walk to the laundromat at around 5-6pm *still baking hot* ordered some hot chips from the shop next door and sat in the h-o-t laundromat for 45mins before walking home again, resting my feet and still trying to de-clutter, clean and organise the house..
and then i saw a huge blotchy blood red patch...
argh instant stress!!!!!!!!!!
My heat rash was on the back of my leg just above my ankle.
My heat rash, is only itchy after waking up in the morning from rubbing on the sheets. Im what 23 weeks pregnant, not far along. But it was the first day or so without taking a few cold showers thru the day to cool down, wearing long pants... usually on hot days i do nothing, stay inside, with cold baths/showers to cool down.
My heat rash looked heaps blotchy, bright blood red. it was really strange. I had no stiff joints, neck, headache, no new cold symptoms. (ruling out anything nasty) i only felt sick due to me stressing over it all.

Day 2 of the heat rash it had gone from blood red to a wine, magenta colour. It was going down. However with walking for 6+hrs shopping locally even in air con. (my pants must have been rubbing the back of my leg) I noticed a faint pink blotchiness that eventually went bright red later that night.

Day 3 was a trip to the city in the afternoon. The first heat rash had dulled even more. The new heat rash in same spot just different patches.. slowly turning magenta. This day was filled with 3-4hrs walking in melbourne, (melbourne central, bourke st mall, lil bourke st, down to flinders st station, then over to southgate and back to flinders st station)

Day 4 was beach day. Old rash still hanging on, light red. New rash being stubborn and magenta. Got cream. paraderm was apparently a good cream for itches, bites and heat rash but has been dis-continued. *no where had it* So mum bought me the new cream, thats supposed to be the same called Medi Quattro First aid cream.

Day 5 was yet another scorcher in the heat wave. stayed home till 2pm and then walked 20mins to the train station to say bye to my mum. poor tia was so hot her face had turned bright red. i decided to take it easy and rest in the air con of the shopping centre for a few hours.
Both rash had gone down a bit more

Day 6 1st rash is a slight orange/pink can hardly see it. 2nd rash clinging on tad magenta pretty dull.

And by day 7-9 it had completely gone.

where have i been?

Busy playing tetris with my mum on the 360, out shopping and showing off all the lolly and the lincraft & spotlight stores among everything else shops we have locally.

***NOTE if anything doesnt make sense and i dont use grammar and everything just turns into 1 big sentenance with sp mistakes its coz its damn fracking hot and the laptop is like typing on a heater. so deal with it. i might be nice and come back when the melbourne heat wave is o-v-e-r. my sympathy to all those in S.A****

umm so anyways i'll have some pictures up tomorrow when i have control of the pc.
i'll let u in on my rash... digestion.... horray.. err

and probably rant about china locking down tibet and making it impossible to get any info out of the area or pictures on any human rights abuses and so forth. come on china, u need not hide it.. we already know ur as guilty as O.J simpson and getting away with it.. olympics anyone????? PAH!!!!!!!!!!

first night

So yes, as thought by maria. Nori Nori had been reduced to Nori. ;)
I have pictures (1 un-blurry one i think, gosh cats move faster than toddlers even while stationary!) and videos, ive been lazy and asked hubby to upload them onto the pc.. which hasnt happened.. plus he has taken over the pc with a few new games..

First night was interesting. We decided that Nori wouldnt be welcome in our bedrooms, on the account that cats have claws and we have a airbed! and not in Tia's room as the possiblity of smothering Nori by accident or something.. But Nori wasn't happy being left all alone, she knew where we were and meowed when we went to bed. I woke up to the sounds of Tia talking, which meant obviously that Tia had woken thru the night and let Nori inside her room. Woke up James and yup, sure enough Nori was in there. Nori meoowed and i heard Tia's door open and close again, lol! Nori was put outside the bedrooms again and meowed again.. but i guess stopped as i did fall asleep again.

Nori is a big sook, she loves attention, puts up with Tia following her everywhere, plays with everything. My shoes on the floor have been attacked, the inside of the flyscreen door has been scaled, climbing Tia's organza curtains has been attempted and foiled. The curtain in the lounge room have been attacked, no kitty-toilet accidents, she purs and pads like non-stop sometimes, ive got a few puncture marks from that on my belly. I am so thankful for lounge cushions!!!!

Its interesting having a kitten, or a pet in our family again. One that is toilet trained and doesn't stink (unlike our mice, rabbit)

WTH & attacked by a bird

Ugh! yesterday was a ugly ugly day!!!!!!!!!!
The pet shop did not call us. We expressed our interest in a kitten, were told we could not even put a deposit it on the kitten until the vet saw it on tuesday. But our name and number were recorded into the shops daily journal to call us straight after the vet had come/gone.. THAT THE KITTEN WOULD BE OFFERED TO US FIRST.
However i went out on wednesday to see a sign saying our kitten had been sold. I thought perhaps it was gone, somehow... or perhaps it was coz our name was down for it.. never recieved that call for the kitten.. not even for the others. that's right they had all been sold come thursday! Hubby argued with the pet shop staff that night. I was coping that ok my kitten has gone, but theres still the other 2.. but then being told
THEY HAD ALL BEEN SOLD. I burst into tears. (which the pet shop lady was pretty upset about.. upsetting a pregnant woman.. pfft)
So friday morning when the manager was in, hubby called to speak with the manager. Legally the kittens have gone we were told, but they are offering us a discount on any other kittens, with a few new ones added today. Quite rightly i think the staff are in for A TON OF CRAP from the manager. Our kitten was sold right after the vet left, right from under us.. with the staff person not following their policy... and with the rest of them not following the policy.

SO PISSED OFF!!!!!!!!!!! and so is Hubby...

but anyways *i'm at the point were i just dont want to think about it anymore, i just feel so sick*

However, i still do want a kitten!!!!

on the way to the shops, walking..(earlier to kitten incident) i was attacked by a bird. walking under a tree, when i heard a bird noise in my ear and felt something touch the top of my head. I wont be walking under that tree again.. i dont know what kind of bird it was.. i think seagulls could possibly be nesting right now, i've noticed alot more of them more inland than usual.. it happens about this time each year. I remember hearing alot of gun shots when we first moved into the area, and i thought.. gosh this really is a B-A-D suburb.. but after a few shots and listening.. it was used to scare huge flocks of seagulls away.. err.... until they returned a few minutes later..
I'm glad it didnt draw any blood... when i was a kid. I was attacked/swooped on by a magpie and it scratched my forehead. i remember running home shit scared with blood dripping onto my school uniform, and being driven to school the same way.. looking out for *that* magpie. I was late to class, with something for show and tell!!!! For the rest of the week i was driven to school perhaps, and a lady who lived on that street would walk me past that area waving a newspaper in the air.

i am how old?

http://www.dayofbirth.co.uk/

Results for 8th September 1982 :

	You were born on a Wednesday.
	Your star sign is Virgo.
	The season was Spring.
	You are 25 years, 6 months, 23 days old.*
	It is 190 days until your next Birthday.*
	You are 9,307 days old.*
	You are approximately 223,379 hours old.*
	You are approximately 804,165,738 seconds old.*

angry and stinky

ugh. Yesterday, i decided to stop putting off doing the laundry. I rarely ever do any housework on the weekend. Not wanting to spend time away from hubby.. but i had put off doing the laundry all week.. and a girl only has so many underpants, socks and maternity-tops.
2 loads of washing and all of it in one dryer.
I had the whole place to myself, which isn't that unusual.. altho not having Tia around was..
The dryer is half way thru drying the clothes, where i get out all of hubby's work shirts, 1/2 dry. (i find that if they are dry and i squish them into the lil shopping trolley/buggy they get crinkled beyond the ability of my crappy $10 iron. So instead 1/2 dry/wet in the buggy and put on clothes hangers to dry)
half way... i'm very happy playing my DS.. still addicted to my new game.
when teenagers decide they will sit in the laundromat and smoke, all 4 of them. They were definitely under-age smokers. One a girl, didn't buy in straight away that they could smoke in there. But there is a smoker-fill-me-with-cancer-ash bowl that does get used. All 4 of them took up all the seats.. Oh and yeah did i mention they weren't doing laundry, they were waiting and then consuming their chips from next door.. even tho the chip shop has tables n chairs outside.

I wait for the dryer to finish playing my ds, outside the laundromat. As i can't breathe inside, its like putting your head right into a chimney.. my cold is easing up and getting better.. but with that much smoke... damn right pisses me off..
makes me ssssooooooooooooooo want to move out ASAP so i can get my own washing machine again! The lease is over, its now just a waiting and praying game of finding a new place..

i walk in to get the clothes out of the dryer and into the buggy asap.. they wanna look at my underwear go ahead.. do i care?! no..

I leave pretty upset, pissed off.. i stink!!!!!! I'm shocked, i tell myself that the smoke just be in my nose or something.. but no it isn't. i walk in and hubby says 'have you been with a smoker?' err and we can leave out my reply to that! :( My hair stank, my skin stank, my clothes stank.. i had to shower and wash my hair, i couldn't stand it any longer!!!!
Hubby says to me, wow did your hair stink! I am so glad your not a smoker!!!!

wee...wee..wee.. all the way home

Its not unusual to see the odd looking bum walking down our street... but 2 in a row?
and both at the fish n chip shop? yes i caved in and went back... theres something about salty foods and colds, i think salt is the easiest thing to taste when you can't taste much due to colds.
For whatever reason that is.

One bum with tatty cheap trackies was leaving with his order. the other was outside smoking. he looked okay-ish, as well as anyone in mis-matched old trackies.. whatever he was smoking, it was the heaviest ciggarette.. totally disgusting, i initially thought something was on fire close by. He was sitting outside but it was coming inside like a tide.. with each breeze came a bad funky smog.

We escaped the fog to the lolly shop. Ah relief!

And the lovely lolly shop lady is so happy to see Tia. I'd swear she had all boys! She loves to see Tia all dressed up!

Back to the chip shop. The smokey man is now sitting inside, waiting on his order still. We sit down Not far away...
oh my gosh that smells like WEE!!!!!!! Oh my gosh it is WEE!!!! Oh?!! IS IT ME? *think about Tiffany* So i think, Tia is fine, she is in her usual tutu which she has worn 4 days straight but shes very good at wearing undies underneath it.. surely if it was Tia i would have noticed earlier?
Is it me? Ok yes, i admit the extreme coughing fits i'm having lately and the sneezing from my pregnancy hayfever do make me go eep *crosses legs, tightens muscles*, i take it as a daily reminder to do pelvic floor muscle exercises. But no this is not the smell of tiny little bit.. this is the true smell of a bigger problem...

The man gets up to receive his order and walks out.. the smell goes..

So it wasn't me at all.. i should have known.. for true if it was me, i'd surely have smelt it all day?!!! I walk home with a smile on my face....

a smell in the kitchen

and before you start wondering. No its not a good smell.

I go thru the crisper in the fridge and check the fruit n vegs on the bench. my crisper is small so not everything can fit.

And im shocked. Going thru the kitchen yesterday. Checking all the fruit n veg and heres what i found.
The pumpkin ive been to lazy to bother roasting, was going to make muffins, scones or something with it instead but never got around to finding a recipe or how to do that. Its gone off a bit around the bottom. Bye bye pumpkin!

i admit to buying discounted banana's intending to make banana bread. However 2 bananas are fully black, squishy, wet and smelly. Ive saved all the good ones, peeled them, bagged them and put them in the freezer. Its something i might try to get to today. I noticed that it has gotten rather juicy (had them up on top of the fridge/freezer) which meant i was able to ignore them for a bit too long. Some dark brown dried lines indicate its run down the side.

I keep looking. The smell is still there.

inside the fridge, the watermelon i bought 2 weeks ago. It looks mostly fine, no smell. However one side looks like its frozen. I've found out previously that watermelon frozen doesnt taste great, and even in cling/film wrap watermelon either goes completely watery tasting or absorbs fridge smells and tastes like as if you ate the fridge. Not great.

now i'm checking the cupboard. And it doesnt smell great in there.

oh my. I check my discounted brown onions. None are off, soft or otherwise. Despite being old-ish.

I hesitantly check the potatoes. After all theyre 2 weeks old. I bought them full price.. they couldnt possibly be... oh. man that smells bad. Thats the smell. 2 potatoes have gone brown-ish, slightly mushy looking. stinky. I grab the ones that dont have stinky brown juice spots on them. And throw the rest, im not risking that rinsing the still good potatoes with stinky juice will take away the stink. the discounted potatoes i got just recently are fine.

Clean all those juicy-ish spots up with a dash of bleach. And Now my kitchen doesnt have that odd smell. Horray!

awake and quizzing

As seen in maria's blog You Are a Sprinkled Donut

Flamboyant and flashy, you're easily distracted by shiny things. You're definitely a snazzy number, and you usually catch everyone's eye in the room. And you've got the goods to back it up your colorful image. (Though too much of you gives people a stomach ache!)

What Donut Are You?

if im catching everyones eye, then im not noticing it ;)

Pepperoni Pizza

Robust and dominant. When you go for something, you go full force. You tend to take control of situations easily. And in return, you get a ton of respect.

What's Your Pizza Personality?

ummm, me? dominant? hmm...

You Are a Chocolate Chip Cookie

Traditional and conservative, most people find you comforting. You're friendly and easy to get to know. This makes you very popular - without even trying!

What Kind of Cookie Are You?

and because im still up and somewhat addicted... the same kind of cookie

You Are an Excellent Cook

You're a top cook, but you weren't born that way. It's taken a lot of practice, a lot of experimenting, and a lot of learning. It's likely that you have what it takes to be a top chef, should you have the desire...

Are You A Good Cook?

awwwww isnt that nice..

You Are 65% Passionate, 35% Compassionate

You are very passionate, especially when it comes to love. In fact, it's sometimes difficult for you to tell between love and lust. You jump in head first, and figure things out later... usually when it's all over!

Is Your Love Style Passionate or Compassionate?

Your Inner European is Swedish!

Relaxed and peaceful. You like to kick back and enjoy life.

Who's Your Inner European?

oh lol

i cant sleep

picture courtesy of baby-gaga.com Im up to week 19 *linkie*

im off instant coffee, i have been for ages now.. and im proud of that and saddened too. I love my coffee!!! However i havent ruled out the occasional iced coffee. But today, doing the groceries i decided to bring home a 2lt bottle of iced coffee flav milk. And i've had hmm 3-4 cups.
Today has been a busy day had about 2hrs in the afternoon to sit around till i had to make dinner and all that. Alot of walking, in the blissfull cool rainy weather.. not that my feet agree, no my feet want new shoes ;) i agree with my feet, however i did agree more with my bump! My bump requested i get more tshirts to wear as err being lazy, busy and i guess both.. i will wear my normal clothes around home that bug me as they dont fit my bump, the maternity tops i wear when i go out.. and well not wanting to pay at the laundrymat to get 2 t-shirts washed 3 times a week they get well..

stinky.

ew.

there i said it. not grubby, no stains.. just that sweat smell, various perfumes smells and not so nice smells... so yes i now have 5 tops to fit my bump. 1 is a winter-ish one with long sleeves the others short sleeves/t-shirts. That will help ease my uncomfortableness and laziness..

where was i?

ah yes. coffee and awake.. even after a tiring day, no naps, no lay downs, past my bedtime its 12:33am. Late. Late for someone who counts down the minutes some nights bored waiting for the magical 10pm! (going to sleep earlier is a problem) Ive got a constant weird frequency buzzing in my head, i cant stop thinking, and for some weird reason its like theres a loop as if a ghost was in our house typing away on the computer, but i dont believe in ghosts so i instantly think someone has snuck in and hid themselves in a cupboard somehow just so when we go to bed they can use our computer. WTF?! crazy huh! And ive got to pee again, why? i have a sore throat (coming down with a slight cold Tia had for a day or two, mainly runny nose but most colds start with a sore throat ive found) so im drinking alot water to ease it...

for a few seconds anyways.

and my lip has got that windburn, dry, split in the middle.. i get that sometimes. However lipgloss makes it pretty bearable until i smile.. x.x

Oh and im not finished!

Im trying to get to sleep, hubby has already fallen asleep he must have been really tired. He is so cute, talking dungeons and dragons (the pen n paper, role playing game) in his sleep. Which is great, much more interesting than if he talked about work. Its a nice change. Very cute. and guess who wakes up and decides to kick me, roll around and get into tight places or like give my belly button a hug? The baby as usual knows im trying to go to sleep (everything is all of a sudden very very quiet) and decides its time to play! >< One other thing annoying me and keeping me up is the xbox 360. Its on, its loud.. sure its not a bother during the day like most noises. But when everything is quiet... its LOUD! You know how some laptops can have that constant whir noise, the fan going and all.. well the xbox 360 has a few fans i think and one happens to be a big fan. i think.. its still on coz hubby is downloading games, trials, add ons to games we already have and stuff.. over a gig or so.

So i guess im waiting until i have to fight to stay awake until i go to bed. theres no point in staying in bed getting frustrated it will only take longer to get to sleep.

On the note of pregnant people getting advice from total strangers. When Tia and I were at the beach on monday, a old lady, english the obvious 2nd language. Told me that being out in the sun for a long time was not very good for pregnancy "Not long time for you here, yes". *rolls eyes* my instant thought was, WTH.. and then agreed that i was over being out in the sun, over the fact that sun exposure will bring out the zillions of freckles on my face that kindly disappear in the winter. or i just fail to see them unless they get really dark.

Pregnancy has been good, i mean.. at our shopping mall/centre currently is a group selling membership to paint balling! Of all things they ask me as i'm approaching if i'd like to play.. i have that uncontrolled reaction to reach for my bump. yes he got the idea.. realises that he was pretty stupid. LOL! and comes back with "does your husband play?" ARGH! lol..

Its now 1am, and i can hear what i think is bass (or someone head butting a wall).. meaning the new neighbors are playing music. ARGH! I met the new neighbor recently.
Within a day of them moving in, i wasnt happy. The teenager decided to have a big fight with some male, (brother? lover? friend? who knows) he was so sure she had stolen something.... she was telling him where to go and whatever else i have no idea/dont want to know.. all i know is that when she wouldnt let him in the front door he would go around to the back and to her window which is right next to our kitchen window. The mum recognized me as i was on my way home the other day, introduced herself as my neighbor, said she had a teen who runs away alot.. yadda yadda.. apologized for any disturbance or noise..

hopefully i can go to sleep soon..

A great weekend!

started on saturday, i was itching to leave.. early.. but no we left on time.
Got into the city, got off at central. remembered what street the hotel was on, william st! and that is errr where? all i could remember was flagstaff station (inconveniently closed on weekends) flagstaff gardens was opposite and it was north of chinatown. Hubby was happy and kept saying that if he saw the map where it was we would have no problems getting there. lol.. so it took some walking, some consulting of those handy map poles and a long walk.. but we got there
Darn the batteries are flat in the camera! Discovered this on the walk.. Went up to the top 10th floor.. ah luxury!!! What a room! and a real bed! 2 tvs.. hot chocolate, decaff, coffee all waiting to be used or taken home.. hahahaha
But wait... theres wine in a ice bucket and a ox of chocolates.. that wasnt planned.. lucky theres a card.. and gosh its a card from hubbys boss and his wife congratulating us on a year in melbourne!
I dont think we are still over that, how superbly generous and kind.. wow.. i guess the chocolates are for me? i claim them anyways ;) lol
After hubby has a few drinks we go and get some batteries, walk around the place. Checked out minotaur and the sanrio shop! Were im flustered is it being surrounded by hello kitty everything or the prices? $40 for a hello kitty shopping bag?!! i settle for a $8.50 lanyard for my keys and $8.50 on 2 hello kitty hair clips and 2 hello kitty hair ties.. OW! But wait ive already got $7 store credit on my HK membership card!!! whoot! perhaps every $10 spent i get $1 store credit.. awesome..
back to the hotel room with batteries, hello kitty stuff! and sore feet..
Thinking of dinner, not wanting to go far by now.. hmm lets have room service.. lol. never done that before! My lasagna n chips i felt ripped off, where was the belchamel(sp?) sauce? it was just layers of sheets n meat with shavings of parmasan(sp? stinky cheese) cheese. the chips, were amazing! No joke.. Hubbys fish n chips was whiting fillets bout 5 of them pretty small with chips, lemon, tomatoe sauce and some other mayonaise-ish mustardy sauce.
That night we watched foxtel for some reason.. and then went upstairs and checked out the small gym and the spa/pool.. and had a great time. Came back to the room and put tia to bed..
i got in our spa bath, but turned it off as it was noisy and im over the whole spa thing by now.
Into bed and asleep..

next morning we went to the queen victoria markets, which we havent done before. It was massive, always repeating and tiring. *yawn* we went pretty early and by the time we were leaving it was starting to get busy! i found a stall selling churros and got one for all of us... we then tried in vain not to get our clothes covered in icing sugar. doh! Found a stall that was selling fudge! OHMYGOSH! real fudge! And how many flavours?! crikey!!! I got one $3.50 caramel.. Watched the suga factory people make some lollies and found a present for the boss. Rock candy with the words 'thank you' inside.. it was great fun, some of the t-shirts were funny, but you can get those.. also got a awesome heat pack that once i saw was different to the ones u just microwave i had to have it! ;) And hubby has taken it to work today, to show people..

Then it was off to breakfast, magnation on elizabeth st, a games shop, chinatown and the crowds. I was disapointed, perhaps by the time we got there it was 12, last year i thought the lion dances were around 12-1pm, this year they seemed to be earlier. Still there was dragons, massive dragon and lots of lions dancing around and a crowd that followed them everywhere. Dont forget the loudness of the fire crackers ouch! The markets up the top were a joke. this year it seems they were mainly just from banks and boring companies.. the joke was that it being on the road. there was a massive amount of dangerous crowds pushed next to the markets so one lane of the road could be kept open for those to use the car park!!! i kid you not.. the space you get to walk/squeeze thru is about 2m wide. im so glad people didnt get trampled to death! we got out of that quickly, what i thought was quickly but we had not gotten far at all.. i was really pissed at how rude people were considering we had tia. So hubby stayed with our stuff and tia and i went off to get some footage of lions and dragons.. and fire crackers..
it was great, loud and im about to really get nasty at the next person who decides to interfere in my personal space.. as it turns out i didnt have too. Im watching kids making paper lotus flowers with a incense stick i was given when this lady does so and ends up wearing the end of my incense stick ash, stupid woman! It put it out alright, i thinking that might have burnt.. she notices on her red (meant to be lucky) t-shirt that it has ash on it now.. including the black ash.. i cant stop thinking of how dumb she was.. and glad that God gets his own back without us having to do anything..
we found the sonic manipulator guy, getting ready and straight up asked for his cd. i think he was kinda shocked about that, but i did say the next time i saw him we would get his cd.
after that we are walking back to the hotel and then to southern cross station to get a train back home. What a day! Used the heat pack on the train home on my back, hips and knees... got home and went and had a nap. Hubby woke me in time to watch the biggest looser, awww...

Happy Chinese New year weekend slide show

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

first time at smile box. Wish i had some more time to go thru all the designs and ones that would shrink my photos and stuff. but this will have to do.
Pics: Our room, the kitchen, the bathroom and spa bath, the upstairs big spa, night view from rooftop, view from big spa room, view out the window in the morning with a big balloon out there ;), china town chinese new year lion dance, chinese new year dragon, room service lasagna n chips $17 & fish n chips $34!!!, picture of mirror roof in elevator, lil finch birds in macdonalds in the city, sculpture that i studied in school thats in the city, a bottle of lovely local wine in ice and a box of chocolates a surprise arrival gift from hubbys boss!!!!!!!

Those moments

Tia and i are at the laundrymat (3 doors up from the 'lolly shop')

"Im hungry mum!" she says.
'of course you are' i reply sarcastically.
"Lolly shop mum?".
"Do you have your money?"
"Uh, no. Wheres my bag?!!! I can't find it"
"it must be at home then. Oh well. Can't get lollies without money. You should have bought your bag which has your money in it"
"mummy, how bout the money in your bag?"
"No, your money isnt in my bag"
"Oh.."

ROFL!!! I told Hubby that last night, and he thought it was great at the money in your bag bit.. and then loved my 'mummy' line that her money wasnt in my bag.

Everything is going up

Today on the news there was something about the price of bread, pork and lamb prices are on the rise! *sigh* We arent big lamb eaters and hardly ever eat pork, but bread?! Isnt bread at $3-$5 high enough lol! Sure everyone seems to be jumping up and down over interest rates, oil prices. Last time i looked Wheat was selling really well, which is great for farmers. I understand that to make and deliver bread they use farm equipment & big trucks which can be bought via a bank loan and uses oil.
*rant 1 over*

And rent, yes guess who got a call followed by a registered post letter about a rent increase of this crappy box thats 40years old?! With no renovations done (oh i forgot about the newly laid 2nd hand carpet they put in b4 we moved in) No backyard, No laundry, No room for anything to do laundry, the smallest hot water system i ever did see (fits in the kitchen cupboard!), the place were we had to deal with the prostitute next door, the weed dealers further up, constant bombardment of real estate letters 'sell now', 'such and such just listed', 'such and such just sold need more sellers', 'auction coming soon need more sellers', 'such and such saw such a place and wasnt what they wanted looking for more sellers' (i can live with that bit lol).
Rent has always been paid in advance, never been behind. So a rent increase, is great coz we have been trying on and off to get out of here for ages now! I know next door has been sold, new paint, new wooden floor in the living/dining area its going for $165 a week, just listed last week.
Ours will go from $130-$150 a week in 60days time.

"taking into account, factors such as increases in the landlords costs over the year, the current demand for rental accomodation in the area and the length of time you have lived in the property, we believe the increased rent to be in line with the current rental market value and fair to both parties"

Fair to both parties? I'm lost how any of those things make it fair to me? Are being penalized for being good tennants, not breaking the lease and staying for almost a year? (the only fixed thing i got them to do was the toilet as it was constantly running and we dont pay the water bill!)
Ive often thought of a bureaucratic red tape affair of the government valuing houses that they have to have certain standards like a good renovation or being less than 20yrs old stuff like that to moderate house prices, to throw a huge spanner into the market.. of course its not going to happen.. but seriously the crappy places that are listed at such prices is pretty insane. I guess there are alot of people waiting for the housing bubble to burst.. just how much longer can it go? How long will home-occupied owners be pushed out of the market coz of investors spending their equity paying off their mortages by pushing up rents that are 'fair to both parties'.
Is it fair to push up the prices because its harder to get a new place?

I seriously can't wait to get out of here and see how long it takes for someone to see this place and say 'yeah this crap box is worth $150a wk'..

I'm getting my saving boots on and we are going to save extra cash up so we can get the next good place i see with a laundry, a backyard, a fence and actually close to a school! ^^ We save up the extra to sweeten the deal with the agent by being able to pay more weeks in advance when we apply.

"please contact us if you would like to sign another tenancy agreement for the above property"

NO WAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY in HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Australia day

At least for the last 10 minutes left of today that is!
I hope everyone had a good aussie day! Didnt do much but shop a bit, got some birthday presents for tia (to put away til may) Cooked a steak sandwich for dinner. yum. It was a warm one today with rain and storm around 4pm, then it heated up again til 6pm when it cooled for the night.
Had a nice relaxing bath, followed by a nap in the afternoon. My feet are still itching like freaking crazy!
On the walk to the shops this morning we walked down 2 streets that someone had put a card and a little flag in each mailbox! I might be able to get a picture tomorrow.
Watched the Heath ledger tribute, 'Knights tale' and 'the patriot' (which is still on)
ah well i got distracted trying to find a good youtube vid of the knights tale, but didnt find any good ones. ;) And now its sunday!

oooooooowwwwwwww

My feet are bright red, well this morning less of my feet are bright red. Yesterday i decided it was a nice enough day to take Tia to the beach, not a scorcher day and not a weird day in between it was meant to hit 33-35deg cel. I normally avoid the sun completely between the hours of 12-3pm in summer but this was the beach and i figured by 3pm it would be completely low tide. as it was when we got there the tide was already going out, which is great. All the older kids and adults are wwwaaaaaaayyyy out there 25metres or so, and theres lots of sand banks where we go so theres lots of areas where its very shallow, about as shallow as her baths. It was great, she enjoyed it. Only walked off on the beach once too far away from me for my liking and only once went further out than i wanted her too. she made chocolates, sand castles, drew in the sand, played with a few kids..

me i tried to write down some sort of weekly organised plan of action and i bought my book along, sadly i wasnt able to read it. Anyways we were all sunscreened up, i was wearing a t-shirt and long pants. I didnt think i would have to sunscreen my feet, but in hindsight i really wish i did.
It hurts to walk, move.. i got about 4hrs max sleep. ive been dipping them in and out of water in the bath, last night i sat on the computer chair with my feet in the water... i think i'll do that again after this post. My feet are slathered in cocoa butter, ive poured vinegar on my feet, put lanolin on them only to think it was the worst thing ever for sunburn, i guess sunburn isnt a minor burn.

im certainly not going shopping today! The weather today is a nice brisk cool day with a chance of rain... im glad its not a stinker thats for sure!

*edited to add the picture of my very swollen and very burnt feet! Was taken the next day (day 2) The cocoa butter palmers brand wasnt doing anything for the burn or the pain really.
I got a seacret body lotion, cuticle oil and buffing block for christmas from mum n dad. (Yes i was dubious as i have been constantly annoyed by the sales people for weeks b4 christmas at the shops.)
But i put some of the body lotion on and pain was gone, skin soaked it up..

I vow NEVER EVER use any butter, fatty lotions on suburn ever again. Clearly normal mosturizers with a water content do much better at soaking into the skin and treating burns. i'd use aloe if i had a plant, id use a aloe gel if i had one... but im confined to the house with minimal walking as possible, i have not tried to put on socks or shoes, hopefully hubby can pick something up for me at the chemist tonight. i do have a Le tan, after sun spray. which i did use but it didnt do anything for my burns, perhaps if my feet were less burnt.

Night 2 i got more sleep, but did wake alot to re-apply cream, that and sleeping under sheet or blanket with my feet out is hard, im also a side sleeper which is hard to do at the moment *sigh*

Im on day 3 now, still quite swollen around my ankle. The burn is going down a bit around the rest of my foot except my ankle. Still painful to walk, stand, stretch.