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!!..

Pomegranate

wiki page on pomegranate
Im curious bout pomegranates, so i bought one... but now dont have a clue what 2 do with it.. i think it was nigella?? that did a recipe, with the other summer fruits thing she did (a book or 1 show i saw, not sure..) but the colours were so rich and red! It was a feast for the eyes to remember thats 4 sure.

Sensodyne ProNamel Toothpaste

Bought it not soon as it came out (been meaning 2 blog it)... some ridiculous price $6-$7? from memory.
I was somehow suckered in over the whole 'acid wear' thing... but the taste (yeah i know its not 4 eating) is absolutely AWFUL (like berry i think)!!!!! (anyone like a barely used tube for free?) its gentle cleaning alright... makes tooth brushing in a hurry useless.. may as well had not even bothered!!

247 photos downloading....

This week i remembered to buy AA batteries... after much deliberation at woolworths, trying to remember the adds did the duracel bunny over take the everready battery guy or vice versa?? lol.. and then comparing the huge packs of 16/20something batteries to the price of the woolworths select? brand of batteries (which work out to be $1 each in a 4 pack) and decided on a pack of 16 duracell batteries for $16 or $17 which is almost the same (on special this week)

I am just now downloading the movies and pictures off the camera that were on it before the batteries died (all other batteries in the house for remotes etc did not have enough juice left to power it) The pictures go back to around august 10th-ish when Tia did not have a fringe (self inflicted) and now its almost time for a fringe hair cut for her.. soon she will have a straight fringe (kinda hard not to notice it being right in the middle of her forehead!)

Hopefully will get some photos out to family & close friends and post some here too. I need to get a photo of Alyssa smiling since she has been doing that for awhile now.. and i need to get a picture of our neighbours flowering plum tree/cherry blossom tree as it looks totally funky like the branches are pink sausages.. lol.. just masses of flowers!

We survived the gale force winds alright... had to move Tia's cubby house back on the deck a few times as the wind was strong enough to push it! Unfortunately the roof on the deck suffered some damage am yet to get the info over to agents.. my bad.. so busy, forgetfull and all..

Nori has gone missing, she did her usual rush out of the house at a time of oppurtunity (door opened or left opened) on saturday/sunday and hasnt been seen since. Hopefully she will turn up again soon, everyone keeps saying that cats do often go away for a week and come back again.. so hopefully she will!

Hubby decided to re-format our pc and has yet to put it back to how it was, with my login etc.. all our photos are on his portable HDD that he takes everywhere he goes.. otherwise id have a flyer out already with Nori's pciture on it.. *sigh* i miss my bookmarks i had on that pc also... u know how it is with computers.. u have everything set up just fine and then its gone... i dont have the time to put it back to how it was/how i like it

Ive been kiinda avoiding the laptop & pc as it seems the instant i go to post or comment Alyssa wakes up from her sleep!

Tia has had a cold and has a bad red mark under her nose from using toilet paper?!! to wipe her nose (and i gave her a box of tissues and the next morning they are all used and all over the floor in her bedroom... not happy!!!)

have to leave this here... as Alyssa is awake and wanting cuddles/milk/nappy/burping one or a few of the above..

Subway dumps Anzac biscuit from the menu Article from: The Advertiser

SEAN FEWSTER

September 22, 2008 12:01am

THE traditional ANZAC biscuit has been dropped by one of the world's biggest fast-food chains because it cannot be made cheaply and correctly by an American corporation.

Subway restaurants have stopped selling the ANZAC biscuit, which has been part of the nation's diet for 93 years.

Earlier this year, the Department of Veteran's Affairs ordered Subway to bake its ANZAC biscuit as per the original recipe, which is protected by federal legislation.

When Subway's U.S.-based cookie dough supplier could not cost-effectively duplicate that recipe, the biscuit was deleted from the menu.

Returned and Services League South Australia president Jock Statton said Subway's decision was "ridiculous".

"I find that bloody insulting," he said.

"So many companies try to jump on the ANZAC bandwagon and they were obviously trying to appeal to Australians by having the biscuits in their stores."

But Subway's Australia and New Zealand regional manager Brian Tap said the decision was not meant to offend.

"Our intention was not to upset anyone, but to show respect to the Diggers and the term ANZAC," he said.

"It's got nothing whatsoever to do with our product coming from, or being made in, the U.S."

Under federal law, only biscuits based on the recipe used at Gallipoli may be called ANZACs.

Mr Tap said the department gave Subway a "time frame" in which to bring its biscuits up to standard.

"For us to make sure our recipe is correct, it would be about six months' work for us . . . we made a pragmatic decision to delete it."

He said the ANZAC had been outsold 15-1 by chocolate cookies.

"Our supplier has already expressed interest in producing the biscuit,'' he said.

"If the community says it wants Subway to carry ANZAC biscuits, we will put a team behind it.''

Mr Statton said Subway should leave the biscuit alone.

"The biscuits made in Australia are the only ones that should be sold – money from their sale goes to the welfare of veterans," he said.

World War II veteran Jack Dickens said he would have liked to have seen more ANZAC biscuits while fighting in New Guinea.

"Soldiers who were issued an ANZAC biscuit would be most delighted," Mr Dickens said.

"Back in our day, getting stuff like that to the places we were was very difficult, if not impossible."

Very interesting.. theres a anzac biscuit in subways range??? i wonder how many other people had no idea that the plain looking golden biscuit was meant to be a anzac?

Rice bran oil spray & spread Alfa One Review

Been meaning to try the alfa one range of Rice bran oil products.. but the price and thinking.. well its not dairy, its not canola will it taste weird????? has usually deterred me from buying it...

See Rice Bran Oil wikipedia page

The Rice bran oil spread- is now my favorite spread! It doesnt exactly taste like butter.. and it is slightly salty! It passes the toast test! LOL! melts nicely, nice colour. Im wondering if most spreads/butter/marg have hydrogenated oils or not.. as the 'normal' one says it doesnt yet on the light version theres no mention or claim that it doesnt contain hydrogenated oil. I used some when browning some onions, it was quite alright for cooking. :) It also gets soft very quickly when left out of the fridge!

The Rice brain cooking spray- has no weird taste. Sprays clear (im used to the ones spraying white whether it was the cheap no-name ones or the old ww endorsed canola sprays) Not bad... nothing fantastic either.

The brand 'Alfa one' do u think its pronounced 1) 'Alpha one' or 2) 'All for one' hmmm

Birthday Girl! 8th sept

I had my birthday on monday. Thats right i turned 26!
I cant remember what i did other than the usual trying to get something cleaned in the house (floors or dishes), possibly tried to play video games, watch tia play outside and the usual hands-on little bub Alyssa stuff.... i do remember that Hubby didnt say happy birthday to me b4 he left work, i called him in his lunch break and he said that he was the first one to wish me happy birthday at midnight last night (while i was asleep and i grunted..) LOL!
i do remember that i started cooking dinner at 11am, meatballs... this was while Alyssa was asleep and i thought id make it easy on hubby or myself when it came cooking time later that night. (This interuppted and less sleep IS making me nutty!! Me, ok with cooking dinner on my bday?!!!! LOL)
At 4pm i realised i wasnt going to get my birthday present wish in time to make my own cake. (its the breville wizz mix professional)

So us 3 girls headed off to the shops to find a ready-made cake.. to my absolute horror (ok not so bad but still..) ALL of their choc mud cakes had "happy fathers day", "no.1 dad" on them!!!!! So i decided to boycott the woolies taste-like-packet-mix-fake-cake and go get a frozen choc bavarian cheesecake! Hubby left work 15mins early than everyones normal knock off time (he usually does 30mins overtime each day) to buy me a present.. so we met up, had coffee and went to find my present... however it was then somehow 5.30pm and the shops were all closing (as in kicking everyone out closing) Hubby said he was surprised i didnt want take-out to which i said yeah chinese woud be great! lol. So we got rainbow beef, chinese sausage, fried wontons, steamed rice & green chicken curry. YUM!!!!

mum sent me a giftcard & some cards she had made (no pics yet)
my brother rang me yesterday (a day late) to wish me happy birthday, thinking that he had the right date, lol.
also yesterday our gas meter got read, sure to be scarier than the last bill, for sure! EEP!! So might have to put my bday prez on hold?? hmm