Yeah, it is finally here, school has finished, the boys have just come home from a week at ski school where they learned so much, the presents are all bought and wrapped, the cards sent and we are nearly ready to take off.
Hope you all have a very safe and happy holiday period - catch you all in the New Year.
Washed the car
Wrapped the presents that I have on hand - need to buy a couple more tomorrow at the Farmers sale
Made my Christmas cards - now to write in them and post them
Made some Xmas letters
Got my haircut
Thought about going grocery shopping
Thought about doing some housework
Thought about updating my blog - I guess one out of three ain't bad. 
And man was it good sleeping in my own bed again on Sunday night. We had a wonderful time away without the boys, drove heaps of kms and enjoyed the peaceful trip. By night 3 though I was ready to be home really missing the boys. Mum really enjoyed her time with the boys too and everything went really well for them which was a huge relief as she is keen to come and do that again some time.
We took Mum with us to the lake on Friday night and she loved seeing what the boys can do on the water. It was very windy and quite cold so not ideal conditions for her, but I think she really enjoyed that too. Worst thing was with it being so cold you had to sit in the sun to keep warm so we have all come home with a decent dose of sun and wind burn and very tired. A few early nights required I think.
Finally we get the internet working properly again just as we are about to take off. Teacher only day at school tomorrow so we are heading down to Auckland early. It is my brother's 40th birthday on Saturday - yay looking forward to that.
Mum is coming back up with us on Sunday and is going to stay with the boys while Andy and I take off for some much needed "us" time. I wonder if we will find enough to talk about without the boys interrupting and fighting the whole time. A real whistle stop tour with a night each in Rotorua, Napier and Tauranga before heading back home.
So my blog will be quiet for a bit, but you are already used to that lately anyway. Have a good week and Happy Thanksgiving!
I love the internet and the ability to stay in touch and access so much information. But boy, when I can't get my connection is it frustrating! For 2 days now we have had incredibly limited access only getting on at 9pm. I need more of a fix than that! I ring my ISP and they say it is telecom's fault, you ring them and they know nothing - sounds like my kids. I want a reliable connection.
I have had a very productive wet weekend. Andy took Alistair over to the lake to throw down a bit more grass seed and add some fertiliser, the other two boys have been here with me watching tv. I managed to get stuck into Jo's circle journal and finished that, this is a sneak peek here. The second pic is a sneak peek of Gina's journal that I finished and passed on last weekend. I am really enjoying doing these journals, seeing all the different ideas and styles of scrapping is great and really good for my idea banks too.
It has taken me a while to get to posting about this, but now that everything is OK, I figured I would put it here. Monday last week Alistair was experimenting with a can of petrol and a cigarette lighter. He was in the section next door and had poured a small amount on the ground and lit it. The flame was quite good, but he wanted it bigger and decided to pour a bit more petrol on it. Big mistake. Long story short we ended up at White Cross where they treated him for burns to the tops of his fingers and thumb on his left hand. 2 second degree burns and the rest surface burns. For the first week we were up there every day after school for dressing changes and then this week everything is healed enough to have his hand out in the open. I rang my homeopath and I am sure the remedies and solutions to bathe in have really sped up the healing process.
Alistair now knows what happens when you pour petrol on an open flame and has learned a very painful lesson (I am so relieved that it was such a minor lesson). He also knows that there are many men out there who have tried similar things with varying results and that if he asks there will be someone around who can help him experiment safely. I can't get over how many horrific stories I have heard from all the adult men around me.
Hope you have had a wonderful day especially after having to listen to us sing happy birthday this morning. I know my brother and sister and their families were all heading on over to have dinner tonight, wish I could have made it too, but unfortunately that wasn't to be today.
Finally after this little organiser has sat on my desk in an unfinished for the last 3months I have got round to decorating it. I have been wanting to do this since I first saw Yolande's work in Up 2 Scrap. So much fun making this, I loved playing with all the paints and mod podge. My family does not appreciate my art though. Every single one of my blokes queried why I had painted over the edge of the paper and Andy really can't cope with the fact that the letters aren't stuck on straight. C'mon guys, I wanted it to look like that!!
The last few days have been so nice and warm and the bush of daisies up our driveway has been looking particularly good. I went out with the camera and had a play with the macro setting. I think I have a pic here of every flower in our garden. We don't have green fingers and the only flowers that grow here are very hardy ones that need no care.
"Dear Mrs B...
We appreicate your help. with making the candy floss you are skilled. You must like it better than housework. You won't beelieve how much money we raised $1057. What would you have rather done made candyfloss or go to the guy and stayed home. Without your help we would not have made 500 bags of candy floss.
Yours sincerely
Tommy B..."
"Dear Mrs B...
We very much appeciate your help. Was it a yum job? Well it tasted gretat at the Country Fair. Thanks for helping us we could not have raised $1057 without your help. Do you know me I am Alex. What I enjoyed most was stick in the sand.
Yours sincerely
Alex ..."
"Dear Mrs B...
I enjoyed rock climbing and bandey jumping. Thank you very much.
Yours sincerely
Lachlan ..."
"Dear Mrs B ...
Thank you for helping us with the candy floss you were a big help. Everyone loved the candy floss. My favourite part of the country fair was the climbing wall it was $2 for two goes. I thought it was $2 for 1 go on the climbing wall. We raised bucket loads of money $1057 that about 500 bags of candy floss!
Yours sincerely
Daniel ..."
What a wonderful day with glorious weather over the whole weekend. We had a huge turnout for Splash Day with a whole pile of new kids turning up. We managed to teach them a huge amount of water confidence with 2 of them going out on the tobaggan for the first time, it is such a reward to see their smiles of joy as they all come in having done something new.
Handicaps on Sunday morning saw lots of puffy eyes as we pulled them out of bed, I think it was too early for Nick as he didn't have a good slalom session. Ali though being the first skier on the water managed to qualify for the Nationals which was a perfect start to the day for him.
We have been looking for a new trick ski for Alistair. He has been struggling on a ski and just wasn't getting the tricks despite all the practice. Glen leant him his longer 42" ski and Ali was getting all the tricks - guess this boy is getting bigger. He and Andy were checking out the different options online yesterday and found the weight system was used in gauging what size to buy. Asked Ali to jump on the scales and he was 140lbs - yep all American weights because the skis are American too. I said to Andy that must be about what I am and jumped on the scales to check. I had absolutely no idea because I always weigh myself in kilos. Turns out my guess was way out and Ali has a bit of catching up to do or I have a bit of work to do! No more shirking on the workouts and no more sneaky packs of chips or the odd pie to reward myself after a big workout!
School fair is on tomorrow. Tommy's class is making candy floss to sell. I volunteered this morning to help make some of the 500 bags they are wanting. What was I thinking when I turned up in my good clothes? Well surely making candy floss can't be too messy right? Wrong! Check out the sexy suit they gave me, still at least I only came home with candy floss all over my face and not my hair and clothes as well. The kids had a ball helping to make this and catching all the bits that keep floating up all over the place. Do you have any idea how itchy it is when candy floss lands on your nose and you can't scratch it?
Anyway fingers crossed for fine weather for tomorrow so we get a good turnout both for the school fair and the splash day we are holding over at the lake.
We have been dealing with the frustrations of the rural delivery mail service over the past few months. We buy quite a bit over the internet and with the change of ownership of our mail run we are now mainly having to go into the main post office to pick up parcels that are "too big for the box". The previous drivers used to bring them to our door. Fair enough, but when we have paid something like $30-50 for postage in the first place then I expect to have the parcel delivered to my door. It is not like we are even miles out of town - a whole 7km from the very centre of town, and the area is now very built up - the city has now come to us. Andy has been working hard on the information mailer for our Nationals coming up, with all the email hassles we have had lately and the file not getting through it was couriered to us on Monday morning from Auckland. We received it in our mail box today - not a very good service NZ Post!
We figured it was about time that we were on the regular delivery schedule so we can have couriers come direct to us. This morning though we started to rethink. Tommy and I were having an early morning cuddle in the lounge when we saw something moving in the back yard - we take a second look and yup, there are 3 cows standing under our puriri tree - hmmm maybe we are still a little bit rural after all.
It is very quiet at our house at the moment. Nick left this morning on a school trip down to Auckland. They are gone for 2nights and get to enjoy all sorts of things such as the Zoo, ice skating, Rainbows End, and Waiwera thermal pools on the way home. He was so excited and upset both at the same time last night. He was really going to miss his family. That was a real 'aha' moment for me because I figured he couldn't wait to go - I was definitely looking forward to losing all the fighting for a couple of nights.
Tommy has been a real lost soul all afternoon and is really quite bored already without his brother to tell him off and annoy him and thump him at least a dozen times in the space of an hour. I know Nick will have a wonderful time, but we also want him to come back soon!
A funny sort of a day is Halloween. We had so much fun last year when we got to really celebrate Halloween in style while we were staying with Kathryn. She really got things organised for the boys with pumpkin carving
and all the decorations she had all round her house. It was also dark at 5pm on Halloween night so going trick or treating was really easy. Kathryn and I walked round with the boys with a glass of pina colada in our hands - so much fun. The boys couldn't believe all the loot they ended up with. We weighed the 3 pillowcases at the end of the night and between them they collected something like 12lbs of candy. We left most of that behind with Kathryn but boy I could sure do with some of those peanut butter cups - man they were nice!
I got a text from Kathryn tonight wishing us a happy halloween, but without you guys and all the American hype, it really just isn't the same.
Nah didn't think so. I have definitely been a major slacker with this blog of mine. Partly I have nothing very interesting to say and partly I couldn't be bothered!
Update on that car - yep it is a weapon and a real rocket - I love it almost as much as Andy does. When you need to go, it really goes and it stops on a dime as well. Sooo cool and others think so too. I was driving in town the day and this guy almost fell out of his car in his haste to get out and take a pxt of me in the car. Never had that happen before, cracked me up big time and I had to ring and tell Andy.
And I am getting the major bums rush at the moment because we are supposed to be going to the lake and I get to drive the new red beast - woohoo!
Catch ya on Monday
One of those really busy ones. I rang yesterday about a business opportunity available up here. Today, I went and saw the man and came away all excited. I have signed cofidentiality agreements and now waiting for more info. While I was signing those papers, my bloke is talking to his mate at the car dealership and buying a new car!!
Oops, gotta go pick up the new car, might get some pics up later, otherwise it will be Monday night.
Well it made me laugh this afternoon anyway. I went into the kitchen and there was Tommy looking for salsa for his afternoon snack in the fridge, what really got me though was that he was holding the Sky and TV remotes in one hand while he was looking. Gotta be a boy thing.
Nick came home from school really tired because he spent most of the day running everywhere. So why didn't you just walk? Because the girls were chasing me and if they catch you they kiss you. Just wait Nick, one day you won't be running!
Had a great time catching up with Mum and checking out her pics and hearing all the stories. The kids weren't very interested preferring to be outside running everywhere and throwing balls to each other. We did manage to round them all up for a pic just before we left though.
This pic is one Andy took of Nick this morning before we left the hotel and I liked it too much not to share it with you.
Mum gets back from Adelaide tonight so we have decided to head on down to Auckland and catch up with her tomorrow. I am thinking both Michael and Karen will probably be there too so it will be a great chance to see everyone again.
Yay, finally I am getting to the huge pile of pics that I have from our trip last year, 2 double layouts done so far, detailing being stranded at the airport, arriving in LA and how we spent our first couple of days. I don't think you will be able to read the journalling, but it is all taken directly from my blog, so that part was really just a cut and paste thing. I was also very lazy taking the pics and didn't take them out of the page protectors so they look a bit blurry, sorry, but you get the idea anyway!
A good friend of mine was complaining about PMS and yelling at her children. I had a real lightbulb moment and figured gee maybe that is why I was so grumpy with DH and the boys last week and took off for my girly time with Mum. Geeze all these years and it clicks. I am not going to ask DH if he agrees with my theory though, or I will never hear the end of it.
We have had a gorgeous day here and for the first time all week I managed to get all the laundry done and dried. That wind has to be good for something. Andy is talking about taking his hand mower over to the lake and doing a bit of tidying up, not sure if we will all go yet or not. If it is really windy it is a bit of a waste of time taking the boat. We will see what the morning brings. Although now I have got started I wanna stay here and scrap!!
OK here it is a sneak peek of the page I did for Donna's circle journal. Can't show you it all because it is meant to be a surprise for when she gets it back after the other 9 people in the group have added a page too. Very exciting now that I have posted it off and waiting eagerly for my next one to add pages too.
We keep getting little tempting texts from Mum who is on holiday in Adelaide at the moment, she has been cruising on the Murray River for the last couple of days. Couldn't believe the weather forecast this morning that said it was 35 in Adelaide - we could certainly do with some of that weather here.
Been back to the gym all this week and really struggling with my new workout which is a lot more cardio oriented than weights. I tell ya trying to climb 100metres is darned hard work especially after the 2weeks off that I have had. Today though I managed it after stopping twice for a breather. My thighs are definitely going to enjoy relaxing in the spa tonight!
I am convinced now - Tommy is a geek! This kid came home from school today super excited because he had homework to do. Some reading that he didn't have time to do in class and some math stuff that he actually asked the teacher for. He finished his workbook and told her it was too easy and could he please have some harder stuff so he could do it tonight! Man I nearly fell off my chair when he told me that. I don't know anyone who would ask their teacher for math homework!!! And I am writing this here because he won't read it and then I can't pass my hatred of that subject onto him.
I have been playing with my scrapping supplies today working on the circle journal that we are doing with the glam girls, lots of fun. I also purchased a small cupboard from Briscoes which perfectly fits in my 12x12 papers, still a bit more sorting out to do and I really need some of those paper holders. Last week when I was in Auckland by myself I did the rounds of the scrapping stores and made a few more purchases. I thought I was very restrained but there are so many gorgeous new lines out there. I also managed to catch up with Lianne at the store she is working at now Scrappin Downunder and managed to check out the new Bohemia range that they have. Wow the layouts that Lianne has done with this range look even more stunning in real life than they do on her blog.
The final store I visited I was browsing the shelves and heard this lady talking about her new baby, turned around and there was Trina with a very contented looking Daniel. He is such a cutie and such a laid back little guy who was quite happy to sit there while Trina had a good look round. It was great to catch up with both these ladies and to have a chance to congratulate them in person for making the new Design Team for Up 2 Scrap, the Kiwi scrapping mag.
Wow, two weeks away and my poor neglected blog is still here. Spent an absolutely gorgeous week at the lake during the first week of the holidays, perfectly glass calm water and cloudless blue skies just perfect for the boys to get a whole bunch of training in and me to relax on the shores of the lake with a book or chatting to the girls. Very pleasant.
The second week saw me taking off for Auckland after having completely enough of everything boy! I headed down and spent the night with Mum and then ferried her and her friend out to the airport for their 10day day holiday in Australia
. We started her holiday extra early by heading for a pedicure at one of the local malls. Mum's first experience of one of these and one she very much enjoyed.
The boys came down to Auckland the next day and we ended up spending the night on the wharf in the City. A great way to wrap up the holidays with a bit of luxury. Tommy picked up a tummy bug so he and I stayed home on Saturday while Andy, Ali and Nick headed back to the lake to help out with Splash Day. I really think Tommy's bug was more of an excuse so he couldn't go in the water! Little toad.
Sunday was Bathurst and the race of the season. We were really looking forward to this as we missed it last year with being away. We sat riveted to the TV the whole day only leaving during ad breaks to replenish the empty glasses. A great race which was very well fought out. Unfortunately the win didn't go Holden's way, but we were very pleased for Craig Lowndes to win anyway.
Now to the point of this post. Mum has pics of all the other grandkids but none of my boys, 'cos I don't like the individual pics they take at school. Anyway she has been hassling me for pics to put on her wall so I have been going through my stash and finding some suitable ones. Now to get them printed, framed and delivered before she gets back from holiday on Sunday night.
Oh wow, my baby is 9 years old today. Where on earth did that time go? He has had a wonderful day with a party with some of his mates. Unfortunately with it being the start of the school holidays a lot of the boys had gone away. Tommy is not a cake sort of kid and was not at all interested when I called them to the table for his cake. What he didn't know was that his cake is actually a 2litre container of icecream with candles in it. He likes that sort of cake!
I know I have been really slack the past week with updating my blog - sometimes you just gotta take a break. I am going to take a longer break now too. Andy took off to the lake this afternoon with Ali and Nick, while Tommy and I chill out here for the night. We get to gather some groceries tomorrow and meet up with them. There are definitely 2 other families arriving tomorrow too so plenty for the kids and the adults to do.
We will be popping back throughout the next two weeks but I probably won't get a chance to update here. Enjoy your school holidays!
Yesterday was a wonderful day, although I couldn't believe it when I woke at 6.30 when I could have slept in. Ali was a huge help to me in getting the boat all organised and his bag packed for an overnighter. Tommy was a lazy little poop and couldn't even get the change of clothes for the birthday party he had that afternoon despite me asking him 3 times if he had them - grrrr!
Towing the boat was not the big deal that I was worrying about. I think it is about the third time I have had to tow it now and although I won't admit it too loudly in case Andy hears it was quite a cruisy drive (shhh Kathryn!).
With all the rain that we had last week there had been a huge landslide at the lake right where our caravan was supposed to park, just as well it wasn't already there, otherwise the awning would have been squashed. Luckily Craig was coming up with a big digger anyway to distribute some topsoil and flatten out the bumpy bits and could very quickly move the damage. We had to leave before he was completely finished but Andy tells me although everything is very muddy at the moment it is all very level so tripping up in the middle of night now will be a result of the quantity of alcohol consumed instead of the lumpy ground - darn lost another excuse!
So two caravans are now at the lake, it was wonderful catching up there with friends again, I really didn't want to leave, but the lure of the empty house was too great. Today we have made Tommy's invitations for his birthday next week, been to the dump and done the groceries. Tommy was soooo bored and managed to talk me into letting him on my computer so I did a bit more scrapping and have nearly finished Nick and Ali's today you albums.
Read some blogs and came across Melody Ross I really like and admire the way this woman is so open on her blog. One of her favourite topics seems to be relationships and marriage - hers in particular. Her honesty in revealing the warts and all is so refreshing and really made me think twice about a lot of things in my life and marriage. At the moment she is compiling a book of letters to her children about marriage and how it isn't all fun and games and requires a lot of work to be successful and happy. I am getting all inspired and thinking seriously about writing down some of our history and what I have learned. Who knows one day the boys might appreciate it.
Should do a post. Too tired. Left it too late. Drank to many bubbles. Had too much fun enjoying the house with no one else in it. Then enjoyed the time cuddling Tommy when he arrived home from the party. Good night.
Andy took the caravan over to the lake late this afternoon. Original plan was to go there, drop the van and come back, but it got a bit late. He ended up taking Nick with him and they are going to stay the night. Ali had to go to his hockey prizegiving so missed out on the overnighter.
Tomorrow we get to get up early, hook the boat up to my car and drag it over to the lake, take a supply of food for the guys, and then get back to Whangarei by 3.30 so Tommy can go to his mate's birthday party. I am not looking forward to towing the boat as it is so big and heavy.
Over the last couple of days I have been very busy sorting and uploading all my pics of our American trip to Digitalmax. They have had a 3day special which really was too good a deal to miss. Andy picked up a whole pile of them today for me - plenty of material to scrap now and no excuses for not getting this album done! 702 pics uploaded so far which covers the west coast, across the top and the east coast. Just the pics we took from Florida back to LA to get uploaded now.
Ruth was round today and we scrapped again, can't believe this, 2days this week I have scrapped. Woohoo, Ali just got home and he was awarded the collegiate grade player of the year award - go Ali!
Walking past the local Thai restaurant in town yesterday I was thinking that would be nice for dinner tonight. Andy went for his weigh in this morning and put on a bit much so going out is shelved for a bit. I was still hanging out for Thai though so went through the recipe books and ended up making a meat curry and a vegetable curry. Andy and I loved it, the boys will eat all their breakfast in the morning!
Cruising through the blogs last night I see that Ruth has tagged me with list of 150 things you have done. Thanks Ruth :-) Still at least you might get a bit of interesting reading other than my dribble now.
Copy and paste and highlight the things you have done
1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
2. Swam with wild dolphins
3. Climbed a mountain
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid
6. Held a tarantula
7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
8. Said "I love you" and meant it
9. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen an eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was shit faced
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an expert
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Eaten fugu (pufferfish)
89. Had a one-night stand
90. Gone to Thailand
91. Bought a house
92. Been in a combat zone
93. Buried one/both of your parents
94. Been on a cruise ship
95. Spoken more than one language fluently
96. Performed in Rocky Horror Picture Show
97. Raised children
98. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111.Ridden a bike
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey
135. Selected one important author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone's life
Not bad about halfway - 74/150. OK, now for someone else to do this - I know Mel doesn't like to post unless she has something to say.
Here it is - the freshly showered (and dressed!), chuck the stuff in ya hair and try and recreate look. Didn't really make it, but I was pretty happy with the way it looked when I was finished. Don't know about the self portrait though! 
And this version is the end of the day "just folded the laundry and put it in the linen cupboard - now where do I find homes for all the junk I took out of the linen cupboard" look. Can ya tell how many times I have run my hands through my hair today? Heaps, and of course because I used heaps of product this morning cos it didn't work yesterday, my hair style has changed radically!
Wow, uploading these pics and I had 29 to choose from - my god and not one of them makes me look like the gorgeous creature I see in the mirror!!! Yeah right!
Called round to Ruth's place this morning all loaded up with my scrapping gear. We had a wonderful time chatting and scrapping. Can't remember the last time I have actually scrapped with someone not counting CC. Lots of laughs and before we knew it, it was time for me to go.
Now as for my haircut that I was going to take a photo of today. Well I put lots of product in it this morning and did what I was supposed to to make it all stand up, I thought it looked pretty good too. All was well until I saw a mirror at Ruths and looked at my hair - wonderful there was one bit that was standing up right on the top of my head, all the rest was flat. No wonder Ruth was laughing so much! Obviously I don't have the technique quite right yet. I will try again tomorrow.
Andy came home with a new bottle the other night - a very small bottle with lots of very tasty liquid inside it. Red Square Reloaded a very tasty vodka which is doing a great job on me at the moment. Woke up with a really stiff neck this morning and Nurofen aren't working. I need alcohol to do the job.
Got my haircut this morning really short this time. Getting quite sick of turning up at 6weekly chops needing a major overhaul instead of just a tidy up. Had to buy some hair product to make it stick up properly, if I can recreate the look semi decently tomorrow I might share a pic with you. Was planning on taking a pic today but it poured down here today and I was too lazy to get the brolly out of the boot so my hair quickly lost the 'just done' look.
How scary is it that routines are so important to our daily lives. Andy and I were talking about how we each go about the day and how one thing prompts the next. Boring conversation right! All came about after each of the boys had a shower and after 5minutes were all still standing there and hadn't even washed their hair. Yeah, the boys have a time limit in the shower so we can get them all through on one tank of hot water and still have some left over to wash the dishes with. Blah, I'm bored with this topic - very nearly deleted it but then you would have nothing to read, which would probably be way more interesting than this!
Had lots and lots of visitors this weekend - love that, especially watching my boys entertain the little kids that come round, they are so good with them. Andy and Ali took off to the lake and spent the afternoon dodging rain showers. Must have worn them out because Andy was in bed before all the boys tonight and I can hear him snoring from here. Might need another vodka to knock me out so I can go to sleep.
What is it with these things that can be seen really clearly at night with the lights on when I don't feel like dusting or vacuuming them. But in the morning when I try to find the very same things that annoyed me - they vanish! Man, I wish the rest of the mess would vanish just as easily!
I am a huge fan of extra curricular education and the all the opportunities that the kids get through these. I am not in the least impressed with what Nick has come home with in the last couple of days though. Unfortunately through recent local events the main topic of news has involved criminal elements. Yesterday these culminated and Nick came home and told of us his latest learnings. I really do not care what it takes to get to the top in a gang, and I really don't want my children knowing what it takes either!
It wasn't until this morning as I drove to the gym that it really hit me what we had discussed the night before. Andy and I had a big talk when I got home about what we could do about it. The options are hugely limited as it is at school that this talk is all coming from. Unfortunately there are no other options for schooling unless we either homeschool or send the kids to boarding school. Neither of these are really options. We reiterated to Nick our conversation from last night about talking about all the things, good and bad that happen at school, and being aware of what is right and wrong. Hopefully, with ongoing reinforcement we will instill the good, and limit his exposure to the bad.
Had a really good workout at the gym this morning and put a bit more effort into it than I have the last couple of days. Not quite sure who I thought I was cheating with the slack workouts. Anyway I get to the handweights bit and go to get my weights and the whole lot are jumbled up. OMG I couldn't cope with that. Found the weights I wanted and then stared at the mess while I did my routine. I just had to put them all back in the "right" places. I have no idea why this bothered me so much - must be time for me to get a life!
Yesterday after school has to have been one of the best afternoons we have had for a long time. My boys all really gelled together. They got on. They helped each other. They asked when they wanted something, and when one was being annoying and asked to stop they did. Ali and Nick locked themselves away and timed each other with their speeches that are coming up. It really was a pleasurable day and caused Andy and I to both comment on it. I hate it when they fight and pick on each other, it really hurts! This afternoon was nearly as good but we did have a few words. I hope all this lovely weather is bringing about a lovely change in my boys, man we could be in for an awesome summer!
In other news we finally got the septic tank emptied today - geeze that has to be the crappiest job out - yuck!!! Such a relief to have it all gone and to learn a bit about how they work - quite clever really.
I have been creating a little album for the past several weeks and then got interrupted with CC06. Finally I finished it over the weekend. There are 11 pages in the finished album but I will only share 2 with you.
Yep they are the photos I took when Steve and Marshall came up for the school holidays. The idea for the album came from the Big Picture Scrapping classes I am doing with Donna Downey. I went and selected a whole bunch of paint samples from Bunnings (cos they have the biggest ones). They still weren't quite big enough for my 6x4 pics so I glued them onto white cardstock. Punching holes and adding file rings and there you have a completed album. The most expensive part of the album was the photos. Neat concept eh!
I seem to have so many mini albums around at the moment and have been wondering what to do with them. When I showed Andy this one he suggested I send it down to Steve as a memento of their holiday. LOL, he must have been wondering what on earth I am going to do with all these albums too!
A huge big long sleep in, cuddles and pressies, and then cooked breakfast (by Nick), while he watched the rugby. He got lots of socks so he can now stop yelling at Ali for pinching all his socks.
We headed over the lake today stopping off to pick up some lunch on the way over. Ali and Nick both skied and enjoyed the calm conditions. I took over a pile of scrapping stuff and pottered around inside looking out the windows at the wonderful views. A couple of finishing touches to go and then I will share.
Ali has really been trying hard with his slalom skiing lately so we decided today to throw in a sweetener for him. When he can run his 58km pass "off the dock" we will give him the mobile phone he has been after forever. He has a bit of work to do yet as he is really only just getting into 52km. With the way he is growing and the strength he has though it won't be long before he is doing though.
Spent today tidying my scrapping area and sorting through all the bits and pieces that I have accumulated. Did you know that if you remove everything from the packaging you can save a heck of a lot of room. So the area under my desk now has more room, just have to attack the top of the desk!
I was reading Penny's blog the other day and she has an amazing series of tutorials telling you how to use RSS feeds. These feeds are great because they notify you whenever there is an update on a blog you read, so you don't waste time checking for new posts when there aren't any. Scroll down a litttle bit if you are interested, but very definitely a timesaver and very easy to do with Penny's instructions.
or is it? I have been having a discussion with a couple of fellow bloggers and the term "vernal equinox" has risen it's ugly head. I tried to give an explanation of my interpretation of what it is and ended up thoroughly confused. Somehow you can't get hand movements and facial expressions to convert into the written word very well. So I reverted to Google and found a whole bunch on "vernal equinox(es)". I learned quite a bit, equinox happens in Spring and Autumn and a solstice is what happens with Summer and Winter - exciting huh??
Been trying to find Fathers Day presents for the boys to give Andy. What do you get a guy that just goes and gets what he wants 2 days before the big event? I don't know either, so he can get the old standby - socks and pjs. Still the router he went and bought is probably much better than I could ever have chosen!
At long last, I have finally found our septic tank! Funny thing to lose huh! Well we don't have a mushroom on the top of our tank, so it really is potluck as to where it might be. The previous owners weren't being at all helpful in where the emptying point was. We had 3 different companies come and see if they could find it, but no such luck. The last guy suggested we get in a digger to find it - yeah right! The biggest problem is that we have so much volcanic rock around the place that when you test for it, you aren't sure if you have hit rock or the top of the tank. Today I found it, and the earliest anyone can come to empty it is Monday.
Awesome morning today. Got a text from my best non-scrapping friend and she wanted to go and get some supplies so she could get into scrapping. Woohoo, I have been waiting for her to get into this forever. We went out and about to 3 different places and bought the basics of cutter, adhesives, cardstock and a couple of pieces of patterned paper. Then we headed back home to make a start on her first page. She had to leave to pick up the kids before finishing, but only needs to stick everything down and her first page will be done.
No more windows done today, we have a ski club meeting tonight and I should be doing the accounts, but scrapping is much more fun than windows and accounts.
Glorious weather, we have had for the last couple of days. I have been so inspired with it, I decided to make a start cleaning all the winter grime from my windows. Man, what a yucky job that is. Probably wouldn't be so yucky if I did it regularly, but, that's not fun. Anyway our bedroom windows are looking a heck of a lot better now.
Andy has been puddling away in the caravan readying it for the coming season and installing the new radio he bought while in Auckland.
I have been working away on my circle journal. This is basically an album that gets sent round to various people and they all contribute a page or two. The circle journal swap that I am in is with the group of girls that I met at CC06 and formed the Glam Girls. We all had so much fun together we have decided to do this circle journal as well. There are 12 of us in the group so when I send my journal off, I won't see it again for about 9months. It will be very exciting to get it back again.
Here ya go Mum, finally posted my love letters. Yep, I know that if you were at CC then
you have probably seen an overload of all these love letters from Donna Downey's class and probably the Stitch it, canvas from Wendy Redshaw's class too. But, I finally managed to get these hung on my wall and the photo taken so Mum can show people what they look like!
Been lots happening this week, but I am stuffed if I can remember anything to blog about. We have just got home from watching Tommy in his school cross country race, he had a huge race, totally enjoyed himself and came home 11th. We are heading down to Auckland this afternoon for the weekend. Andy is after a car stereo to put in the caravan and has spied what he wants down in Auckland. I suggested we wait until next weekend and celebrate Father's Day as well, but no, he wants the stereo now, so off we go. Anyway, that is really just to let you know that I won't be updating my blog over the weekend either, 'cos I won't be here - hope you all have a good one.
I don't know how it has happened, but since returning home from CC, my scrapping stuff seems to have tripled in mass. Now I really didn't buy that much, but with all the finished and half finished projects and all the class packs, plus my bit of shopping there just doesn't seem to be much room anymore. I mentioned this to DH as I thinned through the book shelf to try and find more room. "You need your own room", he says. My God, I nearly fell over, woohoo, he gets it, now we can do the extensions and I can get an 'art room' just like Karens, and I can have lots of shelving units and desks to spread out all over. "Yeah", he continues, "it's always gonna be a mess, and then you can just close the door on it". Oops, major deflation!
Andy took the boys over to the lake today and Ali and Nick both had a few skis. I got to stay home and potter round. I started to really look at how I could utilise the space I have a lot better than now. Trouble is everywhere I look we have stuff. I am thinking that my project over the next few weeks is to start going through things and decluttering. Didn't think we had very much stuff after all the shifts we have done, I guess it looks more cluttered now because we are in a much smaller house than the last 2 have been
Some other really good news! I have been wearing a singlet only all day today! Woohoo! Yeah, that means summer is on the way, cos I don't wear singlets in the cold weather. Don't get frightened away Summer, keep on coming - we are ready now.
Didn't we look good! Thanks Debs for the awesome job in organising all our uniforms. We had so much fun at our table on Saturday night and we pretty much only met each other through emails in the two weeks leading up to CC.
The next night a few of us went out for dinner locally and then headed on up to the room that Kate and I were sharing for coffee and a chat. Our nice quiet chat that was supposed to end in an early night kind of got a bit waylaid and we had another midnighter. No wonder my eyes looked like they were hanging out of my head.
This last pic is of the hot water jug in my first room - I couldn't believe the sign on it and just had to get a photo!
Oh yeah, in my post on Monday afternoon I mentioned that my bag hadn't turned up, well it did finally turn up at 5pm when I could then show my boys all the goodies from the weekend. They were actually hanging out to see things by then - maybe the bag going missing was a good idea after all.After Tommy's welcome home I was wondering what sort of reception I was going to get from the other two. Nick was so pleased to see me and gave me a huge cuddle as soon as he jumped in the car. Ali was home when we got back and he greeted me at the door and gave me the pats on the back that mean ever so much!
OMG what a weekend, I haven't laughed or talked so much for ages! I got to meet so many people, some I have known through the forum or blogs, and others I met for the first time in Wellington. The classes were just the best - I learned something in every single one and as a real bonus got to make some amazing projects (most still needing some finishing touches). I got to meet my scrapping idols.
Donna's classes were so lively and fun. I also have the pleasure of being the only woman in New Zealand with a Fiskars drill at the moment, the cause of much hilarity.
Ali's class was my first for the weekend and what a great way to kick off, very laid back and easy going with great instructions so I could finish it off at a later date because I had too much fun in the class to get the work done. Simply beautiful projects and I am so pleased that I spent the time doing the homework to start with. It sure as heck means that I will finish the projects so I don't waste all that effort!
Cathy's classes were a lecture style of class. I have adored Cathy's style of scrapping ever since I first saw her. Certainly after her lectures my style won't change much but the pictures and the storeis that I scrap will. As she said this is a hobby it is supposed to be fun, so why not just scrap the pics that make me happy and chuck the rest of them in a photo album! Hear hear!
Didn't get photos with the other tutors, which was a bit silly really, maybe it was because they are Kiwis too. Anyways, I loved the Passport to Fun album I did with Nic, the colours are stunning and will suit my scrapping pics, Faye's mini album is such a cool idea and will be perfect for a snapshot of the year. The frame we did with Wendy was a huge learning experience for me, the first time I have used mod podge, awesome stuff and I even had to go and buy some today so I can play a bit more.
Good to be here, good to have a cuddle with my big bloke. Met Tommy after school and was told I was the meanest Mum in the world 'cos I wouldn't let him play with his mate. This is the same boy who was sniffing my computer chair last night because it smelled like me! Guess he didn't really miss me after all.
Can you believe that between Auckland where I hopped on a plane this morning and Whangarei, a short 25 minute flight, they managed to lose my bag! All my projects and the bits and pieces that I wanna show everyone didn't turn up. They figured it might be on the 2.15 flight, but given it is now 3.45 and I still haven't heard anything, I guess not. Just heading into school to pick up Nick from guitar lessons, and Ali from the bus. Will post more later.
Yay, I am in Wellington! Met up with Debs and Gwenda at the hotel this afternoon and we headed into Kiwiscraps. What an awesome place that is, it really is 'heaven'. We spent quite a while there just checking everything out and spending a bit of money. Back to the hotel and time to check out the bar -yep it works very well, in fact. Huge fun with these two girls, if everyone is as fun as these two are we are gonna have an awesome night.
In my room for an early night and turn on the TV to hear about the huge terrorist threat in the UK - scary stuff. Sure are pleased that I am out of the skies now - especially as we are oh so close to the UK!! Yeah right!
OK, now I am off to bed, a huge day tomorrow - bring it on.
I got my sunnies back! Thanks Kathryn, you're my hero. Cool, Andy ordered a pile of stuff from America and Kathryn being the angel that she is posted it all over for us. The package arrived today and inside were my sunnies that I left behind after enjoying myself far to much one night.
OMG Tommy is growing up. This morning I noticed he was wearing a watch on his right arm. I asked him if he could read it alright, yep, he can, it is 8.08. Oh good, I say, most people wear their watch on their left arm. Yeah, well, he replies, "I'm right handed." Andy and I looked at each other and cracked up. This afternoon he arrives home after school and announces that he beat up on some kid on the way home because he went psycho and started attacking him. Fortunately he hasn't learned to lie yet, and his story of self defence seems to stack up.
Started packing all my bits and pieces for CC2006 today. Can't believe that it is finally here and that at 11am tomorrow I will be getting on a plane - woohoo excitement plus. I am taking my laptop with me, but who knows whether I will get to update here or if I will be too busy having lots of fun.
Sorry haven't blogged for a bit because all I can think of to write about is CC06 and that has to be getting pretty boring if you aren't involved!
Went to the gym this morning after having yesterday off, and then home to wash my car. Yay, finally we have a gorgeous day again. I love blue skies! Even managed to get 4 loads of laundry washed and half dried. Racing round with last minute CC bits and pieces and trying not to forget anything.
Have been listening to a CD I picked up in the weekend called Break it Down a compilation album with so many cool songs on it. Quite laid back and chill out music.
An awesome walk! We had so much fun and talked non-stop for the whole 10k. I think it rained the whole way with periods of light drizzle. We had an awesome support crew in the way of my blokes who drove round behind us and gave us cheek and took lots of photos. I think we did pretty well for a couple of first time walkers and we finished in a time of 1hour 45mins and 8seconds!
Got home and jumped straight into the spa pool which was so appreciated, man did I need that partly to warm up and partly to soak some tired legs. After lunch I had to lie down and dozed off for a bit. My legs are beginning to ache a bit now, maybe I need another spa, or maybe just an early night.
It is pouring down with rain. It hasn't stopped raining all day. Watched the weather forecast tonight and there is a heavy rain warning for Northland - 200mm expected tomorrow morning in Whangarei! My 10km walk is scheduled for tomorrow morning - I guess we will get wet. Yup, we are still going to do it, well at least start out and see if we can cope with the weather. Update and probably lots of drowned rat type picture tomorrow.
When I turned on my computer this morning and found that CC06 will be underway this time next week, I was very excited, so much so that I had to yoohoo out to my boys and tell them that I wouldn't be here this time next week. For some reason they are not on the same excitement level as me - strange - must be a boy thing - or possibly a scrapper thing!
We got a delivery of meat today that Andy had ordered online. Very exciting, until we opened the chilly bin and the very strong smell that came out was not very pleasant. Turns out the meat was packed with ice packs on Wednesday and couriered overnight to Whangarei. Then it sat until our postie brought it round this morning. I really can't believe that when they saw it was a chilly bin and our phone number was clearly displayed under the address that they didn't ring and tell us it was there if they couldn't deliver it till today. The meat company is going to chase the couriers and send us another pack.
What is happening here? We have been hounded by telemarketers for the past few weeks. I have had enough of these guys now! Yeah, I know our 5 calls a week is a far cry from the 5 calls a night that our good friends in LA were getting, but hey this is New Zealand, and we don't do telemarketers! Great hilarity at our dinner table tonight with the caller though. Nick answered and thought the women was asking how Ali's toe was, so passed the phone to him. Ali listened to her spiel and then couldn't answer the questions so passed the phone to Andy. He listened for a bit, said "No thank you, goodbye" and hung up. Tommy nearly fell of his chair he was laughing so much.
Ali had his toenail dealt to today and is so much better already, just has to wear his sandals to school for the next couple of days. He was so not impressed when I suggested he wear socks with them.
Picked up my photos for all my homework and classes today. Just a couple more pics to take and one final bit of journalling and then I can relax! Julie came round today and we went for our trial walk in preparation for Sunday. The weather didn't co-operate and we got a bit wet, sheltering under trees and verandahs with Mitchell in the pushchair. Lots of fun and the time went so much quicker with someone to talk to.
Andy took off to the gym for the second morning running - he is really getting into this and enjoying what he is doing.
Ali brought home his school report today and oh my god - what an awesome report! He received rave reviews from every teacher and ended up with a principal's award for his efforts. To cap off a great day for him he played hockey tonight and scored a goal. To make it even better this is one of his "Today You" days for my homework so I have the photos to document it now too.
Is what my oldest boy told me today when I announced that we had to go to McDonalds for lunch so that I could take photos to go with my Today You journalling for CC06! Yeah ok, maybe it is getting a bit desperate, but with that pic I am that much closer to having my homework all completed. Typed up all the journalling today. Just another 2 days to do for Ali and Nick, then that is all completed. I know I don't have to do all 3 boys, but didn't want to leave anyone out, and that will be my project after the event.
Nick is crook as a dog at the moment and can hardly move with a cold/flu, we just dosed him up with a lemon and honey drink with a nip of whiskey, so he should sleep well tonight. I think he will be home tomorrow. Have to take Alistair to the foot clinic because he has an ingrown toenail that he had just let us know about and it is hugely infected. Gross! Doncha love 13 year old boys!
We headed off to the Lake today with friends, as it was such a gorgeous still morning. The lake was like glass and just perfect for a slalom. Here is Ali having his first ski of the season. The water temp was 15 degrees, so not too cold, although he certainly appreciated a hot shower afterwards.
I went and did my 5km walk. I took Sarah's babies with me, man, I am very pleased that I will not be pushing 18mth old twins during our walk next week - what a work out!
I have been tagged by Karen thanks :-)
4 jobs I've had:
Owner and Branch Administrator U-Bix Northland
Mother
Secretary to Mayor
Typist
4 Movies I could watch over and over:
Sorry, I don't watch movies
4 TV shows I love to watch:
ER (when it is on), aside from that I don't watch TV
4 favourite foods:
Pot Roast
Bacon bone soup
Ham off the bone and avocado sandwiches
Protein shakes from the gym
4 tunes that play in my head:
At the moment, Ben Lee - Catch My Disease
Corrine Bailey Rae - Put Your Records On
James Blunt - Beautiful
and anything catchy on the radio that I start singing along to.
4 Websites I visit daily:
Kiwiscraps
Lots of blogs
V8 Supercars
American scrapbook sites
4 best scrapbooking lines:
Chatterbox
Scenic Route
Crate Paper
Maya Road
People I'm tagging:
Ruth - cos I see she hasn't done it yet :-)
