I cannot even begin to tell you how thrilled I'll be when this blasted course is over. No, scratch that. I actually enjoy the course, when I'm listening to my own advice and sticking to a schedule. Most other times, I'm wondering whatever possessed me to throw this particular egg into my basket on top of all the other eggs in there.
I'm about three and a half years into a four year writing course. It's quite well respected and I've learned an enormous amount, but a four year commitment was always going to take the better part of my creative energies. I haven't done much personal writing (well, not counting the blog anyway, LOL) in the last year. And as for other creative outlets - non existent. I'd love to get into sewing or other craftwork but its just not happening at the moment. I still cling to the notion that I'll be able to pick up that kind of thing after Christmas. I hope...
I have 19 more days to finish 7 assignments. Not ideal, but doable. An assignment every couple of days should give me a few days to spare. This kerfuffle is all as a direct result of my own procrastination. I accept total blame for it all, LOL, but it doesn't make the load any easier!
This next few weeks are going to be INSANE.
* Boofah and Miss Moo are both on a school excursion on Monday.
* Tomorrow through till about mid-week I have to take on a lion's share of a math project I'm helping Boofah and couple of his classmates with - that has to be completely finished by Wednesday.
* Thursday is Boofah's 7th birthday which means he gets 'special' cereal in the morning, as well as his choice for dinner. Because his birthday falls on a weekday it will be a home-cooked meal.. The kids also get the choice of either a small party with friends or a family day out. Boofah chose a family day which we'll have the following week when his cousins (and their father/Hub's brother) come for a visit. We're going bowling, then out for a special lunch (takeout) and back home for Boofah's birthday masterpiece cake (a decorated pirate's treasure chest....because we've always promised the kids they can choose their own 'special' cake. And because I thrive on stress!)
* Once a term I let the kids have a lunch order from the school canteen (cafeterias aren't common down here...its either packed lunches (most often) or lunch orders from the canteen - you put your order in at the beginning of the day and the food gets 'delivered' to the classrooms at lunchtime. Lunch orders remain special in our family because once a term (four times a year) is as often as I am comfortable allowing them to have them, and also because 3 kids x $6 a hit means $18...I know some families who do lunch orders once a week! Ouch!) This will happen on Tuesday or Wednesday.
* I hope to have an additional two assignments done and posted by Thursday.
* Also on Thursday I've got my last stint as Boofah's classroom helper for craft time.
* Friday is the last day of term, with early dismissal. Then we all collapse in a state of utter exhaustion. Only it doesn't really end there for me.
* The following Monday (9th) our visitors arrive for a couple of days and we do the celebrating thing for Boofah's birthday.
* I continue to study furiously.
* And wash clothes furiously.
* And pack furiously.
* We leave for a week to visit relatives in the south of the state around the 13th. I'll have to take my course books with me, sigh.
* I go mad the whole week we're away trying to get the last of the assignments done by the deadline (19th).
* I again collapse in utter exhaustion, but when recovered dance a little jig.
* As soon as we return home, I'm out for the day. I'm going shout myself a movie (maybe even two!) in the cinema (one of my favourite pastimes) and revel in the idea that I have no deadlines....for a week or so.
Oh gosh, I can't wait....
Cheers,
Lizzie
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Is It Over Yet? Please Tell Me It's Over...
Friday, June 29, 2007
Five Questions Meme
(picture courtesy of http://www.nataliedee.com/)Shannon over at Rocks In My Dryer is doing a fun little meme. Join in if you want! (Leave a comment here if you do so we know where to come visit!)
Five Questions
If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Oh cripes...um...everyone else will say chocolate but have you ever had a late night movie-watching-choc-fest? I defy anyone to manage more than a few straight hours! Probably bananas.
What's the most nerve-racking "close call" you've ever had?
When Boofah was about three, Daddy took him to the end of our driveway to check the mailbox. He tripped and headbutted the corner, providing us with a spectacularly-close-to-scalping moment. Of course being a head wound it bled like crazy and Hubs whisked him up to the hospital where they proceded to peel back the flap of scalp to insert a needle full of local anaesthetic so they could stitch him up. There was other medicine involved as well that made him hilariously dopey (the hilarious part obviously after we realised he would live!) and they warned us that we weren't to let him fall asleep for the next two or three hours. Well this poor kid literally couldn't sit up straight because of the medicine ('high' more than 'sleepy') but at the same time it was the equivalent of 'happy gas' and everything we did or said was a total riot to him. We scratched our nose and he'd be in hysterics. These days (about 4 years later) he has a ripper scar on his head. We buzz cut his hair ourselves and we know its getting too long when we can no longer see the scar, LOL. It's our little 'haircut measurer' :P It's a 'V' shape about an inch-and-a-half on each side of the 'V'.
Name five features your ultimate dream house would have.
Self cleaning bathrooms.
A live in maid.
Five bedrooms - one for each of the kids, plus us and the last one for a craft/study room.
Large kitchen.
A spa.
Who has been the most influential non-relative in your life?
When I was about five or six a family friend began to bring me books whenever she came down to visit. This continued over the years until she was stocking my book collection six or seven titles at a time. She was like the tooth fairy and Santa all rolled into one for a kid like me who lived with her nose in a book.
What one non-physical feature would you most like to change about yourself?
Non-physical? Darn. Um...my total and utter predisposition to procrastination!
Okay, now you try it with these five questions:
1. If you had to invite three famous people over for a dinner party, who would you invite and why? (they can be alive or dead).
2. You've just received an inheritance worth enough that you could travel anywhere in the world. Where would you go, and why?
3. You're shipwrecked and only have time to take three items from the emergency kit on the life raft before it sinks. Which item would to grab? (for the sake of this question we'll assume that the emergency kit contains most basic survival equipment even if in real life it would be too small).
4. What's the nicest Random Act of Kindness (RAOK) you've ever experienced or witnessed?
5. You have 24 hours to live. Where would you go and who would you take?
Cheers,
Lizzie
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Works For Me Wednesday # 1
This is my first WFMW post :) I'll start off really small with this very obvious idea, LOL.
My kids love to draw, but at one point we had a large tub of jumbled crayons, pencils and markers and the kids were always complaining they needed such-and-such special pencil because none of the fourteen thousand other pencils were exactly right for the job at hand :)
I went into a local discount store (dollar store) and bought a four drawer organizer. It stands about 45cm (18 inches) tall and obviously as deep as a regular pencil or marker. The drawers come completely out so the kids just slip the one with the pencils, or the crayons out and carry it to the table, then return it when they're done. The extra drawer holds the 'other' bits - tape, sharpeners, erasers, small rulers etc. When I first saw it, it was a bit plain so I bought a sheet of interesting stickers and did a bit of decorating :)
It has cut down on the drawing clutter considerably :)
(For more Works For Me Wednesday ideas, swing over to Rocks in my Dryer)
Cheers,
Lizzie
It has cut down on the drawing clutter considerably :)
(For more Works For Me Wednesday ideas, swing over to Rocks in my Dryer)
Cheers,
Lizzie
Where Have All The Good Girls Gone?
I must be getting older. Either that, or kids these days are getting ruder.
On the bus on the way to the library today I (as well as ten or so other passengers) were captive audience members to two teenage girls sitting (naturally) in the back row. Over the course of the 20-minute ride, we were subjected to various intimate details about these girls' lives, including their 'usual' behaviour when drunk (they have a 'usual'???), their sexual preferences and their law-breaking attitude. These girls could'n't have been more than 15 years old.
At 15, I was a pretty tame sort of gal. I had a boyfriend (a very, very platonic boyfriend!) and had a weird kind of elevated social standing with my classmates because I'd managed to 'secure' him for more than the couple of weeks (or even days). Nobody ever asked me to my face but it was obvious that it was assumed we'd been intimate. And we hadn't, of course. But I was thinking back to what I was like during that time and comparing it to the antics I was hearing from the two girls on the bus, and was shocked.
I was where they are only twelve years ago. Have things changed so much in the last decade that kids are doing things that really, they shouldn't even be thinking about doing until they're much, much older? Have I mophed into some weird prudish twenty-something? LOL.
It scares me sometimes, the whole 'kids do the darndest things these days' aspect of it all. I was kept in line by my parents, and power to them. Peer groups were important then just as they are now, but nowadays the Peer is King. It's sad to see such disrespect to parents and other elders. Teenagers toe the party line because they're motivated by fear - fear that their social circle will 'out' them. That motivation seems a lot stronger these days than I ever remember it being when I was in high school. These days nobody wants to be 'the last virgin standing'.
My husband works in an industry where he sees a lot of this kind of thing - kids going off the rails. Young girls are getting pregnant because of lack of parental guidance and sometimes, on purpose. In Australia, the government gives a lump sum of over $4,000 for each new baby born. Some girls who were already in a vulnerable category saw it as an 'easy' way to get 'free money', and many of them got pregnant on purpose. It is only this year (effective from July 1) that restrictions on when that money could be paid was placed on teenagers under the age of 17 (beforehand, and for anyone else over the age of 17 now, the money is paid in a lump sum, but the new policy sees the money paid in 13 fortnightly installments for the under-17s).
This is all well and good - to a point. Seventeen is still so young to become a mother. There's no magical barrier one reaches at 17 that makes handling the lump sum easier. You're not a better mother due simply to the addition of an extra year. And consider this: the legal age of marriage in Australia is 18 (if one or both partners are under the age of 18 then both parental and a magistrate's permission must be given). If you're not legally allowed to vote, drink (drinking age is 18 here) or marry, then serious issues arise from the notion of an under-17 pregnancy that simply spreading the payments out is not going to address.
I'm out and about a lot in my day to day errands. One shopping centre in particular is a magnet for certain 'elements' that perfectly exemplify the point I'm trying to make. I'm sick of seeing young girls wheeling strollers about. I want to try to shake some sense into them. And its not uncommon for these girls, having had one child and received the payment, to decide to have another child close on its heels to get another payment. Hubs has told me many, many stories of homes where the children are bedraggled and not cared for properly but the loungeroom is decked out in the latest flat-screen. The sadness in that can be overwhelming.
The irony is, of course, that I myself had my kids young. And for the first two, we were unmarried. Master J was born when I was just 19. Hubs and I had lived together for 6 months and bam, suddenly I was pregnant. But never once have I regretted the way our own situation has played out. It sounds rather trite now, but we were 'all but' married from the moment we decided to move in together and neither of us considered the absense of the certificate to mean the relationship was any less than a proxy marriage. We went on to have two more children with the last, Miss Moo, being conceived and born after we were married in 2001. So why should I feel so strongly about the 'young mothers' issue?
Because during this period, no matter how committed we felt to each other, it was not marriage.
I've always felt the social sting of admitting that I was/am a young mum. For the first few years and even occasionally now, I feel it necessary to offer justification for why I was 'done' having kids at age 22. The other mums at playgroup were in their late twenties to early thirties. At our first antenatal classes with Master J, we were the youngest couple there by over ten years. Even now, when I make friends with the parents of the children in my kids' classes, they're likely to be 7-10 years older. We bucked the trend (in terms of having kids young AND being in a stable long term relationship) well and truly. The social security system back then was a lot different (some areas of SS don't have the same stigma as they do in the States - most families recieve something, based on their income, to contribute to the cost of raising the children - even those earning $60k a year get a little something, though admittedly its a lot less than those who earn $30k), but we did the hard yards. But we were committed. To each other, to the kids.
As I've grown older, I've come to a place where, if I had my time over again, there'd be things I'd change. I'd have married before starting a family for a start. This comes into play especially when I look at Miss Moo now and try to imagine a simple, but fulfilling life of waiting until marriage for all the 'good stuff' :) I really do hope that she waits. She's five, so her whole life revolves around 'playing mummy' at the moment. The kids know that Mum and Dad were a team from day dot, not necessarily from the wedding but from the moment we met. And while it was one way for us, we are teaching them that we do not want them to follow in our specific footsteps on that score.
But the way the world is going at the moment? All I want to do is shield my kids and move to the country. Hubs and I talked about this the other night. He could be transfered anywhere in our state should he choose to put his hand up. But our hands are tied (and probably will be for the long term) because of the services we need for Master J - we currently live in the suburbs of my state's capital and if we moved to the country he would suffer.
Still, I do envy those that live in small towns. Pity there's not a 'Stars Hollow' with world-class disability facillities within a three hour drive!
Cheers
Lizzie
On the bus on the way to the library today I (as well as ten or so other passengers) were captive audience members to two teenage girls sitting (naturally) in the back row. Over the course of the 20-minute ride, we were subjected to various intimate details about these girls' lives, including their 'usual' behaviour when drunk (they have a 'usual'???), their sexual preferences and their law-breaking attitude. These girls could'n't have been more than 15 years old.
At 15, I was a pretty tame sort of gal. I had a boyfriend (a very, very platonic boyfriend!) and had a weird kind of elevated social standing with my classmates because I'd managed to 'secure' him for more than the couple of weeks (or even days). Nobody ever asked me to my face but it was obvious that it was assumed we'd been intimate. And we hadn't, of course. But I was thinking back to what I was like during that time and comparing it to the antics I was hearing from the two girls on the bus, and was shocked.
I was where they are only twelve years ago. Have things changed so much in the last decade that kids are doing things that really, they shouldn't even be thinking about doing until they're much, much older? Have I mophed into some weird prudish twenty-something? LOL.
It scares me sometimes, the whole 'kids do the darndest things these days' aspect of it all. I was kept in line by my parents, and power to them. Peer groups were important then just as they are now, but nowadays the Peer is King. It's sad to see such disrespect to parents and other elders. Teenagers toe the party line because they're motivated by fear - fear that their social circle will 'out' them. That motivation seems a lot stronger these days than I ever remember it being when I was in high school. These days nobody wants to be 'the last virgin standing'.
My husband works in an industry where he sees a lot of this kind of thing - kids going off the rails. Young girls are getting pregnant because of lack of parental guidance and sometimes, on purpose. In Australia, the government gives a lump sum of over $4,000 for each new baby born. Some girls who were already in a vulnerable category saw it as an 'easy' way to get 'free money', and many of them got pregnant on purpose. It is only this year (effective from July 1) that restrictions on when that money could be paid was placed on teenagers under the age of 17 (beforehand, and for anyone else over the age of 17 now, the money is paid in a lump sum, but the new policy sees the money paid in 13 fortnightly installments for the under-17s).
This is all well and good - to a point. Seventeen is still so young to become a mother. There's no magical barrier one reaches at 17 that makes handling the lump sum easier. You're not a better mother due simply to the addition of an extra year. And consider this: the legal age of marriage in Australia is 18 (if one or both partners are under the age of 18 then both parental and a magistrate's permission must be given). If you're not legally allowed to vote, drink (drinking age is 18 here) or marry, then serious issues arise from the notion of an under-17 pregnancy that simply spreading the payments out is not going to address.
I'm out and about a lot in my day to day errands. One shopping centre in particular is a magnet for certain 'elements' that perfectly exemplify the point I'm trying to make. I'm sick of seeing young girls wheeling strollers about. I want to try to shake some sense into them. And its not uncommon for these girls, having had one child and received the payment, to decide to have another child close on its heels to get another payment. Hubs has told me many, many stories of homes where the children are bedraggled and not cared for properly but the loungeroom is decked out in the latest flat-screen. The sadness in that can be overwhelming.
The irony is, of course, that I myself had my kids young. And for the first two, we were unmarried. Master J was born when I was just 19. Hubs and I had lived together for 6 months and bam, suddenly I was pregnant. But never once have I regretted the way our own situation has played out. It sounds rather trite now, but we were 'all but' married from the moment we decided to move in together and neither of us considered the absense of the certificate to mean the relationship was any less than a proxy marriage. We went on to have two more children with the last, Miss Moo, being conceived and born after we were married in 2001. So why should I feel so strongly about the 'young mothers' issue?
Because during this period, no matter how committed we felt to each other, it was not marriage.
I've always felt the social sting of admitting that I was/am a young mum. For the first few years and even occasionally now, I feel it necessary to offer justification for why I was 'done' having kids at age 22. The other mums at playgroup were in their late twenties to early thirties. At our first antenatal classes with Master J, we were the youngest couple there by over ten years. Even now, when I make friends with the parents of the children in my kids' classes, they're likely to be 7-10 years older. We bucked the trend (in terms of having kids young AND being in a stable long term relationship) well and truly. The social security system back then was a lot different (some areas of SS don't have the same stigma as they do in the States - most families recieve something, based on their income, to contribute to the cost of raising the children - even those earning $60k a year get a little something, though admittedly its a lot less than those who earn $30k), but we did the hard yards. But we were committed. To each other, to the kids.
As I've grown older, I've come to a place where, if I had my time over again, there'd be things I'd change. I'd have married before starting a family for a start. This comes into play especially when I look at Miss Moo now and try to imagine a simple, but fulfilling life of waiting until marriage for all the 'good stuff' :) I really do hope that she waits. She's five, so her whole life revolves around 'playing mummy' at the moment. The kids know that Mum and Dad were a team from day dot, not necessarily from the wedding but from the moment we met. And while it was one way for us, we are teaching them that we do not want them to follow in our specific footsteps on that score.
But the way the world is going at the moment? All I want to do is shield my kids and move to the country. Hubs and I talked about this the other night. He could be transfered anywhere in our state should he choose to put his hand up. But our hands are tied (and probably will be for the long term) because of the services we need for Master J - we currently live in the suburbs of my state's capital and if we moved to the country he would suffer.
Still, I do envy those that live in small towns. Pity there's not a 'Stars Hollow' with world-class disability facillities within a three hour drive!
Cheers
Lizzie
Monday, June 25, 2007
Menu Plan Monday - June 25
From here on out, I've decided to change my 'menu week' from Tuesdays through to Mondays instead of the traditional Mon-Sun. I'm still posting my weekly menu on Mondays, but the reason I've changed it is to bring it in line with the May Day Weight Loss Challenge, which starts its new week every Tuesday. Everything else remains the same, including the "If It's Monday, It's Spaghetti" aspect.
I've been doing the Challenge (for info, see the right sidebar, under the Challenge button) for seven weeks now and despite revving up my walking to bizarre heights my weight has steadily increased due to a horrible diet. So I'm killing two birds with the one stone - my Menu Plan Monday posts will at least TRY to have a healthier feel :) I'm calorie counting from tomorrow (Tuesday) and though the meals listed below might not be perfect, I'll modify them to suit my calorie limit (which is 1400 in case anyone is playing at home!) as I go along.
Tuesday ~ Asian Style Chicken Salad (plus maybe an additional side dish for the Hubs/kids)
Wednesday ~ Sausages (mashed potato, carrots, corn, gravy)
Thursday ~ Beef Fajitas
Friday ~ Vegetable Bake (basically this recipe but with added vegies - served as main dish for me and side dish for the others with steak)
Saturday ~ Cheat's Roasted Chicken (baked herbed chicken breast fillets, vegies, baked potato)
Sunday ~ Tomato & Vegetable Soup (plus toasted sandwiches for the others)
Monday ~ Lasagna (low fat variety for me, wedges for the others, with leftover Vegetable Bake)
The rest of the week is filled with meals that are far healthier than anything else I've been making for myself in recent weeks! Either soup or sandwiches for lunch (mmm, hot soup on a cold winter's day...) and toast or cereal for breakfast. One thing I am going to work on this coming week, in regards to the May Day Weight Loss Challenge, is my snacking. I've planned the rest of the menu to include more fruit, but also the occasional treat. Each night after dinner there's a hot chocolate (low fat of course!) and a low fat dessert of some description - chocolate mousse, small choc icecream, and so on.
Hopefully at the end of Week 8 of the Challenge I'll have good news to report!
Cheers,
Lizzie
Sunday, June 24, 2007
The Other Side Of The World
Now doesn't that scene look just gorgeous? Can't you imagine spreading out a picnic blanket, munching on gourmet cheeses (or at least, a cheese sandwich) while the kids play (quietly and together, of course) just out of shot and then Hubs drags out a bottle of champers (for the grown ups) and one of lemonade (for the little people)?
Many of my readers live in the States and Fourth of July celebrations loom. As far as I understand it, its the holiday most responsible for hotdog consumption, right? LOL. It's summer over there, everyone's happy, school's out, and all you can see in your immediate future is day upon day of sun and mucking about with the kids.
Whereas...
This is what it's like in Australia right now. Well, okay, a few qualifications on that statement. Firstly, only a teeny portion of the country manages to get snow, even in winter - mostly the mountains in the eastern states (areas of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania) and even then, only some of the mountains in key ski areas like Thredbo (NSW). And you know, I don't live in this house. Because if I did I wouldn't mind the snow - its gorgeous, LOL.
I don't live in the eastern states. I'm around-about on the middle of the southern coast:
See that knobbly bit on the South Australia coast? That's where I am. That 'cut out' area of Australia is called, ironically, the Great Australian Bight. Which is appropriate because that part of the Southern Ocean tends to get quite a few sharks.
A seriously large part of Australia's 20.5 million-odd population lives in the east. WorldAtlas.com says that the states roughly breakdown like this (estimates are for 2006 in case anyone wants to get technical!) :
New South Wales ~ 6.7 million
Victoria ~ 4.9 million
Queensland ~ 3.7 million
Western Australia ~ 1.9 million
South Australia ~ 1.5 million
Tasmania ~ 482,000
Australian Capital Territory ~ 377,000
Northern Territory ~ 249,000
(BTW, if you've added that up you'll notice the figure is a tad shy of 20 million. Obviously I've rounded down!)
To compare, New York City has a population of at least 8.2 million. That's like the entire population of both New South Wales and South Australia combined. New York City has an area of 322 square miles (830 square kilometres). My state, South Australia, has an area of 380....thousand square miles (984,000 square kilometres). It also has less than 10% of the country's total population.
South Australia doesn't get the press of the eastern states and that's a shame really. We might not have the Great Barrier Reef, but we've got:
The Big Rocking Horse (at The Toy Factory, Gumeracha)
Underground Churches (at outback Coober Pedy, famous for its opal mining)
The World's Best Chocolate Tour (at Haigh's, Adelaide)
More Wine Than You Can Poke a Stick At (wine regions including the Barossa Valley, the Clare Valley, McLaren Vale, The Coonawarra and The Riverland)
The Only Australian Free-Settled Colony (heard that Australia was a convict settlement? Not in SA baby!)
The First Place in the World to Grant Universal Women's Suffrage (restricted suffrage had been around in the SA colony since 1861 but universal suffrage allowed women to stand for parliament from 1894)
The Grossest Snack in the Known World (common post-pub fare!)
3700 Kilometres (2300 miles) of Coastline (despite being the driest state on the driest continent on earth!)
Other Facts About South Australia
So if you ever manage to drop into Australia for a holiday (getting here, mind you, requires three weeks of recuperation!), spare a thought for the Other Side of the Country on the Other Side of the World, LOL.
Cheers,
Lizzie
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Moocher Cat Update
MC went to the RSPCA today. Yep, we got her into the cat carrier, minus a few strips of flesh (Hubs'!) .
However...
When we got there, the staff searched in vain with the metal-detector-looking-thingamy for her microchip. They're usually inserted into the back of the neck but they couldn't find it anywhere, despite the fact she was marked via the tattoo thing in her ear. It had probably worked its way out of her when it was first inserted and this whole time - possibly years - her owners had thought they had 'insurance' in case she was ever lost.
Oh, and 'she' is a 'he'. But after three weeks of calling her (see?) 'she', its a hard habit to break, LOL. (By the way, have you ever seen a vet determine the gender of a cat? I hadn't - we've never been cat people - and nearly fell over laughing. They lift their tail and blow between their legs. I guess kitties of the male variety have some noticeable, um...changes in appearance down there when the cold air hits!)
We had no option but to leave her/him at the RSPCA. We knew this at the beginning but I tell you, its a hard thing to do. Hubs and I took a quick walk through the 'adopt a dog' cages and it was horribly sad to know that the vast majority of the dogs won't make it. As for MC, well her/his future looks uncertain. He's a nice cat and obviously tame and great with kids so that might buy him an extra couple of weeks - if he doesn't have the flu that is. Apparently its flu season for cats (winter down here) as well as people and if they are sick, they are put down almost immediately. Sad. (The cats, not the people!)
About a week and a half ago Boofah and I did a very minor (forty or so houses) letterbox-drop with a small flyer saying we'd found a - AHEM! - female black cat. So over the weekend we'll print up some more flyers and work our way in the opposite direction. With any luck, we'll get a hit. The owners, presumably, know their cat is lost but perhaps they haven't yet thought to call the RSPCA (when we first discovered MC at our door, we called the RSPCA and left our details in case someone called in a report) . So the flyer will mention he was taken to the cattery - hopefully they'll get the news in time.
Cheers,
Lizzie
However...
When we got there, the staff searched in vain with the metal-detector-looking-thingamy for her microchip. They're usually inserted into the back of the neck but they couldn't find it anywhere, despite the fact she was marked via the tattoo thing in her ear. It had probably worked its way out of her when it was first inserted and this whole time - possibly years - her owners had thought they had 'insurance' in case she was ever lost.
Oh, and 'she' is a 'he'. But after three weeks of calling her (see?) 'she', its a hard habit to break, LOL. (By the way, have you ever seen a vet determine the gender of a cat? I hadn't - we've never been cat people - and nearly fell over laughing. They lift their tail and blow between their legs. I guess kitties of the male variety have some noticeable, um...changes in appearance down there when the cold air hits!)
We had no option but to leave her/him at the RSPCA. We knew this at the beginning but I tell you, its a hard thing to do. Hubs and I took a quick walk through the 'adopt a dog' cages and it was horribly sad to know that the vast majority of the dogs won't make it. As for MC, well her/his future looks uncertain. He's a nice cat and obviously tame and great with kids so that might buy him an extra couple of weeks - if he doesn't have the flu that is. Apparently its flu season for cats (winter down here) as well as people and if they are sick, they are put down almost immediately. Sad. (The cats, not the people!)
About a week and a half ago Boofah and I did a very minor (forty or so houses) letterbox-drop with a small flyer saying we'd found a - AHEM! - female black cat. So over the weekend we'll print up some more flyers and work our way in the opposite direction. With any luck, we'll get a hit. The owners, presumably, know their cat is lost but perhaps they haven't yet thought to call the RSPCA (when we first discovered MC at our door, we called the RSPCA and left our details in case someone called in a report) . So the flyer will mention he was taken to the cattery - hopefully they'll get the news in time.
Cheers,
Lizzie
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Further Proof That Dogs Are Better Than Cats
Oh. My. Lord.
If I was ever going to be dead against keeping Moocher Cat, today was that day.
Hubs noticed MC had some markings inside its ear over a week ago. Every time I tried to get a good look it would turn its head so I stopped looking. I assumed the markings - if they were there at all - were scars or some such thing.
Well this morning Hubs brought it up again, only this time we began to have suspicions about it being an identifying marking - like a tattoo. So I thought we'd just call the RSPCA back and see about bringing it in to have it scanned for a microchip - which at that point we weren't sure if it had. During the course of that phone call we discovered that yes, when a cat is microchipped they tattoo a small 'M' on its right ear and if it is desexed, a small circle with a line through it on its left ear. Well, wouldn't you know it - when we look more closely, the M and Ø symbols seem to jump right out and slap us upside our ignorant heads!
So to recap - Today marks three weeks since MC decided to adopt us and that WHOLE time, all we needed to do was take her into the RSPCA office to be scanned. They'd call the database line, quote the number and dum-da-da-da! Up would pop her owners information.
Thus began the debacle that is wrestling a scratching, mauling, screaming kitty into a box...
First we tried a regular box. Big mistake. We didn't have one with flaps that met in the middle so there was a gap and I don't know how she managed it but she squeezed her body through a space the diametre of a pencil. And that was after we spent forty minutes getting her into the box in the first place.
We made a trip into a local animal hospital and spent $10 on a reinforced cardboard cat-carrier. It looked strong, it really did. We got her into the box (wrapped her in a towel first - psycho kitty claws!) and into the car and were peeling out of the driveway before she TORE THROUGH the box with her claws. Got a talon hooked in one of the air holes and just shredded it. So then we had a screaming jumping cat bouncing off the seats.
I do not like unpredictable animals.
Out of the car we get. MC is getting quite traumatised at this point but we are determined. Hubs tapes up the box and suggests trying again. I just laughed. We rang the RSPCA back hoping like crazy they had a concrete bunker style cat carrier that we could quickly pick up and borrow. Thankfully, they did. But it meant driving 15 mins to go pick it up, 15 mins to return and then another hour trying to coax her into the carrier.
Let me just say one thing. Never underestimate the psychosis of a trapped cat. Hubs was thankful he was wearing gardening gloves when MC got her claws hooked in the cage door and that was it. Cat catapulted six feet in the air, did a triple pike whatsit, and scampered.
The good news in all of this is that now we're certain her owners can be traced because of the microchipping. When we finally do manage to bring her in to the RSPCA office for the scanning, we have a couple of boxes of kitty kibble and a couple of boxes of the single-serve 'wet' sachets (eight or nine days of food) to donate as well.
We just have to catch her first...
Cheers,
Lizzie
If I was ever going to be dead against keeping Moocher Cat, today was that day.
Hubs noticed MC had some markings inside its ear over a week ago. Every time I tried to get a good look it would turn its head so I stopped looking. I assumed the markings - if they were there at all - were scars or some such thing.
Well this morning Hubs brought it up again, only this time we began to have suspicions about it being an identifying marking - like a tattoo. So I thought we'd just call the RSPCA back and see about bringing it in to have it scanned for a microchip - which at that point we weren't sure if it had. During the course of that phone call we discovered that yes, when a cat is microchipped they tattoo a small 'M' on its right ear and if it is desexed, a small circle with a line through it on its left ear. Well, wouldn't you know it - when we look more closely, the M and Ø symbols seem to jump right out and slap us upside our ignorant heads!
So to recap - Today marks three weeks since MC decided to adopt us and that WHOLE time, all we needed to do was take her into the RSPCA office to be scanned. They'd call the database line, quote the number and dum-da-da-da! Up would pop her owners information.
Thus began the debacle that is wrestling a scratching, mauling, screaming kitty into a box...
First we tried a regular box. Big mistake. We didn't have one with flaps that met in the middle so there was a gap and I don't know how she managed it but she squeezed her body through a space the diametre of a pencil. And that was after we spent forty minutes getting her into the box in the first place.
We made a trip into a local animal hospital and spent $10 on a reinforced cardboard cat-carrier. It looked strong, it really did. We got her into the box (wrapped her in a towel first - psycho kitty claws!) and into the car and were peeling out of the driveway before she TORE THROUGH the box with her claws. Got a talon hooked in one of the air holes and just shredded it. So then we had a screaming jumping cat bouncing off the seats.
I do not like unpredictable animals.
Out of the car we get. MC is getting quite traumatised at this point but we are determined. Hubs tapes up the box and suggests trying again. I just laughed. We rang the RSPCA back hoping like crazy they had a concrete bunker style cat carrier that we could quickly pick up and borrow. Thankfully, they did. But it meant driving 15 mins to go pick it up, 15 mins to return and then another hour trying to coax her into the carrier.
Let me just say one thing. Never underestimate the psychosis of a trapped cat. Hubs was thankful he was wearing gardening gloves when MC got her claws hooked in the cage door and that was it. Cat catapulted six feet in the air, did a triple pike whatsit, and scampered.
The good news in all of this is that now we're certain her owners can be traced because of the microchipping. When we finally do manage to bring her in to the RSPCA office for the scanning, we have a couple of boxes of kitty kibble and a couple of boxes of the single-serve 'wet' sachets (eight or nine days of food) to donate as well.
We just have to catch her first...
Cheers,
Lizzie
Monday, June 18, 2007
Menu Plan Monday - June 18
Hope we're all having a super start to the week! Me, I'm smiling because I am one assignment closer to the light at the end of the tunnel, LOL. But onwards to the menu!
As I posted earlier in the week, I'm back to my "If It's Monday, It's Spaghetti" menu plan. I'm working on autopilot until at least mid-July.
Monday ~ Lasagna (freezer meal plus wedges, salad)
Tuesday ~ Chicken Parmigiana (potato bake, vegies)
Wednesday ~ Fish & Chips (salad)
Thursday ~ Soft Tacos
Friday ~ Mustard, Lemon & Rosemary Chicken (stuffed potato shells, vegies)
Saturday ~ Chicken Stirfry (hokkein noodles)
Sunday ~ Eggs / Omelette (toast, salad)
There'll be grocery shopping on tomorrow's list of to-dos. And then study. Lots and lots and lots of study :P
Cheers,
Lizzie
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Menu Planning at Lizzie's Home
I'm such an unimaginative cook. If there's a shortcut, I've taken it. Pre-packaged meals and snacks, prepared salads from the deli counter, already-roasted chickens, packaged stocks, those shaker pancake jugs, you name it, I've been there. I've dabbled in various methods of menu planning and meal prep including (but definitely not limited to!), once-a-month-cooking, on-the-fly cooking (deciding at 5pm what we're going to eat), the "If it's Monday, its Spaghetti" approach, cooking from the pantry (ie, keeping a stock of ingredients on hand to whip up whatever you feel like on the day), daily shopping (not intentionally, it just seems like we're at the supermarket daily sometimes, LOL), designing and implementing an eight week menu plan, Lynn Nelson's Busy Cooks Pyramid, and eating freezer meals from past enthusiastic fits of culinary inspiration. I'm tired of cooking, and tired of planning what to cook :P
So at the moment I've reverted back to the "If It's Monday..." plan. The principle is dead easy to implement, perfect for when the necessary brain cells/time to organise any of the other methods is sorely lacking. A lot of people already use this method as their default and I usually use it when I'm coming down off a freezer cooking session or can't fathom devoting the extra time to cooking brand new recipes each night. Our mothers probably used this plan religiously. My mother-in-law was just commenting this week that her own mother cooked the same thing, week in, week out, and always on the same night - and never pasta!
This is not a plan for flexing your cooking muscles. It's just a solid plan that takes the least energy and time in this household!
Lizzie's "If It's Monday, It's Spaghetti" Menu Plan
Monday ~ Pasta (usually beef/tomato based like Spaghetti, Lasagna or Ravioli)
So at the moment I've reverted back to the "If It's Monday..." plan. The principle is dead easy to implement, perfect for when the necessary brain cells/time to organise any of the other methods is sorely lacking. A lot of people already use this method as their default and I usually use it when I'm coming down off a freezer cooking session or can't fathom devoting the extra time to cooking brand new recipes each night. Our mothers probably used this plan religiously. My mother-in-law was just commenting this week that her own mother cooked the same thing, week in, week out, and always on the same night - and never pasta!
This is not a plan for flexing your cooking muscles. It's just a solid plan that takes the least energy and time in this household!
Lizzie's "If It's Monday, It's Spaghetti" Menu Plan
Monday ~ Pasta (usually beef/tomato based like Spaghetti, Lasagna or Ravioli)
Tuesday ~ Chicken (usually something home-crumbed like Kiev, or Schnitzel)
Wednesday ~ Frugal / Misc / Vegetarian
Thursday ~ Beef
Friday ~ Fridge Night / Leftovers / New Recipe
Saturday ~ Chicken
Sunday ~ Frugal / Misc / Vegetarian (plus takeaway once a month)
I have a master list of meals that I make regularly. I simply pull out that list and plug meals that look good into the appropriate spot in the plan. If I'm feeling mildly enthused I'll include a New Recipe on Friday, if not, then it's Leftovers or an easy meal like toasted sandwiches. Frugal / Misc / Vegetarian include meals such as omelettes, baked potatoes, hotdogs (very occasionally), Fried Rice and so on. Not strictly non-meat but any meal that can be made cheaply. And because Monday's Pasta night is usually of the Spaghetti/Lasagna variety, we end up with two beef and two chicken meals a week, plus the two 'misc' nights, and the last spot available for leftovers. Once a month on Sundays we have family takeaway - a level we're all fairly comfortable with.
When I come across interesting recipes online or in magazines, and think I might actually feel inclined to make them one day, I rip them out/save to Favourites. Then when menu planning day comes around (Wednesdays usually) and I'm looking for something new to make on Friday, I'll just pick something from that folder rather than trolling the internet trying to find 'just the right thing'.
Cheers,
Lizzie
I have a master list of meals that I make regularly. I simply pull out that list and plug meals that look good into the appropriate spot in the plan. If I'm feeling mildly enthused I'll include a New Recipe on Friday, if not, then it's Leftovers or an easy meal like toasted sandwiches. Frugal / Misc / Vegetarian include meals such as omelettes, baked potatoes, hotdogs (very occasionally), Fried Rice and so on. Not strictly non-meat but any meal that can be made cheaply. And because Monday's Pasta night is usually of the Spaghetti/Lasagna variety, we end up with two beef and two chicken meals a week, plus the two 'misc' nights, and the last spot available for leftovers. Once a month on Sundays we have family takeaway - a level we're all fairly comfortable with.
When I come across interesting recipes online or in magazines, and think I might actually feel inclined to make them one day, I rip them out/save to Favourites. Then when menu planning day comes around (Wednesdays usually) and I'm looking for something new to make on Friday, I'll just pick something from that folder rather than trolling the internet trying to find 'just the right thing'.
Cheers,
Lizzie
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Do I Have To? Awww!
This is the absolute last thing I want to do, but I think I'm going to have to do it.
I'm going to have to forcibly remove myself from the internet for at least the next few days. Well, okay, not Lizzie's Home - no, you can't get rid of me that easily - but Lizzie herself.
Things are dire indeed on the study front. I have about 21 days, more or less, to fire off 11 assignments. I'm not ready to throw in the towel just yet, but for it to work, I'm going to have to at least try to enforce a break from bloggityville. And let go of my perfectionism. But that's a whole other post.
Let me just list the effect my inability to time-manage myself is actually having on my life:
* I'm snappy.
* In a fit of vast stupidity on my part, I managed to get myself involved in TWO major 'help in the classroom' projects at the kids' school. One involves a relatively significant TIME investment on my part. Oh, and it includes a deadline. Cause I just loooooove those. You may be wondering why on earth I put my hand up given my current schedule. Well, I don't often get the chance to hang out in the classroom and help, and especially not with Boofah's class. Ordinarily, I'd jump at the chance (and obviously did) to help out, I just wish it hadn't popped up as an option THIS month.
* Hubs and I are going out tomorrow night for a work function. We have a babysitter (qualified respite worker given Master J's issues) arriving at 6pm. The house presently looks like, well....not 'company ready'. No sirree, not by a long shot. Which means I'll have to carve (chip, chisel, SLEDGEHAMMER) out some time tomorrow afternoon to tidy up about the place. I won't go overboard (won't have time to!) but I will have to make it presentable.
* The house in general has been sorely neglected. Now I'm beginning to understand what my fave blogs talk about when they mention 'devotion to the home'. In that I'm not. I look around and start making mental lists of all the stuff I'm not doing, don't have time to do, wish I could do. It's making me feel guilty! So I have to pretend I can't see the mess. I'm doing the bare (and I mean bare) minimum to keep the house running. There are piles of stuff everywhere.
* Though I'm still walking, I'm finding it harder and harder as I get closer to my deadline to carve out the hour I usually take for my daily walk. That's a whole extra hour for study right? And yet I'm so terribly loathe to give that up because it took such a big effort to set the habit in stone to begin with.
* Diet is horrible. I'm surviving on snackfood. Sugar is a snackfood, right? :P
* I haven't properly meal planned in weeks.
* I'm exhausted all the time and due to the necessity of quiet study time, I often don't get to crack the books until after 9pm. I go to bed late because I have so much to do in that window when the kids aren't underfoot, don't get enough sleep, and wake up even more tired.
* I'm going to have to go on a serious body/soul/intellect/home/health detox come mid-July. Not the so-called-trendy herbal voodoo juice detox (I'm so not a fan of anything that forces me to skip meals in favour of a pill and a meal replacement shake) but a complete life overhaul. Scheduling obviously needs to be a priority. And so is planning meals and eating better. And going to bed at a reasonable hour. And wiping the toothpaste off the bathroom mirror...
BIG SIGH.
I also need to seriously contemplate how I spend my time in general. For example, I like my TV shows. And even though I've given up probably HALF what I used to watch, I still regularly watch several shows (see sidebar on the left). Which takes up precious primetime (ie, after 8:30pm when the kids are in bed) study blocks. Which is beyond stupid. I want to really sit down and prioritise absolutely everything in my life at the moment. This is sort of tied in with the Great Big Cryptic Clue I talked about earlier in the week (no, no more clues, though if my eyeballs weren't hanging out of my head right now I probably would elaborate). The important thing is, I have my priorities so out of whack right now it is ridiculous. I'm suffering more frequent headaches (I get them anyway, but stress certainly doesn't help).
Oh, and the internet. The internet is both a source of wonder and awe and of major, total procrastination, LOL. I get lost in a maze of links all the time. Just today I noticed Rocks In My Dryer has a 'Craftiness' page with tons of talented, crafty bloggityville ladies just screaming for a visit from me. So....two hours later...
I KNOW. YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY IT !!!
I'm not on a proper blog break - but I will have to severely limit how much time I update at least for the next week. Maybe a post every two or three days instead of two or three per day, LOL. And keep an eye on the 'assignment tally' in the left sidebar. As the number drops, the closer I am to sanity.
Trust me, it will hurt me far more than it hurts you!
Cheers,
Lizzie
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
What's Underneath Your Christmas Tree This Year?
I'm so on a roll this year regarding the kids' Christmas presents. Yes, you read that right. I'm already shopping for the Silly Season. When the rest of the known world is battling each other for the last Rainbow Fairytopia Whatsit come November or December, I intend to be well finished - finished! - with my shopping.
This is not a natural state for me. In years gone by, I'd let the gift-buying slide until around Master J's birthday in mid-November. I'd have conversation after conversation with dear (but somewhat misguided) Hubs about the validity of this present over that present, talk myself around in a circle, and eventually end up back where I started, without a clear plan or any pressies on hand. And then, of course, I'd have to stand in line sometime during the last week before Christmas, wringing my hands and telling myself that next year would be different.
Well I fixed that little red wagon this year, let me tell you!
While in years past we've had variations of the 'no toys for Christmas' rule, the bargains at this time of the year are usually too good to pass by - most of the major department and toy stores do mid-year sales for the crazies amongst us who like to get their Christmas shopping done early. I've picked up a (brand new) wooden doll's wardrobe and crib for $10 ea at the local thrift store. I've hit a couple of really good sales at Toys R Us for things like Candyland and Chutes and Ladders (not traditionally as popular here as they are in the States) for $10 ea. My Little Pony 'pony plus carriage/DVD/book' sets for $5-$10. Trollz for $7.99. Barbie '12 Dancing Princesses' Genevieve doll for $20 down from $60. And a whole raft of other purchases, most of which were bought for between 50%-75% off (but to be fair, several gifts at incredible prices were purchased specifically to include in the Gift Drawer for other kids' birthday parties and so on). Now listing everything like that sort of makes it seem like we went nutso on the gift spending lately. On the contrary. Most of the time I naturally go for 'quantity' over 'quality', forced to do so due to expense. I will not pay $50 for a Cabbage Patch Kid branded 'outfit plus teaset' pack. I will, however, consider it at $15, which is what they were going for a couple of weeks ago. I ended up with a 'premium' gift, something we'd never dream of paying full retail price for, at an 'our budget' price. Over the last month I've completely covered Miss Moo for her birthday (a week before Christmas) and half finished her for Christmas as well. All 'nice' brand name gifts at a tiny percentage of what they'd go for full price. None of this 'we'll buy X brand because its cheaper' - we're getting the good stuff, but we're shopping smarter to do it.
This approach - getting it all done mid-year - is working so well that I'm going to extend it beyond our kids and onto the rest of the extended family as well.
And another thing. I've noticed, with all this looking through catalogues and perusing the toy aisles in the department stores, that gifts for girls are going beyond what I am personally comfortable with. An example: Miss Moo will be 6 in December and has been desperately saving up for a Bratz doll since pocket money started last January. I'm not a fan. In fact, I have many issues with Bratz dolls that I never thought I'd have the need to worry about, but with each new 'range' that comes out - Bling Bling Short-Skirted Ski Bunnies or whatever the rage is now - I find myself getting more and more uncomfortable with the way little girls' toys are heading. And trust me, I'm not a puritan. But there's just something mildly disturbing about promoting 'couture dolls' to six year olds, know what I mean? We're not talking about your average 'dress me up doll'. We're talking micro-minis and boob tubes.
Little girls should want to play with baby dolls and tea sets and 'bake like Mummy' apron-and-chef-hat sets. Play stoves and dress-up clothes. Princess tiaras and doll strollers. Sure, this attitude will be wildly unpopular with the politically correct amongst us ("And why can't little girls play with Legos and Transformers and trains?" - that's not what I'm saying - they can, and my angel does) . I'm talking about the little girls barely out of diapers not only understanding about fashion but knowing the brands of clothes they wear, and what constitutes a 'premium' fashion label. Don't laugh. I know a few kids who can tell you 'who' they are wearing. Power to them, if that's what their parents want to promote. But not in this house. And before anyone comments on my apparently horrid segue there, LOL, yes, toys, and I think especially Bratz dolls, have enormous influence over the clothing trends of pre-teens.
I never used to feel this strongly about the types of clothing my daughter wears nor the toys she plays with. We willingly bought her Barbie dolls (in all her anatomically-incorrectness, Barbie at least promotes a positive female role model - what do Bratz dolls promote?). But I always felt more at peace providing her with baby dolls and cradles, My Little Ponys and fairy wands. With two older brothers, she still gets her fair share of testosterone-fueled play sessions, but I can't help but grin stupidly when she brings her Cabbage Patch Doll over to me so that we can play Mummies and Babies together.
Just like I used to when I was her age :)
Cheers,
Lizzie
This is not a natural state for me. In years gone by, I'd let the gift-buying slide until around Master J's birthday in mid-November. I'd have conversation after conversation with dear (but somewhat misguided) Hubs about the validity of this present over that present, talk myself around in a circle, and eventually end up back where I started, without a clear plan or any pressies on hand. And then, of course, I'd have to stand in line sometime during the last week before Christmas, wringing my hands and telling myself that next year would be different.
Well I fixed that little red wagon this year, let me tell you!
While in years past we've had variations of the 'no toys for Christmas' rule, the bargains at this time of the year are usually too good to pass by - most of the major department and toy stores do mid-year sales for the crazies amongst us who like to get their Christmas shopping done early. I've picked up a (brand new) wooden doll's wardrobe and crib for $10 ea at the local thrift store. I've hit a couple of really good sales at Toys R Us for things like Candyland and Chutes and Ladders (not traditionally as popular here as they are in the States) for $10 ea. My Little Pony 'pony plus carriage/DVD/book' sets for $5-$10. Trollz for $7.99. Barbie '12 Dancing Princesses' Genevieve doll for $20 down from $60. And a whole raft of other purchases, most of which were bought for between 50%-75% off (but to be fair, several gifts at incredible prices were purchased specifically to include in the Gift Drawer for other kids' birthday parties and so on). Now listing everything like that sort of makes it seem like we went nutso on the gift spending lately. On the contrary. Most of the time I naturally go for 'quantity' over 'quality', forced to do so due to expense. I will not pay $50 for a Cabbage Patch Kid branded 'outfit plus teaset' pack. I will, however, consider it at $15, which is what they were going for a couple of weeks ago. I ended up with a 'premium' gift, something we'd never dream of paying full retail price for, at an 'our budget' price. Over the last month I've completely covered Miss Moo for her birthday (a week before Christmas) and half finished her for Christmas as well. All 'nice' brand name gifts at a tiny percentage of what they'd go for full price. None of this 'we'll buy X brand because its cheaper' - we're getting the good stuff, but we're shopping smarter to do it.
This approach - getting it all done mid-year - is working so well that I'm going to extend it beyond our kids and onto the rest of the extended family as well.
And another thing. I've noticed, with all this looking through catalogues and perusing the toy aisles in the department stores, that gifts for girls are going beyond what I am personally comfortable with. An example: Miss Moo will be 6 in December and has been desperately saving up for a Bratz doll since pocket money started last January. I'm not a fan. In fact, I have many issues with Bratz dolls that I never thought I'd have the need to worry about, but with each new 'range' that comes out - Bling Bling Short-Skirted Ski Bunnies or whatever the rage is now - I find myself getting more and more uncomfortable with the way little girls' toys are heading. And trust me, I'm not a puritan. But there's just something mildly disturbing about promoting 'couture dolls' to six year olds, know what I mean? We're not talking about your average 'dress me up doll'. We're talking micro-minis and boob tubes.
Little girls should want to play with baby dolls and tea sets and 'bake like Mummy' apron-and-chef-hat sets. Play stoves and dress-up clothes. Princess tiaras and doll strollers. Sure, this attitude will be wildly unpopular with the politically correct amongst us ("And why can't little girls play with Legos and Transformers and trains?" - that's not what I'm saying - they can, and my angel does) . I'm talking about the little girls barely out of diapers not only understanding about fashion but knowing the brands of clothes they wear, and what constitutes a 'premium' fashion label. Don't laugh. I know a few kids who can tell you 'who' they are wearing. Power to them, if that's what their parents want to promote. But not in this house. And before anyone comments on my apparently horrid segue there, LOL, yes, toys, and I think especially Bratz dolls, have enormous influence over the clothing trends of pre-teens.
I never used to feel this strongly about the types of clothing my daughter wears nor the toys she plays with. We willingly bought her Barbie dolls (in all her anatomically-incorrectness, Barbie at least promotes a positive female role model - what do Bratz dolls promote?). But I always felt more at peace providing her with baby dolls and cradles, My Little Ponys and fairy wands. With two older brothers, she still gets her fair share of testosterone-fueled play sessions, but I can't help but grin stupidly when she brings her Cabbage Patch Doll over to me so that we can play Mummies and Babies together.
Just like I used to when I was her age :)
Cheers,
Lizzie
Monday, June 11, 2007
Crockpots, Shrek and Clothes Shopping
Today I managed to get myself in gear enough to load up my 'servant' with fixins for a beef casserole (Old Fashioned Beef Stew from Deborah Taylor-Hough's Frozen Assets Lite & Easy to be precise) and it smells wonderful. Mental note: Use crockpot more often. All day I've been catching whiffs of it and being very thankful I won't have to rustle up food for dinner later!
The Monkeys are very spoilt this weekend. It's a long weekend down here, with the Queen's Birthday holiday today, so they'd already secured a 3-day weekend, but Boofah and Miss Moo's school also elected to have a student-free day tomorrow meaning a full four days off. Master J's school isn't going for the extra day, however we've decided to pull him from school for that one day as a treat. We've planned a special day out just with Mum. We're going to see Shrek The Third in the cinema followed by lunch out, probably at the Golden Arches, LOL. The benefits of doing this tomorrow, as opposed today, is that it won't be busy. Shrek just opened this past Thursday down here and opening weekend of any new kids film is insane. So we get to avoid the bulk of that by seeing the film during school hours tomorrow. I might also get some errands done while the kids are with me, such as stocking up on winter pants and sweaters. They're usually at school and I have to guess at sizes. I'm pretty good these days but with a stringbean for a son (Master J), I can be out by several inches if I go by the last size I bought!
The rest of the week will be spent nutting down and studying...again. Gosh, I can't tell you how thrilled I'll be when this block of 12 assignments are completely finished (for a running total, see sidebar on the left!) and then there's just one more semester to go (out of four years) and I'm done. DONE. I don't know yet what I'm going to do to mark that auspicious occasion but it will have to be big. I've had this course on my list of priorities for so long that I barely know how to function without a deadline looming. Think of all the homemaking I'll get done! LOL.
On Wednesday I have to go shopping for clothes, auugh. For myself, that is. I need something suitable to wear out on Friday night - Hubs has a work function - and as I spend virtually all my time in jeans and t-shirts, I own exactly four items of 'dressywear'...and they're all things I've previously worn to funerals. Being on this side of 'cuddly', finding smart after-five wear is near-impossible. Everything has spaghetti straps (or none at all!) and lets just say - ahem - spaghetti straps just aint gonna cut it at Lizzie's Home :P And my lower half lends itself better to pants rather than skirts, so its either a new pair of dressy jeans (*guffaw*) and a cool top, or a pair of suit pants and the same. I hate shopping for clothes. Which is probably why my wardrobe consists of an eclectic mix of sales and clearance items!
Cheers,
Lizzie
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Creating a Beautiful Home
Two years ago today, we moved into this house.I was thrilled. Though Hubs and I have lived together for several years at that point, we'd never owned any of the (several) houses we'd lived in. In the fourteen months prior to applying for a home loan, we managed to save $18k to add to our original account balance of $10k, making our deposit a very healthy $28k. We did without just about everything to amass those savings, mind you. But it was so worth it.
I remember the phone call that told us our offer had been accepted despite the fact our 'maximum' price was the seller's 'minimum' price. They'd advertised the property with a $20k window, and would absolutely have gotten much more money than we eventually paid because the market was booming in our area at the time. We still can't figure it out. It probably helped that we were pre-approved for finance and could move at whatever timeframe the seller needed, but I like to think there was a little providence involved somewhere :)
We had five weeks to pack up and move, and they were the longest five weeks of my entire life (well, outside of the last five weeks of each pregnancy, at least!). There's nothing like a new house waiting for you at the other end to kickstart a mammoth decluttering enterprise - we purged and cleaned and purged some more. I was positively convinced that I would instantly morph into a Martha Stewart-type woman, who was ridiculously houseproud and would show the new place off to its best advantage.
I did not become that woman.
For the first few months, every time I turned into the driveway I felt truly humbled, that we'd achieved something which had been a goal for what seemed like eons. Every dollar we didn't spend on the nice coffee, the nice spaghetti sauce, yes, even the nice toilet paper (LOL) was one more dollar - one more brick - into this place. The holidays we didn't take during the preceding few years probably paid for the fourth bedroom we desperately needed by that stage.
And then something happened. Over time, I lost focus. I still do what needs to be done about the place, but the pride I felt when I first moved in has mellowed. I don't clean enough. I don't stick to my routines as often as I should. I don't entertain the way I'd like to. Housework makes me feel almost resentful.
This is NOT what I wanted it to be like!
Over the last several days I've discovered several new (and some old) homemaking blogs, most of them Christian, and read with interest. I found one particularly good church website which gave a list of Bible Studies for women on topics such as homemaking, motherhood, beautiful womanhood and marriage. I've come to realise that I need to move my 'rear into gear' over some issues about my home.
Mrs Mabyn Clark, speaking via this article on the LAF website, gave this quote some time back:
"What are the cornerstones to running an efficient household? I would
have to say they are clean laundry, a clean kitchen (especially clean dishes)
and three square meals a day. Without a vigilant attitude toward these things,
we can hinder any other efforts we make in our homes."
She's hit on the three areas I struggle the most with, right there! My kitchen - blessfully clean and tidy today (probably because of the fact the inlaws are on their way, LOL!) - is usually the worst area of the entire house. It's not uncommon during particularly bad weeks to have to wash a particular dirty pot or pan to cook dinner. It's a serious failing of mine that I'm trying to overcome (but hey, look over here, a CLEAN kitchen! A clean one!).
I want to tackle a few major areas of the home in the next couple of months. First, its about time Boofah got his own room. That fourth bedroom we so desperately needed? For the last two years, we've used it as a combo gym/junk room! It needs attention, and badly. I also want to organise my kitchen cupboards so that they are more efficient. Remove and donate all of the old crockery and tupperware I no longer use. And seriously work on maintaining a menu plan, even if that menu plan extends only toward what I mention in the right sidebar, all loosey-goosey like.
What do you do to promote a feeling of peace and 'homeliness' to your place?
I recently discovered 'Waffle Bars', by Time and Again - heavenly scented 'melts' designed for oil burners. They come in little packs shaped to appear like a block of eight chocolate squares, but coloured, of course, depending on the scent. I got a bar of honeysuckle and one of lemon verbena. You drop a couple of squares into the 'bowl' of an oil burner, add a tealight candle and away you go. They release the fragrance as they melt and when not in use, harden up. You can re-melt and re-harden them as often as the fragrance lasts. Some of the 'flavours' include Chocolate Truffles, Sugar Cookie and Nutty Taffy Apple. You can mix and match the scents to create your own, such as Sugar Cookie + Spice = Sugar and Spice. How delicious! They're made in Canada but down here in Australia I've picked them up in Barbara's Home & Gift stores for about $8 (AUD). One block of 8 squares has lasted me about two months.
Cheers,
Lizzie
Friday, June 8, 2007
Weekly Home & Weekly Yard Blessings
About once a week I see fit to try to accomplish the following things, LOL. The Weekly Yard Blessing is always on a Saturday morning but the Weekly Home Blessing is wherever I manage to slot it in :P
Lizzie's Weekly Home Blessing
1. Dust
2. Sweep / Vacuum (main living areas and bedrooms, inc under furniture)
3. Mop (main living areas and bathrooms)
4. Mirrors
5. Fingerprint Patrol (there are always some lurking!)
6. Change sheets
7. Empty bins
Lizzie's Weekly Yard Blessing
1. General tidy up (front and back yards)
2. Mow lawns (front and back yards, alternate weeks)
3. Trim the lawn edges (if needed)
4. Sweep paths (front and back yards)
5. Pull weeds (15 mins)
6. Prune (15 mins)
7. Cobweb Patrol (verandah and pergola areas)
8. Wipe down outdoor furniture
9. Refill bird feeder and birdbath
Cheers,
Lizzie
A Typical School Day Around Lizzie's Home
Even though I don't homeschool, I thought it would be helpful to add this post as a permanent fixture in the 'schedules' section in the right hand sidebar. Cause, you know, you might wanna peak over the bloggityville fence from time to time.
This is how a typical school day looks for us. Also, if Hubs wants to drop in and peruse this list he might find an answer to the question 'How hard can it be now the kids are all at school?". Ahem.
Lizzie's School Day Schedule
7:00 am ~ School prep (Master J needs to be ready by 7:45 for taxi pick-up)
This is how a typical school day looks for us. Also, if Hubs wants to drop in and peruse this list he might find an answer to the question 'How hard can it be now the kids are all at school?". Ahem.
Lizzie's School Day Schedule
7:00 am ~ School prep (Master J needs to be ready by 7:45 for taxi pick-up)
8:35 am ~ School run (spend some time in Boofah's classroom, then some time in Miss Moo's)
9:15 am ~ Exercise (usually my daily walk)
10:30 am ~ Break (sometimes a shower is required, plus there's morning tea to eat)
11:00 am ~ Housework (I don't wanna, but I have to, darn it)
1:00 pm ~ Lunch
1:30 pm ~ Study
3:00 pm ~ School run (mad dash home to be here for when Master J's taxi drops him off around 3:40 pm)
4:00 pm ~ Afternoon Routine (kids read to us, have a snack, get changed, have computer time etc)
5:00 pm ~ Dinner prep / Break (depending on what needs doing)
5:30 pm ~ Dinner prep
6:30 pm ~ Dinner
7:00 pm ~ Evening Routine (baths, make lunches, tidy up after dinner etc)
8:00 pm ~ Quiet Time (pick an activity)
8:30 pm ~ Kids' Bedtime / Mum's Down Time
10:30 pm ~ Prep for bed (shower, jammies, etc)
11:00 pm ~ Bedtime
On weekends, and during the school holidays, this list changes enormously. We sleep later for a start, and it seems I finish cleaning up from one meal/snack and they're asking for the next one, LOL. And the list is really just a guideline. Today, for example, I'm ignoring the housework and putting in some extra study time. But this is the aim in an ideal world :P
Cheers,
Lizzie
On weekends, and during the school holidays, this list changes enormously. We sleep later for a start, and it seems I finish cleaning up from one meal/snack and they're asking for the next one, LOL. And the list is really just a guideline. Today, for example, I'm ignoring the housework and putting in some extra study time. But this is the aim in an ideal world :P
Cheers,
Lizzie
Thursday, June 7, 2007
The Gift of Autism
The 'Elle' of A Day In The Life Of Elle recently put up an excellent post about how parenting an autistic child feels. Big hats off to her because she really nailed it, at least from my perspective.
I don't think 'why me?' anymore. I think 'why NOT me?' Because - and perhaps this is waxing a bit too lyrically, but bear with me - autism is a gift.
Yep, you read that right. A gift. A great big pass-the-parcel of thorns, no less, but a gift just the same. You unwrap the first crying, tantruming, frustrating, bewildering layer and you're stuck with the next issue to deal with.
But eventually, and ever so slowly, you get closer and closer to the treat in the middle. Because it doesn't matter what the outside packaging is, or the trials you have to endure to unwrap each layer along the way. What matters most is the core.
Five years ago I spent a great deal of time crying. We'd just been diagnosed, and life looked bleak. Now, looking back, I can see the scattered remains of past, challenging 'layers' all around me, and we're nearing the heart of who Master J is. We still manage a few thorn-pricks along the way and sometimes we're forced to RE-wrap with particularly challenging behaviours on occasion, but we've made it this far and I wouldn't swap any moment, any layer, for anything. We feel the way we feel and we are the people we are today precisely because we've walked this road, not in spite of it.
For those interested, please see Jim Sinclair's "Don't Mourn For Us" essay in the sidebar to the left. When I first read this several years ago I instantly began to change my perspective on how I viewed my son's 'gift'. I used to think of it as a burden, as something that, if medical science provided a safe and foolproof way to avoid or remove the issue altogether, I'd be signing him up for immediately. But you can't remove the child from the condition. As Jim puts it:
For the record, I count Master J's success as both the most challenging, and most rewarding of my time as a parent :)
Cheers,
Lizzie
I don't think 'why me?' anymore. I think 'why NOT me?' Because - and perhaps this is waxing a bit too lyrically, but bear with me - autism is a gift.
Yep, you read that right. A gift. A great big pass-the-parcel of thorns, no less, but a gift just the same. You unwrap the first crying, tantruming, frustrating, bewildering layer and you're stuck with the next issue to deal with.
But eventually, and ever so slowly, you get closer and closer to the treat in the middle. Because it doesn't matter what the outside packaging is, or the trials you have to endure to unwrap each layer along the way. What matters most is the core.
Five years ago I spent a great deal of time crying. We'd just been diagnosed, and life looked bleak. Now, looking back, I can see the scattered remains of past, challenging 'layers' all around me, and we're nearing the heart of who Master J is. We still manage a few thorn-pricks along the way and sometimes we're forced to RE-wrap with particularly challenging behaviours on occasion, but we've made it this far and I wouldn't swap any moment, any layer, for anything. We feel the way we feel and we are the people we are today precisely because we've walked this road, not in spite of it.
For those interested, please see Jim Sinclair's "Don't Mourn For Us" essay in the sidebar to the left. When I first read this several years ago I instantly began to change my perspective on how I viewed my son's 'gift'. I used to think of it as a burden, as something that, if medical science provided a safe and foolproof way to avoid or remove the issue altogether, I'd be signing him up for immediately. But you can't remove the child from the condition. As Jim puts it:
Woah, huh? Those are some pretty powerful words, but ones I've taken to heart in the years since. Life won't be easy. One would be pretty naive to assume that. But focussing on the layers ahead, the seemingly insurmountable task of raising this bundle of sparking nerve fibres, is probably going to have an enormous impact on how you relate, or even how you love, the child in front of you."Autism is not an appendage. (It) isn't something a person has, or a 'shell' that a person is trapped inside. There's no normal child hidden behind the autism. Autism is a way of being. It is pervasive, it colours every experience, every sensation, perception, thought, emotion and encounter, every aspect of existence. It is not possible to separate the autism from the person -- and if that were possible, the person you'd have left would not be the same person you started with.
Therefore when parents say 'I wish my child did not have autism', what they're really saying is 'I wish the autistic child I have did not exist and I had a different (non-autistic) child instead'. This is what we hear when you mourn over our existence. This is what we hear when you pray for a cure. This is what we know, when you tell us of your fondest hopes and dreams for us: that your greatest wish is that one day we will cease to be, and strangers you can love will move in behind our faces."
For the record, I count Master J's success as both the most challenging, and most rewarding of my time as a parent :)
Cheers,
Lizzie
Recipe - Cottage Rolls
You know when you stumble across a recipe that is so easy, so great and so kid-friendly that you have to share it with the world? Here's my answer to that question.We made these last night and they were so ridiculously easy its almost embarrassing. They're sausage rolls made without sausage mince. Or meat of any kind for that matter (and no tofu either). And every kid I've ever tried these on, can't pick the difference. When I first tried this recipe I didn't hold out much hope that the end result would be appetising, let alone edible. I was wrong - they taste great.
Cottage Rolls
Makes 24
1 cup low fat cottage cheese
3 eggs
1 onion, finely diced
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 cup quick-cooking oats (the ones that are chopped up a bit)
3 sheets puff pastry
1 tbsp milk
1 tbsp poppy or sesame seeds (optional)
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 200ºC (375ºF-ish). Line two trays with baking paper.
2. Combine cottage cheese, eggs, onion and soy sauce in a bowl. Mix well.
3. Add carrot, oats and breadcrumbs (I ended up using about 1 cup of breadcrumbs total - you don't want the mixture to be too 'wet'). Mix well.
4. Cut each pastry sheet in half to form two rectangles. Heap the mixture onto each pastry rectangle, forming into a log shape. Leave a 2cm (1 inch) border of pastry all around. Brush edges with the milk. Roll up to enclose filling. Cut each log into four pieces.
5. Place on a baking tray and repeat with remaining pastry and mixture. Brush tops with milk and sprinkle with poppy/sesame seeds if desired.
6. Bake for 35 mins or until the pastry has puffed and become golden brown. Serve with tomato ketchup for dipping.
These would be a great alternative to the usual high-fat-nutritionally-devoid fare served at children's parties. The pastry still contributes a moderate amount of fat but the payoff is that this recipe is cheap to produce, is vegetarian, and the kids won't notice they're eating something healthy! You could also add some other grated vegetables, such as zucchini, to the mixture for that added boost. My kids devoured these.
Cheers,
Lizzie
Monday, June 4, 2007
Cat Burglar
Seems I'm not the only one who's had a visit of the feline variety.
Scattered Mom over at Notes From the Cookie Jar is popular too!
I bought cat food today. Cat food, people.
Rang the local council and nobody has reported a missing black cat. I think there's probably a family out there revelling in their new-found good luck...or at the very least, the absence of their bad luck...
Cheers,
Lizzie
Scattered Mom over at Notes From the Cookie Jar is popular too!
I bought cat food today. Cat food, people.
Rang the local council and nobody has reported a missing black cat. I think there's probably a family out there revelling in their new-found good luck...or at the very least, the absence of their bad luck...
Cheers,
Lizzie
If I Was A Suspicious Gal...
It seems that we have inherited a cat.
Before I launch into the story, it's probably a good idea to paint a little background picture for you all.
I'm 27 years old, and I haven't had a pet in the house since I left home at 17 - not so much as a goldfish. In other words, in all the time I've lived with Hubs, we have been pet-less. Which, you know, worked out fine, because pumping out three kids in the space of three years kind of made the house feel like a litter box anyway.
It also means that we've not yet exposed the children - now 8 ½, nearly-7 and 5 ½ - to the joy of pet ownership. It's not that we haven't wanted to - I've been trying to get Hubs to agree to a puppy for years - but practicality usually wins out in the end. And by that I mean, we own a regular, standard family car. No van, no SUV, no stationwagon. Just a normal, 5-seater car. Sometime - oh, I don't know - about 5 years back, we officially reached capacity. And anyone with even a teeny dog knows, they kind of need their own spot in the car. This all means that we can't load the kids and the dog up in the car and drive down to the beach, or the park, and act like, you know, dog owner families, because we just can't fit everyone in.
(And just to point out, if you haven't figured it out already, I'm a total dog person. Specifically Beagles. Hubs' vote is for a Lab or a Golden Retriever - the quintessential family dog really - he says walking a Lab instead of a Beagle will make him look like more of a man. As opposed to, say, a 'girlie-man')
So we were stuck with being pet-less for the forseeable future. And apart from the Mama Bear in me taking over every time I pass a pet store (which I, of course, have to go inside, specifically to check if they have any Beagles) and see the pups' little eyes all 'Puss-in-Boots'-ing at me, we're okay with that. A second car, even an upgrade to a station wagon, will cost us thousands out of pocket. A bit extreme for a family pet, I think you'll agree.
Then one day, I'm gearing up to go for my daily walk, open the front door, and there on the doorstep is this cat.
We get the occasional cat stalking the birds in our backyard. One in particular, we think lives next door. They're usually skittish and run off quickly whenever we open the door. But this cat - black no less, similar to the photo above - was just kind of there. Curled up on our welcome mat, meow-ing pitifully. From the way the poor thing was 'crying', we figured it was lost and was hungry. Having no pets, we of course didn't have any pet food, but we poured a little dish of milk and put out some ham. The cat darn near pounced into the bowl, it was that hungry. While most cats we see about the yard are antisocial, this one is obviously extremely tame and quite leech-like, because in the three or so days since, he (or she?) has pretty much set up shop on our front doorstep.
At first we thought it was one of those freaky 'cat got lost and still thinks it lives here' stories, but after two years in this house, it would have been a bit extreme. Still, we did ask the previous owners (they live locally) and it wasn't theirs.
The thing is, I'm not really a cat person. Nor am I particularly suspicious but I did realise today it arrived on the anniversary of Mum's death (30th) and hasn't budged since. It sits out there and cries - cries people! - and this morning I got an attack of the guilts and gave it another dish of milk. We alternate between wanting to feed the poor mite and avoiding all contact less the creature begins to think it belongs to us. We're not ready for a pet yet, and though a cat would eliminate a lot of the ' no room in the car' issues, a dog (eventually) is what we've always aimed for. We've never had a cat want to hang around the house so much.
The kids, of course, think its the best thing since sliced bread. Snowball III (in reference to the Simpsons, in case you missed that, LOL) is usually there at the door when we wake up, and when we go to bed, scratching at the screen. We've allowed the kids to pet it, but we think we're going to have to put a halt to that too - the more it gets used to it, the bigger the spanner in the 'no cats' plan.
The kids and I are going to do a letterbox drop in the next few days if he hasn't wandered home by then. Hubs also thinks ringing the local council to see if anyone has reported a missing cat might be in order. It sounds cruel, but the hungrier he gets, the more likely he'll be to move on.
Either that, or he'll cry louder.
I really hope he doesn't cry louder, LOL.
Cheers,
Lizzie
Before I launch into the story, it's probably a good idea to paint a little background picture for you all.
I'm 27 years old, and I haven't had a pet in the house since I left home at 17 - not so much as a goldfish. In other words, in all the time I've lived with Hubs, we have been pet-less. Which, you know, worked out fine, because pumping out three kids in the space of three years kind of made the house feel like a litter box anyway.
It also means that we've not yet exposed the children - now 8 ½, nearly-7 and 5 ½ - to the joy of pet ownership. It's not that we haven't wanted to - I've been trying to get Hubs to agree to a puppy for years - but practicality usually wins out in the end. And by that I mean, we own a regular, standard family car. No van, no SUV, no stationwagon. Just a normal, 5-seater car. Sometime - oh, I don't know - about 5 years back, we officially reached capacity. And anyone with even a teeny dog knows, they kind of need their own spot in the car. This all means that we can't load the kids and the dog up in the car and drive down to the beach, or the park, and act like, you know, dog owner families, because we just can't fit everyone in.
(And just to point out, if you haven't figured it out already, I'm a total dog person. Specifically Beagles. Hubs' vote is for a Lab or a Golden Retriever - the quintessential family dog really - he says walking a Lab instead of a Beagle will make him look like more of a man. As opposed to, say, a 'girlie-man')
So we were stuck with being pet-less for the forseeable future. And apart from the Mama Bear in me taking over every time I pass a pet store (which I, of course, have to go inside, specifically to check if they have any Beagles) and see the pups' little eyes all 'Puss-in-Boots'-ing at me, we're okay with that. A second car, even an upgrade to a station wagon, will cost us thousands out of pocket. A bit extreme for a family pet, I think you'll agree.
Then one day, I'm gearing up to go for my daily walk, open the front door, and there on the doorstep is this cat.
We get the occasional cat stalking the birds in our backyard. One in particular, we think lives next door. They're usually skittish and run off quickly whenever we open the door. But this cat - black no less, similar to the photo above - was just kind of there. Curled up on our welcome mat, meow-ing pitifully. From the way the poor thing was 'crying', we figured it was lost and was hungry. Having no pets, we of course didn't have any pet food, but we poured a little dish of milk and put out some ham. The cat darn near pounced into the bowl, it was that hungry. While most cats we see about the yard are antisocial, this one is obviously extremely tame and quite leech-like, because in the three or so days since, he (or she?) has pretty much set up shop on our front doorstep.
At first we thought it was one of those freaky 'cat got lost and still thinks it lives here' stories, but after two years in this house, it would have been a bit extreme. Still, we did ask the previous owners (they live locally) and it wasn't theirs.
The thing is, I'm not really a cat person. Nor am I particularly suspicious but I did realise today it arrived on the anniversary of Mum's death (30th) and hasn't budged since. It sits out there and cries - cries people! - and this morning I got an attack of the guilts and gave it another dish of milk. We alternate between wanting to feed the poor mite and avoiding all contact less the creature begins to think it belongs to us. We're not ready for a pet yet, and though a cat would eliminate a lot of the ' no room in the car' issues, a dog (eventually) is what we've always aimed for. We've never had a cat want to hang around the house so much.
The kids, of course, think its the best thing since sliced bread. Snowball III (in reference to the Simpsons, in case you missed that, LOL) is usually there at the door when we wake up, and when we go to bed, scratching at the screen. We've allowed the kids to pet it, but we think we're going to have to put a halt to that too - the more it gets used to it, the bigger the spanner in the 'no cats' plan.
The kids and I are going to do a letterbox drop in the next few days if he hasn't wandered home by then. Hubs also thinks ringing the local council to see if anyone has reported a missing cat might be in order. It sounds cruel, but the hungrier he gets, the more likely he'll be to move on.
Either that, or he'll cry louder.
I really hope he doesn't cry louder, LOL.
Cheers,
Lizzie
Saturday, June 2, 2007
My Hubs, The Artiste
Hubs is one step closer to fame and fortune.
DH's fourth child is his digital SLR camera (much like my fourth child is my dishwasher, ahem) and at the risk of sounding completely sappy, he's really good.
An uncle of his came down to visit us last weekend. He's into photography as well and wanted some Photoshop tips from Hubs. He's been having talks with the owner of a gallery in the town where he lives and (long story short), Hubs has come on board to do a joint exhibition.
Scheduled for early next year, the gallery owner wants 60-80 photos between the two of them. Hubs is stoked - he really gets to stretch his legs on this one. And the best part?
His photos will be for sale.
The gallery owner says that the smaller ones usually sell for $100 and the larger ones up to $500. I just about fell over when I heard that as a general rule, about a third of the displayed shots sell. Assuming they have 80 shots on display between them, and each of them sell a third of their own work, that's 13-14 sales. Even if they're on the lower end of the sale price, that's - gasp! - a potential $1300-$1400!
Okay, so that's an oversimplistic way of working it out, and he could sell absolutely zip during the month they'll be on display. BUT, its a heck of an opportunity regardless and Hubs is thrilled to think of his work out in the open.
I love Hubs' photos. Some of the shots are breathlessly good, and I'm not saying that just because I'm married to the man, LOL. Well not all because of that :P He's genuinely that good. And I'm so darn jealous, LOL. He recently won an online 'photo of the month' competition which will see his photo printed in a nationwide camera magazine - he made it into mass print before I did! Grrr!
This is one of those opportunities that I love - to pump up Hubs. Between now and Christmas we'll work together to pump out his collection, print and frame the shots, design a website (that's where I come in!) , print business cards, and so on. He'll be my little side project, LOL.
P.S. The shot above is one of Hubs' - Miss Moo having a splash.
Cheers,
Lizzie
DH's fourth child is his digital SLR camera (much like my fourth child is my dishwasher, ahem) and at the risk of sounding completely sappy, he's really good.
An uncle of his came down to visit us last weekend. He's into photography as well and wanted some Photoshop tips from Hubs. He's been having talks with the owner of a gallery in the town where he lives and (long story short), Hubs has come on board to do a joint exhibition.
Scheduled for early next year, the gallery owner wants 60-80 photos between the two of them. Hubs is stoked - he really gets to stretch his legs on this one. And the best part?
His photos will be for sale.
The gallery owner says that the smaller ones usually sell for $100 and the larger ones up to $500. I just about fell over when I heard that as a general rule, about a third of the displayed shots sell. Assuming they have 80 shots on display between them, and each of them sell a third of their own work, that's 13-14 sales. Even if they're on the lower end of the sale price, that's - gasp! - a potential $1300-$1400!
Okay, so that's an oversimplistic way of working it out, and he could sell absolutely zip during the month they'll be on display. BUT, its a heck of an opportunity regardless and Hubs is thrilled to think of his work out in the open.
I love Hubs' photos. Some of the shots are breathlessly good, and I'm not saying that just because I'm married to the man, LOL. Well not all because of that :P He's genuinely that good. And I'm so darn jealous, LOL. He recently won an online 'photo of the month' competition which will see his photo printed in a nationwide camera magazine - he made it into mass print before I did! Grrr!
This is one of those opportunities that I love - to pump up Hubs. Between now and Christmas we'll work together to pump out his collection, print and frame the shots, design a website (that's where I come in!) , print business cards, and so on. He'll be my little side project, LOL.
P.S. The shot above is one of Hubs' - Miss Moo having a splash.
Cheers,
Lizzie
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