Ack! I Can't Catch A Break This Week!

I'm sick.

And... I have a sore leg/foot that, for the life of me, I can't remember injuring.

And... I sent my girl-child (a mere 7½ years old) away on a two night school camp this morning (oh dear God the planning that went into that! Every scrap of clothing and every other item had to be individually named. In the end I threw each day's clothing into a big ziplock, wrote "Thursday" and "Friday" on the front, plus a third baggie for "Spare clothing", and hoped for the best. I am absolutely certain she'll forget something, but anyhoo).

And... Boof has had his curriculum-based swimming lessons each day this week - public schools here (at least in my state) set aside a week of lessons once a year, about 1.5 hrs each lesson (ie, one lesson a day). This means a packed swimming bag every day, which means remembering to dry out/wash swimming gear each night. Added to this is Jay's regular Friday swimming lesson (he goes with his class to a special needs swim lesson).

And... Jay goes on camp NEXT week (also for two nights) but is going alone for the first time (staff at the school are going and are brilliant). So there's planning for that.

And... also had Jay's NEP (negotiated education plan) meeting today - he's doing really, really well (for those not aware, an NEP is like a step up from a parent-teacher interview and is geared toward keeping everyone on the same page regarding the unique approach to teaching each special needs kid can bring) Jay's average to above-average when compared to other kids (in the general school population) with most of the 'needs' part of his 'special needs' relating to social issues rather than academic ones. The teachers and aides continue to rave about what a fantastic student he is which makes us ridiculously happy. They're also gearing him up for inclusion this year in the standardised national literacy and numeracy testing for his year level (grade 5). This testing was introduced a few years ago in Australia (to be done at year levels 3, 5 and 7) and Boof did it last year (grade 3 for him then) so we know what to expect, but still, it's a unique experience and also essentially an 'exam', so we have lots to talk to Jay about regarding it. Jay was exempt from his Year 3 testing due to his disability but everyone thinks he'll do fantastically this year so it will be really interesting to see where Jay lies on the scale. Numbers, he knows back to front and sideways. Literacy is also really good but he could have issues with misunderstanding the question (numbers are like a language to him, with finite answers - written language not so much, although he's well above average in the 'finite' aspects of it, like spelling). All in all though, we're incredibly proud of Jay.

And... speaking of Jay, we're looking to the immediate future and how to broach the subject of his disability to him. Until this point, we have not spoken directly to him about autism. There are a whole raft of reasons why, which I won't go into now, but suffice it to say that all three kids are getting older and offhand comments have shown up here and there which indicate that it's 'time' to begin explaining it to him. So that we have answers (in 'his' way of understanding them) on hand, we're paying a visit to the Autism Association in my state early next week to snaffle some of their library books and his class teacher is running us up a little binder with explanations of various things in age (and disability) appropriate terms.

And... this all signifies a fairly huge turning point for us. Puberty is right around the corner, which scares us horrendously I should point out, and the older Jay gets, the more necessary it will become to explain certain behaviours he has to him and to the younger two. We don't feel right doing that before we've spoken to Jay about it all, so here we are. I'm petrified. He'll either be very 'meh' about it, or he'll be insanely curious and totally confused. There's no middle ground with Jay, which is why its even more important that we do this initial 'you have autism' conversation in the right way, with the right resources to hand. For the most part we're pretty instinctual parents, but for this, if we make a mistake, it could come back to bite us in the rear.

AND ALSO... I'm like the world's worst guest blogger. I'm doing Kitchen of the Week over at Happy To Be At Home and with everything that has been going on, I've not had much of a chance to write up my days and send them in to the wonderful Toni. They're coming! But it will probably be a case of Days 2, 3 and 4 all in the one post, LOL. It's a bit hard to concentrate on max ibuprofen. Writing this post is the longest I've sat down since Sunday.

And approximately twice as long as I've slept since then also.

Dear Big Man Upstairs

Thankyou for getting us home safely today, despite nearly drowning from the downpour you sent down just as we got into the car. This is on top of the near-constant rain since Thursday. We're in a drought down here, so every drop counts. But you know that already.

While we're on the subject of weather, how about we dial down the sun about twenty degrees at the height of summer? Awesome. Looking forward to swanning about town in a sweater next February instead of wringing the sweat out of my hair. Honestly, we melt down here. We're closer to Antarctica than most of the world, so what's up with that?

Also thankyou for the dog who, after a two hour car ride, a two hour nap when we got home (and, for that matter, a two hour nap before we left), relieved himself on floor. Apparently six hours is about all Charlie's bladder can hold. Good to know. But this floor of mine hasn't been so clean (from all the repeated mopping up of wee) in years. Are you trying to tell me something? You sneaky deity you!

Thankyou for alerting me to the fact that my mother-in-law owns the same brand of sewing machine I'm looking to purchase. Hers is a much better model, of course, with a whizz-bang touch screen and more stitches than is decent, but I can deal with that. We benefit from her quilts anyway.

Thankyou for prompting us to arrive at KFC (don't judge me! We've been away!) at precisely the time the line exploded and the trainee started work.

Thankyou for pimples at age 29-years-and-7-months. Way to go on the humility front.

Thankyou for giving Talented Hubby a matching pimple. Makes me feel a little better, given that he's 31 and all.

Thankyou also for not giving me the beard TH has to cover his up.

Thankyou for the golden ray of sunshine you sent down on Talented Hubby's ebay auctions today - you know, the ones that just netted him an amount equal to my Dream Sewing Machine Fund (which will take me a year to save) - in one swoop. Thankyou for patience and sweet-spiritedness, which I'm trying really, really hard to exercise today.

(Seriously though, thankyou for the photography talent that earned him the money to purchase the then-new cameras that he just sold, and the even-newer camera a few weeks ago. For all my grumbling, I'm very, very proud of TH :)

Thankyou for ebay Turbo Lister. But please make it easier to use next time, 'kay?

Thankyou for double-ended clothes pegs. Just because.

Amen.

Full Of Bloggy Love

You know, it's the easiest thing in the world to forget that 'faceless' bloggers are people too. And that they might actually, you know, do normal people things, like genuinely care about the people around them. Or, as the case may be, people not around them.

Last night, in a fit of insomnia half a world away, a blogger wrote a post. She wrote it to the world at large, because the subject matter was weighing heavily on her soul. It struck her in the middle of the night (or whenever her 'night' is in relation to my 'day') and something prompted her to head to the computer. She wavered in her resolve to hit 'Publish'.

I'm so incredibly glad she did.

Because when my night (and quite possibly, her 'day' - I forget how it works out) rolled around, and I couldn't sleep (partly self-inflicted, partly kid-inflicted), I logged on to Google Reader. And read The Post. And immediately commented on it. Because I seriously, honestly, believed I was meant to read it.

The blogger in question - she knows who she is - is a true treasure.

I'm off for the next couple of days on a family trip. There'll be lots of time for personal reflection. My iPod is loaded up with appropriate music and podcasts to facillitate this, and I'll probably have lots to say on this subject when I get back See you in a bit!

Fascinating, I Know

Auuugh. I've started this post a hundred times already and it pretty much boils down to the same thing each time I've tried - nothing interesting has happened at Lizzie's Home (the real one) in days. Therefore, I will NOT be posting about the following trivialities:

• The dog, who continues to eat socks (although we fixed his little red wagon by getting the shoe cabinet/cupboard/chest of drawers thingamajig - thwarting his plans to have a side order of Doc Martens with his white cotton anklets).
  
  
• The last-minute trip to the inlaws' place, which was almost going to be that same day but which I managed to get an extra day's grace over. We can therefore take clean clothes instead of dirty ones. Chalk one up to the Be Better Prepared, Darn It! side.
  
  
• The family trip into the city yesterday, because I'm still recovering from All The Crazy. Both from my kids AND from the city-dwellers. It's official. I'm a suburbanite for life (interestingly, Jay and Moo saw their first homeless person. He pulled a tent out of some bushes in front of the art gallery where we were waiting for Daddy, hoisted a stripey bag over his shoulders (Aussies - you know? The ones that are in all the cheapie shops?) and off he wandered. The kids didn't ask, and I didn't elaborate. I did, however, 'take a few moments' for the man in question).
  
  
• The fact that I made the most awesome pizza ever on Sunday night and I had the foresight to make a LOT extra - enough for everyone to have their fill for that dinner and two days' worth of lunches afterward. Sure, buying the ingredients costs twice what a 2 x $5 Pizza Hut special would but I get a kick out of the from-scratch dough working the way it should. I know - I'm a cheap date, LOL.
  
  
• That I took a SALAD ON A PICNIC. When everyone else was eating cold, delicious-smelling pizza. I even used one of those fancy-schmancy Tupperware thingies with the inserts to keep the wet stuff wet and the crisp stuff crisp. AND I boiled an egg. AND I took my own dressing (okay, so I also ate a small piece of pizza, but in my defence it was homemade and I had already been rather virtuous, so...)
  
  
• The thirty-six podcasts I just downloaded. I adore my iPod, LOL.
  
  
• Or the fact that I'm having a 'wet cement' kind of day - you know, when no matter how hard you try your feet still seem to be stuck in place and you get nowhere, fast?

Adequate sleep should help with the posting soon enough, LOL...

My Philosophy On Life, Home & Money - Part 2

Begin here: Part 1

The problem with moving around so much as a child is that you are never given much opportunity to establish your place in the local community. Now, some kids adapt to this changing lifestyle wonderfully well and for the most part, so did we. There's a lot of excitement to be had in seeing new towns, discovering new homes, meeting new playmates. But for the four of us kids, of which I am the youngest by 7 years, there were downsides as well. While other peer groups at our schools had known each other for years, some friendships dating back to kindergarten, we were the perpetual 'new kids'. My need to stay grounded in a community became an integral part of what I wanted for my future family - I needed to find a caring, safe community in which to raise my children for a very long time. When Jay was diagnosed, this became even more important.

I can't fully explain why this was always such a big deal to me, except to say that I craved more stability for my family. No stress over employment and moving to where the jobs were. No constant threat over our financial security. I would never, ever fault my parents for the life in which they brought the four of us up in - it made us the people we are today - but I knew from the moment Talented Hubby and I began our lives together that I would not be able to live the same way with my own family.

I have been spectacularly blessed in my choice of spouse, LOL. He is a man of integrity and has the best work ethic of anyone I've ever met. When we first began dating he was managing a video francise and promotion prospects were nil. He had a dream to break into a particular area of employment noted for its difficult entry process and he systematically worked his way through those requirements until he achieved his goal. He has since worked his way 'up the ranks' and I have never been more proud of the way he approaches life and family. His hard work and dedication have allowed me to stay at home with the kids since the first was born and for a wife to know that she is supported in that way - well, it speaks volumes. You gals know what I mean :)

As for my philosophy on money, well, I don't need to be 'rich' - although in the worldwide sense I realise that I already am. We have no debt except the house, run just the one car (I don't have a licence, so that helps!), prefer a movie and a pizza over a three-course restaurant meal, pay our bills in full and have a little money to play with at the end of the month. When I compare this - dangerous, I know - to the financial life of my parents when I was a child - woah. It makes me feel incredibly blessed and thankful. We're not fancy people. I don't buy shoes or handbags (purses) and I'm not a fan of jewellery. I'm still running on the same bottle of foundation I bought three years ago, which should give you a big clue about my priorities in life, LOL. We forego what others might call 'luxuries' to ensure our other priorities are met - and for me, this includes this home (in a 'good' neighbourhood), money left in the bank at the end of each month, and the opportunity to support our children at school, both with the usual expenses and with the extracurriculas..

This then, in short, is my General Money Ethos:

Offence, not defence.

Would you rather attack bills with resources you already have at your disposal, or spend your life running from them, constantly looking over your shoulder? Decide what's more important to you - instant gratification via credit cards, or peace with your finances.

Put your financial roots in solid ground, not quicksand.

Never underestimate the power of physical and financial security for a child. The money lessons they learn early on, will continue with them as an adult, both good and bad. Make sure the foundations are solid. Teach your children about money, and make it concrete and practical. Allow them to experience the effort required to earn something they desperately want. Show them the value of a dollar. Giving them an allowance is one of the easiest ways to do this. We pay our children half their age - Jay therefore gets $5, Boof $4 and Moo $3.50 per week (to get this, they are required to help out around the house, and yes, we've been known to put a stop-payment down if they're not pulling their weight!). Of this, we make them save half. The remaining half is free to spend, with direction from Mum and Dad. They've each learned the power of a dollar, but they've also been allowed to make what we could tell from the outset would be a mistake, such as buying a cheap toy from the dollar store. Let them play at being adults, before they are adults and their financial slip ups could ruin their lives. Better a $2 mistake now than a $200,000 one when they're 25.

Some financial decisions are the whole family's business.

The household budget is still a taboo subject for most families. Parents rarely discuss the finer points of their spending plans with their kids and as a result, most kids hit 'leaving home' age and have a very jaded view of what is needed to keep a household running (*raises hand sheepishly*, LOL). My advice? Start early. As much as you feel comfortable doing so, involve your children in family budget meetings. You should tailor the information to their age level of course, but kids can learn a great deal about money and their responsibilities around it, just by observing their parents. Let them see you paying bills, discussing how to save for Christmas, calculating how much money you'll spend on petrol (gas) this month. I grew up panicked around money, or frustrated that we never had any, and it began to severely impact my decisions as an adult. If you have to say no to a child's request for music lessons, be honest and give them a reason. If they're privy to even a few details of the household finances, it can be an easier pill to swallow. Children should also be involved in major financial decisions such as where to go for the next family holiday, activities to do while you're there, whether to buy a new television to replace the one that broke, that kind of thing. Kids can usually handle more than we think they can. Be careful though - you don't want to burden a five year old with the news that you're worried about your next house payment. The idea is that by the time they leave home they'll not only know how to work the washing machine, but also how money is a tool, not a god. The right attitude is key - and if you avoid talking to your kids about money because you think it's too hard, or they're too young, it will only be harder when they're a teenager or young adult.

What you spend your money on should be a mutual decision.

A lot of families I know who have a budget (and stick to it!) also have an accountability system in place. All purchases over a certain amount - let's say $100 - are discussed with the spouse, no matter what, before any money changes hands. Deciding whether to buy that item is then a joint decision. Certain larger, regular payments - such as the groceries, or Junior's sporting fees - don't really need to be discussed beforehand every time so long as both parties understand what the amount usually averages out at. Some families might find that a smaller 'accountability amount' is better for them.

Everyone needs an allowance, even the grown-ups.

Play money is an important - perhaps even the most important - part of sticking to a budget. Deprivation leads to horrible choices. Play money falls outside of the realm of accountability in our house. With the exception of children's allowances, which you might decide need to be divided into certain parts, like savings, spending or tithing, I'm a huge proponent of adult allowances and the free choice it allows each individual. In a budget-driven household, it is very easy to let a deprivation mindset creep in - "Before the budget I was 'allowed' to buy a coffee every single day! Now I'm meant to clear it with my husband first? Waaah! Where's the nearest shoe store?" (LOL) - and that's setting you up for failure before you even begin. Your allowance - whatever you and your spouse mutually agree is an appropriate amount - is yours to spend freely. If you're smart, you'll save some of it, LOL. If you really, really love that coffee and can afford to pay for it out of your allowance, then you should be free to do that. You will, of course, have to be disciplined.

In our family, even though we stick pretty closely to this philosophy on money, we still have our hard and frustrating decisions to make :) Just recently, we found ourselves with a small bonus payment so Talented Hubby and I sat down and discussed what we would spend it on. Naturally, putting a little extra on the mortgage was a top priority, but we also had a few minor household repairs we'd been putting off and were looking to replace some furniture. We decided on 'mini-budgets' for each of these items. We researched and thought economically. I had a wishlist of furniture items I would have loved to purchase but in the end we had to say no to some things in order to say yes to others. Did it hurt to watch what I was pining for slip away? I won't lie - it stung something shocking. But we prioritise our spending so that we're able to focus on the really important stuff. We could go out tomorrow and buy everything on our list, and then some. But we're not prepared to sacrifice so much of our hard work and savings to do it, so instead we compromised. We'll still get a couple of smaller pieces, but the bulk of the furniture fund will be put aside to purchase a sofa bed in the not-too-distant future (and I must say, I'm sure our regular house guests will be grateful - the poor dears have had to make do with an inflatable airbed on our loungeroom floor for a couple of years now, LOL).

I hope our kids are watching us around money, and taking mental notes. I hope they understand money is a privilege and a gift, and I hope they've learned enough from us to be comfortable enough around money to make the best financial decisions as adults :) They come with us to the grocery store, and count out money for the cashier (and they also get to, on occasion, see how a debit card works :P). Our economy with takeaway spending means we get to go out to a sit-down family dinner every 3 or 4 weeks, a meal we all agree trumps cheaper-and-more-frequent McD's tenfold. And my Little Calculator (aka, Boof, LOL) just about disolves into a puddle of glee when I drag out my Price Book - he LOVES helping me work out unit prices. This all makes a mama's heart sing :)

I'd love to hear about others' approach to money and teaching kids about money. Chime in in the comments :)

My Philosophy On Life, Home & Money - Part 1

In the real bricks-and-mortar versions of our lives, certain things are inevitable. A child will get sick the day before a birthday party. You'll put your keys on the roof of your car while you buckle in your preschooler and only discover your mistake when you've driven the 30 miles home. And generally speaking, your biggest recurring (and largely flexible) expense will be groceries. It's just a fact of life.

Once upon a million years ago, we had a preschooler, a toddler and a newborn, experienced a major career shift and a special needs diagnosis two days apart, and were surviving on two thirds of the income we're blessed with now. Despite this we still managed to save nearly $18,000 in the space of fourteen months, allowing us to plunk down a hefty deposit on our first home. It had been a dream since childhood, and we were thrilled.

We were very careful with our money during this time. There was perhaps $5 play money each per week and that was about it. We were on a $150 per week grocery budget (don't faint - that was Aussie prices, included all paper products and over the counter medications, and we were feeding five. I would LOVE to still be spending this much!) and managed quite well. We just didn't allow ourselves many 'extras'. Was it worth it? Without a shadow of a doubt! We had a very clear goal in mind and though it was tough not to take a holiday, or to watch our friends buy new and exciting things, by the time we handed over that deposit cheque, we couldn't wipe the smiles off our faces.

Moving in to our new home was terribly exciting. We had rented for 8 years, feeling like we were merely 'playing house', and now we finally felt like grown ups! Talented Hubby's family had moved quite frequently when he was younger, as had mine, but my family had also had to endure several prolonged periods of 'forced frugality' - times when there was simply no money to stretch. I watched as my school friends went on the excursions while I stayed behind, I always took a packed lunch and once, my older brother and his girlfriend had to buy me a pair of shoes. Despite this, we were lucky. We lived on a small acreage which provided oodles of (free) entertainment in the form of fort-building, willow branch-weaving and creek-paddling. When we had a little extra money, we did things like rent a car and travel to the city (our old bomb would never have made the journey). We had no set plan for when we got there - the car trip alone was enough of a treat for us. Or we would host a Christmas meal for the extended family and just soak up life. It was a great childhood.

Years later, as I started a family and got married (don't look too closely at the math there, LOL) I became aware that I wanted two things for my family more than anything else in the world.

I wanted to know I always had enough money to send the kids on every (reasonable) excursion or performance at their schools, and I wanted roots. If spending money on the 'extra' events at school seems like a trivial thing to strive for, you have to remember that it goes far beyond the money spent. It's the security in knowing that you can spend money on those things, even if you choose, for whatever reason, not to. I did not live with that security as a child. I was terrified to ask my parents for money for casual days or the school canteen, and I dreaded another excursion notice coming home because quite often I already knew the answer - and I knew how much it pained my parents to have to say no to us kids. Don't get me wrong, we still say no to some school-related things our kids ask for these days - but it was always important for me to have the option of saying yes, without having to worry about whether we could afford to.

I also think that being in a constant state of financial insecurity as a child impacted my early money decisions as an adult - at one stage I was receiving a student allowance which was the most money I'd ever had through my hands at once, and I spent it very, very foolishly. In retrospect, I was deep into the 'feast or famine' ethos of money management - and that's a scary place to be.

Thankfully, I soon found myself attached to a man with extremely sound financial grounding - otherwise things could have gotten a lot, lot worse.

Look out for Part 2 tomorrow

I'm Dreaming Of A Filled Lunchbox...

Just a quick post tonight :)

I hope all my Aussie friends had a particularly lovely Easter Sunday and I hope my overseas friends are waking up to one right now :)

Tomorrow will be a bit of a spring-clean around Lizzie's Home. I have some projects I want to dabble in (seriously, have you ever seen anything more adorable than this?) but I've promised myself no craftwork until the laundry is caught up and the house scraped back into order.

Something I do have on my mind tonight - lunchboxes. I know, strange considering we've just entered into a two week break from school. Might as well get a move on now though. We're all a bit sick of the same old sandwiches so I thought I'd try and work up a 'school term lunch menu' during the next couple of weeks and that's where you guys come in!

I need suggestions for non-sandwichy-type lunch options BUT there are three restrictions. First, and most importantly, it has to be kid-friendly. Second, it needs to be able to survive at room temperature (thankfully the weather has turned so no more brutal heat) - no access to a refridgerator in any of the kids' classrooms and preferably something that doesn't require a soft cooler type lunch sack (although at a pinch I could purchase some - I just hate them because they're hard to keep clean. I also have some icebricks if that helps). And third, it can't require heating (foods that can be served both hot and at room/icebrick temp (safely, of course) such as rice, homemade pizza etc are good options, so think along those lines). When you remove 'sandwich' from the equation, things get a bit tricky, hence the roadblock. Special extra bonus points for anything that can be assembled or packaged the night before, as that's how I do all the kids lunches.

I kind of thought we'd still have a variation on the standard 'two slices of bread' deal (rolls, wraps, etc) for two days a week or thereabouts and an alternative lunch meal on the remaining three days. So far I've got Fried Rice, Pasta Salad (would have to find a my-kid-approved recipe first though plus the 'non-refridgeration/non-heating' conditions might also limit some recipes due to the ingredients they use), Sandwich Sushi, Homemade Pizza and what we call Kids Bits (chopped up 'bits', smorgasbord-style).

Any help much appreciated, so chime in!

So Waiting On The Easter Egg Thing Was A Bad Idea

I'm an idiot.

Why on earth did I think there'd be ANY Easter eggs left on the shelves the afternoon before Easter Sunday? Um, only the fact that I know without a shadow of a doubt that come Tuesday (when shops re-open down here after the public holidays tomorrow and Monday) there will be a whole section of 50% off eggs. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear the retailers took lots off the shelves on purpose today so they'd have lots to sell (at deep discount, but whatever) on Tuesday. I was only in these same stores on Thursday and everything was stocked to the ceiling. Auuugh!

So I did what any enterprising mother would do - I faked it.

At the supermarket tonight I grabbed all manner of treats (most not related to Easter at all, but the kids won't notice) and a three wine gift bags (minus the wine) and when all's said and done, I'll have an awesome little giftbag for each of the kids.

Mother ingenuity? Tick!

But remind me next year to get in early, 'kay? The crowds were HORRIBLE today.

Last Minute? It's What I Do Best

It's Easter Saturday and like any procrastinator worth her salt, I am yet to buy a scrap of chocolate. Not that we go nuts on that score anyway, but we do make up a little basket or gift bag for each of the kids, to be 'discovered' on Easter Sunday.

Waiting until the last minute serves two purposes. First, it removes the temptation from my perspective! Having easy access to many delectable treats is BAD - and if I know its in the house, the chocolate bunny's days are limited. And also, many stores today are heavily discounting their Easter goodies (nothing like the half-off sales that will hit from Tuesday onward, but still). So off I go today.

The Passion of the Christ is on tonight as well but the TV execs must have assumed its appeal has waned somewhat because it's not being screened until 11:40 pm and won't end till 2:10 am. Good grief. I watched it all the way through for the first time last year and loved it, so I was looking forward to it again this year. Yeah, I could go and rent it, but everyone else would have the same idea and most stores only carry the one copy of this five-year-old movie anymore so I'd probably miss out this weekend :) Is it strange that I intend buying snacks and snuggling my way through the film on the couch? It'll be nice :)

Happy Easter everyone :)

Dogs Rule And Cats Drool? Today I Am On The Cats' Side

The dog. THE DOG! The furry creature who spends half his time stealing shoes out of the basket near the front door and making a bolt for the backyard and the other half trying to scam Scooby Snacks, decided to be sick last night. And when I say night, I mean ALL night.

I have not seen a sunrise since, I don't know, 2002 when Moo stopped waking at night. I did, however, break that record last night...

He started up at 2am (before I'd gone to bed - don't judge me! I got my just desserts, believe you me!) when he wouldn't go to bed. We're mean and shut him in the laundry room overnight - it's that or feet in wayward wee puddles in the kitchen first thing and I think I'd have a breakdown if that happened so into the laundry he goes. But he wouldn't bed down. He scratched grooves into the laundry door in an effort to extricate himself.

This went on for an hour. I naively thought each little outburst would be his last but alas, IT WAS NOT and I eventually got up, grumbling. I hadn't slept anyway but with Talented Hubby making annoyed sleepy noises in the bed next to me - he had to rise at 5:30 am for work - I took the high road. What followed is a nightmare only akin to the newborn stage. I'd forgotten what it's like to be so bone-crushingly exhausted and yet this needy, squawking thing continues to thwart your plans for sweet slumber.

Over the next several HOURS Charlie vomited the gross doggy-vomit (if you're a pet owner, you get what I mean...) every hour or so. In between, he'd scratch, chew and claw his way around the family room, making sure I never fully went to sleep from my position on the couch. When he started making awkward choking sounds I knew the inevitable was going to happen so I'd get up, get some paper towels, clean up, and return to the couch. The cycle would start again.

At 5:30 or so he finally started to settle down and my eyes closed. At approximately 5:33, Talented Hubby gently shook me awake before returning to the ensuite to shower up. At 6:00 I wrote notes explaining the night I'd had on about seventeen Post-Its in which I also threatened the children with the pain of a smashed computer if they woke me before 9am. Then I went to bed.

The kids were fairly good. TH had left for work at 6:30 after first feeding our 'dawn o'clock' child (Jay) but the others were getting (rightly) hungry by nine so with MUCH coaxing, I made it out to the kitchen.

I feel ROTTEN.

The dog, however, has SLEPT THE ENTIRE DAY. Thankfully he appears to have suffered no ill effects but it did take me until 1pm this afternoon to be able to look at him without wanting to take him to the pound (I'm kidding...he's here to stay...sigh).

Tell me again why we agreed to a fur-kid?

The Capsicum Saga

* Before I launch into this story, it might be helpful to remind folks from the US that down here, we call them 'capsicums' and not 'peppers', LOL.

So yesterday my mother-in-law came for a quick overnight visit. The kids absolutely adore their Nana and an impromptu mid-week overnighter just ticked them pink. A few days before Nana arrived I'd sat down and run up a three week menu based on Talented Hubby's work schedule and really wanted to keep as closely to that as possible, so instead of defaulting to takeaway, I looked up what was on the planned menu for Wednesday - Chicken Kebabs (satay sticks and whatnot) and Fried Rice.

Now, it just so happened that I hadn't been able to make it to the supermarket to pick up a few missing ingredients and as the day wore on, as is usually the case, TH called me to see what I was up to. We chat like this perhaps once or sometimes twice every shift that he works - it helps us touch base when oftentimes shiftwork can mean we're like two ships passing in the night. He called toward the end of his shift on Wednesay and I mentioned I still needed to swing by the supermarket as soon as he arrived home (thus 'tag-teaming' the child-supervisory role because despite being an easy 10 min walk away, why take the kids to the store if you don't need to?) but I was concerned I'd miss his mother's arrival, to which he offered to call in on his way home from work instead. He called again as he was walking through the supermarket doors.

"Text me your shopping list," he said.

To which I thought wistfully back to the time of yore when mobile phones were the size of a brick and how technology has progressed to the point where I can SEND ME SOME ITTY BITTY WORDS VIA THIS HERE'UM TELEPHONICAL DEVICE.

I dutifully texted my list. In full, and unedited, this is what I wrote:

Milk bread red caps green caps 400g ham shallots 1 onion and about fourteen chick kebabs. LOVE YOU.

Now, that seems innocent enough, doesn't it?

Later, as I got out the chopping board and prepared to slice and dice my way through the vegies for the Fried Rice, I suddenly realised I hadn't seen any capsicums when I'd unpacked the groceries earlier. I asked Talented Hubby where he'd put them.

"You didn't ask me to get capsicums! I got everything on your list and no-where did you say 'capsicums'!"

"I did so! I can drag up the text I sent you to prove that I did!"

And then it dawned on us.

We often buy a combination of regular (full fat) and 'lite' (about half the fat of regular) milk. Talented Hubby had very legitimately brought home these:


Green 'caps' for lite, red 'caps' for regular! Forgetting for a moment the word 'bread' sandwiched (bread! sandwich! *guffaw*) in between 'milk' and 'red caps', he had naturally assumed I was asking him to bring home both types of milk!

*Smacks forehead*

And yes, in case you're wondering, the resulting very-beige-coloured Fried Rice was still delicious, LOL, but now I can't pour milk into my cup of tea without thinking of capsicums!

Do I Scratch The Craft Itch?

I have the crafty bug. I think it's incurable, sigh. And I have got an itch so bad to go out tomorrow and buy a new sewing machine, totally exacerbated by this absolutely adorable blog I found today via a link on Twitter. See people? Twitter can be used for good, not evil!

Don't you just want to eat those little monsters right off your computer screen? Sigh.

And I'm frustrated tonight because the world economy (and therefore our household economy) is down the toilet and this means Very Careful Consideration Of All Discretionary Spending and gosh, isn't that depressing? I'm not a spendthrift but having just a wee bit extra right now to finally cross some things off our 'Buy This Before The House Falls Down' list would be lovely. I thought we'd be knocking a seriously large hole in that list over the next couple of weeks but now it seems likely that large hole will be more like a small dent. And I shouldn't be frustrated at that because hello? Google Reader just directed me here and now I'm feeling guilty for wanting all manner of things when there are so many who have nothing. Double sigh.

I spent the day trying not to fall asleep after finally dozing off at 3am earlier this morning. I rose again at 7:30 so you can see it's been an uphill battle, fueled by M&Ms, Pringles and noodle cups. I wanted to drag out Old Faithful and have a go at something creative but my brain wasn't kicking into gear. Not surprising considering the whole 'less than five hours sleep' thing. Tomorrow maybe.

I should be napping every single day this week for three hours at a pop - school lets out Thurday afternoon. Then it's two weeks of cabin fever. Redrum....Redrum....the less said on that the better. You'll be able to tell when I'm getting near the end of my rope when my posts start barking, LOL.

My delightful mother-in-law is coming for a quick overnighter tomorrow - yay! She's a hard core quilter so I will pick her brains about sewing machines. The dealer (two weeks ago) said the Mother's Day brochures will be out mid to late April and apparently sewing machines sell in May much the same way as hotdogs sell in the USA in July, so holding off a little might actually be rather beneficial.

Definitely does NOT help with the craft itch though.

Second Chance Draw Winner!

I'm thrilled to introduce Sara, of Simply Sara (funny that, LOL) as the second chance winner of the Lizzie's Home UBP'09 giveaway.

Sara and I share a lot of similarities - not the least of which is that we both use degrees CELCIUS, LOL. Ahh, you Canadians make my day :P

Thanks again to all who entered - more giveaways planned soon!

NOTICE: Ultimate Blog Party '09 Giveaway ~ Second Chance Draw!

Afternoon folks! Chiming in with a bit of an update!

Kate, my random winner from the UBP'09 post last week, has been unable to contact me within the one week timeframe (don't worry, I did send several reminder emails :). As a result, I'll be drawing another winner from amongst the remaining 57 entries, probably some time tonight.

The second chance winner will be notified via email and I'll be posting the "House Detox" book and recipe card file (plus spare cards) within a day or two.

Keep your eyes peeled!

It's Funny Because Its True

Will this stop me from twittering? HECK NO, LOL.

I Knew There Was A Reason We Eat So Much Spaghetti

Okay, since I'm now fully mostly recovered from the ordeal, I have a bit of a story to tell.

It starts with the dog; even though Charlie's role is small, I'm still totally blaming him. You see, he refuses to use his doggy door in the laundry room, which is up the other end of the house. So most of the time we have been leaving the back sliding door slightly open so he can come and go for toileting and general havoc-wreaking. This is important to remember - door's open. Got it?

So Talented Hubby and I, like many married technogeeks I guess, were last night surfing from our opposite sides of the room - he at the desk next to the back door, and me and the dining table. All of a sudden TH starts freaking out and pointing underneath the couch.

Folks, the grand-daddy of all spiders had just hopped into the room from the backyard.

Now, though between us we're totally useless when it comes to disposing of spiders, we have done it in the past. We usually use my stash of nice jars, cleaned from their previous use of holding spaghetti sauce (Aussies: Five Brothers brand makes the cutest jars!). I had grand plans of one day turning them into pantry storage but they seem to do just fine in their alternate role of gas chamber too, so you know, making lemonade out of lemons. Normally the process goes something like this:

• run screaming to the cupboard to get a jar.
• tiptoe back to the 'hot zone' like the floor is a lake of lava. If the spider happens to move at any point, we're toast.
• gingerly move whatever obstructions are in the way, sweating bullets during the process.
• inch closer to the spider; begin to whimper.
• like swallowing cough syrup, finally grow the kahunas to 'just do it' and slam down the open jar over the spider.
• freak out because now the spider is seriously agitated and thrashing up against the side of the glass. If he gets out, you just know he's gonna hunt you down and bite your eyeball or something.
• stare at the jar for twenty minutes wondering exactly how to work the next manoeuvre because it makes or breaks the whole plan.
• finally grab the jar lid and in one 'can't-think-about-the-stupidity-of-this' sweep, slide it under the mouth of the jar to enclose the spider. Screw it on.
• call the kids over (they've been instructed to go to their rooms and barricade the doors) to make fun of the trapped spider. Pretend we know what kind it is. It's always something Amazonian (never mind this is Australia!) and life-threatening.
• take the offending spider outside, along with a can of bug spray.
• gently unscrew the lid, spray about a quarter can of the spray inside the jar and slam the lid back down - all done in 1.4 seconds.
• wait for the spider to die
• throw the jar in the trash

Okay, so that's how it normally works out. It did not go this way last night.

Talented Hubby was given the jar-handling job. Bear in mind, we're talking a HUGE spider, probably a 6cm diametre including the legs, with a clear 3cm just in the body. He caught it alright, chopping off a few legs under the rim of the jar in the process. Meh.

Unfortunately, he also squished the egg sac.

That's right. Girl spider. More specifically, girl spider with babies.

The spider literally exploded babies all over the family room floor. And those suckers are FAST. I bolted for the kitchen, grabbed the Mortein and pretty much varnished the whole floor with a thick layer of the stuff. We got most of them (we hope the others tell legends about the scary House Monsters - we figure this will either scare them senseless ala "The Village" or create a multi-generational vendetta).

Then we surveyed the damage. Oh. My. Goodness. For a two metre stretch in all directions of ground zero there were millions of tiny black specks and one very big black speck (Mum). Adrenaline wearing off now that they were dead, Talented Hubby and I both started hyperventilating. Every few seconds we looked at each other in horror and got the shivers, both convinced we had baby spiders crawling into our ears or nose at every second.

What makes it harder to swallow is that this is the second time we've had an Exploding Spider Situation (ESS) in the last three weeks.

*SHUDDER*

In a sick way, and to borrow paraphrased words from a favourite childhood book/movie, "I guess it is a rather romantic way to die...for a spider." Laying your life on the line for your offspring? Being biologically engineered to vomit millions of babies at the moment of your demise? It's nature's little miracle.

Uh....sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night!

Coming To You Live From My Loungeroom

Well okay, not live. I'm twenty paces south of my loungeroom presently, at the dining table, bloggin' away. Soon to be leaving to pick up the kids.

Cleaning the clutter out of the loungeroom today. A joyless job, but something that needs to be done nonetheless. Have eleventy-two thousand recipe magazines as well as at least twice that many Better Homes & Gardens - will have to do something about that eventually (r-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-p) but for now they're residing in several cheap cardboard magazine holders. Least they look neater now.

I am in a decorating mood and can't do anything about it, which is exceedingly frustrating. Small hiccup re Ikea furniture. Still love the pieces I picked out, still working out how to cross ALL the t's and dot ALL the i's but with any luck, still do-able. I also want to paint. Every room in the house, but only one wall in each. I got me a thing for 'feature walls' this week. Sick of looking at cream walls. I blame the internet for that.

Ever have a day when you feel like just standing in the middle of the room and screaming and screaming because by gosh, someone better hear what you're trying to say or you'll go stark raving mad?

Yup.

On a completely unrelated note, strawberry YoGo tastes wrong, all wrong.

You may return to your regularly scheduled programs now.