A Break

I tried to avoid this for a number of weeks, I really did. But I can't help it, I can't keep going on like this. So my dear friends, I am going to take a short break from blogging, it could be a few days, it might be a few weeks, but I will be back, stronger than ever, just as soon as I get better.

Miss you all

xoxox


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Weather Woes

We have been in a drought for the last 13 years, and over time have come to expect only small amounts of rain in winter. So the last week in Victoria has taken many people by suprise.

Here is why.

This is a bridge near where I work on the 5th July 2010. Apparently there is a creek bed under that bridge and weed. Must be a long way down.

The very same bridge on the 12th August 2010. Can't even see those weeds anymore. Funnily enough, there is a park just near the bridge which is completely under water.

And the local sheep, living on their 'island'. The poor things were stranded up there, luckily their owner rescued them and brought them to slightly less waterlogged land!

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Point & Shoot - a New addition to our family

The husband and I are pleased to announce a new bundle of joy to our lives.

Meet Ime (pronounced I-Me).

('scuse the mess, I was attempting to eat lunch whilst setting up)

I originally wanted the 27" version, as in my head, 27" was quite small, until I sat down in JB Hi-Fi in front of the 27" iMac and had to move my head to be able to look at all of the screen. So I decided to downgrade there and then to the top model 21.5". The husband was quite surprised when I said I brought the smaller version, as I had been harping on about NEEDING a 27" iMac since they were released.

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Cat Kennel

Yes, you did read that right, we are making a kennel for our kitty. Oh, and our puppy, but mainly our kitty.

Now, before you think I have gone completely bonkers, there is a reason for this. Our Jack Russell stays home most days, and doesn't like sitting in his kennel alone (which is really a child's cubby house, due to the size of our German Shepard). And our cat, well she sits on the door mat for most of the day when we are at work, even in the rain. When we got back from Melbourne last week, and it had been raining for the third day straight, she was drenched. I have no idea where she had been, but she was soaked through.

So we decided to build a cat kennel on the weekend, because we had nothing better to do on a freezing cold winters day (apparently sitting in front of the heater is for wimps).

We started with a base

And built some walls. Just incase you were wondering, we used 70x35 framing pine. We made Ben sit inside the "house" to make sure he fits (how terrible would that be if we made a whole kennel and it was too big/small! Parent fail!)

And built a doorway (once again, making Ben go through it to make sure he fits).

We decided we wanted a pitched roof on the kennel so that it looked like a mini house. It has a mini veranda out the front so that the weather shouldn't come inside the kennel.

We had some left over flooring, and decided to make a mezzanine floor for the cat to sit on when she gets sick of Ben. Lucy was being lazy in front of the fire, so we made Ben demonstrate the extra level. We put left over weatherboards on the outside to block out the elements, and to replicate our house (yes, we may have been a touch bored this weekend).

I think he likes it!

Stay tuned and see how we complete this project.
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26 by 26 - Somwhat complete

I started this when I turned 25, and thought I better do a post about how it was going after I turned 26.

1. Renovate the kitchen

2. Start a herb garden

3. Go to a weekly exercise class majority of weeks

4. Learn to take photos in manual properly

5. Lose 20kg

6. Convince Brian we need new scanpan saucepans

7. Buy a new mac

8. Use my mobile less

9. Laugh more

10. Spend more time with my friends

11. Finish my diploma

12. Be on my way to getting pregnant

13. Read more, watch less

14. Visit C in Tassie

15. Buy new designer sunnies

16. Learn to cook a new dish a month

17. Stop being a hormonal bitch to the husband (I kinda like being a hormonal bitch. It works for me! LOL )

18. Have a fashionable new wardrobe

19. Finally take my mum to a high tea

20. Get to know my neice and nephew

21. Find a new hobby

22. Save more

23. Donate more to charity

24. Start a HR course

25. Donate blood

26. Go away with husband for some 'us' time.

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Happy Band-day

So the 11th of August marked the anniversary of my banding. And to celebrate the occasion, I thought it would be awesome to lay on an operating table with the same surgeon, the same anaesthetist, at the same hospital.

Ok, so that wasn't how I was planning on celebrating the day. I planned on going to work and spending it like any other day, however I will do anything for a day off work, including having a slipped band and hiatus hernia. But enough on that, all was fixed and I am on the mend again.

So I thought we might take a trip down memory lane. This photo was when I went to see P!nk in concert in May 2009.

Ok, it's not the best photo, but you get the idea. Basically in this photo I weighed close to 120kg, was  a size 22, and incredibly uncomfortable in my own skin.

And here I am in June 2010 at the husbands graduation, weighing close to 80kg (it was the closest photo I could find to August), wearing a size 12-14 dress, feeling somewhat comfortable in my own skin. Granted I think the dress sizing was pretty screwy, as I have only just started wearing size 14 jeans.

I still have a little way to go, I want to lose another 10 to 15kgs, to get me into what my doctor considers a healthy weight range (I personally want to lose another 10kg just because that was always my goal, to lose 50kg).

Despite having been sick recently, and having to have my band removed due to my hernia, I don't regret my choice for a moment. The band has changed my life in so many ways. I never imagined I would have lost 40kg in a year, I thought I would maybe lose 15kg, 20 if I was super dooper lucky. I never knew that losing weight would rid my body of the lactose and oil intolerance's that I had. I never ever thought I would wear skirts and knee high boots in public, especially to work. The confidence boost I received from losing weight is huge!

And just so we are clear, I made it clear to my surgeon that I will not be repeating this tradition for my second anniversary next year. It was a one time only event!
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Point & Shoot - Spare Room Cupboard

Somedays I really do love my husband. Despite having a cold and being tired from a long day at work, he came home on the weekend and started building the robes for the spare room.

Without my nagging. Miracle!!!

We have decided on a single bi-fold door for this robe, due to the length of the room. Basically if we had a queen sized bed, we couldn't have a full sized door on the robe like we eventually planned on having. Due to the small size of the cupboard we didn't feel sliding doors would be a great use of the internal space. So bi-fold doors it was.

Eventually when it is plastered there will be a hanging section on the right, and shelving on the left, though I am contemplating having 2/3's as double hanging, and the rest as full length hanging for dresses/suits etc. Suggestions?

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Do I need this?

Remember when I wanted this Prada beauty? Well whilst I still lust over that, I have a new bag that I want.

Isn't she bright and stunning? Pity the husband doesn't agree that $1000 is reasonable for a small handbag. Pft, what would he know?!?
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Penguin Friends

Momoma

Awww, now I wish I had a penguin friend just for the penguin hand holding!
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Spare Room - Window

This morning the outside of my house looked like this. Notice the single bay window above the chair?

Well it is now smashed into many tiny bits in the bottom of our local recycling depot. Seems that 100 years ago nails were cheap, and it was in there for the long haul. We had no other option but to cut it out.  It is the amazing the amount of extra light it lets in. Should be lovely when the room is finished.

Want to see the start of the spare room renovations? Here is what we started with, and the plan, and the destruction. Pin It

New Bling

Last Wednesday I had some time to kill in between doctors appointments, and couldn't think of anything that I needed to do, so I went shopping. As you do.

For my birthday, a month back, my parent's gave me some money, which my mum was most concerned about. She has never given me cash for my birthday, preferring to give me a physical present (even if I have chosen it myself), as she thinks it's the easy way out. However, the cash came with a condition. I couldn't spent it on our house or something for us both to use. It had to be something for 'just me', preferably a piece of jewellery.

I ummm'ed and arrrgh'ed over it for weeks, trying to decide what I wanted. Did I want the matching bow necklace to my earrings? Or did I want an item from the Tiffany Love Notes range? None of them really grabbed me as a gift from my mum. Husband yes. Mum no.

Then I saw this ring, and it reminded it me of my mum, as she always signs cards 'xoxo'. And that was that, I had to have it. I knew there and then, that it was the right gift, and now it takes pride of place on my finger.
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An Award

Days Like These and Me n My Monkeys gave me the Versatile Blogger Award, thank you both. I am well aware that I am a slack blog award receiver (I know someone gave me an award, but I forgot who and where, but thank you to that special person!)

The way this award works is you must:

a) Thank the person who gave you this award

b) Tell 7 things about yourself

c) nominate 15 newly discovered blogs to share this award!

So, 7 things about me. Hmmm

1. I lie about my age, but not intentionally. I forget that the husband and my best friend are 2 years older and myself, and I tell people I am 28, just like them.
2. I am a contributor over at BlogThis and love it.
3. One of my favourite past times is to dream how I would spend my millions if I ever won lotto. Todays dream is to find a cure for a common man cold!
4. My favourite ice-cream is currently maltesers and nutella smashed into vanilla at Cold Rock. Delish
5. I love shopping. Even if I don't buy anything, I love to look and consider the possibilities.
6. I am quite a private person, despite having a blog and sharing things with you all. I only tell people what I want them to know.
7. I love reading your comments, and seeing what you guys think about what has caught my eye that day.


Little Red Writing Cook
Making Limecello
Tantoamore
Buttons By LouLou
Fat Mum Slim
Russell St Reno
Able Mae
The Haphazard Blogger
Absolute Alaia
Centsational Girl
Life At Number 10
The House at A-M Built
So Frenchy So Chic
CupKates
Young House Love

So there you go, thanks ladies for the award, and make sure you check out some of my favourite bloggers!
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Point & Shoot - Sunday 8th August

This weekend I spent some time in the local Accident & Emergency ward, you know, just as you do.

Fan-freaking-tastic. See, I have a cold, a slightly slipped band, and a severe case of dehydration. The cold was treated with a massage and Cold and Flu tablets, the band is waiting to be treated next week when my surgeon returns from hospital, and the fluids were treated by an 8 hour stint in a very boring Accident & Emergency ward. So there you go, there's my weekend.

What did you get up to?


PS - I am feeling ok, just a bit slow on my feet and fuzzy in my head. Surprisingly, I am not overly hungry, and surviving on minimal foods. Unfortunately, the foods I can eat right now are not known for being healthy, so I can't see any weight loss benefits this time around :( Not to matter, as long as I am healthy, that is all that matters. Pin It

A New Addition

For a while now, probably since we brought our TV in 2007, we have been wanting a new tv cabinet. We just never got around to finding the right one. And then there was the talk of moving house, and we decided to hold off buying something until we were in our new house, as it would more than likely mean we would buy a new dining table, lounge suite and occasional furniture.

So we made do with our buffet being our TV unit. And it worked, as you can see.

Over time the buffet was starting to strain under the weight of our tv, and it started to bow ever so slightly. So during the week I picked up this beauty

It wasn't planned, the Aldi catalogue arrived on Wednesday this week and there it was. Best of all, it was the bargain price of $149! And it matches the colour of our existing furniture. I was a bit apprehensive about it not being overly strong, stable or cheap-looking.

Once I got it home, and spent 2 hours constructing it, I was super happy with it. It has tied in well with our lounge well, and

What do you think? Worth the smackers?

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Filing

Filing is one of those tedious tasks that I tend to avoid a lot. Which is kind of funny, considering part of my normal daily job is to do filing of all our invoices. I maintain that I don't get to do it at home, so it doesn't get done until I do. Plus it was always such a tedious task with our old filing system. Invoices were never in order.

Generally that theory lasts three months when I get sick of looking at the pile of filing on the desk in the office, and spend 20 minutes filing it all. Seriously, that is how long it takes me these days, so I have no idea why I don't just spend 2 minutes each week doing a small batch. And I have our new filing system to thank for that.

Lets have a look at under my desk

Up top we have two boxes from Ikea. The left stores computer junk (cables, instalation disks, random odds and sods) and the other stores non-claimable receipts (ie everything that I can't use at tax time). This filing system leaves more than a little to be desired, but meh, if my house is on fire, i can grab the box and deal with that later.

Then we have 8 lever arch folders, each with dividers

For us it was easiest to break them up into the following categories:
Banking
Phone/Power/Water/Rates/Insurance
Employment (which has our payslips, training records, union paperwork, super statements etc)
Pets/Fire Brigade/Health Insurance
Tax
Car/MotorBike related


As they are all clearly labelled, I find it easier to do my filing. Everything gets hole-punched, and the newest item goes on top. Plus if I ever need to find something, I don't have to spend an hour in the filing cabinet trying to locate its folder, only to find it has dropped down below the cabinet. Even the husband can use our filing system! That is how easy it is.

How do you keep your files organised?

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Keep Calm

Keep Calm Shop

I think Kerry at The Haphazard Blogger should put this in her new kitchen. She loves her Kitchen Aid more than anyone I know of.
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Destructo!

This morning our spare room looked like this:

Yeah, it looked like a bomb exploded in there. We moved the furniture out two weeks ago, and well, that is where the fun stopped.

After 15 minutes, the room was empty. In my defence, most of the stuff in the room was stuff for the tip. As soon as the trailer was backed up in it went.

Bring on the destruction! The husband has actually named his hammer Molly, and I swear he loves her more than me!

An hour and a half later, we no longer have lining boards on the wall, or carpet on the floor. 

Not bad for half an afternoons work.



Want to see the start of the spare room renovations? Here is what we started with, and the plan. Pin It