Daylight Robbery at the Makeup Counter - 8th May 2010

So - I've got a Myer card. a gift card.
I never ever shop at Myer - mainly due to the exorbitant prices and the overwhelming stench of pretention I smell when going near the store.
But I have a gift card so it's like free money and I'm pretty good at spending free money, and I do have a wedding coming up.. and I am doing my own makeup so I thought I might buy some new stuff.

I was browsing - as one does, and was set upon by a sales person disguised as a helpful lady.
I stupidly mentioned the word wedding and could almost hear the *kaching* sound in her head.
She sat me down and we started choosing colours.

She applied concealer, foundation, eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascarra, blush and lipstick. I was impressed with the outcome.. the eyeliner was a bit dodgy but I'm sure it's hard to put eyliner on another person.

I thought to myself - I might just buy the lot and a couple of brushes and recreate this look - with better eyeliner work - at home on the big day.

Price was never mentioned..... until she rang it up at the register....
now, I'm not completely stupid - I wasn't expecting AVON prices so I was prepared to pay about $180.

So, maybe I AM completely stupid because she said... "ok, that comes to $401"

Look - it may be free money but I'm pretty sure that she was daylight burglarising my free money.

"um, no way" said I. "I'm sorry, but I had NO idea it would cost that much"
"I can pay someone to come to my house and do my hair and makeup for $120, so I didn't want to spend much more than that, I apologise, we should have discussed prices while you were piling it on my face"

As you can imagine, I was pretty embarrassed.

I asked to be told how much each item was so I could decide what to buy - somehow that didn't happen and I left with the foundation and the lipstick for $110.

I have NEVER spent $42 on a lippy.

Where do you buy your makeup? Are there items you pay more for and items you will only buy from a brand name?

personally - I'll keep my avon lady thanks.

Bun In the Oven - 22nd April 2010

time to make the announcement - some of you have already heard. I'm pregnant again and am due on the 21st November.

I didn't exactly plan on being 16 weeks pregnant on my wedding day - but this addition to our family is going to come at a great time and will complete our little family unit.

I now know why the last three weeks of weight watchers was strange in the weight department. I was soooo tired and I would put on a kilo after a cup of coffee! then lose it again an hour later.

I'm keeping well and have only put on one kilo in this first 10 weeks. I hope to keep the weight gain down during the pregnancy but still keep healthy, I'm big to start with so it's definitely do-able.

I'm looking forward to experiencing baby hiccups and kicks again and of course meeting my gorgeous new baby in November.

I'm thinking pink but of course will be happy with whatever. But that baby - he or she -  better look good in pink taffeta because there are some CUTE outfits out there!

I'm Still FAT! - 31st March 2010

After 12 weeks of weightwatchers, I have lost a total of 6.3 kilos.

It's not a whole lot. But it is heaps more than I lost without weight watchers
help which was zilch!



So I'm still fat. but I'm less fat than I was, and I'm okay with that for now.

The end of the blogging does not mean the end of my weight loss efforts. far from it! I have a wedding dress to look gorgeous in, in 2 months!


I loved using the online tools with weight watchers and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone wanting to loose weight.

Especially if you spend your life online anyway!


Now, easter is approaching and even though I don't celebrate easter, chocolate

eggs always end up at our house, that damn easter bunny is not the friend of

my waistline.


So while I'm getting rid of the evidence and justifying it to myself somehow and

promising myself 17 hours of running on the treadmill to balance the egg

scoffing, here are some yummy easter recipes that are friendly to your

waistline - friendlier than a cream egg or seven anyway!

Thank you all for reading and supporting me and celebrating with me.

I think my scales are broken - 15 March 2010

I think my scales are broken.
I weighed myself yesterday morning and it was all good. Then I had a cup of coffee and weighed myself again and I had put on over a kilo!!! That is one heavy cup of coffee! and I only use skinny milk!
Then the next morning I weighed another kilo more! So that's two kilos gained in two days!
I am going to check the batteries and weigh in next week. I haven't been to the gym all week because I've been feeling a bit off.
This week is all about my upcoming assignment - it's due on the 22nd March.
So today I went to the park with Millar and we ran up and down the stairs. he loved it but he needed to be carried home as he was too exhausted to walk. So I walked for 10 minutes with a wriggly 11 kilo weight - that's a full on workout!

Yesterday there was a baby shower.... and I just stopped counting points for the day because there were cakes and muffins and biscuits and champagne. There were also carrots and celery... but anyway, I had no willpower - I had just blown up 30 pink and white balloons and wanted some god damn cake!
so my cake I did have.
Today is better - there is no cake.

but we are coming to the end of this weight watchers bloggy thing.
I've lost about 6 kilos so far and plan on continuing after this. I still have a long weigh to go (hehehe see what I did there. a pun.. funny).

anywhoo must fly and think of something yummy for dinner.... but not cake

Fell Off the Wagon - 5th March 2010

Today I went to the gym.
every day is a new day, and I know that we all need a few treats now and then, but half a bag of chocolate is a bit too treaty really. it's disgusting.

in wedding news:
posted the wedding invitations today! They were gorgeous boxed invites that took us awhile to make and cost $68 to send!
my dress only cost $40 - this seems a little unbalanced lol.

ok so, the "dress" is actually just a cheapy that I plan of covering with organza and satin and bling.
Once that is done I will post another blog to show how amazing that looks (fingers crossed).

The marquee arrived yesterday too.. very exciting.
still heaps to do but it's getting done bit by bit by bit.

feeling much better today and will go to spotlight tonight to look at fabrics to make the dress look awesome.

DIY wedding Invitations - 5th March 2010

We finally finished our wedding invitations and posted them off today.

Because we are only inviting family to the ceremony, there were only eight of these to send.
The bows were painful - I wish I could tie the perfect bow, but alas, Martha Stewart I am not.

Here are some pics for those that wanted to see them.

This is the outside of the invite - it is a black CD gift box






Then on the inside, the box is lined with black and white stripey paper.
The invitation folded and the stripes repeated - the ribbon adds ribbony goodness -
regardless of the fact it looks like an awareness week ribbon.






And the actual invitation once opened, looks a lot like this - without my details whited out of course.
the observant among you will notice that it is Millar who is inviting people to our wedding. cute? I think so.

So we are pretty happy with how they turned out and after postage charges came to $68 (my dress was only $40) we are glad we did the invites ourself and didn't get them professionally done - but on the other hand I sometimes wish we had have sent an E-vite instead and saved the money and time.... but it's just not the same.

Superwoman Where Are You? - 4 March 2010

I am finding it really hard to stay motivated.

I am so busy at the moment that I end up in this vicious circle of exhaustion.

Too tired to go to the gym, too tired to make a salad, so I have cheese on toast which makes me even more tired.

This is what I am doing this month:

I have a baby shower to co-host

Millar's birthday party

Friends coming over for a bbq next weekend

full day of mystery shopping this weekend

assignment due on 22^nd March which I still have incomplete data for.

Other studying

A dress to start making

a cake to start baking – actually two cakes, wedding and millar's birthday cake.

Celebrant to pay and tell her what vows we have decided on etc etc.

wedding invitations to post – at least they are finally finished!

a billion other things to arrange for the wedding.

this is on top of the usual:

continual gymbaroo, playdates, feeding, nappies, entertaining, putting back to bed 17 times a night.

Dinners to cook

biscuits to bake

shirts to iron

clothes to wash, hang, fold and put away

beds to make

floors to vacuum

floors to mop

toilets to clean

bathrooms to clean

ovens and windows to clean

garden to weed.

So somehow in between all this I have to fit in the gym.

And frankly I just want to go to bed.

I know I'm not the only one with a billion things to do while trying to look gorgeous.

How do you all do it?

I tried to read while on an exercycle – this didn't work too well so I can't imagine that baking a cake or making a dress will go too well while exercising either.

Today I will make a better effort at eating well so that I have more energy.

The good thing about weight watchers is that a couple of bad days isn't going to kill anyone and it's so easy to get back on track.

Today will be a salad day. Fish and salad for dinner.

Housework can be a workout if you make it one –

I'll vacuum faster and dance. Pulling weeds will be a workout and a half! If you've seen my garden you'll know what I mean.

I'll take Millar to the park today too. Hopefully he'll be exhausted and sleep better tonight.

My weightloss goal for my wedding is slipping away,

but still, I have lost 5 kilos which is better than nothing and I still have 3 months to go, and any loss is better than how I looked last year right?

So I can't give up and sit on the couch and eat chips – that is pure failure and I don't even want to do that anymore.

I just want enough energy to go hard at the gym as well as doing everything else and getting an A on my assignment, throwing the best birthday party for Millar and being perfect at everything.... is that too much to ask?

Probably.

Why do we try to be superwomen?

15 weeks till my wedding - 21 February 2010

Ok so I just counted and there is only 15 weeks till my wedding.

I haven't organised my dress yet because I plan on being much thinner. I am pretty sure I'll never be as thin as I want to be but I'm also not going to be one of those brides that insists on wearing a stapless dress with flabby arms and back fat.

So I need to find a dress that suits me... but I don't quite know what I'll look like then.

I've lost 5.5 kilos since starting weight watchers which is GREAT. and I can see a lot of it has come off my face and I'm feeling great.

I would like to lose at least another 10 kilos before the wedding and I don't think that is unreasonable or unrealistic. It's less than a kilo a week.

but at what stage should I be looking for a dress? should I make one? what am I thinking?
I have a few ideas in my head and I wish I could just find the exact thing I want in a shop and buy it right now.

Any seamstresses in Melbourne that want to make my dress for me?

Do I sound stressed? how many bonus points is stress worth?

GOAL!! - 14th February 2010

weigh in day and I've reached the first goal of 5%

wooohoooo!!!

tonight we will be having bubbles to celebrate.

next goal is another 5 kilos and I want to reach this goal quicker than the 7 weeks the first goal took to reach.

so that means

• no more fast food mystery shopping assignments!
• more gym visits.
• more celery
• less cheese.

here's to 5 kilos in 5 weeks! ready set GO

Fatty Boom-Bah to Gym Bunny - 13th February 2010

After a couple of disappointing weigh ins I was about to chuck it all in and curl up on the couch and eat a packet of chips.

But I've really been enjoying the gym. I'm running on the treadmill! Running! Me!

It's insane and probably not at all attractive but I make sure I use a treadmill that is not in line with the mirrors so that I can pretend I look like the tight little gym bunny that I feel like when I'm running on the treadmill.

So I thought I must have lost more weight than the scales are saying... maybe I've put on some muscle.

Got out the old measuring tape and compared measurements to some I had taken in December.

I've lost 5 centimetres from my tummy and 5 centimetres from my bust!!!! a centimetre off the hips and half to 1 centimetre from my thighs and arms.

I'm very happy with that!

So I will keep doing what I'm doing with weight watchers and the gym and one day I might actually look in the mirror when I'm running and be shocked to discover that I AM the tight little gym bunny that I feel like.

My Butt Hurts - 4th February 2010

As some of you may know, I have joined a gym. On Tuesday I went along to my first class. I was looking forward to it.

There's a saying that you never forget how to ride a bike, which is true I guess. But one thing one always tends to forget is how much it hurts!

The class was a cycle class – aimed at people who like to have fun and work hard – but was actually 40 minutes of torture.

At the 20 minute mark – at about the point when I thought only 10 minutes to go (as I thought it was only a 30 minute class) the gym instructor advised we were half way!! "YAY" she sang "aren't we having fun!" I wanted to shove the microphone headset down her peppy throat.

She did however, advise that newies (that's me) could go at our own pace. I looked around and could not see a couch, nor a bottle of red so instead of going at my own pace I continued to ride a bike way too fast to nowhere.

At about 10 minutes to go, I ran out of water and nearly died. But I survived by keeping myself hydrated by licking the sweat off my face.

I was in agony.. the last time I was in this much pain there were midwives and I had some gas... where was my damn gas?!! ok, it wasn't THAT bad... but close.

At 40 minutes we weren't quite finished (the lying bitch). Because we had to cool down and stretch.

After the cool down I dismounted and was mortified to feel that the bike seat was still clenched in my butt cheeks! But a quick look at the bike assured me the seat was still attached to the bike and not protruding from my rear end. But it sure felt like it!

Then the instructor and the rest of the class started their stretches. They each lifted a leg onto the frame of the bike.... my leg didn't move. I had to pick it up with both hands and place the leg on the bike and then stretch.. which felt pretty good.

I exited the gym as fast as my concrete legs could carry me and across the carpark to my car (I'm pretty sure I parked it closer, that gym bitch must have moved it).

I was pretty scared because I thought that I would probably feel worse in the morning, but surprisingly not.. I felt pretty good.. apart from my butt.

I am pretty sure the human body was not in any way designed for cycling. There is nothing in nature that needs one to straddle an instrument of torture while pedalling. Which is why the muscles in that region are not ever felt until a cycle class.

However, 40 minutes of high intensity cycling is worth 6 points!! so I may do it again... maybe.

Lying to Myself - 2nd February

Sunday was weigh in day.... I got out of bed, went to the bathroom and jumped on the scales.... saw the number and jumped off really quickly again and pretended it didn't happen...


The number was about a kilo higher than last week... maybe that bailey's cheesecake and the fish and chips and the wine and the complete lack of exercise were catching up with me..


That's cool, I don't HAVE to weigh in on a sunday.... I am feeling bloated anyway, perhaps I just need a day and will weigh in again later. Maybe my hair was wet too... whatever, the number I saw was wrong, it has to be wrong, I'm feeling so good this week.


I weighed myself again this morning.
Phew.
Back to the same as last week. Clearly the big number was wrong and the smaller number is correct.

If the number is big – you need to re check it again and again.

If it's small, you can take it as gospel and congratulate yourself for a job well done...

that's how it works isn't it?

This week my gym membership started... No time to do anything yesterday.
Too tired to go this morning (thanks to my toddler's idea of sleeping not matching my idea of sleeping).

I'm hoping to go tonight to a cycle class at 7:30 after picking hubby up from the train station.

Today was also Millar's first gymbaroo class. And the best news, is that 45 minutes of playing with children (light effort) is 2 whole bonus points!!!

Yay.

This week is going to be awesome. Lots of gyming and playing with child and walking and salad.

There will be no need to re check the scales on sunday. It will be a smaller number and I can congratulate myself. But first.... I need a nap.

I've gone and Joined a Gym - 27th January 2010

Total weight loss since starting weight watchers is 3.8 kilos. This is in spite of eating bailey's cheescake and 4 fish and chips meals and 7 billion christmas dinners and ALL the wine.

So I got to thinking... imagine what I could achieve if I actually tried!
So I joined a gym. There was a promotion. $60 for 60 days... I couldn't afford NOT to join. And the creche there is $4.95 for a 90 minute session. (Wyndham leisure and events centre for those nearby).

So I start on Monday the 1st Feb. With weight watchers and the gym, I will be super hot in no time!
(And with all that exercise I'll be doing, I will earn bonus points and can eat cheesecake again!)

Eating Out ...And Out of Control. 20th January 2010

I am a piggy pig....

We have had Darren s dad staying with us for two nights. We don t see him often as he lives in Samoa. So he was on a fleeting Melbourne visit and he likes to show his love by taking us out to dinner. Which is nice. So last night we head off to the new bistro in a neighbouring up and coming suburb.

I had planned to order salad and drink water or diet coke.... first thing I do? Order a glass of wine, which my FIL then convinces me to change to a bottle of wine to share with him. I ve been brought up to respect my elders, so I could hardly say no.

The waitress is ready to take our orders... Darren has already ordered a trio of dips and a garlic bread for the table... I know the table aint eating, it will be me stuffing that into my face.

As the waitress takes everyone else s order, I am staring at the greek salad on the menu and I am practising my order “greek salad, no onions please... greek salad, no onions please”. The waitress gets to me and out of my mouth comes “g.... chicken, mushroom and avocado fettucine please.. um, no onions” At least I got that bit right.

So while we are waiting for the food I take Millar to the children s playground and watch him play ... it s exhausting, I m sure just watching all that energy be expended must be worth at least one bonus point.

We return to the table and I start on the garlic bread.. The butter tastes like heaven. The kind of heaven you go to after the heart attack. Breads and dips... that turkish bread looks healthy but I know it isn t... ahh I ll just have a little bit... smothered in whatever that is.

Millar s kids meal arrives and he doesn t seem too keen so I try to tempt him by showing him that mummy is eating his food... this has never worked so I don t know why I was shoving chicken nuggets and chips into my mouth and pretending it was some kind of reverse psychology.

By now the points tally is ticking over in my head and I know that it s already pretty much over but I haven t even had my main yet... and the wine.

Fettucini arrives... it is devine. It is cooked in a cream sauce and I can taste my arteries hardening as I eat. I feel full half way through my meal.... but I soldier on. I have to blame my parents for this as you have to finish what s on your plate right? I m 31 years old, I can stop blaming my parents! It s all me, piggy pig...oink oink.

I manage to leave some on the plate but that s only because it seriously was not going to fit in my mouth.

After some table chat and discussions about going home, the FIL states that it is time for desert. I say.. “oh no I couldn t possibly”. He said something about only seeing us once a year and this is only one night out of a billion and that I can go back to eating salad tomorrow.. all very good points and I can t argue with Darren s dad... that would be rude. So out of respect I chose a baileys cheescake with cream and shared it with Darren. There was a strawberry on the plate... I ate that too, it was the healthiest part of my entire day.

Why do we celebrate with food? And why do I celebrate so much? I am feeling like crap today and I am at -11.5 points. I had a diet shake for breakfast and am having veggies for tea.. hoping to balance out today or tomorrow.

There is a handy guide on the weight watchers website about suriviving eating out.

They say:

Plan ahead ( I planned on the salad)

make wise food choices – choose foods that are described as grilled, steamed or baked (yay, my cheesecake was baked!!!)

alternate glasses of alcohol with water or soft drink... (fail)

skip pre and post dinner nibbles such as peanuts, bread and petit-fours. (fail)

Thank god I only go out about once a year!! Next time I will plan ahead by saving some bonus points so I can have a treat or seven.

What do you think? Should diets go out the window for special occasions? Or is it not worth it, can you have your salad and eat it too? Is a special occasion just an excuse to eat like a pig?

Total Points Blowout - 13th January

I was curious to see which foods had the most points, so I looked at the points manager at weight watchers online and found some surprising figures – and some not so surprising. For example, I wasn't too severely shocked to find that a Double Whopper was 17.5 points.

What did surprise me somewhat was Gloria Jeans banana bread. Now I know banana bread is not as healthy as it sounds and it is actually cake but for one slice of this delicious bread/cake you are looking at a whopping 26.5 points!!!!

My daily points allowance is only 22. What are they putting in this banana bread? A double whopper combo?

Some other shockers included a type of fried chicken fast food called “chooks”. I've done some research and discovered that Chooks is only available in WA. This is good because one serve of Chooks fried chicken hawaiian is 35.5 points, and if you have a large chips and gravy as well that is 33 points. So if I was really hungry and had both I could spend 68.5 points in one meal. Which is more than 3 days worth of points. So it would only work if I actually walked briskly to WA from VIC and then ate the chicken meal and then walked briskly home again – stopping at gloria jeans for a slice of banana bread and an iced chocolate at 16 points and then jogging home.

Phew! I think I'll just have some zero point celery thanks.

Now, I make a really nice banana bread, so after finding out about gloria jeans gastronomical points on it, I wanted to know if mine was as bad.

On the weight watchers online tool there is a recipe builder – this is very handy. I typed in the ingredients and then worked out how many slices I get from that recipe. My recipe makes two loaves of banana bread and they are about 6-8 slices each.

I was happy to learn that my banana bread recipe is only 4 points per slice! So it's still not a food I would eat every day but at least if I do eat some of MY banana bread I can still eat for the rest of the day!

Here is my banana bread recipe for those that want it.

Ingredients

3 medium bananas – mashed

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of rolled oats

2 eggs

1 cup of skim milk

2 tablespoons of butter

3 tablespoons of golden syrup

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees

Place Oats, flour, sugar and baking powder in a large bowl

Combine eggs, milk, melted butter and syrup in another bowl

add the egg mixture and the mashed bananas to the flour and mix well.

Pour mixture into loaf tins and bake for 40 mins to an hour.

best served warm.

Mum Lag - 8th January 2010

Jet lag: A combination of fatigue and other symptoms caused by travelling abruptly across time zones.

Mum Lag: A combination of fatigue and other syptoms caused by trying to have a holiday with your children.

We've all heard of jet lag. It's the exhaustion that comes with travelling across time zones and such.

Mum lag, I've decided, is the exhaustion that comes with going on “holiday” with your children.

I only have the one child so I know I don't have as much to complain about as some, but I am tired of people telling me to “relax, you're on holiday”.

REALLY? It doesn't feel like it, I am still doing dishes and laundry and organising nap times and breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, bottles and nappies. And what's even more exhausting is trying to do all of this in someone else's house with routines thrown out the window and washing machines and vacuum cleaners and dishwashers that behave differently to the ones I have at home. And then driving all over town to visit a billion different people for the perpetual and neverending christmas celebrations.

When other people go on holiday they leave the workplace and get time off from their jobs... not mums.

Imagine if everyone took their work on holiday with them, so while I'm changing nappies on the floor of an overheated tent, my partner would be returning emails and calls to complaining customers while trying to play volleyball with my family and drink a beer.

The mechanic would be doing oil changes on a beach in his speedos while the nurse checks the temperatures of the people in the caravan next door. People in call centres would be “holidaying” while wearing headsets. Basically everyone would be trying to do their jobs while also trying to relax and have a good time.

And forget sleeping in, mums don't sleep in because they bring their screaming alarms on holiday with them. There is nothing I like more than getting up at 4am while on “holiday”.

However, I did manage to get a few breaks while on holiday in New Zealand, so it's not all bad news and whingeing.

My mum took Millar away for a couple of afternoons, and my sister in law had him for a couple of hours for a playdate as she had a house full of other young kids to play with him. Millar had a lot of fun and was returned sufficiently exhausted and slept better than usual. My stepmother looked after him while I attended another sister in law's graduation, and the rest of the family all took turns running after my energetic toddler at every gathering so that I could sit down for a few minutes and pretend I was relaxing and catch up with the family I don't see nearly enough of.

This was all greatly appreciated because I don't get a break at home, so jokes aside, any relaxing I did get on holiday was due to these angels.

But I think next time I feel like a holiday, I will take a leaf out of my friend Kate's book and go on holiday alone. Leave the kids with hubby and take off for a weekend! Now THAT is a proper holiday!

Fish and Chips - 1st January 2010

I just ate fish and chips.

Because I’m in New Zealand and they are awesome here – and cheaper. We got 3 fish, one hotdog and 2 scoops of chips for only $12.

I worked out my points earlier so I knew what I could have and I had 15 points to spend and I saved them until dinner time – and my one fish and a hot dog and a couple of chips with a bit of sauce - that’s 15 points gone now. It was worth it though.

Last night was new years eve so I made some nibble platters for me and hubby. I was very good and after nibbles we had weight watchers ice cream sundae cups – only 2.5 points!! That was delicious and it tasted more like 15 points!

I hope everyone else had a lovely new years eve too

I used to party until well into the next day but not anymore – I was in bed at 10:30 this year. wooohooo

Goodbye Wine - 29th December 2009

At 2 weight watchers points per glass, it might be time to say goodbye to the wine I like so much.

I can still have the occasional glass, everything in moderation, as they say.

Last night, moderation was thrown out the window!

Last night I was at a BBQ with people that aren’t parents, I got to have conversations with people that didn’t involve discussing sleeping issues, eating habits or tantrum avoidance.

Last night I wasn’t Millar’s mum, I was Toushka. It was fantastic.

But Toushka likes wine.... a lot.

As it was the first day of the weightwatchers 12 week plan, I was doing well and actually had a few points up my sleeve. I was feeling good.

I had a salad at the BBQ and managed to resist the temptation of the chips and dips but was unable to resist the lindauer.  So I had a glass or two... or five... and then I stopped counting.

Darren says that at some point near the end of the night he saw me eating a piece of steak with my hands. I must have been really hungry... and quite drunk. Super classy.

This morning I was a mum again... which was not good because I felt like death. Luckily my superhero partner was able to take over until I was feeling better which wasn’t until midday!

After adding up my points on the weightwatchers website, I was not surprised to discover I had gone over my daily allowance.

I’m doing much better today and am back on track.

Christmas and the Battle of the Bulge - 27th December 2009

I’ve been on holiday for 10 days and I think I’ve already put on about 10 kilos. Why? It’s xmas, and for some reason, xmas is celebrated with way too much food and way too much alcohol.

Christmas dinner consists of 3 types of meat, maybe some stuffing, some roasted veggies, which are actually just there for colour and for something else to pour gravy onto.

Desert is even more calorific, there are several dishes that involve cream – full fat, whipped cream and let’s not forget the chocolate.

This is ok, as Christmas only comes once a year right? Just the one day out of 365. Plenty of other days of the year in which to eat salad and go for a jog.

Except that , I am onto my 5^th xmas dinner ... and counting.

Does anyone have just one xmas dinner anymore? Are there any more traditional families that celebrate xmas with just the one meal on xmas day followed by leftovers on boxing day?

I know that isn’t the case with my family.  My first xmas dinner was with Dad and his wife. This was a week before xmas because her children would be elsewhere on Christmas day.  Then because my brother was unable to make it to that meal, he came over the next night with his family and we had xmas dinner again. Earlier that same day I had visited my aunty who was having an early xmas dinner because they would be out of town on Christmas day also.

So I had eaten 3 full on xmas meals within 24 hours with gravy and desert – oh and alcohol of course – lots of alcohol.

Then there was actual Christmas day which was another proper xmas dinner with desert and wine – even though we were camping! And then boxing day with my partner’s family which was more amazing food and desert.

In between all of this, we have been eating a mixture of leftovers and fast food, because we are on holiday and that is what we tend to do when on holiday.

I still have 2 weeks left to go of my holiday and a few more family dinners to attend...

After all of this I will need a holiday from food!

My weightwatchers plan officially starts tomorrow so maybe it’s time to start counting my points and actually watching my weight.

Just as soon as I finish this packet of skittles.....

Introducing Toushka - 27th December 2009

My name is Toushka and I am fat.

I’m not just one of those skinny chicks that says she’s fat and waits for those around her to say “oh don’t be silly, you have a beautiful figure. Nope I’m not one of those, I am actually fat. – like 30 kilos overweight!

I have a few challenges in my weightloss attempts thus far.

one: I have polycystic ovarian syndrome - this means I am insulin resistant so it is really hard to lose weight.

two: I really like cheese.  

three: I'm a mum - this is one is a challenge i'm sure you can relate to.

But this time I have weightwatchers to help me and my kidspot family to support me.

I will share my successes and my challenges with you over the next 3 months and hope you can celebrate with me when I reach my goal

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane...16th December 2009

..........But I
can't be bothered.

As much as I am looking forward to seeing my
family and friends in New Zealand over the next three weeks, I just can
not be Arsed with the packing and organising that goes into getting on a
plane.
Especially with a toddler.
My toddler refuses to go in a
pram or stay still EVER. So during check in and after check in, those
ridiculously long two hours of NOTHING TO DO, will be oh so much fun.
There is nothing I like better than chasing a toddler around an airport.
At
least on the plane there are some restraints.... but still...

Because
I am going alone with Millar and hubby is joining us later, and because
it is xmas, and because Virgin have had cancellations and delays over
the last two days. I KNOW the flight will be full. so that means I wont
have a spare seat next to me.
So it's 3.5 long hours with an 11 kilo
wriggly toddler strapped to me while I try to keep him entertained with a
bag of tricks I packed earlier in the 3 millimetres of space that we
have.

yay.

and THEN. When I get to NZ. I have to try and
get wriggly toddler to walk with me and stand still while I get my bags
off the carousel and then go through customs. Because that's heaps of
fun for a toddler.
Luckily I have stuff to declare. That is usually a
much shorter line. But It will still be hell.
By the time we get
through tomorrow's awesome travel experience I will be glad to hand sir
wriggles, king of the tantrum over to eagerly awaiting grandparents.
geez,
by then I may even just hand him to anyone waiting at the gate whether I
know them or not!

who am I kidding - it's Christchurch, of
course I will know them!

Paranormal Activity - 7th December 2009

Hubby and I watched the movie "Paranormal Activity" on Saturday night.

If you have seen the movie, you will understand why the next event has us perplexed and a little scared.

*cue scary music*
This morning I noticed the man hole in the laundry ceiling was open and the man hole cover was jammed into the hole diagonally.

at this point, those who haven't seen the movie are wondering what the problem is and will not understand the next sentence. Those who have seen the movie just got a shiver down their spine.

I did not send hubby up there to investigate however - I figured any singed photos of me as an 8 year old can stay exactly where they are thanks. He got up on a chair and put the cover back in place and we have spent the last hour trying to come up with plausible explanations as to why the man hole was uncovered in the first place.

1) it has been like this for some time and I only just noticed it due to watching the movie recently.
     This is unlikely, as I notice things like that, but is still the most plausible not scary explanation.

2) The wind or the ducting causing some kind of suction pressure and then downward pressure causing the lift of the cover and        then  the push down of the cover to jam it into place........ I'm not a phycist physist physisicist. I don't know much about physics but I think this might be unlikely.

3) My husband is playing tricks on me.
     this is too subtle to be a trick, there would be more. And he would have given up the ghost by now (so to speak).

4) Someone other than myself or hubby has been up in the roof.
     too scary to contemplate

5) we have a ghost. this ghost means no harm to us but has a sense of humour and is pissing it's pants right now with laughter.

I would like to think the last one is true. If anyone can come up with something more likely, please enlighten me.

Showing off my latest creation - 4th December 2009

Showing off my latest creation

5:32 PM Fri-4-Dec-2009 - 20 comments - [ post comment ]

Filed under: Hobbies

I'm quite impressed with myself.

I have just put the finishing touches on the first of 12 Christmas stockings I am making for people this year.

This is my first attempt at patchwork quilting too so I am super pleased with myself. So much so that I am going to sell them on ebay next year. I may be crazy... ok I AM crazy.

anyway - wanted to show off, so here are the pics.

don't look too hard at the piecing or quilting - I'm just a newbie!

here's the back

and a close up of the fluffy top and the silver dangly name.

Wedding Plans - 20th November 2009

My wedding plans are coming together nicely. I have purchased my shoes. I am pretty confident that my feet wont change size in the next 6 months but am hoping the rest of me shrinks somewhat. I lost 800grams this week so it's moving in the right direction. I tried the shoes on again to make sure the 800grams didn't come off my feet.

The shoes are blue. I hate white shoes - I think only nurses and tennis players can wear white shoes, so I'm wearing electric blue satin shoes... and they are quite high - it makes me almost as tall as Darren, which will be nice for the photos and the kissing the bride stuff.

We are making the invitations this week.... I have purchased most of the stuff needed and now just need some nice white paper and someone with a laser printer (my inkjet is s h i t).

I will post pics as soon as I can be arsed because I know there are wedding junkies out there that will want to see them.
I've become a wedding junkie myself and love watching all the wedding shows on foxtel!

Tell me about your wedding, any tips? any regrets?

I'm a Costco convert! - 12th November 2009

Went to Costco yesterday and joined up  - the best thing is the big sign that says they will refund your membership if for any reason you are not satisfied. sold! $60 and 5 minutes later we are in the store wondering if we should have brought a compass and a packed lunch. This place is HUGE.

I usually shop at aldi so I wasn't convinced I could save money at Costco, but I took my last Aldi receipt with me to make sure I wasn't overspending. We packed the trolley full and only left because Millar said we had to (you know how kids get).

When I got home I did an analysis of the receipts and this is how it worked out.
I spent $98 and saved $34!!! thats about 30% that's awesome!

Here's where I saved money:
Pepsi max bottles $0.87 per litre (I bought 16 litres)
Plain flour $0.83c per kilo (i bought 8 kilos)
chickpeas $72c a can (I bought 12)
Longlife skim milk 99c a litre (i bought 20 litres)
multigrain bread $1.40 per loaf (i bought 6)
chopped garlic in a jar $3.99 a kilo - (bought a kilo jar)
eggs $1.99 a dozen - (I bought 2.5 dozen)
Hommus $6.39 a kilo (I bought 1 kilo)
Peanut Butter $4.40 a kilo (the jar is 1.36 kilos)
bbq sauce $2.25 litre (i bought a 4 litre jug - it's HUGE)
hot dog rolls $0.25 a roll - (I bought a pack of 24)

There are still so many more savings to be made so we will be going back soon.
And I am going to start a costco co-op with a friend so we can buy bulk items and split them to save more.

I'm in love with costco and not afraid to say it!!! lol

Wedding Dress - 7th November 2009

In my search for the perfect low cost wedding gown, I have come across this amazing creation      

It is made entirely of Toilet Paper, tape and glue.
Check out the detail in this hat...

WOW!!!

The style isn't exactly me but the toilet paper thing will surely save me HEAPS of money. So I gave Millar the materials and he started working on it straight away!

 

hmmm. progress seems a bit slow - especially if he plans on pretending to blow his nose on each piece.....
I may have to rethink the idea of getting my toddler to make my gown....

back to the drawing board.

I'm finally getting married!! - 2nd November 2009

Darren and I have been engaged for almost 5 years.....

On saturday we were at the mall and I spotted a ring that looked good. I have been half searching for the perfect wedding ring for 5 years. It has to match my engagement ring of course - a simple band just wont do darlings.
The first one I saw wasn't as perfect as it could be but it got us thinking... It is about bloody time we just got this wedding thing done so we went to the next store and I DID find the perfect ring - it matches perfectly. So we put the ring on layby and got home and started planning...
All of our family live in New Zealand. So our options are: get married in new zealand  - This means we would have to invite EVERYONE which is about 200 people - the costs would skyrocket and it would be stressful planning it and I would get all bridezilla .... NO. not an option.

option two - get married in a registry office in melbourne and then announce it when we go home for christmas.. "merry christmas, btw we are now married" This would by far be the cheapest and least stressful option. But apparently it's rude to exclude your family (so sayeth the husband to be)

option three - Have a celebrant come to our house to do the ceremony and invite our immediate family members (and their partners and kids) and advise them they are under no obligation to attend considering it is a 3 hour plane trip away and accommodation costs etc etc.

we decided on option 3 and the date is set for June 5th - this coinsides with Queens Birthday long weekend in NZ and also it's winter so the flights are cheaper. so we have considered the financial strain on the family and tried to accommodate as best we can. We send off an email to tell people to save the date.

However, the first thing my mum says when she calls?  "You realise your wedding is 6 weeks after Latham's???" (Latham is her husband's son - his wedding is not even on my radar) "sorry" is all I could say about that.

You can't please everyone.

But anyway - the planning is so far going nicely. It is going to be a relaxed family day (total of 21 people if all invited attend). Nice and intimate and cheap yet elegant.
I will keep you all posted on the plans as I go.

It's all very exciting really

The Mum Olympics - 19th October 2009

While I was speed packing my trolley at Aldi the other day, I was thinking that I could win the speed trolley packing event if there was one. So that got me thinking about the mum olympics.
Other than trolley packing what other events could there be that only mums are super good at?

My mum is awesome at cling wrapping sandwiches. I think she could take home the gold in that event, whereas I wouldn't even qualify! Maybe when my child is school age I will get more practice and get better at the school lunch art of cling wrap.

I think there could be a multi tasking decathlon where there are 10 things to acheive and the winner is she who can do it all the fastest and the best.
quality and speed are key in the mum olympics and most importantly keeping sane while doing it all.

why haven't I mentioned dad's here? well of course I wouldn't want them to feel left out but we can't expect them to compete against mums - that's unfair, they can have their own olympics. I wont go as far to call them the special olympics but the Dad olympics says it all.

What other events could we have at the mum and dad olympics?

My Final Verdict on the Ford Territory - 29th September 2009

So the Territory has gone back to it's rightful owners.
It's time for me to give my feedback.

Please keep in mind that I am only 5' tall so most of my negative points probably would not affect a normal sized person.

I loved
* how smooth this car drove. Millar and hubby always fell asleep in the car
* the reverse parking camera.
* the dual zone aircon that meant I could have my side of the car hot while hubby had his side cool.
* that I could reach Millar's aircon to adjust it while I was driving.
* the space next to the drivers seat made especially for my handbag
* that the petrol cap was tethered to the car so you cannot lose it.
* the display screen with the easy one touch trip info to check your fuel consumption and all the interesting stuff like that.
* the electric driver seat adjusty thingy including lumbar support
* the back door/boot, I could open the whole door or just the glass. very cool
* fuel economy better than expected
* the rear rubbish bin comes out completely making it easy to empty and can be put in the dishwasher.
* heaps of space in the back when the back seat are down.
* the handle that dangles down from the boot door when it's open. I'm super short so I needed this little handle otherwise that boot would still be open.

I didn't love

* the front pillar being in an annoying position creating a new blindspot
* how hard it is to access the back row because the middle seat doesn't fold up it just folds forward a bit
* that if you want to access the back row you can't put a car seat on that one seat that folds forward.
* that it was a struggle to get in and out of the car (no step on this one)
* no ipod connection
* the passenger seat did not have the nifty controls that the driver seat did
* the car was too big making it hard to park and when it was in my garage It was difficult to get groceries out of the boot.

The territory is perfect for long trips. I would love to have one to take away on weekends but keep a smaller car for the day to day stuff.

I thoroughly recommend taking one for a spin if you are looking for a new family car.

Thank you Ford and Kidspot - 28th September 2009

Thanks so much to Ford and kidspot for giving me a beautiful car to drive for four weeks. and the petrol!! It gave my little family the means to go on long road trips.
Most of you know what it's like when you have kids and pretty much just get on with it. work sleep work sleep. working really hard to be good parents and saving money for a deposit on a house and all the things a family needs. We hardly have time to talk to each other anymore. So the long road trips were fantastic for that.
 My partner and I came to Australia to travel but gave those ideas up when Millar announced his presence.
But after these four weeks we have decided to spend more time travelling and have decided to buy a tent. (quicker than buying a house! lol)
And when our car finally carks it, we will be looking at Ford. My previous experiences with Ford was only the old Ford escort which is miles away from the Territory! This experience has put Ford back on my list of cars i like.
I also lost two kilos. I don't know how but I'm sure Terri has something to do with it. Maybe I left those two kilos in one of the many compartments.
But again - thank you Ford and Kidspot
And thank you to everyone for reading my blog. It's been fun sharing this fun month with you all.

I Miss Terri - 24th September 2009

I had to give Terri back on Tuesday. so I'm now driving my 1990 Toyota Camry around again.
It's like slipping into my comfy old shoes after wearing a friend's sexy high heels for awhile. The toyota smells similar to the comfy old shoes too! Needs a bit of an air out methinks.

The toyota is super low, I feel like I'm riding a go-kart, and the air-con is a token gesture. In the terri, I would turn on the aircon and within seconds my face and arms were frozen.. I like that. In the toyota the air con is like someone breathing on you.

*sigh* It was good while it lasted Terri.

I think more mums should get the chance to test drive a car for a month. So to prove that this initiative was a roaring success, if you could all pop down to your local Ford dealership and say "I just read this blog on kidspot and would like to purchase a Ford Territory please"
that would be lovely.
Thanks

Shhhhh, don't tell anyone but I'm going to steal this car. - 20th September 2009

*sigh*

Ford emailed me the other day....

Just to remind me that it's time to give the Territory back.

I was hoping they would say “we've actually decided you can keep it”

that's reasonable right?

But apparently I have to give it back on Tuesday.

My only way out of this is to change the plates on the car, change my name, my appearance and relocate.

I've watched some tv in my time and I've learnt that one has to file off the cars serial number in order to steal it good and proper. I don't have a good file and my emery board didn't really do the trick, so any pointers from some successful criminals would be appreciated.

I've already managed to disguise the car in other ways. The exterior is now a nice shade of Werribee dust. And the interior is still the original beige but with flecks and specks of wiggles biscuits, sultanas, crackers, tissues, pepsi cans and dirt. It is really almost unrecognisable. It's just that darn serial number that will trip me up I reckon.

One of those days - 15th September 2009

I've had one of those days that started with a 2:30am wake up call from Millar. He needed a hug and some panadol. So I obliged and settled him back in his cot and went back to bed.
Then up early as hubby is on early shift this week so we dropped him off at the train station and then back home for Millar's breakfast.
I've had a splitting headache all day which just wont shift.
Millar has been very clingy and wont play by himself, he has to follow me everywhere and wants to be picked up and then if I pick him up he wants down again.
then I had to go to the post office to post my brother's birthday presents. Millar refuses to sit in his pram so I put him in a trolley and the wheel was all bent so it took all my upper body strength (which is not a lot) to keep the trolley from rolling into the parked cars on watton st.
Then in the post office he is grabbing everything and yelling and, basically being a toddler.

It's one of those days when I just want him to hurry up and grow up and go to school!
I'm sure when that day comes I'll miss him.... surely.

I love my son,  but somedays......
don't we all have days like this?

Is this the best playground in the Universe?- 14th September

Today we drove to the Mornington Peninsula. It is such a beautiful place! Thanks to the Ford Territory we have finally been discovering this place we've lived in for two and a half years.
We left at 10am and drove up the Nepean Highway, most of which is almost costal. And what a beautiful day to do it too.

We found what is possibly the best playground in the entire universe at Sorrento. It is wooden (and teenagers don't seem to burn it down like my local park). It is so intricate with stuff everywhere and nooks and crannies and steps and slides and narrow passageways. I can't really describe it so here's some pics

 
Check out the ocean views!!!

We are definitely going back here!! We thought we might spend a weekend here next year sometime - probably in the summer.
All the costal suburbs we drove through have their own little charm and so many playgrounds! There are heaps of camping grounds right near the beach and cute little beach shacks or cabins on the foreshore.

It only took us two hours to get here from Werribee so it's not bad, and in the Territory it didn't seem that long at all. The boys slept on the way home as usual, this car is too smooth sometimes. Damn I'm going to miss this car.

OMG - I was like so almost nearly famous! - 13th September 2009

So I get this email from a reporter from the Herald Sun last week. Apparently he had been reading my rantings about AGL. That's right, the rantings in this very blog,

my blog! Someone I don't even know is reading my blog? This very blog. Someone I'm not related to or is on my friends list! That's amazing.
So I do a little interview with him over the phone for the paper, then he asks for a photo..... um no. I have the flu, I am in my pyjamas and covered in two species of snot, (mine and Millar's) and am definitely not wanting my photo taken.

So, interview all done and I'm quietly excited about my name appearing in the newspaper the next day. And then I get a message on kidspot from another reporter from Today Tonight. yeah, that show on channel 7. yeah that's right on the TV !!!! They want ME on the tube!!
Like OMG.
I politely declined an interview for the very same reasons that I declined the photo, still in pyjamas and still covered in snot.

The next day I get another call from Today Tonight as they had read the Herald Sun and wanted to ask me again to be on TV. This time they got someone else to call me. He tried to tell me it would be fun to be on tv.

*sigh* being hounded by the media is so exhausting darling.

I declined again but promised an exclusive when I'm feeling better.
I might wait until Barbara Walters calls.

I thought it would be a bit hypocritical going on Today Tonight, when I spend most nights making fun of it (still watch it though). I often see some poor woman on the show complaining about some stupid thing and she looks like an overweight bogan with a bad dye job and all I hear is "whinge whinge whinge". And I usually make some comment like. "Jeez! Surely she knew she was gonna be on the telly, couldn't she have put some makeup on or brushed her hair?".

I get this from my mother who is constantly commenting on the standard of dress on people appearing on TV. "oh my god, what is she wearing? She looks ridiculous!" My mum thinks everyone on TV should wear dress pants with a nice top and a blazer. Preferably in dark or neutral tones, something understated. but not brown. I call it the TV uniform.

I realised that if I agreed to be on TV that my flu would cause me to make hideous fashion decisions (to my mother's horror) and make me think that dark cranberry lipstick with my gold eyeshadow is exactly the look to go for.
Right now my hair is a beautiful shade of blueberry at the top and a washed out blueberry/rich chocolate/ muddy brown at the end, it's hideous. I would be that overweight bogan, and we all know that the camera adds 10 pounds. crikey.

I think I made the right decision. But I was very nearly almost famous.
No autographs please.

The Snot Factory - 8th September 2009

We are all sick.

Millar started it. He had a few sniffles a week ago which started getting worse on Friday. We were supposed to go to a BBQ on Saturday that I had been looking forward to for about a month. The BBQ was with three lovely ladies that I met on another parenting network and their families. I hadn't seen them in AGES and wanted to catch up (and also show off the Ford Territory and skite about how awesome kidspot is).
Typical, when you plan on a big boasting session the flu will strike you down! It's Karma getting in first.

So I don't know where Millar picked up this latest virus but now we are all sick. Hubby reckons Millar gave him the flu for Fathers' Day. lovely. He seems much better now but I am at deaths door. I made him stay home today to look after us. We went to the doctor to get a carer's med certificate for him and the doc confirmed it was the flu and not just a girly cold.

We have spent a small fortune on aloe vera and eucalyptus tissues, a vapouriser plug-in thingy, saline spray, panadol, and difflam.


Millar freaks out whenever one of us blows our nose. He screams and shakes and cries. It's weird. I thought he might get used to it since it happens about once every minute in the snot factory that our home has become. But no. He reacts the same way every time.
and he absolutely hates getting his nose wiped or saline sprayed up it.

poor kid, he's not a happy chappy at the moment, and neither is mum. Thank god for hubby, he's cooking us dinner right now and has been fantastic all day while I've been dying.

gotta go. dinners ready, and then it's early to bed.