Inspiral's Spiral

What's with the wind?

2007-08-22T16:27:00.000+10:00

It's been so windy that the Honeygem Grevillea in the front yard that the birds love to play in is almost completely wrecked. It was a nice looking tree yesterday afternoon. This morning 2 big branches had come down. This afternoon we only have one scrawny branch left! By tomorrow I expect it to be a trunk.

But no one elses trees are damaged! There are others the same in this area and only ours is falling apart!

Beds and cots.

2007-08-18T15:14:00.000+10:00

Emma has just moved from a cot to a bed today. Instead of being able to put the cot away it has been moved back into our room to wait for the new baby. A year ago I never thought that would happen.

I'm just too white and nerdy.

2007-04-20T20:36:00.000+10:00

I love this song by Wierd Al. It cracks me up every time. I just watched the video on YouTube and now I like it even more!

Hottest 100

2007-02-07T20:50:00.000+10:00

I just realised that for the first time in 10 years I had no idea what came first in the hottest 100. That was weeks ago even!

So I just looked it up. Dammit, I wanted Black Fingernails Red Wine to win, but hey, I didn't vote so its my fault it didn't. But it did come second.

One Crowded Hour by Augie March won. I just listened to a tiny bit on itunes. I don't like it.

No sir, no dancing today.

2007-02-07T20:03:00.000+10:00

Isn't that song by the Scissor Sisters the best thing? I reckon its pretty dance worthy. I've even bought a Nelly Furtado song off iTunes called Say it Right. I really like that one too.

I just wish they would get Cherry Lips by Garbage and If by Janet Jackson. I was doing a search for that song the other night and I ended up at You Tube or whatever the damn thing is called, and I saw the video. Which is cool. I used to have If on video because years ago I used to tape Rage and I had it from when I think the guys from Jesus Jones programmed Rage.

While I was there I saw a bit of Napoleon Dynamite which I had been dying to see. I have been hearing about this Vote for Pedro business for ages and I wanted to know what was going on. Anyway the bit I saw was when Napoleon dances to Canned Heat and it was the funniest and coolest bit of dancing I had seen in a long time, but then it was eclipsed by the Evolution of Dance video that Ben found for me to watch. Now that was funny, clever and pretty cool. Then Cathy n Myles brought the dvd to Mum n Dads place and we watched it on Saturday night. I really like the bit:

What are you going to do today Napoleon? Whatever I feel like, gosh!

You've got to get the right amount of irritation in your voice for that one.

You know I heard this morning that our Prime Minister John Howard doesn't believe that pollution and CO2 emissions are to blame for climate change. Then he went away for a little while, probably to a meeting with someone who knows a little about global warming, and then came back and he said was mistaken. What a guy.

He probably went out the back and grabbed some guy in a headlock and said "thanks a lot, you made me look like a friggin idiot in front of everyone!" No, that too was Napoleon Dynamite.

Oh yeah! I finally got my Police Story 3 dvd! I've already watched Jackie Chan leap onto the ladder dangling from a helicopter and get flown into a train where he jumped off the ladder and landed in a train container truck full of durians! Ouch! Awesome! It also has Michelle Yeoh too, she's great.

The Crocodiles are Crying

2006-09-10T16:44:00.000+10:00

THE CROCODILES ARE CRYING

Endless visions fill my head – this man – as large as life
And instantly my heart mourns for his angels and his wife

Because the way I see Steve Irwin – just put everything aside
It comes back to his family – it comes back to his pride

His animals inclusive – Crikey – light the place with love!
Shine his star with everything he fought to rise above

The crazy-man of Khaki from the day he left the pouch
Living out his dream and in that classic ‘Stevo’ crouch

Exploding forth with character and redefining cheek
It’s one thing to be honoured as a champion unique

It’s one thing to have microphones and spotlight cameras shoved
It’s another to be taken in and genuinely loved

But that was where he had it right – I guess he always knew
From his fathers’ modest reptile park and then Australia Zoo

We cringed at times and shook our heads – but true to natures call
There was something very Irwin in the make up of us all

Yes the more I care to think of it – the more he had it right
If you’re going to make a difference – make it big and make it bright!

Yes - he was a lunatic! Yes - he went head first!
But he made the world feel happy with his energetic burst

A world so large and loyal that it’s hard to comprehend
I doubt we truly count the warmth until life meets an end

To count it now I say a prayer with words of inspiration
May the spotlight shine forever on his dream for conservation

…My daughter broke the news to me – my six year old in tears
It was like she’d just turned old enough to show her honest fears

I tried to make some sense of it but whilst her Dad was trying
His little girl explained it best…she said “The crocodiles are crying”

Their best mate’s up in heaven now – the crocs up there are smiling!
And as sure as flowers, poems and cards and memories are piling

As sure as we’ll continue with the trademarks of his spiel
Of all the tributes worthy – he was rough…but he was real

As sure as ‘Crikey!’ fills the sky

I think we’ll miss ya Steve…goodbye

RUPERT McCALL 2006

Greedy scum

2006-09-07T17:29:00.000+10:00

The people on Ebay who have suddenly decided to flood the site with Steve Irwin memorabilia are in my opinion just greedy scumsuckers who are after money. They know that with his passing there will be no more autographs or things and so are taking advantage of the man's tragic death for profit. Why else are there dozens of copies of the Wiggly Safari on Ebay? Because someone saw one selling for $50 and thought 'hey, I can buy one up at Kmart for $20 and flog it on Ebay and double my cash'. That's why.

If anyone should be making money it should be Steve's family and his zoo or wildlife conservation charity. Keep his dream alive.

He's gone

2006-09-04T15:30:00.000+10:00

Steve Irwin. This is such a shock. I'm so sorry for Terri and little Bindi and Bob.

I found the words!

2006-08-23T16:12:00.001+10:00

Two Little Boats
()

Two little boats are on the sea
(hold baby on lap)

All is calm as calm can be

Gently the wind begins to blow

Two little boats rock to and fro
(rock gently)

Loudly the wind begins to shout

Two little boats are tossed about
(bounce fast)

Gone is the wind, the storm, the rain
(stop rocking)

Two little boats sail on again

Thank you thebestkidsbooksite.com! They had the words! At last! I'm not sure about the bouncing though.

Can't find the words.

2006-07-17T19:16:00.000+10:00

I keep getting part of a song from Play School stuck in my head but I don't remember all the words to it. The kids and I sing songs when they are having a bath and they especially want songs about boats. The one I'm trying to remember goes - I don't think this is the first line -

Softly the wind begins to blow, two little boats rock to and fro,
Loudly the wind begins to shout, two little boats are tossed about,
*something* the wind, the storm, the rain and two little boats sail on again.

Doing a google search didn't help. :(

Blog update

2006-06-29T20:36:00.000+10:00

I need to update my blog so the recent happenings are that I've dyed my hair chocolate brown with light foil bits on top. Looks different to me but other people just don't seem to notice until I tell them.

Also, I'm over my thing with Adam Savage from Mythbusters and now have a thing for the guy who plays Logan Echolls on Veronica Mars. :) Jason Dohring, woo hoo! Uh oh, just found out he's a scientologist. Crush fading....fading...just kidding.

Plans for the Winnie the Pooh party are huge. Feeling guilty I haven't done as much for Brendan's 13th birthday. He wants to go 10 pin bowling anyway. Was thinking of a good luck/bad luck theme for his birthday seeing as how he is turning 13 but it is a very complicated theme to find stuff for. Unless I do it all black. A Black Friday party when his birthday is the 31st and on a Monday? See, it just doesn't work.

High school

2006-03-15T20:37:00.001+10:00

High school is not something I like to think of very often. I went to Caboolture High and sucked at pretty much everything except writing letters to Jade. If they gave out VHA's for writing personal letters then we would have topped them all.

I removed my details from schoolfriends.com.au a while ago because I don't want these people knowing or attempting to remember me. Not that many of them would anyway. But one of the people I went to school with helped to set a stalker on to me in 1994 and I just can't seem to forget that.

I had a man ringing me up and sending me letters wanting to meet me and things like that. I won't go into details but it was very creepy. But the creepiest of all was the day he phoned and read out to me the lines written in the year 12 yearbook beside my name. He had our yearbook. He had my school photo. He knew what I looked like. Only 4 years had passed since school finished, I hadn't changed much. He claimed that one of his friends had a brother or sister in my year level. They gave him the yearbook. He wouldn't tell me who. So that's why I don't really want anything more to do with the people I went to high school with.

If you do the math you will also realise that I had a 1 year old baby and was living alone at the time.

After all these years...

2006-03-15T20:02:00.000+10:00

After going by the nickname Inspiral since the middle of 1998 I thought it might be a fun idea to google the name Inspiral and see if I could be found. (I was on page 5). But to my horror there are quite a few Inspiral's before me and guess what they relate to.

A brand of condoms.

Fan-freaking-tastic! How embarrassing is that? I'm called Inspiral on Belly Belly, a conception, pregnancy and birth site! They probably all know and think I'm a twisted freak naming myself after such things! Yuck!

I don't want to change my name, I like it. Well I did like it, now I'm liking it a heck of a lot less. I got my name from the Inspiral Carpets, not that I have ever heard or liked any of their songs, but I liked the word Inspiral. It was better than Crusty, which was my irc nick before someone said it was gross. But I got that nick when a friend of mine mis-pronounced my name and called me Crustine. It also tied in when I became an apprentice chef, baking lots of crusty buns!

I also played Trivbot and Frenzy with the name Milky Way for a while, after the chocolate bar. But that became a bit too wusstacular after a while.

I don't need them at all anymore.

2006-03-02T21:16:00.000+10:00

Who needs to go to the Coffee Club and pay megabuckeroonies for a Marco Polo open grill when you can make your own! Which I did tonight for tea and it was very good indeedy.

I'd like to add that the secret ingredient is salt. Well actually, it is not. But it does help to have one of those really large loaves of herb bread, bbq sauce, chicken breast and a little sliced onion and some cheese on top. Even better than the real thing. Well, that's not entirely true either because its more fun when someone else cooks it for you and cleans it up. Now that I think of it, buying the ingredients to cook it yourself probably does cost more...

After a long wait we (Muzekez and I) finally had the Marco Polo open grills we had been planning to have since the end of October at the Morayfield Coffee Club on Saturday. They were mighty tasty too!

She has an angel.

2006-02-28T17:16:00.000+10:00

At around 3am yesteday morning, so that's the 27th of February, I was woken by an awful banging noise coming from our portable air conditioner. It sounded to me like someone was hitting it. I thought it was Daniel, as he comes into our room in the middle of the night sometimes and if we aren't woken by him then he just makes a bed on the floor.

So I called out a few times, "Daniel" and Ben said "It's not Daniel, its just the air conditioner". So being awake I got up and checked on Emma and I found her head completely wrapped in her bed sheet. So I unwrapped her and put the sheet away. A little later I put her shawl over her because it was cool and thought nothing more of the sheet around the head incident until the morning.

If the air conditioner had not made that noise then I would not have woken up and I would not have checked Emma and she could have suffocated with a sheet wrapped around her head. The air conditioner has never made a noise like it before, so loud and like someone hitting it. It completely coincided with Emma needing help. And I have to think that someone was watching over her and saved her life, absolutely, I have no doubt.

Flossy, my name is Flossy.

2006-02-20T15:53:00.000+10:00

I'd like to give a big 'thumbs up' to the Windscreens O'Brien man who was able to floss his teeth and drive his Windscreens O'Brien truck at the same time this morning. Keeping our windows fixed, his teeth clean and our roads a safer place for all.

Wanted List

2006-01-24T18:20:00.000+10:00

The songs I want from the Itunes Music Store when it gets them.

Under My Thumb - the Rolling Stones

Paranoid - Black Sabbath

Spice Up Your Life - the Spice Girls

Cherry Lips - Garbage

If - Janet Jackson

Baby One More Time - Britney Spears

Creeping Up Slowly - Taxiride

I was going to add Eye in the Sky by the Alan Parsons Project but they have it! Yay!

Shopping at the Itunes store.

2006-01-24T18:01:00.000+10:00

Since the lovely Muzekez gave me a $20 Itunes music card for Christmas I went and picked out a few songs for my Ipod. This is what I got:

Do You See What I See - Hunters and Collectors

Buddy Holly - Weezer, remember windows 95?

The Look - Roxette, remember grade 11?

Nutbush City Limits - Ike and Tina Turner, so now I can Madison whenever I like.

Love in an Elevator and Dude Looks Like a Lady - Aerosmith

Kiss From a Rose - Seal, only because I saw a video someone made with scenes from Phantom of the Opera to this song, never liked it beforehand.

Golden Brown - the Stranglers

Can't Get Enough of you Baby and All Star - Smash Mouth

Love is in the Air - John Paul Young, reminds me of Strictly Ballroom and Ben's homemade Ninja Turtle movie.

Hanging by a Moment - Lifehouse

Don't You Want Me - Human League

When the Lights Go Out - 5ive, because this is the first song I remember dancing to with Ben at a nightclub

People are Strange - the Doors

Murder on the Dancefloor - Sophie Ellis Bextor, for Brendan, we gave him an Ipod for christmas too.

Lets hear it for the boys.

2006-01-24T17:47:00.000+10:00

Yesterday it was just Emma and me for almost the whole day! Brendan started high school and Daniel started Kindy. Yep, I'm old enough to have a son in high school. Well that's what I get for having him at 19 isn't it?

They both had good days at their respective schools. Daniel ran around half naked and wouldn't put his undies back on and Brendan got lost 3 times. I'm very glad that wasn't the other way around.

I had plans to spend the time at home cleaning the house but it hasn't happened. Its too hot and it will only get dirty again anyway.

Ronn Moss - Australian of the Year?

2006-01-22T08:02:00.000+10:00

Yes, vote here to make it so!

A diva already?

2005-12-22T22:28:00.000+10:00

Not only has Emma decided that bottles are not for her, now she will only accept being breastfed if we go into our room for feeds. No talking allowed.

If anyone talks, sneezes, coughs etc that's it - feed is over and she cries and cries.

If we are not at home in our room, the feed will last a minute or 2 and then its cry time again.

I know breast is best but no one ever said it would be this restrictive! It is supposed to be heaps easier! Now I have to fit my shopping around her feeds so that I'm home in time. As for visiting people, well I just have to put up with the frequent 2 minute feeds or go home.

I hope she grows out of it soon!

Nice

2005-12-05T17:55:00.000+10:00

I'd just like to say how nice it is how many people stocked up on U2 tickets and then immediately posted them up on Ebay. That is so wrong and unfair to everyone concerned, the fans who couldn't get tickets because it sold out and to U2 for missing out on the extra money these sellers are going to get.

It's not right. There is one guy selling tickets with the claim "oh these are extras my friend and I both bought tickets at the same time". Sure mate, that's why you've got them for Brisbane, Sydney etc and are selling them for several hundred dollars more than they cost you! Liar.

I like bargains

2005-12-02T12:44:00.000+10:00

Books for Daniel's My First Leap Pad are usually around $27 each. Target are selling a variety of them for $5! Christmas presents solved!

Winnie the Pooh would be horrified.

2005-12-02T12:39:00.000+10:00

If Pooh discovered in his honey pots what I discovered in ours just a few minutes ago! Ants! Hundreds of the little suckers drowned in the jar and yet still many more eager to join in the death trap of sweetness.

I followed the trail of ants around the ceiling, down the wall, into the pantry, around several shelves until the trail let to the honey jar. I don't remember who opened it last but the lid wasn't on properly and now the jar is full of ants floating in honey. Like those insects in amber from Jurassic Park.

I wish we had an echidna.

Bye bye Shane

2005-11-23T16:49:00.000+10:00

Last week our budgie Shane died. I don't really know how old Shane was but I bought him as a first christmas present for Brendan way back in December 1993. So that's a pretty long life for a budgie. I asked Dr Harry at the Children's Pet and Animal Expo last year how long budgies live for and he said that males can live up to 15 years and we had Shane for almost 12 so that's good. In fact I've never had one live so long!

I've been shopping

2005-10-27T08:36:00.000+10:00

At the Australian Itunes Music Store at last! Yay! Yesterday I bought 9 songs. I got

Blur - Charmless Man
Blur - Country House
Madonna - Beautiful Stranger
Better Than Ezra - Good
Dandy Warhols - Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth
Dandy Warhols - Get Off
The Waterboys - The Whole of the Moon
Soft Cell - Tainted Love
They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in your Soul

They don't have any Hunters and Collectors or Jebediah though. I was also after Weapon of Choice by Fatboy Slim but they don't have that one either.

Still, my shuffle just got a whole lot groovier!

Music for dreaming.

2005-09-30T14:09:00.000+10:00

I bought a cd called Music for Dreaming before Emma was born to play during feeds to settle her down and off to sleep. I even bought a cd playing alarm clock to play it on, that's how much I wanted it. I think it helps both of us get back to sleep.

And as Kari the babysitter in The Incredibles says "Mozart makes babies smarter!"

I've been getting up at 7:15am to get Brendan off to school and I've set my alarm to do this but unfortunately the alarm clock has been set to play a cd to wake me up and yes - its playing the lullaby cd. It takes ages to wake up to a lullaby! You lie there going, hmm that's nice music, oh dammit that's my alarm!

It was playing for half an hour today and Ben didn't notice...

So if you would like one, try Target, don't buy it from the HMV store link I put in! They are about $20 more expensive from HMV.

"Eldest" by Christopher Paolini is a cool book. I'm not even halfway through yet because I can only get time to read a half to one chapter every 2 days but so far its excellent. And to the whingers who think that he is copying Lord of the Rings by having a hero on a quest and dwarves and elves as characters - why don't you shaddap and try reading the books. Foo!

No going back now.

2005-09-01T10:51:00.000+10:00

It looks like Aunty Muzekez will get to have a neice or nephew to share a birthday in September with. There's no going back now!

This will be really different, the boys were born in winter and now its spring. It's t-shirt weather! I don't have any cooler clothes planned for a spring baby, so it looks like there's going to be some shopping happening soonish. Well, after the baby hurries up and decides when its going to be born.

Maybe they are waiting for Father's Day?

Australian Idol group 3

2005-08-29T17:08:00.000+10:00

There was so many good ones to choose from in this final group it was just not fair! I want Dan, Lee, Leah and Natalie to go through but of course all 4 can't.

I wish that you could remove Laura from last week and put these 4 through because they all have more talent, singing ability and that x-factor that she just doesn't have. Makes me cranky that someone who stuffed up so hugely gets a crack at being the idol who really should be on the first bus outta there. It's not right Australia. Shame on you all big time.

There is always the wild card round for those who miss out tonight and then we can all vote our fingers off to get Laura out of the final 12 in the first week of eliminations!

And now for something completely different, the baby is not technically late yet as the hospital are going by the 30th of August as the due date. But I have had enough of this pregnancy caper and I want it over as soon as possible.

A time to be born.

2005-08-21T08:59:00.000+10:00

I just looked up on the net for a calendar for August 1998 because that is when Ben and I first met, online in an IRC chat room thingy.

I just wanted to check the dates because the baby is due in a week and since we've been together 7 years I was wondering if they might be born on a significant date.

Ok, we met online on a Thursday afternoon, that makes it the 27th of August. Baby is due on the 28th so that's pretty close!

We talked on the phone first on the 31st, which was a Monday. Also pretty close!

Met in person on the 4th of September, a Friday night with lots of Astro Boy and pizza. :) So any of those dates will be fine with me!

At last!

2005-08-07T19:56:00.000+10:00

I have been looking for this book for so long! I couldn't even remember the title but I have finally found it. Now all I have to do is start saving...

It's working!

2005-08-07T09:24:00.000+10:00

Thank you Lush I believe the Dream Time temple balm is working! Either that or its a placebo and because I believe in it it is working...

Anyway I haven't had any 2 hour insomnia periods since buying it on Wednesday! I think I will take it to the hospital with me because there won't be much sleep happening with 4 new mums and 4 new babies in the one room together.

Speaking of babies in the one room, we set the cot up in our room for the new baby yesterday. Well, I washed the dust and daddy-long-legs off it and Ben put it together about 3 or 4 times before it was deemed suitable. Now I have to wash the mattress covers, sheets, blankets etc etc.

I am seriously considering going to the Ekka on Thursday. Its the first day and so usually not that crowded. I don't know, we haven't been since 2001. If we buy our tickets from the train station its cheaper so that's what changed my mind. I thought being this close to our baby being born would be too close but by Thursday I'll still have over 2 weeks to go. I want to take Daniel to see the baby animals and the big trucks and things. If anything happens I will be right across the road from the Royal Womens Hospital, probably a better hospital for the baby to be born in than Caboolture anyway.

We had tea at Myles and Cathy's place last night. We usually provide dessert and I bought a packet of Cadbury Milk Chocolate muffin mix to make. I was going to make them into 12 muffins but Ben said just make one big one, like a cake. So I did and it worked out really well! It tasted so good!

A Grand Day Out

2005-08-03T17:32:00.000+10:00

Brendan is off to the Gabba on Sunday to see the mighty Brisbane Lions take on Hawthorn. I organised the buying of the tickets online and after paying for them discovered that I would have to take a trip all the way into Bris Vegas to personally pick the tickets up. No, I couldn't get anyone else to do it for me. It had to be me with my card and photo id.

So we all went in today and got the tickets. We stayed a lot longer than I expected as we ended up meeting Ben for lunch. We all had desserts from the patisserie in the Myer Centre too. Yum!

I went to the Kenny's Cardiology and bought some baby bootie things with little cows on them. The cows rattle when you shake them so they will be fun to see when they are being worn on the new baby's little feet.

I also stopped in at Lush, because I can never not go in to Lush, and got some Dream Time temple balm. I am really hoping it helps me get some sleep.

Memories...

2005-07-22T16:50:00.000+10:00

When I was little my Nanna and Poppa gave me one of these for my birthday, I think I was 3. When my parents house caught fire in 1999, 6 years ago last month actually, I lost my little tree house. I still have the family and their furniture, car and everything but no home. Well, they went through a fire - at least they have each other!

Anyway now I find it on ebay and its worth nearly $180! Not that I'd sell it if I still had it but wow, that is amazing.

I might go and check and see how much my other things are worth...

Noooo!

2005-07-19T20:26:00.000+10:00

Harry Potter is the final Horcrux!

R.A.B. could be Sirius Black's brother Regulus.

Snape isn't really on Voldemort's side, he just did what he had to do when he made that unbreakable vow?

Nooooo!

Hanging in there.

2005-07-19T20:02:00.000+10:00

I had the fourth ultrasound of this pregnancy today. Four times! I've never had to have so many. Anyway things are looking up so far, everything is looking pretty good and that's great news. Had my second Anti D injection today as well, I didn't even feel it! How cool is that!

Only six weeks to go now. Two weeks until Brendans birthday, then two weeks from then is Ben's birthday and then two weeks from then the baby will be nearly here! Yahoo!

Combined with Daniel's birthday and Cathy's that's two months of birthdays all of them two weeks apart.

I've finished reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I thought there was a few too many romances and it was terribly upsetting at the end but it was good. There was a woman in the newspaper whose 5 year old son was up at 5am waiting for the book to go on sale. I don't think its meant for his age group.

Speaking of things not meant for certain age groups, when I was in the bank yesterday a couple came in with their toddler son, probably around 18 months old. He was carrying a baby's bottle and in this bottle was coke with ice cubes. Probably purchased from McDonalds and poured into his bottle. How pathetic and irresponsible is that?

A kind of early christmas present.

2005-07-02T17:41:00.000+10:00

We're off to see the Wiggles again this year in December! They are performing at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre this year instead of the Convention Centre. Here's hoping it doesn't rain like last year. And that Anthony and all the Wiggles can perform!

We're not in the front row this time, I think you had to have Qantas Frequent Flyer points and some inside information to get that close. We'll be close enough, as long as Daniel can see that's what matters. He'll be a whole year older this year and he should really enjoy it this time.

It may become a new family tradition while the kids are small, see the Wiggles every year for Christmas!

The other Ben and Christine

2005-06-20T19:10:00.000+10:00

Ben Stilller and his wife Christine Taylor are expecting their second baby in July. This Ben and Christine are expecting their second baby in August. :)

Week 30 this week.

Stupid Food Ideas

2005-06-02T11:12:00.000+10:00

Its time for me to renew my subscription to the magazine Super Food Ideas, Australia's most popular monthly recipe magazine. I like it, without it I would never have learnt how to make Honey Jumble biscuits. When I signed up for a subscription the price was $35 for 2 years. Very very cheap. I got about 6 months of magazines for free I think, I'm not sure. It was a bargain anyway.

This week I got a letter from them asking to renew my subscription for 2 years for $79.90 including free delivery. With the cover price of the magazine being $2.75 it doesn't take a genius to work out that to get a new subscription will cost $19.40 more over the 2 years than to buy it myself at the newsagent. It costs 90 cents more per copy received by subscription and while it may conveniently arrive at your door, you miss out on any free samples included in that month's issue.

So I emailed them to find out why because I believe it to be ridiculously overpriced and unfair. Their response - "To continue running a subscription for the Super Food Ideas magazine we did need to increase some of our costs. These costs are used to cover some of the necessary components of a subscription; such as paper costs, printing charges, all costs associated with the administration of the magazine as well as the wrapping and packaging of individual magazines on a monthly basis."

Pfft, I doubt it costs $9.70 per subscription every year to put in 1 sheet of A4 paper with an address on it and then wrap it in plastic.

I will not be renewing my subscription.

Definitely not even a little bit funny.

2005-05-11T17:04:00.000+10:00

We saw Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy the other night and Marvin has been bothering me since. Well not Marvin himself but the fact that the robot obviously is depressed and no one gives a damn. They keep having things like "oh if you know someone who you think might be suffering from depression, see if you can help out, contact Beyond Blue and stuff like that". But when its in the context of a movie and the character involved is not human its supposed to be funny?

Well its not. Geez, you'd think after the recent events with Paul Hester and Rene Rivkin that it might be a good idea to take the subject seriously but hey, not if it makes money.

Oh and Marvin is not manically depressed either. At least lets be accurate.

Even better than the real thing.

2005-05-02T09:00:00.000+10:00

Why bother with Logies when you can have the more accurate Fuglies?

Lately I have been -

2005-05-01T10:34:00.000+10:00

Playing the new Legend of Zelda game for the Game Boy Advance called the Minish Cap. It is pretty cool.

Reading the new Artemis Fowl book, the Opal Deception. It wasn't even on the shelves in Kmart, I nicked it out of a big trolley of books waiting to be shelved. I did pay for it, $13 instead of $20 from Bookworld. How Angus and Robertson stay in business is beyond me. Awesome book so far though.

Avoiding the Urban Country Music Festival going on in Caboolture this weekend. Plenty of people in cowboys hats around town.

Delaying starting the big uni assignment. It's only worth 50%...

At a party for my Aunty Thelma's 70th birthday. Where other people of similar age to Aunty Thelma threw food at each other across 2 tables...something not even achieved at our nephew's 2nd birthday party.

Waiting for the iTunes shop to open in Australia, probably delayed to spite Russell Crowe.

Searching for decent maternity clothes and not finding any.

23 weeks tomorrow.

A picnical day for a lark. Or a lizard.

2005-04-26T17:26:00.001+10:00

On Sunday we picked up sister-in-law Muzekez and went down to a park we had been talking about visiting for at least 6 months. We packed a picnic lunch and we all spent a couple of hours looking at ducks and ibis and eastern water dragons. There were several playgrounds to entertain Daniel with their slippery slides too.

It was a really nice day out.

In other news, my fingers are too fat to keep wearing my wedding rings so I bought a chain today to put them on. I'm going up to the hospital for my first ante natal clinic visit tomorrow. Here's hoping I get a doctor that speaks English that I can understand!

Why?

2005-04-26T17:12:00.000+10:00

When Ben left work at Education Qld he was given an Amazon voucher for $200. So I put in an order for the book 101 Dalmations, which I had read many times in primary school. I read this book for the first time since then last week and I realised something shocking. Well, actually I noticed it when reading Winnie the Pooh a few weeks ago too, but didn't mention it on my blog.

What I noticed is - Disney wreck wonderful stories when they convert them to animated films!! About the only thing kept in 101 Dalmations is the number of Dalmations and the fact the puppies get stolen, everything else is pretty much completely screwed up.

As for Winnie the Pooh, did you know that only Owl actually lives in the Hundred Acre Wood? Everyone else lives far from it, Christopher Robin on one side and Pooh on the other. Piglet was converted into a stuttering wimp when all he used to be before Disney got hold of him was a shy small animal.

I just think it is very wrong to go changing classic stories and characters.

Halfway

2005-04-11T17:10:00.000+10:00

We have reached the 20 week mark now, we are halfway there.

I hate Atlantic DVD.

2005-03-23T17:18:00.000+10:00

I hate Atlantic DVD because I placed an order with them 2 weeks ago and I have been waiting for the DVD to arrive in time for my brothers birthday. With time running out and no DVD I decided to cancel the order only to receive the reply - We were waiting for you to verify the credit card details.

How stupid do they think I am! I got no email telling me to do this! If I had received an email telling me to verify the damn credit card (for the 3rd time through these people, I might add) do they really think I would sit and wait around for 2 weeks before doing anything! Well that is in fact what I did do, I sat around like a complete fool waiting for a parcel in the mail that was never going to arrive.

That is the very last time I am going to bother ordering through them. They failed me when I tried to order a DVD in time for Ben's birthday and now they've done it again. They promised I would never have to verify the card details again and that wasn't true either.

They haven't replied to my angry email.

The one good thing I have learnt is - go to Kmart. 5 minutes drive up the road and it was cheaper too.

Feeling' squirmy

2005-03-21T17:18:00.001+10:00

Went to the doctor for my monthly check up today and heard baby's heartbeat for the first time. 148 bpm and sounding healthy. Good news! Hopefully an ultrasound will be booked for next week. Can't feel any kicking yet but sometimes there is this weird squirmy sensation. The baby must be turning over or something. It was good to finally get some real recognition that there is actually something there.

Ducks quacks do echo, the Mythbusters discovered that they do.

Week 17 now.

Already?

2005-03-16T17:17:00.000+10:00

We've been in our house 5 years tomorrow!

Hot Potatoes!

2005-03-16T17:15:00.000+10:00

I bought the new Wiggles DVD today called "Hot Potatoes" and I knew it was the Wiggles live in concert. What I didn't know is that is was the same concert tour that we had front row tickets for! So now we can watch the concert and be reminded of how fun it was! There are quite a lot of differences in the two concerts, the one we saw and the one they put on the DVD. Mainly Anthony was all better and was able to perform. But from what I've seen so far, we had a better show without him! They didn't let the Jeff balloons fall on anyone without warning the audience that it would happen and they wouldn't get hurt. They took all the fun out of it! Thankfully, we did not get a Dororthy the Dinosaur solo ballet performance of Butterflies Flit, which is a boring and annoying song!

Best new show!

2005-03-07T16:07:00.000+10:00

The best new show on tv this year has to be SBS's Mythbusters! These guys have so much fun building stuff and then watching it blow up, its just hilarious! Not to mention the fact that I've got a thing for Mr Adam Savage...

Go the fro!

2005-02-18T09:48:00.000+10:00

While at indoor cricket yesterday afternoon I glanced up at the tv there that was showing the twenty20 cricket match between Australia and New Zealand. After about 10 minutes of trying to work out if it was a current match or a replay of the 1970's (there was no sound you see) I saw the funniest thing I had seen in a very long time!

Hamish Marshall's hair!

It looks like a muffin sitting on his head! I just burst out laughing every time he came on the screen! I've checked a few cricket sites this morning and it turns out the 70's gear was intentional and was done to get bigger ratings. New Zealand is only 2 hours ahead of Australia, we should have had the game shown here on regular tv! Of course it would rate! Ricky Ponting had an over where he hit 4 6's, a 2 and a 4! That's awesome! Glenn McGrath pretended he was going to bowl the last ball of the game underarm and umpire Billy Bowden gave him a red card! This is fantastic work bringing humour into what has been a pretty dull summer of cricket.

I was watching ER last night and they mentioned the Wiggles! The doctors were working to save a little girl and they asked her if she liked the Wiggles and who her favourite was. Murray was the answer of course! Dr Corday's answer was "I hate the bloody Wiggles" and you know what. Next episode her character was kicked out of the show. Ha ha, punishment for not liking the Wiggles I say!

Week 12 now.

Where's Jeff?

2005-01-21T12:44:00.000+10:00

There are not that many shows on tv that call themselves comedies that actually make me laugh. Mainly because I don't find the American sense of humour to my taste. Well that and the fact that you can predict the next line they are going to say, especially in that so called comedy Friends. Man that show was complete crap! I am so glad its over but the repeats are still around dammit!

I prefer real comedy! Give me British comedy over American anyday! Come on, the Young Ones still completely cracks me up! The latest British comedy that I really like is Coupling on the ABC at 9:30 on Monday nights. I have to admit that this latest season is struggling a bit with the loss of I think everyone's favourite character Jeff. But even so, it is still able to make me laugh. A lot of the jokes at the moment are being based on the character Susan's pregnancy so we are able to relate well to it.

As they say at jumptheshark.com adding a new character or a pregnancy is getting desperate! I know Jeff was a valued cast member but I hope the show can survive.

Experience doesn't always count.

2005-01-21T12:18:00.000+10:00

I've been watching a fair bit of the Australian Open tennis lately, mainly because I've been feeling so yuck with all day long morning sickness. Anyway, I have discovered that even though these people are professional tennis players with 15 or more years of proper coaching to get them into a grand slam they can still lose 6-0! Hey, I can lose 6-0 too, very likely as I have had no tennis training! Where's my wildcard entry!

Kiss From A Rose

2005-01-20T15:20:00.000+10:00

We saw the Phantom of the Opera on Sunday afternoon. I have to say that if you do not get chills and goosebumps all over from that first scene with the chandelier then you should probably leave! Damn that was a brilliant opening. I felt so sorry for these people who walked in late and missed it.

I found a link to someone who had made a video clip of scenes from the Phantom and joined them together with the song 'Kiss From a Rose' seeing as there are so many roses in the movie. Oh its pretty cool!

It bothered me how many times Christine ripped of the phantom's mask! Geez, the first time she did it she got a pretty bad reaction so why did she do it again! She missed out big time by choosing Raoul anyway.

Week 8 now.

Degrassi News

2005-01-14T16:12:00.000+10:00

Joey and Caitlin are together again! In the episode that was shown in the last week of 2004 Joey and Caitlin reunited after about 15 years apart! It was so good to see them back together again.

I had a look at a few Degrassi sites and got a preview of upcoming episodes. Guess what I just realised. The episode titles are all songs. It's only taken 3 seasons to work out too! :)

Hey, the ABC have stopped with 10 episodes still to go in season 3! They had better show them! Season 4 is going to be good, Rick, Terri's abusive boyfriend comes to school with a gun and shoots Jimmy. Somehow Sean steps in and saves Emma's life but the gun is in Sean's hand when it fires and Rick is mortally wounded.

Expensive shirt!

2005-01-11T16:00:00.000+10:00

I just stopped by Ebay to see how the bidding for the cricket shirts the players wore yesterday in the Asia versus the Rest of the World cricket game was going. Can you believe that Warney's shirt is up for $143100? That is about $80000 more than Ricky Pontings! I don't get it.

Week 7 now!

Many more years of Wiggles to enjoy

2005-01-05T12:19:00.000+10:00

If anyone feels like taking a peek at the following :) they will get a progress report on how the new baby is coming along.

Santa's Rockin'

2004-12-10T20:15:00.000+10:00

Today we all ventured out in to the pouring rain to the Brisbane Convention Centre to see some people that I owe so much too - the Wiggles! What would I have done without them and their ability to entertain and pacify ferocious toddlers I just don't know. Not to mention their songs are just so catchy.

This is the second time I have seen the Wiggles. I must say their shows have come a long way! In 1997 they held a concert in a sporting hall on Bribie Island, we sat on the floor and there wouldn't have been more than 60 kids in all in the audience. Today it was all the glamour of a full on rock concert, the lights, huge stage decorations including 5 metre high balloons of Jeff and Murray and exploding confetti that fluttered down over the audience. If it hadn't been raining outside, the room would have been packed too. And to top it off, we had front row centre seats! I was totally more excited about it than Daniel, but never mind.

I did the actions to the songs more than Daniel too. It was so much fun! Anthony the Blue Wiggle wasn't there unfortunately. He's got a broken wrist and needs surgery to fix it and can't perform at the moment. The substitute blue Wiggle Brett was ok, he kept getting bocked on the head by the 5 metre tall Murray.

Captain Feathersword is still my favourite. He is so funny. I think Daniel enjoyed it but he may have been overwhelmed by the lights and the noise.

Ebay phone home

2004-12-06T13:59:00.000+10:00

This just makes me laugh. ET the Extra Tasty!

Friends of Live

2004-11-25T17:58:00.000+10:00

I used to be a Friend of Live. Then I had a stupid long distance net thing with another member of the Straight Outta York message board. After that ended I wanted nothing more to do with Live, I wanted them forgotten. Well that has been totally my loss for the last 7 years!! Not the stupid net thing - my rejection of Live! Today I bought Awake - the best of Live cd with a bonus DVD and I am totally back into them again! $18 for a cd with a bonus DVD is a total bargain, that's why I bought it, thanks Kmart.

I have the music video to my favourite ever song by Live, Selling the Drama. That's the song that got me into them in a massive way in 1994/95. When I saw Live live in concert in May 1997 they absolutely rocked! I have never been to a better concert. Also never been to one with a bigger police presence either, incidentally. They played songs from their first album, Mental Jewellery, and I was singing along until I realised that I was the only one around me singing along. Nobody else knew the songs! God, you call yourself fans people! Ha ha ha.

Live are touring Australia and will be in Brisbane in 7 days! Tickets are about $75 and that is just too much. I'd love to see them again but not for that price. Not to mention that no one wants to go with me and I won't go alone.

So now I have 3 albums to catch up on, since I stopped buying them with Secret Samadhi. (I have it on white vinyl!) It's a good thing christmas is coming...

Help me.

2004-11-16T19:42:00.000+10:00

Daniel asked me to buy him chippies 55 times when we were at the shops on Monday morning. I said "No chippies Daniel, its too early" to him the first 5 times before I stopped answering and just counted.

The Problems with Parents with Prams Parking.

2004-11-12T16:46:00.000+10:00

Someone broke my car's aerial off in the undercover PWP carpark at Chermside Shopping Centre today. On another annoying note, I saw so many women who are using these car parks without a pram! If you have a toddler that can walk and you aren't taking your pram - then park somewhere else!! If you have a child seat in your car but no kids actually with you at the time - park somewhere else!!

You are taking up car parking space for those who need and deserve them! It's just as pathetic as an able bodied person using a wheelchair parking space.

The Island.

2004-11-07T19:20:00.000+10:00

Last night Ben and I went to the Playhouse at the QPAC to see Lano and Woodley. Their show is called "The Island" and it would have to be the funniest thing I have ever seen. I don't think I stopped laughing the entire time. I even had tears in my eyes.

There was a part during the show where they set their suitcase on fire. I was not convinced it was part of the show until I read on a message board on the Lano and Woodley site that it had happened at other shows too. So I fell for it, but it was still funny.

They are in Brisbane until the 13th of November so get down there if you want to see the best comedians in the entire world performing the funniest show in the entire world!

I can't believe that I have been watching these guys since I was 15....

I backed a winner!

2004-11-02T14:20:00.000+10:00

Woo hoo! I picked first and second in the Melbourne Cup!

Halloween and Horses.

2004-11-01T13:43:00.000+10:00

One year I think we'll have to have a full on costume party Halloween, instead of me in my pj's hiding when the trick or treaters come to the door! All we do is set up a pumpkin and Ben's cow skull. My Dad carves the best Jack O Lanterns! I think we've had one every year for a while now. We set it up at the front door, but the front door was hidden behind my crepe paper brick wall that I made for the Harry Potter party. We had a few trick or treaters, some not even in costume! They all scored Wizz Fizz lolly pops so hopefully that'll scare em.

Melbourne Cup tomorrow. I am no good at picking a winner. In the last few years I have put $1 each way bets on about 5 horses. I am no big spender when it comes to the Melbourne Cup! I think the last time I did any good was 2001 when I got 1st and 3rd. I've looked at the Melbourne Cup site and I think I'm going to go with Vinnie Roe, Makybe Diva, Pacific Dancer and Media Puzzle. If I lose completely at least its only $8. A heck of a lot less than some will lose tomorrow!

Degrassi and coke.

2004-10-28T09:27:00.000+10:00

Yesterdays episode of Degrassi was an excellent one. Marco, who has been working hard to hide the fact that he is gay, was forced to admit the truth to Spinner. All the actors put so much emotion into it, it was incredible.

The other storyline involved Snake being banished from his home with Spike, Emma and the new baby because he has a cold. After fainting while staying at Joey's house he eventually decides to see a doctor. Unfortunately the test results are bad news, it looks like Archie has luekaemia.

This is a 2 part episode and I can't wait for next week.

While driving Ben to the train station this morning we saw one of those big red delivery trucks that Coke uses to deliver their drinks to shops and schools etc. Daniel thought it was a fire engine. I noticed that one of the many roll down doors on the side of the truck was up. I was thinking to myself - I hope the boxes don't fall out when he turns a corner. Guess what? They did! There were bottles of Mt Franklin water and cans of Coke all over the roundabout at Morayfield. Some had busted open and fountains of Coke were spraying into the air. Livened up my morning! I'm lovin' it...

Degrassi - The Next Generation episode 3, season 3.

2004-10-21T15:21:00.000+10:00

This episode had some very funny moments for those of us who remember the original Degrassi series. Craig and a few of his friends have formed a band and were practicing in Joey Jeremiah's basement. During their practice session Joey came in and found his old synthesiser and tried to get the guys to play the Zitt's song "Everybody wants something". That was so funny! Later Joey finds out by watching the video he taped of Craigs band practicing that they think he is deluded and is trying to become a member of their band.

Emma's friend Manny is determined to get a boyfriend this year and after taking Paiges advice, she changes her image. She starts by wearing more revealing clothes. JT is obviously interested in her but Manny decides to go further with her new image by wearing hipster pants with her g-string showing. This gains the attention of a guy on the soccer team and also Mr Raditsch, who askes her not to wear clothes that reveal her underwear anymore.

Manny comes to school the next day with the hipster pants minus the g-string. She's not wearing any underwear at all! When asked to go to the front of the class to feed the animals she drops the container of food and is about to bend down to pick it up when JT spring to the rescue and saves her from revealing too much by bending down in those pants!

Unfortunately for JT Manny chooses to go out with the guy on the soccer team rather than with him. JT is very hurt and Emma confronts Manny about her new image and how she wants to be called Manuella now because the new guy thinks its more mature. They fight and as the episode ends they are no longer speaking to each other.

Dangle from the gallows come daybreak.

2004-10-19T09:15:00.000+10:00

I correctly guessed Casyn's hangman word 'involute' and now it is my turn to host the game.

______
|.......|
|.......0
|....../|\
|.......|
|....../
|
|________

W H I S K

Guessed Letters

G, E, H, S, R, C, T, A, P, W,

Congratulations Muzekez! You saved him from the rope in the nick of time! I turn the game over to your capable hands. :)

I've got a feeling, got a bit of inkling,

2004-10-18T16:18:00.000+10:00

This is going to be one of those days. I just bought tickets to see Lano and Woodley!!

Inspiral's encounters with wildlife.

2004-10-16T08:36:00.000+10:00

After posting about the lizards I realised I should probably post about the other animals that have crossed paths with me.

I guess the first animals I started rescuing would be the big green tree frogs. They would make this really loud noise and you would find them being attacked by a cat. After rain they come out around where we live now. There has been a few times when driving home I've stopped the car, picked up a big frog from the middle of the road and handed it to Ben to hold until we get home.

I touched a platypus as it swam down the gutter after a night of heavy rain in the early hours of a morning in 1992. How rare is it to see a platypus, let alone touch one? :)

Didn't even know we had koalas around until we moved out of the main part of Caboolture. June/July school holidays this year the boys and I got to see one up close as we tried to change its mind from crossing the road. It went up a tree but only to about my height so I put my hand out expecting it to rake its claws across my hand. All it did was sniff my fingers and then I patted it. I don't know if you are allowed to touch them, being protected and all but it was soooo soft.

Helped an echidna cross the road near our house. Came home late one night and saw a shape on the road. Thinking it was a cat or something I went back to see. I got a huge shock to see it was an echidna! Ran back to the car to get everyone to come and see it. It tried to roll into a ball in the middle of the road so I nudged its back end gently to get it to slowy shuffle its way off the road and out of danger. They are just so amazing and there have been too many times that I have been driving around town and seen a dead echidna on the side of the road.

Last year while driving Brendan to school we came across a tawny frogmouth injured on the side of the road. At first it looked like a bundle of rags. I went up to it with an old nappy I had in the car and I scooped it up carefully and took it to the animal hospital on the way to Bribie. It was such a beautiful bird. I don't know if it recovered or not. Hopefully it did.

There have been many lizards too! A few blue-tongues and geckos as well as the bearded dragons.

A ring-tailed possum took a flying leap onto my chest as we tried to get it off the top mum and dad's fly screen door. It had been chased their by their dogs, well probably by Bandit. Jock is 16 1/2 and has only 4 teeth so it probly wasn't him.

We've had heaps of black and white butterflies come out of their chrysalises they built on our ficus too.

Wow, even I didn't realised there had been so many!

Degrassi - The Next Generation episode 2, season 3.

2004-10-14T15:34:00.000+10:00

This was part 2 to last week's first episode of the new season. Emma found her father Shane and at first he found it hard to believe the teenager in front of him was his daughter as the last time he saw her she was only 3. When the nurse came in and told Emma she had to leave Shane got pretty upset and we saw a glimpse into the darker side of Shane. He got a bit violent and threw a few things around until he was given his knitting to calm him down. This was so sad to see.

Emma was so angry at her mum for not telling her about Shane's brain damage. Eventually Archie (Snake) explained what happened to Shane and why he was placed in the institution and Emma decided to go home and talk to her mum. Lucky she did because Shane was there! He had left the hospital and come to see Emma and instead found Christine (Spike). He got violent again when Christine asked him to leave and during it all she went into labour. Emma arrived just in time and she managed to calm Shane down by giving him her mum's knitting.

Shortly afterwards Spike and Snake's baby Jack was born and Liz was the midwife for the home birth. Liz was Spikes friend in high school so it was great to see her in the show.

There was some other stuff with Spinner and Paige, but that wasn't as interesting. Roll on next Wednesday!

Lizards - delivered to your door!

2004-10-13T11:58:00.000+10:00

I was just driving over to my parents place when I turned a corner and there in the middle of the road was a bearded dragon lizard. (Anyone who knows me will already be famililar with my frequent wildlife rescues and here is another for the list.) Apart from the obvious danger of the lizard being run over it was also being harrased by a magpie. I couldn't leave it there so I picked it up and took it with me to my parents place. They have 2 acres and plenty of room for the lizard to roam free and safe.

While turning the corner into my parents street I saw another bearded dragon lizard in the same predicament as the first. So after placing the first lizard in a nice spot near the dam we walked up the footpath till we found the second lizard. I carried it back to my parents place and put it in their backyard too.

Mum and Dad weren't home at the time so I better tell them their place is being used as a safe haven for bearded dragons.

Degrassi - The Next Generation.

2004-10-07T16:42:00.000+10:00

Yesterday afternoon on the ABC the third season of Degrassi - The Next Generation started! It's amazing to watch some of the classic characters from the Degrassi I grew up with now returning as the adults in the new show. Joey and Caitlin, Spike and Snake - all these guys are my age!

The first show of the new season started with Emma, the baby Spike had in high school, now a Year 10 student at Degrassi, searching for her father. As we all know, her father was Shane and from what I remember he went to a concert and used drugs and then fell off a bridge which resulted in a permanent brain injury. I guess no one told Emma this because when the show ended yesterday she had just found Shane in an institution. It's looking pretty unlikely Shane will be able to remember Emma at all, let alone be the father she has hoped for.

Can't wait for next week!

Inflamable means flamable?!

2004-10-05T16:38:00.000+10:00

Microwave popcorn, sounds simple but it is in fact an extremely complex thing to achieve. A few seconds over time and what do you get - a bag of smouldering crap and a kitchen full of smoke. Our first day back at playgroup after a long absence and what do I do? I ignite popcorn.

When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.

2004-09-30T14:13:00.000+10:00

Our fairly new washing machine has been annoying me so much over the last few weeks/months. It's not that old and would you believe it's problems started right after the 2 year warranty expired! *shocked macauley culkin face*

Anyway, when the hitting it and yelling at it didn't work anymore we decided to call someone to have a better go at fixing it. Their reply was - when I found a repair man who would answer his phone - that will be $231 for the parts not counting labour. Or a fair chunk of the price of a brand new machine. So I started seaching the net for an idea of prices and armed with a list of bargains I challenged the real shops to match the online prices. The grand final came down to Harvey Norman vs The Good Guys.

Now I really don't like Harvey Norman. Since the day my husband and I were escorted out of the shop at Aspley and insulted all the way across the carpark as we returned to our vehicle because we mistakenly entered their shop 10 minutes after it was closed. Where we live Saturday trading closes at 5:00pm but in Aspley its 3:30pm and I didn't know that. But I do now thanks to one Harvey Norman employee who found it necessary to yell at us about it. Their loss, we had cash in hand to buy a big computer desk, so you just can't tell from looking at people in their daggy t-shirts and shorts! Not to mention you shouldn't treat people that way.

Anyway, since then I can't stand the idea of giving any money to Harvey Norman, I can barely enter their shops. So when the Good Guys matched Harvey Norman's offer it was no contest! We scored a total bargain with a Fisher and Paykel 6.5kg washing machine for $615. That's about $150 to $250 off, depending where you go.

It sounds like an aeroplane about to take off when it spins but apart from that it goes without me having to yell at it or hit it and that's fine with me. *sings* He's a Good Guy, they are all Good Guys*

It's a Wiggly Party!

2004-09-28T16:26:00.000+10:00

This year I decided to go all out when it came to the boys birthdays. They are both born in July, the youngest on the 4th and the oldest on the 31st. Daniel loves the Wiggles and so I decided to have a Wiggly Party, which is the name of one of the many Wiggles DVDs we have. Before I start to list everything I want to make it known that planning and preparation took place over about 2 months and I spared practically no expense. I wanted them to have the best party I could give!

Firstly I made the invitations. Thanks to the local scrapbooking shop Stampers and Scrapbookers Heaven I was able to get everything for the invitations including Wiggles borders with the Wiggles running and holding a surfboard. I cut these out and glued them on folded card paper. Each card was a different Wiggles colour. I printed out on the computer "It's Daniels Birthday! We're off to a Wiggly Party!" and glued this above the Wiggles like they were saying it.

I also made a pinata! They sell Wiggles ones at Target but they were $30! So I got some wallpaper paste from Bunnings and heaps of newspaper and a big balloon and made my own! I started to make this in the kitchen - not the best of ideas I have had. But after several weeks and lots of layers of paper it looked like a big egg. (The pinata, not the kitchen). I filled it with lots of confetti and tiny packets of smarties and things. I think there were too many layers of newspaper though because it took ages to break! My brother ended up going at it with a cricket wicket and it still took quite a beating!

We all dressed up like the Wiggles too. We already each had black long pants so I bought skivvies for each of us. We cut a Wiggles logo from some left over Wiggles wrapping paper to put on our skivvies to make them look more like the real Wiggles. Almost everyone who came to the party was also dressed up. The computer has a DVD player in it and that was taken into the carport where the party was held and it played Wiggles songs and DVD's for the entire party.

I got Wiggles themed cups, plates, serviettes and balloons from Target. There were blue, red, yellow and purple crepe paper streamers everywhere. For food we just had a regular bbq but there was fruit salad for dessert. There was also red, yellow, blue and purple jelly. I got some Wiggles stickers cheap from Makro and stuck them to the side of plastic cups. Corresponded the appropriate jelly colour/flavour to the wiggle colour. :)

For the cake I just ordered a plain iced sponge from Woolworths because they make nice cakes that are cheap. I surrounded it with patty cakes iced with sprinkles in the four Wiggles colours. From the Wiggles site I ordered an edible icing image and placed this on the cake. I had ordered some things from bakerysugarcraft.com.au for the Harry Potter party I was also planning at the same time. In that order I got a figurine of Harry and some crooked blue candles that were supposed to be lightning bolt shaped. I used 2 of these as Wiggly candles on Daniels cake.

There were also little take-home bags with smarties and stuff that Daniel likes. These were like little icecreams. I bought the paper with the icecreams printed on it from Spotlight and cut them out and put them together.

There may be more to add but I can't think of it at the moment. It was definitely one of the best parties I've ever been to! I prefer other peoples birthdays to my own. :)

Poor Daniel Baby.

2004-09-26T23:39:00.000+10:00

It's late but I can't sleep. We spent most of tonight at the hospital with Daniel. He got hit on the head by a metal goblet/trophy cup and it left a deep cut about an inch long on his head. It was distressing for all concerned and he has 3 stitches but its all okay now.

Am feeling bad for the poor doctor too.

They say bad things happen in 3's. Well that's 3 trips to hospital for members of the Boyle family in the last 2 weeks. Things can only get better!

Everybody else is doing it, why can't I?

2004-09-24T14:26:00.000+10:00

Alright, I've got myself a blog! Ahh, let the Simpson's quotes begin! Well, mildly altered Simpsons quote, but never mind.

I wanted to post on my husbands blog but I had to join up first so I thought - ok. Everyone keeps saying I should get a blog so now I have. :)

Today has been 'one of those days'. Been awake pretty much since 4:30am, had renal ultrasound and tried to play a little Pokemon Leaf Green. I just beat Erika's gym in Celadon.

The good news is that its Friday! TGIF - Toes Go In First! Strictly Dancing and The Glass House are on tonight!