DIET COKE ROCKS

SKYPE IS A WONDERFUL THING

2012-01-28T06:51:00.011+13:00

But, we don't do it enough... I got to see our youngest Granddaughter the other night via Skype.
She has grown so much!

ABOVE: Sienna and her Mum and Dad. The Dad is our eldest son Russell.... Mum is Tess. Sienna has a big sister named Haylea too. The photos are utter crap quality, they were 'grabbed' off our Skype video conversation, and I can't 'tidy' them up. Oh well... I live in hope of them sending me some really nice photos one day!

ABOVE: found this good one on their Facebook page... Sienna looks an awful lot like my daughter Kelly as a baby!

TODAY: Stew is taking the kids to the movies this morning... and I am staying home to enjoy the peace and quiet for a wee while!

Later on today Steve's girlfriend Bec is arriving to spend the weekend. Oooohhh, staying at the 'in laws' place.... hope ~~the kids~~ we don't drive her batty....lol.

Suppose I better think about doing something nice for dinner too.... can't have her thinking I can't cook eh? *smiles*

ONWARD...

ABOVE: Finally, the terrarium is ready! Now we just wait a couple more days then get us a frog and tadpoles.

I've just been out and bought the water plants, and some apricots.
Hmmmm... apricots. Now I wonder what I'm going to do with those? lol

ABOVE: How the hell have I lived for 53 years and not bought one of these before? It's awesome.

ONWARD!...

ABOVE: Apricot jam... DONE. When you have to buy the fruit it is really no cheaper than buying it... but you have the 'satisfaction' of having made it.
I'm done making jam for now....
Stew is taking the kids to the park, and I'm staying back to wash the floors now.
Don't envy me now will ya! lol

LET THERE BE JAM....

2012-01-27T06:47:00.013+13:00

And now... there is:

ABOVE: my first batch of plum jam. Today I plan on making at least two more lots... using slightly smaller jars. And I also want to make some using Artificial Sweetener, so Stew can eat it too. (he's a Type 2 Diabetic)

I also want to make some pretty fabric covers for the tops.... I know it's not NECESSARY... but they will look so pretty eh? lol

ABOVE: Stew got the stable door finished... he said it was a right bitch to do too. But it's gorgeous! And I am so happy that he consented to chopping up a perfectly good door. He SO did not want to do it .... so I am really lucky he did it for me.

Now I wonder if he would do any more for me? I can think of at least one more I'd love him to chop up!

Today: well jam making. And perhaps an outing with the kids... I'm thinking maybe a movie.

ONWARD...

Movie will have to be tomorrow now, the movie we wanted to go see is booked out at the time we want to attend.

ABOVE: we tasted the plum jam just now.... and OMG it is really, really tasty. Has a little 'bite' to it, just how I like it. ***there as one jar that was only half full of jam... but now... it's empty!

The recipe said boil for 15 minutes... but mine took 30 minutes to set.... so obviously different plums take differing times to set eh?
I will be making more shortly...

Did I mention it's raining... AGAIN? Well.. it is. Such a weird summer we are having.

ABOVE: the first jam jar done. HOW cute is that? I know, it doesn't take much to make me smile. Stew said so too. Pfffffft.

Thanks for the tip Lynda... I found my pinking scissors, but they were so blunt I got cross trying to cut the fabric with them, so in the end I just cut them free hand:

ABOVE: all done! I'm going to make more jam next week with an artificial sweetener.

End of Day: well it's been all about JAM today eh? lol
ON TRACK: and loving it!
nite nite.

DIETING

2012-01-26T06:20:00.042+13:00

I am just going to put this out there.
NO matter what you are doing in order to lose weight...

- if it works for you
- if it is sustainable
- if it doesn't do your head in
- if it's HEALTHY and BALANCED
- if you are happy doing it
- if it's not a fad, or unhealthy
... then it's right for YOU

JUST DON'T KNOCK anyone else's way of doing it.

NO WAY is the RIGHT WAY. No way is the PERFECT way. No 'certain way' is going to work for everyone.
What works for you, might not work for the next person.

So don't go around advocating YOUR WAY for everyone as if it's the 'be all and end all'.
Just because it works for you, does not mean it will work for me, or anyone else for that matter.

I know I have been to Weight Watchers before... and it worked. But I gained most of the weight back.
That does not mean the WEIGHT WATCHERS programme DID NOT WORK.
It means I slipped up.
I did it wrong... again.
I did not learn the right lessons for me to keep it off.

It was not the WEIGHT WATCHERS programme that was at fault.
I was.

I will not advocate Weight Watchers to anyone, but I will say how I feel about it for myself.
What you choose to do it your own business.

But I will say this.
Weight Watchers is RIGHT for me.

AND THAT IS THE END OF THIS PARTICULAR RANT...
and it was not aimed at anyone who is a regular reader or commentor...it was aimed at some particularly 'interesting' ANONYMOUS persons who have emailed me lately with their ADVICE.

I am FAR too nice to tell them where they can put there 'advice'.... OF COURSE. lol

TODAY: well we are going down to the kid's school to see what classes they will be in this year, and buying Brylee's new uniform. She is in Year 7 this year, getting to be a big girl!

After that, not too sure... but we will no doubt try and get out somewhere! Joshua is only here for 4 days, so we will try and take him to a few different places he's not been to before.

ONWARD...

As I have already said, this is not directed at any of my readers/commentors... but if it makes you second guess what you are doing in any way... then is that a bad thing?

QUESTION: can I use this sort of jar/lid for jam? It's a twist type lid, not a screw on. I want to make plum jam TODAY.... so HELP??? Can I use them?

We went out and bought some seals for the Agee jars that I have, and some cellophane thingees with rubber bands for the other jars.

We also picked up some driftwood for the terrerium, and it's now soaking in a bucket of water for a few days to allow the colour to leech out, before putting it into the terrerium.

ABOVE: I have turned the spa pool down to 26 degrees, and it's perfect for us to cool off in.
OK, it may not be a fantastic big pool for swimming in, but it's better than the friggin kids paddle pool! lol

ABOVE: Joshua is certainly enjoying it! B & G are too of course. *smiles*

ABOVE: it's so nice to finally have some really good weather. Apparently it's not going to last, we are in for rain again soon.

I made jam! Plum jam. And it took ages longer than I expected. But, I got 5 and a half good size jars made today, and I am going to make more tomorrow.
I used Agee jars and 'proper' seals. Tomorrow I am going to use some of the other jars, and use the cellophane things with rubber bands, and not use the already used lids from the jars.

End of Day: it's been a really, really hot day... probably not the best sort of weather to be making jam... but the plums are ready now, so now is the time to do it.
ON TRACK: this diet sure has kicked in, motivation is high and I can already feel the difference losing even 5 kgs has made to me.
nite nite.

EXTRA CHILD TODAY....

2012-01-25T06:01:00.005+13:00

Today our grandson Joshua arrives to visit for a few days.... we haven't seen him for a few months so we are looking forward to his visit.

As Stew is still on holiday he can spend time with him too.

So, today will be about waiting for Josh to arrive, then we are going out to get a few things.

Here's some photos from yesterday:

ABOVE: gorgeous Mt Ruapehu, with a light dusting of fresh snow that fell two nights ago.

ABOVE: Mt Ngarahoe, almost totally devoid of snow. It is still a pretty mountain.

ABOVE: I have a thing for mountain streams... I love them so much. They are always crystal clear and so pretty.

ABOVE: at a river walk near Turangi... a swing bridge. It was very un-nerving to walk across... but the view was worth it:

ABOVE: perfect clear, beautiful water. I so wanted to go swimming, but it was not possible yesterday. We were working on a deadline, we wanted to get home in time to go to Weight Watchers, and we did.

And we both lost weight. Stew lost 1.2 kilos, and I lost 1.5 kilos. Very happy with those results.

ONWARD...

DEBBIE: there are actually three mountains in a row, I have only shown two as the third one is insignificant to look at. YES, they are volcanoes. Ruapehu erupted about 15 years ago, and I was 'lucky' enough to be actually PASSING the mountain when it erupted.... it was only a small eruption that made the crater lake spill down the side of the mountain... but it did send a HUGE plume of dust/ash into the air. It looked just like an atomic bomb! Huge mushroom type cloud. It was awesome. Luckily no one died either.

Have I mentioned lately that I'm going insane with my sunburn itching? Well I am. I am going to peel all over my back, arms and chest... FOR SURE. I can't sleep I'm that itchy. And I'm just a little BIT crabby! lol

Josh wasn't due till this afternoon, so we popped out and picked up a few things so we could make a start on setting up the terrerium in readiness for gettting frogs/tadpoles...

ABOVE: now we have the gravel, rocks and the water conditioner sorted. We also used an old water fountain we already had.... so now all we need is a piece of driftwood and a few plants.
Once all that is done we can get the critters.

End of Day: whoops! forgot to update.
Joshua arrived safe and sound... and very happy to be here. The kids have been playing all afternoon/evening. I've been doing bugger all! Tired. Ready to go to bed.
ON TRACK: can't say we have been excellent today. But we had a really lovely dinner of macaroni cheese with added bacon/onion and mushrooms. Was yum!
nite nite.

HMMMM... WHAT WAS SCARY?

2012-01-24T06:40:00.023+13:00

NOPE.... it is not a tattoo. I am still waiting to get that...

So.... what was it?

Well.... a few days ago FROGGY suggested I do something with my hair. AND funnily enough, I had been thinking of doing it for a few months myself.
So, while at the Plaza with my girlfriends yesterday, they suggested I go into Rodney Wayne's and see if they thought I would suit it. They said I should just DO IT.

So I did.

This is what I got done:

ABOVE: I got a fringe! (bangs to some of you).... well??? What do ya think???

I last had a fringe about 13 years ago... but grew it out real fast. Before that, I was about 15! Sheesh... a lot of water under the bridge since then.

Today, we go home.
Once again we will make a day trip of it.... stopping at various places along the way.

A few more photos from yesterday:

ABOVE: Mike and Joyce in the park...

ABOVE: Mike listening to Griffin through the whisper post at the park.

ABOVE: Anne, Chris D and me yesterday.

ONWARD...

We are safely home. Busy unpacking, and getting ready to weigh in at Weight Watchers. We were good! Seriously, only one 'evil' meal, and even then I did NOT go over my daily points allocation. So, fingers crossed. Will come back later and report in.

THE HAIR: thanks to everyone who likes it, or is nice enough to lie! lol

I am a little worried I look like mutton dressed as lamb (thank you Maria).... but I LOVE my long hair, it is not a problem to me keeping it this length. And if anyone does think I am mutton dressed as lamb, that is THEIR problem... not mine. I am going to have long hair till the day I die... and by the time I'm 80 it might even have BLUE steaks in it too. ha ha ha.

ONWARD... gotta face dem scales!

End of Day: well the scales were kind. Stew lost 1.2 kilos and I lost 1.5 kilos... so we are both very happy with out efforts, even while on holiday.

After WW we bought some groceries and came home. Going to chill out now, we are exhausted from all the travelling.

Photos tomorrow of today's trip.

ON TRACK: you betcha!

nite nite.

WET, WET DAY IN PALMERSTON NORTH

2012-01-23T07:02:00.004+13:00

Right now you would not believe it was summer here in New Zealand!
Yesterday a cold front came up from the south and hit the country. There was snow falling in the South Island, and we sure felt the chill factor in Wellington yesterday, and Palmerston North too.

Brrrrrr.... I am cold! Totally did not expect to be cold in the middle of summer.

*sigh*... anyway, heres a few photos from our trip to Wellington yesterday:

ABOVE: view heading into Wellington city... not as pretty as our Auckland... but still OK.

ABOVE: the stadium in downtown Wellington. It's 'real' name is the Westpac Stadium, but EVERYONE calls it 'The Cake Tin'... for obvious reasons. lol

ABOVE: two Lifeguards on duty down at the waterfront.... but there was NOT A SOUL on the beach swimming! It was freezing. I felt really sorry for the two lifeguards, having to sit there all day in the freezing wind and rain! Maybe they got to go home when it totally pissed down?

ABOVE: the only 'excitement' of the day! A fire truck racing by while we sat and waited for Stew to get the kids some food.

ABOVE: 'Picnic' in the car. Mike being a doofus with his salad. lol

ABOVE: the wild and rugged Wellington coastline. It was even more turbulent a few hours earlier.

TODAY: probably go into town, check out some more shops (yaaaa) and have lunch with Mike and Joyce again. Try to spend as much time with Mike as we can because we head home tomorrow.

ONWARD...

Sandra C and her hubby went to a car show in Wanganui yesterday... it was an overcast day, with scattered showers.....

ABOVE: AND... she got horribly sunburnt! Our sun here is so potent! She is in pain!

Well, what a differnet day we are having today! Glorious sunshine... and not a lot of wind.
We have been out and about quite a bit, had lunch in town with the girlfriends, Mike and Joyce.

AND... I did something today that I have been thinking of doing for a while now, I just needed the prompt... and I got that the other day.
So, this afternoon I did something I hadn't done in about 10 years.... MORE on that tomorrow.

One of our other girlfriends, Anne, popped in to visit us this afternoon too, which was lovely.
I took a couple of photos of us, will post them tomorrow too.

End of Day: a really lovely day, scary in parts!
ON TRACK: amazing eh? lol
nite nite.

NO FIRM PLANS FOR THE DAY, JUST TAKE IT AS IT COMES

2012-01-22T07:05:00.003+13:00

So... not too sure what the weather is thinking of doing today... but we will wait and see I suppose.

As we don't have any real plans, I think today will be just chilling out with friends and family... and I want to do a drive by our old house. See if it's changed at all?

So, until I something to yabber on about, here's a few more photos:

ABOVE: family shots. Mike, Joyce, Brylee and Griffin. Mike is my 'baby'... so he's a bit special.
We miss him so much.

ABOVE: Sandra's dog, Honey.   She had already pinched and eaten one of those biscuits off the coffee table, so Sandra gave her another one. The poor dog held that biscuit in her mouth for ages... you could see her mind ticking over : "Hmmm... is this a trap? Has she set me up for some reason?" cos she does not usually get given biscuits!
Sandra had to encourage her to eat it in the end. Very cute.

Rigthy ho... that's me till later...

ONWARD...

Well.. we ended up going to Wellington for the day. The weather was total crap everywhere, so travelling in the car was fine.
We had a picnic in the car as it was raining when we found a grassy area to have our picnic.... so ... it was still nice to spend time with Mike!

Did I mention Mike came with us? NO... well... he did ... lol.   His girlfriend Joyce had to stay back in Palmy for netball practice.

After lunch we went to Dressmart, outlet stores, where Mike got some new basketball shoes for $150 LESS than the shop in Palmy. He was rapt.

After that we headed back to Palmy, and picked up some sushi for dinner with Chris D. We WERE going to buy some whitebait and make whitebait fritters for dinner, but whitebait was OMG... $126 a kilo!   Obviously, we did not buy any.

Just finished dinner... which was OK. I'm thinking sushi is not THAT lovely, but it fills a gap.

Going back to Sandra's a bit later.... where I will upload some photos from today, and post them tomorrow.

End of Day: any day spent with Mike is a good day... he's my baby and I adore him.
ON TRACK: and loving it... even though sometimes I really, really crave cake!
nite nite.

SATURDAY IN PALMY

2012-01-21T06:48:00.004+13:00

Right... I'm just going to go straight into photos from yesterday:

ABOVE: us at Huka Falls, just before reaching Taupo.

ABOVE: Me and Sharon at Huka Falls.... she met us there as she wanted to show me something...

ABOVE: this picture was what she wanted to show me.... it was her's and she wanted to give it to me! I was like... YES THANK YOU! ... it's GORGEOUS! We will pick it up from her on our way home on Tuesday. What a lovely gift ... and clearly she knows me TOO WELL! I adore that picture... kids, water and BLUE!

ABOVE: last photo... about to go over the new bridge on the new by-pass at Taupo.

TODAY: well ... going to meet my girlfriends at The Coffee Club in Palmerston North at 10 am. Anyone who wants to join us (Janine, Janene, Mary H)... you are welcome!

Morning Tea with the girls was just lovely, we managed to kill a couple of hours easily.
There was Chris D, Sandra C, Janine H and myself, so a nice number around the table.

ABOVE: Janine and I...

ABOVE: The 'original' three... Myself, Chris D and Sandra C.

ABOVE: while out and about today, I managed to find a really good sized sun dome shelter thingee for the beach. I struggled to figure it out (top), so Stew had to step in and erect it. Sandra pushing a peg in above.

ABOVE: also found this nautical themed clock... slightly shop damaged ... so $20 off. Score.

ABOVE: look at all the goodies Janine H gave us while we were at morning tea! Totally cool stuff... THANKS so much Janine.

We are expecting Chris D, Mike and his girlfriend Joyce for dinner, so I better go and make sure it's ready! I bought salad stuff and cold meats ... so it's pretty much sorted already.

End of Day: it's been a lovely day... so nice to catch up with everyone down here. Shame I shall miss seeing Anne, Janene and Jenny though.
ON TRACK: possibly had too much dinner, but it was all good, healthy food, so not too bad.
nite nite.

ROAD TRIP TO PALMY TODAY

2012-01-20T06:27:00.004+13:00

Well... it's going to be a very long day on the road today.
It may only be about 6 and a half hours drive time.... but we are going to stretch it out a bit by doing some stops along the way.

First stop will be in Hamilton, where we will visit Amanda to drop off a couple of things.... then...

ABOVE: Tokoroa, my town of birth. My father worked as an independant logging contractor, supplying logs to the Paper Mill, seen in the background in this picture.
Our next stop will be at the cemetery to visit my two brothers and Dad in Tokoroa. Probably need to tidy their graves while we are there. Not many family left who do visit there. Just me really. My Mum and sister are both in Australia.

ABOVE: Huka Falls.
After that, we will stop at the Huka Falls, between Wairakei and Taupo... then maybe see Blondie (Sharon, another blogger) in Taupo itself.
We are planning on having a picnic along the lake front somewhere after that.

ABOVE: Lake Taupo. The biggest lake in New Zealand. It's usually freezing, but still a gorgeous lake.

Then it will be on around the lake and through the Desert Road... pass the mountains and maybe a stop at Taihape.
There's a really LOVELY gift shop there!

Dinner: should be at Bulls. Kebab time! OOO my mouth is watering thinking about that! lol

So... the next time you hear from me, we should be in Palmerston North!

End of Day:..... wait for it.... WE GOT HERE! Our trip down was lovely, with a super lovely surprise in Taupo! More about that tomorrow when I get a chance to upload some photos!
We had our Kebabs in Bulls.... and they were worth waiting for. And the lovely kebab owners let Brylee and Griffin eat McDonalds in their shop while Stew and I had our kebabs! How nice was that!
ON TRACK: EVEN with the 20 point (!) kebab! Very proud of myself... and Stew... who reminded me that NO, I did not need carrot cake after the kebab. Nice man. Once we had left Bulls, I was so glad I didn't succumb to the MOMENTARY desire to eat cake! lol
nite nite.

edit: Tanya in the USA: I have clearly had MORE than my fair share of cake already. If I want to enjoy the rest of my life, I need to miss out on cake, or I am going to drop dead from a heart attack!

OUCH, SUNBURNT.... AND PACKING

2012-01-19T06:18:00.008+13:00

I'm sun burnt.
Enough said.

Today: we will spend packing.
And doing a grocery grab so Steve won't starve while we are gone.

I'm a bit apprehensive about keeping ON TRACK while on holiday.
You know how it can be... you are staying with other people, not in your own home, and don't have all your food at hand. And travelling. Eeekkk.

I am hoping like hell we do not slip up and have anything we shouldn't.
We are staying with my friend Sandra C, who is also on a diet... and she's me ex-Weight Watcher's Leader... so all going well we will be OK.

I think it will come down to will power and careful planning for all eventualities. We will do a grocery shop down in Palmy too, so there is food on hand we can have.

But it will be a test for sure.

Right, enough yakkity yak... I need to get started on the washing, getting it all done before we go, breakfasts, shopping... bla bla bla.

ONWARD...

Everyone is sunburnt in this house. The sunblock we used... FAILED. Miserably. Griffin is almost as crabby as I am now.

It doesn't help that today is 'get the house clean and tidy'... cos no one feels like doing housework, least of all Griffin.
Anyone would think we had asked him to clean the toilets the way he is moaning and bitching.

Meanwhile, I've washed and hung out 3 loads of washing and folded 3 loads of washing from earlier in the week. Next on me list is wash the floors.

Stew? Has done his exercise and had a shower. He will be getting his 'instructions' any second now.... cos I am getting pissed off. Ahhh, no. He will want his breakfast first. THAT will take another half an hour. And it's almost 11am FFS.

I just read this out to Stew, and he indignantly said "I've already had my breakfast"! WHATEVER.

ABOVE: wanted to show this for a while, keep forgetting. It's the concrete walls on parts of our Auckland motorways. How pretty!

ABOVE: 'certain' people were complaining about having to look over the dining chairs to see the tv in the corner, so this morning I moved the table around... problem solved.

KAREN: HOW interesting.... the sunblock Stew and the kids used was 'The Cancer Society' Brand. I did not use any sunblock.. more fool me! I am so used to just going brown I forgot that I have not been in the sun AT ALL this summer. AND I just didn't feel hot yesterday!

I reckon my hot flushes have desensitised me to heat! Well, that's my excuse, and I will stick to it! lol

Only... I'm not really laughing. I'm sore.

I can't even wear me bra! Now instead of me boobs being on dip all the time, they are on LOW BEAM! Like... REALLY low beam. *snigger*

We just bought a new sunblock while out grocery shopping. It's a 50+ SPF, and works for 4 hours even in water. So hopefully we won't get burnt again.

MARY H: true... smart arse! *smiles*

End of Day: well... the packing is sorta done. Just have to throw the last minute things in the bags in the morning, then we will be off.
ON TRACK: still feeling fab! Fat... but not gunna be by the end of this year... I am going to be so much happier by December this year!
nite nite

NEW WEIGHT WATCHER WEEK STARTS...

2012-01-18T06:26:00.017+13:00

The difference a day makes!
Two days ago... scales showed ZERO loss.
Last night... 3.2 kilos LOST... and Stew lost 2.6 kilos!

So, I have to learn to NOT stand on those damn scales at home from day to day... they are NASTY.

On a happy note... I am looking forward to our trip down to Palmerston North on Friday... cos we are stopping at Taupo for lunch... and Stew and I plan on having a kebab at our MOST FAVOURITE Kebab shop. There is one in Taupo and one in Bulls, just out of Palmy.
We used to go out to the shop in Bulls about once a month just for a kebab! (OMG, I hope it's still there!)

So, my 'naughty' meal for the week will be a kebab in Taupo. I can't wait.

ABOVE: how pretty are my hydrangeas? I was sad to not have many blue ones this year, but some of them are still pretty.
Sadly, they are already coming to an end for the season.

Today: hmm.... might go out somewhere if the weather is nice. This summer has been so MISERABLE weather-wise so far! I have not even got a tiny bit of a suntan yet!
Weird.

ONWARD...

BLONDIE: OH NOoooooo! Well that just mucks up THAT idea. Hmmmm...might have to pack a healthy picnic then. And yes, I would love to see you... how about I text you on the day and we can meet down by the lakeside somewhere?

I have a problem. I waxed my legs and now... lots of hair is growing back... UNDER the skin. It's awful... keeping me awake at night with the itchiness.... so, does anyone know what I can do to rectify the problem?

ABOVE: See? Not pretty, pretty at all. And starting to get really sore.
edit: Only the 2nd time I have ever waxed... and I forgot that this happened last time too. Grrrr.

It looks like it will be a stunning day... so we are off to the beach. Orewa or Omaha... or BOTH! Who knows... maybe I will finally have my first swim this summer AND get a bit of suntan?

ONWARD...

We packed a picnic... togs, towels and headed off at about 10.30 for Orewa, where we had the most wonderful day:

ABOVE: the tide was out when we arrived, but the water was GLORIOUS. First impression... cold... but once in... warm. Really warm! I had a swim ! Or two.

ABOVE: the north end of Orewa beach, gorgeous, even with the tide out.

ABOVE: Stew found a really good place for the car... it stayed in the shade all day, which was nice. Once I'd had enough sun and water I sat in the car and read me Kindle. BLISS.

ABOVE: getting the sunblock on .... love my guys.

ABOVE: while walking along the beach we passed this little old lady out having her walk. She was dressed in her long sleeved shirt, cardigan, skirt, STOCKINGS and laced up shoes. So cute.

ABOVE: the kids having fun in the sun and water. I expect them to sleep well tonight.

ABOVE: a lot of these are popping up all along the beaches here. Like a mini tent, but open at the front... perfect for sun/wind shelter on the beach. I think we could do with one! Might look around, there seems to be lots of choice out there.

ABOVE: I will NEVER tire of this view of downtown Auckland. As you can see ... on our way home the weather darkened. Possibly have a thunder storm tonight.

End of Day: well I've turned a lovely shade of red... and feel rather HOT. Oooops... maybe too much sun!
ON TRACK: and looking forward to the next time I stand on the scales... which will be NEXT tuesday and NOT BEFORE then! No more wigging myself out and getting mega crabby!
nite nite

I WAS CRABBY, NOW I'M EVEN CRABBIER.

2012-01-17T06:56:00.013+13:00

I stood on the scales yesterday morning.
They showed a big fat 0 loss so far this week.

0, a BIG FAT, goddam, friggin 0. WTF?

Yet... I have been 100% GOOD all week. No slip ups ... even with the fish and chips dinner I was under points for the week.

Today: I'm too scared to even step on the bloody scales. I swear, if they show a 0 loss again I will slit my own throat.

I am INCREDIBLY CRABBY. I don't even like MYSELF right now.
So can you IMAGINE how I am feeling towards everyone else in this house?

Now, I don't know if this terrible mood is due to the 0 loss or because I stopped taking the Anti Depressants about 2 weeks ago?
I was on the pills to help with the hot flushes, but as they seem to have all but stopped (the hot flushes)... I just didn't repeat my prescription when I ran out.

Maybe it's a massive, ongoing mood swing due to withdrawal?

All I know is... everyone is TOTALLY getting up my nose. I really, really want to scream at them the second they open their mouths.

I do hope I snap out of it before I get to Palmerston North! My girlfriends won't like me like this. FOR SURE.

It's weigh in at Weight Watchers tonight. Somehow I think Stew is going to blitz it with a HUGE loss, and I am going to kill him ON THE SPOT.

ONWARD... the day can not get any worse... right?

*** PEPSI UPDATED *** PEPSI UPDATED *** PEPSI UPDATED ***

I just spent half an hour weighing clothes. Cos I just KNOW I will not be allowed to weigh in NAKED. Pffffft.
I am still too scared to stand on my scales, after yesterday I think they would be in mortal danger if they still showed a 0 loss.

I am going to do exactly what I have been doing, cos I just know there will be a loss at Weight Watchers tonight, there MUST be!
I can't be this friggin good and not lose SOMETHING.

And yes, I know it's JUST a number... but still. When you have been a 'dieter' for over 30 years it is hard to break habits of a lifetime.
But ONE habit I am breaking.

EMOTIONAL EATING. I have NOT headed straight for the pantry after yesterday. I am not doing that to myself. I am worth it to keep up the good work. It will come off... I know it will.

I am making that Basil Hummus today too. The Chickpeas are cooking as we speak....exciting!

ABOVE: well, I've been productive this morning if nothing else. I made 5 pots of Basil Hummus, and as I'd cooked more Chickpeas than necessary, I had enough to make 6 pots of 'normal' Hummus as well.
Some of those pots will go in the freezer to be brought out as wanted.
The Basil Hummus has come out DEVINE!

Now, making it myself was probably no cheaper than buying it.... but this way I get the satisfaction of doing it myself, and I know it's fresh.
We bought two basil plants so I don't have to always buy it... shit it's expensive to buy!
I want to find a recipe for Basil Pesto now.... yummy!

KAREN: That's why I was weighing my clothes... to see what was best to weigh in. Once I have settled on one outfit, I will stick to it.

MARGARET AND EVERYONE ELSE: bit late to 'wean' myself off them! I've not had any for almost 3 weeks. So I think I am over them.

MARY H: Every had hummus? Chickpea spead/dip... so basil hummus is just hummus with Basil added. Try it, you might love it like we do.

Almost 2pm.... so just over 5 hours until weigh in....

LISA: Basil Hummus & Regular Hummus. Just click on the name and it will take you to the recipe.

LYNDA: we will be having the hummus with our salad instead of mayonnaise. Hummus is 1 Pro Point per Tablespoon, mayonnaise is 5 Pro Points per Tablespoon... so as we LOVE hummus, we shall have it instead of mayo.
And as a dip with carrot/celery sticks and the like. NOT on bread/crackers/chips.

End of Day: well... amazingly... I lost!
Stew: 2.6 kilos lost
Chris: 3.2 kilos lost
DON'T ASK ME HOW THAT HAPPENED, cos I have no idea.
Must have caught up with me... all my efforts were worth it.
nite nite

I WANT FROGS!

2012-01-16T06:29:00.021+13:00

PINKY ... who I am going to refer to as Lisa from now on... well Lisa and her family have frogs. And tadpoles. In tanks. And her hubby feeds them flies he catches in his bare hands!

Well anyway... now I want frogs. Remember we had a little frog for a wee while, but I got 'guilted' into releasing it? Well... now I wish I hadn't. Cos there is nothing wrong with having frogs. Common, everyday frogs, not endangered ones! Edit: the Green Frog (above) is an introduced frog to New Zealand, and while it is classed as 'endangered', it is the most populous frog in New Zealand, and it is not against the law to keep them as pets. If that was so, you would not be able to buy them at a pet shop.

So... once we get home from our little holiday (we are going away at end of the week for a few days), I am going to get a tank and then a couple of tadpoles and frogs.

WELL..... I have to convince Stew first. He said everything we get that is in a 'fish tank' dies. So... maybe we will, and maybe we won't. I hope we do though, cos frogs are cool. And cute.

And not really slimy. Not at all.

TODAY: seriously. We have to get out and about. I'm going stir crazy. And I really, really want to do some shopping! lol

I saw some lovely smoked fish down at the fresh fish shop in Westfield Mall, Manukau yesterday. So I certainly want to go there.... and get some smoked salmon. My mouth is watering just thinking about it....

ONWARD...

It didn't take much to convince Stew about frogs.
We visited two pet stores today, and looked at the tadpoles (99 cents each), and tiny little baby frogs, and tanks specifically for frogs/reptiles... and decided we would go ahead with my 'want'.

The second pet shop we visited had the perfect size tank ... and it was $239. So I said "Let's get it"... so took it up to the counter and to our delight, it was a full $60 off! SCORE! I sure know how to find them .... without even knowing. lol

ABOVE: the terrarium we bought. We are not getting the tadpoles or frog until next week when we get home from Palmerston North.

Just going to have smoked salmon and coleslaw for lunch now...

Smoked salmon is quite oily! Never knew that. But, on a whole it was OK. Might get non smoked next time ... hope it isn't oily?

I was hit with the 'can't keep me eyes open' bug after lunch, so I had a little nap for an hour. While it was nice, I'm now feeling a bit blah.

End of Day: dinner tonight was Tegel Chicken Sausages (4 PPoints each), mushrooms (0), Feta Cheese (3) and Basil pesto (2). Well, that's what I HAD. The rest of the family had the above plus potato wedges and coleslaw as well.
ON TRACK: but crabby.
I will elaborate on the crabby-ness tomorrow.
nite nite

TURKEY SAUSAGE ANYONE?

2012-01-15T07:06:00.013+13:00

When Stew and I were grocery shopping last week, we found some really good looking sausages and bought them thinking they might be nice?

ABOVE: these were the sausages.... and after eating them we declared them.....REALLY LOVELY. Not heavily flavoursome, but still nice. And they come out at 3 pro points each.
Next time we go shopping I will be looking for more low point sausages.

TODAY: well as we didn't go out yesterday, I am sure we will today!
Where to... I'm not sure yet.... I'll come back and tell ya later OK? lol

Well actually... I'm going out for morning tea to meet a blogger from Papakura (2 suburbs over from me).... hopefully we get on well. It's always nerve racking meeting someone new.

ONWARD...

*HI*! I'm back from 'morning tea' with PINKY aka Lisa. We met at 10 am.... and we yakked. Man can we yak!
We said at 1/4 to 12 that we really MUST go home... and at 12.20 pm we finally did!
lol.
It is not that often I meet someone totally new who I can yak to like that!
We got on like a house on fire.
It was lovely and I hope to see her again soon.... and we even discussed getting a couple of other friends to join us... like Lynda and Beastie Girl (aka Natalie)... that would be lovely too.

ABOVE: meet PINKY. Lisa to everyone who knows her I'm sure. She's lovely. Thanks for agreeing to meet me Chick. It was the nicest morning I've had in a while.

OH... and we both had a hot chocolate and NOTHING else. We being good girls. We did, however, drool over one couple's lunch right next to us... they felt a bit 'uncomfortable' with us looking longingly at their food I do believe! lol

so... it is a gorgeous day! And we did not go out afterall.
Stew wanted to get the lawns mown as it's been so wet he has not done them in a few weeks. The grass was really long and the flowers were attracting bees on the lawn... Brylee can attest to that!
She got a bee sting yesterday. Anyone would think she was dying the amount of screaming and crying that went on.

Also, I sold our kayak on Trademe, and it's being picked up this afternoon, so we have to hang around. *sigh*

I loved that kayak, but we had only used it ONCE in the two years we had it... so it was pointless keeping it. And I could use the money (rubbing me hands together gleefully) for SHOPPING! heee heee. Oh yeah, and paying a bill or two I suppose.

So... just sitting around waiting... waiting... for the buyers to turn up. Well, the buyers turned up around 3.30, so once they had left we went out to Maraetai Beach. The kids and Stew had a swim, but not me. The tide was out so a bit ikkky... and windy. Then as we were leaving it rained. So I'm glad I kept me clothes on!

Home now and Stew is cooking again! Pork chops, coleslaw and a spud. Nice.

End of Day: dinner was lovely, as expected. It was nice to have the potatoe, hadn't had any carbs for a few days.
ON TRACK... still! I do surprise myself, but then again... when you are totally determined (finally) it is easy to stay on track.
nite nite

IN LOVE WITH THIS POOL!

2012-01-14T06:11:00.012+13:00

I saw this pool on a friend's Facebook page, so had a look at the video and want to share, as it's so amazing!

ABOVE: how amazing is that! If I had a spare couple of hundred grand I'd have one tomorrow!

Today: well it's the start of Stew's two week holiday... and he has gone into work! He has dozens of emails that he needs to clear before he can relax... so hopefully he gets them all sorted and is home soon.

No firm plans for the day... the kids want to go out as per normal... so we probably will. I like the idea of sending them out and I stay home and wash the floors! Nuts I know, but it's hard to get them clean with kids around constantly.

But... I suppose they can wait, particularly if it's a nice day. We have had very few really nice days this summer so far. Maybe today will be a rare nice one?

Oh, just remembered a funny thing that happened yesterday at the movies.
There were two men in their 30's sitting next to me before the movie started. One Dude said to the other how he would like to learn how to scuba dive this summer.... but he could not swim at all... and the other Dude said that should not be a problem as he had oxygen tanks so he would not drown.

I sat there and listened to them for a minute and then I could not help myself! I HAD TO SAY SOMETHING. So I looked at the guy and said ... I was sorry to intrude on their conversation, but his wanting to scuba dive when he could not swim was all kinds of WRONG for so many reasons!
He laughed and said I was 'probably' right!

So then him and the other guy sat there and discussed the in's and out's of what could happen if he could not swim and ran out of oxygen! I just shook my head at them.

Idiots. It takes all sorts eh?

so, the washing is on, the kids are still in bed, me hubby is at work, I've locked the dogs outside and it's PEACEFUL here.

But I feel bad. I have not visited any blogs since the New Year! I've simply been too busy doing other stuff. So, as it is another cloudy, dreary day I am going to blog hop ... and visit everyone if I can.

ONWARD... !

The kids stayed in bed until I yelled at them to get up ... at 10.30am! I am amazed, I didn't expect them to sleep in like this until they were lazy little teenagers! I quite like that they have started it early! I know, I'm weird. But... it's SO QUIET when they are in bed... I LIKE IT.

ABOVE: I bought that cute little 'toaster' timer... so now I sit and browse blogs etc for a set time, then I have to do some exercise! I am going for 45 mins sitting and 15 mins exercise. Some CAN be housework... and some can be this:

ABOVE: I got Stew to bring up the exercycle from the garage. Now I can ride and watch a DVD on the family room tv. I am aiming at doing ALL UP an hour a day on the exercycle, and build up to using the treadmill for at least half an hour a day too.
THAT IS A START.

I always seem to forget how much I LOVE catching up on blogs, there is so much to learn, enjoy and share. I just found an awesome recipe for BASIL HUMMUS on a blog... so if you love basil pesto/hummus, this is a combo of the two.

WE did not go out afterall. Been doing washing, reading blogs, getting on the exercycle (!), just chilling and enjoying the day at home with Stew. He is enjoying doing nothing too!

MY BUTT IS KILLING ME! I have sat here ALL DAY reading/commenting on blogs. Well... I got on the exercycle every 45 minutes too! So, I feel very virtuous... but enough is enough. I'm done for the day.
I might get back to reading a few I missed tomorrow. For now... they have gone into the 'marked as read' pile!
Sorry if I didn't get to you..... but me butt is DONE. I have to stop sitting for so long.

End of Day: after consuming a delicious dinner prepared by the man, we waited an hour then went for a walk in the dusk. It was lovely... even though I had to stop 4 times on the big hill. Next time it will be easier. I aim to do that walk until I can do the hill without stopping. THEN I will know I am getting fit again.
ON TRACK: and loving it.
nite nite.

NEED TO LIKE MORE

2012-01-13T06:34:00.009+13:00

I took a new photo of me mug for Facebook and my blog yesterday.
And now I am even more motivated to lose the weight.
Why?

Cos I want to like MORE OF ME than just my eyes!

ABOVE: me, in all me glory. Well, me face anyway. You don't really want to see the body! *smiles*
I can't wait to be comfortable enough to post a photo of ALL OF ME again.

Today: it's BLACK FRIDAY! But, I'm not superstitious at all. So the kids and I will go out to the mall... I think they deserve a treat. Maybe a movie?
We will see.

The guys finally got around to pruning one of our palms last night... it was becoming a right pain in the butt, with fronds hitting you when you got out of the car. So, they did a really good job:

ABOVE: how cool is that? It's like a totally different plant now, and I had totally forgotten those other two palms were there! I love it, shame the neighbour doesn't. They are worried it's root system will crack their concrete, so I'm going to a Garden Centre today to find out just what sort of root system it has and if it's a threat to the concrete. I hope not, as it's not only a lovely plant, but it's worth a fair few bob at that size... (about $1,000).

ONWARD...

So I've talked to Kings Garden Centre about the palm. Contrary to popular belief, if WILL damage the concrete (both ours and theirs) in about another 6 years. While it does have a tap root, which goes straight down, it's spreaders can and will crack the concrete once they get big enough. DAMN.
Now the decision is: kill it... or move it.
I know what Stew's decision will be.
And it does not involve digging a HUGE HOLE to get it out.

ABOVE: the kids and I are off to see this movie this afternoon. I better take a hanky... to catch the drool! I think Robert Downey is gorgeous. Jude Law... not so much.

The movie was GREAT! I doubt the kids could follow the whole storyline, but Griffin loved the action! Brylee had to visit the bathroom right before the ending so missed the conclusion. When we left she was still in the bathroom with a sick tummy... so now home and keeping an eye on her.
Hope she isn't coming down with something.

Off now to put me feet up for a wee while before getting dinner sorted.

End of Day: we had our 'naughty' dinner tonight. Fish and chips. It was nice.... but feeling ikk now. Funny how what used to be LOVELY is no more.
ON TRACK: even though we had fish and chips! I have factored it in to our week, so am happy.
nite nite

29 POINTS FOR A GLASS OF TRIM MILK?

2012-01-12T06:57:00.007+13:00

I've been making my smoothies with full cream milk. We bought some trim milk the other night and I went to work out the pro points with me calculator.. and OMG it kept saying 200mls of Trim Milk was 29 points?
I got madder and madder ... cos no matter what I did it still came out that high?

UNTIL the penny dropped. I was putting in the KILOJULES amount where the Protein amount should go. DOH! No wonder it was high! lol

So glad I figured it out.... even if it did take me hours to realise what I was doing wrong. It's only cos I am used to having to factor in the kilojoules. Stooopid WW for changing everything on me.

Brylee spilt a pot of yoghurt all over the bottom of the fridge and floor... so I got up and filled a bowl with hot, soapy water to clean it up:

ABOVE: but when I turned around, Teddy and Coco were doing a darn good job of cleaning it up for me!

ABOVE: So, I left then to it... after they had finished I still cleaned it with hot, soapy water. Can't have dog licks all over the fridge can I? lol

Today: what day is it? Seriously, they are all starting to merge... Next week Stew is off for two weeks holiday.
Then after that the kids go back to school! These holidays are flying by....
and back to today...

No idea yet. A little housework for sure... then who knows?

Today... is the day I start adding some exercise. Well... apart from housework that is.
I am going to walk for 30 mins on me treadmill. EVERY day.

Steve's idea of 'organised chaos' :

ABOVE: I could not stand it any more...

ABOVE: MY idea of 'organised' AND TIDY. I know I should just leave it up to him, I KNOW! But when it is 'my problem' ... I have to fix it. He did not see it as a problem, so there was nothing to 'fix'!

That is how I see it, and that is OK. Men just do not see mess do they?

Almost lunch time, so better stop with the housework and get some lunch sorted for the kids... OH and I must show you how Brylee hung out the washing for me too! She wanted to help, so I let her! soon...

ABOVE: I think I could have done better, but... it was out there, and it got dry! I got it in with minutes to spare before it started raining again.

End of Day: another day ending, and another good day. The guys got home from work and did a good job too, more about that tomorrow.
ON TRACK: totally! Shocking even myself with how well I'm doing.
nite nite

LAST NIGHT ROUND UP

2012-01-11T06:22:00.013+13:00

So, Stew and I went to Weight Watchers last night.
He seems to be prepared to give it his all.

Me too.

It was 7 weeks since my last weigh in at Weight Watchers and I gained over 2 kilos! Not bad considering how much shit I ate at Christmas and New Year!

Still .... it should not have happened.

BUT: my head is finally in the right place to make the changes necessary to not only lose the weight, but keep it off.

I am well, so there is not going to be any nasty operations/illness to set me back.
It is going to be different this time. I am going to do it right from now on.

I know that this is just WORDS right now. But I am going to prove it... I just FEEL differently now than in the past.
What I want more than anything else is to regain my fitness and feel good doing normal everyday things again.
And to do that, the weight has to GO.

TODAY: hmmmm.... might take the kids to a park for a play. And a walk. As long as it's not raining. We have had such a wet summer so far, it's amazing! And a pain in the butt.

Oh and Coco is in season again, so she can't leave the property. Which means, in 6-7 months time she can be a mummy again! Exciting, counting down....

ONWARD...

I've got a zit on me chin! For goodness sake, I'm 53... stop with the freaking hormone shit! And NO, I did not eat friggin chocolate.

Talking of age.... menopause. I have suffered from hot flushes for about 4 - 5 years now. Since I started my new diet (about 2 weeks ago?) NONE. Not one single hot flush! Coincidence? Or just finally outgrown them? I may never know.
Or they may come back. OH HELL I hope they don't! It's been WONDERFUL not having them.

Wow I didn't realise I had not been on here all day! Whoops. Kids have been in the cool spa pool today as it is NOT RAINING!
I have made 4 meatloaves this afternoon using the food processor. What a breeze chopping up all the veges now!
I still have to clean up the mess... but that can wait! And I'll tell ya this: the mess is not as bad as I anticipated with using a food processor. No where near as much as normal. Big YAAA.

MAGPIE: no, the lipsticks have not arrived yet. *sigh*... but hopefully they will soon.

I checked my page 'traffic' this morning.. and WOW... over 900 page views yesterday? What's with that? My 'normal' daily page views is between 600 and 700 at the moment, which is up by about 50 a day. The only thing I can think of is that lots of people are on holiday and blog hopping? Anyone else getting more page views at the moment?

The other thing I have been doing today: moving stuff! I took the PC computer out of Steve's room.
Two reasons:
1/ it cramped his room
2/ we never see him!

I will take a photo of it's new 'home' so there is at least one photo on me blog today! SOON....

ABOVE: SEE, now it's in the lounge where the 'extra' tv was ... and now that tv is in Griffin's room where he can play Playstation on it.

ABOVE: one of the few perks of being 'The Mother'.... ahhhhhh.... lol

Meatloaf for dinner. I calculated the points. Very high. Can't make miserable meatloaf when it's for our kids too eh?
So, dinner was about 25 points, JUST for the meatloaf! So we just had the meatloaf. *smiles*

End of Day: a great day. Productive. Busy.
AND ON TRACK. totally on track. So happy about that. Stew is doing it properly too, even counting his points! And writing it all down. TRACKING is the key to keeping on top of it and being accountable. Some forward planning is always good too.
We are going away end of next week for a few days, so I am thinking of how Stew and I can stay on track while travelling. It can be done.
nite nite.

SHOPPING CALLS....

2012-01-10T06:29:00.005+13:00

ABOVE: I got a phone call from The Good Guys on the weekend, saying my food processor had arrived, so we are going out today to pick it up... quite excited! I haven't had one for years.. and I've only ever had one before. I loved it, so know I will love my new one too.

It's going to make food preparation much easier. I can't wait to find a reason to 'christen' it... lol.
Maybe meatloaf for dinner tonight?

Not sure what else the kids and I will get up to today... but I'll let ya know if it's interesting!

ONWARD...

Well... we are finally home after spending a good deal of time out and about.
We picked up the food processor from the shop, wandered around Sylvia Park for a while, had lunch ( I had sushi) and then checked out Spotlilght for a 'quilling' tool. No luck anywhere.

I was looking at what 'quilling' was yesterday and thought it would be nice to try and add some quilled bits 'n' bobs to me cards.
But I can't find any quilling paper or tool here.
I will check out the net next I think.

ABOVE: my new Food Processor! I think I need a degree to figure it out somehow!
Going to sit and read up on the instructions right now...

1 hour later, and I think I have it sussed! The hardest thing to understand was how some of the attachments fitted into the storage thingee! lol

PINKY: I checked out Manukau and Sylvia Park Spotlight stores, and neither had anything to do with quilling in them. I'm going on the net now to see if I can find anyone who stocks quilling stuff.

ABOVE: grated cheese, and NO skin off me knuckles, which so often happens with the hand held grater, gotta love it!

End of Day: Stew got home and immediately turned around with me and went to Weight Watchers.
After that we did the grocery shopping, came home and had smoked fish for dinner.
ON TRACK: and feeling good.
nite nite

BIG CLEAN UP DAY

2012-01-09T06:58:00.010+13:00

After having visitors yesterday.... I have to do a big clean up today.
As the weather is so wet and humid, the house is a right mess after everyone was stuck inside all weekend long.
*sigh*

Here's a few more photos from yesterday:

ABOVE: Rena pretending to put makeup on Steve...

ABOVE: yep, such an inprovement! lol

ABOVE: another neat black and white one.

ABOVE: tug of war with Uncle Steve....

ABOVE: Happy wee girl...

ABOVE: playing nicely together...

ABOVE: Brylee

ABOVE: Father and Daughter. Love it.

I love taking photos of my family. I am hoping to attend a night class this year to learn how to use more of the features of my camera, and take better photos.

Right, this isn't getting the housework done is it?
ONWARD...

ANON from yesterday: Re your question. It is probably because I, like many bloggers, have had my fair share of negative/critical comments and lots of readers who have been following me for years and know me very well... want to stand up for me.
I used to get really upset by negative/critical comments, but am getting better at not reacting. Now days the really nasty ones simply do not get published.

Poor Griffin, just had a spack at him about his room. He's now on serious tidy up duty or it goes in the bin! BOYS are pigs. If you have a tidy one... thank your lucky stars.

SEVEN TIMES I had to send Griffin back to his room after he told me he had picked everything up from under his bed. 7 times!!! Lazy little piglet.... 2.30pm and his room is FINALLY clean, rearranged and tidy. Wonder how long it will stay that way?

I am now all hot and sticky, and need a shower.

I had a blackberry smoothie for lunch. I enjoyed it. The smoothies are doing me very well for lunch, and I am not getting too hungry before dinner now either, so that's great.

FROGGY: yep mate, I know this. I have raised 4 of them too! Luckily Brylee is nice and tidy, even if she does put all her dirty clothes back in the drawers! *sigh*

End of Day: another day down... got lots tidied up today, so I can relax tomorrow.
ON TRACK: still going well!
nite nite.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEW

2012-01-08T06:53:00.005+13:00

ABOVE: My darling Hubby. 51 today... and just as gorgeous now as when I met him, minus the jellybeans of course.

I have a feeling it will be a long day! It's still very wet outside. So the kids are stuck inside... again.
Rena reminds me of Brylee ... she NEVER shuts up. Not for one second. I think Steve is taking off for the day .... just to get away from the incessant noise.

I think Stew would love to go too!

We are expecting Amanda, Andrew and Emily sometime today too. They are coming for dinner.
Dinner... hmmmm .... better do something about that soon. Well, at least get something out of the freezer to cook later. Chicken nibbles sounds good.

I could cook a cake? Nah, think I'll go buy one. Feeling lazy. Oh... I don't know for sure yet. I might cook... procrastination abounds.

ONWARD...

RENA: is at the drive anyone crazy age. We DO love her...just not her behaviour. And I will not apologise for being honest.

I ADORE BABIES. Any baby. Ask anyone who knows me. They will say the same.
Preschoolers? Not so much.

Cooked a decadent dinner: Teriyaki Chicken, Lemon Chicken, potato wedges and garlic bread. OMG, yum.
Followed by Caramel Cheesecake and Chocolate Cake from the Cheesecake shop. Clearly I did not cook the cakes! lol

ABOVE: Stew and Andrew watching sport on the telly...

ABOVE: it's scary how much Kelly looks like me as a young woman...

ABOVE: Amanda takes after 'the other side'...

ABOVE: something must have been funny...

ABOVE: playing around with black and white...

ABOVE: very hard to take an awful photo of this baby!...

ABOVE: three of our four granddaughters...

ABOVE: Pensive Rena...

ABOVE: Brylee

ABOVE: Amanda showing off her Birthday present from us.... two Smurfs. She is nuts for the Smurfs.

ABOVE: It can be VERY DIFFICULT to get a good photo of Griffin.... but I think I got a good one this time!

End of Day: we have had a wonderful day. Just watching a shoot 'em' up, bang bang movie on the TV to wind down after a busy day.
ON TRACK: well no, not after the birthday dinner I'm not. But, I do feel in control and confident I have not blown it!
nite nite.

IT WONT LAST LONG, THIS I KNOW FOR CERTAIN

2012-01-07T07:05:00.014+13:00

Yesterday I suggested to Brylee that she might like to try ironing her own dresses?
She said "Oh yeah, I would LOVE that!"...

ABOVE: it took her 45 minutes to iron this ONE dress! Somehow, I don't think she will be saying "OH YEAH" quite so quickly next time.

It's the weekend... goody.
Stew is home. It's his birthday tomorrow.... so I won't be asking him to do any jobs around the house. I'll give him the weekend off. Nice of me, I know. *taking a bow*

Kelly and Rena are due here sometime today for the weekend. So I better go and 'Rena-proof' a few places. She is not 'house trained' yet. Well... she isn't 'Grandma's house-trained' I should say.
Whenever she comes here I feel like I need to lock all the doors so she can't get into anything... so I did something about it last night.

ABOVE: this is what I asked Stew to do last night...

ABOVE: Working on it....

ABOVE: almost done...

ABOVE: 1/2 a stable door! Now we just have to put an extra hinge on the top half and re-hang it. My first Stable Door!
And now I can lock the bottom half (on the corridor side) so Rena cannot get into the bedrooms or bathrooms and wreck havoc.
Seems a bit extreme, but it works for ME.
We have tried 'baby' doorguards, but she can open them now. *sigh*

The memory of Bright Red Lipstick on me carpet has not faded, as it's still on me carpet, clear as day. (above photo taken when it was first done)

ONWARD...

So, it's raining... AGAIN. Kinda over this wet summer we are having.
AND over standing on the scales to see a miserable loss of 400 grams. Pfffft. But I know it's a loss, so I should be happy I KNOW. *sigh*
Going to go back over what I've had this week to see if I could have done better anywhere.

Kelly and Rena are here. Toy box out. 'Stable Door' latched. lol

I was going through my photos recently and found this photo for the Teddy I gave to Rena when she was born:

ABOVE: Rena's teddy when she was a newborn.

ABOVE: Rena's teddy NOW. Much loved. Looking it too. I love seeing teddy's that have been loved.

ABOVE: I cleaned her Teddy. She's pink again.

ABOVE: today is 'Day off Diet'... so I cooked cheese scones. I had one and a half and was stuffed! That is great. Usually I could polish off double that.

Oh and Rena's Teddy is soaking in a bucket of napisan. Hopefully it comes up looking a bit pinker? She came out pink again. (Photo above)

Who the hell do I blame for introducing me to Pinterest? Several bloggers have told me about it, and this afternoon I finally had a look. I've been 'looking' for hours now! THANKS. lol
Awesome site.

End of Day: wet all day. Trapped inside with kids.... noisy kids... all day. Ready to gag a couple.
ON TRACK: not today. Day off. But been restrained.
nite nite

YES! GOING OUT AND ABOUT TODAY

2012-01-06T06:40:00.012+13:00

ABOVE: two scruffy dogs... who are off to the groomers today.

And here in Auckland for a change, instead of Pukekohe.

I am taking them to Animates in Mt Wellington, and hopefully NEXT time they go (after today) will be at Animates, Apex Mega Centre opposite Sylvia Park. They are still trying to get a groomer there.

They have to be at the groomers at 9am ! Eeeek, early start again.
While they are being groomed, the kids and I will have a wander around Sylvia Park and the Apex Mega Centre.

I'm tempted to drop into the Weight Watcher's office there and look at cooking books! I almost never use cooking books, but maybe I should?

Anyway.... time to get going...
ONWARD...

Thinking the traffic would be heavy, as per usual for a work day morning, we left home at 8.20... and got there 30 minutes early! Traffic is not heavy at all, everyone must still be on holiday!
Luckily, Animates were open and took the dogs early.
Because he was scared, Teddy 'christened' their floor three times! I scarpered before they handed ME the mop, lol.

The kids and I wandered around Sylvia Park for a little while, then came home...

ABOVE:... but not before checking out the new Whitcoulls .... WOW! Upstairs they have an awesome kids department. Lots of really neat toys that I had never seen before, and those jigsaws? Half price. I could not resist. I quite like doing jigsaws.

ABOVE: and this parcel was waiting when I got home! All the way from the USA, from my friend Lynda. THANK YOU CHICK!

OH! I did buy a little 'something' else while we were out... but I will show you THAT later on today... *smiles*

ABOVE: lunch! A 'Blue Apple Smoothie'... which I made up all by myself! lol
Same base as yesterday. Milk, ice cream and yoghurt. I only added apple sauce and the little something I bought this morning: blue food colouring.
It isn't as blue as I would have liked, but it will do. lol

NOTE TO SELF: Do NOT step on scales each and every day. You will only set yourself up for a negative day. Daily FLUCTUATIONS are going to happen. Deal with it.
I was reading a guys blog this morning, and he said don't use the scales to gauge how well you are doing. LET YOUR CLOTHES tell you. And he's right. If our clothes are getting too tight, we be getting fatter. If they are getting loose, we be getting slimmer. NOT rocket science eh?

We picked up Teddy and Coco this afternoon... and were AMAZED to see both of them just sitting on the floor in the grooming room with several other dogs... and they were being NICE! Teddy always snarls and growls at other dogs! I was so surprised at him! Maybe it was because he was in a neutral space? Either way, now I know he can be nice to other dogs. Little bugger.

The sun came out this afternoon, and OMG... it is blistering out there. I for one am staying indoors. Even though I tan well... I think I would get burnt out there right now!

Photos of the dogs later. Right now they are enjoying just chillin at home.

ABOVE: Teddy, knackered after his grooming...

ABOVE: ditto for Coco...

ABOVE: sometimes this little bugger is so beautiful! Teddy, I love you.

ABOVE: We have to be careful cos sometimes
Teddy just BLENDS into the rug! I have almost tripped over him a few times.

End of Day: got a good few jobs done this afternoon, and even Stew and Steve got roped into doing a job for me.
More about that tomorrow.
ON TRACK: and still rocking it!
nite nite.

SMOOTHIE RECIPES... PLEASE!

2012-01-05T06:58:00.033+13:00

So... I can't eat salads and mushrooms for lunch forever... so Smoothies sound good.

BUT.... I want low carb/calorie ones. WHO out there has some good recipes of such smoothies??? OH, make 'em fruit ones, K?

I HATE bananas in a smoothie too.... so none with banana OK? OR, give me an alternative to bananas.

Today: off to the Dr's first thing for a form to be filled out for Griffin's Disabled Child Benefit... then who knows?
It will depend on the weather... and inclination.

ONWARD...

Dr's appointment was at 9am, finally saw the Dr at 9.20, which wasn't too bad!
Then we went to WINZ to hand in the form, stood in a line for 30 minutes JUST to hand in the form. *sigh* I would have posted it if we were not pushing the deadline, my bad.
At least we don't have to do that for another 2 years.

Home again, and wondering what I shall do with the day? It's fairly overcast and nice and coolish outside, so at least if I decide to do some housework I won't melt.

I decided to read a few blogs... and I read on my friend Jenny's blog (private blogger in Foxton) how she was enjoying banana fritters, made by whisking 2 eggs and a banana together, and thought: "I will give that a go right now" ... as I feeling a bit peckish:

ABOVE: would you believe it only took like, 2 minutes from start to finish! And we got 5 really good sized fritters out of the mix. Griffin ~~inhaled~~ ate three, Brylee one and me one. AND I had some orange too... which was really nice.
What a great 'snack'.... and so low in points.

JANINE: ooo that would be lovely! Can you email me on : stewandchris@hotmail.com so I can give you my address?

ANON/SHARINGANHARVEY: thanks for the info Mike. Mike is me son, and he's a fitness fanatic. Clearly.

ABOVE: lots of noise overhead at midday today. Police helicopter looking for someone! They hovered right over our house for ages.... can't have been me they were looking for!
I'm a good girl! lol

ABOVE: my first fruit smoothie! Isn't it pretty? AND I made enough to have two, one now for lunch and one for afternoon tea. I haven't worked out the points yet...

The above smoothie had in it:

1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
50 grms LITE Vanilla Ice Cream
60 grms Vanilla 99.9 % Fat Free Yoghurt
60 grms Frozen Mixed Berries
1 Tablespoon Apple Sauce
1 teaspoon Equal Sweetener

It was really yum, and was worth 7 Pro Points. I made double the above mixture, and had enough for two smoothies.

I am making Butter Chicken for dinner tonight. I use a tinned, already made sauce. The points: 18! High, but as I actually HAVE that many points in the kittty, I shall have some. First 'white' carbs THIS year!

End of Day: feeling great! The Butter Chicken was so nice, and filling.
ON TRACK, and still finding it easy. Motivation still great. Can envision the end result. Me, happy with myself again and healthy.
nite nite

LIBRA ADVERT

2012-01-04T06:34:00.032+13:00

It's not often that I actually like adverts on the tv promoting 'feminine products' (well, I think it is inappropriate actually) ... but this one made me smile:

SADLY, this country is so damn PC, there are lots of people getting all offended by it. What is wrong with this advert for goodness sake? I hope they don't end up pulling the ad off the telly... cos then it would mean our country's advertising censors are nuts.
OPINIONS?
EDIT: how typical. They pulled the ad this morning.

Sadly, today Stew and Steve have to go back to work... so it's just me and the kids for the rest of the week.
I'm sure we will be fine... the weather is getting better now, so the kids can splash around in the spa pool to their hearts content.

ONWARD...

Thrilling activity this morning? Dusting in my bedroom. Yeee Gads, you should see it! Disgusting! I am horrified at how fast it accumulates. And it's rained, and now it's stinking humid.... shit a brick I'm dripping!

DONE. I room. And I'm knackered. It's still drizzling on and off, so it looks like an inside day for us.

LUNCH! Totally on track, geez I feel good... all that for 11 points.

I woke up to the realisation that if I want it bad enough, I CAN DO IT. I did it before, and I will do it again. And FINALLY, FINALLY... I KNOW I want it badly enough. AGAIN.
So that is why I am not going to fail this year. It is NOT going to happen.
And anyone who was feeling like me before... JOIN ME!
It is totally up to YOU ... and only YOU can do it. But we can support each other, offer ideas, recipes, or a kick up the virtual bum if necessary!

ONWARD...

This heat is really getting to me. We just went to the supermarket, and getting out of the car in the carpark was like stepping into a sauna! The heat coming off the black tarmac, combined with the rain OMG. By the time I got home I was literally ready to kill someone! I hate being this hot and sticky.

Next thing to do was trim Teddy's neck hair, so when I put the Bark collar on him it actually zaps him when he barks.
His hair has gotten so long and dense the bark collar was not working, and he knew it! Smart little bugger that boy:

ABOVE: he's in for a 'shocking' surprise next time he goes ballistic, which should be in about..... Ohhhh, an hour and a half, when Steve gets home!

HE ALWAYS barks then!
And when Stew gets home.
And when someone passes in the street.
And is he hears a strange noise.
And is he sees or hears a cat..... and so on!

It wouldn't be so bad if he only barked ONCE, but oh no, he goes on and on and on. And he has this amazing high pitched screech that gets thrown in the mix too. Drives everyone batty.

So, criticise me NOT for putting a bark collar on him...cos you don't have him in your house do ya?

End of Day: We had a lovely dinner of pork chops, potatoes and veges. I only had the pork chop with some apple sauce... didn't feel like veges or spud tonight. AND the chop was worth so many points I wanted to keep the numbers down.
ON TRACK and rocking it! Feels so damn good to be in control and so motivated to do well.
nite nite

ITCHY FEET

2012-01-03T06:13:00.030+13:00

QUESTION: why do I get hot, incredibly itchy feet (just the soles) during/after I drink some alcohol?

It's taken me a while to realise that it ALWAYS happens when I have a drink!

NOT that I drink very often you understand. Just on a Friday night usually. And mostly I only have 1 - 2 drinks.
So, anyone else have the same 'problem'?

ABOVE: the dogs are happy obviously.

ABOVE: looks disgusting eh? But OMG! Mushrooms done like this are to die for.
So simple to do too.
Skin ya mushrooms, lie them on a plate, put some feta cheese on top, then some basil pesto, zap in the microwave until cooked (about 4-5 minutes) then eat. Drool-able.
I have mine with a salad or just tomtoes.

AND to all who have told me off: I WILL NOT COUNT ME FRUIT AND FREE VEGES OK? I will do as I am told. And you are all bossy tarts, but I loves ya.

ONWARD...
After numerous requests for me to cut his hair again, Griffin got shorn this morning (I did Steve's too). I hate getting hair on me though, it manages to creep right down through me clothes/bra to me boobs, and it itches like mad... then gives me a rash. So, I thought of putting a black sack rubbish bag over me head as an apron:

ABOVE: clearly NOT my best look! And I'm covering me eyes cos I don't have me makeup on and I look a fright!
I cut Griffin's hair first, and swept all his hair into a pile on the floor... turned me back and this is what happened:

ABOVE: I swear, she is just the most naughty dog ever! She gets into EVERYTHING. Grrrrrr.

ABOVE: luckily for me, Steve did the clean up.

Stew and the kids have gone out to Maraetai for a swim. I opted to stay home as it's still quite overcast and blowing ... and the house could do with a vacum.... and it's nice and QUIET .... BLISS.

Apparently the water was nice, but cool out of the water with the wind. So glad I didn't go... I washed the floors instead. Go me.

Family is having left overs for dinner, and I am having fruit salad... cos I've only got 6 points left for the day! Yikes.

End of Day: my fruit salad came out of a tin, and I added a banana, so I ended up going over by 3 points. But, that can come out of the 'extra' points you can have each week, so I'm doing well!
Spent the evening reading some blogs, watching some tv, and just feeling good about myself again.
ON TRACK, and damn happy about it. Not hungry, not feeling deprived.
nite nite

FIRST WEAK MOMENT AND I DID NOT SUCCUMB TO TEMPTATION

2012-01-02T06:18:00.025+13:00

Last night after dinner, I was salivating (drooling) constantly ... thinking about the bag of jellybeans Stew had bought me.

They were right beside me in the lounge.

I thought about them.

I imagined eating some.

BUT I DIDN'T.

Cos then I would only be hurting myself. My resolve held and I am so bloody happy with myself for NOT eating them.

ABOVE: I got them and said to Stew "What do we do with these?"

He said "Eat them!" with this expectant look on his face....

Ahhh, NO we don't!

I think the consensus it that the kids will eat them.

ABOVE: 33 YEARS AGO TODAY, I gave birth to my first baby. Amanda, HAPPY BIRTHDAY. I hope you have a good day, and if you are working... may the day goes fast so you can enjoy some time with your family.

As for what we are doing today, no plans yet, but I think some menu planning would be a good idea. That way there is no excuse to do the 'easy' thing and just have 'whatever'.

Planning and sticking to my resolve is going to be paramount to winning.

And like Charlie Sheen... I want to be winning! lol

ONWARD...

QUESTION: how do you work out the Pro Points value of a food when it is not in the book? With the old system you calculated the saturated fat X kilojoules on your little 'slider' and it gave you the points.

I'm such a twit! Look what I just found:

ABOVE: I already have a Pro Points Calculator! Derrrrr. Off to read the instructions now. lol

ABOVE: Look who finally came home! He has had a wonderful time over Christmas and New Year with his girlfriend and her family. He even went fishing with his girlfriend's Dad and two brothers, I must show you a photo of the 'catch' once I find it. Lucky bugger.

I have spent the afternoon reading up on me WW books... the new books I didn't bother to read when I got them, cos I was so anti Pro Points! *sigh*
Now, I shall embrace the new and kick the old to the curb!
I found another calculator and a brand new, not even opened Points Pedometer! Such a wasteful tart I am.

The NEW calculator is going to get lots of use, as you need to know the points value of crap in tins, jars and so on.
I'm still a bit dubious about 'free' fruit and veges, so will 'count' them like I am used to I think.

End of Day: I can't imagine anything else happening for the day, so will sign off now.
It's been a good day.
ON TRACK. 2 points under from total allowed for the day. Feeling a bit hungry, but not starving.
nite nite

WELCOME 2012!

2012-01-01T06:11:00.006+13:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR blogger friends! I hope you have a Wonderful 2012, filled with everything you wish for.... and more.

These next two photos are for my friend Martine in Australia:

ABOVE: Teddy and Coco looking a bit scruffy, they get groomed next friday.

ABOVE: my friend Jacqui's gorgeous wee girl, Sofia Grace.

ABOVE: Sofia being serious...

ABOVE: Jacqui and her darling wee girl.
It was so lovely to see them all last night. Babies grow up so fast... it's a shame they do that.

So today... I think it will be a quiet day at home... though I might just go out and buy a 'normal' mop so I can clean the floors! Yep, I so need to clean my floors! Hot, sticky feet on them ... leaves lots of footprints. Ikkkky.

ONWARD... OH and... 'Lifestyle' changes start TODAY. Drop the carbs to bare minimum, drop the portions, and cut out all the crap. FULL. STOP. END. OF. STORY.

Well... we went out and bought a new bucket and mop. Thrilling purchase of the year so far!

ABOVE: now the BIGGEST decision so far this year. Do I follow the 'Points' system, or embrace the new 'Pro Points' system?
I cannot make up my mind.
I'm so used to the 'Points' system, and it worked for me last time.
OPINIONS PLEASE. *** THIRD OPTION! Count calories?

On track today, feeling positive. New year. New start.

DECISION: and..... after much consideration, I'm going with Pro Points FOR NOW.
The main reason is because Stew and I will be going to WW meetings, where they will be sprouting the Pro Points spiel, so in order to be 'in sync' with the meeting/current method, we will do do Pro Points.
I just have to get my mind thinking the new way, read up on all the books, points values etc. One thing that I won't be doing though is calling all fruits 'free'. I know for a fact any fruit in excess will add up to lots of points due to the sugar content.
At least Stew does not have all the 'old' information in his head! He should be able to adapt to the Pro Points system easier than me.
I am going to keep the carb count low, not eliminated completely... just low.
It's going to be a LIFETIME change, not a DIET.
I suck at diets.

End of Day: going to be HAPPY with my decision... Pro Points all the way.
Wish us luck.
nite nite

NEW YEAR'S EVE...

2011-12-31T07:03:00.024+13:00

And true to the norm, it's raining!
Most years it rains over Christmas and/or New Year!

That is so sad for everyone who goes away at this time of year, especially those camping.
I can't remember the last time we holiday'd over Christmas/New Year!

This year, when Stew gets a two week period off we are hoping to go down to Palmerston North to see our youngest son, Mike.
We miss that little bugger so much.
I've tried convincing him to move up here, but it isn't going to happen by the look of it.
So, we just continue to miss him I suppose.

Not long now before Stew and I will start Weight Watchers together. I have been a MONUMENTAL pig over the holidays, probably thinking ... enjoy it before you have to diet !
Bad thinking I DO BELIEVE. But there ya have it.

Today we are heading out to get Stew some new exercise singlets... can't think what else right now....
ONWARD...

The bloke who bought my old phones finally turned up this morning... so at least that is done and dusted.
My god it's so wet today! And sticky. My arms are sticking to the leather on me lounge chair. Wonder if it's worth making some arm cover thingees?

ABOVE: yaaa, got Stew his new exercise singlets (half price)... ones that I like! *smiles*. We got them at St Lukes Mall, then we went to Manukau Mall and we got a new frying pan (half price) and two Pyrex dishes for the microwave (30% off). It sure is the best time to be shopping!

After shopping we went down to Mission Bay for lunch at our favourite Indian restaurant, Masala. It was very quiet down by the waterfront, the weather is keeping everyone at home or in the Malls!

End of Day: we had surprise visitors this afternoon, my friend Jacqui, her hubby Martin and their two kids Joel (7) and Sofia (9 weeks).... it was lovely to see them.
After dinner they left and now it's just us and the two kids. I doubt we will stay up to 'see in' the New Year. Just not bothered nowdays.
I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year's Eve and gets home safely if out and about.
nite nite

STUFF STAYING AT HOME TODAY

2011-12-30T05:26:00.006+13:00

I had enough sitting on me butt yesterday.
Today I want to go out and about.
So we will.

I'm thinking of buying on of these:

ABOVE: a steam mop! Anyone got one... how good are they? I think it could be really good for me laminate flooring.

Apart from that.... I want to find something for Stew's birthday on the 8th of January.
I'm thinking of some exercise singlets. The ones he has right now are so old they are falling to bits! AND some of them were my Dad's.... so they are at least 11 years old!

Right... that's a start to the day...

ONWARD....

So we went out shopping.... priced the steam mops, and then went on to try some out. After trying the Bissell steam mop out I decided it was not as WONDERFUL as I thought.... it left far too much water on the floor (which in NOT good for laminate wood flooring) so we did not buy one after all!

Instead, I found the Food Processor I wanted, it was on sale at The Good Guys, and was 20% off on top of the sale price... so I kinda got one! I have to wait for it to arrive as they are sold out ... but that's OK. I am thrillled to bits. I spent $200 less than the original price! SCORE!!!

Home now... waiting for a man to turn up and pick up my old phones. I sold them on TradeMe for a decent price. I love TradeMe!

End of Day: disappointed. The man who won my phones on TradeMe did not turn up, and we stayed home all afternoon waiting for him. I have sent him another e-mail, so hopefully I hear from him again or I will have to re-list... which is a right fag.
Tired tonight, shopping is tiring!
Off to bed early-ish.
nite nite

SERIOUSLY... I HAVE NOTHING FOR YOU TODAY!

2011-12-29T06:50:00.016+13:00

I don't plan on doing anything today except read blogs and comment as much as I can!

Google Reader has about 600 updates on it!

Eeeee gads... I have a lot of catching up to do.

So, until I have something interesting to say or show... you know where I will be. Sitting on me butt catching up with everyone!
Watch out for me...

ONWARD...

I'm slowly getting through me blog list, as there were so many I'm only stopping to visit your LATEST update. There's just too many otherwise!
Stew has gone into work to sort out a customer's needs. His work never really stops. People still die, need money, want this or that, bla bla bla... all the time. *sigh*

I was going to buy my Food Processor today. Until I realised I am broke until TOMORROW... and the sale finishes TODAY.

So I'm a bit cross about that. I could have got $180 off the price if I had the money today. That sucks.
But obviously it was not meant to be afterall. It is a shame the sale is NOW... when we are totally tapped out of cash.

I will get over it... and as Stew said, they will probably have NEW YEAR Sales and I can get it then!

It's really nice here right now, the kids went with Stew into work, and it's nice a quiet. Even the dogs are dozing quietly. Long may it last.

End of Day: well a totally lazy, sit on me bum sorta day. Did catch up with all the blogs I wanted to read though, so that's good.
We didn't feel like left-over Christmas food again, so we went out to Carl's Junior for a burger... they do the BEST BURGERS in Auckland I reckon!
Time to wrap up today and just watch some mindless TV.
nite nite

A POT GARDEN....

2011-12-28T06:18:00.006+13:00

NO... not that sort of pot!
My sort of pot garden:

ABOVE: yesterday afternoon I went out and bought some pots... I already had a few, but I wanted more so I could have a 'pot' garden. Now I have.
This side of the house gets sun until mid afternoon, so it's going to be great for the few vege plants I want to grow. Mostly herbs and lettuces for now.

TODAY: I'm heading out at 7am (omg!) so I can be at Lacy's 3 month scan. Fingers crossed it all goes well.

After that it will back home to see what we can get up to for the rest of the day...
The scan went well...

ABOVE: Lacy having her scan...

ABOVE: 12 weeks and 3 days... all bits present and accounted for...

ABOVE: we have a brain....

ABOVE: as requested, I got a wave from No# 9 Grandchild.

I'm happy to say everything went well. Now all Lacy has to do is get a new midwife/doctor and have her blood tests. As she is needle phobic I wish them luck with that one!

Seems we are expecting a visit today from my girlfriend Sandra this morning! Cool! I haven't seen her in months. (she lives in Palmerston North after all)

ABOVE: Neil and Sandra, and in the background their wee dog Honey. Honey didn't like Teddy and Coco much, so my dogs stayed in the laundry while they visited. Honey didn't mind that.

ABOVE: illustrating just how short Sandra is! Griffin is way taller than her, and he's 10. Mind you, Sandra is only 5 foot AND three quarters of an inch. She heavily stresses that 3/4" ! lol

Expecting a quiet afternoon here. Actually, must have lunch!

ANON: that will be totally up to Lacy. We will NOT be raising any more grandchildren... she knows that.

End of Day: glad today went well... had a quiet evening... watched 'Muriel's Wedding'... LOVED it! I had seen it before, but it was years ago.
Time for bed...
nite nite.

TIME TO MOVE ON FROM CHRISTMAS

2011-12-27T06:56:00.005+13:00

First on me list today:
Take down the Christmas stuff!

It will be good to have the house back to 'normal' again.

After that... if it remains fine Stew is going to do the lawns and I want to get some pots to grow some lettuces in.
I don't want a 'proper' vege garden again. Just a few pots with lettuces, parsley, silver beet and the like in.

And having them in pots means easy care, and I can place them where it's sunny most of the day. Our last vege garden didn't get much sun, so our veges were a bit dismal.

Apart from that, not much else on the horizon today.
There's still masses of sales around, so might be tempted to check some out. I still want a Food Processor... but have talked myself out of the mega expensive model.

I'm still going to get a Kenwood, just a smaller, less expensive machine. I was talking to a saleslady in Harvey Norman's about the one I was thinking of buying and she said it was a model predominantly sold to restaurants as it was a commercial model.

That explains it's price! So, I'm downsizing my wants to a much smaller model. Being sensible an all that.

ABOVE: Emily in her Christmas dress made by me. Isn't she so cute.
ONWARD...

Wow, taking down the tree and decorations took only a few minutes... and now me lounge is back to normal.
Stew just said we really should do a grocery shop today. Wonderful. Just what I feel like. Bloody grocery shopping. *sigh*

Oh well... maybe the mall won't be quite so crowded today?

Ya, the shopping is done, and the mall/supermarket were not crowded at all! It was a simple in and out exercise... no crowds anywhere.

I think we are going out after lunch as I want to buy some plastic pots to grow veges in.

BOXING DAY... OF REST I HOPE!

2011-12-26T06:34:00.005+13:00

ABOVE: I can think of nothing worse than braving the crowds today to scoop some bargins in the Boxing Day Sales.
BUT, the kids were given a very generous cash gift from my Mother! So I am going to do some delegating.... and Stew can take them shopping.

I will stay home and ~~have a nap~~... do lots of housework while they are out!

Well... that's how I'm feeling RIGHT NOW. It could change. Passing up on some shopping is not really ME. So, we will see a bit later on this morning how I feel.
Right now... I'm still tired. Didn't want to get outta bed this morning, that's for sure.

For everyone in the Northern Hemisphere... MERRY CHRISTMAS! lol
You're all a bit behind us Kiwis... *smiles*

ONWARD...

ABOVE: bathed for fleas. Only ONE grown up flea was found, and a few teeny tiny ones. They sure annoyed the dogs though.
Both dogs are getting groomed on Friday, so I am not putting the topical flea treatment (Advantage) on them till after that.

Obviously, both dogs HATE being bathed! Such ugly little buggers when wet. Can you tell them apart?

Stew and the kids have gone shopping. I did indeed stay home after all. I just couldn't face the crowds. And I didn't want to get charged with 'assault with a handbag' either! lol
My temper is severely frayed after being in the mall so often lately.

***PEPSI UPDATED***PEPSI UPDATED***PEPSI UPDATED

Stew and the kids arrived home after about 2 hours. Stew said it was the worst traffic and crowds he had ever seen, cars parked ON the roundabouts, down every side road, on the footpaths etc! I'm so glad I didn't go!
I did some housework and vacumed the house instead. Ya me!

I had a really good text conversation with Lacy today too, which made me feel good. So much less stress now.

End of Day: another nice day... got a good bit done around the house. Looking forward to tomorrow... going to take down the Christmas stuff and get me lounge back to 'normal'.
nite nite

WAKE UP!!! IT'S CHRISTMAS ALREADY...

2011-12-25T06:59:00.007+13:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone in my family, and everyone in my 'blog family' too. I hope you all have a wonderful day with those you love.

ABOVE: this is the first Christmas for our two youngest granddaughters, Sienna (above with her sister Haylea), and Emily. I am sure they will both be surrounded by love today.

With any luck Brylee and Griffin have managed to sleep in for a little while!
I will be back later on with a few photos before we head off to Christmas lunch at Stew's sisters home.

ABOVE: the morning so far.
Just Stew, Brylee, Griffin and I.
None of our 6 kids, they all have others to be with.
How times change. I suppose this is what happens as your family grow up and get their own little families eh.

ONWARD...

ABOVE: my Ambrosia dessert.
Was lovely.

ABOVE: Stew's sister Khady dishing out presents before lunch.

ABOVE: Christmas lunch ... Kiwi style. Laid back, no fuss.

ABOVE: Griffin... only had chicken! Lots of chicken. And followed with a small helping of dessert. The person in the orange top in this photo is a long time family friend of Khady's and us. She did not want to be on 'the internet'.

We are now just relaxing and trying not to fall asleep!

End of Day: a long, tiring, but lovely day. Leftovers for dinner. And now it's late and we are all heading off to bed ... exhausted.
nite nite.

A BUSY DAY AHEAD, THEN IT SHOULD EASE UP.

2011-12-24T07:10:00.003+13:00

We are expecting Lacy this morning to visit the kids. That's all I'll say on that subject.

After she leaves we are heading out to deliver a few Christmas Presents, then plan on having a quiet day/evening.

NO MORE shopping though. I think I have 20 cents left! lol
Even though I've been buying presents all year, there is always a drain on the finances at this time of the year. I'm sure everyone is in the same boat... well... except REALLY rich buggers!

I want to say 'SO SORRY' to everyone who has blogged on the last week or so.... I've simply been too busy to read blogs and comment. I will eventually get a chance to sit still long enough to do some reading after Christmas, I promise. Until then... blog on!

OH, and I'm sure me dogs have fleas. Just sayin....

OUR DAY IN PHOTOS: LOTS OF PHOTOS!

ABOVE: Lacy visited the kids. It went well. We managed to iron out our differences and come to an agreement on things. So very relieved that my stress levels can come down again.

ABOVE: After Lacy left we drove to Hamilton, we had lunch at Chartwell Square, met up with Steve there too ... then we went down to the lake and feed the ducks, pukekos, pidgeons and a few other weird water birds.

ABOVE: this is one of those weird birds.... I thought their 'feet' were really amazing!

ABOVE: after feeding the birds we visited Amanda and Andrew at their workplaces, which are right next door to each other! He's the Manager of the Flight Centre and she's the Manager of Factorie (clothing shop) ....

ABOVE: yakking to A & A before heading over to their home to drop of Christmas presents and see the kids.

ABOVE: here we go with Emily photos! Who needs fancy, expensive toys when ya just love pegs!

ABOVE: want one? I will share...

ABOVE: so many pegs, so little time.

ABOVE: I'm rather cute eh?

ABOVE: sharing a drink with me other Grandma, who is looking after me while my Mum and Dad work.

ABOVE: don't mind if I do help myself to your ice Grandma!

ABOVE: yum.... it's so hot today!

ABOVE: I'm being cute again...

ABOVE: more pegs...

ABOVE: My Grandma H put a peg on me hat... silly woman! I am trying to get it off...

ABOVE: after spending an hour at Emily's, we visited Kelly and her family... here is Rena in her new bedroom. They just moved house again.

ABOVE: my Mum said smile like this, so I did. At least me Grandma is not looking silly!

ABOVE: almost home... and it's looking stormy out there! I hope we get thunder and lightening, I love thunder storms!

END OF DAY: we are having ham sandwiches for dinner tonight! Then early to bed I hope, as you can bet your bottom dollar a couple of kids are going to wake us up early tomorrow. *sigh*
Par for the course ... of course! lol
nite nite.

FRIDAY.... ONE OF THE BEST IN A WHILE TOO

2011-12-23T06:32:00.008+13:00

WHY?

Cos Stew gets home tonight, and for the first time in at least 10 years he is getting the time off between Christmas and New Year! He will be home for 11 whole days. Unheard of. AND... he's trying to get another two whole weeks off sometime in January. He has about 7 weeks holiday's owing!

Today: well I am going to finish tidying up the linen cupboards, I didn't get them finished yesterday, what with Griffin's toe incident, cooking dinner, then a very long phone call from me niece Christina in Australia, and CORONATION STREET! lol

I want all my housework up to date so I can enjoy the weekend/Christmas Day with family.

ABOVE: what the HELL possessed me to decide to have a massive re-arrange NOW?
I am stressed out now.
I just made a t-shirt for Steve's sorta brother-in-law... and it's a mirror image of the words. So I have to go out and buy more photo paper and do it again... on ANOTHER t-shirt! At least next time I will know to flip the bloody photo eh?
I'm getting crabby...

Griffin and I just spent an hour and a half searching in 5 different shops for photo transfer paper to do a shirt for Steve's bro-in-law. NONE anywhere.
Came home and found half a page of the transfer paper in the garage... so I cellotaped it to a normal page and did a half page photo... and it worked! Luckily I bought another white t-shirt while I was out, so problem solved.

NOW I can get on with the housework! And soaking Griffin's toe.. it's caked in blood. Ikkkky.

ABOVE: I love these plastic bags! You fill them, then suck all the air out! Makes storing extra blankets so much easier.
Must buy more of them this afternoon.

IT'S DONE! After hours of sweating and swearing, I have bagged up all the blankets and sucked the life outta them, reorganised the two linen cupboards... and now I actually have MASSES of spare room in them! I'm wrapt. It was worth the friggin effort.

I've still got a fair bit of housework to do and things to find places for that came out of the cupboards... but it's all good.

Stressful afternoon due to Lacy and her issues. Just what we need at this time of the year... NOT.
Par for the course though, and what we have to live with and have lived with for years.

END OF DAY: Done the very last of my Christmas Shopping tonight at Sylvia Park Mall. It wasn't even that crowded and the road had very little traffic tonight! Amazed I am.
Time to just relax and hope tomorrow goes well in many ways. Dropping off presents tomorrow to various people and then just chillin at home.
nite nite

MUFFIN RECIPE... AND A FIND!

2011-12-22T06:36:00.020+13:00

WOMBAT asked me yesterday for the muffin recipe I used yesterday, so here it is:

ABOVE: I used chopped up ham steaks instead of bacon, and NO Olives... ikkky things olives!

ABOVE: while I was sorting out all me cooking books I found this old one that I had never seen before. I have NO idea where it came from or how it got to be in my pile of books, but I'm not complaining as it has some really neat muffin recipes in it. I'm going to have a good look through it this afternoon.

TODAY: Steve has a Christmas shared lunch, so he's taking half a dozen muffins, and I have the Hospice Shop Christmas Lunch.... and YES... it is today! So I'm taking half a dozen muffins too.

Apart from that, I will be home folding all the washing that I got done yesterday. And there's a shit load of it! Oh and I might even get around to visiting some blogs too. *smiles*

ONWARD...

ABOVE: well the hospice shop Christmas Lunch was really lovely! About 2 dozen of us were there.

ABOVE: a few people brought Deb's (our boss) a Christmas Present. Funny... all of them brought her wine! lol

Griffin and I stayed about an hour, then as it was so very hot in the shop we left early. 3 minutes from home it started raining heavily... which was a bummer as I have a massive amount of washing out on the line.
Oh well... it has to stay out there now.

Griffin was helping me take bits 'n' bobs downstairs this afternoon... and had a wee accident:

ABOVE: let's all say "OUCH"!!!
Poor kid screamed and cried for at least 20 minutes... then I finally got him to calm down with an ice pack on his head and some chocolate in his gob. *phew*
Nasty stubbed toe! He actually bent it under his own foot and stood on it! So he says. Either way, it's nasty.
AND NO, I don't think it's broken. Both his big toes bend in like that!
Stew suggested taking him to the Doctor... but I know from experience (*HI* Amanda) that they can do nothing for a broken toe!

***PEPSI UPDATED***PEPSI UPDATED***PEPSI UPDATED***

End of Day: my wee man is feeling a lot better now! His toe has stopped throbbing and he's happy again. He couldn't eat much dinner though...he'd had a lot of chocolate and jelly beans!
nite nite

I'M GOING TO BAKE!

2011-12-21T06:04:00.010+13:00

Yes I am! Indeed I am.... I even went out yesterday and bought some muffin thingees... made of Silicone no less. I really wanted to find some bigger muffin pans, but no one had any ... oh well... I will keep me eyes peeled for some.

I have some lovely cooking books... I had to hunt for them last night too! I found them in a linen cupboard of all places.... I'm going to find a new home for them today.

I want to make nice savoury muffins for Stew (Husband) and Steve (Son) to have for their lunches sometimes. Making sandwiches every morning sucks. I bought those two muffin cook books years ago, I'm sure there will be some really nice ideas in there for me to try.

I almost feel INSPIRED to make a cake or two as well!
Must get my sugar urges satisfied before the New Year! I am going to be full on : 'ON A DIET' come the New Year I tell ya.

Well actually, I am going to do what I know works for me. Diet carefully 6 days a week, and have a little splurge on the 7th day... that way I don't feel deprived all the time and then fall off the wagon totally again!

2012 is going to be MY YEAR... in many ways. I am turning a new leaf in me book.

ONWARD!

Griffin and I went down to the local mall to get ingredients for baking, and a new phone adaptor thingee so my new phones will work.

But, the new phone adaptor thingee did not fix the problem. So now, instead of having 4 working phones in the house, we have 1. And it's in the garage. Not happy. Hopefully on of the guys can get it sorted when they come home.

BAKING: is on hold till this afternoon. I just remembered it's the Hospice Shop Christmas lunch today. I've quickly done some ham/cheese crackers and we are almost ready to go. 20 minutes later..... I got the day wrong. Sheesh, I really should learn to check the blasted calendar eh? It clearly says "Thursday, 12 noon", DOH.

Griffin is really enjoying all the ham/cheese crackers. He's got a jar full of Piccalilli in front of him too... he rather likes it.

I have success with the phones too. I took the new one down to the garage and plugged it in there as that phone line seemed to be working. And YES, it works! I now can use me new phones.
BUT, it means the phone connection thingee in the house is not working. *sigh*
That means probably having to get someone in to sort it out. DRAT. 2 Loooooong hours later... I have personalised the new phone system... taken a couple of calls, made a few... and it's all systems GO!
It's a neat phone, I love it already.

I know... it doesn't take much to make me happy sometimes!

NOW I am going to bake...

So, I get out all the ingredients, turn the oven on and start to get ready to mix stuff together. BUT ... there is that smell? Like burning. I open the oven door.... to be swamped in plumes of smoke! Massive plumes of smoke. Like MY GOD what is happening in there?
Once the smoke clears a bit I peer inside me oven. Ahhh Haaaa... something has spilt onto the bottom of the oven and is getting ready to burst into flames by the look of it.

SO.... cancel baking for now...

ABOVE: waiting for the oven to cool so I can clean it....THEN bake me friggin muffins! The fan is just to hasten the cooling process...

I REALLY felt like cleaning the oven today too.... NOT!

Using the fan was a good idea if I do say so! The oven was cool enough to clean in half an hour... and now the muffins are cooking. Must keep an eye on the time, don't want to burn them now!

ABOVE: before and after. I wasn't sure how much mixture to put in each dish... so I only filled them 3/4's, and it's worked out fine.

Now I have to turn around and make dinner. Wonderful.

End of Day: I didn't make dinner afterall. Stew brought home chinese. Spent the evening watching telly, there's quite a few really good programmes on a Wednesday night!

nite nite.

NOTES TO REMEMBER:

2011-12-20T06:52:00.018+13:00

Don't spend hours looking for a really nice Christmas present for someone who obviously didn't spend a second thinking of something nice for you. (I know it's supposed to be all in the giving, but COME ON!)

NOTE TO ANONYMOUS FAMILY MEMBER: a calendar is a suckful 'present'. Edit: The calendar was for Stew and Me. I was upset about it as this person just does not seem to care one iota about us anymore. And that hurts. I am not an ungrateful person, but if you knew the background you would understand why I'm hurt. In hindsight maybe I should not have blogged this.

ABOVE: if you want your hydrangeas to be BLUE, you have to put sulphate of aluminium in the soil before they flower.

NOTE TO SELF: buy friggin sulphate of aluminium for next year.

ABOVE: if you don't want Griffin nagging you for days on end to set up the Playstation again, get Steve to do it for you.

NOTE TO SELF: well done on rearranging the lounge so he can play there in the corner and drive you nuts with the noise instead of nagging. (clearly I can't win)

TODAY: pack Brylee's bag... cos she's going to spend a few days with her Aunt Khady! And she can't wait.
Then Griffin and I will go and pick up our new house phones. Yipee!

NOTE TO SELF: what a great way to stop them bickering at each other!

ONWARD...

The morning went well. Brylee is very happy at her Aunts... she will not miss Griffin I think! lol
Griffin and I did a little shopping at Sylvia Park then came home to chill out for the afternoon.

We are expecting a visit from Lacy this afternoon. She wasn't going to come over when she heard Brylee wasn't here, but then I think she realised how that would look and changed her mind.

ABOVE: my Sister in Law just got a glass splash back for her kitchen. It's her colour to a 'T'. And she's wrapt with it.

ABOVE: as mentioned, Lacy turned up to visit Griffin. (Lacy on the right)

I can't help but say it. When you arrive at your Mother's you don't just barge through the door, tell your friend "That's HER" and proceed up the stairs as if you don't even exist. No 'Hi Mum'. NOTHING but a dirty look.

I was SO MAD I almost told her to turn around and get out of my house.
But as she had made the effort to visit Griffin even though Brylee wasn't here, I let her stay.

If Stew had been home I am positive he would have kicked her out.

Now that I'm fuming I shall go and do some housework. I'll take it out on the washing!

*** PEPSI UPDATED, full 'Calendar Story' on it. PEPSI UPDATED ***

End of Day: well an eventful day.... some I knew was going to happen, and some I didn't know would. Had a nice dinner of chicken.... the guys went for a walk in the evening. I would have gone if I'd known BEFORE dinner that it was on the cards. I simply cannot walk on a full tummy. Makes me ill.
Maybe tomorrow?
nite nite

A FUNERAL

2011-12-19T06:35:00.013+13:00

Stew's stepmother passed away quietly last week, and her funeral is this afternoon.

ABOVE: Nana Joan at her 90th birthday 2 years ago. The kids and I are going to catch a train into Greenlane to meet up with Stew, then we can all go to her funeral together.

Hopefully the weather holds and its not raining ...

Apart from that I just want to do a last minute look around the shops for a few last minute things. Christmas food mostly, chocolates, wine.... I am not leaving anything to the last minute.

Also first thing this morning I have to cut Griffin's hair. He looks like a sheep.

AND before I forget: My niece up in Whitianga has expressed disgust that she has not been mentioned on my blog for months, so I will just give you a few photos of Sabrina Maxine:

ABOVE: there ya go Max, some lovely photos of you! Now you have a lovely Christmas, and we will see you at some point when we come up to see Joshua. OK? *smiles*

Would you believe it? The trains are not running this week due to maintenance on the line! so Stew is going to pick us up instead. Drat, I was looking forward to taking the kids on the train too.

OH well, at least it's a glorious day out there today with no hint of rain.

Back.... the funeral was small and intimate. Very nice service and Griffin can attest to the food afterwards being very nice too.

ABOVE: The church was gorgeous, with a very nice view of the Waitemata harbour.

After the funeral we stopped in at Botany to look at a new phone set for the house.

AND yes, I did get a three phone set a while ago, but I hate it. So I'm getting the set I wanted BEFORE Amanda and Steve talked me out of it. Lesson learnt: go with what you want in the first place.

End of Day: watched the season finale of 'The Mentalist'... it was really worth watching. Awesome ending.

nite nite.