SO MUCH BETTER!

 For the second night in a row, I've slept so much better.

The new topper pad on our bed is proving to be worth it's weight in gold.

It's so good to get up in the morning and you feel rested, and nothing really hurts.

So thankful we got it.

ABOVE:  I can't believe I forgot to show you our Rice Paper Rolls from yesterday.  Some looked a bit rough, but most were pretty good!

And they certainly tasted wonderful, just like bought ones.

My cousin Debra gave me a gift yesterday, this was it:

ABOVE:  She had photos from my Mum's 80th Birthday put on a canvas for me.  I was very touched that she had thought of doing that for me.

Lastly for now:

ABOVE:  ???  Steve's back and shoulders are covered in tiny pimples.  They are a side effect of all the drugs he is on for his Pancolitis.  Bex it popping them.  Nice one, on my couch too!

I don't know what's the haps today.

Steve and Mike are working on fixing Mike's cars exhaust.  Something about spark plugs too.  Dunno.

Mike and Joyce will be heading home to Palmerston North as some stage today.

Lacy is due over here to see them.  

Brylee is off to Tauranga, then coming back with Danielle to stay here overnight, before they go shopping in Auckland on Tuesday. Danielle is Brylee's 3rd cousin = FAMILY.

Stew's sister, Khady, is coming for dinner.

I better get something out of the freezer!

So, a quiet day?  

Somehow, I doubt it!

So I was just sitting here (10.15 am) thinking... gosh I'm a bit hungry.

Scrolling through Facebook, see a video on making pikelets.

RIGHT!  GOTTA MAKE SOME, like right now.

No recipe, just throw flour, baking powder, sugar, eggs and milk in a bowl...

Beat the shit outta it and :

ABOVE:  Done.  Damn yum too.  Lacy arrived bang on time to have some too.

The kids arrived and we played a game of 14.

Such fun.  

Because Cambridge Card Night is here next time, I had all the trophy's in my room, so I got them out so we could play for a trophy.

ABOVE:  Mike won, Joyce was Runner up and I lost.  I don't mind losing cos the loser's trophy is pretty.

Steve is going to make us our own trophys.  He has to make an extra special one, it will be called THE HULK.

Cos this person turns into a raging Hulk (read BAD LOSER) when she loses!!!

She looks SO cute and innocent eh?  She's not. 

 

Steve and Bex are now cooking everyone's lunch.  I think we are having salad buns with chicken, salad, fried Halomui etc.  Smells amazing.

Gosh!  Not been back on here for a while.

So.  Lunch was wonderful.

Then after hanging out for a while, yakking, everyone left.

Lacy for her home.

Steve and Bex for their home.

Mike and Joyce for their home in Palmerston North.

And Stew and I relaxed for a couple of hours.

Then Brylee and Danielle arrived home, to watch movies and have a sleep over in our lounge.

Then Stew's sister arrived and we had a very nice dinner of Roast Chicken (Thanks to Steve and Bex), salad and mashed potatoes.

Then more yakking ensued for a few hours.

It's now 8.20 pm and all is quiet again!

It's been a really busy weekend, with lots of family coming and going.  WE LOVED IT.

Mike and Joyce are home now, so we can relax knowing they are safe.

Best thing is, they will be back in just two weeks for Anzac Weekend, which is also Steve's birthday.

LET'S GIVE IT A GO

 At lunch time today we are going to all make Rice Paper Rolls.

I've got all the stuff necessary, so it's just prep to do, then put them all together.

I wonder how many we will bugger up before we get it right?

Steve and Mike will be off fishing right now, I hope they catch some.  NOT that Stew and I are that fussed on fresh fish.

I much prefer it smoked and in a white sauce!  With Cheese on top!

No sleep in for us today... we have Liam and Emily here.  Liam is gunna wake up damn hungry.

He refused to eat his dinner last night, and went to bed instead.  So I expect him to wake up extra early cos he's hungry. 😖😒😕

Right.... let's get a move on. 

 

11.35 am:  It's been a quiet morning.  Well as quiet as it can be with a Liam in the house!

Emily is much quieter.

I've done the prep work for the Rice Paper Rolls.  Now just have to wait till everyone arrives so we can have some fun making them.

The fishing went so-so, sounds like they only caught a couple of fish.  I hope they took photos!

I'm really looking forward to making lunch. Should be good.

ABOVE: It was quite cold this morning, both kids wanted blankets to 'wear'.

And Emily kept asking to go swimming!  Derr.

ABOVE: I got to wear my Ugg boots.  With shorts.  😊😂

ABOVE:  Gorgeous fishing spot, Ruapuke, which is south of Raglan.

ABOVE: My first attempt at the rolls.  It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  And everyone loved them.

My dipping sauce was freaking amazing too.

I used a mix of Hoisin Sauce, Peanut Butter and water.  

5 pm:  Feeling a bit jaded!  It's been people all day!  Busy busy.

One of my cousins on my Mum's side called in this afternoon.

ABOVE:  I forgot to take a photo, so have to make do with one flinched off Facebook!

Debbie is 14 years younger than me, so a spring chicken lol.

She brought me a gift, which I will show you tomorrow.  It's so lovely.

And unexpected.  I've been quite spoiled lately with gifts!

No one feels like cooking this evening, so it's Fish 'n' Chips for dinner.

Nice one.  

Fish 'n' chips ... DONE.

Everyone has left, all is quiet.

And Stew and I are exhausted.

Daylight saving went 'back' last night.

So while the clock says 8.40 pm, our heads are saying 9.40 pm.  And I'm damn tired.

It will be an early night for me.

KIDS/FAMILY

 Well... today Stew and I will be doing a grocery shop.

Top of the list is more 'HEALTHY' shit for the pantry and fridge/freezers.

I am going to sit down with Stew and we are going to work on making a list of stuff we can eat that is HEALTHY, but tasty too.

Bugger eating stuff that is tasteless/boring or repetitive.

I'm certainly going to be getting the makings for Rice Paper rolls!  We both love them, and you can have seafood or chicken in them.  

Next... because Mike and Joyce are here, we shall be hanging out with them today.  And of course, I expect Steve, Bex and the boys over too.  Brylee is working today, so we won't see her till tonight I suppose.

ABOVE:  This is Coco... every night!  Such a hussy.  Look at our Joyce... awwww, she loves Coco.

ABOVE: This lot, just hangin' out last night.

Steve and Mike went on to play Magic till very late at a mate's house last night.

ABOVE: These are Magic cards, it's some sort of game.  I have absolutely NO IDEA how you play it, but our boys LOVE it.

You get all these different packs, and collect them... and???

I dunno.  😊😅😂

Right, I'm off to start the day.  Which means I might just roll over and catch a few more Zzzzz's... or read the news on me phone.  Either way, it won't be done in a hurry.

10.30 am: We all slept in.  Stew and I got up around 9.15, and Mike and Joyce got up at 9.45.

It's a cruisy morning.  

ABOVE: Let's call this 'morning hair'. 😄😆😅

She's so damn cute!  Tea, phone, floppy hair.

We are just sitting here yakking.  Catching up.

At some point we are going to Saigon Noon to buy some of their Rice Paper Rolls, so we can bring them home and dissect them!  I want to know what they put in theirs's, so I can copy them.

ABOVE:  Well!  Very surprised to see there's very few ingredients in these Rice Paper Rolls.  But they are still delicious.

Mine will have carrot, cucumber and maybe capsicum in them too.

I don't know if I've talked about this lately, but our bed is KILLING US.

I mean, since we got the replacement mattress in November, we have not slept well at all.

It's TOO HARD!  It say's on the side FIRM, but OMG it feels way firmer than the last 'firm' one we had.

Anyway, now days we toss and turn all night long, and wake up with sore hips/shoulders etc.

So today I checked out mattress toppers.

And as luck would have it, Harvey Norman's was having a 40% off bedding sale.

So off we trotted, and bought this:

ABOVE: It's a memory foam topper.  I hope it's ready for use tonight.  It's all scrunched up right now and has to 'self flatten' before we can use it.

I suppose if we have to wait 24 hours, we have to wait.

I hate WAITING for anything! 

I'm cooking a whole bunch of sausages, mashed potaotes and veges for dinner.

We have a few for dinner tonight.  Stew and I, Mike and Joyce, Steve, Bex, the boys, Emily and Liam and probably Brylee too.

ABOVE:  Poppits are the latest rage it would appear.  We've had our yellow one for a couple of years, Emily and Liam have just got theirs.

ABOVE:  Mike is making new traces for fishing.  He's going fishing at dawn with Russell and Steve.  Out on the west coast.  

Maybe we will have fish for dinner tomorrow?

8 pm:  Dinner was yum, everyone enjoyed a nice, simple meal.

After dinner we played a round of 14, which was neat.

We are now saying nite nite to Steve, Bex, The boys, Mike and Joyce.  They are heading home.

Mike and Steve will be getting up VERY early tomorrow morning and meeting up with Russell to fish.

WHAT IS WORSE?

 Gosh I  had to giggle after a couple of comments on yesterday's post!

Here's a question:

What's the worst thing to get stuck in a drawer?

So far the contenders are:

- A Potato Masher

- A hammer

- Tongs

.... I shall await your replies with glee.  Add your own items if ya wish.

Oh...  and HOW did you get the damn drawer open?  I've been known to smash it, while screaming some very bad words!

I have NO patience at all.

NONE.

Just ask Stew.

He will confirm this.

You may thank god I'm not your mother now.

ABOVE: I heard this song yesterday evening on Spotify.  Fell in love with it immediately.   It's just beautiful.

Maybe not your cuppa tea, but listen anyway if you have a spare couple of minutes.  The words and message are worth it.

So today is the start of the Easter break.  We are expecting Mike and Joyce, so that's going to be lovely.

And that's me for now... catch ya later. Stew and I are gunna stay in bed and be lazy buggers.

For now anyway.

12.33 pm: MIA!  Stew and I  have been busy doing housework and odd jobs.

I wanted to move my big jig saw puzzle off the dining table, so we could use the table this weekend.

Hmmmm.... the board won't fit through most doors in the house!

It was literally trapped in the family room.

But... clever thinking prevailed.  We lay a large piece of lino on top of it, and tilted it through the doors... and put it in my sewing room.

ABOVE:  Now we have a dining table we can use again.

I'll probably leave the jig saw in me sewing room now, and work on it in there.

Mike and Joyce haven't left Palmerston North yet!  So, it will be dinner time before they get here.

I think we shall be having Pizza for dinner tonight.  I feel lazy. 😅😊

7.50 pm:  Well the kids have arrived safely, so we are now just enjoying the company.

Steve n Bex are here, so is Brylee.

A nice number for dinner tonight.

Time to say "Catch Ya Tomorrow".

I'M A FOOL

 Because of the constant stress I've been under since before Mum died, I've been 'emotional eating' like CRAZY!

You have NO IDEA just how bad it is.

I wake up, and I start eating like straight away, which isn't my normal at all.

And it's NOT good food.

Some days I have marshmallows for Breakfast.

Biscuits for lunch, lollies for afternoon tea!!!!

Yep, it's been that bad, particularly the past few weeks.

And of course I feel sick as a dog.  Like want to throw up sick.

And massively lethargic.  And piddling LIKE CRAZY! And hugely thirsty.

ALL DOWN TO WHAT I'M EATING, AND FUCK.... BEING A DIABETIC.  Lethargy, thirst and piddling excessively is all signs my body is struggling with the excess of sugar.  I KNOW.

I'm like, what am I thinking?  What am I doing to myself?  

I KNOW of course.  I know.  

NO LECTURES, or I will hunt you down and throttle you!

I'm just telling you how I'm NOT coping.  

How I'm self sabotaging.

And I don't know how to stop.

I think the only thing that's going to reign this horrendous behaviour in, is to get on top of the stress.

How to do that?  Fucked if I know.  

Well... I do know.  TIME.  

TIME is going to pass and most of the things that are IN OUR FACE, STRESSING US OUT will be done and dusted.

No matter the outcome, it will be over.

I just have to hang in there and try to STOP emotionally eating.  

Easier said than done.  But by talking about it, maybe I can overcome it?

AND here's the WEIRDEST thing about all this over eating.

I have not gained a single kilo!  It's mental.  I am eating so much!  No weight gain.

Not in all the months I've been pigging out!

What's with THAT?  My scales are not broken.  They are brand new!  It constantly amazes me.

One day those buggers are gunna go.... JUST JOKING... You have gained 10 kilos!

It's April Fools Day.  Maybe they will laugh at me today?

As for today.  I'm going into town this morning.  Stew told me about a Cafe in town called Volare, which has gorgeous food.

As I'm meeting up with a friend at lunchtime, I am going to get some yummies (yeah 😕😖) for our lunch. 

Maybe I'll start being more sensible AFTER lunch. 

ABOVE:  The last of my new Tupperware arrived, delivered to me door yesterday afternoon.

I got the Large Heat N Eat set for half price, just a bit lucky!

Right, time to get moving, start me day.

I'll leave you with this, cos it made me laugh, so might make you smile too:

Cos like, who hasn't had a battle with the damn drawer cos the potato masher is stuck?  

OK, so some good advice there girls.

Talking to a Professional?  Been there done that, didn't work last time.  Won't do it again.

When you are already rather depressed, scare mongering doesn't actually help, cos some days I really, really don't care about myself at all.

There are several situations ongoing right now.  I'm trying to focus on ONE at a time, so while I'd like to forget about it, that's impossible.  We are being dragged through a messy court case right now, and the outcome is totally up in the air.  It has stressed our entire family out.  I can't just walk away and forget about it.

Being dragged through court by a family member just makes it even more stressful.  NO NAMES HAVE EVER BEEN MENTIONED BY THE WAY.

Food in the house.  Well as we have visiting grandchildren ALL THE TIME, we have food in the house to cater to them.   And lollies.  And hot cross buns... and... and..

Talk to Stew?  He is well aware of how stressed I am.  He knows I stress over EVERYTHING.  There is nothing he can do.  We are in this together, that's what I hang on to. 

So... I'm waiting to meet up with my friend.  I've got 2 donuts. I won't have one.

ABOVE: Two miracles today. I parallel parked! On a hill! 

2.20 pm:  I've been home about an hour.

I ended up giving the donuts to my friend, then having lunch with Stew!

We went to a little Vietnamese Cafe just down from Stew's work place.  Called Saigon Noon.

ABOVE:  We each had a Prawn Rice Paper roll... they are AMAZING!   So fresh, like eating BLISS.

We also had two tiny spring rolls each.

It was easily the nicest lunch in a while... by nicest I mean:  HEALTHY.

After lunch I came home to find Lacy on the doorstep, waiting to eat left over roast pork!

Which she duly did, and took some home for her flatmate.  😂😅

She had no sooner left and I got a parcel arrive on the doorstep.

Now.  I've been waiting for a parcel from my blog friend Nicole W, who lives in America.

She is the gorgeous, kind and generous girl who gifted me the tickets to the Pentatonix concert!

Anyway, some months back she said she was going to send me a 'LITTLE' gift in the post.

Forward a few months, and I thought she must have forgotten, or the gift was lost in the mail.

NOPE.  It arrived today. 

ABOVE:  A rather LARGE BOX, a bit battered and bruised.  Coco loved sniffing it.

ABOVE:  'LITTLE GIFT' NICOLE???  WOW, just wow.

It's like Christmas all over again... and the Christmas Card made it seem that way too!  Just a bit funny.  

ABOVE: Here we have the cutest ever little Elfin Girl.  She's gunna fit in so well with all my other Christmas Family, must give her a name!  I know, Nicole seems fitting!

ABOVE: Next in the box... a travel mug for Diet Coke, and two different lids!  Awesome!!!

ABOVE:  Next:  A gorgeous photo holder!  It's made of wood, stone and wire.  I love it.

ABOVE: THIS one made me cry a little!  A super darling BRITTO Angel.  Awwww.

ABOVE:  Next!  A swatch of fabric, girls riding!  Too damn cute.

ABOVE:  LOVE IT!  I can't wait to stick me nose in it and see what it's all about, apart from Diet Coke of course. lol

ABOVE:  THIS lot blew me away!  SIX pieces of nautical themed fabrics!!!  OMG, Nicole you are amazing.  And ya know me far too well.  😂😅😆

ABOVE:  Look at that!  So exciting, I can't wait to check the patterns out.

ABOVE: And this book!  By now I was starting to sniff quite a bit.  I just couldn't believe someone who has never met me could be so kind and generous.

And THOUGHTFUL.  All these things, she's taken some considerable time and effort to gather them, knowing my likes and loves.

On a day when I was feeling rather unhappy, this has certainly perked me up!

I can never thank you enough Nicole.  You are a very, very special person. 

It goes without saying, but I will, that I love and appreciate EVERYONE who reads my blog and expresses care and concern for me and my family.

I promise to do my best to do better, and look after myself.

I am NOW going to have a freakin' NANA NAP!

8.30 pm:   Ha ha ha!  Like I could have a nap with the girls in the room!

Every single noise or movement outside and they would jump up and bark the house down!  So, yeah, no nap.

Stew arrived home and we had left over Cottage Pie for dinner.  It was just as nice as last night.

We then had a thunder and lightening storm.  We sat in the sunroom with all the lights off in the house and enjoyed the show.  So much lightening!  It was awesome.

Now it's passed through and it's back to watching TV (him), and I'm listening to music on You Tube.  

I found a new song that I just love, I will share it tomorrow.