Cake time

I spent half of this past Sunday helping Barb make another one of her wonderful cake creations. The lucky recipient this time round was Barb's nephew Jacob who was turning four. Jakey is a huge Doctor Who fan so what does Barb do? She decides to make a TARDIS cake!

I arrived just after Barb had finished piecing together the layers of sponge and gave her a bit of a hand with the decorating. Well, when I say 'a hand' it means that for the first part I was just moral support and someone to talk to and then later on as it was almost completed I made the little light for on top, the notice for the front door and helped re-make the windows.

I still have blue fingers from the food colouring.

Apparently the cake was a hit at Jakey's party :)





I thought I'd also throw in photos of some of the other cakes Barb has made too. I know I've posted a few of these before in various posts but here they are in one easy collection for your admiration.


Damn I hate her talent! ;-)


This is Darcie's Bratz cake. It took Barb two hours to make and that included the baking and cooling of the actual cake. Barb said she felt like she cheated Darce slightly as she put in next to no effort. I don't think Darcie cared though since it looked great.


This is Chiara's Fairy Garden. Yet another cake in which Barb put in little effort (and I don't mean this in a bad way - I mean that she didn't spend the entire day on it like she did with the TARDIS).


Caleb's Spiderman cake. It went really well with all the Spiderman cups and plates although everyone had red fingers after eating it.

This was a Stegosaurus for our second cousin Win. It looked much better in real life as it was quite 3D.


Barb had had slightly different plans for this cake if I remember correctly. There was an accident in the fridge involving a stray jar of pickles and this was the hasty clean up job. The kids loved it however and all fought over who would get to eat the toadstools.


This is the doggie cake that Barb made for me many years ago. The pic isn't that great since it was taken on my old camera.


There are a few other cakes that she has made that we just don't have photos of or we can't find the pics for. There was a gorgeous Princess Castle that Barb made for Chiara's 3rd birthday that was held at a play centre and although I distinctly remember taking photos at the time, I cannot for the life of me find them on the computer.
Another cake that was a certified hit was made for Caleb while I was in Edinburgh. It was of the lion from Madagascar and I know Barb has that photo on her puter so as soon as she emails it to me, I'll edit this post.
There was also a swimming pool cake that Caleb had at his 2nd birthday but again, I can't find any photos of it. And back before any of us had a digital camera Barb made Christian a Hanky the Christmas Poo cake. Such a pity there's no photographic evidence.

Next weekend is Caleb's 4th birthday and Barb is planning on going the 'simple' option and making him a Light Sabre cake so I'll be sure to get a photo. And it won't be long until my birthday and we have big plans for my cake since I didn't get one last year. There will be two cakes - one will be a traditional type of cake and the other will be a coffin or headstone cake and so everyone will have the option of having Cake or Death :-)

The thing I didn't tell you about

Okie, one thing that I didn't actually mention about our last Concept appointment is that I've been referred to the Clincal Psychologist at King Eddie.

When we were talking to the doctor about my weight I was explaining how I'd come to a standstill with my weight loss because work was shit and I was feeling stressed and all I wanted to do was head home and not go to the gym. Well that led on to more questions and in the end it all came out - my anxiety attack, the fact I've resigned at work, feeling stressed, panicking about being late all the time, feeling really down about not being able to have kids, worrying about the future, stressing because I've had to take so much time off work for blood tests etc etc.
She asked if I had always been a worrier and I told her that yes, ever since I was little I always worried about everything and turned into a right little stresshead. She suggested that she'd give me a referral to the Psychologist to help me work through my worries and thought that it would be helpful for me in everyday life as well as well as with the whole baby making process.

At this point she left the room to go and catch the dietician before she left and I burst into tears. I sobbed to Christian that it was all my fault that we hadn't had kids yet and if I wasn't such a big fat lazy slob we'd already be parents. Christian tried to calm me down all the while telling me that thoughts like this didn't help my worry levels. The doctor walks back into the room, takes one look at me and goes 'So yeah, I'm definitely going to give you that referral.'

I was really worried about telling my mum this news because Mum can be a little funny when it comes to stuff like this. Mum is a PCA (Patient Care Assistant) at the local mental health unit and she sees the end scenarios of people with a few mental issues. I don't think she has had a lot of experience with the events leading up to being institutionalised and so if you mention that you're seeing a psychologist she worries that the next day she'll be serving me lunch on the secure side.
Mum's reaction was just like I'd expected. 'Oh God, oh that's not good, oh, you know how I feel about shrinks'.
Me - 'Mum, I'm talking to a psychologist, not a psychiatrist, there's a difference.'
Mum - 'I know that!
Me - 'Then what is the problem with me trying to get some help for my obvious issues?'
Mum ' All I'm saying is you be careful what you say! You don't want to go down that road with pills and stuff.'
Me - 'For crying out loud woman, I'm just talking to someone!'

Aaaah, it's impossible!

Anyway, so my referral came in the mail the other day and asked me to make an appointment. I think I will do so but I don't know how much it's going to cost and with me now not earning a full income I may not be able to go to many sessions. Hopefully in the ones I do go to I'll learn how to deal with my stress levels a bit better than I am now and keep my panic under control.

So what do I have to lose? I guess the worst that can happen is them not being successful and I'll lay awake at night worrying about it. Neyh, nothing new!

Busy weekend

Well the weekend has come to an end but I must say it was rather full on and very enjoyable. I'd actually been looking forward to it for a couple of weeks, so much so that I actually had a bit of trouble sleeping on Friday night (as I do when I'm excited).

On Saturday I got up early and headed up to my Mum's place to see her for Mother's Day. Mum works on the weekends and since we were going to see Margaret (my mother-in-law) on Sunday I didn't want to miss out on seeing my Mum for her special day. On the way up the hill I stopped in at the shops and grabbed the usual pressie for her which consists of a heap of Dove soap, Nivea body lotion and Olay face cream. It might sound a bit boring but Mum uses it all every day and always tells us that no matter how boring it may seem to us 'Who else gets to use their birthday/Christmas/Mother's Day present every single day?'.
Fair play to her.
So I caught up with Mum for a bit and then at about lunchtime Jo, Darcie and I took Shiver for a walk along the old railway track (variously called the Bridle Trail or Heritage Track).
This is Darcie with the stick she found and wanted to walk with. I just think she looks like Gandalf. I tried to get some photos of Shiver but I have never in my life met such a photo shy dog! As soon as you grab your camera out she turns her head and scoots away. I think Christian has gotten to her dammit!


We headed out towards Sawyers Valley but when the track met up with the pipeline we doubled back and followed that instead. When we were kids my sisters and I would play on the pipeline, usually always at Jacoby Park where we went for barbecues but when we headed out to the bush at the back of the school we'd always climb on it and run along it and always had a great time. So Jo and I introduced Darce to it's wonders and although she was a little hesitant at first and needed her hand held, she was soon off and running along it. It wasn't long before I clambered up as well to join her.



We left the pipeline when we reached my old school and headed back into town via the footpath where we came upon this masterpiece. Darcie was a little worried when I stopped to take a photo and just couldn't understand why I thought it was so funny when she just found it gross. I don't think she's had anywhere near enough experience with the 'carrot effect' yet to fully appreciate such a fine example.


After our walk I headed back home and pottered about doing nothing that I really should have done. Then we headed out to Jimmy Dean's for dinner, a 50's style restaurant in Midland where my 'leaving do' was being held. I'm not actually leaving any more, staying on for four more weeks full time and then taking up a part time position but we didn't let that stop us from still going out for a meal.
We had a great time out, although the partners we bought along might have been slightly bored since they couldn't join in with the whinging and gossiping that followed. My friend Joanne and I tried to get our hubby's to chat but although Christian and Myles get along fantastically between the two of them they say about two words and so 'chatting' is not something on their repertoire.

This morning Christian and I headed up to see Margaret and we spent the morning watching her partner Garry play with the deck he's building. Garry is a perfectionist and it can be very frustrating watching him try to fix the gap between the decking that is 2mm wide instead of just 1mm. We had a nice morning tea and Christian gave Margaret a CD he'd made for her and then we wandered about the garden looking at everything that's changed since we lived there. Margaret is more of a green thumb than me and so the yard looks much better than when it was under my care.

After lunch we headed out again, this time for Damian and Wendy's place all the way up north in the middle of nowhere. Honestly I don't know how people manage to live so far away! It took us a while to get there but it was worth it when we did because we got to meet Denzel and Indie! Damian and Wendy have two dogs and I've only heard lots about them and seen their profiles on Dogbook so we were looking forward to meeting them.
Well, it was an experience all right!
Indie is just so cute and as ball mad as Molly. She's a Blue Heeler crossed with a Staffie and has the cutest ears! They stick straight up and are folded at the ends, a bit like Dog from Footrot Flats.
Denzel is big, playful and slobbery. He's a Bull Mastiff and is the sweetest dog you'll ever meet. He weighs 60kgs and is still growing as he's only a puppy. He loves to meet new people and fell in love with us straight away. At one point I made the mistake of getting down to his level and he then proceeded to lick and nuzzle me all over my face and neck all the while holding me down with his massive paws. Christian managed to pull him off me but by this point I was dripping in slobber and laughing so hard that I couldn't actually get back on my feet.

After meeting the dogs we all headed out to the Botanical Gardens for a few games of Mini Golf. Botanical Golf was just like regular mini golf although I must say our mini golf courses are just so lacking. You hear of courses in other places that have windmills and other obstacles and then play on a course in which the only obstacles are bits of wood in the middle of the green or a little pipe tunnel. A little disappointing. It was fun nonetheless and even though Damian scored three hole-in-one I actually managed to win. Yay me! Damian tried to gloat about his flukey shots but Wendy and I made sure that his head stayed good and deflated. It's a bit hard to have a huge ego when there's two women cutting you down at every opportunity ;-)

We then moved onto Billiard Golf and this one bloody sucked! You weren't allowed to hit the ball into the hole without it bouncing off the guard first. I found it to be rather impossible to be honest. Let's just say I was coming a distant last by the end of the first hole! At one point Christian jokingly made some comment at me and so I jokingly waved my golf club at him. What I didn't mean to do was smack him right in the nuts with it. Oops. I don't think we're having kids any time soon...I don't even think we'll be trying until the bruising disappears...

I don't think I've ever said sorry so many times in one hour before!

My poor hubby! He did win that course though so he had something to smile about!
It was getting dark by the time we finished and so we headed back to Damian and Wendy's house and had fun playing with the dogs for a bit. Indie loves chasing the ball and Denzel loves chasing Indie so it was rather amusing. It was getting late though and so we thought we should head home and make sure our poor puppies got fed. Saying goodbye to Damian and Wendy is actually quite nice though because Wendy gives you such a big hug before you go and Damian gives me a big kiss and they make you feel so nice. I really don't think I've ever met nicer people before :)

And lastly, I thought I'd finish up with one last camping photo. Mike copied all of his photos onto our spare hard drive and this is one of my faves. It was taken on the walk out of the site at this really cool tree that we'd all noticed on our way in. I just think it's a nice photo of the whole gang.

My new blog

Following in the foot steps of some of my other friends, I've decided to start a new blog.

Unfortunately it's not about fun stuff like stories or ancient skeletal wrestlers, but about me trying to lose some more weight.
I've kind of come to a stand still in this department and it's time I got back on track. I'm just hoping that you guys might give me the kind of support that Christian just isn't capable of giving (don't get me wrong, he's very supportive but just in a I'm-underweight-don't-really-get-what's-so-hard kind of way).

This is a big step for me. I don't really have what you'd call great self confidence and I'm going the full hog with this, photos and all. It's rather scary putting it out there where any old bastard can make a nasty comment (I remember only too well Joe's blog) but hopefully it'll keep me motivated.

So if anyone wants to drop by and give me an encouraging slap on the shoulder, I'd appreciate it :)

Nettie Challenge