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

Camping!

Friday was ANZAC day and finally the time for camping had come. I've been going on and on about going camping for months now and after the whole Lake fiasco I'd finally found a place we could go camping near to where we all live.
It's a little place called Patens Brook and it's very near to Mundaring Weir (you know the place - I think every time I post about it I include photos of roos). Patens Brook is only open outside of the total fire ban season and you have to hike about 3kms to get to it so I figured it would be a nice, quiet little site. Perfect for a little get together!

Did I say little? Does 11 people count as a little camping group? Medium to large maybe... ;-)

Anyway, lots of people decided to come and it was great to have so many of my friends all in the one place. The opportunities for cuddles was endless! I also did my usual photo thing so I have lots of pics for you guys today as well as stories. I like stories!

Okie, how bout I just get started with the whole actually telling you about camping thing instead of this digressing I'm doing now.

Right, so everyone was late but really that's just normal now. We'd planned to get to the meeting point at half eleven and I think it was almost eleven when Damian and Wendy arrived at our place as they were giving us a lift. Mel rang about that time to tell us she hadn't even left home yet and as she was picking up Mike and Chiaki and Kat was also getting a lift with us it seemed that everyone bar Dan and Helen were late.

Damian, Wendy, Kat, Christian and I trundled up the hill, stopping in the Stonemasons Hall car park briefly so we could meet Dan there. The car park is perfect for doughnuts and other manoeuvres and Wendy had to warn Damian several times that all horrors of the universe would be visited upon him if he got playful with the car.

I said I had photos, didn't I. Guess we should get to them.

This is Christian and Damian checking out the car park, mourning the lost opportunities.
I'd just like to point out that this is probably the best photo I got of my darling hubby the whole time we were away. His skill at dodging the camera seems to have been refined since my last outing with the camera.

Kat on the other hand plays well with others and will always pose for the camera. She always looks so good too damn her!

This is Wendy who I haven't as yet properly introduced. Wendy is married to Damian who took over from Mike when he left Christians' work. We met at a party a few weeks back and ever since then Christian has had to put up with me saying constantly "Wendy and Damian are soooo nice! I really like them!". I liked them even more when I discovered that they're snuggle bugs too! Being British Wendy didn't feel the cold much but was very nice in keeping snugged up to me to keep me warm.

So this is Damian, who informs me he's actually Welsh. Neyh, where ever he and Wendy come from they have the most divine accents! Damian professes to hate photos but always seemd to be posing for the camera...

Ok, so that's not too unusual I guess. I don't like photos and this is as big as a pose as you're likely to find.

So, Dan and Helen finally emerged and we took off again, not doing too badly seeing as we arrived at the rendezvous point a little past noon. Mel, Jann, Mike and Chiaki met us there a short while later and we were ready to start our camping adventure!
It was at this point that we all came to the decision to head back into Mundaring and get lunch before heading to a bottle shop. Being ANZAC day all the bottlos were opening late and there weren't many of us that had been organised enough to get booze the day before.

Right, so now, being fed, boozed up and organised, it was time to start our camping adventure. We figured out exactly which way to go (the track loops round but if we took the wrong one we'd have ended up walking 5kms, not 3), loaded backpacks and tents onto backs and took off.

You know, on paper 3kms doesn't sound far at all. I've walked 3kms many times before. Every time Kat and I head down to the river for a walk we would easily cover 3kms.

3kms with a heavy backpack on and a bag in each hand feels like forever! Ok, that might be a slight exaggeration but we did need to stop a few times to have a rest.

I took one rest opportunity to take some more pics.
Mike actually gave me a smile for once, bless his little cotton socks!


Daniel and Wendy, waiting for everyone else to catch up.
And here they come!
We finally came across the camp site and it was a relief to be able to finally throw our crap down and just relax. Jann and Damian especially looked relieved.

So we set about putting up out tents and setting up camp. Wendy and I decided to be neighbours and without waiting for the boys started putting the tents up. It took us about twenty seconds to figure out that we had exactly the same tents. Even bought them from the same place. They had had theirs a bit longer than us though and so I got some good advice and tips on the best way to get the mass of canvas and poles to look something vaguely tent shaped.

Christian came over and helped me with the last part and so I gave him the honour of inflating the air mattress we'd brought with us. Having only a stupid little hand pump it didn't really do much but I did get the chance to take a photo of Christian's arse. Yay me ;-)


Across the way a bit Dan and Helen were putting up their tent (I refuse to use the word 'erecting' in this post because I do not know of one of you who read this that won't make some juvenile comment!). Their tent was so sweet, it looked like it had come straight out of a boy scout manual!
Mel was having a little more success with their air mattress as she had bought a foot pump with them. She was nice enough to lend it to us although she probably shouldn't have bothered since our mattress didn't like staying inflated and even before I went to bed it was very sad and droopy looking.

Kat was bunking in with Mel and Jann and helped put up the tent by having a nap on the log.
We discovered that while the girls were putting up the tents, the boys had been busy getting the camp fire ready. They had managed to put together a nice little pile of wood to get started with.

A little more foraging and we had a nice wood pile off to one side to keep us going for the night. Surely we wouldn't need any more?


Obviously we did! Kat and Dan decided to collect all the fallen trees they could find.

Once the fire was started Christian pulled out his pack of cards and everyone sat down to a few games. I wanted to explore and after telling Christian 'I'm off to look at rocks' I set off.
The camp site is in a valley and I wandered northwards for a bit and came upon a really lovely area that had huge granite rocks sticking up every where. I absolutely love places like this and had a lot of fun exploring the area. I even came across a bit of a cave!
Ok, well, maybe not technically a cave but it was an area where some granite boulders had fallen together and had formed an area about a metre wide and maybe three metres deep.

This photo doesn't actually make it looks as big as it was.
Just past the cave the valley came to an end and I started climbing up the rocky side to get to the top. I found a lovely rock to perch on and stayed there for maybe twenty minutes, just enjoying the peace and quite. My doctor says that since I'm such a stress head I have to find activities that calm me down and since yoga and stuff like it bore the crap out of me he advised I spend some time 'looking at trees'.
Honestly, he said that to me.
So, what better place to be that sitting on a rock at the top of the valley!
I took photos of course but it really just doesn't do the place any justice at all. Boo and Mouse, when you come in October I think we'll need to go camping for a night or two so you can really experience it.

I was rather high up on my rock, almost as high as the tree tops. I sat there in silence for ages but you know, apart from some birds and a shit load of spiders, there didn't seem to be anything else around. Maybe the laughing that came floating along on the breeze from the direction of the camp fire scared everything else away.

I played about with the zoom on my camera for a bit. This honkey nut was on a branch about twenty metres away from me.
After a while I heard the guys yelling for me and I sent a coo-ee back to let them know I was still alive but they were worried and sent Christian to look for me. He found me on my rock and I climbed down to head back with him. He told me that the state had spent $32 billion dollars on their search for me and if I didn't pay it back by dinner time I'd be in trouble.
I argued that I'd told Christian that I'd gone looking at rocks and even though he hadn't been worried, Christian said that I'd been gone quite a while and my parting explanation didn't really explain my absence. I thought I'd been gone only twenty minutes or so but I do have a warped sense of time and it had been a bit closer to an hour.

Before we headed back I got a snap of the rock I'd been sitting on. Yet again, I don't know why I bothered because the photo makes it seem not very exciting at all. It was much higher and prettier than that, honest!

When we got back to the fire everyone had started drinking and the fire was roaring. I'm not exactly the most experienced drinker but I thought that we'd bought quite a lot with us. Christian and I had 8 Pulse cans between us, there was 4 litres of Goon, another bottle of wine, a five litre keg, 4 G&T's, I think 8 cans of various Bourbon and Cola's and 4 pre-mixed Cowboys (there might have been something else too but I can't remember). I have since been told by the more experienced drinkers that were there with me that we didn't really bring that much with us. Anyway, I think it was about 3pm when we started and by half 9 it was all gone, to be replaced by several extremely drunk people. Christian got rather talkative (as he does when he's drunk) and kept on trying to get Kat and I to kiss, Chiaki headed off to bed very early and Wendy and I were having a hard time keeping Damian out of the fire.
Me : 'Damian, I think you might want to step back a bit.'
Damian: 'Nah, I'm fine!' as he staggers backwards a few steps.
Wendy: 'Seriously, you need to come over this way a bit.'
Damian: 'I'm telling you, I'm fine. Never better.'
Me: Grabbing Damian's arm 'How bout you come over here and sit of the log.'
Damian: Pulls arm away and leaning dangerously backwards 'You two worry too much!'

I'm just don't know how he managed to keep from getting his butt burnt to a crisp but I guess alcohol can make you a bit numb.

Christian grabbed my camera and started playing with the night mode, a favourite past time of his and had fun with taking photos of the fire.

He took so many photos that I deleted some of them as I uploaded them because I really didn't think we needed twenty photos of it. I know, it was a great camp fire but lets not go over board!
He moved on to flaming marshmallows after that...
And then he and Kat hit upon the idea of using a keyring sized LED to write our names with. I think he set the shutter to go off every 5 seconds or so and the results were really cool. We all gathered about to see what each name would look like.

Kat kept on spelling Annette wrong so she just stuck with Annie. It gets slightly confusing at times being known by so many different names! We should have done one Annette, one Nettie and one Annie just to cover all of them!

Christian rarely gets called Chris but one must make sacrifices when having ones name written on the night.You can't really see it here but if you look closely on the full photos, you can sometimes see Kat three or four times throughout the photo.

I had given this a go earlier but I couldn't get the knack of writing in a mirror image. Kat turned out to be a natural at it.

Although the Y gave Kat a little trouble. I think they tried to write Wendy four or five times and kept on getting it not quite right but the batteries ran out and so there was no chance of doing it over and over until a perfected one was reached.
Kat tried writing Brooksey but couldn't make it in time so we stuck with Mike.
Chiaki took over for this one and wrote her name in her native Japanese. How awesome does that look!Mel, short and sweet, just like the woman!

Kat tried some flourishes but they didn't always work out too well...
All in all though the fact that she was writing in light and having to guess where to place each letter next, the results are just so cool!
If only the batteries hadn't run out, we could have had so much fun with this!The funny thing about camping is that time moves at a different pace. I kept on looking at my watch expecting it to be almost midnight and it would only be half eight.
The night wore on and after a pitch black adventure to the cave, people started one by one to head off to bed. I crawled in at about 12 but was so cold! Sitting around a fire after a few drinks snuggling up to one person or the other was nice and comfy, laying in a sleeping bag by yourself in a cold tent, quite another! To make matters worse, Christian, Kat and Dan had stayed up and were yakking by the fire and I could hear them so clearly that between listening to them and the sound of my chattering teeth, there was no way I was going to fall asleep. After a while I yelled at Christian to stop being so damned philosophical and to come and keep me warm but he thought I was joking. About an hour later I got out of bed and told him in no uncertain terms to come to bed and although I was much warmer after that, I didn't sleep much at all. Every time I rolled over I would wake up or Christian would shuffle up the mattress and I would wake up or Damian would start snoring in the next tent and I would wake up. It was almost a relief when it started getting light just after six so I could get up.

The morning was spent cooking brekkie and packing up and then it was time to start the walk back. It was slightly easier with the lighter load but tents and air mattresses weigh a certain amount regardless of it being the way in or out so it was still heavy and awkward.
It only took us 45 minutes to walk back though and so we were soon on the way home, heading for a hot bath and a much needed nap (if six hours can be called a nap).

I just had so much fun, I cannot wait to do it all again! I even think that Christian, who professes to hate camping enjoyed himself but I think I can put that down to the people who were there with us.

How time flies when you're having fun

Today is our 12th anniversary from when we got together, not when we married (only been married just over 4 years).
Since rain has been forecast for most of today we had to cancel plans for a picnic at Kings Park so instead we went to a movie last night. Went and saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall and I must say it was much funnier than I thought it would be. The only reason we picked it was because it looked the least crap out of a whole line up of crap but I really was surprised at how good it was. At the beginning I thought the only funny bits would be the numerous full frontal male nudity and Billy Baldwin's lines from the crime show but it turned out to be more than just that.

So it was a fun night out and I'm glad we did it. After so long these things kind of get forgotten about. We don't do the whole present buying thing any more but it's nice to acknowledge the day and enjoy each other's company. Sometimes things get so hectic around here with work and everything that we don't seem to have a lot of time to just hang out together.

I think today we'll just get out a dvd and relax at home, maybe walk the dogs if the rain lets up. Just spend time with my adorable hubby.

Opportunities and pant wetting

I resigned from my job today.

Yay me!

Even after my talk with my bosses about lightening my work load several weeks ago not really much has happened in that area. I had a task or two taken away from me but within a week I'd been given several different jobs so it hasn't exactly been lightened, just rearranged. My stress levels haven't decreased at all and at the end of the day that's what's stopping us from falling pregnant. I decided I had to get my priorities straight. Having a family is more important to me that staying in a job that, although I love the job itself and the people I work with, I'm a bit disenchanted with the bank in general at the moment.

So, what will I do now?

This is where the pant wetting comes in! lol

I haven't gotten another job as yet, haven't even looked. I've done what I did with my previous two jobs and quit without any where to go. The difference is this time I have a mortgage. However the way the job market is at the moment I doubt I'll have any real difficulty getting another job. Since I need about six weeks off in October I doubt anyone will want to hire me fulltime so I might just look for a casual or temping position. I don't really mind what I do, stocking supermarket shelves actually sounds quite appealing at the moment!

At the end of the day hopefully I'll find something that won't cause me any stress and with any luck we'll soon have a baby on the way and that's the most important thing :)

Book tag

Okie here goes.

1. Pick up nearest book

The Last Battle By C.S Lewis

2. Open book to page 123 and find third sentence.

When you are using every muscle to the full - ducking under a spear point here, leaping over it there, lunging forward, leaping back, wheeling around -you haven't much time to feel either frightened or sad.

3. Post the next 5 sentences.

Tirian knew he could do nothing for the others now; they were all doomed together. He vaguely saw the Boar go down on one side of him, and Jewel fighting furiously on the other.Out of the corner of one eye he saw, but only just saw, a big Calormene pulling Jill somewhere by her hair. But he hardly thought about any of these things. His only thought now was to sell his life as dearly as he could.

I'm not going to tag anyone else because I think they've all been tagged already.

Rose and The Doctor

I know it's been a couple of seasons since Rose left Doctor Who but I still really enjoy this little clip. It also helps that it's one of my fave songs of all time.

Trip to Emergency

Had an asthma attack at work today and was taken to the ED, against my will I should say. I didn't think it was bad enough to be taken to hospital but my boss disagreed.
According to the doctor I'm over worked and way too stressed. He thinks it may have been a mix of an asthma attack and an anxiety attack.
Whichever it is, it sucks.

Molly

Aka Snugglebugs
Slayer of Chickens
Mollykins
Pain in the bum
and Smelly.


Lately it seems everyone is doing posts regarding their various furry friends, be it Hastings the rat or Yang and George the evil cats, so I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon.
I've spoken about my dogs before and even posted a few pics but just how much do you really know about my delightful doggies?

I'll start off with Molly as she's really my dog.
About seven or eight years ago I was living between my Mum's house and Christian's Mum's place, staying one night here and the other night there. It worked rather well as both our Mum's were single and although they both enjoyed time to themselves, they didn't want to be alone all the time.
Christian had a dog called Tessa, a pure-bred Jack Russell who was a little cow and hated everyone except Christian and Margaret (my mother in law). Tess was slowly warming up to me but in her eyes I was an usurper, the one who stole her precious Christian away from her. She rarely had any time for me and although she would occasionally allow me to pat her it would more often than not end up with her snapping at my hands.

Margaret one day heard about a dog that was going to be put down because she'd killed a chicken. The dog was a Corgi-x-Jack Russell, about a year and a half old and apart from this one instance had a nice temperament. Having considered for a while getting another dog to keep Tess company, Margaret went to have a look at Molly and discovered that even before she had killed the chicken Molly had been mistreated by her current owners. That was enough to convince Margaret to keep her.

I had been at work and had a message on my phone saying that as no one would be home that evening could I maybe go around there to help Molly settle in. I had no idea what to expect but when I got over there I found the most adorable dog in the world waiting for me. Molly loves cuddles, I sometimes say she's a cuddle slut as she'll mob anyone and everyone just to get cuddles. She has the softest fur in the world and compared to Tess, she's very well behaved.


From that day onwards Molly became mine. Unlike Tessa, Molly accepted me instantly and would love me regardless. In fact I believe it was because of her ill treatment that has made Molly the way she is. If someone is willing to show affection she will return it ten fold.

Molly is also the funniest dog I've ever seen. She gets playful at times and like Tess (it must be a Jack Russell thing) she'll tear off around the house, running laps, stopping suddenly as if to dare you to chase her and then she'll be off again. She will stand on the rug for ages bent into some crazy yoga position so she can rub the top of her head and if you sit down she'll come and claw at your hand until you pat her. Molly is also a ball freak but because she tore her cruciate ligament a while back and had to have it replaced with wire, we don't play often with her. This doesn't stop Molly though! She has a rope with a ball attached and she'll throw it into the air and play by herself. She can really get some height with it too - I've lost track of the times she's thrown it over the fence.

Molly is a slinker and if she's been caught doing something naughty she'll slink away guiltily. If I come home from work and she's run up to me just to slink away it usually means she's been in the bin, although she does act like this even if it's Tessa who's done the deed. Again I think it's her past experience that makes her believe she'll get into trouble even if she hasn't done anything wrong. Since Tessa doesn't give a shit if she's chewed a wrapper from this bin and doesn't act guilty at all I do think that Molly takes the blame for a lot of stuff she hasn't done.

The other morning I woke up to find it was thundering. As I wandered about getting ready for work I was thinking how great it was that Tess was deaf now since she hadn't been howling at the thunder and setting Molly off. Just after this followed another thought - where the heck was Molly? I hadn't seen her all morning. I searched all over the house and yard for her but just couldn't find her. Her usual spots were all vacant - under the bed, in her basket outside, in her bed in our walk-in robe. I was heading through the bathroom into the bedroom again, sure I had missed her in there before when I spotted her cowering in the shower. I had only just gotten out of the shower so she was sopping wet but her trembling wasn't from being cold and wet. She was absolutely petrified.
I went about making a hidey hole for her in the lounge, putting her bed in between the couches and covering it with cushions but she wouldn't stay in it and headed straight back into the shower. In the end I lay the dog towels in the shower and had to leave for work. As I left she seemed quite content to ride out the remainder of the storm huddled in the shower.


Such a cutie.

Work, work, work

I've been rather busy lately, work has been rather hectic and by the time I get home after going to the gym (I do try and get there but it all depends on how buggered I am), watered my garden, cooked dinner, had a shower, all that jazz, I'm finding it difficult to get online. So no one's really seen much of me over the past couple of weeks.

So what have I been doing?

I went out to dinner with some work friends last Saturday and that was really nice and we have a leaving do for one of the girls this Saturday. We're all going out to an English pub in the city (Laura is British) and to make the night even more special Laura, her partner Leanne, Christian and I are going to catch a limo in.
Yay!
It's ever so exciting.

On the Sunday I took my nieces to Adventure World along with my sister Jo. It was a good day but we didn't stay too long. I was rather surprised at my nieces, especially Chiara. Chiara is the sort who loves rides and she went on the kiddie roller coaster and Bounty's Revenge (a big boat that swings you up to a 75 degree angle) and a dragon ride but refused to go on the paddle boats. I really thought the roller coaster would have been too scary but apparently it's not as scary as a paddle boat. Darcie is a little chicken and doesn't go on anything but she loved the paddle boats and even went on the roller coaster. Of course she screamed the whole way and all you could hear from the ground was 'Mummy, stop it, stop it! Why? Whyyyyyyy? Mummy please make it stop!'. Poor thing, she was sobbing and shaking afterwards and it only did three laps...
The girls seemed to have fun though and didn't want to leave but Jo and I were exhausted after three and a half hours and over-ruled the girls!

I'm going to buy a tent this weekend so I'm thinking of going camping over the Easter long weekend, even if it's just overnight. I'd love to camp at Lake Leschenaultia in Chidlow as it's just gorgeous there and they have great facilities (like showers and toilets). I like camping but I do like my little luxuries too! We go there rather often for barbecues and I think it would be great to spend a longer period of time there. There's heaps to do, canoeing, swimming, bush walks, lounging around on the beach. Should be fun!

Baby making is still in progress and with any luck we'll be pregnant soon. I'm very hopeful for this month - we did everything the doctors asked plus more so fingers crossed people! I am trying not to get my hopes up too much but dammit, I'm sure it's time for luck to look our way!

That's about it really. I'll keep you posted about how this weekend goes and I'll make sure to get photos of us in the limo!
Take care and I'll see you later!
xxxx