A rare not-so-quiet minute or two in the scattered mind of a scrapper, a mother, a wifey, a photographer wannabe, a typist, a shopper, a spender, a day-dreamer, a wisher, a lazybum, a stand up newbie, a karaoke wannabe, a flea marketer, a tea cup collector, proudly tattooed, prettily pierced and definitely a scatterbrain!
Thursday, 27 December 2007
Masters pics finally!
Wednesday, 5 December 2007
Where oh where have I been?
So I've been away a loooooooong while!!! lol But in the true spirit of blogging without obligation I'm not going to apologise for neglecting the blog for a while - life has been nothing short of crazy in our house for weeks now and I know you'll get it when I say that finding an hour or so to sit down and type about all the chaos instead of attending to the chaos just didn't seem important. I'm still not out of the chaotic woods yet and I don't know if I'll get to blogging much in the next week or two either. I'll nutshell it for ya so the friends and rellies get a catch up on the last few week and I can save a bit of time cos I've squeezed this in before getting ready for work.
- Cyberscraps had our first retreat the second-last weekend in November - some of our amazing, funny forum members came from near and far to spend a weekend with good food, good wine, good scrapping and a particuarly good stripper as it turned into a covert hen's night for me as organised by Cass and Cath - much appreciated girls - can you guess what I want for my birthday next year??? lol
- My fabulous Doug and I finally got married - ten years together, seven weeks to organise and one perfect day! Cass has some great pics on her blog, as does our lovely friend Kylie (Kat Browne). My dear friend Tash and her husband took the "professional" pics for us with their ridiculously expensive camera which weighs more than a six month old baby!! Can't wait to see those - seriously good scrapping fodder but no promises of a whole album or anything.
- Blayd went to Sydney last weekend to attend the Australian All Styles Championships with his karate club - a weekend of firsts for my eldest who went on a plane for the first time, went away without parents for the first time, was totally responsible for his diet and behaviour for the first time. He had a great time although we all missed him and he was well and truly mobbed at the airport when he got back by his little brothers and sister!
- I've got a commission album to do before Christmas - a full 20 page album which will be a Christmas present. I've done an album for this lady before for her mother for her birthday and she loved it and now I'm doing one for her grandmother for Christmas. It's very scary because she wants to include ORIGINAL photographs from the 30's and 40's - beautiful "porcelain doll" pictures I call them with some even hand tinted. They are beautiful but far out it makes me nervous to use originals so I'll have to be extra careful. So that's something I need to get stuck into but have bugger all time to do it in.
- I'm working full time - long hours like 9 and 10 hour days - doing temping for a doctor in a private hospital for two weeks. It was a quick way to get some extra cash for Christmas when the bank balance looked a bit moth eaten after the wedding! So I've had to go and buy "corporate attire" for the first time in about seven years! The only things I've called work clothes for a long time are jammies and gym gear!!! lol It's a front office job too, not straight typing so I've had to learn a million things in only a half day of training and I've been left to fend for myself but I figure if I can manage four kids and their daily disasters then I can handle this. I haven't buggered anything up majorly yet so that's a relief but I'll be glad when it's over!!! lol It's been a huge job in itself to get out of the house each morning by 7.15am, all dressed, full makeup so I'm at the hospital by 7.45am to open the rooms. And the joy of not getting home until 6pm at night with no time to spend with the kids, get dinner ready, relax or scrap reminds me why I stopped working in an office all those years ago!!! But you know my mantra - think of the money, think of the money! lol
- CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!!!! Like a freaking freight train!!!!! lol I have no idea if I'm organised or not. I have lay-by's to pick up, have done no food preparation, shopping, etc, I may get cards done or not and it's a job for the week before Christmas when I've been paid from my job and have nothing else to do but Christmas stuff - mind you the kids go on school hols that same week and Doug starts his holidays so who knows how much (or little!!!) I'll get done!!! lol
- All the end of year school/kindy stuff coming up which I'm either going to remember or have to let slide because I can't get there because of work
- Friday night crop this week at Cyberscraps and our Christmas party day on Saturday 8th December where we're having drinks and nibblies at a couple of scheduled times during the day (ring and book on 3274 5522 if you want to come join us for a drink or a cuppa) as well as 20% off everything in the store except Bazzill (always ridiculously cheap at 70 cents everday anyway!). It's our present from Cyberscraps to you so pop in and say hi as Cath, Cass and I will be in the shop all day from 10am to 4pm and we'd love to see everyone before the silly season well and truly takes hold!
Okay I can't think of anything else right now but that's probably cos my brain is full!!! lol I just wanted to do a quick update that's already taken me half an hour (really need to get ready for work now!!!) cos I miss chatting to the blogsphere in general. It's a diary, a place to vent, to share, to keep a record for me as well as my friends and fam who read this. I miss you my blog!!!! lol
Back when I can and thanks for sticking around if you're reading this!!! Love, Lu
Monday, 19 November 2007
It's the final countdown!
Monday, 5 November 2007
Small observation among the chaos.....
The funny thing is that I know one of the teachers and the general consensus in the staff room was "wow can't believe she made him do that" in a congratulations kind of way. Well what on earth else would I make him do???? He broke something that didn't belong to him and the last time I checked if you do that as an adult you generally have consequences for doing stupid things. I'm glad the teachers think I did the right thing cos I'm sure I did do the right thing but the funny observation was that apparently the majority of parents don't seem to make their kids be responsible for what they do. Apparently I'm in the minority of parents while the rest make excuses for their kids, deny their child was involved despite eye witnesses or act plain ol' shocked and say "oh how awful". Come on now, people like that have to be the minority surely?
I'm a bit guerilla when it comes to my kids getting life lessons. I'm sure they're going to grow up thinking their mother is a hard-ass bitch about some stuff but in the real world there are consequences and punishments far worse than a detention for doing something stupid. I don't want my kids to think it's okay to do stupid/dangerous stuff because someone will "take care of it" for them and they won't be held accountable. They're not professional footballers yet...lol
So just having a wee vent about that to the blogsphere in general. The older I get the more I realise I don't suck at this mother thing nearly as bad as I think some days. I'm nowhere near as good a mother as people I know or even as good as I want to be but at least I realise I'm on the right track and hopefully it will keep my kids (mostly) out of trouble as they head for teenage years. Far out I hope at some point that kid of mine stops throwing bloody rocks............
Sunday, 4 November 2007
Scrap-Training has launched at Cyberscraps!
We're calling it Scrap-Training cos it's kind of like personal training for scrappers. It's individual, one-on-one teaching time - one teacher and one customer and that's it. Cass and I are both going to be available for scrap-training sessions and we're working out the nuts and bolts of our preferred times but at the moment it's most of Wednesday and most of Friday plus there will be appointment slots on Friday night crops too and a separate work area for people who want to incorporate a scrap-training session into their crop. Other times may be available by negotation because we understand that not everyone is free all the time.
How it works is you basically ring the store or come in, choose an appointment slot and book in. We work in hour long appointments and so basically that hour then belongs to you. Basically you've paid for Cass or I for that hour - hardy har har that sounds dodgy......! We will be at your disposal for that entire hour.
Scrap-training is better than a class any day because YOU CHOOSE what you want to do for that hour. We're hoping the flexibility will be a plus. You can basically choose whatever you want to do for the whole hour.
- Each month Cass and I will create a "fave layout" that we like which will be available if you want to do that layout (or you can use it just as a sketch to work from, or you can substitute products, or change it if you like)
- You can learn to re-create a layout you've seen in the window (which are usually our product showcase type layouts)
- You can find something in a magazine that you want to re-create and we can teach you how to do that
- You can bring in a layout from an online gallery and we can teach you how to create that
- You can bring along a personal idea that you want to create and we'll help you do that
- You can bring an off-the-page or altered item to do
- You can come with a list of techniques you want to learn and we'll show you how to do them
- You can come in with only ideas and we'll help you create something from them
The beauty of scrap-training is that we're not telling you what to do, making you copy a sketch or create the layout we've given you to work from. You tell us what you want to learn in your hour long session and that's exactly what you'll get to do. There are really no limits on what you can do, learn or create during your scrap-training session - it's your time so do what you want!
You get a teacher to yourself for the entire hour, and because you know when your appointment is, you can come in earlier and choose your products at your leisure so that you can focus on your work for an hour without having to waste class time looking for products.
There are no "minimum number" of scrap-training classes you need to book - you can come in for a one off appointment to get something special done or you can make a regular weekly appointment if you want to have a series of appointments to learn new techniques or a big project like a special occasion album. We'll still have regular crop days and nights as usual where we'll be on hand to help if you need the odd bit of advice here or there but we wanted to offer something more specialised than classes and in an environment of one-on-one so that you can make the most of your time in the shop, not worrying about keeping up or falling behind in a big class situation and not having to do a layout that you either don't especially like but want to learn the techniques for, doing something you don't have the right photos for, or worse, being left to your own devices to copy a sketch with no help. In our opinion we think we can provide better for our customers with scrap-training than we can with classes and we hope people will understand why we've taken this route. We don't think customers are getting the time or attention they need in classes and we've usually been happy to run our classes with only one person anyway if they really want to learn so we figured we'd save everyone the time and hassle and start something we think our customers will like a whole lot more!
The big question? The cost of course. Scrap-training is $2o per hour which is cheaper than our classes with the added flexibility of customers choosing how they spend that hour. And to give you even more value for your buck, whatever products you purchase from Cyberscraps while you are in the store for your scrap-training session attract a 10% discount! Again, this means our customers decide how much they want to spend on a layout or project rather than having the cost of the product factored into a class fee. It means you choose what products you want to work with and then enjoy the 10% discount.
So that's it in a not-so-small nutshell!!! lol Like I said before, we're sick of organising classes that are time consuming and not really as friendly and chatty as we'd like, and we know our customers have said they don't want to be told what layout to do, what products to use and then have to compete with other people for as much of the teacher's time as they need. We think this is a great solution all round and we're definitely looking forward to helping people achieve their scrapping goals no matter what they are! We're here to help our customers and we think this is one way we can best do that.
Now that that's out of the way.....not much else going on really!!! lol The wedding plans have been quiet the last few days, I've gotten invitations into the mail for people who needed them and tonight Doug and I are going to sit and finalise the ceremony. Now it's all down to having the money together for things like the reception deposit we have to pay next weekend and the balance of the celebrant's fee. There are a few hundred dollars worth of incidentals I think but that includes finalisng the lay-by on the rings as well as the cost of the cupcakes.
I got to work yesterday morning and in the afternoon we went to Springfield yesterday for a quick wander around and to look for more Ben 10 toys for James for Christmas. He's right into that at the moment and the action figures are getting harder to find. There are some that appear to be "rare" or at least hard to come across if you don't want to go on eBay and find them there but overseas do have heaps more merchandise for Ben 10 than we do here. We've discovered that the big three -K-Mart, Big W and Target - all have the Ben 10 toys so it's just a matter of going from store to store (only when we're in the area of course!) to see who has what. I fell in love with some great artificial lillies and roses at a homewares store but they were really pricey unfortunately so they stayed there. I'm a bit of a tight arse really - I want my flowers to look amazing but at a Crazy Clark's price!!!! lol I'm not doing a bad job so far, picking up stems of lillies, roses etc when I see them at good prices so I'm sure I'll have enough by the time the wedding comes around!!! Oh wow it's only three weeks away from today!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Funny how I don't get the flutters until I have to say it out loud like that! lol I'm not nervous, just a bit excited I guess.
Today we went to the computer market (or should I say Doug went to the computer market and the kids and I stayed in the car!) then we went to Garden City for a look around and more Ben 10 toy hunting. I found some nice white orchids and foliage in Dusk on sale so bought those. Caeligh had a massive tantrum in Toys R Us when she wouldn't do as she was told and so we picked her up and left. We had a really nice lady stop and chat as we walked away from the store with Doug carrying Caeligh as she screamed, writhed, spat, punched and generally carried on like a pork chop at the top of her lungs. She congratulated us for leaving even though she said she knows how embarrassing it is! Normally people just stare in horror as our beautiful daughter behaves like she's possessed!!!! lol We did try to have lunch at the Coffee Club but Caeligh started yelling when she had to sit nicely and two ladies looked around and gave me the full on "your noisy brats are disturbing our cappucinos" look and had a good long gawk at us with their disapproving stares. Honestly I couldn't help it and I'm so over being stared down (and partly because I'm so used to Caeligh's behaviour that I really don't give a shit what people think anymore) so I've turned to Doug and said (loudly and looking right at them) "I think we've upset those snotty ladies with our noisy child darling!". They suddenly looked even more horrified than before!!!!! ROTFPMSL!!!!!!! Could. Not. Help. Myself!!!!!!!!!!! After persuing the menu at 110 decibels we worked out rapidly that there was nothing they could safely eat anyway so we got up and left! Yep, it is sad but true that a happy meal from Maccas with chicken nuggets, fries and a bottle of water has virtually no nasty additives at all but even a plain sandwhich from a cafe had preservatives. We all felt more comfortable in the food court anyway!
I'm trying to get the Xmas thing organised early as in the next few weeks I won't have a moment to think about it so all the toys are sitting safely on lay-by and I went out and got all the decorations and wrapping paper and cards in one hit on Friday afternoon. I know it seems strange but I change colour combinations for my tree every year and last year I even changed my tree - a pink one last year. This year I really wanted an 8ft tall black tree with black, white and silver deccies - a whim really and nothing necessary by any stretch - but then I figured I could maybe just re-use my normal green tree and then I figured I would let the kids choose the colour scheme for once so they chose silver, blue and purple. So I have my bag of cheap shop decorations. I love, love, love the extravagant hand-blown glass baubles and beaded creations the department stores have but honestly they wouldn't last five minutes with Caeligh in the house so I just don't see the point. It would only end in heartbreak and money wasted. Plenty of time for that when she's older (and preferably moved out of home!!!! lol). So I'll be putting up the tree really early this year and I don't care if anyone thinks that's ridiculous or not. I want it to be a constant visual reminder to myself that Christmas is coming and also to remind the kids. The wedding is just one day and to our family our lives won't change at all so I don't want them to focus on that as the biggest thing in their lives right now. So Christmas takes priority and the tree will probably go up this week. I really love Christmas even though it's so stressy and I'm trying hard this year to keep things simple - still haven't forgotten my word for the year - CHILL - and I'm definitely trying to do that and not let little things worry me. I think I've changed my attitude so much in a year that looking back now I think a word of the year is a bit naff but it was fun at the time and something I did need to remember. I've even gone the whole hog this year and bought a Xmas table cloth, Xmas cookie cutter set and some "make your own cards" sets for the kids. I want to enjoy this time of year for once instead of it being something to dread. I WILL play xmas carols on my CD player if I want, I WILL put the tree up and enjoy the festive spirit as early as I like, I WILL do the kitschy things like bake xmas biscuits and do little craft activities with the kids for weeks in advance. I WILL make it a family time for once and focus on enjoying these little things with the kids and especially concentrate on making some new traditions this year. My family had almost no traditions at all except that my mum and dad took me up to the local lookout each Christmas Eve once it got dark and we stood and looked at all the plane lights and tried to decide if each red light was a plane or Rudolph's red nose. I got to play in the playground even though it was almost dark up there and my parents would push me on the swing and when I got home I'd put out milk and shortbread for santa and something for the reindeer. One year my mum even went so far as to create muddy hoof prints on our front patio - how she did that I'll never know but I will cherish that memory forever. Doug's family were the same, not much to speak of for Christmas. New Year for the Scots is a big one though with Hog Manay dinner and piping in the huge clootie dumping all aflame with lit brandy. There are a few other things like first footing and a wee dram but I'm still learning them. So we're trying to create some traditions of our own like the evening drive to look at the lights but I'll probably make it a night-time picnic this time round. There are a few and if anyone wants to share their traditions with me I'd love to hear about them. Coming from a family with almost no traditions it's seriously cool to hear about what other people do and I'd love to hear about some new traditions to adopt for my family. Can't wait to hear what you all do to celebrate this fun time of year.
I'm going to go now. I don't know how you manage to get through these enormous posts but I just type whatever comes to mind and that's what you end up with! As Stephen King the author says, thank you constant reader!!!!
Chat soon, love Lu
Friday, 2 November 2007
Quiet scrapping Friday
Thursday, 1 November 2007
Tuesday, 30 October 2007
Everyday Garbage Challenge #4 is up!
I was over at Cass's place today and tried on *the dress* again - yep it definitely fits better than two weeks ago. And well it bloody would want to after the two weeks of busting my chubby butt at the gym and being sooooo careful with everything I eat but alas it's still not fitting the way I want it to and so I'm going to have to be really strong and put in a bit more effort if I want to see more results. My personal trainer Liam is being so helpful, always encouraging, doing sessions with me for no charge and everyone at the gym is being amazingly helpful as the big day gets closer.
We did go out and get bridesmaid dresses today for Cass and Lus - they are absolute identicals of my dress except that instead of the ivory/buttery colour of my dress, theirs is gorgeous turqoise colour with turqoise and silver beading exactly the same as mine. We were lucky and I did have a "thank you God" moment in the shop as we found two - the last two in each size - that we needed and for the price we were happy to pay so I was a thankful chickie today! I also had a go at putting together my boquet this afternoon but Cass rocks at this kind of stuff so she told me that I need more of this, more of that so I have to go out Thursday and get more of the kind of flowers I want and more of the ones I want for the bridesmaid boquets. We also had a bit of a think about the table arrangements and stuff like that. Doug and I still have to finish off the ceremony stuff that we want and get that back to the celebrant so we can do up order of service thingys if we want them plus I have to try to hunt up some of those Balinese flags - you know, the tall pointed ones on long poles? - yep need some of them apparently to mark off the area for the ceremony as technically it is in a public place. I really will need to sit down again with a list of things that need doing or in my scatterbrained chaos I am seriously going to forget things!!!
Oooooh I want to share something that we're doing at Cyberscraps - like classes but better - but we're still getting the nuts and bolts figured out so I can't blab just yet but keep an eye out and I'll post as soon as it's sorted. Think of something along the lines of personal training for your scrapping!!!!
Anyway what else is going on? My full time typing gig is over and tomorrow I'm back in the shop - YAY!!!!!!! Can't believe how much I miss the place - and Cass - when I'm at home. I also really miss getting some scrapping done as I haven't done anything at home in weeks now. I'm behind in all my challenge blogs that I like to participate in and it really makes me feel out of the loop when I can't get a great theme or challenge done because there just isn't time. Anyone got a spare 10 hours per day to lend me cos I really need them!!!! lol
The kids are all good - Blayd is excited about his Australian championship tournament for the National All Styles circuit down in Sydney the week after the wedding. His flight is booked and the accom is sorted and now I've got to sit down with him and do a really detailed food list for him so he can manage his diet on his own while he's gone. For anyone who's not a regular blog reader, my eldest has a form of autism (pervasive developmental disorder- not otherwise specified or PDD-NOS) and incredibly luckily for him he functions and behaves 90% "normal" (whatever that's meant to be in this day and age!) as long as he sticks to a diet that excludes artificial colours, preservatives, flavour enhancers and virtually all salicylates (link to "are you feeding your kids healthy junk" in my sidebar goes to the website for the FAILSAFE diet which he does). It's a really hard diet with so many things he can't have so it's so important that he learns what he can have to avoid a reaction which in him is full on autistic behaviours like banging his head againast a wall, rages, tantrums, self-harm, all those scary things. So he will be under the care of his Sensei for three days as Doug and I can't afford to go with him and I do want him to learn some independence (even though he'll be under very close adult supervision and I trust his Sensei absolutely) so the mother instinct is to want to go with him but I do have to let him go a bit otherwise he won't learn for himself. Hard to do.......
Lachlann is going well, sleeping better and being very affectionate which is great. He's also learning the value of admitting when he's done the wrong thing and is really great about coming up to me and apologising after he's been in trouble for something. I've been trying to teach him that nothing is so bad that he can't turn it around if he's only willing to try and it looks like he's getting that which is great for him and for all of us really.
James is loving school and is almost at the end of his very first year. Can't believe it's gone so fast and how "grown up" he's become in a year. He's also completely obsessed with Ben 10 - a cartoon on Cartoon Network on Foxtel. About some kid who has a thing on his wrist like a watch, called an Omnitrix, which he can use to turn into all these different aliens whenever he needs to for the purposes of fighting evil. It's one of those things like Dora - kids started watching it on Foxtel and then before you know it there is Dora on every bit of crap and toy you can imagine. He went through the same phase with Blues Clues when he was 2 and 3 - had Blues Clues everything he could get his hands on. He's enthusiastic I'll give him that!
Caeligh is her usual ratbag self, pushing her boundaries and testing her limits every day. She is getting better. She doesn't throw a wobble if I go to the gym as long as I get cold water from the gym water cooler and bring it home in my water bottle for her when I'm done. She's finally learning to stay in her own bed all night. She's also learned that she can jump from the TOP OF OUR TV UNIT - about 7 feet high - onto the armchairs nearby and apparently it's funny and if you ask her "oh it's not dangerous!!!". I fear what the kid will do to herself in the nannoseconds when I have to use the bathroom or answer the phone. I do my best to keep an eagle eye on her but anyone with little kids knows how quick they are!
Doug is a fraction frazzled of late - the kids are all being really testing and his patience is quite thin at the moment which is really hard for him as usually he is more tolerant than I am. I think the pressure of money, work, kids, his mother's seemingly constant needs and wants and demands, the wedding and just stuff in general is taking it's toll on him and he isn't relaxing as much as he could be. I think we're all in serious need of a holiday but the cash just isn't there but it's something to aim for and save up for. We did want to buy a clapped out second hand caravan with a double bed and a couple of bunks inside and a canvas annexe so the big boys could sleep out there on fold out beds but apparently lots of second-hand caravan companies buy the ones in need of repair and do them up themselves for a profit so finding a cheap one (we're talking a couple of thousand tops and if I could find a give away then even better!!!! lol) is proving difficult so like anything on the wants list it will have to wait. But a holiday of any kind would be great over the Christmas break so I'll see what I can organise. Gotta give us mummies one thing- we can come up with something amazing out of seemingly nothing sometimes!!!
I'm off to the gym now for my nightly torture session plus more of the same for the rest of the week. Don't forget to check out Everyday Garbage if you want to check out everyone else's fab work for the latest challenge.
Thanks for visiting and for the comments too! Hope you're all having a good week. Love Lu!
Saturday, 27 October 2007
All About Eve challenge - secrets
Friday, 26 October 2007
Quick update
Sunday, 21 October 2007
The only thing worse.....
Friday, 19 October 2007
Just over five weeks to go!
We met with our celebrant on Sunday afternoon. She's a really lovely lady and made us feel very relaxed and comfortable with her right away which is great. We did our paperwork and all that kind of thing and this week I've printed out heaps of different vows, ring exchange wordings, etc that she emailed me. Just have to get Doug to sit down for half an hour to choose things he likes. I've done that already, some just seemed like the perfect choice straight away so it wasn't hard. I hope he likes the same stuff!!! I'd hate for us to have our first ever big argument over the wording of our wedding vows!!! lol
I've gotten almost all the flowers I want for my boquet and for Cass and Lusi's as well. Because I really want to wear the yellowy ivory dress I've gone for cream coloured lillies, peonies, cabbage roses, etc plus whatever else I see between now and whenever I do up the boquets. Cass and Lus will have fuschia-dark pink orchids, lillies, etc. The flower girls have their dresses so that's something taken care of. I've still got to work out what the boys will wear, probably just dress pants and a button up shirt or something. Lachie still wants a full penguin suit and I still can't talk him out of it!!!! Something will have to be done about that boy!
I've got the styrofoam dummy cake layers to use as a stand for my cupcake mountain thing. That will be a fun job the day before the wedding and another reason I'm using artificial flowers cos I don't want to have to do two big jobs the day before. I've also found cute little pink and white butterfly sprinkles at Woolworths that don't have any nasties in them (very rare indeed!) so they'll probably get used. I bought a pack of 100 white bakery sized big cupcake papers at Spotlight last night so I'll put them somewhere safe (e.g. on the moon if I don't want Caeligh to get them!!).
I've been trying so hard to be good and focussed on the weight thing so that the dress will fit. I tried it on at Cass's place this week and it zips up but it's really tight across my bum and tum - look like a very classy rolled roast!!!! lol But I know it won't stay like that. I'm sticking to my 1200cal/30g fat per day diet which for me has been really hard. I'm an absent eater and I just pick up stuff and eat without ever adding it all up. The food diary has been the best thing for me, writing down every single thing as I eat makes me realise how much I ordinarily would have had. Even a couple of chocolate biscuits here and there or a handful of chips or a couple of slices of pizza all add lots of empty calories to the total and I can see how all my habitual snacking has made me gain so much weight cos I just eat without a second thought as to how much is in all of it and if I'm not exercising then it's far more than I can use up. I've had a good weeek at the gym too, working really hard, pushing myself. I did a pump class on Tuesday night which felt like it was going to kill me and by Wednesday afternoon I thought it might! I even got up Wednesday morning and went to the gym for a half hour on the treadmill so I wouldn't get that awful post-heavy exercise agony but because I'm sitting 8 or 9 hours a day to type it's happened anyway because I'm not moving during the day. At least in the shop I'm up and down and moving around alot but not doing that enough at home. I had a personal trainer session with the v.cute Liam yesterday morning. We did boxing!!!! I'm a bit unco so learning the moves was fine but putting them together in different combinations of punches was hard! Then the sprints up and down the training room weren't fun either but I got through it okay and then he cheerily says to me "okay now you can go do your cardio for the day!!!". I was sweating, puffing, exhausted and quite sure I had done all I had to do!!! lol So onto the treadmill for half an hour again but feeling better today. I can see how people can be discouraged though - I've lost 2kg but nothing for a couple of days now despite the extr hard work in the last few days but I can definitely see my body shape continuing to change even though the scales aren't moving. I can only assume that I'm adding some muscle mass as I lose fat so that's why it's balancing out. I can't wait to try the dress on again next week and see if it fits a little better. All the trainers at the gym are being amazingly supportive and they all know why I'm there and what I want to achieve so they often come over, ask what the plan is for that day and offer suggestions to up it a bit or they spend some time doing things like sit ups/crunches etc with me as I HATE doing those. I'm still quietly amazed that I haven't fallen off the wagon yet as normally I would have but I did ask for God's help in this, to improve my health and to fit into the dress I had bought and again He's come through with extra resolve for me at a time when I thought I would be worried and stressed and freaking out about every little thing but that hasn't happened either. I'm feeling calm and relaxed and figure everything will sort it self out and I can only do what I can do and if some things don't get done like little details then most people won't even notice I bet.
Now what's happening in the scrapping world? I haven't heard about Masters but heard that final decisions also haven't been made yet but very soon so fingers crossed for all us shortlisted girls. That would make a nice wedding present though wouldn't it??? nudge, nudge, wink, wink if Casey and Krys ever read this!!! lol
The shop is still busy, the October offer is really popular which is great. We just keep getting in more and more stock all the time and we're seriously running out of room. Good thing Cass is an organisational genius!!! She's there alone at the moment while I'm at home typing and I miss our chatter and deep and meaningfuls over the paper racks when it's quiet. I also miss that time to just get layouts done. I haven't done that all week at home but Cass and I are getting together tonight to do some scrapping for the shop so I won't be completely deprived!!! lol
Doug ended up winning tickets from Triple M to the Indy this weekend on the Gold Coast so he's taken a day off work to go down. Blayd is on an excursion to Australia Zoo and I've had to work so Doug left Caeligh with his mum (we might take her tomorrow or Sunday) and he and Lachlann and James have gone off for the day. I made him promise me he would get them both ear plugs. I don't care if he doesn't want to take care of his own hearing but the noise as soon as you get close to the track down there is just amazingly loud so ear plugs are an essential! Doug's more into the V8's than the champ cars but today he'll get to see both. It will be a big experience for the boys as last year we thought James was a bit small to go so we didn't take any of them and Doug and I just went by ourselves but this year I think they'll all be better able to handle the noise, crowds, etc. The passes he won are for the whole four days so he's going today, maybe tomorrow and we're not sure about Sunday, which is the big race day for the V8's and the champ cars. He also won tickets to the Indy Fest concert on tomorrow afternoon and into the evening. He has very kindly donated those to Cass and I if we want to go down as he's not into the whole concert thing and he knows we'd probably enjoy it more. Small Mercies, Kiss Chasey and Good Charlotte are playing and I'd love to see them so we'll see logistically how that works out as I have to work until about lunchtime tomorrow. This year the tickets he has won include flexi-seating as well along the track. Last year we just won paddock passes which meant you could get in and wander around all day - yep like cows in a paddock but there was no seating anywhere!!! So he's excited to have a place to sit down and watch for a while this time. He's made off with my camera and his old crap digital camera as well which I think he said he was going to let James use. Jamie is turning into quite the camera buff, taking mine every chance he gets and he's not got a bad eye either! Maybe for Christmas he will get a cheap low end Kodak or something for him to practise his photography skills.
Is anyone else doing anything exciting this weekend? It's getting towards the end of the year and Christmas shopping is upon us again. Thank goodness the shops aren't all decked out just yet. My kids never get it that actual Christmas is so far away from when the shops get decorated. Caeligh and James figure Santa is coming any day now and I have to keep saying that Santa is frickin ages away yet!!! But they look at all the shopping centres done up and say "but it's Christmas -look at all the trees and the lights!!!". It's hard to explain commercialism to little kids.......it doesn't make me feel festive, just annoyed that they peak soo early these days.
Okay I'm going back to my typing (the work kind!!!) and I'll try to get some pics up of the invitations and the flowers etc next week cos a couple of you asked to see them. Thank you to everyone who has emailed or commented and left congratulations for us. It's a reminder of how not alone we actually are and I loved reading everyone's kind words. I think some people who know Doug and I are more excited than we are!!!! lol
Have a fab weekend and thanks for visiting. Lotta love, Lu
Monday, 15 October 2007
What am I scrapping?
Now THIS gorgeous young man is Cass's boy Ronin - a cherub if ever there was one - in looks anyway!!! He's very much like caeligh - can't see the horns on the outside!!! lol I've used some ScrapWare chipboard flourishes and those drop dead gorgeous flowers are our new Prima range that came in last week as well. They are satin and look old and vintage dyed and they are just beautiful.
Thursday, 11 October 2007
Migraine gone!!! lol
We were originally doing the Registry Office thing and then I remembered my lovely friend Tash's wedding which was on a clifftop overlooking the beach and ocean and I remember thinking how much I wish we had been closer to the sand and the water. The beach has always had huge magnetic pull for me and I feel so calm, happy and centred when I'm there so I put it to Doug that maybe we could get married on a beach someplace. I thought right away he'd say no as he's not really a beach person (but he does an excellent job of tolerating it for the rest of us each summer!) but he liked the idea so we started thinking of beaches and what was available for reception ideas in the surrounding areas of the beaches we liked. We also wanted to look for our favourite Irish band - Tullamore Tree - to play at the reception as we'd always promised ourselves we'd get them if we ever got married. It turns out they were unavailable on the Saturday night we'd originally planned but were playing at the Wellington Point Hotel on the Sunday afternoon so as we weren't committed to a Saturday wedding we've decided to make it Sunday afternoon instead so we could have our favourite band there. We've also decided on a 2pm wedding down on the beach at Wellington Point which is a nice area with a conservation island about half a kilometre off shore and at low tide (yep it is a really really low tide!!! lol) you can walk from the mainland out to the island and back. So we've decided to go with the whole beach thing which is going to be fab. Then we're off to the hotel for a cocktail type reception with drinks, music and platters of yummy things to snack on. The band plays from 3.30pm until about 7.00pm so we've got a few hours to while away and hopefully get a chance to have a dance and enjoy the company of our guests. Afterwards we are going to give people the option to stay on for a more formal reception dinner on the rear deck in the restaurant if they'd like to. Because we're not asking for gifts (after ten years together I think we've got just about everything newlyweds would need!!! lol) we're going to ask guests to pay for their own dinner if they wish to stay. I was a bit iffy about that at first as it seems a bit rude but we are on a really tight budget and we'll be supplying everything for the cocktail reception ourselves so we thought people would understand if we explain how we're going to work things. That way people have the option to spend time with us and then head off if they don't wish to stay on for dinner. We're certainly not forcing people. It will be nice for whoever is able and willing to stay on to join us as we're having the cake and all that jazz after dinner. The reception venue have been just amazing so far. They've allowed us to reserve their huge outside dining deck which overlooks the water, offered to set up all the tables as a formal wedding reception with the whole white linen thing and even set up our table decorations for us at no cost. I can't believe how helpful they've been. We've got an appointment after I finish typing on Saturday afternoon to go down and actually clap eyes on the venue and choose the cocktail reception menu and just confirm everything we want to do. Then on Sunday we have an appointment with a really lovely celebrant I found on Tuesday (after much prodding from Cass who reasoned that if we don't have a celebrant - given that the paperwork needs to be lodged in a week or so - then we're not going to be getting married no matter how lovely the floral arrangements I'm thinking about!!! She's a clever girl my Cass, knowing what needs to get done while my head is off in the clouds thinking about some other little thing that probably nobody else will notice but me!!! I'm great with the creative detail but really crap at getting the important stuff done and anyone who knows me will attest to that.
So as of today we have the reception booked, the celebrant booked, the venue for the ceremony and I think I've even decided on a colour scheme which is what I'm good at.
Oh yep and as of this afternoon I HAVE THE DRESS!!!! EEEEEEKK! I have spent the last week traipsing around all kinds of snooty bridal shops, trying to politely and without looking to pov-arse, ask where their sale/ex-hire/budget rack is so I can find something I'm happy with. I don't want a Vera Wang here people, I just want something I'm happy with how I look in. And I know that for most of us that's a tall order too, especially for me as I'm carrying about 10kg more than I'm comfortable with right now. I still have more on top of that but that 10kg I've put on in the last few years is the one that rules out the stuff in my wardrobe I really like, stops me from fitting into off the rack stuff at most chain stores and means the difference between a size 14 item of "normal" clothing and a size 18/20 chumba whumba outfit at a "big girls" shop. Yes I know it shouldn't matter, yes I should love myself regardless of size and all that spin but hey - when you can't find anything that doesn't grab at every chubby bit you've got then you have a problem!!!! And let's not forget how flattering shiny white fabric can be to the larger woman!!! Not bloody flattering at all!!! It's an exercise in depression while trying to keep my self-respect and dignity in tact as yet another long nosed bridal store assistant shows me the "larger sizes" range - which by the way all look the same - and tut tuts at me as I say no to yet another strapless flowing thing which is supposed to flatter and camoflage the lower body. I DON'T WANT FREAKIN CAMOFLAGE - IT'S A WEDDING NOT A MILITARY ASSAULT!!! I want something pretty, something sexy, something that doesn't make me look like the side of a white delivery van as I turn around. There's a reason they only have one big mirror in front of you cos you'd never buy anything if they had those 360 degree ones like Trinny and Susannah have. You'd just collapse on the floor of their elegant bridal shop and start howling for Tim Tams - that's what you'd do!!! Okay, well it's what I'd do........ So in frustration today I visited what I figured would be the last shop I'd look at for a while. I have a very understanding gym who realise that I have to shift some of the weight before I will be comfortable in my own skin (and eventual dress) for the big day and they've set me up with great nutritional advice and an exercise regime to follow for the next six weeks so I can - as they say in the army - be the best I can be. Hey maybe it IS a military thing........! I walked in and lo and behold their sale section was about ten times as big as their new section! I suddenly saw boundless possibilities from full on bridal to cocktail dresses and formal gowns. I have however been strangely drawn to the beaded sheath dresses I've seen which I never would have normally looked at and I still can't explain why I like it but I have found (DOUGLAS IF YOU'RE CHECKING MY BLOG THEN DON'T READ THIS PART!!!!!) a gorgeous, georgette, floor length beaded spaghetti strap buttery ivory coloured sheath dress which is bridal yet very beachy looking and I absolutely love and the best part was it was well within what I was going to spend on a dress (and I can tell you it wasn't much!! lol) but the slightly scary part is that I purposefully bought one that is a tight fit on me. Now I plan on using the dress as motivation because I love it that much that I really actually do want to wear it in six weeks and have it actually fit comfortably. So I have some work to do which is okay with me. Some of the weight has to come off anyway so it will be nice if I can get partway there while getting on with the wedding preparation as hopefully the time will fly and it won't be as hard going, knowing that I've got something wonderful to look forward to at the end of it.
So there you go, no scrapping or anything but some good wedding plans going on!!! lol
There's a crop at Cyberscraps tomorrow night if anyone is up for it - just ring us at the shop to let us know if you want to come on 07 3274 55 22 and also we're having a great special for October on line as well - whatever you spend online in the store (excluding postage etc) we will give you 50% back as store credit to use next time so that's really stretching the scrapping budget further especially as we've got so much gorgeous new stock in, terrible to the point where we're running out of room for it all!!! How awful is that??? NOT!!!! lolo Hop over to Cyberscraps and check it out if you're up for some great priced scrapping supplies plus 50% store credit as well. It doesn't get much better than that!
Okay well I've got to head off to bed soon, if beauty sleep is in order then I'm going to need at least my 8 hours a night (plus a few weeks solid huh!!!). Have a good weekend and don't forget to check out the fab entries for the Everyday Garbage blog for this fortnight. Clever chickies having fun with us over there!!!
Chat soon, love Lu
Monday, 8 October 2007
Saturday, 6 October 2007
All About Eve - Music
Here's my take on All About Eve's latest challenge - Music. I've loved music all my life, always have the radio on in the car and love to sing. Pink has been my favourite singer for a while now, her whole look, attitude and music really speak to me and her "I'm Not Dead" album is one of those rare ones where I actually love just about every song on it which doesn't happen often for me. So I find her very inspirational, strong, opinionated and ballsy - all the good qualities I like and try to foster in myself! lol She's definitely a bit of a muse for me.
Saturday already and some BIG news!!!
Tuesday, 2 October 2007
Everyday Garbage Challenge #2!
Everyday Garbage's second challenge is now up and this fortnight we're challenging you to use things from your bathroom!
We were all excited about this one and we've been posting some hints to give you a bit of direction and we've had some great comments and suggestions to help along the way too.
I've done an OTP which is unusual for me. I'm usually a straight down the line layout kinda girl but I had a Panadol Rapid Handipak in the bathroom cupboard and then on my desk for a few months and I picked it up a couple of weeks ago and realised that it would make a cute little pocket sized mini album! I took out the two sheets of panadol that were inside the packet and used them as the template to cut out the insert pages that I've done. I've also used it to cut patterned paper for the inside cover of the album too. It's called "A Pocket Full Of Michief" which suits my girl right down to the ground. She's very big on making faces every time the camera comes out so that's all I've had to work with! lol I ended up cutting a cover from felt and used a hot glue gun to stick it all the way around plus for the felt flower embellies and the heart as well. I've then put the insert page inside and used a couple of Caeligh's hair ties to hold the insert in place. I'm really surprised at how well it turned out - who would ever have thought you could do so much with a packet of panadol from the bathroom cupboard???? Come on over if you have time and have a look at what we're up to or better still head off to your bathroom and start gathering your supplies! Entries are due in by midnight Sunday 14 October (AEST) so there's plenty of time to get moving. We're also looking for guest Garbage Girls so be sure to get your entries in if you'd like to join us for one of our upcoming challenges.
Apart from the mini, album I haven't done much other scrapping. I'm hoping I'll be able to do some tomorrow at the shop as I met up with Lusi for a picnic on Saturday and met some of her lovely friends. Jilly was there with her gorgeous twin boys and they and my son James hit it off like a house on fire. Now Jilly and I are both being driven mad with requests for play dates!!! lol I've got some great photos so I'll have to either try printing them at home to use or get out to Harvey at some point before work tomorrow. Lusi goes back home today. We had a great night last night, meeting up with her and Nat for coffee up at Mt Coot-tha at the lookout for an evening of chatting and lots of laugher! We even got some pics in cos we're never without the cameras! Lusi - MISSING YOU ALREADY BABE!!!!!
James is at home at the moment, being really helpful, tidying up and watching TV for the most part. Caeligh is at kindy today and the big boys are with their dad until the end of the week. It's definitely quieter but the dynamic of the whole house is different too and I miss them heaps.
I'm working today and then in a couple of weeks I'll be doing two weeks full time which will hopefully give us the rest of the bond money we need to move over the Christmas holidays. It's weird now that we have a little bit of savings in the bank. Before, when we literally didn't have a cent spare each payday, I could have thought of a thousand things to spend money on if we had any but now there's money there and I could go and buy those things, I don't actually want to! I've never been good with saving and money does seem to burn a hole in my pocket so I'm trying really hard not to find things to spend it on. I don't want to live payday to payday for the rest of my life and at some point I have to learn to say "stop the spending!!!" so we can get ahead. I also worry that my money habits will rub off on the kids and I don't want for them the lack of money skills I've had most of my life. We're trying to introduce a payment system for their chores so they can learn to put some of it away, some for spending, etc.
Almost everything is back in my kitchen now but we need to go look for another kitchen table and chairs as ours were third or fourth hand when we got them and I don't have to tell you how unkind kids are to furniture! lol So it's dinner at the coffee table for us for the moment but funny enough the kids don't care......I guess they figure they're closer to the television!! lol Now that the kitchen is almost done, the laundry has been piling up while we haven't been able to get in and out of the back door easily because of workmen and mess and stuff everywhere. It just never ends does it? You get on top of one mess and then you turn around to find something else that needs sorting out! Doug does most of the laundry but he's back at work this week and I'll be doing it because even though I'm working, I'm still at home and have time to put on a load, put out a load, etc.
I best get back to work but just thought I'd check in about the EDG blog stuff. Thanks for coming by and having a look. I really do want to do more blog surfing and commenting but I'm struggling to find the time to do even the most basic stuff like keeping in touch with the girls on the Cyberscraps forum, keeping the EDG blog running and remembering to post in my blog. Chuck in some photo editing and answering emails and I feel like there's just not enough time left in the day.
Anyway I hope the school hols are treating you girls with kids okay - I've been really lucky that I haven't heard the catchcry "I'm bored" too often, it's been more like "there's nothing to eat!" with James here by himself. Far out for a skinny kid he puts away a lot of snacks!!! It's his lunchtime now so I better go find him something before he fades away!
Chat again soon, love Lu