Knicker girl...

Today, as I was having my shower, the girlie was very quiet so I ducked my head out to see her trying to put on my knickers from the pile of dirty laundry. I exhorted her to remove them from her person in many different ways, but the only one that worked was "They're dirty and they need a wash." She left the room to put them in the laundry - or so I thought. The next thing I know she has brought in a clean pair from the washing basket and is putting them on - then pulling on her pants afterwards. Talk about observant!

Had trouble with her spitting today. I can only assume that is has something to do with her recently acquired skill of brushing her teeth (after which you spit into the basin) or that she has seen a kid at daycare do it. Either way it is pretty yucky. We had a few incidents with it today but she eventually got the message after I had a light bulb moment and actually explained it to her that you only spit in the basin.

On the upside - she put her pyjamas on all by herself tonight. Woohoo!!!!

As we were making the bed tonight, DH mentioned that there was too much floor in the bedroom... but he seemed happy about it :) LOL.

I am going out to scrap tomorrow - two classes of 3 hours each. And I don't even have to come home for lunch!!!!! I must be really excited about it because every time my mobile rang today I kept expecting it to be cancelled! And I have my bag packed and ready to go!!

Glasses of water today = 5
Stargate episodes watched = 1
loads of washing = 4
folding done = 0 (how sad... :P )

Scrappy day...

I scrapped!!! Haven't done that for ages. It is cybercrop weekend at Chookscraps and this was challenge #4 - make a card using your scrapping supplies. The star took 2 1/2 hours to get right - and then I had to replicate it in nice paper!!! Grrrrr.

Got to finish Chasing Charlie Duskin this morning. DH got the girlie her breakfast so I got to lie in a little bit. It was a good read and I enjoyed it but I think it would have been better if I'd been able to read it in one sitting!!!

Have moved onto Love on a Branch Line (aptly retitled by my family Lust on a Branch Line - see the BBC series and you'll understand why! :) ) I have read it many times - it is right up there on my much read list along with Pride and Prejudice and Cold Comfort Farm.

I still have four books to go on the CBCA Book of the year list (and I have heard they are the depressing ones) so I had better get onto it soon.

The girlie's language is coming on in leaps and bounds. Every day she comes out with new words and concepts. She has even started reading books to herself in the morning while we are rushing around trying to get ready!! She has started to sing in tune (to a certain extent) and that is very exciting too!!!!

the dreaded fridge

I cleaned out hte fridge today. I found lots of stuff to toss:

2 jars of salsa
2 almost empty bottles
2 empty cream cheese containers
7 jars of jam in various states of uneatenness (some I have just chucked - I am too scared to open them... :) )
1 half-used bottle of magadophilus capsules with use by date of 07/05 (there's $35 I'll never see again...)
1 half empty jar of yukky hoi sin sauce
1 unopened airline container of apple juice
2 packets of fast food s/s sauce
4 sick looking chillies
2 jugs of cordial from whenver I last had a cold
2 mushroom bags
1 egg from who knows when
1 piece of dried broccoli
2 pieces of paper towel that DH had soaked in vanilla and put in the fridge to get rid of a smell at some stage

I also folded all the clothes (the sheets and towels will have to wait, however) and managed to change the sheets on our bed.

I also drank 8 glasses of water. It probably doesn't add up to 2 litres, but it's better than none!!

On a more personal note - I asked the girlie what did Mummy need and she said "a cuggle"... :)

Not Mummy

Today the girlie let us have a bit of a sleep in - she didn't wake up until 8 am!!! Which is a nice change from 6.45...

DH went in to get her and as he came in she said "Mummy!!!!", to which he replied "I'm not Mummy".

"Daddy!" she said and then he brought her in to see me.

"Cuggle Mummy!" and I did as I was bid.

She proceeded to point and name everything (as is her want in the morning).

"Mummy, Taggyn, pirrow, co(t), not mummy..."

We laughed.

Always read the label...

I can't believe it!! I have put off disinfecting the girlie's favourite bear because I didn't have any Pine-O-Clean and didn't want to use bleach or to wash it in the machine because I thought it might have cardboard joints. And of course these would 'melt' if they got wet. But what do I see as I am painstakingly giving it a sponge-bath tonight? "Gentle Machine Wash"...

Grrrrr....

Anyway, I have done heaps of cleaning today - swept, vaccuumed, and mopped floors - cleared and wiped the bathroom benches, washing and folding (of course), made dinner and sandwiches for tomorrow at the same time and I even got to read a bit more of Lost Property! Which is turning out to be rather good.

DH, meanwhile, has been taking photos of colour-cordinated M&Ms...

hmmm.....

Lovely day

We had a lovely day today. We were invited out for lunch, and although it was a late one, the girlie behaved herself impeccably (well mostly!). She was a bit silly when we got home though.

Have decluttered one side of the kitchen (yesterday) and washed all the sheets and done most of yesterday's folding. The other half of it is still ont he line as I think it is too cold to go out there and bring it in tonight. We have enough clothes to be going on with. I have also managed to clear a path to the wardrobe in our bedroom and have been finally able to put away DH's shirts in it instead of having them hang over the doors.

Queen's Birthday holiday tomorrow so I can get stuck in and clean for the week so I won't have to do any of it again until I come home from holidays!!!!!!! Well, that's the plan anyway. Just have to get off my behind and do it.

Have just started to read Lost Property by James Moloney. I keep thinking about it on and off so I figure it must be pretty good. Moloney draws his characters really well so that they jump of the page at the reader. I'm looking forward to reading some more of it. Haven't finished Chasing Charlie Duskin yet, so should probalby get back to that one too.

Decluttering 101

Well day 10 is here and I am still Flylady-ing - picking and choosing a bit as there is only so much time in the day. But the house is getting better tiny bit by tiny bit. It really helps that DH is doing the dishes every night - one less thing for me to worry about. Today's challenge was to set the timer for 15 minutes and to travel round the house picking up rubbish - I couldn't belive how much I got done in 15 minutes! I also did a 5 minute foray into the master bedroom and even that short time made a difference.

I got 2 parcels today - one I was expecting (some display folders to store my scrapping stash in - they are brilliant!) The second contained an anti-frizz kit that I won for updating my details on a website - from memory I think the prize was supposed to be a pamper pack... I'm not sure that anti-frizz shampoo and other such items amounts to pampering. Oh well, never look free hair products in the mouth.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the girlie may just cost us a lot of money. She has taken to galloping around the house making horse sounds and today she showed far too much interest in the tap danicing on playschool... So at the moment it's either a pony or tap shoes... hmmmm.... Mind you she seems to like cars so she might just earn some money as a mechanic... You never can tell.

Flylady day 9!

Last night I wrote up my morning and evening routines - couldn't find a binder so I wrote them in whiteboard marker on the back of some old laminated notices from work! I stuck them about the kitchen bench so I'll be more likely to see them there.

Did a washing roster so I am not washing all weekend too. Hopefully it will cut down the folding time if I do it in little bits.

Today's lesson was on how to declutter. It takes a bit of setting up but it should be great once I get it going. I like the idea of doing just 15 mins a day.

I also stuck to my guns and didn't put the computer on until the girlie had gone to bed. Makes for a later night but at least I am not tempted to read emails instead of getting tea on the go on time or playing with her.

Mind you, today all she wanted was for me to leave her alone and put the Wiggles on! :)

Day off tomorrow!!! Woohooo!!!!! Only 4 student contact days to go!!!!!!!!!!!

I scrapped!!!!

I discovered something today. The Wiggles on video is a great getting-dinner-ready-with-as-little-stress-as-possible tool. She stands in the middle of the lounge watching it - mesmerised - dances a little jig (or round and round, whatever takes her fancy), and then goes off and does a puzzle or something nice and quietly while I finish chopping. Wow!

Haven't flylady-ed much today - just put my clothes out and now I am supposed to write routines down. Hmmmm....

The girlie has taken to babbling in sentences. When I say 'pardon?', she usually repeats herself exactly - so I assume SHE knows what she is saying!!!

I finished a layout last night - the first since the cybercrop. Am going to do a facing page with photos from that particular month for the girlie's first year album.

folding, folding, folding...

I feel like that is all I have done today and there is still some left - but I think it will only take me 15 minutes so that is not so bad.

DH has even said he appreciates how the house is gradually changing - he might even jump in and help!! :) Seriously, he does do the washing up every night and that is great.

We went out for coffee this morning and then to the library. Borrowed a Wiggles video for the girlie and she was so excited - gave me a huge grin when she saw the case let alone the video on the screen!!!

She is trying to copy almost everything we say - I will have to get out a tape recorder soon!

It's Friday!!!!!

And what a good day it has been!

Today was quietish at work so I got some stuff done. The backup finished just in time for me to leave on time. I got a reminder email at luchtime to clean out my handbag - and I did it!!!! I think it took a bit longer than 5 minutes but it is done and I found a few things I wasn't sure where they were - and that can only be a good thing...

Got to the post office to find that my scrummy ribbon from Scrapapple has come and I just can't wait to use it!

The girlie was pretty good this evening and DH was home early so things GOT DONE.

I have folded all my towels and sheets from the mega disinfectant wash and will put them away tomorrow when I have sorted out the cupboard to find room for them.

All in all not a bad night. and seriously looking forward to Saturday Coffee tomorrow!!

Anti-procrastination day

Today's challenge was to do something that you have been putting off. In my current state of cleaning frenzy the only thing I could think of was cleaning the bath/shower. So that's what I did. And now it is nice and clean!

Of course, I could also have fed the lemon tree, dead-headed the roses or watched Monsoon Wedding but cleaning was on my mind... :)

Had coffee with Suzie today.

The girlie is starting to use more and more recognisable words. "whoopwee!" is creeping in to replace "oh dear" at times and "joooosh" (pronounced like the queer eye boys do) for "juice" instead of "aha". Why "drink" is "aha" I will never fathom.

We all seem much better today so lets hope it stays that way.

I did it!!

I have a clean kitchen sink! It's almost shiny!!! I can't belive I actually did it!

On the other hand, gastro has reared it's ugly head again - I am okay so far though thank goodness! And the other two don't seem to be nearly as bad as they were last time so hopefully this might be the end of it.

I've read/finished a couple of books this weekend, The Glory Garage by Nadia Jamal and Taghreb Chandab and The Apricot Colonel by Marion Halligan. Although I found some of the writing clunky in the first one I found that the stories were so interesting that I read it right to the end in one sitting. Colonel took a bit more reading as the style is not one I usually read. There are no quotation marks for a start. But I enjoyed it anyway.

Am currently reading Chasing Charlie Duskin by Cath Crowley (from the CBC Older readers shortlist) and so far it's pretty good.

I aim to read at least all of the older readers list by the time the winner is announced mid-August. Gotta at least know why I don't agree with the judges! :)

Anyway, I am off to relax now that I have done all the gastro washing and shined my sink! :)

Urgh... :(

Well, after a recent bout of gastro for us all I have decided that this house is just too messy!!!! So I have decided to have a go at FlyLady to see if it will work for us. Even though it is American I know that lots of people have used it and it works, so let's just have a go.

We are all better now - The Girlie was he first to get it on Thursday night. SHe threw up all over me and our bed. ARGH!!! The poor thing was in so much pain adn had no idea of what was going on. We have been so lucky that she hasn't really gotten this sick before. After a restless night she bounce back on Friday (while I felt VERY sleep deprived!)

Then DH and I both came down with it on Saturday morning. What a way to spend the weekend. Thankfully DH's parents came to look after us - what a fantastic thing to do, especially considering it is a 5 hour trip to get here!!! They washed the dishes, disinfected the loo and the bath and looked after the girlie. Oh, and did the garden! Thanks Mum and Dad!!!

We did 3 loads of Napisan washing (I don't think I have washed so many sheets and towels at once in my life!!!) and finally things feel almost normal. Back to work tomorrow!

Hopefully that's the last we'll see of gastro for a while.

What's washing???

Woohoo! I scrapped!! It's been so long since I actually finished something I'd almost forgotten what it was like!

I have tomorrow and Wednesday off so I will catch up with all my washing and housework then... or we'll be underfed and running naked... :)

Weekend!!!!

Why are teenagers such toerags on rainy days??? Is it because they are kept inside at school and at home so that pent up energy has to go somewhere??????

At least it is now the weekend and DH will be home tomorrow and there is an impromptu cybercrop on this weekend! YAY!

And I even got to go out tonight for a progressive dinner. It was fun. I love going out with just ladies - we can talk about so much stuff that men just find boring (or don't get - one of the two!) It was also nice just to get out and not to have to worry if my child was hurting herself, someone else, or destroying something!!!

Well, my scrapping magazine finally came today after I have been eyeing it off in the shops for a week so I am going to go to bed and read it.

New words today: baby (instead of wahwah) and dog (instead of woofwoof). Woohoo!!

The rain is STILL here!

Tonight the girlie discovered her birthday clothes that I have yet to put away. She got very excited to find some new pants and tops in a bag, but even more excited to find a new hat!!! It fits okay when her hair is done like a palm tree but it is too big otherwise. Still she loves it.

It is still wet and windy. Most of us at work wished we could be back at home in our pyjamas but we soldiered on regardless. Mostly without complaining. Unless you count all the times (which was every time I met someone) we complained about the cold, the wet, and the wind.

Parent/teacher interviews today. Thank goodness I could get home early and not stay for the evening session! Knew I had a baby for a reason! :)

New words today: "car" and "t-shirt" - both without prompting and used to name things.

Rain Rain go away...

And fall up north where they need it!!!

It hasn't stopped raining today. If it hasn't been pouring then it has been spitting. I suppose at least it hasn't been hailing.

Despite having an undercover washing line I think my washing is all still almost as wet as it was when I put it out there. Hopefully it will dry tomorrow because otherwise we will be left with wearing oversized trakky pants and t-shirts with strange designs emblazoned thereon... Not really suitable attire for even leaving the house in - let alone going to work.

The girlie woke up a couple of times last night and then thankfully slept in until 7.45. Unfortunately today was the day that S. rang at 8 am and said "should we go out for a latte before playgroup?" Who am I to pass up coffee?? Even if, although upright, I am still asleep while making the decision...

We did drawing at playgroup today. The girlie usually loves to pplay with all the toys while the others do craft, but today she eventually decided that she wanted to draw too. Maybe she will like it after all.

She also wouldn't go to sleep for ages this afternoon - and when she finally did it was a bit late and she slept til after 5pm! Too late to let her sleep I know - but I had heaps of washing to do. Then of course the milk is after its date so we have to go out and get some more after tea - so she didn't get to bed until well after 8 so I suppose that made up for it.

DH is in town for training again this week so I did all the washing up and made lunches so I am set for the morning. I even made the shepherd for tea tomorrow night! How organised is that! I haven't done the potato yet though - would have liked to have gotten it done so I could just pop it in the oven but it was just not going to happen tonight.

Here's to dry washing a a full night's sleep.

Atishooo!!!

Between shelving, book club, reading classes and NOISY kids the day went pretty quickly. I don't feel like I got much work done however.

I still have a cold - not quite a terrible one though so I don't feel amazingly bad, just slightly bad. Full nose and a bit tired and a few sneezes and coughs. Must remember to drink more fluid tomorrow.

Got a parcel in the post today. Is nice to have some new stuff to play with!

I had planned to eke the girlie's birthday pressies out over a few weeks but unfortunately I didn't put them away quickly enough. She saw the Weebles box so I had to get it out and set it up. It plays the most annoying music. My sister (who bought it) should look forward to a noisy toy coming her daughter's way sometime soon... :) :) *evil grin* The girlie does enjoy it though. She wanted to put it away in the box when she'd finished. Thankfully she let me convince her that it didn't really need to go back! I must remember to hide the box tonight because I really don't want to have to put it away and pull it all out again every time. It requires assembly so it would be a bit of a pain.

Grandma sent some new puzzles home with us too so we have had some fun with them tonight.

The girlie also ate 3 servings of pasta, a tub of yoghurt and most of a rye cruskit. I have no idea where she is putting it all!

Day off tomorrow - I am looking forward to putting my feet up when the girlie goes to bed!

Traveling here, traveling there...

Finally home!!!!! After 5 hours (3 of which the girlie slept! Woohoo!) of driving to a Wiggles soundtrack - we made it.

Only to find that it is blowing a gale, the hot water is just warm, and the cat has not only slept in the girlie's cot and on her couch, but has thrown up on my stitching chair!!! Still, I suppose that's what you get if we go away and leave him for 5 days - we might as well have been gone FOREVER!

Busy day yesterday - being Easter and all that. Went to church (which finished early) had lunch and then put the girlie down for a 'sleep'. Took her at least an hour to get there!!! Then we had to wake her up to go to my sister's for tea (which was late due to dough rising difficulties) and she was not impressed. Still, she got a pressie so she shouldn't grumble too much! :)

Talking about pressies - she has certainly go the hang of them now after three separate celebrations! Knows all the easily torn spots to get it open in the shortest time possible! And she likes the innards more than the wrapping now!

Anyway, it has been a long and tiring day so I am going to go to bed.

Goodnight.