Tomorrow, tomorrow...

I go back to work....

Hmmmmm....

Do I have to???????

Ok, whine over!

I went in today and there is a 2 month pile of periodicals to put on the system. Thanks go to our wonderful library assistant who has prepped them for me so all I have to do is put them through the computer. YAY! Our doors have also been painted. The outer one is blue and the inner ones are red. Hmmmm...wonder who came up with that colour scheme??? It's not too bad really, the colours are quite deep. I'm sure I'll get used to it....

The girlie went into daycare today (and apparently had a marvellous time) so it was my last day of freedom. It was so nice to have done all the major tidy up things so that I could enjoy it!

I went the library and borrowed some more Ilsa Evans as well as that old bastion - Mrs Christie! Am looking forward to a good old fashioned over the top Miss Marple murder. What is it about that woman that attracts crime??? St Mary Mead seems to be a lot like Midsomer - by the end of the episode you wonder if there is anyone left in the town to murder!

Anyway, early to bed tonight - sandwiches are done and the washing up will take but a moment - got to be on time to work at least one day this year!

See, I can tidy!

I thought that I would show you all what my table looks like without my scrapping stuff strewn all over it!

I also thought you might like to see that my girl really is her father's daughter. Anyone who knows him can attest that he also has a penchant for shoving things up his nose....LOL...or in his ears... Hopefully she will become more sensible with age. She should - after all she is female...LOL

I have just spent the last couple of hours watching the tennis. The match between Federer and Gonzales was fantastic. The other finals have all been a bit one-sided, so it was great to see a match where the players were a bit closer. It was also good to see Federer challenged a bit for a change! Bring on good tennis!

I also watched a bit of Midsummer Night's Dream. The modern version. I had forgotten what a cringey play it can be. Sucha comedy of errors. Young love and all that. Still, the performances were good. I did enjoy Taming of the Shrew better though!

Only one more day at home! Back to work on Tuesday. ARGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

What the...?

Welcome to my mess!!! So much for cleaning up the dining room!

Well, to be fair, I did clean it up, but I messed it up again.

But I did create three layouts (if you look closely you can see one of them!) Well...2 1/2. One isn't quite finished yet... I will put them up tomorrow.

In other news...

I have put batteries in the girlie's kitchen and now it makes noise. I think I must be insane. Oh well, at least she seems to be enjoying it.

It's raining! Well, a little bit. And that's better than nothing.

My kitchen is still tidy.

I finished my book - and it was good.

Decluttering again....

Here are some pictures of my decluttered kitchen. They were requested by my mother. I expect she didn't believe me! Ignore the clutter in the dining room part - it won't be there next week anyway... :)

The first photo is of my friend's little (5lb 13oz) baby. He was born on the 20th, so is just 6 days old. He has bad jaundice, poor thing, so they'll be in hospital a bit longer. But isn't he beautiful??

I go back to work on Tuesday - I hope to get a fair bit more done this weekend before that.

Well, it's time for bed. Off to read the sequel to Spin Cycle. It's called Drip Dry, and it's even better! Well I think so, anyway!

HOT! HOT! HOT!

That pretty much sums it up!

We are supposed to get a cool change sometime tonight but it doesn't feel likiely at this stage. It was still almost 30 degrees Celsius at about 6 pm here tonight.

The girlie has had a temp all day as well as colic last night. I am hoping that it is the heat and teeth rather than anything serious. She seems to be much better since her cool bath (even though she hated it!) and has finally gone to sleep.

Anyway this heat has got me exhausted so I am off to bed. I finished Spin Cycle this morning so I think I will move onto The Devil Wears Prada tonight, just for a bit of fun. I can read my book group book tomorrow.

Oh my goodness!!!

She ate some potato! I am still in shock! It was only about half the size of a five cent piece but I am sure that is progress of a sort LOL!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch - we are in the midst of stocktake at work - argh!!!! I do so hate stocktake. Backache, armache and the feeling that you never want to look a novel in the face again... Still, we'll find out how many books got nicked this year... :)

I have my Christmas list sorted out (not going to post anything here cause my mum reads this! :) )so that is a weight off my mind. Next to work out is the Christmas card list and then I have to write them! So much to do!! Only 2 1/2 weeks left!

That means there are only 2 weeks left of work (8 working days for those of you playing at home!). Pippee! Pippee!

Girly... yet elegant...

...is the look I was after.

I do like my new bedlinen.

And the best thing about it is that I got to choose it. No-one else has to have any input in it except ME!

"I'm in a big bed!"

Yes, it has finally happened - my little girl is now in a big bed! And very excited she is too!

She has slept in it for two afternoon sleeps and once overnight so far - she managed to fall out once last night reaching for Zoe (a small furry puggle-like creature - photo to follow at a later date) but has not been so bad the rest of the time. I bought a trundle as well, so she has fallen onto that. The trundle is not only handy to break falls - it also doubles as a step. Yes, that's right, the bed is TOO HIGH! After all my checking and double checking at the shop it turns out that this mattress is about and inch higher on this bed than the other one. And she can't get in it.

Oh dear.

She also doesn't know that she can get out of it anytime she wants - an idea I do not intend to disabuse her of... :) But I'm sure she'll work it out herself soon enough.

IN OTHER NEWS:

It turns out that the main character of Spin Cycle is a librarian. Curiouser and curiouser... :) This book is getting closer to home all the time! :)

Thanks to Fleurie for setting up some more links on the side of my blog. I will update them soon (ie. when I have time to figure out how to do it...LOL)

There are only 3 weeks to go till Christmas. That means there are less than 3 weeks to go till holidays!!!!! I just have to get through stocktake first. Hmmmm... Stay tuned to see if I survive...

ARRGH!

I just spent 1 hour and 36 minutes on the phone.

While it was lovely to have such a great conversation with a great person, I have done no folding, no dishes and missed Agatha Christie. And my ear is still sore... :)

Still, I did get a nice cup of tea. And I got to have an adult conversation with and intelligent and learned person, so all is not lost.

And the writers muck with the endings of those Agatha Christie specials anyway. Fancy inventing new characters and new motives into an already full plot!

Tonight is the girlie's last night in her cot. Yes, I have gone out and bought her a bed. I intend to take her out tomorrow and buy a nice doona cover and some nice sheets to go with it and then we will come home and put it all together. She likes helping do things like that. I might nip into the store quickly before she does and hide the Wiggles' sets first though.... :)

I have been able to do some more reading recently. I have found a new author, Sophie Kinsella. Her books can only be defined as chick lit, however the book I read, The Undomestic Goddess was lots of fun and a really enjoyable read. And not too cringy - unlike Bridget Jones' Diary! Currently, my bedtime reading is called Spin Cycle by Ilsa Evans. I haven't gotten very far into it but it seems good. Partly because I have a fairly intimate knowledge of the part of the world she has set it in. It's very weird to think that you know exactly where the character is when she's having lunch... :)

Anyway, I am going to go and read it now - the dishes can wait. I, too, can be an undomestic goddess.... :P

Tired...

...and that pretty much sums it up for me... LOL.

The girlie has had croup and gastro in quick succession - which has meant a LOT less sleep when we were both only just getting over daylight savings time starting. (Doesn't that always knock you round?)

Work for other teachers is starting to wind down (well classroom-wise anyway) but for us in the library it is starting to wind-up with a fiction stocktake looming! Yes, we get to find out just how many books have made it past our security system in the last 3 years! :)

On the upside, some lovely people from church came and not only mowed my extensive lawn (well huge dandelion patch might perhaps be more accurate) but also whippersnipped the edges. It really made my week. I even got inspired and went and weeded around the lavender out the front. Now I just have to keep it up and weed other bits too.

And tonight I got to scrap! It's a day of protest tomorrow and apparently I am protesting. Or not, as the case may be. I am certainly not protesting a day off work! Even if it is unpaid. It means that I can do some housework (sadly? without my usual aid of a small but enthusiastic helper) and also have some time to myself. Hence the fact that I have ignored the folding and the washing up tonight. And scrapped instead...

But I will head off to bed now and get some well-earned rest. And hopefully I will be allowed to sleep through... :)

"I don't wan' it...."

So how to come back at that??? From a two year old???? Before you've even set tea on the table????

I don't know what all the rest of you would say, but this week I have been "Mummy the Mean" and am about to become "Mummy the Even Meaner".

I have decided that I am tired of preparing two different meals (all she will eat for dinner is corn-on-the-cob, plain pasta, plain rice and egg and toast) so this week I have given her pretty much what I have had. So the menu has been meat and 3 veg, vegie soup and toast, pasta and meatballs and rice and stir fry. I didn't give her the sauces for the pasta and the stir fry because I am nothing if not kind and know that she really actually doesn't like tomatoes (established early on) and satay sauce is really a bit hot for her (as well as containing peanuts).

Tonight was a delicious tuna pasta bake lovingly prepared and much enjoyed by both me and XDH. Of course, true to form, the girlie would not even try it - pushing it away before we had even said grace. So, as I have done all week when she has refused food I said "Well, that's what we're having and that's all there is" and she got down from the table.

What she doesn't know (and this is where my new title comes in) is that I made enough so that we could have the leftovers tomorrow night. And since she hasn't touched hers I have no cumpunction not to serve it to her tomorrow night.

I wonder how long both of us can hold out?

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.