just plodding along

yay and nay

me thinks oscar has a shoulder preference

thumbs up...

thumbs down...

let there be light

next door to our house is a complex of town houses. and right next door to our house is where the garbage bins live. a couple of months ago some builder men came and built a shelter for the bins. and today some electrical men came and installed some fluros. they're pretty bright.

at least now we don't have to worry about stumbling about in the car port when we come home at night.

and now the person who dumps a dozen or so bottles into the recycling bins every night at about 9pm won't have to do so in the dark.

comedy gold

Q. Why did the toilet paper roll down the hill?

genius

this morning toffee (my iBook) had a kenipshen. i think that it was one too many times that the battery was run flat (i always forget to turn the charger back on in the morning). nothing would turn toffee back on. not even help from the apple tech support website.

so an impromptu trip to chatswood to see if the apple store might send it off for fixing in time for it to be back before we go to melbourne. i didn't like our chances.

we arrived at chatswood chase (which has the stupidest most random car park), and eventually found the apple store - after looking on the directory and not finding it, to then turn around and see it right behind us. we went in and spoke to some guy. he said it was a genius bar thing, and that we needed a reservation. we said ok. so he looked up on one of the display macbook pro to make us a reservation, but there were none available. ba baow. but then he said to wait a second, and disappeared from the store. a few moments later, he brought out a tech, James, who said he'd squeeze us in.

he did some stuff to toffee. reset something or other. took out the battery. turned it on. and off. and on. and off. and winner! good as new. then he proceeded to clean the screen with a special apple label cleaner. thanks james.

done and done. james is a genius. and i am thankful for him.

seven months

the buddy is now seven months old. that's pretty old. well, not really.

here are some recent pics.

a few days ago i gave him the opportunity to check out his sweet potato when he wasn't all that interested in eating. turns out he was more interested once he had the opportunity to spread it everywhere.

feeling the texture

not really feeding himself, but chewing on his spoon

and pretty happy about it

hanging out with daddy

and with bert

he is doing much better with his settling. seems he is totally over needing a wrap. hoorah! although he still has trouble at times resettling after a 40 minute nap. but he's getting there gradually.

hopefully going away next week won't undo all the good work. i've read that going away can really unsettle a bub and make nights difficult. hope not!

way cool

Before Ross' show last month, there were some awesome tunes playing over the PA. We, and a lot of other people in the crowd, had a jolly good time singing along. It was like Hayseed Dixie, but not quite. Still bluegrass but all popular songs redone. Very cool.

A few days later, I decided I really wanted to know what CD it had been, so we could buy it.

So I emailed Acer Arena, as Ross Noble's website doesn't have a contact option. The Events Manager emailed me back saying they didn't know what it was because the performers bring their own music, but she would try to find out. That being said, she didn't like the chances.

So another few days after that, I looked up Ross' management, and emailed his contact there. And today I got a reply! How cool. She said that she believes the band is called 'Pickin' On' and they are in iTunes. And oh boy are they. There are pages and pages of their albums. So we're trying to find the one that was played that night. Assuming it was an album and not a playlist! And it seems that it's not just "a band" but lots of different bands contributing to a series.

We're buying the Pickin' and Singin' Best of the 1980s Vol 1 in the very least.

I am very impressed with all facets of customer service/PR in my searching.

curious george

every once in a while, it's interesting to do a post such as this, and see just who you people are out there...

so feel free to leave me a comment telling me:

1. your name
2. your blog address minus https and wwws (if you have one)
3. have you broken any bones? if so, which
4. your favourite beverage
5. how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood

rich tea biscuits

howie and i love rich tea biscuits.

last week we found a dodgy looking one at the end of a packet. it looked a little mouldy or something. i took a photo and emailed it to the company.

and after an email reply, today i got a $5 gift card, and another apology in writing.

i assured them that we would continue to buy rich tea biscuits. because we love them.

frustration

my life's cup is overflowing with frustration at the moment. and i don't feel like i can do anything about it. there's nothing that can happen to change things. and so i sit and boil up inside because of things i can't control.

it is driving me crazy.

and mostly it is to do with noise. all the noise surrounding us. oscar battles so hard to sleep sometimes, which is an amazing thing in itself after so many months of him battling against it, and he just doesn't stand a chance sometimes. and it makes me angry and frustrated.

i know the world doesn't revolve around me, or him, or his need to sleep, but sometimes it would be nice if it did!

we really love this house, but we really don't like where it is located.

noobs

debs sent us an sms this morning asking what we were doing for lunch. like most days, we had no idea. and so welcomed the idea of hanging out with the noobs. as we replied, "we love lunch. and we love noobs". in the end, james noob wasn't available til later, so debbie noob came over. the small one was awake for some of that. and asleep for some of it. actually maybe he was just asleep for it. i can't remember.

anyway, because the small one slept well (yay!), we waited for james noob to have lunch all together. we had to decide what to eat. options included sultan, chefs lucky, chicken burgers, pie. we narrowed it down to sultan or chicken. and then flipped a coin for which chicken. wahroonga won.

so once the small one had woken, and the nooby one had arrived, we piled into duckie and headed wahroonga way. we were all hungry as it was 2pm. son with urgency, chicken burgers were eaten. sunshine was enjoyed.

then because the small one needed his own afternoon tea, we headed home. the noobs hung around long enough for james to become thoroughly addicted to farmville, and for debs and howie to go get lollies. lollies eaten, and strawberries harvested, the noobs headed off.

thanks for playing noobs. twas fun.

melbourne

the countdown is on. we leave in two weeks. i've never been to melbourne. and i'm sure i won't really get to see much of it. but hopefully will be able to at least see a few mexican friends, ride on puffing billy and go to the zoo.

i'm a bit anxious about it all, with it being oscar's first time away. and also with such a long distance to cover by car. hoping he adjusts well to the changes (new surroundings, new bed etc), and that taking along some of the normal homely things will help. we're also giving him a couple of new toys - one for the car and one for playtimes. not that he'll probably notice or care. but makes us feel better.

i'm hoping that his night sleep isn't affected. particularly when we stop off at albury and whereever on the way back. because i will need good enough sleep to drive the many kilometres!

anyway, we'll cross that hurdle if, and when, we come to it.

the first hurdle will be packing. babies require so much crap! hope duckie is up to the challenge. fortunately howie is a tetris packer. so he'll figure it out.

50000

only 49 unique visits to go til we crack the 50000.

will it be you?

if it is, comment and you win.

what do you win?

an amazing mystery prize.

now, if that's not a motivator to get us to 50000, i don't know what is.

tax done

today howie and i got our tax returns done by a tax agent. she was a lovely woman by the name of karen. we figured with the arrival of the small one, and the change in howie's work situation, it would be a good idea to see a professional and make sure that everything was filled out correctly. it wasn't too painful a process, even having to explain our slightly unusual circumstances. and it all took less than an hour.

this year, i pay no tax and receive no refund (in previous years i've had to pay about $250, but my income was lower and my medical expenses higher).

this year, howie gets a refund! for the first time in six years. and it's for $1500ish!! wowey! i maintain it's all thanks to me and my medical expenses, so he shouldn't get to spend it willy nilly. surprisingly, he disagrees.

winter olympics

howie bought a couple of DVDs from some shop that was closing down or something yesterday (whatever his excuse was). and one of them was top gear winter olympics

we watched it tonight (as we can't watch 'talkin bout your generation' since channel 10 has gone to the dogs - we really need a new antenna on the roof). and it was good fun. i so very much love top gear UK. i still think that the polar special is my favourite. or the US special. i haven't seen all of the vietnam special - or maybe I have. ah, they're all good!

the bub

howie blogged this today, and i want to blog it too.

too many pegs

my goodness me. oscar cut his FIFTH tooth today. and i can see the sixth one is on its way as well. what the heck!!

this is what is average/normal

so far he's gotten: both lower central incisors. at 5.5 months. both upper central incisors. at 6 months. and one upper lateral incisor with the other on the way. at 6.5 months. not 6-10, 8-12 or 9-13 months!

no wonder he chews his arms, sleeves and hands off all day and even in his sleep at night

climbing

i just read this article about KRudd rejecting a proposed ban on climbing Uluru.

Now I must admit, I have actually climbed the rock. I was in Year 6 and my family went on holiday in NT. And we went up it together.

But I have also been there three times and not climbed the rock, because of a greater understanding and respect of the culture of those who consider Uluru a sacred site.

I can't remember if the signs were there requesting it not be climbed in 1993. I'm pretty sure there were signs with health warnings at least. And I don't know that if they were specific signs against climbing, whether we would have reconsidered.

But having been there since, having done the Mala Walk and visited the cultural centre, I would have to say that doing those things brings much more significance and awe for the site than climbing it did. And beyond that, it fosters a greater respect for the beliefs and wishes of the local indigenous people regarding the land that they belong to.

I do wonder whether KRudd has done any of these things. The article says he's never climbed it, but I wonder if he has been there. I personally think, regardless of having been there in person, if he knows the position of the local indigenous people (and surely he must), it is disrespectful of him to not consider the proposed ban.

cute

it's pretty amazing and interesting watching a little person grow. and to see all the different expressions, discoveries, emotions etc as they come.

he's pretty darn cute

which remains a good thing, as he isn't always that much fun to be around!

gawwwwwne

The AFL news of this week is that Barry Hall is goneskis. Can't say I'm really all that surprised. Although I did think that maybe he would stick out the season. Hopefully his big shoes will be filled by some of the up and coming younger talent. But it is all a bit sad really. I'm sure he's a lovely guy. But one that just can't seem to control himself at times. One brain snap, ok fair enough. But brain snap after brain snap? Not so good.

Hopefully the Swans are able to move forward and not be worried about losing the big man. It's not like he was a goal kicking genius. Not a Plugger. But I'm sure when he wasn't out injured, or suspended he was a morale booster.

March onwards boys!!

day 5

i very much wish that oscar would get the idea that he needs to sleep at least 1.5 hour each time i put him down to nap. five days in and he's still not understanding that. 40 minutes just does not cut it.

wedding dress

I've finally decided to sell my dress. I didn't initially because I thought it might be fun to have around for any daughters I might have. But since I we have the O-man and we aren't planning on having any more kids, my one reason for keeping it no longer exists!

If you're interested, go here.

It's still up for grabs B!

THE FINAL WORD ON NUTRITION

After an exhaustive review of the research literature, here's the final word on nutrition:

1. Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
2. Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
3. Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
4. Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
5. Germans drink beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
6. The French eat foie-gras, full fat cheese and drink red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than us

CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

flashback : 2000-2001

i cut my hair off. well, i didn't. the hairdresser did. at my instruction. although i felt bad giving instruction. so it's not as short as i'd like. because i'd already asked her to go shorter when she thought she had finished.

not that you can tell from the photo, but the colours i got done a few months ago look so much brighter now.

i was sick of all my hair falling out everywhere all over the house. so this was my solution. it'll still fall out everywhere, but those strands won't be as long and annoying.

milestones

oscar cut another tooth today. his top left one. that makes three. and the fourth is on its way.

everything i'm reading says babies will get first bottom teeth between 6-8 months (he did at 5.5 months) and first top teeth at 8-10 months (he has at not even 6.5 months). of course all babies are different and these are just averages. but gosh, it's a bit early for the top ones yet. that being said, one of the bubs in mothers group cut his first teeth at 11 weeks - yikes!

anyway, he refuses to roll over, which he should have been doing for at least a month or two now, and isn't too keen on eating solids anymore. at least his sitting is bang on target.

08/09

i want to do my tax, but i can't.

howie and i will be going to a tax agent this year to ensure our returns are filled in correctly - because of things like having a home office, having a bub, our not-so-normal way of receiving income etc. so hopefully it will be helpful and straightforward. but that means waiting for howie to have all his stuff ready to go - which means waiting on a group certificate. i haven't had to wait of a group certificate for at least seven years! my return would already by submitted by now. but alas.

i don't understand those who leave it until almost the next financial year, or beyond, to do their returns. maybe theirs are more complicated than mine.

giggles

this is a month and a half old or so now, but i still think it's pretty cute