out with a bang

After a enviable summer break, school begins this week for the wee poppets, which of course means book covering time!

Well, book covering time for Bessie, Joe/Frank goes into senior school and they tend to be all about the lever arch folder.

Long time readers will know that book covering is always a big deal in CasaDonaldoYCarole. This year, Bessie and I spent a good deal of time work-shopping, deliberating, discussing options, caucusing &etc.

We were torn between using cut-down kitschy record album covers and an retro-postal theme.

Eventually, we decided upon retro-postal - purely for cost/simplicity, though we plan to totally source inexpensive album covers for some manner of project this year.

We went with brown paper and cute labels from the newsagents, a packet of cancelled collectible stamps from the Post Office and combined them with whatever postal labels we had laying about on packaging in the haus (airmail, customs and the like).

Each book has stamps related to the subject - English has the Queen, Maths has stamps with only numbers ... Occasionally it was a bit of a stretch as there weren't a great deal of thematic stamps in the packet.


Adorable! Bess used the hipster typewriter for the labels.

We completed the covering this morning, then Don and I visited Joan to pick up the boxes/cast-offs mentioned in the last post. Whereupon we found a huge, huge envelope and an album of hundreds and hundreds of completely wonderful 70s, 80s and 90s stamps (so much better than those in our packet from the PO).

Bessie and I laughed, shook our heads and decided we'd save the wonderful stamps for another project!

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stash

While I was in the Nation's Capital, Joan received a phone call from her male parent (with whom she has not spoken in roughly 4 years) to tell her that her step-mother was pregnant with twins and to invite her to lunch.

Joan took the opportunity to ask them to deliver her "stuff", which had been stored in less than ideal conditions for a good many years.

Today, Don and I visited her to collect those items which had saved the very thorough cull.

Though Joan would not let me bring home the photographs for fear that I would tear them up, I did manage to score my brownie certificate which was contained within the boxes - for reasons unknown to any of us.



Precisely why I affixed the "Smile, God loves you" sticker to the certificate has disappeared into the mists of time. It may have been because I was utterly delighted by the colour and design. And I still am! And how about the "welcome to" typeface in the certificate? Fabulous!

But enough of me, everything contained within the boxes needed a good airing, cleaning and proper storage ...

There were dollies:


Bessie, Joan & Joe/Frank cabbage patch dollies

And dolly clothes made by mummy all those years ago:



And a Very Large Box full of dollshaus furniture (which we thought had been discarded).


Yes, that large box. You can just spot a wee Persian Carpet.

And a cross-stitched birth sampler, with which I whiled away the long hours while confined to bed rest in late pregnancy:



There were also many trophies, which I (of course!) will keep, but one wonders if they will ever leave the box again.

And several other treasures, including a chucky doll destined for Heather and badges (including one from Bessie's fave AFL team from the year she was born), brooches (there is no other name for them) I wore in the late 80s and a very incomplete coin collection.

And many, many postage stamps! But those are for another post.

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removal?

In an exiting news, I have developed balloon-like qualities over the past week. Clothes that fit me two weeks ago are now ridiculously and uncomfortably tight (and in many cases, un-do-up-able).

I've been rather good about the exercise/diet and after a bit of lamentation and passing conversation with CrazyHyperGP during my footzapping, I decided this was worth investigating a little further ...

Could it be the very thing which was supposed to be my salvation be my undoing?

Mirena side effects

• Change in menstrual bleeding, such as frequent, prolonged or heavy bleeding, spotting, lighter bleeding, irregular bleeding or stopping of bleeding
  
• Development of fluid filled sacks (cysts) in the ovaries
  
• Excessive fluid retention in the body tissues, resulting in swelling (oedema)
  
• Weight gain
  
• Headache
  
• Depression
  
• Nervousness
  
• Mood swings
  
• Nausea
  
• Lower abdominal pain
  
• Back pain
  
• Breast pain
  
• Painful menstrual bleeding
  
• Acne
  
• Vaginal discharge
  
• Inflammation of the cervix
  
• Hair loss or hair growth
  
• Skin reactions such as rash or itching
  
• Genital infections, including pelvic inflammatory disease
  
• Decreased sex drive
  
• Migraine
  
• Abdominal bloating

Yay! I score 14/22. Though I will leave it as an exercise to the reader to establish which ones.

I guess I should be really pleased that my hair is not falling out.

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here she comes

Arrived home this evening to find a rather distressing missive addressed to my lovely husband from the ACT Government.

Yes, yet another speeding fine.



If you follow me on teh twitter, you would have been a victim of my tirade (which featured mucho! swearing!).

After the last fine you may find it difficult to believe that I really do not have a lead foot. Honestly, I usually am quite the keeper of the speed limit! No! Is true!

In NSW I get a $90 fine for 53 in a 40 zone (word on the street says they don't issue a fine for within 10 of the limit), in ACT $157 for 89 in an 80 zone, immediately coming off a 100 highway.



When I looked at where the offense occurred (see between red X's above), I remembered commenting, "oops! am going a little fast" and easing on the brakes. Obviously, I should have slammed them on and whiplashed my passengers.

I console myself that I am taking the rap for people like my husband who routinely speed and never get done. And I am quite terrified of the fines accumulated on the return journey, which we've not yet received.

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chewy

Y'all know we have idealistic (unkind people might call them deluded) visions of one day moving to the country¹ and growing our own foodz &etc.

Unfortunately, oftentimes, reality kicks in.

Our garden has been less than successful this year. We've had the usual invasion of thousands of caterpillars (who consume our crops overnight) and lately possums(!)² and the output of the tomatoes and cucumbers has been really rather sad (both in volume and in quality).

In good news, we've had an absolute bumper crop of herbs (the basils! they go crazy!) by keeping them undercover - where they still receive abundant light/heat.



Really, I think it is time to accept that is way too hot out on the deck in the middle of summer for anything but the hardiest of (non-food) plants and that we should focus on the herbs - which are exponentially yummier than store-bought.

Our planting experience this year has given us a bit of a reality check re: the bucolic vision - we can't cope with caterpillars/possums, what would we do with bunnies/kangaroos & other wildlife invading our poor plants? And has immensely increased our admiration for farmers, particularly those of the organic variety.


¹of course, the consumption of a large amount of peaches would be mandatory
²They leap all over the deck in the very wee hours! They leave little possum poos everywhere! They ate our parsley! We're on the 4th floor!

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roadtrip!

A whole week in the Nation's Capital proved most interesting.

TheProfessor, DisneyPrincess, Ghost and I stayed at Capital Executive Apartments, which at $99 per night, for location and amenity, was quite the bargain! A+++ would stay again.



The brain, it was severely taxed! But I think overall the experience was useful and even successful - if only to pass on my knowledge to Don - because I am really unlikely to be called upon to do linear discriminate analysis, quadratic discriminate analysis or tree-based regression any time in any sort of future.

TheProfessor is insisting I attend the next usergroup meeting for the obscure open-source software we were learning and I found, while "researching" on the InformationSuperHighway during our last day that Dr Bob will be also be in attendance. When I arrived home, found DrB had sent an email to Don suggesting he attend same. World's colliding - argh!

It was most strange to be away from home with limited internet connection for a whole week, it gave a good deal of time for pondering and thinkering. I took along the sleeves of the Accursed Jumper and my gym gear, but despite my very good intentions, those things did not leave the suitcase. I did, however, make full use of a bathtub which, unlike my own, did not have an enormous patch of peeling enamel¹. There was lots of lazing about surrounded by bubbles drinking glasses of wine while reading very silly needlecraft murders on my kindle.

It's really quite interesting being away for an extended period with colleagues, but those observations definitely deserve a post of their very own.

The real highlight of the week was finally meeting up In Real Life with the divine curiously minty after being Imaginary Internet Friends for many, many years. She whisked me away to a most gorgeous part of town and who was even more fabulous than her blog would suggest. If you are all as nice, we should meet for a drink or seven

¹Yes, despite the re-spraying is peeling worse than ever.

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protecting my aura

I'm on an apparently exclusive mailing list for buyinvite.com.au¹. This means I get all manner of crazy discount offers for stuff I probably don't need or really even want.

I have bought some mucho-cheap Bond's sweaters² for Don and some mucho-cheap very cute ladybug havianas for Bessie - both of which I have been very pleased with. Things take an age to arrive, but the customer service is quite good.

The daily email mostly contains clothes, shoes, bags and occasionally homewares. Today however, one of the items on offer was something very, very special:

The Infinite Holograms are technologically designed to provide waves to the body that act positively on us.

These holograms have been programmed to restore the energy balance we have lost because of the widespread contamination of frequencies that surround us, which we can't see or feel, but they unbalance our body daily.

When Infinite Holograms contact with our aura, the information sorted in the hologram acts as a shield against such frequencies and also supply us with natural energy. This natural energy helps our cells to communicate much better.

Several tests or Kinesiology Test prove that the user increase his / her core strength, balance, flexibility and resistance to the cell phones, Wi-Fi's and computer frequencies.

In each box you get a free hologram to stick on your phone or lap top for added protection.

These are 100% genuine holographic wristbands.

A wonderful bargain too at only $24.95 - down from $60!

¹If you want an invite, give me a yell
²Jumpers, I mean jumpers - my vocabulary is slowly becoming Americanified, I blame my husband.

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milly

She told me earlier in the year that she would be here over the Christmas/New Year break, but I totally put it in the back of my mind. I would occasionally remember and kept meaning to email, but you know how it is when someone is far, far away - there is so much to say and emails become so very time consuming to write.

AnxiousMum enquired about her yesterday and I mentioned that an age ago she said might be visiting and that I really should send her a quick email to see if she actually was. But, as always, I became distracted (truly, my attention span is that of a gnat - must have been all those drugs I did at the turn of the century) and promptly forgot to hit send.

My phone rang today and lo! there was MiLLy's name on the LED phone display¹. We met for coffee this afternoon and it was like she never left - there was nary a pause for 1.5 hours. She looks wonderful and is having a fabulous and most enviable life.

It made me realise how much my current colleagues do not measure up to her for conversation, company and friendship.

I really do miss her in my life.

¹apparently the SaltMinesLimited doesn't delete names/mobile numbers from the phone database because she has been gone for over 3 years.

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three to go!

Part of Bessie's not-resolutions was making gifts for her friends.

First cab off the rank was making a bag for her best friend. Last year we whipped up a silk-screened tote - which BestFriend apparently carries everywhere (yay! for crafted gifts!).

This year, after work-shopping some options, we decided on a More Improved Bag with a subtle Harry Potter theme.

We had some black drill left from the 2010 birthday tote (I am a terrible over-buyer of fabric - I also used it for the Aunt Christmas tote and there is still a little left), bought some yellow fabric from Spotlight and a couple of buttons from Lincraft. Then we found a hufflepuff patch on eBay (which has yet to arrive and will eventually be added later to he centre of the front flap).









Entirely of our own design and we are completely delighted with it!

I'd want one for my very own self if I did not already have the hideously expensive designer bag with my very own name, but we may make a couple more for the rest of the fam (or padded for our various laptops).

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2011: not resolutions - carol

My list of not-resolutions was always going to be rather longer than everyone else's

1. More Blog
   
2. Less Twitter
   
3. Achieve saving goal
   
4. Claw back my health / Lose that pesky 5-10 kg / fit into my clothes
   • No more second (or third!) helpings at dinner
     
   • More walking home from work
     
   • More eating proper meals
     
   • Less snacking on junk
     
   • Take vitamins regularly
5. Make at least 2 camping trips
   
6. Spend more time on self-maintenance / grooming / pampering
   
7. Keep up the diversity in all things cooking
   
8. Add a few more non-meat meals into the rotation
   
9. Take more of our own food to the footy
   
10. Change work hours (again!) for more time away from the ghastly SaltMinesLimited
    
11. Stress less about the SaltMinesLimited. Accept that I'll be there for another year at least because there is no way I'll find the flexibility elsewhere
    
12. Procrastinate less
    
13. Act more like a lady
    
14. More projects / less computer
    
15. Let go of perfectionism
    
16. Complete Don's accursed jumper!
    

2011: not resolutions - joan

1. save money for a holiday
   
2. go to the gym and shed pounds
   
3. get career direction
   
4. stress less
   
5. keep my home in order
   

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2011: not resolutions - don

1. Get a golf handicap (however bad it might be)
   
2. Complete 4 post-grad nerd subjects
   
3. Play guitar four hours per week
   
4. Repeat another magnificent victory in fantasy baseball comp
   
5. Achieve savings goal
   

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2011: not resolutions - joe/frank

1. Get an average for my subjects >80
   
2. Be a better guitarist
   
3. Get my licence¹
   
4. Try and actually buy presents for birthdays/Christmas²
   
5. Prove responsibility for outings
   

¹The humanity!
²This would be for the Daddy family - we are really very, very anti-gift in this haus!

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2011: not resolutions - bessie

First cab off the rank is the baby girl

1. Get an A in any subject
   
2. Get a part-time job
   
3. Beat siblings in School Certificate
   
4. Make birthday gifts for 4 friends
   
5. Perform a hard song¹ on Guitar
   

¹Bessie has not been entirely forthcoming as to what constitutes this "hard song", but we'll know it when we hear it.

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2011: not resolutions

This year, in addition to usual my not-resolutions, I've mixed it up a little and forced the fam to give me five goals for 2011.

As ever, we will not beat ourselves up if these are not done, they are simply things we might quite like to do in the upcoming year - no pressure!

Also, as it is the end of the decade, I've also forced them to provide me with a list of 10 things they would like to have done by 2021. Everyone is still mostly working on those - the deadline is the end of January.

Will be super-interesting to see how those pan out! Whether the blog is (or indeed, any blogs are!) still in existence in 2021 is another Interesting Thing.

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again?

Much to my dismay, I've been rather down in the dumps for the past several days. I feel really directionless and really quite meh. Truth be told, the prospect of returning to SaltMinesLimited for another year of DishyBoss's Extreme Micromanagement has me very, very, very unhappy indeed.

So I've been sitting about moping and generally being miserable and endlessly trying to arrive at projects I might like to do to distract me from my malaise.

This morning, my lovely husband gave me the most excellent pep-talk which focused on the letting go of perfectionism and just doing something (anything!) rather than trying to find the perfect project for me.

Really, it was just what I needed (much cheaper than the therapist!).

I'll be back tomorrow with the annual list of things that I might quite like to achieve over the next year, but which are in no way at all resolutions and which there is absolutely no pressure to do.

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