Filling in the Gaps...

It would seem that Friday is my blogging day. I'm putting it down to being at home and having a lot going on at the moment, rather than being at work and blogging to make the day go faster before my brain starts to leak out of my ears for lack of use.

I have a feeling that this is going to take a lot longer to type out than I planned because I keep rushing to the window every 5 seconds to see of the Australia Post man has arrived with my ASOS order. I may or may not be hysterically excited to have some new clothes.

And speaking of hysterical, since my hysterical post about baby names, things have happened.

Specifically, a miracle has occurred. We have chosen a name for our baby girl!

When The Man got home from Sydney, I may or may not have burst into tears at the sight of him. Miss 3 was attached to him until sleep loosened her grip.

Can you tell we're a household of needy females?? I know, it's tragic - I should be teaching Miss 3 to be independent, how not to need a man in her life, and to change her own spark plugs. The only trouble is that I hate being independent, I absolutely need The Man in my life and I wouldn't know where the hell to find the spark plugs in our car if I had a diagram and the car came fully labeled (despite being the daughter of a mechanic...oh the shame!).

Once Miss 3 was in bed and we had time together, I broached the subject of names again. Before I even had a chance to say that I actually wanted the name we originally chose and I didn't give a rats bum what anyone else thought, The Man piped up with "I don't care what anyone says. It's our daughter and we have chosen her name because we love it. We're not asking for anyone to agree with us, we're asking them to respect that we've chosen a name we think is beautiful and that's all that matters."

I didn't really have anything to add to that verbally. So I just cried a bit more.

The Man understood it was a supportive sob, and with that we had gone back to our original plan and our baby girl will have a name that we chose for her out of love.

And that's the most important thing.

Secondly, further progress has been made on baby's room, with *flushing going on the walls. It's starting to look like a real construction zone - and this makes me happy.

Coat 1 of 3. All 3 coats have since been completed. *Flushing is now a word that I no longer associate specifically with the functions of a toilet.

Despite the out-laws declaring that I am a drama-queen for wanting the room complete 2-3 weeks before bub arrives, the FIL has followed through and the electrician will be here tomorrow! I am so pleased about this fact I don't even have anything snarky to say about it.

On Wednesday I spent far too much time in Bunnings staring at a rainbow-on-crack wall of colour samples. It started out as a fun idea, which soon turned to terror when I realised that I actually had to make a choice.

Anyone who knows me, knows that making a decision is the one thing that will mentally cripple me.

I finally decided it required time to sit down and ponder while Miss 3 had a blast on the indoor playground.

Almost 2 hours later I ended up with 7 samples out of 8 colours I 'narrowed it down' to. I would have had 8 samples, but the last colour didn't come in anything less than 1 litre, and I thought that might be a bit much just to paint a small square.

But can I just ask one thing? SINCE WHEN IS WHITE NOT ACTUALLY WHITE?! Seriously, I've put one of the samples on the wall and it's bloody GREEN people! What is with that? It looked white in the shop. Why is it not white now I get it home?

Top Left Hand Corner - it's GREEN!! Why was it even in the white section!?

I sure as hell don't have this problem when choosing finger paint colours for Miss 3.

In other news Miss 3 is really loving our new lifestyle of doing lots of things together and so am I. I'm constantly in awe at the speed she absorbs everything around her, and I swear her vocabulary is greater than mine!

The only bummer is that she loves to start the day bright and early when The Man leaves for the office. I, on the other hand, am keen to sleep for as long as I can and the getting up early thing just doesn't float my boat.

Sleep is a bit hit and miss at the moment - that elusive comfy position is a bitch to find, but once I get there it's awesome. I just wish it was the same spot every night! I'm a tummy sleeper by nature, and pregnancy is in direct contradiction of this fact.

As a result the nanna nap has made a regular appearance whether I want it or not.

Thank god for the numerous kids channels on Austar. They are a nanna napper's best friends and they also mean the carnage is limited to one area of the house while I'm passed out on the couch. Trouble is, I usually end up 'napping' slightly longer than I plan. And so my eyes suddenly spring open and my brain immediately goes into overdrive...

'Holy crap how long have I slept? Shit, is it dark yet? Oh my god why is it so quiet!? Right, plan of action is to stand up, stumble around and pray you trip over your still alive 3yo. Ready? GO!

Picture Credit: Allie Brosh, Hyperbole and a Half via Google search

Yes, cartoons are awesome, but we know they'll only entertain for so long while you snort and drool in your sleep...even if it is in the same room as said child.

Regardless of how much energy I do or don't have, ironing specifically remains the one task I LOATHE. I've had clean washing piled on a chair in the lounge room for days and I can't find the motivation to iron it. But I'm also attributing this to mental exhaustion as I've been helping my Mum with some of her essays for uni.

Holy freaking shite has it been a long time since I've had to write an essay - let alone write one that makes sense when 95% of my brain cells have abandoned me. And to be honest, I spend most of the time being indignant that all this 'writing an essay like you swallowed a thesaurus' is supposed to make a person a good nurse.

Yeah, because a patient will overlook the fact that you're an arse-hat with no empathy or love for the job if you can swan around and speak like a Professor in arse-hattery.

But sadly my ability to roll my eyes at all the bullshit involved in obtaining a degree is of no assistance. If it was, I'd have a degree in everything.

AND I WOULD RULE THE WORLD!!

Ahem.

Otherwise, we've just been plodding along and making the most of the time Miss 3 and I have left as just the two of us. It involves lots of time in the pool, baking more than I have in my entire life and being far more arty farty than I thought was possible - mixed with a healthy dose of over-attention for the cats, chickens and the general outdoors.

Loving every minute of it. Except when it's 6:30am.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to hover around our front windows in preparation of throwing myself at the first Australia Post truck I see.

On Being Productive...

Well, as productive as one can be with fractured ribs, anyway.

I'm scheduling this post for today as our home officially becomes a construction zone, rather than just a destruction zone. It'll make a nice change for walls to go up.

I keep looking around the house and seeing eight million things that I want to tidy or throw out or put into storage. And then there are the eight million things in our store room that I want to bring upstairs and start sorting for the new little miss, due to make an appearance in 13 weeks time.

I'm really excited to go through Miss 3's baby clothes as there were a few things that she only wore once or twice before it had to shift out of rotation - I'm happy to think they'll have a second life :) But, of course, that won't stop me from shopping up a storm! It was terrible when Miss 3 was born, so with 2 girls to dress I'll have to work very hard on my self control...maybe...

And speaking of Miss 3, by some miracle I was able to sort through her toybox without her really noticing. I take the fact that she hasn't mentioned a single item missing means they were long gone from the repertoire of play.

My next mission is to go through her play kitchen and all the materials associated with such.

That may be a tad more stressful than discreetly addressing the toybox, but we'll see how we go.

I have to say, having another girl has thrilled me to bits. The Man too. The only trouble now is agreeing on a name. The Man has latched on to a name that is so left of field I'm not even sure where to go with it! Needless to say I think it's an 'interesting' choice - but I'm not able to provide a counter proposal as I can't make a decision on anything!

Chances are the maternity staff will be writing 'Baby + Surname' on all the paperwork.

But a name is just number 1 on the list of things to decide. I'm still not sure on the colour for the room - I'm not sure about going pink again, I'd like something different for this baby. I love the yellow and grey nursery's I've seen on the internet but I'm not sure about the practicality of it and how fast it will age.

I also have to find a set of drawers for the baby's room, that won't cost $600 plus! I'm trying to find a raw pine set that I can paint white myself, as that's how I recycled the pine tall boy in our bedroom. With new handles and all painted up it looks fantastic, so I'm more than happy to do the same again.

And then there's the horrifying task of sorting through The Man's computer crap. Well, I call it crap. He calls it...some word I can't remember. But the endless computer parts, cables, funny board things and whatnot have to be addressed. If it was up to me I'd throw it all away - but I think that would probably kill him. So in the spirit of life preservation I will simply be pestering him for however long it takes for the crap to disappear.

It could be a very long life. Or a very short one.

But overall, while the men are constructing, I plan to be out of the house doing some shopping for my Hug-A-Bub, the chest of drawers, a baby record book and some girly stuff that I'll not be able to resist bringing home with me.

It's going to be a good day...

"The Time Has Come", The Walrus said...

Not  "to talk of many things: Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax-- Of cabbages--and kings..."

But to discuss the fact that The Man and his brother made such strides towards the current renovation project in our home, over the weekend, I thought there must have been vodka in the drinking water.

It looks like this baby will actually have a room, and I'm no longer eyeing off the fan blades in the lounge room as a potential 'cot' because I won't have anywhere to put a real one.

I'll admit, it was a risk letting the two of them take on the demolition. The Man and his brother are terrifyingly accident prone. If something could possibly happen, it inevitably will. It's in their DNA.

I married the one in red...

In true family style, they proceeded to remove gyprock and other miscellaneous building materials from our home with a ladder that was too short, no shoes, no safety glasses, bare hands and with the electricity still running through the house while hammering and chiseling into the wall...that contains the central power board.

I suppose their main line of safety was that beer would not be consumed on the job.

Thank fuck.

Somehow, the only 'massive' injuries sustained were a chisel into the hand (brother) and near impalement with a section of wood that only amounted to massive bruising (The Man). I was informed that he truly has 'balls of steel' because that was what got in the way.

Bandaids and laughter appeared to be the remedy.

Very few nails were stepped on, and each had the courtesy of warning one another whenever they did so. Because, you know, removing them would have been sensible.

When pondering how to thank The Brother for all his hard work, it occured to me the best thank you gift would be a tetanus shot and offering to stitch up his hand. Or just get him home alive to his wife and their unborn child.

Happily, the construction of the new wall and relocation of the door frame will be done by someone else entirely. Although he is an army bud of The Brother, so safety standards could be questionable.

I'll just take Miss 3 to the park and pretend it's not happening.

But in the meantime, I have to try and appear knowledgeable while The Man talks to me about what the electrician will need to do, and data cables, and practical locations for power points and light switches and fan controls and how easy it will be to finish off the floor.

That's totally awesome, but in the meantime I'm more concerned about the gyprock being fixed in the adjoining wall, since the demolition wasn't *strictly* controlled and has now spread to Miss 3's bedroom too.

We are 15 weeks away from blast off in my uterus, and I feel like the space is 25 weeks away from completion. But I have every confidence it will be done in time.

Whether or not the brother's end up in the hospital ward next to me is something we'll have to wait and see...

March Photo A Day: Day 18...

Day 17

| A Corner of My Home |

But I chose 2 because they are both important. Although my blogging corner will have to relocate and a new wall will have to go in as we need the 3rd bedroom back...

Want to play along? Visit www.fatmumslim.com.au for all the details

Acceptance and a Friday Fluff

Is it just me, or do other people think Stan Walker sounds EXACTLY like Anastasia when he signs his song 'Loud'?  Every time it comes on the radio, all I can think is that Anastasia is really trying to make a come back. And then I remember the truth. And I wonder, does that mean Stan Walker sounds like a chick, or does Anastasia sound like a dude?

Anyway.

I went to work on Monday and then proceeded to spend 2 days on the couch, when I wasn't being hauled around to the GP or being ultrasounded and told to fill my bladder...no, not that much...okay, drink some more, you let out too much....okay, can you let out 150ml?

Sure - would you also like me to fart the theme song to 'The Block'? Because I can - I've watched many, many episodes in the last 48hrs.

Please don't misinterpret my attitude. I'm still very hurt by what's happened - we both are - but if we don't keep moving forward, and if I let the black dog get a grip on this then I'll start going backwards. And I don't want that.

So after day dreaming about administering Chinese water torture on the ultrasound people and being able to get back to my comfy space on the couch, I dove into the world of reality TV and renovating.

But after a couple of episiodes, I found myself getting annoyed. Really annoyed. So annoyed, that I realised I was chewing something crunchy...and I was eating chocolate. Sadly, it seems that my annoyance with the universe denying us the large scale reno's and also denying us an addition to our family meant I started grinding my teeth.

And I have officially ground off a huge chunk from one of my two front teeth.

At this point, I'd like to dare you all to Google 'broken tooth'. Go on, I'll wait...

...

...

IS THAT DISTURBING OR WHAT?? Excuse me while I brush my teeth - and gargle with bleach.

I think it was right around the time I was examining the remains of my half eaten tooth that I decided a few things.

A) I was getting an appointment at the dentist ASAP...and he better have the happy gas and a new set of teeth ready and waiting.

B) Screw huge, expensive reno's. If we're gonna spend that kind of dosh, we should just build a brand new house and save a few bucks.

C) This house is a bit shite, so instead of doing a huge build, we'll work with what we have and make it a kick arse place that's on the smaller side.

D) We're starting with the bathroom, and something along these lines would work well:




Link

 With a few (read: lots) of tweaks our bathroom could be stellar. Am I the only one who dreams of having a freestanding tub? Probably...I always like to think of myself as a Jane Austen heroine.

Oh, Mr Darcy!

Ahem.

So on with the Friday Fluff!!

This one actually happened a week ago - I was standing in the hallway sobbing. The Toddler ran up to me, very sympathetic expression and gave me a cuddle and a kiss. She then asked to be put down because "I going to watch Chicken Little, Mummy. You stay and cry by yourself, now."

Apparently I had used up my sympathy allocation for the week.

Children really do remind you that life goes on, don't they?

Have a fab weekend, if anyone needs me I'll be in my freestanding tub with Colin Mr Darcy.



Credit



It's oh so quiet

It's been a bit quiet on here this past week or so.

Not sure why, but my blog mojo just hasn't been flowing. I have plenty of things I could blog about, but the need/want just isn't there.

It's been a full week, that's for sure. Starting with Saturday and the Guru's Dad having another heart attack. His second since December, and he only had his bypass done in February.

It's scary. 2 more arteries that are blocked. More surgery. The feeling of uncertainty.

And while they may seem petty and insignificant compared to the above, other things that happened this week are:

• We are so super proud of our amazing little girl who is now toilet trained during the day. It's like she just woke up one morning and decided it was time. If only everything was that easy.
• We sold the blue car. I hugged it goodbye and left it to the mercy of Hyundai - it's birthplace. In return for some cold, hard cash.
• We put money in our savings account. And didn't take it out again 3 minutes later to buy some frivolous, pointless item (although the Guru has been eyeing off bigger and better TV's. I told him we can have one once we build a wall sturdy enough to hold the monstrosity he wants to own.)
• I threw a tanty and so now we are purchasing a dishwasher BEFORE the Guru goes on holiday.
• I stared blankly at the back wall of our house wondering where the hell we would fit another baby if a miracle occured and I fell pregnant before the next ice age/house extension is done.
• I continued to stare blankly at the back wall of our house - willing it to magically extend and making the need for builders and having to pay them completely unnecessary. For the record, it just stared back. Bastard.
• I then stared at the front steps of our home (which are still 'the steps of death' connected to the 'deck of death') and willed them to fall off so the Guru has to do something about it.
• I realised that the Guru will not be doing anything house related (such as replace the 'deck of death' so I or our daughter don't go head first down the stairs. Again.) over this extra long and awesome break - because he will be on holiday.
• I continued to be convinced that kicking him in the groin would make me feel better that he will be holidaying without us.
• To add insult to injury - while he was going on a holiday I at least had the pleasure of knowing that I would be hooning around in our new computer with wheels (aka: car). But now Mitsubishi tell me they only just put the car in transit from Melbourne to Adelaide today. And then it will be shipped here, but it will be shipped here in the first week of May. Maybe. Insert sobbing here.
• I discovered I want to kick Mitsubishi in the groin.
• A life sized model of myself made entirely out of chocolate will make me feel better - for as long as it takes to eat it. Then most likely I'll feel sick.

So, there you have it. What we've been up to.

Looks like I did want to blog after all.

Entry in the May DP Blog Carnival at SuperParents

I fell down the stairs this morning

Yep, I did. Smack bang right down the front steps.

I've been whinging to the Guru for months how the decking at the top of the stairs needs looking at because it's slippery, and when it rains (like, ALL THE TIME) it only makes it worse.

I feel now I have done everything I can to prove my point. Including doing a shite 'Evil Knievil' impression on my way down the stairs. Sadly, I didn't land on my feet. Well, I did, but they were up around my face. One of them, anyway.

I called the Guru and screeched something about needing to book time in his diary to discuss renovations. Because otherwise I'm going home this afternoon to burn the house down in a rage*. After I've seen my GP.



* Dear Insurance Company - if my house burns down in the (near) future, it totally wasn't me and you will need to pay for us to build a new home. Without a shitty, slippery deck. And by the way, our new Ferrari was in the drive at the time, and it contained the new 60 inch plasma screen I just picked up from The Good Guys.

Dear Darwin

Dear Darwin,

Hey - how are you? Sorry it's been a while since we've caught up properly, but I've been swamped with blogging work.

So what's happening? It's all go for us at the moment with life in general, and I've decided that 2011 is going to be the year I add one more thing to my plate.

I want to study. I've been putting off my nursing since 2008 - remember that? Remember when I was putting the finishing touches on my final assignment for anatomy and counting down the last 20 days to my wedding?

Remember how excited I was to be working towards my career at last, since year 12 sucked the life out of me? Do you?

Well, apparently you don't remember well enough because now you've stopped offering my course. Just like that. Nope, sorry, not doing that anymore.

Considering you have only ONE university, that's pretty poor. I came to you from Adelaide...Adelaide has THREE universities. But none of them offer my course via distance learning (jerks).

You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? Is it because we cut down all those trees on the weekend? To be fair, most of those had come down in the cyclone - so you need to speak to the low pressure system, not me. But what can I say - my Dad had a chainsaw and I had a vision. And we will now have a kick-arse lawn area for the Toddler and her swing set.

I mean, we put up with your disgusting house prices, the revolting cost of living and the complete lack of decent shopping opportunities - and for what!?

Admittedly, I might be additionally dis-enchanted with you today because the builder got back to us with some seriously awesome and dreamy diagrams of our renovations. But then I came crashing down to earth when I saw the price tag (because I always, conveniently forget that these things have to be paid for).

And I am blaming it all on you Darwin.

Because you are expensive, inconvenient, hot, humid, damp, palm-tree-frond-dropping-ly annoying and full of people who drive 20km's an hour under the speed limit in front of me on a one lane road.

I've developed a new road rule for the NT. I came up with it this morning as I was driving to work, stuck behind the slowest person on earth. Part of the standard driving test will now require you to do a race track lap against The Stig. If you can't get your car to do 0-100km/hr in under 4 seconds and complete your lap (approximately 2.83 km, or 1.76 miles) in under 1min 40sec then your car gets crushed and you have to catch the bus.

So not only have you made me want to run everyone off the road and possibly get myself arrested (only if they catch me!), you've also tried to take away my future and crush my dreams of having a house of bliss.

Is it not bad enough that when I looked in the mirror yesterday morning I found crows feet!? I'm only 27, and yet I'm starting to look like The Emperor.


This is me first thing in the morning, before coffee. Credit

 Thanks for that.

I am now desperately trying to catch that advert on telly about the snake venom cream which will paralyze my face and reverse the ageing process.

This is preferable to popping down to Hair Dude and getting some Botox with a cut and colour. I wish I was joking.

But no - you keep up with the rain so the satellite Austar link dies off and I miss my opportunity to order snake spit in a jar.

It's not fair and I want it all to change. Today. Okay?

So anyway, it was great to catch up and I'll be sure to keep an eye on your progress with the changes we've discussed above.

Hope you had a fab weekend, and say hi to Bali for me.

Love Me
x

Reality Blogging

Behold! The Hole! Kitchen!

Home to the dumped bag, and dirty dish.

I am a dishwasher girl. But in my guilt over leaving our rental before our lease was up I left our Fisher & Paykel 2 drawer Dishdrawer set behind as a peace offering.

Regret is about 9 on a scale of 1-10. And that's only because I do find it good to think I'm saving a bit of water by washing dishes by hand. But I live in a state where it rains almost non stop for 6 months of the year...what the hell am I worrying about water for!?

I also hate the kitchen. And I am hoping in the next 12 months we will be doing the kitchen reno's (and the bathroom...but shhhh - I haven't filled in the Guru on that bit just yet) and then the strange blue/green cupboards will be demolished, the cooker can be turfed and the tiles - well, I think I might try and burn them simply out of disgust. The splashback tiling isn't even something my Nanna would have picked out! And who lays crap, brown tiles over perfectly gorgeous wooden floors!?

It also means extending that side of the house about 5 feet...so YAY for extra space!

But enough of my rambling. You've now witnessed the horror that is my kitchen.

In my dreams this is what I cook in...

crsremodel.com

But a bit more modern styling - with features and doors etc from a kitchen like this...

aviewondesign.blogspot.com

Oh dream kitchen - you are wonderful and some day you just might find your way into my home.

But for now I'd settle for a dishwasher.


This is linked to Reality Blogging, hosted by Bad Mummy

The rose coloured glasses are smashed in my driveway...

So it appers that moving into your new home allows you to scrutinize the external appearance a bit more than you did when you first looked. Even though you paid to have someone do a building and structural report to bring your attention to anything you might have glossed over in your enthusiasm to enter the property market. Even though you read said report and you know, deep down, that you glossed over the imprefections this stranger found.

And it would also appear that painting walls within your new home allows you to scrutinize the internal appearance a bit more. So much so, that once you have finished painting you hurry back to Bunnings to assess the cost of a new toilet suite, new shower head, new doors and handles, new curtains and/or blinds and new kitchens. Plus discussing intensely how a full bathroom renovation could be pulled off in the 24hrs before all your stuff is delivered by the removalist company.

The Guru informs me that a full bathroom renovation will absolutely not be possible in 24hrs, no matter how many 1hr makeover shows I've watched and no matter how many famous 'handy-man' type people from renovation shows I might theoretically be able to con into coming around and doing it. Because they won't apparently. Not unless one of us gets an incurable, life ending medical condition. And to be honest, a bathroom renovation isn't worth that.

So I've had to settle for painting. For now. But I have to say, the colours that have gone up are AMAZING! And can I just say, having a father-in-law who is a painter/decorator by trade is a fantastic thing to have and the paint job is A1 Professional Grade, baby!

So our bedroom has a feature wall of Taubman's 'Rumble' which is a deep purple colour. The Toddler scored a feature wall of Taubman's 'Cheeky' which is a bright, hot pink. Her other walls will be painted in Taubman's 'Celeste' which is a super, light, pale baby pink and the whole room will be a little girl's paradise! The lounge room has a feature wall of Taubman's 'Desert Spice' which is a burnt orange colour with a bit of brightness in there to make the room 'pop'. And with the poliched floor boards the lounge looks so warm and inviting that a fireplace wouldn't be out of place. Highly inappropriate and pointless given the climate here, but it would be a perfect centrepiece. I'm told that the plasma screen going up on the wall will be the perfect centrepiece.

I'm reserving my judgement...

The remainder of our walls are plain white, but we'll most likely be re-painting these with a more classic light, creamy white...but we'll have to wait and see. The Guru and I are still in negotiations.

One thing we do agree on is to get the loo and the front and back doors replaced as soon as we can. And I'm thinking the front balcony decking could do with jazzing up a bit...not to mention the polished floor borads inside. But I am genuinely thinking of trying to convince the Guru that carpet in the bedrooms would be so completely lovely. I miss carpet in the bedroom. I miss that gorgeous sinking feeling of a good quality, soft and luxurious carpet. That warm, cosy feeling that only carpet can give.

What can I say - there is a part of me that wants to have a small luxury in our home. And that's some super, sexy, luxurious, cosy carpet. Once a bedroom carpet girl, always a bedroom carpet girl.

And no, a rug is NOT the same. No matter how many times the Guru might tell me it is, it's not. End of story.

But I'd like to know - what is it about owning a property that gives you this sudden impression that you are a DIY God and can do anything and everything? Right down to plumbing!? Even though you have no idea what the idfference between a U-bend and an S-bend is, or that there is actually a tool called a Monkey Wrench and it's not just the topic of a (brilliant) Foo Fighter's song!

I'm certain the Guru will be locking up any tools and potential tools so when I'm home alone I am unable to embark on my own DIY projects. It's most likely a very sensible act that I would highly endorse. Because I seriously don't know my Monkey Wrench from my S-bend.

The tragic thing now is that if I stuff it up - we have to pay for the repairs...

And it's at this point that having a husband in the insurance business is suddenly so much more valuable than it was a week ago. Maybe I'll just stick to painting - I can see the results being far less depression-inducing than a DIY bathroom reno.

No matter how fabulous I think I could make it.