I don't do mornings

I think, no wait, I know, that I'm a bit stuck in my ways.

For instance, I'm not a morning person.  No matter how much I wish I could bounce out of bed at the crack of dawn, I don't think I'll be starting that habit anytime soon.

And I would love to be one of those super organised Mums that have special charts on the wall for my kids' activities and chores, what they will be having for lunch and dinner all month and a goal setting spreadsheet with little gold stars for rewards.  OK that might be going a little too far.  How about I just know what everyone is doing every week? And a walk around the Bay in the mornings.

There are several factors in my make up that prevent me being this ideal person.  For one, I'm a Pisces, known as being a bit vague and dreamy.  More are a kind of 'wing-it' kind of girl.  Secondly, in sibling order I'm the last of five which for some means irresponsibility and rebellion.  I don't fully agree of course and cannot for the life of me think why my sisters and brother think I was the favourite and spoiled silly.  Ridiculous!

Despite all this I do have the ability to parent (mostly) responsibly and have a steady and responsible job (have hardly ever been unemployed in the past thirty years!).  I've never smoked (cigarettes), I don't drink and drive, and I'm a loyal wife (so far!).

So why the hell can't I get out of bed in the mornings!

Tomorrow is the Digital Parents Conference 2013 and my room buddy Rachel (The Kids Are Alright) is coming over at 6.30am so we can catch a lift with Mr Moneymaker so I can be at Curzon Hall in time to take up my duties as one of the Door Bitches (OK, usher but that doesn't have the authority it needs!).

And of course I haven't packed (what time is it now - oh shit its 9.46pm already!).  I did achieve the Care Australia 'Walk In Her Shoes' challenge around the Bay this evening with Brenda, Grace and Jess.  Which reminds me, I better link up now with #IBOT!

Goodnight and maybe see you tomorrow - and don't forget if you'd like to help out with our challenge you can donate here.  Thankyou!

My Christmas Wish List

I've been tagged! Not in the ugly graffiti on the railway station wall kind of tagged, but blog-tagged in the My Christmas Wish List kind of way by Rachel of The Kids Are All Right fame.

This means I get to ask Santa for my heart's desire. So pretending that reality has been suspended for a moment and its a given that there is already world peace and people have stopped hurting each other, this is what I wish for:

• Me and my family to live forever.  And I mean All my family.  It sucks watching people grow old or get sick and then everybody dies.  There's too many stories that haven't yet been told!
• A spell that that turns back time in my face and body and so when I get up on Christmas morning  I suddenly spring up out of bed without any protest from my knees and back.  My eyes are fully open and focussed without scrabbling blindly around for glasses and when I look in the mirror there aren't ten more creases or five more age spots on my face.  I look 20 again.  Now that would be a mighty fine present.
• Enough spare time to work, exercise, write, cook, read, shop, play and sleep! Without sacrificing anything.
• To eat anything I damn well please without thinking how it will either make me fat or give me heartburn or stomach cramps or high cholesterol and heart disease.
• A hot, red Vespa.  Now that is actually possible except for the fact my husband thinks I will probably kill myself within the first year of dodging crazy four wheel driving maniacs. (And before you jump on top of me, I've been one of those crazy four wheel driving maniacs.)

Just like this

That's all I can think of for now but later tonight I'm sure I will think of at least another dozen surreal wishes.

Now to hand it on ...

Mumstrosity

Mummy Issues

Where's My Glow

Chromama

Let me know what your ultimate Christmas Wish List is. 

[Joining up with the last Essentially Jess for IBOT for 2012.]

Birthdays and Bloggers Brunch

Another Friday, another busy week over (gawd that went fast!), another glass of wine. And another FYBF with Grace!

I've got so many things I need to blog about and yes, I made a list in my notebook.  I'm in the middle of two reviews which I need to talk about and so many lovely things I've come across lately that I'd like to show you.

On the family front, my little Nugget entered the double digits last week and we had a little party at the local bowling/lasertag venue along with 6 of his friends and his big sister (she was surprisingly tolerant).  Seeing I had spent the day at the Kids Business Blogging Brunch and was more in the mood for putting my feet up and sipping a nice white, the event was manageable, besides the fact that a torrential downpour an hour before had flooded the lasertag room where they were supposed to be having two games.  Luckily the few staff there didn't want to disappoint a 10 year old boy so after one game of ten pin, they said they were ready for them to kill each other with laser guns.  Lovely.

While we watched them collect those hundreds of tickets in the games room (I think you can get a rubber ball for 475 tickets), the phone calls from the parents started coming in.  They would not be able to collect them (we had picked everyone up from school) because of the tropical storm which had flooded Parramatta Rd and caused untold pile ups.  So we took them all home.

We finally got home at 7.30pm and I could finally look at all the lovely stuff I got from the Bloggers Brunch.

As this was my first Bloggers Brunch and an opportunity to meet some of the brands that were willing to work with Bloggers, I tried my best to sell myself.  Not sure how I went (no phone ringing, no emails binging yet .... anyone? Anyone? Bueller?), but I quite enjoyed sampling all the products and getting to know the people.

My first stop was at Rust-Oleum where I found out my peeling white kitchen cabinets and drawers could be spruced up without the huge cost and hassle of visiting Ikea (though I do love that place).

I passed by the Spotlight stand even though I'm a VIP member and I can spend ages wandering around that store wishing I was crafty, but the onslaught of the Christmassy red and green frightened me off.

Next was Dyson which I hung around for awhile listening about how wonderful the new cordless vacuum cleaner which could almost inspire me to clean the house!  They also gave us a cute little one for the kids to use which my little niece is going to love for Christmas.

Another very popular stand was for Kambrook (could have been the food on offer) who are an old favourite of mine so I was very glad to take home to my little baker the Cake Pop Maker.  Kambrook gave me some great ideas for more pressies (check out the Little Chefs range).  The ladies there were lovely and very interested in what I was all about too (they even took notes!).

I spent the most time at Brown Sugar because as I was sitting and listening to some inspiring chicks (Toni Powell, 30 Day Gratitude; Rosemary Lee of Stars with Hearts; and Ellen Briggs who was hilarious and talking about her town which I know well, Mullimbimby), I was eyeing off a beautiful maxi (on their home page) that my mate Rachel from The Kids Are All Right ended up buying because it looked so much better on her (along with half a dozen other pieces which also were perfect for her). It's like she was made to wear absolutely anything!).  Kimbalikes picked up some great stuff too which suited her style perfectly.  I did end up buying this which I have already christened at the P&F Social Night this week and felt very spiffy.   I even recruited a new fan for them at work. She has already bought 3 tops from them (you're an online shopping queen, Yaz!). I'll be sure to be buying more pretty stuff from Brown Sugar (and I just love that their name is one of my favourite Stones tracks). Maybe I should have sold myself a bit more there, could have supplied me in a few more pieces?

I even got my eyebrows shaped with the Nad's ladies!  Anyone that knows me would have a laugh at this as they know I'm not big on the girly, beauty procedures.

Which might change in the future.  Because as I get older I realise I need to work harder to even resemble a woman (what's with the jowls and chin-hair appearances?? WTF???).  Of course I do the necessary hedge trimming but I've never waxed in my life (well except for the eyebrows last Friday).  I only got my ears pierced when I turned 40 because I don't like the idea of pain for beauty, but seeing the eyebrow waxing did not hurt one bit I might be tempted to take the wax a bit 'lower'.  I better stop talking now, eh?

Surprisingly, I'm also investigating a product which could be an alternative for me to having anti-wrinkle injections and dermal fillers, which I most probably will never do.  But first I wanted to ask your opinion on them.  The brand also has a new website which has a great before and after page where you can draw the bar across the faces to see the difference (I had lots of fun with this).  Please have a look at it here and let me know what your impressions are, what do you think needs improvement on the site and what you think of these type of procedures yourself.

A Welcome Weekend

I enjoy my weekends.  Even between the domestic duties, the driving from one sport I'm not into to another sport I'm not into (but enjoy watching the skills my kids have thankfully inherited from their father), I'm pretty much able to do whatever I want, as long as I come for dinner.

The Chicken and the Nugget are mostly independent now and if I want to go and have a four hour lunch, I can (The Moneymaker spends most Saturdays with the Nugget either playing soccer or watching soccer or just kicking a ball around the park anyway).

So along with Rachel from The Kids Are All Right and Lisa from Mum Of Adult Kids, we spent Saturday afternoon lunching and nattering about our lives and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was at an old haunt of mine, The Welcome Hotel in Balmain which lives up to its name in spades. I used to spend the odd Saturday afternoon and more often a Friday night in this pub with my old friend and so it was strange to be there without her there.  She really needs to come up from Melbourne for another weekend soon but being a single Mum who works full time, it can be hard to co-ordinate.

The Welcome has an Irish feel and a comfortable atmosphere.  It hasn't gone all chrome and glass like a few pubs in the Inner West so I feel more at home there. And the restaurant is up there with the best around.  Even though I've had the Beef & Guiness Pie before, it still came as a shock when it came to the table.  It took a minute or two before Lisa's burger and Rachel's Middle Eastern Vegetable Pie with Caramelised Onions and Spinach (entree size) appeared but suddenly the conversation stopped as we stared at this huuuge thing!

My pie looked like it had a baby!

I hadn't ordered a side salad or veggies thank God but I knew I would never get through it (thanks Rachel for the help!).  **This wasn't sponsored by or a paid review of The Welcome Hotel, I just wanted to let you know how much I like it.**

Even though the food (and the wine of course) was really good, finding out about each other was even better.  We found a lot in common (who would've thought that Lisa and I went to the same high school!) and could relate to each other so well.  Lisa has grown up boys and has been through all the normal trials and tribulations of teenage years and Rachel and I are just starting that bumpy ride.

It was really great to bounce things off each other and reminded me of my old mother's group in Enmore (which has been going for 13 years).  It wasn't like the original mother's group I had joined where the biggest topic of conversation was how much our baby had grown or walked or talked or poo'ed. Today was an exchange of experiences not only from being a mother but also from being a teenage daughter (which we all were some time ago).

I've always believed that my daughter should be aware that I've been through what she is going through and have survived.  I may not always give her the details (some things don't need to be told!), but she knows I didn't live in a bubble and I knew a thing or two.  This also keeps her on her toes - she knows she won't get away with much!  Also watching Puberty Blues, the original movie and the series next week, may give her an idea of what it was like.

This isn't the place for me to talk about her, she has a digital footprint already.  Also she knows where I live.

This is probably the reason a lot of parent bloggers don't write about their teenage children online.  I would love to type the conversation we just had with our daughter a minute ago, but if she found out she would be devo'd (see, I know the lingo! - *gawd I'm old*).  Maybe being anonymous would be a good idea.....

Anyhoo!  Saturday closed with a quiet night at home (even though I would have loved to stay at The Welcome and had a few vino's while listening to the cover band which started just as we left).

Sunday was spent at the Five Dock Ferragosto which meant crowds, cold winds and hot coffee. I was a little disappointed as I only went there because I got the dates wrong for the Vintage Fair at Marrickville. It was last weekend (doh!).

Nugget learnt a financial lesson at the festival when he spent his savings ($15) on the first weapon show bag he saw then regretted it when he later saw a much bigger and better toy bow and arrow for $12.50.  It was time to take Grumpy home.