Sisters

I always think of the twins looking like each other and Emily and Sarah looking like each other. Poor Danielle just looks like me! This picture of Sarah and Samantha reminds me however that the four of them do actually look a lot like sisters!

I have been going through a few old pictures trying to make them look pretty enough for a snapfish album. Might make a nice gift................for me!

My little girls

It is a natural progression really that as Sarah gets older she spends more time with friends and her own interests just as Danielle did, which leaves me with my little girls on our own quite a bit these days.

I am increasingly aware of how little time I have left in my 'full-time' mum role so try to do as many fun things with them as I can.

Simple things like watching a movie, going for a walk or more elaborate excursions. This is a recent one to the monkeys in Launceston. Just candid shots I haven't cut n polished any of them (because I don't know how and don't have time).

These are also my recent 'fat' photos. Hmmm not a good look, but a 2.1kg loss this week has me on my way to slimdomville.












And as always the end of the day looks a little like this......

Calling Girls That Wear Dresses

I need help. The last time I wore a dress was sometime in 1999, I think I was pregnant at the time and it may have been a tent impersonating a dress.

Now I am on the 'loose weight by 40' I need a dress to aim for. Not just any dress, this has to be a lump in the throat, catch your breath 'perfect dress'.

Lets think size 12/14 because that is where I will be. Help me out puleeezzzz, post some links to 'the dress' for me.

Price is NOT an issue here, it just has to be 'the dress' the one that will hang up in my room and remind me each day just why I am eating 30gms off Special K and a 1/2 glass of no fat milk for breakfast. Why my new hobby is searching for the lowest points meals, and trying to consider excercise a part of my day instead of that vague weekly annoyance.

The 'dress' will be my goal.

Emma - I think 900 grams is the ideal weight loss for a week anything between 500-1000gm is good stuff! And the teen terror has been slowly improving.

Concerned

Just a little bit maybe about 'The Monster In My House' post which was you know only five days ago.

Well the monster is still here.

Someone has taken my usually nice, considerate fun loving teen and turned her into an arguing 'I don't care about anything' REAL teenager.

Yes Yes, laugh at me, I have had it easy up until now, and I have a feeling that we are in for some tough times, testing of boundaries and that sort of thing.

I guess it would be wrong if I moved out and came back in a few years? Oh wait, make that several years so the others are all 'over' it as well!

The weight loss thing is happening. I changed my weigh in day from Sunday to Friday as it is easier for me, and was pleasantly surprised to record a 900gm loss after 5 days.

The weekend stretches out ahead of me and I am so happy to have next to nothing to do, a new book, some shopping, maybe a bit of cleaning - BLISS....

The monster in my house

AKA Sarah Bear who looks like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth



Oh my goodness some days it is like banging your head against 4x4 with a know it all teen in the house.

The old 'when she is good she is very very good and when she is bad she is rotten' seems very apt for your average teen.

At the moment she is holed up in her room, Ipod firmly in place refusing to get up and go shopping for some much needed school shoes (school starts tommorrow).

Why?

Because she had an arguement with Miss 11 and in her opinion I did not deal with it adequately.

What I did was actually do exactly what she asked me to last time something like this occured and in typical teen fashion it still wasn't good enough.

What she hasn't considered is that my foot is the same size as hers so I can go and get her shoes without her.

Its also very quiet with her on self imposed bedroom exile.

Hmmm seems to me that the only person Miss 15 is punishing is herself.

Back on Track

Yes of course I am.

I have joined weight watchers online and am working slowly (aka baby steps) to loose a bit of weight and become healthier. You know there just comes a time (aka age) when we have to do these things.

Now I said I would give up smoking by the age of 30 and here we are at age 36 with six smoke free years behind me so I CAN achieve things when I want.

So how does slimmer and more sensible with food by 40 sound as a goal.

I will of course take some great before and along the way shots which I may even share at a later date. For now you will need to be satisfied with the dream.........



This is a pretty good replica of where I am at the moment although it doesn't quite display the cellulots clearly(we surpassed cellulite sometime ago). It also is a bit light on the double chin issue.



And this is the potential change after 50kgs!

Hmmm pretty cool really isn't it.

This is a good idea

For all those online surveys you do, or all that internet shopping, set up your own storefront to earn extra $$$ doing what you do everyday anyway.

Now I was thinking of aiming high for that muchly needed home loan deposit but the girls are more interested in a family holiday!

I can even earn a bit more by buying my normal lotto ticket - good deal!

Gotcha Dad

Dear old Dad has had his four little angels for this first week of the school holidays, they have been to the movies and fishing, all the fun stuff!

On the way home from the movies the three youngest start bickering in the car and dear old dad says 'Oh girls pleases stop it my head is full up'.

Miss 11 replies with 'Well Dad, we really haven't been that bad today so truth be told it doesn't take a lot to fill up your head does it'.

Hehehehe Gotcha Dad!

Do you ever regret

Opening your big fat mouth to say something jokingly and it happens minutes later?

We had lots of little dramas at work this morning, the car park was covered in mulch from overnight flooding, several roof leaks causing some damage and no hot water!!!

Fancy a bunch of public servants with no coffee at 8am.

As our office whiz fix it all Mr Miraculous was leaving I said "I'll make sure and have a couple of catastrophe's ready for you in the morning" HA HA HA.

Well be very very careful what you say, not 5 minutes later someone says the photocopier/printer needs a new drum. Can't be too hard right, destruction's are right there.......................................

UM FUCK - it didn't go in properly and is now bloody jammed.

Sure hope Mr Miraculous sees the funny side!

The Wonders Of Family

Now those that know me know that my contact with my family is pretty non-existent. They are all quite dysfunctional and seeing as I consider MYSELF to be pretty dysfunctional on most of my good days anyway you can be rest assured that I really really REALLY mean these people are just plain crazy. (With the exception of Nana Pat and those that I haven't seen since I was like 10 - who knows you may be sane by now)

Well just when I thought I was destined to just me and mine up pops Marianne and Emilie.

Marianne is my sister who was adopted out before I was born and you guessed it Emilie is my niece.

I met Marianne about 12 years ago when I super sleuth (aka pushy bugger annoying everyone and anyone with the same surname as her adoptive family) tracked her down.

We met up and she even came to my wedding - my undercover wedding guest - that's right no one in my family knew she was there. Hehehehe I thought it was pretty funny actually, was probably bloody hard for poor Marianne but hey this was a quite a few years ago and we where much younger and sillier back then. (Ok we where younger)

To cut a long story short we did loose touch for a number of years and a couple of months ago I got a simple message on facebook.

'Was your maiden name Alps'

And there started our email relationship.

I was, and am still amazed at the incredible similarities we have despite our long separations through life.

Even better was to come however as last week Marianne and Emilie moved to Tasmania to be closer to her parents who retired to a nearby town a few years ago.

I spent yesterday afternoon with my sister and my niece and it was just amazing.

For me there has been no strange getting to know you guys phase, she is my sister and always will be, she is so strangely normal compared to the rest of our blood only relations that I feel like I have found a little piece of me that was missing.

Emilie is just the cutest little moppet you could ever hope to have for a niece, and even though it was the first time I had ever met her she stole a little piece of my heart yesterday and I am afraid it is lost to her forever.

They will be living in the same town as me and I am so excited that I find myself catching my breath and not being able to quite believe how amazing it will be to have a sister and a niece!

I am a little addict short and spout

I really do have a bit of an addictive personality you know. Today it is make up Mirenesse I am thrilled with the idea of FREE makeup even if I have to pay postage.

Now if you take up this offer and want more than one item do the transactions individually otherwise it charges extra.

Of course the free samples are fab and one would think that I could stop there BUT there is also the VIP club - ohhhhhhhh for S19.95 per month they will send me $1000 worth of makeup a year PLUS free postage on all other purchases PLUS other discounts!!!!

Gotta try that as well don't I. Go figure if it doesn't seem worth it I can opt out after a couple of months..........

For Emma

I know I am so far behind in the art of blogging I don't even know where to begin!

First of all my new position at work has me pretty busy, if its not keeping up with the ever changing requirements its the people management which is in a whole league of its own.

I work in a very politically correct envirement, we mind our ps and qs and dot our i's and cross our t's.

My husband works in a very 'boy' orientated completely un-politically correct enviroment. All the bosses are a bit like Gordon Ramsey.

It makes me giggle when he says it is quite common to hear someone say 'You lazy fucking bastard - what the fuck where you thinking?'

I on the other hand need to use a different tact 'how can we overcome this problem together', 'I'd like to help you address this, will you let me?'

Like chalk and cheese really.

Somedays I think the Gordon Ramsey method gets more results!

Off to Hobart for a couple of days to attend a Leadership Dialogue, I will be back!

Mothers Day

I have five children and its mothers day.

I received one kiss and hug.

A text message.

And lots of arguements about getting the house tidy.

The joy of being a mum is that it is year round job, and a day, one day termed 'Mothers Day' is in fact all a marketing ploy.

Quirky Go Round

I have been tagged by Sue Jennings girls and all that jazz.

These are the rules:

Link the person who tagged you
Mention the rules on your blog
Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them
Leave a comment on each of the tagged bloggers blogs letting them know they have been tagged.

1. My weekday morning ritual is very OCD, I get up at the same time, have breakfast at the same time, get in the shower at the same time, I do everything on weekday mornings at exactly the same time, in the same order without fail. On weekends I am luck if I haul my butt outta bed before 9.

2. I will focus on one task/game/hobby for a period of time and then either forget it ever existed or recommence it several months later with a couple of weeks intensity until something else comes along to distract me.

3. I very rarely, if ever leave the house without makeup on - foundation, powder, mascara and gloss.

4. I refuse to wear mismatched underwear, if its not a set, its not on.

5. I have a crazy naked dance I do running from the bathroom to my bedroom some mornings, it totally cracks the twins and Emily up and completely horrifies Sarah, what can I say she IS 15.

6. I have difficulty with close relationships, to depend on anyone but myself is scary.


There thats about it, not very entertaining am I.

Now who to tag..........

Therese

Kate

Linda

Mandy

Scrivvy

Emma

Ok this is a little bit naf but the kids love it

Want your own google search page?

Go here: Google My Way

Type in the text you want to see as the logo for your Google MyWay and click “Make It.”

Then click on the “Go” button for your Google MyWay page.

Make it your homepage and start googling away.

This is ours:

Davidson Family

Thanks to Wifely Steps for this great idea!

They change......not you....

I was curious when going into a management role as to what the transition would be like. After all going from 'one of the gang' to the boss is a big move.

And while of course I can't go into great detail I can say with 100% honesty that its the people around you that change and treat you differently.

You will notice it the first time you walk into a room and a conversation abruptly stops, or when the lunch invites dry up.

Apparently this is par of the course and the only ones that don't know about it are those that aren't in management.

I am often surprised to find that something actually surprises me!

Tis the Season

To play netball. And play netball I did with full court time and zero injuries - YAY for me!

And it was also Sarah's first game playing Womans League, A Reserves despite an injury she played the full game and played very well.

Of course I am sure I will hardly be able to walk in the morning but that is the price you pay for 40 minutes of non stop exhaustion.

The things I know 1-10

Ten things I know

1. My children love me to the moon and back

2. My dreams only become reality with hard work

3. I worry far too much about what others think about me

4. My family is here and now not there and then

5. I am far too indulgent to ever be a size 10

6. My $30 eye cream isn't going to provide the miracle I want

7. I am slightly OCD in certain areas

8. I hate cigarette smoke so much it amazes me that I was ever a pack a day girl

9. My husband will never ever completely understand me, I think thats why he hangs around - for the challenge

10. I don't blog as much as I should

What are the ten things you know?

Go on try it on your blog and leave me a comment so I can have a look.

Oh Now There Is.....

A real market for these!



Don't you love it?

Right or Wrong I feel mad!

So Easter morning and all is dark at 6am when the girls get up (daylight savings please end!!!) They complete the required Easter Egg hunt and we are allowed to silently slip back into bed for a couple more hours of zzzz's (the benefit of OLDER children).

Before we go back to bed, I tell the girls to have cereal as normal and when I get up we will all have hot cross buns together.

Sam gets up earlier than I, nothing unusual about that.

When I get up I ask the girls to do a couple of minor chores (clean up cereal mess, pack up easter egg mess, all the normal) and then say well ok, lets get these hot cross buns cooking. And with that the girls start cooking them in the George Foreman Grill which I must add does the BEST hot cross bun!

Well DH Sam then says can you leave some for me? And I am like well I thought we where eating them all together as a family? And he is like I am going to do weights. And I am like, fine stop cooking them girls we will wait. And he is like, no don't be stupid they cant stop now and I am like fine cook yours girls and put the others away, and he gives a melodramtic sigh and says oh well I will have them know then and I am like don't bother wouldn't want to eat hot cross buns with you if there was only one hot cross bun left in the world, and he laughs at me and I am like don't laugh at me and he says your being ridiculous and I am like somedays I hate you so much.

Okay I acknowledge that there may be some level of PMTish style hormones speaking on my side of this conversation as Sam is so eager to point out BUT let me ask the two obvious questions:

WHY couldn't he have done his weights before I got up, why wait until the moment we start cooking the damn buns and then decide you are going to do them.

WHY argue with someone you believe is suffering from extreme PMT anyway?

STUPID HEAD HUSBAND!!!