Would you

Wear this

With these ?

To a very classy wedding.

Keep in mind you are cough *older* than 35 and a mother of two...

Any advice on how to hide the boobage? (like what jewellery etc?) ... I'm dying here any help appreciated.

P.S. IRL the dress is Slate Grey not Navy

Lily

This is Lily ... and Lulu and Bear.
After reading about the killer whale that drowned its trainer at Sea World I feel slightly bad that Lily is pimped out for peeps to pose with.
But Lily is lucky because she lives in a fantastic Zoo that basically exists to educate the punters about saving the worlds wildlife and raises money for that cause. Lily only "works" for about an hour a day and I think if she gets too bored they give her a small tantrum chucking child to chew on. Even though I *cough* dislike (would never hold one / don't like to look at them/ lock myself in the bathroom when there is one on our property) snakes, lizards and frogs I was comfortable with the kids holding Lily at the zoo because her handler was about 50cm away from her the whole time. I think all Zoos should be like the one my niece works at or like my favourite zoo in the world Singapore Zoo . There would be less Good Animals Gone Bad tales then.

Peace Baby

Things I'm loving a the moment and that are making my life better and more peaceful.

Green Tomato Relish. Sorry if you thought it would be something more profound. I love chutney, relish, sauce, mustard, pickle, mayonnaise, aoli and condiments in general. Its embarrassing (for others) when I order Fish & Chips and salad at a restaurant as I ask for tomato sauce, vinegar, tartare sauce, lemon and salad dressing to go with it... if all those condiments come in little cups that I can take over the table with... even better. Masterfoods bought out this relish a few years ago and then it disappeared (why do manufacturers do that?) now that it is back I have stocked up and i eat it everyday- try it its delish.

I have never been a huge John Mayer fan ... but I love this album. He was described by Rolling Stone Magazine as a starlet shagger (harsh but true) and after listening to this album he is a shagger and a teller. This is the only reason I would never date a rock star... what if we broke up and he penned revealing break up songs about us .... suddenly boring peeps in oz listening to their ipod would be privy to our intimate details.... no much better to date your husband. After listening to this album I feel a little bit sorry for Jen (not too much she has great hair) and I think Mr Mayer should stop twittering and get to therapy stat.

This mans name is Micheal Carr-Gregg and he is a dead set legend. He writes parenting books, and talks on radio and TV about issues concerning our kids. He also has a website and blog - run don't walk to check it out. His latest book is called "When to really worry" which I haven't read but I am reading two of his other books about younger adolescents "stuff". MCG Parenting books are both educational and encouraging as well as humorous and heavily based in reality. Thank Goodness there are educators like Mr Carr- Gregg in the world.
I had a little conversation with my little adolescent yesterday that went like this :Me " I think Dad thinks you are always cranky with him lately, you yell a lot at him"

Bear "No Mum that is just how boys talk... Dad and I are just joking around all the time" OMG see why I need parenting books.
Nescafe Mocha ... I wish I wasn't so in love with this product cos I reckon its doing my backside no favours... but Its so yummy ... I do drink the Skim version so that helps right.

other things that are bringing me peace at the mo

Yoga Class
Mass with Dave and the Kids

Having lunch with my friend and talking talking talking

Seeing the end in sight for David and Bears cricket season
Lulu trying piano lessons

My blog and blog friends

Free Advice - Dumb looks are still $2

OK lets get past the fact that I'm giving advice... I'm totally unqualified to give another living being pointers on how to do "life"... and yet they still let me be a Mum...
So I happen to live in a country that fries your skin. Skin cancer is a major cause of death in OZ and the damage done to children's (and adults) skin every single day has impact on future life expectancy. Sure my kids have broad brims hats as part of their school uniforms and for the most part I think Lulu wears hers. Bear has a gorgeously expensive broad brim hat as part of his uniform ... It mainly lives squashed at the bottom of his school bag. Everyday the kids walk around and play in the sun and being unprotected from that sun is not a good thing.
I admit that I'm paranoid about "some things" - "some things" include being run into by a truck on the highway, and dogs biting me. These things I cant control (although not driving on the highway is sort of my way of keeping the trucks away from me).
My children dying from skin cancer... I reckon I can do my best to try and control that.
So this is the advice

1. Buy good quality Sun Block

I am speaking from experience... I use to buy cheap sunblock and wonder why it was so hard to get the kids to wear it. Then we went on hols with Aunty Cath (who always buys good quality nice smelling stuff - so we nicked her stuff)) and suddenly Bear wasn't ducking and weaving as I slapped on the 30+. Our brand of choice is Ella Bache cos it smells nice and completely rubs into the skin without leaving it greasy looking... and this little puppy cost me about $80... yes $80. But its lasts about 6 months and the kids wear it everyday. (I have 30+ in my makeup foundation so I only wear this on weekend).

2. Put the sunblock on the bathroom bench next to the toothbrushes. This is important because if you have the sunblock out of sight no one remembers to apply it.

This is a mind set change. My kids know that brushing teeth in the morning goes hand in hand with putting sun block on. I say "teeth and sun block" and keep reinforcing it (like trained monkeys) as it will become their habit (hopefully for a lifetime).

So there it is, buy the good stuff ( if you think $80 is a stupid waste of money ... think of their delicate skin its sooo worth it AND admit that you can find $80 if you don't buy that t shirt - they need sun protection more than a new shirt...wow I'm bossy hey) and make it part of their morning brushing routine This is an old bottle. The blue matched my bathroom decore alot better than the vile bile yellow. If you are listening Ella Bache bring out a better colour bottle (green green green) . Thanks .

Happy Birthday Aunty Cath

My sister Catherine had a happy birthday and my very generous and gorgeous niece organised a special tour of the Zoo she works at. Becca is a Zookeeper who looks after the Koalas ... how cool is that? So this weekend we all had a fun (but wet) day at the zoo to celebrate Aunty Caths special day.

This is Bec schooling us all to RESPECT OUR NATIVE WILDLIFE!

Lulu would love to have a pet snake ... the look on Bears face sums up how he feels about them!
One of the best parts of the day was Becky organising for Cath, Andrew Dave and I to feed the Elephants! Oh how I love the Elephants.


Oh that is what an elephants tongue look like...

This really made my baby girls day. She got to see the Wombats being taken for a womble around the zoo and pat them and walk with them... she couldn't stop smiling.
Thanks Becca you are the best!

No Really ... Thanks

Thanks Mr TV for showing Cougar Town , Two and half Men , Adults Only 20 to 1 , How I met your Mother, and even Malcolm in the Middle ads when my kids are watching their hour of afternoon tele... it rocks that I have to talk about vulgarity , inappropriate meaning and sayings and generally adult concepts to my kids.

Thanks also to the other parents of Bears classmates who ALL (Bears words) let their kids watch these shows AND get M15+ DVDs and Video games... You make D and I look like were Amish.

I'm soooo over having the "vulgar" talk to my kids especially Bear. I know that all little boys who are on the cusp of teenager hood revel in smutty sayings and dirty ditties... Dave and I are not prudes we get it... but there is a difference between this and trying to explain to my 12 and 9 year olds why a show that talks about teenage boys m*sturb*ting over older woman is NOT APPROPRIATE VIEWING FOR CHILDREN (Cougar Town I'm talking to YOU!)

Okay I'm done ... can someone help me off this soapbox now... I'm off to rig up the horse and buggy to get into town (cos I'm Amish apparently).

Love Day

It was a complete fluke that we had our friends over for lunch on Valentines Day... the day worked into everyones schedule (sort of my BIL Andrew was away working) so Sunday lunch was on.. like Donkey Kong.
I am basically a one trick pony so every social activity at our house look like this

The only changes I make are the colour of the plastic plates and napkins (pink and red as a nod to V Day).

The day was hot but good fun and the company was fantastic.


I'm either shocked by what Cath was saying or I'm catching flies...
Cath and my nieces gave me the most gorgeous pink roses for Valentines Day - I'm spoilt!
(they are behind me)
It was lovely to be surrounded by peeps we love and who love us ... what more could we ask for on Love Day?
*Special thanks to V for the taking of all the decent pics on this post Ex

Im going to learn how to fly.. High!

Can you tell that Lulu and I watched the DVD Fame! a few weekends ago. Lulu spent the whole weekend doing stretches etc just like the girls in Fame!. I think this was more entertaining than the DVD.
The thing that cracks me up is that my sisters and I grew up watching Fame!(the first one) and Flashdance and all the cheesy dance movies in the 80s and would always be warming up and stretching and making up dances in our living room... Cath had legwarmers (a la the girl on Flashdance) and I was so jealous... cos you really needed legwarmers in the tropics!


After posting these pics of Lu I cant believe how much Lulu looks like my mum in the second pic...

Before and After

You know when you see fantastic pictures of before and after shots of projects on blogs or in Home and Garden magazines? I love them. I love seeing how people have changed a room , a piece of furniture or an entire garden with hard work and creativity (and probably a lot of $).
Well I have a little "show and tell" myself. Prepared to be underwhelmed. For Reals :-)
A few weeks ago I started cleaning out a cupboard and managed to nearly kill myself with a glass jug that decided to jump to its death, I took that as permission to sit on the couch for the rest of the day and eat BBQ chips. But last weekend I decided to face my fears, confront my Nemesis, slay my Lazarus, climb my Everest, run my marathon ...

Behold

"My name is Elizabeth and I find it easier to open up the door and chuck our belongings"


This is why I worry about my state on mind... hidden in the back of the cupboard was ... Cloves... not a muslin satchel nicely done up with ribbon, no just a bottle of Masterfoods finest dumped in the back... I cant even remember doing this which is more disturbing...actually what is more disturbing was upon finding the cloves I decided to take a photo for my grandchildren to ponder "was Nanna on crack?".
After... Hang on my phones ringing ...its Vogue Living they want me to style their next shoot...


The glass jugs less the jumping one.

OK the real reason this lame post is to link a fantastic blog by a gorgeous girl called Shelley. Shelley likes pretty things, blue walls, spray painting old lamps, long walks at sunset and gettin caught in the rain (I may have made some of that up). Check out Shelley's House blog because that really does have some amazing before and after pics of projects. I am currently negotiating with her and her handsome hubby to moved into her Laundry...six month lease... its so FANTASTIC and Shelly and her hubby did it all from scratch with a lot of hard work.

http://houseofsmiths.blogspot.com/

Enjoy her blogs (she also has a vinyl one) and leave her a comment cos we all like some blog love.

House of Smith's

House of Smith's

Was Brook really up herself and who names their baby Track?

I am such a Nosy Parker. Autobiographies are some of my favourite reads. I love getting to know (riffling through drawers, reading their mail, watching their arguments)a famous person better. Bios allow me to do that...without stalking charges. Sometimes. Sometimes the bios are just a huge made up marketing ploy or the writer is deluded about real life and their role in it that you gain no insight into an interesting life. I have just finished two book that demonstrate this.
This one is the bomb

Mr Agassi is indeed very open about his life as a professional tennis player. This book has everything: domineering controlling cruel sports father, good looking professional athlete, marriage to a movie star and then true love and personal happiness at the end. Agassi delivers the juicy stuff in a self deprecating style that makes you forgive him for being a tool for most of his life.

Ah the polar opposite of good bios.

Let me say from the get go I admire Sarah Palin as a female in a industry not know for its tolerance of family and life balance. I was intrigue by her ability to raise 5 children WHILST running a state government and then campaigning for one of the top jobs in the US.
This book reveals very little about the real Palin family. It gives some facts and a huge amount of spin. After finishing it I still didn't know how SP managed her kids (Nanny I presume) when she commuted to her job running Alaska or how she and her family coped in the sometimes ugly theatre of the presidential campaign. This book was a waste of time as a bio... it was sanitised... which makes sense if SP hasn't finished her political career. I understand that SP has no right to tell her daughters story... but come on pages and pages of how she took the good fight to big oil in Alaska is ok ONCE in the book not in every chapter.
Lastly nobody makes people write bios, so if you want to keep your family private that is your prerogative... BUT if you take the huge $ for writing your story then by like Andre, admit your mistakes and tell it like it really was.

PS If you are at all interested : Brook - yes she was according to Andre and Track apparently was named after the "Track and Field" sport his parents love.

2.30

Lulu had a dentist appointment yesterday for a clean,fluoride and check up. We warned her that she may have a baby tooth that had a huge hole in it either pulled or filled. The apt was at 10.30am so she came with me to work and was in her school uniform as I was going to drop her back after the visit. Hmmmmm.
She did keep joking to David at work that she wasn't going back to school and that she would be having the day off. Hmmmmm.
So after the checkup and clean the dental nurse calls in the dental surgeon (who I adore because she saved Bears front teeth last year when he came off his ripstick AND because she did the emergency surgery on him when she was suppose to be hosting a huge garden party at her house!) Dr K tells Lu the tooth should go and she can "wiggle it right out". Lu is pretty calm until she gets the needle which hurts as we all know and then get almost hysterical when Dr K tries to "wiggle" the tooth out. Its hard to know what to do... both my sister and I get really emotional when we have local anaesthetics (very "special" aren't we) so crying at the dentist is a regular thing for us. It seem like Lulu was having the same type of reaction. After three huge "wiggles" the tooth was out but poor Lulu was a mess. I carried her out of the surgery and everyone was sort of laughing at my huge baby. We sat for ages in the car and back at work just hugging and calming her down... poor thing it was all a bit traumatic for her. Bear was funny last night when he was going to bed he came in and said to me "I hope Lu has learnt her lesson and looks after her teeth now like I do" ...such a wise old man ;-)
The Tooth Fairy gave her $5 for the tooth and she has kept the tooth to show at school(I guess the TF has to come back later for the tooth!).

The comments thing

It's Okay bloging isnt on there....

Just so you know ... If you leave me a comment about a post more than likely I will reply to your comments with another comment on that post... make any sense at all? ... do I get a koala stamp for saying "comment" a lot?

The other day I was reading a blog and realised that the author had replied to my comment on that post in the comment section (like I do). But I didn't know that which made me think you may not either.

I have no idea if this is what you are suppose to do... maybe most blog authors don't reply to comments or if they do they do it by email...

Having comments on my blog is the bomb ... seriously I would never had imagined how cool and some days supported I feel when I read your comments... one of the hardest and most challenging parts of being a grown up for me is wondering if I'm doing it right (parenting, budgeting, running a house, being a working mum, watching quality TV) and when I hear that you lot of smart, articulate and family orientated peeps are sometimes feeling the same thing it comforts me ... I wanted you to know that I value your comments and usually reply back... on my blog.

Just so you know...

Changes

I think its fair to say that my life is kind of ruining my life right now.

I also think its fair to say I hate change.

I only like change when I have discussed it until David's ears bleed or I have investigated it on the interweb or researched whatever we might be doing or changing to death... and even then I don't really like doing new things or going to new places ... As soon as Ive experience something once ... I relax. This problem obviously grows as big as I "want" it to... for example two years ago if we were going to a restaurant or a sports venue I hadn't been too ... I would have to drive past and look at the place before hand.... counselling has helped with this type of beyond control freak behaviour and I'm please to say I don't let myself do this shite anymore.... um where was I....

The children have started back at school and this means Bear has started high school. This means change . I'm not coping that well with it. Everything is different (and in my opinion harder). The machinations of getting him to and from school seriously have me looking for a new house ( to say this went down like a lead balloon with D is the understatement of the day). Bear likes to move at his own pace and is sort of unorganised (or maybe his is just a normal 12 yr old boy) and THERE IS SO MUCH MORE ORGANISATION NEEDED. From the minute he gets up I feel like I am pushing water uphill to get him out the door in time and when he gets home I feel like he has so much homework and organising to do for the next day... I get anxious just thinking about what he will forget. I will type what is obvious to all... Bear is not the problem. I am.

The other change that is killing me is our house. I know from both research and first hand experience that renovating is stressful. I'm also incredibly scared about putting lots of $ into our house (who really wants to be in more debt?). I'm sure I am not grown up enough to be making these decisions. What if we over capitalise on our property? What if we cant pay our mortgage and have to eat mince forever? What if I pick the wrong colours for my bathroom? Gas? Electricity? Valium?

I know that with help - this will all be ok. The new circumstances in my life will get easier I will get use to the new ( inconvenient) schedule and with the amount of school stuff going on in both kids lives and the house reno will come together ... But I wish it was all ok now.

Ok I wrote this post at the start of the week ... and I'm seeing light at the end of the "why am I having a nervous breakdown about bathroom taps" tunnel.

I may even be going to the movies with my friend on sat night... oh happier days ahead.