Who is this kid?

Well for a start that is one of his favourite sayings. Especially if David asks him to do something ... he points to David and looks at me and says "who is this kid???"

It was hysterical the first time we heard it. Not so much now.

He also had a birthday this week and turned 14.


He got to open his presents whilst half asleep.

... he loved the cash and all his presents.

We had Subway for afternoon tea/ dinner and then went to see a movie after David finished work.

We saw HP7p2 or the last Harry Potter movie if you are not a wizard geek.

Some things I think about Bear:

He can be sweet and loving and he can fight with his sister and swear like a trooper. He can do all these things in the space of 10 minutes.

He is a good Mate and has good mates.

He is off to his first high school birthday party this Friday night.

He is playing school rugby and starts the season this week.

He has no bedroom or proper cupboard space since we changed his bedroom to our bathroom. He doesn't care. He either sleeps on the couch, in Lucy's room or on the floor in our bedroom.

In some ways (like above) he is uber easy going. In other ways he as a stubborn as a mule.

One of the best parts of his birthday was listening to him on the phone to his Uncle's and Aunty's and Grandparents. He is a good conversationalist.

We are about to go overseas for a skiing trip that is mostly for his (and David's) benefit.

He loathes his English teacher and its been a steep learning curve for him not to be the teachers favourite.

He is a pretty good helper around the house and garden. He is a stellar helper with chores when he stays with Nanna & Poppie.

He isn't particularly into fashion and is fairly conservative with his hair and clothes.

He loves his Maths teacher and is hoping to do extension maths next year.

He wants to be an engineer of some description. He is hoping this earns him a lot of money so he can spend a lot of time skiing and snowboarding.

He has been chosen by the school to take part in a mentor program during Year 10 (he will have a mentor from the engineering field).

He has black and white views. It is either wrong or right in Riley's world.

Even though he fights a lot with Lucy he does protect and look after her at school and on the bus.

He likes to listen to Bliss n Esso and Rise Again very loudly on his ipod. He likes the fact that these bands are slightly subversive way more than he likes these bands.

In lots of ways he is a mini version of David. This is a very good thing.

He likes to lift up his shirt and show me (or David or Lucy) but mostly me ... his washboard abs. He does this to annoy me and because loving yourself sick is part of being a teenager I guess.

At least once a week he complains about our lack of internet capabilities at home and cant understand why D and I wont entertain the idea of moving closer to town.

His favourite TV shows are Race around the World, Teen Wolf and Angry boys and any Rugby Union that televised.

He only really turns into "teenager" when he is hungry or tired... teenager and toddler are not so far apart.

He does 3 hours of parkour/circus school and gymnastics on a Sunday morning. He and Lucy do it and he wouldn't have had a go at it without Lucy.

He is so much more than all the above and we love and treasure him much more than words can say.

Happy Birthday Riley Bear!

Turning it up to Eleven

Lucy had a Happy Birthday this week. She turned 11 at long last after telling everyone she was 11 for the last 9 months.


All Birthday people open their presents in bed on the morning of their special day.
She made out like a bandit with cold hard cash (in various currencies ;-)

Riley knows that every pic I take may end up on this blog and acts accordingly.

Lucy also received some cute little gifts from her friends at school. Bear pointed out that this is the difference between boys and girls at their school. The boys slap one another on the back and say "Happy Birthday Mate" and the girls are forever baking cupcakes and buying gifts for one another. I told him this doesn't really change once High School is over.


We also had a little birthday afternoon tea with Aunty Cath and the cousins and Vyc and the boys. It was very laid back as far as birthday celebrations go.

This is actually the morning after her Birthday. She knows how to string the birthday celebrations out so we all sang to her and lit some candles on the left over cake :-)

We also went out to tea at the restaurant of her choice (Thai).

Oh how we love our eleven year old. She is a delight. She is funny and dramatic and very switched on in so many ways. She completed our family 11 years ago in the best possible way.

A visit from the Generalissimo and his Empress

Dad and Joy have spent most of the European summer in Greece and Italy and stopped off in Oz for a couple of days on their way back to Kiribati ( and for the record there is nothing better than getting an email from Dad with pictures of their sunny Kafalonia house and view .... when we are shivering through the coldest crappiest winter with no heating in our house. It's ace).

(even though he sends me emails that make me want to stab myself) We went down to Nick and Tracy's to see them and have lunch together.

It was so nice to be with them and hear all their holiday tales. Even more exciting is that they may be back home for good soon.

Although the day was miserable (very cold and drizzling) Nanna and Poppy took all the kids to the park for a couple of hours. They are always so good with the kids. Lulu tells me Nanna is a good Nanna because she always listens to her (that would be in direct contrast to her parents I am guessing).

He is such a character my FIL.

This is the email and pic he sent us from Rome

"Joy and I may not get back to Kiribati as she has been invited to be the Empress of Rome and they have found out about my past military experiences and have asked me to be the Generalissimo of the legion !!!

From his Excellency the generalissimo philipo philipo"

It all cooks right?

So not only have I turned into one of those peeps who discusses ugly exhaust fans, round vs square sinks and the benefits of waterproofing ... cooktops are now sending me bonkers.


We are at the stage of picking appliances for the new kitchen. From the very start I have wanted an induction cook top. David didn't care and was happy to let me pick... as long as it was gas ;-)
We went backwards and forwards with it and after a telling off from his Mum (she has gas but wants induction) he gave in. Of course at this point I chickened out of the induction top 'cos it's like 4 x times the price of a good quality European gas cooktop.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_cooker






We are no further along in deciding. I really wanted the induction cooktop because I believe it heats up like gas yet has a smooth top like ceramic thus making it far easier to clean and keep looking nice (I've had a ceramic cooktop and it wasn't as good to cook with as gas).

David really wanted a gas cooktop because on the 3 days a year he cooks poached eggs ... he wants to do it with gas.




Apparently the other main benefit of an induction cooktop is you get to conduct many stupid food experiments in the privacy of your home.


My main main main concern is trying to keep a gas cook top clean. I have seen gas cooktops that look shocking because they aren't cleaned well after each use and even though I devote most of my day to scrubbing our appliances (that may be a total lie) I still worry.

Mainly I worry my cook top will end up looking like this.

So I want to know

• Do you have a gas cooktop and do you love it?



• Is it hard to keep clean?



• Do you have an induction cooktop and do you love it?



• Does your induction cooktop cook as well as gas?



• If you do have an induction cooktop which kidney did you sell to afford it and can I have your dealers number?

Also if someone (and by someone I mean you DAD) could research the pros and cons of Induction vs Gas cooktops and get back to me (including make, model and serial number please) ... that would be great.

Ex

Books Books Books

I've been reading and you know how I like to bore peeps with my reviews. Here goes.

Lets start with the biggest DUD. Wendy Harmer has written some good books this is not one of them. In fact I bet she got a bazillion $$$ to write this fiction book and basically just dialled it in. Very Very Boring.

Wow my pics of these books are crap. It's hard to cyber steal good work.

Gordon Livingston is a psychologist who writes the best self help books because basically his advice is "Harden Up".

And never stop dancing: 30 more things you need to know now is his latest book and in it he explores

"a clear and deep understanding of the hidden hypocrisies, desires, evasions, and emotional tumult that course through our lives."

I stole that quote too. This book is easy to read and wakes you up to some of the issues in life we should be more aware (and thankful) of.

Judith Lucy is a comedienne who always felt like a bit of a misfit in her (KRAZY) family. This makes a bit more sense to her when an in- law tells her she is adopted...in the middle of a family dinner...when everyone is drunk...on Christmas Day. I loved this autobiography. It wasn't too self pitying or too "lets gloss over all the crappy bits in my life" happy. This story made me care about JL and I hope by writing this book she has found a bit of peace.

In very much the same vein as Judith Lucy's book Lily Bragge's autobiography is the story of a person trying to live her adulthood with the albatross of her childhood slung firmly around her neck. She doesn't get very far obviously. In fact she becomes a drug addict and losses custody of her son. What happens in the end of this book still astonishes me.

I have read both these bad boys in the last couple of weeks and except for a shameless self reference in The Fifth Witness (name checking the fact that Matthew McConaughey plays the lead character in The Lincoln Lawyer movie) they were both interesting, easy to read and very enjoyable.

This book was NOT easy to read or enjoyable but I am still glad I read it.

Madeleine McCann was taken from her out hotel room in Portugal in 2007. Her parents were eating dinner at the hotel restaurant about 300m away and between the time her father checked on her and her siblings and the time her mother checked on her about 45Min's later she was kidnapped. She was 3. This book is her mother Kate's account of the living nightmare that has followed.

I knew the story of the kidnapping but was shocked to learn that no one other than her parents are actively looking for this child. The (very deficient) Portuguese police investigation has been closed and whilst the British Police have advised and shared some resources its not their jurisdiction. In fact Kate McCann says that part of the reason of writing this book was to raise funds for the on going self funded investigation of her daughters kidnapping. I felt bad as I borrowed this book from the library but there is a paypal donation button on their website.

I know when children are hurt or go missing it is usually connected to their parents but this case seems like two loving parents who naively thought as they were holidaying with other Britons in a British run hotel and as they never left the resort their children would be safe. They have paid a very high price for this naivety. Kate McCann also goes into detail about being named as a suspect by the Portuguese police and all the nutters who routinely try to contact them. As if not knowing where in this grubby shitty world your baby was wasn't bad enough. I really don't know how some people live with the circumstances life dishes up to them.

I have saved the best to last. This fiction story is about a mother of three who has a car accident that leaves her unable to "see" or use her left side. The reason why this is such an interesting book is the authors ability to convey what real life is like for parents with young children and then for someone recovering from a brain injury. There isn't too much sugar coating and I was pleased to see a main character of fiction having such a strong voice especially about the issues of being a working parent and striving for career advancement and financial security.

So how about you? Read anything good lately?

NOT SO Fancy Pants

Here's me today


and here's me with my fake smile.

Alternative titles for this post:

What I wore Wednesday except its Thursday.

How I thought I looked alright until I saw these pictures.

Why does my face look like uncooked pizza dough?

Wearing a vest makes me look like a barrel for shizzle.

I'm short and I need to take these jeans up.

The children are gone and I'm bored enough to post pics of me me me.


Ok maybe its the adage that women mainly dress for other women ... and I work with 10 blokes but I seem to feel the need to stick my lame outfits on the blog.


Oh well

The deets (if you too want to look like a barrel)

Black Wedges ~ Big W
Jeans ~ Esprit
White Shirt ~ K Mart
Grey Vest ~ Op Shop (thought it was a great buy until about an hour ago lol)
Pearl/silver/black charm bracelets ~ Sportsgirl
Ring ~ Palas Online

Issues

Cheeky Monkeys

Lu and Bear have gone to Nanna and Poppies for some school holiday fun.
Last night when Lucy was packing her bag I was going through the items she had to take to do her vision therapy and her nose (she has some rogue cells in her nasal passage that she has had since birth and we are trying cream before surgery. CREAM WILL WORK. Hear that cream).

Anyhoo she is getting together all the "stuff" she needed and she turns to me and says "Gee I've got some issues hey".

I am still laughing about it today.

This is like

This is like

Finding the perfect pair of jeans... BUT on sale

Watching your favourite TV show... BUT on a huge screen

Going out for Coffee... BUT with your best friend

Sharing your Birthday with you family and friends... BUT also getting presents

Eating your favoutite tea... BUT having somebody else cook it.



Watching Bear Grylls do his alpha male thing... BUT With Jake Gyllenhaal



A lovely blogger called Rox (who has the cutest baby boy) posted this pic on her blog and I stole it. Thanks Roxanne :-)