Up and Running (at last)

Ok, drum roll please!!! I have FINALLY managed to get the #$*&@$ header working on the Scrap Outside The Page blog, so we are actually going to be ready to launch on Saturday night. There's nothing really on there ATM but for those of you who'd like to admire the blog header, here's the link, lol. Now I know how Michelangelo felt.

Flat Out!!

I am flat out ATM getting Scrap Outside The Page ready for relaunch in June!! I'm really excited because Buzz and Bloom have offered to sponsor the site for July and November, so things are really starting to shape up !! I'm suffering serious sleep deprivation BIG time, cos my nights are spent hunched over my 'puter trying to upload, download and offload so that everything's ready to run on Sunday. Which just happens to be Bruce and my 17th wedding anniversary....so much for romance lol.
Say tuned for more details on the relaunch !!!

A layout !!!

Don't faint...I know, I was shocked too, (hee hee). This is a double featuring some shots of Sebi at the National Folk Festival in Canberra over the Easter Long Weekend.
I used the CherryArte Boy Story papers and some foam core to deep set the b&w pix.

A new challenge....

I have been offered the chance to take over "Scrap Outside The Page", which is Karen's challenge blog....she's got so much on with her Variety Bash stuff that she's had to cut down some of her other things, SO....I will be starting with a new format and new challenges for June....stay tuned for updates!!!

Karma-rama and the moron patrol/Have a nice day

You know you've mortally offended someone important when it rains pianos just before you have to go to work. I hate working in the rain. Wet weather brings all the morons out of the woodwork and sends them cosmic messages directing them to drive through my crossing while SMSing, applying lipstick and digging through their knock off Louis Vuittons for low calorie Eclipse mints. And that's just the fellas. I tend to lose my famously sweet disposition when some half wit in a BMW parks on my toenails and then looks at me strangely when I ask if they're planning to stop before I disappear under the hood ornament. Don't get me wrong, I like a good near death experience as much as the next person....but the whole "sitting duck" scenario is getting kinda old. Especially when the only Transport Department sanctioned response is "Have a nice day" (????) I think I'll have that engraved on the memorial plaque they're going to place over the greasy smudge that used to be yours truly before she had to go out IN THE RAIN and commune with the stupid of the earth.
Well, mortality is calling. HAVE A NICE DAY (and I mean that in the nicest possible way)

Hello Kitty

Confucious says "For the best seat in the house, move the cat"

Happy Happy Happy Birthday

To my mum, the mother of all mothers lol. Hope you had a great day, eat the cake , smell the flowers, use the blanket, enjoy!! xoxoxox

Crossing the line....

I knew I was in trouble when Krispy Kreme crossed the border into Queensland...I was coping with my long distance addiction because I couldn't justify flying 1500kms for a fix. Actually I could justify it really easily, but my kids insist on being fed EVERY DAY and they won't eat cat food, and I can't stand to see the cat go hungry and you get the point. So....back to my current problem, which is that while a plane trip to Sydney is not always a viable option, a ten minute car ride to downtown BrizVegas is much easier to accomplish. Actually that's not the problem. Neither is the kids vs catfood issue. The REAL problem is that the side yard of my house is not large enough to accomodate a flatbed truck, which is going to be a pain in the rear of my front when they come to remove a wall of my house and winch my sorry 2000 pound ass into donut recovery. And to whoever took the empty box from the kitchen bench....GIVE IT BACK, I haven't finished licking it. mmmmmm.....donuts.

Duffy

OMG, Isn't this girl AMAZING??? LOVE her voice!!!

Nit Wit

Beware of third graders bearing gifts....DS#2 has once again decided to bring me home a present from school. Due to the fact that he can't EVER find his hat, he has a bad habit of grabbing "a spare" and jamming it on before heading out to play....resulting in a scalp that resembles a scene from "Wild Kingdom". So today we are delousing and sheet washing. DS#1 is extremely unhappy about the whole deal, mainly because he didn't have any galloping antelopes and had to go to school.
"But I'm SURE I've got some....you're just not looking hard enough" (????)
Jealousy is a terrible curse. I wonder if Rapunzels mother had this problem????

Mental Health Moment

I'm going completely insane. Good job there isn't a cliff nearby or I'd walk staight off it. If anyone else wants to tell me something I don't want to hear, can they please save it for another time.
Like never. Thanks.

Fingers Crossed....

I have a job interview at Main Roads next week for a position in the office. It's basic office stuff plus some site work checking on crossings in the area. 10 hours a week, and no work during the school holidays, which would be great. I'm hoping to be in with a chance, since I already work for Main Roads and I've had the criminal record checks, and blue card check etc. The extra money would be a blessing, plus it's a foot in the door for more hours when Sebi gets a bit older. Wish me luck!!!

Vegemitus

I have a bad case of year 8. It started just before Easter and it's worsening as the year progresses. I thought I'd already had year 8....back in 1981.....but apparantly it's like shingles and athletes foot....you can get it more than once and the second dose is always worse. I'm definately finding it harder this time....I think my age is a contributing factor. That and the fact that I keep referring to DS#1's USB as a UDL (wishful thinking???). The maths makes my head spin, the planets have changed places since my last science assignment, and SOSE wasn't even a subject in the early eighties. Add to that the fact that I am the extremely priveledged parent of the only child in the universe who knows EVERYTHING, and it makes me wonder why I bother crawling out from under my doona. In the immortal words of Frankie Goes To Hollywood......HIDE YOURSELF!!!!

I got the Motherlode!!!

Well, I got well and truly spoilt today....Firstly I got woken with tea and kisses....always a good start!! Then I got Krispy Kreme Donuts to go with the tea and kisses....even better!!


Then Kit came and helped me run the mothers day flower stall at church. One guy was so impressed with him that he bought three bunches AND gave Kit $10 for himself!! And bless his heart, Kit put it straight into the donations box for the Nepalese Refugees that we're trying to help. Just when you think you couldn't love them any more than you already do!! Then I got this gorgeous piece of bling from Sebi....handmade at school in all my best fave colours....

and to top it off, a big stack of scrapping goodies!!!

We had a lovely day, started with church, visited both grandmas, then had a quiet afternoon at home with my three fave boys. Hoping that everyone had the mother of all mothers days with the ones you love xoxox

What Happened.....

to my baby boy?? I used to have a little boy who sat on my lap and read stories. Now he spends his time chatting on line. I used to have a little boy who came running when I called. Now he leaves a message on my mobile. I used to have a little boy who needed help with his homework. Some things never change.
I used to have a little boy.....

Life Love and Laundry

Another school week and another load of laundry....my kids change outfits more than Paris Hilton. Had a lovely day at O'Reilly's yesterday, bushwalking and feeding the worlds fattest parrots. Bruce is convinced they are the secret ingredient in Gran O' Reilly's meat pies....so we had chips for lunch. The boys had a great time on the treetop walk; Kit, Jacob and Bailey all scaled the ladders to the top lookout. I went up too, to keep an eye on them....Bruce and Sebi very sensibly decided to stay on terra firma. The school year is getting busy...Kit has a truckload of assignments, and even Sebi's homework is starting to pile up. I have bowed to the worst kind of bad parenting and have bribed my children to up their grades with the promise of a Nintendo Wii for Christmas. Their grades aren't that bad....I'd just like improvements for effort. DS#1 manages B's for classwork, but gets C's for effort....makes me wonder what he'd achieve if he actually worked once in a while!!!!
On the home front things are pretty good, no one's been sick for a whole week (a new record) and the boys are close to completing their next scout badges. I'm hoping to get into the city sometime whis week to make a pilgrimage to the new Krispy Kreme shop in Albert Street. This is my own personal obsession....no one else seems to appreciate them like I do. Oh well....more for me!!!

NSD Photo Collage Challenge

These are a few of my favourite things....

The cat's whiskers

You know it's winter when the hairless cat goes into hibernation....

Katie

Cute, no??

NSD ATC challenge

My entry for the Blue Bazaar ATC challenge for National Scrapbook Day. I'm seriously getting into these baby works of art...they really make you rethink your style.

Kicking and Screaming

is what my kids do better than anything else. Apart from throwing up and bleeding.
Which leaves them with the following career choices.

A. Standing in for Ozzie Ozbourne

B. Working in the Public Service Sector

Glad we sorted that one out. I'll sleep better tonight.

Feeling BLUE....

Blue Bazaar have the most amazing sale on ATM.....picked up some serious goodies, including an ATC stamp (finally), chippie letters, ghost shapes and some rubons that were begging to be bought.
Check out their stuff here.

I've also recieved my next CJ which is Nanny Gaye's recipe file, so I'm going to add my all time fave cake ....here it is.

AUNTY MARY'S CHOCOLATE CAKE
2 cups SR flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons cocoa
2 eggs
6 oz margarine
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix dry ingredients together
Add eggs milk, vanilla and margarine
beat well
place mixture in one 10 inch cake pan
or two seven inch cake pans
bake at 190 degrees for 50 minutes
cool on wire rack, then ice

Chocolate Icing
mix one teaspoon cocoa with icing sugar,
add water and mix till desired consistency is reached.

Definately the best chocolate cake this side of heaven!!

Aside from scrapping and eating (apparantly there is more to life), things here are pretty good. Everyone has more or less recovered from whatever we caught last weekend, and our weekend trip to O'Reilly's which had to be postponed is back on for Monday, providing lightning doesn't strike twice. Had my first ever high school parent teacher meeting and came away ready for retirement. Most of my clothes are older than the people teaching Kit. I'm still recovering from hearing one teacher refer to a lunchtime incident as "way beyond gross"....old age has officially smacked me over the head. Ouch.