You’re Not A Real Man ‘Til You Drive A Ute

Marty’s *new* shitbox car only lasted 6 weeks before it broke down & was deemed more expensive to repair than the value of the car.

He (& I) don’t mind this at all, because;
a) The muffler was so damn loud it would wake the kids & the whole damn neighbourhood every morning when Marty left for work at 4:30am.
b) I constantly worried about him on those long drives convinced the car wasn’t safe to withstand that wind tunnel of a freeway (& I wasn’t far off the mark).
c) His Boss decided it was investment to make sure Marty doesn’t take up an offer from one of the other companies always trying to poach him, & bought him a brand spankin’ new ute.

Everyone wins.

& the man is struttin’ round like a teenage boy who just felt his first boob.

What is it with blokes & their utes?!

I guess it’s the equivalent of yuppie guys & their Porsche/ Merc/ insert swank car here,

or boy racers & their Monaro/ Seca/ insert wanker car here.

Not only a penis extension, but a symblol of the kind of man they are?
*My bro (probably my only male reader) will be keeling over with annoyance upon reading this!*

I’m not a car kind of gal, bikes yes, but that was another life before kids, now the only thing I care about is having a car that has room for 2 kids & all their crap!

I suppose there are women out there who care equally as much what kind of car they (or their man) are driving?

Opinions; car as penis extension or status symbol?

The Wrath of the Blogosphere...

With the uprising of this new 'network' of Blogs over the last few years, seemingly we have spawned a whole new level of the power of 'word of mouth'.

When a Blogger recieves bad service/ dodgy product/ mistreatment by a business, they have instant access to a whole potential client base that can be instantly deterred with a few taps of the keyboard.

Think Dooce.com & the brand new washing machine incident.

A higher power in the internet world informs me that publicly naming a shoddy company cannot be considered defamation or libel if everything you say is truth.

I for one, like to use this power to it's full advantage; think the Real Estate incident of 2008 where we moved into a unit that was supposed to have been cleaned but looked like this;

So once again I am taking up the Blogger stance & fighting the worthy fight;

Go here for the story.

Marty was one of the unlucky ones who got really sick (in fact almost causing him to crash the car), but when I read the full story behind it, I consider myself very lucky that I scraped by unscathed!

Pass the word my friends, BLOGGER POWER!

Feeling A Little Austin...

Whilst sweltering away in the 40+ degree heat today (yes the fan was unfixable thanks to a wooden 0, a spoon, & a block we found jammed in the motor), it suddenly dawned on me that it’s only a little over 3 weeks until we head to NZ.

Shite! Where the hell did this year go, & more importantly, did I actually achieve anything this year?!

Oh right, I did the whole have a baby thing.

But still, we’ve had our tickets for NZ booked since JANUARY, & now with 3 weeks to go, I’ve realised that I’ve actually organized very little.

So please don’t take it personally if my commenting becomes pretty lax over the next few weeks, or for that matter, my Blogging too. Rest assured I will most definitely still be lurking (like I’d actually sacrifice my Blog lurking time to make things a little easier for myself. Ha!).

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You might recall that 12 long weeks ago I joined Alex of Beating Brooke Burke & Whoa Mumma fame in her quest for a hot bod.

As you all know I’ve been working like a maniac at the gym, & Friday was officially the end of my 12 week Body Blitz Challenge.

& while Alex is supremely brave (& a lot hotter than me from the pics I’ve seen so far!) & has vowed to post her before & after shots, I was too gutless to even send mine in to the actual challenge, so no, I won’t be posting mine for public mockery.

I can, however, proudly announce that I’ve shed 10 kgs & 3 sizes over that time, & while I’ve still got another 10kgs to lose & won't be strutting around in a bikini anytime soon, I do feel like I’ve finally got a little of the ‘old me’ Mojo back.

Why yes, I AM jumping on the bandwagon & posting about the weather too, but thanks for asking...

Take note of my new Aussie weather widget in my toolbar at right.

I'm sure it's lying to me as it's really about 5 BILLION degrees here!

Fellow Aussies will know that it is INSANELY hot, humid, generally frigging unliveable right now, & I really feel for you Adelaideans where I hear it is so hot your face about melts off if you leave the air-con.

We do, in fact, have an awesome water cooling fan thing, but for some reason Kaia decided to take a break from trying to stick spoons into the power socket & instead stick one through the slots of the fan & jam the motor. Cheers kid, you make it so much easier to love you when you do fun things like that.

How have you kids not firgured out yet that when you climb all over mummy, or become an exceptionally clingy baby & just want to be held all day, that it just makes you even hotter & mummy even crabbier?!

Might as well go & face the crowds at the mall, at least we'll be in air-con!

Ideas for things-to-do-with-your-kids-that-don't-cost-much-that-get-us-out-of-the-face-melting-heat? Ta!

Road Rage

I’ve just picked up a pretty, simple summer dress, exactly what I was after for my wedding, on sale for $15 bucks!
I wasn’t even planning on a wedding dress, in fact I was planning on going as low-key as shorts & singlet, but our intimate, casual wedding of 10 suddenly blossomed into a semi-intimate affair of 35 or so, just of immediate family.
Seems we had completely forgotten to factor in Marty’s dad (+ stepmum, siblings, nieces & nephews). Very careless (& embarrassing!).
So I was gently persuaded (by my mum/ SIL/ MIL/ friends/ anyone else who has decided to give me their 2cents) that a nice frock wouldn’t go astray.

It is, as they say, the only time I’ll be doing this, so why not, right?!

So I’m pretty thrilled to have found the perfect thing piss-cheap, & not have to go browsing during the Christmas hype season.

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I have, however, failed to be decisive enough to just choose a damn Christmas present for Kaia, meaning I can either do the trip with tantruming toddler in tow again (oh you better believe I am that mum with my kid screaming facedown on the floor in the middle of the aisle because I said I would not buy him another ball to add to his 5 others) or wait another week to sneak out to late-night shopping on my own.
Have I mentioned that Marty is now working in middle-of-nowheresville & now stays with his Boss near the worksite a cpl of nights a week?
Meaning if I wait til I have a chance to go shopping on my own, it could lead to the very real possibility of shopping mayhem 3 days before Christmas.

Just decide on a damn present & buy it now Goddammit!

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Apparently today I am invisible.
Or at least that’s what 2 drivers thought when they failed to stop for me & the pram at a zebra crossing today. WTF?! Are you completely ignorant of the road rules or just don’t give a damn about almost knocking over a mum & her 2 kids?!
Then apparently not only me but my whole car was invisible to a truckie who veared into my lane & forcing me into a gutter, & causing some noticeable damage to the steering.
I suspect our scheduled routine car service on Saturday is going to turn into some serious repairs & some serious bills.

Is it just me or are there more drivers doing erratic & dangerous things on the road than ever before?!

But then I got home & about fell over with excitement when I saw that I’d won the Blog This challenge 2 weeks in a row!
Again with that crazy luck!

Seriously, you should all leave comments on my Blog to gain some good chi! ;)

Last week I decided to bite the bullet & let the kid run amok at a new playgroup, germs & all. & guess what? We've made it there 2 weeks in a row with no sicknesses. Things are lookin' up.
The new playgroup was a bit of a ridiculous choice, it took 90 mins to get there in peak traffic this morning! But it means a weekly catch-up with my hilarious Columbian friend. This girl cracks me up, she is just rockin'!

We actually met spending long days side by side in the hospital, when her son was born very prem, shortly after Kaia. She was so sweet & friendly, definately someone who made the NICU process that little bit easier, but she could speak very little English back then having not been in Australia long. We lost touch after taking our boys home, too caught up in that first whirlwind year of Doctors/ Specialists/ Physio/ sicknesses/ hospital stays.

Last year we ran into eachother again, & her English had gotten a whole lot better which made things alot easier. When we got to talking, it dawned on me how hard it must have been for her in those hospital days - understanding very little of what the Doctors & nurses were telling her, having no family here for support, & not being an Australian citizen meant they were not entitled to Medicare or ongoing support from the hospital. I only recently discovered that the hospital care for their little guy had cost them nearly $20,000. I can only imagine how much harder that financial stress & isolation would have made the NICU process.

& still we are 2 of the lucky ones. We have 2 regular, healthy (well, mostly), bratty toddlers, who get to run amok at Playgroup, from which I am completely wiped out & therefore not doing justice to this worthy plight!

Millions of babies each year are born prematurely for various reasons, & sadly many are not as lucky as our boys, & don't make it to the bratty toddler stage.

So, visit here to see a small but vital piece of Kaia's history, as well as places you can find more info & how you can help.

Thankyou for visiting (because I know you are all kind & generous & most definately will visit)!

Problem Solving

My nana pants dilemma was easily solved in the end, when my mum presented a smashing pair of her own nana pants that provided the necessary smoothing effect without the baked ham thighs.
My choice of dress was not so well thought out, requiring the very embarrassing removal of the entire top half of the dress (with the caterer & young waiter milling nearby) to pop a boob out. Not exactly discreet breastfeeding!

The wedding was completely lovely, they couldn’t have chosen a more picturesque place. After just posting about my dream house, it was our first visit to the Bride's parents own farm;

The bride was ridiculously fabulous! Not only stunning & elegant, but she'd organized most of the wedding herself, including handmaking all the invitations, place settings, bombonieres, & programs. & to top off the night, the surprise announcement of their second baby due in May.

Their 18-month-old daughter as flower girl, in matching dress with the always gorgeous bridesmaid Sian.

Bo was a little star & made it through the whole day & late into the night without a fuss.

& Marty met his soul brother.

There was a haka (groom is a kiwi), a superstar Emcee (bride's brother, very funny guy!), fun wedding games (apparently a Swiss tradition from bride's family), & plenty of tears (mostly by the bridesmaid!).

I didn't quite manage to get through the day completely spew/ drool/ babyfood free, & I was about falling over from the constriction of my nana pants by the end, but it was a great night, a stellar wedding, & plenty of the warm & fuzzies!