Home of Slightly Cracked Dreams

Well, Dad to the rescue. He's turned up with not one but two laptops, and we have (very slowww!!!) Internet access in the room.

I just noticed logging in that this was my 150th post - wow! That's gone rather quick (well, for me it has, I can't say for any of you).

The flight down was uneventful, and the kids are over excited and over tired and still awake (at 10pm!!! Their cousin Bells arrived tonight so they're very excited (understandably). We've already been for a swim in the pool, and M&M's confidence is growing - she's happy to move herself around on her noodle with no assistance. Kiki is getting there.

Tomorrow morning we're off to the beach, which incidentally I can hear (and see if I turn around) from here. We're on the 12th floor and have a beautiful view. The beach is literally on the back doorstep of the resort as well.

We also stopped in to see one of my Dad's cousin's tonight. It's been about 10 years since I've seen him, so that was nice to catch up, and he was very excited to see the girls.

Best go and actually put the kids to bed now. Thanks for all the comments, they're very much appreciated. I'll keep you posted on our holiday (but no pictures til we get home - sorry)

And it's only going to get worse. The big week finished "officially" yesterday, and while my final sales aren't yet known, they're a good way past my unofficial target. Go me!

And in the midst of all that I've been organising our trip to the Gold Coast - and we're leaving this afternoon. So while I will have some internet access while I'm away, I can imagine my parents when I tell them I need to go update my blog. Hmm, that will go down well. I'll see how things go.

I'm SO looking forward to this holiday, it will be such a change of pace (I hope). Although the weather report is less than favourable. Which is a pity, but I'm sure there will be plenty of things for the kids to do. My brain still hasn't recovered well from the exam and weekend of Tupperware madness. I'm actually looking forward to a week without seeing any Tuppeware. Is that a bad thing to say? I hope not! Cause I'm going to be seeing a lot of it when I get home. Mother in law doesn't know it yet, but the day after we get home I will be enlisting her to help me sort the Tupperware. I'm guessing it's going to take all day.

So that's where I'm at. I'll try and get on while I'm away, but if I can't, I'll see you all when we get home next Thursday.

Gosh after watching Idol tonight I'm bloomin singing everything!

Today was a bit of a let down, my morning party cancelled, which meant I spent the 3 hours I would have been travelling, setting up, doing the party, and driving home lying in bed instead, catching up on some Jane Austin.

Feeling a little down about my chances of hitting my personal target for the week (I had only reached 40% of it by this stage) I headed out to the party this afternoon, thankfully a 5 minute drive away (remind me to add that to the list of Things I'll Miss...) to be STUNNED at the success of the party. In one afternoon (one party and a few outside orders) I have now hit 92% of my target for the week. I'm stunned! And proud of course *grin*.

With one party to go, and a few more orders to come in, I'm quietly confident of reaching my target. My manager is so confident she's lifted my personal goal (all unofficial like) by $1100. Normally that would be two parties for me. She wants me to do it in one. Well, I'll see what happens tomorrow. But I'm so close I can taste my personal goal (basically if I reach it I "win" from Tupperware a set of 4 lunchboxes, a gold rimmed platter, a set of 4 crystal red wine glasses and a 4 place gold rimmed dinner set) I can taste it. And I'm imagining eating Christmas dinner off my new dinner set. And drinking from our new wine glasses.

And on that note I'm going to go and get some sleep, since I'm supposedly leaving the house at 7:30 in the morning. That's like, eight and a half hours from now. Eeek!

I'm exhausted. Shattered. Dying for sleep. And yet here I am. Damn the election coverage! I need my sleep!

Who was I kidding when I thought I would be able to (at 6.5 months pregnant) manage a law exam, 4 Tupperware parties, an open house and packing/preparing for a holiday all within a 7 day period??

Apparently myself.

Still suffering brain trauma after the exam on Thursday afternoon, I turned around yesterday and had my hair done, then took the entire family (ye gads!) to do a Tupperware party. The girls wanted to help, but in reality - not so much. They did make very useful fetchers though.

But it meant we were all out late last night, and all tired and cranky this morning. And late for swimming lessons. That left 2 hours to clean the house and vacate 4 people and a dog for the open (which seemed to go remarkably well, considering the election and all). No offers as yet, but the agent seems hopeful after today. We've been talking strategy this week, so maybe something will come of it.

So what did we do while we were out? Well, first we went to the shops to see Santa, but apparently Santa arriving at 10am means he's gone for the day by 12pm, and not back again til Monday. Who knew?

So we distracted the children with lunch and ice-cream, and tried again to find the missing lay-by. We now have about 75% of it, waiting on 2 dolls and an encyclopedia to turn up. Anytime before Christmas would be good guys.

We grabbed a bit of food shopping, and then headed in to vote. Hubby actually listened to me, and voted below the line on the Senate ballot, so it took FOREVER!, but that's ok. Democracy at work ladies and gentlemen.

But I'm TIRED, and my back is sore, and I have two parties to do tomorrow, and did I mention I'm TIRED??

But on the plus side, the house is still tidy! Mostly.

So you don't think I'm completely caught up in my own little world, here's my personal election coverage in preparation for tomorrow's voting extravaganza.

Why I'm not voting Labor

1. Despite promising to ratify Kyoto, there has been no funding allocated to do anything about reducing our greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Kyoto time frame.
2. Kevin Rudd is backing down on a pledge to hold a referendum on Aboriginal Reconciliation
3. Labour has not provided funding (that I could find) for more training places for Doctors
4. Kevin Rudd's lip licking annoys me to DEATH (I would use harsher terminology, but I don't think I've sworn yet on this blog, so I'll try and keep it that way).
5. I DETEST Julia Gillard.
6. Wayne Swan is possibly the least qualified member of the Labor party to do anything, and he's supposed to be our Treasurer if Labor win? No thanks!

Why I'm not voting Liberal

1. All the policies I read tonight were too complicated to pick anything out. None of them make much sense to me.
2. Oh, plus, I don't have a Liberal candidate - I have a National one. But you know. It's late.

Why I'm not voting Green

1. I'm sure there are many reasons to not vote Green, but it's late, and I'm tired, and I just don't want to see Bob Browns face on TV everytime a bill goes to the Senate as he tries to justify how it fits with his policy (if Labor wins) or how it doesn't (if the Libs win). Ugh.
2. Their website is annoying

Why I'm voting Democrat

1. They are the only party who have clearly made women's issues a priority.
2. Plus, it's either that, Family First or the CEC (and people think the Lib's use scare tactics?).

And that just about wraps up my campaign coverage. I'm off to bed, and hopefully when I wake up I'll be able to put a coherent argument together.

Oh yeah. It's all done. I could have done better, but I don't care because it's over.

Actually I probably will care tomorrow, but right now, on 4 hours sleep, caffine withdrawals and in the midst of a sugar crash, I don't give a damn.

We will now (hopefully) return you to your regularly scheduled blogging. And for me, hopefully sleeping.

Bah, who am I kidding?

There will be lots of great things about this town that I'll miss when we move. The water, the boats, the weather.

But something I will miss (despite not ever getting used to it) is walking into a hospital appointment and having a familiar face peer at you and say "didn't I deliver one of your babies?" Ahem. Yes, you probably did. So far every midwife and doctor I've seen at the hospital this time around has somehow been involved in the births of my previous two children. And the "new" midwife, who wasn't, was my lactation consultant with the second.

Of course the amusing side of all this is that they're more excited than I am - they don't have to take the child home with them. So they do their best to scare me by telling me about their rebel children born around the same time as this one is due. Thanks for the vote of confidence. I already have one "highly spirited" child (Kiki) and one "sensitive" child (M&M). I'm honestly not sure which is worse at this point. Surely there's something in the middle?

But the outcome of the appointment was.... nothing. Both bub and I are increadibly healthy. Everything is on track and oh that's right, her head is almost engaged already!! That would explain the bruising under my right ribs. Thanks. Is i t any wonder it takes me a while to bond with my children??

And now, it's back to study!

You may have noticed I'm very quiet at the moment. My exam is coming up fast on Thursday, and today was the last day I had home alone to really focus. I'm pretty happy with how I'm going so far. I have comprehensive notes of everything I need to know, and am currently doing up the "correct" answers to some practice questions (I'm taking a break now) that I will the practice on under exam conditions over the next couple of days.

Tomorrow we're home all day (washing day!) and the girls are all excited about a full day of TV while Mummy works. I've hidden a couple of DVD's from the last stock up we did, so they'll even have something new to watch if they want. I hate doing this but really, one day isn't going to hurt them is it? Wednesday we're literally out most of the day, leaving the house at 9am, and home probably no earlier than 2:30pm. 3pm is more likely, so that pretty much rules out a whole day. At least the kids will be exhausted and go to bed early. I hope.

Then they're off to daycare on Thursday, so I can put in a few more hours study before my exam in the afternoon. We might even grab Pizza and head down the lagoon on Thursday night, just for something different.

So, if you don't hear from me for the next couple of days, you'll know why. I do have another hospital appointment on Wednesday, so I'll definitely update if there's anything to update. Although in big news, Hubby will be allowing me full naming rights from our shortlist. I've already picked, but I'm not sharing just yet. I might share the shortlist (if I ever find it again) next week if I run out of things to talk about (ha!)

And on that note, I'm going to go back to work. Yeah, I had a coffee at 10pm. I've got at least 2 hours before I could possibly crash.

Ooh, I like the pretty new banner! Yes I'm very late. I blame study. Believe it or not I'm actually doing some. But that's another post.

Our menu s not exactly thrilling, because I'm trying to empty the freezer still, and studying, which means Hubby is doing a lot of the cooking. But it's getting there slowly.

Monday - Meat Pie, mashed potato & sweet potato, peas & corn

Tuesday - Sausage Casserole

Wednesday - Honey Mustard Chicken and rice (I'm cheating and using a jar)

Thursday - Takeaway, to celebrate the end of the study year!

Friday - Chicken Burgers (I'm working so Hubby will be home alone with the kids)

Saturday - Traditional English Breakfast (sauasages, eggs, bacon, mushrooms, baked beans, tomato yum!)

Sunday - Pot Roast (again I'm working so Hubby will likely do something spectacular with this one

So there you have it. Another week at Kin's House. For more menu's check out Organizing Junkie (and check out her pretty new look site!)

I don't often write about blogging, or blogs. It's not that I have no interest in it, it's just that other people do it much better than me. But today I feel compelled to.

I also don't pretend to know a lot about blogging, I just keep writing posts and get excited everytime more than 30 people visit me a day. Sad, isn't it?

See, Google uses pagerank to show the authority of a site. Using their algorithm (I think that's like a formula) and their rules. Break those rules, and Google will punish you by reducing your pagerank to 0, which has happened to a lot of people this week. So I'm joining Snoskred and saying goodbye to Google. It might take a while. Search engine is easy to change. Calendar? also easy (I mean I have Outlook here for a reason). Email and this blog may take some time, but rest assured the process has begun.

The article of Snoskred's I've linked to above talks about other services similar to Google's, and also has some great links to articles that explain better than I can what the hell's going on. Snoskred is also running competition to celebrate her Page Rank drop.

It's only taken us 7 years to get our acts together. Well, we didn't really, it was kind of handed to us by our wonderful in-laws. Have I mentioned lately how much I love them? Oh yeah, I have. Anyway. They offered us their second car for a bargain price, to be paid when the house sells.

So! We're a two car family. No more late nights dragging the girls from their beds to the car to pick Hubby up after a call-out. Or juggling work, study, kids and stuff with the one car.

Of course now I'm going to need to find the extra money in the budget somehow. But I'm sure the money's there. Somewhere.

In the meantime, we have two cars. YAY!

I wrote a post two months ago about a weekly washing day and I've been meaning to update you all on how it's going.


While there have been a few hiccups, generally it works well. On Tuesdays I wash 3 or 4 loads of clothes, depending on how feral the children have been. On Thursdays I wash either the kids sheets or our sheets (alternate weeks) and due to the house being on the market, Saturday morning now gets the last load of towels (I wash all our bath towels, hand towels and bath mats the morning of the open so we have fresh towels out).


Of course, with two swimming lessons a week, that's an extra two loads of swimming washing, one on Wednesday and one on Saturday. But because I don't get "behind" in my washing, this doesn't phase me. In fact, today, being laundry day, I had 3 loads to do (being as how last week I did the washing on Thursday due to numerous doctors appointments on Tuesday) and was looking around for more. I know I don't have to worry about clothes for a week, and it means if an extra load needs doing (sheets or towels or whatever) it doesn't mess up my system, or make me feel behind. I feel more prepared and able to jump in and get it done.


In reality there are only 3 days a week I don't wash, and I'm sure this will change when #3 arrives (what with all those lovely cloth nappies I'm slowly accumulating) but it at least gives me a starting point.

Since it's one of the top posts and I get requests every week (and plenty of Google traffic as well) I've added it to the left sidebar under Top Posts. Enjoy!

I love salads. Pretty muchly all types. Potato, green, noodle, pasta, whatever. What I don't like is making them. I'm a pretty lazy cook to be honest, and all that peeling and slicing and dicing just makes me want to slit my wrists with the knife. Well, not quite, but you get the idea. Plus I HATE lettuce. Not the fancy kinds, but the regular, iceberg lettuce you get at the supermarket. I always end up wasting it.

Then I discovered those bags of leaves in the supermarket? Sure they're a little more expensive, sometimes. But the food actually gets used rather than thrown out because I can't be bothered making a salad or don't like the lettuce. And while shopping yesterday, I noticed the bag I bought (baby spinach leaves) was half the price of a regular iceberg lettuce. well that had me sold.

The problem comes with adding things to the leaves. I'm great at chucking a couple of leaves on my ham and cheese sandwich, but anything more advanced? Nup. But yesterday I grabbed a punnet of grape tomatoes (incidentally also half the price of cherry tomatoes) and a cucumber.

Of course, when it came to making a salad that night, those were the only appropriate vegetables I had that didn't require much preparation (I told you I was lazy). Hubby looked skeptical when I said we were having salad with our pork. In a fit of inspiration (and constant nearly 3 year old whinging) I chucked a handful of grapes in. And when I was finished I thought it looked so good I had to take a picture.

Doesn't that look yummy? Yeah I thought so. I then excelled myself and served up rockmelon, watermelon and grapes for dessert. I was feeling rather healthy last night.

As this weekend draws to a close I look towards the next few weeks and grab the table in an attempt to ward off blind panic. It doesn't work.

In the next 17 days I have: an exam, 4 Tupperware parties to organise/do, another possible 2 parties, a hospital appoitnment, 2 open houses, a holiday to organise, a blog to keep updated (cause we wouldn't want y'all to get bored and go somewhere else now would we?), Chirstmas to plan, a 3rd birthday party to plan and a novel to finish.. Gee, it doesn't sound too bad when I put it like that. Except I made a list of everything I need to do for each one. Yeah. That's when I panicked.

But, as the title of this post suggests: I have a plan.

It basically involves a few things every single day (novel writing, blog posting, house cleaning and study) and a few extra things each day to get on top of the other bits and pieces. Oh, and did I mention my wonderful in-laws are away *sob* until after we leave on our holiday? So, no help there. Oh and did I also mention before they went away they "loaned" us their car, after putting it in the paper to sell? No? Well, there has been a bit of interest but my father-in-law promised us 2% commission if we sold it for him. Hmm: 2% of $3900 = $78. Yeah, those were my thoughts.

And what else did I add into this plan? ME stuff. At least once a week, something decadent, unnecessary, and all about ME!

I have also in the next 17 days: a nail appointment (cause you can't do a Tupperware party with yukky nails), a massage 3 days before my exam (cause you can't be stressed or sore during an exam) and a girly afternoon with some friends.

And for my next trick? Sticking to the plan.

Well, a it seemed all my careful planning worked. The day wasn't a resounding success, but everyone was where they needed to be, when they needed to be there, fed, clothed and ready to go. Which is about as much as I can expect at this point.

Of course now I'm too tired to even think about what happened today, so sleep will have to do.

Just one of those days. People going in different directions. Careful time scheduling is required and planning for the children etc etc. It's just one thing after another. And study? Keeps getting pushed back and back. Maybe I'll get to it on Sunday.

No, I will get to it on Sunday, this is getting a bit hairy now.

But still things keep popping up.

And all I want to do is sleep. Sigh. Which is SO where I'm going now.

I am still studying. Honest. No really, I've done some... yesterday.

I really need to do more. Sigh.

I got my assignment back last week. Not good, not good at all. I sat down and went through my assignment when I got it back, and was still disappointed. I did technically get the correct answer, but via the wrong channels. And for that I nearly failed. Not many of the comments were helpful, and some were downright wrong (comments on referencing). Still, onwards and upwards. I still have an exam to get through.

And roughly 3 weeks worth of work to do in ... 15 days. eeek.

So here I am, procrastinating once again. At least I'm not playing solitaire... yet.

I posted last week about my pottering attempts on the dining room. Are you all ready to see the finished product?

And to prove there's a table under all that, here is the finished product:

The best part? My WHOLE HOUSE looks like that now. The only part that needs any sort of work is the garage. Which I will be working on on Thursday. I'm having two days off after the marathon cleaning effort I've been on this week. Maintenance only people!

I do have one, minor problem this week though... My house is so tidy, I don't have anywhere to tackle.

Yes, it's that time of the week again, where I realise I'm NOT the worlds greatest cook, or even organiser, as I fumble through the pantry, freezer and recipe books to see what concoctions I can come up with.

Fortunatley for you all, I only have to cook 4 night this week. So without further ado, here's what we're eating:

MONDAY - Sausage Sizzle at Hubby's club
TUESDAY - Melbourne Cup Lunch/Dinner (it's a "late lunch" at around 2pm, but with all the leftovers and nibblies, no need for tea - hooray)
WEDNESDAY - Chicken Tikka, rice & green veg
THURSDAY - Meat Pie, mashed potato & vegetables
FRIDAY - Pork fillets & salad
SATURDAY - Small party here, everyone's bringing a plate. Kids are having toasted cheese sandwiches.
SUNDAY - Roast Chicken & roast vegetables. Because we all need comfort food occasionally

See what I mean? Hardly inspirational. I'm experimenting with the Chicken Tikka recipe, so if it works I'll definitely post it for you all. If it doesn't work, we'll never say another word about it shall we? Great.

To sticky beak at what other people are eating and to share what you'll be eating this week, head on over to Laura's site. Have a good week!

As you are no doubt aware, we're up to our elbows in cleaning the house ready for open inspections this coming weekend. I've been working my little (or not so little) butt off this weekend. I don't feel like I've achieved much, but I know we have.

What made today that much more plesant, was the phone call around lunch time, from my mother-in-law, telling me to not clean the bathroom because she would do that when she came over. And that she was bringing dinner.

Now I don't say this enough, but I LOVE my in-laws. And this weekend has shown why. Yesterday afternoon they took the girls for six whole hours!! so we could clean. And today my mother-in-law comes and cleans my bathroom, feeds us and even cleans up after herself. Father-in-law was also on hand to help Hubby in the garden (which is looking lovely!)

Unfortunately we didn't make it to the laundry today, which is by far the dirtiest room, but I'm counting on the agent not wanting to take a photo of that to put on the internet, so it has moved down the priority list. Tomorrow's list consists of a mad morning running around with work/kids, and an afternoon (or 3 hours) of getting the house in final shape for photos.

I've decided I'd just like to sleep, and wake up when the house is sold, if that's ok?

Phew, what a day. I didn't have anything prepared to post today, as I guest posted at Snoskred's blog Life in the Country. I had a lot of fun writing that post, and researching for it. It is great living in a small town, but I am looking forward to moving back to the city. Talking with a friend tonight about her daughter's school, the new shopping centre extension has me all excited.

I know it sounds strange to get excited over a shopping centre, but if you'd spent 4 hours at the same shopping centre I did today (long story but Hubby needed the car) you would understand. I was so bored after 3 hours I went looking at laptops. *whispers* Shhh, don't tell my baby that, he still thinks he's my favourite. I've had him just on 12 months now, and he's not let me down yet. *Kin gently strokes her laptop*

Ahem, yes. Where was I? Shops. Yes, a severe lack of shops. I did manage my Secret Santa shopping today, and a few other bits and pieces. And several cups of coffee at the coffee shop. And a magazine. I felt terribly spoiled, but also quite nauseous a lot of the day. I have been very good and eating well, drinking lots of water and resting a lot as well, so I will definitely be mentioning this to the doctor on Tuesday.

The house is officially on the market now, and The Nice Lady will be here Monday to take photos. Now everything is decluttered, I'm cleaning each room in turn, top to bottom, and then closing the door. So far I've done the Office and spare bedroom. Tomorrow will be the main bedroom and ensuite. Sunday the lounge and dining room. Monday the kids bedroom, main bathroom and kitchen. All things being equal the kitchen should be done Sunday too. I'll see how I go. So that's my agenda for the weekend, as well as the regular swimming lessons, and Hubby has lots of jobs to do in the garden.

Next week things don't look to be any simpler. Monday, thankfully, the kids will be in daycare while I clean like a woman posessed for these photos. Tuesday, for the Aussies, is Melbourne Cup Day as well as the day I book into the hospital, otherwise known as the day I spend 3 hours waiting around at the hospital. The traditional Melbourne Cup Lunch for Hubby's work is being held at the Boss's new house, 30 minutes out of town, which means we probably won't get home til quite late. The plus side? The house won't get trashed on Tuesday.

Wednesday is Swimming lessons. The girls are in the same lessons now and progressing very well. M&M is even voluntarily floating on her back on her own with her noodle - quite an improvement considering a week ago she wouldn't even float on her back with someone holding her. Kiki is still having some trouble, but is trying harder, which is nice to see. I am taking my uni work with me to the pool, and manage to learn a few things while waving from the side and chatting to other Mums. Wednesday afternoon, I think we'll collapse.

Thursday is the first open (I think) so expect another mad day of cleaning. Friday the girls are once again off to daycare, and I have a Tupperware meeting, as well as a party to organise for Saturday.

Saturday is another open, Hubby taking the girls to swimming lessons while I do a party, and then I am having a linen party here that night, and a friend staying over. Sunday will be a day of collapse. I mean rest.

So there you have it, the upcoming week at Kin's Home. Feel free to stop by for your daily dose of insanity, and I hope you enjoy your weekend.