gemisht

Two of the symbols of ANZAC Day are Rosemary and red Flanders poppies. There are many others, such as the playing of the Last Post (which gives me goosebumps every time I hear it), laying of wreaths and a game of two-up.

For Australians and New Zealanders today commemorates those who fought at Gallipoli, and the many thousands who lost their lives along with all those who have fought in any other military operations that Australia has been involved in. It is also a day to remember those who lost loved ones or friends.

 Today is our chance to say thank you to those who have given of themselves so that we may live freely and have the ability to make choices about how we live. None of us should ever underestimate that.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Lest we forget.

If there is anything you need to know about ANZAC day, check out the  Australian War Memorial website - there is a wealth of information there.

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Another week down and its Saturday again. Which means its Smiley time.

Smiley Saturday is the brainchild of Lightening so wander on over (if you haven’t already) and say hi to her.

Its been another busy week here but there has been lots to smile about.

• The kids are staying with their grandparents for a week - so its very, very quiet here.
• Kin was down in Sydney for the week so I managed to catch up with her and her beautiful daughter Megwyn who is now 9 weeks old. And what else would 3 girls do - go shopping of course
• DH and I went to the Archibald Prize last night - it was a work function and it was a great night. It’s so different seeing the paintings up close rather than just a photo of them. And as always, art is something that people either agree or disagree on and its interesting to hear what people think about different paintings. And big, excited smiles because there is going to be a Monet exhibition at the Art Gallery in October -which includes Waterlillies.
• DH and I stayed in the city last night and then went for a wander around this morning. Its been a while since I have been into the city so I really enjoyed seeing how much its changed in parts and just looking around at all the shops. And I did manage to buy myself a new wallet and handbag. My other handbag has been driving me nuts for a long time - maybe because there’s no room for my stuff in there with the cricket balls, sunscreen, McDonalds toys and a few other bits and pieces in there that belong to the kids. Needless to say, I went for a larger handbag this time. Yay can’t wait to use them.

So there has been lots to smile about this week. And I am enjoying the time without the kids - I get to be me for a few days rather than just Mum. And the kids get to spend time with their grandparents which is great while they are still happy to do it - it probably won’t last long though.

I hope that you all had lots to smile about. Don’t hold your breath but I may get photos posted of the new handbag tomorrow.

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This week DH and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. And in a couple of weeks we have a work function on that means we will stay in the city for the night. So, something was mentioned about staying at the hotel we stayed at on our wedding night. Then tonight on one of the travel shows was a special for said hotel - about $400 cheaper than on Wotif. Now that’s a bargain. All this talk of our wedding and the hotel reminds me of our wedding night.

The day of our wedding, I think it was my Dad that grabbed my bag and the dress that I had chosen to wear the next day. The bag and dress were put in the car and taken to the church, then the reception venue. They were taken out of the car and stayed at the reception until we went in another car to the hotel. I took the bag and the dress in with me when we checked in.

There was champagne in the room waiting for us when we checked in. So, of course we cracked open the bottle of champagne and talked, and talked and talked. Until about 3am. I think that we were running on pure adrenaline after the excitement of the day and the whole build up to it. We went through every tiny detail of what happened during the day.

So about 3am I decided that I should probably try and get out the 50 bazillion bobby pins holding my hair up in a French roll, ably assisted by the three cans of hairspray and one can of hair mouse. And then the next thing was to get a weeks worth of makeup off my face. So, of course the logical thing to do would be to get my makeup remover, cleanser, hairbrush and any other implements that I would need out of my bag.

Guess what??????

The bloody bag was empty.

Nothing, nada, nil, zip!!!!!! This bloody bag had been almost from one end of Sydney to the other and it was empty.

So how am I going to get the makeup off and the hairspray out of my hair so I can sleep, let alone what am I going to wear the next day to actually walk out of the hotel?????

I had to improvise. I used DH’s brush after getting out the bazillion bobby pins, and soap and water on my face to get the makeup off. And there was shampoo and conditioner in the bathroom - never have I been so glad to see freebies in a hotel room.
So, there you have it. What not to do on your Wedding Night. If there’s any brides to be reading this, make sure at the top of your list of things to do in Caps is:

PACK YOUR BLOODY BAG

And make sure you do it. No matter what else needs to be done, there are some things you just need. Even on your wedding night.

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 Well its been a couple of weeks since I have done a Smiley Saturday - not intentional but my Saturdays seemed to be missing a few hours. I looked for them and couldn’t find them anywhere.

Today is a bit on the slower side thank goodness. It’s school holidays so I don’t have to get the kids to rugby and gymnastics. Ahhh, some time to sit and do a blog post - now that’s heaven isn’t it?

Well, there has been a few things to smile about the last couple of weeks so here goes with some of them:

•  Tiger did his first ever trumpet solo at a lunchtime concert at school this week. There was quite a few of the brass players performing and they all performed the pieces that they have chosen for their exams in May. Needless to say I was a Proud Mum.
•  Daisy found out that she has actually been practicing her bar routine for her first gym competition in June - she let out a big sigh of relief.
• I’m loving Uni - I know that might sound strange but I am already getting so much out of it and its only my first semester of study. I already have a much greater understanding of what I am doing at work, and confusing DH with accountant-speak - oops.

Lightening in her post today has asked us to think about what we are grateful for. I have watched the video and made a list of all the things that I am grateful for. Its great to stop and think sometimes about what we have rather than what we don’t.

I hope everyone has a great Saturday and lots to smile about.

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I know I’m not, but trying to find a time to exercise at the moment is virtually impossible. Between work, kids, Uni, trying to keep up with housework etc there just isn’t enough hours in the day.

But I think that I may have found the answer. It’s called the Hawaii Chair. I think that I will get 2 - one for work and one for home.  That way I can take multi-tasking to another level. I can exercise while I am at work and while on the computer at home. I could even get one each for the kids so that they are getting enough exercise too.

If you think that this is something that would help you fit some exercise into your busy schedule, then click here. Even if you think you don’t need to get any more exercise, click on the link, bet you’ve never seen anything like this.

And because its not Easter anymore, this will help you work off all those damn Easter eggs you ate.

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I hope that everyone is having a happy, safe Easter. And not eating too much Chocolate.And now this is for Kelley and everyone that reads her blog and has expressed their hate love for the Teletubbies, because they are so annoying cute. I found this:

Enjoy!!!!Happy Easter everyone.

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Well its that time of the week again - Smiley Saturday, brought to you by Lightening. Hop (cause its Easter) on over to her place, where you’ll find links to other Smiley Saturday posts, and of course Lightening’s own post.

Well this week has been a mixture of Smiley moments and tear-your-hair-out moments. But because its Smiley Saturday, I am going to focus on the Smiley moments, of course.

• I had my first assessment task for Uni - it was a multiple choice test through Blackboard (used to be WebCT) but this was no ordinary multiple choice test. It was for my Accounting unit and we were given lots of figures that we had to do calculations for as well as other theory questions. It took me an hour, which was the time allowed for it. And guess who didn’t have a calculator at home so I had to use the accessory one in Windows, not fun.

The good news is that I passed. Wooo hoooo

• DH managed to fix the pool. Its been leaking in a few different places (its 30ish years old and needs some serious maintenance) and we had someone in to fix the main leak but there was still some water leaking from the filter. Through a process of elimination DH managed to find what was causing the leak and get the new parts required. Ta da, pool fixed. You’ve got to love the fact that he’s so talented with that sort of thing and we are no longer wasting water.
• Last Sunday the kids and I went to a friend’s daughters birthday party at their “local” aquatic centre. The kids had a ball and I had a chance to sit and relax for a while, and even do some Uni reading for the test.

All in all another good week, but really busy. I have another busy week coming up - work is mad, crazy busy and 2 assignments due. If I get it all done I won’t be just smiling next Saturday, I’ll be grinning from ear to ear.

I hope you have all had a great week with lots to smile about.

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Well its that time again - Saturday. How do they get here so fast?? Its been another week almost and so much has happened.

So now onto Smiley Saturday - which is the brainchild of Lightening. She has  instructions here if you have never done a Smiley Saturday post and want to know how.

Its been a tough, busy week here, but doing a Smiley Saturday post is great because it makes me stop and think about what has made me smile, rather than dwell on the negative, and that is always a great thing.

•  Tiger had his last cricket game of the season today. They won the game by 1 ball - yes 1 ball. And they won against the school that my Dad and brothers went to - nothing like a bit of friendly family rivalry LOL
• Whilst Tiger and his teammates were playing their last cricket game, the Mums indulged in a Champagne breakfast, complete with champagne, strawberries, rockmelon (canteloupe for overseas readers), cheese, croissants - plain and chocolate filled, muffins and almond and apricot crispbreads. Mmmmmm yummy and good fun. Oh and in case you’re wondering, the champagne was diluted with orange juice and we didn’t even drink a whole bottle, but it made for a fun morning.
• We have just ordered Daisy’s new leotard for her to compete in gymnastics competitions. She has recently started extra training on a Saturday afternoon and loves it. She is excited about it and grinning from ear to ear - me, I’m not so sure whether to smile or fall down from the shock of the cost of a leotard and tracksuit. No, seriously, I am grinning from ear to ear for her.
•  DH had a major breakthrough this week - he came home one night and told me he was cross. Now at face value this might sound awful, and certainly not worth smiling about, and thats understandable. But it is worth smiling about, because it is the first time in a long time, if ever, that he has vocalised something like this to me - normally he clams up and won’t say a word. So, you can teach an old dog new tricks
• I actually did this post on Saturday, not Monday like last week. Things are looking up.

Thats about it for this week. I hope that you have had at least one thing to smile about this week. If you need some inspiration, pop on over to Lightenings and she has this wonderful Mr Linky thing set up so you can read everyone’s Smiley Saturday posts - there should be some inspiration there somewhere.

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No, not a person, a bracelet. A charm bracelet to be precise. If you read Bettina’s blog, then you’ll see the one that she got for her birthday. Or you could go to the Pandora website and have a look at the different ones there(click on the links to see lots of different ones).

When it comes to birthdays, some of you drop subtle hints, or leave lists of things that you would like for your birthday and hope that you get something on your wish list. Me, I went a step further. I took the kids to the local jewellers store that sells Pandora and showed them exactly what I wanted. Then I told them that when they came shopping with their father for my brithday present that’s what I wanted. That and only that. Oh and I also mentioned it at Christmas time too so that there was no chance of the rest of the family being unsure either. In case you weren’t sure, subtlety isn’t one of my strong points.

So DH and the kids went shopping and outdid themselves. DH bought me the bracelet

and a charm from each of the kids. This one frim Tiger

And this one from Daisy

This is where the problems start. Because it was my birthday DH wanted to make sure that he had something to give me rather than an IOU. So he bought an 18cm bracelet. Which fits me but doesn’t allow enough room for the charms. So, I need a 20cm bracelet.

I have been waiting for 3 weeks for a replacement bracelet. The jewellers can’t tell me when it will arrive. They told me that I wasn’t bound by my order for the larger size so if I could get the bracelet somewhere else then that was fine. The bastards won’t give me a refund. So I am stuck. And cross. I have to get it from them and wait.

I am amazed that Pandora are unable to tell the retailers any kind of a time frame for when the stock should arrive. It seems that because their bracelets are popular they can bask in their own glory and not worry about their customers. We just have to wait while the popularity inflates their ego. And they don’t respond to emails either.

If I could get a refund i would go and buy a different brand. Come to think of it I could, the jeweller stocks at least one other brand. And give Pandora the flick. Because I hate when businesses treat their customers like idiots.

Edited to add: Just before I published this I rang the jeweller again and they still don’t have the bracelet in stock, no idea when they are due in and I am not obligated to buy from them just because I have ordered from them. I told the girl on the phone the whole story again and she is going to talk to the store manager and see if they will do a refund for me. I’ll keep you posted.

 Edited Again: The jewellers have just rung back and they will give me a refund. Yay, victory. So I will start investigating where I can get the bracelet.

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Smiley Saturday is the brainchild of Lightening. If you would like to see other Smiley Saturday posts, then pop on over to her place. If you want to know whats involved in Smiley Saturday, or want to do your own post, then have a look at this bit of her site.

I was going to do this on Saturday but I ran out of Saturday, or I lost it somewhere, let me know if you find it will you :). So, then Plan B, do it Sunday, that’s OK, only a day late right??? Wrong, ran out of Sunday too. Then all of a sudden its Monday. Ooops, still haven’t done my Smiley Saturday and I really need to as there was lots to smile about.

So here goes.

Last Sunday was Tiger’s 11th birthday. Although DH and I told him he couldn’t celebrate until 11.04pm as that’s when he was born, and by that time all 11 year olds should be in bed, so he would miss it. He looked horrified until he realised we were joking. We had his party at a new local venue, Laser Tag. He originally wanted to have a pool party at home, but we had pool problems so this wasn’t going to happen. Anyway, I digress. Take 11 boys, 2 girls and a laser tag venue and what do you have - a fantabulous birthday party.

The kids had an absolute ball. They had 2 15 minute “missions” where they were divided into 2 teams and had to win against the other team and each other. As well as the missions they were given tokens to play the game machines beforehand. For the older ones there, the pinball machines were the only things that looked vaguely familiar.

They were fed pizza, soft drinks and chocolate cake as well. I don’t think that it gets any closer to kid heaven than that, does it? The kids had a great time, the parents that stayed thought that it was cool and I was happy as I had nothing to do other than turn up at the allocated time. They even did the lolly bags for me.

There was 2 classic moments though and both involve Daisy. The parents were up on the viewing platform which is raised up from where the kids were during the missions, and had fine wire mesh to stop people falling or things being dropped. Daisy “shot” one of the Mums, who very quickly pretended to collapse onto the wire. Daisy watched her response, then looked worried and said “Oh, sorry” to her.

The second was when Daisy looked at her score sheet for the first mission. They were in with some other kids so there was 20 of them for the first mission. She looked at her result sheet and saw 20/20 and was so pleased with herself that she got 100%. I didn’t have the heart to tell her what it really meant. If she’s happy, then who am I to burst her bubble.

Another source of smiles during the week was the feeling that maybe, just maybe, I am getting a grip on the workload for Uni. It all seems to be falling into place a little more this week.

Oh and for major smiles and huge achievements this week - a friend and I went to another girlfriend’s place to help her with pre-inspection clean up. She is recently separated and found out about her first rental inspection in 3 years. Needless to say, she went into a tail spin. Her biggest concern has been getting the edges of the grass trimmed as she has not been able to start the whipper snipper. Nor have a few other people that have tried. Its very obstinate. So on Friday, the other 2 had a go at starting it and not surprisingly, it didnt start. So while they got the stand by one going, I had a play with all the buttons and bits and pieces and guess what???? It started!!!!! After the three of us finished being gobsmacked and picked our jaws up off the ground, then the other 2 asked me the hard question - “How did you do that????”. Ummmm no idea really. I had to do it another time to work out how I had done it. Needless to say, K now had written instructions so that she can start it herself. And you know the best part…. not getting it started, but empowering a friend to do these things on her own as and when she needs to. That really makes me smile. And I’m betting that the girlpower will make Lightening smile too. Cause she knows what I am like. The only issue that I had was the fact that my chest and underarm-area muscles were really sore from pull-starting the crazy thing. No wonder I normally leave that sort of thing to DH

So lots to smile about this week. I really hope that you had lots to smile about too. And if you didn’t, then go and do something now that makes you smile.

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