Tinker Bell Movie Trailer

Mister has revealed his intended future vocation - I hope you have a large cup of coffee on hand, because he wants to be.... a vet (to farm animals and giraffes), a farmer, a car mechanic, a marine biologist, a fire fighter, a Dad AND a professional runner.

After his big reveal he paused, wondering, then asked "how can I do all that?" Indeed.
He is only five, and I am sure his list will change over time, but for humours sake, I suggested that he get Daddy to help him learn about cars, practice running now, start saving up to buy a farm, perhaps just a hobby farm. I told him he would have to go to uni to study to be a vet and maybe he might have to choose between land animals and marine life, but I guessed it might be possible to do both, and then he could be a volunteer fire fighter, because that takes quite a bit of training in itself. As for the father thing, I said he could be a Dad once he found the right girl (a loooong way off into the future) - phew! He thought all that was quite plausible and do-able - ha.

When I was 5, I remember the teacher asking each of us what we wanted to do when we grow up. The first girl to be asked said she wanted to be an air hostess; I think every girl then responded with the same answer. Man, I am 33 years old and I STILL don't know what I want to do when I "grow-up".

Missy Mopps is three. She wants to be Tinkerbell when she grow up.

panic stations

I got yet another preliminary taste of what is to come, yesterday, when the Real Estate agent rang, 6pm on Thursday night, to ask if he could bring around another interested party, the following morning. So, like the gal in this ad, we had to act fast.

Actually, it was nowhere near as bad as the last time. I had just gotten a guy in to clean the carpet that very day, and I had scrubbed all the bathrooms the day before that, chucked a whole heap of useless crap from the cupboards over the weekend, and had even cleaned the fridge, so all we really had to do was re-organise inside a bit (hide the dog beds and microwave) wash the floors, fold the laundry and a bit of gardening, which wasn’t too bad after our big clean up the last time. Ashley had even poisoned some of the persistent weeds and stray grasses that insist upon growing through the cracks in the driveway; these had died off and were easy to remove.

So what was the verdict? It was a woman looking for a place for her parents, who live in another province. I don’t think the house is going to be suitable for them. For a start, it is a pretty big house for an older couple; it even seems too big for us, but still the woman reckoned her parents would want to put in a new kitchen (nothing wrong with the old one, other than being a little on the snug size); they would want to knock out a wall somewhere too (bit extreme), and they want to double glaze all the windows, which is fair enough. The woman also didn’t like the idea of a lit tennis court out the back either. I have never actually noticed any adverse effects coming from the lights to tell you the truth, so last night I went outside to see if they interfere with our yard, but the only ones we can see from our yard are beaming out the other way, so I am not sure what she is talking about really, it is not like they play all year around anyway. If these are the buyers concerns for the house, then why would they bother buying it? She took some pictures to email her parents anyway, but I doubt we will hear anything more. The realtor sounded a bit disappointed, but it isn’t even on the market yet, so it is no biggie. It is also good to get some feedback ahead of time.

I think we are going to get a stager to come in and do a little something with our L-shaped lounge. We have only a couple of sofas in it – sparse is an understatement, and we are neither in the position nor the mindset to buy more stuff at the minute. Sounds like fun. Actually, I wouldn’t mind having a go at doing something like that myself. I love doing that kind of thing….

August 20th is the week we officially go on sale, so it is creeping up quickly. It is a long weekend over here at the moment. We are going to hit the garden shops and plant colourful stuff. Hope you all have a good weekend too.

distracted

I have lost the plot a bit lately, not sure if you all have noticed.

I can't seem to write. I feel totally consumed with the changes taking place in my life right now, the uncertainties are a little overwhelming, although I know I will be back in Oz on the 26th November. The many questions that have no answers, revolve around selling the house, finances and relocation costs, how the dogs will cope in quarantine, Ashley's yet to be determined job, finding a house, stress reduction and family balance, and the all inevitable foggy future.

Getting fit or fitter, seems to be something I can at least control and push ahead with, while everything else seems to have stalled, or is floundering.

My other obsession at the moment; South Australian real estate, seems all consuming. Nightly, I scan the likes of http://www.realestateaustralia.com.au/ and others, searching for something that will likely not ever be. It is only August, and we can not realistically do anything about housing until December anyway, but I can help but look; scanning the pages of houses up for sale; wondering what we might end up in; what is available on the market within our imagined budget. Then there is that vague, yet lingering possibility that we might prefer to build.... but where? Wouldn't that be fun....Wouldn't it? We have even chosen a possible house plan, and yet I keep going back to the real estate pages on the web, viewing floor plans and checking maps to see where these possible places are located - more often than not, these supposed possibilities already have a contract on them before the week is out. Nothing is lasting long on the "for sale" lists, and when it does, I begin to wonder what is wrong with it. I should post some of the shocker interior photos I have stumbled upon - hilarious, although there is always that risk of offending a reader who will comment that their bathroom/living room/kitchen/whatever, looks exactly like that. (oops).

There is always the renovation possibility, but to tell you the truth, we've been there and done that and as rewarding (I suppose) as it was this time around, it has taken us a good two years to get this far, and we aren't wishing to repeat the experience, at least not this soon after this rather traumatic experience. Put it this way, if we were to purchase a house in a similarly hideous state as this bugger was, it will have to be structurally sound and dirt cheap. So that is where I am at at the present moment. I miss my interaction with the softly spoken natural world. I really miss it. I understand that I am driven and focused on a future time, which is not recommended I know....well, a time when the future seems clearer and more certain, or at least when the structures around us have ceased to be beach sand; us attempting to build a castle from it without water - (we seem to have some of what we need in order to make it, but are seriously lacking the crucial elements so our structure fails to take form. I know it will all come together in the end. I am ready for it, raring to go in fact, but at the moment, this lack of clarity is distracting and frustrating, and I long to be settled in a state of calm, once again.

Whistler...you asked for photos

I just got back from Whistler...Brrr, was it cold! Just joking. Ashley took this first picture when he was there with some work buddies in February 2005. He had never skied before, but they took him up the top and left him to his own devices anyway (I guess they didn't want a novice raining on their parade). He came home black, blue and very sore from his falls and near misses into the trees.

This trip I went up with a friend. She and I dared a trip away with the kids, leaving the guys at home to mind the house. Vancouver/Whistler is the future home of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, but the weather was all summer while we were there - it was grand.

There is so much to do in Whistler. In Winter it is "the place" to go for skiing and the like, so it never really occurred to me to go there in the summer.

Whistler is a village surrounded by mountains. There are two ski mountains, Whistler and Blackcomb mountains, apparently Cougar Mountain is being groomed as a third.

There are numerous trails one can walk during the summer, along with some upper level glacier skiing. At the feet of these mountains are a number of lakes, some glacial fed lakes filled with stunning, turquoise coloured water, while others are regular snow melt lakes; these tend to be dark in colour, mimicking the deep green colour of surrounding pines and fir trees.

We took the kids for a swim in Alta Lake one afternoon. They had a ball, but immediately afterward started complaining of "swimmers itch". It is fine to swim in these lakes, as long as you thoroughly wash yourself off afterward, which we attempted to do, but not well enough, so it seems. The kids were pratically climbing the walls on the trip home, panicking about their itchy legs....it was straight into the bath once we got back to the accommodation.

Whistler Village is a happening place; vibrant and humming, with a multitude of little shops and cafes to duck into and explore. Mountain biking is a huge deal during the summer months. While we were there they were having some kind of competition, that involved an elaborately designed course and some scarily high jumps, positioned at the far end of Village Walk - the shops. Some kid had a bad tumble on one of thsoe jumps while we were there. Not sure what happened exactly, but he was stretchered off the course and the ambulance collected him a short time later - hope he is alright.

There were other biking trails that people could take, further up the mountain as well, but the young people, all walking around with their massive bikes and mud splattered up their backs, brought a great vibe to the village.

Where there are mountians and snow, there must be rivers and the odd waterfall, so not wanting to miss the opportunity to view one, we took a hike to Nairn Falls; trundling single file along a narrow path that dropped straight into the raging Green River below. The rocks surrounding the falls were smoothe and slilppery, even while dry, the result of an ancient volcano that had once spewed lava over that very spot. It was incredible to think that we were standing upon ancient lava.

Salamanders, green tree frogs and the rubber boa constrictor live in the park surrounding Nairn Falls - not that we saw any of these creatures, much to Missy Mopp's disappointment, she was hoping to see the damn snake. Although we did not see any salamanders, we did see four black bears over the course of our stay: a young male (I am guessing) who had crept out of the forest along the highway. We imagined that he was hoping to cross over to the stream on the other side. The other chance sighting was while coming down Whistler Mountain on the gondola. We saw a mother bear with her two cubs, hiding in the shadows of the nearby brush; oblivious mountain bikers riding mere metres away....bit of a worry.

Speaking of the gondola...I think the 25 minute, 6000ft up gondola ride was the trip highlight for all the kids. We adults enjoyed it too, but also the mountain itself. Up there we were really able to take in the vast and breath taking scenery. There are a number of hikes one can take up there, some guided. We chose the 30 minute paleface loop trail, it was perfect for a family with small children. The kids also got a kick out of touching some of the small patches of snow that lay, left over from the winter.

A trip up the mountain is not cheap, $30 for one adult, or $50 for a day trip, but kids under 7 years are free, but when you think about it, you are paying to ride the gondola AND use the park and mountain, so really, it is actually pretty good value, and the scene atop is priceless anyway; well worth the money, even if we weren't up there to ski.

We had phenomenal weather the entire time we were there. We hiked and saw wildlife, and on top of all that, the four kids together were pretty well behaved. It was a great little get away - I would love to experience Whistler in the winter, but that will have to happen time. I doubt we will have the chance to get back there before we go, but I reckon I will remember our trip to Whistler forever.

off again....

I am off again. A friend and I are taking ourselves and our kids for a trip to Whistler for a few days. I am taking a good book with me - The Memory Keepers Daughter (enjoying it so far), and a good drop of wine. Should be good. Catch you all on Saturday when I get back.

The Dinner Fix - Sandi Richard

I detest making dinner. It stresses me out; is a thankless job and there is so much cleaning up afterwards and what for...no one seems to appreciate the effort I go through each night.

As many of you know, I have two kids, 4 and 3 years old. For me, and countless other parents (I am sure) dinner is a fiasco largely considered with dread. I slave over a hot stove, in the largely futile attempt to create some healthy, balanced meal that will ensure the future well being of my children and sustenance for their day to come. What I get in return is mostly turned up noses, and nasally whines of "I don't like that", to which I protest, "but you haven't even tried it. How do you know if you have NEVER tried it?...TRY IT!"

Torture is a closer word for dinner in my house - both from the kids AND for me. Dinner is also the time when Ashley returns home from work - not a pleasant home-coming for him; frustrated wife and defiant, tired kids. I had indeed resigned myself to this disgruntled over dinner fate, hoping with time, this phase would pass, and my kids would one day become enlightened to the benefits of the vitamins and other nourishing details of foods other than Dora the Explorer tinned spaghetti.

Me, I was never really into meat, although not exactly a vegetarian, I tend not to go for meat - fish and chicken.... yeah, but red meat...not so much. I have always enjoyed vegetables and salads, and living out in whoop whoop, we never had fast food or take out - a meat pie or a pastie at the footy on Saturday was about as crazy as it ever got. McDonald's was a treat we only ever indulged in on the way home from Adelaide - which occurred only once in a blue moon - and then, believe it or not, I always ordered the garden salad with french dressing (oh and a sundae with hot caramel sauce).

Don't get me wrong, I am not professing to be a health nut, but I do appreciate and enjoy eating vegetables. But my frustration is not simply about my kids eating more vegetables. Rather, I would like them to eat more balanced meals and be open to trying new things - healthy things.

Anyway, when in Calgary, my friend, who like many of us, suffers similarly with the dinner dread, stumbled upon a Sandi Richard cook book. She is on telly and all , but her thing is meal planning, as opposed to cooking, but what is the difference?

I don't know about you, but at about 5pm I go to my pantry, unconscious and clueless about what I am going to make for dinner; already resigned about the predictably balked at outcome and protests of "yuck", all the while muttering to myself about why I bloody bother anyway. Then I scan the uninspiring ingredients lurking moodily upon my balsamic vinegar ringed shelves and the stress and pressure of what to make, begins.

Sandi Richard books are more than cook books - sure, they are filled with great recipes, but they also tell you how long each recipe will take to cook - from pantry shelf to dinner table, and there are shopping lists in the back, based on a weeks worth of recipes, according to how the book is set out.

i.e Week One of "The Dinner Fix" book, includes these recipes: Mexican Hamburgers, Spinach and Cheese Ravioli in a tomato tapenade with green beans, Asparagus stuffed Chicken with hollandaise and Greek salad, Red snapper with pineapple salsa Pecan wild rice and asparagus, Asian Meatball soup with baby carrots and dinner rolls. Then on page 161 the book lists all the ingredients you will need to make all of these recipes. Ont he back there is even room to adjust the list.

The beauty of the meal planning idea is that you can confidently choose something to make for dinner (in the morning even), knowing that all the ingredients are there in the cupboard waiting to be used. On top of that, all the recipes are sooOoo easy and quick to make.

So far I have made the Spinach and Cheese Ravioli in a tomato tapenade with green beans and Asparagus stuffed Chicken with hollandaise and Greek salad. Both recipes were very well received and eaten. I demanded that the kids try each one, despite the protests and assurances of "not liking it". Mister didn't care for beans in the ravioli dish, but he liked the rest of the meal. He requested that I make it again with a different side veggie, and I will certainly take that feedback on board for next time. The chicken was soooOOOooo good. I will certainly be making that one again, and I am looking forward to making the snapper dish next time. I believe there is hope concerning dinner after all.

If you are interested, you can check out Sandi Richard and her "cooking for the rushed", yourself.


*My only quibble about Sandi's writing is that she uses an excessive number of exclamation marks. I was exclaiming a few things myself at each glimpse of all those unnecessary vertical distractors. Enough with the exclamations marks!

motivation

When registering for runs/walks around the traps, you usually have to go somewhere to pick up your participants package, which usually includes your runners number, a chip if you are doing the half marathon or marathon and the essential t-shirt.

For the Scotia Bank run, we got a t-shirt and a bunch of brochures about other runs, a sample tube of sun block, hand and that was about it, which was kind of cool, I thought. The HBC Run For Canada runners pack was a real bonus: sample sun block, hand cream, chocolate almonds, a hat, gum, water flavour crystals, a toy for the kids, brochures about other runs AND the essential t-shirt; it was like Christmas. The best thing in the runners pack was a pedometer or step counter. Accompanying the step counter was a little card explaining the step counter and supplying a guide as to what the number of steps one records, means. Under 5000 steps, suggests you have lead a fairly sedentary life, 5000-7499 means you undertake a low level of activity, 7500-9999 means you are somewhat active, 10,000 means you lead an active lifestyle, and above 12,500 means you are highly active. The aim, the card suggests, is to lead an active lifestyle, thus taking at least 10,000 steps per day. There are even online walking clubs you can join for extra motivation, like this one launched in Brisbane and others, like this one. You could say that I have taken this little motivational challenge to heart. Actually, it is quite a handy little device, showing me how little activity I do when I have a slackers day in front of the computer.

Ideally, I like to get the sedentary status off the radar before lunch time, so anything after that is a bonus. It is funny how different activities use different steps, say I go to Curves and that is it, a curves work out is about 2,500 steps, so Curves alone is not enough. If I walk there as well, I might almost reach the 10,000 step mark, so on the weekend, when I can walk to Curves, I can reach the 10,000 before breakfast, and that feels fantastic.

On Monday, I was too tired to go to Curves (felt like shit actually), but I still had a list of jobs to do around the house. I was really surprised at the end of the day, to find that I had recorded over 11,000 steps, just by doing the housework.

Currently the step counter is a bit of an obsession, but it is a healthy one. I want to be active, who it helps to have something that tells me the truth about just how active or inactive I have been on any given day. A pedometer is a fairly simple device and reasonably inexpensive too. If you have a chance to get one, I would recommend it. I don't want to be sedentary - do you?