Ever wondered what your kids dream about when they’re 2 years and 7 months old??
Well wonder no more. I have the answer.
At 2.38am this morning I was woken by the traumatized cries of my little boy.
When I got to his room he was patting his pillow repeatedly, crying “bee-eeeee, beeee-eeeeeeeee)
For those of you who need translation, my son dreams about biscuits. He wouldn’t settle down until I turned his pillow over and he could no longer see Wall-E.
Having said all of that in my last post, I found a good reason to take photo’s. For reasons which I wont go in to here, Dan needs some nice photo’s with his son Jack. I’m really REALLY happy with how they turned out.
Where to start?
There.
I’ve started.
As a little girl I wanted one thing from my life. I wanted to work with animals. To be specific, I wanted to be a vet. As a little girl I could imagine what that would be like. I had long blonde hair, and of course I was skinny…and I wore a white coat.
As a teenager, I kept thinking that I could do it. If I hadn’t spent so many years putting up wall’s with learning I may just have been able to do it. But when push came to shove I made things so difficult for myself that I just couldn’t see it happening.
I continued on with my dream, though it changed a little. Less specific. I want to work with animals. I can do that and there are many ways I can do that.
So when I finished high school, got in to my Animal Technology course and then got a job “working with animals” I thought I was set for life. I loved my job, I was working with animals.
But then my brother died and over the next year my immune system shut down and I became allergic to the rats I was working with. I tried for another year to find a way that I could just continue on doing what I loved doing. I wore masks, I took drugs, I saw countless doctors and had countless tests. But in the end nothing worked.
When I arrived at work at 8am in the morning I started sneezing. And didn’t stop. I developed asthma, which I’d never once had before in my life. I went home, unable to see through my swollen eyes and I coughed all night until I went to sleep and my body got to recover, only to do it again the next day.
I fought so hard for that dream. I tried everything and I so desperately wanted it to work. It was a hard decision to make, but it had to be made. I could no longer follow that dream and work with the animals.
For almost 7 years I wondered what I would do next. What I would LIKE to do next. All of my life the only thing I wanted to do was now the only thing I couldn’t do. I tried various jobs, and hated them.
I know that not everyone loves their jobs. In fact I know that a large percentage of people in this world get up and go to work for one reason only. Because it pays the bill’s. But I can’t be that person. I don’t have it in me to drag my sorry ass out of bed each day to do something that I don’t enjoy.
So I decided while I was pregnant with Jaxon that while I was home with him I would look for something I was good at, and create a new dream. It took nearly two years but finally, I thought, I had found it. I want to be a photographer. Not just someone who takes photo’s, great photo’s, but someone who is PAID to do something they LOVE.
I know I’m on my way, and I know that given time I will get there. But being self taught is hard and certainly makes the road a little longer. But one day, I dream, I will get there. It’s just going to take time.
I just watched a video made by a photographer that I look up to. I didn’t expect to see this kind of thing from him. He’s well off, he’s professional. He’s great. He gets paid to do the thing he loves and is good at.
While I watched it I started thinking…this is me right now. I’ve gone from taking hundreds of photo’s each week to taking just a few. I’ve gone from looking for a challenge to, well…waiting for one. I was getting a bit worried, feeling a little lost without a direction. But having seen this video I know that everyone must go through this. Everyone must struggle to see their way through.
I’m struggling to find my way through right now. But now I know I’m not alone, and I will find the inspiration I need to keep going. To fight to make my dream come true, just as I did years ago.
I will get there. It’s just going to take time.
You might need to click on the image to see them better. You can also see his birth mark in the top photo (right over where his hair starts on the left side). At least, we think it’s a birth mark. If it’s not, then we need to bath him more often!
For now, he only has them on the left side of his face. But he has my gene’s in him somewhere so he’s sure to get more…and more…and more. Until one day, people wont know he has freckles on his face unless they look very very closely.
There’s not much to report on the BBQ front. It was very successful which is weird since I don’t normally host such large events. Everything went well. Aside from a few head banging incident’s on the trampoline with three 2.5 year olds, there were no tears. A few headaches the day after too. Here are some photo’s. It was such a lovely night and I’m very thankful for all of our friends who came along to share our special night with us. We love you all 
Nicole, Duncan and Dan
Nicole, Duncan, Wade, Luke, Tim and Chris…the funniest person alive!
Di and Wade’s son Jai, is great with kids! 
Jaxon, his best friend Jack and Phoebe. They’ve all know each other since birth. Nikki and I met in hospital and Megan met us at our first Baby and Me group.
Megan and Phoebe plus me.
Jaxon pigging out!I’m pretty sure he wants us to do this again, he’s never had so much food!
Dan and his son Jack
Luke, Di, me and Tim
One of three head banging incidents.
Tim, Chris and I
Our fire. It was lovely to have because it was a fairly cold night.
Thanks Dan for the use of this and your BBQ! So much easier with two!
Nikki and I. I will miss you when you’re gone Nikki 
Chocolate Ripple cake…YUMMO!
Vodka Jelly’s, or some of them anyway. This was the last to come out and they didn’t last long.
Jaxon demonstrating the perfect method for eating jelly out of a shot glass
Yes officer, he is only 16. Noooooooo officer, I did not supply him with alcohol.
Jack
Yes Officer, as you can see he handles his alcohol very well. Di is not actually drunk, but Jai was dead weight by this time.
A suitable 21st photo!!
Tim, Di, Wade and I. 
Carrying Jai home. They live around the corner from us and we were fairly disappointed to hear he woke up feeling fine. 
Facebooking. I was pretty funny! If I do say so myself anyway.
He has a thing for boobs. 
Phoebe piled up Jaxon’s row of shot glasses. Looks appetizing doesn’t it!?
Today, the 7th of August 2009, Tim and I celebrate our 6th year of marriage.
And tomorrow, the 8th of August 2009, we celebrate our seven years of being together. At least, we think we do. We’ve done some maths and some of our time’s don’t really match up or make sense so it’s totally possible that he and I, in our dazed and confused love blind state, got married LONG before we’d been together for a year.
At any rate, we’re celebrating this year with a BBQ and some friends over. We don’t normally do that. We normally do nothing, or go out for dinner. Not to mention, that this time last year I was the size of a gigantic blue whale and this year, I’m slimmer, more like a slightly chubby dolphin.
I want tomorrow night to be special. For all of the reasons above and more. I look great, I feel great and I’m celebrating seven years of my life with the most wonderful man in the world.
So today I went out…and (gasp) bought a DRESS! Yes, you heard me. A DRESS! Seriously people, I haven’t worn a dress since the day I got married. And then before that, since I was 15 years old!
So I just thought I’d let you in on that little bit of excitement in my life. I’m pumped. The dress I bought is exactly what I wanted AND it’s a SIZE TWELEVE! You heard that right too. I’ve gone from a very loose size 24 (again, calling it a 26) to a size 12 in 20 weeks. I wasn’t even upset when I went shopping. And that my dear friends, is a miracle!
For once, I am really looking forward to sharing these photo’s with you. Stay tuned
Here’s another before photo to remind you just how big I got. I don’t even think this was my lowest (or highest) I think I stacked on a few kilo’s after this as well. Those jeans don’t fit me anymore, and the top looks stupid on me!
I don’t know what it is, but I seem to have totally lost interest in the blog.
No. I haven’t. I’d love to write more. But I’m lacking the creative juices that one must have to maintain a blog.It’s not that easy you know.
My life is not boring. It’s far from it actually. Very far from it. But I seem to be having a hard time being able to spin the things that are happening in it, so that it all makes sense.
I like to be somewhat funny too, throw in a one line here or there. I was just re-reading the old Kicking and Screaming site and seriously, I had a lot of stuff to say and some of it was funny. But now?? Not so much.
Or maybe there’s just too much to choose from? Maybe too much is happening right now for me to pick one thing and make something of it.
I don’t know what to do!
Tim, Jaxon and I went out on a boat today with our very good friends Nikki and Dan, with their son Jack. Who is three days younger than Jaxon. We had an absolute blast out there, Jaxon loved it!
I’m sorry, I’m SO tired after a MASSIVE weekend that started at 6am on Saturday…that I can’t be bothered inserting them all individually. You’ll just have to click to enlarge if you want to see them better. And then Cock your head to the side for the one’s I didn’t flip
That’s about all I can say about this video.
Let’s just say this was completely unprovoked and no animal’s or toddler’s were hurt in the making. Unless you count using baby soap on a dog?
I don’t know that I need to explain this post any further. Except to say that sometimes we hear Jaxon roaring with laughter, because he’s once again locked Dookie in. Jaxon stands on that chair (a chair set up for him to get in and out on his own…we have taught him to lock himself in before you go on your safety rant) and giggles his little head off as Dookie runs around and around and does little flips and jumps.
They often play up there together. Jaxon runs around in circles which makes Dookie run around in circles. But when Dookie wants to stop he doesn’t just stop, he rolls to a halt. It’s very funny and I’m trying to get a video. But as they say, never work with kids and animals…when the camera comes out the fun stops!
It’s been very quiet around here, on the blog. But that’s not to say things haven’t been interesting to say the least.
The most important thing that’s happened recently is the rejection and introduction of new and old Ducky.
Yes peoples, Ducky 1.0 has been shafted…for a newer, fresher smelling Ducky. With an intact bum tag.
Ducky 2.0.
It all happened so suddenly. Dookie took old Ducky in to the back yard. He often does this if we’re not all on the look out. But this day, Jaxon didn’t really bother looking for him. Instead, he went in to his bed, where Ducky 2.0 and Ducky 3.0 have been patiently waiting since their arrival back in November last year…and brought them both out to me.
I asked him to choose a new Ducky. So he did. And that’s that.
We washed old Ducky and he’s now safely in storage where he can be easily fetched if Ducky 2.0 fail’s us in the “comfort me to sleep” department. But it’s been a week and we doubt Jaxon even remembers there was an old Ducky.
So the story goes a little like this.
Last night we had friends over for a little while. When they left at around 6pm Dookie must have got out with us and we didn’t notice. Dookie is not allowed out the front because we have no fence on a fairly busy road where people do a lot of speeding. Not to mention that having Jaxon out with us is stressful enough!
We came inside and we had dinner. We watched some TV. Did some block building and had our baths. Jaxon went to bed at about 8pm and Tim and I did our own thing (wink wink, thanks for calling Dad) Then when we resurfaced Jaxon was awake and it was only then that I noticed I hadn’t seen Dookie for some time.
Four hours had gone by and it was dark. But I got in the car and I drove the streets looking for him for a little over an hour. At each end of our street there are four cross roads. Dookie could have been anywhere. We really had to wait until morning to call vet’s and pounds and pet shops.
I made all of those call’s at 8am and then printed out the poster in the previous message and put them all around town. All while Jaxon sat in the back seat of the car saying over and over “Bye Bye Dookie, Dookie gone”.
I checked the pound. No Dookie. My last thought was that right at the end of our street, along a dirt road that leads to a big petrol station right out of town, I should put a poster up there. In case he had gone that way.
I asked the lady behind the counter if I could put up my sign and…she had SEEN Dookie! A lady had knocked on her door at about 7pm the night before with him looking for his owners. She lived just around the corner from me and gave me the address of the house that she thought this lady with Dookie lived in.
That was an empty house. So I crossed the road and knocked on someone else’s door and THEY had seen Dookie with the same woman the night before at 8pm. They’d also seen me driving by really slowly the night before. These people told me that the lady with our dog lived just around the corner from them, which also happened to be where WE live. So the person with Dookie was in one of only ten or so houses.
At 1.30pm this afternoon the phone rang and the man on the other end of the phone had Dookie in his back yard. He said I could go and get him and told me the address.
Well. The man on the phone who had Dookie in his back yard is our very new neighbor (and best friend for life!) He only moved in last weekend and didn’t know we had a dog.
So Dookie is home safe now and we’re all very happy. Dookie nearly tore my legs to shreds when I jumped the fence. He was So excited to see me!
Life is starting to get hard now that Jaxon REMEMBER’s things.
We once used to take his annoying toys off him when he was in bed. We’d hide them in the garage and the next day he’d have no idea it was missing.
Then of course, Nanny and Poppy visits were OK once they left. Once he’d gotten over his sugar rush he’d think nothing of them.
But now he’s all grown up. He remembers. And he gets PISSED if we don’t give him his toys back or let him see his Nanny.
All week now he’s been dragging me back to the computer yelling “Nanny Nanny Nanny” and the fact of the matter is, Nanny is not always at the other end of the web cam.
The other night, I filmed this. And now when he drags me to the computer demanding that I GIVE HIM HIS NANNY…I play this. I don’t know how long it will work. Because he’ll soon understand that since he’s IN this with Nanny that it’s not “live” but we can only hope it wont happen in the near future.
Dookie was kind enough to HELP me take the washing off the line today.
I rewarded him generously.
For some reason, Tim’s work asked anyone that had holidays up their sleeves, to take a four day weekend. This meant, that Tim was home on Friday…and Jaxon was not. Now, we miss the lil guy heaps…but it’s not often we BOTH get to pick up our camera’s and just go.
We went to an old burnt out house in town. It’s a really sad story actually. The house is heritage listed, which means any renovation’s done need all sorts of permits and are regulated heavily. So the owner’s completely fixed up the house…and then three weeks later, once all their hard work was done…it burnt down!
I don’t know why, but the house has never been fixed up again. It’s been four years since, and still it sits in ruins.
I say through Boo’s eye’s because there will be a “through Tim’s Eye’s” when he has the time to sort through them and tell me which one’s he wants up here. I added just one of his. Obviously, the photo of me. That look is the look of recognition…and the wheel’s turning in my head as I think “Can I reach out and stop that flash/umbrella from falling in the wind in time?” (For the record…yes I can!)
These aren’t perfect that’s for sure. But the thing about using lighting in your photography is that it’s much much harder than it looks or sounds. We have three separate instructional kind of DVD’s from the master’s in this field. We’ve watched them once or twice and they make it look so easy. They get their lights set up, turn on their camera’s. Choose their settings and BAM…great photo.
It’s one thing to read about it. See it. Watch it being done. But it’s another to do it yourself. Much like telling a chef how his meal could have been better when you’ve never even boiled an egg.
And the same photo again in sepia, I don’t know which I like best!
Nothing special today. This was this afternoon’s sun set. Keep an eye out for next week’s sky watch, I can’t wait to show you!
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At least, we think we are 
The above photo is a perfect example for why the wrist strap should be secured to your wrist while wii bowling!
“Why me?”
Conversation with a 2.5 year old…
Helicopter flying over.
Jaxon: PLANE!!!
Mum: No Jaxon, that’s a helicopter.
Jaxon: PLAAAAAANE!
Mum: Hel-i-copter.
Jaxon: Plane!!!
Mum: It’s a HELICOPTER Jaxon, can you say Helicopter?
Jaxon: Plane!
Mum: Say Bye Bye Helicopter Jaxon…
Jaxon: Bye Bye Plane!
Clearly, Jaxon needs glasses!
When Tim and I bought our flashes we also had to buy batteries. The cheapest way to deal with something that uses lot’s of battery power is rechargeable batteries. So we got 24 of them from an Ebay Store. We got them a few days later, great. But they wont hold their charge. We are forever having to swap them out having only got 10 or 20 flashes out of them.
So I’d like to lead you through the email process for this situation.
First I sent:
Hi
I’m sorry to let you know that I’m writing to complain. I hope we can settle this out without trouble.
I bought these batteries and they arrived the other day. We have two new charger’s, but the batteries are not holding their charge.
I’ve compared them to a 6 year old set of energizer’s and they don’t even compete. For the job that I want them to perform the energizer’s last for up to three hours and your batteries last for less than 10 minutes.
They are both being charged in the same charger.
I don’t know if you have a tip for me to try or if this is just a faulty batch, but I am extremely unhappy with this purchase and so far, would not recommend anyone buy this product.
Please let me know what you would like to do in this situation. I would prefer not to leave negative feedback, but I see it that I have not got my money’s worth if I can’t use these batteries for what they are intended for. I can’t be running back to my charger every ten minutes when my job depends on it.
That last bit, about it being a job…is a bit of a white lie. But they don’t need to know that. They only need to know that their batteries are not good enough for what I need.
They replied…very promptly.
We learn that the item doesn’t satisfied you from your last message.We apologize for any inconvenience .but please don’t worry.We will resolve the problem for you.Would you like us to replace for you or refund
Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
So I replied…
Thank you for your quick response. My main concern is that we have 24 of your batteries and not one of them is charging. So my concern is that if we replace them any replacement will be the same. I think I would prefer my money back, but how does that work? I have never come across a situation like this before.
Thanks again.
They replied (this will take a bit…)
yes,if so , we would like to refund you if you like , ok ?
regards
Me….
Thank you, that would be very nice of you and I really appreciate it. What is the procedure???
Them…
if you like we would love to resend asap , there s no need to return the fault items back that cost more and take a long time to arrive here , but your positive feedback is the huge support to us
regards
Me…
No thank you. I really need these batteries and would prefer not to wait for you to resend. I will be able to buy new more reliable batteries locally. You have been really helpful, and despite these batteries not working I would like to leave you positive feed back for the service you are kindly offering. Thank you.
Then, much much later…from me.
I am a little confused and wondering what is going on now???
And the replied…like they had no idea we had indeed come to an agreement.
Feel sorry to hear that.We have indeed sent the item on time,maybe it was lost during the post .If you like,we can resend you
Hope you can kindly leave positive feedback for us.Thanks for your kind .
If you have further question,please let us know.
Hmmmmm….
Perhaps you need a kindly reminder that we already have your crappy batteries and they’re sitting here useless as they wont hold their charge and we can’t use them. I’ve discussed this with you more than a week ago and I thought we’d both agreed that you would refund our money, which is why I am confused. You have not done that. I told you that after a refund I would be happy to leave you positive feedback, since until now you have been really helpful regardless of quality of your product. But without a refund I will no doubt need to leave you negative feedback.
Please advise. Will you be giving us our money back?
Then…they replied!!!!
no need to return it back that cost you more and take long time , if you agree to leave us a positive feedback we would like to refund you asap ok ?
regards
Great, we’re getting somewhere…I think…
Yes, thank you. We would be more than happy to leave positive feed back for you and will do so when we get our refund. Will you be paying back in to paypal???
Thank you!
So now we’re getting somewhere…or are we???
ok , many ths for ur understanding , we are arranging to resend the replacement asap and advise you when we ship it out to you , hope the package arrives there shortly , any trouble pls contact us without any delay . Have a nice day
So I’ve left this…it will be interesting, since most of my messages seemed straight forward just like this one, to get a reply.
I’m sorry. I think you are misunderstanding. We want our money back. Please.
As I said, still very happy to leave positive feed back. When we get our MONEY back. Not more batteries.
Please let me know when you have deposited our money back in to our pay pal account.
Thank you.
Update: We received another set of batteries….and we got our money back! Finally, after three weeks…it’s over with!
This was taken on the same day as my last sky watch!
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A friends daughter was kind enough to model for me today. We had lot’s of fun, and even got a few great shot’s in too!! Please tell me what you think, the feed back is always helpful.
I thought I’d use this space to document some of the cute thing’s Jaxon is doing and saying, for the family and friends that are missing out on his cuteness because we don’t live near by. As well as a good reminder many years from now when the cute things he does will only be cute to his girlfriend…and not us.
Words:
Banana = Nar
Apple = ow-al
Biscuit = beeee
Dookie = Doogin
Dookie get on your mat = Doogin go mar
Mexxi = X-eee
The Wiggles, from Yellow to Blue
Greg = Egg
Murray = Mar-eee
Geoff = Eff
And the best? Anthony = Eee-eee
Toot toot chugga chugga big red car = too too car
Night Night = nigh nigh
We taught him Bye Bye Y’all which has now been transferred to Nigh Nigh y’all
Bike = Bi-ee (which is sometimes followed up with broom broom or Um-Um)
Duck and Dummy = Dar eh Dum-eeee
Yummy = yaaaarmeeee
Tim = Pim
Dad = Ga but he has sprung cute little Daaaaaddddddddeeeeeeeeee’s on us too.
Nanny = Nar-eeeee
Grandma = Mum-Mum
Yukky = yah-ee
And on to some stories.
A few months ago Jaxon learnt to open doors. And then he started coming to visit us in the morning. Bringing his entourage of ducks with him. Then, he only brought one duck. The duck. He would jump on the bed for a while to wake us up…and then he started waking me up by smacking me across the face with the duck. And then…he stopped waking me up all together. Yesterday morning I woke only because Tim’s electric tooth brush started. But I’m guessing that he’d been there much longer than that. I knew because the bathroom floor and Tim’s side of the bed was sprinkled (heavily) with baby powder, from one end to the other. Mexxi’s water bowl was nothing more than a white pasty mash…and the toilet bowl looked very similar. He’d drawn all over the shower screen with my eye liner pen. He tells me it’s a pig. Last week, before I woke up, Jaxon had filled the detergent dispenser in the dishwasher with dog food, while this morning…he had chocolate sprinkles for breakfast before he woke me up. Would it be wrong of me to tie bell’s to his toes?
Jaxon loves his bike. So much so that the one my Dad bought him when he was three months old died a few weeks or so ago, the “drive shaft” had worn down the plastic wheels from the inside out. He had it on the trampoline (as you do) and was doing wheelies…when the back wheel fell off. So last Saturday Tim took him shopping for a NEW bike while I got to sleep. Daddy chose out the new bike and Jaxon sat on it IN the trolley for the rest of their stay (which included milkshakes and doughnuts) Then, BAD Daddy…put the bike in the BOOT of the car and Jaxon went spastic at him. “Bi-eee…Bi-eeee” he screamed ALL the way home.
Jaxon is the most adorable thing ever. His eyes light up for the most simple things. Like Liquorice all sort’s with Dad. When Dad opens the bag…Jaxon runs at him screaming YAAAARMEEEEE!!! And the other night, when we thought Dude was hunting a mouse under the couch and lifted it for him….Jaxon saw a LOT of his toys for the first time. The puzzles that have been hidden under there, the etcha sketch. And he was all like, OMG MUM… DAD…LOOOOOK!! He yelled out at us WOOOOOOOW!!!
Bath’s are a thing of the past now. They are so last year as far as Jaxon is concerned. Now when we ask if he wants a bath he says “shar” and walks to our bedroom door taking his clothes off as he goes. When I take his nappy off and he’s done a big poo he says “OH WOW!” and when we’re picking up Dookie poo in the back yard he follows us around pointing them out…saying “yuh-eee”
There was a time when I was worried I would never feel this way about having a child. But now, I am over the moon happy that I have Jaxon in my life. He is the best thing, next to his Daddy…to ever have happened to me.
No. This isn’t a movie review. I haven’t even seen that movie, though I’ve heard it’s good.
This is a post to show you just how SLOW I can be.
When I was about 8 a new family moved in just down the road from me. They’d just moved from Queensland, where I am currently living…and have been for coming on five years now.
They had five kids and I became the best of friends with one of the middle kids, Michelle Finter. She was very quirky and clever and she LOVED rabbits.
Almost as soon as they moved in they had rabbits in the back yard. Lot’s of rabbits. And the numbers kept growing. The entire family was obsessed with the rabbits and I just could not understand it.
So, moving on. I now live in Queensland. And there is apparently (not apparently, there IS. I say apparently because it’s in bad repair and it doesn’t work so well anymore) a rabbit fence all the way around the state to keep rabbits out. AND!!! Rabbits are illegal to keep here.
I don’t miss rabbits, but I was thinking about Michelle and her rabbit fetish this morning and all of a sudden it clicked as to why they loved their rabbits! I don’t blame myself for not knowing the reason so many years ago. But really, it took me five years of knowing about this rabbit ban to put two and two together! Come on Boo, get with the program!
More practice. We’re still not getting the look we want, but it’s all about practice. If Jaxon would just sit still for three minutes it would be much easier!
Jaxon wasn’t much of a willing subject unfortunately so Tim and I had to model for each other. Which is a pain in the ass when we both want to be taking photo’s. But anyway. Here they are.
Anyone that would like to see where we’re learning our lighting from can go to strobist.com for tips! This is our first on location shoot. So far we’ve only done inside shots and inside/outside shots are very different. So I’ve put in a few of the practice shots. And keep in mind this is not the end result. We’re still learning. But very happy with how we’re going.
Towards the end of the night we really started getting what we wanted from the camera/lighting situation. But we ran out of natural light and had to stop. We’re going back tomorrow night!! I’m going to bore you with our off camera flash journey!
It’s been a couple weeks.
But here you go.
This was about an hour ago. Driving towards Cunningham’s Gap, or Brisbane.
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1) a souvenir
Made in China, of course!
2) a fish
I know, it’s only meant to be A fish. But I didn’t know how many can’s of tuna would actually MAKE one fish.
3) a religious building
St. Mary’s
4) a fire department
Pretty boring!
5) a manhole cover
This is the only one we could find!
6) a postcard
A post card sent to me by my on line friend Jeannette, from South Africa. Unfortunately, no stamp!
7) water
Can you see the drops splashing back up as they fall in to the water? This was taken at the over flowing weir since we had quite a bit of rain two weeks ago. It’s the first time it’s flowed for about two years so it made us all very happy. The river flooded too.
8 ) a communication device
Without it, how would we know?
9) a Life event
A friends wedding.
10) a foreign stamp
11) a tree
12) the living space of a non-human
It took me forever to find this birds nest. I was out looking for some ant hill’s…but it was raining and I could see anything on the road. I pulled over and when it stopped raining BAM there it was!
13) a street mirror
The ONLY street mirror in town. It took us a LONG time to find it. That’s me, looking sexy as ever in the reflection!
14) a decoration fixed on a house
Well, it is decorated isn’t it?
15) a foreign flag
16) a fire
I wasn’t game to start a fire just to get a photo. This will have to do!
17) an antenna
Where we get our sometimes crappy TV reception from!
18) a phone booth
19) a “verboten†sign
20) a beach
I saw this dolphin playing in the surf at the local beach just yesterday!!
21) a cityscape
This was in Brisbane from the top floor of the car park at the Royal Children’s Hospital. We’re three hours from the city, I wasn’t making the trip just for one photo!
22) something goofy
Hey, you can’t argue with me here can you?? It is Goofy!
23) something carved
This is my grandmother’s carved box. I don’t know how old it is, but I’ve had it for nearly 15 years so it must be pretty old.
24) an eye
My mother’s childhood doll. Hmm. Let’s see. Mum’s in her 50′s. And she’s had the doll since she was 5 or so. That makes her about 51 years old. I “inherited” her when I got married.
25) something rural
Looking down towards the town, which is just right of this photo.
I haven’t really had the motivation to write lately. But that’s a good thing, because it means my head is in a good place. I write the most when I am having issues, and not having had issues for the past few months has been really nice. I might attribute this to my weight loss. Because it feels wonderful to be setting goals for myself and actually reaching them. I’m not sure how long it’s been since I set a goal, and achieved it. Perhaps, it was long before my brother died. Which is a bit sad.
Really, all I want to do sometimes is post pictures. But I know myself that “reading” blogs that don’t have much to READ, can be a bit boring. So I try to avoid doing it. Maybe I shouldn’t.
We’ve taken the next step in our photography journey. We’ve bought ourselves some off camera flashes and the gear that come’s with them and we’re just starting to practice with light. Here are the first photo’s we’ve taken using them.
There will be more of our off camera flash photo’s in my scavenger hunt post, which will be posted tomorrow. But for now, Jaxon has a bad cough and a bit of a temperature and is willingly letting me cuddle and smother him with kisses so I will be off, and taking full advantage of his sooky mood!
Originally, when I first went to get the camera, it was because Jaxon was rolling around rapped up in that blanket and Dookie was jumping all over him trying to lick him. I thought Jaxon might just pop from all the laughing.
But as is the norm with kids and animals, all action stopped the moment I moved. I still managed to get something funny though.
If you listen closely as I start to crack up, Jaxon has said “UhOh”
Maybe Jaxon will be old enough when he finally gets to reading this far back, that his friends wont get to see it!!
What you don’t see (with my editing skills) is the camera shaking uncontrollably with my laughter, and Daddy in the back yard yelling “Training him early?”
Jaxon has his first day care induced cold. He has snot running out of him faster than I can keep up. He woke up, unable to breath, at 6am.
Today we had a doctors appointment. Which unfortunately we had to wait one hour and fourty five minutes for. That put him at least 2 hours past lunch AND nap time.
We got home and I went to the toilet and when I returned this is what I found.
So, so sweet! I was very proud of him today. He waited very patiently for our appointment and made everyone in the waiting room go “awwwwww”
I was on top of my favorite mountain (which is really just a very big hill) trying to 1) get sunset photo’s and 2) train Dookie a little. I had no idea that about 30 kangaroo’s live up there!
I also had no idea that Dookie was terrified of riding in cars. Him vomiting all over the back seat when I took him for his last shots might have given it away, except you know…he’d had his first shots. He ended up moping about in Jaxon’s car seat and screaming while I drove home.
So I am feeling fantastic.
Yesterday I tried on a shirt that my in laws bought me to stop getting burnt back in January. It was a size too small, a tight fit. I didn’t wear it again once they left but finally, the other day thought I’d bite the bullet.
It looks great, and makes me feel great. And it fit’s perfectly!
So once I got that “Wow” feeling I decided that it might be time for a before and after photo. My father in law was most gracious in sending me some terrible terrible before photo’s for me. And Tim was more than willing to take my after shot for me.
I don’t know if it’s the camera adding ten pounds and blah blah blah. But despite the fact that I feel great and FEEL like I look slightly slimmer…those “after photo’s” look terrible. Just as bad, or not much different to the before photo’s.
I’ve come to realise that I wont feel comfortable in my own skin until I am 100% happy being photographed. This was of course one of my main reason’s for wanting to slim down. If you’re working towards being a photographer, and your husband is doing the same then chances are you’re eventually gonna have to suck it up and model yourself for the greater good.
So no photo’s. yet. And eventually you’ll get to see the photo’s that Tim took today. When, I am a LOT slimmer than I am now!
It’s not that I’ve lost count. I am in week seven now. I just don’t know if I count from the first weigh in of 100.6kg’s of if I count from the second weigh in, or the first weigh in where actual weight was lost. At any rate. I got something to say!
It’s no secret at all that Tim and I are trying for another baby. It took a long time to get pregnant with Jaxon and no doubt (certainly feels like it) it’s going to take a while with this one too. Though I am not so stressed about it right now. Each month I am not pregnant (and I should say cycle, meaning 6-7 weeks) is another 6-7 weeks where I can lose more weight. And therefore, making it easier to GET pregnant.
So I asked my team leader last night what happens when I do finally get pregnant. I was some what surprised to hear that Weight Watcher’s does not support pregnant woman and I would have to stop.There is NO way what so ever, that I could continue. Even under a doctors certificate.
Now I understand that woman shouldn’t be trying to lose weight while they’re pregnant and that’s fair enough. But if there was any time when I needed to not blow my weight out, it would be exactly that time.
I’ve lost 7.4 kilo’s. (100.6/98.9/97.7/96.3/95.5/94.4/93.2) in seven weeks. It’s not been hard as I had expected it to be but it is a long road. A road which despite my hard effort and fantastic results, I am still at the very beginning of. I am 93.2 kilo’s and my healthy weight range is between 60 and 65 kilo’s. As I say, a long road.
I’ve known woman who have put on 30 kilo’s during pregnancy. I’ve known woman who have put on 20 kilo’s while pregnant. It just doesn’t make sense to me NOT to have woman monitored week by week to make sure that they don’t over do the “eating for two” philosophy.
I suffered from Gestational Diabetes when I was pregnant with Jaxon. I know now, that if I get pregnant eating the way I am eating now, I might be lucky enough not to get it again. But I don’t know how I will do that when my on line tools for great recipes and healthy eating tips are gone. When I don’t have a weekly weigh in to let me know where I am at.
I’m not saying I don’t want to put on weight. But I am thinking, that I don’t want to lose 20 kilo’s in order to GET pregnant only to have them turn their back on me and then put on that 20 kilo’s again. Only to have to start the long road ahead of me AGAIN when I have had my baby.
It might just be me. But that doesn’t make sense to me. What would be so wrong with giving a pregnant woman 35 points for healthy “eating for two”, rather than the 18 to 22 I am having daily for weight loss??
By popular demand (ie: my MIL)
This isn’t much of a sky watch. but you CAN see the sky in the first photo!!
This was taken yesterday from our back yard. A Kookaburra stalking it’s unfortunate prey…a grasshopper!
Clicky Clicky!!
I was getting a little worried about the fate of my Sunday Sunset’s, seeing that the season’s are changing. But I think we’ll be right going in to winter. I can’t wait to show you Spring sunsets!
Tonight’s sunset deserved much more than just one photo. The sky was just full of colour and texture!! It was a pleasure to watch it going through the motions.
Click on image to see larger view.
Conversation between Tim and I the other night.
Tim: Hey, when did you put that up?
Me: Um, well. Let me see…when was that. Oh right. Two days after we moved in.
Tim: Oh. I knew that.
This is what he was referring to. Our friend Kelly from New York bought this for Jaxon’s first Christmas. And I put it up on the wall when we moved in here. The problem is, that it’s not like I put it up in a spare room, or in the bathroom or toilet that Tim doesn’t use.
That there is a photo of where it is in the house. That’s Jaxon’s open door. And the door to the right of it is where we have his change table set up. To the left of Jaxon’s door is the bathroom and toilet.
We put Jaxon to bed together every single night. We bath him together every single night. And he didn’t notice!
I know sun glare isn’t ideal in the opinion of many photographers. But I happen to really like it.
This is yesterdays sky. It was a lovely day!
Don’t forget to check out the other amazing skies from around the world on the following link! Don’t miss out!
Tim and I thought long and hard for weeks about whether or not we should go ahead and get Dookie.
Even once we got Dookie I was wondering if we’d done the wrong thing. Jaxon doesn’t exactly LIKE dogs. Not one’s that are bigger than Mexxi at any rate. And we all know that a full grown rat would out weigh Mexxi so that’s not exactly hard.
So for the first two weeks Jaxon completely ignored Dookie. Like he didn’t exist. If Dookie was around Jaxon would literally look the other way. If Dookie tried to catch his eye, he would walk the other way. It was quite funny to watch.
Then for the next two weeks, Dookie wanted nothing more than for Jaxon to be his friend. Still, Jaxon snobbed him on most occasions.
But now. Things are getting better. As long as Dookie does not lick Jaxon’s finger’s, lick Jaxon’s ears, lick Jaxon’s toes, lick Jaxon’s nose, take Jaxon’s Duck, take Jaxon’s dummy or sit too close to Jaxon while watching Deal or No Deal, everything is hunky dory.
Here’s proof!
Where Jaxon goes, Dookie follows…or is it where Dookie goes, Jaxon follows???
And this last photo is just for good measure. I don’t know what to make of that look!
A little while ago I ran across a blog that runs scavenger hunts on a regular basis. I decided that this time I would take part and hope that you’ll all go across to NicoleB’s blog and get involved too!
Here’s the list of thing’s I’ll be hunting down. But remember to take part you must go to the site and reply to the thread with “I take part”
1) a souvenir
2) a fish
3) a religious building
4) a fire department
5) a manhole cover
6) a postcard
7) water
8) a communication device
9) a Life event
10) a foreign stamp
11) a tree
12) the living space of a non-human
13) a street mirror
14) a decoration fixed on a house
15) a foreign flag
16) a fire
17) an antenna
18) a phone booth
19) a “verboten†sign
20) a beach
21) a cityscape
22) something goofy
23) something carved
24) an eye
25) something rural
The hunt ends and judging starts on the 31st of May 2009 so you have PLENTY of time to find your items!
Look forward to seeing everyone’s entries!
I will admit that occasionally we use photoshop to enhance our photo’s. But sometime’s they just don’t need it.
MB asked if my last Sky Watch photo had been touched up and the answer is no.
Here is the first line of photo’s I took that night. Unedited. With their camera setting’s to show you how the camera can change the way something is percieved. Those settings may mean nothing to you, and to be honest half the time they mean nothing to me. We’re still in the trial and error stage of using the settings.
You can see there is only about 10 seconds between photo’s. But that the setting’s changed on the camera change the picture dramatically.
The photo above is likely to be the closest to representing what I was actually seeing.
So there you go. Sometimes yes, but this time, NO.
I think I’ve mentioned a few times that Jaxon can now open all of the doors in the house all by himself. Well this is what happens when Mummy is sleeping and Jaxon is not (of course by that I mean that he woke up from his nap and didn’t wake me from mine!)
Last night, he fed Dude a FULL box of cat food!! Dude wont be catchin any mice for us for a while.
I hope you’re all checking out the other skies world wide. Totally worth your Friday afternoon!!
Click the link below!!!
I thought I’d be able to keep writing stuff here about my weight loss. I thought that somehow if some unsuspecting person who might be a little unhappy with their weight and had never thought they COULD change it for themselves might somehow get some hope and motivation from me.
Because I was that person.
But it’s getting hard to come up with something to say. I am of course still very happy about the effort I have made. And even happier that I actually feel like I am getting somewhere and nothing is going to stop me.
I’ve even slowed down, or almost stopped, trying to get pregnant. Because I wonder what it would be like to have a BABY BELLY rather than just have my fat change it’s shape. It’s really not that I’ve stopped. Or that I don’t want to be pregnant (and let’s face it. I don’t WANT to be pregnant, I want a baby…and those are two very different things!) But right now I feel like if it takes a little bit longer to GET pregnant then that’s more time for me to lose more weight before I have to stop counting points.
The food is just mind blowing. I’m a fussy fussy eater. I flat out don’t like veggies. I don’t like different. I have trouble with textures and smell’s and if either of those is just a little bit strange in my mouth or nose, I will not even try the tiniest little bit of that food.
But I’ve found plenty of recipes that suit my needs and still stay low in points. Stuff that is yummier than anything we ever really had before. Even just variations on the meals that we used to eat regularly. Like Shepherds Pie, lower in points but just as nice.
Tonight I had a chicken and potato casserole served with green beans and pea’s. And oh. My. God. It melted in my mouth! It was so good!
The other night I made a Mediterranean Beef and Vegetable Bake. It had three things in it that 5 weeks ago I would never have tried or had. It had a layer of sliced tomato’s followed by a layer of zucchini covered in a ricotta cheese sauce. The flavours were like nothing I have ever had. And I ate it all up!!
So this week I lost 800 grams. A lot less than I have in previous weeks. But I got warned that this would happen. That I would have some really good weeks and some really bad or not so good weeks. So it’s ok. And I think I can attribute this all to two extra FULL can’s of coke and a home made pizza on Saturday night with one of Tim’s oldest friends visiting. Even remaining within my limit of points, I still think that the change made the difference.
So all up I have lost 5.1 kilo’s. That’s 11 pound something. I don’t know the conversions. That’s also 5% of my body weight and I am THRILLED to have got just this far! My next goal is 90 kilo’s. Or 10%. I hope to get there in a month. Five more kilo’s.
