Wednesday, December 21, 2011

WOO to the snowy HOO!!

Well, after long and serious consultation with the Powers That Be (5 seconds into a phone call with my sister) we're going to Germany for Christmas in two years !!

I told Fabio and he was excited (pretty much sold on the words 'AUTOBAHN' and 'BEER', truth be told) and now I just have to find a way to make it happen financially.

*sigh*

Sister K and I have been looking at and bookmarking various things, but we're trying to co-ordinate 3 couples, (one with 2 kids in tow), and 3 budgets, so there could be some serious compromising to be done.

I don't care. As long as I get to do all the stuff I want to do, it's all good :)

We're thinking sleigh ride in the SNOW, shopping, eating and drinking, SHOPPING, and some other stuff.
Sounds good, huh?

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

my Indian name is...

Just lately on Facebook I'm seeing a lot of 'my Indian name' posts.
I'm assuming it's some randomly generated thing, I haven't looked. Because we sorted out our Indian names many years ago. It's a shame I can't remember them all though!

Fabio is Dances With Traffic -- named by my eldest daughter after his driving habits.

I am Stands With a Smack -- for obvious reasons.

Mr18 was Talks A Lot, and I don't see any reason to change that.

Mr10 was Two Spoons, because when he was a baby being spoon-fed, we had to give him another spoon to keep him happy. I'm thinking he's due a name upgrade. Maybe -- Can't Shut The Door. It would fit.

My eldest daughter was something like Hides In Her Room, and we can't remember Beefcakes' name at all, though I think he's picked a new one now he has his own family.

The Princess wasn't born then, so she never got one, but I reckon her Indian name should be Lights Up The Room. Because she does.

What about you? have you thought about your Indian name? Your 'real' one, that is -- not the Fakebook name.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Frohe Weihnachten! (merry Christmas)

One Christmas, I would like to go here


Here being Germany.

My great-grandparents were German, and so was our next-door neighbour when I was a kid. We got to taste the yummiest cakes and breads, and see beautiful decorations we'd never come across anywhere else.

A lot of our modern Christmas traditions originated in Germany, did you know that? Like advent calendars, and Christmas trees, and gingerbread houses. Silent Night is German. The first commercially produced decorations were German, too.

It's a big deal over there, and I love the massive participation. Christmas markets can be found in many major towns and the most famous is in Nuremberg.

How amazing would it be to go shopping here?





I love Christmas in Australia, don't get me wrong -- but this would be truly magical. Just once. Please, Santa?

Saturday, December 17, 2011

now that's a good swear!

One day I heard my son crossly muttering "Jesus Whiskers!" at one of his projects that wasn't going the way he wanted it to.

Uh-oh.

I explained to him that we don't say "Jesus Whiskers" and he gave me a funny look and asked how come Rat in a Hat is allowed to.
Rat in a Hat, for those of you who have not been tortured by ABCs Bananas in Pyjamas, says CHEESE AND WHISKERS.

Which the kids are of course allowed to say.

***

When Beefcake was little, he told me he was sad because he wanted to swear but he wasn't allowed to.
So I gave him his very own special swears.
He could say RATS or FUDGE, or for really really bad swears, he could say FOOEYGUTS! (FOOEYGUTS is an awesome swear. Go ahead, try it)

(See?)

***

I'm thinking we need to go back to words like RATS and FOOEYGUTS.
Fabio and I are swearing WAY TOO MUCH.
He works in an environment where every second word is the F-bomb, and I remember when we first got married he wouldn't dream of swearing in front of me.
Now he doesn't think twice about it, and is swearing more and more in front of the kids.

And I, I'm ashamed to say, am just as bad or WORSE.

In fact, Mr 10 is acting like that annoying angel who sits on your shoulder giving advice, and is dropping hints about Swear Jars.
Which is a little embarrassing.

The thing is.... I know he's right.

Swearing occasionally is just one of those things.
Swearing all the time is ugly.

What do you think?

Friday, December 16, 2011

well, I hope that fixed it

Seems something in that last post was screwing up my formatting, so please let me know if you CAN see my blog properly now. Obviously, if you can't, you're not going to reply.

Friday, December 9, 2011

making whoopie (s)

So.

Have you seen these little beauties doing the rounds yet? they're the Latest Thing.



They're Whoopie Pies, and they're DELISH. I know because I've been making them for about *ahem* twenty years or so. Which just goes to show I'm so far ahead of the rest of the world I could technically be it's mother.
I've been wearing a thumb ring and a toe ring since WAY before they became popular too. But I digress.

I found this recipe for Whoopie Pies in an Amish cookbook, and the recipe makes a LOT. Of BIG Pies. It says 15 pies, but that depends on how big you make them.
Also, their 'cream' filling is not so good. So you can substitute sweetened whipped cream, or a marshmallow type fluffy frosting.

* 4 cups plain flour
* 1 tspn baking soda
* 1 tspn baking powder
* 1 tspn salt (adjust that if you want!)
* 1 tblspn cream of tartar
* 1 cup cocoa powder
* 1 cup of soft butter
* 2 cups of sugar
* 2 tspns vanilla essence (less if you use extract)
* 2 eggs
* 1 1/3 cups soured milk

* sift the dry goods together
* cream the butter, sugar and vanilla, then add the eggs, 1 at a time
* add flour mix and milk to the butter alternately, mixing between

* use about 1/4 cup of batter for each pie, and drop onto lined baking sheets. They WILL spread a lot.

* bake in a mod oven for about 6 mins, then reverse the baking sheet, and bake for a further 10 mins.

* let stand on the sheet for 2 mins before placing them on a wire rack to cool.

The Pies should be soft, not crispy.

Sandwich a creamy filling between two Pies -- if you want you can roll the edge in 100s and 1000s or sprinkles or something, but they really don't need it.

* try not to eat them all yourself.


Wednesday, December 7, 2011

the tree post




Polystyrene balls covered in glue and flowers and sticky bling. Too easy.



Polystyrene balls painted and braid glued on. Too easy.



Paper flower with sticky bling in the middle. Too easy.


And here is the famous Christmas Carrot. I don't know WHY the kids think we have a Christmas Carrot, but they love it and greet it with great excitement every year. Luckily we have two so they can each hang one up.


We have a glass angel bell....


more handmade baubles and some store-bought (betcha can't tell which is which)


a star....


and the new kid on the block, from one of the $2 shops.


Also, it wouldn't be Christmas without Gingerbread Men (or Girls) would it?


made with an MDF shape, alcohol ink (sounds a lot more exciting than it is), and sticky bling.



Saturday, December 3, 2011

fair go, mate


Life isn't fair. Ever noticed that?

People have kids with horrible illnesses who die before they live, and it isn't fair.

Monsters do dreadful things and get away with it in the court system, and it isn't fair.

Earthquakes and fires and floods happen, and dogs get run over, and popsicles fall off their sticks before we've finished them, and it isn't fair.

Here are some things that are fair.

It's fair that if you work hard, and make a lot of sacrifices, and build yourself a little business, you should be rewarded for your effort and enterprise.

It's fair that if you pay taxes all your working life, you should be entitled to retire in comfort.

It's fair that if you study hard at school, or work hard in your chosen sport, you should be rewarded for that.

It's fair that if you do the wrong thing, break the law or hurt someone, you should be punished.

It's fair that if you sit on your butt on the dole and contribute nothing to society, you should have to go without luxuries.

It's fair that you should have the right to protest, and make your opinion known, but it's not fair that you should make a nuisance of yourself to do so.

Fair?

Friday, December 2, 2011

eleven years

Once upon a time, there was a not-very-beautiful Princess, who kissed a LOT of toads (sorry, babe) while looking for her Prince Charming.
And then one day (literally) she realised that her best friend of 11 years was in fact, the Prince she had been looking for her life!
They got married right away as soon as the divorce papers came through, and lived happily ever after.

The End.

(true story)


This is what I wrote last year, on this very day.

And it's all still true.

Fabio has been my best friend for 22 years now; my lover and husband for 11. He's the nearest thing to perfect that I've ever seen, fully deserving of all the adoration flung his way by the kids and the dogs and his wife.


Happy anniversary, my heart. This is the last one we spend apart, k?