Hi de hi campers...

How are we today? Just when I thought that the weather was improving, it turned to complete custard this evening. Bugger. I have a heap of towels etc to wash. Oh well, turning your lounge into a chinese laundry lookalike is trendy, right? NOT!

I found this on another blog - it's funny, check it out. I gotta get me some of those musical stairs. Would make the trips up and down to the cashier/WP dept MUCH more fun! Teeheehee

Right - I have things to do, very important things like watching E.R..... :) Oh, and about Shorty Street.... OMG, I was right... Can't believe they killed off Shanti, just like that. This week'll be full of depressing scenes and the funeral etc. Not cool. Lucky it's only telly!

Right, E.R beckons...

Toodles, B x

Hey up!

That greeting was for Heather! So peeps, how'd ya be? What's happening at your place?

We are off to Michelle's 40th birthday party tonight, which should be good... although it's not the nicest day to be going out. The sky has been crying most of the day, and MAN it's cold.

So, who watches Shorty? Who's dying next week? I have watched the teaser for next week a couple of times now, and I'm wondering if it's Shanti? You can watch the teaser on the TVNZ website here if you haven't seen it already. What do you think? Pregnant people and/or babies don't tend to last very long on soaps... Too hard to maintain the character? :) Just wondering.

D has now finished his first week in his new job as Assistant Manager at The Front Store. He seems to be really enjoying it, although I think it's a little busier than he was expecting it to be. All good though. He's been sleeping a lot better this week! It's hard work learning a whole lot of new stuff. And being on your feet a lot of the day when you're used to a more sedentary job must take a bit to get used to as well. Oh well, they say a change is as good as a holiday, so it's all good!

I'd better go and sort out something to put Michelle's present in (which I will explain AFTER the party, in case she reads this first).... Hope you're all somewhere warm and dry, cos it's NASTY out there.

Toodles, B x

Making a start on Christmas Cards...

J and I got settled inside in front of the fire and got creative this afternoon, seeing as it was raining and cold...

We had a play with a bunch of Stampin Up punches and made a Santa card each. Although J being J, he got a little impatient with the whole process and wandered off before finishing his one... They look cute though.

Love the rosy cheeks on his Santa :)

Blog takeover..purrrrrrr

Yeah gidday, Buzz here. Mum and Jake left a lovely HUGE ball of twine on the hall floor today - leftovers from the Father's Day lolly jar they made Dad. And it was just too tempting to resist!.... Shame I look like a bit of a goose playing with it, but nevermind, such is life.... Meow, Purr, Purr, Meow :)

Back-track to Father's Day...

Hey peeps... Time for a bit of a catch-up. D is out having farewell drinks as today was his last day at Cloughs, so I'm not expecting to see him till later :) In a slightly worse-for-wear condition, ha ha ha! I have been going through the photos on my camera, and found these ones of the card I made for Daddy-Jim for Fathers Day...

Jacob has learnt to write his last name - quite an accomplishment, given it's not as easy as 'Smith' or 'Jones', and now that he can write it, he writes it on EVERYTHING (as if my Dad wouldn't know who the Jacob was writing on his card, ha ha ha). Too cute for words :)

More soon... B x

A Pinch and a Punch for the first of the Month!

Yup, it's hard to believe, but it's the 1st of October already... scary!

The incredibly good news though, is that we have got most of our Christmas shopping out of the way already - yeehaaaaa!

We went to Christchurch for the day on Monday (SC Anniversary Day) and knocked a few off the list - nieces, nephews etc. Then this week we got our parents sorted - both sets! Fan-tas-tic! I love that super organised feeling that gives me. And y'all might jest and poke fun, but I KNOW you're all JEALOUS :)

Finally got some scrapping done the other day... although it DID take me all friggin day to do... Mojo is workin, it's just on the go-slow. It's a very recent photo of our not-so-little man, in the spring flowers in the Botanical Gardens. Totally cool place to hang out for pics at this time of the year.

Unfortunately the scanner does not really do it justice.... the white background is matted by a lovely lime green, some of which has been cut off by the scanner. The colours are a bit muted in this version too. Honestly, it looks a whole lot better IRL.

Journalling reads: 'All of a sudden it seems that you are really starting to grow up. I swear that you are getting taller and smarter every day. That five years sure went fast'

The fun part about this was that I FINALLY got to play a bit with photoshop properly, I used a clipping mask to make the grunged border around the photo, I used the clone stamp tool to remove the tomato sauce from his face (!!!), and I added a second layer so I could 'erase' the black and white to reveal the coloured flowers underneath. I am REALLY happy with how it turned out.

Right, speaking of being creative... Saturday 3rd October is WORLD CARDMAKING DAY. I am going to a Stampin Up make and take being run by Deb McRobie on Saturday from 1pm to 5pm. I challenge you all to make at least one card on Saturday, then email it to me to prove you've done it! I am going to set myself a challenge to try and get half a dozen made on Saturday. D is going out on Saturday night to watch the boxing (BORING) so I should have plenty of time! Go on then, challenge issued... get thinking! Ha ha ha. I'm SERIOUS!

Right. I have now watched 3 episodes of Grey's Anatomy reruns (screening on Vibe) back to back, to clear a bit of space on MySky. So I will probably start speaking like them a lot. Seriously! Ha ha ha. Time to go to bed, I have to go to work tomorrow after all.... And I suspect that I am no longer making much sense, as I am VERY tired.

Night night. B x

I think Paul Henry is SO funny...

Oh, and I've finally figured out how to 'embed' a youtube vid into my blog! Yay!

Byeeeeeeeeeee

OH, and this one....

You've probably seen this before, but...

I think it's SO funny!

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Toodles, B x

I found it...

Thanks to Trina for reminding me where I saw it in the first place...

This is the stuff I was talking about. Once I've tried it out, I'll let you know my opinion... I've heard fab things about it :)

Toodles, B x

Lush...?

Quite a while back I read on someone's blog about a product they bought from Lush that was a great deodorant... but I can't remember where I read about it. Was it you? If it was, email me, please!

It gets me every time...

It's one of my all time favourite shows to watch... I'm pretty sure I've been watching it ever since it started, like a million years ago, but THIS season, man... It gets me EVERY time. There hasn't been a single episode of this season of E.R. that I haven't cried. Every time a coconut. I'm not sure if I'm getting soft in my old age, or if it's the fact that it's the FINAL SEASON EVER so they're finishing some of the character's storylines, or what. But it gets me. Every. Single. Time. Anyone else have that problem, or is it just me?

Official Results...

Official time across the line - 58.21 (under an hour!) The one hour countdown that I heard was for the runners, who left the start line a couple of minutes ahead of us walkers. I finished 38th overall, and 8th out of the 17 in my age-range. Not bad!

I'm still in one piece!!!

Yup, I did it... 1.6km walk, 11km bike ride, then another 1.6km walk. In just over an hour... literally. My time (yet to be listed on their website) was 1 hour and ??? seconds. Frustratingly I heard them do the 10 second countdown to the one hour mark as I was JUST out of reach. Bummer.

Today I have a bit of a sore back, as my riding stance on Dad's pushy was more 'stretched' than the riding stance on the cycle at the gym, and I am a bit tired in general, but I DID IT!


I had my two-man cheering squad with me (D and J), who took pics as I strode round the track, then kept overtaking and stopping in front of me while I was out on the bike to take more photos. Every time they drove past me cycling up the road, I could hear J yelling out the car window 'Go Mum, Go Mum, Go Mum...' Funny! Mum and Daddy-Jim came out to watch the end of the cycle part and my second walk to the finish line too, so that was cool. Lots of (sweaty) hugs at the finish line! Ewwww!


So, not the most glamorous, but here is the photographic proof that I was there... I may not be the smallest person (although I am trying to do something about that of course), but I wasn't the largest person there either. It was great to see so many people of all shapes and sizes there participating. Esp. for such a great cause. Right, photos:

The walkers, just heading off...

Starting to spread out... I am about two-thirds of the way across, right near the back

Note the Red Cross in the background! (not needed by me, fortunately!)

Striding it out, around the track

I have a little 'helper' coming to assist, as my first walk comes to an end...

Getting ready to set off on the pushy...

And I'm off!

Coming back into the circuit after the 11km bike ride...

Desperately trying to get my legs to walk properly (they feel a bit jelly-like at this point)

Back out on the track again...

Hearing the countdown for the one hour mark, I RUN to the finish

ALL DONE!

So that's it people, my first ever (baby) duathlon. Didn't know if I'd be able to manage it when I registered, but the training I did at the gym paid off. Also a big thanks to my workplace for sponsoring me into the duathlon in return for some photography work I did for them.


Oh, and I won a spot prize at the prize giving - a voucher for a Triumph Triaction Sports Bra from Ballantynes.... worth around $50. Fantastic!


So that's it from me, time to get ready for work. What did everyone else get up to at the weekend?


Toodles, B x

Wish me luck...

I'm off to do this soon... Will update you later (if I am capable!)

Toodles, B x