30 September 2009

Is it tommorrow already?

For the past 5 days i have been the same age as M34tb4LL, happy birthday M34tb4LL for last Sunday, but tomorrow once again i will be a year older than him.

I know that I will always be a few days shy of being a year older than him, but when we tell people our age we always round it down to the last birthday so TECHNICALLY for the last 5 days M34tb4LL and i have been the same age (well it makes sense in my mind at least).

But tomorrow is my birthday, and it has kind of snuck on me! In fact this whole birthday season has snuck on me this year. The birthday season of course started on Friday with my mother's birthday, quickly followed two days later by M34tb4LL's birthday and then two days after that (yesterday) it was M34tb4LL and my wedding anniversary, happy anniversary for yesterday M34tb4LL, and as i have already mentioned it is my birthday tomorrow which will be quickly followed by M34tb4LL's brother's birthday in two after that! It is a busy time...

This year there has been a few things going one though. With a new baby on the way and a house full of 10 years + of crap and a toddler that need to be moved out of the baby's room and into his own room and did i mention that our house is filled with 10 + years of crap?

The problem for us is that we have spent so many years a couple, living very comfortably in our house that now that we need to share it with children we are having to clear out our stuff to fit theirs in... It is a bit of a bitter circle thing really.

One thing that M34tb4LL i decided was that we were not going to get each other presents this year, or to put it another way - get each other more stuff that has to be put somewhere... But we did want to get a new bed base, so the bed base is our present to each other! And (a little bat on the back to us both here) the bed base that we choose actually has a large amount of storage under it - storage for some of our crap!

I did of course give M34tb4LL a little something on his birthday that was from **wink wink** Peanut and Bean, well you have to have something on your birthday. But what i - i mean they - gave him will over time have been consumed (it was a bottle of whiskey) that in the long term storing it shouldn't be too much a problem.

But anyway - with all this trying to minimise - and being pregnant in general - and just the general running around that seems to have become part of our daily lives - we have just kind of found ourselves smack bang in the middle of birthday season without a paddle (but then if we did have a paddle, where would we store it!)

And tomorrow is my birthday. I have taken the day off work and we have not made any plans as to what we might do for the day and i don't really have a problem with that! Though I don't think we will be doing what we did last year - going shopping - don't need to spend the day impulse shopping and then having no where to store things!!!

(: G

29 June 2009

There is a new blog in town...

... and this time its serious!!!

No not really, and i can't guarantee that it will get any more attention than my other blogs seem have gotten recently. But hey - at least I make a pretty weak, half hearted effort once in a while.

So check it out -

Find new blog here

(: G

07 April 2009

Random thoughts / questions

  • Do the fast food outlets that have drive-thrus assume that most of their customers have SUVs? I don't, I have a station wagon, and the window is a bit of a reach up.
  • I have noticed that orange soft drinks do not really taste much like oranges. Is the colour orange a flavour unto itself?
  • When a new product is being launched and the people launching it also provide a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ), who is asking the questions? Most likely not the end user since the product is only just being launched!
  • Why do places that sell coffees charge so much for a babychino - it is a tiny cup of nothing but froth! It is not worth $2 people.
  • Is it possible to be both not as clever as you think you are and be more intelligent than you give yourself credit for (people have said both about me)
  • Do people who work for Cadbury buy the Nestles white chocolate? It is a nicer white chocolate than Cadbury makes.
  • And do people who work for Nestle buy the Cadbury milk chocolate?
  • Is the iceberg that the Titanic hit still floating around somewhere? Or has it melted by now?

And lastly -
  • Since I signed up to Facebook - I have not been as regular with blogging, bad Facebook!
(: G

21 February 2009

I am the uber-shopper

This is a bit of a blog with a Peanut cross over but, let's face it - the topic is all about me!

As many of you know, shopping is a bit of hobby of mine. I love hunting for a bit of a bargain and have been known to hold off on buying a much prized find in the hopes that I can find it at a better price.

But of course there are also times where I just stumble onto a bargain that is not only too good to pass up - but too good to be true. There have been a couple of these experiences lately, and it is these said experiences that are the topic of my blog today.

The first shopping bargain that I am going to retell to you happened a couple of weeks before Peanut's birthday. It was a stinking hot day and my mother-in-law (Peanut's Nana) was staying in a caravan on the Rosebud foreshore. Do I need to go on tell you what Peanut and I decided to do for the day?

Anyway, so we got to Rosebud at about lunch time and thought we would have a little bit of a look at where the tide was at on the beach first. Mother-in-law and I thought it would be better to go back to the caravan and have some lunch rather than go for a swim straight away. And of course after we had lunch we thought it might be better to take a walk to the shops to let lunch settle - and also so that Peanut could have a nap in the pram.

For those of you who have not been to Rosebud... there is really not too much to the shopping centre, it is nothing like our local shopping centre! There is a Coles, a Target and a Kmart and a handful of little shops. But that does not stop me from looking for a bargain. Or in the case of the day in question, stumbling onto one.

Mother-in-law wanted to have a look for a birthday present for Peanut, and had been thinking of getting him a toy truck of some description and we went into both Target and Kmart to have a bit of a look at the toy truck options in these two stores. While we were looking around the shelves in Target, we both commented on the fact that the price/description tags did not seem to match the toys that were there. While we looked at all the trucks and got a collection together to take to a scanner (to find out what the price of each actually was) I noticed a red tag on the shelf with the price '36c'. I pointed it out my mother-in-law and we both laughed at the thought that the twin pack of Tonka trucks would be for '36c'. Then we started to walk off in search for a scanner to get some prices on the trucks we had picked up.

I then thought - i might double check that label and see what the item was that they were selling for 36c. I went back to the shelf and the label read 'Tonka 2 pack' - that was it, so I picked up the toy and took it with me. I thought, it wouldn't hurt scanning it just in case it was 36c (but I was very sure that it wouldn't be that price).

Well to cut what has already been a pretty long story short - the set of two Tonka trucks scanned at 36c, all three times we scanned it!!! It also scanned up at 36c when we took it to the cash register - and the woman who served us did not question the price, just congratulated us on our find. And might I add that Peanut indeed enjoys playing with his two Tonka trucks.

The second find of the century (can you have two finds of the century?) was only last Friday. I had to go on a bit shoe shopping excursion. No, not for me, Peanut had grown out of his shoes and had been wearing a pair I had borrowed from a friend for a week.

I had found the cutest pair of Reebok sneakers for him at the kids shoe shop at our local shopping centre that were $29.95 reduced from $79.95 and was feeling pretty happy with myself. But I was half debating whether to get a pair of sandals as well. I was thinking that we are getting to the end of summer, but then again there is no guarantee that the warmer weather will stop when the month rolls over. He does have a pair of sandals that fit him now, but then they are not sturdy enough for him wear all day and Definitely not good enough for wearing while playing outside at daycare.

So I needed to find a pair of sandals that were good quality but did not cost much money - and were therefore a justifiable cost. And little did I know when I started looking that I would find that exact thing!

I walked from end of the shopping centre to the other looking at every shop that carried shoes for children, and as I got to Myer - the last shop in the centre I had left to look in, I was no closer to getting a pair of sandals for Peanut. And the funny thing was I did not hold any hopes of finding anything, but we made our way to the kids shoe department anyway.

When we got there, there was a sign that read "one day only, 50% off already reduced children's shoes". But of course a special like this was useless if there was not a pair of size 5 1/2 sandals, in a style that will offer the protection that a day in childcare will demand. They had to be good quality so they would be comfortable as well as sturdy, they had to be a price that I could justify and they had to be in a colour that went with most of Peanut's clothes. All that was a bit of an ask.

I looked on the sales table and I found - without much searching - a pair of navy blue, leather, size 5 1/2, Clarkes sandals. They fitted every item on my check list including the price. The sandals original price was $69.95, then they had been reduced to $41.00, plus with the one day only 50% savings they came out at just $20.50.

But here is the best part my bargain find - I had a $20.00 Myer gift card that had been sent to me because I am part of their shopping rewards program! So that means in actual fact the sandals have put me 50c out of pocket!

Hunting for a bargain may be one thing, but finds like this only come once in a life time! Or in this case once every couple of weeks. I know I have said it before but I feel it needs to be said again - I am, therefore I shop.

(: G

14 January 2009

Been seen sipping lately?

Since our beloved Starbucks was closed M34tb4LL and i have not had an outlet for our coffee sipping / people watching passion. Sure, there are other coffee places at our local shopping centre and where the Starbucks used to be there is now a new coffee place - but it is not the same.

We quickly realised that it is not just the coffee that attracted us to the previously mentioned coffee shop, it was the people. The friends that we made at the Starbucks were far more important to us than the coffee they made for us. It was a place for us to go on a lazy Friday evening and just sit back, watch the busy shoppers passing by and have a bit of a chat and share a few laughs with the Starbucks staff.

And yes, i know that both M34tb4LL and myself have done a tribute post about the closing of our beloved Starbucks store but i am going to ramble on again...

But, the ramble is not just in a nostalgic fashion! No!!! M34tb4LL and i have indulged in our seen sipping habit lately!!!!!

On the weekend we made a special trip to a suburb that is much closer to the CBD than we live. Those darn speciality stores that won't make the effort to open stores in the suburbs! But anyway, since we were in the area we decided to have a bit of walk around - look in the other shops - randomly spend some money.

It was while we were wondering down the street that we saw (and of course remember that not all Starbucks in Australia had been closed) a Starbucks store. We thought about not going in, that it was not the same seeing as the people there had no idea of who we were, but nostalgia got the better of us and we gave in to the offer of coffee goodness.

While we drank our drinks, and reminisced about the taste that we had not enjoyed in nearly six months. I made the comment to M34tb4LL that it almost felt like we were cheating on past lover (??? how can it be cheating if the lover is in the past ???) AND it was at the that moment that one of the girls that had worked at Starbucks entered the store!

So the Starbucks experience was complete. Not only were we able to enjoy the drinks that Starbucks do so well, but we got to have them with a familiar face to Starbucks - all be it on the other side of the counter.

You couldn't help but think that if we had gone into the store on our way down the street rather than on the way back, or if we had not gone in at all (as we were half thinking of doing) we would have never known she was there.

(: G

16 November 2008

The Non-Events of a Neglectful Blogger

It has been a while since I have done a blog! Even by my standards it has been a while!!!

But to catch you all (??? whoever maybe left after all this time ???) up I am going to fill you'll in on one of the more exciting things that has happened in the past three months -

Got a new car! Well when i say new, I mean new to me. My old was having a few problems. And by a few I mean a lot. The air-con was not working and if it was, it wouldn't have been because I knocked the pulley thing off the bottom of the car when I ran over a traffic island. The re-demister was not working, but would randomly turn on when... the radio would randomly stop working. The central locking did not work and on the few occasions that M34tb4LL did manage to get it working for me it nearly flattened the battery. Two out of the four electric windows did not work and a third was on the way out. Two of the tires were going to need placing sometime in the near future, and the spare was probably flat, I don't know. And a host of other little, niggly things that were either on their way out or completely gone and been held together with just sticky tape and dirt.

But there was one other thing, some might call it a major thing, that was not working properly on the car - the brakes. Now you don't have to have a car, or even know how to drive to know that brakes come in handy when driving. And the brakes on my car would slow me as long as I pumped the pedal till it 'stuck' and did not just 'sponge' all the way to the floor of the car. Lets just say that when I was a traffic light I got in the habit of putting the car into park very quickly.

So my new car has... Well everything that my old car didn't including brakes that work! And it is a station wagon! I got my 'Mum's mobile'.

And unlike my old car I can fit the pram in the boot! In fact I can fit the pram, the port-a-cot, a jumbo box of nappies, a heavily packed nappy bag and a big bag of child entertainment AND still have room to spare!

Now what happened to my old car? Well here is the fun bit! I drove it to a car yard that had a sign out the front saying "We pay cash for cars". They told me that they would give me $230 and deal with all the paperwork (vic roads stuff) and that would be that. So I jumped back into my car and drove it to local wreckers yard. They paid me $250 for the car and gave me the number plates that I then took to vic roads and within a couple of weeks was mailed a cheque for about $375! I'm so glad I looked at a second option other than just going to the car yard.

My new little silver buzz box, it is very pretty. And being silver, it does not show up the dirt on it as much as my old green car - that is one of the most important things, yes?

(: G

22 August 2008

Receipts for romance

A few years ago (+ a few more...) M34tb4LL and i went on our first date. Actually at the time M34tb4LL and Reggie were known only by names that were given to them at birth and the internet was a text base place were nerds went to argue about what was better - Star trek the original series - or the show that had been on TV screens for a couple of years - Star trak the next generation.

So i suppose i should say many years ago M34tb4LL and i went on our first date. We met at a cinema close to where i lived (when i was still living with the parentals) and saw a film that can only be described as a sweet romantic film that might leave you with a tear in your eye and glimmer of hope in your heart. In other words, we both left the theatre with a slightly ill feeling in our stomachs.

M34tb4LL took the tram ticket he had used to get to the cinema (our first day was a while before he got his drivers license) and the stub from the movie ticket and put them aside. In fact he saved every tram ticket, movie stub and random receipt from our outings for the first year that we were together.

I like to think that it was such a romantic gesture, keep sakes for the first year of a wonderful romance - and not that he is just a hoarder. He however say he was keeping all these as a record of how much he had spent in our first year so that if we were to split up he could claim half of the money spend back from me. Well which ever way you look at it, at least there was the cinema ticket to save and put aside.

So now i want to jump ahead to today, or at least Friday last week...

My dearest friend KTZ and i have been wanting to see the movie "Mamma Mia" since we first the rumors that i was being made, and on Friday last week we got the opportunity to go. I dropped Peanut off with his Nana and drove to a near by cinema to meet KTZ. We them had a spot of dinner (mmmm... pancakes...) and went to the box office to get tickets for the much anticipated show.

Earlier in the year i had some work for the evil over lords (the parent company of the company i work for) and as a thank you they gave me two free movie tickets - they also paid me an hourly rate for the work i did but... The tickets had to be used to by September and i thought this was as good a time as any to use the tickets.

I relinquished my tickets to the small spotty man behind the candy counter (apparently at that time in the evening there is no point manning both the box office and the candy counter - so might as well just have staff at the counter that makes the theatre more money???) as was handed our movie tickets and a receipt.

I had to do a bit of a double take at what i was given because at first glance it looked like i had only been handed three receipts! They were all the same size and all printed on the same thermal paper out of the same printer! So where was our movie tickets? the tickets that would be ripped in half as we walked towards the theatre? the ticket stub that could be saved as a (all be it lame) souvenir of the show???

It was just a plan old receipt, that looked much like the thousands of receipts that i have jammed in the bottom of my handbag - where is the romance in that!!! I should actually mention that the tickets that M34tb4LL has kept all these years were also printed on thermal paper and are now COMPLETELY unreadable, but that i not the point. They were still ticket shaped things that had the theatres logo and stuff in pretty colours printed on them - that part of the tickets is still very seeable at least. So, we might not know what movie we sent to see or when, but at least we know which multi-million dollar organisation we paid money to, but not how much money...

But on the bright side, the next time i clean out my hanadbag i will find what looks like boring old receipts but are actually theatre tickets and will be able to look at them and think to myself "oh, here are the tickets from 'Mamma Mia', that was a fun night". Then i can throw then out because they are just a couple of old receipts.

(: G