A Slight Slip Up

Yesterday's post was actually completed last night, but it must have been so late that my brain was half asleep and I forgot to hit 'send'!! So this means you will get a double post in one day today.

Today was Chicklet's last day of being a four year old, so we said goodbye to the fervid fours with a bang at Aussie World.

What a fantastic theme park! There are more than 30 rides there catering to all different age groups and the staff are fabulous. They all appear to love their jobs and want to make the experience as enjoyable as possible for not just the kids, but the adults too.

I guess we picked the best time to go, being outside school holidays, because even though there were still plenty of people about, there were no queues for the rides and plenty of tables and seats available when we wanted a break, or when The Bare-chested Chef was on ride duty with Chicklet.

It was a perfect day. The temperature was mild, with a bit of cloud in the sky, a few very light misty showers and a cooling breeze, so we were comfortable all day.

I haven't been on a show ride (aside from the dodgems way back in the late 80s) since I was 15 yrs old when I rode the Wild Mouse at the Brisbane Exhibition. That ride scared the pants off me and I was never tempted to go on another ride ever again!

Today I rode the dodgems and the bizzy buggies and then sat in the Voyager Simulator for the 'terror on ice' ride. Thank god it was a simulator - just that knowledge removed the fear - the real thing would have done me in!

We walked through Professor Boggleworth's Illusionarium which was amazing! So well done!

We played four holes of the 18 holes of mini golf. Four holes was the best that Chicklet could deal with - the attendant was kind enough to give her a 'hold in one' certificate when we left.

The sideshow alley was a success with Chicklet playing the laughing clowns and the ducks, winning a giant ball, an orange lobster, an orange monkey and a hand held game with water inside and buttons to push.

We ate upstairs in the pub restaurant. I ordered a spinach and roast pumpkin salad with feta cheese and sun dried tomatoes. I added atlantic salmon and the meal was so big that I asked for doggy bag to go.  I had some for dinner tonight and there was STILL some left over! It was very nice and even though it cost $27.90, I got two meals out of it, so it was actually a bargain.

After lunch, Chicklet and Vegan Chickie rode the carousel, which didn't do Vegan Chickie much good with a belly full of food. About five minutes after the ride, she was feeling very much the worse for wear and had to lie down on one of the bench seats while Dadu and Chicklet went into the water park.

The rest did her good, and by the time we were ready to leave, about an hour later, she was feeling much better.

We left Aussie World and headed to the fudge shop for some gelato ice cream before we drove home. I had a little cup of vanilla with raspberry and white chocolate. Luckily, vanilla is my favourite ice cream, because there wasn't much raspberry or white chocolate in it.

We left home at about 9.30 this morning and returned at 4pm. It was a big day! Thoroughly enjoyable and worth every penny spent.

As soon as Chicklet fell asleep tonight, we got to work blowing up balloons and decorating the walls with dragons and dinosaurs. There are dinosaur footprints on the floor and inflatable dinosaurs under the balloons. The gifts are on the coffee table and I can't wait to see her face in the morning!

On that note, I'd best get some sleep so that I can be bright and breezy in the morning!

Nite all.

Thank you Driver

Woman of Many Talents was kind enough to drive me to the Sunny Coast this morning, even though her original reason for coming down here was cancelled out at the last minute, she kindly honoured her commitment to me and drove for more than two hours to bring me to my destination.

I did not know this until we were already on our way, otherwise I would have organised to catch the later train today. I feel guilty that she had to make this trip for no reason. She decided to spend the day with her Mum and then drive back tomorrow morning in time to work at 10am. I need to buy her a thank you gift. I will think of something special.

It was a very pleasant drive down and at the same time a great two hours catching up on our news together.

She pulled into the Chicklet family driveway at about 9.15am.

After she drove away, I unpacked my suitcase and settled in with Chicklet, squeezing in some play time before we headed to the supermarket to do a decent sized shop. We bought some coffee before we drove home and Chicklet babysat me while Mama and Dadu went to the movies to see 'Zoolander'.

Vegan Chickie loved the movie. It's on my bucket list for this month, along with 'The Big Short'.

So Chicklet and I had a lovely afternoon playing together. She was the Vet, while I brought all of my pets to her for consultations. Surprisingly, she was very sneaky and did things to my pets that I didn't know about until I visited her in her vet's office.

My big dog, Choco, had a tiny dog carry case stuck inside his ear. Dr Chicklet was a miracle worker and fixed the problem immediately.

My pet dinosaur, Snap, had a marble stuck in the back of his mouth. Thank goodness Dr Chicklet was able to discover the problem quickly and Snap was feeling his old self in no time.

My two miniature pups needed yellow bandaids to fix their 'owies'.

My hairy crocodile, Crocky, needed to stay overnight to recover from his ordeal.

My dog, Crazy Ruby (my favourite) also had to stay overnight and I was terribly distressed about leaving her there, so Dr Chicklet drew me a picture of Crazy Ruby to bring home with me, so that I wouldn't miss her too much...

What a kind doctor she was!

We also played marbles, drew pictures, made sticker art, played the Minion game, watched Caspar the Friendly Ghost and some of a Care Bears show.

It's been a big day, and tomorrow is going to be even bigger, so I'd best get some sleep!

Nite all.

Procrastinators Unite!

I am the Queen of Procrastination! You all know that!

A month ago, Vegan Chickie sent me Chicklet's birthday wish list. The list had four items on it, with a vague possible fifth.

A Cheetah Toy
Sleeping Bag
A Skipping Rope
A Tea Set with Dinosaurs on it (not plastic because the last one cracked)
(At the moment, she is in love with Ninja Turtles, if that helps)

At the time, I was very excited to have the list so early and planned on either researching the items online or searching around The Bay.

Chicklet's birthday is this Saturday and I am heading down there tomorrow morning, so after procrastinating for almost a month, I dragged Adoring Husband into The Bay today, on a birthday gift reconnaissance.

I do my best work under pressure!

Our first stop was Toy World.

As we entered the building, there was a box of skipping ropes on sale, so I immediately grabbed one.

AH asked at the counter "Do you have any children's sleeping bags?" Their reply was "No."

I decided that I would have a look around anyway and see what they had in the way of dinosaurs and cheetahs.

We checked out the dinosaurs and the only one I really liked was a remote control dinosaur which cost $200, but it was suitable for a much older age group and cost more than we expected to spend, so we continued browsing.

I began searching the outer walls of the warehouse-sized shop. Junior lego tables, trikes, scooters, blackboards, teenage mutant ninja turtle sewer tents, pool toys ... then suddenly ... wait for it ... a combination tent, sleeping bag and pillow covered in a dinosaur pattern!!!! *happy dance*

AH removed it from the shelf and headed towards the check-out. "Wait!" I called out "I want to check their tea sets!"

I walked into the very next aisle and there in front of me, was a white ceramic tea set! I imagined a few dinosaur stickers strategically placed and decided it was perfect!

At the check out, there was a bonus when we learned that our purchases were on sale at 20% off! Yay!

Toy World didn't have any dinosaur stickers, so our next mission was to find some stickers small enough to fit comfortably on the very small tea set.

BIG W was our next stop, where AH immediately found the perfect dinosaur stickers required for the job at hand.

So, with time of the essence, we had the perfect gifts all in the space of thirty minutes!! Amazing!!

During our shopping, AH received a phone call from the SES for an emergency callout. He initially decided not to rush home for it, but as we drove past the SES shed, the group were still preparing the boat and other equipment, so he decided to join them after all.

He drove me and the goodies home, quickly dressed in uniform and rushed off to join the search for a young man who had fallen into the river at Maryborough after a possible seizure.

My first priority was to wrap the birthday gifts. I had some plain brown wrapping paper, so I wrapped both gifts in that and decorated them with my own handy work.

The first one I wrote her name in big puffy letters and drew peace signs, flowers, hearts and dinosaurs on it. For the second gift, I used the remaining dinosaur stickers to spell her name across the package.

Pretty happy with that!

Next on the agenda, was packing my suitcase - just a small one because I have clothes already down there, but I had brought some of them home last time, so they need to be returned. I have a new book to read, a few pieces of jewellery, my iPad, laptop and lastly, my toiletries.

Too easy.

I did a load of washing, removed the inedible food from the fridge and gave it a quick clean and lastly, cooked up half a dozen chicken thighs for AH to nibble on for the next couple of days.

So I reckon everything is pretty much under control.

See!? I told you I do my best work under pressure!

Nite all.

  

This Looks Good

We have to wait til June or July, but this one looks good. I bet it's going to be a real tear jerker!



More kitchen duties today. Beef stroganoff and beef casserole, then devilled avocado eggs to take to the park for the barbecue tonight.

I had boiled ten eggs last night and then didn't even think about them again until 40 minutes before we were due at the park! I had to shell the eggs, cut them in half and scoop out the yolks into a bowl. I added two avocados, some salt and pepper, the juice of half a lime, some onion powder and a teaspoon of chopped fresh coriander. Mashed it all together and spooned it back into the whites, then sprinkled some paprika over the top.

They were very popular (except for Adoring Husband, who wasn't fussed) and all twenty of them disappeared quickly .. half of them before we even ate dinner.

There were 13 of us there for our monthly barbecue, which is usually the first Tuesday of the month, but last week, we got stormed out, so we postponed until tonight. It was very gusty down there, but no storms or rain. At about 7pm, the wind dropped and the mosquitoes were out in full force.

Obviously Adoring Husband has the tastiest blood, because he was the first one bitten multiple times. He raced to the car to escape the nasty little insects, which meant that the rest of us copped it. This meant a mass exodus!

I have 24 hours til my trip to the Sunny Coast and I am not the slightest prepared!

Best get a good night of sleep so that I can power up for a big day tomorrow. So much to do, so little time!

Nite all.

Kitchen Time

It's been a while since I was inspired to spend time in the kitchen. In fact it's been a while since I was inspired to focus on my health .. probably since the beginning of the year .. the road trip sent me off course a bit and it's been a struggle to find my way back.

BUT .. I've decided that it's time to rein myself back into the cycle of good health.

This means no more early morning coffee. Drinking coffee on an empty stomach first thing in the morning doesn't make me feel vibrant and energised and ready to face the day. In fact it kind of drains my motivation to do anything!

So it's back to warm lemon water, followed by bone broth and a trike ride to start my day. Coffee will happen at around 9am.

I've also increased my coffee intake to three coffees per day and that's too much. The dairy leaves me feeling full and bloated, which means I eat less nutritional food.

Oil pulling in the morning and evening has also been very intermittent this month and I can feel the difference, so it's time to be more vigilant with my oral health.

I need to reduce my now over indulgence of carbs. Potatoes and rice have been very high on my list of meal and snack options lately and they make me feel bloated, inflamed and I feel like I'm retaining fluid.

That's how easy it is to gradually fall off the health wagon and allow the less nutritious foods to not just sneak into your diet, but start to take up a large portion of it. I can literally feel the difference in my body, both physically and emotionally. I've had less energy and less motivation to do anything.

My sleeping pattern has changed too. Later to bed, not sleeping soundly, later to wake and not wanting to get out of bed in the morning.

I've struggled to find motivation in the kitchen and creating meals has been a chore.

Today, I made the decision to change. I've been poring through my favourite paleo recipes and spent the afternoon in the kitchen, making the chocolate mini cakes and a berry sorbet.

I started to plan a week of meals, but remembered that I'll be on the Sunny Coast for five days from Thursday, so I've planned it all for my return.

Having made the decision, I'm feeling excited and inspired to find the happy, healthy, vibrant me again.

Meanwhile, I discovered this a couple of days ago and thought it was interesting enough to share. I've got a bit of thing for cushions ...



Time for bed. Early to bed, early to rise!

Nite all.

Choices Are Ours

If you want a good cry .. don't 'choose' to see this at the cinema .. wait til it comes out on dvd, buy it, and lock yourself in your lounge room with a box of tissues so that you can sob uncontrollably without worrying about anyone seeing or hearing you do it!



It took me a while to warm to the main characters .. especially the male lead, but it didn't take too long for him to become my favourite character.

Some people I know will love this movie, but some I know will screw up their nose.

Anyway, I liked the movie .. I can't say 'enjoyed' because it was too sad to enjoy, but what made the movie even better, was the company I was in. Thank you Lady Lynn and Mardi for inviting me and sharing your tears (and tissues) with me!

Here's one that I'm looking forward to for the end of March ... My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2

I 'chose' to have our main meal for lunch today. More lamb back strap with sweet potato mash, roasted pumpkin, broccoli and a red wine jus. There was enough left over for Adoring Husband to have for dinner tonight.

How nice that Adoring Husband 'chose' to buy me a coffee this afternoon, even though I wasn't home yet! It just needed to be slightly reheated.

I believe that I will 'choose' to have an early night tonight. I want to wake up early for a trike ride - I haven't ridden my trike for two days now and need to sit by the river and soak up some fresh air and sunshine.

So, on that note...

Nite all.