Joy To The World

We're all very happy little campers tonight. A little dazed and confused from so much good fortune and loving family but who would have it any other way. It is 9.30pm and the rest of my gorgeous family are fast asleep, partly as a result of a marvellous day and partly from 'sugar coma'.

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas Day and from my family to yours - Merry Christmas.

Human League - Don't You Want Me Baby

Please tell me you know every single lyric of this song! No self-respecting teen of the 80's doesn't. Watching this video again I was amazed at the insane amount of eye-liner that must have been used during production. And I don't remember Phil Oakey wearing red lippy which he obviously is. Still an absolute ripper of a song. Enjoy.

Just Because...

Just because .... you have left over Christmas fabric, doesn't mean you have to make everyone an individual stocking to hang on the back of their chair for Christmas lunch!!

Just because .... the local Video Shop is selling off their kids videos for $3.00, doesn't mean you have to buy ALL of them!!

Just because ....you bought chocolate fudge ice cream, does not mean you have to eat it ALL in one sitting!!

(the photo of this is just too disturbing!)

The Spirit Of Christmas is...

Your husbands wallet being stolen the week before Christmas, all your accounts frozen as the prick tried to access them, and the bank refusing to reinstate as said husbands name is really Alan and the only photo I.D. he has left says his name is James!!!

Why the hell don't we keep cash under the mattress any more?

Aaarrgh!

What the hell has happened to my photo header!!!!!
I can't fix it - HELP!!!

Spinning Around

I do realise how slack I've been on the posting lately. It is not through lack of things to write about but rather too much to boil down.

The truly depressing thing has been the distressing lack of adult Christmas functions and the overload of parties and events my bloody kids have been invited to. When did they become the cool ones with a packed social calender and we become the taxi service who are only invited as a means of getting Gidget and Moondoggie to events??? At this point I'm being extra nice to them because if they don't let us come with them we're stuffed - Thank god for my brother's wedding.

That was one event we had to be invited to (although I have my suspicions about that too as the kids got way more attention than we did). It was a fantastic night with the rain stopping just in time to make their garden a sparkling wonderland. Everyone had a ball, especially the bridal couple and festivities continued well into the dawn.

Thanks to everyone who wished me well with the reading. You'll be pleased to know I didn't stutter, stammer or fall over, although I did tear up a little in the middle which was not the best of timing. So now I have a sister-in-law on my side of the family which is great and helps swell our family functions to a grand total of 6 (plus the 2 kids).

I can't show you any snaps yet but here is the 'Circle of Love' as it was dubbed. Surfer Boy made it for them and they were married in front of it. I think we'll use it for kicking the footy through in the back yard!

We're off to an Australian/German GLUEHWEIN FEIER on Thursday so I'll let you know how it goes. (Finally a party we've been invited to!)

Good luck with pressie buying.

Toni Basil - Mickey

In 1983 Toni Basil had the biggest hit of her career and I had the perfect song to piss off my brother, Mick. I remember dancing around him singing this song when I was in 3rd form and he was in grade 6. I used to get rather sick of him telling me that his name - Michael- meant 'God-like'. Toni offered me a fitting revenge.

I Love Public Speaking!

My brother is getting married on the weekend and they have asked me to do a reading at the service. I'm thrilled because they had not found a reading they were happy with when I showed them one of my favourite books - Prayer For The 21st Century by John Marsden. They loved it too and have decided to use it. I'm doubly thrilled because it is short, and easy to read so hopefully will be finished before I have time to hyper-ventilate! Cross you fingers for me on Saturday.

Prayer for the Twenty First Century
John Marsden

May the road by free for the journey,
May it lead where it promised it would.
May the stars that gave ancient bearings
Be seen, still be understood.
May every aircraft fly safely,
May every traveller be found,
May sailors in crossing the ocean
Not hear the cries of the drowned.

May gardens be wild, like jungles.
May nature never be tamed,
May dangers create of us heroes,
May fears always have names.
May the mountains stand to remind us
Of what it means to be young,
May we be outlived by our daughters,
May we be outlived by our sons.

May the bombs rust away in the bunkers,
And the doomsday clock be rewound,
May the solitary scientists, working,
Remembers the holes in the ground.
May the knife remain in the holder,
May the bullet stay in the gun,
May those who live in the shadows
Be seen by those in the sun.

Kajagoogoo - Too Shy

1983 - What a year! And what a haircut! Limahl left soon after this song and went on to record the FABULOUS Never Ending Story.

Top 5

I need some inspiration!!
I have been staring at my DVD and video collection for the past 20 minutes and can't find anything I feel like watching. Disaster!

I'd love to know your top five DVD picks....

I'll even award a prize for the best suggestion!

Not again!

Lucky I did get that tree down!

Surfer Boy was expected home Monday, which then became Wednesday and as of this afternoon, became Thursday evening!!! If this keeps up I'll be applying for the single parent benefit.

Thank god this is back on tonight. A ray of light in a dismal world.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

I got sick of waiting for Surfer Boy to come home, (he's working offshore in Bass Strait and was supposed to be home Monday!) so I dragged out the biggest ladder I could find and hoisted myself into the roof.

What fascinating places ceiling cavities are. There are no end of interesting things up there that I didn't know about including, thanks to my handy hubby, a light and a platform so I didn't fall straight through to the dining table.

The world is a fascinating place when viewed from a different angle and I spent quite a long time with my legs dangling through the manhole just looking around my dining and living room.

Anyway I digress... I was actually up there to drag down the Christmas Tree as I was not going to waste another day being nude of decorations. (If you read this blog regularly you will have gathered that I love an excuse to decorate).

The problem I soon discovered is that we have a 7 foot tree and a 1 1/2 foot manhole. The tree also weighs a couple of tonne and I was at least 12 foot from the ground!

Never fear, I was not going to let these little issues defeat me and ... Wa la!! .... a little bit of Christmas magic (and some major manoeuvring) and Jen and the tree were both safely on the ground.

This morning at some ungodly hour I could hear the squeals of delight as the kids discovered the new addition to the living room. Worth every near-death experience I had getting the bloody thing down.

This evening we had a lovely time unwrapping all the ornaments and other Christmas goodies. Now I just have to find some room to actually move in here.

Siblings

After a day of doing nothing much and consequently irritating the shit out of each other, I came into the living room to find Gidget and Moondoggie watching tele like this!

They really do love each other after all.

(Mind you I give it about 5 minutes before one of them screams out 'Muuuuum!' in that high pitched whiny voice I love so much.)

I Ran

I think on Sundays I will now give you a glimpse of the fabulous songs that shaped who I am!! - First up - Flock Of Seagulls. ENJOY

We're Actually Very Cool! Promise!

Guests - 4 females

Venue - my living room

Menu - Pizza, coke, caramel popcorn, Homer Hudson ice cream, Mallomars, Tootsie Rolls, cookie dough, whipped cream, Pringles, corn chips, home made peppermint crisp ice cream, bullets, Chocolate Royals, cookie dough pop tarts.......

Event - Viewing of Season 7 Gilmore Girls!!!

You probably would not believe me if I told you that some people we have told about our evening looked at us like we had just arrived from a planet far, far away. Others openly scoffed and questioned their previous opinion of us. While some didn't say anything, their expression said it all.

I know! Weird!

What can possibly be strange about a girls night where the aim was to eat like we were 16 again, curl up on the couch for a good natter and watch 3 episodes in a row of our favourite show? Sounds like a bloody good night to me - in fact so much so that we're doing it again next week!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS

Have you ever met someone and felt like you have known them in a past life?
When my best friend married I got re-acquainted with her sister-in-law Sally. Sal is quite a bit younger than I am - although how much I will keep to myself - and I swear that in another time we may have been sisters. I see a lot of myself in her which I'm sure will horrify her.
It's Sally's birthday today and like me she loves an enormous fuss made of her on her special day hence an entire post devoted to my 'could have been' sister. She would never have been satisfied with with anything less.

Have a fabulous day you old bag and look after my boy!!

Too Excited to Speak!

This arrived in the mail from Amazon about 5 minutes ago.

The seventh and final series of Gilmore Girls!

Need I say more?

Please do not try to call, drop in or contact me in any way for at least a fortnight.

I'm going to Stars Hollow.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Aren't these fabulous!

They are just a few of the family Christmas snaps that may be in CHALK's Christmas windows this week.

I'd love to share them all with you but there are just so many.

By the way - last night was fantastic! Buggered today but a huge thankyou to the gorgeous Wilbur and HAPPY 40th my dear.

Saturday Night.

Surfer Boy and I are off to a party tonight!!! The reason I'm whipping off a quick post about it is because it has been so long since we last did something non-kid related on a Saturday night. In fact I actually can't recall the last time. Oh my God how sad is that.
We're off to the 40th of a boy I met in 1983 at Dancing Class! I'm so thrilled that I still can count people I met so long ago as dear friends.
I might try and scare up some then and now photos to show you tomorrow.
Best go and put on my party frock, brush my hair, and put on my dancing shoes....

THANKYOU

This is a huge thank you to Jodie at Ric Rac who quite amazingly read my blog, has the cowboy and Indian fabric I need, (see down 2 posts) and is willing to part with it!!!! You ripper!! I am constantly amazed at the generosity and support Blogging girls show each other and here is another perfect example. So 'YEAH JODIE!'

Here is the bunch of flowers I would send you if you weren't one of my 'imaginary friends' (as Surfer Boy refers to all I meet through Blogging.)

Quilting like a maniac

It's been a busy week of patching. I have a blister the size of a five cent piece on my cutting thumb and a very sore back from leaning over the dining table to slice up 100s of patchwork squares. Loved every minute though.

This is the finished single bed quilt that I made for a friend. Usually I make then into doona covers for a bit more versatility but this is an actual quilt and for the first time I tried actually quilting it. Worked out pretty well I think. She chose all the fabrics and delivered them all to me which was fabulous and cut out at least one trip around Melbourne's fabric shops.

When Gidget turned two and moved into a 'big bed' I made her a patchwork doona. The Little Fella is now 31/2 years old and I still haven't got around to making his so that is this weeks project. The squares are all cut, and as of this afternoon I have finished 11 of 15 rows! He may actually get it sooner rather than later! He helped me choose the fabrics and even holds the material while I sew 'cause he's 'helping Mummy'. (By the way only the cut squares are his, not the lovely pink florals!!)

This is the work in progress as of 9.45 Monday night.

I've got orders waiting on a few more but I am determined to finish this one first - fingers crossed.

HELP

I am hoping someone out there in Blogger Land can help me. I have a customer who wants me to make a single bed quilt. No problem there! She wants it to be the same as a cot quilt I have in the shop at the moment. Here is the problem - I only ever buy enough for one or two quilts and I can' t locate the fabric anywhere! If anyone knows where I can get this fabric or even has half a meter I could buy I would love you forever!!!

Either or both of these colourways is fine.

Where's Flashdance?

A friend of mine was watching a special called top 10 songs from 80's movies, here is their list:

10. Psychadelic Furs - Pretty in Pink

9. Kokomo - Cocktail

8. Who Can it be Now - Business As Usual

7. Wonderful World - Good Morning Vietnam

6. Into the Groove - Suddenly Susan

5. View to a Kill - Bond

4. Take My Breath Away - Top Gun

3. IKO IKO - Rainman

2. I've had the time of my life - Dirty Dancing

1. FOOTLOOSE

She emailed me to see if I thought there was a glaring omission!!

What do you think?

Drought Guilt

What fabulous weather we're having in Melbourne at the moment. Although every time I say that I feel like I should add, 'but I wish it would rain'. Droughts are absolutely no fun at all! Not only do you always feel slightly guilty every time you are enjoying the nice weather, but what happened to running through the sprinklers and Slip 'n Slide? I filled up our paddling pool with about two inches of water for the kids and felt bad about it the entire time the hose was running. Not only is the drought an absolute bastard on a big scale, it is also a bitch for ruining the smaller pleasures in life.

I have to confess and say that even though I HATE THE DROUGHT, I'm loving the hot weather! (gosh that's so politically incorrect these days)

Like most things I love (doughnuts, ice cream) there is major guilt attached. It's not fair.

Get'cha Head In The Game - High School Musical

Another fabulous dance number that I just had to share with you - Another Zac Efron gem!

My Favourite Thing

After spending ages looking at Lorettas bookshelves over at Only Books All The Time, I decided to post photos of mine for others who love a good book perve. I have actually managed to clear some space on them as I have been unable to convince Surfer Boy to build me some more.

I've taken the shot in bits as it didn't fit - they actually work right to left with the novels and biographies on the right, classics and young adult in the middle, and assorted stuff on the left. (kind of).

What Classic Movie Are You?

What
What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Not Again

After work today I did my usual sneak up the road for a cup of tea.... and as usual I got sidetracked in the Sun Bookshop. This strip of Yarraville is particularly dangerous for me as not only is the best movie theatre in Australia here, my favourite bookshop and a cafe full of desserts and Jasmine tea are all side by side.

I used the excuse that I was popping in to get my next book group book, but I seem to have walked out with everything but!

First up was the sequel to the book I am reading at the moment... I couldn't possibly not buy the sequel now could I?

Then I happened across this Christmas gem.

This is the cutest Christmas book I've seen in a long time and I could not resist - it will go in the magic present box until a little closer to December.

How could I not buy a book with illustrations like this?

As I was leaving a standing with my nose pressed up against the glass to drink in the window display I noticed this...

Now I know there are many bloggers out there who must know this book so my questions is - 'Should my pay check next week go on this?'

Leaving Home

I have 2 very exciting pieces of news - I have given birth - to a new blog, and CHALK is leaving home!

I made the decision today to give CHALK (the shop) its own blog. This came about in part to Paul Walkers' bare chest!! (see eye candy)
After posting the original photo I decided it needed to be cropped as there was a little too much exposed groin for a blog associated with my place of business. Maybe not very professional I thought. It seemed such a shame but I started thinking about cutting a lot out of my blog to keep it more CHALK related. Then I had a brainwave! Start a new one! That way I get to crap on even more in this blog, and get to post as much eye candy as I like without getting in trouble.

So... CHALK has now left home and has its own pad over at www.chalkconcepts.blogspot.com
Over there I will post the usual hot products, sale info, new stock in store etc and any other CHALK related titbits. Please visit (and leave a comment) as I'm guessing it will be lonely over there for a while.
Ciao, Jen

Apparently My Colour Is Lavender

YOU ARE LAVENDER #E6E6FA
Your dominant hue is blue, making you a good friend who people love and trust. You're good in social situations and want to fit in. Just be careful not to compromise who you are to make them happy.
Your saturation level is very low - you have better things to do than jump headfirst into every little project. You make sure your actions are going to really accomplish something before you start because you hate wasting energy making everyone else think you're working.
Your outlook on life is bright. You see good things in situations where others may not be able to, and it frustrates you to see them get down on everything.
the spacefem.com html color quiz

Halloween

People have been kind enough to show an interest in our Halloween day so I thought I'd better post about it.

We had some of our neighbourhood friends over for afternoon tea to help us celebrate and we had a wonderful time eating up all the goodies we had made during the week and drinking buckets of blood. The kids all dressed up for the occasion and I was even able to convince one mum to add some face paint. I'd love to post some photos of these splendid kids but I don't like to add photos of other people without asking.

I can show you this shot as nearly all of their backs are turned! We made our own bats to take home which was great fun.

Later on I took my kids trick or treating and I must say for a country that doesn't really celebrate Halloween we managed to come home with a fair haul!

Surfer boy took one look at me as we were about to leave and said - "You're not seriously leaving the house like that??" Of course I was and I must say I couldn't see his problem!

All in all it was a fabulous day and the excitement on the kids faces was worth every cent I spent on bloody pumpkins that I now don't know what to do with.

Next year we'll definitely be adding Halloween to the calender and it won't be as 'last minute' as it was this year. Watch Out!!

Hot Product

Look what arrived in the store today!

These gorgeous slip-on canvas runners come in 5 colours and we stock sizes 24 to 30. They go with absolutely everything and cut out the 'Muuum, can you do up my shoes' factor.

Also perfect for anyone who is a little bit over the Croc thing.

At $26.00 you don't need to toss up between colours either - buy them all!!! (go on - then Surfer boy and I can go on a holiday)

Australian Record Industry Awards

God I love the ARIAs -

*How many beers do you reckon Daniel Johns consumed before Silverchairs Album Of The Year award??

*How hot were John Butler and Keith Urban together?

*Is Nick Cave finally loosing his mane?

*Did anyone else tear up when Missy sang?

*Can anyone do rock star better than Daniel Johns?

*Is Megan Gale taller than Rove McManus?

*Is there anyone else who doesn't get the Sneaky Sound System phenomenon?

*Sarah Blasko - best pop release??

All questions I could ask for this weeks poll.....

This is for Eliza -

This is for me -

And this is just 'cause she's ACE -

History Lesson

Due to public demand I am going to give all my Australian friends a history lesson...

ORIGINS OF HALLOWEEN

Halloween dates back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain.

The Celts celebrated their new year on November 1st. This day marked the end of the harvest (hence the pumpkin) and the beginning of winter, a time of year often associated with death.

The Celts also believed that on new years eve (Oct 31st) the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became thinner.

To celebrate New Years Eve the Druids built huge bonfires where the people gathered to make sacrifices to the gods. During these celebrations they wore costumes and attempted to tell each others fortunes.

Once Romans had conquered most of the Celtic territory, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.

The first was Feralia, when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honour Pomona, the goddess of fruit and trees.

When Christianity spread to Celtic lands, Pope Boniface IV made Nov 1st All Saint's Day. It is widely believed that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a church sanctioned holiday.

The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hollowmas and the night before began to be called All-hallows Eve, and eventually, Halloween.

Even later the church would make Nov 2 All Soul's Day. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, costumes, angels and devils.

And finally to Beau - I did teach you this , you just weren't listening as usual!!

(I can't for the life of me remember where I got my original notes for this so if I have hugely plagerised someones work I opologise and please let me know so I can credit you.)