Delightful dahlias

Our family is adopting a new ritual. Most Saturday mornings we go to a farmers' market somewhere and stock up on jams, relishes, free-range pork and whatever yummies take our fancy. The girls love to look at the flower stands and smell each and every posie, so we've started letting them pick out a bunch to take home.

The house looks brighter and it definitely lifts our mood. The dahlias are just gorgeous at the moment and this weekend we got a divine bunch of pink ones for our mantlepiece. Sigh.

Doing it for the kids

Like a lot of kids, my two received a ton of Easter eggs this year. After gorging on Easter Sunday, they've only been allowed to have some now and again.

Often Lil-lil will have one while Goosey is having a nap, so poor old Goosey only has one now and again, now and again. For the sake of their health Skip and I have been helping them get through their stash after they go to bed at night. I must admit that sometimes I help them out during the day too. For the sake of their health, you know. I wouldn't do it otherwise.

After talking to some other mums it seems I'm not the only one concerned about their kids over-indulging in chocolate. Of course it would be wasteful to throw it away, as parents it is our duty to do consume it. You know, for the sake of the kids...

Fabulous Friday

As well as being FlogYoBlog Friday over at Brenda's Mummy Time! , it's also my favourite day of the week. I love the excitement and anticipation that Friday holds. Even if I have nothing exciting planned, there is always some relaxing, eating and pottering to do, which is well worth a bit of excitement.

This Friday, my plans for the weekend include some of this tonight:

Possibly one of these tomorrow night:

Watch my girls do this and smile:

And hopefully do some of this:

What are you plans for the weekend? Enjoy this fabulous Friday.

Decision time

I have one terrible flaw – well one among many if the truth be told. But this one flaw I'm speaking of is really being tested at the moment.

I'm totally hopeless at making decisions. I mean really hopeless. Give me a menu and I'll stare at it for hours, unable to decide what to eat. Ask me if I want tea or coffee and I'll ummm and ahhh and usually say: "Tea. I mean coffee. No, tea. Ohhh whatever is easiest to make." Ask me what I want to do today and I'll reply with: "I dunno. What do you want to do?" It drives everyone around me batty, especially poor Skip.

At the moment, I have a few large men in my backyard digging and lugging heavy stuff and banging and crashing. They are creating my wonderful new garden oasis. The problem? I'm constantly being asked questions. Do I want a curved or straight garden bed? Flat or raised edge? What type of plants? Usually these questions are answered with: "Ummmm what do you think?"

I'm dreading coming home at the moment as I know I'll be bombarded with new decisions to make.

Making decisions is something I've always been terrible at. As a kid I used to read 'Choose your own adventure' books and get myself in such a muddle as I'd try and read both choices at the same time. Suffice to say it didn't work, I would have to make a decision in the end.

Maybe this is why I'm a terrible shopper, just another activity the involves decision making. Perhaps this is why I enjoy degustation and alternate menus - decisions are all made for you.

Hmmmm maybe I should have had a career in the army, where I could have been told what to do everyday.

Do you relish making decisions? Or are you more like me and dread it?

Blog love

The lovely Chantelle from fatmumslim is an uber-blogger who has featured me on her site today. What a thrill!

Go on, check it out: fatmumslim

Weird and freaky coincidences? That's me!

When I saw the latest Blog This challenge about weird coincidence and freaky events, I couldn't help but give it a go. My whole life has been a muddle of coincindences and freaky happenings all connected by six-degrees of separation.

I could tell you about the time when I was a youngster of about 5 at my brothers birthday party on the beach, frantically digging in the sand telling everyone I needed to find the $10 note. About 15 minutes later my brother's mate came in from the sea holding a soggy, slimy $10 note he found floating on the water. I was most put out when he wouldn't give it to me.

I could tell you about the time when over breakfast my mum told me of a terrible earthquake she'd heard about on the early morning news while snoozing in bed. She told me the number of casualties and where it occurred. When I looked on the news later there was nothing. I forgot about it until a couple of weeks later there was an earthquake in the location she mentioned with the same number of casualties...

Or I could tell you about the time I happened to meet a Brazilian girl in a club and said "I knew someone from Brazil once, of course being a bazillion people in Brazil you wouldn't know her, but her name was Aly XYZ." She gasped and said: "Not Aly XYZ with a brother Toby XYZ?? They used to live next door to me while I was growing up." The only Brazilian people I have ever met just happened to live next door to each other.

Or I could tell you about how after years of being together, Skip and I discovered there were many nights out when we were at the same places, talking to the same people but never met each other.

For me, the weirdest coincindence of the past 12 months has been meeting a new friend. We met while at Tresillian. During our stay (on which we both arrived on the same day) we chatted and got on well and spent most of our time saying: "Me too!" to each other. It turned out we'd both been in Tresillian the same number of times; both had two daughters; our daughters had the same first and middle names; we'd both recently been on holiday to the same place; we both got married in the Blue Mountains on the first weekend of April just because we thought it would be nice to have a wedding weekend away; the list went on and on. As our friendship has grown the list of coincidences has continued to grow and spook us.  It's weird to have met this person who has basically been living the same life as me. It has been the most freakishly wonderful thing.

Image: speedy2/sxc.hu

It's a laugh, innit?

I've been feeling a little flat lately. Lost the sparkle, the zip or something. I hadn't been able to put my finger on it, until yesterday. I realised I haven't really had a good laugh in a long time.

I love to laugh. I love to make other laugh (though I'm not always good at it). Sure in recent weeks I've chuckled, I've giggled, I've even guffawed, but I haven't had a good throw you head back, let the tears rolls down, shuddered till it hurts kind of laugh. You know the kind of laugh you have with your oldest friends or family? When you laugh so much you think you're going to stop breathing.

I'm missing that buzz that you feel when you've spent time with people you love and just laughed. Top of my to do list is to rectify that or at least plan something to rectify it.