Confessions of an Urban Drama Queen

2006-11-05T21:47:00.000-08:00

YUMMY MUMMY IN TRAINING....AND ALL ABOUT THE HAPPY PANTS....

Ok, that's me, YMIT....after 5 years of being pregnant/lactating/sleep deprived, I made a conscious decision recently to get fabulous (thanks to inspiration from a fellow mummy blogger, Ali over at Cheaper Than Therapy and Fabulous).

So now I am working out for 1 hour each on my elliptical cross-trainer and doing yoga and pilates (all at home, who has time to GO to the gym with 3 little rugrats?). And I am feeling so good about myself, notwithstanding I am looking much better for it.

I am "doing" my hair every day (= putting some modicum of style into it) and wearing makeup for 2 weeks in a row (which is a record like forever!!!). Putting matching clothes on helps too LOL...but I have to confess that I am attributing much of this change in attitude to...

MY HAPPY PANTS...

Yep, that's what I call them - 'cause, well, they make me feel happy and healthy. So far I only have the one pair (and am going shopping for several more this weekend and hoping to win some on ebay as well). I can't wax poetic enough about how much I adore these pants - they make me feel automatically slimmer and groovier (and God knows, we could all use a bit of that, right?).....

Lululemon, I love ya!!!!

2006-10-23T08:03:00.000-07:00

Sleeping Like a Baby ......Isn't She to Die For?

Ali over at Cheaper Than Therapy got me onto this (thanks heaps!!) - at least I pulled my finger out and joined Flickr Yahoo and uploaded a photo to the Sleeping Like A Baby competition...here is my entry. (Stupid me thought I could enter more than 1 photo - nah, not to win, but to show off as I have heaps of photos of my kids sleeping (yes I am a freak)...check 'em out at tobabe at Flickr.com

2006-10-22T22:16:00.000-07:00

AND YOU WONDER WHERE SHE GETS THAT BOOFY HAIR FROM?....

Yup, quite obviously, partly from ME...(although hubby has really, REALLY curly hair, in the singular, as he has none at the moment ::((( )...

Not the best photo but it gives you an idea anyway.

2006-10-22T21:07:00.000-07:00

COOKING FOR KIDS WITH....THE LANSDELLS....

Ok, ok, I know it is a bit of rip off Nick Jr's Cooking for Kids with Luis and hey, I know I am nowhere near as cute as Luis...

http://www.nickjr.com.au/site/CookingWithLuis.asp

Yesterday's attempts by my lovely offspring to "help" out - resulted in:

only 1/2 of the cookie dough being baked (other 1/2 being eaten equally by Miranda and Toby)
1 kg of flour in Miranda's hair, mouth, diaper, clothes, floor (you get the picture, right?)
The cleaning lady will likely have a heart attack when she sees the kitchen floor today!

But....my chocolate chip cookies are the BEST!!!!

2006-10-22T21:01:00.000-07:00

HAIR TODAY, HAIR TOMORROW....

My gorgeous girl has CURLY hair!! My boys do not (which I think is good, right?), suddenly overnight Miranda has sprouted a head full of locks and I can just see in a couple of months, that we are going to have major dramas with the combing out ROFL....Of course, she is absolutely adorable but have a look at this:

2006-10-22T20:47:00.000-07:00

TENNIS, ANYONE????

I officially became a Tennis Mommy on Saturday. Despite my inhibitions about "organised" sport, the boys started Little Masters Tennis this past weekend. They are both in the 3-5 age group as Jeremy, who turns 5 on Wednesday, is as non-sport oriented as you can get, whileToby is right into it! And gee you couldn't ask for a better venue, could you?

2006-10-21T05:25:00.000-07:00

The Shoe Truth, The Whole Truth and Nothing But The Shoe Truth...

Ok, ok, ok, ok...my friends and family can tell you that I am a shoe addict, have a footwear fetish, can't passby shoe sale without hyperventilating and the ol plastic matrix-ing out of my purse. Truth be told though, over the past 5 years (so yep since Jeremy was born), I have been practically living in thongs and flat shoes (read: extremely NON-stylish and boring and practical, so like NOT me at all). Last week, however, my feet had had enough so I splurged....and I love 'em all, so comfy and....so cheap....

(Wait for it)...

$150....for 4 pairs (including the above + a boring pair of loafers - old habits die hard...)...I'm too sexy for my shoes, too sexy for my shoes....

2006-10-21T05:22:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh....Isn't This How They Look Best Sometimes....

Look, I couldn't resist posting this photo from the other night...such peace, such synchronicity and at 7:30 p.m. no less....

2006-10-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

OK, OK, COULDN'T HELP MYSELF BUT.....

Mr. Darcy RULES....(ok, time to clean the drool off the office floor...)

2006-10-18T19:52:00.000-07:00

RETURN FROM THE DEAD....

OMG, it has been 3 weeks since I posted properly......been too busy, the Hubby came home for a week, A WEEK EARLY to boot. Would have loved to have completed my Top 20 TV Stars but it was taking too long to load so may just list them another time....

Busy bee, as always, that's me. My cleaning lady is OFFICIALLY CRAZY - came home on Monday and found my house had been redecorated, couldn't find half of my stuff and she threw out the bath toys (ok, some of them were mouldy, but come 'on - LIttle Tikes toys???? - YES I did retrieve them from the bin....)

Having to work full-time for the next few weeks - my overworked, stressed-out, passie-aggressive colleague is on her well-deserved honeymoon and we are completely overwhelmed here.

Thought I would post a couple of pics of my Monkey (sorry Haley, love the tag ROFL). Gotta love her Roots cap - seeing as Australians would look at it and go bugeyed (a story for another day)...

Ok here are my Top 20 TV Stars:

1. Diver Dan - Sea Change

2. John Locke - Lost

3. Benton Fraser - Due South

4. KC - China Beach

5. Richard Karinsky - Caroline and The City

6. Jack Bauer - 24

7. Irina Derevko - Alias

8. Edie Britt - Desperate Housewives

9. Tanya Todman - Footballer's Wives

10. Elmo

11. Marcia Brady - The Brady Bunch

12. Alison Braithwaite - At Home with the Braithwaites

13. Lexie MacDonald - Monarch of the Glen

14. Mr. Darcy - Pride and Prejudice (ok, we are talking the COLIN FIRTH version, ok, droool...)

15. Richard Hatch - Survivor the Original

16. Miranda Hobbes - Sex and the City

17. Cristina Yang - Grey's Anatomy

18. Fonzie - Happy Days

19. Hawkeye - M*A*S*H

20. Luke - Gilmore Girls

Ok, ok, I know it is pretty girly/contemporary list but these are most of my FAVE's....actually in hindsight, I should go and put Mr. Darcy at #1, shouldn't I?

2006-09-26T19:41:00.000-07:00

HAIR, HAIR, HAIR....EVERYWHERE...

Geez, I hate my hair...you always want what you don't have!!!

My hair is thick and voluminous (i.e. I look like Bozo the clown)...and wavy to boot. So completely, totally out.of.control and unmanageable.

After Jeremy was born, it was thick and tangled, I cut it off very short and kept it that way until the last few months when I thought (in my non-infinite wisdom) it would be great idea to grow it out (hurrumph).

Don't get me wrong, I love my hairdresser (finally found one I liked after 10 years in Perth and walking distance from my house) but I can never get my hair to look like that "just out of the salon" look at home. Doesn't help that I went grey early too and have to colour my hair at home.

Maybe it is just the in-between stages that I hate...who knows?

Hope to get there.

I want Deltra Goodrem's hair from Almost Here video...I wanna, I wanna, I WANNA..

2006-09-25T23:44:00.000-07:00

I SLEEP WITH SPIDERMAN...ACTUALLY 2!

My boys are superhero-MAD....honestly, the whole diffentiation of the sexes is so OBVIOUS in our hosue.

Jeremy is in fact having a superhero party for his 5th birthday at the end of October...great I can just see it: 15 sugar-hyped boys running around my house and me ALONE on parent patrol (it is a "dump and run" party LOL)....

To date, we have a variety of costumes: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, myriad versions of Spiderman (read: with and without muscles), Batman, Superman, Bob the Builder, hats of various descriptions, etc. and my boys LOVE them all....

While our Miranda isn't into costumes YET, it is just a matter of time...

2006-09-20T22:01:00.000-07:00

WHAT THE...????

Honestly, this belongs in that category, it is overarching Smarmy, Yummy Mummy-dom on ecstasy & crystal meth...

Something else to add to the most useless category..

http://www.babylegs.net

2006-09-20T21:54:00.000-07:00

My Children's Annoying Habits...

They will NEVER get into the car when I ask, beg, scream at them to.
Corollary: They will NEVER get OUT of the car when I ask....(ibid)...
I always know where to find them...just follow the trail of cookies, crackers, spilled milk & juice, raisins....always in rooms where food is NOT allowed to be.
They will fall asleep at 4 p.m., sleep until 7 p.m. and then decide to party until 11 p.m., grrrrr..
My house is full of dummies (translation: pacifiers, soothers, etc.) , I move furniture around and I find another dozen lying around. At this rate, Toby & Miranda will never be weaned.
Every SINGLE night, the boys overflow the bathtub so I change the towels EVERY day.
Despite my best efforts to contain their toys to the toyroom (upstairs), invariably everything manages to gravitate DOWNSTAIRS to my living room.

2006-09-20T21:51:00.000-07:00

Back in the Swing of Things....

Well, it has been nearly a week since I posted. Toby is now on the mend and was discharged from hospital last weekend..he is back to calling me a SSBB (Stinky.Stupid.Bum.Bum) so quite obviously he is getting back to his normal, annoying, cute self.

Our follow-up appointment with the surgeon went like this:

Me: Why did this happen?
Dr.: (shrugs shoulders...) I really don't have an answer.
Me: Well, it is hardly normal and you told me that this has never happened to one of your patients before.
Dr.: I guess it is up to the man up there (pointing to the skies)...
Me: What?
Dr.: It's JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS...

Like what on earth???? Anyway, a blood sample has been forwarded to Royal Perth Hospital's haematology lab (a friend works there) for testing.

2006-09-14T20:37:00.000-07:00

The Worst 24 Hours of My Life....

My son Toby went from this (near left) to this...(far left) in less than 15 hours....

Well I have had a few of those - in the main, related to Toby's primary immune deficiency and his various illnesses over the past few years...but Tuesday, September 12/Wednesday, September 13, 2006 pips at the post.

Went in for a bog standard adenoidectomy + sinus washout, due to the omniscient green snot which has been emanating from his nose for 4 months, thought we would be out in 5 hours....NOT....

He haemmhoraged after the first op.
Rushed back into surgery at 6 p.m.
In recovery by 8:30 p.m.
Haemmorhaged again. Rushed up to Princess Margaret Hospital for Children by ambulance at 10 p.m. (we had the operation in a private hospital initially).
Back into surgery by 12:30 a.m. after rousing several specialists out of their beds.
In the Paediatric ICU by 2:00 a.m.

He has lost quite a bit of blood, but not enough to warrant a transfusion. Has been tested for clotting disorders which have all come up negative.

He will be back in surgery today at 1:30 p.m. to remove the nasal plug which has for 2 days been stopping the bleeding (in theory anyway, as he has had "ooze" - so scientific - for 2 days now).

More later.

2006-09-11T06:52:00.000-07:00

A Day to Remember...

I can't believe it is 5 years since September 11, 2001....I still shudder when I think of those awful, horrible images that everyone will remember forever.

I was 34 weeks pregnant with Jeremy and woke up on September 12 here in Australia (still 9/11 in North America) to turn on the TV at 6 a.m....I stood speechless for 5 minutes foolishly thinking it was a movie.

A colleague and friend of very dear, old friends of mine died in the World Trade Centre that day and my obstetrician's wife lost a family member as well. A tragedy that has touched us all.

Lest we forget - thinking of all the victims and their loved ones on this sad day.

2006-09-11T00:19:00.000-07:00

More Evidence that Our House Has Been Subverted by Kelloggs....

(See I told ya so...)

2006-09-11T00:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, Everyone Altogether Now.....AHHHHHHHH.......

2006-09-11T00:10:00.000-07:00

Here is Super Toby.....

Just realised that I didn't post a pic of the Tobs....here he is in all of his EATING glory. He sure gives Anthony from The Wiggles a run for his money, his mantra is, " Mummmy, I am HUNGRY.."

(This pic is actually about 8 months old....mmmm, time for a new one, methinks).

2006-09-10T19:40:00.000-07:00

Why oh WHY is it so hard to get my kids ready in the morning???????

The boys fight me to a) eat their breakfast b) get dressed (until I have threaten to send them to school in their pj's...) c) get in the car, in fact all the neighbours hear in the morning is, "Get in the car, GET into the car, GET INTO THE CAR...." (occasionally with a smattering of muttered-under-the-breath profanity). Doesn't matter what time I get up, we still don't leave the property until after 8:40 a.m......grrrrrrrrrrr

Of course, leaving the house without makeup or blow dried hair is NOT a good look either. I have vowed recently that I would try vehemently to be a cool, fabulous, groovy mommy...so far I am failing ABYSMALLY. Translation: wear nice, IRONED clothes (which actually coordinate), do my hair so I don't look like Bozo the clown's evil twin and wear make up!!!

Grrr, I guess a mum of 3 under 5 wouldn't get a chance to have a shower longer than 5 minutes, not with a nearly 20 month-old trying to climb into the bath with me fully dressed.

2006-09-10T01:55:00.000-07:00

5 Things Most People Don't Know About Me....

1. I am a kitchen gadget queen. If it's in the shops, I BUY it...I must have every shape baking tin, mixing accoutrement, lemon zester (both normal and Tupperware version), 4 sets of measuring cups and spoons (the Nigella set was a joke 40th birthday prezzie from Miranda's godparents LOL).

2. I love http://www.celebritybabyblog.com

3. I don't have a middle name. When I was born in 1964, I was supposed to be a boy (how expectations could be that way inclined 40+ years ago, is beyond me?) so my parents were so "surprised" (arrrhem...), that the only girl's German name they could think of was Heidi and that was the extent of their inspiration...they ran out of steam after the last name. My whole life I felt ripped off as sis and bro both have middle names.

4. My favourite sitcom ever was Due South (ok, ok, can you tell I am Canadian?).

5. I have never had tooth decay. I am the bane of my dentist's existence.

2006-09-09T20:38:00.000-07:00

A New Use for Happy Meal Toys....

Self-explanatory, methinks....I was going to do up the kitchen anyway...

2006-09-09T20:34:00.000-07:00

Is She Really a Girl or a Picasso in the Making?

....or maybe a walking, babbling ad for Kellogs???

It's a good thing it washable Crayola marker she used too...

Funny how she will EAT marker, but not macaroni & cheese...

2006-09-09T19:44:00.000-07:00

Gawd, why is it that kids will eat at daycare but NOT at home?????

A quiet Sunday lunchtime here - the weather is lousy so staying close to home. In my infinite wisdom (NOT), I thought I would make a warm, homemade lunch for the kids.....

Pulled out my new Williams-Sonoma Kids Cookbook (thank you, Borders!!) and made the easy-peasy mac & cheese...well what do ya know??? Miranda wouldn't have a bar of it, Toby ate both his noodles and broccoli and Jeremy....well he whined and complained until I threatened to call the police on him...(I am such a nice mommy...). To be honest, I thought it would be a nice change to all the polony/jam/vegemite & cheese sandwiches, for a change.

Boy was I wrong.

2006-09-08T02:48:00.000-07:00

Well, this is my first go at my new blog. It feels a bit strange, yet somehow liberating to let it all "hang out", so to speak!

A bit about me: I am a young 42, originally from Toronto, Canada (the greatest city in the world IMHO!) but now living in Perth, Australia for the past 10 years. Married to a sandgroper (aka a Western Australian, hence the relocation here) and the proud mummy to 3 gorgeous kids. A civil engineer by training, I specialise in traffic planning and transport engineering as senior engineer in a local Perth boutique consulting firm. Prior to that I worked for the State Government for nearly 7 years and BC (Before Children) travelled all around Australia as a senior national transport research organisation.

Jeremy is nearly 5, a sweet-natured, sometime overly sensitive little boy who adores his little sister. He is currently attending kindergarten and will be going to full-time school in 2007. Toby is a full on explosion of life at the age of 3 1/2 and ready for anything. Miranda is The Princess of the household and fully aware of that title at the ripe old age of 19 months.

The Spouse works in the north-west of Western Australia (read: COMPLETE BOONDOCKS) and is on a 3 on/1 off roster, although it feels most of the time like ON.....so I am basically a single mom 3/4 of the time.

Off to eat ice cream and watch crap telly (2 of my favourite pasttimes, more on that tomorrow).

Later,