Christmas Coming

Want to hear something disgusting?
Christmas day will be here in 10 days!
Lordy dordy.... haven't even finished decorating the house.... have to get it done today...
The tree is up and decorated, the table is decorated but I have a ton of decorations and I need/want to get it done. It is terribly humid today, as there are thunder storms about.
Most of the Christmas shopping is done, just have to buy my parents, Sister, niece and nephew their gifts. Probably do that Friday, or start at least. I've bought 2 king single mattresses for the boys and will get them a bunk bed in the new year but I needed the extra mattresses before Christmas as I will have Mum and Dad, my Sister and her 2 children sleeping here Christmas night, so it will be a full house then. The mattresses are supposed to come on Monday... hope so, I am freaking out a bit....
On Sunday we all went to Wet and Wild for Rob's work Christmas party, it was a great day, as always, although it wasn't quite as fun for me. Normally the eldest son and I run off and go on all the scary rides together but this year we invited his girlfriend. I begged my other son to go on the rides with me but he doesn't like those kind of rides, so I could only go on the ones that you can go on alone.... but still, it was a great day. So I guess there will be some layouts done with those photos. Here is the only layout I've done for awhile...

credits: Gabba Gabba Hey Shoes

Geez I love those Ramones! I went into Rocking Horse records 2 weeks ago and got 5 albums... Ramones, Rocket To Russia, Road To Ruin, End of The Century, Subterranean Jungle plus I got the documentary 'End of The Century'... I might have to order in the other albums, I need them all... Still waiting for the Best of Hard Ons that I ordered from my local record store, the only place I can get it, tho I did recently get 'Yesterday and Today' from Ray from the Hard Ons, they had a few of the CDs turn up and they were selling them through their forums, so I was thrilled to get that very rare (now) CD.... hoping 'Yummy' will 'turn up'...

oh... I also ordered Dee Dee Ramone's book 'Poison Heart', can't wait for that to get here... I need to hurry up and finish reading 'Little Dorritt' so I can start 'Poison Heart' when it gets here straight away!

Anyway, I better get and do this decorating....listening to "I'm Affected" by the Ramones..... love that song!

I Feel Down

"I feel down, I don't feel happy.
I feel down, I feel crappy"
lyrics from an early Hard Ons song... what else, lol!
Well, actually, I have been obsessing over another band as well lately...
THE RAMONES!
Can't get enough of them! Obviously, I have always loved them but I didn't know all their albums, so I am catching up.... *sigh* always late to the party, I know.....
My sister had their album 'Animal Boy' back in the day  and I knew all the famous songs.... but now I am needing all their work. I have Ramones Mania and Anthology but I need MORE, I need to have each actual album.....
hello Rocking Horse Records... I'll be paying you another visit soon!
But just in case you are thinking I am fickle.... I still have all my favourite songs by the Hard Ons on my MP3 player, so whenever I go walking (which is a lot lately) I am listening to my Aussie boys.... I listen to the Ramones at home and the Hard Ons out on the street.
I have been going swimming three days a week and it has been brilliant. It is a half hour power walk to the pool, then I swim for an hour and then walk home. I have already lost a kilo and I am staying positive. Don't know how I will keep this up with the kids going on 7 weeks Christmas vacation tho, gawd blimey!
Today I went on a school excursion with my youngest DD and then afterwards, I walked into the nearest dentist and asked them to rip one of my teeth out.
This tooth has been a problem for years and I have just kept putting it off, thinking that I could manage it and that I couldn't afford to go to a dentist, but I am sick of the decaying, stinky thing, so I got it ripped out.....
SO happy I did. I decided that while I had a bit of money in my purse and before I had to spend it on bills, food or the husband's stinky cigarettes that I would do this necessary thing for myself. Bit of a metaphor of my life at the moment really.... can't afford to do that either... but it has to be done, eventually....
Gawd, I need to get a job!! I am joining a job agency on Friday... wish me luck!
The only layout I have done recently is of the husband and I out at a local Mexican restaurant. I've wanted to go to Montezuma's forever but the husband is not a fan of Mexican food. (he hates everything I love it seems) I was hoping the food would be wonderful, to change his mind, but it wasn't the best, sadly. But we had a good time anyway... thanks to the wonderful margarita's, lol!  (I drank his margarita as well, because he didn't like that either *sigh*) I always sing this song by Andy Prieboy: Montezuma Was A Man Of Faith when we drive past the restaurant and while we were there, I couldn't stop singing this song by Wall Of Voodoo: Elvis Bought Dora A Cadillac. It made for a very atmospheric night, for me at least!  :)

Credits: Montezuma's

The other thing that annoyed me recently, I was walking to the local shopping center, that is a bit further away than the local pool, to pay some bills and my $10 MP3 player started playing up.... I have been wanting to get a purple ipod, so I can have more music to listen to while I am exercising, the little simple MP3 player has been fine but it would be nice to have an ipod.... the husband and eldest son have one after all... my sister says I should get an ipod touch because she loves hers, but they don't come in purple... she says you can get a purple case for it.... but it's the principle of the matter... lol.... I need purple metal shiny things....lol!

anyway... I am walking along listening to '1st Element is Sweat'  and the MP3 player is cutting in and out and the volume is only in one ear and going down and you just CAN'T listen to that song anyway but LOUD.... I am almost having a fit because walking long distances without music is torture... then I realise it is not the crappy $10 MP3 that is playing up.... it was the crappy $20 purple... sorry... cerise Smiggle headphones I was using.... Not happy Smiggle! I had only bought them about 3 weeks ago... purely because they were purple and retractable.... well, as I say.... Cerise.... cerise is a try hard version of purple... it really is more pink than purple... cerise is acceptable to me if it is mixed with real purple things... so when I say something is cerise, it is almost a derogatory remark... like 'try hard' or 'wanna be' .. lol... yeah, I know I am a loony for purple... anyway... did I keep my reciept so I could take the crappy headphones back to Smiggle and get my money back...?  no, of course not... so I am boycotting Smiggle... initially I was thrilled with their 'purple' stationary... but really... it's just cerise... 

Happy Purple Camera Day!

Today I went over to Virginia to pick up my purple camera! Yippee!
Couldn't take any photos while I was over there with my sister because it has it's own battery that needs charging. Oh well... my sister met me over there and she drove us to Sandgate and we spent the rest of the day op. shopping. I got a heap of purple things... 2 skirts, beads, a belt, a folder, material and 3 purple Bonds singlets.... so it was a very good purple day for me! We only have one op. shop in Indooroopilly, so it was fun to go to so many op. shops (thrift stores) and wonderful to spend the day with just my sister. When I got home, I charged my camera's battery and read the manual. So far I have taken 3 photos of Amethyst and one of Ailani. I will experiment a bit more later. I really aught to get to bed soon. It was a good day. :)

Hard Ons for Halloween!

Well, Halloween is over now. It was a big week end. On the Saturday we went over to my sister's place and picked her and my niece and nephew up and brought them home to our place. I made a Halloween party for the kids.... way too many lollies but I think they enjoyed it. My sister, Debbranne and I shared a bottle of wine and got ready to go to see the Hard Ons at the Halloween Monster Bash in the Valley. I wanted to leave at about 8pm but didn't leave until after 9.30pm. We had a nice time listening to the Hard Ons while we got ready to go out and putting on our make up together like we did back in the day, such a lot of fun! Sadly, neither Debbranne nor I could get the rotten vampire teeth to stay in our heads this time round :( .... I want to get proper vampire teeth made by a dentist! oh well.... We got to the Step Inn about 10.30pm. Everyone was dressed up as zombies! Everyone in the streets, everyone in the nightclub.... It must be the decade of the zombie. There was so much going on at the gig, we didn't know where to start. We saw the boys from the Hard Ons but as far as I could see, they didn't have a merchandise stand this time round. Which is sad... last time I went to see them, the husband wouldn't let me go anywhere near them, plus he ate and drank all the money I had brought to possibly buy something and this time round I bought heaps of money to buy stuff and couldn't. Not that I could wear a black Hard Ons tshirt..... if there were purple tshirts I'd wear one tho, lol! Anyway... the gig was good, it was brilliant to be able to share that with my sister. They played quite a lot of different songs from the last gig. 'Missing You Missing Me' 'I Think About You Every Day' 'Stop Crying' and 'Aunty' from the new album. I had been singing that song all day, so it was great to hear it live! Anyway... here are a few photos from the night...The photos are so much better than the ones I got from the last gig. The Step Inn had a stage, so they were up higher and we were pretty much right down the front. I was hoping to have my new purple Canon camera but it still hadn't come in, sadly. I did get a phone call today tho and it has finally arrived, so I am going to pick it up tomorrow. My sister will be meeting me over there where I am picking the camera up and we will spend the day together. I printed up some of the photos from Halloween for her, me, my Mum and cousin.... here is a photo of me and my sis at the club....
and a photo of me and the kids (with my son's girlfriend) on Halloween. I have last year's teeth in, thankfully I kept them and they stay in my mouth, lol...The kids had fun.... hubby took the kids trick or treating, I stayed at home, (listening to my kind of Halloween music) so I could give out treat bags to trick or treaters that came to our door... last year I missed out on giving out treat bags because we went trick or treating... hubby was working night shift the last 2 Halloween's so it was fun to have him here for this year's celebration. Yeah. too many lollies.... I only want to do Halloween one night next year, instead of 2 nights in a row like this year! I made my bat cookies, but didn't get a photo of them... dumb, dumb, dumb! But they were good. I didn't get around to making the spider web cup cakes... too much work. I started making a bat handbag but didn't get that finished in time....bummer... oh well.... maybe I'll finish it for next year.
Here is my sis, niece, nephew and my kids at the Halloween eve table....Hope everyone had a great Halloween! :)

Turning 40 and Happy Halloween soon!!

I turned 40 two weeks ago. A little bit suckie... My Mum said she bawled her eyes out when she turned 30 and had a nervous break down when she turned 40.... I always said I would probably bawl my eyes out when I turned 40 and have the break down at 50...
well, I was too busy to lie in bed crying about being 40. I went to my local shopping centre like I always do once a week and I bought myself some other little bits and pieces... I have ordered my purple Canon camera for my birthday.... but I am still waiting for it to come in .... hopefully Tuesday. When hubby came home from work he brought me 2 bunches of flowers, my wedding bouquet flowers (irises) and some stargazer lilies and a big box of Ferrero Rocher, SO yum! Then Rob and I went out to dinner in the city and had such a nice time. Rob ordered a bottle of wine and I was really naughty and I bought 2 tiny bottles of Kahlua that I brought from home and snuck it into my coke. Later Rob insisted he buy himself a bourbon and coke and got me a strawberry daiquari. Our waitress looked like "Pet" from "Little Dorritt" (which I am still reading btw) and I asked her to take this photo of us on my 40th birthday... it was a really wonderful night... and maybe turning 40 isn't so bad after all. :)I really can't wait for my purple Canon camera to come soon... as I will be needing it to take some photos of a fun event coming up this Saturday coming...guess who's coming back to Brisbane...????
The Hard Ons!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, who'd of thought that they would be back so soon!
and oh yes.... I'm going!!! I am taking my sister this time and not poor old hubby, lol!
I've already bought the tickets to the Halloween Monsters Ball at the Step Inn. I'm taking my sister as she is going through a hard time right now and this will be the perfect thing to cheer her up, plus Rob would hate every minute of it anyway. The last time I went to the Hard Ons with Rob it was a bit of an ordeal for him. I would have loved to take my sister but I was a bit scared of going into the Valley at night and as hubby puts it, he is a good body guard.... but the Valley isn't the Valley it once was in the 80's. There are so many night clubs and there are so many people walking around. Not dark and deserted like the Valley of yesteryear. Plus there is the night link buses and security standing at the bus stops. It will be a really different night tho, as it is a Halloween themed night. What to wear was a big question. I wasn't going to dress up, but really, where's the fun in that? So I decided to go with a purple dress with a ruched bust and a darker purple 3 quarter sleeved bolero. I have only lost about 3 kilos in the last 3 months, which kinda sux, but I am still positive about the weight loss and I know I will continue to lose weight, if but slowly. I bought myself a pair of "Bridget Jones knickers" They are life changing, lol! I don't know if I look any better in them but I feel fantastic in them, which is probably all that matters. I've never owned any before, they are really ugly granny pants, but I am an old married woman, the husband doesn't care what my knickers look like... as long as I take them off at the end of the day, lol... so what the hey? I also bought my sister and I some vampire teeth. I do hope my sister has better luck with these ones. Last year I bought her some and there was no way she could get the buggers to stay in her mouth. Here is a photo of us last year...
I do so love Halloween and this year is looking to be a blast!
Scrapping wise I have only done about 2 layouts... for the LilyPad "Scrap Your Heart Out" competition...

the first week...Past Present Future @ the Lilypad

The 2nd week...Small, Medium, Large @ the Lilypad

I am still working on the final week's layout...
Amethyst is off on her first school camp for 3 days on Monday. She is so excited, hopefully they have good weather. So it will be a busy week. I need to make my bat cookies and spookie spider cupcakes...these are the ones I made last year... I am really looking forward to making the bat cookies. Hope they turn out nice. I will post a photo of them after Halloween.
Anyway, I have to get to bed... I hope everyone has a nice and frightful Halloween. :)

Girlie Weekend

My sister came all the way from the other side of town to see Eclipse with me at my local haunt. She is such a doll, I know it was a frantic morning getting over here by 10 am in time to see the movie.... It was fun and we loved it. Again I heard the Florence and the Machine song 'I'm So Heavy in Your Arms' in the credits of the movie and I so need to get this, love this song.....

So scrapbooking wise, I have 2 layouts that are about 2 great songs...Credits: Where Did She Come FromCredits: I'm So Heavy In Your Arms

My sister and I had a lovely time. Walked around the shops until 3.30 in the afternoon, we were exhausted by the time we got home, so we had some Midori and watched a Russell Brand DVD I bought. Then hubby went and bought pizza for tea and we watched a vampire movie. Then we watched 'Enid' a movie about Enid Blyton with the wonderful Helena Bonham Carter.
She went home the next afternoon, which was entirely too early, but she has a family of her own and needed to get back to them but we had a great time. Tho next time I will buy something else a bit stronger... Midori is just lolly water, lol!
Happily, on the Friday I was able to pick up the 2 Hard Ons CDs I had ordered and my package from England came with the Hard Ons CD and DVD: 'Hard Ons Versus Europe 2007' from their record company Boss Tuneage. So on the Saturday I watched the video with my sister, lots of fun!
Today, while I was trotting around the internet, I found this cool song 'You Don't Like Rock and Roll' by Hunx and His Punx. It is a scream, cool and so true. Like I said on my sisters video blog, if you don't like The Ramones, then I don't wanna know ya! LOL! (that is really a joke... after all, my husband doesn't like them, lol!)
Here are the lyrics to the song, I may have one or 2 wrong, but I just had to write them down, so fun!
You Don't Like Rock and Roll

It's not that I think you're bad looking,
You don't like rock and roll
It's not that I don't like your cooking
You don't like rock and roll
I think you've got a nice body
You don't like rock and roll
All my friends think you're a hottie
But you don't like rock and roll
What the heck is wrong with you,
I think you've sniffed too much glue
You don't like rock and roll And I don't like you.
I kinda think you must be retarded
You don't like rock and roll
I don't want to leave you broken hearted
But you don't like rock and roll
The music you like won't get my ears buzzing
You don't like rock and roll
I think your parents must have been cousins
You don't like rock and roll
What the hell is wrong with you
I think you've sniffed too much glue
You don't like rock and roll And I don't like you.
You like Morrissey and like U2
What the f*** is wrong with you
Are you deaf or just plain dumb
You don't like Joey you don't like John
You don't like the Ramones
So you gotta leave home
It hurts me boy to say goodbye
But you don't like rock and roll
You know I hate to see you cry
You don't like rock and roll
The music you like totally spoils it
You don't like rock and roll
I wanna shove your head into the toilet
You don't like rock and roll
What the hell is wrong with you
I think you've sniffed too much glue
You don't like rock and roll and I don't like you.

Sunday Afternoon

The end of the week end, *sigh*
The kids had 2 days off during the week for the annual Exhibition fair.
We didn't go but it was nice to have the time off getting up early for school.I ordered a Hard Ons CD and DVD from their record company in England, so I am looking forward to them arriving plus I have 2 other CDs on order at the local record store.
Recently I also had 2 fun orders arrive from England...
Australia isn't really into Halloween that much, so bat obsessed me has been unable to find these here, so was forced to finally look elsewhere for these gorgeous bat themed objects....A scrapbooking bat paper punch and a bat cookie cutter, which is the cutest thing, I can't wait to make bat cookies with this! :)I also got my new purple Nokia phone on Saturday, so happy! I have to work out how to use the thing now!
I still haven't done many layouts recently. I have felt completely uninspired, however, I have started a layout with the lyrics of 'Where Did She Come From' by the Hard Ons... I just need to find a suitable mermaid to put on it... as there is a girl in the video clip dressed as a mermaid and I want to have this old double exposed photo of me as a teenager... coz I have been wondering lately were did 'she' go... lol... I really need to get the latest version of ACDeeSee, I am totally lost without it.... makes scrapping completely crap without it. I was hoping to use the freeware 'Windows Live Photo Gallery' but for the life of me, I can't work out how to use it... I can only see jpgs in there, which is useless for a digital scrapbooker.... I need to be able tag pngs with it.... so if anyone know where I can go to read decent tutorials for it, please link me up!
I am looking forward to this week end coming, my sister is coming over on Friday to see 'Eclipse' with me and staying for a girlie week end. I am getting some Midori and we are going to giggle and watch girlie movies together and have lots of fun. Hubby will have to supervise the kids, coz I am going to be off duty! Bring on Friday!!!

Hard Ons Gig!

The Friday before we went to see the Hard Ons I went into the city to get the tickets and bought 4 Hard Ons CDs, one being their recent album. So I listened to these over and over all day Friday and Saturday before we went.Here we are just before we left to get the bus into the Valley and before it went all pear shaped for poor Rob, lol. Rob decided to get irrationally jealous, I'm talking off the planet jealous! Oh dear... He believes that my eyes lit up when I saw the band.... umm... they are my all time favourite band at the moment.... I may have smiled... I was happy after all.... I don't think I was giving them puppy dog eyes... surely?? Never mind, I really enjoyed the night and they played brilliantly. I knew most of the songs... What Would Stiv Bators Do, Sunny, Two Laps in Serbia (I love that song and it is SO good live!) There Goes One of the Creeps That Hassled My Girlfriend, Don't Fear The Reeperbahn (mind you these are in no particular order and I can't remember all of them) Raining, I Don't Want to See You Cry, quite a few songs off the new album and a few oldies were sung too.... I was really thrilled they played 'Where Did She Come From' as one of their encores ... and they came back onstage 3 times (much to hubby's dismay, lol) It was a great night and I am so glad I insisted Rob take me. The only disappointment was that the stage wasn't raised a little, so I could see them better. Hard On fans all seem to be 6 foot or taller... here are a few if the meagre photos I managed to snap.... hubby, who is 6 foot, totally refused to take any photos for me, lol!It may have taken me 4 days to placate the husband afterwards but it was worth it, lol! :)
The following Saturday night we went to see Ecdlipse. That was fun too, probably not so much for poor old Rob, lol. Yes, I'm a spoilt brat... well, it's about time I say.... I must have done something right, because he is now insistent that I upgrade my phone... can't afford the lovely purple blackberry but this purple Nokia will make me just as happy..I should be getting it next Thursday, yeah! :)

Can't Wait For The Weekend!

As I said in my previous post, I am overdosing on Hard Ons music. I've decided I do like Blackie's singing and I am damned that I am going to miss seeing them again, so I am biting the bullet and dragging my husband to see them this Saturday in the Valley! Yippee!!
I feel so miserable that I didn't really get into them back in the day. As I said before, I had heard alot of the earlier stuff from a friend but for whatever reason, I didn't investigate them for myself. I think it might have been because it was thought of that the Hard Ons were a 'boys band' and not for little girlies. Yeah, how suckie is it that I went along with that ridiculous notion. I am so cross with myself and sad that I missed seeing them play live when Keish was the singer. I think what also makes me enjoy them so much now is that for the past 18 years I have been bombarded with my husband's heavy metal. I wasn't able to listen to my music, and for the first 11 years of us being together I didn't listen to a bar of my music. Not because I didn't want to and not only because Rob wouldn't let me play my music when he was around but because I was so busy raising 4 babies and absent mindedly getting into the head space that everyone else came before me that I just put my interests aside and did what seemed to be the only way to go. I don't regret putting everything of me aside to be the best Mother I could be, my children are my life, nothing is more important than their happiness and security, but I now realise that my happiness is important too. I was unable to listen to my music as the needle of the record player went missing in the moves from Brisbane to Melbourne/Melbourne back to Brisbane and the stereo that I bought before I met Rob stopped working. I did get Rob to buy me a Sony CD walkman, but I barely used it as the songs would jump and skip when I walked the babies in the pram. Rob had a good stereo in his garage but I couldn't sit in there with a baby on my lap, it was smoky and dangerous for the children, so I just went without. Almost a year after our youngest child was born in 2003 we got our first computer and my sister sent me a CD of music that we used to listen to when we were young, as Rob bought good speakers for the computer and I could finally listen to my music when he was at work. I started collecting CDs of the records I used to have. I still had a little baby to think of and was still not used to putting music on, but slowly I started enjoying my music again and it felt like I was slowly waking up from a very deep sleep. Well... years of listening to Rob's heavy metal, Kiss, Accept, Black Sabbath and the like, I have got used to heavy guitars, maybe that is why it was so easy for me to fall in love with the Hard Ons, lol! On Friday I am going into the city and hopefully I can get a number of their EPs and albums as I am burning up all my downloads watching YouTube, lol! So I am sticking it to the man and dragging him kicking and screaming to a Hard Ons concert! LOL, what a way to introduce him to my kind of music!! Although, really it isn't the first time. When we were first going out, Nick Cave came to Brisbane at the Livid Festival back in 1992. It was also the last time I drank alcohol as well! I was really nervous about running into an old flame at the festival while I was with Rob that I totally over did the alcohol intake and made myself completely sick. Rob was so lovely, patting my back while I threw my guts up. Charming, I know. I remember dancing down the front to Def FX and then falling asleep in one of the porta-loos. By this stage, Rob had had enough of the music that he didn't understand and enough of trying to smash the portable toilet door open to get me out, so when I finally did emerge from the toilet, he insisted that we go home. So I missed out on seeing Nick Cave sing as he was last to play that night. I had seen Nick play live a few years before but still, it was a disappointment to miss what I paid for, although it was totally my own fault. It was the first time and the last time that Rob saw me drink. Until more recently, but now days I can't drink more than 2 glasses. As a teen I now realise that I had a binge drinking problem. So many things happened that I just can't remember. I should have some wonderful memories of my time as a young girl but alot of them are obliterated by alcohol consumption. I suppose I could adapt that old saying "If you can remember the 60's, you weren't there." Well, it's true of my youth too. My sister and I often talk for hours on the phone, helping each other remember all those fun times we had. Yes, I truly am having a mid-life crisis, lol! I am turning 40 in October after all! I'm allowed to!

16 Year Anniversary

On Friday, DH and I have been married for 16 years!
I remember years ago, before we were married, we'd gone into the city to go to a 50s 3D SciFi movie marathon and as we walked through the mall to get to South Bank, I stopped to listen to a girl busker singing 'Another Piece of My Heart' by Janis Joplin. I stopped because I love that song and she was doing a great job of it and as I looked at her, I realised she was a girl I had known in primary school in my home town. We were thrilled to see each other and I introduced her to my future husband and she asked how long we'd been going out. I said 6 months and back then, it seemed a long time.... Well, 16 years is a long time. There has been ups and downs but there is still much love and that means the world to me. We will be going to see 'Eclipse' together. Poor Rob, I think he will be relieved when all these movies are done, lol! Speaking of which, after I finished reading 'The Complete Goodies', I read the recent Sookie Stackhouse novel 'Dead In The Family' and then I read the Twilight/Eclipse novella 'The Second Short Life of Bree Tanner' I am presently reading some short stories, which are virtually Mills and Boons with a vampire in them... ho hum, well, it keeps me busy, lol. The next book that I am intending to read is 'Little Dorritt' by Charles Dickens. The BBC production of it was recently on the ABC and my god, I loved it!! I have read quite a bit of Charles Dickens but not this one, so I shall remedy that as soon as possible, wonderful story. The lead actor 'Matthew Macfadyen' played 'Mr Darcy' in the Hollywood production of 'Pride and Prejudice' . I own the DVD of it, so I had to watch it. Bawled my head off the entire way through. *sigh*
I recently had to swap my mobile phone sim card with my DHs old mobile phone. Six and a half years ago, Rob and I got matching LG mobile phones. He upgraded his in September last year but I said I couldn't be bothered, mine still works. Plus we got our eldest son a mobile phone and put him on our plan, so we really couldn't afford to upgrade my phone as well. Anyway, my phone decided to drop dead a few weeks ago and as Rob's old phone was still working, he just switched my sim card over. Which meant that I lost all my phone numbers and my ringtones as I had only saved them to my handset and not my sim card. I had bought a Violent Femmes song 'Blister In The Sun' ringtone when I originally got my mobile phone. They had a retro category to choose from, but now they don't have that category, so I can't even buy that ringtone again, or anything that I would vaguely liked. So I got a bee in my bonnet about making my own ringtone. I found a place online where you can make one, although I haven't worked out how to get the volume as loud as I'd like, even with my handset turned up as loud as it goes. It's not as loud as the 'Blister In The Sun' ringtone, so I need to keep playing with it. The song that I used for my new ringtone is 'Don't Go Now' by RatCat. I decided that it was my all time favourite song. Although, this week I am on a 'Hard Ons' kick and can't stop listening to this song... 'Where Did She Come From' I just can't get enough of this song, I adore it! And I have been listening to the few things I have of theirs... 'Girl In The Sweater' and some other older songs and especially 'Wait Around' . I am going into the city for lunch with my cousin Barb soon, so I will be popping into 'Rocking Horse Records' and buying anything pre 1993 by The Hard Ons that I can get my grubby hands on. Sorry, I am not a fan of Blackie's voice and style of singing. I love Keish's voice. If that makes me a big girl, so be it. I don't like the thrashy stuff. Crikey, I hope they have 'Yummy' in store, it's one of my favourite albums. So if I can figure out the ringtone thing, I might put 'Where Did She Come From' on my phone, might have to rotate it with 'Don't Go Now'. If I could afford it, this is the phone I would love to get... a purple Blackberry. Yummy! But the next thing I do want to buy is a purple Cannon Power Shot.... Yum! I'm tired of crappy photos, so I am looking forward to getting a decent camera and this camera does it for me, yeah, tax time! :)

I haven't been scrapping too much lately. But here is one that I did of my son on a fair ground ride, we both went on it. We are the only ones in our family (so far) that like the fast rides, lol. It was at the Union Picnic that we went to back in May. Mostly by Flergs. Credits: You Spin Me Right Round
That's it for now, I have to read some more of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' to my kids ... gotta get it read before the movie comes out. I've read each and every one of the books to the kids. The eldest son is over it and doesn't come to listen anymore and the other son has to have his arm twisted, but it has been a nice tradition over the years to sit together and read it.
Goodnight.

June CT layouts

Well, I have been busy doing some layouts for Scrapartist. I am really enjoying my time there, the other ladies are so welcoming and the designers are so artistic and creative, it is a joy to work with their designs!

This is the first layout I made, using Wish Bliss Studio's 'Kelly Bea' and Paula Kesselring Designs 'Scrap On The Beach - Papers'
Credits: @ Scrapartist @ DST

I have been waiting for ages to scrap that photo and these kits seemed to be the perfect fit for it.

This is my second page, using this cool wooden alpha by Paula Kesselring: 'Wood Printer Blocks'and Pixel Works: 'Remembrance Day Elements' I do so love Pixel Works word definition clip-tionary bits! Credits: @ Scrapartist @ DST
This one was done for the CT Scrap For Fun Challenge. Credits: @ Scrapartist @ DSTI used too many kits to include previews of them all but I just had to share this preview of SherrieJD's Kitschy Kitchen, it is to die for! The wooden kitchen utensils in the kit are red and yellow but I recoloured them to make them purple. I truly do have purple kitchen utensils and I do actually have a purple potato masher almost exactly like that!
The theme was "Then and Now" and I chose a photo of me when I turned 19. The quality of the photo is poor but it is one that I love. I am holding my cat, although it is hard to see him. I think I must be going through a mid life crisis because I am reminiscing about my youth more and more these days! I never thought I'd marry or have children and even tho I was lonely I was happy enough with just my cat for company. Then love came along and swept me off my feet, made me a wife and a Mother and I have been so busy being those things that I had forgotten who I was before it all started. Don't get me wrong, I love my family, I adored being pregnant and having little babies. I breastfed for virtually 12 years straight and I loved nurturing my children, they are my whole life, but it is nice to remember myself and get back to being who I am as an individual. From carrying 4 babies, my thyroid issues and the ups and downs of married life, I've put on over 40 kilos. For a long time now it hasn't bothered me much. Being pregnant 4 times, I'm sort of used to the big tummy, plus my husband, God love him, has never complained about my weight. He still finds me sexy and that's all that matters, right? But other people don't see me that way, not that I've ever cared about what others think of me. I have the oppposite to anorexia I think, lol, I don't feel thin but I have always felt 'normal' and it's taken me a long time to come to the realisation that I am terribly overweight and I need to do something about it. So I have been very good the last 5 weeks and have lost about 5 kilos, so I am happy about that. I am determined to keep it up this time. In the past I would be good for a month or 2 and when I hadn't lost 40 kilos in that amount of time I would just give up because it was taking too long and seemed too hard and I would get despondent and go back to overeating. This time I know that it will take a long time and I am OK with that. But I am determined to be me and get back to who I once was. The size I was. I don't even look like 'me' anymore and I want that to change so much. One of the best things I can say is to drink plenty of water. I drink at least 2 litres a day. And if I am feeling 'hungry' I have a glass of skim milk as a snack. Calcium is something I can definitely use these days. I gave up coffee a year ago and I haven't looked back although I might have one every 2 or 3 months. I have tea once in awhile but not too often. I am hoping I stay focused and keep believing in myself. I know it will make me a happier more energetic person.

Here is another layout I have done.
Credits: @ Scrapartist @ DST

It is made with Christine Honsinger {Fiddlette}'s kit: 'Kitschy Kutie' I know I had some of those beads, bows and plastic bits as a kid.
Now, I haven't spoken about what I am reading for awhile and that is because I have been reading the same book for months on end. It is a wonderful book but it is not a novel and the format of the writing, while entertaining, it is hard to wrap my brain around at times. So it's taking me an age to get through it. I am reading 'The Complete Goodies' by Robert Ross. It is a very informative book, reviewing and reporting every television appearance, every public appearance, every TV show, every radio show and every book, comic or vynal and CD publication and recording that each of the Goodies have ever done in their lives. As well as any other key actors that they have been involved with. As much as I am enjoying learning all this information, it is not written in chronological order of appearances, rather it is written in alphabetical order. So all of Bill Oddie's birding shows and books have come before all the Goodies stuff in the book, even tho that all happened some time after the Goodies finished. I know it makes me very dull complaining about that but there you have it. I am enjoying it however as I am a huge Goodies fan and they really shaped who I am today. Many of the quotes, jokes and quips that are classic Goodies are in my regular vocabulary and there is nothing that makes my day more than the image of Bill Oddie's quick jerk of the head and saying... 'Wayhehey!" Awhile before my old computer died I had started a layout on why I had become a vegetarian and I credited Morrisey of The Smiths as being my eye opener with their song 'Meat Is Murder' but really if I go back in my childhood, I really must say The Goodies really lay the foundation of my vegetarianism. The image of Bill eating the rabbit host of the chat show in the 'Animals' episode shocked my 7 year old senses to the core. And after reading the detailed reviews of each Goodies episode in this book I am reading, it brought back all the different images of critter consuming and animal abuse that is in the show. Tho as a 7 year old I found it confusing as to what was a joke and what was point pushing, but that is what they were doing, I guess. Anyway, they are brilliant and my kids adore them too, we watch the 2 DVDs I have every now and then.... I do wish their entire 9 seasons were on DVD. Here in Australia they were repeated and repeated on the ABC and I have almost every episode backed up on my brain but it would be nice to be able actually see them again.
Last week end, hubby and I went into the city and saw The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the doomed Regent Theatre. It was the last week end that it would be playing movies before it gets knocked down to make boring office blocks. It is such a beautiful cinema, the subject of my 'A Gothic Daydream' layout. Terribly sad to see it go. Anyway, as you can imagine, my very macho husband thought going to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show was the worst idea I'd had in my life, but truly there was nothing else we could stomach seeing. I'd rather slit my wrists than see 'Sex In The City 2' or 'The Back Up Plan' as would he, so I made an executive decision to just go and watch my all time favourite movie 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' Of course I had to bribe my husband into going.... I lured him with rum, lol... we snuck rum and cokes into the theatre. And being the sweetheart that he is, Rob eventually just said, 'Well, as long as you have a good time, then I'm happy' And did I ever! It is the first time I have seen it on the big screen. Can you imagine, Frak'n'furtur larger than life!! What IS it about a man in a corset???!!! I had a wonderful time, although I really wanted to sing out loud along with it, tho everyone else in the cinema was really well behaved and as it was a send off for the Regent Theatre, I thought I'd better be respectful, well, that and the fact that I knew hubby couldn't take me singing AS WELL as them, lol! I giggled all the way home. Hubby said it was because I'd had too much rum but I didn't care, it was a wonderful night out. A too rare occurrence. So it was extra special.
Have to get to bed. Goodnight.

Guest CT Spot For June!

Yeah! I was one of the lucky winners of the guest CT layout challenge at the Scrap Artist Birthday celebrations in May. This is my winning layout. Credits at Scrapartist

and here is my avatar and CT avatar photo... can you tell that I am just SO excited to be guest CTing for Scrapartist??!! I have loved Scrapartist for YEARS! It is such a thrill to be working with all the fabulous designers there and all the other creative goddesses. I can't wait to soak up the inspiration while I am over there!!!!

This past week end the whole family finally went to see 'Alice In Wonderland 3D' It was wonderful and we all really enjoyed it. It was a rare treat to be able to go to the movies as a family. So for this month's desktop, I went all 'Alice in Wonderland'...Normally I will make a square layout version of my monthly desktops but I was too excited to post this online so it didn't happen, it does look so much better closer up and it is such a cheerful reminder of our nice day out. Credits Here.
Another fun layout I made in May was a 2 page layout of my sister and I at the movies at a very beautiful cinema in the city...

Credits for 'A Gothic Daydream' page1 page2

Can't wait to blog again with my first Scrap Artist CT layout! :)