That bag of peas in the freezer has a twist-tied hole in every corner because each time you needed peas, somehow you didn't notice there was already a hole in it for pouring them out.
You will absentmindedly top up your baby's sippy cup of rice milk, with cow's milk, which she isn't allowed.
And sometimes you will attempt to steam vegetables without putting any actual water in the pan.
Welcome to my world.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Early to bed and early to rise, makes this woman end up with red in her eyes
The Little Madam has been waking most mornings between 4am and 5am. I'm not sure why she's doing this; I thought it was because she'd been sleeping through, but some nights she would wake up two or three times for a cuddle, and still be ready to start the day well before dawn.
It might be because we're heading into summer, and the days are getting longer - but she still happily goes to bed at 6pm and anyway, if it's still dark when she wakes up I can't see how an earlier sunrise is going to affect her.
Or it could be that, now that I've stopped feeding her at night, she gets hungry a lot earlier in the morning. Also, I haven't been giving her midday breastfeeds since the weekend, so maybe TLM is simply still adjusting to the idea of getting some of her calories via the sippy cup.
This is why I'm looking forward to the start of Daylight Saving. In about three weeks time, her bedtime will magically become 7pm, and she will equally magically wake up around 6am. That sounds almost normal.
It might be because we're heading into summer, and the days are getting longer - but she still happily goes to bed at 6pm and anyway, if it's still dark when she wakes up I can't see how an earlier sunrise is going to affect her.
Or it could be that, now that I've stopped feeding her at night, she gets hungry a lot earlier in the morning. Also, I haven't been giving her midday breastfeeds since the weekend, so maybe TLM is simply still adjusting to the idea of getting some of her calories via the sippy cup.
This is why I'm looking forward to the start of Daylight Saving. In about three weeks time, her bedtime will magically become 7pm, and she will equally magically wake up around 6am. That sounds almost normal.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Weekend fun
It was bound to be fun, because I had some guaranteed baby-free time.
Yesterday, in that period between The Little Madam's lunch and after her afternoon nap, I escaped into the city centre and went shopping for books and DVDs. My retail booty included Bill Bryson's latest book, The Life and Times of Thunderbolt Kid (which I haven't started yet because I'm in the middle of a re-reading of Jung Chan's Wild Swans), the movie Sione's Wedding (the official DVD) and a pair of warm-weather jeans from Shanton, which is having a relocation sale (fifteen bucks!).
Sione's Wedding was great fun to watch. It's a Samoan chicklit-for-boys story, about four immature guys who are banned from a big up-coming wedding because of their reputation for causing trouble at social gatherings. They're given strict instructions not to turn up to Sione's wedding unless they show up with a girlfriend each, to prove they've grown up somewhat.
There's Albert, who's a shy insurance worker still living with his mum; Stan, who is hanging out to meet someone he met on a phone party line; Mike, the hunky bicycle courier who prefers honky chicks and Sefa, who does actually have a girlfriend but acts like he's single. Kind of a brown, male, Kiwi Sex in the City.
While there's nothing really new in such a plot, it's done quite well and it's funny. The boy liked it too - I could tell because he kept shouting relationship advice at them.
We took TLM out to lunch today. It's not often the three of us all eat together, so it was a big deal to me. TLM got a chance to try beef lasagne, pizza crust (the boy was too hungry to give her any filling), salad and shoestring fries. She definitely liked the lasagne, so that's something I'll have to learn to make at home. And on the way home, we took a scenic route via Toy World (she now has a Heffalump, one of those hammer-banging toys and a shapes jigsaw toy).
After all that excitment, an afternoon nap was out of the question.
Yesterday, in that period between The Little Madam's lunch and after her afternoon nap, I escaped into the city centre and went shopping for books and DVDs. My retail booty included Bill Bryson's latest book, The Life and Times of Thunderbolt Kid (which I haven't started yet because I'm in the middle of a re-reading of Jung Chan's Wild Swans), the movie Sione's Wedding (the official DVD) and a pair of warm-weather jeans from Shanton, which is having a relocation sale (fifteen bucks!).
Sione's Wedding was great fun to watch. It's a Samoan chicklit-for-boys story, about four immature guys who are banned from a big up-coming wedding because of their reputation for causing trouble at social gatherings. They're given strict instructions not to turn up to Sione's wedding unless they show up with a girlfriend each, to prove they've grown up somewhat.
There's Albert, who's a shy insurance worker still living with his mum; Stan, who is hanging out to meet someone he met on a phone party line; Mike, the hunky bicycle courier who prefers honky chicks and Sefa, who does actually have a girlfriend but acts like he's single. Kind of a brown, male, Kiwi Sex in the City.
While there's nothing really new in such a plot, it's done quite well and it's funny. The boy liked it too - I could tell because he kept shouting relationship advice at them.
We took TLM out to lunch today. It's not often the three of us all eat together, so it was a big deal to me. TLM got a chance to try beef lasagne, pizza crust (the boy was too hungry to give her any filling), salad and shoestring fries. She definitely liked the lasagne, so that's something I'll have to learn to make at home. And on the way home, we took a scenic route via Toy World (she now has a Heffalump, one of those hammer-banging toys and a shapes jigsaw toy).
After all that excitment, an afternoon nap was out of the question.
Friday, September 08, 2006
Voracious eating
I tried to write this yesterday, but I've been having trouble with the Internet this week. It turns out that the (free) firewall I use, ZoneAlarm, sometimes goes a bit spastic and prevents the laptop from connecting to the ISP. And all the other times, the ISP is the problem - I can tell because when I try to ring the technical support line, I get a recorded message advising that I have a 25-minute wait to get a human being on the line.
So anyway.
The Little Madam really is making up for tummy bug time. Whilst sick, she barely ate and slept lots - 11 solid hours at night and several 1-2 hour naps during the day. Now that she's all better, she's whining for food every couple of hours during the day, and waking up desperately hungry during the night.
Just as an example, TLM ate 1 1/2 slices of wholewheat toast for breakfast this morning. And that's in additional to most of a small banana and half a pot of baby yoghurt. And two hours (and one failed nap attempt) later, she had three small sandwiches and a big drink of water. At this rate I'm pretty confident that she'll quickly regain that 1/2 - 3/4 kg that melted off her body when little was going in and tons was being spewed or egested out.
I hope it won't be long before she's all caloried up and able to eat and sleep more normally again. It was hard enough night-weaning her the first time around, and now I'm going to have to do it again. This weekend, I plan on cutting down to two daytime breastfeeds. I reckon it'll work much better if I'm not around her at midday, when she normally gets a breastfeed, so I've warned the boy that I'm going out around that time. I'm sure the boy has a sneaky feeling that it's just an excuse for guaranteed weekend baby-free time.
So anyway.
The Little Madam really is making up for tummy bug time. Whilst sick, she barely ate and slept lots - 11 solid hours at night and several 1-2 hour naps during the day. Now that she's all better, she's whining for food every couple of hours during the day, and waking up desperately hungry during the night.
Just as an example, TLM ate 1 1/2 slices of wholewheat toast for breakfast this morning. And that's in additional to most of a small banana and half a pot of baby yoghurt. And two hours (and one failed nap attempt) later, she had three small sandwiches and a big drink of water. At this rate I'm pretty confident that she'll quickly regain that 1/2 - 3/4 kg that melted off her body when little was going in and tons was being spewed or egested out.
I hope it won't be long before she's all caloried up and able to eat and sleep more normally again. It was hard enough night-weaning her the first time around, and now I'm going to have to do it again. This weekend, I plan on cutting down to two daytime breastfeeds. I reckon it'll work much better if I'm not around her at midday, when she normally gets a breastfeed, so I've warned the boy that I'm going out around that time. I'm sure the boy has a sneaky feeling that it's just an excuse for guaranteed weekend baby-free time.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Herself again
I think the worst is over. The Little Madam has been puke-free since yesterday morning and hasn't produced another foul-smelling poo since the one which interrupted yesterday's morning nap. Plus, she's replaced her recent behaviour of sleeping all night and napping lots during the day, with her more usual wakefulness. In fact, right at this very minute she's resisting my second attempt at getting her to take a morning nap. She's also laughing lots and shuffling about looking for trouble. The old TLM is back.
But I'm feeling a tiny bit of nausea, myself. Either I've caught what she had - which has a quite high probability - or I'm being paranoid.
But I'm feeling a tiny bit of nausea, myself. Either I've caught what she had - which has a quite high probability - or I'm being paranoid.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Awash
Just in case you're wondering, The Little Madam is still in the throes of her tummy bug. Just when I thought she was getting better - right before we went to the doctor's - she surprised me with more big pukes and truly vile diarrhea.
The latter was so bad this morning that the boy, who'd opted to stay at home and help out, was motivated to get out his machete and clear away the jungle of vine which had been sealing TLM's bedroom window shut. Then he had to stamp out the small family of cockroaches which had immediately tried to migrate into the room while the window was open.
My poor baby has lost a fair bit of weight, as you can imagine. She's never been sumo-sized, and I fear that it won't be long before she starts to resemble those starving kids you see in Save the Children advertisements, all eyes and devoid of baby fat. I left a message with the doctor to keep him up to date, but really I don't know what he could do to help. The only course of action I know of for these situations, is intravenous rehydration in a hospital, and he didn't think TLM is that dehydrated.
The latter was so bad this morning that the boy, who'd opted to stay at home and help out, was motivated to get out his machete and clear away the jungle of vine which had been sealing TLM's bedroom window shut. Then he had to stamp out the small family of cockroaches which had immediately tried to migrate into the room while the window was open.
My poor baby has lost a fair bit of weight, as you can imagine. She's never been sumo-sized, and I fear that it won't be long before she starts to resemble those starving kids you see in Save the Children advertisements, all eyes and devoid of baby fat. I left a message with the doctor to keep him up to date, but really I don't know what he could do to help. The only course of action I know of for these situations, is intravenous rehydration in a hospital, and he didn't think TLM is that dehydrated.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Just sick to the stomach
Since Thursday morning, we've had to clean up two or three small pukes, about four enormous pukes and two massive middle-of-the-night bouts of diarrhea. My toddler-care book tells me that vomiting is normally over and done with after 24 hours, but The Little Madam has gotten worse over the weekend, not better.
Father's Day has been a major non-event - I didn't get around to buying anything for the boy, so I told him that today he could do anything he liked i.e. play online computer games. However, I had enlist his help in distracting TLM during some of her more irritable episodes (poor thing, babies shouldn't have to suffer from tummy aches).
So it looks like tomorrow morning's appointment with the pediactric dietician will be cancelled, in favour of a follow-up visit to the doctor.
Father's Day has been a major non-event - I didn't get around to buying anything for the boy, so I told him that today he could do anything he liked i.e. play online computer games. However, I had enlist his help in distracting TLM during some of her more irritable episodes (poor thing, babies shouldn't have to suffer from tummy aches).
So it looks like tomorrow morning's appointment with the pediactric dietician will be cancelled, in favour of a follow-up visit to the doctor.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Can The Time Traveller's Wife be geekily correct?
Finally I have finished The Time Traveller's Wife. If you're planning on reading it, or are in the middle of this novel and not finished yet, you may want to skip the rest of this post because it's going to contain spoilers. (You might also want to skip the rest of this post if you've got this far and are bored already).
One thing about this story - it's really quite sad and depressing. Poor Claire seems to spend practically her whole life waiting for Henry to come back from whenever he is. Just before he dies, he tells her to get on with her life once he's gone. Then he tells her that he'll appear to her when she's about 82 years of age. What a bloody horrible thing to do to her - what kind of man willingly causes his loving wife to put her life on hold for thirty-odd years, waiting for the next time she'll meet him?
Then there's this other thing that is bugging me - One of Claire's artist friends talks about her latest exhibition. Apparently this friend creates computer viruses, then exhibits the HTML code. Now, I couldn't write a computer virus if someone put a gun to The Little Madam's head, but I'm pretty sure that you can't write a computer virus using HTML. HTML isn't even a computer language - all it does is make web pages look nice. Or am I talking out of my rectum?
One thing about this story - it's really quite sad and depressing. Poor Claire seems to spend practically her whole life waiting for Henry to come back from whenever he is. Just before he dies, he tells her to get on with her life once he's gone. Then he tells her that he'll appear to her when she's about 82 years of age. What a bloody horrible thing to do to her - what kind of man willingly causes his loving wife to put her life on hold for thirty-odd years, waiting for the next time she'll meet him?
Then there's this other thing that is bugging me - One of Claire's artist friends talks about her latest exhibition. Apparently this friend creates computer viruses, then exhibits the HTML code. Now, I couldn't write a computer virus if someone put a gun to The Little Madam's head, but I'm pretty sure that you can't write a computer virus using HTML. HTML isn't even a computer language - all it does is make web pages look nice. Or am I talking out of my rectum?
Friday, September 01, 2006
It's a gut feel
I took The Little Madam to the doctor's this afternoon to check her out. After examining her ears and throat, and listening to her chest, the doctor confirmed that she has something.
I thought it would be okay to give TLM fruit purees, seeing as her pukes seemed to always follow solid food (breastfeeds seemed to be no problem). But one hour after her late lunch/early dinner, after she'd been exploring the hallway and geting acquainted with the dehumidifier, banana and pear puree (surely much more than she'd swallowed in the first place!) gushed out of her little rosebud mouth.
There was puke on the carpet. There was puke on the rug. There was puke on the over-sized jigsaw puzzle-cum-playmat with a picture of the Solar System on it. There was puke on the linoleum. And of course, there was puke on TLM and there was puke on me (prompting TLM's third emergency clothing change today, and my first).
Funny though; she was initially upset about all that puking, but mere minutes later was happily looking for something breakable to play with again.
I thought it would be okay to give TLM fruit purees, seeing as her pukes seemed to always follow solid food (breastfeeds seemed to be no problem). But one hour after her late lunch/early dinner, after she'd been exploring the hallway and geting acquainted with the dehumidifier, banana and pear puree (surely much more than she'd swallowed in the first place!) gushed out of her little rosebud mouth.
There was puke on the carpet. There was puke on the rug. There was puke on the over-sized jigsaw puzzle-cum-playmat with a picture of the Solar System on it. There was puke on the linoleum. And of course, there was puke on TLM and there was puke on me (prompting TLM's third emergency clothing change today, and my first).
Funny though; she was initially upset about all that puking, but mere minutes later was happily looking for something breakable to play with again.
Gagging for it
There must be a gastric bug going around - The Little Madam threw up at breakfast, and again at lunchtime. She's got a temperature and doesn't want to do anything except watch the telly and cuddle her mummy. She's not normally a puker, so I'm guessing she's sick. Again. I bet it was one of the kids at playgroup on Wednesday, and it was the first time in weeks we'd actually managed to make it too.
Libido help. Help!
Perusing the Huggies forum yesterday, I came across something called horny goat weed.
And it is what it sounds like - an aphrodisiac. There's hope for the boy yet.
Apparently the Chinese have been using it for thousands of years, for mojo-related purposes. And look how many Chinese there are in the world.
I'm a little surprised that the boy hasn't been slipping it into my cuppa every evening (or, if he has, it mustn't be working). Perhaps he just doesn't want to risk getting blood and guts all over the duvet (side effects include dizziness, vomiting, dry mouth, thirst and nosebleed).
And it is what it sounds like - an aphrodisiac. There's hope for the boy yet.
Apparently the Chinese have been using it for thousands of years, for mojo-related purposes. And look how many Chinese there are in the world.
I'm a little surprised that the boy hasn't been slipping it into my cuppa every evening (or, if he has, it mustn't be working). Perhaps he just doesn't want to risk getting blood and guts all over the duvet (side effects include dizziness, vomiting, dry mouth, thirst and nosebleed).
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Just in time for goodbye
The Little Madam's naps are sooo irregular. Just when I was getting comfortable with her taking 1-hour naps at around 9am and 1pm most days (and one or none on the other days), she goes and changes again. This morning, only a couple of hours after getting up, she whined and whined until it became clear to me that she really wanted to go back to bed.
So she napped from 8am-9am. Which wouldn't have been a problem, except on Thursdays she always has swim class at 9am.
As soon as she woke, I threw on her fleecy coat, grabbed the nappy bag which was bursting full with snacks and swimming gear, and headed to the pool.
We got there just five minutes away from the end of the class. They were doing underwater swims (i.e. ducking the bubs into the water and hoping they don't swallow any), and obviously TLM couldn't go straight from being completely dry to getting a good dunking.
So the only class activity she got to do was the bye-bye song.
(We stayed on afterwards and did our own thing, but it's hardly the same thing).
So she napped from 8am-9am. Which wouldn't have been a problem, except on Thursdays she always has swim class at 9am.
As soon as she woke, I threw on her fleecy coat, grabbed the nappy bag which was bursting full with snacks and swimming gear, and headed to the pool.
We got there just five minutes away from the end of the class. They were doing underwater swims (i.e. ducking the bubs into the water and hoping they don't swallow any), and obviously TLM couldn't go straight from being completely dry to getting a good dunking.
So the only class activity she got to do was the bye-bye song.
(We stayed on afterwards and did our own thing, but it's hardly the same thing).
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
reading about fertility rites
Did you think I'm doing it to improve my own fertility? Not likely.
During The Little Madam's afternoon nap today, I did my exercises (despite soreness from yesterday's) and still had a little time left over.
It's about time I read something that wasn't about parenting, so I pulled The New Golden Bough from my bookshelf and settled down on the couch for some mythology-anthropology.
Did you know that only around a hundred years ago, European villagers were getting their young and nubile to get jiggy amongst the crops, in order to ensure a good harvest? And I used to think that the penis-worshippers in The Wicker Man were a bit over-the-top...
During The Little Madam's afternoon nap today, I did my exercises (despite soreness from yesterday's) and still had a little time left over.
It's about time I read something that wasn't about parenting, so I pulled The New Golden Bough from my bookshelf and settled down on the couch for some mythology-anthropology.
Did you know that only around a hundred years ago, European villagers were getting their young and nubile to get jiggy amongst the crops, in order to ensure a good harvest? And I used to think that the penis-worshippers in The Wicker Man were a bit over-the-top...
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
An unfit mother
Don't call the Social Welfare dudes yet - this isn't anything to do with some of the less savoury items on my previous post's list. This is about physical fitness, or in my case, the lack of it.
All of my adult life, right from my teens when I got fat, when on stupid diets, got fat again and then discovered exercise, I've been a fitness junkie. Right up until my last term of pregancy, that is. At the peak of my physical fitness I had the oxygen capacity of a woman ten years younger, and could do a Tae Bo class and still breathe through my nose.
I know there are women who ran marathons when they were eight months pregnant, or who launched into a fitness program as soon as their respective babies popped out. But I wasn't one of them (pushing The Little Madam around in th buggy used to be great, but now that she's so mobile I hate to keep her harnessed up for long). And because breastfeeding helped me lose all my maternity fat, I didn't quite have the motivation that some new mothers did.
But things are going to have to change. I'm sick of looking at my belly in the mirror and seeing a ripe candidate for liposuction. I'm sick of getting out of breath pushing the buggy up the hill to my house (though to be fair, it's a very steep hill). And soon (I hope), I won't have breastfeeding to use up all those cake'n'biscuit calories I've been consuming for the last 18 months.
So today I started a modest fitness programme; just seven exercises which I can do at home while The Little Madam is napping, and the whole thing can be finished before she wakes up, even if she's decided to treat me with a 45-minuter. It's just a few lunges, ladies' pushups etc, but it's a start. And perhaps in the weekends I can use my baby-free time to do some laps at the local pool (not that I haven't been unsuccessfully meaning to for the last six months).
Today's workout:
supermans - 2 sets of 8
leg lifts, inner and outer thighs - 2 sets of 15
twist crunches - 2 sets of 15
ladies' pushups (the ones you do on your knees) - 2 sets of 15
shoulder blade squeezes - 2 sets of 15
lunges (no weights) - 2 sets of 15
Obviously if I keep this up, I'm going to need weights in the near future - not to mention a wider range of exercises and some cardio work. I'll worry about that in a couple of weeks.
All of my adult life, right from my teens when I got fat, when on stupid diets, got fat again and then discovered exercise, I've been a fitness junkie. Right up until my last term of pregancy, that is. At the peak of my physical fitness I had the oxygen capacity of a woman ten years younger, and could do a Tae Bo class and still breathe through my nose.
I know there are women who ran marathons when they were eight months pregnant, or who launched into a fitness program as soon as their respective babies popped out. But I wasn't one of them (pushing The Little Madam around in th buggy used to be great, but now that she's so mobile I hate to keep her harnessed up for long). And because breastfeeding helped me lose all my maternity fat, I didn't quite have the motivation that some new mothers did.
But things are going to have to change. I'm sick of looking at my belly in the mirror and seeing a ripe candidate for liposuction. I'm sick of getting out of breath pushing the buggy up the hill to my house (though to be fair, it's a very steep hill). And soon (I hope), I won't have breastfeeding to use up all those cake'n'biscuit calories I've been consuming for the last 18 months.
So today I started a modest fitness programme; just seven exercises which I can do at home while The Little Madam is napping, and the whole thing can be finished before she wakes up, even if she's decided to treat me with a 45-minuter. It's just a few lunges, ladies' pushups etc, but it's a start. And perhaps in the weekends I can use my baby-free time to do some laps at the local pool (not that I haven't been unsuccessfully meaning to for the last six months).
Today's workout:
supermans - 2 sets of 8
leg lifts, inner and outer thighs - 2 sets of 15
twist crunches - 2 sets of 15
ladies' pushups (the ones you do on your knees) - 2 sets of 15
shoulder blade squeezes - 2 sets of 15
lunges (no weights) - 2 sets of 15
Obviously if I keep this up, I'm going to need weights in the near future - not to mention a wider range of exercises and some cardio work. I'll worry about that in a couple of weeks.
Monday, August 28, 2006
150 things to do before you die
I stole this off Scholiast.
What I've achieved is in bold -
01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain (Mt Egmont in NZ)
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said "I love you" and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped (and I live in the bungee capital of the world)
11. Visited Paris (twice)
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise (but didn't really appreciate it because I was a little drunk and a lot tired)
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game (It would be too boring)
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa (even though I've been to Pisa)
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars (does it count if I was under a tent?)
20. Changed a baby's diaper (just a few times)
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne(yeah, but it only took half a glass)
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope (and found Scorpio and a meteor)
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight (it was at a medieval banquet. Those potatoes are HARD).
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse of the moon
34. Ridden a roller coaster (just a mini-version)
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking (That's how I always used to dance)
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day (that's so tacky)
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was shit-faced(you know who you are...unless you were so shit-faced you don't remember...)
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country (even when I danced like a fool)
44. Watched wild whales (at Kaikoura)
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe (...and Africa, and South America, and Thailand)
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach (what about midnight skinny dipping?!)
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland (if you include Northern Ireland)
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love (oh, the embarrassment)
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them (it's the kind of thing you do when you're travelling, eh?)
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke(Once my singing team won a prize, another time I was booed off stage)
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class(I used to be a brown belt in karate)
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party (a really good Christmas party held by a very large advertising agency. The food and band were wonderful).
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River (but I have rafted the Zambezi River)
82. Been on television news programs as an expert
83. Got flowers for no reason (from the boy)
84. Performed on stage (but only at school)
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark (that's just fish'n'chips, isn't it?)
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand(twice, and didn't like it either time)
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently (-ish. Cantonese.)
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children (wel, I haven't quite finished yet)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country (I would, but I can't ride a bike)
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over (does a year in Edinburgh count?)
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds (how about the same 4-5 pounds over and over again?)
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart (I think so, but he'd never admit to it)
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari(just a short one; most of the time I was backpacking/hitchhiking)
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol (just in a shooting club on open day)
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse (and it made me itch and sneeze like crazy)
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours (only when I had terrible food poisoning)
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states (but that would be obvious!)
124. Visited all 7 continents (but 6 out of 7 ain't bad, right?)
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days (on the Wanganui River)
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper (it was a local freebie newspaper, and about a badly-made chicane on our street)
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school (art school and library school, but couldn't commit to either)
131. Parasailed (in Bali)
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one important author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions so far (it's hardly a difficult thing to do)
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language (amazing how you can get buy on phrases like "Coca Cola", "Rolling Stones", "Bruce Springsteen" and "fast motorbike")
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream (for about nine months, when I was an "artist")
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you (oh c'mon...just selling one's artwork to someone who does know you is a big achievement!)
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair (blue and red, on separate occasions)
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone's life
What I've achieved is in bold -
01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain (Mt Egmont in NZ)
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said "I love you" and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped (and I live in the bungee capital of the world)
11. Visited Paris (twice)
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise (but didn't really appreciate it because I was a little drunk and a lot tired)
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game (It would be too boring)
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa (even though I've been to Pisa)
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars (does it count if I was under a tent?)
20. Changed a baby's diaper (just a few times)
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne(yeah, but it only took half a glass)
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope (and found Scorpio and a meteor)
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight (it was at a medieval banquet. Those potatoes are HARD).
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse of the moon
34. Ridden a roller coaster (just a mini-version)
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking (That's how I always used to dance)
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day (that's so tacky)
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was shit-faced(you know who you are...unless you were so shit-faced you don't remember...)
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country (even when I danced like a fool)
44. Watched wild whales (at Kaikoura)
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe (...and Africa, and South America, and Thailand)
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach (what about midnight skinny dipping?!)
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland (if you include Northern Ireland)
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love (oh, the embarrassment)
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them (it's the kind of thing you do when you're travelling, eh?)
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke(Once my singing team won a prize, another time I was booed off stage)
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class(I used to be a brown belt in karate)
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party (a really good Christmas party held by a very large advertising agency. The food and band were wonderful).
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River (but I have rafted the Zambezi River)
82. Been on television news programs as an expert
83. Got flowers for no reason (from the boy)
84. Performed on stage (but only at school)
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark (that's just fish'n'chips, isn't it?)
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand(twice, and didn't like it either time)
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently (-ish. Cantonese.)
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children (wel, I haven't quite finished yet)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country (I would, but I can't ride a bike)
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over (does a year in Edinburgh count?)
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds (how about the same 4-5 pounds over and over again?)
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart (I think so, but he'd never admit to it)
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari(just a short one; most of the time I was backpacking/hitchhiking)
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol (just in a shooting club on open day)
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse (and it made me itch and sneeze like crazy)
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours (only when I had terrible food poisoning)
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states (but that would be obvious!)
124. Visited all 7 continents (but 6 out of 7 ain't bad, right?)
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days (on the Wanganui River)
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper (it was a local freebie newspaper, and about a badly-made chicane on our street)
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school (art school and library school, but couldn't commit to either)
131. Parasailed (in Bali)
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one important author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions so far (it's hardly a difficult thing to do)
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language (amazing how you can get buy on phrases like "Coca Cola", "Rolling Stones", "Bruce Springsteen" and "fast motorbike")
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream (for about nine months, when I was an "artist")
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you (oh c'mon...just selling one's artwork to someone who does know you is a big achievement!)
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair (blue and red, on separate occasions)
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone's life
Sunday, August 27, 2006
A new best friend every day
The Little Madam has never had a lovey, or special toy. We keep a little chimp stuffed toy in her cot, but really her alliances seem to change daily. One day it's the chimp, the next it's a mini-Eyore doll. Cose to bath time it's her little toothbrush decorated with ducks and during pajama time she'll clutch likely a closed jar of bum cream like it's the most fascinating thing in the room. Or, as this photo illustrates, it might be a sock she's been wearing all day.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Dim sum, an obvious choice?
I don't know why I never thought of it before, but surely Yum Char must be the best choice for eating out with a half-Chinese finger-food fanatic?
The only thing I can think of as a possible problem would be if The Little Madam reacts to the prawns or soy sauce, of which the latter is of course a mainstay of Cantonese cooking. Oh, and MSG of course. And having to check for egg. Well, no cuisine is perfect.
But really, little bits of meat and veges wrapped up in little bitty parcels? We already know that TLM likes deep-fried wontons; I'd be shocked (and stunned) if she didn't take to at least one or two of the many dishes which are paraded around the tables. Though perhaps not the chickens feet.
On the home-cooking front, I've just tried her out on asparagus rolls. She didn't take to them (so, more for me), but on the other hand she did like the avocado open sandwich I was eating.
The only thing I can think of as a possible problem would be if The Little Madam reacts to the prawns or soy sauce, of which the latter is of course a mainstay of Cantonese cooking. Oh, and MSG of course. And having to check for egg. Well, no cuisine is perfect.
But really, little bits of meat and veges wrapped up in little bitty parcels? We already know that TLM likes deep-fried wontons; I'd be shocked (and stunned) if she didn't take to at least one or two of the many dishes which are paraded around the tables. Though perhaps not the chickens feet.
On the home-cooking front, I've just tried her out on asparagus rolls. She didn't take to them (so, more for me), but on the other hand she did like the avocado open sandwich I was eating.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Food for allergic kids
My sister-in-law has been a treasure trove of knowledge as regards the feeding of little'uns who need to avoid the Evil Five. She was the one who gave me the recipe for egg-free, dairy-free chocolate cake, and told me how to make egg-free and gluten-free meatballs. I've tried to note down everything she's told me, but now I don't have to because it's all published on the Itchy Kids website.
Tomorrow The Little Madam gets to try lamb French cutlets. They're kind of expensive, so if she ends up throwing hers on the floor I might just retrieve it (without breaking the 5-second rule) and eat it myself.
I had another chat with our GP today, as a prelude to our up-coming visit to the hospital's pediatric dietician. There seems to be a lot of conflicting advice about when fish, eggs, dairy, wheat and nuts should be introduced when the child's got allergic family. However, I've got the go-ahead to give TLM yoghurt again, because she's had it a few times in the past without any problems. It may be quite some time before she's offered peanut butter sandwiches, omelette or smoked salmon sushi though, because some of the literature advises waiting until 3-4 years old.
Tomorrow The Little Madam gets to try lamb French cutlets. They're kind of expensive, so if she ends up throwing hers on the floor I might just retrieve it (without breaking the 5-second rule) and eat it myself.
I had another chat with our GP today, as a prelude to our up-coming visit to the hospital's pediatric dietician. There seems to be a lot of conflicting advice about when fish, eggs, dairy, wheat and nuts should be introduced when the child's got allergic family. However, I've got the go-ahead to give TLM yoghurt again, because she's had it a few times in the past without any problems. It may be quite some time before she's offered peanut butter sandwiches, omelette or smoked salmon sushi though, because some of the literature advises waiting until 3-4 years old.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Comfy evenings in front of the telly
The upside to having a child who sleeps more or less from 6pm to 6am is that we usually have time to ourselves in the evening. Perhaps this is why the boy has always ensured that our collection of unwatched television and film DVDs is never allowed to remain low.
Currently we're enjoying Season Two of Battlestar Galactica. Who'd have thought that a remake of a silly-sounding Seventies sci-fi show, starring an actor whose previous role was as a cowboy (Lorne Green, Bonanza), could be so watchable? Well it is. The good guys aren't all good, the bad guys aren't all bad, and one of the main characters is despicably amoral.
The 4400 is also turning out to be quite good. It's about a group of people who've disappeared over a period of about fifty years, seemingly into thin air, only to re-emerge by a lake somewhere outside of Seattle. Slowly, it becomes obvious that these people have all come back with enhancements e.g. super-strength, the ability to suck the life out of a fellow human, or gestating an embryo that wasn't in her womb before her disappearance. Sounds a little like a serious-fied version of X-Men, I know - but it isn't.
And last but not least, I finally got around to watching Extras, Ricky Gervais' follow-up to the cringingly funny The Office. It's damned funny. Quite apart from the star-spotting (Samuel L Jackson was in the last episode I watched), Gervais and his female co-star play movie extras who have a special talent for putting their feet in their respective mouths. I'm not going to try to give an example though; you should just watch it.
That's all folks. My mum is currently staying at my brother's house and soon I have to go help her use their shower-over-bath.
Currently we're enjoying Season Two of Battlestar Galactica. Who'd have thought that a remake of a silly-sounding Seventies sci-fi show, starring an actor whose previous role was as a cowboy (Lorne Green, Bonanza), could be so watchable? Well it is. The good guys aren't all good, the bad guys aren't all bad, and one of the main characters is despicably amoral.
The 4400 is also turning out to be quite good. It's about a group of people who've disappeared over a period of about fifty years, seemingly into thin air, only to re-emerge by a lake somewhere outside of Seattle. Slowly, it becomes obvious that these people have all come back with enhancements e.g. super-strength, the ability to suck the life out of a fellow human, or gestating an embryo that wasn't in her womb before her disappearance. Sounds a little like a serious-fied version of X-Men, I know - but it isn't.
And last but not least, I finally got around to watching Extras, Ricky Gervais' follow-up to the cringingly funny The Office. It's damned funny. Quite apart from the star-spotting (Samuel L Jackson was in the last episode I watched), Gervais and his female co-star play movie extras who have a special talent for putting their feet in their respective mouths. I'm not going to try to give an example though; you should just watch it.
That's all folks. My mum is currently staying at my brother's house and soon I have to go help her use their shower-over-bath.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
What to get for Fathers Day
I've only just found out that there's a new Bill Bryson book out, The Life and Times of the Thunderbold Kid. And if I hadn't been perusing Dymocks' Fathers Day junk mail, I would still be ignorant of it today.
Buying it for the boy, for Fathers Day, wouldn't be appreciated though; I'm the Bryson fanatic, not him.
And so we come to the same problem I have at least twice a year - what the hell to get the boy who buys himself everything.
As soon as The Little Madam starts drawing with crayons (rather than eating them), his presents are going to be framed baby-art.
Buying it for the boy, for Fathers Day, wouldn't be appreciated though; I'm the Bryson fanatic, not him.
And so we come to the same problem I have at least twice a year - what the hell to get the boy who buys himself everything.
As soon as The Little Madam starts drawing with crayons (rather than eating them), his presents are going to be framed baby-art.
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