a sad day.

well I only have 993 days left in my 1001 project and I have NOTHING crossed off! Its OK though as I've got a wee bit Work in Progress!

I also noted that my buddy Sconey has FINALLY posted her list!

...
today was a sad day - I attended the funeral service of a friend from work. Sina was an amazing incredible woman whom we lost far too soon. Sina was all about her faith and her service was so awesome. A huge number of people turned out to farewell her - she was and still is a huge inspiration to so many. Rest in Peace Sina.
...

And its bed time for me

M

red sky in the morning, shepherds warning...

I took these pictures the other morning when we were walking to work. And sure enough, it rained later that day. The sky looked incredible, almost angry!.

Its been 1 week since my 101 things project started and I haven't completed anything!! That said, I do have a few work in progress and a pretty good excuse! I managed to pull some kind of muscle/thing in my neck/back and I've hardly been able to move my head for the last four days. I haven't been able to sit at the computer (so no blog) and haven't been able to do much else. D has been getting a bit frustrated with me I think. I've needed lots of massages with anti-flam and my wheat bag constantly needs reheating.


Items 53 + 16:
I did manage to drop my sewing machine in to be serviced yesterday however! I haven't crossed it off as it won't come back for another week or so. This gives me some time to work on my crochet! I have bought yarn and crochet needles and borrowed "Stitch'nBitch -Happy Hooker" from S so now I just have to find (make?) the time to sit down and practice!!

Items 100 + 96
I made a quick trip to the library yesterday and picked up a few of the books and films on my 101 list. So far I've watched '12 monkeys' and ' the godfather', and read 'mrs frisby and the rats of nimh' and the 'birth of the firebringer'. Both books were from the children's section and as such were quick light reads. I read a lot of fantasy novels when I was younger and this element appealed to me in 'the birth of the firebringer'. It was an enjoyable read, but I wouldn't rate it as one of my favourite books.

'mrs frisby and the rats of nimh' was a gorgeous rattie story and I think I will read the other 'rats of nimh' books. Many of my rattie friends have named their furkids after characters from these books and I've never had any idea what they were referring to! It was also a light quick read but a pleasant deterrent from the sharp pains in my back.

'the godfather' was exactly as I thought it would be. You hear some much about this and that from the godfather movies and so many movies and TV shows have taken elements from them. Despite the violence, I find the italian mafia setting really interesting.

I am still trying to decide if I've seen '12 monkeys' before or not. I seemed to remember bits of it but not all. I was really disappointed with the end, I'm one of those people who likes the story to be more complete! As far as I know, there was no sequel made.

I also got out 'I, Claudius' (book), 'Animal Farm' (book), 'The Godfather II' (DVD), 'Reservoir Dogs' (DVD), and 'Elephant Man' (DVD). If I aim to get out three or four books and movies a week, I'll be through that element of my list in no time!

I haven't discovered anything I absolutely love in these books/films but I think it is going to be a great adventure working my way through the list!

Yesterday was D's niece's 6th birthday! We had a birthday party at D's parents house today. D and were in charge of the birthday cake and had a few disasters but all was OK in the end. We baked an orange + choc melt cake with plans to do fancy decorating. However we realised that the cake was slightly overcooked and not all that nice. We decided to ice up a plain sponge instead. What dramas! D and I learnt not to leave such things to the last minute! The cake was far from perfect, but it had Abby's name and fancy candles!

Its got me thinking about D's birthday and Item 83 on my 101 list. D's birthday is in November and I want to make him a really funky cake. I've been trying to track down a copy of the Australian Women's Weekly Children's Birthday Cake Book:

There are a couple on Trademe but they seem to be a bit like gold and I'm not prepared to pay megabucks. The library's copies are on loan or lost. I rang mum to borrow her copy but she is also looking for a copy as hers has gone missing! I'll have to keep looking...

Anyway, off to reheat the wheatbag and then bedtime I think!

M

more moolah

Another exciting thing that happened today is that I got a payrise at work! Quite a substantial one (which will help towards paying off debt!). I was previously on secondment to my current role and had hoped for increased remuneration to match the level of responsibility and skill my role entails. Best of all, I get backpay for a few weeks!

Anyways, bed time for me. I need to take some photos during the day to break up these wordy posts! Sadly it is too dark for photos once we get home these days.

M

list in progress

Its official! My 101 things in 1001 days list is in progress! Admittedly I haven't finished anything yet but I have started!

Item# 26 Volunteer
Tonight I had my first meeting with the Regional Girl Guides people. I've been thinking about getting involved with Guides as a leader for a while now. I recently registered my interest and spoke with a member of the regional team. I am now all signed up (ready to be reference & police checked!). I will be in training for a few months before I go to my permanent unit.

It was great fun to meet the Leaders and of course the girls. Most of my evening was an interview but I did get to hang out with the unit for a short time at the end. It looks like things will be fun! I got given a huge clearfile of information and stuff for me to read and refer to. It was quite overwhelming to get at once - but I can see it will be fantastic to have that resource.

Item# 2 Get my hair cut and coloured by a hairdresser
This one is kinda in progress - one of the girls at work gave me the name of a salon they recommend - I just have to actual make an appointment! This should be a nice easy one to cross off! (Goodness only knows I need it!)

Item# 95 Learn heaps more about html and blogging and use skills to make my blogs pretty
As you can hopefully tell, I have already learnt heaps more about blogging in the process of getting my 101 list up and adding some special gadgets. So far I have added a third column to my blog.(A handy tute for this can be found here) I have also put my 101 list in down the left hand sidebar for quick reference. AND! If you look at Items 96 & 100 you'll see I've added a sneaky hide-a-way list so my list of books + movies doesn't make the list scroll for miles! A progress bar (currently with 0/101) has been added to my list that I am hoping to pretty up a bit. Playing with the blog template is quite addictive and I find I can whittle away hours mucking around!

101/1001

Finally finished my 101 things in 1001 days list!! I have added it to my sidebar and I am starting tomorrow!

Too tired for a real post...


M

blog construction...

As you can probably tell, my blog is a little bit under construction. All this 101 things in 1001 days business got me looking at so many people's blogs and I wanted to make mine prettier!

I am nearly done with my list, I have about 80-odd things on it. I'm still really excited and want to start NOW.

I've spent faaar to much time blog browsing tonight for a real post, but here is a pic I took off the frost last weekend:

We haven't had any real good frosts as yet (too much rain!!) and I've been wanting to take pics of frosted plants for so long.

Anyway back to the 101 list - I should really go to bed....

an obscured sunrise

D and I got up very early this morning so we could walk up Mount Victoria to see the sunrise. Unfortunately, when we got there we were confronted with this sign!

Not willing to let a little construction ruin our sunrise, we perched ourselves out on the corner of the carpark amongst the gorse and rock. This did mean our view was slightly obscured by a giant aerial of some kind but it was still very lovely.

We cuddled up considering the day ahead, sipping our hot thermos tea. It was far from an exceptional sunrise, but there is something satisfying about watching the sun get out of bed. (We are usually still snoozing..) I really felt like we had a head start on the day.

I think I'll add some kind of sunrise expedition to my 101 list. (Which is still very much a work in progress...)

After hearing on the radio that D's football game was canceled, we decided to go check out the morning garage sales. We are far from thrifting experts but we had a really good time and I picked up some cheap fabric! It was really awesome to spend some time with D and we had a lot of laughs.

One of our stops was a church rumage sale. While queuing outside waiting for it to open, D commented "man, I bet this is the first time this place has ever had a queue!". While not quite intending it the way it sounded, he got a dirty look from the lady squished next to us and I dissolved into hysterics!

Next we picked up a yummy cheese+capscicum loaf from Nada Bakery (zomg YUM - I LOVE Nada!) and headed to visit dad.

Dad had some worrying news from our family in the UK - my cousin Kelly has had some kind of brain surgery?! I'm not quite sure of the details, but I'm sending love + good wishes your way Kelly! I really wish I'd made more of an effort to keep in touch with that side of the family.... Maybe I should give them my blog address? ;)



Oh and before I forget....
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUMMY!
I love you heaps and heaps and I hope you had a fantastic day! Mwwwwwaaaaaauaaaaah.

M

101 things in 1001 days

While browsing countless blogs and random websites, I came across the 101 things to do in 1001 days list.

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching.

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as new year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

I think this is a really cool idea and I'm keen to start up my own list. I've been needing this kind of motivation! I am going to start researching and deciding what I want on my list. I LOVE making lists and have find them a good source of motivation and way to stop stressing about a project. When I was a kid Dad always carried a little notebook with all his lists in it - its clearly genetic!

I am going to try and have a combo of activities I'd like to complete, trips I'd like to take, and personal goals. Eeep I'm quite excited!

Our wee fighter...

Last Saturday (30June) we discovered two small tumours on Dora. We booked her in for surgery with vet man on Tuesday (3Jul). She came through the surgery great (it seemed) vet man called us and all was well. Then later on Tuesday, DeeDee became very lethargic and it seemed we would lose her. D and I rushed out to the clinic, where vet man had DeeDee on oxygen and under a heat lamp. It was one of the most heartbreaking things ever. She could barely lift her head and had lost the spark in her eyes. We were going to lose our darling Dora. Vet man said he wasn't giving up and that he would keep her on the oxygen and under the heat lamp for few more hours and see how she went.

Amazingly, she perked up a bit and after vet man spending most of the night at his surgery (which he didn't charge us for at all - amazing, lovely vet that he is) she was off the oxygen by morning and we were allowed to take her home. I have to admit I had nearly lost faith. Today we took her back to vet man and he removed her bandage (which amazingly stayed on!). Dora is back to her normal licky lovely self and I am so grateful to vet man.

here she is this morning, rugged up warm...

Kaida also had her stitches removed on Tuesday from her facial abscess. Vet man was VERY happy with how well she'd healed and there was no sign of a lump. We took her back today with DeeDee just to show vet man how well she'd really healed. There is no sign of the abscess other than a patch of shaven fur. It is truly incredible how quickly these guys can heal. I think vet man was quite shocked that the wound had actually totally disappeared!

Heres a wee pic of Kaida's healed abscess (believe me, you don't want to see the unhealed pic. And yes, I did have to bribe her! ;p)

Vet man has been utterly fantastic. If it weren't for him, I am sure we would no longer have our darling DeeDee and he did a fabulous job on Kaida's abscess. And on top of all this, he really kept the cost down. I hate to think how much this would have all cost at our old vet! We really want to do/give him something to show our thanks. We were thinking some home baking and/or some flowers. I am definitely going to make him a rattie thank you card! Let me know if you have any ideas!

Yay for healing ratties!!
M