Home of Slightly Cracked Dreams

It’s the time of year in this house where things slow down a bit. For some reason most of our Christmas Functions are a couple of weeks before Christmas, and with Hubby home on holidays things become very slow. We start to reflect on what we’ve achieved this year, and what we hope to achieve next year.

 In an attempt to be a little more accountable in the new year, here are my Goals for 2008. Broken down into different areas of my life so they’re a little more specific.

Family

1. Enrol the girls in swimming lessons, dancing lessons and music lessons.
2. To save for and take a family holiday for a week towards the end of the year. I’m thinking Byron Bay would be nice
3. To take at least two weekend camping trips, either with Hubby’s sister, or my cousins.

Financial

1. To manage our money according to the spending plan we have worked out.
2. To discuss our financial situation with a financial planner, and have a financial plan drawn up.
3. Act on the financial plan.

University

1. To schedule specific time for study, and use it appropriately.
2. Maintain a minimum of credit average.
3. Transfer to a university closer to (our new) home.

Tupperware

1. Rejoin Tupperware in The Big Smoke, after settling in.
2. Build to a point that I am comfortable with (at this point one party every two weeks)
3. Break my record during Record Breaker Week

House

1. Find an appropriate rental in The Big Smoke and settle for the rest of the year
2. Setup and maintain new routines around the newest family member
3. Start sorting through the 8!!! boxes of photos I’ve inherited and preserve them appropriately.

Personal

1. Once settled in The Big Smoke, and my body is recovered, join a gym or pool and begin to regain some level of fitness
2. Reconnect with friends and family in the Big Smoke,
3. Find a local group and start rebuilding a social circle around an interest group (theatre, ballroom dancing or some such hobby)

Blog

1. Build the readership of Home of Slightly Cracked Dreams to a level of 100 subscribers
2. Investigate a niche idea for a new blog
3. Start a new blog in the niche

That just about covers it. I have plans in place to achieve those, and I have no doubt I’ll be sharing with you my achievements through the year. Once again if I don’t achieve them I’ll just pretend they never existed

 What are your goals for 2008?

Christmas at the Kin’s was certainly a subdude affair this year. Being closer to Kin’s extended family next year meant we were definitely enjoying a small Christmas with only 8 people (compared to the 21 who turned up to Kin’s parents Christmas on Sunday). Also the lack of travelling on Christmas day made for a very relaxed day.

Santa came in the early hours of Christmas morning, and even assembled the SuperFort in the shape of a cubby thing, but thankfully left the box with the instructions in it  Here is the amazing cubby he constructed on his brief visit:

Since then it has also been a rocket ship, an aeroplane, a house with a patio extension, a play house for the toys and a kennel for the dog. I think M&M may be an engineer in the making - she definitely has the 3-dimensional spatial awareness thing happening, that her mother never developed.

Santa also left a fair swag of presents under the tree:

You can kind of see in the background, the brightly coloured storage unit? Amazingly all the toys Santa left fit exactly into that unit, with some baskets to spare for the toys already in their bedroom. That Santa’s amazing!

Mummy did really well this year with her presents. She got a ring she had asked for from Hubby (and circled in the catalogue, and offered to put on layby), a jewellery box, a necklace and earring set, lots of smelly stuff, notebooks, a cookbook (expect some awesome, easy recipe’s from there soon too!) and photo frames (of which you can never have too many!!). By far the best present of the day came from the in-laws. Some cash for a night out, with babysitting included. My biggest challenge now is to decide where to go! Although there’s this French restaraunt nearby, that does a six-course meal I’ve been wanting to try again…

I also recieved a couple of days before Christmas my presents from Tupperware, but it’s taken me this long to sit down and figure out how to upload photos  but I think I’ve got it now.

We’re off to the Big City tomorrow to take the girls to see Enchanted and to pick up the rest of my presents. A matching set of 4 champagne glasses and white wine glasses. Very excited. I was a bit disappointed to have 6 adults here for dinner this Christmas, as I wasn’t able to use my new dinnerset  but on the plus side, it’s all still packed away and ready for transportation to the Big Smoke. Moving day is coming up rather fast (the removalists will be coming in 12 days!!) so after tomorrow, the focus shifts to that and we will start packing with gusto. Well, Hubby will be, I plan on lots of directing and supervising .

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and are enjoying spending time with your friends and family.

Y’all know I love my mother-in-law right? Plus, I know she’s reading now, so I have to say that! While they were visitng yesterday I thought (being a couple of days out from The Big Day) that we should clarify what we’re eating. I’ve put myself in charge of a delicious breakfast (even if I do say so - which I will share in a few minutes) and she put herself in charge of lunch.

 When asked yesterday what she needed me to do for lunch, I was told that she had brought a ham, but that’s as far as she got. Now, if there’s one thing y’all know about ME, it’s that I like organisation, and lists. Having worked in supermarket for 5 years, I’m off first thing tomorrow (Monday) morning for my last shop before the 28th at least. It kind of helps that it’s my regular shopping day anyway. I’m still trying to decide whether to do it with or without husband and kids. All that walking is getting a bit tough on me these days.

So it was suggested I focus on the things I do best. Like rum balls, apricot balls, and the like. I still have the makings of shortbread that I haven’t got around to making, so I thought I’d do that as well. And have a couple of salad type things in the wings.

Now, if you’re wondering why I do so well with rum balls and apricot balls, I can tell you that it’s because there’s no cooking required. This is also why I get put in charge of salads so often. And why I love my slow cooker so much. Can’t. Stuff. It. Up.

So far my Menu Plan for the festive days (Christmas Eve & Christmas Day) look like this:

Christmas Eve Dinner

Garlic prawns with rice

Christmas Day Breakfast

Pancakes with Cream Cheese and Cherries
Berry Custard Pastries
Strawberry Champagne

In the spirit of the season, I’m going to share Kins Christmas Chocolate Rum Ball recipe. Truly devine, and I promise, you won’t go back to any other rum ball after these (and not just because you’ll be knocked out on the floor from all the rum!)

Kin’s Christmas Chocolate Rum Balls

Ingredients:
250g plain chocolate biscuits (for Aussies the only one’s I can find are the Scallywags)
1 cup desicated coconut
2 tbsp coco powder
395g tin of sweetened condensed milk*
rum to taste
desicated coconut to coat

1. Crush biscuits finely, and combine with desicated coconut and coco powder
2. Mix in condensed milk and add rum to taste
3. Roll mixture into balls and coat in desicated coconut

Enjoy! And if you haven’t yet, please share your Christmas menu!

So things in that department are starting to become very real. I’m trying to take these last few days before Christmas easy, because I know once Christmas is over it’ll be chaos. In my usual fashion I am planning ahead and trying to think of things I’m going to have to do.

 One of the big things troubling me is what I’m going to need for 10 weeks living with the in-laws. So far I have the obvious: clothes, toiletries, laptop, toys/books for the girls to play with, baby equipment (cot, stroller, car seat, clothes, change mat etc) and uni materials (I go back at the end of February, we’re moving to The Big Smoke at the end of March).

Beyond that I’m a little bit stumped. I have a short list of Tupperware items I just can’t live without, and Hubby is ok with that as long as they fit in one small box. I think our definitions of “small box” are not going to match very well . DVD’s for the kids would probably be a good idea. And me to be honest. Got to have something to do during those late night feeds.

 Of course it’s always situations like this that make you realise you have so much stuff you don’t actually need, if you can live without it for 10 weeks, chances are you can live without it for good.

So, have I missed anything? What couldn’t you live without for 10 weeks?

With kids birthday parties, I started out with the rule that for every year you were turning, you could have one friend over. Thus for M&M’s 3rd birthday last year, we invited 3 kids, but only 2 were able to come. So this year I’ve invited a few extras, to make up for any that can’t come. So for M&M’s Birthday I invited 7 kids, and 5 came - oops! For Kiki’s 3rd birthday, I invited 6 kids, and 5 came. Doh!

 Of course, it also helps if you keep more than a mental note of who’s actually coming. I forgot a child was coming. This is why it’s important to either a) keep a list of who’s coming and who’s not, and b) make up extra lolly bags. Fortunately we had a packet of 8, so I still managed to nab one for myself

 Due to the ages of the kids (2-3) we didn’t organise any activities this time. Between the birthday presents the girls brought for Kiki, and the swing set outside, food and cake, an hour and half went far too quick. In fact everyone stayed for another half an hour and it was only then that the kids started struggling with keeping up with everything.

As for a cake, unfortunately I have no funny story to share. I delegated the task to mother-in-law, who, while having challenges of her own, managed to produce a chocolate Dora cake which delighted all the kids (and didn’t taste too bad either ).

So all in all quite a successful day. Kiki got some wonderful presents, including a kite (which hubby gets to play with more than she does), a new set of pj’s, a dvd, a book, a game, a Wiggles dancing guitar and a train set from Grandma, which she and M&M have been playing with constantly.

 But I think I might need some more inspiration for next years party.

What do you think? Isn’t it gorgeous? I’m so in love with the orange. I think Snoskred has done an amazing job, don’t you?

So now you’ve made it (and you’re welcome to leave your shoes on, unless you’re Kiki in which case you must leave them in the box by the door because my feet can’t take it anymore!) make sure you subscribe to the feed by pressing the beautiful orange button to the left, and make yourself at home.

 I have like 500 things swirling in my head to post about this week, including Kiki’s birthday party (and a special section entitled “why you always make as many lolly bags as you can), and a special post entitled “Why it pays to flirt with the butcher”. Yessirree, There’s going to be a lot coming your way this week.

 But for now, welcome!

I should start with the reason I haven’t been posting. I blame Hubby, although in this case I’m sure he’d be happy to accept blame. After another restless sleep on Wednesday night, I was sent by Hubby to the cute pharmacist to get something to help me sleep. Unfortunately the cute pharmacist was busy, but the other pharmacist, also good looking, was happy enough to help me out.

So now I’ve had 2 nights of almost solid sleep, I feel like a different person. Plus I’m not often awake at midnight or 2am to write posts. Which is of course where the problem comes in. So why am I up at midnight tonight? We’ve got visitors. So let me take you back to Thursday, when I find out the visitors are coming. I start panicing a bit, because the house was in a bit of a shambles. Then I knew I was going to be out all day Friday. Friday was busy. I was out of the house from 9am to 2pm. Then in and out from 4pm to 6pm. Firstly I had to deliver the kids to daycare. Then an appointment at the bank. In the carpark I ran into mother-in-law, so of course we had to have coffee. After I delivered some Tupperware. Then I went to the post office and posted my Christmas cards, the solicitor to drop off some paperwork. Then I got to start Christmas shopping. Hubby joined me for lunch and I finally got home at 2pm. I collapsed for a while, dozed a bit, then got up to sort the latest load of Tupperware that had arrived. Arranged delivery of that, wrapped presents, delivered Tupperware, wrapped more presents, picked up kids.

Got home and ordered pizza.

While I don’t suggest these tablets knock me out for 8 hours solid, or anything like that (I’m taking a half dose), they do make it easier to go back to sleep when I wake up. Which I did, many, many times last night.

Thus, today, I was able to face the day with some measure of energy. After sending the kids off to swimming lessons with Hubby, I headed off to deliver more Tupperware, then went to the shops to finish the Christmas shopping. Which I did. Then I did the grocery shopping. Came home with the kids while Hubby finished his shopping (oooh, the suspense is huge in this house…).

With an hours notice our friends would be on our doorstep, we managed to get the spare bedroom, living areas and bathroom presentable and clean. They decided to take up our offer of a bed for the night, so we juggled everything around with the girls daycare party this afternoon and Hubby’s work party tonight and we spent a lovely evening chatting and making lolly bags for tomorrow’s party.

So I was a bit late taking my tablet, which is why you’re getting me at nearly midnight. But it won’t last much longer, so I’d better finish up before I stop making sense. Like now, you should have seen what I just wrote.

Be prepared for a party update either tomorrow night or Monday, and I hope your weekend is proving more restful than mine.

Once again, not much to update. Baby is right size, head down, and very active

Her heart rate is good, as is my blood pressure. Apparently I just need to try and rest more. Ha! Joke and a half.

I don’t need to go back for 3 weeks now, which will be nice to have a bit of a break from driving to the next town over 3 times a week (twice for swimming lessons and once for dr, hospital etc).

On the agenda today is Christmas cards, and a few other bits and pieces, getting invites otu etc etc. Oh, and getting the SINK FIXED, that I’ve just noticed is leaking all through my cupboard and floor. Waiting to hear from my plumber now as to how many weeks I won’t be able to do dishes for. Probably a slight exaggeration, but oh well.

But first I apparently need to find the sticky tape to make a Swiper Mask for the little people.

How long is your to-do list? Is it for today? This week? This month? Do you have more than one to-do list? One for work and one for home? Or one for your volunteering jobs? Or homeschooling?

The vast majority of the time, I find a single weekly or daily to do list enough to keep me focused. There are times, however, say, this time of year, when that doesn’t quite cut it. And have you ever had that sinking feeling when you look at a list that’s two, three, or even sixteen pages long?

What I’ve found is that not only prioritising those tasks, but separating them into different lists. I currently have 8 master to-do lists I’m running from. These change with the time of year, but they are currently (in no particular order):

1. Kiki’s Birthday Party
2. House move
3. Blogging stuff
4. Baby/Pregnancy stuff
5. Our after Christmas party
6. Christmas
7. Tupperware
8. Tupperware Christmas party

Some of these lists only have a few items on them, some have more than a dozen. Each night I make a list from these lists of the highest priority tasks for the next day. For example, on my list today I have:

Order cake for Kiki’s birthday party
Make appointment with bank manager
Register domain name for blog transfer
Hospital appointment
Print party invites for after Christmas party
Make list of Christmas presents I still need to get
Print Christmas letters to go in Christmas cards
Pay Tupperware bill
Post Tupperware Christmas Party invites

This is obviously on top of my regular Wednesday jobs, but rather than looking at a list of hundreds of items, I can choose one or two most important things from each list, and work through them today. I do keep the master lists handy during the day, so I can make additions and/or adjustments as necessary. At the end of today I’ll sit down with my lists, mark off what I achieved for today, and make a list of priorities for tomorrow.

Another way I have worked it when I’ve been thoroughly pressed for time, is to compile separate lists as above, but then work out daily to-do lists for the time I have left. This allows me to spread out the jobs and make sure they’re all done on time.

As it is, my current master lists have 3 columns, one with the item, one for a date if necessary (ie appointments/deliveries or deadlines) and one to tick when I’ve done it. Of course, since I only started these lists in the last few days, there aren’t a great many ticks yet, but they are increasing every day, which is the most important thing.

How do you work your to-do lists when you have a lot on? Do you even have a to-do list?

Ok, I seem to be getting back into the swing of things. I’ve caught up on all my favourite blogs, so things should be getting back to normal for me in that department. There’s a lot going on around here as well.

Hopefully sometime in the next week or so I’ll be making the move to Wordpress, with Snoskred’s help of course. This is assuming things go to plan, which I’m sure it won’t. So if I disappear bear with me. I’ll keep you updated on any progress.

While I was away a lot happened. I was tagged for a couple of meme’s.

Firstly, I was tagged by the Homemaker of the 21st Century, who was tagged by Amanda at “All About The Green”. She was tagged by Heather from Home With Heather and apparently the original tag came from Tamara Wilson of Tamara-Wilson.com.

So without further ado:

1. What did you accomplish this past week?
What a great question! Apart from sorting and packing $5000 worth of Tupperware? I’d have to say being able to cope with Hubby’s pay not going through. I haven’t blogged about it yet, but so close to Christmas it was a real challenge. It doesn’t look like it will be fixed until Thursday either. Not a nice way to prepare for Christmas. I was supposed to be done by now.

2. Did anything not go as expected?
Ha! See above. Christmas is now all out of whack. Due to the lack of income, even things like postage stamps for Christmas cards have been postponed, so many of those will likely not make it in time for Christmas. Ah well, people should just be excited to get one from me. It’s been 4 years since I sent any (about as long as I’ve had children).

3. What was the highlight of your week?
Oooh, tricky. Probably swimming lessons on Saturday when M&M was happy to show off her new swimming skills to all and sundry. Isn’t it amazing how the simple things provide the greatest joy?

4. Did anything exciting happen that you did not expect?
EVERYTHING that happens to me is exciting, so I have a hard time with this one. Umm, oh, I’ve got one! Yesterday I went to the Big City with my mother-in-law, and apart from catching up a friend (albeit briefly) we went to the Baby Shop, and physically put the three carseats in my car that I wanted, and THEY FIT! It’s been a bit of a saga, I was initially thinking I’d need a new car, but it turns out I don’t - hooray! That was pretty exciting.

So there you have it, now for the linky love! 5 people hey? I tag:

1. Kez

2. Our Patch

3. Angus Made

4. Lightening Online (check our her new pretty site too!)

5. Cellobella at Sultana Blog

There, that’s a nice variety of people.

While I was away Kez also tagged me for the 7 Random Things Meme.

Here are the meme rules:Rules:
1- Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2- Share 7 random and or weird things about yourself.
3- Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4- Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Ok, 7 random or weird things about me that I didn’t cover in 100 Things About Kin? Here I go:

1. I couldn’t float on my back until I was nearly 16

2. I am over organised in some aspects of my life, and really not in others. For example I have a complete travel set of toiletries ready to go at any point in time, but my bills? In a pile on my desk somewhere!

3. I loved lego as a kid. So much so that my Dad built me a tray on wheels that I could build a lego city on, and wheel out from under the bed whenever I wanted. I hope my kids enjoy things like that.

4. I have discovered recently that despite my age (27 remember?) I have a really really conservative risk profile when it comes to investing. At this point all I can do with my money is put it in a term deposit. Even buying a home is too risky for me. I might have to work on that.

5. I shouldn’t be allowed to name children. After my cat Anna, our second pet was a dog called Dog. Really imaginative hey? It did suit him though.

6. When reading, I have to read a book to the end. There’s only a couple of books I can think of I haven’t finished. One is Far from the Madding Crowd, and the other is Lord of the Rings. Oh the shame. I’m a big fan of the story/movies though

7. Once upon a time I could recite the entire movie of The Princess Bride. In fact, I probably still could, given half a chance.

Right, now to tag 7 people(!!) who haven’t already done it? Man. I don’t think I know 7 people who haven’t already done it. Let’s see how I go:

1. Homemaker of the 21st Century

2. Angus Made

3. Kelley

4. Ali

Oh I don’t know who else hasn’t done it. If you haven’t done it yet, I tag you, so get cracking!

Man, I’ve got so much more to write, but this post is long enough already. If you’re lucky you might get another one out of me later today, after all it is washing day!