Your Dominant Intelligence is Logical-Mathematical Intelligence

You are great at finding patterns and relationships between things. Always curious about how things work, you love to set up experiments. You need for the world to make sense - and are good at making sense of it. You have a head for numbers and math ... and you can solve almost any logic puzzle. You would make a great scientist, engineer, computer programmer, researcher, accountant, or mathematician.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

Moving House and special days

It's been so long since I updated. Since Feb we have bought a house, flown to Melbourne, moved into the new house, spent a LOT of money doing things to the house and just this past weekend Easter.

We put an offer in on the house in early Feb that was accepted, very exciting and nervous all at the same time. With a 30 day settlement and a few paperwork hiccups with the loan docs they all arrived on the Tuesday 3 days before settlement. Thankfully ING had their shit together and it all fell into place.
The same weekend we flew to Melbourne for Raz's brothers engagement party. Had a great night, Nathan danced the night away and Raz got very tipsy and was ready to take on anyone that cared to look at him sideways. Luckily he is a happy drunk and it was all harmless fun.

We arrived back to Brisbane and immediately started moving boxes and were actually in on the 17th March. We are still unpacking boxes but we are slowly getting there. Have done 4 loads to the tip and several pickups from Freecycle.

We spent Easter weekend really concentrating on getting more unpacked so that I can spend the next 2 weeks getting the house in order for Raz's 40th Party.

Good Friday we packed a picnic and went with all the old neighbours to Wellington Point for the day. It was great except for the ant bites I got. Man they were vicious!
Easter Saturday we spent at home unpacking boxes. Nathan had his friend Katelyn over for the day. Raz and Nate went to the tip first thing in the morning and ran into Katelyn's folks there so he brought her home. She ended up staying the night and the Easter Bunny visited them both.
It was her first sleep over and aside from a few tears at 8.30 the promise of the easter bunny in the morning was enough to get her off to sleep. They all woke to a trail of eggs from the cat flap to the front entrance where the Bunny had deposited his payload. They then put some slippers on and went a huntin the backyard. Back inside for Hot Cross Buns and Chocolate for breakfast. Nathan ended up going back to their place on the Sunday which gave Raz and I more of a chance to clear the garage. Easter Monday we took a drive to Byron Bay just for a looksee. The traffic coming into BB was horrific and slow but we found out there was a blues festival on over the weekend and there were plenty of unwashed bodies there. I did see a python wrapped around a tree branch as we were crawling past which was fascinating. We just winged it and found a huge market in the heart of BB so we stopped and had a wander through. It rained on and off the entire time but we just found shelter in the coffee tents and just cruised around. Drove back to Brisbane and just cruised.
Today I dropped Nathan off at Katelyn's house and Josh off at daycare. Nathan was all geared up for a day at Australia Zoo but the plans were changed and they all went to Seaworld. Nathan LOVED it, and came home with a soft toy dolphin that when you squeeze the dorsal fin it makes dolphin squeaks and clicks and the tail moves up and down. He also bought a really funky hat.
Also tonight we got a surprise visit from Raz's cousin and our best man Ray. He stayed for tea and played with the kids. it was so good to see him. He might even be able to make it for Raz's 40th which would be awesome.

Ok so thats us for now.
At the moment I have lost 17.5kgs in 10 weeks. I know I have put a little of it back on this past week but am back into it today. I am determined to keep this up I feel so much better and all my clothes are swimming on me.

Ok so thats REALLY us for now

'Twas the night before the colonoscopy

Not a creature was stirring not even a something-that-rhymes-with oscopy.....

Ok this week has been full full full.

Nate started Kindergarten on Monday, he was adamant that he would cry when I left him but he kept the tears at bay, turned out he loved it and loved Mrs Troost's acting skills too. They (her and Miss Aroney) were playacting "Why you don't try to go 'in' the 'out' door" into the bathroom. Nate has told everyone he met, that silly Mrs Troost tried to go through the wrong door and crashed into the wall, all said with the same excited voice 'that kid' does on the HBA ad.
All Aussies will know the one, 'The crocodile came and bit me into parts, pieces. And my head went that way and my legs went that way'

Josh started daycare full time this week as well, just on Tuesdays. He did half a day last tuesday and a whole day this week, he loved it!

Contrary to the title of this post it is now the night after the colonoscopy, yeah ok it has taken me this long to post this. I had the -as my Dad so eloquently puts it - 'tunnel exam' yesterday. There were 3 x 2-3mm polyps removed from my small intestine. I have to wait the results come monday or tuesday before I find out if they are pre-cancerous. Not feeling very happy about it, I went in thinking nothing could possibly be wrong and here there were 3 sneaky polyps in there and I had no idea! It just makes me want everyone to have a check up done. The preparation isn't very nice but the actual procedure is a piece of cake! They even gave me a DVD of the event! It was actually quite fascinating if you don't think about where they actually are taking the footage from.

Ok so anyone interested enough to be reading my blog please please please get a check up especially if you have a family history of bowel cancer.

Happy New Year Sluggo

Hey Happy New Year, usually I feel all rejuvenated with all the promise that a new year brings but for some reason I feel really sluggish and lack motivation. I feel like I am putting one foot in front of the other. So to bring myself out of this funk I have a very large To-Do list that I am determined to get at least ONE thing done off it each day, yesterday happened to be two.
The wireless network got setup yesterday and we put the car into the Auto Elec to have the battery issues sorted. Today I have to get some medical issues finalised and find Josh a daycare place .
Raz gave me a 3 hour pamper session at a dayspa for Christmas but I feel I am putting off taking it until I feel that I have got my to-do list in order.

Next on my list is to book a Podiatrist to slough off 4 years of callous from my feet so I can enjoy the foot massage I will get with the above voucher at said dayspa also gotta get a face wax beforehand as well.

Thursday I am going back to Weight Watchers and although I don't want this blog to turn into something all about my weight I will probably still post how I am going if only to get my post count up and running again.

Anyway once I get off my slack bum, get our holiday photo's off the laptop and camera then I can put some pics up too.

Ciao for now

-xx-

Walking boy, and the cat that couldn't

Hey Longtime no post, I have been meaning to but with Christmas fast approaching I feel like there aren't enough hours in the day.

Anyway here is a direct cut and paste from a post I made in EB and it sums up my day yesterday

Got a biiiig fright today...
Hadn't seen Sophie my cat all night last night, usually she appears for dinner at least. I went to her usual rooms and called and no appearance. I thought that she might have been caught in someones garage and that she would appear in the morning. I call again this morning and nothing, I went to the garage to call in there and nothing.
I pack the kids into the car to head off to playgroup and as I pull the car back I see Soph clawing her way out from under the car, her back legs weren't working and they looked broken, she was labouring her breathing and a real gutteral growl coming from her belly.

Thinking that I had trapped her under the car and I'd run over her I start crying. My neighbour comes over hearing my distress and helps me load her into a box and they follow me to the vet to keep Nate and Josh calm while I race her in.
They take me straight in and a vet takes a look at her. Goes straight to her collar, takes it off and looks at her legs and says "She has a tick somewhere" Goes straight to where her collar was and there the little b*st*rd was. So now Sophie is in hospital and undergoing treatment. Won't know till about 9am about whether she will pull through but the prognosis is good. I phoned this afternoon and she is calmer but the breathing is still laboured, she'll be in there for about 3 days! I am so glad she came inside the garage and didn't just go off into the bush to die or she would be dead by now. OMG I have had an awful day.

But on a better note Josh took about 12 steps between Raz and I tonight and he did it back and forth 4 times too. Won't be long....

Birthday Party aftermath

We survived the Jet & Josh birthday extravaganza. Between the two of us it looked like we knew lots of people. The kids all had a ball on the jumping castle and Jackie did a great job with the decorations and party games. Oh and he started clapping hands today too for the first time
Took a couple of great shots

Happy Birthday My Beautiful Miracle #2

Joshua you are just such a joy to watch, your cheeky smirk and your absolute determined wilful way when you insist on doing things without any help. My baby boy you are not quite walking but if you trusted in yourself you would already be running. You can do it and it won't be long and you will be and then I can see I am going to get busier!

Nonna and Nonno arrived on Wednesday to celebrate your first birthday. We put off the party for a week so we could combine it with Jet's 2nd Birthday too. We are having a jumping castle and I have made a cake with clinker spiders on it, nothing fancy just a little bit different.

You have already received so many parcels over the past week with presents from everyone. Nonna and Nonno brought lots more with them. Very spoilt you are and you deserve it. Your easy going way makes every day with you a delight.

Happy Birthday little man
Love Mummy -xx-

Proud of my boys

Today Josh took his first conscious step towards me tonight. He was standing at the couch and I showed him his bottle and you could see on his face that he was determined not to drop and crawl to it. He went down as soon as he realised that he wasn't holding on to anything. It won't be long!

Also tonight after Nathan went to bed I was sitting on the floor with Josh and he had this small vinyl soccerball with a bell inside. He kinda threw it and it hit his leg and rolled towards me, so we played this rolling game back and forth. I was blown away, I didn't think he was ready for things like that. He was laughing and laughing everytime he caught it and then passed it. I can't wait to try it all again tomorrow. He has the ball in bed with him tonight as he wouldn't let it go.

Nathan was doing a great job with a tennis racquet and ball today too, I think he may be a left handed racquet holder though. I look forward to seeing if he has any interest in playing a little more tennis or ball sports.

Very proud of the boys today.

Murray Wiggle

For some reason I couldn't edit last post to add a couple of photos of my favourite Wiggle.
There is something charismatic about Murray and while he might not be the most gorgeous looking man on this planet there is definitely something about him that makes me smile.
so here are some pics of Murray Cook in action.

A Wiggly Friday

Today Nicky, Daniel, Nathan, Josh & I headed to Dreamworld yesterday to see The Wiggles. We headed there about 11 armed with a picnic lunch took the kids on a couple of rides and then picked a great possy right beside the stage behind where the Roadies were set up.
Greg was sick so they had some imposter Tony there. He did Greg's part very well, sounded very much like him but Nate knew it wasn't right and kept asking for Greg.

My boys loved it. We did Rock a bye bear and I was helping Nate do the actions and he told me "No Mummy! I can do IT myself!" From that point I let him go. Murray was killing himself laughing watching Nate boogy on down, we had front row spot around the side of the stage. It was at Dreamworld yesterday to celebrate 3 things

• Dreamworld's Wiggles World 1st Birthday
• The Wiggle's 15th Birthday
• The opening of the Dorothy's Rosy Teacup ride

Oh funny little story this morning...

Nathan was lying in our bed next to Raz, I was getting dressed and Nathan was sitting there with both hands in his pj bottoms. I said what are you doing Nathan? He says "My Pisolino (Italian for penis) is being naughty"
I asked "Why is it being naughty?"
Nate replied "Becooooze it's not standing up Mum!" in this real exasperated voice.
At which point Raz absolutely dissolved in gales of laughter

Riverphwoar!

Hey long time and I've been meaning to come in and just post some stuff that the kids are doing I know I will kick myself later if I don't.
Tonight we went to Riverfire. Took the kids and Nicky and Russell and kids and headed in about 4.30 with no expectations of finding a carpark nor a good spot. We found both! We parked near the Gabba and walked up with the pram laden with cold chook and salads and a few beers to help us unwind. We managed to jag a great spot across the road from the radio station that was doing the simulcast. The absolute highlight of the night was the F111 plane doing their dump and burn. (Pic courtesy of a very talented photographer Marty Pouwelse)

There was a moment of terror as it went over and I kinda felt glad that they were only there for display and not for the business that those planes were built for. The speed they came past was phenomenal and to actually feel the heat from the flames as they went past was enough to get the adrenalin going. Nathan was terrified and Josh was fine until he saw Nate's reaction and went out in sympathy. Josh was gorgeous though, everytime the fireworks went up he would burrow into my chest and snuggle. It was so gorgeous, not easy to video the night but cuddles beats some half pie footage anyday!
I luckily overheard someone in the crowd say that they planes would go over again after the fireworks so this time I had my video camera ready. I just had a look at it and its not the best but it was enough to show my dad who will be drooling when he sees it :)

Josh isn't quite walking yet but you can see him try and see if he can get to places without having to drop and crawl. Its great watching him thinking his way thru a problem now. Also on Friday we took the kids to the BBQ area and were playing cricket. Josh would join in the cheering when one of the kids hit the ball. He is so cute he throws his arms up above his head and says Yeeeeeee. Its gorgeous

Ok thats enough for now I will put up some pics I have taken in the past month or so when I can get enough time on.

Detoxing after the folks have been for a visit

I haven't been to WW since I got back from Vic because something was happening every Wed morning so I never made the meetings. I am definitely needing some help and support after 2 weeks with mum around here.

Of course I helped her demolish our bodyweight in chocolate and sundry and my size 26 stuff is getting snug again. I am too afraid to stand on the scales because I just know I will have put the best part of my 10kgs lost, back on again. Now that mum has gone I have drunk all my water and am back to eating normal portions of healthy food so I just need to increase the exercise. I want to get back to the gym here again. I just need to get my house in order. (excuse I know)

After living here for the past 3 months I was not happy with the way things were arranged here so yesterday when I got back from the airport I put Josh in the portacot so he wasn't underfoot and I dismantled the spare bed and the cot and swapped rooms. Josh is now down our end of the house and the spare room is at the front. It means that Josh isn't woken early with the sun on the front room plus he isn't woken by the kids playing in the street and the only place in the house we can get mobile reception is the front of the house so we were always talking on the phone at the front of the house. I am sleeping a lot better knowing that if there was a fire in the house that my children are close to me that I could get them out. How paranoid is that?

Plus now that I am no longer breastfeeding I can get fair dinkum about it all with no fear of supply problems. I have been trying Josh at various times of the day and he still won't have a bar of me. Last night he bit me deliberately twice.

On a happier note Josh does this cute little thing where he scrunches his nose up and kinda snuffles in and out thru his nose. It has become a joke where I can do it to him and he does it back to me. So gorgeous. He now has 2 bottom teeth and 4 top teeth and has started babbling, he says mum mum and bub bub as of a few days ago. My baby is growing up.

Nathan is just my little star at the moment. His speech is becoming more and more grown up, he pronounces his words so particularly now and will attempt to copy the correct announciation when I show him how.

We got an egg tray on tuesday and filled it with dirt and planted carrot, broccoli, spring onion, silverbeet, lettuce and roma tomato seeds. He loves his little garden. Oh and his latest funny is to fart and then point at you and say "You did it" and flat out deny that it was him.

New Camera

Loving my new camera, pity the kids are sick and look as wretched as they feel. But here is one that I just love.

My Baby Turned 3 Today

After a whirlwind return to sunny but very bloody cold Victoria we arrived back last night. And of course today is Nathan's 3rd Birthday. Took him shopping with his loot from the Nonna, Nonna and various Zia's and Zio's. We spent almost the entire day out shopping and came back with a car garage with all the bells and whistles, another item from Little People (the Castle) which ensured tantrums tonight at bedtime because all he wanted to do was play. It was very cute watching him tuck his king and queen up in their beds before he went off himself. Tomorrow should be a good day. We have a budding photographer coming to take some snaps of the boys to flesh out her portfolio. In return we will get a disc with all pics taken of them that we can use to our hearts content and she gets full license to use the pics of the kids in her portfolio. I can't wait to see what another photographer can take.

I tried to get my new camera working tonight but it turns out the dickhead from Harvey Norman has sold us the wrong freakin memory card. FFS! You'd think he would know what kind of card goes in the damn camera wouldn't you? So now I face the prospect of having to drive all the way to bloody Mt Gravatt again in the next day or so if I actually want to take pics this century.

Oh well..... Life's too short to be bothered by stupid people

Josh is a rascal, poor kid has been dragged everywhere today without a decent sleep in a comfy place, it has either been in the car or in the pram. Tonight when we got home he was everywhere. He'd only just started crawling the day before we left to go to Vic and now 2 weeks later he is so much more curious and agile so tonight being the first time he has spent longer than half an hour on the floor he was everywhere. He is getting too good at getting up to standing in the most inappropriate places, I can't follow him around the house with a beanbag at the ready to plop down behind him for when he overbalances and comes a'tumblin down. I don't think he will wait long before trying to walk, something I am NOT ready for. (Nor is the cat! Sophie hasn't a clue about how determine he is to catch her I don't think)

Also we got home at 4.30 to find daddy's car parked in the driveway, he had left work early to surprise us and here we are we weren't even home yet. It was a lovely surprise and it was wonderful to watch Raz and Nate trying to put his toys together with Josh trying to climb over both of them.

Ahhh I keep looking at the clock and thinking yep 9.15pm I would have been still out to it and Raz would have just been handed his son. Ahh nostalgia!

Good week following the bad one

Ok maybe it was because it was my birthday but it was a better week for all of us.

We managed to make the Playgroup on monday this week and it was really good, a lot of really lovely and friendly women there with plenty of kids there for Nate to play with, even Josh got to have a little play. One of the women there told me about a group that meets at the Uniting church in Vicky Point that will look after your kids while you spend 2 hours doing a craft. I was there with bells on! Wednesday night we went to the local pub for dinner for my birthday. Got home and was inundated with phone calls from everyone. Raz threw a silly hissy fit at nothing but I refused to even discuss his issues till it wasn't my birthday anymore. Just told him he was a selfish shit for doing it on my birthday. All was worked out the next night however.

This weekend we went to the Eumundi Markets. I cut up a heap of salad sandwich stuff and we bought a loaf of bread at the local bakery and sat on a picnic blanket and made sangas, I think all we spent was for a loaf of bread and the tolls to and from (coz Raz's toll tag wasn't working :( ) Would have loved to have bought a million things there but the funds were short but we definitely have it earmarked for another visit when we have better cashflow. Took a quick drive to Noosa just to say that we went and had a toilet stop and then drove home.
Today we cranked up the music and cleaned house, got another half dozen boxes unpacked and 3 repacked. Raz found a 5 bedroom house in Thornlands on a 1000m2 block for $385k which is totally unheard of, we took a drive, couldn't see too much but it looked too good to be true. Pity we aren't ready to buy just yet. Thats why I don't want to look for houses until we have an unconditional contract in place on Torquay.

Anyway this week has been a lot better, no dark thoughts. I guess because I had places to be where people were expecting me and I had some adult company. Even friday at the Chemist was good, Belinda was there and we just lost 2 hours chatting away. I definitely have to call and make a time to catch up with her.

Have a full week planned this week too which is a relief. Monday Playgroup, Tuesday Nate's Docs appt, Wednesday is WW, Thursday is Daycare and Friday is Chemist Coffee morning

It was a Tough Week

Ok so this is a whinge but we can't be sweetness and light all of the time hey?

Started out on Monday, all ready to head off to a new playgroup in the hopes of finding some adult company and also to give Nathan some 'let off steam' time. Lately it has been hard for him cooped up in the house with nobody to 'visit' When we were in Torquay our weeks were so structured. Here I am yet to find any of that plus because we are paying rent and a mortgage at the same time most of Raz's pay is putting a roof over our head. Have learnt to shop at Bi Lo and Aldi and it has made a small impact on the food budget. Anyway had the kids all packed up in the car and I was quite excited at the prospect of meeting new mums too. Of course the car doesn't start. I was in such a rage. Sick and tired of the electrical problems the car has been plagued with, isolated because I didn't even know where to start and find an Auto Elec to fix the problem once again and also scared because the funds didn't allow for a new battery or hell even the battery charger was an unexpected amount.
The next 2 months are going to be really tight, we have rego on the car, need a roady on the car too to get it registered in QLD and also all the yearly insurances are due. Plus the $2500 a month we are spending on rent and mortgage the ass pucker factor is creeping up. Also flying to Melb for Nate's specialist appointment has cost another $500. Thankfully food and accomodation is covered!

Ok so with all the money stress, I have been less tolerant of Nathan and his usual 'almost 3' can do but get sidetracked attitude. He was accidentally rough, forgetful, clumsy but otherwise helpful and adorable but last week I had zero tolerance. All I felt like doing was yelling, screaming, even terrorising him to make him scared of me. At a couple pf points I wanted to just put him through a wall. Thankfully he listened to me and left the room when I asked him ever so quietly to leave mummy be for 5 minutes. It saved both of us a lot of tears.

I hate Cars

Just wanted to have my little Tanty in here, why is it that the car battery dies just when I most need to get out of the house? I'd just packed Nate and Josh into the car to go to a new playgroup because Nate is just driving me nuts with no activities to do during the week, try to start the bastard and all I get is that infernal ticking... SOOO not happy
It's all well and good having all these mod cons in the car (Car kit, GPS and DVD player) but somewhere in all the installation there is something draining the Battery, have already forked out for 2 new batteries since we got the car and that was less than 12 months ago. Now of course I am in a strange city with no idea where to take the damn thing to get it fixed once and for all!

Not HEPPY JEN !

Nothing in particular

Post about nothing, just wanting to add some pics that I got off the camera that I had forgotten I'd taken.








Josh is just growing up WAY too fast. I expect him to take off crawling any minute now.


Can't half tell these two are brothers hey? Check out that profile!












I can't wait till Nate grows out of this "Say Cheese" or more prominently SHEEEEZE.
Hopefully by then Josh will have learned to smile too!

Mothers Day, Mountains and Milkshakes

My Mothers day started really well. Josh woke and joined Nate Raz and I in bed for the ritual sunday morning tickle fight, I got up with them and got breakfast started, Raz has been wonderful but there was no way he would have handled breakfast on his own. Josh is far too needy at breakfast time. I have to make Josh a piece of vegemite toast to get him started or he just screams the place down), while I wait for the kettle to boil to make up the formula for Josh's weetbix I make Nate's toast and can usually make my toast too and a cup of tea if I am lucky. I got all that started for Raz and then left him to it while I went back to bed. About half an hour later eggs & bacon and kisses arrived for breakfast. I was left in peace to read my book and eat my breaky when another knock came at the door with Nate and Raz bearing gifts and cards. I got a wonderful Willow Tree piece to go with the other pieces I have. I just love every one of them and this is no exception. This afternoon after the boys had had their sleep we went into Mt Coot-tha ( http://www.brisbanelookout.com/index.html) for a milkshake.
Extremely greatful for the Navman coz there is no way we would have found it without it!

I visited there when I was first in Brisbane in 2000, it was heaps busier than when I was last there and there was a group of roudy Brazilians having a good time taking photos etc. Nate had fun being king of the castle and he loved his pink milkshake. Headed home about 5pm in time for Fish and Chips and a long overdue bath. Nathan rang both Nonna and Grandma and it was cute hearing him wish them a Happy Mothers day and listening to him explain to them that he had a milkshake on a big Big BIG Mountain.





This time last year we went to the Melbourne Zoo and I stewed the whole time that Raz had put in no effort whatsoever to make my day special but today instead of expecting the worst I told him what I would like and he surprised me which is all I ever wanted and it cost less than $50 for the entire day. How special is that?

Undies Drawer Logic

Had an epiphany while I was cleaning out my undies drawer.
AS I was sorting the undies I wear every day and the optimistic undies that I know I will never wear no matter how pretty they are I realized that this downsizing of the house should in theory help us financially. I am of the opinion that the less stuff I have to try and keep tidy and clean the more control I will have over the shit left. My pantry is the perfect example, I could feed a village of Ethiopians for a year on the crap I have in my pantry. I have to change my thinking that when I see a bare-ish pantry doesn’t mean I go out and buy tins of ingredients and packets of that. A simple menu plan with the contents of the freezer should mean that I can go shopping once a fortnight or once a week, and just have to pick up fresh fruit and milk and bread during the week instead of taking a half assed shopping list every 2 days and then coming home with a trolley full of impulse items we “Need” to have.

Hmmm will have to work on this theory and I just know I’m right, I am sure I read it in Flylady somewhere…. That reminds me I had better bring Flylady off no mail, I need the discipline right now…

Ciao