No Broadband

Well, we have moved and have settled nicely into the new house. Must admit I am sick of boxes but they go with the move.
Unfortunately we are having trouble with the telephone line, so no broadband, so just a quick hello from me on my brother's computer and just to let you know that as soon as we are up and running I will post a lot more.

See you soon.

Moving

This will be my last post for a couple of days as the computer is being packed ready for the move.

Should hopefully be up and running again on Thursday night, but not sure when I will have 5 minutes to post something, so could easily be next weekend.

So don't go anywhere and I will let you know how the new house is once we are settled.

One last thing before I sign off, my cousin Kerry is getting married in 4 weeks time, she has asked Ben and Alex to be ring bearers at the wedding, so this weekend we went and got them little tuxedos.

So here is a sneeky peek at just how cute they may look at the wedding.

Catch you after the move, have a great week :)

Balloons

It is amazing what will keep children happy.

Last week my cousins came to visit to say hi and bye before we move down to Hamilton. Ben and Alex got out all their balloons and everyone proceeded to have balloon fights.

The boys had so much fun.

Last Day

Yesterday was my last day working at Auckland District Health Board.


I have worked for them for just over 9 1/2 years now.
In fact they are the only employer I have worked for in New Zealand.
I started in March 1998 as a Staff Nurse in the Operating Theatres doing General Surgery, Colorectal and Liver Transplants.
In 2002 I moved to do Gynaecology and Maternity.
I went on Maternity leave at the end of 2003 when I had Ben and when I returned to work I actually went into Sterile Supplies, this is the area that they wash, clean and process the instruments ready for the next use.
I stayed there until I went on maternity leave again in 2005 and I returned there after having Alex.
In the last 3 months I have been working on a project in Materials Management, this was a change of scenery for 3 months and I had a lot of fun and learnt a lot of new and interesting things.


When I first started at ADHB this was the main hospital



4 years ago they built a new hospital, this has been exciting as there have been many new changes in the last 4 years and Auckland now have a huge wonderful hospital.






I am very grateful to all at ADHB, I have learnt a lot, met a lot of wonderful people, including my partner Steve, who also worked in the Operating Theatres, yes it was love at first sight across a crowded theatre!


It will be weird not working for them, but hey life moves on. I will work in Hamilton eventually, but I have other priorities now, like 2 little boys, so I am aiming to start work in January.

So thank you to everyone at ADHB, it has been fun, I have loved and hated every minute and have grown and learnt so much over the past years. Thank you.

What Type of Blogger Am I?

You Are a Life Blogger!

Your blog is the story of your life - a living diary. If it happens, you blog it. And make it as entertaining as possible.

What Kind of Blogger Are You?

Pavement Art

Julian Beever is a guy from the UK who has been doing pavement art for at least the last 10 years. he has done these pictures in many countries around the world.
They have a special flare to them that when viewed from a certain angle give you that amazing 3D effect.
You can check out more of his pictures here.
Go look, you will be amazed.

Blogger is experiencing some problems loading pictures at the moment, so as soon as it is back running I will add some pictures.

Monday Meme

Ok, so I know I am a little late with this this week, but I did go and check out the site for the questions on Monday and then realised that of course with the time difference I would have to wait until Monday evening my time to get Monday morning USA time.
Of course then life took over and it is now Wednesday, but hey the thought was there.
Anyway here are the questions from Manic Monday for this week:

If you could have a romance with any fictional character, who would it be?
Can't think of any names, but would end up being someone from a Jane Austin novel, but not Mr Darcy!

If you could be invisible for one hour, where would you go and what would you do?
My sons daycare to see them interacting with the other people as I know they are different when we are not around.

If you could ask God any single question, what would it be?
Does he blog??

How would you answer these? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Work

OMG I have only 2 days left at work here at Auckland District Health Board.
I can't believe that I am about to leave the only employer that I have ever had here in New Zealand.
I am so looking forward to Hamilton, but it will be very weird not working for ADHB anymore.

Marriage

Now this is a word that girls will happily sit and talk about for hours and will have guys rushing out the door faster than lightening.

It is a word that can reduce me to tears...
I am not married, I would love to be married and this is the biggest thing that can put me in a mood/sulk and drive me up the wall.
Now the reason I am not married is not that I don't want to be, it just hasn't happened yet.
The biggest reason is because Steve doesn't want to get married, he has been married before, but I don't understand why I should be punished for a past mistake of his.
To be honest nothing is going to change in our day to day living if we did get married, we have a house, a car, 2 children, joint bank accounts, it would only be a piece of official paper but I still want to get married.

The thing is I can't come up with a good enough reason to argue why I want to get married.
I am a very traditional person, oh yea I can hear you all say, why have you got 2 kids and you are not married, well the reason for that may be very selfish, but I knew I was getting to a stage in life that if I didn't have children soon then I would have been too old. So I took the biggest risk of my life and decided that if Steve was happy to have kids (took some persuasion) then I was having the boys (both our boys were planned not accidents) and I decided that if Steve and I ever broke up then at least I got 2 gorgeous children out of it that I really wanted.
I did say it was a selfish reason, but I had always wanted children and life was not exactly going my way in the dating field, but don't worry Steve and I had been together 4 years by the time we had children, so it wasn't a rushed into thing.

I have asked loads of people why they got married and I can give you every answer under the sun......

1. Religous reasons
2. Only way I could move out of home
3. We wanted to live together
4. Society
5. If we didn't get married we probably wouldn't be together
6. That is what you do

Funny thing is, everyone refers to Steve as my husband, they just presume we are married. That is what society thinks and I get the impression that this is the norm for society.

So where on earth did this 'we don't want to get married, but are going to live together like married people and do this for the rest of our life thing come in?' I don't actually understand what people have against getting married, what does it change? There would be no difference to how we live life today to how we would live if we were married.

And that is Steve's arguement.

What bugs me about not being married is that I think people and my family all presume that I am happy with my current living arrangements, that is must be what I want, how I want to live me life.

Well with tears rolling down my cheeks I can tell you in no uncertain terms....This is not what I want. I want to do what everyone else does at this stage of life, be married. Why me, what is wrong with me that I am not married? I look at other people and wonder what I have done wrong to not be married, what am I not doing? I have asked Steve why he got married the first time, his answer was "it was what you did" well I want the " it is what you do"

My baby brother is married, my cousin is getting married in 4 weeks, my parents are still married after 43 years. It is what everyone does, so why not me? I can hear you all say, well life is different now, you could always ask him? NO, even though I am a very independant stubborn person there are somethings in life that the man does, and proposing and buying an engagement ring is theirs to do and keep, ok apart from leap years when I have no problem with girls asking their guys on Feb 29, but that is not me. With how I have lived life I have always done what I want to get what I want, for once I want someone to want to do something for me rather than me having to make this happen.

Believe me Steve knows all this, he knows I want to get married, has done for several years now but because he is not that bothered by it, then it is no big deal to him. Don't get me wrong I love him and I am not going anywhere, well apart from to Hamilton to join him with his new job. Unfortunately it is now such a thing that if I bring it up again then if he did propose I won't know if he was sick of listening to me talk about it or whether it was what he wanted to do. I am not pressuring him into it, but after almost 8 years together I am beginning to wonder why not me?

So for now I will go on answering the phone to telemarketers and saying "No I am not Mrs......." and correcting people when they comment about my husband, telling them that I will let my husband know when I get one. And when Ben is a little older and comes home from school and asks if we are married? I will say "No" and if he asks "why not?" or asks "why do you have a different surname to me, Alex and daddy?" then my simple answer will be "ask you father!"

The Bus

The boys have never spent too much time on buses, just the way life goes I guess.
We do only have 1 car in the family, and since Steve has been good at cycling to work it has meant that I have always had the car.
So when the garage said to me yesterday that they needed to keep our car, more than likely over night and that they didn't have a loan car to lend me, I was like OMG I have to get to work in the morning and get 2 boys to daycare.

Now it is not that I haven't taken the bus with the boys before, infact Ben has been on buses quite a lot, ok he was very little so won't remember any of it.
When he was first born I use to walk to the local shops with the pram get the few basic items I required, bread & milk etc, and then if I didn't feel like walking home I would get the bus. Especially as they had new buses in service that I could just wheel the pram on and not have to collapse it down. So it was quite easy getting the bus.
When Alex came along I still did take the bus occassionally, but trying to manage the bus, a newborn, a toddler, a double pushchair and any shopping I had brought was a mission in it self, so it never happened very often, and again with Steve taking his bike, the car was always easier, I would just plan all our errands so we weren't going backwards and forwards around Auckland, it would have some form of flow to it and it was well exercised.

So this morning we had to get the bus and the boys had a ball.
Luckily the bus stop is just down from our house and it stops just outside the daycare (work is a 5 min walk round the corner)
The boys were running down the road to get on the bus, decided they had to sit at the back and Alex talked the whole journey, he was so excited and thought this was the greatest thing to do.
They were both such good boys whilst on the bus, sitting nicely and holding my hand to cross roads when I asked, I am so proud of my little guys.

So if you ever have the chnace to plan a day where you take the bus instead of driving, then do it. The kids will love the adventure.

Half Full or Half Empty

Half full or half empty is one of those statements that will have people argueing for hours, or at least thinking for a while.

In the post office today whilst being served there was a lady at the other counter paying her car registration. Now you can pay this for either 6 months or 12, your choice.
I heard her say to the guy that yes she was only paying for 6 months because you never know what might happen so why waste your money on the other 6 months when you don't need to pay it yet! She went on to say that if she died then she hadn't lost anything!

I was just like OMG, I had never thought of that, back to the half full half empty thought.
Then she looked around at everyone commenting and said "Didn't everyone think like that?" she knew it was morbid but hey, why not?

I can see her point, but would you really like to keep walking around life only doing things by half just in case you weren't around to see the rest.
'I am sorry I can't pay for the whole year because I might be dead before the year is through!'

I say go with life and have fun, don't worry about the small stuff. Yes if it was a lot of money, think about it, but when you are only looking at a difference of about $60, it just seemed a very morbid thought to live life by....

Breast Cancer

October is of course Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

This is one of the charities that I am proud to support.

I wear something pink for the whole month.

Check out the following site for a cool quilt (ok technology quilt, not a real sewn quilt) but still way cool.

Last Drive

For the past few Sundays I have had the pleasure of taking Steve back to Hamilton. This means that we plan the whole day around this one activity.
We pack the car in the morning, leave just before lunch, have lunch in the car, Alex sleeps on the way, then we spend the whole afternoon in Hamilton, have dinner, bath the boys, put them in pj's and then I drive back to Auckland with 2 sleeping bunnies in the back.
Today was the 3rd time I have done this and it is also my last.
Next weekend Steve will be back for the weekend but due to it being a long weekend (Labour Day) I have refused to drive him back on a Public Holiday, the traffic could be so bad!
So I am making him take the coach back, plus it is helpful to me as the packers are arriving the next morning.

The first weekend I drove back it rained all the way, yucky to drive in and took me slightly longer than normal.
The second weekend the weather was fine and it was a great drive back.
Today, I got stuck behind someone who wanted to do 80 all the way, this lead to their downfall though, because they seemed to have difficulty in reading speed limit signs on the road, when it said limit was 100 they went 80, when it said limit was 70 they still went 80?!
So whilst driving through one of the little towns on route home, I slowed for the speed limit of 70 but the car in front didn't, so as they got to be more than 100m ahead I was annoyed because it meant that I probably wouldn't be behind them when the passing lane came up and I really wanted to pass, but when I saw the flash of orange light across the road as the SPEED CAMERA got them for speeding, then I felt justice was done!
I was going just below the speed limit so was fine, but I had a great laugh as I finally passed them knowing what was coming in the post to them later this week.

So the next time I drive to Hamilton will be the last, we will go knowing we are staying and not coming back. Yea, the 3 weeks that Steve has been away have gone quickly, but have been hard work. It will be nice to be back as a family again in 1 house.

Chance Meetings

Don't you just love chance meetings, I do, especially when it is family.
Now I know a small amount of people here in Auckland, mainly work colleagues, so I don't bump into too many people I know very often, who are not connected with the Hospital. Auckland is just so big.
So I met a girlfriend for lunch today and she suggested we went to the Medical School across the road from the hospital, she said they had a good canteen.
So we sat and had lunch and it was really nice, when suddenly I looked up and there was my cousin sitting across the room.
I have 2 cousins in Auckland, the only relatives I have up here. They are both attending Auckland University and the Medical School does come under Auckland University.
Kerry is studying Chemistry but I was not aware that she had any lectures in this part of the campus. So I bundled over to her and said hi. She was quite surprised to see me and apparently this was only the 2nd time she had ever come here.
So it was a nice way to finish lunch having a gossip with my cousin before she went back to study and I continued work.

Flower Friday

It is time again for Flower Friday.

For those of you who don't know what this is then check out here and here, but in general it is where I send someone a link to this post so they can see that I have been thinking of them and have sent them some flowers via the wonderful world of technology.

This week I have chosen to send the flowers to my new Sister in Law Claire. Now she has been my sister in law for just over 4 years now, but they have been living in England and of course I am in New Zealand.

Now that has all changed as my brother and Claire have just moved their family to New Zealand, so I now have the pleasure of actually getting to know my baby brother again, but also get to know his wife. You can check out how they are going here.

So I am giving Claire the flowers this week because she has done a fabulous job looking after her family in a very difficult time. It has now been 4 weeks since they left England and moved to a strange country, staying in a house that is not theirs and will only have limited ability to do anything with it, as it is not theirs. My brother has started his new job, their oldest son has started at the local school and their youngest son is starting Kindergarten in 2 weeks time and throughout all of this Claire has held the family together making sure they all get to where they need to be with their activities.

Everyone is getting to do things but nothing for her, yes she will look at getting a job, but her family comes first and it will have to fit in around this.

So Claire, these thoughtful flowers are for you this week. You are doing a great job and I look forward to spending some great family time with you.

Meme

From all the blogs I have visited, one thing that is starting to show through are "Meme's" this is where someone asks a set of questions and everyone can post their answers, then you read what people have answered and this is a way of getting to know that person better, or how to get an insight into that person's life.
I have discovered a blog assigned just to this such topic, although I am sure there are several more blogs out there doing exactly the same thing.
The blog is called Manic Monday and every Monday she asks another set of questions. Very simple but thought provoking.
Now I know it is not Monday, and I will try and remember next Monday to post the answers to that days questions, but for now here are a few of the questions from the Mondays in September/October and how I have answered them.

Which month of the year do you think best describes your personality?
I would love to say a summer month, but I think I am going to have to say an autumn month like May, when the weather is stubborn and is neither fun nor boring.

If you could have had the starring role in an existing movie, which movie would you pick?
Anything with period costume in it, probably a Jane Austin

Are you attracted to people whose personalities are very similar to your personality or very different?
Both

You’ve won $100,000 – but have to give it all away. To which charity or institution would you donate it?
Breast Cancer and Diabetes.

What do you think is the most soothing sound?
Rain

Does time heal all wounds?
Yes

If you could enter a racehorse in the Kentucky Derby, what would you name your horse?
Bubbles

What famous person, whom many people find attractive, is most unappealing to you?
Angelina Jolie

Which foreign country are you least interested in visiting?
India

Hope this has made you think about how you would answer these questions. For more, then don't forget to check out Manic Monday for yourself.

Works For Me Wednesday

This is something I have picked up from a blog I view daily Over Whelmed with Joy. Ok she picked it up from a blog she views too, but that is how things get carried forward and a trend started.

Anyway, it is a way of letting you know about something that works for me, a little tip or product etc.

My WFMW Tip is something I actually saw someone else do one time and was a little puzzled to begin with as to what she was actually doing, but once completed I realised and thought "what a wonderful, simple but effective idea"

This is a tip that is useful when cooking, baking mainly.

I always find that when I have lined the tin with baking paper that however hard I try it never stayes in place and is even worse when I go to pour the mixture into the said tin.

So by securing the baking paper in place with 4 pegs makes for so much less mess and frustration.

The paper then stayes where I want it to stay until I am ready to put the mixture in the oven, then all you do is remove the pegs and place tin in the oven as normal.

So simple but so effective.

Chipmunks

Ben has been asking for several weeks if we can please go to Chipmunks. This is an indoor playland for kids, suited for kids from 0 - 10yrs.

Now we almost made it last Tuesday, but the boys both messed around so much as we were trying to get out of the house that I cancelled it at the last minute. I know I am a cruel mother! But it worked, because I told them that we could go to Chipmunks this week as long as they didn't mess around.
Ben even told daddy that he was going to Chipmunks and it meant he had to get up, have breakfast and not mess around before we went, so something sunk in!
Anyway, we got out of the door this morning in plenty of time and got there just as they opened at 09.30am, good time to get there as it is empty and quiet, just how my 2 like it, also the schools are back so no worries of big kids pushing them around.


Ben loves the big slide. You have a big hike up the side and then this enormous drop at the front.

It has taken several years for him to feel truely comfortable on this, but now he flies down with no worries.

This picture wasn't the greatest, but shows Ben coming down head first which is a great achievement for him.

Tantrums

Alex is a very different child from Ben at this age. Don't get me wrong, this is a good thing, sometimes, life would be very boring and dull if they were both the same!

Anyway, Alex sulks, god knows where he gets that from ?!

Ok you forced it out of me, he gets it from me!

So if things don't go Alex's way, then the floor is his place to let you know about this. Now we are not talking full arms and legs thrashing with high pitch vocals, we are just talking, quiet and calm laying down and just staying there sulking?

Doesn't matter where we are, house, garden, street or shop. If we have had enough and we want to get our point across, then we lay down.

Brotherly Love

Last night after putting the boys in bed to read before lights out, I heard a funny sound coming from their room.

So I went to investigate and this is what I found.........

Ben reading to his brother.

Now Ben can't read, but that doesn't matter with this book as it is an I spy with pictures, and all the pictures are of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends.

Holiday Recipe Share Time

One of the blogs I view daily is running a recipe swap for the holidays.
As everyone is always on the look out for new exciting things to cook for their families I think this is a great idea.
Unfortunately since living in New Zealand I have lost a lot of my Christmas spirit, think it has something to do with the sunshine!
Christmas to me is cold, dark with lots of food, hot chocolate and beautiful lights shinning from all the houses in the street. You wrap up warm in those new sweaters you received on Christmas morning and you spend time all sitting round a blazing fire.

Now I am not saying we don't do Christmas in style here down under, but a BBQ on the beach just isn't the same, plus people don't go all out with oodles of food like they do else where. I do miss that.
So I don't really have any old family holiday recipes that we recycle each year or a special recipe that I just have to remember to make, but I do have a recipe that is right for Christmas with the way life is changing nowadays.

This recipe I stole from my mother, who in turn got given it by a neighbour. I have made it several times and in fact the last time was the best.
My recipe for this holiday recipe swap is Diabetic Fruit Cake
A very simple recipe, but with no added sugar. Which for diabetic people is wonderful and for people watching their weight there is no reason why this can't be useful.
Now I have never adapted the recipe, but in fact was just talking to my partner (who is diabetic) and thought there is no reason why you couldn't add a few of the spices you add to ordinary Christmas cake recipes and probably no reason why you couldn't lace with a little brandy.
I am not altogether sure on the shelf life of this cake, although when I do make it Steve can keep it in an air tight container and have slices for about 2 weeks.
Anyway, here is the recipe:

Diabetic Fruit Cake
1kg Mixed Dried Fruit
2 cups Tea or coffee or Orange Juice
2 cups Self Raising Flour
(spices you could add = 1tsp cinnamon, 1/2tsp nutmeg, 1/2tsp vanilla essence, 1tsp mixed spice or all spice)

Method
Soak the fruit in the desired fluid over night in a large mixing bowl. Tea or coffee does not have to be cold when used.
Preheat oven to 170c / 325f. Line a 23cm cake tine with baking paper.
Stir the flour into the presoaked mixture. (this is when you would add all you favorite spices if using any)
Place in the cake tin, smooth the top and bake for 1 3/4 hours.
Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, turn out onto rack and leave to cool. Store in air tight container.

Enjoy :)

Now it does not affect the flavour depending on what fluid you use. Steve says there is no difference over tea, coffee or OJ.

Flower Friday

I actually have several people who I could give these flowers too this week, but for once I am going to be selfish and give them to myself.
Check out this post to find out what Flower Friday is about if you didn't read last weeks.
I have a stinking cold, I feel like crap and I am very proud of myself for managing to survive for 5 days by myself with the boys whilst Steve started his new job in Hamilton.
I am amazed at how well I slept whilst he was away, I usually toss and turn all night and then fall asleep at about 2am.
I managed to get sorted before going to bed each night so it wasn't such a rush in the mornings, although I never did make it to work for 8am all week, but then hey, I only have 2 more weeks left, so who is counting.
I have been good with the boys and they in return have been good for me, with the exception of throwing Alex in the bath last night in his pyjamers, but hey everyone has their bad moments.

So way to go me.

Phones

When Steve and I got new mobiles last year, we gave the old ones to the boys to play with (took the battery out)

Anyway, they didn't seem too interested in them for a while, but like all toys they come back round again.

So with my brother and family now in Rotorua and Grandma and Grandad in Dubai, you frequently hear Ben or Alex talking away to someone, having a really indepth conversation.

Shame the phone doesn't work!

Although with Steve in Hamilton all week then the boys are getting to talk on the phone to Steve each night. Ben is getting really good at this and tells Daddy every little thing, Alex is still very shy and will say a few words but would rather just sit and listen.

Being Helpful

Both of the boys have decided that they want to help in the kitchen.

Now there are certain meals that this works nicely with. Fish Fingers and Mac Cheese for instance, Alex gets the fish fingers out and puts them on the oven tray and Ben can whip up a great Mac Cheese from the packet.



Back in August, I went to a fundraiser that my committee of Parents Centre organised, we got The Destitute Gourmet to come and do a cooking demonstration. It was a wonderful night had by all, 3 hours of Sophie showing you how to make some basic meals, and get to taste them at the end. Being on the committee that organised all of this I was lucky enough (I think) to spend the evening in the kitchen helping Sophie. I learnt a lot.


Anyway, she showed us how to make pizza dough and then to cook the pizza. She talked a lot about getting the kids involved, especially with the dough making part. So that is what I did.
Now you don't do this when you are rushed, so it needs to be planned. You also don't worry about the mess, flour goes everywhere, but hey the kids are getting in there. (I will try and remember to post the recipe for you all to use, so easy)
This is only the 2nd time we have done this now, but Alex was so into this, he loved kneeding the dough and giving it a really good roughing up!

So if you have kids, even as young as 2, then plan to make your own pizza one night. The kids will love making the dough and then decorating their pizza, putting it in the oven and then eating it. Alex is half dressed due to the mess of flour going everywhere.

Now the other area they like to be helpful is in the cleaning department, well they try.
Alex has an obsession with the vacuum cleaner. He is always asking for it and if he can get his hands on it will play for ages with it, even though it is not turned on!
Maybe I can get him into walls and windows next!

Parenting

Parenting sure does have its serious side, but every now and again it's good to remember that, as parents, we're all only human.
So take a moment from your busy day to remind yourself how good it feels to have a chuckle, at your kids' expense.

1. You spend the first two years of their life teaching them to walk and talk. Then you spend the next 16 telling them to sit down and shut up.
2. Grandchildren are God's reward for not killing your own children.
3. Mothers of teens now know why some animals eat their young.
4. Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said.
5. The main purpose of holding children's parties is to remind yourself that there are children more awful than your own.
6. We childproofed our homes, but they are still getting in.
7. Most of all, be nice to your kids. They will choose your nursing home one day.

Morning Dad

I have been informed that in my father's morning ritual it includes checking his emails and then checking out the blog sites.
So hi dad, hope your day is going well.
Nice to know you are checking up on what your grandsons are up too.
Miss you lots, see you really soon in November.

Love us x x x x

Win a Free Blog Template

Got to be in to win. This person designs templates for blogs, how cool would that be.

Speech

Ben and Alex are not actually that different in speech at the moment.
With Ben not starting to talk until he was 3 (read more about this here), and with Alex being normal and trying to say everything we say, they are both at the same point almost!

As we are talking about Hamilton a lot and of course with Steve now living there, it is a word that is getting used a lot around our house.
Ben calls it Hantilmin
Alex says Hamilton.

Just goes to show the difference in their speech.
Not too worried about Ben, will just keep an eye on him. He can say things, but they are just not as clear as some of the words that Alex says.
As he starts school next year we will keep watching him and can always approach this more then.

Hamilton Up Date

To keep up with how things are going in Hamilton, check out here.
Steve is now working in Hamilton, will only see him on weekends until I move down in 3 weeks time!