Friday 31 January 2014

FFS Friday - Goodbye Chester

This weeks FFS Friday post has been suspended, which means you'll get a huge lot of whinging next week. This week I'm saying goodbye to the gorgeous puppy that we had for a few days. He was a beautiful dog and I was really sad to say goodbye to him. 

Last Wednesday we got a rescue puppy. His name was Chester and he was a beautiful 7 month old American/English staffy. The lady we got him off assured us that he was great with kids and that he'd been around her 2 1/2 year old son.

When we went to see him it was all a bit strange. The other rescue places we'd been in touch with came to inspect our house and bought the dog to our house, but this lady didn't care what our yard was like, wouldn't bring him to our house and when we went to see the dog she wanted us to take him straight away. Silly us thought nothing of it.


She said that she wanted us to take him straight away so that it was less disruption for him because he'd been from his foster carers house to her house and if we didn't take him straight away he'd have to go back to his foster carers house (the foster carer was there when we saw him and he had only been at the rescue lady's house for about 1/2 an hour so I'm not sure why she thought it'd be too much disruption for him). 

I told her my main concern was if he'd be okay with the boys (who were both with us) and she said that he's fine with kids and has spent time around young children and babies. 

Taking him straight away was really inconvenient as we had nothing for him. No food, no bed, no lead etc. Tiger had to go to the shops to get everything for him that afternoon. Another thing that should have rung alarm bells for us is that when we called to ask what food he ate, she said that she didn't know!

We got Chester home and he was a beautiful, gentle dog but he wasn't at all interested in the boys, he wanted to spend all his time with me. This was contrary to what the rescue lady had told us, so we figured that he might just need time to settle in. 

It didn't take us long to realise that she hadn't been honest with us and that Chester had spent little to no time around young children. As a result of this, Chai was scared of him (Chester was not at all aggressive towards him). He also had fleas.


By Friday we'd realised that Chester wasn't the dog for us and we arranged to return him. Part of getting a rescue puppy is that you get a two week trial and if it doesn't work out you get your money back. When Tiger dropped Chester off, the lady told us that we wouldn't get our money back until Chester had been re-homed!

As you can imagine, we were not at all happy with that. We didn't have the cash on us when we'd picked up Chester so she'd asked us to pay it off her vet bill, which we did.  We contacted the vet and they said that they would give us the money back but it wouldn't happen until Tuesday because of the long weekend. 


When Tiger dropped Chester off he mentioned that he hadn't been very good with kids and her reply was "well he hasn't spent any time around kids"! If we'd known that we never would have taken him! I have no idea why she'd lie to us about something like that.  


We are both really annoyed with how the rescue lady handled things and we won't be dealing with her again. It would have been awfully unsettling for Chester and it's extremely irresponsible to lie to people about how much contact an animal has had with young children. I hate to think how things could have turned out, thankfully nothing awful happened.

As if that wasn't bad enough, Tuesday Tiger rang the vet to make sure our refund was going through and he got another lady who said that they couldn't issue us a refund. Tiger then contacted the rescue lady to give her our account details and ask her to put the money into our account. She'd previously said that she had an adoption on Tuesday night and she'd give the money to us then. When Tiger contacted her she said the adoption was Thursday. He questioned her on that so she abused him and accused him of threatening her! Thankfully this was all via sms and Tiger has kept the messages just in case she tries anything else dodgy. 

She's also said that she'll do her best to make sure we can't get another rescue dog. Really? Considering the way she's dealt with us I'm assuming she doesn't have a great reputation, so I doubt anyone will take any notice of her. If they do and we can't get a rescue dog we'll buy a puppy from a breeder, which defeats everything that the rescue places are all about.

The whole thing has been a learning experience and as a result we've now decided that we won't get a dog until Eljay is walking. We also won't be dealing with this lady again! 

Unfortunately we will also be very hesitant about getting a rescue dog as it's been so difficult. From places not calling us back to this, I think we'll just contact a breeder when we want a puppy.

Thursday 30 January 2014

Thoughts of the month

1. It's interesting how some of the people closest to me know so little about me. I had a conversation with my mum last month and realised that she really doesn't know me at all. She seems to think she does and that she has an insight into me and my life that I don't, but she's so wrong. For some reason Mum thinks I don't know myself and that she can see things I can't see. She doesn't.

2. The other interesting thing about the conversation we had is that I didn't bother to correct her. I let her believe what she believes. It's not important to me that she know who I really am. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or if it's sad. Either way, it is what it is. 

3. I'd hoped that as the boys got older FIFO would get easier, but it hasn't. If anything it's getting harder. Every day I have more and more admiration for single parents. I really don't know how they do it and retain their sanity. By the time Tiger gets home I'm an exhausted mess.

4. The CSIRO's response to a letter from a seven year old asking them to make her a dragon is awesome.  

5. Even better, they then went on to make her a dragon! You can read about it here

6. Speaking of awesome, this is a great image highlighting the ridiculousness of the rape culture (I'm assuming that they didn't actually set someone on fire). 

7. It is alarmingly difficult to think of ten thoughts this month. I could easily come up with ten thoughts about parenting or toilet training, however that's not interesting and I'm sure no-one, myself included, wants to read about it.

8. We briefly had a dog this month. It's been many years since I had a dog, when my baby Roxy died in 2004 I was heartbroken and I haven't been able to bring myself to get another dog since. The few days that we had Chester reminded me of how much I miss having a dog and how heartbreaking it is to lose them. Pets really are family members.

9. I've decided that I'm going to study, hopefully this year, however it all depends on our finances. After spending 13 years working for the federal government, I am not qualified for any of the jobs that are available around here. If we were living in the city I'd easily get a job, but now that we are in the country I'll need to retrain. I'm looking forward to using my brain again.

10. This month I discovered haloumi. Why didn't any of you tell me about it? How is it possible that I've gone 40 years without haloumi in my life? It's a travesty! I have to say I'm very disappointed that none of you bothered to tell me about the amazingness that is haloumi. I now have to try to make up for all those years I missed out on eating haloumi, it's going to be very hard work! 


Wednesday 29 January 2014

Win with Bourjois

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Click here to visit the Bourjois Australia website. 

Products I Repurchased in 2013

Now that we are nearly in the second month of 2014 I thought it high time I got this post finished.

I don't have any photos to accompany this post as I'm too lazy to round everything up. Most of the products I'm out of at the moment, this year is going to be the year that I get my collection down to a manageable level, so I'm not repurchasing anything unless I really have to.

Having said that, these are the products that I repurchased at least once last year. 

WotNot face wipes
Swisspers face wipes
Sukin lip balm
Face of Australia gentle makeup remover
Neutrogena Naturals purifying face cleanser
Clarins hydraquench moisturiser
Weleda skin food
Crazy Rumors lip balm
Ardell brow gel
Ardell brow pencil
Revlon Honey balm stain
Carmex

There are a lot of other products that I would have repurchased if I'd used them up or if I didn't have another of the same type of product sitting in my cupboard, but the list above shows the products that I love enough to use over and over again. 

What do you repurchase regularly?

Monday 27 January 2014

L'oreal Revitalift Total Repair BB Cream

 I've been wanting to try this for a while so when I saw it for $14.95 at Chemist Warehouse I couldn't resist. It normally costs $34.95 and a saving of $20 was too good to pass up. I got the light tint and I can only just make it work for me. I really wish companies would start making their light shade lighter. It's a little bit too dark for me but after it soaks in I can just get away with it. Considering I'm not super pale, this would be too dark for quite a lot of fair skinned people.

L'oreal says: Perfecting anti-aging moisturiser. Fights 10 signs of ageing, even UV damage. 
10 signs: Covers imperfections. Perfects skin texture. Evens skin tone. Refines skin quality. Illuminates complexion. Intensely hydrates. Corrects dark spots. Smooths wrinkles. Firms contours. Protects against UV.
I've been using this daily for about five months now. In the dry winter weather I didn't find it hydrating enough to use on it's own, so I used it over a moisturiser. In summer it's fine to use alone.
As for the 10 signs that L'oreal claims it fights, here's my verdict:
Covers imperfections and evens skintone - Agreed. It covers my dark spots and evens out my skintone. The very dark patches are still visible however a light dusting of powder fixes that. 

Perfects skin texture - Disagree, my skin texture still looks the same. 

Refines skin quality - Disagree. I'm really not sure what this means, but my skin hasn't changed since I've been using this.

Illuminates complexion - Unsure. My skin does look better when I use this, but I wouldn't say it looks illuminated. This could possibly be due to it being slightly too dark for me, perhaps if it was the right colour it would illuminate my complexion. 

Intensely hydrates - Disagree. It does hydrate, but not intensely. In the cold weather I still need to use a moisturiser underneath. It is quite rich, but not rich enough for the very cold weather. 

Corrects dark spots - Disagree. When I've got this on my dark spots are less visible, however that's just cosmetic, as soon as I remove it my dark spots are back to normal. 

Smooths wrinkles - I wish!

Firms contours - See above.

Protects against UV - Certainly does.

Overall, this is a very nice product and if the colour match was better I'd buy it again. It gives more coverage than most Western BB's and I love that it has a pump top.

Friday 24 January 2014

FFS Friday - Snot head

Hello Friday! The Friday of a long weekend is always wonderful isn't it? Actually any Friday is wonderful. 

Chai, Eljay and I very cleverly managed to get sick this week. FFS.

The reason I say we are clever is that we got sick whilst Tiger is home. If we'd gotten sick when he was away it would have been a disaster. FFS.

We are all full of snot, it's not pleasant. FFS.

I think snot is about the only bodily fluid that I haven't complained about yet, so here it is. FFS.

Chai got sick on Wednesday, I got sick yesterday and Eljay got sick last night. FFS.

Everytime I get sick Tiger immediately assumes I haven't been taking care of myself and gives me the third degree. FFS.

"Have you been taking your multi vitamins? Are you taking this? Are you taking that?" FFS. 

It drives me bonkers! FFS.

Then he starts suggesting all sorts of medications I should take. FFS.

My response to this is always the same, "can't take that, I'm breastfeeding". FFS.

You'd think he would know that considering I've breastfed for a total of 24 months. FFS. 

Also, Tiger and I are very different when it comes to looking after our health. Tiger thinks that if something is wrong you pop a pill to fix it. I think that some things need to run their course and I will usually seek a natural remedy first. So even if I wasn't breastfeeding I wouldn't take any of the medications that Tiger suggests. FFS.

Not to be dramatic or anything but I think it might be more humane for me to be put down. FFS.

Chai is at that wonderful stage where he says everything over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. FFS.

It's sofa king annoying. FFS.

Last week, in the two minute trip to my Dad's house he said the same thing to me twelve times. FFS.

I responded ten times then gave up. FFS.

I'm not one to wish his life away but I really hope this stage is over soon. FFS.

That's the end of my pathetic attempt at FFS Friday this week, I have more but my brain is too full of snot for me to remember what it is. If you'd like to read much more entertaining FFS Friday posts, head over to Sarah's blog.


Dear Baby G

Tuesday 21 January 2014

Chia Pudding Recipe

I don't normally (or ever) post recipes but this one is so good that I just had to share. 
In my quest to lose the baby weight I've reduced my sugar intake, no mean feat for a chocaholic. One thing I've been eating a lot is chia pudding. The credit for this heavenly creation goes to Hippy Brad, I saw a post of his on Instagram so decided to try making one. After a little experimentation I've come up with the perfect recipe.
3 tablespoons of chia
10 tablespoons of chocolate rice milk
1 tablespoon cacao
1 tablespoon agave nectar (or honey if you prefer)

Mix everything together, put it in a container in the fridge, let it set for an hour and it's ready to eat. If you want it to be a bit thicker, let it set overnight. This recipe will make 4 serves.

So many variations can be made to this. My favourite is to add 1 teaspoon of peppermint which makes it taste like a beautiful after dinner mint. Adding 1 teaspoon of cinnamon gives a nice warm kick, and adding coconut gives you a Bounty (my favourite chocolate bar). The possibilities are endless. 

It tastes great on it's own or for something a little more filling, with chopped up berries in it.

You can make a vanilla version by using regular almond milk (or any other milk). So many possibilities. And the best part is that it's healthy!

I usually make a big lot so that I'll have enough for a few days. Luckily for me no-one else in my house likes it, so I get it all to myself. 

If you have any other great chia recipes, please let me know. 

Monday 20 January 2014

Sanctuary Spa Hot Sugar Scrub


Regular readers of my blog would know that I have a thing for body scrubs. I love giving my wobbly bits a good scrub to get the circulation going. My preference is for salt or sugar scrubs as I find them to be more effective and scrubby. Over the years I've used all sorts of different scrubs and have finally found a holy grail scrub. It's the Sanctuary Spa Hot Sugar Scrub. 

This scrub is unlike any that I've ever used. The texture is a lot creamier than sugar scrubs usually are and it's self heating! In the past when I've used self heating products they haven't got that hot and haven't stayed hot for very long but this one does. The first time I used it I got a little alarmed as it gets very warm, but not uncomfortably warm, and it stays warm for a few minutes. 

Even though it's quite creamy, being a sugar scrub it's satisfyingly scrubby and meets my fussy requirements. 

I purchased a 550g tub on sale from Priceline, however the regular price is $19.99.

Friday 17 January 2014

FFS Friday - Sofa king annoying

The PILs are here. FFS.

They're staying for a few days and talking about coming back next week. FFS.

I'm sick of MIL already and they've only been here a few hours. FFS.

Tiger is sick of her too, he's told her off several times. Not FFS.

MIL just makes things so much more difficult. FFS.

We had enough oj left for about two cups. Tiger gave some to Chai then MIL decided to half fill the bottle with water, making the rest of the juice unusable. FFS.

She likes to do that with other products like body wash and hand soap too. FFS.

There'll be a little bit left in the bottom, so she'll half fill it with water. FFS.

I have no idea why she thinks that's a good idea, it just means the rest of the product gets thrown out, what a waste. FFS.

We had people come over with a dog to see if we all get along. If we do, then we'll adopt the dog. I asked Tiger to keep MIL inside and out of the way whilst they were here, but he didn't. FFS.

She was sofa king annoying. FFS.

First she decided to feed it. Without asking the owners. FFS.

Then she talked the ear off the guy who owns the dog, telling him a story from about 20 years ago that has nothing to do with animals. I told her to shut up so she started whispering. FFS.

When Tiger and I were discussing what we thought of the dog, MILs advice was to pray about it. FFS.

I'm going out tomorrow, I don't think I can handle being around MIL all day. FFS.

We are trying to find a dog at the moment and would like a rescue one but it's nearly impossible. The rescue place doesn't answer the phone and by the time they finally get back to us the dogs we are interested in are gone. FFS.

I have no idea how anyone manages to adopt one of their dogs because they just don't call back! FFS.

This week Eljay has perfected the art of pooing up his back. FFS.

He now does it daily. FFS.

He can poo right up his back, to his shoulder blades. FFS.

The boy has skillz. FFS.

Whilst we're on the subject of poo, Chai did a great job of getting it all over the place this week. FFS.

I'd been putting Eljay to bed and after I finished I came into the lounge room and could smell poo. I checked the potty and there was poo in it so I cleaned the potty and I could still smell poo. FFS.

Then I realised that there was poo all over the carpet and the lounge chair, everywhere that Chai had sat after he did he poo. FFS.

That was fun. FFS.

This week there was very nearly a major disaster in our house. FFS.

I was feeding Eljay when Chai came running into the room with a whole block of my precious Pana Chocolate in his hand! FFS. 

I panicked and chased after him to get my precious chocolate back. Thankfully only two pieces were lost. FFS.

The Pana Chocolate is now hidden. Not FFS.

That's all I can think of to whinge about this week. If you'd like to read more whinges, head over to Sarah's blog.  
 
Dear Baby G

Wednesday 15 January 2014

Palmers Gentle Facial Cleansing Wipes


It's pretty rare for me to write a negative review, mainly because I don't use products I dislike long enough for me to write a proper review of them and also because what doesn't work for me might work wonderfully for someone else. Having said that, I just have to write about these wipes because they smell awful! Seriously. I usually like the Palmer's white lotus scent but in the wipes it's awful, it smells like toilet. 

When I say it smells like toilet, I mean that horrible air freshener that's used in public toilets. You know the smell don't you? It's usually mixed with the scent of wee and poo too, gross. It's so bad that I can't use the wipes, I used them for cleaning the bathroom. They are that bad! I'm usually a huge fan of scented products, the more scented the better, but these are just unbearable. Even worse, the scent is strong and lingering. Every time I use them I feel like I'm wiping toilet all over my face. It's quite a shame because without the horrible scent the wipes would be pretty good. They're very wet (I would say moist but I hate that word, it sounds so gross), clean all my make-up off easily and don't dry my skin out. But the smell, ewwwww.

I purchased my Gentle Facial Cleansing Wipes from Priceline for $6.99.

Ingredients:
 

Tuesday 14 January 2014

Beauty Diet Repurcahses

I've been discussing a few rules with Vita and we've agreed that we are allowed to automatically repurchase (without finishing/getting rid of two products) a few of our favourite, holy grail, can't live without products. 

I only have four products that I will automatically repurchase, although having said that I haven't yet repurchased my Nars lip pencil.

My repurchase products are:
Nars Sex Machine Velvet Matte lip pencil - I wore this on my wedding day, it's a beautiful, natural colour on me.

MAC Syrup lipstick - I'm not trying to use this up so it's unlikely that I'll finish it this year, but if I do I'll get another one with B2M.

Chantecaille Camellia Lip Chic - This is the lipstick I'm working on finishing at the moment. It's one of my all time favourite lipsticks and my favourite lipstick formula. A definite repurchase. 

Chanel Boy Rouge Coco Shine - Tiger bought this for me on the day that I had Chai, so it has sentimental value for me. Once I've finished my Camellia Lip Chic I'll be working on finishing this.

Monday 13 January 2014

2014 Beauty Diet - Wishlist

I've had such a great time writing this post. There are so many lovely products I want to try, I don't quite know where to start. Obviously I'm not going to get to buy all of these things because I won't finish enough products. 

I need to have a clean out of all my make-up and I was discussing with Vita if she thought it was cheating to use these products for my two out one in. Vita doesn't think it is and I tend to agree with her as I'd still be complying with the two out one in rule. I'm yet to go through all my products but I'll post photos when I do. Enough rambling, here's my wishlist:

By Terry - I'm quickly becoming obsessed with By Terry. I have a lip balm and lipstick and they are both gorgeous. I want to try a gloss and blush next.

YSL Gloss Volupte - I have no idea when these will be available in Australia, but I want one!

Guerlain Meteorites - I've wanted these for so long!
Credit

Sara Happ The Lip Slip The One Luxe Colour Shine Lip Gloss in The Pink- Despite the incredibly stupid name, this gloss looks gorgeous.

MAC Plumful, Creme Cup and Patisserie lipsticks

Chanel blush - I've always wanted a Chanel blush but never got around to buying one. 

YSL Youth Liberator Serum Foundation - Once I get through some of my many foundations I'm getting this!
Credit
Benefit Lolli Tint - This looks so pretty. It's not available here yet, I think it's due in February.

W3LL People cosmetics - I want the whole range!

That's all for now, however I'm sure I'll be adding to my list pretty soon.

Friday 10 January 2014

FFS Friday - Wee foot

Hello! It's Friday! I'm sure you already knew that and if you didn't you would have known it when you read the title to my post, making this sentence redundant, but anyhow. As usual, I have plenty to complain about it, so grab a drink and let's get into it. 

Last Friday was my first full day flying solo again. FFS.

As usual, my day started before 5am. FFS.

I have a new pram so decided to go walking with the boys. Not FFS.

As I was getting ready Eljay decided he wanted to go to sleep. FFS.

I put him to sleep, got ready and as soon as he woke up I fed him, put both boys in the pram and off we went. Not FFS.

I had to put Eljay in the carrier for the walk home. FFS.

He's 8kg's now. FFS.

The whole way home Eljay screamed, I'm sure the suburb is really happy with me waking them all up before 7am. FFS.

When we got home I put Eljay to sleep, Chai and I had breakfast and I had a shower. When Eljay woke up I got the boys loaded into the car, turned the key and nothing. FFS.

Great. I made sure the car was in park and tried again. Nothing. FFS.

So I unloaded both boys and rang the RAC. FFS.

They arrived, got the car started and we were ready to go. Not FFS.

As usual Eljay screamed the whole way to the shopping centre. FFS.

And Chai joined in too. FFS.

The also both screamed the whole way home. FFS.

Eljay screaming really upsets Chai and he wants me to hold his hand, so for most of the trip home I was driving with one hand and holding his hand with my other hand. FFS.

When we got home I went the the toilet and as I was washing my hands I saw that I had a large, black spider sitting just above my lip. FFS.

No idea where it came from. FFS.

I usually put spiders outside, but that one I killed. FFS.

Later on I was feeding Eljay when I could hear Chai getting into the pantry. FFS.

Feeding and putting Eljay to sleep is always slightly scary as I never know what damage Chai will have done whilst I'm not there. FFS.

This time he'd been trying to reach the chocolate and decided to use his potty as a stool. FFS.

His potty was full of wee. FFS.

The wee went all over the floor. FFS.

I discovered this when I stood in it. FFS.

Yep. FFS.

As if it's not bad enough having poo face, I now have wee foot. I shall never recover. FFS.

Picture this. I'm standing in the pantry with wee all over my foot and nothing in reach to wipe my foot on. I hop over to the sink when Chai comes in and asks "What's wrong Mummy?" to which I reply "I have wee wee on my foot." "Oh" he says. Helpful. I wash and dry my foot (very difficult when it's in the sink, our sinks are high too) then get a towel and clean up the wee that's all over the floor. FFS.

Despite the events of Friday's walk I decided to go for another walk on Saturday. I'm determined to walk my butt off (literally).

This time I put Chai in the carrier on my back. He screamed the whole way to the park. FFS.

When we got to the park I fed him and put him back in the carrier. He screamed the whole way home. FFS.

He finally stopped screaming and fell asleep when we got to our street. FFS.

After that I made Sunday a rest day because I couldn't face the thought of going for another walk with a screaming baby. FFS.

Saturday my day started at 3am. FFS.

Eljay woke up for a feed and then decided it was a great time to have a chat. FFS.

I finally got him back to sleep, lay down in bed, closed my eyes and Chai woke up. FFS.

That night both boys (and me) were totally exhausted. Bed time is a nightmare when Tiger isn't here. FFS.

I put Eljay to sleep but he kept on waking up so I gave up and tried to put Chai to sleep. He couldn't go to sleep because Eljay was chatting away. FFS.

Chai decided that he needed to lay on me to go to sleep and Eljay decided he wanted a cuddle too. FFS.

I finally managed to get them both to sleep with Chai laying on my chest and Eljay laying next to me feeding. FFS.

FML. FFS.

Sunday was another trying day. I won't even bother going into it, it was pretty much the same as the previous two days. For some reason I'm really struggling this swing, I have no idea why. It just feels like every time Tiger goes away solo parenting gets a little bit harder. FFS.

This week every day has felt like groundhog day. Each day has been the same as what I've whinged about above. FFS.

Wednesday I didn't think I could cope any more so I got us all dressed and we went to the playground for 3 hours. Not FFS.

It was great, Chai had a wonderful time, I got to sit down for a few minutes and everything was lovely. Not FFS.

The only dowside was Eljay doing a huge spew all down the front of both of us. FFS.

Just before Tiger left we changed Chai into a bigger car seat and moved him from the middle out to the edge. This was the first time we'd been out with the new arrangement. Normally I lock the car doors when I'm driving but this time I'd forgotten to. FFS.

I was driving along when I could suddenly heard air coming in to the car. I thought that Chai had let the window down a little bit, so I turned his window up but the noise continued. Then I realised that he'd opened the door! FFS.

I quickly locked the door which is when I realised that he hadn't just unlatched it, he'd actually opened it and the only reason it didn't fly open was because he was holding onto the handle! FFS.

We were on a really busy section of road with trucks all around so I couldn't pull over! FFS.

I slowed right down, took the first turn that I saw and there was still nowhere to pull over so I stopped on the road. FFS.

When we got home I put the child lock on. FFS.

Thursday was a pretty good day. Chai was happy, Eljay was happy and everything was good...until the evening. FFS.

I put Eljay to sleep three times and he kept on waking up. FFS.

By then it was time for Chai to go to sleep so the poor child had to go to sleep listening to Eljay singing the song of his people. FFS.

It was 8.30pm by the time I got them both to sleep. FFS.

The house looked like a bomb had hit it, but I left it all, ate some ice cream, wrote this post and went to bed. FFS.

That concludes my whine for the week. Come back next week to read more of my whinges. If you haven't had enough of whinging, head over to Sarah's blog to see what everyone else has been whinging about.

Dear Baby G

Monday 6 January 2014

The tale of a hairy armed girl

For as long as I can remember I've had hairy arms. And not just hairy, long hair and a lot of it, think man style hairy arms and you get the picture. It's quite bizarre as I'm not a hairy person, but my arm hair was just out of control. Thankfully it was blonde hair but there was a lot of. I've hated it for years, there was even a period in primary school where I refused to take my jumper off because I didn't like my hairy arms.

Over the years I've thought about trying hair removal but I was worried that the hair would grow back dark. Then one fateful day I was talking to my beautician and she encouraged me to try waxing. She was Italian with very dark, thick hair and she'd waxed her arms with great results. So I took the plunge and gave it a go. Fortunately it was great decision! Not only did the hair not grow back darker, only about half the amount of hair grew back. So I no longer had super hairy arms! Yay! Also, having smooth arms feels wonderful. 

Since then I've been waxing my arms every few months. I used to go to the beautician but after having babies I just haven't had the time or money to get there every few months so I've been waxing my arms myself. I love the results but it's such a messy job, I end up with wax all over the place and it's just a mess. 

A few months ago I was sent the Veet Easy Wax kit to review and I love it! It has solved all my messy wax problems. This is just like the wax applicators that beauticians use and it's super easy to use. You just plug it in and let it heat up for 20 to 30 minutes, then off you go.

I've found that I usually need to warm the wax up for around 30 minutes. Once the wax is warm it easily rolls on and then off I go. The great thing about this is that you can't overheat the wax, it gets to the right temperature and stays there. Any of you who wax at home will know how difficult it is getting the wax to the right temperature, I can't count the number of times I've burned myself. 

So to all the hairy armed girls out there, give waxing a go, you won't regret it!

You can purchase the Easy Wax kit for $39.99. 

Note: The Veet Easy Wax kit was sent to me for review. 

Friday 3 January 2014

FFS Friday - Calling Mr Vain

It's Friday again! I would be excited about it, but my weekends are the same as my weekdays so it's no difference. Plus, I'm solo parenting again, lucky me. FFS.

This swing the boys have given Tiger a taste of what life is like for me when he's away. Not FFS.

Usually when he's home everything runs smoothly and the second he's gone it all turns to crap, but not this time. Not FFS.

The boys have been at their finest, to my great pleasure. Not FFS.

Tiger has been so exhausted and he finally has some small idea of what it's like to solo parent (even though he's had me here helping the whole time).

Friday night it took us until 9pm to get both boys to sleep. FFS.

By the time Tiger had got Chai to sleep he was exhausted so I took the opportunity to point out to him that when he's away and I have a night like that I still have to get Eljay to sleep, make tea, eat tea, tidy up and get to bed. He started to get the picture. Not FFS.

We had the PIL's down for a few days this week. FFS.

They decided that coloured pop corn and biscuits were a good thing to give Chai for breakfast. FFS.

And left them both in Chai's reach so that he helped himself whenever he wanted them. FFS.

The MIL baffles me a lot of the time. FFS.

Sunday evening I was putting the dishes away and she was standing there watching me when she told me that my drawers are 'fantastic'. FFS.

I had no idea what she was talking about so she explained that the drawers "coming out on rollers" was absolutely fantastic. WTF? FFS.

As usual she was constantly bossing us around and telling us what to do. FFS.

And coming out with her pearls of wisdom. FFS.

For instance, if you don't wash your hands after changing a nappy you will get diarrhea. FFS.

She also took my only pair of jeans home with her. FFS.

I'm not sure what annoys me more, the fact that she took them home or the fact that she would wear the same type of jeans I'm wearing at the moment! FFS.

(It should be noted that the reason I only have 1 pair of jeans is that I'm still losing my baby weight and I refuse to buy another pair. Also, said jeans are Target cheapies and not in a style I'd usually wear, which could explain why MIL thought she'd want to wear them?)

When Chai was a baby the health nurse told me that babies practice new skills in their sleep. This wasn't true for Chai so I thought she was making it up. She wasn't. FFS.

I know this because Eljay is currently learning to roll over. He rarely does it when he's awake, but he does it constantly in his sleep. And then wakes up screaming because he's rolled over. FFS.

He doesn't just do it once or twice, he does it all night. I really do mean ALL night. FFS.

I now have to sleep with my hand on him to stop him rolling over. Fun times. FFS.

As if that's not bad enough, he's also started scratching himself hard enough to draw blood. FFS.

And so he wakes up screaming cause he's hurt. FFS.

I've cut his nails as short as I possibly can but he still manages to scratch himself. FFS.

Do you know how hard it is to find mittens to fit a five month old? No? I'll tell you. It's nearly impossible. I've searched all over town and can't find any. FFS.

This week we nearly had a trip to emergency with Chai. FFS.

He was helping Tiger fertilise the lawn when he decided to put some fertiliser in his mouth. FFS.

Thankfully Tiger saw him do it so stopped him before he closed his mouth and swallowed it. Not FFS.

I've mentioned before that Tiger is vain. Last week I put a really nice photo of him and Eljay on facebook. Not FFS.

He decided he didn't like it because it made his chest look saggy (it didn't) and so had a sulk about it. FFS.

Now he wants me to check with him before I put any photos on facebook. FFS.

I'm so tempted to post a really, really bad photo of him but I won't. FFS.

Unless he really annoys me sometime in the near future. FFS.

You may remember me complaining about my dodgy postie? Well guess what, I cracked him! I was determined to befriend him as we are going to be seeing a lot of each other and I finally managed it. You'll all be pleased to know that we are now BFF's! 

I've found out why he's so grumpy too. The poor man has a full time job, plus he helps his wife with her job, which is the mail run. So he's totally exhausted! I don't blame him for being grumpy. I'm glad we're BFF's now, we have a nice chat when he delivers my parcels and he doesn't attempt the drop and run anymore, it's great. Not FFS.

That's all my exciting news and whinges for the week. Please feel free to share your FFS worthy moments in the comments. If you'd like to read more whinges head over to Sarah's blog


Dear Baby G