Saturday 29 June 2013

Thoughts of the month

1. Chai now dry retches every time I change one of his pooey nappies. I find this hilarious. I keep telling him that if he'd use the toilet or potty it wouldn't stink so much but he is ignoring me so far.

2. I don't understand why people take such pleasure in the misfortune of others. A few weeks ago I bumped into a friend who I used to work with many years ago (23 to be exact). We were quickly catching up on what has been happening in our lives, when she gleefully told me that she'd seen my ex and he'd broken up with his wife so was selling the family home. They have three children and have been together for 18 years. She looked really surprised when I said that I was sorry to hear that and I thought it was very sad for them. I'm really not sure what reaction she was expecting. 

Add to that, I'm not sure why she thought I'd be pleased that his marriage broke down. We had a beautiful relationship and he was a wonderful man who always treated me nicely. The only reason we broke up is because I was very young and I knew that I needed to grow as a person before I could commit my life to someone. If we'd met when I was older I dare say we would have got married. So why would anyone think that I would wish him any unhappiness? Maybe because after we broke up he and his now ex wife spent 12 months stalking and abusing me until I put a restraining order on them. However that was a long time ago and it's all in the past, it certainly doesn't mean I hold any ill will towards them.

3. Speaking of things I don't understand, I've never got the whole Coming Out thing. Why does society think that homosexual people should declare their sexuality? I wasn't required to come out as a heterosexual so I don't see why homosexuals should come out. It's no-ones business what another persons sexual preference is. I just don't get it. Never have, never will. 
4. I bought an air fryer a few weeks ago, it's all sorts of awesome. We don't often eat fried food so it's really nice being able to have healthy, low fat chips. It can also bake, roast and do other tricky things. The best $98 I've spent in a long time. I'm told I can also make apple crumble in it, this is a good but very dangerous thing.

5. There was a big fuss in Perth this month when a video of a woman on a packed train refusing to move her possessions off the seat next to her so a pregnant woman could sit down was published on social media. The comments on the post were quite amazing too. Several people said that "being pregnant is a choice" and other such comments. That's true, however what about manners? When I was pregnant I caught public transport five days a week and was only offered a seat twice.

On a weekly basis people would push and bump my belly in an effort to get on the train before me. One morning a man barged past me and another pregnant woman to get the last vacant seat. 

I found this comment (from a woman) particularly interesting: having a baby is a lifestyle CHOICE - while I agree the young woman should not have taken up the seat next to her with her files etc, I see no reason why she (or anyone else) should give up their seat to a pregnant woman. It's bad enough we taxpayers will go on funding her child for the next 18 years or more. Personally if you can't afford to raise your kid yourself, don't have one. (And FYI, I'm child-free and in my 50s.)

If anyone knows how to get the taxpayer to fund my child/children for the next 18 years please tell me.

I'd like to think that people could be polite and considerate. If my grandfather was on the train I'd hope that someone would offer him their seat. 

Every week I used to see a lovely old gentleman get on the train. He was frail and had trouble walking yet he was never offered a seat. He'd stand on the train, swaying and having trouble keeping his balance whilst perfectly able people sat in the priority seats and pretended not to see him. It was shameful.

6. I turned 40 this month. It wasn't a big deal. 

7.  I'm struggling to come up with more thoughts for this month. I like to have ten thoughts, ten is a nice even number. It's not happening though.

8. You all need to buy some Mother Earth Baked Oaty Slices

9. This video by Vivianna Does Make-Up is super cute. 

10. Try as I might I've got nothing for number ten. So you'll just have to make do with this picture. 
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Friday 28 June 2013

FFS Friday - Not crafty mumma

Thank goodness we are on the countdown to when Tiger gets home, I've had enough of solo parenting!

In an effort to be a crafty mother I've been saving up toilet rolls so that I can make them into something fun for Chai to play with. I now have six sitting on the wall in our en-suite. Unfortunately I have no idea what to do with them, so will probably end up throwing them in the bin. Mummy fail. FFS.

Mum's been at it again over the weekend. You may remember I mentioned last week that she phoned and told me they were probably coming down on the weekend and she'd let me know. She didn't get back to me. FFS.

Friday my brother rang and said that Mum was coming down on Saturday and wanted us to organise something. FFS.

Clearly she still thinks we're her personal event planners. FFS.

The bro and I agreed that she could stay at my house and that we'd have tea at his house. He thinks she was just trying not to impose, however my SIL and I think it's rude for her to invite herself down and then expect us to arrange everything. FFS.

In the past she's just rung up, asked if she can come down and suggested we all get together so why she's been acting so strangely lately is a mystery to me. FFS.


It's becoming apparent that the agent selling our house is either incredibly stupid or deliberately trying to annoy us. FFS.


After he sent us the letter last week demanding access to the house, we sent him a letter telling him that he has no right to demand access to the house and that if he wants to come into the house he'll need to negotiate a suitable time and day with us. When he got the letter he phoned our property manager and told her that we are denying him access to the house. FFS.


Bloody liar. I spoke to her and told her what's really been going on. FFS.


If he had any brains he'd deal with us directly and not try to stir up trouble with the property manager. Making us angry just means that we'll make it more difficult for him to get into the house and will make no effort to tidy the house when he is bringing people through. Stupid man. FFS.


Chai loves dogs, he gets really excited whenever we see a dog and always wants to pat and play with them. He also copies what they do, specifically drinking from bowls of water on the floor and eating off the floor. FFS.


I haven't made a big deal of this because if I do then he'll just do it more, I'm hoping he'll forget about it soon. FFS.


Monday I was at Dome when he dropped some food on the floor, got down on his hands and knees and ate the food straight off the floor. FFS.

Naturally the place was packed so there were plenty of people who witnessed this. I pretended he wasn't my child. FFS.

I love winter, it's my favourite season. I always look forward to being able to wear my boots again. This week has been very wet so on Monday I got my boots out, only to discover that thanks to my belly I can't get my boots on. FFS.



This week has been a tough one with Chai. I'm not sure if he's missing his Dad or what it is, but he hasn't been sleeping well and he's been taking forever to get to sleep. FFS.

Tuesday night I had things to do after I put him to sleep, however he decided not to go to sleep. FFS.

I gave up after an hour and a half. FFS.

I then spent 15 minutes with him clinging to me and screaming in my ear whilst I hung out the washing, put the leftover dinner in the fridge and tried to get ready to go to bed. FFS.

In the end I put Chai on my bed and called Tiger so that I could go to the toilet and take my make-up off. Poor Tiger had to listen to Chai screaming whilst I went to the toilet, put on my pj's, took off my makeup and brushed my teeth. FFS.

As if that wasn't bad enough, Chai took another half an hour to get to sleep, woke up twice during the night then decided to start the day at 5.30am. FFS.

As there are only seven weeks left until bub number two is due, I've started to get my hospital bag ready. I bought some maternity pads and as soon as he saw them Chai went mad, telling me he wanted to cuddle them. FFS.

When we got home he watched me put them in the cupboard and immediately got them out and started cuddling them. FFS.

I regularly find him sitting on the lounge suite cuddling the packets. FFS.

Now that he's getting older we've been teaching Chai that he has control over his body and that he can tell people to stop when they are doing something he isn't comfortable with. We've taught him to say Stop when something is happening that he doesn't like. So if we are playing with him and he wants us to stop, he'll say "Snop" and we'll stop straight away, then when he wants to keep on playing he'll say "Go". This has been working really well, the only problem is he thinks this should apply to all situations, so when I'm washing his face or changing his nappy and he doesn't want me to he'll say "Snop". FFS.

I've explained to him that there are some things that we need to do to care for him that we will continue to do even if he says "Snop", however I'm not sure if he understands me or not. FFS. 

That concludes my weekly whinge. If you've made it this far, congratulations!

I am still looking for people interested in guest posting for me when I've had the bub, if you are interested you can read about it here

Also, if you want some beauty bargains, check out the blog sale I'm hosting.
Dear Baby G

Friday 21 June 2013

FFS Friday - House hell

The weekend is nearly here! I remember back in the days when I used to work outside the home, Fridays were so exciting. Now, not so much. 

The oven in this house is one of those fancy 900 wide ovens. It looks really great and does lots of clever things like air defrosting. It has one major flaw though. Whilst it is lovely and wide, it's bloody short. FFS.

It's so short that if I'm cooking a roast my roasting pot only just fits. FFS.

This means that we can't have roast meat and roast veggies on the same night. FFS. 

After not attempting to kill my child for a few months now, I've been having a red hot go of it lately. FFS.

Thanks to my baby brain I am constantly forgetting to strap him into his car seat. FFS.

When I say constantly, I mean every second car trip! FFS.

It's got to the point where I have a sticky note on the dashboard reminding me to strap him in. FFS.

Heaven knows what I'll be like when the new baby is here and I'm sleep deprived along with everything else! FFS.

I'll probably need constant supervision to ensure I don't accidentally kill the poor little man. FFS.

Speaking of baby brain, it struck again this week. FFS.

We'd run out of eggs so I sent Tiger to the supermarket to buy some. He got home and went to put them in the fridge where he discovered a full carton of eggs. FFS.

Turns out I'd bought eggs but when I put them in the fridge I put them in a different position to usual, then forgot about them. FFS.

The next time I went to the fridge for eggs there were none in the usual position, so I thought we didn't have any. FFS.

I have no recollection of buying the eggs. FFS.

We now have two dozen eggs to use up. FFS.


So after last week's stunt where Mum tried to make my brother and I event planners, the story gets better. FFS.

Not only did she try and force my brother and I to organise something, she also landed my brother in the crap. FFS.

She rang my SIL and asked her if my bro had told her about the weekend. When my SIL said that she knew nothing about it Mum told her that we were having a get together. Naturally my SIL was then annoyed with my bro for not telling her about it! FFS.

And after all that we had to cancel it because my SIL and nephew were both sick. FFS.

Bloody mothers, causing disharmony everywhere! FFS.

We are still house hunting. FFS.

Tiger has decided that it's urgent we find a house to buy. He thinks that it'll take around 2 months for settlement etc so we need to get moving now, so that we don't "miss out" on the perfect house. FFS.

I've told him if we miss out on a house then it's clearly not the right house for us, but he doesn't agree with me. FFS.


Even if we did find the perfect house we'd still have at least six months left on our lease and no-one is going to rent a house that's for sale, so we'd be stuck paying rent and a mortgage, which we can't afford. FFS.

I've explained this to him several times but he just doesn't get it. FFS.

Monday was my 40th birthday. Chai hadn't slept well the night before so was sleeping in our bed. He tossed and turned all night, which meant that none of us got much sleep. FFS.


He woke up happy and ready to play at 6.15am, then spewed all over me and the bed. Welcome to 40. FFS.


After I'd cleaned myself up, Tiger had cleaned up Chai and I'd cleaned up the bed, I was finally laying in bed again when Chai whacked me in the head with his toy motorbike. FFS.


So far 40 was not looking like much fun. FFS.

Then Chai stood up and pointed to his nappy and I realised that he'd leaked out of his nappy and had wee all over his pants. FFS.

I gave up and got out of bed. FFS.

There went any hope I had of a nice lie in and breakfast in bed. Yep, welcome to 40. FFS.

Instead I put the washing on. Fun. FFS.

Mum didn't even bother calling me to wish me happy birthday. FFS.

She doesn't celebrate birthdays (for religious reasons), however she will usually call me to acknowledge the day, she just won't say happy birthday. This year she didn't even bother. FFS.

Clearly acknowledging your daughters 40th is not important. FFS.

She rang me a few days after my birthday and midway through the conversation said "oh, you're my 40 year old daughter". That's it. FFS.

Then she informed me that she would probably be coming down this weekend. FFS.

No asking if I was busy or if that was okay, just told me she might be coming and she'd let me know. FFS.

I couldn't be bothered arguing with her. FFS.

Whilst we're talking about family, BIL has no idea about babies etc. Tiger was talking to him on Monday night when he asked Tiger to "find out when the baby is going to be born and I'll come over to visit for a few weeks." FFS.

I'm not sure how he expects us to "find out when the baby is going to be born." Maybe he thinks we should ask it when it's planning to make it's grand entrance into the world. FFS.

Tiger and I both agree that the last thing we need when we have a newborn is a house guest. FFS. 

Naturally, telling BIL this is going to cause all sorts of dramas, he'll spit the dummy and probably won't talk to us for a few weeks, it's ridiculous. FFS.

He'll then rant on about how I don't let him bond with his nephew and it's all our fault that he decided to leave the state. FFS.

The trouble is, we don't know when hubby will be going back to work so we can't even give BIL dates when it'll be okay for him to visit. FFS.

As much as I am loving living in the country, it also has it's bad points. One of the joys of living in the country is that the power here goes out all the time. FFS.

It regularly flashes on and off. FFS.

When I say regularly I mean at least once a week. FFS.

Every time it does I have to reset all the clocks, the fetch tv and the hot water system. FFS.

Tuesday night the power flashed off and I forgot to turn the hot water system back on. I discovered this when I went to put Chai in the bath. FFS.

It took fifteen minutes for the water to heat up. FFS.

Yesterday I got it into my head that it'd be a good idea to weed the garden. FFS.

Not really sure why I thought that considering I have trouble getting on and off the ground thanks to my belly, however I gave it a good go. After five minutes I was having lots of braxton hicks contractions so had to give up and rest on the lounge suite for 1/2 an hour. FFS.

After behaving decently for a few weeks, the estate agency handling the sale of our property have shown their true colours. FFS.

I got the following letter from them yesterday:
Nice try estate agency. If I didn't know better, I'd read the letter and think that I had no choice but to let them into the property on that date. Fortunately I have read the Residential Tenancy Act and know that they can only enter the property at a time and date that is convenient to me, not to them. Bastards. FFS.

Two weeks ago the agent told us he only wanted to show people through every five to six weeks and that he wouldn't be having home opens, turns out that was a lie. FFS.


We made it very clear when we met him that we would not vacate the house for him to show people through and yet he still asks us to leave the house. Again, nice try. FFS.

He also took a whole lot of photos when he was here two weeks ago, so I don't see why they need to take more. FFS.


I am not at all comfortable with them having a video tour of the house on the internet, I didn't allow it when we were selling our own home and I don't want it to happen with this house. FFS.

As for telling me I have to keep the house tidy and well maintained, he can go jump in front of a fast moving truck. The maintenance of the house is the responsibility of the owner, so if he has a problem with that he needs to speak to them not me. The only person who can tell me what state I have to keep the house in is my property manager. FFS.

Tiger spoke to the agent last night and told him that he can't come through the house on that day as it's not convenient and that he'll need to arrange another time to come through. Not FFS.


Twitter just suggested I follow a funeral director. Seriously. FFS.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the end of my weekly whinge. If you'd like to read what others are whinging about, head over to Sarah's blog and take a look.
 
Dear Baby G
Never argue with an idiot. They will bring you down to their level and beat you with experience - George Carlon

Wednesday 19 June 2013

Wishlist Wednesday - Travel sized products edition

I'm starting to think about getting my hospital bag ready for when I have bub, so I've been looking at all sorts of different travel sized products. There are so many great travel kits available, I could easily have made a huge list, but I narrowed it down to a few that I think would be amazing.
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First Aid Beauty Essentials Kit - I haven't tried any First Aid products but this kit would be great for hospital. It contains a face wash and moisturiser plus a body wash and moisturiser. 
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Original and Mineral mini Hydrate and Conquer Shampoo and Conditioner - These are my all time favourite shampoo and conditioner, if you haven't tried them, you need to!
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Audra James Beauty Balm - This is one of those all round balms that can be used on anything. Lips, dry skin etc, so it'd be a great addition to my hospital bag.

Audra James New Mum Gift Box - I'd choose option two as I think the revitalising spray would be lovely.
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Origins Skin Protecting Facial Kit - Unfortunately this is from Sephora so it's unlikely I'll get it, but what a great kit it is! I really like the A Perfect World products I've used, they smell lovely.  
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Ole Henriksen Seven Skincare Sensations - This is another range I've always wanted to try and this kit would be the perfect way to test out some of the products.
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Fresh Sugar Lip Lovers Kit - This has nothing at all to do with hospital, but what a great kit!
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Philosophy Welcome Baby Kit - The Sephora website is dangerous, there are so many great products on it and they are all so cheap. Lucky I have not yet ventured into the world of parcel forwarding yet.

If any of you have any travel kit recommendations, please let me know.

Monday 17 June 2013

So this is 40

I turned 40 today. Unlike some people getting older doesn't worry me, in fact I quite enjoy it as I've found that life gets better as I get older. Don't get me wrong, I don't love the wrinkles etc that come with ageing, but as a whole I'm not concerned about my age.

If you told me a few years ago that I'd be forty and pregnant I probably wouldn't have believed you, but here I am 31 weeks and 3 days pregnant with my second child. There was a time that I thought I'd missed my chance and I'd never have children, so I feel very lucky to have my beautiful boy and all going well I will have another beautiful child very soon. 

Reflecting on the last 40 years I can say that I'm happy. I haven't had the perfect life but it's been good, I've been mostly happy and I don't have any huge regrets. I've lived a fortunate life. In my opinion anyone who is healthy and happy is very fortunate. 

At this point in time I am very content with my life. I love living in the country, I love being a mum and I love having my family close. I love that I can ring up my sister in law, Dad, best friend or cousin and pop over for a visit if I'm having a bad day. I love that they pop in and visit me. I really missed that when I was living in the city. I also love that my babies will grow up with their cousins, I think it's important for a child to have a strong family circle and I love that we are giving that to Chai and our new bub. 

The one thing I don't love at the moment is Tiger working away, however I do love the two weeks that he's home every month and I know that if he was working locally he'd only get eight days off over a month, instead of fourteen. So really, I'm lucky that he works away as it gives us more time with him. 

For me my 20's were about learning who I am, sorting out my crap and healing the wounds from my childhood. My 30's were about establishing a career and settling down. I'm hoping my 40's will be about raising my family and being contented. 

I never really thought about what I'd look like at forty, but for those who are wondering, this is what an untouched, no filter, no make-up forty looks like:

This is the face of a woman who has known joy and sorrow, illness and health, who has survived two miscarriages, childhood sexual abuse, severe asthma and crohn's disease. Through it all I've learned who I am and I have come through these events a stronger, happier person. I can honestly say that I know who I am and I'm happy with me.

Friday 14 June 2013

FFS Friday - I am not an event planner

Hello Friday! I can smell the weekend, it's nearly here! I hope you all have something fun planned! We are having a family get together, looking at a few houses and I have no idea what else. 

As I mentioned last Friday, we met the estate agent selling our house. FFS.

He was really nice. FFS.

And very accommodating. FFS.

It was the opposite of what we were expecting. He's only been with the agency for a little while so hopefully hasn't picked up any of their dodgy practices yet. Time will tell.

The PILs were here on the weekend. FFS.

They said that they were coming down on Saturday however arrived Friday afternoon. FFS.

MIL was her usual annoying self, talking incessantly, telling us how to look after Chai etc. FFS.

Saturday night she asked Tiger what he does at work. FFS.

He's been doing the same job for 10 years. FFS.


Now that the house is for sale Tiger has decided that we need to move asap, despite us having 10 months left on our lease. FFS.

To this end he has started madly house hunting. FFS.

He spends every evening on the internet looking at houses for sale. FFS. 

When I say every evening, I mean the whole evening, from when Chai goes to sleep to when he goes to bed. FFS.

Sunday morning Chai spewed all over the lounge room. FFS.

I was cleaning it up when Tiger came in and asked me what happened. FFS.

What sort of stupid question is that? I really don't know what answer he was expecting, so I gave him the only answer I could, which was "He spewed". FFS.


Sunday night Chai decided that sleep was for wimps. FFS.

Tiger and I tag teamed. FFS.

I got about four hours sleep. FFS.

He hasn't done something like that for ages so I'm grateful that he decided to do it on a night when Tiger was home. FFS/Not FFS.


Monday we went to look at two houses for sale. FFS.

Tiger had decided he wanted to buy one of them before we even looked at it. FFS.

Thankfully I managed to convince him it wasn't a good idea. Not FFS.

Tuesday I was in a semi grumpy mood and really didn't feel like talking to anyone. Mum rang me twice, I didn't answer so she sms'd me. FFS.

I figured I'd better call her back before she started panicking and calling Tiger to see why I wasn't answering. FFS.

When I called her back she was just talking about nothing, as mums do, telling me all sorts of stories about people that I've never met and really don't give a damn about. FFS.

Sensing my mood Mum then asked what I'm doing on the weekend. As it was only Tuesday and I can barely remember what I've done a few hours ago, I told her I have no idea. FFS.

We then had the following conversation:
Mum: Has anything been arranged for this weekend?
Me: No.
Mum: Oh. So what's happening?
Me: I have no idea. Why?
Mum: Are we still getting together?
Me: I have no idea. 
Mum: So nothing has been arranged?
Me: No. What was supposed to be happening?
Mum: We were supposed to be getting together?
Me: Oh, okay. When?
Mum: I don't know, it hasn't been organised.
Me: Who was organising it?
Mum: You and your brother.
Me: I wasn't organising anything and the bro hasn't mentioned it to me.
Mum: Oh.
Me: Who's idea was it?
Mum: Mine.
Me: Well then you're organising it!
Mum: I can't organise it, it's happening down there (Mum lives an hour away from my brother and I).
Me: (in a very resigned and put upon tone of voice). Okay, I'll talk to the bro.
Mum: I can talk to him. 
Me: So when are we supposed to be getting together?
Mum: I don't know, nothing's been organised. Saturday or Sunday. What's better for you?
Me: Either, I have no idea what we are doing this weekend. What is best for my bro?
Mum: I have no idea, I haven't spoken to him. 
Me: Well when did you want to come down?
Mum: Saturday or Sunday. What's better for you?
Me: I really don't care. What's better for you?
Mum: Saturday would be better. 
Me: Are you staying overnight?
Mum: Well that depends on what you arrange.
By this time I was getting extremely frustrated so got off the phone before I said something really rude! FFS!!!!!

What does she think I am, an event planner? If you come up with an idea then you organise it, you don't expect everyone else to do it for you, especially not a very pregnant, grumpy woman! FFS.

And if you do expect a grumpy pregnant woman to arrange an event, don't complain about what she organises!

I spoke to my brother who also had no idea that we were expected to arrange anything. FFS. 

We've now arranged to get together and make lots of pizza's. That'll be fun considering Mum doesn't eat sugar, gluten or dairy products. FFS.

In the last few months I've developed an allergy to my wedding and engagement rings. FFS.

Whenever I wear them my finger gets really itchy then the skin goes all red and irritated and if I don't take them off I get a gross, red pussy rash on my finger. Lovely. FFS.

Bizarrely I can wear silver rings on that finger with no problems. FFS.

My sudden wedding ring and engagement ring allergy does not bode well for Tiger. FFS.

It's very clear that the allergy means one of two things. Either I'm allergic to him or I'm allergic to the rings. Since I'm quite partial to him and have displayed no other signs of being allergic to him, I can only assume that I am allergic to my rings. FFS.

I've told him that if the allergy doesn't clear up then he'll have to buy me new rings. Hehehe. Not FFS.

In the meantime I am wearing two silver, crystal hippie rings on my wedding finger, so now I fit right in down here. All I need is a flanno and to wear my ugg boots in public and anyone would think I've lived here forever.

Yesterday I woke up at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep, so got up, put on some washing and started doing housework. FFS.

Chai woke up early and Tiger wanted to keep on sleeping so I got Chai up and he followed me around whilst I was tidying up. As I do when I'm pregnant, I started thinking about all the mess that I was cleaning up (most of it was Tiger's) so by the time he got out of bed I'd worked myself into a medium sized, pregnant fury. FFS.


I was having a go at him, telling him that he doesn't do any housework or tidy up after himself when he came up with this gem as an excuse for not putting the dishwasher on:
Me: You haven't even started the dishwasher once. 
Tiger: I don't know how to.
Me: It's pretty simple, you put the tablet in and press go.
Tiger: I haven't been shown how to do that.
Me: Nor have I, I just figured it out for myself, how hard is it?
He had no comeback for that. FFS.


FFS, he's a grown bloody man, does he really need to be shown how to do everything? Bloody lazy men. FFS.


To his credit, he tidied up in the morning and hasn't made any mess since. Not FFS.


Thursday night, just as I was typing this up, the power went off. FFS.

Thankfully it came back on again, then went off. And stayed off. FFS.

It was 6pm, I had just finished making Chai's tea and was about to start making our tea. FFS.

We called Western Power who said that power wouldn't be restored until 9.30pm. FFS.

Tiger called my cousin who said we could go over there. Not FFS.

Then we realised that the car was in the garage and whilst we could manually open and close the door to get the car out, we wouldn't be able to get it back in as the power was out. FFS.

We took Tiger's ute. As is always the way when something like this happens, it had barely any fuel in it. FFS.

We were planning on stopping to get some fuel and tea on the way to my cousins, however the power was out in our whole suburb so that wasn't possible. FFS.

There is no takeaway in my cousins suburb, but thankfully the supermarket was open so we could buy something for tea. Not FFS. 

We got to my cousins at 6.30pm with a tired Chai who was ready to start his bedtime wind down routine. By the time we ate tea and put him in the bath he was so tired he just cried, poor little man. So we got him dressed, put him in the car, went home and thankfully the power was back on. FFS/Not FFS.

And even better, we didn't run out of fuel on the way home. Not FFS.

I've finally got my blogs facebook page up and running, however I have no idea what to do with it! If you have any suggestions of what you'd like to see on there, please let me know! 

That's it for my whinges. Would you believe I actually have more but I'm saving them for next week. Have a lovely weekend beautiful people.

If you'd like to read more weekly whinges head over to Sarah's blog.

 
Dear Baby G

Thursday 13 June 2013

May Empties

This has been a great month empties wise. I'm still on a roll from P100P and am determined to keep on ploughing through my out of control collection and get it to a manageable size.I have a long way to go, but at least I'm making progress. I have a suspicion that when I have two children I will rarely get any spare shopping time, which will help immensely, although there is always online shopping. 
Crabtree and Evelyn Evelyn Rose perfume - I love this perfume, it's such a beautiful, fresh rose scent. I'll definitely be repurchasing.

Garnier Clean Sensitive face wipes - These were okay. Nothing terrible and nothing amazing, they did the job. I won't repurchase, they don't compare to my favourite WotNot wipes. 

Lancome Genifique sample - The new version of Genifique is amazing, it makes my skin look so good!
Original Source Chocolate and Mint shower gel - This is up there with my favourite body washes, it smells like an after dinner mint! I stalked The Reject Shop for months looking for this and I'm kicking myself for only buying two of them because I haven't seen it there again. Thankfully I still have one bottle left.

Philosophy Purity cleanser - An old favourite. A good, basic cleanser that does what it says it will, cleanses my face and removes my makeup.

Kosmea Eighth Natural Wonder serum - I really wanted to love this but I just don't. I found the scent really, really strong (probably cause I'm pregnant), it pils when I put anything over the top of it and we just didn't get along. I hear such great things about it that I'll give it a go again in the future to make sure I just didn't get a dud bottle.

VO5 Moisture Soak shampoo - Nice but not amazing. I won't repurchase because I much prefer O&M products.
Dove Go Fresh deodorant - Dove deodorants never fail me. 

Lush Ro's Argan Body Conditioner - I am in love with this. I've been using it as a body moisturiser however it can also be used as a shower gel. It smells amazing and is super hydrating. A definite repurchase. 

Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine Cream - Okay but not amazing. I had a few samples that I used up- and whilst it's a nice, rich moisturiser it's not one that I'd purchase. 

Colgate Optic White toothpaste - I've tried whitening toothpastes before and they haven't done anything, however Optic White is amazing! My teeth were noticeably whiter. I'll be repurchasing this for sure.

Models Prefer All-In-One BB Cream - This is one of my all time favourite BB's, it's the closest that I've found to Asian BB's. I will be doing a full review soon, however to sumarise, it's love!


Ren Active 7 Radiant Eye Maintenance Gel - I absolutely hated this and was so desperate to finish it that I ended up using it all over my face and neck just to be rid of it. I actually thought that I'd thrown it out. The pump on this is terrible, it pumps out way too much (enough for my whole face) or it doesn't pump anything out due to the product constantly getting air bubbles in it. Add to that, I found it totally ineffective. I was told when I bought it that it was for dark circles and fine lines, it had no effect on either of them. Definitely not buying this again.

Clarins Renew Plus Body Serum - I'm a big fan of Clarins products, they are lovely, however I wouldn't purchase this purely because I don't think it's worth spending over $20 on a body lotion. Having said that, it was a lovely, light product that felt great and soaked in quickly. 

Clinique Deep Comfort Body Butter - Another body lotion that's nice but not worth the $$ in my opinion. If I wanted to spend a lot of money on a body lotion I'd buy one of The Body Shop body butters because they smell amazing. 

Now that you've seen all my empties, check out the blog sale I'm hosting.

Wednesday 12 June 2013

Wishlist Wednesday

Kora Organics skin and body care - I've been looking at the Kora products for ages and they all seem really lovely, if a little expensive. Their body lotion smells amazing and I'd love to buy it, but $55 for a body lotion is crazy, I don't see how a body lotion could be worth $55. I'm saving up my Chemart points and next time they have a 10% off sale I'm going to get the Kora body lotion with my points. Then I'll let you all know if it's worth the high price.

Haus of Gloi goodies - I love Haus of Gloi, their products are amazing. I've recently finished all my HoG products and I really want to buy some more, but until I finish my current stash of bath and body products I am not going to. I will stay strong!
Image credit

Vice and Velvet goodies - Vice and Velvet are an Australian bath and body range that look and sound amazing. I really, really want to try some of their products and I will, as soon as I've finished the products I already have. 


Coconut lip balm in a squeeze tube - You know how some woman have pregnancy food cravings? Well I have pregnancy lip balm cravings. At the moment I am obsessed with finding a coconut lip balm in a squeezy tube. Do you think I can find one? No. Apparently Alba Botanicals make one but I can't find it. Surely there must be other brands that make coconut flavoured lip balm in a squeezy tube! If anyone knows of one please let me know. I'd also like a chocolate coconut one and a chocolate mint one too.
Image credit


Dermalogica Ultrasmoothing Eye Serum - I really don't need another eye cream as I'm trialling two lovely ones at the moment and I have another three sitting waiting for me to use, however I really, really want to try this (in fact it's currently sitting in my Adore Beauty shopping cart). I have sensitive eyes so find that I'm unable to use a lot of the potent eye products. This one is designed for sensitive eyes so would be perfect for me.  


Check out the blog sale I'm hosting.  

Tuesday 11 June 2013

I'm on Facebook!

I've finally got my blog's facebook page up and running. Since I have no idea what I'm doing it's pretty bare at the moment, but hopefully I'll figure it out soon and get some info on there. 

If you'd like to join be and laugh at all the mistakes I make, or help me figure out how to use facebook properly you can find my page here.

I'd like to start following you all on facebook so if you have a page, please link it below.

Monday 10 June 2013

My latest Adorder

Now that P100P is finally over I've been buying a few (and I really mean a few) things. I recently placed an Adorder (for those who don't know what this is, it means I ordered from Adore Beauty).

Here's what I bought:
Philosophy Kiss Me Tonight Lip balm and Field of Flowers shower gel - I've been wanting to try Kiss Me Tonight for ages and I love the shower gels, they're expensive but last for ages so are worth the price.
Clarins Extra Firming body cream - One of my online friends recommended this so I bought it (I'm easily convinced).
Laura Mercier Dollface Gel lip colour - I've been wanting this for ages but every time I went in store to buy it, it was out of stock. They were limited edition so I'd given up hope of finding it, however I managed to score it from Adore!



I was going to get the Clarins body lotion from strawberrynet however it was $20 cheaper at Adore, so always check your prices! Plus, whilst I buy regularly from strawberrynet and have never had a problem, I always wonder about the freshness of their products. When I buy from Adore I know that I'm going to get a genuine product that has been stored correctly and that if there is a problem with it I can get a replacement without any problems. 

I also got a Dermalogica sample kit, two free samples and a Tim Tam!

Saturday 8 June 2013

Anyone want to guest post for me?

I'm putting this out there early as it's still a few months until bub is born, but I was wondering if anyone would like to guest post for me? 

You can post about anything related to beauty and I'm happy if you want to do more than one post. Naturally I'll link back to your blog too.

I'd like to get quite a few guest posts as I know once bub gets here I won't be posting much for a few months. 

I'll try my best to get as many posts scheduled as I can, but any guest posts will help immensely.

If you are interested, email me here.

Edited to add: You don't have to be a blogger to guest post, I'm happy to have anyone guest posting. Also, I need as many guest posts as I can get, so please get in touch if you are interested!

Friday 7 June 2013

FFS Friday - Who let the dogs out?

It's Friday! I would like to say I'm pleased that it's Friday but I'm not because the PILs are coming to stay this weekend, so I'm wishing that the weekend was over and it was Monday right now. Wish me luck surviving the weekend!

Firstly, I few things I've forgotten to mention in previous weeks. 

Remember ages ago when hubby bought me a tablet computer thingo? Well he got me a cover to go with it, no big deal. He has exactly the same cover in black and it cost $30, so he didn't even look at the price when he got mine. When I checked the receipt, it had cost $80. FFS.

Last week I had a package delivered whilst I was out. Mum was with me and we had 20 minutes to pick up the package before the post office closed. FFS.

I told Mum the name of the street that the post office was on and she said that we'd driven past it on our way home. I confirmed this with her twice and she was sure she knew where the street was, so I didn't bother checking my map. Should have known better. FFS.

We drive along and the street that we need is nowhere to be found. FFS.

By this time we have 15 minutes before the post office closes. I find the location and head off. When I get to the correct address all that's there is a chemist and a service station, no post office. FFS.

Turns out that the post office is inside the service station. Bizarre. That's the country for you. FFS.

There is now a For Sale sign out the front of our home. This displeases me greatly. FFS.

I see at least two people a day sitting out the front looking at the house. FFS.

For some reason the thought of people intruding in our home really, really bothers me. I don't know if it's pregnancy hormones or having had people coming through our old house for four months, but I am extremely disturbed and irritated at the thought of people coming through this house. It was supposed to be my private space for a while. FFS.

Saturday afternoon I was looking after my nephews whilst my SIL did her food shopping. The boys were playing in the toy room when I hear Chai's sweet little voice very clearly saying "Ass Hole". FFS.

The six year old thought it'd be funny to teach him. I set him straight about that idea! Now I'm just waiting for when Chai picks the most inappropriate time ever to say asshole. I know it's just a matter of time. FFS.

I haven't mentioned this before, but for the last six weeks Tigers roster has been all over the place. I haven't known how long he's going to be away or when he's coming home. FFS.

Thank goodness he is now back to his regular swing. Not FFS.

We didn't know when he'd be coming home, however on Monday evening we found out that he was coming home Tuesday. Not FFS.

Usually they fly him home in the afternoon and he gets here at 3.30pm. This time he didn't fly in until 9.30pm. FFS.

As Chai and I had dropped him off, we had to go and pick him up again. Due to the late arrival (way past Chai's bed time), we had to stay in Perth overnight. FFS.

It was really difficult to find a hotel room however Tiger finally found one at a three star hotel that we were told had been recently refurbished. I got there Tuesday evening and it was disgusting. FFS.

The walls were dirty, the room wasn't even big enough to fit a portacot, it was a double bed (not a queen like we'd been advised) so it wouldn't even fit the three of us and every time I moved the bed shifted. FFS.

Tiger rang and complained so they showed me two other rooms we could have (in the four star part of the hotel). One was $30 more and the other one was $80 more. FFS.

The first one they showed me was the one that was $30 more. It was up three flights of stairs with no lift access, the roof sloped so I couldn't stand upright anywhere other than right next to the bed and there were two flights of stairs inside the room that couldn't be blocked off and that Chai would have fallen down. FFS.

So we ended up in the room that cost $80 more. It wasn't a bad room, it had a spa and a king sized bed so at least we could sleep comfortably but it definitely wasn't worth the price that we paid. FFS.

It cost more than a room at the Hyatt! FFS.

And if that wasn't bad enough they wanted $15 extra to park the car in security parking. FFS.

By the time I got Chai and I settled in our room we were both tired and hungry. I couldn't be bothered going out to get tea so decided to get room service. The cheapest thing on the menu was chips and they cost $9.50. FFS.

You have to be joking me. $9.50 for chips! FFS.


As they'd already slugged me so much for the room I refused to pay a stupid price for chips so got us fish and chips for tea, which only cost $10.50. FFS.

Turns out that was a very bad decision. FFS.

I have reflux when I'm pregnant and this pregnancy it's been even worse than it was with Chai. There is medication that I can take but I don't want to, so I've been suffering and reminding myself that it's going to stop as soon as I have the baby. FFS.

I do have a great reflux oil that Audra made me however I can't find it at the moment. FFS.

The fish and chips gave me reflux so bad that I vomited. FFS.

I was sick all night, got barely any sleep and was in a lot of pain. FFS.

Finally in the early hours of the morning I managed to get to sleep, only to be woken at 5.30am when Tigers work alarm went off. FFS.

He'd forgotten to turn it off. FFS.

You'd think that he would have turned it off after it woke us up on Wednesday but he didn't and so it woke him and Chai up on Thursday. FFS.

Lucky for me, they were both sleeping in Chai's room so it didn't wake me up. Not FFS.

Now that Tiger is home we agreed to let the agent selling our home into the house. FFS.

To his credit, he is trying to do everything at once to minimise disruption to us, so this afternoon he is looking at the house for the first time, having photo's taken and showing through a prospective buyer. FFS.

Despite never having met us, he wanted us to let him into the house and then go out for half an hour, leaving him in the house to do what he wants. FFS.

Tiger made it very clear that there is no chance of that happening. As if we would give a stranger free run of our house! I can't believe he would even ask! FFS.

Now that you've read all my whinges for the week, head over to Sarah's blog and see what everyone else has to whinge about.  

I hope you all have a beautiful weekend :)



Dear Baby G

*For those of you who are wondering, the title has nothing at all to do with this post, but I couldn't think of anything else. 

Thursday 6 June 2013

May Favourites


Laura Mercier Caviar Stick eye shadow in Grey Pearl- This is amazing. It's the only eyeshadow that I've been using since I got it a few weeks ago. It goes on easily, I just draw it on and it stays put all day without creasing. Perfect. I have no idea why they call this shade Grey Pearl, it's not grey at all it's a beautiful taupe. 
I currently have three other shades on their way to me :)

Sukin Nourishing Lip Treatment - I've mentioned this before (you can read my full review here), it's such a beautiful balm, so hydrating and it tastes lovely. I've nearly finished my tube and I really want to buy another one however I also really want to finish the whole pile of other balms that I have. Dilemna.

Lancome Advanced Genifique - I was sent this to review for Beauty Heaven and I love it. I'd tried samples of the old formula and was unimpressed but the new formula is amazing. Two weeks after I started using Genifique I notice that my pore were looking smaller (something I didn't think possible) and now that I've been using it for five weeks my skin is looking really fresh and healthy. I'll do a full review once I've finished the whole bottle, but for now it's a huge rave. 

Physician's Formula Super BB range - I was sent the new Physician's Formula Super BB cream, powder and concealer to review and so far I'm loving them. The powder works well alone or over the BB cream, it's also great for setting under eye concealer. The BB is lovely, thick, hydrating and not oily. The concealer covers well with minimal creasing. 

Benefit Fake Up - It's a little known secret that as well as being a lip balm addict I am also a concealaholic. I'm always looking for new concealers to hide my dark circles and whenever a new concealer is released I want it. Fake Up sounded perfect because it comes with a hydrating section as well as the concealer. I've only had it for two weeks but so far I really like it. There is minimal creasing and it covers my dark circles well. Plus, it can be reapplied during the day without looking cakey and gross. 
A closer look at the LM Caviar Stick


Wednesday 5 June 2013

Wishlist Wednesday

This week I'm all about cream blushes. To say I have an obsession with cream blushes and lip and cheek creams is an understatement. I love that they are easy to use and I can throw one in my handbag where it does double duty.


MAC Cream Colour Base - I don't know how it is that I've never tried a CCB, clearly I need to remedy this immediately.

Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Cream Blush  - In my opinion Elizabeth Arden cosmetics are under rated. Everything I've tried has been gorgeous quality and I'm sure the cream blushes would be the same.

La Prairie Cellular Radiance Cream Blush - The La Prairie cosmetics look so beautiful however I just can't bring myself to pay the very, very high price.

So many blushes, so little time. 

And now on to other things. This lovely wintery weather has me thinking of warm apple crumble, soup and all the lovely things that winter brings. 
 
Image credit

Curtis and Clarke Gingerbread Collection - I have one word for this YUM! Okay, I have more to say. How nice would this be on a cold, wet winters day. I can just imagine it.

Red Earth - I've already purchased some Red Earth products but I need more! Specifically more of their lip balms and the compact BB.

Monday 3 June 2013

Neutrogena Naturals

To my great delight Neutrogena have recently released a Naturals line. All the products are free from sulfates, parabens, petrochemicals, dyes and phthalates.

I was sent three products from the range to review and am looking forward to trying the rest of the products in the range. All of them have a gorgeous green apple scent that I really like.


The Fresh Cleansing + Makeup Remover is brilliant. It is a lightly foaming cleanser that easily removes all my make-up, including eye make-up, without any irritation. I am lazy and don't like having to use a separate eye make-up remover so any cleanser that doesn't irritate my eyes is a winner!

My new favourite cleanser is the Purifying Facial Cleanser. I usually steer away from anything with purifying in the description as I find it too harsh on my skin, however this is very gentle and not at all irritating. In fact it's so gentle that I use it every day without any problems. I've been getting a few blackheads recently but they cleared up when I started using this and the Purifying Pore Scrub.

The last product I received is the Purifying Pore Scrub. Normally I like scrubbier scrubs and when I first tried this I wasn't impressed as I didn't find it scrubby enough. In order to give it a fair go I decided to try using it as a daily scrub and that's where it became a winner. For people with sensitive skin this would probably work well when used once or twice a week, however for people like me who require more exfoliation (thanks to my older skin), Purifying Pore Scrub is ideal as a daily scrub. I use it after the Purifying Facial Cleanser and the combination is very effective. The scrubby bits are round and not at all harsh so they don't scratch the face and the gel that they are in is also hydrating so there is no risk of drying out the skin. 

I will definitely purchase all of these products when I've used them up, they smell great, are reasonably priced and effective. What more could I want?

Fresh Cleansing + Makeup Remover ingredients: water, cocamidopropyl hydroxysultaine, sodium lauroyl sarcosinate, cocamidopropyl betaine, glycerin, hydrolyzed caesalpinia spinosa gum, caesalpinia spinosa gum, coco-glucoside, glyceryl oleate, glycol distearate, guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, caprylyl glycol, acrylates copolymer, potassium sorbate, benzyl alcohol, fragrance.

Purifying Facial Cleanser ingredients: water, cocamidopropyl betaine, decyl glucoside, glycerin, cocoamidopropyl hydroxysuitaine, sodium lauryl sulfoacetate, willow bark extract, guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, sodium benzoate, fragrance. 

Purifying Pore Scrub ingredients: water, glycerin, cocamidopropyl betaine, hydrogenated castor oil, cocamidopropyl, hydroxysultaine, xanthan gum, willow bark extract, guar hydroxypropyltrimonium, chloride, hydrogenated jojoba oil, glycol distearate, sodium benzoate, fragrance.