It's Been Quiet Here

But not quiet on the home front.

For example - Tiny slipped over in the bathtub last night. Matt took her up to ER with a nice little gash in her chin. I sat waiting for news. They sat waiting for five hours. She finally came home with her chin glued. Poor sausage.

I'm back into exercise. I know. Stop the press. I got sick and had to cut my C25K short momentarily. Instead of exercising I began pinning exercise motivation. I became obsessed. This served only to make myself feel even sicker, annoyed, sad I wasn't exercising, and to motivate others. Well it's not all bad, right?

In other ground breaking news, the house is a mess, I need to start organising a birthday party for Tiny, and Christmas is now only 99 sleeps until Christmas.

Just saying. 

Please send help. SOS. 

What's Happening In Our House

Tonight my eight year old commented: "Mum, I love how your bottom wiggles every time you move. It's so funny. It's like two cheeks, wibble wobble."

My ego is wildly out of control now.

This may have been the motivation I needed to get back out and exercising. 

In other breaking news - Tiny is taking a pair of summer pyjamas to school for news tomorrow.

PS - how beautiful is this owl?! 

What I've Been Doing

Have you been watching The Time Of Our Lives? This is my weekly sanity check. I am loving this series. SO much, and don't want it to end. The casting is superb, the storyline - spookily realistic, and beyond the storylines, the costuming is super fab too. 

Some may tussle with it, but I am into it. Like, really, really.

If you haven't watched it - check it out, it's great Australian drama (Sunday nights, ABC1, 8:30pm).

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I pottered around the house for most of the weekend. Despite it sounding pretty boring, I might be proving that I am ageing by enjoying getting on top of all the washing, folding, and general boring jobs that need to be done around the house. This includes feeling totally triumphant that the kid's white school shirts - after a jolly good soak, came up super white. 

It was only after exclaiming to Matt how thrilled I was with the result that I realised some things are best kept to myself. 

Oops. I did it again.

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I think I may also be daggily excited about the new Gmail, while maybe no one else feels the same way. But heck - it sorts out all my emails! HOORAH for Gmail. 

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McDonald's are building a 24/7 store right across the road from a Kindergarten in Tecoma, Victoria and demolishing iconic buildings in the process. Go here to tell them to burger off and meet with the community of Tecoma ASAP. Please sign the petition to tell them what for. 

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Why do I always feel hungry after eating a roast dinner? 

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These are the big issues people. What's on the haps for you?

And Then The Washing Machine Died

A few months ago our fridge started doing something alarming. Quite literally. In the middle of the night it would start wigging out and beeping. Incessantly. It got to such a point, after repeat performances, at 2am I would stagger out of bed, bump into walls, and turn it off at the power.

In the morning I'd defrost it, and sure enough, the ice would start ice-ing as soon as I averted eye contact. I'd be in for another night of the freaking beeps.

It's here that I must also point out - I was the only one the beeping would wake. Everyone else continued to sleep soundly. But not me. For me the beep was too much.

After a number of weeks of this, I declared we needed to buy a new fridge. Clearly it was on its way out.

I'm not a huge white-goods purchasing fiend, but I went and bought one and we have a new fridge.

It was mid-Winter last year that our dryer decided to not play nicely anymore. Clearly we have some Winter timing issues.

Just yesterday I was churning through my Saturday washing pile ie Mt Everest in clothes, when the washing machine made a loud bang as I was walking away. I went back, looked at it. Dead. It flipped the fuse. It wouldn't give me any power. Dead.

The good news is I was right in the middle of washing the Doctor's school uniforms. The better news? I can't find any local laundromats. What happened to all the laundromats?

Thankfully my sister let me toss a few loads in her machine last night.

What's with the whitegoods giving up the ghost? And what ever happened to whitegoods that lasted the distance. My parents still have the fridge they had before I was even thought of. Still going strong - and surprisingly energy efficient.

Looks like I need to find some funds for a new machine or I'm going to be hand-washing a la Little House on the Prairie. Michael Landon would be so proud.

The image, is of course someone grenading a washing machine.

Selling Stuff

So my in-laws have sold their house. Which is good. And it's also a shame. Because we had a whole bunch of stuffIdidn'teverwanttogothrough sitting over there.

And have I ever mentioned we now live in the smallest house in the world? Shoebox size.

So now all the stuffIdidn'teverwanttogothrough is sitting on our verandah. In our living room. Under our house.

I am waiting for Hoarders to come a-knocking.

While I am waiting for them, I am half going through things, half avoiding going through things.

I feel like I am drowning in my crap.

So I've decided to list things on eBay. Like an old Olivetti typewriter. Someone might want that, right?!

Which brings me to my next quandary. Baby clothes. I've kept them, in the hope we will have another baby. But.. Well.. Who knows if that is going to happen. So now we are living in a swamp of baby clothes.

What to do people?

I want non-hoarders to tell me what to do with all these darn baby clothes - besides cry into their tiny-ness and mourn that my children grew up quicker than I can eat a block of Cadbury Marvellous Creations chocolate (which BTW - I just inhale - and BOOM it is gone).

PS - I know it's upside down. I am too tired. Too Gone with the wind to be bothered to fix it. Just turn your computer screen upside down. Or your head.

So. It's Wednesday. I Am Ready To Talk. Sort Of. (Also Known As the Most Vague Blog Post Ever)

It is true. It is Wednesday.

Life is a funny thing. Isn't it?

When you think one thing will go one way, it goes the other. When you expect something, it will turn itself on its head - anything to not happen.

I am not going to lie. Life, these last few months, has been... Interesting. It's been a difficult and sometimes tumultuous ride. A ride that I have thought - hellz bellz, I want it to stop.

You know, I know, Sydney sucks me dry. I struggle with it. On one hand, I really love it. It's a beautiful city that offers so much. And on the flipside, it's like a bad friend that takes and takes and what does it give me? Expensive living costs.

Are you lost? Yes. Me too. Is this cryptic? Gosh. I hope not. There's nothing I loathe more than cryptic blog posts.

But all I really want to share is this, this is your take-away from this blogging session:
just when you think the chips are down - you can turn the beat around.

Titanic News: Jack Could Have Fitted

I love to hog the bed at night - and one of my ongoing fantasies is to sprawl out in a hotel bed with crisp hotel linen. 


And here we learn that Jack could have jolly well have fitted onto that door, if only Rose hadn't hogged it. We're onto you Rose.


PS - Here's a good reason why not to order the house white.


image via lolsnaps

Oh Hai.

Last night I went out on the town to kick up my heels with a bunch of bloggers. I met Wee Birdy there and together we giggled and guffawed the night away.


Big ups to Wee Birdy for giving me this banging picture of me being a ham hock. I mean, who doesn't star their Darling mani when posing mercilessly? The truth is, the reason I was dressed like a Tequila Sunrise (see recipe here) was for the Kidspot Top 50 Bloggers. Aha. 


Woogs held me in her bosom. I got to meet Eden. Was astounded by Hair Romance's beautiful hair. And I reunited with Chantelle. There were many more and it was like a whirlwind tour. I felt a bit like a fraud. 


Anyway, you readers, you are all quiet as mice. What's happening on your homefronts? Do tell. I am waiting to hear. And when someone wants to hack into my mainframe and let me know how I can reply directly to comments, well I am all freaking ears. I can not work it out myself and I want to punch my blog in the head. 


Right now I am listening to Gossling because I just love her. I've eaten a burger for dinner and had two to three wines. Who's counting? (Because it's not like I have to drive to bed.) I got told I was very quiet at work today. I love listening to the Hack on Triple J driving home. Do you? What are you doing? Come on, spill. Fill me in on what's on the haps in your neighbourhood. 


Oh and as a Friday bonus, how great is this Bluejuice cover of Video Games. I went off Lana del Rey quicker than Lite White goes off in a luke warm fridge. But this. This I can get with.


And finally, come join me on Facey. We can like totes chat. And stuff. 


PS - this is a link heavy post. I apologise. But perhaps you'll thank me later for sending you around the world in just one quick read of PottyMouthMama?

Some Things You Should Know

Despite the fact this is a mug shot, yes, it is a mug shot, it's pretty rad, no? I mean it's a halfro and what's not to love about a halfro? If you need to read more about how this wiggedy whack haircut evolved, you can do so here (which is BTW - where I sourced the rad image).

Other things that you might care to know:

- sometimes I quite like to ride on the train. I get to people watch, I like it best when it's not peak hour, and I especially find it charming when the trains run on time. How quaint!

- Retromummy almost made me think Zumba looked fun. And then I remembered how unco I am and realised me + zumba would be a funny, funny thing and I'd probably give the class a good abs workout from laughing at me, but I'm not into that so much

- I got to bake on the weekend again - and man I realised how much I missed that - even though, since my cleanse, I still like sweet food, but I am much more restrained. I don't crave it as much anymore. Actually I don't think I crave it at all. I satiate the mood, and that's it. I don't drown it.

- this is a deeply interesting post, no?

Spare Me

Emoticons are the root of all evil.

And the ones in the guise of happiness, those ones, they are the most sinister. The sad ones? They make me laugh. The winking ones make my heckles stand up. The jester ones? Naff to the max.

But they all really hurt my feelings.

It's a Lot of Bread

I have another collection. It's bread tags. Everyone's collecting them for me. Look at them. Ordinary objects, but together, reunited, they are having a very plastic family reunion. There are big ones, small ones, blue ones, pink ones, white ones, brown ones. They are breeding too. Look at how many are in the jar..

I've Been Doing Stuff

I feel as though I've left a big black hole of things I've been doing lately. And I have been doing quite a lot. Probably not exciting stuff, but stuff nonetheless.

I have resumed walking. I've posted previously about my non-exercise loving self. I don't really dig it. I wish so hard that I loved exercising, but for me, I have to work at it. So as a sort of bribe to myself, I take some music, tell Matt that I'm outtie for 30-40 mins and then powerwalk and fat blast my body. It's particularly not lovely this time of the year because of the sweaty betty factor. Or as my Mum kindly told me, ladies don't sweat, they perspire. So perspiration it is.

I've been trying to walk most days. I've even been setting the alarm early. This is another revelation in itself because I am not a huge morning person. But I go. And I say hi to those who don't say hi, I revel in the early morning-ness of it all. I am the first one awake! Look at me! I'm awake! This is like some sort of discovery for me. I get so much done.

Other than walking, I've been stitching for my sister's birthday. Although it is now close to a month overdue, it's coming along quite nicely. I set last Friday as my deadline, however, in a bid to have one thousand stitches, it's taking a little longer.

Oh and I got a new hair cut. I did just get a substantial amount of hair cut off six weeks ago. And hated it. So I went back and went shorter. This, my friends, is another revelation. Me likey!

Et tu?

Spooning

I haven't posted for a while about thrifting. I'm here to make it up to you. I promise you something and then I don't deliver. I'll punish myself later, but for now, here's something I found on the weekend that I couldn't resist. I didn't even try, I just wanted, had to have and hey - they were cheap.

I bought them for my smalls. And for anything really. Tea. Coffee. Me. Today I am just one big walking cheeseburger. But these spoons - they be the shiz.

What's your hidden talent? Can you play the spoons?

Boombastic Is Back

Brilliant news to the max. Boombastic is back.

Last night, once the smalls were in bed, I started doing a wee tidy up. I put away a few things, as Mamas are prone to do, and while putting away some coasters, I opened a b(e)arly (sic) used drawer and who should I find? Teddy Boombastic up to tricks and teddy yoga in the drawer. Check him out.

So I popped him into bed with the Doctor (who was fast asleep) with a tag that read:

Hello Doctor,

I am happy to be back from my beary cold holiday.

Love your bear-st friend,
Boombastic x

This morning the Doctor came in while I was still out to it. He said: 'Mum, this bear has the same eyes as Boombastic.' I open my eyes. Barely conscious. Blink. Blink. 'But dear Doctor, that is Boombastic, the one and the same.' Disbelief by the Doctor, questions, where has he been? Where did you find him? Is this really Boombastic?

I explained away Boombastic's absence by explaining his deep penchant for honey and biscuits, and the fact that Boombastic had gone off in search of honey and a holiday. And maybe mugs of bear. Oh I mean bee-r.

The real explanation - I've no idea why he was shoved into a drawer. But it may have the same explanation as Tiny's dolly's clothes being shoved into a teapot in the cupboard. Tiny does like to do these things.

Boombastic is back people. I'm not going to let him out of my sight.

But We Didn't Find A Circus

So we ran away. We're up visiting my Mum and Dad and it feels so good. Country air. Freezing cold nights, chilly mornings, so many cups of tea. The smalls playing in the dirt. Op shops. Cups of tea! Cake! Lights! Camera! Lions.

I've hidden my camera at home so well I can't find it. I always seem to do that. I put things in 'special' places. So 'special' they're soon forgotten. Aye aye aye.

Thanks for all the kind comments. We're all good. I'm giving the first half of July the bird, but the rest is pretty darn good. I made an ace pear butter cake from here, and if you have it - do it, it's totally delightful.

So no photos today. But you'll be ok, won't you? Meditate on the cake. Trust me, it's worth it.

I'm In A Competition: A Relay. By. My. Self.

via

This thing is tough. I'm throwing water on myself. Puffing. Panting. I'm wearing my tracky daks and feeling like I need to tear them off. I am getting that sweaty (and now you know why there's a sweaty man above - that's what I searched for - but I'm not a man - you know?). I can't even talk. I can't even type. I'm bent over, half breathing, half dying.

Here's the question ladies (and any gents that happen to be innocent bystanders): Is blogging a competitive sport?

I feel like I am back at high school and I am trailing way behind. Let it be known, I never excelled at school sport. In fact, during one PE lesson, we were playing la crosse, I cricked my neck and couldn't continue to play. I told my English teacher that my neck hurt and I felt sick. She thought (well she knew I was such a scammer) that I was just trying to get out of the debate I was involved in. Truth be, as soon as that debate was over, I went home, was promptly booked in to the GP who referred me to the physio, who promptly prescribed me bed rest and Valium. Valium does not equal me faking it methinks. It hurt like heck and my muscles were spasming. The moral here is folks, don't punish the PottyMouth.

Anyway, blogging. Competitive sports. Playing games. Sometimes I feel like, you know, are you guys for real? I mean, anonymous nasty commenters - they're just trying to make themselves feel better by taking an OD of nasssty.

I need to tell you now, I am no good at competitive sports. I played netball when I was younger. I was always muchos taller than the other gals, and always got pulled up because of my height. It caused great frustration. And then I just quit.

So some days are diamonds, some days I think.. Why am I doing this? What is this for? It's like the meaning of life. WHY?

One of my bloggy mates questioned this the other day, and I summed it up for myself. I've got nothing to sell. I blog because I like writing. I love writing in fact. I need my blog as a discipline, otherwise I don't write. That makes for very sad, very savage PMM.

Even if you do have something to sell, doesn't mean it takes anything away from your blog. It's about you writing for you. For the record I was wearing short shorts and my favourite pair of spikes, plus a fluoro pink sweatband.

No matter what, you can't deny, there is competition in the blogging world. I for one have to tell you, I find it a little strange. Everyone has an opinion, it's not a popularity competition peeps. There's room for everyone. Write what you want. Write when you want. Don't worry about whether you have a cheer squad. Don't worry if you don't have the right gear. Just write. Post photos. Talk about your favourite music. If you have an opinion, no matter what it is, someone will dig it, somewhere in the world, someone else feels the same way.

Another reason I blog is because when I had my first child I never joined a Mother's Group. My Mother's Group was hideous. And then some. That too was competitive. I didn't dig on it. I stepped back and stayed at home. I was already insecure. I'd just had a baby at 25. My body had completely changed. My boyfriend (now husband) - what was he thinking of me? I was sleep deprived, cranky, my body had changed, I had changed, we had a baby. There is enough insecurity from the every day without having to survive the petri dish that was the Mother's Group. I am still Mother's Group-less 'til this day. So blogging for me, was kind of like being part of a community, but more so like my own little journal. Something. Just. For. Me.

So sweaty girls. And guys. No need to sweat the small stuff. Blog or no blog. You are loved. By someone somewhere. You are great. You do ace things. Believe it. It's not a race to the finish line.

It's not a competition. It's my blog.

There's Always Time For Thrifting

Even though the house was a mess, even though I was still to do a little baking, even though I still had a tiger tail to stitch, I still had to go and do a quick spot of thrifting. Duty calls!

Duty calls and booty spoils!

There was a lot of elbows in my way this weekend when searching through the goodies. People -there's plenty to go 'round. Did you leave your manners at home??

Beautiful old crockery. Check.

A matching tiny teacup and saucer with beautiful crazing. Check.

Beautiful hand covered coathangers. Check.

A knitting thingie where all my knitting as gone to...die. Check.

Some small sewing baskets. Check.

Some other old stuff. Check.

Change from a 20 dollar note. Check.

And then home in time to get it started. A party awaited.

A Crazy Outta Control To-Do List

Do you ever have days where your to-do list is just not going to-get-done? Today is one of those days.

- Wake up

- Prep morning tea & lunch for the Doctor

- Drop the Doctor off to pre-school

- Fruit & veg shopping
- Vaccuum

- Mop

- Breathe

- Get a flat tyre fixed

- Fruit & veg still sitting on floor in kitchen - unpack it now girlfriend!

- Cook dinner (for tomorrow night)
- Tidy the Doctor's room

- Change bed linen

- Washing

- Somewhere in here, get some work done

- Play with Tiny

- I won't continue in case you click away

Do you ever feel as though you agree to take on too much, and then feel like you're suffering in order to make everyone happy? Well that's me right now. I think I need to cut back and learn to say no. I think if I did that, the boulder currently resting on my shoulders could roll off. And that would be an ace thing indeedy.

And tonight friends, sewing restarts. I decided to go back. It's a good excuse for me to ensure I have some 'me time'. And I'm not going to stress about it this term. It's going to be easy sewing. Just learning some techniques me thinks. And my teacher promised she'd teach me how to smock. Coolio. I think tonight I might start work on a cushion for the Doctor. I promised him yonks ago, but never got to it. I've been trawling my copy of 'Bend the Rules' for inspiration. Inspiration-a-go-go.

Today for your viewing pleasure, a little bit of eye candy in the form of the Doctor's scarf I've been working on. And some fabrics I'm thinking of including in his cush.