If this looks fuzzy you need our help...

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Red, baby!

So on red day I started taking pictures before we even got out of the driveway....

I was reminded that a lot of the red in our environment is man made.

I was reminded that red is used often for food and drink.

I realised that there isn't as much red in nature as I had expected.

I found that red doesn't have as much as variety as colours like green and that sometimes it hard to make a call between orange and brown.

I was reminded that red is for warnings!

That red is sleek and macho.

I was reminded that red is HOT and sexy!!

And I was reminded that red likes attention... and it gets it!

I was reminded that I love RED!

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One more thing...

If anyone knows how I can switch off the thing that makes my cursor jump up a few lines when I accidentally hit the mousepad while typing on my laptop please tell me and I'll be your bestfriend. (If the bestfriend thing isn't up your alley... call me we'll negotiate I want this information- for the small remainder of my sanity I NEED this information.

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Busted

Ever have one of those moments where you think oh my goodness I just spewed the inner most workings of my brain and now everyone is going to know how weird my head is on the inside... yeah that was yesterdays blog post... I mean really WTF??

Here's that photo though...


Today will be busy between little mr sicky sicko and catching up some other bits and pieces... Tomorrow may be more of the same and Saturday I am up at camp for the day... so if I'm not around you know why....catch ya.

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the marriage of colour, a sick baby and other things...

Will has a cold and that meant the vast majority of the day was spent sitting under him while he slept and whined interchangeably. We did at least manage to catch both of Kieran's races at the swimming sports today - that was an unexpected plus! I've got three things to share...

I could tell you that the three things are the books I finished today... but they're, even though I did (no mean feat even if they were all kids novels!). My three things though are the three things that I was thinking about when Will and went for a walk on Monday.

The Monday before I had taken some photos when we walked intending to focus on a different colour each week- last week I did red and the plan for this week was to do green.... which brings me to the first thing I was thinking about. I chose to do the colour thing because it made me more aware of my surroundings (more on that in another post) and I found when I actually started to do it that it really made me think. I chose red the first week because I really like red I think it is a superb colour! And I chose green the second week because "Red marries green" I have that is quote marks because it is a quote- from me. I was obviously meant to be a scrapbooker because as long as I can remember I have always known about complimentary colour schemes- as a child I always said; "Red marries green, blue marries yellow, black and white and purple and orange".

So I set off to take pictures of green- obviously there is a lot of green out there I decided that I would only take pictures of green foliage if it had some other feature really going for it- like structure or form or patterns... this made it extremely hard to find green to photograph so I had to widen the constraints I put on myself and when I did I realised I needed to start again (which I will do sometime soon) that left me with some time to reconsider the marriage arrangements of the colours. Here's what I came up with...

• Green is the new brown, which is the new grey, which is the new black. In other words where black, brown and grey were the go to colours for matching with anything I now believe this is green. And I will prove it when I next go for a walk.
• Red marries green- but it also has purple as it's hot lesbian love interest on the side (purple is a girl colour as is red and yellow and orange- that's the way my mind works)
• Yellow marries blue but also gets round with that floozy purple, who is supposedly in a committed relationship with orange.
• Green and Blue are also involved in a gay marriage. Especially this green and this blue.
  
• And green is that gay guy who is everyone’s best friend... you know the one I mean (mine was called Michael we lost contact when I skipped town 13 odd years ago and I still miss him!)

I never realised that colours relationships were so complicated till I tried to photograph green. I should have known with all that triadic and other such stuff going on on my colour wheel- but I just didn't think beyond those traditional marriages... my mind was practically black and white or at the very least monochromatic.

By the way I only took one photo in the end... purple and yellow in a roadside tryst destined to end horribly.

The whole colour thing wasn't the only thing filling my head I was also thinking on a plan I have for doing something nice for Carolann and various other scrapbooking friends when the Universe makes the massive deposit our family is positively focused on currently (ala the book The Secret by Rhonda Byrne). I can't tell you about the plan because it will ruin the surprise but it's a good one.

The third thing was a letter I was composing in my head to the Editors of Women's health magazine. The other day I got around to reading the issues of WH magazine that Les got me for my birthday (back in October) and the one I had subsequently brought more recently motivated by the headlines on he cover. What a waste of money! Here's why I think you shouldn't buy this magazine...

1. Trite little 'jokes' at the end of 50% of the quick fact material that magazine likes to use to fill pages. Not funny and VERY over done.
2. Repeated information- hello it's only been around for 5 months have they already run out of health and fitness info to report on?
3. The reference to people by their last names. "Stockley believes our magazine is crap and she has the evidence to prove it. In her latest blog post Stockley said that..." Maybe this is some sort of journalistic convention that I am unaware of but I didn't see it in the Weight Watchers, Healthy Food Guide or Next Magazine that I read subsequently. Isn't referring to each other by their last name the domain of boardroom Neanderthals who have problems expressing their emotions and like to indulge in a bunch of back slapping and other thuggish behaviour?
4. The promise from the editor in her first editorial that they did want to change me and thought I was just great the way I was. Yeah?
5. The feature in the second magazine where promised to make me over into a fitter, healthier version of myself and not just because it totally negated what the editor promised me. But also because it was so bloody hard to follow that I felt too confused to get off the couch let alone to do what they were suggesting- whatever that was? I have seen the same thing done in two other mags recently neither of which have exercise as a main focus like WH and they both did a much better job!
6. The type options... honestly I think I may need glasses now having TRIED to read some of this stuff... I assume their copy setter (is this the right person) has never heard of leading? The letters were a point short of overlapping and with the big square serif font used it was just plain hard work especially if the text was white in a colour box! I am assuming they never looked at the mag off the screen.
7. Finally I think that the magazine assumed their readers were either thick or just simply not interested in reading anything with any depth or substance... either that or the writers just aren't up to the task of producing a truly informative magazine that goes beyond what you would find in the leaflets in your doctors office.

It's a pity really 'cause considering the WH team most likely chose this form of revenue earning because the exercise/health bandwagon is such a popular one at the moment- it is because it needs to be- they had the opportunity to make a real difference to your average kiwi woman who knows the basics of healthy living but wants a bit more... some real meat to sink their metaphorical teeth into. They have fallen sorely short. I recommend you don't waste your hard earned cash.

Finally I read the Happiness project blog most days and found this recent post very interesting and quite relevant to me at the moment.

Watermelon

It's good, apparently.
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An oldie but a goodie

Meet 'The Clicky-clicky Horse'

Quite obviously an old Macca's toy we acquired the 'CCH' when Kieran was a baby due to his absolute rapture with the thing- you wind it up and it bucks and jumps making funnily enough a clicky-clicky sound as it goes!

Somebody else also rather loves the CCH (which I uncovered in my foray to the roof in the recent (fruitless) search for the pushchair sunshades!!)

It requires lots of concentration and effort to MAKE it work though.

Cue a lot more hours winding it for us all.

It's worth it though!
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The Law of the Land- Laminated!

Merenia: Where do they keep the laws of the country anyway?
Les: At Government House in Wellington.
Merenia: So they have them laminated and up on the wall?
Gypsy: Ah, no.

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Change 7.5.2.09

It's been a long while since I posted some of these but there was a long period of inactivity and now things are moving quite fast I need to head over there with my SLR and NO baby get out of the car and take some really decent photos from all angles!

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Sisterified again.

I'm working my way up to a big post... I'm feeling kind of restless and stifled lately and like I need to break out of a rut... but also feeling uncertain- not unmotivated but also not motivated and not wishing to be constrained by routine... like the routine of a daily blog post.

I think maybe I need a posse of girls to come hang out and help me find the answers to the questions I have for the universe... or at least help me find the questions... I know the posse would include Christy, Kieley, Miss Wendy, and Kathryn. I think it should include Carolann and Sylvia, I think that Shannon would certainly have something to add and I believe that Kieran's teacher the lovely Miss Nicole would be more inspirational than she knows. I'd be keen to get Ali Edwards, Cathy Zielske, Amanda Soule, Emily-Blackapple, Andrea and Janet. And I'd have Tim Holtz to keep us supplied with delicious food, beverages and eye candy, and I'm sure he could channel his inner girl to add some to the conversation.

If all else failed we'd send Ali and Amanda home (cause they both have tiny people to look after) and Sylvia (cause her standards are much much higher than mine) and we'd all clean and organize my WHOLE house getting rid of a whole year worth of seven-things-a-day all in one day! (I know they wouldn't mind 'cause I'd do it for them!) And then the next day I'd invite them all back so we could create joy and art in my newly tidy and organised home!

In the meantime I'll leave you with the third in a series of messed up Stockley faces... all of which have funnily enough involved the cheeky Miss Merenia...

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Fourteen Part 1

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Holy Hormones Batman

My mood was not the best last week. I was out for blood and sugar... I thought it was a combination of the frikin' stiffling heat and humidity... the crappy Victorian bush fire vibe... the lack of any decent exercise (I went for one swim)... a totally unbalanced diet (both food wise and time wise- ahh the sugar high rollercoaster- what goes up must come crashing and burning down!)... and that huge overwhelming feeling when you get nothing done painfully slowly and a little thought starts creeping creeping creeping into your psyche whispering "you will never get this house organised you will never get it all done... you will never be able to do what you want guilt free... you will never feel comfortable... you are destined to spend your whole life rearranging and rearranging so that you can shoe horn your family into this ever decreasing space and you will battle on alone till the end of time". The whisper had built to a screaming cresendo by the weekend- so I chucked it all in and did NOTHING. And then there was the sugar... ahhh sweet nectar of the devil... and none of that lame arse fruit sugar for me! I had full strength COKE- lollies- 3 frappacino's and there is this can of condensed milk right in front and center of the bottom shelf of the pantry cupboard...everytime I went in there it called to me..."I'm sweet, I'm delicious... I have a ring pull opening- no fussy can-openers- just rip off my lid and drink in my sugary milky goodness!" (I didn't) So after trying to positively think my way out of it... fat chance my mind could focus about as long as a goldfish can remember! Trying to work my way through it... Um yeah... work + humidity= drowning in sweat. Tyring to examine the possible causes and being completely amazed by the effect of food and exercise on my body and the difference a week makes! Just giving in and going with it...had a 3hour nana nap and sitting round all dark and moody and saying about as much as 17 year old emo on a visit to Grandma at the old folks home. I wake up today and find that I've had a 'shift' in my hormones and it was actually the most KICK-ARSE case of PMS I have ever had- yeah um great- Mother Nature truly is a bitch sometimes.
P.S Sorry Les, I love you!
PPS Through it all I managed to lose a further 400gm on top of the 1.2 I lost the week before so now at 98.2kg. The weather has improved no end so I guess we'll be walking again today.

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Where there's lots going on but nothing at all

This week has been a whole other kettle of fish to last week and I'm struggling with it- but more on that some other time.

When in doubt scrapbook as much as possible I reckon- so I have been doing some Caitlin pages (I have my sisters entire 18 year life to scrap)- Anyway I came across this....


That dress was hot! It had big holes in the sides where you'd put your hands on your hips... it looked like it was designed for The Riddler's girlfriend in the original Batman series. I look at those legs and know I was actually already about10kg overweight then... I have a long way to get back to that.

There's some weird cosmic thing happening at the moment- and I don't like it. Like the world as I know it is unbalanced and forces are working against each other... I'm so over it... I think I see a short blogging break in my future- don't worry I'll be back.

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Happy Valentines Day!

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All about buttons

It's seriously all about buttons in our house at the moment! Will likes making things work. He loves the remote, the phone, the computer!!!, the TV, and anything else that will make a noise or have some sort of action when he presses the 'button'. He can say switch and lights and is lightning fast when you walk out a door and past a switch sometimes. He thinks he's just the best thing since sliced bread whenever he does get it anything to work- or not work in the case of the computer and the telly! Needless to say we've put the child proof caps in all the power sockets!

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Oh my babies!!

Look at my little babies in their cot ready for bed....

Awwwwhhhhhhh.
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Serious Cuteness

Will was still asleep when Les left this morning he was splayed out beside me on the bed where he had joined us around 6:30.

When Les started the car Will waved with his left hand. And then as he heard the car back down the drive he worked furiously to free his right hand from the sheet and waved with that one too.

Then he stopped and continued to sleep on. KEEEEE- UTE!

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Growing-up!

Les put the bigger kids carseat in the Odyssey for Will on Friday so we took the official last photos in the 'baby' carseat!... I'm going to miss it because it's been so handy. The others were both out of theirs much earlier than Will I guess he might have a bit of my height genes! But at least now we don't both have to twist around to see each other!

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Look at this face!

Is this a face that says trouble??

Damn right it is!

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