Cross Promotions/ Marketing

Having been a student of marketing and public relations S understands and likes the role of plastic character figurines from hit movies accompanying meals from take away restaurants. From a parent point of view S hates it !

Thanks to the generosity of her cousin T1, Kingsley is now the proud owner of a collection of characters from the animated film "Shrek." Each character emits a classic line from the film when you twist their arm, pull their tail or move them.

Here is a photo of what Kingsley would have missed out on if it wasn't for the kindness of T1 !

Before- Take One

After coming under direct attack for lacking any semblance of a green thumb S has now been given a chance of redemption. Anne , a very dear friend, on a Human Research Ethics Committee I am a member of, dropped in unexpectedly today bearing a beautiful cyclamen.

It seems that some one does have faith in me being able to nuture a plant through the extremes of winter and beyond.

The Report is In!

Kingsley's mid year school report just arrived by post . No surprises in store for S and Ahubby as Kingsley is a devoted learner and apparently a well behaved student ( just wish that applied all the time at home!)

In the spirit of grades and reports I decided to follow up on a website noted in the Sunday Age magazine on the weekend. Well it was no surprise to Ahubby and Kingsley that I am not a "A list Bloglebrity". Maybe the comment should read along the lines needs to do better ! The site encouraged me to proudly display my D rating. I need to learn how to do that too so maybe my rating is justified!

Check out your favourite blogs (other than TeamSAK of course) and see what they are rated. Go to Kinenda for more information.

100% Holidays

School holidays have already started and with the inclement weather carers and parents everywhere are planning alternate activities. Ordinarily Kingsley and S would be on the Sunshine Coast so it is kind of a novelty to have holidays in our home state . Today we are sitting in front of the gas faux open fire wishing we were in Queensland!

S came up with a indoor activity with an educational twist. A violin lesson! Kingsley's talented school music teacher has just finished a private 55 minute lesson in our lounge room. She very kindly left the violin here for Kingsley to practise "Hot Cross Buns"- the song she learnt in her first lesson today!.

Kingsley loves her new 100% KID shirt and I am enjoying planning challenging and fun 100% kid activities for her so that she can enjoy her school break despite the fact I am housebound.

Instead of bathers, swimming and ice creams there will be play dates with friends, outings to National Trust properties, films, card games, overnights with MOS and DOS or MILI and PHILI, walks and the much anticipated invitation from friends to watch the production of Finding Nemo on Ice.

Not sure there will be much time left for violin practice!

GWP ( with BMW)

GWP or Gift with Purchase is a favourite of mine when timing major purchases. Of course , only if the base purchase was a necessity. Not sure the new car was a necessity but it certainly came with a good GWP!

The goodies included, but were not limited to, enough hats for each member of TeamSAK when motoring sans roof, yummy Koko Black chocolates, wine, gourmet cooking sauces, top quality keyrings, a Nokia phone, CD folder, men's BMW PJ's and the magnificent floral arrangement in a reusable ceramic bowl.

If you want to design your own wishlist for a new car try the car configurator available online. Our preferred dealer was Doncaster BMW where we had fabulous assistance from the Corporate Sales Manager Chris Hope!

Construction site

First came the new car then came the new driveway. It probably should have been the other way around.

Actually there was already a concrete driveway. The only issue was the gradient at the road entry meant any low lying cars scrapped their undercarriage upon entry and exit. Even with superior negotiating skills and despite the fact it didn’t affect the TeamSAK 4 wheel drive and we would pay our share, it had taken years to arrange agreement of all owners to rectify the building fault.

It has been a drama filled project. While the professionals were saw cutting the concrete in preparation for the bobcat a water pipe was cut. Turns out the pipe had not been laid low enough by the builder over 10 years ago! Today S put the project management skills into action and waited on a cast of thousands including plumbers, concreters, bob cat and cement mixer operators. The end product is a new and improved entry to the driveway which should not result in damage to the new baby.

Think we will get the neighbours to test their cars first!

Before and After

S is too embarrassed to show you the magnificent "before" photo of what once was a thriving, well flowering vibrant (and probably rare) orchid gifted to Team SAK by generous friends. The "after" photo confirms MOS and DOS's decision that S was not responsible enough to care for a family pet while growing up.

Based on this evidence, and the application of similar principles across all facets of domestic life, it is amazing that Kingsley has always been so fit and healthy!

The New Baby

Felt like almost nine months waiting for the delivery of Ahubby's latest toy . The garage is filled with that distinct new car smell. Just need some warm weather now to go top down motoring. A hardtop convertible , complete with Ahubbys' first ever personalised number plates, is certainly a change from the family car!

It's not what you know!

Often wondered about the saying “It’s not what you know but who you know”. I stopped to think just who I knew. Does “know” mean met once in your life for a few short moments or know in the sense you have their number on speed dial? Perhaps it is somewhere in between.

The saying does raise relevant questions.

(1) Where does it leave people with few friends?
(2) Does it make tertiary education and PhDs irrelevant?
(3) Am I on anyone’s “know” list?
(4) Can I use the six degrees of separation theory to "know" someone?

My research is still underway on the origin of the saying. Heaps of websites including , The Phrase Finder, are proving useful.

For the record I am more than happy with my group of friends (speed dial or otherwise) who I cherish because of who they are not what they could do for me.

Book Worm

It’s quiet in our house at present. Kingsley is taking the commitment to the reading challenges very seriously. The first one, which has been going since April and finishes at the end of August, is the Premier’s Reading Challenge. The children have “challenge” books from a set list for their age group and can supplement that with personal “choice” books. The aim is to read 30 in total with 20 from the set list.

The second one officially started on June 1 and finishes on the 30th of the month. The MS Readathon has been going for years with the joint aim of encouraging children to read whilst raising valuable funds for research into multiple sclerosis. For the remainder of June, Kingsley will be beavering through a bookshelf full of books and soliciting donations from family and close friends.

At today’s date over 60 books have been read for the first challenge and it looks like my wallet will take a big hit on the per book sponsorship for the second. All for a worthy cause.

Paradise Isle

Kingsley's class are exploring mapping concepts as part of their numeric program. Atlas books, street directories, symbols, charts, keys, grid references, legends, etc have been studied and the output from learning adorns the walls of their brand new classroom.

I was particularly impressed by the artwork and imagination shown by one student in their island representation. Crab cave, cockroach cove and the Forest of Death makes Survivor destinations look like a holiday destination.

No Qualms About This Quandary

Unaccustomed to being a lounge lizard meant one of life’s big questions posed a quandary. Hypothetically if you are ensconced in comfy PJs ( pyjamas), fluffy high grade Egyptian cotton dressing gown and slippers is there any point in the day when you can ethically and morally justify staying in them all day?

If there is no necessity to venture further than your own mailbox (behind high fences), do you have to get dressed or even showered (hygiene issues aside)?

The pros of staying in bed attire are;
- Not having to decide what to wear.
- Cutting down on ironing
- Reducing your environmental impact by reduced laundry activities

Cons;
-Inability of justifying buying new clothes
-Unexpected visitors catching you in your nightie

Maybe it is a timing issue. If the hours before you hit the bedroom again are less that the time since you left it then stay in the dressing gown and don’t feel guilty. If not, get changed and venture past the front gate.

Does this look ok?

Does my bum look big in this ? If you are a loved one who is brutally honest then this type of question doesn’t have a right answer. Ahubby found this out the hard way. The response was in the negative (ie no) but devalued by the follow on comment that it was good I had recently trimmed down ! So – my bum used to look big? Maybe it was just the new outfit that had made the difference?

S loves the casual range of 2XU ( pronounced Two times you!) yoga pants and hoodie tops. They are perfect for sport and also lounging around when you are housebound. Looking forward to them doubling my performance.

The amateur model is wearing the 2XU blackyoga pants with pink turndown and blue yoga hoodie top . Model's own pink house scuffs.

A Picture is worth?

A picture is worth a thousand words so this won't be a pithy instalment. Enjoy the view.

A bird on the fence

This was a lunch guest at The Spirit House

This was a breakfast guest at Chez TeamSAK

I have a bird phobia so when the pictured visitor joined us it was time for S to depart. Logically I know I am bigger than it, uglier than it and probably scarier than it but they still give me that heart palpitation feeling. All from a legacy of being pecked by an emu on a visit to a wildlife sanctuary in my childhood.

Anyone else feel this way about birds of the feathered kind?

Body Art & Metal Attachments

Kingsley progressed from stickers to small stick-on tattoos to the arty painted kind at the Australian Open Tennis in January 2007. Now comes the next stage particularly as a favourite babysitter has facial metallic jewellery. I know kids grow up fast these days but is primary school too young to start negotiating permission to get metal attachments? Cousin TB had an eyebrow ring, T1 and T2 have pierced ears and Elle and TL have belly button rings. They all look good. S being a woos doesn't even have the ears done. Maybe I am just old fashioned or as Ahubby would say just old!

Critical comments

I was almost too scared to post today without getting the entry vetted by a member of the legal profession.

Critiques and reviews may be a thing of the past if the latest ruling from the High Court is anything to go by. A report on page 3 of today’s Age newspaper reports that the Court determined that a bad restaurant critique and low rating was defamatory.

How far will this be extended? Can I sue those readers who rate my blog as less than satisfactory or pithy and in the course of doing so ruin my (non existent!) reputation! Could this kill off freedom of speech? Can I have an opinion that may offend some people? More importantly how will I choose a restaurant in future?

Maybe I should put a caveat on this blog that you read at your own risk and TeamSAK will not be held liable for any potentially critical comment.

Pithy or Verbose?

I was momentarily concerned when a dear friend referred to the blog and said “Can't wait for the next pithy instalment.” Was this a compliment or a criticism? Was it a ( lemon) citrus? What exactly did pithy mean? The various definitions included:

1) "terseness and economy in language use achieved by expressing a great deal in just a few words”

Does this terseness imply some sort of negativity ( or heaven forbid rudeness) or am I helping humanity by employing word and reading time conservation?

2) Pithy, when used accurately, describes speech or writing that is short, direct, and memorable.

In the interests of “pithiness” and the preferred second definition this is the end!

Presence not Presents

Is it wrong to dread the aftermath from birthday parties knowing that you will spend the next week writing thank-yous either for yourself or your underage child? Or trying to find space in the cupboards for the generous gifts or in the recycle box for the glossy wrappings?

Ahubby and S will be planning a belated joint celebration for a significant multiple of decades birthday party. We want to let what’s left of our age and chemo depleted hair down, party with our friends and family and celebrate. I also want to request no presents which poses the dilemma we face.

Maybe it is forward to assume that we will get any in the first place? Thankfully the precedence has been set with a friend that found the sensitive way of asking people who wished to give to donate to a favourite charity instead.

The amazing thing is that now the school captain of Kingsley’s junior school has also asked guests to donate money instead of presents at a recent birthday. This less than teenage aged child proudly raised more than $7,000. Either the guest list would have filled a stadium or the child is in a different socio economic demographic to the impoverished TeamSAK. Either way a commendable initiative !

Attitude is 100%

Flicking through commercial tv stations I overheard a young lady who had been removed by the public from a live-in reality show being interviewed. One thing she mentioned caught my interest. According to this 15 minute of famer "Attitude is 100%." A sentiment I agree with whole heartedly but then a further explaination was offered. It is 100% when the numbers representing each letter are added together. This intrigued the educational me as I could combine a literacy, numeracy and life education lesson all in one for Kingsley. Miss L would be proud of me!
In the name of scientific experimentation I decided to test the theory:

A = 1

T=20

T=20

I=9

T=20

U=21

D=4

E=5

Total= 100

QED - Case closed.

Some one better check the spelling and additions to save me the embarrassment of my 15 minutes of fame for not having it right!

Bike Bling

Anyone with a love of wheels, lycra and works in the city would have spent many a lunchtime drooling over the bling in the best all purpose bike stores in town : CBD Cycles. This is a blatant plug as the service we have received from Ant and his team over the last 8 years or so has been exceptional.

Ahubby's addiction to Giant and Cervelo has now extended to Kingsley. She understands more about carbon wheels, groupsets, aerodynamics, disk wheels and professional image than her peers. Her Giant Lil Pud pictured above is nearly outgrown and she is eyeing off its upgrade pictured below. Just not sure it comes with training wheels!

Slow down Superblogger

After the eerily accurate predictions for Ahubby’s popularity referred to in S has Competition I now scan the astrology sections of the paper. I have now been warned by Arthur Bowman on page 15 Body and Soul section of Herald Sun 10 June 2007. He predicts:

This week starts with almost frenzied activity. Mostly with you collecting stuff for yourself, but somehow a relative or neighbour is also involved. You have been working on your masterpiece for some time and this week sees you finish- or give up. Wonderful for love.


The questions start.

Which neighbour or friend will provide the influence/idea for the blog content?

Is the masterpiece a reference to my blog?

Is Ahubby involved with the love or will he have competition?

The Three Rings

Marriage as an institution is either something you believe in or you don't. Ahubby and S eloped in the USA over a decade ago, close friends live in serious cohabitation while others celebrated the union in style only equalled by royal nuptials. The commitment is the same for each couple. It got me wondering just what people think about marriage and the symbolism about the exchange of vows and rings.

This t-shirt shows how someone feels:
Engagement ring, wedding ring, Suffering

Against all odds

Like any parent you want to protect your children from the dangers of life by exposing them safely to potential threats. Thought it was about time to teach Kingsley about the odds of winning at gambling. Purchased three $1 scratchies from the local Tattersalls counter at the Newsagents. Does anyone ever win from these? Really – what would the chances be of actually winning anything let alone an amount that would impress a would-be gambler?

Well- the whole life education backfired when the first card yielded $2 and the second $5. Kingsley’s primary school maths soon determined the $7 return more than covered the $3 outlay. The $4 earned in 1 minute was more than her weekly pocket money. Lesson over.

For the record TeamSAK does not endorse gambling in any form unless the $1 each way flutter on the Melbourne Cup yields a better return than the scratchies!

Digital bookclub

One of the bloggers responsible for encouraging me to start this one is the main technology driver behind the No.1 Melbourne Ladies Bookclub

Our humble little book club has certainly moved onto the next stage. Longevity of our group is due in part to the calibre of the girls , our strong bond and friendship, common love of books, fine wine, food , chats and the administrative skills of the previous and current co-ordinators.

From memory back in 1999 the four founders each invited 2 other friends to the inaugural gathering. Some have come and gone, there have been weddings, babies, job promotions, illness , some have started or joined satellite clubs interstate like Books & Gossip but for the most part we have all kept in touch. I would think of every single one of them as good friends.

Now you can all see the books we are reading and those of previous years . The new "cheat" sheets on line will make it even easier to prepare. Hope that this motivates you to visit the bookshelf.

Speaking of Acronyms

The creative drama of thinking of pseudonyms for all the immediate family and friends reminds me of our childhood family band. Affectionally known as BUMS . Each letter clearly stood for a family member with the U ( ugly) assigned for the little sister whose name did not start with that letter. It took some time for the impact to sink in . For the record S didn't think of it ( or vandalise the leaf!)

Request for guest bloggers

MILI and PHILI along with DOS and MOS are pretty switched on baby boomers who actually are more IT savvy than S and Ahubby. They run their super online, book trips to spend the kids inheritance and email their friends with family news.
As I have also discovered they read this blog! They have now requested the right to guest blog on occasion.

Being new to the blogging realm I am not sure of the etiquette of it all. But given the blog refers to Team SAK a team approach to entries seems fine.

We look forward to the first of their instalments!

Size does matter

Despite living in a metric age some things will always be measured in inches. Before the spam filters go into overdrive I should clarify I am refering to television screens. Ahubby, like so many of his contemporaries, is heavily into the electronic gadget era. HDD recorders, set top boxes, ipods, flat screen tvs and more.

I was quite happy with the 10 inch version in the bedroom but the 42 inch Plasma now has a 32 inch LCD sibling. Watching TV on the big screen only highlights even more the often poor content.

Online living

Still enjoying the excitement of discovering all that the world wide net has to offer. Due to circumstances I am currently housebound and wonder if you could live your whole existence without leaving your front yard. I am sure some of my learned blogging and internet friends could google the answer in seconds.

Some of the finds for today include the following sites. :

I can even put the no junk mail sign on the mailbox after locating this little gem. Select catalogues are available via Catalogue Central. Only thing is that not all the supermarkets are there but that can overcome by online shopping at Greengrocer or ColesOnline or similar sites.

Kingsley's constant stream of birthday party invites meant locating a games shop which could supply quality, gift wrap and send ( all for a reasonable price) . A favourite site is The Last Piece ( and not just because we know the owners!)

Her clothing can be chosen from a number of outlets but a current favourite for funky and durable pieces is Gimos Australia. (and not just because we love their gorgeous godchild!)

Nearly all my favourite newspapers are available for reading on line. The Fin Review needs a subscription for most items but you can often get the drift from the headlines.

Banking and bill paying is covered. My only hassle this week while trialling online living is that I had to raid Kingsley's money box to pay for the Friday night pizza as they didn't take credit card and I had no physical cash.

Of course a power failure or phone line fault could put a stop to the new lifestyle and the fact not all services come home delivered.

S has competition

Imagine my surprise when Ahubby arrives home and announces I have competition after 2 decades of domestic bliss. It seems that a workmate had an enquiry about Ahubby's marital status. Admittedly it was received via sms late on a Friday drinking night so the details are a little sketchy.

The same day there was a spooky almost relevant horoscope reading . Here is an email I sent to the mate:

In light of the recent query regarding Ahubby's status I thought you might find the following " true " astrology reading taken from online news today quite amusing. Ahubby tells me he is going clothes shopping tomorrow!

Taurus
Apr 21 - May 21
At this time you come across in an appealing, charming, openly affectionate manner which is likely to win you new friends and admirers. You make an excellent first impression now. This is a very favorable time for doing something to enhance your appearance such as getting a hair cut or purchasing new clothing.


We are still none the wiser

Transitions Addiction

Everyone has their hidden secret. Mine is my new online addiction to blogs and forums. A particular favourite even from my pre broadband dialup days is Transitions. A great collection of triathlon participants from newbies to veteran professionals. It even allows those on the Kerbside to participate.

One of the wonderful benefits has been forming geniune friendships with some of the participants, catching up at races and keeping in touch out of the forum. Two special ones are Foxy Lady and R .

Ahubby was keenly addicted to racing endurance ironman events until his recent retirement from the sport. Not those fun ones with short distances but the serious Hawaiian Ironman kind with 3.8Km swims, 180km bike rides and 42.2 km runs . People marvelled at his endurance but the true achievement was keeping a young child entertained at the race venue often without a playground while Ahubby competed for 9.5 hours!

Family Folklore-Leaf Vandals

Every family has those stories that come out during celebratory meals. Our family's classic is the mystery of the leaf numbers. To explain more clearly WStar was 2 and S was 4 when the indoor plant was vandalised. Scratched onto the leaf of an umbrella plant were the childish etchings of the number 2 and 4. Ok - I was the elder but not nearly as intelligent and mature as WStar and my numeric skills failed to develop until primary school. WStar was advanced for her age and was ( and still is) one smart cookie. To be frank if I had committed this heinous act of native sabotoge I would not have done anything like use my own age to incriminate myself. Despite this classic tactical mistake WStar to this day denies any wrong doing. I know better!

Beebo built an expensive house!

Fairlie's journey into the treasures of childhood got me thinking about the lost investment opportunities of not archiving my childhood artefacts under museum guidelines. Case in question is one of my favourite books The House that Beebo Built by Philipe Fix.

Now that my eyes have been opened to the www world I tried to put the technology to use to locate the book as a gift for WStar who shared the book in our in house library while we were growing up. As much as we love her the budget will not stretch to the $488 requested for this 1975 classic. If you don't believe me check it out on ebay

The moral of the story is that before you toss the "trash" remember that it could be someone else's treasure.

Slave labour at school

Kingsley came home from school excited about the extra curricular school activity . Seems a few of the gang were hand picked to help the school gardener with season plantings at the expense of core class room learning. Don't get me wrong! I am all for a comprehensive education for children but why is my child always picked to help? Maybe I should be billing the school for her labour costs next time the school fees are requested.

Ebay roundabout

Being relatively new online and only just discovering the joy of broadband I am now discovering a whole new world. The first curiousity is ebay . In particular I am intrigued by those compulsive posters/sellers who source their own stock from other inhabitants online. How many times would or could a single item go around the cyber shopping mall? After the next house clean out I might conduct a scientifically based experiment to try to find out. Just not sure that the BNWT size 22 yellow t shirt I saw listed for 9 cents could survive even the first round!

Blogging for beginners

Seems I was not keeping up with the Joneses or the Fairlies or Eastern Max when I discovered that friends had active blogs. Now I spend time each day reading and waiting for a reference to a pseudonym that could be me . As that has not happened I have taken a different approach and set up my own. While they are talented and creative I am not so set myself the challenge of maintaining a blog, thinking and writing creatively for 3 months ( or until the interest or talent waned which might see me last til the end of the week). This is day one, entry one in the self taught lessons for blogging for beginners 101! While not as brilliant as others at least the blog is started.