It was the drugs!

Have been too busy eating to blog lately! The oncologist put me on steriods to help with the post radiation brain swelling /headaches and they really work! Actually understand why people may be tempted to use illicit drugs with the buzz these give you. I am only on low dose but am talking at 100 miles an hour, on the go the whole time, and have an appetite that is going to bankrupt our house. Probably not a bad thing about the weight gain but if it keeps on going I will have to start running . Up from a desperately low 46 kg to hovering around 51 so I guess I am still safe from a bad BMI reading .

I am confessing to eating 4 dark chocolate teddy bear biscuits in one sitting. Unheard of from me even though I have a sweet tooth and love chocolate. We are a low GI , wholegrain , fresh fruit/vegie, good carb type household but I just couldn't stop myself. It was the drugs that made me do it!

You know how moreish chips can be- well I had the same reaction with the Arnotts TeddyBear biscuits. Then to top it all off I found a Lindt chocolate ball and devoured that too.

I had forgotten how good chocolate can be!

Double Century!! Not quite out !

If I managed to count correctly - I made it- 200 posts since starting the blog. Probably only 10 worth reading - so thanks to my long suffering readers for your continued support, comments, feedback and insights into your own world via your blogs. Big thanks to my blog mentors Fairlie and M for convincing me to give it a go last mid last year. It has been welcome relief while being house bound recovering- to the point I am becoming addicted to reading everyone else's fabulous , witty, interesting and creative blogs. Just because I haven't listed your blog in my roll doesn't mean I don't read it! I had to cull the list or else you would think all I did was stay online each day!

All I need to do now is learn how to archive the blog so a copy can be kept in my memory box for Kingsley. I started to print it out page by page so at least a hardcopy is kept but surely one of you technical gurus can give me a basic lesson ( IT for dummies 101) on how to put it on disc? Or at least point me in the right direction so I can learn to do it.

Pre Tween piercings

Thankfully not nose, eyebrow, lip , tongue or belly button but just simply her ears.

Guess which 8 year got her ears pierced on Saturday? I finally gave in and let Kingsley get her ears pierced but was not brave enough to watch it being done so sent Ahubby along to sign permission slips.

A very early birthday present which had to be timed around not missing too many swim lessons ( there's a break over the school holidays) while the hole healed. The earrings are only cubic zircona but kenz is already angling for real diamonds for her 18th!!!

Kid's Parties-

TeamSAK places strong emphasis on birthdays. It should be the most exciting and special day - especially for the kids. We don't have big celebrations each year but every alternate year or so Kingsley can have a party. Last year it was a quite friendship afternoon with 5 close friends over to make healthy pizza watch a video then eat their gourmet delights. Low key, fun, quiet and relatively inexpensive. This year I have promised her a real party. So now the time has come to arrange the day.

Ahubby generously suggested hiring a gold class ( private - seating 18 to 24 people) cinema and arranging food to watch a film with friends. I enquired about a party booking at Luna Park , including an hour session on the ice rink followed by a feed in the historic tram room. My major concern was how I would be able to supervise the group if they were heading off in different directions on rides and the fact the location is a public venue so other members of the public would be there. My latest idea is the Brashes Soundhouse at the Arts Centre. It is a sound recording house, using 15 computerised consoles where you create and lay music backing tracks as well as voice tracks. It is run and supervised by music experts and at the end of the session all participants can get a CD copy of the output. There are also plenty of cafes in the area where you can arrange refreshments for the group after the activity. Kingsley and her friends are all going through the musical , singing, drama stage associated with 8-10 year old girls and this would be a great, semi educational and productive way to spend some time together celebrating Kingsley's birthday. To my knowledge it hasn't been done before by any of her peers.

To be honest Kingsley and I would be just as happy with an an old fashioned (in my day) party but we don't have a big enough yard to keep the kids occupied outside. Recent school related parties included : a mini bus picking up kids from the school, transporting them to Melb Cricket Ground to watch an Australian Football League game from a corporate box.

Will keep you posted with the organisational developments and final format selection.

In my day

This is the start of a number of conversations at TeamSAK when trying to make a point about how lucky Kingsley is to be growing up in today's world. In my day we were only allowed to have a lunch order at school on your actual birthday. As my bithday inevitably fell at the end of summer holidays I always missed out. In my day birthday parties were simple at home affairs with the obligatory lopsided sponge cake and one small party bag with a jelly snake and chocolate frog. In my day I did chores but didn't get pocket money unlike today when $ are transfered via direct debit into Kingsley's bank account.

Of course in my day we had to walk 5 mile through rain and snow in bare feet to get to school - not driven in an European convertible with inbuilt entertainment system.

I am in the process of planning Kingsley's birthday for later this year so have plenty of material for some party related blogs over the next few weeks. Think I have come up with a great reasonably cost effective idea which is unique

Tadpoles to Goldfish to Dolphins

Kingsley has been encouraged to do swim lessons/water familiarisation since a toddler. Long gone are the days of Ahubby or me getting in with her during lessons , singing nursery rhymes and diving through hoops. Kingsley is now a Dolphin having mastered all the skills of each fish/seafood level since Tadpoles. She has been a catfish, barramundi and then barracuda. Now she is nearly at squad level. Well done Kingsley!

The Show must go On

And so it did last night. KIngsley's year level had been studying a unit of enquiry as part of their junior IB PYP program which culminated in the staging of a Vaudeville production last night. The 29 kids ( all aged 8 or 9) did a fabulous job and the assembled parents( S ), nannies ( Lottie) and grandparents ( MILI) thoroughly enjoyed the 60 minute production.

There was singing and dancing and slapstick and magic. Entertainment with a history lesson of this form of entertainment. Ahubby missed it as he was interstate so I tried to video for him. Over the weekend I need to learn how to copy it to disc.

Cost of Fuel

Despite the fact Teamsak owns 3 cars between 2 homes we do very little driving. Ahubby commutes by bike to work, Kingsley walks to school and I public transport when needing to go somewhere local. So despite watching the global price of a barrel of oil head higher we hadn't really been affected by the bowser price- until the weekend. Granted it was a public holiday Monday but even I was shocked by the AUD $120 bill to fill the tank of the Mercedes 4 wheel with premium unleaded petrol.

Snow season skating

The Queen's birthday long weekend traditionally heralds the start of the snow season in Victoria. While TeamSAK are not skiers Kingsley has taken to ice skating. There is a temporary rink at the Waterfront City during winter. On Sunday Ahubby took Kingsley and her friend Elouise skating. This was followed by bungy jumpy and a visit to the Golden Arches. How great is it to be a kid? The girls were fearless and took to the ice and bungy with great gusto.

Ahubby on the otherhand, quite wisely chose to stay off the rink and the bungy!

The new low- tv viewing

As if being housebound was not bad enough I have just spent an hour of my life watching Parliament . It was that or Oprah and Dr Phil- both of which I have no watched before. To be honest - Parliament was actually quite entertaining- drama, attempted humour, grandstanding, waffle and plenty of scratching , preening and shuffling of members seated behind the speaker. To top it all off the ticker tape at the bottom of the screen has just advised the Reserve Bank has left offical interest rates on hold at 7.25 %. Very interesting to see our taxpayer dollars at work. Now, according to newspaper reports , if only our new Prime Minister Mr Rudd would stop working so hard the public servants would stop complaining about having to do extended hours!

I can't wait to see if parliament is sitting tomorrow- that will make my daytime entertainment an easy choice.