DELVE INTO TWELVE

We have a 12 year old in the house. 27 April. 12. Happy birthday, Caitsy-girl.

A word of advice - do not EVER dye that hair!

SIMPLE

One of my favourite TV programmes is The Biggest Loser (no link to the website as I don't want to know who wins!). I know people who hate it. My friend calls it "Fat People Crying". But I like it because it inspires me. "What have you done today to make yourself proud?" That's why I work out 5-6 days a week.

Who am I to preach? I still have a long way to go. But I've come along way. 25kgs. That's a long way. So I thought I'd share something I told Delys today.

These three things are my bottom line:

1.After years of doing every diet in the book what finally worked for me was realising that I couldn’t just go on a diet for a few months and that would ‘fix’ me. It is a lifetime thing. It's forever.

2. Every 'diet' will work for some people. You have to find the one that works for you. But there are no miracle diets. To lose weight you need to burn more calories than you consume. It's a simple equation. Energy in versus energy out.

3. This quote: "It's not that some people have willpower and some people don't. It's that some people are ready to change and others are not". (When I turn my phone on it says "are you ready to change?")

It's simple. But it's so hard.

PS Happy birthday to you, Caitsy-girl, my big girl is 12 today!

I'VE BEEN TAGGED

... by Tracy!

Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. At the end of your post, you need to choose 7 people to tag and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1 I love grocery shopping.
2 I once ate an entire box of Loukami Turkish Delight (the big one) by myself in one sitting. And then I got a migraine. Wonder why?
3 I live across the road from the hospital I was born in.
4 I love anything written by Amy Tan.
5 I'd rather visit the US than Europe.
6 When I was at school the only thing I was really good at was debating.
7 When I think of random facts about myself I really struggle not to make them all food related!

I'm not sure I can find 7 people who haven't been tagged but I'll try
Karen, Andrea, Delys, Ali, and everyone else seems to have been tagged!

FROM MY GARDEN

A few weeks ago I made a no-dig garden. I've told you about it already.

Tonight I picked my first homegrown vegetables. Silverbeet. It looks great. Not dark green and dried up like in the supermarket. Light green. New. Fresh. Good enough to go in a salad. And it will.

The silverbeet has been a great crop. No bugs. No holes in the leaves. Unlike the brocolli. I had to pull out the entire first batch of brocolli due to white caterpillar strike. They stripped the leaves. I put in more but have to use Derris Dust on them all the time. Won't plant those again. The one lone beetroot is looking good. So are the spring onions. The lettuces are almost ready. The cos lettuce has done best. The rhubarb has struck but has to be left for 2 years before I can pick it. The herbs flourish.

And best of all - with a no-dig garden there's no digging. And no weeding!

Now, in the background you can just see my dead rosemary cuttings. They didn't strike. They sat in little plastic bag covered pots for a few weeks. I watered some. I didn't water others. They all died. Anyone have any tips?

I SEE RED

This bag was a commission (OK I was asked to make it for someone but 'commission' sounds good, doesn't it?) but I had to share a photo before I post it off. I love the colour. Isn't it great? So rapt to find a company that produces vibrant colours in a yarn that will felt well. I was getting a bit tired of greys and browns.

You, too, can have one of these wee gems for just $25 + postage. And now, the colour choice is huge. They are great for scrapbookers as I have an expectation that the owners will personalise their bags by adding sequins, buttons, ribbon, fabric flowers or charms. And whatever else you can think of.

If you want one just email me thorns@xtra.co.nz A shameless plug.

AN EXCLUSIVE!

I've been interviewed by the lovely Janine. Here's how it started:

If you want to be interviewed just leave me a message
1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me. Make sure I have your email adress”
2. I will respond by emailing you 5 questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

So here are the questions Janine asked me:


1. What did you want to be when you grew up?
A lawyer or a journalist. My Mum wouldn't let me be a journalist because it wasn't "a very ladylike profession!" - seriously, she said that. And she was a journalist! When women didn't do that sort of stuff. Work that one out. I did do a couple of law papers at university but was only half-hearted about it I worked for 22 years in a legal environment surrounded by lawyers so lots of people thought I was one anyway even though I wasn't! I ended up in Operations and Change Management.

2. If you could chose a different name what would it be?
I like my name. Melissa. It's fine. When I was a kid I wanted to be called Rebecca or Genevieve!

3. What was once important to you, but is less so now?
Status. Having a senior job and people knowing about it. When I 'retired' I had to get over it pretty fast. I'm happy being a domestic goddess thesedays.

4. Fill in the blank: Going to ...........taught me that.......
Going to Rarotonga taught me that the best holidays could be spent doing absolutely nothing.

5. How are you like your mum?
We both abhor spelling mistakes especially on professional signs. When we eat out together it's almost a race to find the typos on the menu.
Our family comes first.

BOWLED OVER

"Celebrities in Los Angeles and London do it; tenpin bowling in the environment of an urban cool bar and it's here in Wellington with The Lanes, on Wakefield Street."

And on Saturday night D and I and our friends did it. Tenpin bowling. We went to Floriditas in Cuba Street for dinner first (highly recommend this place) and then, for something completely different, we hit The Lanes bowling alley about 11pm. It's R18 after 6pm. Adults only. Awesome fun. Very cool bar. Not too many high scores. A few laughs.

So today we took C and E and their cousins to Bowland in Petone. First time for both our kids. They loved it. Can we go back later in the week, Mum? Well maybe we just might. This bowling thing could be catchy.

DONE AND DUSTED

One seven year old's birthday over.

Thank goodness the Hurricanes won. 37 - 15. Lots of tries in front of us.

"Tana said they'd win for me" says Elliot. Well, actually, he did say that!

Check out the R2D2 cake. A hit.

SEVEN. STAR WARS HEAVEN.

My baby is 7 today. A boy obsessed with Star Wars. Check out his new t/shirt (an iron-on transfer I bought on Trade Me), his PS2 game (Aunty J has 'favoured aunt" status today. Aunty K thinks she would have won if I hadn't said "no" to her suggested gift of a rabbit!). Can you see the Star Wars wall hanging below? A piece of fabric from TradeMe, dowelling from Mitre 10 and sewing machine skills from Gran. Oh and there's the light sabre, a book, a fishing rod and a basketball from big sis. An R2D2 cake to come. 5 boys off to see the Hurricanes at the Stadium tonight. One spoilt boy.

The most crap photo ever but 7 year old boys don't wait for you to get the shot. You take your chance!

He's still my baby. Cait at 7 was practically an adult. But I sense Elli will be my baby forever.

SELF PORTRAIT CHALLENGE

Now this post is mostly for Karen because I know she was slightly disappointed that a few months ago I stopped doing Self Portrait Tuesday.

Self Portrait Challenge is a great site. Each month there is a theme. For those who don't know about it basically it's a photography challenge. A challenge to document yourself through photography and to step outside the square.

The theme for April is The Body. "No pretty faces or full body shots, rather bits and extracts of your self." they tell us.

So here I am - one of the few bits of my body I am starting to like. A bit that wasn't like this 18 months ago. Sure, there's still too much fat on that arm. But can you see it? Muscle? On the top? Peeping through? I knew it was in there somewhere!

THAT'S MY BOY

School holidays. We're not going away but Darryn has the second week off work and we told Elliot that we might have a few adventures. We're thinking fishing, bush walks, day trips.

"What would you like to do for an adventure, Elliot?"

"I want to go shopping and buy stuff."

That's my boy!

A REMINDER

"Normal day. Let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you. Love you. Bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so.

One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in a pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return."

Mary Jean Iron

ONE OF THE BEST

This guy is possibly the nicest sportsman in New Zealand. Hey, possibly the nicest celebrity in New Zealand. How did he get to be so nice?

At the gym this morning he was there. Working out quietly. He always wears his hoody up when he arrives (hoping, I think, to slink in unnoticed). But we all notice. And generally leave him alone. Because that's what Kiwis are like. We're not star struck. Not usually.

Last week we went to a fundraiser at a friend's school. Tana had signed a rugby ball and it was auctioned off for a couple of hundred dollars. I wondered, that night, if when he signs these things he realises how much he helps schools and stuff.

So this morning I took the plunge and told him what a difference he makes. I thought he'd just say thanks and that would be it. But no, 5 minutes later he was still chatting. What a lovely guy.

We need more role models like this. Outstanding at what he does. Not up himself. Unassuming. Great manners. Simply nice.

How did he get to be so nice?

IN THE OLDEN DAYS

Elliot (right) and his friend, T


In the olden days we didn't have computers in our classrooms. Computers were introduced to my school when I was in the 6th form - too late for me to learn anything about them. How strange that they would become an everyday part of my working life. And these days where would I be without my daily fix of cyber surfing, blog reading and emails?



It's different these days. In Elliot's year 3 and 4 class they get to work on Apple Mac laptops a few times each week. How cool that I was the parent helper last week when the kids discovered that each laptop has a built in camera - perfect for self-portraits.

Learning is a lot of fun these days.