I'm not sending Christmas cards again this year....

But I am going to join in Miscmum's Christmas Card Challenge.

I will donate unused postage to Oxfam for each of you leaves a comment on my blog. I would promise to send you an ecard like miscmum is doing, but anyone who knows me well will understand that, despite good intentions, it will probably not happen! So comment away, and know that I will be sending love and light your way this Christmas and some money to those less fortunate.

Gee, where did that last month go?

I've been meaning to make a few posts, but more urgent things seem to have overtaken me. Now I finally sit down and realise it has been a whole month since I last made the time.

Thanks for your concern about the headache. It's gone now although my eyesight is still a bit dodgy at times. Crams, I have contemplated it being food issues for a while. I'm still working up to an elimination diet. I'm scared..... it seems so hard:(

In the last week, Amelie has received a prize at her first school presentation night, Juliet has sung and danced with all her might at her daycare Christmas concert, and Euan has started crawling and grown 2 teeth. In the next week we have a preschool concert for Juliet, a couple of Christmas parties, followed closely by my birthday and a visit from my sister and her new baby. Lots to look forward to, gotta love this time of year!

Ouchy-wah-wah

Have you ever had a headache that lasts a week? It really hurts. I went to the Dr this morning. He thinks it is a migraine. I thought migraines were more acute, and shorter. He gave me some ibuprofen and told me to get lots of rest this weekend. And to keep my fluids up... I guess he doesn't mean wine;-)

Hoping for a respite soon, and a renewal of the blogging enthusiasm!

Liberating

My lovely cousin came to help me last week. She generously gave me a day of her time and energy to help me purge my kitchen of clutter. I learned the following lessons about myself:

1. Owning many, many plastic containers does not make me organised. It just makes the tupperware drawer hard to close.
2. I do not need every single dinnerset I've owned since I left home 15 years ago. And if I am having 56 guests for dinner we will be using disposable plates and cups!
3. If I own it, it should be useful and used.

The giveaways were loaded up and taken away for me, to be found new homes for the needy and op-shop bargain hunters.

By the end of the day (yes, it took that long!) I was exhausted, and suffering a bit emotionally for parting with my stuff. Since then I have started to appreciate the space I now have. Less definitely is more....

I can't get started

My small boy is asleep, not in my arms. He is unwell, so when he is awake he just wants me. I really need to do some stuff while he is sleeping, but I feel exhausted. I'll do 5 minutes of filing papers away and see how I feel then.... Maybe doing something constructive will energise me, since pikelets and fruitcake have done nothing so far:-)

Junk-a-vitis

We've all been really sick here for weeks, with the exception of Neil who has kept the medicine cabinet stocked with pain relief and done more than his fair share of everything!

Amelie has tonsillitis, but keeps forgetting what it is called. She tells people she has "junk-a-vitis" (I think she is getting confused with conjunctivitis). Her malapropism got me thinking.... I have junk-a-vitis! I keep catching junk, it is hard to get rid of and seems to keep coming back.

The first step in de-junking the place has been to get some housecleaning help. These wonderful people have only visited once so far but I feel much freer to concentrate on sorting the stuff in the place when I know they will be responsible for the cleaning/dusting/vacuuming/mopping. If these tasks were still part of what I *should* be doing I would do nothing at all since I wouldn't know where to start.

The second step is to get some decluttering help. I have a wonderful cousin who is good at eliminating clutter offer to help me, so we have set a date and will get stuck in.

The final thing on my mind is that I have been putting things aside for a garage sale. These things seem too good or valuable to donate to an op-shop, but I'm starting to wonder if the stress is worth it? How can I organise a garage sale? Life is already bursting at the seams and I really just want the space back to organise the things we are keeping (and so our baby boy has his own room before he starts school). But then some extra cash would be handy too..... I'll think about it some more.

Butterscotch Biscuits

The meal plan has gone out the window since Tuesday. The kids and I have been sick, with only Neil keeping the show on the road. I did manage to bake the rest of the Butterscotch Biscuit dough.

This is a recipe that my mum gave me, and something that would rate as one of my childhood favourites. It make lots (like dozens) of biscuits and the dough seems to keep well in the fridge for a couple of days. The other reason I like it is because it is a melt and mix recipe. None of the "creaming butter and sugar" business that I detest. The end result was denser than I remember Mum's being, but I'm not sure if that is due to the extended time in the fridge or the dairy free margarine I used. This could possibly be a failsafe recipe if you use failsafe margarine and omit the vanilla.

Butterscotch Biscuits

250g margarine
1 and a quarter cups brown sugar (where is the quarter fraction sign?!!?)
2 small eggs
3 cups self raising flour
1 teaspoon vanilla

Melt margarine in a saucepan, remove from heat, add sugar*. Stir well until blended.
When quite cool, add beaten eggs. Mix well, add vanilla and sifted flour.
Roll into small balls. Place on greased tray, press with back of fork.
Bake in moderate oven 10-15 minutes.

*I used a ceramic mixing bowl and melted the butter in the microwave, then added the sugar. It worked well, and saved washing an extra pot!

Where's the matches?

Last night we had a blackout, right in the middle of me organising some stuff for today. One minute I was surrounded by stuff strewn about, next minute I was in pitch black darkness surrounded by stuff strewn about.

Luckily I had my mobile phone and a couple of glow in the dark wrist bands that Amelie got from school in Book Week to light my way. I fumbled through the house and found a candle - great work! I kept fumbling through the house looking for some matches to light the candle. No matches to be found, no way to light the candle. I did think about going out to the car to get the car cigarette lighter out of it's socket, however the car was locked behind the electrically powered automatic roller door. By this stage I really wanted a cuppa.... and baby Euan needed a drink too. I didn't get my cuppa before bed but Euan got his breastfeed(s). At times like this I am so grateful for my breasts, that provide nutritious, delicious, just-the-right-temperature milk for my babies, on tap anywhere, anytime, blackout or not!

'Spose I'll do some blogging then...

I love reading blogs, wishing my life was as interesting and stylish as some. So I figure I need to make it happen, and writing about it seems like a good place to start. So with encouragement from Kate at picklebums I'm setting off into the realm of blogging.

I want this blog to reflect the great and wondrous things in my life. I want my blog to inspire me, motivate me and give me space to start to be creative again. It seems my creativity has been sucked into a blackhole since the arrival of my beautiful, yet somewhat time consuming children:-) I want my blog to kick me into gear to declutter my life, my home and my head. How's that for a mission statement!

So what better way to exercise my creativity than to do a menu plan for the week, lol. I thought I would join in Menu Plan Monday at I'm an organizing junkie. Let's get cracking....

Monday - Sweet and Sour Pork Meatballs, in the slow cooker as I write.
Tuesday - Chickpea and Vegie Curry
Wednesday - Sausage and Lentil Hotpot
Thursday - Risotto with beef, spinach and semi-dried tomatoes
Friday - Tuna Pasta
Saturday - Lamb roast in the slow cooker

I've got some Butterscotch Biscuit dough in the fridge to bake for snacks.

The blog layout is still a work in progress, but it feels great to be posting and beating the procrastination that seems to dominate my life.