Yishay Orr in the paper!

There was an article in the paper about a friend of mine (we used to be good friends, but lost touch) in the SMH online today.  I was trying to legally get a copy to put in my blog... and it costs over $1000 to do that!  Stuff that!  So I ended up copying and pasting the article so I can stick it right into here.

Yish has won tons of prizes (being the brililant girl that she is) - she was just shy of the medal in Uni but she won a different prize (can't remember what!), she was Intern of the Year in 1999 (well the rest of us can't compare to her!), the Ralph Reader prize for clinical cardiology research, and who knows what other prizes she has won.

I have to admit that's a dreadful photo!  She looks much better than that in real life.

I am sure that all of our friends who know her are extremely proud of her!  I think I might SMS her and tell her congratulations as well as tell her what a dreadful photo that is!  And she says that she doesn't get to exercise... her version of exercise is running a 20km run every day with 2 hours of gym.  I don't think many people can do that anyway.

I have to say I feel lucky I chose my profession and am not that intellectual.  My profession was an easier path and though probably not as intellectually stimulating or physically challenging as what Yish is doing, it makes me happy.  Yish would only ever be happy doing something that challenged her in every aspect. 

Countdown! 2 days to Las Vegas!

I can't believe time has flown so fast and we are leaving in 2 days!  I'm quite excited now about going to Vegas.  There are some really nice 5 star restaurants there owned by famous French chefs!  Like Joel Rubechon.  A lot of these restaurants are located inside the big hotels, so I'm hoping I get to have my fine dining fix while I'm over there.  Goodbye diet!

Julian speaking a little bit more

Julian now points to his mouth and says "um" when he wants food.  And he says moon all the time.  Not sure why, but he still does it when he looks out of the window ever since we showed him the moon.

I can get him to repeat mama (well mamamama) if I ask him to, and today I swear he said "pay" when he picked up the toilet paper.

Zoo with BW's parents

Took the kids to the zoo yesterday.  It was a long day out!

The morning was gloomy with scattered showers so I stopped by Baby Kingdom to get a rain cover for the pram.  They had run out of the double covers so I only had the single but that was good at least.  Having 2 kids running around the store is a nightmare though trying to contain them, so I was happy someone came to give me some assistance.  That's the nice thing about Baby Kingdom in Yagoona, always happy to help out.

Then I asked Erika if she wanted to catch a boat or drive, and she said she would like to ride a boat.  So I parked my car at the station and we caught the train to the city and then the ferry.  Erika was a bit timid of BW's parents but she warmed up quick enough to BW's mum and Julian was cuddling up against her eating his lunch.

The ferry ride was nice, Erika seemed to like it, Julian however slept through it.

We arrived at the zoo at the bottom entrance and got the lift up to the Sky Safari, and they let us put our pram on the Sky safari so that was cool!  Julian woke up there with all the bumpies but Erika was happy and looked out the window saying "We're flying!"

Then we saw the animals and watched the seal show and then bird show.  Erika was enthralled with the seal show and wanted to watch some more but it was over and she was quite pouty afterwards.  We did go and see some more animals so that made her happier but she lost it in the bird show and wasn't very interested in it which was a shame.  It was at that point Julian decided to poo in his nappy so I missed some of the show too.

After the bird show we left and made our way home.

Sick children again

Well the kids are sick again.  Julian now has diarrhoea, which initially I thought was due to me as yesterday morning he had a bit of constipation/hard poo so I shared my yoghurt from breakfast with him.  We went out to the zoo that day with BW and his parents and Julian did 2 poos in his nappy.  2!  And then when we came home I put him straight into the shower to wash him because one of those poos was on the train home.  And then he pooed some more in the bath!  EWWWW!  I put him on the toilet after that and he pooed even more!  And then after his milk/dinner I put him on again and he pooed again.

Then this morning he pooed in his nappy because he was crying and I think I should have realised to take him to the toilet instead of letting hubby deal with it because he may have been crying to be taken to the toilet rather than crying because he'd done it.

Though the illness started a few days ago, because on Wednesday night Julian woke up coughing and then started crying and then started vomitting.  Gross.  I hate vomit.

Erika has a blocked/runny nose mainly, Julian is the one who looks sicker.

Sydney Royal Easter Show 2011

It may sound corny but I really like going to the Easter show.  As usual, it always rains at the Easter show and Saturday was no exception.

I wanted to go this year especially because it is the last year that Erika can enter the Easter show for free.  Though technically she is so small she could probably get in for free again next year.  Julian was still a little small to appreciate the show, but Erika still liked it.

I parked the car at the station and caught the train there.  The kids love catching the train.

We started off at the Woolworths Pavillion, sampling various tidbits and as usual me spending money on ridiculous food showbags full of snacks which served as lunch for me and the kids.  I got Jalna yoghurt and also a honey bag which had 2 types of honey in it and a honey guarana drink (zing!).

Then we made our way to the home and arts pavillion where I bought the silicon food covers for my sister in laws.  Also K&J were there with their kids and I dragged J to the stall and she bought some too!  The Demonstartor dude gave me a knowing smile as he launched into a demo for J (as I had just told him I was buying 2 for my relatives).

A quick stop through the showbags where I decided not to load up on junk (though in hindsight I thought perhaps I should get the Dora showbag because there was an umbrella in it and Erika was insisting on carrying an adult umbrella which was swiping everyone's knees around her as she wielded it).

Then we slowly made our way through the animal pavillions, starting with the dogs, then onto the chickens, pigs, cows, sheep and goats and finally the Farmyard Nursery where Erika and Julian both touched goats and sheep, looked at chickens and dragged their feet through the sawdust.  Lucky I decided to put gumboots on both of them or I'd have some horrible shoes to clean!  Erika really liked the pigs.  She cried because she wanted to go back and see the pigs again.  There were a lot of piglets there and she was absolutely fascinated by them.

Julian did have a sleep in between but was awake for the Farmyard Nursery so at least that was some fun for him.

Then it was raining again, so we bolted back to the train station.  The kids were tired and so was I!  But it was a good day out.

Joke of the day - The Sneeze

A man and woman were sitting beside each other in the first class section of an airplane.

The woman sneezed, took out a tissue, gently wiped her nose, then visibly shuddered for ten to fifteen seconds.

The man went back to his reading. A few minutes later, the woman sneezed again, took a tissue, wiped her nose, then shuddered violently once more.

Assuming the woman might have a cold, the man was still curious about the shuddering. A few minutes passed when the woman sneezed yet again.

As before, she took a tissue, wiped her nose, her body shaking even more than before.

Unable to restrain his curiosity, the man turned to the woman and said, "I couldn't help but notice that you've sneezed three times, wiped your nose and then shuddered violently.  Are you OK?"

"I'm sorry if I disturbed you, I have a rare medical condition, whenever I sneeze I have an orgasm."

The man, more than a bit embarrassed, was still curious. "I've never heard of that condition before" he said.  "Are you taking anything for it?"

The woman nodded. "Pepper."

Greenifying Sydney's Town Hall

Was reading my Energy Matters newsletter and there were two interesting things to note:

1) Energy matters was nominated for a Telstra small business award!  So I quickly lodged my vote in for that one
2) Town Hall in Sydney had solar panels installed on the roof as part of the Town Hall upgrade!  I like that for good use of space. 

You can read the full details here:
http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/development/CityImprovements/BuildingsAndFacilities/TownHallUpgrade.asp

Julian the destroyer strikes again - farewell music box

 

Sigh I though this music box would last till Julian was older, and be a momento of his childhood... however, even Julian managed to break it.

This music box was bought by my parents from Austria, and it plays Edelweiss.  It winds by turning the top of the carousel which made it easy for Julian to wind it up and he used to wind it up all the time.  However, when he tried to make it play faster he broke it and now it skips rapidly instead of turning slowly and so essentially it's broken.  Sad face.

So here is a picture of the carousel music box.  I might keep it in the offchance it can be repaired, but if it can't I guess into the heap it goes...

Love is...

"One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love." 

- Sophocles 

This is one of those posts where you feel like getting it all out but you almost wish nobody would read it.  One of those posts that most people would look at and think omg pass this is another wishy washy girly post...

When I was younger, love was infatuation, where the object of my desire occupied my thoughts, 24-7.  I would imagine scenarios where we were together, how we'd grow old together, and all sorts of romantic, snuggly encounters where I wished that my object of infatuation would love me with the same adoration that I had for him.

"Love is friendship set on fire." 

- unknown

Then lust comes into the picture and then physical attraction starts to become what you think is love.  You crave the other person, you want to touch them, you want to look at them.  They are perfection to you and you couldn't imagine anything more desirable or perfect, and then you imagine all sorts of raunchy sexy encounters that make your heart pound and desire and arousal consume you.

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams". 

- Dr Seuss

I realise now that love is not just something that you feel.  The most important thing about love is that it's something that you share.  You can't love someone who doesn't love you back.  People talk about how love hurts.  That's not love.  The hurt is the rejection that you feel because your emotion is not returned to you and you feel empty inside, cheated.  Love is still the physical and the romantic - that's part of the whole package.  The really great thing about love is that you are in it together, and you both have a common goal - to make each other happy.  Love is not about possession, or jealousy.

"We were given: Two hands to hold. Two legs to walk. Two eyes to see. Two ears to listen. But why only one heart? Because the other was given to someone else. For us to find." 

- unknown

What about love for family? Or a child? Or friends?  Those kinds of love I admit are different.  The protective kind.  Where you only want the best for them, hope for the future for them, wish the well in everything they want to achieve.  I only wanted to write today about the romantic notion of a soulmate, the joining of two minds, hearts and bodies to give that uplifting emotion of love.  And you wish that everyone in the world could find their other half, because you can't imagine why anyone would be unhappy if you had that to hold onto.

"Once in a while, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale." 

- anonymous

Julian advancing finally!

Yay well Julian is finally communicating better!  I was in a bit of a despair because he wouldn't talk, but he now says bye bye routinely and waves, and is quite cute at it, and does say moon (as moo) and says mama sometimes too.  And he points at things he wants and shakes his head no when he doesn't want something.

But the big thing was this weekend I was trialling him without nappy and taking him to the toilet and he was doing really well!  He would hold quite well during the day, though just after milk was always tricky, missed quite a few there.  Today was great, I actually took him outside with no nappy and held him and asked him to wee wee and he did a wee for me! On the grass!  3 times!  And he would sit on the toilet and try to wee if I put him there rather than fight, and if he cries going to the toilet I know it means he doesn't want to go.  Though there have been a few times where I was sure he needed to go and I just ended up taking him to a different toilet.