New Dishes

Made my first Bread and Butter Pudding last week for dessert.

Whilst I prefer making savouries over sweets, I'm finding that making large desserts such as this are actually ok.

Continuing the pudding band-wagon I might as well try out the dangerous Chocolate Self-Saucing Pudding sometime too.

I'm craving a brunch at an All Day Breakfast place somewhere soon- might add this to my ever-increasing To-Do List.

Only in NSW

If your young son suddenly had a craving for a late night snack/munchies around 10:30pm, and wanted to go the shops to get some food, what would you do?

a) Go to the kitchen and give him some fruit instead as it is better for him
b) Tell him he's dreaming and herd him back to bed immediately
c) Hop in the car and speed all the way to the nearest 7-11 before it shuts
c) Take him out the back of the house, hop into your tinny and hoon over to the over side of the river and let him get his own snacks from the local service station at the other side
d) Give him a shot of rum and wait for him to hit the sack like a falling tree

Next scenario:

You are fishing at the local jetty and notice an Asian family that is also fishing there. You use different bait to them as you think you know better. Over the next 2 hours you then witness them pulling fish in one after the other, putting them all into their esky, mostly undersized ones. You catch nothing.
What do you do?

a) Start crying like a baby
b) You go over to their esky, pick it up and tip all the contents of the esky over the railing back into the river, tell them it is illegal to keep the fish, put it back down and go back to your fishing chair
c) You try and steal a fish from their esky when they are not looking
d) You decide it really is your bait that is not doing the trick, so you go up to them and politely ask them if you can borrow some of their bait instead

Perspectives

Let's be honest- 2010 has been a very difficult year for us.
A year that we probably don't really want to remember when it's over in a little over 2 months time.

We've had lots of things thrown at us to test our endurance, our health, our financial situation, our relationships, our commitments, our faith.

Satan has been working hard on us, we have almost drowned and of late been ready to give up, but God has spoken loud and clear that we are not forsaken and that He is faithful, true and has shared in our pain.

The journey has been alot tougher than I'd originally anticipated.

It hasn't been easy watching other people's lives continue on as normal, and seeing that everyone else's lives appear problem-free, worry-free and struggle-free, doing whatever they want to do and being able to do so without any limitations.

I struggle to remember what it was like to be normal again, if none of the things that have occurred this year ever happened. Would our lives have been better, worse or the same?

It is true that the past couple of years have been spiritually stagnant. So it actually makes sense that we had to face the things that have been thrown at us this year to rekindle the flame and appreciate so much more-on spiritual things rather than earthly, material things.

So I think my answer to the question above, is that our lives would have been possibly worse off if this year had been a year without the struggles we have faced.

Smooth sounds

Abit of a mumbo-jumbo music thread of the songs I've just listened to on my iTouch (in shuffle mode):

Right Here, Right Now, and wondering What's Ur Flava this weekend? The Cure is loving falling down and bouncing back on a High, they also like Toy Soldiers and Sailing Away into the sunset which is not Easy to Ignore.

It's time for a Holiday. It's boring to go on your own- my friends.....................I get the feeling that I cannot go on a great holiday Without You.

MMMmMMMmMMMM.

More Threads

All it took was a 1 hour visit to my godmother and godfather on Saturday and more connections/links/people threads were drawn.

My godmother's youngest daughter (who is married) was a missionary (possibly with CMS) in Africa for 10 years.
She is currently studying part-time at QTC and knows my brother and sister-in-law.
Godmother's son-in-law is the associate pastor at a local Anglican Church and the particular church service he oversees contains lots of people from my husband's previous church.
One of my godmother's grand-daughters and grandson are friends of a friend at our church, with her grandson doing the same degree as our church friend.
Godmother's youngest daughter knows my GP for many years, through another church they used to attend together on the northside.

Post Op To Do List

I've written a To Do List on FB which is a list of fun things to do after my latest hospital visit.
As of today (3 weeks) it does not appear to have made much progress.

The problem is that I keep adding stuff to the list but fail to cross things off the list :)

Another adder-onnerer:

Pork Knuckle.

Now this should be easily fulfilled as it is Oktoberfest 2010 in 17 days time.

Oktoberfest Brisbane

It so happens that 2010 marks the 200th anniversary of this German food and beer celebrations.

Unlike many people at church, I was not able to go Europe this year so I shall hopefully enjoy a little bit of Germany and Austria (Inspector Rex territory) soon.

*Gulp* of the weekend

Was at a surprise birthday party on the weekend.

When we saw photos of the birthday boy with a '05' school jersey our 1st thought was...........

Good grief!!!
That was the year we got married..............

no wonder we're called Aunty and Uncle.

"Positively Glowing"

1st day back to work after radiation treatment.

Almost 100% of people I've spoken to have commented that I look extremely healthy, well-rested and face full of colour.

Does that mean that I looked like an ugly green Ogre or Witch with warts and pale skin beforehand???

Cancer Diary #5

Out of hospital now after radioiodine treatment.
Problem now is that I have a croaky voice once again :(

Dunno what's going on.
No other patients had this yesterday (or probably today for that matter).

Citizens Beware

be very very afraid...........

it walks................

it crawls...................

it runs........................

it shuffles...........................

and it s ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beware of the Snuffle Monster!!!!!!!!!!! *sniff sniff*

Special Powers

An email that I got from a friend today has led me to open up the floodgates and ask people what special powers they think would be cool if they were 'radioactive' for 3 days.

There must be cooler powers than just glowing green.

First

Never in my life would I have thought I would have to walk into a organic food store.

In the past 4 days, I've walked into 2 separate health food stores looking for egg substitutes, salt-free tomato sauce, salt-free mustard and some other ingredients I need to use for the 2 week low-iodine diet I start today, to prepare myself for radioactive iodine therapy at the RBWH in 2 weeks.

In both instances I came out emptyhanded.

I wasn't going to buy a 1.5kg tub of egg white powder for $40 and there was nothing there I found which was salt-free.

A clarification, I can have salt in my diet, just not sea salt, or iodised salt.

It is quite surprising to see how much stuff, even normal seasonings contain salt- in actual fact, there is alot of stuff that I cannnot eat which contains iodine or traces of iodine.

At least I can still have potatoes..............minus the potato skins :)

Ich sprechen Deutsch

Guten Morgen.
Mein Name ist Frau W.
Ich bin ein Buchhalter.
Ich mag gerade Kommissar Rex.
Hoffentlich kann ich learnen, mehr deutsche Phrasen.
Ich mochte, Schweinefleisch zu eseen Eisbein.
Auf Wiedersehn.

Chuckle of the day

The very cool John Barrowman mocking Beyonce's 'Single Ladies'.
Real shame that he is gay.

Meaningless!

I've decided I don't want to work full-time anymore after almost 9 years.

Will be discussing a part-time option of 4 days a week instead- tomorrow is the day of negotiations.

Less stress, less chained to work = more God time, more opportunity.

Work to live rather than live to work.


"Meaningless! Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!
What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?
Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.

"I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil- this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it."

Ecclesiastes 1:2-4, 2:12-14b.

Remember to stop and smell the roses along the way.

Vouchers

Woot Woot.
It's been awhile since this happened, but I've received in the mail a full A4 page of KFC vouchers :)

Happy times.

Pictures on FB

Blogger takes way to long to upload pictures so I have uploaded said food photos (plus a couple extra) onto FB.

Resurrected an OLD photo album of food.

Food Glorious Food

Now that I'm still working part-time, I have more time to rest at home and do some home cooking which I enjoy.

Made a 3 minute chocolate cake in a mug last night for dessert. Such a dangerous recipe!
Also made my own version of a Hogs Breath Cafe Steak, complete with either mushroom or bearnaise sauce, avocado, baked potato and salad.

Going to make an authentic Spanish Paella in my paella pan for tomorrow night for a special birthday dinner :)

Pictures to come soon. (either here for Facebook)

Who needs to watch Masterchef for inspiration.

Over-done

I think I may have destroyed my voice last night after laughing so hard at the many antics that occurred at Dilsy's birthday party.

Alternative careers

I like organising holidays and trips, looking at accommodation options and researching such things.

Two alternative career paths I've been thinking about lately are a travel agent/consultant or an ESL teacher.

Both require some additional form of qualifications though.

One is only limited to the secular job network........... the other could be used for missionary work.

hmmmmmmm............