Miscellaneous thoughts for Mondays

As I said yesterday, over the weekend we had sunshine after weeks of rain - yay! We also had our state election with unprecidented results. Plays at the park, time with Ruby's grandma Nanny Tops and Dear Husband's return home and all the other happenings on the weekend made for a lovely time.

The new laundry system seems to be working well, although we're only one week in! I do feel better during the week about having it pile up, since that's part of the plan and I know I'll deal with it on Sunday nights. I didn't get the ironing done, but all the folding and putting away happened.

I got some knitting done over the weekend too. I'm working on some squares and a blog related venture - stay tuned to see what it is!

Last week's round up

Monday: Chicken stir fry - him All good
Tuesday: Chicken curry (from the freezer - me) We went with freezer Bolognese instead of the curry
Wednesday: Beef stir fry - him All good
Thursday: Bolognese (from the freezer - me) I cooked previously frozen mince up and made enough for dinner for the two of us in Thursday, plus two more dinners. Since the meat had been previously frozen I couldn't refreeze. I put the other two servings in the fridge, one with spahghetti for my dinner on Friday night since Dear Husband would be away, and the other serving I though he might have on toast for breakfast on Friday. Unfortunately neither was eaten and since I couldn't refreeze them they got thrown out :( I also cooked up 1kg of fresh mince into eight servings which went into the freezer for another day.
Friday: Hmmmm... I had a last minute invitation from my mum to go over for dinner. She and I had a fantastic meal of homemade pesto (with home grown basil) wholemeal pasta and garden salad. Chubs had the pasta with basil leaves and cheddar (no nuts or goat's cheese) and a banana for dessert.
Saturday: Scavenge I had a BBQ with a lovely group of local mums, their partners and children. A lovely afternoon with great company, great food, great coversation and a baby who fell asleep :)
Sunday: Bolognese (from the freezer - me)

This week's plan
Monday: Slow cooker curry
Tuesday: Beef stir fry
Wednesday: Bolognese from the freezer
Thursday: Chicken stir fry
Friday: I have a meeting so I'll just snack and leave Dear Husband to scavenge
Saturday: Scavenge
Sunday: Bolognese from the freezer

(Almost) perfect day

Yesterday Chubs and I had an almost perfect day. She had a great night's sleep and then woke up early. I was a bit worried about how I would get a shower, as Dear Husband is away with work and now that's she's mobile it's a bit harder. Thankfully she went down for a nap without any worries and I transferred her to her cot so I could shower without worry - yay!

It was a sunny day yesterday - the first in weeks. I popped her in the stroller and we walked down to the nearby church hall to vote in the state election. I take my opportunity to vote as a huge responsibility. Many have fought hard and died - are still dying - for their right to vote. Even in Australia, it has only been 110 years since non indigenous women have been allowed to vote (1902 for federal elections, 1905 in my state). Shamefully, the voting rights of indigneous men and women were not acknowledged until sixty years later. Despite all the failings of our political systems, all the petty games, lip service and rhetoric, the right and responsibility to vote should never be belittled, taken for granted or wasted.

We went in to vote (Dear Husband did a pre poll vote earlier in the week since he's interstate) and I wanted to get a photo of Chubs' first election, but sadly she was not obliging :( We visited the democratic sausage sizzle and cake stall and then went to the park.

Chubs had a play in the dirt, chewed some sand, had a swing and generally got a lot of her energy out. We both missed going to the park while it was raining. We came home and both had a nap without argument - yay!

We had been invited to a BBQ with friends and we were bringing sausages and breadrolls, so we were on our way to buy them when we ran into my mum, so we had impromptu coffee and cuddles too :)

Off to the BBQ which was great. A bunch of friends and their partners, heaps of young kids, good food and great company makes for a great afternoon and evening. Election night news coverage always appeals to me too - even if the results were unprecidented. Chubs had dinner and a bath there and fell asleep in the car on the way home - perfect.

Another great thing is that Chubs has been going through a stage where she bites while breastfeeding. I've been trying just about everything with no luck - but she hasn't bitten me once in two days. I hope that this is the end of it at last!

It's only almost perfect because Dear Husband missed it, but he will be home soon - this was only a very short trip away.

A lovely Saturday - what did you do on the weekend?

Dear Zoo and Dear Santa

My mother, Nanny Tops, gave Chubs Dear Zoo. Fondly remembered from my childhood, no one reads this tear-the-flap book as well as Nanny Tops does. It's animated and engaging and keeps you in suspense!

Christmas saw the arrival of Dear Santa as well, this time Daddy and I bought it in Sydney. This one is a board book so the flaps are fairing better.

Using the well proven 'So they sent me a ...' format we bounce, scare, mess up and make noise though this delightful 2004 book with another furry suprise at the end. I thought that you weren't supposed to give pets as presents, but apparently the zoo and Santa didn't get that memo.

These books are just right.

Recycling bin improvisation FTW

I have recently returned to work after my Maternity Leave. Whilst on leave I packed up all my things and put them into storage. Despite a massive purge, I still had many things which I felt it was best to keep. I sweet-talked my mum and sister into collecting them for me, and then I carted them back to work. (They were going to the storage shed anyway to get things of their own, I'm not that bad...) It's a fair distance from the carpark to my desk, and boxes of books are really heavy. (Although, at least they don't squirm or pinch my arm or pull my hair. Then again, the book boxes don't giggle and gurgle either. I digress.)

I was very conscious that I had a mountain of work to do, and a baby girl at home who would want a feed in a few hours. I didn't want to spend all my time farting about carrying boxes. I emptied out the aforementioned recycling bin, filled it with my books and then used it as a makeshift trolley. Two trips instead of ten or more, recycling back in the bin and three glorious hours of uninterrupted work. Works for me!