Tonsils, PCs and public health messages......

This week I became ill this week with two separate infections that require some dynamite antibiotics to conquer them. When I say "dynamite"I am not referring only to their strength, but to their size and shape...... (MOTH thought they were pessaries...). Getting that first pill down past my infected tonsils was a challenge not unlike childbirth minus the epidural, but thankfully of a lot shorter duration :)

I always knew that my PC and I have a strong bond, but until this week I didn't know how strong... As my temperatures soared and I shivered, my PC came down with sympathy illness resulting in a fried motherboard. Panadol doesn't work with PCs... So while MOTH/NOTH* is fixing/rebuilding my PC he has set me up an account on the kids' PC and I am almost back to normal. I just have to wait for my turn :)

Meanwhile Turtle (DS7) has apparently taken on supervising the general health and wellbeing of the family:
T: "Mum, have you had your pap test?"
Me: "pap test?" (mind racing to work out where that question came from....)
T: "Yes, pap test, you should be having one every two years"
(his message delivered, Turtle leaves the kitchen and I pick up my jaw from the floor... and I realise with some relief that he has been paying attention to the current TV campaign, but that he probably doesn't actually know what it entails)

In other words, just another ordinary week in our house.

*NOTH = Nerd Of The House

a bit of photo fun

1. La Diosa Mari, 2. trini mangoes, 3. schola-osloensis, 4. ♫ YO Yo yo, there's no place like a green penthouse... so i told the genie i wanted to be well hung. ^o^ ♫ nah... wildlife from singapore♫, 5. Mark Harmon, 6. Ginger Ale?, 7. No title needed, 8. Moltekrem - Cloudberry with cream, 9. Perspective Matters, 10. Joy of life, 11. When Waves Collide, 12. My Norwegian Forest Cat

Sarah over at Simple Sunshine passed on a great game she had found and it looked like fun

so I gave it a go.

Here's how it works.

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.

b. Using only the first page, pick an image.

c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?

2. What is your favorite food?

3. What high school did you go to?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

6. Favorite drink?

7. Dream vacation?

8. Favorite dessert?

9. What you want to be when you grow up?

10. What do you love most in life?

11. One Word to describe you.

12. Your flickr name.

Astrology is not really my thing, but

if there is a planet of accidents, I am sure it's right over us at the moment....... this time it was LP's turn as she was bounced off the trampoline and landed on her elbow. At first we thought she'd just given it a good whack, but the fact that she wasn't talking much told me that she was not alright (this is the girl who does not stop talking except to eat and sleep). Time for another visit to the local Emergency Care where the dr had that "haven't I seen you before?" look.

LP has a fracture in her elbow, but was very lucky because it looks like the bit that is broken off has stayed in place and doesn't need pinning. At the moment the temporary cast is still on, but she'll get a full cast after a visit to the "bone doctor". In the meantime LP is quite pleased to finally have some Xrays of her own (go figure....)

Doodlebug Birthday!!

Last year we had the Mad Scientist party, but this year Doodlebug decided that his 9th Birthday was to be celebrated with a sleepover birthday party with his best friends. We went ahead with the planning, and what better date than Friday the 13th?

I failed in my mission as a recordkeeper and blogger since I didn't get a single photograph of the event - couldn't find my camera..... So I will just have to give a brief synopsis of the events.

The guests - 4 boys - were dropped off in the late afternoon, and we piled into Bertie Bus and went for a game of ten-pin bowling. We had two lanes, and the kids all had a blast. One group finished quite quickly and we started watching the boys in the other lane.

Lesson learned: "Do not take your eye off the ball" or, more to the point, balls... One enterprising guest decided to start his own game of bowling, by bowling all the balls from the rack down the empty lane, and he'd rolled about 8 down there before we noticed. The attendant was very helpful... I am nursing the hope that we're not the only ones to have caused a pile-up.

Next lesson learned: "Check dietary requirements of guests". I'd checked for allergies, but had completely missed the vegetarian, who also happened to be a very fussy eater. At home we had stacks of pizza waiting, but not even the plain cheesy one was tempting him. However, we aim to please, and Peter made him the meal of his choosing - a bowl of rice. The other party food we had also helped keep starvation at bay....

The boys had a blast scoffing food and watching a DVD before we sent them all off to bed in the living room for the next stage of the party - Nintendo playing. All boys had brought their DS'es and connected up to each other for a bit of Pokemon battling. After their allotted time, I collected all their consoles and chargers so they could wind down....... Sorry, did I say "wind down"? Doodlebug had been given a joke book as a present, and before long we heard laughing and giggling...... But eventually they started dropping off to sleep and all was quiet.

I thought after the late night they would be sleepy, but at the crack of dawn, they all went and reclaimed their consoles and continued playing in bed until the breakfast hunger pangs became too strong to ignore. It was a wonderful low-maintenance sort of celebration and the kids had a blast.

Books? Rather!

I say, old chap, the Famous Five books make a jolly good read!

Some decades ago I used to devour the books telling the adventures of Julian, Dick, George, Anne and Timothy the dog, their picnics and outings with gingerbeer. I'm happy to say it's now the time for the next generation. Doodlebug is enjoying these books and I'm thrilled that they capture his imagination. They are a little slower paced than some of the other books published for his age group these days, and I was interested to see if he'd take to them. A lot of junior fiction now cater more for the shorter attention spans, and the action pretty much happens straight away in the first chapter.

Waiting on his nighttable for its turn is Morris Gleitzman's "Toad Heaven". We fell in love with Limpy the cane toad in "Toad Rage" and were happy to see that his adventures continue with "Toad Heaven" and "Toad Away".

Turtle's still enjoying his old favourites, and is not yet ready to branch out. He loves non-fiction and far prefers to read books on trains, planes and any other sort of transportation. But he still enjoys being read to at night as long as the book has some pictures. He does like "The Adventures of Charlie Small" but we are waiting for the next book in the series.

Little Possum finished all her Henrietta books and was sad that there aren't any more. But... Emily Rodda's "Fairy Realm" series has proven to be popular.

Me? I'm happy to report that I have not bought any new books this month..... although I will admit I have stared longingly at several.

Where I belong

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern. A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock. A unique soul like you needs a city that offers everything. No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong In?

I found a link for this little quiz on Anne Heidi's blog and just had to give it a go. Not that I take these quizzes too seriously, but this one actually has some merit..... London and I did get along very well - for 13 years! Peter and I moved out to the countryside in search of more greenery when Doodlebug came along.

I fed my traditional self in concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and the Barbican, however I don't know if I was as much Punk rock as just plain rock, occasionally heavy. I have memories of very muffled hearing after a Cure concert, but I attended that as a first-aider rather than as a fan, spent the whole time handing out paper bags to hyperventilating girls.

one-armed no more

Doodlebug is very happy to be healed up and now loves to show off his scars - 3 of them in total. We can close this particular chapter of his life now..

He's quite impressed with his J tattoo

Sadly his free ticket to the computer room at lunchtime is gone now that he is two-handed again, but he'll live with that. Being able to play DS with 2 hands again makes up for much, and he is now eagerly awaiting the release of the latest Pokemon game in 10 days. It's by all accounts the most exciting thing to happen in his almost 9 yr old life, apparently... (that would be since the release of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl version last year...)

things just got a little louder around here

Remember Animal from the Muppet Show? One of my favourite characters apart from the adorable Green One and Miss Piggy of course (and the Swedish Chef......)

Both boys are playing percussion in the school band, and have so far had to make do with rubber practice pads for practising at home. We had considered buying a drum kit, price permitting. I lucked out on eBay last week (gotta love eBay) and acquired a drumkit for $50..... that was worth a drive to the other side of Sydney to collect it. Hopefully Peter agrees since he was the one who did the actual collecting. That is the division of eBay labour around here..... I buy and he collects..... ("honey, I just bought a bookcase/dresser/other terribly useful thing on eBay, would you be able to pick it up this weekend?")

The kids are all so excited to have an almost complete drumkit (missing the cymbal at the moment), but there is the slightest little thought of "uh-oh, what have we let ourselves in for". But despite all the enthusiastic drumming, I think I still prefer it to early stage violin playing.

Let the fun begin!!!