Our local supermarket is having a toy sale; I picked up, very cheaply, a couple of play-do (the official goop) 'singles' which consisted of a small piece of the stuff and a shape-cutter. I got a nice looking fish and a UFO flying saucer one. Should make interesting biscuit cutters though I'm not sure how successful they'll be cos their edges are much blunter than regular cutters.

[*squeakgiggle* Back now, aijin...]

The cubs are still sleeping on the floor...

Ooookaaay, until I hear back from ICQ I'm going to use the 'lite' version... *pout* but no one I want to talk to is online!
(Aha! OkapiPrincess has just authourised me...)
From what I can see, Lite ICQ is pretty limited in application. Can't send files, and when someone messages me the dialogue box pops up in front of whatever else I'm looking at. A little annoying especially if I'm writing, or messaging someone else at the time. Hn, not sure if I can keep the histories either, will have to wait and see about that.

Heh, in other news... I think I've found the material for my quilt's background. : ) It's a sort of darkish, 'cool' shade of purple. Unfortunately it doesn't go with all the stars I've already made up, but that's ok, even leaving out the stars I can't use and the ones I'm not sure about I still have 91 finished. : ) I should be able to pick up the material next week, then I can get started on the umpteen hexagons needed. *g*

I don't embrace change willingly and when change is foisted on me I tend to pout and sulk and generally carry on like a whiney 3 year old...

Got the latest version of Internet Explorer installed ok (Joules recommended I do this before trying to download the latest ICQ) and it seems to be working fine. (*sheepish* And you were right, Joules, it looks like my only getting the basic 'edit' screen in blogger was cos I was using a geriatric browser...) I've just finished downloading ICQ but it won't run, not sure why. No doubt the reply I get from ICQ about it will tell me it's something very simple I've overlooked. *sigh*
So, I'm not live online just yet, but closer than I was this time yesterday...

(I've started my journal, Aunty Soulsis!)

Interesting triptych of dreams last night. In the first I was walking around my garden with a friend and I showed them the little spring of water that I'd discovered flowing steadily through a crack in the embankment. The water was heavily mineralised and there were deposits of salty crystals on the edges of the water flow. As the dream progressed and I kept coming back to that spot, I noticed the flow of water was steadily increasing...
In the second dream, I was caught stealing by the owner of the comic shop I worked for, only, I didn't consider it stealing, I had no intention of keeping any of the things I lifted, I just wanted to read them. So I didn't feel any sort of guilt but I acted as if I did cos that's what was expected of me...
And in the third dream, I was lined up with a lot of people waiting for what I thought was going to be handouts of food but turned out to be clothes. Everyone was given a bag containing random garments. It was too bad if you didn't like what you were given, and there were great piles of clothes lying about where people had dropped what they didn't want while fossicking through other peoples' cast-offs...

Damn, I love my subconscious...

Right, now I'm just annoyed. Had no reply to my cry for help to ICQ (fair enough, it's only been 15 hours and I'm sure they're swamped right now with irate users... *grrr*) and the website Joules recommended is not only not loading but freezing everything else up. I'm in a very bad mood. >:(

On a brighter note, this morning was the first of my volunteered 'classroom helper' mornings at the school. Really wasn't looking forward to it, but it wasn't too bad. Only had a small group of kids (including one of my cubs) for a short while, supervising them as they read through a couple of plays, 'The 3 Billy goats gruff' and 'The Gingerbread Man'. A little later both of the combined grade 1/2's got together in the music room to watch each others performances. Wasn't the most scintilating of theatre but at least each group was only on for a short time : ) The last group we saw was taking a long, long time to get through their 4 pages of script and before they'd finished the bell for recess went. In a loud, clear voice, one of my cubs said 'To be continued...' Cheeky brat! *fond grin*

Okay, I've got my good humour back, time to tackle the ICQ problem...
Carli, get into some dom cos-lay and make it behave!

*grumpgrumble*
ICQ won't load/install properly. I've emailed the company, see if they have anything useful to say...
I hate not being able to chat...

Got these from Sue today - they're so sweet I had to share *g*

THE POSITIVE SIDE OF LIFE

Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun every year.

How long a minute is depends on what side of the bathroom door you're on.

Birthdays are good for you; the more you have, the longer you live.

Happiness comes through doors you didn't even know you left open.

Ever notice that the people who are late are often much jollier than the people who have to wait for them?

Most of us go to our grave with our music still inside of us.

You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.

Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened.

We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box.

A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

Now, don't you feel all uplifted and stuff? *g*

The cubs are sleeping on their bedroom floor tonight - I have no idea why...

(nicked from GoodTwin's blog:)

Woohoo! GoodTwin's got a blog! (Can I post the link, please?)

Sure thing, Lutra. I was thinking that Sue should share this one - after all, we share a brain, our computer gremlins are twins (Pixie & Dixie), and it might be a bit greedy to have one each 8-)

Twins? Pixie and Dixie? *groooaan*
Hee, now can anyone remember the name of the cat? I can...
(The first series of Spooks is playing here at the moment, and I admit I really enjoy it. Not that I actually sit down and watch, but it's playing on the telly while I'm online.)

Right, girding loins to delete old, soon-to-be-redundant version of ICQ so I can install newer version. Wish me luck...

Tee hee hee...
Elfquest cos-play at the San Diego comics con. Ahhh, active fandom - I miss it, sometimes. : ) (Though I'd look pretty bloody silly dressed as an elf, even an Elfquest one and the last time I wore a pair of rubber 'Spock' ears I looked disturbingly like a gelfling...)

Ok, I'm not a weapons expert but in today's Mega Tokyo strip, is Miho's (the dark-haired girl) back-pack shaped like a 'Claymore' anti-personnel mine? That sure beats a Pikachu back-pack for coolness. : )

So there I was, procrastinating about getting back to the bloody novel. The reason? No matter that the basic story is a good one I have only the vaguest notion of how I want to present it. Tch. It's all very well getting starry-eyed and saying 'I'm going to write a novel' but it pays to have some clue how go about it.
So anyway, there I was, shying away from anything that could be considered 'work', chatting to Joules - or rather, whinging to her about how the novel just wasn't gelling - when my brain suddenly staggered sideways and I had an idea.
Heh, I've now got a revised break-down of the chapters and a whole new emphasis for the story direction. Well, not new, exactly, but re-discovered, and an actual plan this time to implement it. I think I'll still be able to use most of what I've written so far - there's not a lot of it, really, maybe 40 pages - but I'll need to shunt it about a bit.
So, on the whole I'm feeling a teensy bit more positive about the whole thing, and I have to *glomp* Joules for being the wonderful sounding-board/devil's advocate/voice of reason that she is. : )

One of the cubs' teachers spoke to me today, to tell me she's noticed they've started socialising outside of themselves. This is a definite step forward.
*g* I saw them playing with one of their classmates this afternoon, kicking a football around… except it was an Aussie Rules football, which is oval, and they've only really played with soccer balls! Was quite funny watching them trying to do that run and kick thing you can only do with round balls, and as for drop-kicking - forget it!
Ah, I'd much rather they got into soccer than AFL anyway. : )

Woohoo! GoodTwin's got a blog! (Can I post the link, please?)
*g* Now it's Sue's turn - though given the probs Joules' has been having…

You know what I really like about my cubs? When they've finished watching telly or a video/dvd, they turn it off and walk away. I was never able to do that when I was a kid, always had to have the damn thing on even if I hated what I was watching.
About toilet-training… Sorry, Talon, I don't think I can really be any help there, I don't actually remember any of the strategies I used with the cubs. I know it only took about a month before they got the hang of it, but at that time they were going to a day-care centre two days a week and the staff there did most of the groundwork. I was a bit annoyed at the time though, the centre's policy was that the children would/should start toilet training before they turned 3, around about the age my cubs were when they started attending. I'd planned to leave it a little longer seeing as they'd shown no interest in toilet training - ie: totally ignored my half-hearted attempts : ) - and to have something so fundamental to my babies' development summarily decided for me made me cross. But, I could see the point and ultimately the cubs benefited so I'm not annoyed any more.

Stumbled across an old episode of The Muppets last night on the Holy Rodent Empire channel. Joan Baez was the special guest and I found myself singing along with all her songs… *shakes head* I spose there has to be some benefit from having folkies as parents…

The cubs and I were talking tonight about visiting the UK - we all think it's a fabulous idea. *g* Let's forget for the moment the cost of it, let's be wildly optimistic and say we'll be travelling over in September next year... *heh, another flare-up of that 'sunny optimism' gland?*
Guess I'll just have to pull my finger out and write that best-seller.

My feet hurt - the cubs and I went to Scienceworks today. :)
It was fun, though tiring. There was a new exhibit to explore, 'House Secrets' full of oversize models of household items with accompanying displays of how they work. Very cool! (And the 'mascot' for the exhibition is little brown house mouse, there's photos of it everywhere - so cute!)
Heh, the cubs don't like seagulls. When we were eating our lunch outside one cub was patrolling to keep the seagulls away while the other tossed our sandwich crusts to the sparrows. Sparrows aren't stupid, within minutes they'd sussed the situation and grouped together on the opposite side of the cubs to the seagulls. *g*
Had a little money to spend in the gift shop today as well. The cubs each got a fridge magnet, a tiny shark floating in a half-sphere of clear plastic - and I bought myself a prettyshiny. It's, I assume, a piece of clear quartz that's been tumbled round and smooth. It's surface looks frosted and one end has been sliced through creating a kind of window to look inside. It's lovely, you hold it up to the light and the inside of the crystal 'room' sparkles! *happy grin*

Now, what goals shall I set for myself this week? Think I'll make this another week to concentrate on my novel. (Tch, does that sound as pretentious as I think it does? :) I realised today that even though I haven't written an awful lot yet, I haven't incorporated anything much about what was one of the original, central ideas. Do I try to include it now, in this first draft? Or do I just try and get as much down as possible and tweak the emphasis later? Hn...

Good grief, where did the weekend go?

Onna, I'm enjoying reading your fic! I'm not all that familiar with the anime, I have to admit, but it seems you've captured the feel of it, and the characters. : )

'S funny, Joules says she can't work without music whereas I find it easier to concentrate when it's quiet. I can tune out the television if necessary but music is always a distraction. Love having music when I'm doing the housework though. I was listening to the Beatles today, sang myself hoarse while I cleaned.
I've loved the Beatle's music for a long time, been listening to it for most of my life. My favourite period covers the 'Help', 'Revolver' and 'Rubber Soul' albums when their music started evolving from simple love songs into something more complex, and before they descended into psychodelia. 'Yellow Submarine' has a special place in my heart though, it's the first time I can remember being prompted to use my imagination to extrapolate a situation. What would it be like to actually live on a submarine? How would the living quarters be organised? Where would the food come from etc? *g* (Can't remember how old I was at the time, under 6, i think...) I've used that mental dexterity to good effect ever since, first for over a decade of role-playing and now in my writing.

Mum gave us her old vacuum cleaner and the cubs and I used it tonight on their bedroom floor. It's got a 'power head' attachment with a built-in light and the cubs thought it was fabulous fun being able to vacuum in the dark. *shakes head* Whatever it takes to get them to help out... : )

WAAAAH! *sniffle* BeBop's finished. Too sooky to say much about it other than damn those Japanese and their enigmatic endings! *poutsniffle*
(Oh and *grumble* the only characters that really caught my, um, attention - Shin and Gren - both ended up dead. Hmph.) I will get this series on DVD – I'm determined to...

(nicked from Joules' blog re Jackson:)
...but to bring to life someone so thoroughly nasty... [shakes head] I may have fun torturing him, but he's your creation, and I am very, very impressed...

Cor, thanks! *blush* Needless to say I wouldn't have been able to do it without what I've learnt from you... : )

Once again I grovel in awe at the feet of the Queen of Casual Torture (tm). *g*

Hooboy, when Joules gets to play with someone she doesn't like - ie: Jackson - the results are... ack... but no less than he deserves I think. (Hee! I did it! I wrote a character that has no redeeming features! *oddly proud of self*)

Right, that's the Dystopia chapter done, which means I've completed the targets I set for myself this week. *satisfied smile* Heh, this setting goals stuff can be useful, might keeping doing it - until I get bored and go back to my normal slap-dash habits. : )

(nicked from Onna's blog:)
I feel awful about it. I really am not ignoring everyone on purpose. I just cannot seem to get back on my feet.

Tch, give yourself a break, onna - you've been ill, it takes time to get back to normal.

(...and:)
Looking forward to seeing that quilt, Lutra! Can anyone take a picture of you holding up some of the squares so we can see?

Don't worry, sweetie, by the time I get round to putting it together I'll have a digital camera and can take the pics myself! (By that I mean it's going to be a while before it's at that stage! *g*)

I found this quiz on Talon's blog...

You Are a Like Lips!

You are a deep and sensual lover - who loves to spend hours making out.

A kiss is still the sexiest thing in the world to you.



And although you may not know it yet...

Your gentle untapped sexuality will be explosive once it's unleashed.

And if the tiger is out already ...then keep up the good work!



What Body Part Are You Most Like?

More Great Quizzes from Quiz Diva

Aww, that's so sweet! A word of warning though, the site it comes from is loaded with adult-rated images...

Soulsis, I hope Flower(pot) doesn't give you too much grief about being put on a diet. Tee hee hee, poor little (hefty)kitten. : )

Yay! End of the week! I've asked for a quiet day at home tomorrow, with a sleep-in, then the cubs and I can go somewhere on Sunday. Haven't decided where yet, it was Scienceworks first, then the Aquarium and now we're back to Scienceworks. Ah well, they know the rules, if they can't decide then we don't go.

Tch, I'm sure I had something else to say....

I bought the cubs some cheaters chopsticks, the ones that are joined at the top, which they love using. Eventually one day they'll graduate to real chopsticks. : )

I can't remember if I mentioned it or not but at the end of last term they had a Video Day at school where the different classes got to make a short film and try their hands at stop-frame animation. We got the video of that today. *shakes head* Overacting at any age! The cubs were thrilled to see each other on television though - no doubt we'll be seeing a lot of that video for the next little while. : )

The next Dystopia is coming along nicely – even though the main character isn't nice at all. I really don't like Jackson... >: (
Joules kind of issued me a challenge today to try and write something that will really squick her.
Hah! Yeah right – her tolerance to squick is greater than mine and for me to write something that really bothers her means it's likely to traumatise me! *g* [Fluffy bunnies-R-us!]
Kitty seemed to do the trick though... *smirk*

Egad we're at the end of the second week of term already! It's another short term, 9 weeks long. *sigh* Already looking forward to the break!
Though I can't deny I'm revelling in having time to myself while the cubs are in school, it's when I do the majority of my writing. Sometimes I can manage to get some done in the evenings as well, especially if the cubs' father takes them out for dinner, and sometimes – if the distractions aren't too bad, ie: television, room full of people – I can get something done at night. : )

(nicked from Joules' blog:)
Oh, and special certificates (I have the sneaking suspicion everyone got one for something) were given out - Kai's was for being the best smiler in the class!

Awww! Well done, bratling! A lovely smile is more valuable than gold. : )

Mmmm. tinned tomato soup with added thyme and white pepper, served with fresh bread smothered in real butter... *happy sigh*

[blinkblink] Well that was interesting...

The ningen took one look at the picture of the chickens on the cans and went pale, muttering something along the lines of they look like overweight blokes sitting on the bog, and declared that under no circumstances would she ever willingly eat something a) physiologically so toxic and b) so visually repugnant....

And I have to confess, having tasted her own version of ginger and lemon-steamed coley, cooked in the wok, I'd be fascinated to see how she adapts the recipe. Because I know my ningen, and I know she can't resist a challenge....

Heh, Okapi found this link for me. It's a recipe for 'beer-can chicken' - with a picture... (We've been discussing the possibilities of putting the liquid into something non-reactive and cooking it that way, cos it does sound yummy, just don't fancy having my meal infused with aluminium... Hn, I spose you could use a steel can...?)

[blinks]

I'm still pondering the logic of using the whole can and frankly a little worried about the mindset of the person who thought it'd be a neat idea to shove a drink can up a chicken's bum...

Not to mention the possibility of some sort of reaction from the paint coming off the can during cooking! [ponders the wisdom of eating anything that's been cooked with aluminium 'stuffing' - especially since aluminium's been linked to Alzheimer's disease...]

(nicked from Talon's blog - further ruminations on 'soda-can chicken':)

//[Me:] *confused* You shove the can into the chicken?
[Talon:] Yup...right up the backside. Yummy!!!

I'm still pondering the logic of using the whole can and frankly a little worried about the mindset of the person who thought it'd be a neat idea to shove a drink can up a chicken's bum...

It's been raining for 2 days now. I'm not complaining, gods know we need it (stage 2 water restrictions are about to be enforced - they should have been put in place a year ago, but that's just my opinion) but I do get annoyed at the muddy footprints through the house. Not the cubs, they take their shoes off when they come inside, it's the bloody cat. Little pawprints all over the place - over the floors, the kitchen bench (where she's not allowed to go, ahah! Sprung!), the cubs' homework they left out on the coffee table, my bed *grumble*.

Ack, I think I'm on the verge of collecting chicken tat the way I do fish tat. I don't understand it, I don't even like chickens!
No, I can resist this, I can. So there.

Next Dystopia is in the works, should be finished in a day or so..

[blinks] A pineapple-shaped ice -bucket... uhuh... the ningen has 'Saru's 'Turtle Mage' and your own 'Golden Turnip of Prosperity' on top of her TV.

[blinkblink] You shove a can up the chicken's backside? Interesting notion... [eyes Lutra warily...]

... I have no idea what day it is ...
Was all geared up to take a video tape 'round to Niki's so she could record the first ep of the new season of MDA (Medical Defense Australia) for me so I could watch the second last episodes of BeBop & BGC2040 which are on at the same time and which I missed on Saturday night having gone out to do grown-up things... All this happens on Wednesday and I only remembered it was Tuesday today at the last minute ... eheh...

My next AC is almost done, huzzah!
This chapter was awkward to write. When I was away from the computer it beguiled me with tantalising glimpses of what was going to happen but when I sat down to write it became all coy and shy and slippery and I couldn't come to grips with it. Tch.
But I can summon some small measure of determination when necessary and have managed to finish the bloody thing. Hmph.
Dystopia next...

Joules has started posting in her Haadri blog. She's planning on using it as a sort of bulletin board to let people know how her magnificent octopus is coming along...
(*giggling* Sorry, for those not familiar with Rowan Atkinson's 'Black Adder' series, 'magnificent octopus' is what Baldric miscalls 'magnum opus' which according to my Oxford Concise means 'great literary undertaking, writer's or other artist's chief production')

I was watching an episode of The Professionals yesterday ('Not a very civil Civil Servant') and I got terribly excited. Not because of the phwooarness of the Lads or anything sensible like that but because in the scene where our heroes are meeting someone at a 'rough' pub, on the bar of said pub is a plastic ice-bucket shaped like a pineapple - and I've got one just like it!
Soulsis found it for me a couple of years ago and it's one of my favourite bits of tat. In my next house it will sit proudly atop the television... : )
It's all perspective, isn't it?
(Incidentally, one of these ice-buckets made an appearance in the film 'Chopper' which is about an australian crinimal... I'm beginning to wonder if there's a connection between immitation fruit and the seedier side of life... hmm...)

I could really go some rich fruit cake right now, especially if it was covered in marzipan and fondant icing... mmmm... : )


(nicked from Talon's blog:)
So, for pop-can chicken, take a can of your favorite soda, (or beer) drink about half of it, then shove it up into the chicken cavity.

*confused*
You shove the can into the chicken? That sort of makes sense...
And I love cherry coke but the closest we have here is Dr. Peppers.

mmmmMMMmmmm....!
I know I said I wasn't going to eat the last packet of Angel Delight ('stonking strawberry' flavoured desert) until I finished Cathouse Ellis, but dammit I deserve it!
Gods, I love this stuff, the only way it could be nicer would be to lick it off someone beautiful and compliant... *g*

I fed my cubs sausages today made from organically produced meat, and naturally, because they didn't taste the same as our usual sausages they were viewed with deep suspicion.
I did, however, get the cubs to admit that the sausages only tasted different - not worse. They ate all of them, in the end...

This is an interesting article about gay webcomics. (I regularly read Venus Envy, whose artist gets a mention.)

KittenKong brought in another bird today. At least this time it was dead, however, cos it was dead she was terribly brave and actually 'played' with it. *rolls eyes* Feathers everywhere...

Pink and red should go together okay, shouldn't they, Talon? They're from the same end of the spectrum. *g*

I emerged from my bedroom this morning at 11am to find the cubs had been given their breakfast by their father's girlfriend - she'd also done the washing up.
It's interesting, isn't it, that it's someone who doesn't actually live here who's the one who helps out without being prompted...

I've found the best way to deal with being bored and restless is to do something constructive. To that end, today I finished off one batch of stars for my quilt and got another lot ready to start. This week I'll go looking for a suitable background material so I can get started on the hexagons and I might see about pricing some counted thread cloth for the peacock x-stitch.
Also this week I'd like to finish my next AC chapter and at least one of the three waiting Dystopia fics.
Of course, anything else completed above these targets is a bonus... : )

(... it's late - not sure how coherent this is going to be...)
Just got back from going to see a play with soulsis and Niki (yay! an evening to be something other than 'mummy') - an amateur producton of the David Williamson play Don's Party.
It's set in Australia in 1969 and the first act in particular is not... comfortable. It portrays a particularly obnoxious, sexist and coarse part of 'oztraylian culture' and the rabid seperatist feminist in me, who is never far from the surface, was practically frothing at mouth over some of it. However, there were parts were it was quite funny, even if the amusement came from that uncomfortable recoqnition of something familiar. The second half was better, and funnier as all the inherent ridiculousness of the characters is highlighted as they get drunker and drunker. Just like it happens in real-life...
On the whole I enjoyed the production, the standard of acting was pretty good overall (though, Mike, my friend who was in it, was easily the most natural performer : ) and the set was cringingly accurate of the time (burnt orange with large patterned purple wall-paper *shaking head* I remember when that sort of thing was fashionable.)
I covet the gumleaf green shag-pile rug though... *g*

After a bit of hunting I found out what anime Cartoon Network is going to be showing next month; Tenchi Muyo, Orphen & Trigun. Should be interesting though I'm going to miss BeBop.

Soulsis gave me the cutest little pots tonight - all bright colours with itty bitty fishes on them. : )

Egad, it's saturday! Keep thinking it's friday, better watch that or I'll think Monday is Sunday and not get the cubs to school...

*rolling around laughing*
I have to use the dragon's line sometime!
Okapi found this... It's a very funny strip : ) though the size of the files tends to shut my computer down every 5 strips or so. Tch.
(Oh, run your cursor over 'Gwen' at the bottom of the strip, there's a random selection of things that happen to her... :) [ack! clown! Kill it!]

*gaspchokegargle*
Watching Monty Python is bad when you've got a cold - it only hurts when I laugh...

I have the honour and pleasure of being one of Joules' pre-readers for FirstLight - this is both a good thing and a bad thing. Good cos it's a frigging brilliant story but bad because I have to wait for each chapter as Joules revises them rather than locking myself in my room and devouring the novel whole...
*hand melodramatically to forehead* Oh, the things one does for one's friends!
... aaaand... *smugsmirk* I've seen Valkyrie's illustration for the cover! Dead impressed, and intrigued, and stirred... Kaz is gorgeous! Can I add him to my list, please? *chibi eyes*

Okay, Talon, what does your chibi have on her head?

What does one do when one is feeling a little out of sorts? One goes shopping, doesn't one. One went shopping today...
Apart from the boring R/L stuff that had to be dealt with I managed to squeeze out a couple of dollars play money. I found myself a cutie little purple dragon statuette which is a sort of knock-off of my concrete dragon (which was a knock-off of a fine art piece that was doing the rounds of the gaming shops *thinks* blimey, 15 years ago), and a packet of assorted plastic sea critters for the cubs which they pounced on with great delight. : ) I did have plans of picking up some of those lovely glasses today - was intending to get 8 small and 8 large, that wasn't practical this week but I did manage to get 6 of the large ones to tuck away in my 'next house' box. Probably just as well I didn't have that much money today cos there was lots of tempting stuff and I would've brought home piles of crap!

Getting ahead of myself a little here, but I've been wondering where to put my computer in the next house. I could put it in my bedroom, as I do here, providing there's a phone connection of course, but if it's just the cubs and I, I'm not sure I want to squirrel myself away from them like that. I don't get to write much when they're about anyway I guess so having my puter out in the living area with theirs shouldn't be such a big deal really - just means I can't surf for smut when they're around *g*

I've been flicking wistfully through some of my cross-stitch pattern books. The quilt is still chugging along nicely but I'm feeling the need to start something new. Hmm, there's a very pretty peacock pattern in my chinese x-stitch book that uses beads, sequins and metallic threads. 's lovely, think I might have a closer look at that...

[smirk] In case anyone had any doubts, the ningen laid claim to Legato Bluesummers, of course.... This attraction for psychotic, violent pretty boys worries me at times. Though Legato has golden eyes, so he can't be all bad...

*happy squeak!*
Guess what!?
Looks like Cartoon Network is going to be playing Trigun in August! Squeeeee!
I've already been told by Joules who I can't have... *smirk*

... and ICQ is withdrawing the '99 version of it's software, the version I use, which means I have to update it. Which isn't a bad thing, really, Joules has been poking me for months to do it, but I'm worried you see cos there's not a lot of room on this puter and it tends to behave like a scandalised maiden aunt when new software is introduced (or that could be Carli...) especially if the new stuff is loaded with pretty graphics.
*noble look* Just going to have to be brave I guess and hope for the best...

I'm so proud of my cub!
The other day after school one of his classmates had his bag nicked by someone who wasn't giving it back. My cub waded in and helped retrieve it. Yes, that's very nice an' all except this is one of the boys my cubs don't get on with. Highly developed sense of justice, I think *g*... except where his brother is concerned - still more than happy for him to take the blame for things. Problem is his brother lets him. Tch, something we'll have to work on.

I've managed all of 5 pages of my novel so far this week. Fair enough, I've been ill but I'm a mite disappointed with myself. Eh, no matter, there's still 2 1/2 days to go 'til the deadline, let's see if I can make it 10 pages... :)

The ningen's sending healing 'fluences - and is glaring at the viruses, demanding they depart NOW... Scary sight. I'd leave if I was them...

Now *that* is one cool kid, Joules! *g*

Ack, I made the mistake the other day of saying that I hadn't been ill for ages.
Tch, that's one of those things you just don't say, it's right up there with 'gee, it's quiet today...'. But I'm only feeling a bit listless with a bit of a sore throat so fingers crossed it won't descend into a full blown chest infection, they take ages to shake off. Discovered I'm almost out of peppermint oil though, hopefully I can pick some up later this week. I need my peppermint oil, I feel vulnerable without it. Silly really. At least I've still got plenty of peppermint tea...

School photos came back today. They're acceptable, not brilliant, but acceptable. The class photos – taken outside – are way too contrasty for my tastes but that's just me being a picky, photographic snob. : ) Bloody things cost a fortune too, but I can't begrudge it really cos I know in future years the cubs are going to get a kick out of looking at their old school photos. I know I like looking at mine. *g*

It's been quite difficult shoving myself back into the mind-frame for this novel. The problem is, I think, that much as I want to write to it, it doesn't grab my imagination the way the AC and Dystopia do. This world frame doesn't dangle in front of my eyes, twinkling and shining like some weird-arse disco ball. (Pretty! Shiny! *g*)
But, no, a week doing nothing else but this (nothing else I say, glaring at the host of charas jostling for prominence in my forebrain) should help me get some sort of discipline going. I need to or I'm never going to finish it.
Heh, maybe if I promise myself I can start something new at the end of the week, providing I've done a reasonable amount? : )

Tee hee hee.
Just checked Hard's blog (to see what's going on with the strip). He's done a parody of Space:1999... Tee hee hee... I loved that show...
(The link is on the blog, just thought I'd mention that : )

First day back at school! Ah, it was good to see all the happy, smiling faces… and that was just the parents… *g*

Was thinking the other day that here we are, past the middle of the year and what did I have (writing wise) to show for it? Out of curiosity - to see if I'd been as slack as I thought I had - I counted up what I've completed so far in 2003.
20 pieces that I can call my own (11 Dystopia, 8 AC and the first part of Cathouse Ellis); 11 pieces in collaboration with Joules (5 Dystopia, 4 'l/L and 2 AC) plus snippets here and there in various other things that Joules has done.
Not a bad effort, really, eh? Don't feel like quite so much of a slug now though still nowhere near as prolific as a certain other person *casts admiring/rueful gaze UKwards*.
Heh, I'm not going to list the things I haven't finished yet (or that I want to start) cos I'm trying to spend this week concentrating on the novel I began months ago and I don't want to distract myself.

(discovered on Talon's blog:)

Hee, well, you know sometimes it's too much of an effort to move…


I am a sleepy kitty face down in a pile of food.


Which sleepy kitty would you be?
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*annoyed* Having trouble viewing Onna's and Soulsis's blogs - and mine! Grrr.. Sometimes it works straight away, sometimes I have to refresh the page half a dozen times before it clicks over, sometimes I give up in disgust and do something else. Can still post to mine, obviously, but it's nice to see what I've done…
Tch, and Hard hasn't updated Sexy Losers in four weeks!

The cubs and I went with my mum to the Aquarium yesterday. I really love that place, all those fishies... : )
The cubs were happy, they got sharp-shaped 'pincer' toys; Mum was happy, she got a pretty, blue seahorse windchime (like the one you gave me, Joules, only bigger and not pink); and I was happy cos I got another clear plastic bouncy ball with a coral 'scene' inside - only 2 more then I've got the set! *g* Ah, I do so enjoy the 20% members discount…

(found on 'Silken Shadows', Thistle's smut lj:)


What rating is your journal?
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Tch, keep meaning to say...
Talon, can I get an adult sized pair of the sunglasses Ripley's wearing? *g*

Bloody cat brought another bird in today, a sparrow - chasing it around the cubs' room. Stupid thing (the bird) took refuge in the toy box, burrowing right down to the bottom so I had to empty that out before I could catch the bright-eyed little souleater and set it free...

Cleaned my room today. Gah. Took longer than I'd hoped but about as long as I expected. Didn't manage to clear the pile of stuff at the base of my bed (nowhere to put it all, ultimately) but at least it's tidy now. : )

The cubs and I are taking mum to the Aquarium tomorrow, should be fun, and then it's the start of the new term on monday.
Hallefrigginglujah...
Eh, I'll stop whinging - it's been a good couple of weeks, really. The cubs have been well-behaved and cos we've gone out and done things they haven't gotten too bored and fractious.
And when they're back at school maybe then I can have a rest...

(hoiked out of Talon's blog:)

.... riiiight....




..... Waaaah! Ed and Ein have just left the BeBop! *sniffle*.... and only two episodes to go!
Noooo!
I've really enjoyed this series, don't want it to finish. : (

I really don't find Benny Hill (British comedian from the 70's and 80's) funny. Does that mean I'm a prude and a wowser, or so far up my pc arse I don't have a sense of humour any more?
No, it's simply that he isn't funny.

There's a shoe shop near us that sells Doc Martin's boots and shoes... there's a pair of purple boots in the window. *eg* I wonder if they lay-by...

Interestingly, while I was walking around the 'alternative' inner-suburb of St Kilda the other day I didn't feel out of place at all, not like I do sometimes here in the conservative eastern suburbs. Maybe it's time I admitted I'm not like everyone else and lived accordingly. *g*

[blinks] The ningen read your '10 ways to annoy a pagan' and started spitting and snarling and hissing about Satan and Satanism being a creation of Judeo-Christianity and nothing whatsoever to do with paganism, which is all about balance and tolerance and reverence for life...

[smirk] Guess that one works, then!

... I had to... (discovered on Soulsis' blog:)

What's your soap opera scenario.

The Wise Benefactor

What soap opera doesn't have the all-powerful, head of the family who's been on-air since the pilot episode? Sure, The Wise Benefactor has probably come back from comas, near fatal accidents, abductions, mysterious illnesses, botched murders, and multiple corporate takeovers. But they're the heart of the show with their integrity, sense of right and wrong, and ability to magically make things happen around the town.

Like The Wise Benefactor, you're a true original who can't be replaced — which is why you're sure to be around for a long time. There's just no substitute for your wise and powerful personality. And people can't help but to ask for your advice when times are tough. That's because they know you'll tell it like it is.

Always a warm soul, though sometimes you do exhibit some cold ambition, you keep your family together and are probably also the center for lots of happenings. The town wouldn't be the same without you, so keep doling out the advice, giving folks a hand-up when they need it, and putting people in their place when the time is right. If it weren't for you, who would keep the family, much less the town, afloat?

The cubs and I went to the Museum today - gods I'm knackered...
I've noticed that the bus and train timetables are meticulously structured so that you can only make it from one to the other if you're an olympic sprinter. Needless to say, I'm not an olympic sprinter - we waited for the next train.
Museum was fun, finally got to see the Evolution Gallery this time, the part where all the cool dinosaur stuff is displayed. Crikey, some of those f**kers were BIG! *g* Definitely want to go back there on my own and have a good look.
We caught parts 2 & 3 of the 'Fabulous Confabulator' show in which the host (a tall man in odd clothes pranced about exaggeratedly) got the children in the audience to ask questions and try to guess what the mystery items were (a penny-farthing bike, and a ritual mask from Papua New Guinea). It was fun and on the way home the cubs were saying they wanted to be inventors so they could invent their own 'confabulator'. : )
We still haven't seen everything the Museum has to offer but the cubs still seem to be keen to visit the place. Maybe in a weekend or two...

We're staying home tomorrow, we all need a rest, I think before going to the Aquarium on Sunday. : )
And I'm going to clean my room.
I am, really! I have to... it's getting dangerous in there...

My next Dystopia chapter, 'Second Chance' has been posted - thanks again, Joules, for doing the coding! *glomps*

Right, I've finished a Dystopia chapter - it's not the chapter I was trying to finish but hey, I can't complain!

Soulsis emailed me this:

Top 10 Ways To Make a Pagan Mad

1. Ask them if they are Satan worshipers.

2. Be considerate, re-arrange their altar so it will look neat.

3. Blow out their altar candle if it is still day light.

4. Pick up their tools for a closer look.

5. Sharpen their dull black-handled knife.

6. Witness to them about the "true religion".

7. Untie the knots in their cord.

8. Take hold of their jewelry for a closer look.

9. Play card games with their Tarot cards.

10. Ask them if they are Satan worshipers.

(and then Joules pointed out that most of these only apply to pagans who are into rituals... *g*)

(Hee, hope you don't mind Andi...)
Got this from the Prosfanfic list.
Go to google.com.au and type in 'weapons of mass destruction'. Click on the 'I'm feeling lucky' button and read all of what comes up, carefully...

Today the cubs and I went with friends to the St Kilda Adventure Playground. This is an amazing place! It looks… adventurous. Unlike standard playgrounds, which tend to be modular, safe and rather dull ultimately, the SKAP is full of exciting, dangerous things. Trampolines, a flying fox, a row-boat swing, billy-cart track, a big wooden castle with squillions of rooms and secret chambers and hidden paths. The place looks haphazard and colourful, just as if a bunch of kids had been let loose in a junkyard to cobble together the ultimate cubby-house. It's not that dangerous, of course - all of the guidelines for safety have been followed - it just looks like it could be. There's a central area, around a brazier, filled with old armchairs, a comfortable place for adults to relax while the kids go nuts. There's also a fully functioning kitchen where you can get tea and coffee (you're asked to leave a donation to help cover the costs, I have no problem with that) and even cook if you want/need to.
In one corner of the playground is a closed-off area of tranquility - only staff can go in there - that has a pond with goldfish and a waterfall, and chickens; happy, healthy [plump, delicious…] looking chickens. I spent a lot of time hanging over the fence just watching. (Discovered that my personal space, where chickens are concerned, is 6 feet - any closer than that and their aura of evil becomes palpable. One of the playground's volunteers, a nice young man with long hair and mutliple facial piercings -this is in St Kilda, after all - gave the chickens his left-over chips and laughingly commented that they were strange because they had no compunction about eating chicken-flavoured salt. I told him it was because they had no souls… he thought I was joking.)
There's only one toilet there, which is a little awkward. I waited 10 minutes to relieve myself because 3 small children in quick succession needed to go to the toilet now and I couldn't in conscience make them wait. Bladder control is a vital issue at that age. *g*
It's a fun place, though cos it's in an inner suburb, parking can be awkward. I found a 2 hour carpark a few minutes walk away, which wasn't a problem except I had to go and move the car or get a ticket. A small annoyance but given the overall wowness of the place, not something to get stressed about.
We stayed for 3 hours and the cubs ran themselves ragged! *g*
Soulsis, Niki, Andi - I think all of our brats would have loads of fun there. : )

The past couple of nights have been good for dreams.
Night before last was one of those story-telling dreams where the disparate 'scenes' flow together seemlessly but make no sense when you're awake. Can't remember all of it but at one point I was flying up to Brisbane with some friends and reminiscing about an earlier trip there with another friend (never been to Brisbane, btw). To get out of the airport you have to go up an intensely steep and long escalator or, as I did, clamber up the adjoining, ivy-covered concrete wall. When I got to the top I remarked to my friends how surprised I was to have done it as easily as 'last time' given how less fit I was this time. : ) Oh yes, I was going up to Brisbane to receive an award for something academic I think. The end of the dream involved helping a woman sneak away from her abusive husband - secretly organising things so she could disappear while he was away…
In last night's dream, the cubs and I went to the 'Bondi Surf Museum', someplace else that I don't think exists but that I've visited before while dreaming. Not a lot of surf memorabilia, but a long line of gum-ball machines lining the path into the ticket place and some interesting tanks of fish inside. At some point I came into a room that was being used for ritual cleansing by women - there was a long line of traditional white-clad brides waiting to use the place as well as a few pagan women. I danced with a woman there - a waltz, she led - and as always in my dreams the dance made me feel joyful and free. I knew my partner at the time, but couldn't remember her when I woke.
Interesting, eh?

[offers barbequed wombat kebabs and an invitation to a sunset picnic on the beach....]

I'd just like to say that going grocery shopping without the cubs does not constitute 'time by myself'...
The cubs had a good day though, they spent the afternoon at the park with a friend while I did the shopping, then the friend came back here for an hour or so. Much fun was had by all, apparently.

Yesterday I sat down with the cubs and we made the pretend stained glass window things they got for their birthday. Was fiddly, but fun. One cub had mixed all the colours together, so instead of trying to seperate them we just spread the lot out over the frame - it came out looking like brightly coloured measles, very effective. : ) The other cub and I used tweezers to neatly place all the beads in his, that also worked out really well - time-consuming, but fun. What the instructions on the packet failed to mention though, is the necessity of having adequate ventilation in the kitchen while these things are cooking cos the smell of melting plastic is overwhelming!

Theoretically, the cubs and I are going to another park tomorrow with another friend, then the museum on Friday and the aquarium with my mum on Sunday. Saturday I'm planning on staying home, preferably in my room either hiding under the covers or *gasp* finishing a bloody fic!
.. and then the cubs are back at school on monday... ack, these hols have gone quickly!

Heh, 9 days on and the cubs' room is still habitable...

… and today I turned an unused flannel bedsheet into handkerchiefs.
Past time to do it though, of the several dozen I made up to use as wipes when the cubs were in nappies only 3 are left. (Yes, I used cloth nappies too.) Why go to all that bother? Why not just use tissues? Cos using as few 'one-shot' items as possible is high priority for me - this disposable attitude is an appalling waste of resources. I've got it down now to basically toilet paper and paper kitchen towels, which I use to soak up as much oil as possible from the skillet before I wash it so the amount of grease going into the waterways, from my kitchen at least, is negligible. It's not a lot, but it helps. : )
(Just in case you're interested, I got 48 hankies from a single-bed sized sheet, and zig-zag edging them all is a great way of using up the left over cotton in the sewing machines bobbins…)

Gotta admit, it makes me feel kind of special when I go out for an hour and a half, leaving the cubs with their father, and find my babies have made me a 'Welcome Home' card for when I return. *soppy grin*
While I was out today I got a couple of fluffy cotton bathmats - a hot pink one for me, and a cobalt blue one for the cubs, which they love cos it looks like a bed of anenomes. I also picked up a packet of what I assume are pegs, but they're shaped like ears of corn! So cute! I'm sure I'll find a use for them. I also saw some lovely glasses (for drinking out of not reading through : ) embossed with suns and spirals - hopefully I can get some of those later this week to stash away in my 'next house' box, which is beginning to look satisfyingly full. *g* I also found a holly leaf shaped biscuit cutter and I put a really cool cushion on lay-by. It's round, and solid and sort of a dark orangey colour threaded through with gold.. will go a treat with the other 2 round and solid cushions (dark green/gold, light green/silver) I got from the same shop about a year ago. Hee, my next house is going to be very colourful…

Oh, forgot to mention we met Andi's new kitten, Emily, when we went to visit. She's very sweet, a brown tabby with flashes of dark ginger, and the biggest dark gold eyes… And good-natured too, not objecting much at all to being carried around by her armpits by a five year old who loves her to bits! ^~^

The cubs and I walked up to the shops today (gosh, what exciting outings I'm arranging for my children! *g*). Picked up the 2 little glass bunches of grapes, only 50cents each, bargain. They're now sitting in front of one of my pairs of fishie salt'n'pepper shakers. : )

This evening I thriftily turned some old towels into wash cloths, and turned a large bright green chenille bedspread into 2 smaller ones for the cubs. The bedspread was one I found years ago on the side of the road and I had the intention of making some cushions out of it (it's a really pretty green!) but the cubs claimed it cos it made the best play mat. So, now they can have one each (saves squabbles) and it's much easier to hang 2 smaller ones out to dry than struggle to get one large one over the washing line without bits of it falling in the mud.
Hm, now the sewing machines out, what else can I do? *g*

The cubs and I went to Smorgys for dinner tonight. Not our usual Smorgys, but one 10 minutes drive away...
The food was marginally better, there was a tad more variety and the gravy was nicer, though - I have no idea how they did it - the salads were more boring. The decor was still 'frenetic islander', stuffed to the gills with fake plants and plushie animals, but instead of a dicky fake waterfall that puts on a fountain and coloured lights and bubbles display every half hour, this Smorgys had (in a courtyard outside) an overgrown pool with a dicky 5 foot tall easter island type head that sneezed gouts of flame every half hour. Very exciting. *rolls eyes* I did catch glimpses of imitation birds lurking amongst the foilage but I didn't have a good enough look to see if they had holes in the tops of their heads with water dribbling out. (refer: previous discussions of Smorgys : )
I think the cubs are all Smorgys'ed out, thank gods, should be ages before they want to go again.

Cool! I'm about half-way through the next Dystopia chapter (not a Shinju/Okami one, sorry, Talon) and it's coming together nicely. Which is good, it's awful trying to force a fic that just doesn't want to be written. *g*

... and so the second week of the hols looms nigh... Spose I better think of something fun to do with the cubs - and get round to cleaning my room...

Must remember to go to the art shop (where I got my tile fish) and pick up the 2 small glass bunches of grapes I saw.. might do that tomorrow... but right now I'm going to scoff the jam donut I got from the bakery today while the cubs and I went for a walk to the supermarket. Heh heh heh!

WAAAAH!!! *snifflepout* I wanna go back to England…

Today the cubs and I went to visit Andi, a friend of mine from the Prosfanfic list. She and her husband and son spent 3 months last year in the UK (plus bits of Europe) and while my cubs played happily with 'little' Alex, I got to see the photos of the trip! Not only fabulous pics of castles and countryside but shots from one of the Professional's Day Tours which is when a bunch of the show's fans troop about London and bother the locals by obsessively taking pictures of things like a blank brick wall that Bodie once leant up against - no, I'm serious! I'd really like to go on one of these trips :) (Oh and, heh heh heh, I saw the one and only picture Andi got of Sue…)
*happysigh* Lovely, just lovely - I've gone all wistful now with wanting to get over there and beef up my collection of tourist tat. : )
It's been over a year since I saw Andi and it was great catching up again - (Goodtwin, I finally gave her the stuff you sent over!) - and the 3 boys had fun rocketing around the house together.

Right, now working backwards…
Yesterday, neither of the cubs were sick so we went out with Soulsis and Niki and chicks to see 'Help! I'm a fish, a european animated movie about a boy and his friends who get turned into fishes…
I honestly wouldn't recommend it. The animation wasn't particularly inspiring, except for the 'realistic' under the ocean shots, they were very good but there was hardly enough of them to make the film worthwhile. The characters were frankly ordinary; there was the smart alec kid (our hero), his chibi little sister, their fat, geeky cousin, non-entity parents and fat, mean, bossy aunt. Terry Jones voiced the absent-minded professor archtype and Allan Rickman was unfortunately typecast again as a villain but without the charisma he normally gives to the role. (Oh and the cutesy little seahorse mascot just annoyed me. Seahorses do not have buck teeth!)
As for the plot…? Our-heroes-save-the-day-and-defeat-the-bad-guy-through-ingenuity-and-determination-while-learning-a-valuable-lesson-about-friendship.
*gak!choke!* Sound familiar?
What was interesting though was the eurotrash pop soundtrack, very different from the Holy Rodent Empire films of this ilk.
…. How soon til 'Finding Nemo' is released over here? I'm looking forward to that…

Heh, the hall cupboard has been dealt with. It's still eyeball height full of unwanted crap but said crap is now all bagged up ready to be dropped of at an op-shop when the cubs aren't around to spot the things they haven't seen for months and want them back…

*grumble* It's the end of the first week of hols and all I've managed is exactly 3 paragraphs of one Dystopia chapter. Oh well, the cubs' father is on holidays for a couple of weeks as of today, hopefully he can keep them amused for a few hours soon cos I need a break!

Soulsis, I'm sure you'll be delighted to know that the flashing fishy phone antenna thing works a treat *g*

(found on Talon's blog:)

Yay!! *happysqueal*
And I answered the questions honestly...


What color are you? (Anime Pictures)
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OK, so one of my cubs wasn't simply tired he was actually sick. Hn. And the other one, while he ate all his dinner, wasn't clamouring for food during the day and went to bed without a murmur. Fine, it'll be his turn tomorrow...

(discovered in the bushes on OkapiPrincess' blog:)

This is what I got...
(I loathe this period of history - just ask Okapi about my frothing at the mouth over it *g*)


You're a Victorian-era corset. How refined.


What corset are you?
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This is what I wanted! Isn't she pretty! : )


You're an anime corset. Colorful.


What corset are you?
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... I really don't have any comment about this.. : )



You are Louis, the unusually compassionate vampire
and by far most people's favorite.


Which *Interview with the Vampire* character are you?
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Licked from OkapiPrincess...

"Muad'dib risotto"????? wouldn't that be kinda spicy? ROFL!!

[rolling on rose-petals in a most unregal and unbecoming manner, chortling loudly...]

[mmmm... capybara... bighorn... wombat... ]

Awww, the cubs are tucked up on the couch with their blankets, staring at the telly... I think they're all tired out from the past couple of days. :)

Poop! Keenspace is down again... grrr....

from onna's tree:

A'lestrel, if Noah would have left the ham-hams behind what would our house special be at the Tree?

[frowns, ponders...] Hn... Gerbils? Pikas? Stuffed capybara? Muad'dib risotto (heh, sorry, wrong continuum...)? I don't know - I don't cook!!

(found on OkapiPrincess' blog:)

Hm, I'm curious to see which questions I got right as quite a few were wild guesses...




Are you a true crime buff?
this quiz was made by alanna

My cubs are 8 years old now. : )

Soulsis, myself and the cubs' father took our (combined) 5 darlings to a local steakhouse restaurant for the cubs' b'day lunch. They were all mostly well-behaved, and there was no complaints about the food, so it wasn't fraught. (We adults enjoyed our meals as well, btw : ) Afterwards we trotted across the carpark to the huge garden centre shop thing and let the children loose in the fenced-in play area to run off some of their energy before bringing them home.
For a wonder, they all more or less played nicely together for the rest of the day.
The cubs enjoyed their b'day I think and we all loved the shark-shaped cake Aunty Soulsis made for them. (There's one slice left btw, Soulsis, debating on whether to scoff that myself or leave it for the cubs' father...)
Before they left, Soulsis marshalled all the brats to cleaning up the mess in the cubs' room, which was awe-inspiring to watch - why don't my kids jump to it like that when I bellow? *g*

Tired now - yawning so hard my eyes are watering. : }
Don't have anything planned for tomorrow, thank all the gods, might just mooch around the house for a bit...

Ah, right.... [winces at memories of assorted siblings and their unique wake-up methods...]

The ningen tells me it's cootchiecootchiecoo where she lives, rather than woodgie...

And raw mouse, I think. That way I have the choice of cooking method (or not, depending on mood...) And speaking of ham-hams... The ningen's mate was watching The Vicar of Dibley the other night (the ningen wasn't, she's not a Dawn French fan...), and one of the characters apparently opined that Noah (some sort of ancient conservationist?) was a baka: he'd let slide the opportunity to get rid of all the useless creatures in the world - lice, moths, rats, hamsters....

[smirk]

ROFL!
No, my room is just across the hall from theirs. Even in a deep sleep I can hear them as they wake, don't need an early warning system. *g*

Hm, 30 balloons doesn't look like that much scattered over the floor of a smallish room - stacked on a bed, however...
The cubs jumped on me just past 7 a.m. this morning, squealing with delight over their presents. Their favourite things by far were the huge (2 foot long) squishy plastic sharks their father gave them. : )
Heh, and minimal rubbish to clean up. As I always do with b'day and xmas, put all of the cubs unwrapped presents in a sack ie: pillowcase so there's no mounds of paper to pick up.
Such an environmentally aware little poppet, me...
Soulsis and her boychicks are coming over later this morning then we're going out for a small party lunch. Unfortunately the two friends the cubs invited couldn't make it - my fault, really, for not organising something sooner.. and I guess it doesn't help that the cubs' b'day falls in the first week of school hols when people usually have things planned.
Ah well. They're enjoying themselves, that's all that matters *soppy proud parent grin*

More on the birthday celebrations later, no doubt... unless I'm too exhausted to post,,, ^~^

(Oh, and, 'lestrel, a woodgie is something unbearably cute... as in squinching up your nose and cooing 'oh what a woodgiewoodgie' at a baby or a ham-ham. *rolls eyes* ... you did ask... And fine, next time Kittenkong catches a mouse I'll save it for you. Would you like it raw, or deep-fried crunchy? *eg*)

You let the mouse go?! [pout] That would have made a nice snack...

[blinks at visions of cubs jumping out of bed and onto bursting balloons] This is some sort of early warning system to alert you to their state of wakefulness?