Sunday 3 November 2013

Project Life: Week 44 and an insert

Hi everyone :)

Well it’s been an eventful week in our household with lots of things happening.  I also had a great day yesterday doing something I haven’t done in years… but I’ll show you that soon. 

I’ve been having some problems with the photos on my blog… they’re coming through really pixilated and going in all different sizes even though I’m using the same settings as normal so I’m going to try something a bit different this week.  In the meantime here’s an overview of my week:

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I’ve had a bit of feedback from my Feel Good Friday this week and it seems everyone likes the otter lounging on his back in the water so I decided to use his photo for this weeks’ date card:

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Last Sunday night my youngest sister came over for a visit without her children and we ended up having an impromptu dinner party since Holly had arrived to take Krystal home.  Thankfully I’d made lots of Tandoori Chicken and had it marinating in the fridge since Saturday.

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And what’s a dinner party without dessert??  Holly and Krystal got busy and made walnut brownie which we had with Pavlova, cream, strawberries and passionfruit.  It was a great end to the evening.

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Of course Monday was Labour Weekend here in New Zealand which meant that I got to get lots of those ‘little’ jobs done… the ones that seem to have been on the ‘to do’ list forever!

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I seem to have bought a few things lately and one of my purchases finally arrived with the Home Care lady.  I’m super pleased with my new Santa table runner and I know it’s going to look great on the table at Christmas time.

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On Monday while I was at the Warehouse I spotted the ‘Clever Sharp’ from those really annoying ads on TV.  It turns out that it really does do everything they say it can do and now all my knives are like new again!

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I also made a quick trip to the local Indian Spice shop and found some really good spice mixes.  I was super thrilled to find a more ‘authentic’ Green Thai Curry paste and I’m looking forward to trying it out.

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Meanwhile, Mikayla loaned me her copy of the Hunger Games.  I’d heard quite a bit about it and to be honest I didn’t think it was my kind of story… but in the end I read the whole thing in just a couple of days.  The book is FANTASTIC!!  Really good writing and a nerve tingling plot.  Mikayla also owns the DVD version which I’ve now watched and quite frankly… what a disappointment!  I’d score the movie 2/10 and that’s being generous!

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This week we’ve been down at the Aquatic Centre every day for the kids to complete their swimming programme and they’ve done so well.  They’re all much more water confident and most of the kids actually completed the required 200m swim to pass their assessment!

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Chris (one of the teachers I work with) gave me some good pointers on how to get the rest of my wall paper off the toilet and it worked brilliantly.  Actually it probably worked a little too well because I got so excited that I ended up removing all the wall paper from the bathroom as well… it really did need to be done!  Now I’ve got to get it all prepped and ready to be painted.

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Every three years teachers have to renew their Practicing Certificates which is fine… but it certainly takes a long time and it also costs us.  Mine took 6 weeks for the paper work to go through and a whopping $270!  At least I know I can carry on teaching for another three years!

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While I was in town on Monday I bought a new duvet cover to replace the one that His Royal Highness decided was good to eat!  I was just about to throw the old duvet cover out when I suddenly had an idea.  I put Toby’s duvet inside the old cover and put it back on his bed… and it’s worked!!  Toby has actually stopped sneaking up onto my bed during the night and we’ve had five nights in a row with him sleeping on his own bed quite happily.  Life is Good :)

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The courier man arrived on Saturday morning with a small order I did in America.  There were a couple of things I needed for the Creative Chemistry 102 class that I couldn’t source here in New Zealand so I used the class coupon and grabbed myself a discount.  Actually I got a couple of things that I didn’t need for the course as well but that’s beside the point LOL

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This morning Carey and I got together for a weekend meeting… nothing heavy… but we figured we might as well go out for breakfast and talk while we were there.  Capers do a fab Eggs Benedict and we both left feeling very happy :)

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While I was trawling around the internet I came across this gorgeous photo board on Pinterest and I’m looking forward to using this idea for a project I’ve got in mind.

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And now for the insert!   Yesterday Mum was having one of those ‘can’t get out of your own way’ days… I know exactly what she means… anyway she’d had a look in the paper and found out the races were on so she invited me over to have a look.  Here’s how the insert turned out:

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Before we went to the races we popped into town for a quick look around and I found this cool carved ball with the quote “Love is patient, Love is kind” and absolutely knew I had to bring it home with me!

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Then we were off to the races!  It was actually a LOT of fun!  I had a bet on the first race we were there for… just a little bet!  Turns out it was beginners luck because I didn’t get anything after that!!  But the horses I picked came in second and third so I was pretty chuffed!

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We arrived just as a race was starting and the Marshall’s were all dressed in Santa outfits… Christmas is starting earlier and earlier every year!

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I was lucky enough to have my camera on sports mode and managed to get a good photo of the horses at the start of their race.

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When we arrived there was nobody there to take out $5 entry fee so we just followed where other people seemed to be going.  Turns out we ended up in the Members Grandstand but nobody told us to get out so we just stayed there.  We had perfect seats right in front of the finish line and when the horses were parading before each race we had a fantastic view!

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On the second to last race Mum decided to bet on her ‘favourite’ horse Number 15.  When I checked out his stats he wasn’t expected to do very well but Mum insisted that was the horse she wanted.  I’m wishing I listened to her now because ‘Sacred Star’ won the race!

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All up we had a fantastic afternoon at the races… we saw lots of interesting fashions… quite a few ‘fascinators’… got very caught up in the cheering as each race ended and even managed to find the ice cream man during the afternoon.  Plus the weather was absolutely stunning!

After we’d been at the races we headed down to The Warehouse because Mum had seen a TV she wanted with built in Freeview.  It was quite a good price because it already had $100 knocked off it but as she went to get the TV I noticed the second one had clearance stickers attached to it.  She ended up saving a whopping $140 off a TV that originally cost $299… talk about lucky… or maybe it was just good timing!

Untitled-155 copyWe actually took this photo after dinner 

Whether it was luck or good timing Mum decided to shout us takeaways for dinner so we grabbed some Chinese from her favourite restaurant and we headed to a local park for dinner.  It was the perfect setting to eat and over the years we’ve had lots of good times there.

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I did mention to her that ‘good things come in threes’ so we stopped off to get her a LOTTO ticket on the way home.  I haven’t checked with her yet to see if she’s won anything but maybe she’s already booking herself an overseas holiday LOL

So that’s been my week… and it’s been a good one!Hopefully you’ve been able to see the photos (and writing on them) a bit clearer this week. 

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead xx

4 comments:

  1. Wow what a huge week you have had. Have never been to the races and wouldn't know how to place a bet. LOL

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    1. I had to ask the lady in the booth to help me but it's actually incredibly easy... you could add it to your list for you and Andrew to do!

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  2. What a busy full week you have had. I really like your Santa table runner. I was just thinking about Dougal the other day and hoping that he has his return to home ticket booked. Are you getting ready to put your December Daily together? See how I just assumed you where doing and that Dougal will be home in time to help (lol).

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    1. Hi Mary Lou :) Yes I'll definitely do doing the December Daily again! I'm sure Dougal will be home in time for December 1st although he does need a few lessons on how to communicate while he's away LOL

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