Some of the relatives

Here's Grandpa (I think he should be called "Grey Grey" as he is so grey and it matches his name), Aunty Ellen (me) and the new Mum (Anna).

What do you REALLY need?

(Anna is the baby in this photo, soon to be new mum, and my mum is holding her, soon to be grandma)

Pitter patter.  Do you hear the sound of little feet?  In case you missed it, my sister is pregnant.  Very exciting.  Babe is due at the end of March and we're counting down.

We've recently shared several interesting conversations.  The most recent was about what 'baby' items you realistically need as a new mum!  She believes that the commercial world out there is out to convince you that you need every little item.  We were talking about nappy bags.  She thinks it is silly when the nappy bag is childlike or covered in some kiddy character.  Who is the bag for?  She is far more keen to use a large bag she already has or wait to see if and what she needs in a bag.

This leads me to ask you mums out there, what do you really need?  What can't you live without?  I am very interested to know and I'll pass the info on to Anna...

Want to see some recent photos of Japan?

Comment and let me know!

Can someone explain this?

TODAY	TOMORROW	THU	FRI	SAT	6-10 DAY
Mostly Cloudy	AM Clouds/PM Sun	Partly Cloudy	Showers	Cloudy	Extended Forecast
High: 15° Low: 11°	High: 17° Low: 8°	High: 22° Low: 8°	High: 21° Low: 11°	High: 26° Low: 11°

Look closely at Thursday...  22 is not bad for a spring day.  Warmish, especially if the sun is shining.  But, what is with the low of 8?  That is cold, cold, cold for this time of year.  Bring on the warm weather!

Insomnia?

No... not that drastic, but...

What happens on those nights when you go to bed tired (after a late coffee and two champagnes) and you just can't fall asleep?  I mean, you are seriously tired.  You need the sleep.  You've been unwell.  YOU JUST CAN'T SLEEP!  What happens?  Time passes and you know that you must have been asleep but you still feel wide awake.  You feel like you have been awake for hours.  You wind yourself up more and more and suddenly, it is morning!  You must have slept.  

Wordl... mmm, could be fun but why is cocaine there?

... and where is AJ?

My little friend (enemy) euproctis pseudoconspersa

Once there was a little mouse...

I wonder who he/she looks like?

I wonder what he/she will be like?

I can't wait to meet you... Until March!

(CONGRATULATIONS Anna and Tino - Love you both)

AJ has always had a thing for blue textas

Here he is at age 2.  This creative effort stretched past the canvas of his body and also covered the wall.  Definitely took a few days to wash off!  I love the wink in this photo.
Here is AJ at age 6 and a half (sound asleep).  He and Milla were so hyped up tonight, for no apparent reason!  They even surfed down their flight of stairs on an old bed mattress!  I was sure the night was going to end in tears.  I was quite surprised that both of them went to bed with no arguments.  They usually spend at least half an hour to settle... Not tonight.  They were quiet from the beginning - strange.

Their Dad, Sean, went up stairs to check on them at about 9.  On his descent, he remarked, questioning if they had gone to bed with 'blue' faces?  We grabbed the closest camera and headed upstairs!  We were literally rolling around on the floor.  We now understood why they were so quiet at bed time.  I wonder what it will be like getting ready for school tomorrow?

Of course, Milla didn't miss out!

Is coffee really a drug

I have just spent five days without my favourite drink... Almost killed me (slight exaggeration).  I really do love the brown stuff.  I am now trying to have less and really enjoy them.  

One of my fixes for today was reading this article about mistaking coffee whitener for cocaine!!  Made me laugh.

A fave over at Flickr

Visit Ultraman Daddy... Japanese character.  Awesome photos.  I love it.

My famous Mum...

'Big Dry' turns farms into deserts was featured today over at the BBC.  Look for Mum, she's the one from Benalla.  Here is the part specifically about her...

The BBC had been chasing Mum for a while as they were writing this article about the drought in Australia.  They found her via Flickr (mum49).  I was 'found' via Flickr a few years ago.  What a wonderful place to showcase and share our photos.

Spring has sprung

Or spring is in the air...

You really can feel it today (nice, as it is the 1st of September).  There is that wonderful sunny feeling to the day.  Yesterday was even almost warm (not today though).  The days are also getting longer.  Woohoo, roll on summer!

Also, 18 days until we set off for Japan.  

Happy days!

On a lighter note...

Why do I like CSI: Miami so much when David Caruso clearly can't act?  You could replace him with a cardboard cutout and have the same effect.

What's Good For You

Spring makeover special.

At what age do we suddenly feel 'grown-up'?  I don't mean turning 18 and being able to drive/drink/vote or turning 21 when everyone celebrates your coming of age.  When do we feel that kind of 'mum' age?  I guess that is what I am getting at.

This feeling has overwhelmed me in the past couple of years.  I am not saying that I feel 'old' but I do feel changed.  Go back say 4 years and (in my mind) my students would look at me as the cool, young teacher.  Now I feel like they look at me as the cool teacher who could be their mum (as I am the same age as many of their parents - or older!).

I am also the heaviest that I have ever been.  Only a bit heavier (not much) but it makes heaps of difference.  I am constantly thinking about what I am eating.  Sometimes I make the conscious effort to reduce what I eat and sometimes I just have to have one more chocolate.  I joined the gym and enjoy going.  The problem with joining a gym is the guilt I feel when I don't visit.  I so need to go more regularly.  

So, lets get back to the title of this post... I am sitting here on a Sunday night and watching the new episodes of 'What's Good For You?'.  It is a spring cleaning, make-over special.  I am going to get back on track even if it kills me.  For a start, I need to watch less TV.  Here are my current goals.  They are in no specific order and I am not planning to implement all of them at once.  I just think these are a few things I should improve...

1.  Drink less coffee WITHOUT sugar.  

2.  Visit the gym at least 3 times a week including at least one fitness class.

3.  Walk to school (2.5km one-way) at least 3 times a week.

4.  Reduce the amount of unhealthy snacking (it sugary snacks including chocolate and ice cream).

5.  Eat more nuts as a snack.

6.  Eat more fish (Why don't I? I love it!)

7.  Drink more water.

8.  Attend to personal grooming more often (ie waxing - ouch)

9.  Eat more salads and fresh veggies.

10.  Eat less pasta (not cut it out but reduce serving size)

Anyone else out there got any more hints or suggestions.  Key weight loss ideas.  Motivational statements... I think that is something I really need - MOTIVATION!

If I was a manga character...

This is as close as I could get it...

This is how I'd like an avatar version of me to look like!

Where have I been?

I have had a very busy Internet/computer related fortnight.  I had to hand in my leased Mac, then wait patiently for my brand new leased Mac to arrive.  

So here it is and I love it.  I spent the first night reloading a whole lot of needed music, photos and files.  It took hours.  I 'played' at Del's house for hours too - on the Internet downloaded things like Skype. 

I am also counting down the weeks until I head back to Japan (5 weeks and counting).  I am organising the four of us.  It is so exciting but also very stressful (Anna, you know what I am talking about).  Lots of places to go, people to see and most importantly, FOOD TO EAT!

Amongst all this, I was introduced to Twitter and a few other new 'toys' on the net.  I have been a busy girl!  Blogging has suffered a little bit.  I just wanted to let you know that I am still here.  Still thinking about blogging...

Crafty like a fox

Hmmm, how to start?  I guess I need to begin when I was in Japan.  I hadn't been blogging long and I was always on the hunt for good blogs to read.  Almost any topic was great just to get a fix of English.  I stumbled across Loobylu's blog and fell in love with blogs to do with families, art and craftiness.  From Loobylu, I found my way to Soozs blog.  Here was this talented woman who had just arrived home to Melbourne from Thailand.  She was a natural 'crafty'.  I could see that she was able to turn her hand at anything and follow (or purposely change) any pattern put in front of her.  I saw that she had created a 'softie' that was a character from Japan.  I immediately commented and our communication/friendship began there.  Sooz was the first (and only) person that I have done a 'swap' with.In 2007, I was finally able to meet Sooz.  She organised a meet up in Melbourne 

and about 10 women turned up.  We had fun chatting face to face about blogs and 'real' life!  Sooz also organises 'craft' weekends away for these women to relax, socialise, learn a new skill or just finish off their projects.  I have been keen to attend one of these weekends for a while.

This past weekend, I finally joined in on a 'craft' weekend.  We headed down to Bendigo for the wool show.  

Wow!  What a show.  I didn't buy anything but fell in love with the alpaca.

Crazy, funny looking animals!  I took lots of photos and headed into town for lunch.

The rest of the time involved talking and eating.  What a great opportunity to make new friends.  I sometimes think that I am a tad anti-social.  It takes a bit to get me to mingle (I force myself as I think it is healthy).  I left the weekend with a new passion and desire to learn more about felting (wet and dry) and crochet (which I am going to have to persist with).

Thanks to Sooz and all the girls for making the weekend what it was.  It may have been the 6th craft weekend but it will always be in my memory as my first.  I hope to join in for a future weekend.

どもありがとうございました。

An SMS miracle and a scratchy 'bressle'

Little things amuse me.  

How lovely that I couldn't fall asleep last night as a result of the excitement of SMS.  SMS doesn't seem like a big deal.  Everyone uses it (I send about 1000 a month).  I even keep in touch with my sister in London and friends in Thailand.  Instant chat is great; I like the instant connection with friends.  I lived in Japan for two years with the frustration of their different mobile phone system.  Within Japan, their system works extremely well with users being able to email each other.  This email travels from phone to phone or to internet email.  Great, I hear you thinking... It was great but there was no SMS to easily and quickly contact the rest of the world.

I out for dinner with my friend Shino last night.  I was delighted to hear that she keeps in touch with one of her friends back home via SMS.  Docomo (one provider within Japan) has made their phone service global. It turns out that I can SMS friends that are with Docomo and my message arrives as an email... They send an email back and it arrives to me as an SMS.  I really feel reconnected.  It could be dangerous though... I expect my bill to rise!

Now, I can hear you asking what a 'bessle' is...  Where to start?  One of my students came to me today and seemed a little distressed.  He has some trouble pronouncing words.  He blurted out, "Excuse me Ellen, something is scratching my bessle."  He pointed to and wriggled uncomfortably around his left nipple.  We lifted his t-shirt to see what the matter was.  The emblem on the t-shirt was rough on the inside and rested exactly, uncomfortably against his nipple.  I realised that he had combined breast and nipple and come up with bressle.  I laughed and laughed (after he left to change tops).  Sweet!

A lucky, lucky teacher...

I often sit back and reflect about how lucky I am.  Each year I think that I have a great bunch of students and I get anxious toward the end of the year when everything is going to change...  Well this year is particularly good.  I teach in a room of 45 kids and each and every one of them is unique and interesting.  They really are a kind and responsive bunch.  They laugh and make me laugh.  They look after and support each other (and me).  They just give and give.  How lucky can a teacher be?  What will I do at the end of the year?