Posts tagged as:

Books

{ Aussiescrapbooking.com }

by Lee on May 25, 2008

I am very excited to have been asked to become a contributor at AussieScrapbooking.com. My first Introductory Post has been published. This is a great informative site with lots of good information and lovely ladies, head over to check it out.

What I am listening to…

Angus and Julia Stone. Loving this Brother Sister duo, every song is unique check them out here. This is one of their songs Mango Tree, but they are all great, it was hard to pick just one, check out “All Of Me” if you can too….gorgeous.

What I am reading…

The Mortdecai Trilogy by Kyril Bonfiglioli

Certainly it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I am loving it, laugh out loud hilarious, but it may require a certain sense of humour, I don’t consider mine particularly sick, but then who does? I had dog earred several pages to quote here, but really it won’t seem as amusing out of context. As you are reading, imagine a lovable, slightly alcoholic, effeminate English womaniser with a cutting wit, it will give you the right tone. I saw this recommended on First Tuesday Book Club, and I’m glad I bought it. After that I am reading The Confederacy of Dunces, which I am told by Link is one of his favourite books, and he should know, he has a book database and everything!

Did you know you can purchase books from Amazon directly through my website? Check out the link in the navigation menu at the top of the page. And when you think Amazon, come and visit and order through me!

This weekend we had our dear friends Mandy, Dave, Odette and Mallory come and stay, I haven’t been very well at all this week, but it was, as it always is, a delight to see them and spend time with them, I promise to be more fun next time we see you guys! Loved seeing the girls catch up again too. Quinn burst into tears tonight saying how much she misses them and wants them to move back, I so wish they could. We fitted in a few games of Puerto Rico, since we had to give it back, and I am sad to say my 7 game winning streak is well and truly over, in fact I think I came last in two of the games, Dave was the reigning champ, although there was some controversy over his first two wins… but he is so sweet he is forgiven… and I am going to tell John Faine to leave him alone too!

I am thinking the fact that I am unwell contributed to my dismal performance, well that’s my story and I am sticking to it!

Once again, bad timing with my being sick, but we had Quinn’s 11th birthday party (yes, it’s a month late, but I have reasons OK!), anyway, she told me tonight it was the best party she’s ever had (although she did say that last year), I will post some pictures soon of what we organised for the party, I think they all enjoyed it, it was quite fun, headaches and all.

Brian and Bronte went to the footy again today, and saw the mighty Hawks victorious again (just), Bronte received her 3rd (or is it 4th)? football given to her by one of the team members what a lucky girl!

Coming Soon:- I’ve been tagged, watch this space.

{ 5 comments }

{ Puerto Rico Party }

by Lee on April 6, 2008

Thought I’d better blog this before Link beat me to it. He is winning the blog war at the moment….

Last night we went to Suzy and Lincoln’s and had dinner with our dear friends Mandy and Dave who recently moved to Melbourne. Mandy and Dave are in our inner camping friends circle and since the weather is getting cooler we haven’t seen as much of them as we would like. Anyway, we went to Waratah Bay with Mandy and Dave about 6 weeks a go, and while we were there they taught us a game called Puerto Rico , which is ranked as number one game on www.GameBoardGeek.com. After the initial confusion of trying to learn quite a complicated game, we finally ‘got it’. And ended up having 3 games in one day, which is quite a feat since the game we had last night lasted over 3 hours…. Any way, Brian emerged victorious and a good night was had by all, it’s not an easy game to describe, but it is vaguely like Monopoly in trying to acquire wealth and property, but instead it is setting up a new colony…. OK that doesn’t really describe it well at all, but if you like games, this could be worth a try. Mandy and Dave have left the game so we can have a play since, despite it’s ranking, it is not easy to get locally. To prove our level of addiction Suzy and Link our coming over shortly for a follow up game…. stay tuned….

I have recently purchased Foto Fusion and have created a few basic layouts with it, the first one below is of a night late last year at Suzy and Lincoln’s for a BBQ, so here are all the people that were there Puerto Rico-ing it up last night… Click on Pictures for a larger view.
Below is a layout of our weekend at Waratah Bay with Mandy and Dave. Dave was teaching the girls how to surf. I really enjoyed doing this layou as the photo’s made me smile and remember a great weekend, also the kids will remember this forever, they had a ball learning to surf with two of their best friends, Mallory and Odette. They really didn’t want to get out of the water, but all good things must come to an end. I think this is something they will try again next summer.

Below is another quick one on our Easter trip to Bright, we stayed both at the caravan park and also at Lincoln’s Mum and Dad’s house at Harrietville. Brian (Link’s Dad) was a wonderful host and we loved being there. The kids had a ball and made some new friends, Claudia and Mitchell who we have arranged to camp with next year.

Just like the divine Miss A, I too did the Smudge course at DAA along with a few other MAC girls, this Smudge I did of Quinn, before I really knew what to do. Scott Deardorf was an excellent tutor, with excellent video and written tutorials and the class was very chatty and full of inspiring people.

Here is the Eagle which was what we all did in the class.


Since Link has told you what he is reading I thought I should. I have had a bit of a reading hiatus lately, due to late nights and also the fact that I have been enjoying audible books on my iPod, but I recently caught up on all the First Tuesday Book Club vodcasts that I had missed on the ABC and it inspired me to get back into one of my loves, books. I went and bought “The Broken Shore” by Peter Temple, which had had a good review on the show and while I was at the book store I picked a book off the shelf called “The Book Thief” by Marcus Zusak, I bought this primarily because it was written by an Australia about the 1st world war set in Germany. Well, what a fabulous read… I like to read books slowly and savour them, but this I read in 3 days, reading the last 1/3rd of the book in one sitting, finishing at 4.30am. I can highly recommend this book, it was written with an unusual style, and was extremely engaging, I can’t recommend it enough. Unfortunatley I trued to start The Broken Shore straight after it but the writing style was so different I had to stop, will start it in the next few days.

Lastly, we ended up having a big sleep over here on Friday night, trying to take advantage of having Mallory and Odette visiting from Melbourne. So with six little girls staying in our rumpus room there was lots of, Wii-ing, SingStar-ing and DVD-ing happening, they were of course Angels and looked after themselves pretty much. Also in these pictures is Jesamine (Quinn and Bronte’s cousin) and Chantal, who is also belongs to one of our camping families. They had such a great time and here are some pics to prove it….

OK off to Puerto Rico it up now! Have a great day :-)

Updated to add: 5 games… (they ended up staying for pizza…bad I know….Lincoln NONE (although he thinks he has a better average because he kept coming 2nd…)

Score
Lee won 2
Suzy won 2
Brian won 1

{ 6 comments }

{ Where Do I Start? }

by Lee on April 25, 2007

Man, it has been ages, life is busy, but I hate to neglect my blog, it always makes that first post back harder, since I have been too busy to post and yet, really have nothing to tell…. ;-) And to my blog buddeis, I have also been neglecting my blog reading, sorry and I’ll get back to it soon! mwa :)

Work is busy and working 4 days is taking up more of my ‘me’ time than I had hoped. But in saying that I still love it. It’s my 12 month anniversay tomorrow, how freaky is that? It feels like such a short time and I still feel like I am learning everyday.
We went to Bright for Easter, it is truly a little peice of heaven and we can’t wait to get back there, but it will be a while, although we’d love to get there over winter to stay on the cabins that they have there. We camped right on the river, which is sadly lacking in water due to the drought, but it was so pretty and the kids had a ball with all the exciting exploring they had to do. We also had to camp without power for the first time in years, but it was no biggie, didn’t really effect us at all. Good food, good champagne and good company, all in all a great holiday….pics to come soon….
Ummm, what else? Oh it’s Quinn’s birthday this friday. I am having my own little crisis about that. I can’t believe she is turning 10 and it really seems obvious in the last month or so that she is not a little girl anymore. I am not one to worry about my age, it’s just a number, but this is really bothering me. A well meaning friend commented recently that she acts more like she is 12 or 13! That freaked me out too. Anyway, here is a sneak at her party invitations, personal stuff blurred out of course :). I took the pics here at home, and they turned out OK. (CLICK FOR A LARGER VIEW)

Oh and talking about Quinn has reminded me to wish Nic a very happy birthday for the 22nd! Quinn didn’t forget, and wanted to wish you all the best :)

Not much news on the layout front, being time challenged at the moment means it has taken a backseat, but here are two more recent ones, that I have done. Click for a larger view
My Digi Scrapping class starts tomorrow night, so I have been madly updating my notes for that. I did just mean to skim over them, but I ended up adding to the first weekes notes, beginning at 5 pages and ending at 15. Now I am only on the second weeks notes, but I’ll get there. Looking forward to beginning classs in a new venue, with new computer and a smaller class. Should be good. Looking forward to it.
The wonderful MAC Karen is heading out to Oz soon, so the MAC girls hope to have another gathering then, very excited to meet this lovely sweet person and maybe pick her brains, knowing what a fabulous photographer Karen is, I couldn’t let that chance slip by, and I think there will be a few more MAC girls wanting to take advantage of that talent!
I kinda feel like I have more to say but not sure what it is….oh I know, I read a great book recently, if you are a working Mum, it is a fabulous and hilarious read, if you’re not, you should enjoy it just as much (although, the non working Mum’s I know that have read it, thought it was a bit of a dig at them). I have to disagree, I thought it was a big dig at working Mum’s and all the antics that some go through to try and keep their lives, families and careers on track. Anyway, enough babbling, the book is called I don’t know how she does it and it’s by Alison Perason.
Click on the title to read an excerpt.
My weekly movies have been put on hold due to my partner in crime getting a job! Although she will only be working Fridays for a couple of months so we can resume after that. It has actually worked out well really, I am not sure I would be able to fit them in at the moment anyway.
Oh and a small one. Shez, Tenille (a friend) and myself all joined a camera club recently. It looks like we are going to learn heaps. They recently had a Car Rally, which we had a list of things (I took the whole family) we had to take photgraphs of, whilst driving and looking for clues etc. It was great fun and I took some pictures I would not normally have taken. Here are a few of my faves, sorry the colours are a little over saturated, gotta get my screen calibrated…. Click for a larger view


{ 13 comments }

{ A Christmas Birthday }

by Lee on December 29, 2006

As a kid, having a birthday on Christmas Day really, well there’s no other way to say it, sucked. Big Time. I only ever remember having one party. And while my parents tried to separate it, Christmas in the morning, Birthday in the evening, there really is no getting away from the fact that you share your special day with everyone else’s special Christmas Day.
The last two years there has been a bit of a turn around though, and while it has been a long time coming, I have noticed a benefit. Mostly, when people find out when my birthday is, they groan and say “Oh no, I suppose you get combined presents?”. Well as a rule I usually didn’t, but the past two years I have and they have both been the BEST presents EVER!
If you are a regular reader of my blog (all 10 of you ;) ), you will know that last year I got a Nikon D70s Digital SLR, no complaining about that! Woohoo, I just love it!

Anyway, this year I got…..

A 30gb VIDEO iPOD!!! Yay. And I am loving it! I have already filled 10gb with music and a good handful of Photoshop TV Video Podcasts, so I can watch them when I do school pick up or take the kids to Tennis Lessons etc etc.

I am already almost half way through my first Audible Book, called Water for Elephants which I am just loving. I thought my mind would wander while listening but I just get lost in a new world! It’s great.

We had a lovely, but very hectic Christmas Day, having both lunch and dinner here. The morning started early, which was OK, because for a change, we weren’t up until 3am wrapping presents. Brian and I have both decided that Christmas should be on a Monday every year. Girls came hurtling down the hallway at 6am, but were coaxed back into bed with us for another half an hour. They got stuck into there presents as soon as we said OK… they had a good day, present wise, a little too good, we think! Both getting, from us, MP3 players, iDogs, Doona Covers, gorgeous Clocks which I bought at Southbank while on the MAC conference, a portable DVD, with two separate screens for the car ( I like this one, because they can’t nag us to watch it, I don’t like them watching too much TV and they can’t really use it unless we go on long trips, sneaky I now), they also got a Netball Ring, a ridiculous amount of clothes from Pumpkin Patch.

From Santa they got an array of things, mostly from the Australian Geographic Shop I think, the elves must pick up stuff from there too…) from, Spyrograph Machine, Kaleidoscope Makings Kits, Fibre Optic Torches, a watch, booklights, even a pedestal fan each for their rooms (Santa obviously likes to keep them cool, fun and practical! LOL), also Squiggle notepads (they are great, think Mr Squiggle), and Nipple Balls The family got a MP3/Stereo radio for the family room, and a Stunt Kite. Brian got an MP3 player and Travel Scrabble too.

So we are a very happy little household here!

As the year ends, and a new one is about to begin, I realise what a big year this has been for us.
I started teaching Digital Scrapbooking classes and had the great pleasure of meeting some fabulous people through that, who have become very good friends.
I started a new and very rewarding job and look forward to developing that in the future as the girls get older.
We moved into our new home, which we just love, and I don’t believe there is a day goes by that we don’t thank our lucky stars for it.
I got to meet the BEST bunch of MAC girls ever, these girls have made me laugh, given me cyber hugs when I needed them and have just been there always, and make they make their presence felt in sometimes copious amounts of emails, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I have felt fierce support and friendship and getting to meet them was a privilege and one that I hope will happen again next year, but this time with the lovely Karen also!
I have met some lovely new cyber friends, especially at Pickleberrypop and via blogs too. This Art that is digiscrapping is a great one and I am glad that I do it, along with all these talented girls, I look forward to continuing these friendships and making more.

Lastly is a list of Movies that Suzy and I saw this year. I know I have missed a few and in 2007 I intend to keep a proper list. Can’t say that any of them was bad, in fact, I really loved them all, in varying degrees. If I had to pick from the list though, I would say that “The Departed” and “Little Miss Sunshine” were the standouts. Although I could barely pick between the two, you could not get two more different movies.

Before I list them, I am putting a layout here so that the big white space is filled LOL.
This layout was done from pics I have wanted to use for ages of Quinn trying to help Bronte climb a tree. Background by me, flower brush, Rhonna Farrer.
Journaling Reads: If at first you don’t succeed, then try, try again. Click on the image for a larger view.

Anyway, here goes.
*Beyond The Sea
The Lakehouse
*Walk The Line
*Capote
Failure To Launch
*Inside Man
Poseidon
*Brokeback Mountain
Kokoda
*Little Fish
Pride and Prejudice
Proof
Pirates of The Carribean 2
The Da Vinci Code
Seperate Lies
*Wah Wah
*The Departed
*Little Miss Sunshine
Thank you for Smoking

OK as I typed, I realised there were some “must sees” in there, I have put an asterick next to them, so try and see them if you can!

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and I wish you a New Year filled with love, laughter and happiness!

Happy New Year!
Edited to add: As you can see, I have done yet another makeover on my blog, the credits are in the side panel! Feedback welcome.

{ 9 comments }

{ Cup Fever }

by Lee on November 8, 2006

~ WOO HOO ~
Well, as always, we had a blast at work for Cup Day! There is an advantage when you are working and people think you aren’t! Everyone assumes that all banks are closed on Cup Day, but regional branches aren’t. So that usually means a pretty quiet day for us. We always put on a lovely Chicken and Champagne lunch (thanks Ruthy, Shez, Nicole and Helen). It’s a great spread and we put in a measley $8 and the bank puts in a bit too. So by lunch things were pretty happy. We had a few different syndicates going and lots of bets on every race as well as 4 Sweeps. Even though I am no longer a teller the tellers included me in their own little syndicate (I love it that they still include me even though I don’t technically work with them now, but they say they miss me which is lovely). In the tellers syndicate we all put in $5 each and had various bets in the cup, a couple of Quinellas, Trifectas and Each Way bets and also a couple of Mystery Each Ways and Mystery Trifectas. Anyway WE WON!!!! On one of the mystery trifectas all our horses came in! WOOOOHOOOOO!

The Trifecta paid $1100, although we only had half a unit on so that made it $550!!!! We were so excited! I don’t mind losing on the Cup, it’s a great day either way, but to win AND have a great day is, well, just great!!! LOL

~ MAC CONFERENCE ~
2 more sleeps!!! YAY. Nuff said ;)

~ YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE ~
Another layout done last week end. My cousin always says Bronte reminds her of Gretal (I think?) from the Sound of Music. I’ve never seen it so I don’t know, but when I do her hair like this, I think she looks like a Gretal. LOL

Anyway, background by me and the brushes are from the fabulous Jason Gaynor.

~ WORK ~
Oh man it is so busy at the moment, getting ready for a few special things we have coming up. I really really love my job and am so happy that I made the move, and even though it’s busy, I never wish I was somewhere else. Even though I only work with my boss, there are several other great people that work around me and it’s always a laugh and a good place to be! How good is that?

~ LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE ~
Well I have seen two fabulous movies in the last few weeks, I didn’t think the first one could be topped, The Departed, although these movies are poles apart in their stories. Little Miss Sunshine is basically about a dysfunctional family that go on a road trip. Many many cringe worthy moments, with family that we either know or know of. Priceless really. I saw this movie twice in two days, and while I am sure that it won’t be the same with everyone that sees it. I laughed so hard I cried, especially in the first half of the movie. The final scene of the movie had me laughing AND sobbing at the same time. At the end of the movie, I walked out, both times, smiling and just generally feeling great. If you are tempted to see it, the part I laughed at the most, was the car horn and starting the car, if you see it you’ll know what I mean. Every character was fabulous and brought something unique to the story…. just loved it.

Edited to add
I read this a little while ago in a series of books I am re-reading by Diana Gabaldon. This passage is from the first book and has stuck in my head for some reason….

“But just then, for that fraction of time, it seems as though all things are possible. You can look across the limitations of your own life and see that they are really nothing. In that moment, when time stops, it is as though you know that you could undertake any venture, complete it and come back to yourself to find the world unchanged, and everything just as you left it a moment before, and it’s as though…” he hesitated for a moment, carefully choosing his words.
“As though, knowing that everything is possible, suddenly nothing is necessary.”

Have a great night everyone! :)

{ 4 comments }

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