Cathy's 50s Housewife Friday... I Want Candy

Happy 50s Housewife Friday!

First track of the day: Everything She Wants - Wham! (extended 12" mix)

Aah, whoops, I mean...Sidewalking - Jesus and Mary Chain, yeah, cool man. Um...rock on.

By the way, I haven't been into Wham since 1987, but before George Michael became the creepiest, park lurking, public toilet hopping-est guy in the music industry, he was a young teenage virgin's dreamboat.

And it's not like me to be completely attracted to dodgy sleazebags is it???...hmmm...hang on...

Anyhoo, back to the day at hand...

Sooo busy today and all weekend! Am currently baking strawberry shortcake for pink and white Cake Pops adorned with sugar flowers and chocolate fudge cupcakes.

My friend and I are doing a photoshoot in my backyard tomorrow for our party stylist business 'I Want Candy' ft 'Sweetpea Floral Design'. I do the party stuff and she provides gorgeous floral displays to match and enhance any party table.

We spent the morning at Spotlight sourcing the perfect accessories to glam up our shoot and I think we had a pretty successful spree...the most excited about all this are our children and our friends' children who get to have a party tomorrow for absolutely no reason, while we photograph them stuffing their faces and looking adorable.

While all this creative insanity is taking place in the 50s Housewife domain, our beloved and devoted husbands will be building the Fort that I have been yelling for since we moved into this house. That's right, my constant nagging has once again paid off! (I will expect the swear jar to be filled by tomorrow eve...)

Once it's been constructed I will be officially opening my Family Daycare once again and then the insanity will really begin.

And just when I begin questioning my juggling ability of all this mayhem, 'I Want Candy' ft 'Sweatpea' has just scored the much coveted honour of styling a Byron Bay Wedding for a beautiful young couple next year. My cup is definitely running over (and this time I'm not just talking about my D cup...).

Third track of the day: Kylie - Confide in Me

Stinkin gorgeous mid 90s Kylie!!! Damn her and her little perky boobs!!

Have an awesome Friday y'all, I hope u all have a great week!

Cathy xx

Cathy wears many hats. Wife, mother of two sons, CEO of Little Monsters Pty Ltd and Cake Pop Queen just to name a few. She subscribes to the theory that Cathiness is next to Godliness. And on Fridays she behaves like a 50s housewife by sedating herself and cooking, baking and ironing, and being nice to her husband. Any other day is a crapshoot.

Things that annoy me. Today's edition.

• 'This is my family' car stickers. I don't know where this fad started but I'm ending it. Now. I personally don't give a crap that you have two parents, three kids, a dog, 6 tropical fish, a teacup pig** and a partridge in a pear tree. Is this supposed to make me consider driving more carefully and NOT crash your car? Because it's making me feel like hitting the accelerator. Sorry. Not really. THIS is what you look like.

** I might consider not crashing into you if you have a teacup pig. That is all.

• The local Zaraffas who can't tell the difference between a cappuccino and a latte. When I say Grande Skinny Cappuccino, it generally means I want a Grande Skinny Cappuccino, not some asinine milky tasteless brew without the sacred chocolate powder. Funnily enough. It ain't rocket science people. Surely in your chosen profession you encounter enough cranky, caffeine deprived people to want to add another?
• Real estates that take up to 7 days to process my rent and then send me repeated texts threatening to 'breach' me for non-payment. Their solution? To pay 7 days ahead so there won't be an issue. Maybe I can get my work to pay me 7 days ahead to make your life easier? Sorry, if the money comes out of my account instantly, I've PAID, OK?
• Socks left in laundry sinks = flooded laundry. Fun times. Enough said

This is not a complete list.

xx

Privacy and the Internet. An oxymoron?

Privacy and the Internet are kinda an oxymoron, yeah?

It's a fine line to walk when doing pretty much anything on the 'net, from buying something online through to blogging or writing on Facebook.

It's pretty well known these days that most HR people will go straight to FB and check you out before you even get an interview. If there's something there that turns them off...well buh bye Mr Job for you...

When I walked into my new workplace a few people confessed that they already felt like they knew me because as good employees would, they googled me when I got offered the job and stumbled on my blog. 

Ooops.

Clearly whatever I write here isn't too offputting as they didn't rescind the offer (obviously that's BEFORE I posted about man flu...that's probably a career-limiting post for a male-dominated industry right there).

But it does raise the question of what should you or should you not be putting out there in blog-land, or indeed anywhere on the 'net?

It's a hard question and one I navigate every day. Because I value my job and the people I work with I have been pretty careful from day one about not writing about where I work or a lot of things that happen day-to-day, despite some days providing such bloody EXCELLENT material (let me tell you). Put a bunch of smart, funny people in a room and then be responsible for recording the minutes of said meeting, and believe you me, I could have enough fodder to populate my blog for years to come.

But I don't because my position is one of enormous trust, and it would be a massive breach of confidentiality. And I'd quite like to have a job tomorrow, thanks!

I am also careful about what I write about E. One day anything I say here might come back to bite him on the ass and I would be horrified to be responsible for something that could jeopardise friendships, careers or relationships for someone else, particularly my son!

It's a fine line to walk and one that some days is really difficult. The thing I love about blogging is the freedom from 'rules' and the ability to say and think anything I want to put out there. However due to my sense of, and need for privacy, it can set limitations and inhibit me from saying things that are on my mind.

It's a balancing act for sure, to be authentic and truly ME without stepping over the boundaries. Particularly when such awesome things happen at work or at home that I would LOVE to write about (ie. a 'commando incident' at home that I am forbidden to mention. Ever). 

Having said that, I feel compelled to write and hence this blog in the first place. I must admit my own sense of privacy does make me want to not necessarily censor myself but be selective with what I share and what I don't. Now that I've been writing this for a couple of months I am getting more comfortable with my own boundaries and a sense of what people find bat-shit boring or interesting etc.

So there you are. I think I'm still being true to me, but this blog is probably just a small slice of what makes up the life of Bec. Luckily for me I have the ability to go on and on for paragraphs whilst essentially saying squat. 

We all have a skill.

So happy Monday all! Hope your week is shaping up to be a great one!

xx

Why I'm happy to have an arrogant child.

Maybe it's a side effect of being sick but I have been really contemplative lately. Perhaps it's the blog, perhaps it's the big changes I've made in my life lately or maybe I've just had too much time on my hands but I've been doing a lot of thinking about many random things, both important and unimportant.

A few weeks back I visited Brisbane for the first time to see my friends (who, without meaning to sound too wanky, filled my soul) and whilst I loved every single minute of catching up with my nearest and dearest, I really couldn't wait to get 'home'.

It's been such a short time in the scheme of things, just a few months, but Toowoomba really IS home now and I couldn't be happier. My health has been shot to shit, my house a comedy of errors and work has been insane but ultimately I have built a really happy and fulfilling life here. 

It all came full circle this weekend when I enjoyed a visit from my dad and my stepmother as well as my stepsister and her gorgeous kids. They were here to celebrate my stepmother's best friend's son's birthday (whew, did you follow that mouthful?) who also lives in Toowoomba (yes the one they've been trying to get me to meet).

It was really exciting to show them through my cute little cottage for the first time and to see the kids playing happily in the backyard. My stepsister has gone through a bit of a tree-change herself, moving recently from the Sunshine Coast to join my dad and her mum in Tenterfield. She's loving the simpler life and quite honestly, so am I.

So last night we went to the BBQ to celebrate Dan's birthday and I was caught up in conversation with a few people about how I was finding life in Toowoomba. I really wish I'd been in great health as there was a lot of drinking and laughter and all-around good times to be had, however unfortunately I flagged and bailed pretty early in the piece due to after-effects of sickness/medication.

While I was there though, it was so nice to talk to others who'd made the 'change' to Toowoomba and haven't looked back. 

Is it rare to feel so at home so quickly in a new town? I don't know what it is but we really just hit the ground running.

People often comment that I must be enjoying discovering new places up here and I promised myself I would do that...however since we got here we've pretty much established a really 'normal' life...you know, work, pottering around the house, becoming a 'regular' at the local coffee shop, enjoying the sunshine...blah blah. Clearly not the most exciting lifestyle you could imagine, but it is absolutely perfect for us.

I realised how perfect when my father and stepmother commented on a few things E had said to them in the car on the way to lunch yesterday. Basically the little brat spent the ride there bragging his ass off about his athletic prowess, his academic excellence and basically how fabulous and unparalleled he is at, well, everything.

Now to put this in context, E's first few years at school were pretty troubled. He was picked on, was considered anti-social and weird and had lots of social issues. I have worked pretty hard with him over the years to try to build his self-esteem and knew we'd made enormous headway. But it wasn't until dad told me the only ego issues he had these days were...well...a degree of ARROGANCE that I realised how far we'd come!

And it is so true. It has happened so gradually that I didn't really see it coming but standing before me now is a self-confident, assured young man who can laugh at himself, isn't mean or a bully and still dances to the beat of his own drum and doesn't give a rats what anyone says about it. What a win. My awesome little weirdo.

It makes my heart proud. Just effing fabulous. And what a contrast to the withdrawn, sad little man he was just a few years ago.

I always think that building self-esteem is the most important gift you can give your child. I had none as a kid and never want fear and uncertainty to hold E back the way it held me back. If a kid is strong and confident, then hopefully it will give him the backbone to hold his head high and make the right choices as a teenager.

Here's hoping...

xx

Look it up in the effing dictionary.

So this past week has been effing crappy! I was diagnosed with a chest infection last Monday and given some really heavy duty sulphur antibiotics. If I didn't feel comatose from the flu, I was feeling nauseous and/or about to pass out from the drugs.

Thankfully Mr Nice Doctor also gave me a prescription for Panadeine Forte - two of these little babies took my cares away for a good few hours at a pop. Lying in bed staring at nothing and realising several hours had gone by was slightly surreal but at it certainly beat the unbearable coughing/sneezing/blowing nose/lightheaded/nauseous combo I had been experiencing prior.

We also had a huge event Thursday which I was in charge of so was desperately trying to hold it together, at least administratively, which thankfully I was able to do from home. The event went without a hitch (thank God) although I was dead on my feet trying to look like I wasn't about to keel over.

So I've had a bit of time to read miscellaneous pieces of crap from home and I stumbled upon the new words added to the 2012 version of the dictionary.

And I'm happy to say that the title of my blog post is grammatically correct.

Yes, effing has now been added to the dictionary.

It is in such illustrious company, joining words such as 'vajazzle', 'photobomb' and 'mwahahahaha'. Yes really. Also 'soul patch', which I believe should probably never occur in real life, let alone in writing. But there you are.

So eff away, people, it's now part of the vernacular.

Hoping that 'farking' will get the impetus required to join its counterparts in 2013. Let's see what we can farking do, shall we?

xx

Karma and the man flu.

So, likely in retribution of my recent Man Flu post, I have been struck down with a chest infection resulting from...you guessed it...flu.

Well played, karma.

Well played.

So I have been at home trying to organise an event on Thursday whilst trying to breathe, not cough and not blow my nose. Not successfully.

A 1.5 hour wait at the doctors has at least resulted in some antibiotics and some industrial strength painkillers which I'm looking forward to taking shortly so I can sleep through the night. As this will be the highlight of my day it truly shows what a sad existence today was.

Off to medicate myself...OMG I sound like 50s Housewife Cathy!!!

xx

Confessions of a serial TV freak.

OK it's confession time.

I will preface this by giving my defence up front. Not your usual way of doing things but it might ensure that you actually do read on and not just click off the page in disgust.

Defence, part 1:
I am sick. I have spent the weekend pretty much either: a) lying in bed; b) reclining in an outdoor lounger in the sun and c) lying on the couch. Accompanied by continual barking coughs, sniffles...I'm a delight.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again...screw you flu and the horse you rode in on.

(or as my mate Ade would say...I take that back. I have nothing against the horse you rode in on)

Defence, part 2:
So what's a girl to do but trawl the laptop looking for shows not yet watched? Problem is, there isn't much I'm not 100% caught up on in my usual de rigeur television viewing. A lot of US shows are on their summer break so there's a bit of a gap in the programming.

So I'm sick right? And I've watched everything I want to watch, right?

Got that?

So when (out of sheer curiosity, seriously) I clicked on The Shire, I almost slapped myself. But after hearing about this latest batch of media whores genuinely REAL Shire residents doing a reality show and all the cringeworthy accompanying moments, I thought...

God I'm bored...so why not?

Best. Comedy. Show. EVER.

Where do I start?

1. Sophia and Vernessa honey (I can't tell you apart): if I walked into a so-called beauty salon and saw the malformed, overinflated Cher lookalikes that you've succeeded in becoming, I'd run for the first time in a decade. Seriously, lay off the fillers. Can you say trout pout?
2. Quote of the day from Beckah (and who seriously calls themselves that???) to her DAD and her plastic surgeon: 'It's awesome that I get to be awake during my boob job so I can tweet about it'. She seriously said that. Completely without guile. And who takes their daddy to their plastic surgeon appointment? Even if he is paying for it???
3. Second quote of the day (paraphrased), also from Beckah: 'there's no such thing as natural beauty, I'll just get my plastic surgeon to make me however I want'

Where do they find these people?

Defence, part 3:

I also tried to watch Big Brother but didn't quite make it through the first 'daily show'. Does that cancel out the 5 back to back 'Shire' eps I consumed like so much junk food????

So now I'm going to climb back in my sick miserable hole and continue my pity party, fortunately without The Shire. The fact that I've watched all available episodes is beside the point.

xx

Bang lists. Oh yeah I'm going there.

So Cathy, Willow and I got onto some random conversation about Bang Lists. You know, if you ever had the chance, randomly bumping into your celebrity dreamboat, yada yada, that your significant other would never stand in your way of well...

banging them.

We started pondering who would be our top 5 (in Willow's case I think narrowing it down to 5 will be difficult, that girl sure likes her teenage pinups) and I thought I would share mine below.

1.       Jason Segal. I don’t know what it is about this guy  but he’s just got me. Even more so when you read this. What a sweetheart. Not sure if he should be top of the ‘Bang List’ or the ‘Marry List’ though? A man who loves the Muppets so much it was the inspiration for his one man rock opera… Love you Jason.

2.       Christian Slater. Whether he’s smirking at Veronica across the cafeteria or looking like his royal hotness 20 years later on the red carpet. The voice! The hair! The swagger! Is it bigger than a baby’s arm? I would happily find out.

3.       Ian Somerhalder. Tragically cut short in Lost only to re-appear as smouldering, gorgeous Damon Salvatore. Oh yeah! And his TV bro ain’t too shabby either. Hello boys!

4.       Robert Downey Jr – Less Than Zero era. Granted I think he’s still got it but now that he’s cleaned up his act he’s lost a bit of the bad boy that I was obsessed by as a teen. There’s just something about that f*!%ked up young boy that just makes me want to take him home and give him a bath. I give you vintage RDJ.

5.       This was a tough battle between a few notables and ended in a three-way tie.  Oops that sounds a bit wrong. Or so wrong that it's right? Anyway, moving on... I give you Chris Hemsworth as Thor, and Cam Gigandot as…well…Cam Gigandot. He can do anything he wants. And Alexander Skarsgard as Sheriff of my dreams... No explanation necessary. Can I have them all?

So who would be on your bang list? Fortunately for me I have no significant other at the present time so Jason, Cam, Christian, RDJ et al, phone me anytime.

xx

Cathy's 50s Housewife Friday...did you say Diet Coke cupcakes????

Happy 50s Housewife Friday!!

So excited that I really don't have anything to prepare for today after a very social couple of weeks! ahhh relaxing on the deck in the sun with my Friday Who magazine....streeeetch....

Will eventually have to get up as I have promised the boys some choc chip cookies...oh...and I have something for you.....

Had a fabulous night last Friday night with my GGs and as I said I was debuting my very own Betty Detox brand Diet Coke cupcakes (patent pending). They were, of course, a huge hit with my posse so, as promised, I will be sharing my recipe with y'all to try it for yourselves.

Hope u enjoy!

Betty Detox's Diet Coke Cupcakes w Cream Cheese Frosting
3/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup good cocoa
1/2 cup raw castor sugar (or regular, whichever you prefer)
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup of delicious and refreshing Diet Coke
1 egg white (helps to bind)

* usually you would also add 1/2 tsp of vanilla but the one time I accidentally picked up a can of Diet Coke w vanilla and took a swig whilst driving, I spat it all over the windshield of my pink VW beetle and nearly had an accident so I chose not to add it....

(this recpie can be a little tricky so if too runny, carefully sift in more flour until correct consistency)

• Preheat oven to 180c
• Sift all dry ingredients into mixing bowl
• Make a small well in the middle and add egg white and Diet Coke
• Beat on low speed until mixed (approx. 30 secs)
• Beat on high speed for another 2 mins
• Spoon into cupcake pans evenly
• Bake for 15-18 mins

This is a low fat recipe as it doesn't contain the egg yolks, butter and milk used in ordinary cupcakes, so if u like, quit here  and sift some icing sugar over the top for a low cal treat...

But, if ur like me and constantly throw caution to the wind, then you'll continue on with me as we make my favourite high calorie Cream Cheese Frosting....mmmmm.....fattening!

1 package of Cream Cheese (250g I think)

2-3 cups of icing sugar

1 1/2 tsp milk

Whip it up with ur beaters and heap on top of cooled cupcakes.

I sincerely hope u enjoy this as much as we did, it's a lovely chocolately cake with a hint of subtle cola and quite frankly, I was pretty fucken pleased with myself so....go forth and bake!!!

Would love to hear what you think....

First track of the day:

Ratcat - That Ain't Bad

Don't make me tell you my Ratcat schoolies week story or my Simon Day in Sydney story...one day my pets, one day....

Happy Friday Kids!

Cathy xoxoxoxoxo

Cathy wears many hats. Wife, mother of two sons, CEO of Little Monsters Pty Ltd and Cake Pop Queen just to name a few. She subscribes to the theory that Cathiness is next to Godliness. And on Fridays she behaves like a 50s housewife by sedating herself and cooking, baking and ironing, and being nice to her husband. Any other day is a crapshoot.

Blonde moments, gift cards and cars with pretensions.

What a strange, strange, funny day. It's been crazy, busy and quite insane but overall has left me with a few gems to share.

Blonde moment # 6,458:
In response to someone telling me about our work e-card last year that shot baubles out to all of our subsidiaries across the world:

Did it then blow them up?

Uh...no.

For this gem, I was rewarded with a smack on the wrist and being verbally sacked by the Marketing Coordinator. I'd report her to HR but quite honestly, I really don't quite blame her.

Gift Card Debacle
Have you ever tried to front up to Coles and request 30 gift vouchers of differing values? I'd recommend against it. More than an hour later after something went wrong and phone calls to a million other Coles and finally head office to figure out how to ensure that the cards I was taking with me were ACTUALLY loaded with funds...I was allowed to depart.

Note to self: when calculating what limit required on company credit card, ensure you don't rely on Excel autosum or else you too may end up red-faced when your card is declined on the fourth batch (aka blonde moment # 6,459). You may even also avoid the phone call from work telling you you're spending company money 'like water'.

Awesome.

Next time, order online. Problem solved.

On the plus side, I got to be quite a few people's favourite colleague today when distributing said cards and was even called a 'darling'. Quite a high point. Yes, I take it where I can get it.

Cars
When driving company car, remind yourself to put handbag on floor instead of passenger seat to avoid the #&!% constant 'ding' telling you that one of your passengers has failed to fasten their seatbelt. I don't carry THAT much crap in my handbag.

Do I?

(on second thought, don't answer that).

Also remember that you're driving said company car when searching for your vehicle in the parking lot. Just a tip.

I have also become accustomed to driving my own vehicle, which is basically a bog standard Holden with pretensions. It's called by the (somewhat wanky) moniker of 'Lacetti' and prides itself on being the 'poor man's Mercedes' (I don't care, I'd prefer the Mercedes, personally) and whilst European appliances may be all the go in one's kitchen, the backwards nature of the car when it comes to everything being on opposite sides of the car is all well and good, until you drive an Aussie vehicle sans pretensions and end up using the windscreen wipers in lieu of the indicator on a perfectly sunny and beautiful day.

Free Chocolate Friday
So last week my cubicle-mate in charge of chocolate Friday was away and you'd think the world had ended. I had a visit from a rather eager colleague who raced up the stairs very excitedly carrying his bowl, skidding to a halt in front of Fi's (empty) desk with a confused look on his face. When it was explained to him that she was away and Free Chocolate Friday was cancelled, the devastation was complete. The poor fellow slunk away dejectedly looking like I'd just kicked his puppy.

So as Fi is also away for the next few weeks, this same fellow added it to the agenda of their weekly team meeting to ensure this travesty could never recur.

The upshot is I am now (Acting) Free Chocolate Friday girl for the interim, which earned me some odd looks in Woolies this afternoon on my way home. But will again make me Miss Congeniality at work tomorrow so I'll count that as a win.

Hoping your Thursday is awesome!

xx

Selfless people just make the rest of us look bad.

Look I'm a fairly giving person. On a good day I might even be described as generous.

If I'm being brutally honest, I would probably say that my generosity comes from a selfish place. There I said it. I give something because it gets me something back that I want. Not necessarily material value. Like I'll shout someone for dinner and drinks but mostly because I REALLY want to go out and they wouldn't come unless I paid. Or I'll do something unexpected and nice for someone because it makes them smile, which then makes me feel good.

I can be greedy and whilst I strive with being happy with what I have, there's a little part of me that always wants MORE.

So there you are. Not exactly Miss Selfless 2012 talking here.

So when someone does something completely selfless, I'm sorry, it just makes all of us look bad.

I had an incident today where a guy was given something, only for him to want to forego it entirely to distribute among a bunch of other people. Not to say that these people weren't deserving either, but seriously, if anyone deserved something nice to happen, it was this dude. It was a completely selfless and 'ahhh' moment for us all.

But I'm sorry, it sets a bad precedent. So now if I'm recognised for something, am I supposed to be all 'oh someone else deserves it more' when really, I just want to grab it and run????

I hate to say it, but plan B is really more my style although I'd probably make big noises about 'wouldn't be here without em but gimme, gimme, gimme'.

So there you have it selfless people. Give it up already.

Bec xx

Why does everyone's breath smell like pot? And other philosophical questions.

Well OK, there are no other philosophical questions, that was a lie.

But today for some reason everywhere I went, everyone's breath I smelled smelled like pot!

Truly!

What's that about? Do I secretly have pot on the brain today or what?

For the record, I'm really not a pot fan, not even a little. So whilst I know the standard response to this question for the ages will be that it's my breath blowing back in my face...

Seriously though, I'm a bit weirded out. Has this every happened to you?

Questions to ponder.

xx

(Bris) Vegas...part 3. The aftermath.

Pretty sure none of these beverages are recommended
in Skinny Bitch (see left)

How is it that eight girls can make such an unholy mess? I love awesome nights but the aftermath can be brutal so I'm bloody glad I got a good night's sleep and awoke sans hangover (small mercies).


Sadly for me, E woke up coughing up a lung and with bright pink spots on his cheeks so I knew my time in Vegas was numbered. F*#king Ekka flu. This meant I had to forego our planned shopping trip AND visit to a mate of his and his mum which was really unfortunate but what do you do?

We'd offered to give Cathy's teenager a lift to his mate's place for band practice (oh now doesn't that phrase bring back memories?) but somehow he'd managed to go AWOL so time was to be a-wasted.

After a patented half-assed cleanup patrol (ie. bring everything in from the deck and dump in kitchen to 'think about tomorrow'), Cathy and I armed ourselves with an industrial sized icy Diet Coke (or 6) apiece to continue our marathon gossip whilst waiting vainly for # 1 teenage son to materialise.

I was then fortunate to witness one of the most humorous telephone conversations I've ever heard between said missing teenager and mum which included the iconic phrase 'look in the mirror and tell me what a moron looks like'.

Priceless.

Which brings me to the question: what do you do when you realise that you're raising a male version of yourself? Cathy was enraged at Sev pretty much doing the EXACT same thing we used to do and trying to lie his way out of it in the self-same fashion that I remember Miss Housewife herself doing back in the day. Hilarious.

Hey at least he ain't trying to pull the 'dinner and a movie' crap like we used to. Small mercies.

I am anxiously awaiting a blog post from Cathy on this self-same topic.

So, after being 'sugared up' for the road we said our goodbyes, loaded the car with guitars, amps and kids (again...oh the memories) and headed towards The Gap.

Now I have to say, there is definitely one way that Cathy's son does NOT take after her...and that's when it comes to directions. He very thoughtfully and practically gave me plenty of notice to turn including instructions such as 'there's a Brumby's and a Shell coming up and you will need to turn left at the lights after that'.

I say this referring to the day that is forever known in history as 'the day you tried to kill me' (patent pending). As 19 year olds hooning driving sedately in my enormous gold Kingswood, due to my inexperience and Cathy suddenly yelling 'turn right, turn right, turn right', I panicked and cut across three lanes only to be wiped out by a huge Landrover which then led to ME wiping out a fence, median strip and a set of lights.

Impressive.

Fortunately for us, we walked away unhurt. Unfortunately my beautiful gold beast was a casualty, with the boot literally ending up in the backseat which led to the wrecker telling me that if we'd been driving any less than my beloved beast, we probably would've been lucky to walk away.

I lost my beast, which was a dark day in history. But at least I got to keep my friend!

I related this story to a very amused E and Sev as we were driving along, of course.

Anyhoo we dropped Sev off at his mate's to jam and we headed homeward. Driving past the bushfire site (now thankfully put out) was horrifying. It had spread for kilometres in either direction and it was so sad to see the burnt and black landscape where previously it had looked like a dairy commercial. Sad.

Arriving back too late to see the doctor, E spent the rest of the day resting but sadly woke this morning with a raging fever which has only improved marginally as the day has progressed. Here's hoping for an overnight recovery for the poor guy, his cheeks are so pink he looks sunburnt and his eyes are all glassy and unfocused, it's just awful. I'm glad he got a chance to have some fun with X and Sev before this all happened.

So there's my eventful Bris Vegas weekend! Chilling today recuperating and looking at my messy house (and unpacked boxes) but you know what?

I'll think about it tomorrow.

xx

The scene of the crime.

(Bris) Vegas baby (part 2)...I love my girls and hell yeah to DC cupcakes.

Strawberry and white choc cakepops...
heaven on a stick

So back to Brisbane...all in the name of friendship.

It was so exciting to see Cathy and her new, awesome pad, much less the anticipation of the girly gossip, cake pops and diet coke cupcakes to come! Oh yeah!

With the boys happily installed in front of some random video game which inexplicably included beating up Justin Bieber with a chair (?) we were free to indulge ourselves happily in wine, catching up with the usual suspects, some we hadn't seen in awhile and even a fellow Bec who we literally haven't seen since school ended. She is still the exact same, impossibly cute chick we remember and it's just as well she's so bloody awesomely nice or else we'd have to hate her just for that.

It was also awesome to see Tanya, 7 months pregnant, if only because it will be the only time in living history that any of us can boast that our tummies are smaller than hers, even if she is still barely into maternity gear (biatch).

And Julie and Kathy of course...looking ridiculously fabulous as always.

God I have some good looking friends.

And Larissa, straight from the airport and a delayed flight (via the bottleshop...but of course)...tired and sick, but there she was. Now THAT'S friendship.

What followed was several hours of giggles, reminiscing, catching up and generally just revelling in the warmth that great friendship and shared experiences bring. The conversation flowed like wine, and I can tell you that plenty of wine also flowed! So much so that it wasn't until the next day that I realised we didn't even take a single picture.  Ooops.

And the verdict on the cupcakes handmade by Miss 50s Housewife herself?????

I'm in heaven. Better than peanut butter and chocolate ice cream. Yes really.

DC cupcakes may sound odd but I'm here to tell you, they are now my new favourite thing in the whole world. Amazing doesn't begin to describe. Plus we can fool ourselves into thinking they're healthy, as you replace the butter/oil/milk etc with the DC. Perfect.

I won't steal Cathy's thunder for her next blog post but let me just tell you if you ever get the chance to invite yourself around to the housewife hub, you'd be crazy to pass it up.

I know I harp on about friendship all the time, but it can't be overstated how much these girls mean to me. They fill my heart and I come away feeling uplifted and happy and all those wonderful warm fuzzy feelings. I know girls who insist they are 'guys girls' and don't really maintain their female friendships and I can't help but think they're missing out on something amazing. Friendships without agenda and judgement (sadly we've all experienced those) are just so special that words can't begin to describe them. Knowing there's a handful of people in my life who'd be there for me to share my good fortune, help kick the ass of the bad and cheer alongside me in our jail cells (kidding...mostly) no matter what is a pretty damned awesome feeling.

So to my wonderful 'girls' thank you for just being you. And Tanya, I hope you got the quiche out of your shoe, despite the fact that you couldn't bend down.

xx

DC Cupcakes...hell yeah!

(Bris) Vegas baby! (part 1).

Wow, what a weekend! So much to say, so much to write...I think I might have to break this up into a few parts unless I'm going to go for the Guinness Book of Records for longest blog post EVER...

So the long-awaited Friday finally arrived and I was so excited to be heading back to Vegas to catch up with my girls. To be honest, we've probably made more of an effort to stay in touch since I've moved to Toowoomba, but still it feels like it's been ages since I've been able to give them a hug and have a proper gossip of the calibre that is only possible with people you've known more than half your life (gulp).

So after the first aborted attempt to leave town (forgot my iphone - oh the horror), we finally hit the road.

And the traffic.

I've only ever driven the Toowoomba/Vegas route on the weekends or during the week at odd times and never encounter traffic on my back-streets foray from work to home, so I didn't realise that despite this being a much smaller place than Brisbane, peak hour is peak hour wherever you go.

Getting down the range wasn't too bad, at least we kept moving, but then we literally came to a standstill...where we waited, and waited, and waited. Meanwhile it looked like my car was going up a degree more than it should have been, and after a serious Tenterfield debacle last easter where my car's engine literally blew, I'm a little overzealous when it comes to these things. So after a quick pitstop to reassure myself that water/oil ratios were all present and correct, we continued on our (very slow) merry way.

So roadworks after roadworks averted, we pass an electronic sign saying 'Fire Hazard, Hatton Vale. Expect Delays'. Wondering wtf this was all about, we finally hit a decent speed and were on our way, excitedly chatting about seeing Cathy and the kids (whom E just adores) and also totally pumped after E's sports carnival that day where he scored 2nd in the 100 metres, 3rd in the 200 and 5th in the 800 metres, thank you very much my little sportstar!

So here I am slightly frustrated about all the delays as I was hoping to get to Vegas before dark, when we pass through the Hatton Vale region to see this so-called 'Fire Hazard'.

Fire hazard my ass!!!!  It was a proper, old fashion bloody BUSHFIRE.

Seriously, the whole hillside right beside the road on the opposite side was completely alight. There were police and emergency services everywhere and the smoke was so thick it went right through the ventilation systems in the car. Passing by in such close proximity on the opposite side of the road was absolutely frightening. What was worse is that cars were still driving on the other side of the road, literally METRES from blazing trees.

It was terrifying and so, so sad to see such a picturesque area going up in smoke.

I just hope and pray that no-one lost their animals, belongings or god forbid, their lives during this blaze.

By the time we got clear of the smoky haze, it was full-on dark but fortunately we were nearing Brisbane by this stage.

Meanwhile I realised I didn't know the number of Cathy's new house, as she's recently moved since I've been in Toowoomba. Silly bitch decides to just not answer her phone however, so E and I are laughing and leaving increasingly ridiculous voicemails, the last being 'answer your bloody phone!'.

We finally hear back just as we're a few streets away, so out comes iphone maps with E as navigator.

Well there's an error in judgement.

E's skills in navigation include directions such as 'somewhere up ahead we need to turn right but I don't know where'.

And...

'Oh there's the street we were meant to turn down...you know, the one we just passed'

By the time we pulled up in front of Cath's house, I was so relieved to be there I could've kissed the ground. Fortunately our arrival coincided with that of our other friend Kathy (too many (K)Cathys, I tell you!) so I kissed her instead.

And we'd arrived!!!!

xx

Not a great photo due to the smoky haze,
but here's us approaching the bushfire
(and yes, I was wearing my gloves whilst driving, it was cold, OK?

Cathy's 50s Housewife Friday.

Happy 50s Housewife Friday kids!!!

Have sooo much to do today!!

Am hosting 7 (possibly 8...) of my Grammar Girls at my new place tonight and am baking and cleaning up a storm.

I love these girls!! We have all known each other since we were 13 and have been getting together regularly since school ended. We stepped it up a notch and added a few new faces after our 10 year reunion in 2000, when old friendships and new alliances were ignited, and we make it a rule to hang out at least every couple of months. Usually with me hogging hosting duties.

Our nights together are full of good food, good wine, icy diet cokes (of course), great conversation, sneaky cigarettes, hysterical laughter, insane reminiscing, endearing heart to hearts and deep and meaningfuls and sometimes tissue wielding sob stories when shoulders are always there for crying on.

These guys have seen me through from freckled face blonde class clown to the raven haired domestic goddess that I aspire to be today and they haven't tired of me yet...

So to celebrate their obvious 'A' grade taste in friendship...A Reward!

How, I hear you say, is she going to reward them? What could possibly be the coolest and most awesome Cathy themed reward????

Huh? Huh?

DIET COKE CUPCAKES!!!!!!!!!!

No you didn't just imagine this...it's real and its happening in my kitchen - TODAY!!

Got my inspiration from Pinterest. Does everyone know about Pinterest?? If you don't then stay away!!! It'll take every little bit of spare time that you're not already wasting on Facebook and steal it forever!

The array of amazingness that awaits you in Pinterest land has literally changed my life...I wade through a sea of inspirational 'pins' everytime I go there and find treasure around every corner:

Drool worthy recipes, sexy smoking Johnny Depp, the downtown streets of New York (see u next April), Cake Pops, Cupcakes, Candy, my 1988 dream boyfriend Duff McKagan, fashion, photography, fantasy!

I run my own businesses (LITTLEmonsters Private Childcare and I Want Candy, a childrens events and party styling business, just to obnoxiously name drop myself) and the inspiration I get from Pinterest is priceless!!

If ur not addicted already, be warned!

Anyway back to my DC cupcakes...

Am gonna try them out and if they're any good I'll post the recipe next week with photos. Am also making strawberry and cream cake pops and black magic choc cake pops.

Also did I mention that some of the gals are bringing their kids?? Will be providing them with enough sugar from my candy filled apothecary jars to put them in a diabetic coma for the rest of the weekend, while Xavier gets to show off his new trampoline....better get off my ass and get busy, yo.

First track of the day?

Pop Will Eat Itself - Everythings Cool

I would have to say that I agree 

Dos dedos mis Amigos!

Cathy xx

Cathy wears many hats. Wife, mother of two sons, CEO of Little Monsters Pty Ltd and Cake Pop Queen just to name a few. She subscribes to the theory that Cathiness is next to Godliness. And on Fridays she behaves like a 50s housewife by sedating herself and cooking, baking and ironing, and being nice to her husband. Any other day is a crapshoot.

How are you so happy?

My boss said the nicest thing to me yesterday. I went off on a tangent, as we're wont to do and were talking about some nasty woman who once worked there and I said something along the lines of that I think I'm missing the vengeance gene.

He then said to me, 'speaking of missing the vengeance gene, how are you so happy all the time?'

Anyone who's known me for a long time probably knows that whilst I'm essentially a look on the bright side of life (doo doo, doo doo, doo doo, doo doo - thanks Monty Python), I have struggled for quite a bit of my life with being completely and UTTERLY cynical. It is a strange combination I will admit, but due to extreme (and I mean extreme) shyness, lack of confidence and desperate need to be liked when growing up I had probably way more of my fair share of bad days.

Put it this way, on my grade 8 camp where we gave everyone song titles that best represent them, I was dubiously crowned with this zinger:

Sad Songs, Elton John

Hmm.

Throw a pair of braces into the mix for 2 years and kids picking on me because my gums showed when I smiled...well it's probably a no-brainer that I wasn't your cheerleader, happy kid growing up.

So to hear my boss tell me that it brightens his day to walk towards his office and see me sitting outside smiling is truly one of the nicest things anyone could say. And to then go on and say that I always seem to be bright and happy shows me just how far I've come from the moody, anxious lost little soul I used to be.

So there's my deep thoughts for a Thursday. Wow.

Anyhoo, who couldn't smile when they have a FANTASTIC night to look forward to with the gals tomorrow eve????

I hear Cathy is cooking up something special...so stay tuned for her ubiquitous 50s Housewife Friday tomorrow...and lots of lots of photographic evidence of our girly shenanigans!!!

xx

Earworms. When bad songs go...well, bad.

So on the weekend I made the fatal error of watching The Glee Project online.

Big mistake.

Ever since, the week's performance song has been completely, irrevocably STUCK in my head. I hated the song on it's first listen, 2nd, 10th, 50th and now a million times later I have grown to utterly DETEST it. I want to take it out to a paddock, abuse it for a while, then maim, dismember and burn the bits.

In other words, I really, really don't like it.

What's the song? It's We Found Love (Rihanna).

It led me to once again ponder why it is that the only songs that seem to go in one ear and NEVER out the other are generally THE most annoying and hated songs of all time.

I say once again, as a few years back on Facebook I wrote of a song stuck in my head, which I can't quite recall the title of but it struck a chord with others who then abused me as even just looking at the title instantly made the song get stuck in THEIR heads.

Being me, of course, every day thereafter for about a month I posted a really bad song in the hope that it would get stuck in someone else's head. I eventually was persuaded to stop after being threatened to be defriended, unfriended??? and threatened personal harm more times than the usual. Plus I just got bored with it.

I'm all about spreading the love. I'm just giving like that.

You're welcome, people.

My friends were very happy to note that this little exercise backfired a number of times with the song getting stuck in my own head (try humming Against All Odds for 5 days straight - thanks for nothing, Phil Collins).

But it led me to track down the term 'earworm' which is, you guessed it, a song that gets stuck in your head.

So this week's earworm is brought to you courtesy of Rihanna.

Oh well, I suppose it could be worse. At least it's not that ridiculous How We Do that Toowoomba radio seems to have stuck on permanent replay...or anything by Train.

Hope you're having a good day! Tell me about your most (in)famous earworm!!!

xx

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Man flu.

At the risk of alienating every male reader I've ever had, I am compelled to comment on an epidemic currently sweeping South East Queensland.

Ladies, if you're currently experiencing these symptoms in your household, my heart goes out to you. Fortunately my home is epidemic free however I cannot say the same for my workplace.

What am I talking about?

Well women would describe it as a sniffle, or a common cold. However the male of the species would label it 'man flu'.

Yes, man flu.

Apparently man flu is entirely different from any type of flu experienced by females. The Urban Dictionary (always full of helpful information) defines man flu as:

A rare strain of flu so powerful and so deadly it can only be matched by the Bubonic Plague and Aids. An incurable virus which has adapted to only effect the XY gene found in men. The virus attacks the immune system 10,000 times harder than the average flu virus, causing excruciating pain for the victim. Man Flu has no cure and prayers cannot save the forsaken life of the infected. The often deadly virus is mostly laughed at by women who sadly cannot contract Man Flu.

Apparently this condition is now so common that manflu.info has been developed to assist the infected, it's tagline being that 'it's important to remember that YOU are an expert in self diagnosis'. It also offers helpful tips for women such as:

• Any flippant comments such as 'Oh it's man flu, is it?' will result in immediate deterioration
• Any sarcasm will also result in deterioration. Instead, you may be required to massage his feet, dab his forehead with a wet cloth, cook/clean/do housework/change the channel on the remote, or in other words be his slave without complaint

My workplace is currently being overrun with Man Flu. If it wasn't so pathetic it would be humorous. Now a few weeks back I was suffering from, you know, just your normal flu, and still managed to show up to work every day. However as I don't possess the XY chromosome, I clearly just don't get it.

So for the man suffering Man Flu in YOUR life, I recommend the following.

Hope it helps.

xx

Cathy's 50s Housewife Friday.

Happy 50's Housewife Friday Everybody!!

What a beautiful day in chilly downtown BrisVegas! Not a cloud in the goddamn sky!!

A perfect morning for walking my little blond pal to school and generally enjoying the crisp cool air whilst my favourite pooch pees all over Paddington. I spun my little fella out this morn while we were discussing Superheros on our walk.

'Mum do you know who General Zodd is?'

I take my time thinking.....

'Yes, he's a Superman villain, isn't he?'

'Yes! He is! How'd you know that??'

'Superman two...' I say nonchalantly.

(My brothers and I must have watched that movie 20 times as kids...)

'That is so cool that you know these things...'

I smile. 'yes, yes it is'

I live trekking around here, has been my haunt for a looong time and this morning when my Ipod threw out:

1st track of the day:

Janes Addiction - Jane Says

I was walking past the first house I lived in in Paddo and I actually slipped through a wrinkle in time and found myself back in '95 and I was 22.  Just for a second and then I was back, but it was very surreal...

On the walk up to the Paddo Newsagents to get my weekly Friday Who magazine (so I can find out why K Stew cheated on R Patz) I get to pass Thousand Island Dressing, The Paddo Antiques Centre, many funky boutiques and whimsical bookstores.

Not to mention an array of hip and cool coffee houses with the wafting aroma of freshly roasted brew deliciousing up my senses....I don't actually drink coffee but damn I love the smell!!!

A great start to my day!

Second track of the day:

Kiss - Strutter

An awesome song to stride around to!

Always reminds me of a very awesome local rock goddess that I know and adore, who I shall merely refer to as K Love.

Am now playing the entirety of Pretty Hate Machine by N.I.N. while I get started on double fudge brownies for the hoards of vultures that will swarm me around 3:30pm this arv.

Will also be cheerfully folding laundry and tidying bedrooms and later you'll find me: hair set, pretty red lips and being charming and agreeable to my husband and children in our clean (for about 40 mins) house.

So have a marvellous day guys! Hope everyone is tapping into their inner housewives today like me! Don't have a husband and children tied around ur neck??? Make yourselves some choc chip cookies, sedate urself with some organic red wine and blare some loud music with ur reddest lipstick on and ur feather duster in ur hand - be a 50s Housewife to yourself - even if it's just for one day. You deserve it! *wink*

Cathy xx

Cathy wears many hats. Wife, mother of two sons, CEO of Little Monsters Pty Ltd and Cake Pop Queen just to name a few. She subscribes to the theory that Cathiness is next to Godliness. And on Fridays she behaves like a 50s housewife by sedating herself and cooking, baking and ironing, and being nice to her husband. Any other day is a crapshoot.

Anticipation. And admitting my dad was right.

So pretty crazy busy week in little old Toowoomba this week!

Everything's ramping up everywhere I look, so many changes, so many projects and so much good news around the place...yay!

And especially when you have something to look forward to, like my long-awaited catchup with 'the girls' at Cathy's place next Friday night. Cathy is threatening to revisit the school video once again, which means groans, nostalgia and total mortification at ye old fashion parade awaits...

Cannot wait to see the gals plus a few who I haven't seen in probably 20 years! Excited!

And then also in August I have a BBQ coming up where lots of my family are coming to Toowoomba for the weekend. It's at the guy's place that is the son of my stepmother's friend (get it? haha) who my dad is keen to hook me up with in search of a life....

So I've been blogging quiet this week as there's not been a whole lot to tell so in lieu of words I thought I'd show some amazingly exciting pictures of me on the way to work....hahaha. Enjoying my 'fashion week' of wearing all new clothes to work...it's a great feeling.

Perhaps dad is right and a life is in order....gulp.

Handbags and breakfast...all the
food groups

xx

All this before coffee...

The breakfast essentials

Good hair days