Grateful for Pizza for one!

After a rather hectic week at work and pre-empting a busy weekend (starting and) completing a uni assignment I am grateful for a quiet Friday night, home alone with a takeaway pizza of my choice.

My boys are out with their dad, who is in town from interstate, so I don't even need to worry about them, where they are and if they are keeping safe on this Friday night. I know they are in good hands (despite that they are 20 and 21... or maybe because they are 20 and 21!)

I am home alone (an occasion that I relish!) and I decided to order a gourmet pizza from the local pizza joint. I didn't have to confer with anyone. It took me about 30 seconds to peruse the takeaway menu, call and place my order. I barely had to think. Thinking is overrated on a Friday night.

My choice? The Sorrento - Chicken served on a bed of pesto and pine nuts with baby spinach and fetta cheese. $13.50... but priceless.

(I would have taken a pic to share with you but... too late! It's  in my belly. And it was good!)

Linking up with Maxabella's grateful blog hop.

The bathroom cabinet

This post was inspired by Allison over at Life in a Pink Fibro. A few weeks back Allison wrote about her bathroom cabinets in the light of the Fibro's upcoming bathroom renovations. This prompted me to take a good look at my own bathroom clutter.

After surveying the scene in my bathroom cabinet, drawers and cupboards I am pleased to report that after disposing of all the old make-up (that i rarely ever wear) there's not as much junk as first thought. In fact, much of the bathroom paraphrenalia isn't actually mine.

I was very amused to find no less than seven (that's right 7) tubs of various hair products belonging to my sons (well, they are not mine!) There is matt clay, matt gum, fibre putty (x2), power creme gel (wonder what that does?!), gritty styling clay (sounds a bit scary!) and one tub of unlabelled goop.

My hair styling routine usually involves one brush and one hair elastic. What products do you use in your hair? Are you more like my kids, with all manner of styling products, or like me, do you keep it simple?

Grateful for Work

It's (grateful) Saturday and #1 son is at work! So I'm having a grateful moment. Most who read this won't really understand the significance, although those who know me (us) personally will. So I'll briefly explain.

I've previously written about both my sons being out of work. You can check out a post here... or maybe not, whatever.

Anyway, in the past month or two #1 son Josh has had a few false starts at new jobs. For one reason or another, not always within his control, he was having difficulty making a job stick. And for the past three weeks he had been unsuccessfully seeking work. His previous experience consists of call centre service & sales operator (inbound and outbound), retail assistant and body piercer. One could say he has a wide variety of skills!

Josh was beginning to feel a bit despondent, and I'm never a happy camper while he's at home all day devouring the contents of the pantry, fridge & freezer (anything 'vegan' is not safe!) and leaving a trail of destruction through the entire house. It would only be a matter of time before the situation became rather unpleasant.

By a stroke of good fortune, early in the week Josh came across a job opening for exactly the position he wanted, but had not thought he would find. By the end of the week he was employed, in his dream job (well, second to being a rock star). He's back to sticking people with needles to make holes in them... sometimes in some rather odd places. Not exactly my idea of a dream job but he loves it, and I'm just happy that I can say "Josh is at work". 

Visit Maxabella's grateful blog hop to see what others are grateful for today

Write on Wednesday... Think with Character

Write On Wednesdays Exercise 9 - Think with Character. Choose a character from your writing posts... Now, think about the character in regards to their: gender, age, occupation, physical appearance and mood at this moment. Is your character in the city, the country, inside or outside? Do they live in rich or poor surroundings? Alone or with others? Answer all, some or one of these questions. Now, set your timer for 5 minutes and write the first words about your character that come into your head. Stop when the buzzer rings...


Suzie is tired. All the time.  As mum of two boys, aged 4 and 6, and a girl 10, life has been very difficult of late. She's been running the household on her own since her husband Dave got sick. He's been in the hospital for almost three months now. Some days are good, some days not so. And it is really taking it's toll on Suzie.

25 seems like a lifetime ago. Fresh out of university, Suzie had a promising career in a prestigious city law firm. Then one day she met Dave. They both ran for the same taxi and after discovering they were heading in the same direction, decided to share it. They talked all the way out of the city, and were pretty much inseperable since. He knew all the cool people, and all the 'in' places to go. Suzie didn't stand a chance. All her friends laugh and call it 'Suzie's fairytale'. But don't fairytales have a happy ending?
She has just finished unpacking at the new house. The family was forced to move because they could no longer afford the rent on the big house. Not while Dave is sick and out of work. Besides, it made sense to move closer to the hospital. Driving the two hour round trip from the peninsula to sit with him every day was becoming gruelling for her, and for the kids.

Suzie doesn't like to think about the future. What will happen? Will Dave get well again? Will he once again be able to wrap his arms around her and lift her off her feet. She hated it when he did that...  but now more than ever she wishes he could.

A taste of 'Groundhog Day'

Four years ago a section of my front garden was 'made over' by a team from a popular lifestyle TV show. All I did to receive was ask. Yes, I was on TV and no, they didn't sent me on a holiday. Instead, I went to work. (these were the answers to the most commonly asked questions about my experience)

Anyway, the team of talented landscape designers and labourers took the monstrosity in my garden from looking like this...

to looking like this...

And four years later, after I decided that I was tired of looking at those 'red flags', my front yard now looks like this...

It's a bit like Groundhog Day at my place. Now to decide what to do next...

The perfect apple crumble

I'm not a big fan of cooking. The main ingredient of all my favourite dishes is a packet or a jar. I don't like to cook because I don't like cleaning up!

Also, I'm not fussy about what I eat. Some weeks I have toasted cheese and tomato sandwiches for lunch EVERY DAY! Just because it is easy. I grew up on meat and three veg for dinner every night, so I guess this set the scene for being easy to please at meal times. (Thanks mum!) I eat out of necessity, not for pleasure. So you won't find too many food-related entries in my blog. I'll leave that to someone else.

However, some weeks ago the bf decided he wanted to cook apple crumble for dessert*. So we looked up a receipe on the internet (as you do) and struck absolute gold! I think either one of us has cooked this dish once each week every week since!

It truly is The Perfect Apple Crumble**. This SO good, and so easy (with little mess). I have one in the oven right now and I just have to share it with you.

Ingredients
(Serves 8)
7 large green apples
1/4 cup caster sugar
1tsp cinnamon (ground)
1 cup plain flour
3/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
3/4 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup coconut
1 tbsp cinnamon (ground)
2 tsp nutmeg (ground)
2/3 cup butter (melted)
2 tsp vanilla essence

Preparation method
Prep:45  mins | Cook:45  mins

APPLE MIX

1. Peel and core apples, then cut into rough 1-2cm cubes. Place apples in large saucepan and cover with water. Simmer (but don't boil) covered with lid on med-high until apples are just tender but not too soft (usually 5mins once water is simmering). Drain apples well and place in large bowl
2. Combine caster sugar and cinnamon (ensures even spread), then toss through the apples. If you like the apples to be less sweet and more tart you can omit the sugar in this step, though there may be excess juice as a result.

CRUMBLE MIX

1. Combine flour, brown sugar, rolled oats, coconut, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl until evenly mixed through.
2. Melt butter (do not burn or boil it) and add vanilla essence to butter, stir through.
3. Add butter mix to dry ingredients and mix well using a fork. Ensure all ingredients are moist and mixture has a crumbly texture.

BAKING

1. Place apple mix evenly in medium casserole dish. Spread crumble mix over top of apple. Bake at 180 degrees C for 30-40minutes, or until crumble topping is slightly browned.
2. Serve with vanilla icecream, cream, or custard and ENJOY!

I prefer mine without the ice cream, cream or custard. It really is good enough to eat on its own or with a hot cup of tea! It's a real winner with my boys too, even the resident vegan can eat it, lots of it (when I use milk-free margarine rather than butter)!



*Potentially inspired by Masterchef, perhaps.
** Ref: http://allrecipes.com.au/recipe/9877/the-perfect-apple-crumble.aspx

An hour or so in the garden

Today I was grateful for an impromptu hour or so working in my garden. This isn't something I had planned to do today. You know how it is when you see a weed and pull it out, and then you see another, and another and before you know it about an hour has gone by and your gardens look happier!

Well that's what happened to me (and my garden) today. I pulled some weeds, cleaned out the bird bath and picked up branches, leaves and debri left strewn around my yard, remnants of the last bout of bad weather. And it now looks like someone cares, a little bit.

If only my magnolia trees would hurry up and flower...

This post is part of Maxabella's grateful blog hop. Head on over to see what others are grateful for this week

The eager juror

Image Source

My son Ben received a summons for jury duty. He had to front up to Sydney's central court this week for the selection process. He was excited. I think he was just keen to get out of work for a possible 12 weeks.

My mum received a jury summons. She was to front up to Sydney's central court this week for the selection process. She had her boss write a letter requesting to be excused because she was needed at work  for the processing of applications for a certain essential service. She was excused.

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?! My 64 year old mum and my 20 year old son both receiving a summons for the same jury.

Ben was disappointed not to be selected. Back to work tomorrow.

I was in my twenties when I first received a notice advising me that I'd been placed on the jury role. My boys were very young and their father worked shift work so my request to be excused was granted. I was on the jury role again about 10 years later and was excused from a summons due to work travel.  I haven't been called up since.

Have you been called to jury duty? Were you among the chosen?

The clock winked... it's write on Wednesday!

Write On Wednesdays Exercise 8 - The clock winked...Write the words "The clock winked" at the top of your page. Set a timer for 5 minutes. Write the first words that come into your head after the prompt. Stop when the buzzer rings.

The clock winked as it flicked over to 10pm. It's way past her bedtime, she should have counted all the sheep by now. Some evenings are just too short. There's so much to be done and it's difficult to see any progress at all. Tomorrow will be another long day, filled with change, and the anxiety that comes with it. How will they cope?

As she picks up the last of the toys, remants of a day of play, she fondly remembers the evenings when the house looked much the same as it did the prior morning. Those were the days before tornadoes a.k.a. children! Don't get me wrong, she doesn't mind the 'kid mess', she's happy to step over the cars and dolls and books. Just doesn't enjoy stepping on the lego - ouch!

But everything needs to be packed up early tomorrow. Most of their possessions are already packed in sealed cartons, ready for the big move. Of course keeping the most-loved toys out for as long as possible was a priority, to occupy the children these last few days. They can only take with them what they can carry, and both kids have picked out their 'travelling toys'. They know they have to entrust the rest of their precious possessions to the removalists.

My Jogging Journey... Day Two

It's been three days since I began my jogging journey and I'd only been out that once. I figured it was about time I repeat the process, or I'll never reach my first goal of jogging the entire length of my street.

The traffic was ridiculous (in a bad way!) on my way home tonight, I was tired after a late night at uni and a long day at work, I arrived home to find a disaster in my kitchen (it seems someone cooked using the entire contents of the pantry and didn't stay long enough to clean up the mess!) and I had no idea what to cook for dinner. That's a whole pile of excuses NOT to put on my running gear and hit the pavement at 7pm!

But after clearing the kitchen bench, setting number two son the task of peeling potatoes, defrosting lamb & tomato sausages and getting dinner happening, I put on my shoes and headed out into the darkness.

Just like day one, I walked to the end of my street, turned around and jogged back to my house. Then I went in to check on the boiling potatoes and turn the sausages, before heading out to walk to the top of the street and back. Into the kitchen I went to check the progress of dinner again, before my final leg... the jog to the end of street and walk back. Phew! I've completed the routine twice and it felt good!

If you think you don't have time to exercise, think again!  I managed to cook dinner (without burning it) and complete my jogging/walking circuit at the same time! I think I travelled just over 2km, counting the trips back and forth to my kitchen. It's possible to fit exercise around other daily activities. I'm sure you could find a way that works for you, just like I did.

And three things I learned from the experience:

1. Some really great cooks live in my street, the dinner aromas were amazing!
2. Number two son needs some cooking lessons
3. Wear a t-shirt while jogging, a skivvy is just too hot!