Archive for March, 2012

The best piece of toast in the world.

March 31, 2012

So I have had a severe eye infection the past couple of days .How do I know its severe ? Well anything that compels a doctor to push a paper clip up your eye to flip your eyelid over is classified severe in my books , and I am usually quite a resilient person . Although I am tempted to share a picture of my swollen , crusty , freshly punched in the eye look , I will spare you the agony.

When the swelling initially came up , the fabulous two were quite thrilled at the idea of mum adopting a piratey look , FS2 went all out and found me a pirate patch from a party we had a couple of years ago. There was also some banter between the two about the possibility of skipping school because mum was too sick to drive. Didn’t happen !

We somehow shuffled our way through the week and come Friday evening , I requested the Fab 2 to be on their best behaviour for the rest of the weekend. We had a mature conversation about my visit to the doctor ( paperclip and all the gory details included ) and that I had been asked to rest my eye as much as possible . There were nods all around , although I had my doubts about the credibility of those nods because moments of peace in our house are few and far between. You can read more about such moments here .

FS1 though can be quite sage and sensible … sometimes …and this morning was one of those “sometimes” . FS2 was already up and pottering around with his toys when FS1 woke up and came over for cuddles, I said to him , ” FS1, darling , my eye feels very sore, please give me ten minutes , I’ll make us some breakfast soon , why don’t you go brush your teeth in the mean time ? ” He nodded and slipped away leaving me to drift a little bit longer. The next time I woke was when I felt FS1 tap my my head , I opened my eyes to a wonderful little surprise.

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A roughly folded piece of toast generously spread with jam and butter , the best piece of toast in the world followed by cuddles. I had tears in my eyes when FS1 said , ” Mummy , I wanted you to have a rest , I know your eyes are hurting”

Children; the truest form of love , capable of so much more than what we give them credit for.

Share a thought : Have you , as a child or a child close to you ever done something that truly surprised you and touched you deeply ?

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Would you give up your birthday ?

March 31, 2012

Everyone loves birthdays, there are all the presents to look forward to and a never ending string of phone calls  , add facebook messages to the mix and if you are anything like me , you have spent your entire birthday responding to each and every birthday message on your timeline . It doesn’t matter that there were 334 messages to respond to ( some from people you only hear from on birthdays but haven’t had the heart to unfriend .. yet ) , saying thankyou is the right thing to do and that is what you will do.Everyone and everything can wait , your birthday your rules !

Things get a bit complicated though once you have crossed the big 3-0 and are officially off the market for being classified as ” young” ( weird,I know …go figure). Feeling giddy with excitement about birthdays, birthday presents and squealing with happiness at the 50th phone call  is sort of considered a violation of thirty something birthdayetiquette and may be grossly looked down upon by your other thirty-something friends. At this juncture of life , bars of soap as presents may not be considered offensive , consider yourselves warned.

But we are not here to talk about the offensive nature of a present that comprises a bar of soap ( or two ? ) .I’d like to ask you one simple question , Would you give up your birthday for a good cause ?

www.charitywater.org is asking for just that , they ask you to pledge your next birthday to help their cause – raising money for the organisation instead of taking presents from friends and family. CharityWater is committed to building quality water projects and provide clean ,drinking water to almost a billion people across the globe. Running into their 5th year, the charity is privately sponsored and operates on a 100% model therefore everything you donate will go towards the project , no administrative cuts. Once the project(s) you have funded are completed , CharityWater provide you with details , photos and GPS co-ordinates of your project.

Water is a life essential we often take for granted , imagine the lives of those who have no other choice but to live without it.

Mumchic HQ Update : After a conversation with the fabulous two , we have concluded that FS1 and I will be pledging our next birthdays to the cause , FS2 is still sitting on the fence , engaged in a cost benefit analysis probably titled , Help a village get water Vs Buy a new nintendo game , I will keep you posted on further developments on that front.

Image Courtesy: charitywater.org

Disclaimer : I am not an employee or associate of CharityWater and this is not a sponsored post.

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Comments: 4 Posted by: Categories: Fabulous Finds, Musings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Bread and Butter , so what’s the big deal ?

March 30, 2012

 No, no not the bread and butter you go out to work for , I mean the real thing , Bread and Butter.

What prompted the question in my mind was how I and many others waited eagerly behind the counter at our local bakery, lured in by the aroma of freshly baked bread and sugar laden delectables.As the lovely asian lady wrapped me a bunch of damper rolls , I mentally conjured an image of my bread , slightly warmed under the grill , served with a generous layer of butter, who needs dinner , I’ll just have bread and butter everyday.

So what is this whole fuss with bread and butter ? After all it is just flour , yeast ,water, a dash of salt layered with fat.Yes I know , sounds ugly.Well,I can tell you , people (yours truly included) will go to war over it . How many times have you been to a restaurant and ordered soup , only for the complimentary bread and butter , why else would you order some concoction named ” Sopi Di Yuwana “ , it probably tastes worse than it sounds. And the time when you have deeply cursed the waiter/waitress who thought one measly tub of butter would be enough to go over three bread rolls ! What about the time when you were caught deeply concentrating on that last piece of buttered bread on your sibling’s plate , half expecting the bread to be miraculously left uneaten so you could “help” your sibling with the left overs . And who can forget that annoying person ahead of you in the queue who refuses to pay for the all you can eat salad bar because he never got his second complimentary bread roll , we’ve all seen one of them , infact we might’ve even been one of those people ….on more than one occasion.

To me , bread and butter represents dependability, always there when you need it most… like a dear friend or a much loved book that you can never get tired of. It represents bliss , the kind you only find in the comfort of your home. It is no wonder that we are so passionate about our missing bread roll even when there’s an entire menu we could pick anything from , it is the confidence that the bread and butter won’t let us down…who knows … the fact of the matter is , in this carb defying world , if there is one thing we battle to give up , it is our bread and butter and rightfully so !

Are you a bread and butter fan ? If yes , what is about bread and butter you absolutely love ? If not , congratulations ! you have wasted an entire lifetime on other inconsequential stuff , well done ….

“Sopi Di Yuwana” : Soup of an Iguana – This site claims no responsibility of the consequences of consuming Sopi Di Yuwana for the love of bread .

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Comments: 7 Posted by: Categories: Fabulous Finds, Food, Musings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
i've tried something new sticker

No stories , No quotes and certainly no food for thought today…

March 29, 2012

Oh you wandered in and wanted to know what’s this new thing I have tried , well I can tell you its not a recipe and its certainly not a new quote I discovered , its a new theme in case you hadn’t figured that out already !

Just switching things up a bit and trying something new , something different ….so what’s the general consensus folks ? Do you like this new magazine feel or did you prefer the old theme ?

Thoughts ? Ideas ? I would love to hear from you !

Image courtesy : http://veggietoddler.blogspot.com.au/2010/04/ive-tried-something-new.html

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Comments: 3 Posted by: Categories: Musings Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
life wo limits

One Unknown and a Life Without Limits

March 28, 2012

“One Unknown” , is the title of a book written by Australian born inspirational speaker , peace ambassador for Peace Direct and the founder of M.A.D for peace , a peace awareness and action initiative , Gill Hicks . But more importantly , the title of her first book is inspired from the most tragic experience of Gill’s life , One Unknown were the words written on her wristband as she was admitted into hospital on that ill fated day of the London train bombings. Unidentified, severely injured with both her legs amputated below the knee ,Gill was not expected to live and yet 7 years on , with sheer will and the support of those around her , Gill is not turning back . Through her talks and sharing candidly the sequence of events on that day in London in July 2005 , Gill aims to be a catalyst for global peace .I had the opportunity first hand to hear Gill speak at a conference last year , her story is as heartbreaking as it is inspirational , to be at the threshold of life and death and choosing life , one that could never have been easy to resurrect… One Unknown , Gill Hicks.

“Perfection isn’t always perfect”

Says Nick Vujicic , an Australian motivational speaker , director of  Life Without Limbs and more recently , author of the book “Life without Limits – How to live a ridiculously good life “ . Nick, 29  was born without arms or legs and contemplated suicide at the age of 10 after growing gravely depressed about his condition and the general lack of acceptance of his disability amongst his peers while growing up. With a lot of love and encouragement from his family and the realisation that his own story of struggles and triumphs could inspire others , Nick has gone on to become one of the world’s most revered inspirational speakers , spreading a message of hope , strength and faith especially among youth. His story is one of great courage and character reminding us that there is nothing that can stop us from being who we are meant to be, from living a life without limits. Nick recently collaborated with Tyrone Wells to produce the video shared below , this beautiful song is called ” Something More “ .

I have nothing but the highest respect and admiration for Gill Hicks and Nick Vujicic and many others like them, people who have faced adversities and lived,against all odds . People who have made a difference to the world despite their own battles,  shining their inner strength and determination , choosing hope over despair, happiness over anger and living a life beyond their limits. They , to me are survivors.

Courtesy:

Gill Hicks Video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU3V2suLEbU

Nick Vujicic – Something More : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrV_ZvwZRvw&feature=fvwp&NR=1

Profiles research :  Wikipedia

One Unknown and Life Without Limits are available at all good book stores.

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Comments: 3 Posted by: Categories: Fabulous Finds, Musings, Quotables Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
siri

Oh iPhone , how I love to hate you..

March 25, 2012

Dear iPhone ,

My relationship with you has been an interesting one and the subject of much ridicule amongst my closest friends and family . You see , I was one of those outcasts who found the whole touch screen experience fairly intimidating – and NO I refuse to be called technologically challenged , can I help it if the Finnish Nokia had my fingertips wrapped around its beautiful beveled keys for a good part of a decade. It was a long drawn out break up with Nokia I have to say , at one stage I was carrying two phones , an iPhone because you know , everyone has an iPhone , I mean EVERYONE  and a Nokia because it felt like home. My Blackberry loving sibling , prone to telling it like it is , was often found wondering in company whether your only purpose in my life was to serve as a camera .

Time , they say is the best healer , over time I developed a kind of affinity for you, dearest iPhone , enjoying the land of apps and an unending supply of music you always provide at the touch of a screen….emails at my fingertips , google search a tip and a tap away , maps when I lost my way , really what more can one want ? Having said that, I didn’t succumb to a rash purchase as soon as they replaced you with that new swisher looking iPhone 4 when it arrived back in 2010.You could say I was finally beginning to fall in love with you.

But late last year, you sort of gave in and I thought it was time for fresh starts. After endless research and friendly debates generally titled ” Samsung SII vs Apple iPhone 4s ” , “Android vs iOS”  , ” hold out for the iPhone 5 or go for the 4s “…. you get the drift, I , once again gave in to Apple , well Siri really.

4 months on , I think it would be only fair to say , my not so new iPhone 4s and I share a love hate relationship . Here’s why :

I hate, hate, HATE that it has a shocking battery life and I have to charge it every freaking half an hour.

I LOVE that it has a fantastic 8 mega pixel camera that takes brilliant photos as well as videos  , almost negating the need to have any other digital camera in my life unless its a DSLR.

I HATE( I mean love , I mean hate , I mean love …oh nevermind !) that having a world of information at my fingertips in the form of a smartphone , I am less inclined to read a book on my way to work and highly inclined to read who did what with whom and where on Facebook, very informative I tell you. I am also very much likely to connect with a friend via text,email or a facebook shout out than by actually just phoning them which by the way is also just a finger tap or a Siri command away.

Speaking of Siri ,the lovely Siri ( which did you know can go through a gender change just by selecting the English – UK option as I discovered this morning ). It  is a great addition and a definite step up in the game , heck it is possibly what convinced me to go with the 4s over the Galaxy SII , having said that I HATE that I have only but used it but  a total of umm 15 times and it refuses to assist me with finding the closest chinese restaurant because I speak with an Australian accent . I am not paying any less ( infact its probably more seeing the current exchange rate )  for an iPhone 4s than my American friends then why the prejudice Apple ? I would like a Siri that knows everything , thankyou very much !

Oh and lets not forget, I HATE how,  the fabulous two with Siri’s willingness to always  please find their way into playlists when they should be doing their homework.

I LOVE that Siri has given our home many magically cute moments like the other night when FS2 , half asleep and contemplative , asked ” Mummy , Siri must get so tired , she has to answer so many questions , does she ever sleep ? ” , Yes I know he is cute isnt he ? , takes after his mother ofcourse , I couldn’t help but play along by saying ” Yes sweetheart , which is why we really shouldn’t be asking her what the current weather is in Disneyland… every 5 minutes “

And lastly , I HATE how the fabulous two have executively decided that the iPhone is their primary gaming console , no matter how many other gaming consoles we may have in our house , they will gladly trade-in for an iPhone. There was even talk last week in the house  about taking the phone into school for show and tell ( something to do with being cool I suppose ) and FS1 is apparently saving up for the iPhone 5 . FS1 is 8 years old and might be dreaming.

So as touted aggressively by Apple, is the iPhone 4s the most amazing iPhone yet ? Probably , Am I sold on it ? No , not yet .

 I hear they might release the iPhone 5 later this year around Spring ( I’m Australian remember , Spring = September , we do seasons the other way round down under just in case you were wondering ) , Will I be pre-ordering it ? No , I don’t think so .. I rather enjoy these little debates I have with my friends about pros, cons , functionalities every time Apple has a big release.

Well there we have it , so until we meet again…

Oh iPhone , how I love to hate you.

P.S my wonderful , dependable ex, Nokia still sits somewhere in the house , always ready to be a backup phone incase the iPhone 4s and I have a falling out.

Image Courtesy : Siri , in a year http://thedoghousediaries.com/3175

Image Courtesy : Siri , unable to search chinese restaurants ,  Inhouse 

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love

Why is it so important to show the people we love , that we love them ?

March 24, 2012

I woke up this morning to read a story that touched the very core of my heart and left me in tears . After reading it , I wanted to pick up the phone and tell every single person who is important in my life that I truly love them. The past few days , we have been talking about gratitude and the things we take for granted. This is also true for the wonderful people who shape our lives , we often forget that life is short and you never know what it brings next. Give those hugs , write that email you have been meaning to , have that coffee with a girlfriend ,read your children those bed time stories , kiss them goodnight , make that phone call to your mum ..don’t hold back or leave it for next time , tell the ones you love that you love them , they might be the most important words they ever hear.

I will not take away from the story by talking about it in this post , please take a few moments of your day and read this heartbreakingly beautiful story here .

Share a thought : Do you or anyone you know have a story similar to Bethany and Ryan’s that you’d like to share ?

Image Courtesy :http://www.snippetandink.com

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Comments: 4 Posted by: Categories: Fabulous Finds, Musings, Quotables Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
thankyou

30 days , 30 posts and 60 followers ….Not bad I reckon !

March 23, 2012

So I am not telling the world but I am secretly very thrilled about this ! WordPress rolled out a blog activity milestones feature as part of the regular WordPress notifications . Everytime your blog activity achieves a milestone ( 10 new followers , 5 likes etc ) , you receive a star or a badge . Reminds me of reward charts at school , homework tick , combed hair tick , nails clipped tick … Err I’m rambling aren’t I ? Well you can read more about this fabulous feature here..

I’m also very very excited about something else , Mumchic is 30 days and 30 posts old today ! Wohoooooooo !!

Now I know this is a very small achievement in the big scheme of things but to me this is huge and it wouldn’t have been possible without the support , encouragement and words of all of you out there . Don’t worry I won’t go into a long, teary spiel ( gotta save something for the 100th post ! ) but just want to say thankyou for being part of this journey .

If you have any comments , feedback or post suggestions , I’d love to hear , feel free to leave them in a comment or alternatively I can be reached on email : me@mumchic.com .

Want to like mumchic on Facebook ? Stay Tuned !

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Sometimes we forget..

March 22, 2012

Admittedly , I haven’t had the best week , I have been moping around quite sick and feeling miserable for myself . You know those times when you wish you could just curl up under the blanket and sleep all day ….haha do I see a few furious nods there ?

While speaking with a close friend today who has experienced a troubled few months , I was compelled to think about how much we take for granted . Her troubles , too personal to be shared here made my worries look rather secondary and trivial.

We are often so deeply consumed in our own world battling one struggle after the other , we forget to express gratitude for what we do have . I will not delve too much into that here because I have written about this subject earlier in ‘ the little things ‘ but today my thoughts after speaking with my friend were , no matter how difficult a state we think we may be in , we must never forget that there is someone out there who may be worse off .

We must never let hardships bring us down and count all the wonderful blessings we have in our lives .

Share a thought : What are you grateful for today ?

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24 hours of food provision , no questions asked !

March 22, 2012

Phew ! It’s been a long , arduous day of keeping a job and playing supermum. A wave of relief and satisfaction washes over as I crash ( yes crash ) on the lounge with my power drink , a hot cup of coffee ofcourse .

The next day’s uniforms have been pressed , lunches prepared , homework has been completed ( is this a dream ? ).I watch the fabulous two ,bathed and been fed a decently healthy meal , they share a moment ( or two ? ) of tv serenity , barely flinching at my sofa crash …

Ah ! The first sip of coffee , I let out a happy sigh , browsing through and earmarking some new blog posts I’d really like to read after the fabulous two are in dreamland .

Finally , it closes in on the agreed weeknight bed time and I say, “Come on boys, it’s time for bed “ , turning the tv off . Reluctant but knowing that there is no bending this one they rise from their little sofas and make their way to their bedroom .

Just as I am tucking him in , FS # 2 ( fabulous son number 2 , aged 6 1/2 ) says , ” But mummyyy , I’m hungry “

Me : ” But honey you just had dinner a little while ago “

FS2 : ” But that was millions of hours ago ( 2 to be precise ) , and I’m really really hungry , please can I have something “

FS1 ( being the complete foodie that he is ) : ” yeh mummy I’m hungry too “

I stare widely at the two , thinking why now , why just when you’re about to sleep.

Now now , settle down , don’t go thinking I’m not used to this , we all know its the golden clause of the parental contract , 24 hours of food provision , no questions asked !

Horrified at the thought of being classified as a cruel mum , becoming the subject of playground heart to hearts or the fab 2 being scarred for life , I lift my game and offer a quick , healthy snack that didn’t contain the words chocolate chip , ” ok how about a cup of milk and banana each , come on jump out then “

FS2 wails out: ” Nooooo I want something yummier like really really yummy “

Stumped ! Again ! Who knew bananas would just not cut it for a late night snack …. Something yummy-er , the key being the ‘er’ , I thought .As you may have gathered , I was tired and wasn’t having the brightest of days ( epicureans have off days to y’know) but eventually I had a plan .

I pulled out a box of those delicious salty ritz crackers , butter and a few slices of sandwich cheese , nothing fancy .

I started with buttering the insides of the ritz crackers very lightly with butter , cutting each cheese slice into fours . I place a quarter piece of cheese on top of the cracker , sprinkle a dash of cracked pepper and place another lightly buttered cracker on top . I made about ten of these , served up with a glass of milk resulting in some very happy smiles and FS2 felt a bit important because he thought it was ” kind of like being on an aeroplane” , clearly the context being the crackers and fine cheese provided with airline meals.Full and sleepy , the fabulous two tumbled into bed and fell asleep not long after, prompting me to write this post .

 

The moral of the story is that no shopping trolley is ever complete without ritz crackers and cheese slices .

Tip : for adults , you could do away with the butter and maybe add a thin slice of tomato , give it that canapé sort of feel .Also can be prepared with slices of crispbread and packed into school lunches .

Do you have any special , healthy treats for post dinner cravings ? Would love to share ideas !

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Comments: 5 Posted by: Categories: Feeling Peckish, Food Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
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