Monthly Archives: May 2008

May 28, 2008

RSPCA Cupcake Day

Those marketing folk at the RSPCA are a clever bunch..no? Can there be a better combination, cute animals and yummy cupcakes!

Monday August 18th (a day after my birthday!) is Cupcake Day for the RSPCA. RSPCA Cupcake Cooks across Australia will descend on their schools, workplaces and social groups with batches of yummy homemade cupcakes to sell. With 100% of the proceeds will go to the RSPCA.

Whether you want to be an RSPCA Cupcake Cook or simply an RSPCA Cupcake eater, you will be supporting the thousands of animals we care for everyday.

To get involved and host your own Cupcake party all you need to do is go to the site and register your details and the will send you a Cupcake kit for all the details you will need to know for the day! Or you can download it from the site.

Anyone can get involved to bake or eat cupcakes for the animals. I think I will be going on a weekend long cupcake baking and eating bender!

They even have animal friendly cupcake recipes for our furry families!

Pupcakes

Here’s a special occasion, sweet treat for your pups. Remember, to serve up these doggy cupcakes in
moderation, we don’t’ want your poodle addicted to strudel!
2 3/4 cups water
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups wholemeal flour
1 cup dried apple pieces – you can also use fresh fruit
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 egg, beaten slightly
4 tablespoons honey
Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray.
Mix all wet ingredients thoroughly. Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients slowly , scraping well to make sure no dry mixture is left.
Pour into muffin tins.
Bake for 1 1/4 hours. Insert a toothpick into the centre of a pupcake and if it comes out dry, they are ready to come out of the oven.
Wait until cooled to serve.
Store in a sealed container.
Makes around 12-14 pupcakes.

Cupcake Day for the RSPCA

May 27, 2008

Screw up Tuesday

This is my first time joining Screw up Tuesday. The lovely Bettina started Screw up Tuesday, a day to share your screw ups ( I think I could use every day of the week)

Last Wednesday, went off to the gym..as I do every day. The lockers at the gym are coin operated. You stick in your $2 (I use one of those trolley tokens from Aldi) you can then lock it and the key comes out. When you go back and unlock it, you get your $2 back. The key is pretty big and chunky, and comes on a little number tag. I am pretty bad with losing stuff. But hadn’t had an issue with it, keep it with my water and hadn’t lost it or left it behind…yet.

So I had 30mins to kill before the class started so went upstairs to the cardio equipment outside the class studio. Used the treadmill for 20mins then moved to the bike, with my key, towel and water! Put my stuff down and off I went. Few minutes in, I couldn’t see the key. Looked on the ledge on the console..nope, in the drink holders..nope. Argh, so I jump off and start looking on the floor and on the treadmill I was just on..NO. WTF..where the hell could it have gone? Another lady was watching me, and she helped me look everywhere too, under the bikes, treadmills..couldn’t find it anywhere. And you know she isn’t believing me when I say I KNOW i had it when I came up here.

So I went down stairs to see if I had left it down there..or still in the locker, if someone had handed it in..no! One of the trainers came up to help me look, again, hiked the incline up on all the treadmills to look under. Noooo, the bloody thing had vanished into thin air. Again, you know she thinks I am full of shit, and couldn’t possibly have had it only up there, and must be stupid as and lost it somewhere else..which is what I was starting to think!

The only way to get into the locker to get my stuff is to unbarrel the whole lock, and pay $30! o.O GREAT! They said they would call the maintenance guy and he would come help have another quick look under the machines and then open the lock.

Getting pretty worked up by this stage, not to mention embarrassed!..how the fark could I have lost it..I KNOW I had it up there! But every man and his dog had helped me look?

Wait 5mins for the maintenance bloke and then had to go through the whole thing again..I was here, then here..and then the fairies stole my farkin key! He tips the bike I was on to the side so we can take a good look under it…. *tink* out falls my key O.M.F.G! There was a small gap between the ledge where your suppose to stick your shit, phone, keys..you know. Obviously not gym keys, they slip through the gap to Narnia or some shit till you shake the little bastard out.

Sooo embarrassed I just wanted to get out of there, get my bag shove my stuff in and off I go. Walking down the stairs, and there is water running down my leg. Check..nope, haven’t wet my pants. I had thrown my water bottle in my bag and not closed it properly..my bag was now a swimming pool *crying* Thank god I had my phone in my hand. My poor, poor iriver how ever, he can’t swim. We have tried to revive him, but he has since passed away, he had swallowed too much water

May 24, 2008

Gym program

It’s been a few weeks since the gym reopened and it has been fun playing around on all the new toys and trying out the classes. Some new, and some I had done years ago (it’s funny how you never remember just how much they make you hurt, bit like childbirth I think LOL)

So have settled on a new program starting from Monday. They better not go and change the timetable!

Mondays

• Cycle class
• Pilates

estimated calories burnt = 810

Tuesdays

• 30mins Treadmill (with treadmill trainer more on that later)
• 20mins Bike
• 30mins weights

estimated calories burnt = 700

Wednesdays

• Pump
• maybe pilates..or not

estimated calories burnt = 500

Thursday

• 30mins Treadmill (with treadmill trainer more on that later)
• 20mins Bike
• 30mins weights

estimated calories burnt = 700

Fridays

• Cycle class
• Body Balance

estimated calories burnt = 1050

Sounds good on paper at least!

Weekends off, tho there is a Sunday morning cycle class that could be tempting. Still trying to talk the man pet into trying it. I think he is scared after the week of crying and complaining I did after the first class, but it didn’t hurt after the first one…bloody wuss.

I mentioned before about using treadmill trainer for my treadmill work outs. I found it a few months ago when I first started at the gym and it is FANTASTIC! I honestly never thought I could actually RUN, but this really helped get me going, and I think it was the main factor in the first 6kgs I lost ( I was the weiner of the Biggest Loser challenge we had at AFW, and no it wasn’t cause all but 1 other person gave up!)

Ignore the spammy looking sales pages, if you are anything like me and usually close the tab as soon as you see one..it is worth the read. And no, I’m not getting anything for posting about it..it really is just great!

It is an mp3 that you put on your mp3 player (or phone if yours has had an unfortunate accident such as mine *cry*) you can run outside, or on a treadmill. Basically you get this trainer guy (who to me sounds just like Yaro Starak) telling you when to run. Level one is made up of a 4min warm up, and then some interval training which is the key to getting you running, without you really knowing it. I went from not being able to run at all to a full 10mins. Really looking forward to getting back into it and seeing how much I can increase (probably have to start back from scratch now)

May 23, 2008

Life of the party

It was Jake’s Birthday this week. Getting in the spirit, Alex put on his best party dress for the occasion. Now those of you who are good at reading lips might think that Alex is swearing, but honestly, he is just singing happy birthday!

We made cupcakes..of course! Now just for the record I wanted to put candles on them and sing happy birthday to him, he said no! But someone has been complaining to his Mummy that no one loves him, or sang him happy birthday, first time in 32 years he didn’t get to blow out candles..bla bla bla…my heart bleeds lumpy custard for you! I offered (and I have witnesses) and he turned it down. And you can clearly see Alex was singing!

We’re also going to enter this in Kimo and Sabi’s Jump and shout Contest and fundraisers they are hosting. Go and check out the other entries, and enter your jumping and shouting pics too!

May 21, 2008

Getting together with friends

It’s so great to catch up with friends, even ones you have never met before!

The weekend before last we had a All for Women get together in Sydney. We met up at a cafe in Paramatta park…It was a great day, the weather was lovely, as was the company. It was wonderful to meet some of the girls for the first time, especial our longest standing member, that has been around nearly as long as Naomi and I!

Thank god we didn’t have any weirdos turned up like you often get to meet ups (you know the ones ) But we are in Sydney, the normal capital of Australia

Afterwards we had a bit of a girls night (Naomi, Kay and I..Heather stopped by for dinner too) . Kay had booked us in to the Meriton. It was quite nice.

Of course their were cupcakes, I did promise them to all the girls, but comepletly forgot about them till they had all gone. So there was much more of us. Started out with 50, but they didn’t last too long. They were only baby ones after all!.

Mudshakes and cupcakes are a match made in heaven! Rove doesn’t know what he is missing.

We could have done with a few more if it wasn’t for that damn alchopop tax! Bugger the teens, what about stopping us poor oldies having some fun!

New use for a cupcake tree.

Of course, Sheila came to join the fun

Speaking of get togethers, a few Sydney girls ( Christie, Kim, Riayn, Trish) have said they would love to have a bloggers get together. Some where central and on a weekend, during the day. If there are any other bloggers in Sydney interested in joining us, let me know

May 19, 2008

1000 Thank Yous

Caesar was laid to rest on Thursday night. It was only really decided that day, but we knew the time was coming. That afternoon I spent a few hours just watching him sleep. I can honestly say I have never cried so much in my life. The other 2 knew something was up, Alex hadn’t left his side since the day before and Anastasia was doing a great job of keeping him clean. Poor Calais was a bit like an awkward teenager, he wander the house, bored and lonely..no one wanted to play with him, and he had tried sitting with them a few times but just felt uncomfortable.

I have lost pets before, and have seen other animals put to sleep.. but never had to actually do it to one of our own..and certainly not one of our precious meezers. Nothing can really prepare you. Don’t get me wrong, I have loved all our special pets. But there is something indescribably special about meezer..for us. They literally are little 4 legged furry children.

Jake was a mess before we walked in there, I have never seen him like that before. One of us had to stay strong enough to speak to the vet. The vet was amazing, and explained everything well. I wasn’t too bad until the moment the needled went in and panic gripped me. I wanted to yell to stop and snatch him from them, before it was too late. But in a second he went limp, and was gone..forever. The enormity of that moment struck me I know we did the right thing, we owed it to him, but at the moment that barely helps to make it feel right

We took him home to Jake’s parents to bury him in the yard with many other pets gone by. We seem to be starting our own wing of the pet cemetary. Jake’s dog Shep was is buried here along with our first cat Winnie. We had to try and pick Caesar a spot that wasn’t too close to Winnie, he was never very fond of her..the feeling was mutual. Not sure they would be pleased having to spend forever so close to each other.

Caesar was the gentlest, most sweet natured boy. He was a mummies boy, but loved everyone. He nearly didn’t become part of our family tho. The first few days he was here, he was the most feral, nasty little thing you have ever seen. Hissing and attacking us if we went near him. I was ready to pack him up and take him back to the breeder! But on the 4th day, something happened and he woke up a completely different cat..it was amazing.

You never really think about this part when you are taking how your little drop dead cute bundled of meowing love, how painful it is as the other side.

We have been blow away by all the wonderful people who have stopped by to offer their sympathy, your words have really been a comfort over the last few days. I cannot thank you all enough But will offer some linky love to you all as a small gesture.

All our cat blogging friends, old and new..you guys rock! The last few months since Caesar became sick, we have been a bit quiet on the cat blogging front. Didn’t feel I could really blog happy posts and pictures of the cats..knowing what was coming. A special few of you have still continued visiting, thank you. I love sharing my furry family with you all, so I hope we can get back into it soon. Your words are very comforting, because I know a lot of your guys have been in my sad shoes, and you all know how special they are..not “just” a cat.

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