The update :)
Been extremely busy... with custom orders, getting website stuff done, family life and whatnot. Just haven't had time to read LJ or do much of anything else.... I think I really need to look at my life and make some decisions for 2009..... I need more "me" time (infact just any would be good)
I'm a member of a cloth nappy (diaper) forum.... back from when MiniObsi was in nappies... and I've recently been made a moderator there. Which is a huge honour! But it's meant that where before I'd only look at topics that interest me, and it wouldn't matter if I didn't feel like checking the forum... now I have to make sure people aren't posting things that break rules, and I need to be around more... so it does take up more time.
MiniObsi is a school girl this year! She has her uniform and is VERY excited. We bought her school shoes and white socks today, so now we just need a backpack. We'll probably have to buy her school issue one, not sure. She was good, I thought she'd be upset about leaving kinder, since only 3 of her friends are going to her primary school, and her 2 best friends aren't... but it doesn't seem to have bothered her. Maybe she doesn't realise she'll never see Amy again (I don't know where she lives).. but her other best friend lives a few streets away, so that's ok.
I think school works differently in the US to here.... Our school year starts in January/February and ends in December.... with usually 3 "terms" and a 2 week holiday between terms. Since the end of the year is our summer, I assume your "summer break" is the equivilent of our end of year/start of year break......Also not sure how your age/grade levels go.... in some states in Australia it's a bit different too. There is "Kinder" (short for Kindergarden) or "preschool", which is when they are 5. There is 4 year old preschool too, but it's not government funded, so is more expensive and not offered at all preschools. Then they go to "Primary School" which starts off with "prep" at age 5-6 (depends when they are born, I think they need to be 6 by June to start prep).... then they go through "grade 1" etc. to grade 6. Some states have grade 7 in primary school too, and some run kinder from the school, some (like where I am) have it in a separate place. Then there is "High School" which is grade 7/8 to grade 12 (although in one state at least, grade 12 is done in a separate school called "Collage" short for "matriculation collage")... then you go to "university" (if you choose to do so).
Hubby goes back to work next week... he didn't get as much time off over Xmas as normal, since we just had a holiday he took time off for... but thats ok. We've done a bit of cleaning up around the house, and he's having a relax, so its all good.
I went on my first overseas holiday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hubby works at a university (as well as now doing his PHD) doing a bunch of stuff I don't understand, but basically working on developing computer programs to make theoretical robots do things (he doesn't get to work on actual robots, just computer simulations - how boring).... anyway... his area of expertise is the language side... and he writes papers on what he does, and gets to go to conferences each year to do talks on his papers..... Usually they are just in different states in Australia, but this year he got the opportunity to go to either New Zealand or somewhere else (Thailand or something I think).... so he picked New Zealand, because we figured while the university would pay for his airfares, we could pay for MiniObsi and I, and go over before his conference started and make a holiday out of it... so we did :) We had 9 days there, and it was great. Good to go to another country that is so much like our own.... so you can speak the language, and have a fair idea on customs and how everything works. AND WE SAW THE HOBIT HOLES!!!!! MiniObsi didn't believe we were in another country for a while because everything looked the same (except the money and all the Maori art everywhere). I made us a blog for all our holiday pics, but I'll post a link to that later ;)
Mum has been quite unwell..... she had a hysterectomy a few months ago (because she was getting anemic from heavy frequent periods), and since then has had no end of trouble.... She started with a swelling (and pain) in the space her uterus was.... which made her as big as a pregnant woman.... they did scans and things and decided it was "vascular", and ended up operating (only after she had to go to hospital because she was unable to pee it had swollen so much) to remove it... I think it was a collection of fluid and blood.... but she also has "adhesions" which I don't actually know anything about (I have limited medical knowledge, but it doesn't include that), except mum explains that as basically areas of sticky stuff, which has stuck her bowel and bladder together.... because her internal organs have shifted about to fill the space the uterus was...unfortunately now her ovaries are now stuck to her bowel as well.... She keeps having swellings as more fluid collects there... and recently she started bleeding (Where she didn't say, but I'm assuming vaginally).... which was apparently the swelling pushing against the wound site causing it to open and bleed..... This last thing was a few days before Xmas, so we were worried she's spend Xmas in hospital - because her surgeon and Gyno were on Xmas leave so she couldn't see anyone... but she did eventually see someone, who drained the fluid, and all seems to be well again, for now. We'd all told her to rest, but the bleeding happened overnight... can't get any more rested than sleeping! She sees her Dr next week, so we're hoping she can get some answers then... She was saying they can do an operation to basically separate the stuck organs and stop them sticking together again, but there are risks.... but it's an option.
Been getting into cupcake making.... not that my waistline (not that I have a waist) can deal with it, but the nappy forum I'm on has started up a weekly cupcake challenge, where someone posts a recipe and we all make them, take pics and someone sets up a poll and we vote on who has made the best cupcakes. I actually won the last round, so I picked Chai cupcakes as my recipe to share. I've bought my very first piping bag and a star nozzle, and I've been giving "frosting" a go (I used to hate that term, since we call it "icing" and I figured it's only in America it's called "frosting", but I have come to accept that a water and icing sugar mix is "icing" and a butter and icing sugar mix is "frosting"... subtle differences in terms :)) I've got so into it, I even made little vegetable and mince pies (in muffin trays), and used the piping bag to put mashed potato tops on them :) One of my best friend's gave me a cupcake courier (www.cupcakecourier.com) for Xmas! which made carrying my Xmas cupcakes around much easier!
So I'll share my recipe.. I edited it a bit from one I saw online... and I must say (well I love chai), they were the best cupcakes I've ever had!
I did some with vanilla frosting, and some with chai frosting...
I'm just a beginner at doing piped on frosting, so excuse the unevenness...
Chai Latte Cupcakes
(Makes 24 large cupcakes)
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups milk
2 black (normal) tea bags
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
pinch of ground black pepper
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cup castor sugar (This could be called "granulated sugar perhaps?)
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla essence (or vanilla bean)
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups Plain flour (I think this is "all purpose flour")
1/2 cup wholemeal flour
Method:
1). In a saucepan, heat the milk until just before boiling. Add the teabags and spices (including the split vanilla bean if using this), cover and remove from heat. Allow to stand for 10 minutes, then give the milk a stir and remove the teabags, squeezing them to remove as much tea flavour as possible. (and remove and scrape the vanilla bean). Allow to cool. Measure out 1 1/4 cups of this, adding extra (plain) milk if some has evaporated off (I needed to add 2 tb).
2). Beat the sugar and butter until creamy. Add eggs. Sift together the baking powder, salt and flours.
3). Gradually add the spiced milk and sifted flour mix alternately, mixing well.
3). Spoon mixture into baking cases and bake at 190C for around 20 minutes, or until cakes are cooked (skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean). Allow to cool before icing.
Vanilla Chai Frosting:
100g softened butter
100g softened cream cheese
Whatever you need from 3 cups icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence/paste (or 1 vanilla bean)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
Beat butter and cream cheese together, then add spices, vanilla and enough icing sugar to make the right consistency. Halve the spices for a more subtle flavour. Leave out spices for vanilla frosting.
YUM!
Umm... what else.... think that about covers it....
Ohh and here's something odd.... we have rose "trees" outside in the garden (outside MiniObsi's window) they were never pruned so they have grown REALLY high (like 7ft) pretty much only flowering right at the top few feet, with everything from the ground to about 4ft up being completely baren.... But the other day the middle of one of them exploded with a bunch of roses... like a bouquet!
Nothing like that has ever happened in the last 4 years we've been here (and we haven't pruned them recently) And even weirder.. all those buds that haven't yet opened... opened yesterday, darker pink.... so it's a bouquet of dark and light pink roses! It really is lovely. A summer solstice gift from Mother Nature perhaps?