Menyasszonyi Méz - Bride's Honey

It took me a month and $30 to gather together all of the ingredients for this most delicious honey which made 3 & 1/4 jars full! When I saw this honey at Lorraine's site, I knew I had to make it. I'm still planning on making the Tomato Jam with chilli and onions, honey etc! While I'm at it.. get me a pen and paper or better still, I'll start clicking on 'Add to Favourites'!

Lorraine's food styling and photography for Bride's Honey is so pretty, mine today can only pay homage to it. If Fowler's Vacola 'lick & stick' labels turn you on.. then this is the post for you!
I started this project after midnight as the clock ticked over to December 31st, New Year's Eve. Apparantly this is a Moroccan "celebration" recipe offered to guests at engagements and weddings. Let's just assume the honey is ok for New Year's Eve too! And since I'm Hungarian by descent, I've also translated Bride's Honey into my first language (in the title). Here's how you pronounce it: Man-yoss-inyi Mairz



I like to eat this on thick, soft fresh bread or on hot toast, spread first with butter. Apparantly it's good in cakes too! Now that I have a whole packet of $4 dried rosebuds (only a teaspoon is required per kilogram of honey btw..and apparantly you can get the rosebuds for $2 in Sydney.. hint: at Asian grocers) & the other 'stock' items, it will only cost me the price of a kilogram of honey if I make this again. And the cost of extra jars should I run out. I bought my little jars for $1.50 at a discount/clearance type warehouse (a huge $2 shop)?

Find the recipe at 'Not Quite Nigella'.

To all my readers and loyal blog commenters, thank you for visiting me during 2008.. I hope you stay tuned for more in 2009 as I hopefully get to goal weight at some point and navigate my way through a new job (starting January 29th). Wishing you all a healthy & blessed 2009! Choose something from the menu you ordinarily wouldn't! Then tell me about it!

xox Maria.

OTT food presentation & trends...

I sometimes roll my eyes at serving plates that look like Object d'arts or terms like "Cappucino of foies gras"...which is simply aerated/whipped goose or duck livers. The pics below are dishes 'for one' served at restaurants. Makes washing-up laborious?

OTT (over-the-top) steak knife (bring your mail, you can open it too) & a burnt offering labelled fashionably as "Vegetable Coal"

More 'foam' at restaurants than you'll find at any surf beach:

Raspberry foam & Bacon foam

Basil foam and Bay leaf foam

Red wine foam and Cider foam

And since some chef's apparantly think the word 'foam' is too common.. they will try to WoW you with 'Air':

Meat served with 'Beer Air' and for dessert we have 'Mango Air' (btw I've always had a disdain for any kind of sauce 'smeared' on a plate, which is supposed to be trendy, but is so old now. And if chocolate is involved it reminds me of ghastly public toilet bowls I've been exposed to).

And if any dish (or garnish) has a 'crumbly' texture it will become 'Sand', 'Soil' or 'Dust'.

Beetroot dust and Coconut dust (ix-nay on the suspicious 'cigar' looking object).. thank goodness there are no chocolate 'smears' on this plate.

Cherry splice sand and Olive crystal sand

Chocolate Soil and Coffee Soil

Cepe mushroom dust and some sort of foam...

And no menu with dust, foam, sand or air is complete without something served in a TUBE!

Apparantly the correct way to consume this is at the 'cauliflower-end'. I can hear Gordon Ramsay now, muttering mournfully under his breath: "Ohhh.. w*nkers.."!

Did someone steal the door off my Dad's 70's liquor cabinet? This dessert plate for two has mango tubes, some dust and foam! ((rolls eyes)).. rofl!

Sharing archive pics...

Hidey-ho, I just wanted to say "Hi".. and post a few pics that have been left behind. This pic above is a lovely, filling & nutritious spaghetti bolognese. I've made it at least two or three times? The recipe asks for wholemeal pasta.. of which I'm not too fond of, but I LOVE this 'Molisana' brand wholemeal linguine! I buy it at a 'gourmet' greengrocer for around $2.80 for 500 grams. You can find it wherever there are plenty of Molisana varieties stocked. Which should be worldwide. I've noticed greengrocer's favour this pasta. Please do try it as I highly recommend it if you struggle with wholemeal pasta. You can find the recipe for the spaghetti bolognese here.
A few weeks ago my girl attended:

Church Youth

'Christmas Break-up'

80's Disco Theme

Total spent at Op-shop: $7.70. Her earrings started out as keyrings.

The daggiest era wasn't it? This is not my girls usual hairstyle.. she was brave to let me be her personal stylist for the night. :)

Christmas & Boxing Day...

Hello everyone, I'm coming to you post Christmas on December 27, ready to share some snippets of the last couple of days. Above photo is me, yesterday (Boxing Day), post beach-hike.. with a beach-ball face. As soon as the weather warms-up I retain fluid so quickly and my face just balloooons. It 'deflated' again by the afternoon. We stopped at a $2 shop on the way where I bought a couple of caps for myself (total cost: $7), only choices: Aussie souvenirs. But first, lets start with Christmas.

I don't have any photo's from Christmas lunch (haven't been emailed to me yet) - but I did take photo's of the gifts I received at my MIL & FIL's place.

My girl handmade my Christmas card (the reindeer pic is just something she found on the 'net) and gave me my favourite 'family' Christmas present which was this Veal Glace (below). I've always wanted a jar but at nearly $30.. I've never made it a priority. It's a thick 'jelly' (once refrigerated) that is essentially a premium stock reduction, made from slow cooked veal bones and vegetables and used like stock. It has no added flavours, thickeners, salt or preservatives.. it's "the real deal".. suitable to use even in other meat dishes.. including chicken and fish. Though it makes excellent sauces, it can be used for risotto's, warm dressings, braises, casseroles etc. I can remember in college using their "inhouse" glace.. which the third year apprentices painstakingly made from giant drums of boiled bones etc. Our chef wouldn't let us spoon-out our required quantities of glace because it was so 'precious'.. and only a small quantity is needed for each dish. It's like the most superior form of stock to use in any dish. My girl had watched me shop for gourmet gifts for other people and I was picking things up and saying "Oh I love this" or "I've always wanted this"... and put it back on the shelf. So it was a complete surprise.. I suspected Jamie Oliver Olive Oil.

Below we have some Avon products from my parents-in-law and a set-top box from my husband.

More hubby presents below. CD and my fav' body lotion Palmer's Cocoa butter. Though I did try some beautiful body butters at a gift store recently. One was 'blood orange' scented.. and just heavenly. Small jar, too expensive.. so Palmer's it is.. which smells like cocoa.

More hubby presents.. a Christian novel and the Clarion CD player from his car. I don't have a CD player only a radio.. and he recently upgraded so he could hook his phone up to his music in the car. So we get this one. The gift tag said "installation included".. for both this and the set-top box.

Boxing Day
We went to the beach... (Ocean Grove) where hubby and I power-walked along the sand for 90 minutes and climbed stairs along the way too. My girl wasn't up for that.. so she made a sand castle/tower instead. After the exercise we had about an hour in the water ... letting the waves crash on us and carry us (body surfing). We also played a game where we did backward somersaults with each wave. Who would have thought I was a beach bunny? My least favourite part always is showering (with no doors) afterwards.. feeling sticky and getting dry and dressed and trying not to get your dry clothes wet.




After the beach we were all ravenous and went to our fav' Japanese place for a hot meal. I enjoyed some Chirashi sushi, my girl had a sashimi bento box with tempura tofu and some teriyaki beef, Fred had Tonkatsu don (crumbed pork in an eggy/teriyaki style sauce over rice)..and we shared some Okonomiyaki being Japanese seafood pancake.

From there I zipped over to Target (Boxing Day sales) specifically to layby the slow cooker I've been wanting. Out of all the sales catalogues, Target had the best deal, being a Ronson, 6 litre stainless steel slow cooker for $45 down from $90! I tend to use the oven too much in summer so I'm hoping to do "set and forget" type meals.. without heating up the kitchen. I'm also not skilled in the 'art' of cooking big hunks of meat. My WW leader shared with me how she uses her slow cooker when entertaining.. by throwing a big bolar blade beef roast in.. but doing the vegies separately to maintain their visual appeal and texture. Maybe the slow cooker will come in handy for when I start work? Have it prepared in the morning so I can "set and forget"?

My girl and I after our day at the beach, Japanese dinner and slow cooker 'score'.

Christmas any minute now...

I picked up two bags of these mince tarts from a lovely local bakery called "Banjo's". I like an excellent quality Christmas mince tart - and even though these are meant as gifts.. I want to give the best. And they weren't overly expensive either. $7.50 for six. I bought myself one tart for a 'taste test' ($1.20) and it passed with flying colours. Like the best homemade sweet, shortcrust pastry ever without a huge amount of lumpy filling. I noticed an 8 or 10 pack of mini-tiny 'boutique' mince tarts at a local gourmet providore (each being the size of a 50 cent piece)? They were around $23!! And you can't just buy one to taste.
Below we have some dried ginger for my father-in-law. The nicest kind I think which I source at a local 'boutique greengrocer' for around $7. The apricot mustard from Victoria's lovely Yarra Valley is one I tried recently and fell in love with ($6.30) . This jar is going to my hubby.. as he'll appreciate the wasabi-style, 'sinus-clearing' hit along with the apricotty-sweetness.This year we are also giving away Persian fairy floss that goes for $14 a pack.. but lasts yonks (when eaten in moderation) and is far superior to the show/carnival type fairy floss.. (of which I'm not a fan). You have to take my word for it if you haven't tried the proper Persian stuff. I didn't photograph the bag, but found a photo on the 'net (below) of the 'rose' flavour we bought...which we've tried and love. We've also tried vanilla. There is also saffron, chocolate, orange blossom & pistachio. Long story as to why we didn't buy one of the other flavours!
Today I was pleasantly surprised to get Christmas gifts from my WW leader!! A lovely kitchen hand towel/tea towel set (with special, matching applique's). And also a brand new food diary/journal. I have not seen the new guide books for 2009 (which are packaged in boxes in the staff room).. but I did get a glance at the cover of a new 2009 cookbook. These journals are worth $10 each.
Weight Watchers new 'Satisfaction' program does away with the Core program and combines the best elements of both Core and Points. "No count" portion control and limited choices were the downsides of Core.. and the main downside of 'Points' is that you can eat whatever you want ie. you can find yourself not 'satsified' if you don't choose well or spend your points wisely. So from now on.. "filling foods" will be highlighted in green in Points guides and recipe books.. and members are encouraged to choose from as many of these highlighted foods as possible. So you can keep fuller for longer. And the food will nourish and sustain you.. and thus you're more likely to stay on the program rather than binge from ravenous hunger.

So (re: the photograph below).. instead of having my 30grams of porridge made up with a cup of skim milk to box directions.. with a bit of maple syrup for a sweetener.. I looked to see what 'filling foods' I could add. Hence some almonds, blueberries and strawberries. I also had some skim yoghurt with watermelon and cherries on the side.. and though it was all low points.. boy was I too full to finish it all! It kept me going all morning and I only started to feel hungry close to 3pm! My lunch was too late.. so now I know that I don't need that much fruit next time.. because being too full doesn't make you feel crash-hot either.
I've updated my weight loss results on the sidebar as I recorded a loss yesterday which is what I was waiting for. My 200gram gain last Friday (my usual weigh-in day) wasn't a true reflection on how I've been going. I had 'upped' the intensity of my exercise and was hoping to get my 10% award 'keyring' on Friday! But after discussing it with my leader we both could see why the scales were 'tricking me'.. and it had nothing to do with my food intake. So.. it wasn't your meatballs Tiffany.. on the contrary.. your meatballs with fetta and penne pasta last week were fantastic. Lean and filling ..and you gave me a proper Weight Watchers portion! I did 3 hours of "beach workout" +extra 'shopping mall walking' in two days.. rightfully I could have had double the meatballs and pasta with no issues of weight gain. So my leader really wanted me to weigh-in again 4 days later, being Tuesday to see if I would be rewarded..and well.. I was. But not with the keyring! Yet!. When all is said and done.. in a 10 day period where I ate out socially on multiple occasions and didn't know the exact points values of things.. I still lost half a kilogram. I've not been this weight in 3+ years. And it's the Christmas season.. so that is all good. My leader wants me to weigh on a Tuesday again (being a weeks time...as WW is closed on boxing day this week). She's wanting what I want and that is my long awaited and strived for 10% keyring award. It would be a fantastic way to finish the year, but it means I'd need to lose 600 grams by December 30. And we have CHRISTMAS inbetween! Do-able yes. Will it happen? Well.. I already know that just because you sweat your butt off and count your points.. doesn't mean you'll see the fruits on the scales that week. And sometimes you can drop a kilo or two and think "gosh I didn't deserve that". As long as you're doing the right thing most of the time, you will be rewarded.. even if the 'fruits' are delayed a week or two or three.

So, I started writing this post yesterday (Tuesday) and now it's Christmas eve, the 24th. I have Christmas 'cooking' to do today, albeit minimal... being something to make up on the stove and put in sterilised jars. I need to go and get my nails infilled and I hope my 'new nail lady' can fit me in. I was going to colour my hair except I'm not game to. I'm taking antihistamines for an allergy that started last week (suspected culprit: new shower gel). Last week it started as hives and little blisters on my fingers. Then we went to Tiffany's and it settled down. Upon our return, pretty soon my back and shoulders were itching and face..and scalp. And red 'welts' were coming up. The 'Zyrtec' I took yesterday settled 95% of the itching. So yeah.. plonking hair dye onto my scalp now.. when I've been itching all over may not be a good thing.

My girl is having Christmas time with her Dad this afternoon and evening and I'll be going to our church's Christmas Eve service.. which will be colourful, musical and no doubt will include 'theatre' and multimedia visuals. Whatever you are doing today/tonight and on Christmas day I hope Christmas finds you healthy and in good, loving company. Enjoy (especially) the food and have a mince pie if you like them, pastry and all (Note: a WW member gave our leader a 'tip' about eating mince pies without the excess points.. and that was to not eat the shortcrust pastry). My take on it is, on December 25th, life is too short to omit the pastry.

My favourite Christmas song: O Holy Night

Some shoes were made for walking...

Forgive me readers, it has been 5 days since my last post. Even now as I type.. I have a kajillion things calling out to me so I'll be quick! -ish! (Edit: two hours later.. I had a number of distractions since typing the last sentence)! There's plenty to blog about & I will eventually "get there" but not all today.

Yesterday (Friday) my girl and I left the house around 9:30am and didn't return until after 11pm! I had my usual WW meetings and my girl met up with a school friend and they saw a movie together (being current Madagascar flick). I met up with them after the movie and we 'splurged' and had crepe's for lunch. The girls had sweet one's and I had savoury. That indulgence has been countered with nearly $200 worth of 'good food' shopping today. Our small fridge has been filled with fruit, vegetables and a variety of lean meat for meals. I plan on an intense workout later down at the waterfront... walking on sand plus stair climbing. Something different! I've been influenced by this weeks 'mini-break' to Tiffany's place (2 hours away) where she opened her home to us for two lovely days. I took advantage of the beach there (within walking distance) to do some exercise while visiting. But more on that soon! Footprints below are mine.
Are you wondering what the shoes are about? Both my girl and I have been a bit desperate for more warm-weather, 'smart' shoes and both KMart and Target have sales on at the moment. The title photo (first one at the top) was one lot of shoes I piled beside a Target stool to try on. I think I went through three piles like this and ended up settling on these pairs:
In case you're wondering (?) I put every single unwanted pair back on its correct shelf ;) As well as being the right thing to do, I'm hoping (between you and me) that the ongoing effort/example will influence my daughter who hates putting things back to their correct spot.. be it in a supermarket or wherever. If there's a shortcut, she'll usually take it. The 'bronzey' metallic pair above on the left are like 'ballerina flats'.. so soft, light and flexible and unlike anything I've ever owned. Reduced twice and ended up costing under $11! I have two pairs here that are 'wedge' style & the cream/gold coloured one's have a high heel, but not as high as the wedges. See the black one's with the fringe? I was after a red pair like that but they only had 3 left and none in my size. The night before (being Thursday night) I bought a pair of Roman-style heels in Kmart, heavily reduced and believe it or not comfortable with the thicker heel. The soles are rubber too.. non-slip -w00t-! I have a wide foot and they're not squashed in these.
I did try on some no-heel, flat 'Roman style' casual sandals but all were too narrow for my foot. My girl has new thongs and Dunlop sneakers (bought last month) & yesterday we picked up four extra pairs of summery shoes for her too. One pair of ballerina flats aren't in the photo. Photo taken on the Target seat.. of which there was only one in the whole shoe section. We don't usually have this many pairs of new shoes..but we will certainly use them and they've been a great mood-booster & confidence-injector. Also a non-food reward for me too. Three pairs of my girls shoes below:Next I'll share our crepe's!

This is my "Spanokopita' (spinach & fetta cheese) $7.95...I cut it open to show you some of the filling. Doesn't look like it but it didn't have much cheese..and it definitely didn't have enough spinach. My side salad which is classed as just a 'garnish' was scanty too.. not as big as usual. I usually get a seafood avocado crepe ($9.95), but that comes with a thick, creamy, cheesy filling plus half an avocado sliced with a stack of melted tasty cheese over the top. I still give the 'Spanokopita' an 8/10.
"Death by Chocolate" $8.95. My girl and her school friend had one each. It was filled with Nutella.. drizzled with chocolate sauce and served with icecream with a crisp choc shell, cream, icing sugar and a wedge of orange!
Empty plates.

Ate out for lunch & dinner...

If you saw my You Tube video not too long ago where I went "a-walkin'".. you might remember I walked past a cafe along the river? It was 'barwon edge boathouse' (no capitals I notice in the logo) and I had lunch there today with my husband. We'd only had coffee/cake there before and sat outside at the time. Today we had a table in the 'Balyang' room because around the Christmas season they make it 'child free'.. and restaurants can get noisy and we wanted/needed to hear each other talk. Our table was right alongside a floor to ceiling window so we had pleasant, elevated 'leafy views'. I forgot to bring my camera (!) so the photo's of our meals were taken with my husbands mobile phone. I adjusted the lighting & cropped etc in Photoshop as much as I could.
Chickpea crumble with spinach + Bulgarian feta + mint & olive salad $18.
My chickpea 'crumble' was delicious. It was presented as a slice of pie dolloped generously with creme fraiche. The topping was obviously made of well-ground chickpea's mixed with real parmesan and butter and then baked.. so it reminded me of a 'parmesan sable' or a boutique ovenbaked 'cheese straw'. Not low in points that's for sure..but very good. Underneath that firmly packed 'crumble' was a layer of good feta + spinach and a crust that tasted similar to the topping. The salad on the side seemed to be missing the mint? There was plenty of rocket with finely diced olives in a beautiful olive oil vinaigrette. The superb quality of the oil didn't go unnoticed either.
Chargrilled King Island minute steak with potato crush + roasted eggplant & zucchini salsa $23
Whenever my husband and I eat out we always try each others meals or sometimes even eat half and then swap. Today, before I had even tasted my meal, I found a wedge of King Island steak plonked onto my plate .. then some crushed potato appeared, followed by the salsa. Very, very good. The standard was just as high on hubby's plate as it was on mine. When I read "minute steak" on the menu I thought of the $4.99 pack of wafer thin minute steaks you can buy at Safeway (Woolworths).. a good standby in our freezer actually. This was more like a regular-thickness steak to me. There was another, probably thicker steak on the lunch menu which was a piece of porterhouse (300grams) for $32. Had it been dinner instead of lunch, I'm sure hubby would have opted for that one. I loved the flavours in all of this dish. Perfect steak, a simple potato.. ie. it wasn't pretending to be anything else and the salsa added that 'edge' of piquancy and 'va-voom' the dish needed. The following photo's are courtesy of the Barwon Edge Boathouse website.
(Above) We entered via the ramp (viewable on the right)?
The tables are set-up in this photo for a wedding or function, but today (in the Balyang room) it was less formal and more restaurant-ish. We had a table for two by the window looking out to the greenery. As it happens the restaurant wasn't overly busy and I didn't catch sight of any kids anywhere. I did hear a loud group outside of our room though who sang 'Happy Birthday' ;)
This photo is great in that you can see where I walked. First down one side of the river and back up the other side past the Barwon Edge Boathouse. This eatery scores points in all area's for me. The atmosphere is calm and yes, you could walk in and think "gosh this could be pretentious and uppity".. it isn't because the staff put you at ease. They were attentive without being annoyingly in-your-face asking questions like "How is everything?" I usually say something if things aren't right and sometimes when I get asked if things are right I feel obliged to respond politely without revealing any truths! The staff were awesome.

I don't think the prices were too bad either for what you get. There were items less than $15 being lighter/entree size meals (though our mains weren't huge). They do welcome children and have a very good kids menu (eg. aswell as little hotdogs and pizza and spaghetti bolognese they also have a kids antipasto plate that includes ham, fresh fruit, toast, cheese etc) and a dessert menu. I would have loved the 'grazing plate' today that included pork belly.. and a watermelon gazpacho.. among other things.. around $19 for one and $29 for two..but hubby wasn't in the mood for it. They also serve brekky from 9am (my kind of time..) - things like eggs, bacon & roasted tomatoes on sourdough $15.. but also french toast with strawberries and double cream $12 and Scrambled eggs on an English muffin with spinach and thyme-whipped feta $12. I look forward to trying more! Thumbs up and highly recommended to anyone in or visiting the Geelong area.

Next!

Tonight.. I attended a church organised end-of-year Christmas women's dinner (cost: $20). I didn't stay for the whole thing. I skipped out of there right before the movie ...which was apparantly a Hallmark movie (sourced from the USA) called 'The Christmas Card'. When I arrived.. I (along with others) were ushered through the area we were going to dine in..and into a room that had tables set up with card making supplies. In addition to these supplis, we were given 'kits', enough to make 2 Christmas cards. I only made one, some folk made three!

My card is a bit warped because that's what happens when you don't use proper card making glue (I used to have plenty of card making supplies.. including embossing powders etc).

I'm not overly 'rapt' in my cardmaking effort.. but it could have been worse. I could critique it in detail here..but what's the point! It's a card.. I won't take myself or it.. too seriously! ;P
I found a little machine that looked like a large 'punchie' gadget where you insert the corner of some paper (or a card) into it, push down hard and it makes a fancy edge! I did this on the inside of my card because the outside had 'bling' on the corners.
I chose the backing paper, colours, bling..and whatever embellishments you see. My girl asked if I glued on the pearls and bling..but no, they were like stickers.. just press-on's. It was all quite challenging with my long, gel nails! I changed my mind about some copper-gold coloured border-stickers I'd put on.. and needed a friend's help to remove them. I used her 'real nails' to do the job!
I cut out the birdie..lets just say it's a 'dove'..and the frill-type border at the top. With proper glue, the card would sit flat. It was an interesting way to start the evening.. my only complaint being with so many women, even with the door open it was a tad stuffy. Oh also we were quite squashed into one small space. So all menopausal-age women I noticed were madly 'fanning' themselves! I heard a few also say "Oh I can't be bothered doing this".. lol. Maybe my card isn't Christmassy enough? I think maybe flowers weren't the right embellishments for such a theme? I put two of them together.. with the green one slightly off-centre to reveal its Christmassy-self?

The beauty of.. "together".

We had a wedding at church today. Not the first marriage for either the bride or groom and both have teens/grown-up children. Gosh it was beautiful!!!!

Oh.. ((hand to my heart)).. I even shed a tear here at home. It was just such a simple, beautiful ceremony. After the couple exchanged vows there was a slide presentation of their 'journey' which was fantastic! They even included the groom's initial email to his bride after they'd first met, including the bride's reply! They're both teachers I think (at different secondary schools). I tried to read as fast as I could before the screen changed! His started off by saying something like "Dear____, this email may sound way out of line, but am I right in saying that I detected "a connection" between us the other day when we met?"... lol !! That 'slide' was followed with her reply email.. it was so sweet. They also showed a hiking trip they went on (looked like Cradle Mountain Tasmania). Looked like they were carrying a tent each, their backpacks were soooo big! And also a mission trip they went on. Looked like Fiji or Vanuatu? Saw some 'preaching' slides.. being with the locals. They looked funny in their colourful smock clothes and feathers in their hair --though the groom has no hair! They labelled one of the photo's on the mission trip as "Proposal day" - the groom had asked one of the bride's sons if it was "OK to marry his Mum" (showed a slide of the teenage son on the phone to one of his brother's.. "consulting" him), lol.

Then fastforward two weeks later to "The Decision".. (showed a slide of someone's car out the front of someone's house)- where the future bride said "yes"!Even the "You may kiss the bride" part was beautiful at the end. Everyone was "woo-hoo"-ing and nothing was happening. It was just the groom looking at his bride.. from nearly two feet away. We all wondered what was going on. They were looking at each other. Maybe the groom was saying something to her (I didn't have my glasses on)? He moved in closer to her... still eyes on each other.. and he raised a hand to her chin and kind-of drew her to him as he moved in to her too. Slowwwly. The most tender kiss... he put his lips so slowly & gently on hers... it was like a movie. And the WOO-HOO's just increased in volume!

It was a privilege to see the groom being baptised in October. He got up on stage an hour or so later at the evening church service with some others who were baptised and gave a wonderful testimony. I felt like I wouldn't have cared if he preached the message that night.. it was all good stuff and very moving & inspiring to listen to. He's a natural speaker I think.

I was asked by the bride to help today and it worked out well that I did because this beautiful day presented its own personal challenges for me. At one point during the worship time I had to go to the loo's as I wasn't able to compose myself.. the tears would not stop flowing. So I shut myself in a cubicle.. had a good 'silent' sook and then fixed-up the makeup and headed back in before the ceremony started.
The bride and groom had ordered 60 dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts for today (+ drinks in bottles/tea and coffee were served too). There were three big tables with doughnut assortment platters spread out around the foyer area's. I stood behind one of those tables with tongs-in-hand and so many people asked "Are you having any?" "Make sure you get doughnuts too"! As it happens there were 20 dozen leftover.. all Original Glazed.. but we did have 12 other varieties that were eaten first. My hubby made a beeline for my table and was my very first 'customer'. Just aswell because I had big tongs that I couldn't open. They seemed to open differently to the stainless steel 'regular' one's. Doughnut server's (ie. me) were arranged to avoid kids just grabbing multiple doughnuts & wasting them.

At one point I was soooo thirsty and thought about the many bottles of cold drink I'd put into drums. I looked around for my husband.. spotted him in the distance and thought.. "If you'd only look around, I'd catch your glance, beckon you over and ask for a bottle of water". But he was looking the other way and then I noticed he was gone out of my sight.

So I kept serving and the most requested items were the cream-filled and jam-filled choc-iced doughnuts. Blueberry too. A few minutes elapsed and I looked up to see hubby walking towards me with a bottle of cold water in his hand.. ...for me.

Refreshed...

A very brief post! I've just come home to collect my girl.. we have so much to do this afternoon and then we are both heading to different Christmas break-up parties (church related). Above we have the latest WW mag with bonus calendar and a packet of "limited edition" sourdough breadcrumbs from the Irrewarra Sourdough Cafe ($2.00) which I picked up after my meetings today. Yum, can't wait to crumb or stuff something with those! :)

I also had some seaweed inari and a salmon avocado handroll for morning tea ($4.00, pictured below), so I feel like I've had some lovely treats today. My biggest one though that basically cost me the total sum of 'persistence' is my loss of 1.3kg. I squeezed in a half hour walk before work today.. like I did before church Sunday.. so it must be making a difference - all these extra 'bits'. I was also (exclusively) given a new WW binder, being the new Weight Watchers 'Satisfaction' program that is technically being launched in January. However if you attend meetings, the program will be launched for you next week! Apparantly there will be 'freebie giveaways' next week too! For anyone who is worried about what the new program is about.. you don't need to be. There's no 'doing away' of the POINTS program. I won't say more here in a public forum just yet ;) Instead of thinking of it as a 'New Program'.. it's just WW with some cobwebs blown off.. refreshed a little.. and made more appealing/user-friendly I think. A breath of fresh air.. which helps with motivation and a new outlook. :)

Christmas. A time for cupcakes?

I thought this fella (above) looked like a luverly treat! NYUM-NYUM-NYUM! And pretzels for antlers (below) is a fantastic idea! :)

Lunch with friends - Belmont Hotel, Geelong.

My Salad of duck breast, rocket, crumbed blue cheese & saffron mayo. $18.50. Verdict: 5.5/10
(Above) S's Fettucine with sundried tomatoes, chicken, basil, creamy garlic sauce and parmesan. Price I think was $19.50? And (Below) C's Fish and Chips, price $?
After lunch I had to rush home, get my girl (who was home from school early being the last day of the year) and we attended an appointment. It was near a gourmet-foodie green grocer/deli/providore so I picked some things up afterwards: celery sticks, carrots, zucchini, red capsicum, brown onions, a mango, saffron threads and (above) Italian style almond bread ($5.50) because we were quite hungry. We also shared a raspberry yoghurt from the yoghurt van out front ($4.00). I think I prefer "Kez's" almond bread which you can get at supermarkets for around the same price. It felt like a bit of a splurge to have these for snacks in the car.

Sharing my "stuff"...

Are any of you familiar with those stores that sell only perfume?

Two have opened up at our new Westfield mall. I think Perfume Empire and Perfume Connection something like that? I discovered I really like an $80.00 perfume.. RRP $120 or $130? (Being "Elle" by Yves Saint Laurent). It was over $100 on eBay and between $61 and $68 for the body lotion and/or shower gel O.O !! When I sprayed myself with 'Elle' one day I received questions from shop assistants for the rest of the day "What IS that you're wearing?" And "I love your perfume". Though I get those sorts of comments occasionally with my 30ml, $12 "Orient" perfume spray that I buy at a local chemist.

Speaking of toiletries and the like I've been meaning to share some pics for a little while now. Writing about perfume made me remember I received my favourite mascara in the mail (ordered it online.. special offer being "Free".. I just paid $8.95 for 'postage'). It's normally $35.00. I first learned about this mascara when i received a free, generous trial size with an 'OK' magazine I think? It is the first mascara (for me) to ever live up to its cry-proof, smudge-proof claims. It's the best mascara for attending a spirit-filled church! lol ! It's called 'Secret Weapon Mascara' by Mirenesse. Their website address is visible on the packaging below.




I'd join the V.I.P. club however it's $19.95 a month! You get free postage always as a member plus 'free' things sent to you bi-monthly and other things. I hope they never stop making this mascara.

One Friday after work I moved my car for the second time to a shopping mall carpark (I park in a 2hr free zone two blocks from work and move my car after the first meeting and collect it after the second). There was no-one to have lunch with this day so I bought a sushi lunch box which I don't usually get. This was around $8, very good value for money. Whereas I'll usually do the economical thing and get 2 x handrolls for $4. The place had some newspapers and old magazines to peruse through.



The New Walking Sneakers!



The 'waves' on the tips of the toes are reflectors. If car lights shine on me, my sneakers glow like bicycle lights or something! They are wonderfully comfortable and I chose them ahead of more expensive pairs.
And to the right of Chemist Warehouse (below) is the CRS Australia office I attend and where I picked my sneakers up. I found them at a cycle/sport shop (with a budget of $100.. they were $80 as it happens) and then had them put aside so someone from CRS could pick them up and pay for them with a government credit card. An amazing blessing! Just what I needed with my new walking regime. And at no point did I ever tell CRS that I needed new, quality sneakers (until they asked). But God knew :) New Sunglasses!


I've had them a few weeks, just a pair I picked up at the chemist in desperation. I've gone two summers without sunglasses because I thought I was getting prescription sunnies, which didn't happen. Delayed from one week to the next.. led to not getting them at all. I have studs on my main brown handbag so the sunnies kind-of match with that.



I had three missing nails at this point. They've since been replaced/refilled..etc and I've sacked my last nail place and trying a newer, more local, slightly cheaper place. Still Vietnamese owners though and communication can be a problem. The truth is, anyone who does nails in this town and can speak fluent English charge for the privilege it seems. Like $15 to $20 more on average. I'm not being racist or anything, but when you have questions re: the product you're buying and what's being done to you etc. what do you do if they don't understand you and you don't understand them? My answer is: Eventually get other, English-speaking clients to answer your queries. I make temporary, 'seasoned' nail-salon 'friends'. Just start talking to the person next to me and it's working well for me! And I'm not a "talk to strangers" person either. The lady who did my nails at my 'new' place seemed to take much better care (less rushed) with the application. Though when I go back for infills I'm going to ask for them to be shortened.. I think they're a tad too long right now. So that's it.. sharing done! :) I've stayed up way past my bed time!

Grill'd - (burgers) migrate to Brisbane.

I am almost loathe to do a post about burgers because I have friends who are trying to not give in to food tempations etc. Not unlike myself of course. I'm with you girls!!! However what I will say is please, if you really want a burger, then you don't need me to tell you that you can have one. Just make sure you put a bit of thought behind which burger you choose to eat. Plan it well. Don't be impulsive if you can help it. Fill-up on lots of extra salad. Or start your meal first with an entree so you're not hoeing into the burger in a "I'm starving" state. If I've not had enough to eat for lunch or for my afternoon snack.. and I'm ravenous by dinner time.. I sit down with a coffee and some rice crackers and a bit of dip and leisurely sip and bite and munch and crunch for at least 2o minutes. Then I wait another half hour to 40mins before I eat dinner. That way when my dinner is in front of me, I don't inhale it and think "That was nice. What's for dinner?"

Let me share with you last Friday. My girl and I were craving red meat and me, more specifically.. a proper burger. Not a fast food drive-thru (though I could have eaten anything, my hunger is not that discerning). But I didn't want to deviate from my weight loss efforts did I? So I bought 300grams of lean beef mince at a local butcher and made 4 chunky burger patties from that. I had 4.5 points left for the day but my burger meal, with bun etc was going to cost me 10 points. So I made myself go for a challenging walk and I worked up a sweat before I came home and threw the burgers in the pan. There was no point in trying to ignore my burger craving. The version I made at home was less greasy than anything I could have bought ready-made elsewhere. That's not to say I won't ever buy a ready-made burger again. Hardly!
So that brings me to my last day in Brisbane (being my holiday in early October). My sister and I were seeing a movie at the huge Chermside shopping mall and we needed some lunch. I convinced my sis' to try "Grill'd" because I was curious about their "healthy burgers". My nearest Grill'd back in Victoria was at least an hours drive away from home.

There are 15 Grill'd burger joints in and around Melbourne and more recently they moved to Queensland which is where I tried them for the first time. There is one Grill'd in NSW being Tiffany's old stomping ground of Newcastle which is the first place I lived in Australia. I migrated here from overseas with my parents at age two. My Dad's first job was at BHP steel.. but I digress).

On this day we were catching an early lunch due to the movie time and Grill'd Chermside was deserted. Staff, but no customers. Their dining area is huge too.. (multi-levels with seating inside and out) which made me think someone was hopefully ambitious when planning. Now after eating there I can't help but wonder that the locals have sussed the place out and decided that they can find a tastier burger for less than $10 to $12 elsewhere. The Grill'd we visited sits right outside the entrance of the mall's biggest foodcourt. Plenty of other food choices inside. Business didn't pick up much even after we'd had lunch.

My sister Liz chose a "Grill'd Bird and Brie" $10.90 which was grilled chicken breast, brie cheese, thick cranberry sauce, salad & herb mayo. Her chicken breast was burnt and cold, it was way too heavy on the cranberry sauce and it didn't work well with their 'herb mayo' which to be honest was an intense tarragon mayo. My least favourite herb. It was overly aniseedy. I think a garlic aioli would have worked better.. just a smidge.

Grilled Bird and Brie (Above) $10.90 Notice the toothpicks with nutritional education.

My sister scraping off the overpowering quantity of cranberry sauce and onion rings (which she didn't want).

I ordered a "Mini Moo" $6.50 which is a beef burger with the same, regular sized bun however the beef patty weighs less. The Mini Moo only comes with tomato sauce or relish, with the option of $1.00 extra for salad and another $1.00 for cheese. I chose relish and paid $1.80 extra for salad and dill pickles. We were also given the option of a regular or a panini bun which looked the same? We chose panini's which didn't taste as good as we'd had elsewhere. The size of the burger was adequate which made me think a regular one would have been overkill, especially since I thought the taste was inferior.

Mini-Moo burger (Above) $6.50 with $1.00 extra for salad and 80 cents extra for dill pickles. That's a bit rich for pickles in my opinion. I love pickles on a burger so I took a close-up of them (below).

Nothing to write home about unfortunately. We have a local 'boutique' burger place called 'Burger Inc.' and I can say, their burgers, though similar in price (maybe a fraction cheaper) are far better. Burger Inc.'s burgers have that 'flame grilled' taste too.. but not a "This has been dropped in coal, quick where do I spit this out"? flavour. The Grill'd beef patty can't compare to Burger Inc.'s patties. You can read about the quality of Burger Inc. here. But my sister who has never tried Burger Inc. and usually eats McDonalds' or quality, homemade burgers, wasn't impressed either. She wanted more va-va-voom for her eleven bucks and Grill'd didn't deliver.

We also paid $4.30 for their regular serving of fries that came with a sweet chilli mayo. No heat or chilli-bits at all which was disappointing. The fries themselves (being giant, steak-cut chips) were actually very good and seasoned with what looked and tasted like sea salt and rosemary. A bit pricey however. I think fries in a burger joint should be under $4. And if you're not partial to rosemary you wouldn't like them. There were no other sizes on offer, no small or large.. just "regular".
To their credit, Grill'd has a 'Book of Truth' on each table (see title photo top of post & below), being folded cardboard with some easily-removed/replaceable butchers paper in the middle held together with a rubber-band spine. It invites diners to leave feedback. I filled two pages with our truth's.. good and bad. Look, I've eaten worse hamburgers for sure, but if ever I went back it'd be a spontaneous visit and I'd only stop for the chips if I were craving them.

Signs of Christmas in our house...

I may sound like a party-pooper, kill-joy.. or whatever, but if I had it my way I would wake up tomorrow and it'd be January 3rd '09. Christmas and New Years over with. I've had many forgettable Christmas's (one of them was age 15 when my mother died) and try as I may (and I mean I've partaken actively in trying to create new Christmas memories with exhausting gusto), I have not been able to start liking this time of year.. in a consistent way. When I got married a few years ago my husband tried to make Christmas special for me by taking me interstate to my sisters place a couple of times and those couple of times were great. The best ever. But I couldn't ignore my parents-inlaw crying "Oh we always miss out". We'd celebrate Christmas on another day with them and spend the night even, but it wasn't on the 25th and so they "missed out". Hubby and I are now separated so he automatically goes to his parents place.. (and whether we are there with him or not) nothing seems right. As it should be. Yet again. So Christmas is something I "survive". But I have a daughter and I'm not all "ba-humbug" around the house or anything. It's just how I feel on the inside. So anywayz, my girl has been wanting to put our tree up and today she got her wish. However the base of the tree was missing!? So I improvised somehow and shoved it into a skinny-hamper thing we have that I was going to throw out.

(Above) Top of the tree. Our tree has no theme but there seems to be a purple-ish tone to it. When I was in my twenties I always had a theme. Usually red and gold. I'd spend too much on quality wrapping paper and cards.. and presents. One day I was visiting someone's house and they had a small tree with what looked like "the works". Every colour tinsel, every colour bauble and decoration. It was just a mish-mash of everything and you know what? I liked it. Mine at home was like a minimalist, neat-and-tidy 'artsy' tree that you might find in David Jones department store or something. A conversation piece. But when I saw the little 'kaleidoscope of colour' tree I said to myself "Man.. you gotta chill out. Try relaxing at Christmas for a change".

(Above: Daughter's handmade bauble). When I visited my youngest sister in Seattle, USA (in 2001), they had a breathtaking tree (in a breathtaking, three storey apartment inbetween mountain ridges.. Oh! Stunning). Their huge tree was white with blue ornaments and lights. It was like a 'Winter Wonderland' beauty. I used to have a photo of it.. but don't anymore. I do have it on Hi-8 video tape (the whole trip that is, which I'm yet to see again. Need to somehow convert those tapes to DVD). We took a day trip to Leavenworth ("Little Bavaria", an hour or so away from where they lived in North Bend) -and it was there I visited an amazing year-round Christmas store. With every Christmas bauble, trinket, train-set, moving Santa.. whatever.. it was there! Not junk either. Quality items. It was June at the time.

So our tree is up, a wreath is on the front door and my girl has her stocking up. Nothing in it yet and there's nothing under the tree apart from a ruby-red teddy, a present for my girl from my late father. It has "Merry Christmas" written on its belly.

I was sure I had a two sets of lights? Coloured one's and plain one's. But we only found the coloured set.

This afternoon at the supermarket an announement was made that caught our attention. A man said if shoppers made their way to the deli, they could pick up a free paring knife!

When we arrived in the 'deli-vicinity', sure enough there was a knife-demonstration happening. I said to my girl "Oh no, I hope you don't have to buy something to get a knife!!" Turns out we all had to watch a 5 minute "wait, there's more" demonstration. The special 'knife package' on offer cost $49.95 (with 'wait there's more' extra's). When the man's talk was over and folk moved closer to get their free knife I noticed about 70% of them were choosing to buy the package! I just picked up the free knife which is great because strangley my last Victorinox paring knife disappeared after only 2 weeks use!! I must have thrown it out with vegie scraps or something! I usually pay around $6 to $7 for a paring knife from a local kitchenware store. Anyway, it was great to get the freebie today. It sliced my tomato beautifully.

23 - 1 = 22

I arrived at work this morning and had another little surprise on my desk but this time it looked like a Christmas card. One of the staff members said to me "It's not a Christmas card and you have to open it today"! I had no idea that today was International Volunteer's Day (how appropriate, on the day I volunteer)! So to anyone out there that volunteers somewhere in some capacity, whether at church or school/kinder or wherever: "HAPPY VOLUNTEERS DAY TO YOU"! I was just so chuffed, I love getting cards. Proof of that is I had $90 spare for food, non-food, any extra fuel & jst everything we need and I spent $20 of that on 20 cards and $5 on postage. I am getting better at budgeting, but I have ways to go. I'll say it again, I just love cards! Admittedly I like (double ie.) $180 to play around with per week for food and sundries minimum. I can then freely cook dinner from my WW books every night. So with what I have left now.. we are on par with what people spend in Egypt and Mongolia per week. Check out how much the world spends on food here. An essay in pictures.

The large, cordless drill to the left is there because that's how much I've lost this week. 1.7kgs. I've been doing well... and have been on a roll.. then I had two weeks of gaining 400grams (each week) when I felt like I didn't really deserve it. Sure I wasn't a complete angel, but I was getting some decent walks in and the only place I strayed was not having enough water and also too much dinner. Which means I can't approach dinner totally starving. I do my best as I am able these days so that's the main thing. Anyway.. I really tried to drink more water this week and eat more regularly without having long periods without food. That in turn, makes me regular on the loo. If I'm 'regular'..then I know things are moving and happening. I can always tell if my body is holding onto weight. I just don't do one's and two's nearly as often as I should. That may be waaaaay two much info..but hey, I'm calling a spade a spade here. So that means plenty of fibre and water and no starving thank you very much, which sends my body into 'lockdown'! I kept up my walking too.

Anyway today is also a milestone for me weight-wise. I'm the lightest I've been in at least three years. It was a mini-goal for me to pass the 'lightest weight' I've been at Weight Watchers. I'm 900 grams under that now. Normally by now I would have been heading in the other direction. The 'crucial' zone for me happened within the last two weeks. And it looked hairy! Two weeks of 400gm gains. But you know what.. I knew it wasn't over. I knew this time was different. Like I said, I felt like I didn't completely deserve 800gm's of extra weight. I knew I was still making right choices and I did feel like my body was holding onto weight. I would have expected to just 'maintain' those two weeks but not gain. Anyway.. this weeks number cancels out those gains and now I'm in new territory and oh!! I just realised too! I've lost a point! I get 22 points a day now instead of 23!! That's not overly exciting in itself, but the second milestone part is awesome! ^^

I'm now 2.5kg's off my 10% award. I won't finish the year out of triple figures as I'd hoped (I would have needed to lose 1.4kgs each week to do it), but could that 10% star be within my reach within the next 26 days? I'm mightily hopin'!!

Transitions...

For those who don't already know, I will be starting work at a photography business on January 29!

I received a phone call this morning to say my application wasn't successful, however they had another job for me if I was interested? And would I like to come in and meet with the departments supervisor? I said yes and arrived a few hours later spending about three quarters of an hour talking, listening and being shown around.

The job I've accepted is not toooo different from or contrasting to the one I applied for. It's perhaps less 'creative', but still involves dealing with photo's digitally and producing a product. I was shown my desk and my computer too! Nearly all of my work will involve working on a computer with photo's.

It's officially 'part time' with almost full time hours. 7 hours a day with half an hour lunch break, 5 days a week. The job is officially for half of the year only and I'd be called back the following year to start work again in January. However! They employ staff 'in-house' and normally search within the company for a role to be filled before advertising. I might be asked to help out in other area's of the business.. thus the 6 months could be extended on an 'as needed' basis. OR.. there is always the opportunity for a full-time vacancy. So officially, I have a 'foot in the door'. I'm very blessed to be given this opportunity and I'm accepting this as God's will for me at this time and who knows what he has in store for me for the rest of 2009?

I was given an employee's handbook (title photo above) and also employee and tax forms to fill out (which I've done). It was my future supervisor who gave me 'the tour'.. a lovely, short lady in her 50's? I was also introduced to every staff member we came across and I met the lady I will be working alongside of (she's full-time and is there all year).

Having this job will mean I can plough full steam ahead with my 40th birthday plans in March (God willing) but it will also mean an end to my position at Weight Watchers. Because of Christmas/Boxing day it means I only have 7 weeks left. That really tugs at my heart strings. I mean really.

It wasn't that long ago that my leader said she was leaving, but then changed her mind. Not many leaders have new member hostesses because it requires a weekly commitment on a voluntary basis, so they do the job themselves. Once I leave, I would have served 5 months at the new location and one year in the job in general. On my WW passport I have a butterfly sticker. These were passed around (every sticker being different) to remind us that we are 'butterflies'. Where do butterflies come from? Cocoons. We could all relate and loved putting these stickers on the front of our passports.

Last Friday I arrived at work to find a little parcel on my desk, wrapped in pink tissue paper with my name on it. I found this inside:

WW Blondie's & Beef Curry

GIRL IN THE KITCHEN!

My girl came home from school upset that she didn't get to bring a kitten home! I shudder to think what would have happened had she got her way at school. "Ta-daaah, I've brought home a kitten!" I couldn't believe my ears when I realised that almost happened. "Since when do you come home with an animal without asking me anyway?" I asked in a high pitched 'squeal'. Anyway.. she was genuinally upset and somehow from the 'pep talk' and the "don't even think about it in the future.." f.y.i. speech I gave her.. somehow.. we ended up in the kitchen and my girl was distracted (ie. no kitten-talk) and in charge of making 'something sweet' (her idea).


This latest WW cookbook isn't just for entertaining and you can pretty much halve or quarter the 'increased portion' recipes if you so desire. Many recipes are suitable for 'any time' meals! Eg. Green chicken curry, Leek tartlets (cover shot), only 1.5pts each (for lunch, snacks or a side dish)? Chilli soy squid, Barbecued pork with sticky Asian glaze, Tandoori lamb with raita, chicken with balsamic glaze (I've made that one).. etc. My leader had raved to me about the Raspberry Brownie slice (above right). But we didn't have the frozen raspberries or dark choc bits so I adapted the recipe for my girl. (And truthfully the choc/raspberry combo hasn't ever really floated my boat). They ended up being Apple-Cinnamon Blondie slices, using pie apple from a can. Instead of using soft brown sugar, I gave my girl some dark brown which worked well with the small quantity of apples.. in a comforting 'homey' way.
Fresh out of the oven (above) - Time to cool and I helped with cutting them up.The recipe yielded 16 decent sized slices and apparantly they're 2.5 points each. However, by omitting the cocoa and dark choc bits, they come to 2 points each. Technically they're about 1.75 points each..but I've rounded it up. The dark brown sugar gave these a lovely 'true blondie' caramel colour. They were moist and more 'cakey' than 'brownie'. But it's the compromise you make with a lower fat/sugar version.
And for dinner tonight we had a WW Beef and Vegetable Curry. The recipe called for 500grams of potatoes but I omitted those and just served the curry over some jasmine rice without altering the points value. By now it was night time and the lighting was poor in the kitchen.

I love my little 'grater' which I use mainly for ginger. . which is what you see above.
560gm's of 'Heart Smart' beef, slightly browned and draining on paper towels.
As far as 'vegies' go.. there was only tinned tomatoes and spinach in this -(the potatoes would have been one more veg). I think next time I will throw in some green beans and even okra! My girl had seconds.. to my relief and joy.. so I'll definitely be making this again. It's not spicy enough for me. I 'dotted' some Nando's hot peri-peri sauce over mine! The recipe has cayenne pepper in it.. but only a pinch.
By now I was sick of taking photo's and just wanted my dinner! I tore up (with my hands).. some fresh coriander and dolloped some skim yoghurt over the top. 5.5 points a serve. Hard not to eat two portions!
In closing (well..almost) I wanted to share that finally I'll be able to listen to something while I'm walking. I picked up an audiobook from the library (5 CD's). I've loaded the 1st CD onto my mp3 player (it's about an hour long.. ie. perfect). I had the audio-book 'reserved' and at first I thought I'd ordered a teaching series.. (ie. from a meeting) which usually only go for an hour to an hour and a half. I've never listened to an audiobook in its entirety before. I don't think so anyway? For those interested, I'll include (below) here a synopsis of what this book is about:

"..A self-esteem drought is plaguing us today and many peole find themselves in bondage to unhealthy living habits. These habits contribute to the deterioration of one of our greatest resources: our bodies.

In her latest audiobook, Joyce Meyer provides a twelve-key plan for overcoming the poor eating and exercise habits that keep us from doing all God has called us to do. Joyce guides us to a healthier way of living, reminding us that turning every issue over to God gives us the strength to make lasting changes. First, she believes, we must reprogram our approach to health to get back on God's plan.

To help do this, Joyce's plan offers principles that include:
*Letting God do the heavy lifting. We try to be self-sufficient, but Joyce encourages us to let God help us on the journey.
*Learning to love our bodies. Our spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health are undeniably connected. We must unlearn hate for our bodies and who we are.
*Taking responsibility. The tools for putting our unhealthy lifestyles behind us are always available. The choice is ours..."
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I have work today. I've been given a third meeting.. being Tuesdays. So, I'm looking forward to that. I'm 'in the mood' for it. And I'm being taken out to lunch afterwards too.. so that should be noice. I'll be stopping off at 'Aldi' on the way home because Phoebe our cat seems to like their premium tinned cat food! Around 89 cents a can. Speaking of which.. I need to pick up kitty litter too (not from Aldi.. can you tell I'm thinking aloud)? And hopefully I will get good news tomorrow..re: the job! If it's God's will.

Ok, so now what do all of THESE pics have in common?

Do you want some 'think music'?

Any guesses?

Ok. All of the pictures have the theme of "6".

From top left, in descending order we have:

1. A six year old boy.
2. June, 2008 edition of Vogue. June, being the sixth month.
3. Six chocolate truffles.
4. Six week old chicks.
5. Six pieces of 'maki'.. being little sushi rolls.
6. A 6am sunrise.
7. A six compartment tray (which is what our newest Indian takeaway serves food on if you eat in. I hate them! (The trays). The food ends up being quite spread out and cools down quickly and reminds me of trays I've seen in prison movies.
8. Six skydivers!

And what relevance does the number 6 have to me today? Well, I had my 2nd interview today at 1pm. And for those who aren't up to speed, I've made it through 2 stages, being having my application lead to the 1st interview and then that interview led to this second interview.

I learned during the second interview today that I am one of six peeps being interviewed for this ONE job. (Sigh).

I arrived fashionably 5 minutes early ;) Within a few minutes I was ushered into a room with three chairs. Two in front of mine. I was interviewed by a man and a woman. The woman I'd seen before on the employers website.

I took along some of my recent 'work'.. ;) Being holiday photo's (which were predominantly food photo's..some which haven't yet featured on this blog).

All-in-all I think it went well! The man, lets call him 'M' said that I was the third to be interviewed and so far I am "Right up there". ? . . ! He also mentioned that the high standard of applicants was amazing. The lady, lets call her 'S', said "I'm impressed. You've obviously done your homework". I was told there was only one position available in the design department and if I wasn't successful, would I consider taking a job in another area of their business, which would be a 'foot in the door' and could lead to other area's? (By the way, instead of writing 'foot' I initially typed 'food').. I was hoping for 'food' inside their door ;) I said "yes" of course to the idea of working in another area. Was that wise? I can't have imagined saying "No, sorry, it's this job or it's nothing"! O.O They didn't mention the specifics of any other vacancies (or potential vacancies). But I purposefully didn't ask about them either. I made sure they knew I was interested in the job I had applied for! For the first couple of minutes I felt myself sweating and I wiped my forehead and upper lip a few times. Anyway.. they said they'd be in touch within the next 'day'. So far, each step of this process has come about quickly.. so I'm hoping to hear news soon.