The One That Is a Blatant Appeal for Attention...

To My Dearest Darling Readers,

As I said in the title, I am shamelessly courting attention with this post. Those of you who know me even a little are now thinking, "Yeah? So what else is new?" But believe me, I have a good excuse this time.

Last night I stayed up until all hours of the AM on my PC, grabbing as many buttons as I could from the blogs that I read, so that I could update my Buttons Everywhere! page.

I did this for some very self-absorbed deliberate reasons...

a. I would love my regulars to experience some of the wonderful blogs that I visit all the time.

and

2. I am eager to lure back the readers to my blog that I lost whilst wallowing in self-pity for the past few weeks (I'm back, y'all... ♪♪And I'm feeeeelin' good♪♪), and I am hoping that by giving some blog love to my fellow writers, they will show me some lovin' in return. (See? Totally selfish. Told you I wouldn't disappoint.)

So grab your mouse and start a-clickin'! And don't forget to let them know I sent you! (Pretty please with a cherry on top?)

And if you could possibly see your way to grabbing my button (right hand side-bar, and below), and putting it on your blog, I will love you forever and ever!

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I also have a totally sneaky underlying another reason for my completely egotistical self-promotion. I would just love, Love, LOVE to get to 100 followers by my Birthday on 2nd May. So basically, in 17+ days time - You probably noticed the countdown thingy up on top of my blog to track how many days we have left.

This would be an absolute dream for me to achieve such an honoured status among people that I consider to be my online peers.

I have added a Stalkers Unite! page where you can go see yourself and my other followers in living colour. There's a party over there, would you like to come? You can join us there or on my left-hand side-bar.

I would also like to whole heartedly thank my current 59 loyal Followers. They have stuck with me through thick and thin and I love them dearly for it. I just can't believe I've come this far in such a short period of time! Taking into consideration that I only wrote my first post on the 14th February, I feel absolutely blessed to have made so many great bloggy friends as fast as this.

In return, I promise to post as often as humanly possible, hopefully at least once a day. I pledge to try my very best not to let you down, and to make my writing as entertaining as I can. (By the way, I would also like to challenge myself more. So if you have a topic you'd like to suggest I write about, please let me know. WOW, this could be fun!)

So spread the word!

As a special prize, I will be doing a BONUS give-away if I make it! Now how many people do you know that GIVE presents on their birthday? (The prize will be confirmed closer to the date but I assure you, it'll be something totally fantastic! I have a wonderful imagination...)

So what do you reckon? Do you think we can do it?

Ready? Set? AAnnnnndd... GO!

(Before you commit to becoming a follower, please take the time to read my Disclaimer...? and consider if this product is appropriate for you.)

Love Always,

I used to be a fantastic cook. Then life got in the way...

We had Indian Butter Chicken with Saffron Rice for dinner tonight.

I know, sounds good right? However, I was thinking whilst I stirred the jar of pre-made sauce into the pre-cut chicken pieces and added the pre-cooked-and-dyed-yellow-rice to the microwave, that I can't remember when I last spent the time on making a 'proper' meal.

You see once upon a time, in a land not too far away... I was a bloody good cook. I would do EVERYTHING from scratch.

My dinner back then would have looked like this...

Tonight, it looked like this. (Note the un-wiped edges of the bowl. I know right? MAJOR faux pas!)

I would shop for the ingredients with pleasure, taking the time at the Market to carefully sift through the fresh vegetables to pick the best of the best. The ones that smelt, looked and felt ripe, juicy and mouth watering.

I would take my time at the Butcher choosing the meat. The best cuts, lean with just the right shade of pink.

My spices were bought whole, to be ground by my own hand in my pride and joy. My granite Mortar and Pestle.

My herbs were always fresh, and usually picked from the herb garden in my back yard, that I lovingly tended daily. They smelt WONDERFUL. Every time I stepped out onto my back deck I could smell them, especially the mint. Mmmmm...

I would pour over my cookbooks, looking for the perfect recipe to suit my mood. What did I feel like that day? A typical Aussie meal? Mediterranean? Asian? Comfort food?

(My comfort food is my Mum's pumpkin soup. Yum.)

My favourite food to cook, and eat, is Indian. Preferably North Indian. The vast amount of flavours, colours and textures makes the entire experience an absolute pleasure. If you have never cooked or eaten North Indian,  I beg of you, please do. Take the time to savour this gorgeous culture through it's culinary delights. I promise you will not regret it. There is a lot more to sample than just curries.

I would spend hours preparing the vegetables, meat and seafood. I was meticulous with chopping them the same size so that they would cook evenly and the timing was right. I would make all the accompaniments...

Raita yoghurt dip with red wine vinegar, cucumber and fresh mint.

Sweet Mango Chutney. 

Naan. (Flat bread laced liberally with garlic, and cooked in the back yard on the side of my Tandoori Oven.

I LOVED throwing Dinner Parties. I was fantastic at it too. I would design and send out invitations, proper ones, y'know, on paper even. No emails for THIS little black duck!

It was ALWAYS a themed night, with a decorated table, and place cards and menus to match. I would burn a CD full of atmospheric music to play in the background.

GOD I miss it. I miss the sound, smell, and look of a beautifully assembled meal. A meal cooked with love.

Wow, what great memories this post has brought back!


SOO... Who's coming to my place for dinner?

Let's Play a Game... 'One Word' Tag!

The gorgeous Eileen from Giving Her All She's Got has tagged me to play this little game which I think is a terrific way to help overcome the writers block that I am currently afflicted with.

Eileen is a self confessed nerd, and like me, she is CRAZY for a great Fantasy novel. And although I didn't win her book give-away (and I even tried to bribe her with postage) (Yeah, I know. Seriously! Doesn't a little schmoozing count for anything these days?!?!?), I still LOVE her to bits. Especially when she starts talking big words to me. My inner-critic claps with delight...

The game is easy in theory. Choose one word answers to a group of questions.

Now lets see if my big mouth will let me stop at just one... (Hmm... If I smoosh it into all one word it counts right? Right???)

Hair –

ShortDyedRed

(Bugger. I already stuffed it up. FAIL!)

Your Mother –

Strong

Your Father –

Genius

Favourite Food –

Japanese

Dream Last Night –

Nightmare

Favourite Drink –

OrangeAndMangoCordial

What room are you in? –

Bedroom

Hobby –

Reading

Fear –

DrivingOnBridgesOverWater...AndClowns

Where were you last night? –

Home

Something that you aren’t –

Stupid

Muffins –

Huh???

Wish List Item –

ManyBazillionDollars

Where you grew up –

Australia

What you are wearing –

BellyButtonRing

*wink*

Your Pet –

Boofie

Friends –

FewAndFarBetween

Something you’re not wearing –

Glitter

Favourite Store –

ANYBookstore

Favourite Colour –

Pink

Last time you laughed –

LastNight

Your Best Friend –

Tomika

Best Place you go over and over –

TattooParlour

Person who you email regularly –

Cousin

Favourite Place to Eat –

JacksSatayBar

Hey, that was fun!

Now I invite these Lovely Ladies to join in…

(All you have to do is post it on your blog!)

Amethyst Moon from Life Music And Laughter

The Farm Chicky over at Farmers Wife

Shari the Dusty Earth Mother

The serene Jo at The End Of The Rainbow - Life After Bankruptcy

Kristi from Live and Love... Out Loud

All five of these women are amongst many beautiful bloggy friends that include Christie from Mommy Drinks Because you Cry, and Eileen at Giving Her All She's Got (whom I can't tag because someone else got there first!), and Mama Kat from Mama's Losin' It!, that have been wonderful and supportive from the very first word I wrote here in the blogosphere. Mama Kat helped me out loads when she did a whole prompt in her weekly Writers Workshop around a problem I encountered when I was making my first baby steps.

I shamelessly blog stalk them all, and I am constantly up until the wee hours of the AM reading the latest things that have come tumbling from each of their talented and oh-so-remarkable brains.

There are others that I love to read too, and who have helped me through some tough times, so if I haven't mentioned you, please don't think I don't love you any more! I promise I do, there are just too many for me to list you all, but I am sending out big hugs, and many sloppy smooches to you, and you, and yes... Even YOU!

Happiness Award - A Belated Thank You!

 

The absolutely gorgeous Christie from Mommy Drinks Because You Cry, was kind enough to give me the Happy 101 Award.

Well... She actually gave it to me back on 30th March 2010, and being the terrible person that I am, I haven't Thanked her until now.

So Christie...

THANK YOU HONEY!!!

I appreciate this award so much from her, as we are similar women in so many ways, and if we lived closer, I could see us becoming bestest buds.

She is a gorgeous person, a terrific Mother, and a wonderful wife, and I love her to bits! (And I kinda blog stalk her as it is, but don't tell anyone okay? Because it could be seen as kinda creepy...)

There are some rules involved in accepting the Award, but because I NEVER follow the rules and am a big-fat-cheater, I'm not going to do any of them.

(Actually, the real reason I'm not going to follow the rules is because I can't pick anyone in particular to give this Award to. I love all of my bloggy friends the same, and you have all been such a source of pleasure to me that I couldn't possibly single anyone out.... Well, THIS TIME anyway!)

So I am just going to leave you with this Happy thought...

♪♪

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy

Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry

Sunshine on the water looks so lovely

Sunshine almost always makes me high

If I had a day that I could give you

I'd give to you a day just like today

If I had a song that I could sing for you

I'd sing a song to make you feel this way

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy

Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry

Sunshine on the water looks so lovely

Sunshine almost always makes me high

If I had a tale that I could tell you

I'd tell a tale sure to make you smile

If I had a wish that I could wish for you

I'd make a wish for sunshine all the while

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy

Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry

Sunshine on the water looks so lovely

Sunshine almost always makes me high

Sunshine almost all the time makes me high

Sunshine almost always...

♪♪

___________
(Music and Lyrics by the beautiful and talented Mr John Denver)

Writers Workshop - Bridge Over Troubled Waters.

8th April 2010

Ok, so for the past week or so I have been a bit down in the dumps. The 6th anniversary of my Mum's death is the 8th of April (today), and I haven't been taking it well. I never do. Mum's birthday is on the 9th March, so the entire Month from then to her anniversary is a pretty bad one for me. I have tried to stay away from here, as much as possible, and away from writing full stop actually. Because everything I have written these past few days has been tainted with a dash of the 'I'm-depressed-feel-sorry-for-me's', and I didn't want that to translate through to this blog.

That said, from this day forth, I swear on the Bible there will be, as Mum would say, "No More Blubbering!" And I think Mama Kat's - Writers Workshop, is a perfect way for me to begin. So let's do it!

I WAS going to pick this prompt. 2.) What book captured your heart? Write about why the first book you loved is the first book you loved. However, I considered the fact that the post would probably be 5000 words long, and filled with my inner-critic's pretentious grandstanding. Along with many big words. Like A LOT. So I thought I'd save you all my preposterous anal-ness, and I went with this one...

5.) Where does that fear come from? Write about something that frightens you that other people might find ridiculous. Write about it in a poem, a story, or whatever.

Okay. Here goes...

I am deathly afraid of DRIVING over bridges that are above water.

There. I said it. Phew!

Normal bridges don't bother me. Give me a huge structure, 10 stories high, and I'll trundle across it without a problem. But stick a trickle of water underneath it, a minuscule flow; and I am reduced to an infant, curled into foetal position, sucking her thumb and crying for her Mummy. 

(Oh, and I can WALK across a bridge, jetty/pier or whatever, with water underneath it without a problem. Hmm... Go figure.)

My original fear stems from when I was a child, early teen actually, and my Mum, two brothers and I were caught in a storm driving home from the local 'Trash and Treasure' market.

There was a short bridge that we had to cross on the way out that had a small river running underneath it.

It had never bothered me previously, but on this particular day, it was raining fiercely, and the river had swollen to the point of bursting it's banks. Unfortunately that also meant that it had risen above the level of the bridge, and water was washing rapidly across it.

The bridge, being so tiny, didn't have guard rails, so crossing it at the best of times was an unnerving experience.

This particular day, it was terrifying.

We had a small car, and started out slowly. I think that was our mistake.

The water rushed across underneath our tires, caught the car, and we sailed from one side of the bridge to the other. Luckily for us, the bridge DID have raised edges and that stopped us from being washed over the rim into the water. I was shit-scared that we were going to be swept away and drowned, stuck in the car, unable to climb free.

Mum revved the car, water lapping against tires trying desperately to find purchase on the slippery wood. I was holding my breath, willing the car off the bridge. FINALLY it took, and we were headed for the end in a hurry.

It felt like forever, but I'm sure the whole episode took only 30 seconds or so. We stopped on the other side, Mum and the boys were a bit shaky. But me... I was a mess. It shook me to the very core.

Ever since that day, I have been petrified of driving over bridges with bodies of water underneath them, no matter how big or small. I will drive for hours out of my way, to avoid crossing one. Ridiculous I know, but I just can't help myself.

Oh... And I'm also absolutely TERRIFIED of clowns. But that's a story for another day!