A final goodbye

I'm sure most people have heard about Kristian Anderson. For those that haven't, Kristian made a tissue grabbing video tribute to his wife Rachel for her birthday to thank her for all her support whilst he was suffering from bowel cancer.

Kristian was an amazing man who documented his battle through his blog and through twitter. I say was as he lost his battle today. A much as he was ready to go, my heart aches for his love ones that were left behind. A wife no longer has a husband. Two gorgeous little boys no longer have a Daddy. And for that, I'm devastated.

I'm going to finish this post with some very poignant words in Kristian's final goodbye - words that we should all take heed of.

"We’re all broken, we’re all cracked and what so many people see as a fault or a malfunction really is something to be considered useful"

- Kristian Anderson

A photo a day - Wot wot was that you said?

After a huge day of swimming and playing with her cousin, Imogen was too tired to even stay awake for the under 10 minute car trip home. I love how she's still hanging on to her Wotwot. Her cousin was gorgeous enough to give it to her as she knew that Imogen liked it. Awwww. xx

Memories, like the corners of my mind

Misty water colored memories...
*shudder* Enough of that, but on that topic since my "Go live, 365" was reduced to a "Time waste did I what, 87 is all I got" here's a snapshot of everything that the Brodrick's have been up to in 2011.

JAN 2011

"I just got peed on by my daughter. It's all good for her as she has spare clothes. I've got to walk around in 30 degree heat with 4 layers of pissed on clothes"

Ah yes, that Fauna Park was a barrel of laughs. NOT








"My heart goes out to all the flood victims in Qld. The footage is just unbelievably devastating.
Please stay safe xx"
Please take the time to have a look at this link. It will give you a real understanding of the devastation that was caused. Queensland Floods - Before & After



"First open for inspection day today. 
Fingers crossed some people turn up"
And turn up they did. Six groups in the first inspection. I was pretty chuffed with that.

FEB 2011

 "OMFG. My house is flooding. I have a river running through my garage. The street is completely flooded. If the rain hits us hard again I'll have to start moving stuff."

In case you can't tell from the pic, that's my garage floor completely flooded. Yes I know it doesn't hold a candle to the devastation that Queenslanders went through, but still quite shocking for us all the same.

"WOW I must have pleased the gods. In the one week I've managed to sell my house, secure my land and land a rental property"

That says it all really.

QOTD courtesy of Liam after being told off for playing with my glasses.

Liam: Do you wear glasses Mummy cause you can't see very far?

Me: Yes Liam

Liam: Can all old people not see very far?

MAR 2011



"Has just completed 7 laps straight (with 2 carrying a child) to make 10 laps" at Relay for Life.
I love this image. When all the flood lights go out all you can see is the hope and remembrance candles forming a ring around the oval and a sign of hope projected on to the cliff face.



Bwahahhaha. Ripper QOTD brought to you by Liam.
Liam: What is Sunday school?
Me: It's when you learn about religion.
Liam: Imogen? Why do I want to learn about my sister?

"Is going to see Carl Baron tonight. Be jealous bitches"

Best comedian evah.

APR 2011

"RIP Laura Franks 105 What an innings. I'm sure the old girl will be kicking up her heels and throwing back the hard ones. Look out upstairs – I don't think you know what you're in for"

Brian's Grandmother passed away at the grand old age of 105. I only met her a few times when she visited Australia, but she was a classic for all the wrong and hilarious reasons.

"Is off for a romantic night in the city. 

Big love to John for looking after Gigi" 

View from our window at Crown Metropol Hotel. Highly recommend it - gorgeous room, great service. Shame both Brian and I where really sick with the flu. Gotta wonder what the room cleaners thought when they saw the billions of tissues in the bins. LOL

To our beautiful, loud, adorable, drama queen, ballerina, squealer, cuddle bunny, epic tantrum thrower Princess Imogen – Happy 3rd birthday baby girl. We wouldn't have you any other way. Love you all the way to the moon and back xx

QOTD (whilst on a car trip) courtesy of Jack.

Liam: Mum, Jack's using string to clean his teeth.

Me: Jack where did you get the string from?

Jack: I found it on my sock.

LOL so gross it's funny

MAY 2011 




"Finally after all my whinging and carrying on, we have a sold sticker"
I'd been waiting for the photo opportunity, that is all LOL

I can hear Brian cooking something that sounds suspiciously like bacon and eggs. What a lovely husband. He's probably going to be late for work but he's still making me breakfast.

What a great start to Mother's Day

JUN 2011

FML. Why the hell is everything 1 step forward and 2 steps back. Now I have no gas because Tru energy apparently don't supply gas to this area. So tell me who the hell we've been paying for the last 4 months. Oh and TRU Energy's computers are down so can't help today. So no hot water, no heater and no cook top. Excellent . Just f'ing excellent.

Oh yes, that was a fun week. We ended up with no gas for 10 days, Brian was away in Sydney, Jack has gastro, Imogen was so constipated that she was projectile vomiting. Yes there was fun to be had by all.

 "Ahh the best thing about sitting at home relaxing...leggings can be pants. Hope to Christ that no one comes to the door though"

But only at home - ever. No excuses.

JUL 2011
QOTD courtesy of Imogen: I asked her what she wanted to eat and each time the answer was "Herms". I couldn't work out what she meant so I asked her to show me and she went to the cupboard and got the Italian herbs out of the cupboard and yelled at me “See I said herms Mummy" LOL

"Is talking the kids on a magical mystery tour today. Of course it's my child that falls over in the dog poo"

We ended up taking the kids to Stanley Park, Mt Macedon then on to a playground in Woodend.

AUG 2011

I'm now the proud parent of not one but two seven year olds. Happy 7th birthday my Jackasaurus. Love you to the moon, the planets, the stars and even to Nan and Grandad's xx 

My baby boy is 8. Where did the time go. Happy birthday Lipm. Love you all the way to the moon and back xx 

Using your celebrity slim shaker to make a full cream milking with chocolate topping and ice cream = epic weight loss fail

SEPT 2011

"What a beautiful wedding. Margaretta looks gorgeous. So over the moon for them"
Brian and I had the pleasure of being there to share in the Wedding of one of my oldest friends. 







"Was almost involved in fisty cuffs. LOLing at the thought of me in a brawl"
No word of a lie - I was almost in a punch on - in the car park of Werribee Plaza no less. Can't get much more bogan than that LOL

OCT 2011

"OMG Johnny Ruffo is the shittest of shit. How embarrassment"

Yes for those that know me, they know of my X-Factor fetish. I watched it obsessively. Why though, I don't know when people like this clown constantly got voted in.

"To my amazing husband: today after 18 years together and 10 year married I still love you more than anything. Happy anniversary xx" 

Yep, 10 years this year and what a way to spend it - child free on the Gold Coast.

NOV 2011

QOTD goes to my friends son:
Elijah (to Liam): Do you know my Grandma's name?
Liam: No
Elijah: It's Joy. Like I'm not having any joy packing up these blocks
LMFAO, poor child comes to my house is apparently my slave

"All Boganed out. Night peeps" Jacqui's hen's night was as Bogan as they come thanks to Bogan Bingo. Brilliant night had by all.





QOTD courtesy of Jack (in front of his after school care leaders):
Jack:Mum are you wearing bras today because it doesn't look like it?"
Man they must have laughed after I left.

Dec 2011

QOTD today goes to Imogen: 

Imogen: Cheese mummy, cheese – whilst holding her drink out to me. 

Me: Cheese? What do you mean cheese?

Imogen: No cheeeeese

Ah she means cheers LOL

"Is all primped and preened and ready to go" 

A biggest, hugest congratulations to my bestest friend in the whole wide world on her wedding day. The day was spectacular, even the rain couldn't dampen our spirits. So happy for both you and Mark.

"One child has woken up with croup and the power has just gone out. Lucky it's Christmas day and the kids couldn't care less" Merry Christmas everyone.

So that brings us to the end of 2011. So what's in store for 2012?  

Only time will tell.

A photo a day

When I first started up this blog, the name came out of me testing my stamina. I really wanted to buy myself Project Life but I know me and I know that there was no way I would keep it up for a year. I was already overwhelmed at just the thought of it. Hence the blog. I figured typing was much less work than any sort of scrapbooking. And yes, I failed LOL.

So this year, I'm starting again. And I have stamina. And I've done a bit of research to keep me going. So if anyone wants to join me, here's some info to keep you on the move:

Why do it?

Taking a photo a day is a big undertaking with big payoffs. Here are just a few reasons why you should consider doing it:

• Imagine being able to look back at any day of your year and recall what you did, who you met, what you learned… (Often we find it hard to remember what we did just yesterday or even last night, let alone a whole year ago!)
• Your year-long photo album will be an amazing way to document your travels and accomplishments, your haircuts and relationships. Time moves surprisingly fast.
• Taking a photo a day will make you a better photographer. Using your camera every day will help you learn its limits. You will get better at composing your shots, you’ll start to care about lighting, and you’ll become more creative with your photography when you’re forced to come up with something new every single day.

Tips on How to Do It

Here are six tips on how to create your own Project 365:

1. Bring Your Camera Everywhere
   Yes, everywhere. Get in the habit. Grocery stores, restaurants, parties, work, and school. Going to a movie theatre? Snap a pic of the flick with your phone–there are photo-ops everywhere. If you have one of those tiny tiny cameras, you have no excuse not to have it in your pocket all the time. And if you don’t? Camera phones are a great substitute.
2. Make Posting Easy
   You can install blog software like Movable Type or WordPress on your own site and create an entry for each photo, but for true ease of use, try a photo sharing site. Flickr will let you post a week’s worth of photos in 2 minutes flat, and fotolog and Photoblog.com are geared toward a photo-a-day workflow. Making it fast and easy means you’re much more likely to do it.
3. Vary Your Themes
   Try to capture the day’s events in a single photo. Perform photographic experiments. Take a photo of someone new you meet, something you ate for the first time, or something you just learned how to do. Take a photo of something that made you smile. And don’t forget to take a photo of yourself at least once a month so you can remember how you’ve changed, too.
4. Tell a Story
   Use your blog entry, or your photo description, to explain what’s going on in each day’s photograph. How good did that dinner taste? What made you want to take a photo of that stranger? It’ll help you remember down the road, and it gives friends following along a better appreciation of why you took the photo you did. You don’t need to write a lot, just enough to add some color.
5. Don’t Stop, No Matter What
   This is perhaps the most important tip of all. You will get tired of taking a photo every single day. Some days, you will consider giving up. Don’t. The end result is worth the effort. Remind yourself why you wanted to do it in first place. There will be times you’ll think there’s nothing interesting left to take a photo of, and times you’ll think you didn’t do anything exciting enough to take a photo of. There’s always a great photo to be made.
   Get out of the house and take a walk. Or stay inside and look around. Take a photo of something important to you. Take a photo of the inside of your house so you can see how your taste has changed over the years. Take a photo of anything, just don’t stop.
   N.b. It helps if you’ve told your friends about the project and asked them to follow along. Their encouragement will keep you going!
   
6. Post early, post often
   Plan on going through and posting your photos at least once a week so you don’t get backlogged and feel overwhelmed. Ideally, post every day or two. Again, spend the time up front to make sure it’s quick and easy to post. It’ll make all the difference.

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So with no further adieu I bring you the 2012 photo a day challenge:
Day 1 of 365:

No where to buy coffee on New Years morning - insane
First hangover ever in 38 years - disastrous
Finding out Maccas has McOz back when you're craving junk - priceless

Baby you can drive my car

Well ride my bike/scooter whatever.

Anyone ever been to the Essendon Traffic School? Seems like I was the only disadvantaged child that never got to go in primary school. Luckily my kids won't be in the same boat since they where lucky enough to be invited to a kids party there. Who knew that you could hire the place out? The kids had a ball.