It’s been a funny old week this week hasn’t it?  What with super moons and cold days and a feeling of melancholy lurking around the edges of everything.  Did you hold your people close to you this week?  I bet you did.  It’s time to shake off the week, so here are the Hits:

1.  This little cup.  I ordered it from Nespresso with my coffee supplies this month, mainly because it is called Ritual, and I really love the idea of that, a daily coffee ritual (I’m a marketing person’s dream).  I was planning on gifting it, but then I found it was a SCIENCE CUP.  It came with it’s very own brochure, possibly researched at the Ponds Institute.  It tells me that it has a carefully calculated height and diameter to release the aromas fully, it is slightly curved to allow for smooth pouring of the coffee, it has a concave base for a perfectly formed crema and it is made from light porcelain to keep the coffee at the ideal temperature (WHAT?).  I shit you not, this is a the actual truth (according to the brochure).  So, as you can imagine, I can’t possibly give it away now, because: science.

Perfect science cup, you shall be mine… Allll mine…

2.  I follow a clairvoyant lady on FB, and she sometimes does a selection of cards.  I chose this one yesterday, and I love it.  I think she meant it for all of us.

3.  As you RRs know, we said goodbye to Watters this weekend, but he left us with a most precious gift, in the form of this card.  So cute.  I am pleased and honoured that we were able to be part of teaching a kid about some of the greatness that resides within.  We don’t always know how we will fare in the face of new challenges and situations, and Watters, at 11years of age did it with grace and an infectious sense of fun.  His Mum sent me an email thanking us for giving him an experience that was “bigger than him”.  Mwah Mrs.Watters.

4. Free shit.

Sometimes in my line of work people bring me stuff.  It can be amazing produce from their garden, little gifts of chocolate or wine or beer, or even little things they see when at the shops and know that I’ll love.  Anything from essential oils or scented candles, through to picnic blankets, and did I mention beer?  I must have been particularly nice this week, because I received a bounty: a box of choccies, a bottle of wine, some special peppercorns, some champagne flutes, some lemons, and these babies:

Yeah, I know, I have the best job in the world, but even better, I have the best patients in the world.  If any of you happen to be reading, you rock.

5.  Stairway to Heaven.  Liam is learning it on guitar, so we have been listening to it on the way to school every day, and have used old video of ‘Money Or The Gun’ with all the versions of Stairway, as a musical education.  Embarrassingly, I realised I’ve never played them The Doors, or even the B52s, so we have had a musical education this week, ripping out the old vinyl.  So much fun.  A good reason to have kids.

How was your week?  Any hits involving hits?

…From The Ashers xx

Oh yeah, it’s Hit Time… Here they are, the hits of the week:

1.  The quote of the week.  It’s not a newie of course, but I was having an internal whinge one day this week, and it popped up in my Instagram.  It’s from ‘A League of Their Own.”  I think it bears remembering.

2.  A fab girly lunch today for the launch of Nikki Parkinson’s new book, Unlock Your Style (you can get yours here, even if you missed the launch).  It was held at Berados (a fancy word for, well, fanceee), and as always the service was impeccable and the food: delish.  Nikki was gorgeous and funny, and very down to Earth, which I guess is what you would expect from a Sunny Coast girl, but still, it was nice to see, and wonderful to be there to help get a book written by an Aussie Blogger on it’s way.

I went with a fun group of ladies: Bigheart, Barbiegirl, DownToEarth, Arty, Lovely, LeadMeAstray and Buzzybee.  And then, of course, there was me: Little Truthful One.  See if you can guess who is who:

The eight dwarves ladies

And here are the rest of the hits of the lunch-launch:

The Stylish Nikki

Books ready for launching

Did I mention there was dessert? Oh YES there was. It was a veritable health food with all that fruit..

3.  Watters, the Happy little Jappy Chappy.  As you know, we have been having a ball with out little fella.. Sunday is just too close (we want to keep him).

It was even more fun tonight because a friend who is a Japanese teacher came over and was able to have a big chat with him, so we found out all sorts.  Yes, he is having fun here, No, he doesn’t want sushi for dinner, Yes (little bugger) thinks he is a better dancer than me, Yes, he liked meat pies, but best of all, he dissed us over the Evil Geniuse’s bedtime.  We have been putting them to bed LATE this week at 7.30pm, but apparently Watters thinks this is ridic and is lying in bed awake for hours (apparently).  Sorry Watters, but when in Noosa….

4.  Decisions.  We all know we have to make them.  We think and think and list and agonise and then, somehow, we make a choice.  It seems that the bigger the decision seems to be, the harder we make it for ourselves until we can be paralysed into indecision.  Yet strangely, as Kelly Exeter points out in her book Your Best Year Yet, we will be happy with our choice.  That is how we are wired.  So why do we even stress about it?

Who even knows?

Regardless, a big cheers to making choices.  And even more, for living in a country where having choices is possible.

5.  The sound of the waves outside.  As I’m sitting up here, super-late (I’ve had a big work-day), I can hear the smashing waves.  Swell must be picking up.  I’m not a good surfer, so it’s not like I need big waves.  I just love the sounds.  Reminds me of Summer Hols down the coast.  Long days.  Sand in your bathers.  Peeling skin on your nose. Hot chips with gravy.  Melting Choc chip ice-creams.  And the comforting rhythm of the sea.

Got any hits?

Have you got your copy of Unlock Your Style or Your Best Year Yet, yet?

…From The Ashers

***Disclaimer: information contained within this blog is not intended for sound nutritional and/or medical advice.  And PS, if you are coming here for that, weeelllll…..

***Disclaimer #2: not a sponsored post. Damn.

Here they are, Hit me baby one more time:

1.  These choc chip biccies.

Food styling: 0
Taste: 9

You may recall that I accidentally purchased some incorrect chocolate chips a few weeks ago?  Well I ate all of those (It’s amazing how quickly one chip here and another one there ads up to a whole packet) and then, accidentally bought another packet.  Damn.  So I’ve been making biccies to use ’em all up.  They are not pretty, but THEY ARE DELISH.  I can’t be bothered typing out the recipe, but you can find it right here.

2.  Anna’s Wild Yam Cream.  If you have The Menopause, or even if you don’t, (but you are a bit of a bitch once a month when Aunty Flo comes to visit), get thee to the health food shop and buy this stuff already.  It’ll change your life, or at least the life of those around you.   In that there still will be lives around you.  I’ve been using it for a bit, and I didn’t know if it was making any difference, so I had a three day break this week.  Seeing as I wanted to CRUSH ALL OF THE JOY out of my children during the ‘break’, I think it’s safe to say it works.  Get some.

If you are a lady.

If you are a man, why are you reading this chick-blog?  Maybe you need some too.  For your mangina.

3.  This watch.

I bought it at the airport the day I was flying down to Newy on the day my mate Hayls died.  I knew why I was going down, and I knew it wasn’t going to be anything good, so I wanted to get something to mark the day.  Something I thought I might never wear, but something to etch out a space.  To take out from time to time and hold.  And remember.  And laugh-cry-rage-sob-grieve.

Turns out, I wear it a lot.  And there is not a time that I look down at it without thinking of my mate.  I think of the time we had together (not enough) and the good times (many) and then all of the times that I wish I could have her back.  Not like some people say, “for just one more day”.  Stuff that, I want her back for good.  For all the times.

4.  Have I raved on about these kids before?  Probably.  But in case I haven’t, check out Lennon and Maisy here.  I want to be them.  Or be like them.  Or something.

5.  This:

Seriously, Queensland, you have gone mad.  And I like it.  Happy Winter.

What are your hits?  Any baking ideas?

…From The Ashers xx

Here are the hits of the week:

1.  This funny thing, by @emrusciano on Instagram.  I don’t really know why I’m laughing so much at it.  I mean, I know it’s a joke and all, but it’s not really that funny.. Is it?  But there’s just something funny in the way the tree is ‘running’.  Or maybe it’s just that someone took the time to make and post that pic.  Either way, it has given me lots of giggles.

2.  The feedback I’ve had from the dreaded presentation last week.  People have been lovely and kind.  Some said they laughed and some said they cried.  So I guess I achieved my goal of moving people in some way.  You know how I am, I love to make y’all emote and shit.

3.  Yoga stretches.  Also from my seminar: one of the chiros had some very concerning x-rays of young people with very ordinary spines, such that we have never seen before in people so young.  I suspect this brave new world of devices has a lot to do with it.  So The Ashers have decided we are doing something about OUR spines before it is too late.  We are calling our morning practice Spine Tingles, and it’s a mix of yoga and gentle stretches, with a bit of dancing around thrown in, and finishing with an affirmation or two.  One Evil Genius is into it, and sets up the mats at 6.15am, the other CBF, but he has to do it regardless.  It’s the new tooth brushing around here.  Not negotiable.  And I’ve gotta say, I feel better for it.  More connected with my body or the sense of myself in space.  Shame I nearly tore a hammy trying to outdo the kids in the forward bending.  Stupid old contracted body.

4.  Finally getting my friend back.  Travel is a dumb idea.  Anyone who is thinking of leaving me to look at other places: just don’t okay?  It’s unnecessary.  There’s Google maps or something for that.  Anyway, I got my friend back, you know one of those ones who lets up parp on about ridiculous things, and then buys you a coffee anyway?  Yep, that one.  Welcome back, luv.  And don’t get any more silly ideas okay?

5.  An interesting side-effect of doing ‘that shit talk’ was that I got to stay in Briso for the night, just hanging out with my Mum.  She had a magnificent dinner ready for me, heater on, fancy wine all chilled… Just perfect.  We chatted on the couch for hours, with no kids and no snoring “I’m not asleep” male adult (I’m not naming anyone) to interrupt us.  We then woke up according to our body clocks, and sauntered down to the local cafe for a relaxed breakfast.  Wall to wall luxury: no clocks, no whinging, no work to be done by us: no worries.  I’m blessed to have such a cool Mum (with a cool pad in Briso to crash at), who is funny and caring with a bit of naughty thrown in.

**I’m also aware that I have a pretty good husband (snoring on couches notwithstanding) who willingly looks after the kids all weekend without complaint, including Netball, food shopping, present buying and kid’s birthday parties to attend. xx

What are your hits?  Did you have a nice glass of vino on Saturday too?

…From The Ashers xx

It’s been a big week, in that I have spent a fair amount of it procrastinating, so let us hope that is over now.  The whining has been substantial… So you can all stop now okay?  The talk is written.  We also had a really cold day here.  So that was a bit shit.  But we are back to blue skies and a crisp blue horizon again today.  Whew.

Without further ado, here are the hits:

1.  Coco’s hair this morning.  On Thursdays I start work early, so I don’t do her hair for her.  I went into the bathroom and caught her admiring herself this morning.  I wanted to share a pic with you, but for some reason it won’t load (??!).

So let me describe it: headband put on almost diagonally, so that it looked decidedly uncomfortable, one side near the ear the other near the occiput, a “low pony” but not tight enough, so that it was half falling out, with said low pony about eight centimetres left of centre, so that all of her just-past-bob-length hair on the right had fallen out, and, to complete the look, speed humps galore.

Without wanting to be mean (for clearly she thought she looked schweeet) I said “Oh Sweetie, did you do your own hair?”  (“Or did the cat do it?” I was thinking).  “No, Daddy did it.  Isn’t it great?”  “Yes”, I said, it’s great, now sit here and let me enhance it.”

I suspect Nathan is quite good at, um, carpenting things.

2.  These things:

Does it count if you’re melting them in your mouth?

I purchased them accidentally this week (I meant to get the dark choc version), and we all know that is it illegal to let something as sweet and innocent as this go to waste.  So I’m eating them. All.  They are going down very easily, even if my throat does have a sugar burn right now.  I Quit Sugar?  It seems the answer is no.  I blame Cadbury- the packaging is very similar to the ones I wanted…  Touche chocolate manufacturer and marketing team, touché.  (Yes, yes, I know Cadbury is bad chocolate. I know I should be eating cacao nibs or something, but I just can’t resist that velveteen purple sheen.)

3.  I’ve mentioned to you before how much I love the internets, and the kind people you come across on here, yes?

Well check this out:  Last week I read  this article in Kidspot by Lana Hirschowitz regarding a robotic toy called Sphero.  As “I know” Lana via Twitter, I sent her a message asking her if she had a Sphero, and if she thought it was as good as the excellent advertising campaign suggests.  Turns out she had a Sphero her kid didn’t want, and offered to send it to me for the Evil Geniuses.

For free.

I said I would buy it from her, and at least pay the postage, but she was having none of it.  Don’t you just think that’s amazing?  Lana doesn’t know me, or the brats, and yet, she went out of her way to go to the post office, pay to send it, etcetera, etcetera.  The kindness of strangers.

Here are the geniuses receiving it on Jammie Day:

Look at them: Liam is chuffed and is IN NO WAY sharing that thing with Coco, who is more interested in posing for the ‘receiving a package’ shot.

And here is Sphero.  His name is Charles.

Charles. The Sphero. He is a ball. Bloody hell, now I’m even personifying him.

4.  Now, I may have mentioned one or two a thousand times that I am giving a speech at a seminar this Saturday, so I required an outfit befitting my professionalism and maturity.  So of course, last Sunday I was to be found at Country Road, Maroochydore.  I’ve gotta tell you: OH MY GOD.  I had the most amazing, personalised, funny, attentive service in the known world.  I can’t remember if I’ve told you about the chicks in our local CR before, so if I have please skip ahead, for I shall be rhapsodising.

When you get to my age you can sometimes become a little invisible in shops.  Youngies don’t want to serve you, and real Oldies are more interested in straightening shelves.  Not this lot.  It was like I had a personal shopping team.  They were bringing me in things to try, gushing and complementing, and then bringing more.  They were placing jackets and scarves on me as though they were the Queen’s robes, then scuttling off to find more accoutrements.

They even gave advice on appropriate undergarments (of which I share with you next week, but for now I have one word: contraceptive), as we shared anecdotes of The Menopause and the best skincare required to combat the dreaded desert derriere.

Needless to say, I exited with the Motherlode of white bags.  Well played CR, well played.

5.  Nathan.

As I type this he is applying the heat gun (Who knew there was such a thing? I was using a travel-sized hairdryer) to some particularly ugly photo frames to remove 130 small mirror tiles that I NEED for my talk on the weekend.  You see, I decided yesterday that I simply must have mirrors.  One hundred and thirty of them.  And no shop in Noosa had any more than eight.

And then I found these, googled “removing mirrors” and found that it would be a cinch.  It isn’t.  And yet, HOTY is doing it.  At 10pm.  Nathan, the chiropractic profession is lucky to have you.  (Especially as I left it so late that I missed the  Audio Visual cutoff time for the presentation, and I do need some kind of gimmick….)

So there you have it, the HITS as I see them.  Wish me luck on Saturday, I’ll be the one vomiting with nerves in the dunnies at 3pm and trying to do a panic wee whilst wearing Spanx (Doh!  I gave the underwear post away).

What are your hits?  C’mon, gimme one at least.

…From The Ashers xx

Check out these hits:

1.  Sunshine.  Lucky there’s some, cos it’s bloody cold overnight here at the moment. Apparently as low as 3 degrees some mornings.  I say apparently because there is no way I’m getting out of bed for under 10 to find out.  I’m fancy like that.

2.  School holidays.  How good are they?  Not good for the blog admittedly.  And as for getting actual productive work done, not so much, but for not having to get out of bed until well after sunrise, well (see hit 1 above), thank you holidays.

Also: SERENITY NOW.  But you didn’t hear that from me.

3.  JB HiFi.  I haven’t set foot inside an actual record shop for a long time (Hence I still call it a record shop),  but we did this week, and let’s just say, they’ve come a long way, since back in my day.  You can get everything there, and I do mean everything*.  Including records.  Go there.  You will never want to leave.

4.  The Boathouse Restaurant on Gympie Terrace.  I haven’t been for yonks, and it’s much better these days.  I had a delish lunch there, replete with a great ricotta donut dessert that you really have to go and try, for the presentation alone.  They have a two-course-plus-wine meal deal for lunch… I’m going to try that next.  Great food, with views that turn you into a tourist.  That’s what I’m talking about.

5.  All of the warm things: hot water bottles and non-burnt heat bags, luxurious blankets, heaters, ugg boots that go almost to the knee, fluffy dressing gowns, flanno sheets, Woofa the Shitcat, cups of tea, stews, open fires and marshmallows, mulled wine, Nathan.  Warm things, I’m very glad to have you.  Mwah.

*No, I don’t really mean everything.  Of course they don’t sell sweet potato or pillows.  They do however sell a LOT of things.

So there are my hits, what are yours?

Are you on holidays?  Wotchupta?

…From The Ashers xx