Oh thankyou!!

After 9 and a half weeks without reliant internets, we FINALLY go connected today. I was sitting on the couch eating lunch with MidwifeA and my laptop, which was open beside me but not connected to the internet via the expensive wireless interwebs we've had to eke a living on for the past manydays. And suddenly I heard the familiar "do doop" that gmail uses to tell you that you have mail - but as it was not connected to the internets wirelessless, that could only mean one thing! We have FINALLY gotten back into the interwebs.

Just in time as well as I finished Rogue last night. Will photograph it shortly and post as well.

Families (not an "ugh" post either)

Families are confusing things. What defines a family? Google tells me lots of things but the first I like the most - "a social unit living together". So that makes my family ManFriend and Zaria the Super Kitty and MidwifeA.

Other people's families:
- two parents, two kids, 2 cats, 4 cars, one caravan
- two women, two children, one from each woman and about to be adopted to complete the family
- three women, one guy, no sex going on in the house as they all have partners outside of their house
- one guy
- two sisters
- married couple plus 4 cats
- cohabitating couple plue 2 birds and a lot of yarn

and so on. No "man woman 2.3 kids" on that list. What is the current standard" family though? Is it still that? Or is it something else? Is it a generational thing? Does a house make a home? Does having a family make a house a home? In my case, yes, it does. I live with TheHusband and one of my closest friends. When we procreate we'll still stay in this arrangement I think. Well that's the aim anyway. Then it'll be Offspring#1 and the rest of us, and maybe by that stage MidwifeA will have a MrMidwife and then there'll be 5 (6!? Zaria counts right?) of us. In a huge 3BR house that is probably 4 times the size of our previous house.

This ramble is brought to you by 2 cups of coffee, an assignment due tonight, and our first party at Casa del ArcherMorgan and our housewarming on 20/06/09.

How to save money

There was an amazingly dumb article in Sunday's paper a few weekends ago that put forward really stupid ideas about how to save money. Gah!

For example: Buy a dress and wear it more than once. What an idea! The novelty of wearing something twice! ZOMG that makes me want to smack someone up the side of the head.

There were a few good ones but mostly dumb so here are 20 ideas I have for saving money (I can come up with 20 just right now, so it can't be that hard!):

1. Get organised in your house/home. A lot of spending extra money comes either because you can't find things and go and buy another one, or you don't know that you have something so you don't know you can / have to use it. So go to Ikea or Tupperware or Bunnings or Target or whereever you want to get things to pack your stuff away and label it and use it. You'd probably be horrified at just how many pens you own, for eg, if you got them in one place. It also means that you can find something when you need it!
   
2. Get organised in your day. If you're going out, take water and an apple and some nuts and dried fruit and save on a snack, and a drink. Plan your day so you're home for lunch or dinner or a main meal. Eat a decent breakfast before you go and eat something as you travel as well if it's a little later.
   
3. Freeze things as you go. Meat in bulk. Vegetables. Fruit. Icecubes. Celery. Cheese. Butter. Bread. That kind of thing. It saves time, trips to the supermarket and eating out because you have things on hand to make food with.
   
4. Be willing to earn money. Don't decline any offer of financial return for your skills, time, attendance, help or effort.
   
5. Know that saving money is not about not spending money. You will have to spend money, but spend it judiciously. Go to the dentist, but skip the teeth whitening. Find a great hairdresser who DOESN'T cost the earth and wait 8 weeks between cuts or longer if you want. Buy storage items and be neat. Maintain a sewing machine and learn to sew, mend and make.
   
6. Get a notebook for the car and write a note of the kms on the odometer when you fill up. Do it each time you fill up. Keep an eye on the odometer and see if it influences how much you drive. Also have an eye on how often you're filling up.
   
7. Repair things around the house - I have a glass vase that had separated front from back, and for a few $$ I bought some silicone and fixed it. Easy! New vase! Totally worth it when the roses are so gorgeous at the moment.
   
8. Reuse: wrapping paper, tissue paper, newspaper, plastic wrap etc etc - our mothers did it and we can too.
   
9. Recycle: I had a table that we didn't use as it was ugleh and I bought some laminate paint ($42) and received a sample of Pentrol and voila! new table! And it is SOSEXY bright purple and it is unique and recycled.
   
10. Realistic: are you drinking champagne on a beer budget? Are you realistic in what you earn and what you need and therefore what you should put your money to?
    
11. Reduce: how many times have you ordered a sandwich and added extras to it that you barely think about while eating (avocado I'm looking at you)? Consider making a small reduction each time you eat in particular - a small coffee not a medium one, two fewer fillings on a sandwich, less sauce on your pasta, that kind of thing.
    
12. Reskill: if you learnt something as a kid, update that skill (sailing, knot tying, crochet, camping) and apply it in a new way. Or look at your local hardware store, adult college, library etc and see what they have to offer!
    
13. Garden in some form or another for psychological
    
14. Declutter so that you have what you use and use what you have. It will keep you interested and busy and happy.
    
15. Cook and eat at home. It saves money. Have a stocked pantry so you can at least whip up pasta and a tin of flavoured tuna. I'm not saying don't use any convenience foods but really, it takes 15 minutes to make a pasta that is healthy if you have a few items in your pantry.
    
16. Pursue a dream - get off the rat race merry-go-round and do something you Want To. In my world of perfect children, great thighs and wearable bathers (also known as la la land) if you do something you hate doing, 5/7 days a week, you are going to be miserable and unfulfilled. This meants that you will fill that emptiness with Stuff. And Things. To fill the void that is there because you are doing something you hate or at least dislike more than the benefits are worth. And possibly justify it by saying that you earn a lot of $$, or you will earn in the future. I'm not saying that you have an entitlement to love every minute of your job and yes, you do need a job to get by. But if you're only working in a job you hate so that you have the money to salve your soul because you work in a job you hate, you're doing it wrong.
    
17. Cut back and still enjoy. Use less shampoo or go 'poo less. Phase out sugar in your coffee, or coffee in your day. Walk instead of driving, catch the bus, borrow books etc etc.
    
18. Borrow, lend, barter and trade with friends and family: need a drill? hot glue gun? sewing machine? cookbook? blue coat? cocktail dress? Ask around! If you're needing it for a special occasion then don't bother buying it, but borrow it instead.
    
19. Skip the clothes shopping and buy a sparkly headband, coloured and/or patterned tights, great cheap shoes, and op-shop bargains when you actually need something! I've not "shopped" for a year and going strong on it - I shop from my cupboards and am surprised with what I find. I also have a "1 in, 1 out" rule so I have to get rid of something before I buy something new. Keeps me from needlessly throwing out things I still love. I also keep a list of things that I need, and I check with it whenever I say "yeesh I need a new thingamajig" and if it's on there, then I may actually need it, and not want it. For eg, I need long sleeved winter tops as I live in them over winter (with a tshirt over them at the moment, and later with a sweater over it) but own 1 at the moment.
    
20. Learn how to care for yourself and your family: Colour your own hair or get someone else to do it (or cut it if you're brave, skilled, or not attached to it), learn how to paint your toes, wax your legs, do your eyebrows or whatever else you need to. Do a first aid course, learn to use power tools and gardening tools, and take care of more things yourself. It may cost a little money to gain the skills you need but the investment is worth it.
    

Why we eloped

I am writing some of our thoughts about marriage and weddings and how we go to here out while it's still fresh in my mind. Just two months ago, I chose to become Mrs ManFriend and I'm lots of things about it still and at the moment. Excited, sure, but also trepidatious. I am the child of parents who divorced after a tumultuous married life. They divorced when I was 11, which is a LONG time ago now really.

My younger siblings don't remember my parents being married, which to me is weird. I don't remember them being happy, or being "together" as such, except for a few times when they went out to dinner. I can remember my dad putting on a dash of Old Spice aftershave and putting on his amazing dress uniform and going to work dinners, but that's about it. I remember going camping when I was fairly young (8 maybe?) and walking a lot with my dad, and of painting his trailer cage when I was maybe 9 or 10, and fishing with my grandparents, but I don't remember doing anything with my mother. I must have, at some stage, as I am a great cook now and can sew somewhat and can knit up a storm (all things I learnt from her) but I don't remember spending time with her when I was young. I remember her having her hair permed and me getting a migraine from it and the kind hairdresser massaging my head to ease the agony. I remember her doing things *for* me but not *with* me, ya know?

Anyways, I now have no relationship with my mother, and that had a big thing to do with us eloping. The discussion went like this:

- let's get married
- shall we have a wedding?
- where (I'm from Sydney and TheMan is Adelaidian)?
- who do we invite?
- do I have to invite my mother?
- how do I not invite her?
- ugh
- glass of wine?
- sure
- what wine do we like?
- marlborough sauvignon blanc
- where's that made?
- let's elope there to get married
- ok

And that's about it. Nothing dramatic - just avoiding having my parents in the same room as each other (something they haven't willingly done in 18 years) and avoiding having to put up with her in my life.

Emma hood and pondering on clutter

Today I knit myself a hood similar to the one that Lyra wears in The Golden Compass. You know the one I mean, if you've seen the (really not comparable to the book!) film.

Emma Hood
Moda Vera Mandorla Printed (55% merino 45% acrylic)
100g ball, ~100m (gauge given as 7-8mm needles = 12st x 12rows)
6.5mm needles (so it's a thicker fabric and slightly stiff)

Cast on 60st using cable caston
Did 7 rows of seed stitch, so finished with WS row
Then stockinette until I nearly ran out of yarn - as I was knitting on a circular needle, I could hang it on the cable and test it on my head as I went.
The cast off I wanted an obvious seam for, so folded the hat in half and the two needles with live stitches next to each other. Using another needle, knit one from the front needle, then one from the back, the pass stitch over, and knit another from the alternating needle and so on. You can cast off however you like, of course, but this gave me the nicest edge.
Twist up some of the left over yarn (I had maybe 1m left over!) to make ties under the chin.

It took me about 3 hours all up to knit and would make a great gift for winter for anyone who "can't wear a hat" because their hair make them look like they are bald with a hat on. I was complaining just last night that my ears were cold and my lace beret just wasn't cutting it in the breezey weather we are having here in Adelaide, so it was nice to make a hat quickly, and use up some of my stash.

I've been thinking a lot about stuff and things recently. I have a lot of stuff as anyone who's helped me to move can attest. But recently we moved house to a lovely big new place and there is ample storage for everything we have and there is no need to keep extra stuff. What I *have* done though is buy some storage furniture - three new bookcases to replace the collection of crap student furniture, and two new cupboards for in the study. The ceilings are high here and it makes sense to use that height rather than just the floor space.

I've also been ruthless in my unpacking. I have things that I've had for 5+ years. For example, I have some handmade paper boxes that had a cut-out lid on them. Useful for soap storage and presentation but utterly devoid of usefulness without me making soap for them (I used to do that - make soap). I've schlepped them from Canberra to Sydney and around Sydney and then down here to Adelaide x4 places and now I've said "no more" and put them in the recycling. I've learnt two lessons now:

1. Just because it's something useful, doesn't mean that I have to keep it. Also

2. If I haven't used it by now, but have kept it for a rainy day, chances are I can do without it.

There are things that I keep longterm. Yarn. Books. Paper and pens. But even there I do pare down what I own when I get the chance to review what is there. The upside of all of this is that there is now a method to my stuff and I can find stuff when I want it. I also will use what I have because I can look at my craft cupboard and see my glue gun, or beads, or photos, and do something with them.