21.08.06

Well, I didnt make it to round 3 of the Effer Dares Last Scrapper Standing. Oh well. I think I wasnt "effer" enough iykwim. Here is the layout I did anyway:


Kate got to stay home today, she wasnt sick, she had lice, but she acted like she was sick all day! She moped around on the couch and seriously acted like she was sick. Whats with that?!?!

Today was another glorious day in Sydney so we walked up to the shop. I got the kids a cheese and bacon roll for lunch and got a spare in case one of them was super hungry. Turns out they werent and so guess who broke their low carb diet? Ummm yeah me. But on these bleeping shakes you really start to miss real food with real texture! I savoured every bite too! I have been going hard on this diet for 14 days now and I have lost 3 kilos. So starting again tomorrow for another week... or two...

I ran last week! Gosh it hurt the next day! Seriously I could barely walk!! But it was so exhilarating to be back out there and I realised that I really did miss it!

So it is day something-or-other of The Rhonna Farrer 21 Day Challenge but I thought it was a little boring and I didnt want to bore everyone. So if you are interested in her challenge, check out her blog!

Well tomorrow is my last day of being a part time worker. I am a little saddened by this as I really love spending the extra time with Luke and being able to help out at the school, but I know it will pay off in the long run.

Thats about it from me! Cheers and have a good one!!! :-)

18.08.06

How cool! I just dod my first class over at the Scrappers Stash!!! I haven't got any feedback yet as everyone is still finishing their layout, but I hope I did ok...

Anyway, off for a run in the morning to stretch the ol' legs after 2 months... so not looking forward to the pain...

Nothing much else happening to be honest... quite boring actually...

16.08.06

Now you all have to look at this post about the City to Surf 2007. Please if you would like to join some crazy scrappers as we work towards the C2S 07 to change our lifestyles and get fit, then please leave a comment or email me directly at bethroid@tpg.com.au and this will enable you to post on the blog so we can track our progress. C'mon - what have you got to lose? Join in!!!!!


Day 9 of the Rhonna Farrer 21 Day Challenge. Today is halfway on my diet. I am still going good but slightly thankful as I am now on the downhill run. I dont think I could do this diet long term... I miss food too much, but I think in short periods of 3 or 4 weeks at a time would work fine.

Well, no scrapping tonight as House is on - no crazy 1 hour challenges as I am really tired tonight and am feeling a little flat and uninspired.

Hmmm not really much else to add tonight. Have a great night and please check out the C2S post!
Cheers!!! :-)

15.08.06

City to Surf Challenge

I know there are heaps of people who would love to do this but haven't for some reason or another. Well lets start a challenge. There are 52 weeks until the next one. HEAPS of time to get a little bit fit. Even if you don't want to run - you can always walk it! I am going to set up a group blog where we can post our progress towards our 14km goal! So who is in? I know Lusi is!!!
So please leave a comment to say that your in! (But you have to be registered to blogger even if you dont have a blog so you can post on your progress.)

Now, lets get out there and get fit and have fun and we will be the "City to Surf Scrappers"!!!

So who's in?


So today is day 8 of the Rhonna Farrer 21 Day challenge. I bought another box of Optislim yesterday so I will do this diet up to August 26th as we are going to Luna Park that day and I simply have to have a dagwood dog! LOL! So I have 10 days left! I am doing good and am not sick of salads yet... but ask me in another 10 days!

I ran around so much yesterday that today I have the sorest legs and even walking to the school was painful. I really felt like I was on my feet all day! Especially helping out with gross motor at the school - jumping rope for 45 minutes gets tiring!!!

I have finished making Hermione's robes for Kate to go as a witch to bookweek. I found a Barbie pattern and took the basic sketch and went from there. Its not perfect, but they do look good! She loves them too which is the main thing! She didn't want me to sew the hood on though as she wanted to wear a pointy hat! So I have the cardboard to make that.

Well thats about it for today. Have a good one and SIGN UP FOR THE C2S CHALLENGE!!! :-)

14.08.06

Day 7 of the Rhonna Farrer 21 Day Challenge.

I weighed myself this morning. It has been a week since I started the OptiSlim diet. I have lost a smidgen over 2kgs. I feel great and my clothes fit so much better! Here I am thinking I had shrunk my new shirts in the dryer... but no... it was just the extra couple of kilos I was carrying. 2 weeks to go on this diet and I should be at goal weight.

Went for a walk this morning after dropping Kate off at school. The weather is just so beautiful!

Luke, of course, ran inside and asked to have Bugs Life put on. Its his new favourite at the moment. His life revolves around it! It is a cute movie so I can see the appeal!

Have to go to Spotlight today and buy some material as Kate has bookweek next week and they have to go as witches and wizards out of Harry Potter. So I have to make her a robe and a hat. I have no idea how I am going to do it, but I am sure it will turn out ok.

Have to get 3 photos printed off for the Effer's Last Scrapper Standing challenge.

Oh forgot to mention that I am going back to fulltime work in a couple of weeks. Still not sure how I feel about this. I am going back so we can save the extra money to buy a house in 6-9 months but I dont know if I am ready to go. Although, I dont really get much done on my days off like I had originally planned. I think after the first couple of weeks when we are all settled in to our new routine I will be fine about it. I am actually looking forward to it as I am taking a step down from what I do now. I love the role I am going back into so that will make my working day much happier!

Ok, thats it from me today! Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!!! :-)

13.08.06

Day 6 of the Rhonna Farrer 21 day Challenge!

How gorgeous was today?!?!?! We went to Lane Cove National Park. Stayed there for a while just bumming around and soaking up the sunshine. I love days like today! Just too beautiful to be inside!

I felt a twinge of sadness as I watched the C2S take off this morning and have decided that today is the last day. Tomorrow I amgoing to start running again - well try to. LOL! It has been 8 weeks.

Well thats about it from me for today! Have a great one and thanks for stopping by! :-)

12.08.06

Ok so I have been MIA the last couple of days. Just didn't feel like getting on the computer or scrapping which was good because it made for some early nights which I so desperately needed!

Day 5 - well I want to keep in order - of the Rhonna Farrer 21 Day Challenge. To be honest, I havent been exercising. I have still been on Optislim and I have lost 1.5kgs which is great! Only 4.5kgs to go! I have surprised myself with this diet as the other times I have tried it I gave up after like 3 days on it! I am feeling great and not bored or excessively hungry, and surprisingly, not craving anything! I look at food and think 'that would be nice' but I dont crave it. Good-o! So I have 8 days left unless my chemist gets more in LOL!

I am not going in the City to Surf this year. I am a little dissapointed but also a little relieved. I have had a chest cough for the last week and I dont want it to develop into anything nastier by putting my lungs under stress. Also I havent run in like 7 weeks and I know it will hurt so I was a little scared of that! LOL! But goodluck to Angela and Tony!

I made it through to round 2 in the Effer Dare competition! How cool! Now I just have to think of a way to use 13 photos on one layout! EEP! I wonder if I have 13 photos on one subject.... oohhh oohh ooohh I just got a brainwave! Talk about a lightbulb moment! Watch this space LOL!

So thats about it from me!
Thanks for stopping by and take care!

09.08.06

DAY 4 of the Rhonna Farrer 21 Day Challenge. So I am doing good. Well, better than I was. Still, I have to keep working at the exercise thing to make it a habit.

You know - I am really loving these quote! Seriously they are so inspirational! I think I may do a altered journal or something like that with them in. Not that I am into altered stuff much... I like Ali Edwards' life journals and stuff like that, but I dont think I could pull it off to look as 'cool' you know. Hmmm. Maybe I will..... probably I wont.......

So I signed up for this Last Scrapper Standing challenge over at the Effer Dare blog, and then in true Beth style, I promptly forgot about it. So I checked in last night and the first challenge had already been set and was due wednesday midnight. The challenge was to journal on the photo. So this is the layout I came up with. I was scared to write on the photo but I dont mind it now!

I went to do a 1 hour scrap challenge - challenged by none other than myself - and you know what - I couldnt scrap! Its not because I didnt have enough time. Its because of this layout. Because I love it so much, what I was doing, just wasnt comparing! Does this happen to other people too or am I just too harsh on myself?

Ok, I guess thats it from me for tonight.Take it easy and thanks for dropping by! :-)

08.08.06

Day 3 of the Rhonna Farrer 21 Day Challenge. The quote for today is so fitting!!! Didn't go for a walk today - unless you count walking around the shop and up to the school - but I have some exercises I am going to do for toning. Its all good.

Nothing much else has been happening. I live quite a boring life. LOL. Seriously, that's it from me tonight! Have a good one! :-)

07.08.06

Today is my day 2 of the Rhonna Farrer 21 Day Challenge! My habit is exercise and I have also thrown in losing weight as an extra incentive.
This morning I went to the shop and they had a special on OptiSlim so I bought myself some to kickstart my weight loss and exercise program. After that I went for a walk around the block. It was hard going with the stroller, 2 boxes of OptiSlim and tonights stuff for dinner! But it was all good and now I feel so invigorated!

Today's quote is true. I was worried about exercising again because I thought it would hurt and I would be sore and tired. But now that I have got out there and walked - I feel silly because it wasn't all that bad afterall!!!

Well, its another crazy weather day here today! It doesn't know if it wants to be sunny or rainy! I hope sunny as I have to help out with gross motor at school this afternoon!

Well.... thats about all from me for today. I have some housework I have to do and I want to do that this morning as I want to start a roast when we get home from the school.

Oh and another thing - Kath has a blog!!!!
Take care and thanks for stopping by!!!!!!! :-)

Edited to add.....
Does anyone else find this photo really scary?!
Luke is looking at her thinking "I'm gonna get you with this plastic shovel!"
LOL! Sorry. Just had to share!

06.08.06

So I read this book - The Big Picture by Stacy Julian. Am now thinking about changing the way I keep my layouts. Stacy has albums called All About Us, The People we Love, The places we Go and The things we Do etc. I think I like this idea better as I like to tell a story with my layouts, not just showcase a nice photo, although I like to do that too! So at the moment I have a chronological family album but I think I will start to approach my layouts differently from now on.

Another scrapping thing I love is challenges and dares. I love them and get ideas straight away, I just tend to never get around to completing them on time! So Rhonna Farrer has this 21 Day Challenge and first off you choose a habit to make or one that you need to break. Everyday a new quote is released and in a journal/diary type thing you write about it. It is great and very motivational. I think I might start it again - I started but didnt get past day 2....

I am going to start - again.

My habit is exercise. Since becoming anemic I haven't exercised. I am too tired and to be honest I have been using it as an excuse not to exercise. So since i havent run in 7 weeks, I have managed to put on 2 kilos and my clothes are getting tight again so I am going to pull my finger out and get back out there, even if its just walking, anything is better than nothing.

So thats it - this is day 1 and since it is 10.30pm, I think I may put that Pilates video on because I aint going outside now to go for a walk!

And before I go and do some pilates, I might share 2 layouts I did at the retreat!

Also I just want to thank everyone for dropping by my blog! I didnt mean to be such a sad sack in my last post but I really needed to tell someone and I knew Steve would look at me like I had grown an extra head if I blurted all that out to him!

Also, the kids are sick. Steve is sick. I am unscathed. I sometimes like the fact that I work with the public because I dont seem to pick up as many bugs!

Speaking of bugs... yes... Kate had nits... again! But we caught it before she got majorly infested. Its my fault because we had been using a tea tree oil solution and it ran out and I every time I go to the shop I forget to buy more. Definately getting some tomorrow as it stops the nit being able to lay eggs in the hair strand so for all you school mums - buy a spray bottle and fill with tea tree oil and dilute with water and spray the hair every day. I do it in the morning as Kate has wild hair so it helps with putting it into a style aswell.

Speaking of Kate's wild hair... I really have to get some photos of her to scrap. Ok. Comfession time. I scrap Luke more. Its because Kate has the wildest hair and well, it just doesnt photograph well. But after reading The Big Picture, I know that this is her trait and it should be embraced. Wild hair photos and all.... LOL.

Anyway, I think I have babbled on enough and I really have to go do some pilates...
Thanks for dropping by!!! :-)

03.08.06

Mr H. comes into work about once a week. Mr H. makes me want to cry. He is the sweetest man. He is 88 this year and last year he lost his wife of 62 years to cancer. For months he would come into work and we would say "Hi Mr H. How are you today?" and he would reply "I am so lonely" with tears in his eyes. After a couple of months he started saying "I am alright thanks" and that relieved us a little as he was so saddened by the passing of his best friend.

A while ago I was driving out to a friends house and I was driving down the main street and here is Mr H. walking with his cane and limp down the street. I cried. He looked so sad and lonely and it made me upset to think that one day I might be that person walking down the street. That I will lose my best friend after 62 years.

He came into work today and he wasn't feeling the best and he told me he was going to go pay a bill then go to the station to catch a taxi home. He walks everywhere you see. I knew he lived close so I offered to take him home to which he accepted my offer.

I got him home and he invited me to come inside and have a look at his house, which I obliged. He showed me around the house, the loungeroom, kitchen, backyard, bedrooms, and even the bathroom! He showed me the photos on the walls and the books on the shelves. When he offered me a cup of tea I had to decline as I had to get back to work.

When I was leaving he said "I only felt 25% today but you dropping me home has made me feel 100%."

So now I sit here and cry and reflect on this mans loneliness without his wife and I hope that I get to go before Steve as I wouldn't be able to cope, I wouldn't be able to function. I know it is years and years away but I feel so much for Mr H. I guess he is lucky that he has a great son who visits him twice a week, but nothing could replace the hole in his heart of his best friend's passing.

Sorry, just had to get it off my chest and tell someone.

But on a happy note - Happy 4th Wedding Annaversary to my sister and her husband!!! :-)

01.08.06

I know Steve doesn't read my blog but this post is going to be all about him.
I take my man for granted. I know I do. I just want to say how much I really do appreciate him. You see I got an email about some of my scrapping stuff and it had to be at the pulishers by this friday.

I had one piece I had to redo as Webster started to eat it. So he went to work late so I could duck out to the LSS to get a new one. AND he came home early so I could personally drop it off as it was too big to post.

He is such a thoughtful and caring person and he really made my day! Well, he makes my day everyday, but it was just extra special today.

Love you Stevie!!!