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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Petrol experience...

I filled the car up with petrol last night. I was feeling good that I had found a good time to fill up. No children in the car, running on time to my aqua class, found a 8c per L voucher that expired that day, all going well.

Until I handed the voucher over.

The attendant looked at me. 'This is not a coles station.'

I realise that in my calm state I have mistakenly gone to the wrong petrol station. They are side by side and I pulled into the wrong one.

I politely express my frustration at myself and the waste of my voucher.

The attendant replies. 'Yes, 8c off would have been better.'

Really?!

Monday, February 27, 2012

Made it monday .... bread

More than 10 years ago I was given a bread maker. I went on holidays and learnt about choc chip bread and loved it (my waist did not, still trying to recover from that trip!!). So my parents gave me a bread maker to indulge my taste buds (although not help the waist line!!).

As with all new gadgets the excitement wore off and every now and again the bread maker comes out for a spell but then it sits idle in the cupboard taking up a lot of pantry space. Over the last year - since the pizza maker entered out lives - it has been mainly used for making home made pizza dough which is fantasitc.

Last week though I ventured back into loaves. I have made a pumpkin/cumin bread and a sun-dried tomato bread. There is something so nice about the smell, taste and texture of fresh bread. I am really enjoying it (and hoping I will have more self control so that my waist will too this time!).

Today I am going to try raison bread for the children's afternoon tea. Do you have any good bread maker recipes to share?

Friday, February 17, 2012

'No junk mail'

Last week I did a letterbox drop inviting people to our church's opening celebration. It was nice to get out and enjoy the evening outdoors in a brief pause of the rain.

We were given instructions not to put notes in the letterboxes that asked for no junk mail. So I became very aware of the number of boxes that did not wish to receive unaddressed mail.

I soon learnt that on steep driveways it was best to first peer up for the little rectangular message so that I did not use my calves in vain. And was most disappointed when I got up there and found that some had been obscured from view (community announcement - please make your letterbox signs clear for the poor people doing the walk around!)

I appreciate now the junk mail we do get, the people who make the effort to walk up and down our very short but steep street to deliver their bits of information. I appreciate them delivering it but still don't read it. Most of it ends up going from the letterbox to the recycling bin outside straight away. It avoids the temptation to find something I need to go and get.

So I had thought I should put my own 'No junk mail' sign up but now I feel for those people who come down out street as if they have come down they must go back up and I don't want them climbing up the hill feeling their trip was in vain. Let them feel that mine was the letterbox that made all the difference, I am the one that will make many purchases from their catalogue. Maybe instead I should have a sign - 'Thank you for the junk mail'.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

476 things...

Today the 'buy nothing new for a year' officially ended and I am right into my new challenge for 2012. Getting rid of 2012 things in 2012.

The tally for January is 476 unneeded, unnecessary things have been shown the door!

The main contributor to the tally were the kids toy kitchen - we had 90 excess plastic cooking utensils!! The other biggies were the bathroom drawers and the garage/workshop which have both had an overhaul.

I think it will get harder as the year progresses but I am fighting my hoarding gene with all my strength at the moment and it is paying off!