My favourite thing to cook

I love it when NaBloPoMo has a foodie topic

I don’t know if I can choose just one favourite thing to cook. I love cooking and baking almost as much as I love eating. I love spending time cooking a creamy risotto with butternut, bacon and red onions. I love my slow cooker and having the smells of a homemade stew or filling for a chicken pie filling the kitchen during a cold day. I love an old fashioned roast with all the trimmings.

I think my favourite savoury thing to cook is a persian lamb stew that my dad adjusted to his liking called karafs khoresh – but I almost never get to make it because DH cant stand celery. I’ll post my dad’s version one day when I get to make it again – his includes prunes and they make it a special treat served with couscous.

I bake because I have a serious sweet tooth! I love Spiral pudding from my friend Anne, a sponge pudding soaked in a sweet milky syrup. I love Janet’s sticky chocolate pudding with ice-cream. I love caramel cheesecake. I really really love sh*t cake… even if I loathe making it.

If I even think about food for much longer they may have to move me out of my house with a crane

Anything weighing on your mind?

A NaBloPoMo topic this week was “what is currently weighing on your mind?” and I haven’t been blogging as frequently as I like to so I am grabbing any topic I can find

So last year we put in an offer on a lovely house. A lovely 2 bedroom house. And then found out we were pregnant (I don’t know why we were surprised, we had been trying… but for some reason in the excitement about the house it had slipped my mind).

So, we live in a 2 bedroom house, with 2 children and my lounge looks like a campsite – its full of toys and a cot and a bouncy chair and a rocking chair along with all the usual lounge paraphernalia.

And the thing that is weighing on my mind is wishing we’d bought a larger home in a cheaper area and scheming about how we could make it happen (short answer is we cant… but it doesn’t stop me obsessing).

Whats weighing on your mind?

Do you like beginnings?

There’s something special about the start of something, that sense of anticipation, the shiny newness of it all. I love starting a new job, making a new friend, setting off on a trip, moving to a new country, having a new baby… I love beginnings.

With one exception – relationships. I like my relationship comfortable, well-worn and with a sense of shared history. It doesn’t matter that we were far more exciting and attractive 13 years ago, I am happier and more connected now than I was in the first month of our relationship.

Do you like beginnings?

What is something you always have with you?

Besides the usual wallet, phone, ID, and the mom stuff (nappies, wipes, spare clothes etc) the thing I always have with me is something I’m a teeny bit superstitious about.

I love to travel and used to do at least one overseas trip a year – before kids, that is. On my very first overseas trip I took a US$10 note from the money I exchanged and I have kept it with me ever since. I’ve gotten a bit attached to what it represents – travel, adventure, the thrill of the unknown – and I’m a bit superstitious that if I lost/spent it it would mean the end of travelling for me.

What is something you always have with you?

What three words do you hope no one uses to describe you?

The next NaBloPoMo topic follows on from yesterdays that asked what words you hope people use to describe you. Today’s is “What three words do you hope no one uses to describe you?”

My 3 would be:

1. dishonest

2. reckless

3. naive

Someone just “suggested” I had been dishonest once and I had that awful sick to your stomach feeling. I’ve never forgotten it! I’d rather be called fat, lazy and stupid.

What three words do you hope other people use to describe you?

Thanks to NaBloPoMo for the great topics this month!

The 3 words I value most when other people are describing me are:

1. honest

2. hard-working

3. smart

I like to think I’m all 3, all of the time but I think #2 is debatable

What three words do you hope other people use to describe you?

What are you waiting for?

I am waiting for 5 o’ clock. Its Friday and I am anxious to get home and start the weekend.

I am waiting for payday (not mine, DH’s).

I’m waiting for a doctors appointment for DestructaBoy, knowing full well that the likely outcome to us seeing a doctor about him not sleeping is for the doctor to say “welcome to parenthood, now harden the f*ck up”. I know its cynical but we’ve had a bad run with doctors in the last few years so until I meet one who listens/cares I’ll be less than charmed about seeing them.

Re the above, I am waiting for our son to sleep for longer than 50 minutes. I didn’t think it could get worse than it was but it did.

I’m waiting for that blissful minute when I get to sit down with a bowl of icecream and chocolate sauce. Because of the sleep thing I haven’t been watching any TV or doing any blogging – my usual evening relaxation – but I have been indulging in lots of sugar.

I’m waiting for June when we go to Wellington for a weekend

I’m waiting for a friend to get back from holiday so we can have a good natter.

I’m waiting for the Auckland Babywearing Walk. For the company more than the walk.

I’m waiting for a parcel to arrive in the mail (impatiently I’ll add).

Waiting… waiting… waiting…

What are you waiting for?

5 must-read web sites

I spend all day and most of the night on the net so there are always more sites I love and think “I really must share this!”

Here are my current 5…

1. Ask Moxie – really pragmatic advice on parenting (and life in general). My favourite was her quick and dirty post on babies and sleep

2. Clients from Hell. I visit here daily to remind myself that my own clients aren’t nearly this sucky. Yet.

3. Enjoying the Small Things – by Kelle Hampton. Amazing photography, beautiful style and a gorgeous family.

4. I’m Gonna Kill Him – the tagline is “you agreed on I do and not a single thing since”. Funny as hell – especially if you also sometimes feel like you have a special needs husband.

5. Scary Mommy. She makes me do the snort laugh (yeah, go on, pretend you’ve never done the snort laugh). Especially when she’s annoyed, like here

What’s more important in a relationship

What’s more important in a relationship, physical chemistry, emotional chemistry, intellectual chemistry, or something else altogether?

I’d like to say all the above but I think intellectual chemistry is probably most important for me. Physical chemistry is great to kick off a relationship but if a relationship is going to last more than a few months you need to have a similar belief system, be in a similar place intellectually and have a similar sense of humour. Then after a few years a shared history also comes into play.

I’m not a huge fan of the first few months of a relationship where you’re still getting to know each other and everything is new. I’m happiest after a few years together when there are no surprises and life is *mostly* predictable

If you were stranded on a desert island, what ten things would you want in your pockets?

If you were stranded on a desert island, what ten things would you want in your pockets?

Mine would be:

1. A good book or 5

2. A hammock

3. As many Timtams as I could carry

4. Sunblock

5. Scrabble

6. Matches

7. Sunglasses

8. Iced coffee

9. Peppermint aero

10.  A mobile phone to call for rescue when I’ve had my fill of Timtams and sleeping in the sun