Monthly Archives: July 2012
Pop Tart Imposter
On Saturday I made a discovery… and excellent discovery… I found pop tarts in the supermarket… well not real pop tarts but fake alternatives which are delicious.
As a kid my weekend breakfast was either nutrigrain (minus the milk) or Pop Tarts, these were the only things that my brother and I were allowed to ‘cook’ for ourselves before mum and dad got up… there had been a few accidents with unsupervised milk pouring. Anyway, as a result I developed an unhealthy addiction to Pop Tarts… and nutrigrain… but mostly Pop Tarts. This was all well and good until they suddenly became very rare in Australian Supermarkets… and when you could find them… expensive. Since then whenever I find them… at a justifiable price, I buy them, because I don’t know how long it will be until I have them again. Even on our honeymoon in America I ate a lot of Pop Tarts just because they were there, it was strange to have them pretty much whenever I wanted.
Now I know that they aren’t good for me… but neither is bacon… or high sugar cereal… all which are considered valid breakfast options, but that is not the point… they are delicious, really delicious. Anyway, on the Saturday when I was at the supermarket get a few items I spotted these:
They look like Pop Tarts, smell like Pop Tarts and taste Pop Tarts, they are even imported from America just like Pop Tarts, but they are not Pop Tarts… but in the absence of real Pop Tarts I feel like I might have filled the void that had been left…
Here is the thing though…
If you are going to import these “Tasty Pastries” why not import the real thing?
Seriously… they are coming from America anyway… the real ones are even fortified 
with some extra vitamins and minerals… not that makes them that much better, but… well actually, I guess it does make them the better choice, but seriously… why? What is going on? Who is making these decisions?
Thanks,
The poorly informed about the import system, but ever Curious George
Wordless Wednesday – Birthday Fun
Happy Birthday Blog
Well here we are one year down the track of the most curious george… who would have thought… I am still actually really enjoying blogging, I am often behind, but I am still keen to make it work. It’s nice to have it to look back on and see what I have achieved, what is still bugging me and to help keep pushing me forward.
I still don’t know if anyone reads it, and I still don’t really mind… although I am still hoping that I will be ‘freshly pressed’ but until then it’s just me, writing about me and my life.
I think in the next year of the blog I would like to be more vulnerable and honest… more opinionative… less sitting on the fence hoping I don’t offend people, because lets face it, that’s much more interesting to read… but it’s much harder to write… but I may as well try… what could I possibly lose?
Anyway, thanks for checking my blog out, maybe once or twice and seeing what I have to say… my site stats suggest that there is more than 1 person reading which is comforting, so I just want to say thanks and I hope that it’s been worth it, because I have been enjoying it.
I want to ride my bicycle
Yesterday I got a new bike… and I am quite excited. I haven’t really ridden a bike all that much in the last couple of years, in fact I usually avoid it at all costs, but recently I have found myself looking at people’s pictures of the places they have just ridden to and being a little bit jealous, just like the way I feel about pictures of people who have just completed fun runs. These are both things that I wish I could do. Now I know that technically I can do them, I just don’t… but I think I am actually at the stage where I want to, but my body hasn’t quite caught up to my brain… I am going to have to practice and train… yuck…. but I will get there.
Anyway, yesterday in a moment of weakness, when Dave asked me what I wanted to do I suggested we go for a bike ride. Sitting in my garage was a bike that my Dad had kindly given me when he returned from China. It wasn’t anything special, but it was a bike, no gears, no normal pedals, but two wheels and a frame. Once we got it back to our place Dave put some new peddles on and it had lived in the garaged until yesterday… when we dragged it out, dusted off the cobwebs and attempted to ride.
All was fine until I wanted to go up hill… no gears… no stamina… no can do… so I got off and walked. At the top of the hill I got back on and started to ride again, a little bit downhill and then more up… this time I tried to persevere… but no… the bike broke… the pedal snapped clean off. Luckily for all in the area I was in a ok mood by this stage… I didn’t cry… I didn’t throw the bike… I just got off and walked back home again. 
Once at home I mentioned that I would never ride that bike again and Dave… who loves to ride… decided it was time for me to have a new bike of my own… So off we went bike shopping… and here is my new… cheap… pink… but much more effective… bike with two well attached pedals… I then attempted the same ‘track’ again… and despite my lack of fitness, it was much more enjoyable… although hills are still hard… lucky Dave can give me a boost if I need it. Oh and my new bike looked pretty awesome the whole way. 
Oh and I got to cross no. 26 off the list.
Magical Haircuts
This week I have had a little time for pampering… well, when I say time I mean I crammed some appointments in to my week to make me feel human again. This week has been nuts… but because it was the same last week and the week before and the week before that my hair has been slowly growing into a tangled mess which was almost touching my ever-expanding eyebrows. So this week, between running around to different commitments, I managed to get my eyebrows waxed back into submission and my hair cut and coloured. Too much information perhaps, but this is what happened. Why am I telling you? Well there are two things I find amazing about these experiences…
1. How just doing something small can make you feel brand new. I have been super exhausted all week, but these two little trips to the salon have somehow rejuvenated me, I feel like a real person again. This is a far cry from the pretend girl I once was, who had an annual hair cut and not much else, I now really look forward to these experiences because I know they will make me feel better, like a functional member of society.
2. The other thing I find amazing about getting my hair done or going to the ‘beauty salon’ is that for that half an hour to an hour that I am there it almost feels like time stops. Sure the people who work there are buzzing around, but I just have to sit with a cup of tea, ready a trashy magazine and catch up on what’s happening with my favourite couple… Wills and Kate, while I just enjoy the music that is being played. I can just check out for a little while, I am not expected to do anything or say anything… although hairdressers are always amazing at starting conversation, but that’s a whole blog in itself… but I can participate as much or as little as I like. Sure as soon as I walk out the door life goes back to the full on pace it was moving at… in fact it’s kind of like merging back on to a freeway from a side street… it also always costs me more than I think is necessary, but I still love it. Just a few moments where my whole purpose is to stop while the world continues around me.
So, having said all that, I am still tired, but my hair is great, my face is clean of unwanted hair and I feel like at least a small part of me is under control in my crazy busy life.
Wordless Wednesday – Out to Dinner
Thinking my Destiny
Words are really powerful, they have the ability to build up and to tear down so quickly sometimes its hard to stop and over the last year or so I have been reminded of just how powerful and devastating they can be, while I was working at another site, there was a lady in reception that had the following quote above her computer:
Watch your thoughts, they become your words.
Watch your words, they become your actions.
Watch your actions, they become your habits.
Watch your habits, they become your character.
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.
It’s a pretty good reminder, something that I don’t think about anywhere near enough. It all starts with a little thought and if you’re not careful it can get out of control. Words don’t just happen, they come from thoughts, despite how bad you think the filter is… In fact if the filter is bad, words are probably an even better representation of your thoughts because they aren’t filtered… they just come out the way they were found in the brain, which for someone with a bad filter like me is a scary thought in itself.
This is something that I have been really challenged about recently, the impact of my thoughts on my life. My outlook, my reaction to things and the way that I deal with people. Often I am quite negative and sceptical on the inside, but on the outside I am peachy pie, until you ask the right questions. But even though I can push it to the back it still taints everything I do, it sets me up to have a bad attitude right from the beginning. It sets me up to be disappointed because that’s what I am expecting. The book that I am reading at the moment, ‘Soul Detox’ by Craig Groeschel, talks a lot about getting your mind right, stopping negative, bitter, jealous thoughts dead in their tracks and replacing them with things that are of God, which is straight from the bible…
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Philippians 4:8 (NLT)
I think I need to start making a conscious effort to control my thoughts, to protect my mind and to stop things that aren’t true, noble, right, pure, lovely or admirable from dwelling, before they become my words or my actions. Stopping them one thought at a time, before I let them turn into words that hurt others the way that the words of others have hurt me.
The Day That Instagram Died
I had never realised how much of a social media junkie I was until instagram died about this time last Saturday… I really didn’t know what to do with myself. For a long time I have been convincing myself that I could go without facebook, twitter and instagram whenever I needed to, but the events of last Saturday make me think perhaps I was wrong. Time after time I found myself refreshing the screen waiting for something to happen… but nothing did, I know I could have looked at people’s pictures on facebook or twitter, or heaven forbid just engage in real life, but it just didn’t feel right. I missed instagram. Even as I went to bed on Saturday night I hoped that instagram would be back to normal when I woke up because I wasn’t really sure what I would do without it… in fact since then I have only posted a ffew pictures, but as soon as it was gone it was like I had a million things to post… but now it just feels silly posting them late… a little wrong even…
I think perhaps I need to have a look at myself and perhaps address my addiction to social media… I don’t think it is good… I mean don’t get me wrong I love it… but I think maybe I feel a lot more connected to the world because of social media then I really am… I would much rather catch up with people and hang out then just pretend we did by doing some facebook stalking… yet the facebook stalk seems to fill that hole sometimes… surely that’s not right… maybe I need a break… maybe not… maybe I just need to be more aware of how much time I lose to social media, how often I feel the need to check it and whether I am letting the virtual versions of my friends replace the actual versions of them…
A Public Announcement Regarding Change Rooms
On Monday night I indulged in water aerobics again and as you do, I went into the change rooms after to dry off and swap into some regular clothes rather than my bathers… Now when I go to the change room I am a ‘do it quick, don’t make eye contact, show as little skin as possible and get out’ type of person… but I know that not everyone is like this there are others… others that have interesting habits… very interesting habits… so this is a community service announcement for women everywhere…
If you are using public changing rooms please take note of the following:
Do NOT take everything off… do half at a time, it’s not that hard… I know we all have the same bits and pieces but I don’t want to see yours. You don’t need to air them out, you don’t need to go for a walk once you are naked… just keep going and put your clothes on… you can be naked at home… not in public.
Do NOT do stretches clothed or unclothed… You can do stretches out in the foyer… or by the pool… the change room is not an appropriate place, in fact it’s just a little awkward.
Do NOT do exercises clothed or unclothed… see above… but also note that exercises in a change room are dangerous… everyone else is trying to get in and out so don’t be swinging your legs or arms around there is not enough space for that… this is a changing room the gym is through the door.
Do NOT stop for a snack… Seriously… I can’t believe this even happened… Don’t stop, turn around, sit down and pull out a container with cut up fruit and start eating… why do you need a snack half way through changing? Change rooms are dirty and they are for changing… quickly… not eating! Does there really need to be a sign that says do not eat? Surely it’s just common knowledge… plus when you stop for a snack… where do you look? I am not comfortable, despite my quick changing, to have someone just sitting having a look around just watching the world go by… it’s weird… and disturbing… put your pants on, leave the change rooms and then have a snack… don’t do it in the change rooms.
So there you go… here endith the community announcement.
The Most Curious George 