Author: Renae

Living life as a wife, a stay at home mama of 3 kids under 5, a marriage celebrant, a craft and sewing amateur, a cooked breakfast lover, coffee enthusiast, extroverted socialite, and most recently, someone who is trying to keep a tidy house. It's tough I tell you!

Oh what a game

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Even if your life doesn’t revolve around AFL, that is, you’re not a Victorian, you would have heard about the drawn grand final on Saturday between St Kilda and Collingwood. Hubs and I were with friends at their friend’s place in Melbourne, so we only knew 3 other people out of the 30-odd who were there, but that didn’t stop us from cheering like mad. As I’ve mentioned, you either support Collingwood, or you hate them, so most people were hoping the Saints would win.

St Kilda were behind for almost the whole game, and at one stage by 3 or 4 goals, but we were never out of it. We never lost hope of being able to come back. And in the 3rd quarter, named “the premiership quarter” we came back and kept Collingwood goal-less. It was incredibly exciting and certainly the best game of football I’ve ever seen in my life. When we hit the lead for the first time, the room, bar the 3 Collingwood supporters, went absolutely nuts! But it wasn’t won yet. Both teams stepped up to the challenge and played like they’ve never played before, and to be honest, a draw was one of the best results possible. What I mean by this, is that you just couldn’t separate the 2 teams on the day. They were both deserved winners, and Hubs thinks they both should have been able to take a trophy home and be done with it.

But that’s not how it works in the “real world.” When the final siren blasted with the scores deadlocked at 68 all, we assumed extra time would be played. But no. That’s not how they do it in the AFL. They started talking about “coming back next week to battle it out again.” Say what now? I have to go through this all over again??? I barely avoided labour this time around!!!! (People at the party kept looking at me and a few asked “when are you due again??”)

So that’s the way it’s going to be. This Saturday at 2pm they will have a re-match. In a lot of ways, it’s no big deal. Another game of footy to watch – what’s wrong with that? But if you consider all the things that are planned for the week after the AFL grand final, Victoria is a mess! All the grooms who have said to their brides-to-be “as long as the wedding isn’t in September, that’s fine” to which they reply “okay honey-bunny. We’ll make it for the first weekend in October.”

Oh boy. There would have been a lot of nervous brides at full-time.

Anyway, the main point of this post was to say how amazing the game was and how much Hubs and I enjoyed it and how it was all people could talk about afterwards. We witnessed history and it was great to be a part of that. Now we just have to go through it all again this Saturday. GO SAINTS!!!

Favourite lines from songs

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I found this post that I originally wrote in September 2010! I have no idea why it didn’t get published, so here it is! I’m sure there are more recent songs I can add, but this is what I was loving almost 5 years ago – even before little Chanbe was born!

I have a lot of favourite songs that I’ve blogged about before, but I also have some favourite lines from songs that I will share with you…… now!

“She was one in a million. So there’s five more just in New South Wales.”
The Whitlams, Up Against the Wall.
Oh my gosh this is one of my favourites. I mean, it’s kind of sad as well, saying that she’s not as special as “one in a million” would, at first, suggest. I guess I find it amusing for that reason.

And an honourary mention from another Whitlams song called Melbourne:
“If I had three lives, I’d marry her in two.”
I love that sentiment. It’s like, he knows how amazing she was so he’d want to live that life with her all over again, but also would like to give something else a try. Honest and sweet.

“Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes, I’m afraid it’s time for goodbye again .”
Say Goodbye to Hollywood by Billy Joel
I know I’ve mentioned this song before, but it really sticks with me.

“When you love someone but it goes to waste.”
Fix you by Coldplay
Another heartbreaker. I love this type of song – the type that starts small and intimate and ends with lots of drums and electric guitars and harmonies and other BIG STUFF. The Crowd is very much like that too.

 

It’s that time of year again…

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FOOTY FINALS WEEKEND!!! You may recall that 2 years ago we watched the Grand Final between Geelong and Hawthorn at our friends place. In that post I wrote something along the lines of “St Kilda are unlikely to deliver the goods for us” and last year, I had to eat my words when I posted about the Grand Final between the Saints and Geelong. I don’t know if I ever actually mentioned that St Kilda lost the grand final last year, and it was a little devastating. Being the supporter of a team who has won every grand final they have played in (Brisbane Broncos) this was a little heartbreaking, but we were beaten by a better team on the day and we were able to get over it (eventually).

This year is a different story. St Kilda have again made it to the grand final (woo hoo!) but our opponent is Collingwood – the most hated, yet most supported team in the competition. Collingwood supporters are scary. I went to a Collingwood vs Bulldogs game this year and feared for my life – no one was safe! They abused the opposition players, the referees, the Bulldogs fans, AND their own players! AND THEY WON THAT GAME!!!!

I don’t know how I’ll cope if we lose to them, but worse still, I think there will be rioting in the streets if Collingwood lose. I’ll still be cheering the Saints on like crazy though. We’re watching the game with some friends and friends-of friends, so of course, I wanted to bring some baked goods along. I was busy last night making this recipe (with a slightly different to-die-for frosting) and, as usual, a) it took longer than I thought; b) since I don’t regularly make cupcakes, I overfilled the patties and my first batch ended up looking like mushrooms; c) I realised (again) I need a bigger mixing bowl and d) the decorating was the best part!!

Note Wifey’s “concentration tongue”… (and piping goods!!)


What?? I was obviously concentrating really hard!!!


Oh when the Saints
Go marching in
Oh when the Saints go marching in
Oh how I want to be with St Kilda
When the Saints go marching in.
GO SAINTS!!!


Pop culture in our marriage

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Hubs and I have many running jokes that we just don’t get sick of, and I’m sure people think we’re quite strange when we start one of our “runs”. And I’m sad (and happy at the same time) to say that Beached As Bru changed our lives. We can’t get enough of it. And we refer to it almost daily, even if it’s just an “Aw noo” here and there.
Have I lost you? Don’t know what I’m talking about? Well clearly you need to spend some time on youtube 🙂

Here are some other pop culture references that we throw around on a regular basis:
– Beached as bru – “Want a chup bru?” “Can’t chew bru!” “Aw shut.” “I noo.”
– Withnail and I – “Ching ching”
– Boston Legal – “Denny Crane” and “Lock and load”
– Hercules Returns “eh eh eh eh”, “I love classy lines like that.” “Ooooh you could pick the bones outta that one.”
– Rowan Atkinson LIVE – too many references to choose from!!
– Scrubs – see above
– Eddie Izzard – “Cake or Death” “uuuh cake please” “Well we’re OUTTA CAKE”
– Eddie Izzard – Death Star Canteen – “You’ll need a tray” “Do you know who I am?”

I may have lost y’all very early on in this piece, but I’ve been wanting to blog about this for months now, so that in 20 years time, Hubs and I can look back and go “Aw noo!” and remember these silly things that always make us smile.

Quite Interesting

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I’m about to go on one of my “you HAVE to do this thing which is so awesome” rants, in this case, watch a particular TV show, where most of you will be thinking “yeah Wifey, I’ve been watching that show since it aired in 2003 and have told you before to watch it, and now that you’ve discovered it, you need to give me some credit for already telling you about it.” Or something along those lines.

I’m talking about QI, or Quite Interesting; a British panel comedy that Hubs and I have fallen head over heals in love with. (Here’s the Wiki link that gives a great run-down on the show.) We’ve been watching it on IView (something ELSE a friend told me about AGES ago that we’ve only just tapped into) the last month or 2 and it really has become one of my favourite shows. I think we’ll have to look at acquiring the earlier seasons as well. We get great belly laughs and Mutley gasps every episode, and no matter what mood I’m in before I watch it, I’m always in a better mood after.

So if you haven’t already checked it out, I can highly recommend it. If you’ve been watching it for years, tell me if the novelty ever wears off!

Back to Woolies for Wifey

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It’s not my fault. It just kinda happened. It doesn’t mean that I’m not still annoyed at Woolies for what they did to me, but the thing is… well… The Coles at Wang is rubbish. It kind of just crept up on me how rubbish it actually is. In the mean time, Hubs and I decided to give the Commonwealth Bank the flick and have changed all our banking to ING. And lo and behold, Woolies accepts our ING Direct Debit as you can choose the “savings” option. Go figure.

Do I lack commitment to “the cause”. Yes. Should I continue to shop at Coles for the principle? Perhaps. Am I going to? Probably not. The Woolies down here is just SO much better and nicer and has the products that I want and is right next door to work and church so I can swing by on my way home if needed, or do my “big shop” after church on a Sunday.

I know, I know, I’m justifying myself to make myself feel better. But hey. What are you going to do?

You can’t catch me…

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… I’m the GINGERBREAD MAN!!!

I didn’t think I liked gingerbread bikkies. I don’t really know why to be honest – maybe the bought ones are a bit too gingery for my taste. For this reason, I’ve never ventured into baking Gingerbread Men, but being married to Hubs means I often broaden my culinary horizons. Oh, and I had just bought a Gingerbread Man cookie cutter, so clearly I had to bake some!

What I didn’t realise, was the the cookie cutter I had bought was actually quite large!

And that I much prefer 3-step-recipes (mix, bake, eat). This was more an 8-step recipe – mix, stand in fridge, roll, cut, (and repeat 3 times) bake, cool, decorate, eat – which took just over 2 hours! It did however, also give me another opportunity to use my piping set that was given to me by the lovely Liza and family and any opportunity to use this set is warmly welcomed!

I tried to decorate the first tray a bit manly-like since Hubs would be eating most of them (or so I thought):

I got a bit more creative with the second tray, adding a Charlie Brown zig-zag shirt, a Superman logo (use your imagination dammit!), a muumuu and an “I(heart)U” Gingerbread Man.

We had one with a cup of tea for afternoon tea and I discovered just how much I actually LOVE home-made Gingerbread Men! Which is a shame, cos they really are a lot of effort!

Not as much effort, however, as macaroons, which I will blog about next.

One ingredient Wifey

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I get bursts of inspiration from time to time to bake or cook something a bit different, and often it will start with just 1 ingredient in my cupboard that I “want to use and not waste” so I end up buying a whole lot more ingredients just to get rid of one of them. Or I’ll find something on special at the supermarket and wonder what I could make with it and it will start from there.

Let me give you a few examples.

– I was known at College for cooking ANZAC bikkies. How did this come about? I had leftover rolled oats from making roo burgers.

– I started making my own tomato pasta sauce because one week while I was shopping for clothes on Sydney Rd, I stumbled in to Woolies and they had 2 bunches of basil for $2 and the fruit and vege shop around the corner had 1kg bags of tomatoes for $2. So I phoned Hubs and asked him to look up a recipe for me and I bought all the other ingredients. (Incidentally, $2 for a bag of tomatoes that you have to dice yourself is not worth is when you can buy a can of tomatoes for 79c). And so my pasta-sauce making began (and has continued.)

– We were visiting Hubs’ Aunt and Uncle just before we left Melbourne and 2 of Hubs’ cousins had made Macaroons and mentioned that they were filled with ganache. “Hmmmm” thought Wifey. “I have some leftover ganache from Hubs’ birthday cake. Maybe I should make some too!” So I did! But that’s another story.

– I made Gingerbread Men because I had bought myself a Gingerbread Man cookie cutter. So I actually had to buy all the ingredients for that one!

– Today I made banana muffins because Woolies had “fill a bag for $2” in the fruit and vege section (yes, I’m shopping at Woolies again – I’ll explain later) and there were ripe bananas there so I thought they would make great banana muffins (and I was right – yummmmmmmm)

– I bought 5 of the biggest lemons at the Swap Meet last weekend and I’m trying to decide what to do with them. Any ideas???

To Do

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Hubs is away on a retreat this weekend for med so it’s my opportunity to “get organised”. I’ve written myself a TO DO list (one of my favourite things “to do”! ha ha ha ha…) and blogging isn’t on that list, but boring things like vacuuming and washing and cleaning are, so it’s no surprise to find me here. I’ve prepared myself for doing lots of the things on my list – I have 8 hours of music lined up (currently listening to The Panel Live), I have a belly full of breakfast, and I have a speck of motivation which will hopefully be enough to at least get me started.

I’ll be good and keep it short (for now… I’ll probably be back later) and share with you a belly shot in a skirt that our good friend Mel made me. The photo doesn’t quite do it justice, so let me tell you how comfy and cute it is, just in case you can’t tell!

The Swap Meet

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Ever been to one? Even know what one is? Any interest in attending one? Before Sunday the 12th September 2010, my answers to these 3 questions were “no”, “not really”, “not overly, but Hubs is excited so that’s good enough for me.” Hubs has been working very hard for the last few weeks to get the kombi up and running, and his hard work was rewarded on Thursday night when he had completed all the jobs he thought would fix it, and the beast started. And it hasn’t stopped since!

Over the preceding days we had been talking about buying another car – something a little more “family-friendly”, and one that… you know… was working. But as we were taking the kombi for a test-drive around town on the Thursday night, Hubs with a big grin on his face, I turned to him and said “We’re not going to be getting another car now, are we?…” His response? “HELL NO WOMAN.” And seeing that smile was all the convincing I needed. We were due to head down to Melbourne over the weekend and come back through Shepparton on the Sunday to attend the Annual Goulburn Valley Swap Meet. We still need a few parts for the car (including a centre seat) and thought it might be a fun way to spend a Sunday.

Up until Thursday night, we were thinking we’d have to hire a car, but thankfully I have a brilliant Hubsband who fixes stuff, so we jumped in the kombi on a sunny Friday afternoon and headed down the Hume towards Melbourne. We caught up with friends on Friday night and the Saturday, and loaded up the kombi with all sorts of marvelous baby furniture and paraphernalia, thanks to our wonderful friends the Baileys and the Bakers. We then caught up with Hubs’ uni friends for dinner on Saturday night and watched the end of the Bulldogs vs Swans game – a great night was had by all, and it was so lovely to see all our wonderful friends.

Sunday morning was an early start with the alarm going off at 5:30am. “We” (Hubs) wanted to be at Shep by 8am ish, but ended up getting there closer to 9am. (I slept half the drive.) I was quite intrigued about this whole “swap meet” thing and Hubs was telling me that it was a “Classic Cars Swap Meet” so I was looking forward to seeing lots of restored vehicles and, well you know, Classic Cars!

I was to be frightfully disappointed.

The reality was more like this: Every August, wives of Goulburn Valley start pestering their husbands to “clean out all the junk in the garage” to which the husbands respond “it’s not junk! This stuff has a lot of value!” The wives say something along the lines of “I don’t care what you do with it, just get rid of it!” So the husbands cleverly think to themselves “I know – the annual swap meet us coming up! I’m sure I’ll be able to sell my junk there.” And that’s 80% of what we saw. Junk from people’s garages. The “classic cars” were few and far between, and it became evident VERY early on that we weren’t going to find what we were looking for.

Add in some soft rock playing on a loop in the background (80s and 90s baby – I was in heaven!), some sausages on bread, the odd mullet or 2, more than enough ugg boots, and 1 lone kombi (a 1977 model – one year younger than ours*) and you’re pretty much looking at 3 hours of Wifey being very good at not complaining but wishing she was lounging around somewhere else. Anywhere else!!

Here are some examples of what we saw:

Now to be fair, there were SOME classic cars. They seemed to be either looking like this:

(believe it or not, this one had a “SOLD” sign on it)

…or this…
…or this! (NOW we’re talking!)

(For more fab photos, visit Hubs’ flickr page here.)

So we arrived with the desire to buy a couple of carburetors, a center seat, and a new engine :-). We left with a “new” saucepan ($10), 5 lemons ($1), 2kg of nuts ($20), 2 cook books ($2) and some snow chains ($5). I was excited with my little treasures, but Hubs was annoyed he didn’t get to buy anything manly. The snow chains were a bit of a “I want to BUY SOMETHING” purchase, but hopefully they’ll come in handy.

Hubs has since heard through the grapevine that there is a VW Only Swap Meet in Melbourne in a couple of weeks time, so we’re heading down for that one too, and will hopefully find what we’re looking for. Although, if the last one was anything to go buy, it might just be a whole lot of non-car-related junk from VW owners’ garages. Only time will tell…

*technically the kombi we drive still belongs to Hubs’ family, but Hubs adopted it 10 years ago and has never left it’s side.