Australia Day - Skywatch

The sky and weather last Australia Day.

We delayed leaving for the beach because it rained real early in the morning.

Jens in the car on the way to the beach - with Aussie flag tat.

This was the weather on the way. It didn't look a promising day but we still went. If it rained, we will be wet anyway.

Mcj is always a back-seat driver.

This was the mood when we got to the beach. Very sunny and humid.

It went that way. I was glad.

Mcj and Jens having a dip.

At some point, the sky looked like this. I was blinded. :)


And this was the atmosphere just before we left. It was a fun-filled day.

See more skywatchers here.

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Catchy

The phrase "working mother" is redundant. - Jane Sellman

How true! I just have to grin.

Quote of the day in homehints.com.au.

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Friday Fill-ins

1. Oh, I am so full!

2. My little boy changes, big and little.

3. During ads while watching telly, I just fire Mcj with stories.

4. Life is easy; are you kidding me???

5. Right now I'd like to be home playing with my one-and-a-half men.

6. My T10 (while travelling) is my favorite gadget.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching Marcus Bagdhatis play tennis in the Open, tomorrow my plans include lazy-ing around and Sunday, I want to go to the Caboolture market!

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She Defeated Venus Williams

She's Carla Suarez Navarro from Barcelona. 20 years old. 5 ft. 4 in. (1.63 meters). 137 lbs. (62.3 kilos). Career prize money - $353,875 USD. The farthest she reached in the slams was 2nd round in the Wimbledon.

Venus is 6 ft. 1 in. (1.85 meters) and 159 lbs. (72.3 kilos). Has 7 grand slam titles in her name. Career prize money - $21,940,096 USD. And so much experience and confidence.

But the 7 inches height difference and broad experience gap didn't matter. She created a big upset on the slam.

She has the winning back hand move, just like Justin Henin. And braces to boot! :)

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Enjoying the Water

My one-and-a-half men having a dip and enjoying it. More ww here.

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Mcj is a Cat ;)

You Are a Cat

You are very independent and reclusive. No one really understands you, and you like it that way! You are quite clever and ingenious. You can get yourself out of any sticky situation. You are confident and cool tempered. You know you have many advantages and resources to draw from. No matter what life throws at you, things always seem to work out your way.

What Animal Are You?

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A Pig

You Are a Pig

You are very intelligent, and you enjoy being around people. You can trust others easily. You have great reasoning skills, and you are quick learner. You are able to adapt to most situations. You tend to be very territorial and picky. You don't like people messing with your stuff. You have keen senses and reflexes. You can defend yourself well and quickly sense danger.

What Animal Are You?

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How' It Going Here?

It's a lazy Sunday! I didn't get to sleep-in as Jens woke-up real early. Had one load of washing and we watched Mcj mow the grass around here.

Jens is now asleep.

We might go to the shop before lunch to do some shopping. Need to make that list as Mcj get's annoyed at me as we always forgot to buy something.

The sun is at its might but the wind is cool, just as well.

And I have to do some paid post like the diet pills.

Happy weekend everyone!

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Home-made Icecream

I've been inspired by a fellow blogger to prepare a home-made ice cream so I search for a recipe and found this from cooks.com:

4 c. peeled mango slices, chopped fine
1 c. sugar
4 (13 oz.) cans sweetened milk, chilled
1/2 gal. Half and Half
6 eggs, well beaten
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract

Combine mango slices and sugar in a microwave proof bowl. Heat until sugar dissolves. Place in refrigerator to chill slightly. In a churn, combine sweetened condensed milk, Half and half, eggs and extracts. Add chilled mango mixture. Follow manufacturer's directions for making ice cream.

It's a mango ice-cream. It sounds easy to make but I reckon, I would be happier if I'll just buy a liter at the shop. The ingredients would cost me much plus the time to make it won't justify, I guess. It doesn't cost us much to buy 2 liters of our favourite brand and flavour. Downside is, I can't really be sure that the mango icecream that I can buy at the shop is not artificial flavour. Well, I think I'll just have to buy chocolate or something with chocolate as it is a safe flavour from additives. We might just need a diet pill if we'll make it a part of our weekly grocery list.

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Happy Driving

I was able to drive our 4 wheel-drive car from the house to the train station this morning without drama. Yayyyyy!

Mcj affixed the L sign that we bought last Sunday to our family car the other day before he picked me up at the station but I only drove then from the start of our street to the house as I left my glasses in the office. My L permit has a condition – for me to wear glasses or contact lenses when driving. Yesterday afternoon, Mcj picked me at the station first so I can drive from there to the centre to pick up Jens. We talked that I won’t drive when Bubby is in the car. But I think, he has a bit of confidence to me that he allowed me to drive up to the house. The only major drama was me not slowing down at the corner so I turned wide. And he was also like an instructor – prompting me if I forgot to indicate or when I’m not slowing down when I have to.

Although, I’ve been practise driving for more or less four months now, driving our car in the public road is a big achievement to me as it is a huge car for my size. It means I can handle a big car as we sort of changed our plan of buying me a small car to trading in our 4WD to a permanent AWD that is a bit smaller that we both can drive.

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Becoming a Techie

I am not a techie person. I just happen to join the world of technical professionals because in my previous life, I was part of a team that implemented a new ERP system – one of the biggest in the Philippines. It was also during that time that my biggest accomplishment in my career happened – implementing two new modules which were the first in RP. Those qualifications amongst others convinced my employer here to hire me to join the world of bugs. Lol.

Last week, I was asked by my boss to test the new build of our system and do some regression testing as well. What in the name is regression testing? I wouldn’t have a clue. So I scoured the net, which is my saving grace always. I found this funny facts from testingcenter.com:

Why It's Called Regression Testing

No one knows.

You'll hear all kinds of interesting folklore about the term being borrowed from statistics, or the system somehow "regressing" from somewhere to somewhere else, but none of that makes much sense - and it adds to the confusion.

We'd all be better off it they'd called it something descriptive like "Side Effects of Changing Things" testing, which even has a pronounceable acronym, SECT. But it's too late for that now.

We're stuck with it . Great concept, weird name.

This morning I was not busy so I asked my colleague (who’s my mate in implementing our system to a new client) if he has something for me to work on. He said, none at the moment. A few minutes later, my boss came over to give me some work. Boy, was I thankful. At last I would be busy.

Indeed, very busy that having a break is a welcome change. Since, it’s all techie stuff that I’m tackling now, even I’ve only read a couple of documents I already experience information overload. I’ll start my testing tomorrow when my mind is fresh and free.

For now, I’ll just have to read customisation specs and how scanner is used in our system.

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Last Weekend...

I feel so burnt out. I didn’t do anything extra ordinary last week to cause such a slug in me. But I borrowed 24 books last Thursday and I got excited so I read until late every night.

As usual I had my driving lesson last Saturday, put one load of washing and cook dinner. Apart from that, I stayed mostly cuddling Jens or lying down.

Still my back was aching.

Sunday, I decided to wash our linens so I had 3 loads of washing. I told Mcj, I am not going to cook for dinner. Lunch was chicken and salad from the deli. I was so stressed that I snapped at Jens and Mcj several times.

Late afternoon, we decided to go out though I wouldn’t mind to stay home – the first time for me to feel not wanting to leave the house. We bought me the L sign for the car. (Yes, I’ve been practise driving for more than four months and I haven’t got the L sign yet.) While at the auto shop, we decided to buy a steering wheel cover and seat belt comfort pads.

Then, off we went to feed the ducks at the park. Like the last time, Jens help himself with the ducks’ bread and we didn’t brought much – next time, I’ll bring the whole loaf. It was fun experience when the ducks were getting close, and the pigeons, and the turtles – they eat bread!

Oh, it broke my heart to see Jens’ envious face while looking at older kids riding their scooters. He gets the same face looking at the people riding bikes. The next time we’ll go to the park, we’ll surely bring his bike.

It was a nice afternoon, not so hot so we went for a walk around the park. Jens didn’t want to. He just wanted to be carried around so we played a “monkey game”, which he loves. That encouraged him to walk and run sometimes but I couldn’t let him wander around by himself as there are ponds everywhere. He’s so fascinated by water that he would jump if not told not to go near the banks.

Jens also had a bit of rides at the playground.

Since, no hot meals wait for us at home, we dropped by the Italian Restaurant to have dinner. As usual, I experimented with my order and didn’t really loved it but it was nice.

Jens went to sleep right when we got home and slept until 10pm. I was able to do some house chores and relax a bit. I forgot my aches and pains. I think the time spent at the park helped.

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Congrats, Friend!

I am rejoicing and celebrating for the promotion of a friend to a Department Manager in the company that I used to work for.

Congrats, Mel! Well done. You deserve it!

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Wordless on Wednesdays

*****

It's All About What's In Down Under | Permanence in Change | I Am A Shoeaholic | A Juggling Act | Healthy Living | The Life of a Tatapilla

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Inspired

I have been very good lately - not sluggish. Inspirations and motivations are just flowing out of my veins that I created two new blogs. Now, that I've gotten the hang of a working Mum, I will update them as much as I possibly can. They are both created with passion.

It's all about what's in down under. I wanted to share with you my beautiful side of the world.

Let's make a house a home. Borne with my desire to save and create spaces in our little abode. I also love decorating and in constant search for ideas to prettify things.

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Happy New Year

Some of us may have made New Year’s resolution. I didn’t because I don’t do it anyway. Besides, if I deemed that there’s something that I need to change in my life, I don’t need New Year to do it. I’ll do it as soon as I know it’s necessary.

This year, we went to the Square Dance New Year party. It was my first time to see people do the squares while dancing in real. I saw in Mcj’s face that he really missed dancing – and how he loves it. I’ll encourage him to go back dancing this year, now that our schedule gives us leeway to relaxation. Being just a spectator, I had fun so was Jens. We all had fun. I might learn how to do it this year.

Yesterday was a lazy day for us. We slept-in until 10am and as it was a very hot day, 34 degrees, we stayed indoor most of the time cooling down. Our electricity bill might have sky-rocketed as the AC was on almost 24 hours continuously.

2009 looks so promising and interesting for us. We have so many things to look forward to. Planning is not really our cup of tea but Mcj and I have been talking some future goals and how to accomplish them. I am not into horoscope predictions but today, I checked both of ours (out of curiosity) and they look positive.

Jens is turning two this year. Oh, how fast the time flies. He’s proving to be not a baby anymore. Matter of factly, he is getting quite ahead of his age – attitude wise. We are already facing an interesting world of terrible two. Boy, is it really fun! Not!

Happy New Year everyone! May all our wishes and prayers come true.

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