I have been specifically looking at baby gear, so I will comment on that aspect of each shop.
ReGen
552 Milne Road
REDWOOD PARK SA 5097
Obviously I am biased toward this shop because I worked there! They have quite a large range of baby suits, tops and pants, lots of singlets and socks (if you can be bothered to go through them to get the right size). They also have some knitted garments, and a fair few wraps, but not so many blankets. There is a whole bag of pilchers for those who use them. They also tend to stock random items that you might not find elsewhere, like mattress protectors etc, even though there may only be one of each item. Other than clothes, a bunch of toys and an excessive children's book section they don't really stock other items. The baby section is messy but the price is right. If you go at the right time you can get a bag of stuff for $5.
Rags to Riches
Karadinga Sports & Recreation Centre
580 Montague Road
MODBURY North SA 5092
This shop is excessively cheap! It is a small shop, and stocks only baby clothes and manchester, but is so cheap that it is worth having a look. I was able to buy a baby blanket, knitted cardigan, 2 suits and 2 books for $2.20.
The Baby Ba
Shop 2/68 Reservoir Road
MODBURY SA 5092
(08) 8263 5507
Open: Mon-Fri 9:30am to 4pm, Saturdays 9:30am to 2pm.
This shop is not a charity shop, so it stands to reason that the prices are quite a bit higher on their "preloved" goods. However, all they stock is baby items, most pre-loved, some new. The shop is also very organised and stocks all the things that you wouldn't find at other op shops, such as prams, cots, breastfeeding equipment, toys, swings etc. It is a relief to shop here even though it is more expensive, as items are within easy reach and don't require wading through. I bought a baby blanket here for $2. Beware when shopping as to whether you are buying a new or used item - the new items are the same price, or more expensive than those in the shops. This is the shop to call if you are looking for a spare part - other op shops wouldn't have a clue.
3.7.08
Financial Goals for Bubs
I would like to open a savings account for Bubs in his own name so that there is no (minimal) tax payable.
I need to provide a DOB so it is not possible to open an account before the child is born.
I will need to apply for a TFN also, so that the PAYG tax is not withheld.
As soon as the baby is born, we should:
It would be great for the child to open another account for himself to deposit his pocket money and present money once he was old enough to understand how to use it. He could practice saving and watching his interest grow on this account.
Regardless, all money that is gifted to us for the baby will be saved separately until the initial account has been arranged.
We will continue to operate an expense account for the child, as we have already established this (although we haven't established a set budget for the child's expenses as yet, but are simply saving $100 a fortnight). It is hard to clarify the "child's" expenses separate from our own - as in what constitutes a separate expense. Obviously food is not included, but what about clothing, or educational expenses, outings etc. Which come under the general household budget and which are the children's expenses?
I need to provide a DOB so it is not possible to open an account before the child is born.
I will need to apply for a TFN also, so that the PAYG tax is not withheld.
As soon as the baby is born, we should:
- apply for a birth certificate
- apply for a Tax File Number.
It would be great for the child to open another account for himself to deposit his pocket money and present money once he was old enough to understand how to use it. He could practice saving and watching his interest grow on this account.
Regardless, all money that is gifted to us for the baby will be saved separately until the initial account has been arranged.
We will continue to operate an expense account for the child, as we have already established this (although we haven't established a set budget for the child's expenses as yet, but are simply saving $100 a fortnight). It is hard to clarify the "child's" expenses separate from our own - as in what constitutes a separate expense. Obviously food is not included, but what about clothing, or educational expenses, outings etc. Which come under the general household budget and which are the children's expenses?
Departure
This post contains adult themes.
I can already see the outcomes of my departure from your heart.
I have left my keys on the bench inside the front door and when you come in, you will step inside and take off your coat. You will hang it on the hook behind the door and you will drop your keys on the bench next to mine, as they always are when you get home. I would be in the kitchen, finishing the meal I have prepared for you, but today there is silence. At first you will not notice, because you pick up the mail that I have left for you, and you will sift through it until you find something of interest, perhaps an overdue bill. Then you will open it and begin, head down, as you walk into the kitchen.
"Honey, I thought we paid this bill." And then you will notice the absence, you will take in the nothingness of me and your heart will begin to feel void of love. You will falter with mind racing and begin an irrational line of thinking. "Honey, where are you?" In an instant the logic and natural opinions of habit will start to line your mind.
She has just gone out, she will be back soon.
But then you remember the keys and all of a sudden a lump in your throat will be forming and your chest will tighten and you will pace from room to room in search of me, opening and closing doors, calling my name and apologising to the silence so that it might break into my voice. You will slide open the back door and step out; take a deep breath and stare at the sky, questioning, searching for an answer. You feel the breeze on your face. The moment's peace will bring clarity, assurance and sensibilities - you will realise that I have forgotten my keys, that I have just stepped out, that there must have been an emergency.
But to satisfy the questioning, even though it could not possibly be true, you have to check the wardrobe, to see my rows of clothes hanging comfortably next to yours, the shoes scattered upon the floor and my selection of perfume crowding out the shelf. Breathing deeply, so confident in logic that you can manage a smile at yourself, you will step inside. You step across the lounge carpet, down the hall and into our room, our gorgeous love filled room where so many times I have lain naked with you between the sheets.
You step up to the wardrobe and can see yourself reflected in the mirror which we used so many times to the advantage of our lovemaking, and in a flicker of insanity you turn and check the bed, to see that I am not laying silent in sleep, but there is nothing. You turn back, angered at your own irrational hopefulness and slide open the wardrobe door and inside I am gone.
The softness of me has escaped you. The rectangular hollow of space, an unwanted void, is haunting your mind and chasing your heart. You will pause for breath, then suddenly inhale and in that breath is the scent of a thousand days of me, the soft scent of my perfume, my moisturiser, my clothes - the intensity of post-sex aroma is drowning out your lungs and choking you. Then inside you see it, and you learn to breathe again. Hanging to the far left, near where your clothes begin is a solitary hanger, and upon it sits a piece of me, a piece of you, a piece of us. It is a black satin camisole, with lace trim about the edges and the intense memory of our first time together. You will feel the tears rising within and reach for the softness of love and press your face to it, drowning the absence of me in the strong aroma. Memories will flood your mind. Of my laughter at us, lying together, embraced in love, soft kisses upon my shoulders and tenderness upon my breast. We smiled at each other, and knew it was real.
And now I am gone. Not only physically, for I have been gone for years. Now your heart has accepted the void, the pain and true love torn away, for you know it was real and that our love was infinite and tender and there lies the pain, the suffocation in realisation. The choking of eternal absence from me. You kneel and the tears begin unstoppable, and you rest your upper body upon the bed and cannot breath but you will not care. You only want my warm embrace, the softness of my hair upon your shoulders and a cheek pressed against your own. You will give anything at this moment to have me, to hear my voice, to listen to those tender words "Honey, it's OK. I love you." But you know it isn't true.
That I am well and truly gone.
Copyright © Aurian 2002
I can already see the outcomes of my departure from your heart.
I have left my keys on the bench inside the front door and when you come in, you will step inside and take off your coat. You will hang it on the hook behind the door and you will drop your keys on the bench next to mine, as they always are when you get home. I would be in the kitchen, finishing the meal I have prepared for you, but today there is silence. At first you will not notice, because you pick up the mail that I have left for you, and you will sift through it until you find something of interest, perhaps an overdue bill. Then you will open it and begin, head down, as you walk into the kitchen.
"Honey, I thought we paid this bill." And then you will notice the absence, you will take in the nothingness of me and your heart will begin to feel void of love. You will falter with mind racing and begin an irrational line of thinking. "Honey, where are you?" In an instant the logic and natural opinions of habit will start to line your mind.
She has just gone out, she will be back soon.
But then you remember the keys and all of a sudden a lump in your throat will be forming and your chest will tighten and you will pace from room to room in search of me, opening and closing doors, calling my name and apologising to the silence so that it might break into my voice. You will slide open the back door and step out; take a deep breath and stare at the sky, questioning, searching for an answer. You feel the breeze on your face. The moment's peace will bring clarity, assurance and sensibilities - you will realise that I have forgotten my keys, that I have just stepped out, that there must have been an emergency.
But to satisfy the questioning, even though it could not possibly be true, you have to check the wardrobe, to see my rows of clothes hanging comfortably next to yours, the shoes scattered upon the floor and my selection of perfume crowding out the shelf. Breathing deeply, so confident in logic that you can manage a smile at yourself, you will step inside. You step across the lounge carpet, down the hall and into our room, our gorgeous love filled room where so many times I have lain naked with you between the sheets.
You step up to the wardrobe and can see yourself reflected in the mirror which we used so many times to the advantage of our lovemaking, and in a flicker of insanity you turn and check the bed, to see that I am not laying silent in sleep, but there is nothing. You turn back, angered at your own irrational hopefulness and slide open the wardrobe door and inside I am gone.
The softness of me has escaped you. The rectangular hollow of space, an unwanted void, is haunting your mind and chasing your heart. You will pause for breath, then suddenly inhale and in that breath is the scent of a thousand days of me, the soft scent of my perfume, my moisturiser, my clothes - the intensity of post-sex aroma is drowning out your lungs and choking you. Then inside you see it, and you learn to breathe again. Hanging to the far left, near where your clothes begin is a solitary hanger, and upon it sits a piece of me, a piece of you, a piece of us. It is a black satin camisole, with lace trim about the edges and the intense memory of our first time together. You will feel the tears rising within and reach for the softness of love and press your face to it, drowning the absence of me in the strong aroma. Memories will flood your mind. Of my laughter at us, lying together, embraced in love, soft kisses upon my shoulders and tenderness upon my breast. We smiled at each other, and knew it was real.
And now I am gone. Not only physically, for I have been gone for years. Now your heart has accepted the void, the pain and true love torn away, for you know it was real and that our love was infinite and tender and there lies the pain, the suffocation in realisation. The choking of eternal absence from me. You kneel and the tears begin unstoppable, and you rest your upper body upon the bed and cannot breath but you will not care. You only want my warm embrace, the softness of my hair upon your shoulders and a cheek pressed against your own. You will give anything at this moment to have me, to hear my voice, to listen to those tender words "Honey, it's OK. I love you." But you know it isn't true.
That I am well and truly gone.
Copyright © Aurian 2002
Summer's Eve
Warning: This post contains adult themes.
The chill on a summer's eve
When any blanket is too many
And you lay tangled in my hair -
When my heart
Slows to pounding
When your skin
Cools to burning
With all of your strength
Is a glassy-eyed grin as
My fingertips slide unresisting
Across your back -
Intensely fading throbbing
As I realise the heart
That I gave
Isn't mine to give.
Copyright © Aurian 2002
The chill on a summer's eve
When any blanket is too many
And you lay tangled in my hair -
When my heart
Slows to pounding
When your skin
Cools to burning
With all of your strength
Is a glassy-eyed grin as
My fingertips slide unresisting
Across your back -
Intensely fading throbbing
As I realise the heart
That I gave
Isn't mine to give.
Copyright © Aurian 2002
Remembering Logan
Warning: This post contains explicit sexual material.
Outside the back door we reside. We have been swimming and you look cute, but you remain annoying. You are really trying to kiss me, or coax me into it, but I am repulsed by you. I remember leaning over you as you lay on the cement.
I am making a mixed tape, what kind of songs I cannot remember but there are plenty of CDs around. You knock. I tell you to come in, you sit on my mattress which is on the floor and lean against the wall. I remember we talk for a bit but how I end up sitting next to you on the bed I don't know. Hendrix seems to be making an appearance. Ahh. The Baileys on my shelf gets mentioned and I agree to grab the milk from the fridge and we drink together. We drink until it is gone and I can feel the effect of the alcohol taking over my brain. It is making me happy and giggly. You start to appear nice and friendly, a change from your usual self and it appeals to me. I am talking and I laugh and smile and you stare at me, and suddenly you lean forward and kiss me. Yet you're not just kissing me, you are pushing me backwards onto the bed. For a moment I am stunned. A million thoughts are running through my head. I am frozen. Yet the alcohol has taken over and made me lazy in response to instinct, and I give in. I have fought you for nine months, and I give in.
I kiss you back and I am surprised because you are such a good kisser. You are passionate about it, all your energies are concentrated on me, and I like it. Your hands are squeezing me, embracing me, treading sensually upon my body, encouraging me to give in, to revel in your embrace. I can feel my body warming to you as we writhe upon my bed like serpents. I can feel your hardness pressing on me, and it doesn't help my condition.
You get up, I know you have been waiting for this moment a long time. I cannot remember discussing it but we are going to your room and you take my hand and lead me past Scott and Geoff in the lounge room and I am thinking "I shouldn't be doing this" for so many reasons but I can't say no. I don't remember getting into your bed with you or whether I am naked, but you, I think I sit on you and you come in five seconds flat. I am unimpressed and bored. And wonder what I am doing there. I turn and stare at the wall - you say I can sleep with you but I am glad I go back to my own bed because in the middle of the night I get up and am violently sick. I purge myself, and purge myself of you.
Copyright © Aurian 2002
Outside the back door we reside. We have been swimming and you look cute, but you remain annoying. You are really trying to kiss me, or coax me into it, but I am repulsed by you. I remember leaning over you as you lay on the cement.
I am making a mixed tape, what kind of songs I cannot remember but there are plenty of CDs around. You knock. I tell you to come in, you sit on my mattress which is on the floor and lean against the wall. I remember we talk for a bit but how I end up sitting next to you on the bed I don't know. Hendrix seems to be making an appearance. Ahh. The Baileys on my shelf gets mentioned and I agree to grab the milk from the fridge and we drink together. We drink until it is gone and I can feel the effect of the alcohol taking over my brain. It is making me happy and giggly. You start to appear nice and friendly, a change from your usual self and it appeals to me. I am talking and I laugh and smile and you stare at me, and suddenly you lean forward and kiss me. Yet you're not just kissing me, you are pushing me backwards onto the bed. For a moment I am stunned. A million thoughts are running through my head. I am frozen. Yet the alcohol has taken over and made me lazy in response to instinct, and I give in. I have fought you for nine months, and I give in.
I kiss you back and I am surprised because you are such a good kisser. You are passionate about it, all your energies are concentrated on me, and I like it. Your hands are squeezing me, embracing me, treading sensually upon my body, encouraging me to give in, to revel in your embrace. I can feel my body warming to you as we writhe upon my bed like serpents. I can feel your hardness pressing on me, and it doesn't help my condition.
You get up, I know you have been waiting for this moment a long time. I cannot remember discussing it but we are going to your room and you take my hand and lead me past Scott and Geoff in the lounge room and I am thinking "I shouldn't be doing this" for so many reasons but I can't say no. I don't remember getting into your bed with you or whether I am naked, but you, I think I sit on you and you come in five seconds flat. I am unimpressed and bored. And wonder what I am doing there. I turn and stare at the wall - you say I can sleep with you but I am glad I go back to my own bed because in the middle of the night I get up and am violently sick. I purge myself, and purge myself of you.
Copyright © Aurian 2002
2.7.08
32 Weeks
The only task that needed to be done this week was:
Hint: I label my freezer meals using masking tape and write on the recipe title, serves, date it was made and any serving suggestions.
- Prepare 2 freezer meals of at least 4 serves each.
- Choose two meals to make.
- Add the extra ingredients to the shopping list.
Hint: I label my freezer meals using masking tape and write on the recipe title, serves, date it was made and any serving suggestions.
30.6.08
Wrapping Sandwiches
You can save money on clingwrap, and prevent rubbish going to landfill by using alternative methods for wrapping sandwiches in a packed lunch.
My husband usually takes a sandwich to work. He uses a lunchbox with a compartment but he prefers his sandwich in a separate bag so that it is easy to remove and stays together. I avoid using cling wrap wherever possible. I use the bottom half of plastic bread bags (I cut them), when I have them. I also use the plastic inserts that come inside cereal or other boxes, though they need to be small enough to contain the sandwich. Otherwise I use ziploc bags which he brings home again and are washed for reuse (the aforementioned bags are thrown away). Growing up our sandwiches were always wrapped in greaseproof paper but I don't keep this product at home now, and am not sure that it would break down in the compost bin if I used it regularly.
My husband usually takes a sandwich to work. He uses a lunchbox with a compartment but he prefers his sandwich in a separate bag so that it is easy to remove and stays together. I avoid using cling wrap wherever possible. I use the bottom half of plastic bread bags (I cut them), when I have them. I also use the plastic inserts that come inside cereal or other boxes, though they need to be small enough to contain the sandwich. Otherwise I use ziploc bags which he brings home again and are washed for reuse (the aforementioned bags are thrown away). Growing up our sandwiches were always wrapped in greaseproof paper but I don't keep this product at home now, and am not sure that it would break down in the compost bin if I used it regularly.
27.6.08
Jubilee Cake
1 cup mixed fruit
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup boiling water
1 egg
2 cups self-raising flour
Arrange the oven trays and preheat the oven to 200° C (400° F). Grease and line a tin with baking paper. In a large mixing bowl, pour water over fruit, sugar, butter and cinnamon. Whisk in the egg, then mix in flour and stir well. Bake 1/2 to 3/4 hour.
Recipe courtesy of B. K. Turner, Snowtown Centenary Cookbook, 1978.
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup boiling water
1 egg
2 cups self-raising flour
Arrange the oven trays and preheat the oven to 200° C (400° F). Grease and line a tin with baking paper. In a large mixing bowl, pour water over fruit, sugar, butter and cinnamon. Whisk in the egg, then mix in flour and stir well. Bake 1/2 to 3/4 hour.
Recipe courtesy of B. K. Turner, Snowtown Centenary Cookbook, 1978.
21.6.08
Tongue-Tied
When I'm speechless you always find the words
You're the January in my June July
You always find time to dry the tears
And even though I hide my love for you
There are no words.
Copyright © Aurian 2002
You're the January in my June July
You always find time to dry the tears
And even though I hide my love for you
There are no words.
Copyright © Aurian 2002
Intravenous
I ask you to reveal my beauty.
Where does it lie
Inside this battered body?
I search but I cannot see it
Even when I close my eyes.
When I sleep I dream of you
And you watch me -
The flicker of my eyelids,
The gentle rise and fall of me.
I breathe in the words you whisper,
Steady and sure through my heart
You seep
I seek inside -
I am full of love.
Copyright © Aurian 2002
Where does it lie
Inside this battered body?
I search but I cannot see it
Even when I close my eyes.
When I sleep I dream of you
And you watch me -
The flicker of my eyelids,
The gentle rise and fall of me.
I breathe in the words you whisper,
Steady and sure through my heart
You seep
I seek inside -
I am full of love.
Copyright © Aurian 2002
Weighed Down
You do not need to hear from me:
It only encourages fraud and necessity.
So I will continue to hide from you
Requiring effort and discipline
But at least we won't be close -
Suffocated and drowning.
I can see you through the surface
You stare down at me
Melting and moving
But you are solid and I cannot reach you
I am weighed down.
Copyright © Aurian 2002
It only encourages fraud and necessity.
So I will continue to hide from you
Requiring effort and discipline
But at least we won't be close -
Suffocated and drowning.
I can see you through the surface
You stare down at me
Melting and moving
But you are solid and I cannot reach you
I am weighed down.
Copyright © Aurian 2002
Ode To An Illness
I don't know why you are inside me -
You have no place there
Yet you have found a home,
No camp, for eternity.
I would ask you to get up and walk -
Find someplace else for your abode,
Yet you've no legs except mine
And you will not take them.
I try to coax you out
But talking with you is like being ignored -
A husband with selective hearing
Who never picks up his clothes.
For when you go, I go.
When I depart this place so you shall
Reason enough to evacuate instantly
The world relieved -
And then I smile:
Lost in limbo you shall be
But I will live forever.
Copyright © Aurian 2002
19.6.08
Baby's Room: The Walls Are Getting There
Jeremy has spent one day painting the ceiling, and last weekend we tested the blue paint for the walls. I cut up a piece of board that we had sitting around to 50cm X 50cm. I had some instructions I was following from an old Family Circle magazine that suggest 60cm square but I think 50cm is big enough. Looking at an A4 piece of paper in a room is definitely not big enough to tell what the final paint colour will look like. And I wasn't going to paint test on the walls again, not after what happened in the entryway!
I used the environmentally friendly paint that I bought from Bio Paints (highly recommended), and hand mixed (with a stirrer) the pigment into the paint at 1%. It took a long time to mix in, but eventually resulted in the expected pale blue shade. At the moment we are unsure as to whether the shade is too light. I want the room to be light and airy but I don't want the paint to look grey, which blue tends to do if it is verging on white. The aim is to have the painting finished by the end of June, so I might do one more shade test this weekend, and then we will paint the walls on the following weekend.
I haven't yet done up a proper sample board for this room, but I have spent some time working out the colour scheme (triadic) and have been matching up a few different fabrics against the paint sample to compare the effect. Unfortunately, due to the handmade nature of this paint, I have discovered that the blue pigment is more blueberry than I expected, and was not quite the fresh blue I was looking for. But if we keep the shade light there will be no problem. It will still be a great background for the "Heritage Teak" stained cot that we have purchased. It would have looked better in white (especially with teak stained floorboards) but I made my choice taking into account durability as well.
I used the environmentally friendly paint that I bought from Bio Paints (highly recommended), and hand mixed (with a stirrer) the pigment into the paint at 1%. It took a long time to mix in, but eventually resulted in the expected pale blue shade. At the moment we are unsure as to whether the shade is too light. I want the room to be light and airy but I don't want the paint to look grey, which blue tends to do if it is verging on white. The aim is to have the painting finished by the end of June, so I might do one more shade test this weekend, and then we will paint the walls on the following weekend.
I haven't yet done up a proper sample board for this room, but I have spent some time working out the colour scheme (triadic) and have been matching up a few different fabrics against the paint sample to compare the effect. Unfortunately, due to the handmade nature of this paint, I have discovered that the blue pigment is more blueberry than I expected, and was not quite the fresh blue I was looking for. But if we keep the shade light there will be no problem. It will still be a great background for the "Heritage Teak" stained cot that we have purchased. It would have looked better in white (especially with teak stained floorboards) but I made my choice taking into account durability as well.
30.4.08
Morning Routines
I started Flying again this morning! I got out my Homemanagers folder and did nearly all the tasks required - I had especially put off but enjoyed cleaning the mirror, sink and toilet in the ensuite bathroom. It was only when I cleaned it that I realised how dirty it actually was!
One of the biggest challenges for me at the moment is the fact that I am trying to establish one set of routines, but in 4 months time I am going to have to change that routine. Obviously it is better that I establish a routine now, but I am also needing to plan ahead for the baby, which is a huge daylong routine, broken up into segments by breastfeeding. For the first 6 weeks my husband will be home, so there will also be a change of routine with him at home, and then going back to work.
It is funny how getting back into doing routines and chores actually motivates me to do more than I originally planned - it is great and makes me feel more in control and less overwhelmed!
One of the biggest challenges for me at the moment is the fact that I am trying to establish one set of routines, but in 4 months time I am going to have to change that routine. Obviously it is better that I establish a routine now, but I am also needing to plan ahead for the baby, which is a huge daylong routine, broken up into segments by breastfeeding. For the first 6 weeks my husband will be home, so there will also be a change of routine with him at home, and then going back to work.
It is funny how getting back into doing routines and chores actually motivates me to do more than I originally planned - it is great and makes me feel more in control and less overwhelmed!
29.4.08
Purchases For Baby
Yesterday I purchased 5 new Organic Cotton Singlets from Target. They were 20% off so I made a saving. After doing some investigating I think I will return one or two of the singlets, even though I have read that it is easier to have more than you need. I would rather buy some extra things that I need after the baby is born because then I won't be wasting resources. The baby will grow out of this size (000) approximately by 3-4 months, so I have read and I would rather not get too many things for the baby.
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