Turkey Day Down Under

So, it's Thanksgiving (well, it's Thursday here, anyway), and something I'm asked every year is whether or not I celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia. The answer is...sometimes.

I have in the past, and likely will again in the future. This year though, I gave it a miss, and here's the reason why:

That is a photo from my local grocery store. Demonstrating that a 15lb bird costs over $65. Amazingly enough, this is a "special".

I like turkey. Just not that much.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Pardon my absence - the last few days have been craaaaazy. The bank finally came through at the very last second, so as of Friday afternoon we had a new home! That meant the touch-and-go moving plans for the weekend were officially a go, and with the help of some awesome friends we were in our new place by dinnertime on Saturday (I use the term "we" rather loosely, considering that all a pregnant woman is good for is supervising - but I supervised the hell out of that move, oh yeah!).

We've spent the last two days unpacking, and it's still not quite finished (although we do have the interwebs back as of today - yaaay!) - when it's all done, I'll post a few photos of the new digs. Until then, here's a picture of a chicken that we took earlier today to tide you over:

And yes, it is crossing the road. There is little more surreal in life than turning to your husband in the car and saying, "Hey...is that...a chicken on the road?" I live in Hickville, folks.

Who wants to see what the pregnant lady looks like?

16 weeks, 2 days down.

23 weeks, 4 days to go.

I’m not even halfway there.

I feel I may look like this by the end of it:

That's what twins will do to you, folks.

Movember - Day 18

I know. I KNOW. I'm four days late with this post. In my defense, my house looks like a cardboard box factory exploded nearby. Have I mentioned that we're moving? We bought a house! Or at least, we're trying to buy the damn thing - the bank effed up our paperwork and closing was delayed at least a week. Hopefully it will go ahead on Friday, so we're packing like we'll be out of here on Saturday (we have this place for a while longer so no worries on that front, but COME ON AND CLOSE ALREADY).

Anyway. You don't really care about that, you just want to see the mo', don't you? Fine then:

I know what you're probably thinking: it doesn't look all that different to Day 10. But what you can't see in this picture is that Ben has had to start trimming that thing so he doesn't keep nibbling on it. It's gotten that long! I'll get him to shave for the next update so you can get a really good look at the epic hideousness that is The Derek.

P.S. This really to support a great charity, so if you'd like to help support men's health awareness, visit the official Movember website and enter the registration number 240899 to view Ben's profile and make a donation.

Calling all Photoshop users!

Check this out: Jason Gaylor of Designfruit has launched a new website to sell his very cool Photoshop brushes and vectors - and to celebrate, he's giving away free downloads of a 66 brush bundle!

Let me repeat that: freeeeeeee professional Photoshop brushes! I literally shrieked out loud with joy when I got the promo message in my Google Reader, so I had to pass this on in case any of you are fellow Photoshop junkies. You can check the brushes out here - just click the Add to Cart button to get to the download page.

Fun times!

Myra, the Super Cool Stepmom, emailed me recently with a video of a piano staircase. I was so intrigued that I looked up the others in the series - they're all from The Fun Theory, a site sponsored by Volkswagen that considers the question: what if it was more fun to do the things that we dislike?

What if throwing away trash was more fun?


What if recycling was more fun?


What if exercise was more fun?



I'm already anti-litter and make an effort to recycle, so taking the stairs is probably the one of these that would affect me the most - because yes, I would TOTALLY use those stairs. Probably to my detriment, since I'm one of the clumsiest people on the planet and would doubtless plummet to my death while trying to play Heart and Soul. But still, these are interesting ideas - would you do more of these things if they were more fun?

Oreo psychology

Oreos are, disgustingly, one of my favorite treats of all time. I don't really know why - I started getting into them more after I moved to Australia, so I suspect it might just be a comforting, homesick food thing. But there's just something so blissful about twisting those cookies apart, licking out the insides, then eating the cookie (preferably after it's been dipped in a glass of milk).

Apparently, this means I'm a compulsive liar and exhibit deviant behavior:

View more presentations from mwestern.

Someone has too much time on their hands...

P.S. Thanks to Jacqueline at This And That for the awesome award - in Portuguese, no less! 

Movember - Day 10

Finally, the (rather late) Movember update! The winner of the Great Mustache Poll of 2009 was The Derek, and by a rather sizeable lead. Frankly, I suspect a conspiracy of nerds. Anyhoo, here's a reminder of what it looks like:

*shudder* 

That, ladies and gentlemen, shall be my husband's inspiration - his muse, if you will - for the rest of the month. Lord help us all.

And this is is what the man I married looks like after a mere 10 days of Derek-inspired 'stache growing...

...are you ready for this?

Are you sure?

Might want to remove any small children and and the faint hearted from the room.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

I'll let you recover from the horror for a moment before we proceed to take a look from a slightly different angle, just so you can properly admire it in all it's hirsute glory:

Très sexy, no?

At this point, I would like to remind you all that while you can return to the comfort and safety of your own home, I HAVE TO LIVE WITH THIS. FOR TWENTY MORE DAYS. I know it's his face, but I think I deserve some kind of medal for not barring this thing at the door, don't you?

P.S. This really to support a great charity, so if you'd like to help support men's health awareness, visit the official Movember website and enter the registration number 240899 to view Ben's profile and make a donation.

Yeah I know

I promised a photo of Ben's mustache for Saturday, and I didn't deliver - I'm sorry. Something came up over the weekend, and it was important enough that everything else got pushed to the side. I'll be back to regularly scheduled blogging soon - until then, here's a picture of a bunny:

Three things

1. I've been MIA because I'm working on my final school assignment for the semester. It's worth nearly half my grade and although I've got it about 98% done, I need another 150-200 words to round it out. Who'd have ever thought that my problem would be being too succinct for once, eh?

2. Thanks so much to Corrie from Just Because My Pickle Talks Doesn't Make Me An Idiot for the sah-weet Talking Pickle Award in honor of Ben's willingness to whore out his upper lip for charity. You rock, Corrie!

3. Speaking of Ben's upper lip, there are still a couple more days left to vote in the poll for which 'stache he should grow - clicky to decorate my husband's face! At this stage, it would take a miracle from heaven (pleasesweetlittlebabyJeebusdon'tmakemelivewiththisthing) for The Derek to be overturned...and since it has over 50% of the vote and Ben is a hairy dude who has more of a 'stache after a mere four days than most guys have in two weeks, he's already started giving it shape. It is.........disturbing. I'll take weekly photos on the progress of the mo for the rest of the month, so you'll be able to feast your eyes on the hideousness this Saturday.