Last Time

Sorry, folks but you're about to be ignored again. But for the last time.

I started my final clinical prac today. For the next four weeks I'll be flat out like a lizard drinking as I do my best to make sure I pass and can be licensed not long after it's over. Can't say I was happy after today as I'm not impressed with some of my fellow students - let's just say I'd hate for them to be my nurse - but I will admit first impressions can be deceiving. So I'll let you know by this weekend if I was correct in my initial assessment.

So 4 more weeks, 20 more shifts, 160 more hours and it's all over. Then I can start to have something resembling a regular schedule again. Hang in there, bloggy peeps, I'm nearly done! Or maybe I mean to tell myself that.

And The Winner Is...

As promised, Clive and I drew the winner for our Super Fantabulous Prize giveaway this morning. I wrote everyone's name down:

Put them into our Tigger hat:

Had Clive reach in a draw one out:

And the winner is:

Small Town Mom! Woot woot!!!

Just email me your snail mail address, and the coasters and Tim Tams are on their way by the end of the week. Congrats Small Town Mom, and thanks to everyone who left me a comment. I love comments, and I wish I'd bought enough coaster sets for all of you.

For the benefit of those who didn't win, here are the sayings and the translations.

"Don't get your knickers in a knot" - "Please remain calm and collected." I am familiar with "Don't get your panties in a twist." Same thing.

"Get a mullet up ya" - "Life is good, let us drink to that." Ummmm, okay?! A mullet is a fish, not just a hairstyle. Why I would want one up me is beyond my comprehension, so let's just drink...

"Don't come the raw prawn with me, mate" - "I know you are trying to deceive me." And yes, Aussie's say prawn, not shrimp, despite what Paul "Crocodile Dundee" Hogan may tell you.

"Don't spit the dummy" - "Don't get all upset." "Dummy" is the Aussie word for "pacifier". Also commonly heard - "S/He spat the dummy".

"Off like a bucket of prawns in the sun" - "Good heavens, I must leave very quickly."

"Carrying on like a pork chop" - "Please stop over-reacting, it's unnecessary." Parents, try this on your offspring sometime. It may shut them up for a few seconds as they try and figure out what you just said.

"Bloody galah" - "That person is a fool." The phrase "silly galah" will also do if you want to avoid mildly swearing with the use of the term "bloody". A galah is a native bird that has the reputation of being stupid.

"It's within cooeeee of here" - "Excuse me, I was wondering if anybody's out there?!" I don't like this translation. The call "cooeeee" is used in the bush to see if anyone is around. If you just called "Cooeeee" then the translation would be correct. But the phrase as it's written would mean more along the lines of "The place you seek is not terribly far away".

"Flat out like a lizard drinking" - "That most certainly is the fastest thing I've ever seen." I love this one. You can use it to describe a particularly busy day, as in "I've been flat out like a lizard drinking all day."

"Stone the crows" -"Goodness me! That is interesting."

"Pigs arse!" - "I'm sorry, I believe that is incorrect." Or in more succinct American terms, "Bullsh*t"

"Fair crack of the whip" - "I'm sorry, I believe an injustice has just occurred." Kids, use this the next time your parents do something totally unfair and see what happens!

I had a lot of fun doing this. If I can continue to lay my hands on more inexpensive Aussie memorabilia I will have another giveaway soon. Congrats again, Small Town Mom!

Something's Cooking

For some unknown reason I spent a large part of my day cooking. Why is this a big deal? Because I don't like to cook. At least on most days I don't get any sort of thrill or happiness out of cooking. It's just another thing I must do. Maybe it's because I'm not confident in my skills. Maybe it's because generally the fruits of my labour aren't appreciated - I usually hear something along the lines of "what is that??" Or maybe I just don't like it.

But today? I made soup, and not my usual Campbells open-a-can soup. Real vegetable soup. And then I baked. I baked muffins. And a cake. Sure I didn't do those from scratch, but still. I baked when I had no reason to other than I wanted to. And then I made dinner and didn't mentally piss and moan about it. And if I had other things to bake? I would have.

Is anyone else afraid?

But at least someone enjoyed the fruits of my labour:

And since it was a holiday today (Labour Day) she was home all day watching and helping.

Don't forget our totally awesome giveaway ends tomorrow morning (Brisbane time). Have you entered yet? It's easy, just go over to the post and leave a comment. That's it. Tomorrow morning Clive and I will be drawing the winner, so don't delay. Act now!

Saturday Skinfest

I was too depressed after I got home from work last night to do the Skinfest. My beloved Brisbane Broncos had their asses handed to them by the Knights down in Newcastle, which is not as bad as the Cowboys losing to the Eels on Friday night - the Eels who were at $4-something going into the game, the Eels who looked last week as if they couldn't play their way out of a wet paper bag - but still. Enough to make me want to cry.

So here I am on Sunday morning, ready with the skin:

Oh me oh my... kinda hoping that's a pair of socks Shannon Hegarty's got down there, kinda not.

Congrats to Darren Lockyer on his 300th game last night...

... even though Kurt Gidley an his Knights totally ruined it by kicking your ass.

Faithful reader yellojkt had a picture of Megan Fox the other day looking all medieval. I still don't really know who she is, but she was kinda hot and cute. So here we are!

Have you entered our Super Fantabulous Giveaway yet? Get your bad self over to the Giveaway post and leave a comment to enter. Too easy! You have until Tuesday morning (Brisbane time, so be sure to do the math), but don't delay or you'll miss out.

More skin next week, less Broncos loss (I hope) next week!

Win A Super Cool Prize Time

When I sat down last night to do this post I went looking for the prize in order to snap a few pictures and write a better description. I couldn't remember where I'd stashed it for safe keeping. I hate it when I do that. Compounding my attempts to look for it was the fact The Hermit had gone to bed early, so I couldn't conduct as thorough of a search as I wanted to. I did find it this morning, however, so here we are!!!

When I was up in Bundaberg at Bundaberg Brewed Drinks, stocking up on cases (yes, cases) of some of my favourite drinks that they just don't sell in Brisbane or in ridiculously small quantities I spotted these on the shelf and just had to grab them:

They're good bar quality coasters, each with its own unique Aussie saying and the English translation underneath. So along with the one featured in the photo - "Don't get your knickers in a knot" - there are classics like "Get a mullet up ya", "Stone the crows", "Flat out like a lizard drinking" and many more. Each one in this set of 12 is unique. On the back side you'll find this:

Bundaberg Brewed Drinks 3 most popular drinks, Ginger Beer, Lemon, Lime & Bitters, and Sarsaparilla (available in both regular and diet).

So how can you win this fantabulous prize? Just leave a comment. That's it. Just comment here on this very post by clicking the 'witty remarks' link below. You have until Tuesday morning at 9am (that's Brisbane time) to leave a comment. After that Clive and I will draw a winner by the very scientific method of writing all your names on little slips of paper and choosing one out of a hat. If you leave me especially flattering comments I'll even throw in some Tim Tams or an Aussie treat of your choosing. I'd send some of the drinks to sit on those coasters, but if you live overseas I think customs would get mad at me. And yes I will ship these to whatever country you reside in. So comment away!

Skinfest tonight when I get home from work. Right now I need to get ready for swimming lessons.

Photo Friday

I can't seem to engage my brain this morning. It's times like this I miss my sweet sweet caffeine. Anyway, if I can get my neurons in gear later today I'll do the giveaway post - remember I promised prizes - but for now here's today's photo:

My boys Sparky and Clive during our recent holiday.