Thanks to Leah, I got to go (for free) to the Q150 Shed. A series of concerts travelling around Queensland as part of the 150th birthday celebrations. Each concert has a mix of locals and Queensland talent. The main drawcard was Raw Metal, a part of the Raw Dance Company. They were four guys doing some contemporary tap dance. It was brilliant. As were the local guys from 'Formidable' who were up first.
Leah used to do a fair bit of tap dancing, and obviously knew the terminology. One of the 'skits' (I don't know what they call it in dancing), had the guys dressed in work overalls, which they stripped down to pants and shirt. When one of them was stripping, Leah yelled out 'show us your time-step'. The guy smiled and pointed at her. Later on when they were doing a bit of improv stuff, he pointed at her again, and did some time-step (well that's what Leah told me it was anyway).
The night was such great value, especially with the free ticket. We ended up with a singlet each, and a stubbie cooler (or two).
Jessica Sprague is offering another free two week class to be held in July. After taking her Photo Editing - Good to Great Workflow, I think this new class would be great to follow on from that. Plus its free! Doesn't get any better than that.
Last night Karen & I went to see "The Proposal" at a special cinebuzz screening. The cinema was jam-packed, and not a lot can be said for pre-purchasing your tickets on-line. The 'jump the queue' line was bigger than the normal line and didn't seem to be getting any preferential treatment anyway.
The movie, on the other hand, was great and really funny. I love Ryan Reynolds and have a soft spot for any Sandra Bullock romantic comedies, so it was a win-win. I would definitely recommended it, even just for the surprise nude scene (hilarious).
Star rating : 3 of 5
I'm back! (for those who are still even checking on my blog updates, and I wouldn't blame you if you weren't, in which case you wouldn't be reading this either). I will eventually update the blog with happenings from the last few months (including Bali, Caitie), but thought I would share what I've been up to this past weekend.Queens Birthday weekend ended up being very productive for me creating-wise. Not only did Caitie and I end up finalising the organisation of our upcoming Get Scrapped Getaway, but I managed to finish two mini albums. Yes, you read that right - two!The first one was an 8x8 album (using Maya Road chipboard album) for Emma (who is pregnant with her second child). I used some MME papers, together with AC thickers & some painted BG chipboard mini-monogram numbers. I really like the earthiness of this album.
The second album was a 3x3 album (also using Maya Road chipboard album), for Charlie. It's a fun little book of wild animals (using some chipboard laser cuts) which I inked & coloured using some water-colour pencils, before lacquering the whole thing with modge-podge.
I even had time to play a fair bit of this:
(much thanks to Imelda & Frank for the birthday gift voucher) My only problem is I now want the supporting guitar and drum kit. The new guitars, as it turns out, have features that mine doesn't. This means I don't have full point-scoring capabilities. I'll just have to wait until the novelty has worn off the Nelson kid's complete set and borrow theirs.
Ever since we moved into our new house (3 years ago), I have been wondering what to do with the wall you see when you walk in the front door. During building I even added a spotlight for what would ultimately be there (so no pressure). Before christmas I finally decided, and ordered some canvases of us, and of family. The idea is that as we can afford it, and I have nice photos, I will gradually add to this gallery. Already Ben was upset (jokingly) that he was not up there. I promised him as soon as he lets me take a photo where he's not covering his face, I'll put up the canvas.
The other issue I've had with our entry area, is what to do with the display/storage of my scrapbooking albums. Up until now they had been stacked on a half-round silky oak table (that actually belongs to Ben), so that I could quickly grab them should our house be on fire (or similar disaster). These floating shelves that I found at Porters were exactly what I wanted, and after a couple of hours of installation (and finding that our house walls aren't exactly square), I have the perfect display for my albums and some layouts as well.
Boxing Day was the designated day for Kroll family Christmas celebrations. We all headed out to Mirani (with the exception of Linda and Lee, who are living there at the moment), and spent a lazy, relaxing day under Frank and Imelda's house.
It was hot and a bit sticky, but the boys kept cool in the little pool and slip'n'slide. That was after spending a good couple of hours in Ben-10 costumes. By mid-afternoon, I was trying to work out whether I could fit in the pool with the boys.
The boys were given a cool 10-in-1 game set from Santa (word has it that Santa took 4 hours to put it together and didn't get to bed until very late....). So there were a few games of pool and air-hockey. I took the Wii out (on Frank's request), and Lee took to Guitar Hero really easily. Mal and Linda, friends of Linda and Lee, came out later in the afternoon, and they joined in playing Wii Sports. Karen beat us all in the ten-pin bowling, and little Ben beat me in the tennis, but I say he cheated. Jason and I headed home before tea, and fortunately missed out on Singstar, which was inevitably going to be brought out.
Christmas morning, Jason and I were up a fair bit earlier than Ben (who was staying with us for a few days), so we weren't waiting, and opened up our respective presents and stockings. Jason bought me exactly what I asked for (with the exception of World Tour, but that was just wishful thinking). I'm pretty sure Jason enjoyed the contents of his stocking (see photo above).
The dogs received their new soft chew toys. While Sam took to his with great gusto, it seemed a little too early in the day to be overly excited for Jessie. It ended up that Sam much preferred Jessie's 'lamby', and I don't even know where his is.
Frank & Imelda came over for Christmas lunch. It was lovely to have only the five of us. Although Sam thought he deserved a place setting. We had red claw cocktail for entree, turkey mignon and couscous for mains, and chocolate self-saucing pudding for dessert. With the exception of not pre-defrosting the turkey, it all went off without a problem.
After our long lunch we all lazed around for a bit, and spent some time playing Wii Sports. I hadn't really played it much up until that day (distracted by Guitar Hero and Wii Fit), but it was lots of fun. Ben loved the boxing (and we had to keep reminding him to step back from the tv). Frank loved the bowling, and tennis is still my favourite. I ended up with a really sore shoulder the next day.Later in the afternoon Frank and Imelda left for home and Grandma came round for an early dinner, which neither Jason, Ben & I were ready for, given the amount of lunch we put away. I roasted some pork, and we had that with some roast vegies. After dinner we called Tamie and Daniel in Paris. It was great to hear her voice after a number of weeks, and I know Tamie was glad to hear someone else's voice, other than Daniel.
This year I made the decision to not put up our large Christmas tree. I wasn't in the mood, I don't usually have any help in putting it up or decorating it, and it's usually only me who appreciates the effort. So, I decided to stick with our little fibre optic number that I've had ever since leaving home. My other decorations consisted of a bit of a display along the front of the kitchen bench.
For our cards, and my photo decorations (usually hung on the large tree), I used some thick twine and really cheap wooden pegs. I really liked how it looked, and will definitely do this again next year. Our stockings (courtesy of Tamie last year), then hung from each end.
I wanted to hang a few icicle lights, and finally convinced Jason that hanging them along the top of the bifold doors was a good idea. Actually I don't know whether I really convinced him, but I started hanging them anyway.
The other tradition I started this year was 'wish lists' for Jason & I, where we could write down anything we might like for pressies. It was then up to the other person to go through the list, and decide what to buy. We could also give these ideas to family. After much coaxing, Jason finally filled out his list. He just didn't have as lofty goals as I did (an no I did not get Guitar Hero World Tour).
The other tradition I stuck to this year, was wrapping all our presents in brown paper, and then adding Christmas decoration and ribbon. I loved the sculpey trees that I used with our Christmas cards, so I decided to add that to the presents as well, using a slightly different tree stamp.
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My thoughts are with Ammie Scott's family today, after hearing the news that she passed away on the weekend. Ammie had a long battle with cancer, and was the local ambassador for the Relay for Life. At this year's relay, Ammie stood up and told us her story. It was very emotional, but you could be nothing but inspired by how strong she was. She will be greatly missed.
Last Friday night, we had a Kroll-family meeting at Wests, to discuss the plans for Christmas. All plans were sorted while Jason occupied Ben & Toby (& himself) by building houses of cards. Ben really enjoyed it, and had no problem at all going around to all the surrounding tables stealing coasters. When they had finished a particularly large house, one of the waitresses walked past and complemented them on it. Jason suggested it might be worthy of a free drink. Instead, Ben and Jason had their photo taken for the West's "party wall".
Linda tells me that the next day, Ben and Toby were trying to make these at home but with little success. While Toby gave up, Ben asked if he could ring Uncle Jas to find out what he was doing wrong....
On the weekend, during our quick trip to Townsville, we caught up with Ben and his girlfriend Mandy (who we met for the first time). We also got the chance to meet Ben's new addition, Roxy; a playmate for Rogue. She's gorgeous. About the same size as Sam but a third of the weight. Rogue seems to tolerate her, and seemed more interested in the whereabouts of her ball the whole we were there.
Ben bought Roxy a full-sized dinner bowl, and because its a little too big for her, Roxy puts her front two feet in the bowl while she eats. This is ok, but she also does it when she has a drink. Then realising how cool the water is (to play in, and temperature wise), she creates all sorts of mess. Given the current size of her paws, Roxy will undoutedly be a hell of a lot bigger next time we see her.
We also were very suprised to see a roadworthy, registered, newly painted, and most importantly, functioning vehicle in Ben's driveway.....
Saturday night we celebrated my father-in-law's 60th birthday at a local bowls club. We played some social barefoot bowls and enjoyed a catered roast dinner and some home-made desserts. The highlight of the night was presenting Frank with a frame Imelda had made that houses boots, whip, bridle, and horse shoe from his jockey and horse-training days. Frank was actually lost for words, which was a good sign. It was a great night, and in typical Coyne-family tradition went into the wee hours.
When we were in Brisbane catching up with Tamie & Daniel (back at the start of May), I ended up taking a few photos of Tamie & her pregnant belly, as we strolled through Southbank and the city. Here's a few of the ones I liked the best.
The second album was a 3x3 album (also using Maya Road chipboard album), for Charlie. It's a fun little book of wild animals (using some chipboard laser cuts) which I inked & coloured using some water-colour pencils, before lacquering the whole thing with modge-podge.
The dogs received their new soft chew toys. While Sam took to his with great gusto, it seemed a little too early in the day to be overly excited for Jessie. It ended up that Sam much preferred Jessie's 'lamby', and I don't even know where his is.
