What am I doing??

Well... Chris's comment here started something (nice to hear from you again Chris (and Pauline too!)...

No, I hadn't seen my picture on the front page of Allrecipes Australia... and I still don't think it was :) I have seen it on the front page of Allrecipes Canada, and in the competition on Allrecipes.com for the picture of the day that day, up against another 89-or-so pictures!!!

But Chris gave me an idea. I had just joined AllrecipesAU and I thought "why not upload my photo", mostly just for the fun of it, and because I was a wee bit proud of our cupcakes!

Well, lo and behold, I get an email from someone at AllrecipesAU asking if I could "translate into Australian" the two recipes I used from Allrecipes.com to make the cupcakes and I quote (without permission but I hope no one will mind - and a couple typos corrected too - and hyperlinked for ease of enjoyment! tee!hee!) "We wanted to compliment you on your beautiful photo of the cupcakes you made for your daughters's 10th birthday!
We see that you have referenced a cake and icing recipe that you used from allrecipes.com
If you have the time and inclination, we would love you to upload your version of the recipe to go with the photo. [...] but we thought it was such a great photo that it deserves a recipe!"
Well, wasn't I chuffed (and thankful for Chris's mention of having seen my pic, even though Chris, I'm still wondering where it was as it was not uploaded before I did upload it, but it doesn't matter, does it as it's there now!!!)

So I sent them my version of the recipe, but it was too similar to the original on the US site so I wasn't allowed to upload it, but Allrecipes.AU were, but it's funny, they uploaded all my comments and suggestions too, so you can compare for yourself.
Cake original: Fudge Cake
Cake on Australian site: Chocolate cup cakes (a few corrections were made by the editors, like vanilla essence instead of extract and plain flour instead of all purpose and icing instead of frosting but the text is mine!!! Yay me. I guess?! Oh, and not to mention that in my International Melting Pot of a kitchen I measure butter in cups and spoons, and measure flour in cups too... I don't have a good kitchen scale! So yes, a lot of editing, I guess, on Allrecipes.Au's site but still, a bit of me behind there.....)
Same with the icing
Frosting: Decorator Frosting
Icing: Cheerful Butter Icing (my version edited by them a wee bit.)

I've since uploaded a few more recipes which I consider mine as they have had a few alterations from the original... I think you can see those if you go here, I'll have to try it when I'm not logged in, I hope you can see all of a person's recipes and reviews, as that's one feature I quite like from Allrecipes.com.

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Cadbury Schweppes got back to me about my bag of mixed choc chips (see previous post) and I got a gift card... Might save it for Easter :) though, any day is a good day for chocolate!!!

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Since I've last posted, and if you read this post you'll be pleased to know that I now have a Western Australia Driver's Licence and that I'm no longer afraid of Roundabouts and almost no longer afraid of "Give Way" signs (though my instructor kept telling me I don't need to completely stop at them!!! *sigh* that's what you get from being a polite nice Canadian!)... and BONUS, no log book, no P plates, even though my Canadian permit (I had my last one, my Ontario one) expired in 2000!!! I was so clever to bring it with me, and my marriage certificate (to explain the change of last name!) etc... it all went very smoothly!!! Yay... but still no car to drive, the computer chip blew up in ours, thus its demise last Saturday...

Yesterday I had the evening from H-E-double-hockey-sticks.....
I'm in a rush to make dinner as my two took too long with showers after school and well, I was still detangling hair, and it was time to make dinner. So I made my fave on such occasions, a Dutch Baby (I'll post the recipe later, another day, it's a great "save me I don't want to cook" type of dinner!)...

So I proceed to put my milk, and add eggs one by one to the blender jug. Then I place the blender jug on top of the blender in order to make room on our small kitchen bench to get the flour out to add to the mixture (yes, a Dutch Baby is made with those ingredients!)... well... someone most likely yours truly left the blender in the ON position (I must've been in a rush last time and just took it of without thinking... it happens sometimes, I just forget to think!)... well, even the split second it took me to put it in the OFF position wasn't enough to prevent a big egg mess all over my kitchen bench, the floor, the toaster, everything else that was on the counter, the floor, AND ME!!! And if you've ever had to clean egg up, it's not easy!!!

*sigh* well, I cleaned the kitchen as quickly as I could before I started hearing some "mummy! i'm hungry!!!" sounds... and tried to guess how many eggs had flown out of the blender, and how much milk I had lost, as I wanted to recuperate what was still inside the blender jug!!!
Well, it turned out to be a beautiful Dutch Baby.
BUT...

My "cool pants", not as in they are so fabulously fantastic that they are "Cool man" but in that they are not hot, and it's been hot here the last two days.... were dirty, they are the only pair of pants which survived last Summer and which I can stand when the thermometer rises above 30... they were eggy, to say the least... so I thought washing them before bed would be a good idea...
I've been going to bed around 10-10:30 lately, just too pooped to burn the midnight oil :) but last night I got a bit sidetracked and at 10:30 I realise I was ready for bed, but I hadn't washed my pants..... so I go for the short cycle, they aren't super dirty, just need a bit of a wash (seriously, I couldn't even see the egg stain anymore -- but I KNEW it was there!!!)...so I check all my pockets, and throw in a black top I like (again, not too hot, and it needed a bit of a pick-me-up as well)... keep myself busy for half an hour while the cycle runs its course... and get ready to hang the pants and shirt so they are ready this morning... what do I see? I can't believe my eyes, those darn cargo pants... so many pockets, I must've missed one... because... it snowed tissues in my washing machine..... millions of specks of tissue everywhere on my pants, and on my shirt!

I can't help but laugh a bit, and go show DH. By that time I'm in my nightgown, I go outside to hang the clothes, and when I come back inside, I realise my nightgown is inside out...

I figure there's only one thing to do: GET TO BED as soon as I can before something else happens.

This morning I wake up and feel a bit "not quite there", I manage to get the girls ready for school, and DH drives us to school/work in our cheapy car rental (can't expect much for $16 a day), and I'm grateful to not be walking or bussing this morning because it starts to sprinkle when I get to work. I'm tired, I don't feel too cheerful, and I have to go to the other office (sort of next door, actually,r eally next door) to finish a little dust job I was doing, and I have to unlock, and I manage to get the key completely and utterly stuck in the door. I think to myself, this is silly, this can't be... so I go back and ask J(one of the guys there) if he can help, and lucky for me, and I think he actually made my day, he told me that it's the lock that's hard to open - Yay! it wasn't my fault... my day went a wee bit better from there.... and I think, maybe, my stroke of bad luck is over.... I HOPE!

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Did anyone watch the first episode of Season 9 of CSI? (the Original Las Vegas one?)... goodness, soppy... I cried. (Oh Crap! Julie K!!! Oh no... you'll know exactly what that means, concerns Miami CD which is still HERE and not on its way to you! I am such not a good friend!!!)

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I feel guilty leaving you without any graphics, pictures, or any cool stuff...
but I can leave you with a cool tip. I found some really well priced Essential oils on eBay from Sally who is from Western Australia too... I love essential oils. Just wish I knew more about what to do with them... other than smell them!

That's it for now, enough already!! Hope I made you smile, as that's an important thing to keep doing!!!

Be well, be good, be nice.

France