2011 - A Review

Fireworks over Sydney Harbour [via]

For some reason I always am surprised when it comes to the end of the year. It seems as though the year went by so fast, and yet it takes as long as it always does! In the past New Years Eve (NYE) has been a big deal, and unfortunately it is often a let down when it doesn't live up to the hype. This year our celebration will be a fairly quiet one (hanging out at my sister's), but should still be quite fun. 

Usually on NYE just before the countdown to midnight I quickly take stock of the past year, without much proper time to reflect. So I thought I would put a bit more effort in this time, and I'm glad I did because I remembered some cool things. 

For me, 2011 was a year of NEW...

Merry Christmas!

Just a short note to say that I hope you and your family have a joyful Christmas! 

Luke 2:10-12: But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid! Listen, a Savior has been born to you today who is Christ the Lord. Here is your sign: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” [pic from here]

'Tis the Season for Cooking Mishaps

...well by me, anyway. I guess I shouldn't be overly surprised considering my burnt icecream and chocolate 'dog poo frisbees' of the past, but I thought maybe this time would be better. 

So this is what I'm attempting to make, stained-glass star cookies for Christmas presents for friends:

Excuse photo quality, it's a photo of the cooking magazine I'm using.

I was excited to get started because this is the first time I've needed to use my mixing machine thing (technical term). So I'm not entirely sure why this happened...

oops.

See that wonky bit of metal on the left? Yeh, that wasn't like that when I started. The machine has two holes for two beaters, so I put both in, and they clashed. One emerged the victor (clearly not the one pictured). Was I not supposed to use both? Is one a spare? I really have no idea. 

So anyway I started just using the machine with the non-broken one. Then I realised the metal bowl was getting scratched. See that plastic little cover thing on the top of the pictured beater (which I assume is used to protect things from being scratched)? Well the other one doesn't seem to have one... ANYMORE (? or I'm hoping it never did but I can't remember). So I had to search through all the cookie dough looking for a weird bit of plastic. I haven't found anything. 

Thank God this batch is the test bach. I'm going ahead with cooking them (just waiting for the dough to refrigerate for a bit) just to see how they turn out. Don't worry friends, you aren't going to be getting these ones with the potential bit of plastic.

Well stay tuned for an update, I'll let you know how the cookies turn out!  

**Updated after the jump**

Advice #2

In a previous post, I mentioned that I am now willing to give unprofessional, potentially unhelpful advice. As promised (quite some time ago actually but let's pretend I didn't take so long) I have finally come up with some answers to some of your questions. You'll be happy to know these questions are not ones I made up myself this time (though don't rule that out for the future)!

Question #1: Dear Lozzz123, You offered advice. I want advice. I am not near as cool as you and though I know I never will be, I was hoping you might inform me as to how I might earn cool points with you and everyone else in the universe, including the plants and the aliens. Please and thank you, Truly yours, With Utmost Sincerity, Uncool Ursula.

Dear Uncool Ursula: Firstly, I'd like to congratulate you on your politeness and flattery. It's always a fine start to getting in my 'good books'. Secondly, after consulting with both the plants and the aliens (once I took off my foil hat, of course) we came up with some simple tips to be more awesome and earn those coveted cool points. These tips are... 

Hold on a sec. Why should I give these tips away for free when this is clearly a lucrative opportunity? Actually, you can get some of these tips following a down payment of $149.95, and you then have the option of signing up for my extra-special coolness classes for the additional fee of $678.84 (per class). Contact me and I'll give you my bank details for a direct-debit transfer.  

Question #2: Ixy asked (without the Dear Lozzz123 but I'll let it go this time hehe...): Why is the sky only blue on weekdays when I'm inside an office building? Where oh where has my metabolism gone? How many eggs does it take to make a decent omelette (thought I'd give you an easy one there)? 

Dear Ixy, I searched the internets for an answer to the blue sky question, and I believe this answer was the best: 

As for your second question on your missing metabolism, I think I actually saw it go past me at the shops on Sunday. It tried to hide with a fake moustache, but I'm not that easily fooled. With regards to the omelette, I use 3-4 eggs for a 2-serving one (true story). 

Question #3: Dear Lozzz123, I'm stuck in a comment factory. Please give me advice about how to escape. Thanks, Oompa Commenter.

Dear Oompa Commenter: Left, right at the second fountain, hide and wait 3 minutes for the guard to pass, then left, left, straight for 30 metres, right at the roundabout, go over the wooden bridge, knock not once, not twice, but thrice at the green door (woe to the person who knocks at the blue one). Once through it's two rights, and a left. You're welcome. 

I think you'll agree that we are all greatly enriched from all that advice. Feel free to ask for more advice in the comments, or go here and fill out the comment form if you'd like to retain your anonymity.

Challenge Accepted!

So for a while I've been wondering which thing to next cross off my 30 before 30 list, and then went and did something that I'd completely forgotten was on the list anyway!

It all started on Saturday, when Husband had the day off work for once. We went out for lunch, and on the way back to the car I spotted a tattoo shop that had a sign saying "we do piercings". I mentioned to husband that I still meant to get my lip pierced one day, to which he laughed and said something along the lines of "Sorry but I don't think you're ever going to be able bring yourself to do that"... challenge accepted!

#12 complete! Sorry for crappy quality iPhone pic!

Thankfully, it was nowhere near as painful as I thought it might be. It's still a tiny bit swollen, and eating, drinking and brushing my teeth are still a bit of an issue, but overall I really like it! I think the owner of the tattoo place thought I was a bit precious though asking if the piercing would permanently mark my face - especially since he had a spider web tattoo covering half of his!

In other 30 before 30 news, I'm a bit closer to also completing #7 - get my drivers licence. I've always argued that I don't want to learn to drive on husband's car as I'd feel terrible if I wrecked it, especially since he needs it for work. Although potentially a lame reason, yesterday I got my own car - hooray! 

Husband named it Kirby...

...Like this little guy! [via]

It was a very busy weekend!