Have Sponsor, Will Blog - Plus Giveaway!!

So you remember how I begged for sponsorship to go to the Aussie Blogger’s Conference on the other side of the world in Sydney in March? Straight after posing it I had two lovely donations, one from Aunty Penny (possibly trying to get me to go away so she could babysit) and one from the fabulous Mum In Search - thank you both so very much.

Then, less than 24 hours after posting, I was contacted by a company - I nearly fainted. I had to read the email about 18 times before I could believe it and then, whilst still shaking, I forwarded it on to Map Guy and Aunty Penny with a subject line of "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH OMG OMG OMG" - you know, cos I'm so mature. So after a few emails, some phone calls and a proper snail mail letter (oh I love receiving snail mail so much!) drum roll please... I am now officially sponsored! Yaaaaay! High five! I’m going to Sydney, baby.

So I’d like to introduce you to my sponsor, a fab company that is based right here in WA – HealthyChart! 

Look what I get to put on the sidebar!

HealthyChart is a magnetic incentive chart for kids aged 4-11 that promotes eating a balanced diet, drinking plenty of water and getting enough exercise each day. The chart tells you how many servings of each food group you’re meant to have each day and as you eat them (or before if you’re planning your meals) you add a food tile to each section.

A quick glance will let a busy parent know exactly how their child is doing for the day. Plus it's funky and colourful and looks way better on your fridge than a bunch of tatty petrol discount coupons or tip vouchers.

The Fussy Eater pointing out she just ate an apple - aint she a cutie!?

I was sent a HealthyChart to check out and since Tricky is too young to be using it (unless we could get some Boobie Juice tiles made?) I've started using it myself, albeit with slightly different recommended servings per day. It's helped me realize just how unhealthy I am because there is no 'Half A Block Of Chocolate' tile and definitely no 'Sit On Your Ass Blogging All Day' tile. So not only am I being sponsored, but I'm becoming healthier as well - how groovy is that?!

The HealthyChart website is full of great healthy lifestyle resources and even has a downloadable ‘Taste Test Challenge’ to encourage kids to try new foods - which would have come in really handy for my Mum when trying to get a 3 year old Aunty Penny to try rice (she would only eat it after being convinced they were 'Baby Potatoes') and this continued til she was, oh I don't know, 19 I think.

So that's two cool things! Sponsorship to go to Sydney and I got a HealthyChart, hooray! But because three is my favourite number I need one more amazing thing... so how about a HealthyChart GIVEAWAY!!! High five!

As with all giveaways you just have to do a few little things:

1. 'Follow Where's My Glow?
2. 'Like' Where's My Glow? on Facebook
3. Check out the HealthyChart website and 'Like' the Facebook page
4. Leave a comment telling me what you love about HealthyChart

You can grab some bonus entries too:
You'll get one bonus entry if you Tweet this giveaway, and one bonus entry if you share it on Facebook (just lemme know in your comment).

Easy peasey nice and squeezy! But please oh please log in to comment so you can be contacted when you win. If I can't contact you then there is no way I can find out your address to post out the prize. Entry is only open to Australian residents and entries close at midnight AWST on the 13th of December. The winner will be chosen using Random.org and the prize should reach you in time for Christmas!

The Blind Leading The Blind

Recently Aunty Penny has been dipping her toe in the dating pool... actually dive-bombing in to the deep end is probably a better metaphor.

Because she is much stupider braver than I am, she's even gone on a few blind dates.

I don't even know how blind dates work. Is it like the movies where the man carries a folded newspaper and the woman wears a yellow ribbon in her hair? I must remember to ask Aunty Penny if she has ribbons.

So each time one of these blessed events have occurred, for safety, Aunty Penny has emailed me the information of the bloke she's about to meet. You know, so I can point the police in the right direction if she goes missing. And always, at the bottom of the email is "Use my bridesmaid photo".

Yes, we have arranged what photo to give to the media in case she goes missing.

This isn't a new thing. Oh no, not at all. We've discussed this for years. In the event of one of us going missing the best, most prettiest photo of us will be used - under the belief that the amount of effort put in to searching for someone is directly proportional to how attractive they are.

This idiosyncrasy, this quirk, is just us. We are a little bit strange.

But I don't think it's bad to talk about things like this, and the pretty photo instructions are just a nice way of lightening the mood when you're talking about awful things like going missing.

We are very open when it comes to our family policies. Some people would say it's morbid that we have a prearranged "Switch Me Off" policy if one of us is ever on life support and we already know that at my Mum's funeral the main song will be "I Still Call Australia Home" by Peter Allan and the rest of the songs will all be John Farnham numbers - if the group isn't up and bopping by the end of it, then a little bit of Cher should fix that.

But I like it. I find comfort in the ability to control one tiny little bit of the uncontrollable.

Does your family have any policies? Or am I the only weird one?

The Sound of Silence

This post isn't going to be funny. Not even slightly. But I'd still like you to read it.

Today Aunty Penny and I attended the 20th Annual Silent Domestic Violence Memorial March at the Stirling Gardens in Perth city. It was dedicated to all those who have lost their lives as a result of domestic homicide in Western Australia in the previous year... 15 people. 15 too many.


On the ground in front of the stage there were 15 white coffins displayed.

13 of the 15 coffins

There were two smaller coffins for children.

And right in the middle there were two tiny coffins.

Some of you may remember, because of the giant media circus at the time, that those coffins represent seven month old babies. Twins. Lachlan and Sophie.

I sat on the grass, in front of the tiny coffins, playing with Tricky's feet while he smiled and babbled away, unaware of the somber mood of the crowd. I had a massive lump in my throat. I was consumed with thoughts of Tricky - almost the same age as the twins... but I could not even imagine what it would be like if he were gone. My mind simply cannot process it. So seeing those tiny coffins, knowing that someone had murdered those innocent babies... I could not contain my sadness.

My chest was on fire and my stomach ached... and I wept.

I felt embarrassed - I was, after all, crying over people I had never met before. But when I looked around, there were a lot of other people crying too.

The few hundred people gathered then walked the streets of Perth in silence. Men, women, children. Gay, straight. Christian, atheist, Muslim. Black, white and every shade in between. All were represented because all are touched by this horrific crime.

Police blocked traffic and we walked the streets in silence

Today's march was silent. But if you, or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence then don't be silent any more. For a list of resources in your state, visit ReachOut Australia.

Muppet Baby

What do you think of when you hear the word Muppet?

This?

Or maybe this?

Perhaps some of you even think of this?

So Muppets (or any puppet for that matter) can't smile. Not really, anyway. To show they're happy they just open their mouth as wide as it can go. Well they don't, the puppeteer does, but you know what I mean. 

Scroll back up and look, I'll wait right here while you do.

See, just a really big open mouth but we know it's a smile, right?

I had no idea that same thing happens when babies are really happy. It goes beyond a curl of the sides of the mouth and turns in to something like this:

My Muppet Baby

And for those of you who are disappointed that Tricky was the Muppet Baby, I give you this:

Woah, '80's flashback.

Muppet Babies was one of my favourite cartoons as a kid (not THE favourite, cos let's face it, nothing could beat Shera, Princess of Power). I even remember when Hungry Jacks had a kid's meal where you could get little Muppet Baby figurines. Aunty Penny and I got them all and they became our Barbies' toys - cos even Barbie likes Muppet Babies.

Let's continue the flashback - did you have a favourite cartoon as a kid? And please, please, please don't say Pokemon or I'll feel really old.

Remember, I reply to all comments so make sure you sign in with an email address to get notified.

I Am So Blogging This

My Mum knows me so well. Check out the funky singlet she bought me, modeled by the delightful Tricky:

She actually bought it for my birthday next month, but then I told her how I'm desperately trying to go to the Aussie Blogger's Conference and she grabbed it and said "You HAVE to wear this if you go!"

But there might be a problem... Sarah from Just Me, who will be there, has one too!

We all know that the only time you can dress identically to someone is if you're a bridesmaid, and I'm pretty sure no one is getting married at the conference.

Then when I told her I was going to try to blog it this weekend too...

It's ON! It's on like Donkey Kong.

What? Me, competitive? Nah!

So here we have it... and I WON! 

Update: Hot on my heels, Sarah posted about her shirt - you can read it here. 
Update: We've started a trend, Tina has one and now so does Dannie

Cherry on Top

Question: What's pink and square and make Glowless go Eeeeek!?

Answer: A 'Cherry on Top' blog award from the Farmer's Wife at Life in the Country!

It's for "beautiful blogs with that little bit extra" which makes me wonder if it's a thinly veiled way of saying I'm fat? No? Phew! I have put it over there (>>>>) in my sidebar and called it 'Squishy'.

I want to send a massive thank you to The Farmer's Wife - she is awesome. Not just because she thinks I'm "absolutely hilarious" (see that, that's a real quote!), but because she has a really great blog about her life on a farm with The Farmer and The Farmchildren. She even has tractors and chooks! I find the notion of farm life quite romantic so I read her blog and look at her pictures and daydream about what it would be like if it was Map Guy, Tricky and I. Plus she's in WA and that immediately makes her pretty cool.

The award comes with some rules:

1.  Thank the person who sent it to you
2.  Copy the award
3.  Explain three things you like to do
4.  Send the award onto 5 other blogs that you think are deserving

Well I've done the first two, so here's he last two:

Three things I like to do

Twitter - I am seriously becoming addicted to Twitter. I used to be a big instant messager type person but with Twitter being limited to 140 characters it means people (including myself) can't waffle on about crap! Hooray!

Go out - It doesn't matter where, be it out to coffee with friends, window shopping at a fancy boutique (OK, maybe just Target) or heading in to the city to have lunch with Map Guy, as long as I'm out of the house and doing something, I'm a happy chappy.

And because I'm feeling a bit soppy and mooshy with all the love;

Morning cuddles in bed - In the wee hours of the morning when Tricky won't settle I bring him in to bed with us and we both fall in to a peaceful sleep (*ahem* sometimes) ... then in the morning I feel his chubby little hands exploring my face so I open my eyes and he gives me a massive grin.

So without further ado...


The award goes to...

Glen's Life - Because last time he got an award he discussed why pizza was more important than sex and I kinda just wanna see what he does this time. Plus I'd like to see a girly pink award on his page.

It's Impossible To Be Unhappy In A Poncho - Sparkly Tiara describes herself as a modern woman, semi-devoted mother, wine whore... that alone makes me luff her. Plus I met her in real life (it's kinda like blogging with 3D glasses on) and she's cool. Oh and she featured Tricky (without knowing it was him) on her post about things that make you go squeeeeeee - that gives her a MASSIVE tick.

Forever - Emma Jane is fan-freakin-tastic. She's a young mum with so much wisdom it makes me think she must have been a philosopher in a former life.

CRAP Mumma - Because her Creative Relaxed Approach Parenting is a goal of mine. But before you go read her stuff, a word of warning, you have to do your pelvic floor exercises because her stuff is pee-in-your-pants funny!

The Mama Diaries - I love people who will stick up for what they believe in and Peggy certainly does that. It helps that I agree with pretty much everything she has to say too!

So that's it, Ladies and Gents, the awards have been handed out. Go forth and spread the bloggy love.

Will Blog For Food (or Flights)

Do you know what you're doing on March 19th next year? I do. Well sorta. It'll be one of two things:

Attending the fabulous Aussie Blogger's Conference in Sydney - Woo! High Fives and a happy dance!

or

Crying and feeling sorry for myself cos all my bloggy friends are there without me. Boo! Put those hands down and do a sad dance (actually for me, all dancing looks rather sad).

I really wanna go. So much so that it hurts a little bit when I cough.

And I'm not too proud to beg...

Why does bloody everything have to be in Sydney? Why couldn't the powers that be choose Perth, the most isolated capital city in the world, to hold their conference? It's just plain inconsiderate, really, that they go and host it over there where most of the members of the group live. Typical.

So here I am appealing to you all for a little help. And by help, I of course mean money.

You can sponsor me! Wouldn't that be lovely? If you could spare a few dollars, all you have to do is click on the Sponsor Me button below. It'll take you to a secure PayPal site where you can donate a few dollars (or, like $1000 if you're feeling particularly generous).

Then I can go to the conference which is specifically geared toward "Mummy Bloggers" so I'd fit right in since I'm a Mummy and a Blogger.

But what do you get for it? Well other than my eternal love and devotion, you'd get your name in lights on the blog.

If you're a company I can wear your logo all over me (temporary tattoo anyone?), put your ad on the blog and give out your business cards whilst telling everyone how freakin awesome you are! Plus I'll blog, Facebook and Tweet from the conference too, to give you maximum exposure!

If you'd like to find out more about being a corporate sponsor you can email me at Glowless{at}gmail{dot}com and I'll send you a Media Kit (OMG, I have a Media Kit!). But if you're just a plain, ordinary person like me and wanna help a Perth gal get all the way to the Harbour City click below and help a blogger out! Thanks!

Powder Puff Pastry Girls

I'm finding the urge to bake fabulously tasty meals and treats from scratch, that started after Tricky was born, is still going strong. Sadly though, there is no correlation between compulsion and talent and I'm so far sticking to the simpler recipes. But making an awesome header makes up for my lack of cooking skills.

It was my turn to bring something savory for mothers' group so rather than buy something I decided to unleash my inner 1950's housewife and get cookin!

I'm going through a bit of a Puff Pastry phase and wanted to make something scroll-like. As a kid, before I knew how easy they were to make, scrolly schnackens fascinated me. I had no idea how they got them to be so uniform and I imagined someone painstakingly rolling each single one.

After figuring that the chances of giving the girls salmonella poisoning would dramatically increase if I made anything meaty, and with some encouragement from The Veggie Mama, I decided to make sun-dried tomato, spinach and fetta savory scrolls!

Step 1: Schmear (as opposed to smear) sun-dried tomato pesto all over a sheet of Puff Pastry, leaving a little gap at the top.

Step 2: Add lots of chopped up spinach. If you like babies, you might like baby spinach.

Step 3: Cheese, Gromit!

Step 4: Put a smidge (official measurement) of water on the free edge of pastry, roll it up and moosh together the join to stop it springing open.

Step 5: Cut into pieces and arrange on a baking tray. Cook for 15-20 minutes at 175 °C or until brown.

Step 6: Nom nom nom!

The fact that they all got eaten and no one has since filed a lawsuit means they must have been OK!

Working Girl

Day one of the Big Scary Leap is over! And it was rather anticlimactic really... I was bored silly (well, sillier than usual). It was really quiet - I didn't have any makeup clients at all and compared to always having Stuff To Do at home, it felt like I was bludging the whole time.

I was super impressed with myself for remembering my computer log on when I got there, but that was about all I remembered. Each time someone asked me where a product was I'd ummm and arrr (like a pirate) and end up asking The Mad Pharmacist (the only other staff member on yesterday). Luckily The Mad Pharmacist and I get on really well so instead of getting annoyed with me, he just teased me mercilessly than listened patiently while I rabbited on about Tricky.

So how did my Pros and Cons list fare?

Cons:

- I'd miss out on Tricky-time

After making Map Guy and Tricky walk in with me (yes for those extra few moments – gawd I'm just a pile of mush these days) I said good bye, gave my boys a kiss each and that was it really, I did miss him, but I didn't pine over him like I expected. Probably because I talked about him incessantly a little bit and had my phone full of photos to look at. At the end of the day I did shower him is so many kisses and cuddles that he had about three layers of drool on him (compared to his usual two).

- I'd have to express multiple times a day at work and I already feel like a cow
Expressing is a bitch. I do it once a day for the premmie bubs but having to do it multiple times in one day was a bit of a bummer. I have no idea how the gals that exclusively express manage to do it. But we do what we have to do, right?

- Map Guy and I will only get one day a week together

Quality not quantity, right? Which basically means it's only been one day and I have no idea if this an issue or not, so, um, yeah, let's just ignore it for a while, OK?

Pros:

+ We'd have more money
Go to work = get paid. Awesome. But go to work and sell a lot of stuff = get bonus! I get a $5 bonus each time I sell more than $100 of stuff in one transaction, so yesterday I managed to do that twice. I'm constantly amazed at how much crap people buy. But yay for bonuses! I will buy something shiny with that moolah.

Wooo shiny - I wish! Image

+ I would have a lunch BREAK and toilet BREAKS

I confess to going to the toilet just because I could... Yes, I'm really that pathetic. But what I didn't even think of was the expressing break – I was moaning about expressing and not realising that I'd be sitting alone in the office to do it and could therefore do what all good employees do when slacking off at work and check my email, FaceBook and Twitter! Score!

+ I'd get to talk to adults about things other than poo and wee

I forgot just how much poo and wee talk goes on in a pharmacy. Diarrhea, constipation, urinary tract infections and more. Then of course there is the scab, pus and miscellaneous itching talk that goes on in any pharmacy. My iron stomach got a work out.

The final verdict: I had a pretty good day! I'd forgotten how much I liked chatting to clients and laughing til it hurt with The Mad Pharmacist... I think I'll go back next week.

A Small Step or a Giant Leap?

This Saturday I will be making a Big Scary Leap.

Image Here

Nah, not that kind of big scary leap... had you going though didn't I?

Some might think it's just a small step, but right now, for me at least, it feels like a Big Scary Leap... back in to the paid workforce - dun dun DUUUUN!

I've done a little bit of freelance makeup work since Tricky was born – just for clients that had heard about me through word of mouth, which means they were all women from Map Guy's work (he's my makeup pimp), but not enough that you could really say I was working. I hadn't put myself out there as “open for business” after taking time off to have Tricky for a few reasons.

I didn't know quite how to go about re-launching myself (from a cannon?) and plus I wasn't sure if I was ready yet. I was quite happy to plod along taking jobs whenever they came up but my bank account was whispering sweet nothings to me... with an emphasis on the nothing rather than the sweet.

The arguments for and against were spinning around in my head:

Cons:

- I'd miss out on Tricky-time

- I'd have to express multiple times a day at work and I already feel like a cow

- Map Guy and I will only get one day a week together

Pros:

+ We'd have more money

+ I would have a lunch BREAK and toilet BREAKS

+ I'd get to talk to adults about things other than poo and wee

I didn't know if I should call my old work (I was an in-pharmacy makeup artist) and ask to come back. I knew they needed someone but would they want me? After all I am the chick who told them on my very first day that I was preggers.

In my defense, I didn't know I was pregnant when I went for the interview – I found out the day before I started so when I got there I was all “forgive me for breeding.” Not really the type of first day I was expecting (cos I was expecting *boom chick*).

Then on Monday... THEY called ME! Hooray! You love me, you really love me!

So tomorrow I'll have my first full day without my Tricky - and I'm sad, excited, nervous and anxious all at the same time. So wish me luck!

{to find out how my first day went, read about it here}

How did you feel going back to work? Was it a small step or a Big Scary Leap? And because I'm now using Disqus for comments so I will endeavour to reply individually.


It's Friday so that mean's it's Flog Yo Blog Friday again! Check out the great reads below. As always #1 is our fabulous host, Lori from Random Ramblings of a SAHM.

Mummy Time - Guest Posting for a Blog Goddess

What does a small time blogger (yours truly) do when she is asked by a phenomenonally huge, award winning blogger (the super fabulous Brenda at Mummy Time) to do a guest post?

Well after squealing with excitement and saying a few choice words that may or may not have rhymed with duck, I set to it and decided to talk about a Tricky subject.

Head on over to Mummy Time now to check it out and while you're there have a look around, Brenda is hilarious!!

The Mother Load

This post is part of Blog This! Challenge #61: Share one thing that has made your life easier, and that you wish you knew about long before you first got your hands on it!

WARNING: The following post contains such excessive levels of schmaltz sentiment that you might want to have a bucket handy. Just in case, ya know?

When I was a little girl, so sweet and innocent (stop laughing) I thought my mum was awesome. She, along with my collection of Barbies, was the centre of my universe. But then I hit puberty and something happened... I could say that we didn't see eye to eye, that we had different goals but it would be simpler, and much more accurate, if I just said that I became a bit of a bitch. Actually, a lot of a bitch. I was horrible. So horrible in fact that I'm surprised she ever spoke to me again. I did everything she didn't want me to do - I went out with boys that were no good, got my tongue pierced at 16, a tattoo at 18 and was generally not very nice to be around.

Even after puberty had run it's tragic course we were never super close. Over the years we had periods of getting on really well followed by periods of estrangement, caused each time, I'm ashamed to admit, because of me. One of those barely speaking times happened during my pregnancy - and it took all my strength to swallow my stupidly large pride (would have been easier to swallow if I could have washed it down with a cocktail, but alas, I was preggers) and tell her, when I was seven months along, that I missed her and wanted to share this time with her, I wanted her to experience her baby having a baby.

When Tricky arrived we finally had a common ground - the shared experience of motherhood! I cannot describe how helpful having her close by during those first few weeks was. She understood exactly how I was feeling, and could empathize with the sleepless nights and painful boobs. Plus she was the only other person who could soothe Tricky (and me) when he was upset - a mother's touch perhaps?

But the thing that has brought us so close together has been Tricky's craniosynostosis because she knows exactly how it feels to have a child needing surgery; the constant back and forth to the specialist appointments, the different medications (that you can rattle off the names and dosages of without even looking) and the intense emotions that come with it all. She even knows how bloody uncomfortable the chairs to sleep in at the hospital are!

She has made my life easier by coming over and washing the dishes, bringing me lunch, folding the laundry, playing with Tricky while I have a bath or a nap, and by sharing hopes and fears with me. Where she got her amazing strength and how the hell she managed to keep her sanity all those years ago, with three children under three, one who was dying plus a sick husband to boot, I have no idea.

Where did this woman come from? Why didn't I know about her earlier? Why hadn't she shown this side of herself to me before? She could have helped with all sorts of things; been that shoulder to lean on, the sympathetic ear, the giver of sage advice. In a manner similar to a Punch and Judy audience shouting "Behind you! Behind you!" I can hear you all chanting"She did! She did! You just weren't bloody paying attention to it!" And you'd be right. She was there all along, I just didn't know it.

So even though Map Guy is a very supportive husband and father, if you ask me to name the one thing that has made my life easier, that I wish I knew about earlier, there could only be one answer. My Mum. I might have known about her, but I didn't know her and just how amazing she really is... can someone please pass me a tissue?

So what about you? Is there something or someone in your life that makes it easier that you wish you'd known about sooner?

Letter to Tricky - Five months old

Dear Tricky,

It has started. You are now officially mobile and you love it. Before you would roll over and be so entertained with whatever you found in front of you that you would stay there. But now? Now you have realised that by putting a few rolls together you can get to a bigger and better toy. The look on your face when you reach out and finally get your hands on it is priceless - you look so proud of yourself!

You are such a clever boy, you know how to turn the smiles on for your grandparents and make them swoon, which of course will translate to awesome Christmas presents. You've got them wrapped around your very little, little finger. In fact your Perth Nanna is so besotted with you that she sent you a letter the other day... but it was actually what was on the envelope that was great - your gorgeous little face smiling back at me from the stamp! You're famous!

You're legal tender, Tricks!

This month you started eating solids and you have taken to it like a natural, which isn't surprising since Mummy really likes her food too. You're so eager to have dinner every night that you get a little cranky at me if I'm too slow to bring the spoon over! You grab at the spoon to get it to it faster, except you're not really too good at aiming the end of it to your mouth just yet so you need to be hosed off after.

We've been back and forth to the hospital for the clever surgeons to check that your Go-Go-Gadget Springs are doing their thing and making your noggin grow in the right direction. Every time we go you smile and giggle at the doctors and nurses even though they are poking and prodding your head around - you don't seem to mind in the slightest and it makes it much easier on Mummy, thank you.

Now there is something I've been meaning to have a few words to you about. It's your sleeping pattern. Or rather, lack thereof. Mummy would really appreciate it if you let her get more than four hours of broken sleep a night, OK? You are such a cruisey little fella during the day so I can't really complain too much, but please, please, please stop waking up to play with your feet. I promise they'll still be there in the morning and you can play with them then.

Until next month my boy, keep discovering.

Love Mummy xxx