2010 In a Nutshell

Well not really in a nutshell - I wouldn't want anyone with a nut allergy to be unable to read it.

It's been a massive year. Easily the biggest, most jam-packed year of my life. So excuse me while I go link crazy. I hope you'll click on some that take your fancy.

In life BT (Before Tricky):

• I turned in to an old man and had an interesting conversation with a transgender customer
• I've freaked out about becoming a mother and tried drugs in a room full of people
• Plus I bitched about hair growth and being told I was fat (at 9 months preggers)

But my proudest moment would have to be getting the drug-free birth I had dreamed about with Tricky!

Life Post Tricky consisted of your normal 'New Mum' stuff like:

• Learning how to breastfeed with a staph infection, sleepless nights and a getting so run down I ended up in hospital
• Encountering my first baby erection and discovering how hard it is to cut microscopic fingernails

And the not so normal or often talked about stuff like:

• Tricky being diagnosed with a skull deformity and having surgery
• My previously tamed Black Dog starting to froth at the mouth

But things started looking up when:

• I met a lovely bunch of women at Mothers' Group
• I realized just how freakin awesome my mum is
• I got sponsored to go to AusBlogCon2011
• My little blog turned one and I turned 29

So yeah, it's been a helluva year! Here's hoping that 2011 brings some new and exciting times, but hopefully less drama.

Happy New Year everyone!

 

The Christmas Period

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung at the end of each bed,
When Glowless had a visit from her old friend, Red.

Red! You're here! Who invited you?,
You've snuck up on me right out of the blue.
I knew you'd be back but just not today,
I was only expecting Santa, his reindeer and sleigh.

It's been fifteen long months since you went for a wander,
And the absence didn't make my heart grow any fonder,
Of the bloating and cramping and the ever present pain,
Plus the chocolate cravings are simply insane.

So off to the servo Map Guy and I drove,
To find it was a proverbial treasure trove.
Everything from milk to batteries and socks,
But all I needed was one little box.

I hunted the aisles like a woman possessed,
To find some items that could help my 'guest',
I passed the Pringles and the chocolate Magnums,

Even old Chisel and Farnsy albums.

There they are! What? They're nine dollars fifty?

That's a lot to pay for someone so thrifty!

I wanted to rant and cause a big stink,

But I didn't, I just paid, and the clerk gave me a wink*.

I returned to the car with my package in hand,

Another festive hiccup I'd have to withstand,

Why tonight, Red? Your timing's just shocking,

I'd rather a bracelet in my Christmas stocking.

I looked up at the moon, a bright silver crescent,

And reflected on my first Christmas present,

I don't like you much, you're annoying and icky,

But without you, Red, I wouldn't have Tricky. 
 

* Seriously, the guy who served me actually winked. I could understand winking if I was buying condoms, but c'mon, pads?!

'Tis the Season

It's Tricky's first Christmas so I have, of course, taken him to sit on some random fat guy's knee for a photo. We couldn't manage to get him to smile. But hey, at least he wasn't screaming.

 'Tis the season to reverse your stranger danger policy and get photographic evidence

I've put the photo in frames, in snow-domes (that are mocking the 38C weather prediction for Christmas Day) and even in baubles to hang from the tree. Every member of mine and Map Guy's family have now got some sort of Christmas paraphernalia with Tricky's non-smiling face on it. Whether they like it or not.

 'Tis the season to give crap, cheap present

But that's not all.

I've taken heaps of photos of him in his little Santa outfit. Then, because he's adorable it was hot, just his nappy and his Santa hat.

I is cute, right?

The child beams when I take a photo with my phone but will not crack a smile when I'm paying a photographer to do it.

 'Tis the season to be ripped off

Tomorrow, when Tricky wakes for his first feed of the day (usually around 4am - yes, he still wakes at least twice a night for feeds even though he's 6 months old - hence the bags under my eyes), Map Guy and I will hit the road for our long trek to Albany to stay with the Out-Laws In-Laws for the week.

'Tis the season to spend time with people you normally don't see all year

The Glow-mobile. Two adults. One baby. A dog. 430km of highway. And a partridge in a pear tree.

'Tis the season to travel long distances, pee in the bushes and have lunch in a roadhouse

So here's wishing you and yours a safe and very happy Christmas.

The UWA Extension giveaway is still running - if you'd like to WIN 1 of 5 tickets to a Toilet Training seminar run by Perth baby whisperers Caroline's Angels, then enter here

Baby Talk - A Giveaway

I am a knowledge junkie. Books are my crack cocaine. I cannot get enough. But since Tricky was born I haven't really had much time to sit and read, so I've been feeling a little out of the learning loop. So when the lovely people at UWA Extension offered me free tickets to their 'Baby Talk' series I totally flipped! Blogging definitely has it's perks!

UWA Extension (the community arm of The University of Western Australia) have partnered with wonderful knowledge-buckets such as Jude Blereau (author of Wholefood for Children), Caroline Radford (of Caroline's Angels fame) and most recently Ngala to create some fantastic sessions covering everything from toilet training, toddler brain development, nutrition and sleep (precious, lovely sleep! I'll be paying extra attention at that one!).

On January 30th I'll be attending the toilet training seminar and I've got FIVE passes to give away valued at $49 each! 

At the seminar you'll learn the best ways to approach toilet training so that it's fun for kids and easier for you.

To be in the running to WIN one of these fab tickets and join me at the session you have to:

• Be a follower of Where's My Glow and
• Leave a comment telling me why you need help with toilet training your toddler! You can still enter if you have a younger baby, it'll help when you get to that stage!

To grab two extra entries you can tweet this comp (WIN tickets to a toilet training course thanks to @UWAextension and @Glowless http://bit.ly/g04iwo ) and share it on Facebook (WIN tickets to a toilet training course thanks to UWA Extension and @Where's My Glow http://bit.ly/g04iwo ). Leave a separate comment telling me you've done it.

If you win, you get to hang out with me - that alone should make you want to enter. Alternatively you can sit far away from me wearing dark glasses and a trench coat while I nerd it up in the front row taking notes.

If you need more convincing, check out the lovely things people had to say after the last session:

Well, its official, YOU ARE THE BEST!!! So THANK YOU....THANK YOU.....THANK YOU! Will be recommending your services once again to more people.

Michelle

Caroline has a lovely manner, a practical approach, excellent knowledge, great structure - very valuable and enjoyable session.

Justine P.

An outstanding presentation - thank you.

I feel I have greater confidence and knowledge to start the toilet training process when my daughter is ready. Thank you.

Great Course - very informative.

What a great initiative adopted by UWA!! We've used Caroline's Angels in the past and value their education, knowledge and advice, so to see the partnership with UWA is a great comfort to us 'mere' parents!

Michelle S 

Entry is open to WA residents only (unless you'd like to hop on a flight over?) and closes at 8pm AWST on 30th December 2010. Make sure you enter using a valid email address so that you can be contacted when you win! Good luck and I'll see you at UWA! 

For more information and to book your ticket for the Baby Talk series, check out the UWA Extension website or the Caroline's Angels website.


Win Free Stuff - Find the best Australian Competitions brought together all in one spot. It's free and updated daily!

T-ravelling With Style

When we go driving in the Glow-mobile we never ever stop to ask for directions. And whilst this can be the cause of much friction for some couples, for us it isn't an issue. It's got nothing to do with stereotypical male behaviour, it’s because he’s my Map Guy. He’s a living, breathing GPS unit. It is physically impossible for the man to get lost.

The Way to Map Guy's Heart

So what better way to review the GPS function of the Telstra T-Touch Tab than to put it in to the hands of Map Guy and take it for a spin!

Now, if it was just me I would have typed in the address and listened as the lovely computer voice (who I like to call Miss Direction – hehe, get it?) told me which way to go. But not Map Guy, he went above and beyond and put that baby through it’s paces.

For starters he spoke the destination we were after to test out the voice recognition – I didn’t even know you could do that. Almost instantly it had the location and loaded the map which was really easy to see on the massive seven inch screen (see I told you size matters!).

As we drove he started excitedly explaining how GPS units work, and how they’re accurate to around 5-10 metres and blah blah blah… luckily I was wearing sunglasses so he couldn’t see that I’d dozed off listening to his techno-babble (it’s OK, he glazes over when I talk about blogging so we’re even).

So there we are driving along and Miss Direction says to turn left… and Map Guy, with an evil grin on his face, turned right. Talk about breaking the rules, what a bad boy! But the Google Navigation software didn’t skip a beat, it recalibrated the route and told us to go to the roundabout 20 metres up the road and head back where we came from. It’s obviously not Australian software or Miss Direction, in her Stephen Hawking-esque voice would have just said “Chuck a U-ey, mate”.

Map Guy was having a lot of fun showing me all the different functions but my favourite was the layers. Rather than driving around in circles looking for a place to fill up, you can turn on the Petrol Station layer and voila, all the servos in the area pop up on the map. There is a separate layer for car parks, the latest traffic info, restaurants, even ATM and bank locations – so handy when you’re in an area you don’t know and the car is running on fumes or you’re desperate for Chinese food.

The T-Touch as GPS unit gets the Glowless seal of approval, but more importantly the Map Guy seal of approval!

This is the second installment of a paid four part review of the T-Touch Tab,
sponsored by Telstra and organised by Kidspot Australia.

Life on The Edge

It has been a huge weekend at Casa de Glowless!

I've celebrated a birthday, had mastitis (TMI? Sorry), gone ten-pin bowling, almost broken a tooth on a non-pitted olive on a pizza (seriously, why put olives with pits on a pizza? That's just asking for trouble), celebrated Christmas1.0 with my family and Tricky got his first tooth!

But the most memorable, amazing and sore feet inducing part of the weekend was going to see U2 with Aunty Penny! It was so nice of them to come to town for my birthday (and super nice of Aunty Penny to buy me a ticket for said birthday).

It was unbelievable! The stage was totally awesome and looked like it was straight out of War of the Worlds. If Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning had popped up I would not have been surprised at all.

Take me to your leader

Other than "Elevation", the best bit was when Bono compared himself to David Boon and a massive "Boonie" chant echoed round the stadium. I had no idea U2 fans were such bogans - I fitted in really well.

But Aunty Penny and I were a little bit naughty... 

We bought a bottle of water - but there were big signs up saying that we couldn't keep the bottle caps. That it was a request "from the band". Hrmmm, how am I supposed to jump up and down, singing my lungs out if I'm also being careful not to spill my water? 

What if, in the hype, I flicked water on someone? Perhaps mosh-rage would ensue? There was only one solution... hide the bottle cap. I am totally hard core, sticking it to The Man.

I know, I live life on the edge. Not The Edge*, he's still in town but I'm pretty sure that'd get me arrested.

Aunty Penny and I with the contraban! We Rock.

So with a concert and a teething bubba I've had about ten hours sleep since Thursday night. My eyes are hanging out of my head. But with my new GHD from Map Guy, at least my hair looks pretty.

*For the uninitiated, 'The Edge' is the name of the guitarist from U2.

Just Me - Bah Hum Bug

Have you seen the awesome 12 Days of Christmas special that Sarah over at Just Me is hosting?


Each day she has a blogger talking about what they want for Christmas... and today it's MY TURN! Yay!

Head on over to find out what this picture has to do with my Christmas:

Bah Hum Bug!

Honorary Super Parent

Today I'm an Honorary Super Parent! That means I'm wearing my undies on the outside and I'm rockin a cape (a dirty tea towel slung over my shoulder counts).

Colin has invited me over to guest post about how to beg for money request sponsorship for the Aussie Bloggers' Conference.There's a little disclaimer above it pointing out it's not his usual PG13 rating because I said ass... oops.

So if you'd like to know how I got sponsorship or if you'd just like to see the word ass appear on a parenting site, head on over now and have a read.

Glowless is attending the Aussie Bloggers' Conference thanks to HealthyChart

Happy Blogiversary!

My little corner of the interwebs turns one today! A very happy un-birthday blogiversary to me! 

What should I wish for?

This little blog started out when I was 17 weeks pregnant and I was needing a place to rant and rave a creative outlet that didn't involve spending money.

I had no idea how addictive blogging would be or how freakin awesome and supportive the blogging community is. I wish I'd found the forums sooner than I did - I was a late bloomer and only got in to the swing of things in August - but I claim the insanity defense, I had baby brain.

Enough of the schmaltz - SO MUCH has happened in a year, let's go on a quick trip down memory lane (I prefer to skip, but you can walk or jog or tip toe, it's totally up to you):

It all began when I was up the duff and never got that elusive pregnancy Glow

Whilst I wouldn't wish it away, there were parts of pregnancy that just weren't fun - like having to have my ass taped

The highlight of the year would have to be the birth of my little Tricky!

I battled my way through the joys of Golden Nipples 

My world came crashing down when we learned that Tricky had Craniosynostosis and at just 14 weeks old had surgery

But things started looking up, enough for me to get my boobs out in public and go back to work, though luckily not at the same time

Which brings us to now. One year, 127 posts, and a whole lotta verbal diarrhea. Thanks for reading, thanks for commenting and here's hoping you stick around to listen to me waffle on a bit longer.

Cheers,

Drumroll please...

There was such a fantastic response to the HealthyChart giveaway, thank you all so much for entering, sharing it on Facebook and Tweeting your little hearts out! 

Now y'all (oooh I sound so Southern) are gonna click away as soon as I announce the winner if it's not you, so before I say who won I bring good news to those who didn't win:

Get your kids off to a good start in 2011 by ordering a HealthyChart before the 31st of December and you'll receive a FREE pencil case to store your tiles in AND get FREE postage (within Australia) too! Hooray! High five!

Of course there can only be one winner, and since you're still drumrolling and have probably drowned your keyboard in drool, I should hurry up and announce it:

Congratulations CRAPmamma!

Keep an eye on your inbox, CRAPmamma, you'll be hearing from me very soon!

Thanks again to everyone who entered and help support my fabulous sponsor.

Gaming Addicts Anonymous

I pride myself on being a bit of a tech-head but I’m not a hard core gamer. I’m not the type to get so enthralled with a game that I want to play it until I finish it. I don’t have the drive, but mostly, I just don’t have the patience. Well that’s what I thought anyway, until I got my hands on the Telstra T-Touch Tab.

Because the Tablet is powered by Android it means I have the fabulous Android Market at my disposal – there are over 100,000 apps of which a whopping 57% are free, and who doesn’t like free stuff, right? I just cannot get enough. Hi, my name is Glowless and I’m a free games addict. 

I have tried my hand (or more accurately, my finger) at all sorts of games, from ten pin bowling to air traffic control. And of course, who can resist Angry Birds? It is the epitome of mobile device games. Those birds can really hold a grudge- through no less than 150 levels. And I WILL get through them ALL!

Tippi Hendren's favourite game

Playing the games on the 7 inch screen was awesome. I must admit to feeling uber cool whipping out the T-Touch next to my techie friend as he played the exact same games on his Android phone’s 2 inch screen – yeah, size matters, baby. Plus if your hand gets sore from holding the Tablet whilst playing non-stop, you can pop out the little stand and voila! It sits up by itself and you can play with one hand leaving the other one free to get on with those pesky tasks that keep getting in the way of valuable game time, like brushing your hair or feeding the baby.

7 inches of awesome

But the games aren’t just for me – my little 6 month old boy ‘Tricky’ loves the colourful flash card app  I downloaded for him. And by that I mean he likes to try and smack the screen when the bright pictures come up. But I can see the T-Touch coming in super handy when he’s a little bit older and we’re stuck in traffic and he’s lost interest in, say,  the 15^th round of “I Spy”.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have 27 more levels of Angry Birds to get through.

Cos honesty is the best policy I'll point out that this post is part of a paid four part review of the T-Touch Tab, sponsored by Telstra and organised by Kidspot Australia.

Oh and the HealthyChart comp has a few days left, so head on over here to enter if you haven't already! You KNOW you want to!

A Boy And His Dog

As Tricky is becoming more mobile (he's up to three crawls in a row before belly-flopping) he is getting a bit more attention of the canine variety.

Sprocket has started to think that this thing that was previously just a big lump with flailing limbs is quite possibly the Best.Toy.Ever. And as with all fantastic dog-toys it needs to be sniffed and licked (though hopefully not chewed) incessantly until it is covered with doggy drool. Lovely.

I'm stuck in between wanting Tricky germ-free and wanting him to build up a robust immune system. So my attempt at creating the best of both worlds is to have Puppy Play Time rules. Yes I know how stupid that sounds. But there's only three so gimme a break:

• Licking of the face is a no-no,
• Puppy Play Time is followed by Soapy Hand Washing Time, and of course,
• It always has to be supervised (duh)

And so far so good. Sure there's been a few face licks but Tricky is learning that licking fur is yucky Sprocket is learning to resist the urge to cover Tricky in kisses. I'm so happy my boys are getting on well.

 

Let's hold hands

Nooooo! Mamma said no face licking!

On a side note, for those of you playing "Spot the Spring" at home, Tricky's springs are really visible in these photos. Most of the time people have no idea he is the Bionic Baby until they are holding him and his head is right at their eye level and they see the halo of the springs - then they think "Woah this kid has a really weird head!" and try to quickly cover the look of shock on their faces. It's quite amusing really.

Now where was I? Oh yes, do you have pets and kids? Do you have any rules?

The HealthyChart giveaway is still going strong! Be sure to enter here!!

Letter to Tricky - 6 months old

Dear Tricky,

Happy half year!I can't believe how fast these past six months have zoomed by. You've grown from a (not so) teeny little baby to a big smiley chubba bubba.

In this past month you have done sooo much!

You’ve mastered sitting and have almost perfected crawling – the hand/knee coordination still needs a little work so sometimes you flop to your belly and worm along. I can’t blame you though, it’s much fast that way and you NEED to get to the toy.

You’ve been enjoying some really special one on one time with your Daddy on Saturdays when I’m at work. Daddy has even taken you out visiting people – he says it’s because he wants to see them but I know he just wants to show you off! He is such a proud Papa Bear.

We’ve been spending a lot of time with your Pop recently because he isn’t too well – but whenever you are near him he is fine… you are his medicine, his elixir of life.

If the decorations are any hint, it’s almost your first Christmas! I apologize now because I will make you sit on a random stranger’s knee and have your photo taken and I will dress you in cute little Santa suit on Christmas day even though it might come back to haunt you one day (your 21^st perhaps?)… there is no point fighting it, it’s a rite of passage for both of us.

We did think your springs would be taken out by now but they have to stay in for a little bit longer –but that’s OK, because they look like a little halo and now you can be our Christmas Angel!

Happy first Christmas, my Angel.

Love Mummy xxx

The HealthyChart Giveaway is still going, be sure to enter HERE

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!