Abandoned no more...

...Or soon to be! I, the abandoned one, was all ready to go to the airport to pick up the Fab Four who have finished their explore. However when I got on the computer I found out their plane was delayed for 3 hours and 8 minutes so they missed the final connecting flight from Sydney to Canberra. I'm still awaiting information from the Fab Four when they arrive in Sydney...I'll keep you posted!

What's in the box?

I'm back! The lack of posts has been due to the lack of hilarious and exciting events in my life. The cause of this...starting full time work. However, today something blog worthy came along. So picture this...I arrive home this evening to find two large boxes in my room. Seeing the words 'funtastic' on the side I immediately know that they must be the educational toys I bought for childcare. My order was 6 puzzles, a stacking tower, a pilot's outfit and 6 rainbow coloured balls. The get a pair of scissors and prepare to open the box. The excitement is mounting even though I know what's inside...or do I? I open the first box. There are my 6 rainbow coloured balls and a box with the words 'Hugosport'. No idea what that is so I open it up. And what do I find...more rainbow coloured balls. 12 to be exact! So I ordered 6 and I got 18...wow I think, free stuff is awesome! Then scissors in hand I prepare to open the next box to see my brightly coloured puzzles. What I see is certainly brightly coloured but it's not the puzzles. It's more rainbow coloured balls, and there's not just 1 or 2 more but 18 more!!! Somehow my order of 6 brightly coloured rainbow balls became 36!!!

Our avid blog reader...

Assembling no more

Our family started up a dinner roster at the beginning of last year. I tended to prefer making dinners such as stir-fries and ravioli. Simple, delicious...however some what repetitive. According to Alison this is just "assembling" and is not actual cooking. I think I have perfected the art of using sauce bottles and packet mixes. Well, watch out world there's a new chef in town! Ever since uni break I have started cooking my meals. I know what you're thinking, leaving behind the stir-fries and ravioli, this doesn't sound like Pen. I made lasagna for dinner tonight (and no I did not just heat one up from a box bought at Woolies...that's so the Pen of yesterday). Believe it or not I actually made it from scratch. Well, I did get directions from Al via skype and then again from the cook book in front of me. Still I created it. Yes, me, Pen the ravioli specialist! One thing's for certain...an assembler I am no more.

The Abandoned Two!

The Abandoned Three became the Abandoned Two this week! Alison left for the USA on Wednesday leaving just Andrew and I to fend for ourselves. Andrew then decided he didn't want to be an Abandoned Two, instead he's going to abandon me too, by heading off to Melbourne until Thursday.

So the Adandoned Two becomes the Abandoned One.

Chocolate Challenge

It's that time of year again. For all those who are students will know what I am talking about. Semester 1 is finishing and essays are due and final exams are coming up.

These always bring with them a certain amount of stress. Particularly depending on how much, little, or no work you have done previously for them. We all have different ways of managing the stress of exams and essay writing.

In my case it is eating chocolate (as well as procrastinating but this hasn't proved to be an effective stress reliever). From past experience I know that I'll need roughly 1 block of chocolate for every 1000-1500 words! Last week I finished a 4500 word essay and that took me 2 blocks of chocolate, numerous choc-chip biscuits and a couple of 'stolen' chocolates from Alison (as relayed to you in an earlier post).

I currently have another 4500 word essay due on Friday. I have so far written 772 words. 3728 words to go. So far I have eaten 5 chocolate freddos, and caramello koalas. I have 7 left. The Chocolate Challenge is you have to guess how many freddos and caramello koalas I will have left on Friday. The first person to guess the correct amount will win. The prize....

that many chocolates!

Jackson vs Jackson(s)

That's right, tonight at league it was Jackson vs Jackson. Penny and Al's team (Go Ballooning) played against my team (Annunaki). Pre-game they were talking up how much they wanted to beat me. I said if I lost I'd probably cry...so the stakes were high!

The game was a cracker. Annunaki got the first lead but Go Ballooning pulled ahead in the middle of the game. Two moments in particular were crucial. Firstly, I got a huge aerial block on Al...ok there was a little contact and I only helped to fire up the other team. The second moment was when Pen had the disc. I went to poach off on a throw to Vickie, when out of no-where she throws this blady flick break to my player in the corner of the endzone (I taught her that!).

Finally the siren goes and Go Ballooning are up by 1. Thankfully after some good offense Annunaki score. Everyone shakes hands. Then Go Ballooning suggest that we play a sudden death point to get a winner. Annunaki agrees. Go Ballooning throw a couple passes and then try a break throw but it just misses Vickie. Annunaki disc 20m out from the enzone on the sideline. I pick up the disc throw a break flick (which Adam was wisely telling the mark not to let me throw) to Dan for the goal and the win...and the glory of being the number 1 Jackson!

Karma

So my cousin Sam tells me she believes in karma. I asked her why and she told me it is because she told her friend not to climb this fence with wire on it, and her friend ignored her and slipped and tore a couple of holes in her pants.

"Sam, that's not karma. Karma would be something bad happening to her because of something that she did in the past."

So Sam says, "yeah, she's seriously, probably, like climbed that fence before."

Now that is karma for not listening in English!

Boganville

How do I know I live in Boganville? Because of what happened today. I was at the shops when a guy ran past me carrying a cardboard cutout. He threw the cutout into the open back of a ute, shut the cover, jumped in the open-passenger door and his mate sped off.

What they stole: an advertising cardboard cutout of two girls in bikinis

Why they stole it: I don't want to know

...Bogans!

Brother issues

Andrew has been having some issues focusing on writing his honours thesis. Not only has he paced the length of the house six times (in the last 5 minutes), but he also watched 2 girly movies in one evening. You must be thinking, wow this boy has issues. If you think this is bad, then wait and till you hear the biggest issue he has. However, according to Andrew we can't understand what he has been going through as "It's not a problem you suffer from!"

If you also suffer from the same debilitating problem of not being able to control the urge to eat other people's chocolate, we advice you to seek help.

Fashion Icons

Warning: Some serious fashion has been seen in the Jackson household!

So there we were lying on the couch enjoying an episode of Grey's Anatomy. As intelligent TV watchers we set the hard drive recording and then began watching our show 15 minutes later than it began airing. Why would would we do that? Well, you see then you can fast forward through all the ads! 9.45pm came and the show ended. Alison proceeded to go and make brownies for her last day at work. Or she was going to but there were no boxes of White Wing's Amazing Choc Chunk Brownies left in our cupboard. We checked the clock 9.47pm. We put our mathematical minds to the test and worked out that we had 13 minutes in which to get ready and drive to the shops for 2 boxes of White Wing's Amazing Choc Chunk Brownies. Alison dashed into her room and I into mine. I walked out of my room first with shoes on and looked up at the clock; 9.49pm. At that moment I heard Alison call out "Wow, I'm fashionable, wearing socks with crocs!" The clock ticked over to 9.50pm. I looked down at my own feet, a smile on my face. "Well, we can at least be fashion icons together!"

Intruder

There's something in our house which shouldn't be here. I'll give you a clue, it rhymes with house...and no, none of us got married! It starts with 'm' and ends in 'ouse'. We've had enough of our little furry friend, he's out stayed his welcome. In fact, he was never welcome. So if anyone could offer some advice of how to send this little guy packing it would be much appreciated!

We meet again!

Adam. Yes, our favourite bag packer. I did my best to avoid his line for this long but today my good fortune ended. With a full trolley I neared the register and spotted Adam at the first one. I quickly scanned the other registers up ahead but was cut off by a headstrong shopper with a basket full of groceries. So alas, it was time to rendezvous with the world's slowest bag packer.

First of all let's just confirm, Adam is still the world's slowest bag packer. But before I am too harsh on him he has certainly picked up a few skills. He now gives advice to customers. Guess what, it's free! All you have to do is stand in line for an excessively long time as he slowly places item after item slowly into your bags. You don't even have to pretend to be listening, because guess what, he'll tell you anyway. Adam specialises in banking and English grammar. Get this, Adam has to pay $2.50 to use an ATM which is not linked to his own bank AND he knows that it is important to say 'my friends and I' instead of 'me and my friends'. What a multi-tasker!

165 and counting...

That is the number of times I have listened to Taylor Swift's newest album, "Speak Now". Given that I only got the album in March is quite extraordinary. I have only had it for 63 days. That means on average I have listened to the whole album, all 67 minutes and 20 seconds, 2.6 times a day since I got it! Despite being perfect 'fire-up' music for frisbee it is also perfect study music.

And since most of my life is spent at my computer, studying (or atleast attempting to research and write my thesis) who knows how many times I will have listened to it by the time I hand in my thesis? In fact I am going to give a prize to the person who guesses the closest number of times that I have listened to this album when I hand my thesis in on October 24. Put your guesses as comments on this post. And come October 24 the closest guess will win. Your prize will be (obviously) a copy of "Speak Now".

(thanks Cat and Mish, this was a fantastic gift)

Postman Pat

I was rudely awoken by the noise of the doorbell at the crack of dawn (aka 8.30am). This was not really the way I wanted to start my second day of uni holidays. I stagger out of bed, muttering about the nuisance of being the closest room to the front door and the pain of being the easiest Jackson child to wake up from their slumber. Dazed and disheveled I find my way to the front door and open it to find our postman walking back towards his van. After 3 rings of the doorbell they usually give up (as you know we value our sleep very highly in this household) but feeling generous today so I got up. Slightly surprised to see such a sight standing inside the door way (I must say I look amazing in the mornings - pink spotty pyjamas, spongebob slippers, untamed hair and eyes I can barely keep open), our cheery middle-aged postman re-approached the house carrying a small package in hand.

I'll just pause here to fill you in on our relationship - the postman and I. I'd say we have a great relationship. I sometimes bother to get up, open the door bleary eyed and get handed our packages. I hardly new the postman a few months ago but after I discovered the wonders of bookdepository.com, I see him nearly every morning. While this online shop is incredibly cheap and has no postage fees the one downside is that they post everything separately. So the postman and I met each morning promptly at 7.45am for a week as book after book appeared. We always had the same exchange...
Postman: (All happy and smiley) "Good morning! Here's your package!"
Penny: (All sleepy) "...hi...oh...thanks..."
Postman: (Still happy and smiley) "Have a great day!"

So back to this morning. A totally different exchange. "Sorry, you'll have to sign for this one," he said getting his fancy electronic machine ready. What?! This was totally unexpected. And then even more unexpected. "It's Penny, isn't it?!" "Ah, yep." I replied slightly taken aback and thinking in my head 'How does he know my name'. Then it hit me...the obvious. He is the postman and my name is on the package. I thanked him and closed the door. I looked at the package and noticed the name above the address: Glenn Jackson. Wow, I must make a good impression first thing in the morning.

So I guess that means we're now on a first name basis, except...I don't know what his name is.

Study habits of an honours student: Procrastination 101

1) check emails
2) practice frisbee throws
3) find something to eat and drink (this can be drawn out if you don't know what you want)
4) do some organisation for something else (probably frisbee related)
5) check emails a couple more times (you never know when someone might finally send you one)
6) walk to other end of house and back
7) go on facebook
8) do house work
9) stare at work
10) write a blog!

repeat as necessary

Late Night Phone Call...

So I was reading late last night when the phone rang, which was quite unusual because it was 2am. I answered the phone and said hello. At first I couldn't understand what the person on the other end of the line was saying, they had a strong accent, obviously they were from some other country. I was about to hang up because I thought it must have been a tele-marketer, but something felt wrong, why would a tele-marketer be calling at 2am? I apologised, and asked the person to repeat themselves because I couldn't make out what they were saying.

They did this and I was able to start to understand them. They asked if I was Mr Jackson and I said yes...well I am (I am the man of the house now). They asked if I had recently been in, what I could only make out as Antz, in particular, had I stayed at a hotel Alexandria (or what it sounded like). It was at this stage that it clicked that they weren't asking about Mr Andrew Jackson but Mr Glenn Jackson. I asked were they calling from France, and the reply was "Yes". I explained that my parents were in France and they must have been referring to them.

With this all cleared up, the hotel receptionist (who I assume I was talking to) informed me that my parents had stayed in the hotel the night before and had left some 'drugs' in the bathroom. "Drugs?", I asked incredulously, not really suspecting my parents of being in the drug trade (although I suppose they had to get money from somewhere to afford this luxurious 3-month holiday to Europe). However the receptionist, quickly added, "medicinal drugs", oh ok, well that made more sense to me. They must have been Keith's antibiotics that he had recently gotten because he had been sick. "They left them in a little bag in the bathroom", the receptionist went on. Ok things made a lot more sense now. They had left their toiletries bag behind. The receptionist wanted to know if they wanted the bag back and I told him I would get my parents to contact him if they did. I reconfirmed the name of the hotel with him, which I made out as Alexandria but I couldn't really tell through his French accent and that was the end of an unusual late night phone call.

BEETLE!!!

Canberra Baptist Beetle nights are always a competitive affair. Particularly when you have 3 Jackson siblings who don't like to lose to each other. Add in their 3 cousins, Sam, Tash and Rachel and their uncle Ian who they have trained up to be future champions (not Ian he's past it...he can only see out of one eye!). Then add the Beaumans who are keen to knock a Jackson or Joyce off the podium any chance they get. Then you have the rest of the church keen to prove that Beetle is just a game of luck and a Jackson/Joyce winning the last 10 Beetle nights is just coincidence...I think not!



So who won though, surely that's all that matters...well yes but lets not rush. The night started well for me, rolling a Beetle in the first round of the night, with Moriah (I finished well, rolling a Beetle with Moriah on the last round of the night)! He continued pretty well as 2 rounds later I rolled another Beetle...and then another straight afterwards. I was off to a flyer...66 after 5 rounds. How could anyone catch me from here...well...then Sam happened. I got a 4, 1 and then a 2 in three rounds. Oh no! Now I was back with the rest of the dice-rolling fanatics that were at the Beetle night.

I was still in the hunt though. I continued ok to half-time (you know a sport is serious when you need a half-time to cool down in). I got a further 2 Beetles but sadly others yelled out Beetle, nano-seconds before me. Half-time score 135. Not bad. But wait...what...Penny and Al were both beating me...no! I was off the pace by about 15. Ok at least I was there on their heels just as we were about to come round the bend and head down the home straight...and we all know I am a good finisher.

I made sure to eat up well during half-time. 3 pieces of chocolate cake, 2 Tim-Tams (I would have had more but they went so quickly), 2 biscuits and some chips. Topped off by some strong orange cordial. Now I was ready. Only problem was some rumours had started to circle during half-time that I wasn't playing fair...that I wasn't following Beetle etiquette!!! What! Etiquette is for losers. They were saying I hadn't let anyone else roll. So what, this is a competition, I need to be in control of my own fate. They said it is Beetle etiquette to ask your partner if they would like to roll. I did. I asked them, "do you mind if I roll...no...good". But no this wasn't going to do, apparently. After half-time I was forced to draw and follow this so-called etiquette.

But "enough," you say, "we don't care about etiquette either...tell us who won already"...alright, alright.

The 2011 Canberra Baptist Church Beetle Champion is...

Penny Jackson

It seems to be her week. Winning the famous Jackson cook-off. And now taking the coveted CBCBC crown. I was so close. Only 9 points behind. Penny got 254 and I got 245. Belinda Beauman came in 3rd with 238, knocking Al into 4th on 221. If it weren't for Sam, my cousin I would have won. "Sam, I know your reading this...you lost me the game!" When I was with her she got me a 1 and a 2...a 1 and a 2! I later remarked to her that "I was crying inside", I was devastated. I soon got over the loss though, when I received 2nd prize...a block of kit-kat chocolate (plus I had 5 fun-size chocolates to help me through the pain as well).


But wait...there's more! After arriving home the judges recounted the scores to confirm the result and...



wow!!!


There was a miscount???


I recalculated Penny's score...no it seemed ok...


Al ran the numbers through the calculator and out came...


244!!!


One below me...


That means...


I won!!!


After another check we found the error...Penny added an extra 10 when adding 7 to 82 getting 99 instead of 89. A simple error normally with little consequences but this...this was momentous...finally I have surpassed my sisters and won my first beetle night, in the process denying my sister a repeat crown...by 1 point!

What a night...

Pre-Beetle Battle

As some of you will know tomorrow is the annual church Beetle night. You might be wondering what a beetle night is. Is it where everyone brings in their pet beetles? No it is not!!! It is the most-important church function of the year...behind maybe Easter (and perhaps Christmas). It is a chance for everyone to come and show off their speed-rolling skills and take home the glory of being crowned Canberra Baptist Church Beetle Champion (CBCBC for short). This is pretty important stuff.

For those who have been for the last few years will know that the winner is surprisingly almost always a member of the Jackson/Joyce clan. This isn't coincidence and someone in the family was heard saying once, "it is embarrasing how good we are"! In fact Penny and Al have both won quite a few times, and didn't fail to point out to me that I have never won...thanks. But we had a pre-beetle battle tonight and guess what. I won (no real surprises here). So when Penny or Al win tomorrow night I can claim to be the best by transitivity.

Speaking of winning, I might take this chance to set a few misconceptions about the Jackson cook-off in order. Firstly, I was not told of the judges criteria until after my meal had been eaten. Secondly, Mish was biased and I think she felt sorry for Penny after her "oh everyone thinks I am the worst cook (because you are) and I want to prove them wrong" drivel. And just to prove she is still the worst cook, tonight for her first meal since her victory, she decided she wouldn't make anything. That is until Al and I complained at 6pm and she eventually went to the shops and with Al's help, made tacos. I was making tacos when I was 14...thats my meal. Anyway I demand a re-cook-off!

(I believe this is a post, Mish Phillips, and I don't believe Alison has posted yet)

So You Think You Can Cook

Good day dear followers,

This is Mish Phillips.

It is a great honour to be a guest on this esteemed blog, created and maintained by Andrew, Alison and Penny. (But mainly Alison and Penny - I notice Andrew has not yet made a post). Their parents must feel so blessed, to have the privilege of raising three such talented and inspiring children. For the last four days I have been kindly taken in by the Jacksons, and for that I thank them. To mediate in a long-standing family argument is the least I can do. Thus I introduce to you,

So You Think You Can Cook!
The Ultimate, Incredible Jackson Children Cook-off! 

After three nights of intense cooking and tasting, it's time to count the votes. First though, here's a run down of what was served up each night:

Night One - Andrew Jackson
Scrumdiddlyicious creamy chicken and basil curry, served with rice and steamed vegetables.
Sunken butternut snap biscuits filled with caramel sauce and whipped cream.

Although some might say that Andrew was at a slight disadvantage, being the first contestant of So You Think You Can Cook, "excuses are tools of the incompetent". Think of it like a handicap. Despite his time constraints, Andrew brought out a highly commendable meal. There are few things as satisfying as that comfortable feeling when you've eaten well, and this dish certainly gave you that. It was a brave move to go with a curry, but he was well rewarded for the risk - one of the judges was later heard mentioning that she had never enjoyed a curry as much before. Seconds were freely taken, which speaks for itself.

Unfortunately, little effort was put into presentation of the meal. In fact none. Not only was the meal not plated up, it was left to the diners to serve themselves. A small omission maybe, but one that surely cost Andrew when it came to pleasing the judges.

The meal scored well when it came to nutritional value, with all major food groups accounted for. Sadly, Andrew failed to realise the most important rule of including green vegetable matter in meals - always make sure it is disguised. The steamed beans, snowpeas, carrot and broccoli were perfectly cooked, but one cannot expect greenstuffs to be received positively if they are so openly presented to the world. Such things should be hidden away in some part of the dish, so as to be eaten blissfully unawares. We're not Popeye, you know.

When it came time to serve dessert, Andrew presented his delicious speciality of sunken buttersnap biscuits, filled with a thick layer of caramel and whipped cream. Sadly, this was a recycled idea, as Andrew had made and shared and eaten a number of these creations earlier in the day. However, the concept of punishing someone for serving dessert twice is ridiculous, so we shall allow him some leeway here.

Night Two - Alison Jackson

Homemade beef lasagna served with a crunchy nut salad of wom bok, toasted almonds, chinese noodles, and shallots, itself served with a dressing of soy sauce, vinegar, castor sugar and oil.
Crispy chocolate brownie with caramel sauce, ice cream and combination m&m's. 

Alison chose to go with a more traditional dish, by happenstance a favourite of one of the judges. (This was, of course, internalised at the time so as not to allow any bias to enter into the creative process). There was no cutting corners here, with the lasagna made almost fully from scratch. However, like Andrew, Alison could have shown better commitment to the cause had she gone to the lengths of making the sheets of pasta from homemade dough. (But we will forgive her that. How was she to know what high standards her maligned sister would set the following evening?)

 "What bok?"

For the sake of honesty, it must be admitted that the salad was approached with some trepidation by the judging panel, who had never before seen such a combination of ingredients tossed together. However, with the first mouthful it was abundantly clear that this was a taste and textual sensation. It was the sort of experience that one almost regrets having, for the lingering memory can only bring the sadness of deep loss. The greenstuff was perfectly offset by the crunchy noodles, and the dressing was strong and flavoursome.

And now we come to the dessert. It was a delicious juxtaposition of sweet caramel and warm brownie, delicate floating m&m's in their fractured shells. A combination so glorious that one might doubt its existential nature. Yet before the sweetness could become overpowering, it was tempered by the gentle coolness of the ice cream. You won't find an occurence of something like this in the Gobi Desert.

Special mention must be made of Alison's efforts to humour a finicky judge - all blue m&m's were painstakingly removed from the packets so as not to taint the purity of the dessert.

Night Three - Penny Jackson
Chicken margarita wrapped in prosciutto, stuffed with basil pesto, bocconcini cheese, baby spinach, served with roasted baby truss tomatoes, steamed carrots, and roasted herb potato. 
Triple-thick-bottomed chocolate mousse cake.

Penny attacked this challenge with the ferociousness of someone with something to prove. Starting her preparations at 4:00pm, there is no question a stupendous amount of effort was put in. It was definitely worth it. Carefully prepared, lovingly cooked and meticulously plated, this meal was unbelievable in its attention to detail. Juicy fillets of chicken wrapped in prosciutto and stuffed with the pesto and bocconcini mix set the tone, and the flavour of the roasted tomatoes was the perfect compliment. The crispy herb potatoes were a well chosen side. The carrots were a pleasant extra - there was no need for them to be disguised because they're not green.

"The meat just went on and on and on."

Some could argue that Penny's dish might be improved with better calculation of the serving sizes, however one would be a hypocrite to take that line of reasoning while also sharing in the ample leftovers.

Penny showed that she had the confidence to break away from a recipe, making the wise choice to leave out the expresso in the dessert. Her cake was a masterpiece, and although it was somewhat clumsily put together this in no way detracted from its appeal. The mousse was well set, and the base showed no sign of dryness. In fact it was spectacular. There's no way I'd be overseas with something like this being served up back home.

And now, with our summaries completed, we come to the scoring...

Final scores:

Presentation:
Andrew - 4
Alison - 8
Penny - 10

Taste:
Andrew - 8
Alison - 8
Penny - 9

Effort:
Andrew - 5
Alison - 8
Penny - 10

Creativity:
Andrew - 6
Alison - 7
Penny - 9

Nutritional Value:
Andrew - 9
Alison - 8
Penny - 8

Token Points:
Andrew - 8
Alison -3
Penny - -1

Congratulations to all the contestants for a well fought out battle. It is with great pleasure that I announce that the winner of So You Think You Can Cook - The Ultimate, Incredible Jackson Children Cook-off! is...

Penny Jackson!

Total Score:
Andrew - 40
Alison - 42
Penny - 45

With her victory, Penny has surely earnt the right to peel off her label as the weakest cook in the family! But will the others fight back and prove that theirs is the strength of consistency? Can Penny defend her title when episode two comes to blog? (Presumably when I am next visiting Canberra for an extended period - one must have an impartial judge for a competition of this standard to go ahead). What do you think?

I leave you with some further photos of Penny in various stages of cooking. This is partially as a celebration of her achievement, and partially because I have no more photos of the others to give you. I hope you have enjoyed this analysis of the dining delights of the last few days - we welcome your comments and opinions.

Until next time, dine well and appreciate every meal.

Coming soon...

So You Think You Can Cook. It's the Ultimate, Incredible Jackson Children Cook-off! We've even flown in a impartial judge from Melbourne to work out which Jackson child is the supreme chef. Introducing Mish. Andrew's frisbee friend. There have been rumours circulating that I'm the worst cook in the family...but I find these allegations highly misguided. So let's find out once and for all...Who Can Cook!

Enough's enough

Okay, there comes a moment when you it's know time to grow up. When you have to say to the video shop man, 'It's under my Mum's name, Meryl. M. E. R. Y. L.' You know it's time. I mean, last week when I borrowed a movie I was asked by the video shop man if I was twelve. Do I look like I am twelve?! Well according to his system that's the last time our details have been updated. I mean, we can borrow a movie at Weston Creek Video Ezy and we can borrow a movie at Chisholm Civic Video, but...we can't even borrow a movie at our 2 minute drive away, local shops video store without using our mother's account. It's time to man up and a grow up...or in our case woman up and get our very own membership card for our local Network Video store. Wow, don't I feel grown up now! 

The death of an Entertainment book

I have gone ‘Buy 1 Get 1 Free’ CRAZY! Kathy purchased an Entertainment book this year which has vouchers for all sorts of places in Canberra. She left the book in our possession before she went to Europe. The book is valid from July 2010 to June 2011, and for those of you who can do the maths we only have one month left! Kathy did her part and used...oh, one. She certainly got value for money...not! But don’t worry people, enter Penny.

You already know from a previous post that we are bargain shoppers, so this was another bargain battle to sink our teeth into. There are like, 600 vouchers in the book and we have like, 32 days to use them all! I am determined to use up as many I as can, so it will be Penny 1 and Entertainment book 0. Read on to see how you can help me accomplish my goal!

On Thursday or should I call it 'Buy 1 Get 1 Free Day', I converted Liana, Tash and Rach into bargain shoppers. We had journey to the other end of the earth (aka Belconnen) to Cockington Green, the adorable miniature village. Tash went happy snappy and took that many photos the battery went flat! On the way out we drove past the dinosaur museum for which we had a buy 1 get 1 free voucher. We pulled into the car park and attempted to give it to an ‘excited’ pair going to the museum. However, unfortunately no such pair appeared and we were forced to drive on with voucher still in hand...Enter reader. If you enjoy such things as long walks on the beach...then this is not for you. But if you enjoy reading boring facts, looking at boring old things, and learning...well, this is for you. The first reader to comment below will be the lucky winner of a ‘buy 1 get 1 free’ voucher to the dinosaur museum. So not just you can be bored witless but you can submit one of your unsuspecting friends to it as well.

This was a rookie mistake and we were determined not to let this happen again so we devised a game plan for lunch. One hour, 4 vouchers, 2 Big Macs, 2 KFC Fillet burgers, 2 Krushers and 2 Wendy's milkshakes later we rolled out of the food court. At 2.30pm it was time to get serious and learn something. So while I went to the University of Canberra the girls went to study at Hoyts.

Three days, 7 vouchers, I think it is pretty safe to say...Penny 1, Entertainment book 0 = Kathy happy!

If you've managed to read all of this, then you have a good attention span! Now you need to be rewarded for all your hard work. Read the questions below and if you answer yes to any of the following, then they could be yours by just commenting below.

Want to go to the Movies? (Hoyts 2 for $25 tickets of family for $45)
Want to go Go-Karting? (Buy 1 get 1 free – 10 mins)
Want to go Bowling? (2nd game free for 4 people)
Want to go to Paint Ball? (25% group of 10)
Want to go to the Sydney Aquarium? (Buy 1 get 1 free admission)
Want to go to Taronga Zoo? (25% Admission of 4 people)
Want Pizza? (1 Medium Crust Gourmet Pizza or Eagle Boys 25%)
Want bread? (Brumby’s Bakery for 6 bread rolls, specialty loaf or sandwich loaf)

PS. I may or may not have written this post while I was supposed to be writing my assignment. Never mind, I’ve got to keep my readers happy!

There's no stopping them!

Al's on a mission! And Terry's joined her to make our kitchen pristine. I stepped up too...I offered moral support, advice and even gave them an old toothbrush (for scrubbing of course!). Al's also got a new friend her name is Selley's Liquid Sugar Soap and she's incredible! Her, Al and Terry are a dream team. There'll be no grease left in our house when they're done!

Al scrubbed the grease off the glass...I always thought it was frosted glass!

Terry soaked the piece from the exhaust fan and it looks brand new again!

Matching in Red!

What happened to Al?

I'm not sure what's got into Al. Should I call the doctor? I hear lots of noises in the kitchen and presume she is cooking up a storm. I arrive promptly at 6pm ready for a delicious meal and what do I find? Instead of holding a wooden spoon and pouring over a hot bubbling pot upon the stove, I see Al holding a rag in one hand and a bottle of Ajax in the other! She spent the next 1 hour or so cleaning the kitchen with her friends Ajax, Morning Fresh, Jiff and Windex. She didn't just stop there either. Next she was outside, polishing the windows till they sparkled. Look out Mum, there is a new queen of the kitchen!

Could you be any slower?

No I'm not talking about Andrew. His name is Adam. He is the world's slowest bag packer! We went to get a nice Easter lunch and an hour later left the shops with hundreds of bags in hand. Adam took great care to slowly place a maximum of 3 items in each bag while slowly scanning and checking the price. As thoughtful as Adam was in looking out to see if we got the best deals, we wanted to let him know that we are bargain shoppers and already selected each of the 8 bags of Easter eggs because they were 50% off. But we can't be too harsh on Adam as he did greet us as we placed our items on the register. He was very original in his choice of phrase and went with  "Hi, how are you today!". We finally arrived home to find poor Emily waiting on our door step. We quickly explained it was all Adam's fault and then tucked into our hot chicken, potato salad, pasta salad, bread and Kathy's modern lettuce (which was kept in the biggest bag ever! Check it out below - is it massive or what?!)

 

Emily made my day when she offered to hide our Easter eggs and we had our very own Egg hunt. Picture this. 3 very calm, uncompetitive Jacksons searching for chocolate in the backyard...and no Andrew did not win! If we thought this egg hunt was challenge, then we had no idea what was in store for us at the Joyce's house. Sam (aka Bilby hider extraordinaire) wanted to give us a 'challenge'! Andrew was first to find his under a bush and buried under a foot of dirt. Next was Al, and she found hers in one of the hundred bushes in their botanical garden of a backyard. Last of all was me, and I don't know why I didn't find it sooner...I mean it was only buried deep down in the reeds by the pond and only took 5 minutes to find after I was told exactly which bush it was hidden in! Well it was worth it for that delicious chocolate bilby. Thanks Sam =) 

PS. Just in case you were wondering, we made it to church today and in fact we were even early! 

Sincerely Satisfied

Who said the quality of the meals had to decline while the parents were away? Certainly not Al - she didn't let it stop her! I would have made a stir-fry or possibly even ravioli, but not Al, she decided to make a full roast dinner! A delicious lamb roast with 5 veggies.   

 

She went to all that trouble for her siblings, I hear you say?! Actually it was the special visit from Terry and Julie that warranted such a delightful dinner.  

Before

After

Don't leave that little scrap, I hear you say. Don't worry we didn't, there wasn't a single piece of food left uneaten. Mum, you would be impressed!

Oops!

Well what can I say, when you stay up to 2.30am finishing an assignment the chances of you waking up at your alarm at 8am for church are pretty slim. I would have thought that having 3 alarms set by 3 different people would have given us a good chance of waking up and getting to the Good Friday service on time...but wait this is the Jackson household and we are known for our ability to sleep! Also our number one alarm is missing in action...okay she's gone to Europe! We hope for better luck Easter morning!