My week: food shaming to “first world” fisticuffs (plus a walrus doing sit-ups)

I started the week with this sinking realisation: “We had our neighbours over on Sunday. Not the noisy ones, they’ve thankfully moved far, far away. Or the ones who invited me to dinner and I disgraced myself by getting drunk and spewing in their bathroom between entree and main. And not the ones with the phantom baby … The ones whose mail I lost. Yep, those ones. (But I’m beginning to get the sinking feeling we’re THOSE ones.)

But hopefully I made up for it slightly with the lemonade scones and yummy chicken sandwiches  (recipes here) …

Then I got all teary when the youngest hit this proud developmental milestone … getting a yellow wristband at Luna Park and finally being able to drive her own dodgem car.

The next day, Husband pissed me off by sending the following two text messages:  “Woken by my beautiful girls at 9.30am – I could get used to the school holidays” and “Now at roti restaurant eating curry with the girls … school holidays rock.” But karma was sweet and swift. Read about it at It’s Alright for SOME.

And I introduced a new column, Flashback Friday. I kicked it off by reminiscing about the time Anthony LaPaglia Yelled (and Yelled) At Me because there was a caption in Woman’s Day under a pic of him without his shirt on referring to him as “Anthony LaPudgier”.

I am still tossing up whether to publish a comment by Gail: “Actually, It is a form of bullying to pick on some one because of their weight.”

Really, Gail, I DID NOT KNOW THAT. I thought picking on someone because of their weight was the ultimate form of flattery. But bugger me, I was wrong. Gail must have missed the sentence where I said: “One of the sub-editors at Woman’s Day thought it would be a lark to call him Anthony LaPudgier in the caption accompanying the pic. And I didn’t notice when I was checking the page proofs.”

Flipping ‘eck.

Then I did a bit of food blogging with recipes for Southern Nibbles and Christmas in July reindeer cupcakes.

Over at iVillage …

The runaway hit of the week was our iBlog Friday winner, Renee Wilson from Mummy, Wife, Me, who wrote: “I left my husband in charge of the kids and came home to THIS”… http://bit.ly/1aZ4TyT

People also went pretty gaga over “I have a confession to make. Sometimes I think REALLY terrible things about other mums…” Click here to read >>http://bit.ly/12AFY0R

I asked iVillagers on Facebook: “School holidays question on my mind: Hot chips for lunch … where do you stand on them? They’re seductively cheap, kids love them and EVERYWHERE has them as a standard children’s meal option. How often do you give in – frequently, sometimes or never? – Alana (Confession: if it’s a pub meal I’m an always)”

And one woman replied: “Hot chips are a rarity for our family (few times per year). We are teaching our kids to love healthy and tasty food.”

Well bully for you.  But I kept thinking I was going to be set upon by DOCs at any moment during my Luna Park visit (and hot chip lunch) for being a terrible parent.

So I tried to make up for it by reblogging  this … Who knew healthy snacks for kids could look so cute? Click here for 21 ideas to try out these holidays >> http://bit.ly/18s1rND

And I threw in a walrus doing sit-ups … See the footage here >>http://bit.ly/1b47GGY

But there were some pretty sad moments too, including the news that Pierce Brosnan’s daughter Charlotte had lost her battle with ovarian cancer. Click here to read about her family’s sad history with the disease >> http://bit.ly/12CU0Lf

And I was totally gutted by this story: “Did you feel us kiss your face and stroke your hair?” A grieving mum recalls the last time she said “I love you” to her daughter >> http://bit.ly/16PB5Bq

Happier news on the celebrity front came with Tom Williams & wife Rachel’s baby announcement. Click for the (spooky) details >> http://bit.ly/15cQmwV

Speaking of ovarian cancer, this amazing 16-year-old has developed a cancer detection test that has the potential to save thousands of lives. Click here to read about his incredible invention >> http://bit.ly/17Sq2fr

And finally, if one more person posts a snarky “first world problems” comment on Facebook I am going to personally crawl down the internet cable and throttle them. Tip to punters: It’s such a cheap smart remark. If you’re going to make one, at least be pithy and original. And DONT have a joint Facebook account when you do it.

The latest example was on a gossip item about Kanye not changing nappies. (Might I sadly point out that three of my top 10 stories on the site last month had the word “Kardashian” in the title.) Dave & Melissa wrote: “Oh wow, 1st world problems right there. Quick, call CPS.”

My real question was “What’s CPS?” But instead, I ill-advisedly replied: “So you prefer your problems strictly third world Dave & Melissa?” Which started a bit of an exchange … my last comment (to date) being: Hey Dave and Melissa – the site is meant to offer entertainment and advice and heartfelt stories. It’s a mix. Just skip the ones that make you yawn because they’re not serious enough and enjoy the ones that you think are important. We can’t be all things to all people with every post.”

(Note my continued use of “Dave & Melissa” … possibly too obtuse.)

PS Bloody hell, can you believe the statement Charles Saatchi released regarding his decision to divorce Nigella Lawson? What a slug! Read it here >> >> http://bit.ly/12NNDog

OK, gotta let it go … hope you had a great weekend. Thanks for putting up with my “first world problems” for another week. I really appreciate having you along for the ride.