Not quite a teenager but yet ....

Me to Miss 11 (who is wearing an oversized shirt and not much else): "You need to go and put some clothes on so we can go shopping"

Miss 11 stands back, spreading her arms: "Done"

Me: "No"

And I think this is the sign of things to come .....

UPDATE ... this is the after shot :(  .....

And, of course, her sister decided to dress similarly ...

Not quite 'POWM' style but ...

And yes, I 'suggested' Miss 11 try again :)

Happy Thanksgiving Day

Wishing all my American friends a wonderful thanksgiving day.  May your day be filled with friends, family, laughter, good food and no stress :)

The things kids say #785

Hubby has just opened a bottle of sparkling wine - with a pop ...

Miss 11 singing: "Pop goes the parenting juice ..."

The things kids say #784

Discussion with Miss 9 this morning:

Miss 9: "Mum, I can iron! Dad taught me how to."

Me: "Great"

Miss 9:  "Yes, you spray the clothes twice quite far back and then you spray the person standing next to you!"

Waiting for a delivery

Can someone please explain to me why is it that a courier company can not give a more specific time than "between 9am and 5pm" while adding, not so helpfully, "if it's not there by 3pm we will be able to give you a better idea of when it will arrive!".

I wanted to head "up north" for the weekend, but I need to wait for this delivery first - it's not something I want left on the doorstep AND there is no other option regarding delivery / collection.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....

Hey USA - I think you've gone mad

Okay, I know it's not the whole of the USA, but seriously this is idiotic ... even more so than Bloomberg restricting sales of the large-sized soda drinks ...

US town adds sugar to water supply

A TEXAS town has added sugar to the water supply to encourage residents to drink more H2O.

Water consumption in Talon, a small town in Pecos County, is well below the United States average.

So the town's top utility officials decided to add roughly 4 tablespoons of sugar for every 240mLs of the town's water supply.

Talon utility commissioner Hester Griggs told CBC News: "Oh, you can taste it yeah, or otherwise there ain't no point in doing it. It's sweet, sweet water."

Mr Griggs said part of the reason behind the move was that kids are preferring to drink soda and energy drinks to water.

"We decided is there a health element to the amount of water that someone drinks.

"We need to make sure that our residents, our kids... are encouraged to drink water, up to 8 glasses a day as is stipulated by the National Alliance of Health."

The sugary water is also being used in water used in showers and toilets.

Mr Griggs said he there wasn't too much concern in the community about the amount of sugar being consumed.

"The upside overweighs the downside unless you have diabetes," he said.

In that case, Mr Griggs recommended local diabetics restrict their intake to four glasses.

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It's not April 1 is it?

Now that is good news ....

From today's news:

Government gives up plan for internet filter

LABOR has abandoned its controversial plan to introduce an internet filter, but is banning all websites related to child abuse.

The federal government will use its powers under the Telecommunications Act to block hundreds of child abuse websites already identified by Interpol, Fairfax reports.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said blocking these websites met "community expectations and fulfils the government's commitment to preventing Australian internet users from accessing child abuse material online".

"Given this successful outcome, the government has no need to proceed with mandatory filtering legislation," he said.

Kevin Rudd promised to introduce an internet filter when Labor won office at the 2007 election, but it was always a controversial policy.

Internet lobbyists argued against censorship and predicted a filter would be ineffective and would slow internet speeds.

Both the coalition and the Greens opposed the plan.

The internet filter would have required Australian internet service providers to block overseas-hosted "refused classification" material as identified by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

The list of banned websites would have been based on public complaints to ACMA.

Fairfax said Internet Industry Association chief executive Peter Lee welcomed the decision as "a positive step".

But the Australian Christian Lobby insisted a filter was needed because "it is important to prevent unwanted access to pornography".

"We must protect our children from forming unhealthy attitudes towards women and sex," lobby spokeswoman Wendy Francis said.

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I had blogged about the plan previously here and here and as it had died out in the news I thought it had just been brought in with no-one being any the wiser.  However, I am pleased to read that they've decided to scrap it and allow adults the choice in what they decide to read and parents the responsibility to decide what their children can access.