Ok, so I don’t usually blog on a Sunday any more but I had to this week because check this out!

I was chosen as the Super Stalker Sunday featured blog!

Visiting here for the first time via the SSS hop?

Welcome to my world!

Leave me a comment so I can return the visit

I offer lots of ways to stay connected. I hope you consider at least one option. And I follow back!

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Welcome to this week’s Super Stalker Sunday hop!

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What is Super Stalker Sunday?

Glad you asked! Super Stalker Sunday is a weekly blog hop hosted by

Your blog is your brand, and as you are building your brand, you need to spread the word about your amazing blog!  The Super Stalker Sunday hop is an amazing way to make new connections.  This hop encourages you to connect with other bloggers via RSS Feed, Google Friend Connect, Email Subscribers, Pinterest, Linky Tools, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+!

How Does This Work?

Follow each host at least one way, and leave a comment letting us know how you’re following us. As hostesses we’re committed to returning the follows, but please be patient as we are busy mamas and it may take us a few days to return the visit and follow.

Please link up only your home page on one of the host sites and your link will appear on all as we use the same linky.  {Links to other pages will be deleted without warning.}   After you follow the hosts and the featured blogger, follow at least the four blogs listed above you on the linky.   If your time permits, follow more!

Remember: You will only get as much as you give.  The more blogs you can visit, and the more quality comments you leave, the more visits you will gain in return. We are all here to socialize, greet, and discover new-to-us blogs!

While we encourage sharing our button and hop with as many as possible, it is not required. The more you spread the word though, the more we socialize and all gain followers!

This week’s featured blog is:

We asked Tina what she loves most about blogging. She replied: “What I love most about blogging is having a place on the interwebz where I can make my readers think, smile, take action in their own lives or just make them feel at home and if I can make them feel better about themselves by blogging about my own stuff ups, then that makes me a happy chicky.”

If you would like to be our featured blogger next week, being shared with more than 32,000 combined followers between the hosts of this hop, please link up your blog’s home page! {Links to other pages will be deleted without warning.} At the end of each week we will select a blog via Random.Org to be the featured blog for the following week. The featured blogger will be emailed by Wednesday morning. Please be sure to check your spam folders! This week, the linky will remain open until 12:00PM EST on Tuesday! Go ahead, stalk up a storm!

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Attending Nuffnang Blogopolis 2012, thanks to…

Yours truly is the Super Stalker Sunday Featured Blog… is a post from: Tina Gray {dot} Me

How many different sizes of clothes do you have in your wardrobe and drawers?

I was giving my wardrobe a bit of a tidy up this afternoon and got thinking about the sizes I have in there.

I think the smallest is 16. I have a couple t-shirts and track pants that I bought last time I was dieting, thinking that they would encourage me to keep going and get down to 16.

It didn’t happen that time. I ended up going the other way and reaching my highest of 24.

I wrote the other day that those size 24 items are too big for me now. I’m able to wear size 20 jeans, size 18 track pants and size 18 – 20 tops.

And I wondered why then, are they still in my wardrobe if I can’t wear those 22 – 24 pieces any more.

Am I keeping them just in case I need them again? Are they there as a reminder of where I was? I don’t know.

But I did know that it was time for them to go.

So I pulled every single size 22 and 24 pieces of clothing out and tossed them on my bed. Reminiscing about the  last time I wore each piece, how long I have had them and how some of those pieces are were my favourites.

I don’t need those “fat clothes”.

I don’t want an opportunity to fail and go back to old, bad habits.

I want to shop in the “normal” clothing sections in stores and not head to “plus size”.

I don’t want to fail.

And by throwing away those “fat clothes”, I AM acting as if it is impossible to fail.

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Attending Nuffnang Blogopolis 2012,

thanks to…

Acting as if it’s impossible to fail…. is a post from: Tina Gray {dot} Me

I know… that because this post is going live so late, my gorgeous readers are going to know that posting today was an after thought and I really didn’t have anything to blog about today.

I know… that while I already knew that some women are judgemental, nasty people when it comes to other mothers who have differing opinions to their own, some of them have no problems in vomitting words on the interwebz and instead of being just voicing their opinions, they resort to name calling. We’re not in high school any more, ladies. Grow the fuck up.

I know… while I am thrilled that my son passed his driving test and now has his Provisional license, I will also never sleep properly again.

I know… that I love walking through old cemeteries (during the day. not at night. because I’m a chicken) and taking photos of old grave stones.

I know… that sometimes hiding under your own rock and ignoring the noise outside is good for the blogging soul. I also know that I’m quite happy doing my own thing, running my own race and taking you all along with me for the ride.

I know… that I’ve just run out of things I know so I’ll finish up here but it’s your turn now.

What do YOU know?

Linking up with Singular Insanity for

What do I know? is a post from: Tina Gray {dot} Me

I’m having trouble uploading images to my blog this morning so apologies for not posting a photo of my wii fit weigh in, like I do every week.

It’s just a quick checking in…

• Starting weight – 130.3kg
• Last week’s weight- 116.7kg
• This week’s weight – 116.8kg
• Loss/gain – + 0.1 kg
• Total weight loss – 13.5kg

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6.5kg to go to my second goal of losing 20kg.

12.47kg to go to my goal of losing 20% of my starting body weight.

19.6kg to get to half way.

51.8kg to get to goal.

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Tina Gray {dot} Me is looking for FIVE  FOUR THREE x $100 sponsorships to attend Nuffnang Blogopolis 2012.

Click here to find out what you will get for your 100 bucks!

{Tina’s Weigh} Weigh in #15 is a post from: Tina Gray {dot} Me

Apologies to those who have already seen these photos and heard this story. Let’s pretend it’s the first time I’m telling it. Not my fault you follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

Who am I kidding?! I don’t think I have ever done a completely wordless Wednesday in the whole time I have been blogging!

This past weekend was a special occasion at Chez Gray.

On 19 May, 2012 we celebrated our first born daughter Tiesha’s engagement to her fiance, Daniel. Mother Nature blessed us with a gorgeous day and it was awesome to be surrounded with family and friends wishing the best for the young couple.

It was only a couple weeks before the engagement party, while showing the invitation to a friend, that it dawned on me that Tiesha and Daniel’s engagement party was the same day that Bill and I had celebrated our own engagement party 22 years ago.

19 May 1990

I messaged Tiesha on Facebook (as we do) and said “do you realise…..?” And we both sat there, blowing out for a while, wondering is it a coincidence? Powers from above? My (deceased) mother’s doing?

Whatever the explanation – I hope that they have a long, loving, beautiful journey ahead of them xxx

Linking up to:

My Little Drummer Boys, Wordless Wednesday, Angry Julie Monday,Project Alicia, Better in Bulk, Live and Love…Out Loud, Naptime Momtog, Seven Clown Circus, Tina’s Wordless Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday Sakura Haruka, Tots and Me

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Tina Gray {dot} Me is looking for FIVE  FOUR THREE x $100 sponsorships to attend Nuffnang Blogopolis 2012.

Click here to find out what you will get for your 100 bucks!

Wordless (kinda) Wednesday – Engaging Times is a post from: Tina Gray {dot} Me

This post is brought to you by Nuffnang and Yoplait.

You must admit that we are pretty lucky to have days in our Winters that could be passed as Spring or Summer days. I can see now why our Scottish relatives bag me out when I say it’s cold. Their normal response is “Cold?! You don’t know what cold is!” I guess they’re right. But I won’t tell them that.

So Bill, Giorgia, Annabelle and I took advantage of this particular warm day to head to the lake foreshore for a picnic.

And yet again, Madeline and William miss out because they had to work.

We packed some of your favourites – french bread sticks, dip, salami, cheeses, mini croisants and for sweets, we had fruit salad topped with yoghurt.

Our mini salami and cheese croissants are probably only eaten when we go on picnics.

We make them with

• fresh mini croissants (yeah, I cheat and buy them instead of making them)
• salami of your choice
• cheese of your choice

Our “dessert” was just

• apples, bananas and kiwi fruit (the kids’ favourite fruits)
• Yoplait yoghurt
• Granola (optional)

I love that some fruit chopped up, with a dollop of yoghurt on top, and some Granola (if you remember to put it in the picnic basket, Tina!) makes a great “dessert”.  I especially like that Bill and the kids are happy to eat this too instead of eating something chocolatey in front of me while I’m trying to lose weight.

We played with the frisbee and the girls rode their long boards, until Annabelle had a bit of a stack and decided it was time to go home.

Perfect way to take advantage of the warm days in Winter.

How do you take advantage of them?

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Click here to find out what you will get for your 100 bucks!

Taking advantage of warm afternoons is a post from: Tina Gray {dot} Me

I know it’s only May.

And I know that I am risking death stares from within the internetz from my gorgeous readers who, if they have been around for long enough, will know that I am prone to mentioning the C word at random times of the year, and that while I usually wait until July before typing the actual C word out in full, I do reserve the right to discuss it earlier than that because May marks the end of the Gray birthday season, which ultimately means the start of C planning even though I don’t usually say anything out loud.

*ahem*

So I went “window shopping” with Miss Annabelle and we headed straight to the Big W toys section even though the purpose of the trip was to find me some t-shirts to wear while working out because my other ones are getting too big *yay*

It seems that the list I have been keeping on my iPhone is on par to what Miss Annabelle is eyeing off this year.

It looks like crafty kits and LEGO are still high on the list – which suits me because I don’t mind those types of gifts. Unless of course it’s at three in the morning and I’m heading to the bathroom and I step on a sharp little piece of LEGO and it’s hurts like a *insert colourful word here*.

And the Masterchef kits look pretty cool. I saw a slice one and a baking one too. And Annabelle loves to help in the kitchen so these would suit her to a T.

I don’t know what the point is of the Aqua Pets but she seemed to like them and wants a couple. But I’m thinking that they can just stay in the Big W toys aisle.

While I’m already thinking about the C word, I won’t be buying anything until the start of the toys sale. I STILL don’t have anywhere to stash gifts so the longer I can keep them on layby, the better.

As for the older kids, as they get older, the more difficult they are to buy for because “I don’t know what I want” is the usual answer I get when I ask them!

Now tell me, if you are still reading and haven’t given yourself a headache by trying to death stare me, do you have a birthday season? And when do you start thinking about the C word? And do I need to moderate comments in case of the hate mail? Hehe.

Disclaimer: This post is in collaboration with Big W as per my disclosure policy.

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Click here to find out what you will get for your 100 bucks!

Do I dare mention the C word in May?!? is a post from: Tina Gray {dot} Me

I have these jeans in my wardrobe. They have been hanging in there for I don’t know how many years.

The last time I was able to pull them up over my butt would probably have been maybe 10 years ago.

I was feeling really crappy the other night and came up with the awesome idea to try on jeans that had the potential of making me feel even more like shit because I wouldn’t be able to do them up.

Yep, I come up with good ideas like that.

But I did them up. The zipper AND the button. I couldn’t sit down in them that night but meh, I could do them up.

And now, I can sit. And breathe. And walk in the without looking like I’m walking like a robot.

It’s these things that are keeping me going.

Wondering how I went this week?

Let’s do this…..

• Starting weight – 130.3kg
• Last week’s weight- 118.0kg
• This week’s weight – 116.7kg
• Loss/gain – 1.3 kg
• Total weight loss – 13.6kg

This week’s plan:

• be more conscious about how much water I am drinking
• better choices for dinner
• 1 x swim
• 7 x 45min walk/jog on treadmill

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6.4kg to go to my second goal of losing 20kg.

12.46kg to go to my goal of losing 20% of my starting body weight.

19.5kg to get to half way.

51.7kg to get to goal.

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 Proudly sponsored by

Your logo could be here too!

Tina Gray {dot} Me is looking for FIVE  FOUR THREE x $100 sponsorships to attend Nuffnang Blogopolis 2012.

Click here to find out what you will get for your 100 bucks!

Weigh in #14 and shameless bragging is a post from: Tina Gray {dot} Me

I am not even going to tell you how long it has been since I have finished a book. A real book. So I’m kinda excited to share this post with you and feel like I have the reading bug again and already am on to another book, which I’ll tell you about next time.

But for now I’m sharing with you what I thought of…

The Wedding Season by Su Dharmapala.

From the back cover:

Meet Shani – she’s 32, single and has a job to die for and is very happy with her life. So why does everyone insist on trying to convince her that the only way to the true happiness is meeting the perfect man?

When Shani’s horoscope miraculously reveals that now is the best time of her life for marriage, her mother decides to take control. As the Sri Lankan wedding season opens she arranges a parade of suitors, in the hope that her unmarried daughter will salvage the family honour by finally finding Mr Right. But true life, like true love, can get very complicated.

Amidst a riot of hilarious dates with would-be husbands, a stressful job and a neurotic mother with serious cultural baggage, her best friend is sliding into depression and Shani seems powerless to help.

Through a flurry of curry, cricket, sarees, and weddings, Shani comes to learn that love comes in many guises – and that life is a one-shot game, even if you do believe in reincarnation.

What I thought:

I really enjoyed this book. Right from the first page, you get drawn into Shani’s world. I only read when I jump into bed at night and I found myself not wanting to put the book down to find out what was going to happen next.

I found myself laughing out loud in some bits and I love books like that. I found myself wondering when Shani was going to change her mind about marriage and waiting for her to realise where her heart was.

I loved how the Sri Lankan culture was so prominent in the story and found that I actually learned something as well. The whole story is written as though Shani was sitting, chatting with you – another thing I like.

Have you read The Wedding Season? If so, tell me what you thought of it. If not, tell me how often do you get to read?

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Tina Gray {dot} Me is looking for FIVE  FOUR THREE x $100 sponsorships to attend Nuffnang Blogopolis 2012.

Click here to find out what you will get for your 100 bucks!

Been reading – The Wedding Season is a post from: Tina Gray {dot} Me

A 6am alarm on Mother’s Day should be illegal.

But that’s exactly what happened here at Chez Gray because my sister and I had decided that along with our husbands and children (well, in my case 2/5 of my children) were going to participate in the Mother’s Day Classic this year.

We arrived at Stuart Park and it was absolutely freezing! There were SO many people – which was awesome.

Penny and I have decided that next year, instead of walking, we’re going to run the 5km.

At the sound of the horn, we walked the 5km along with a few hundred others.  Miss Annabelle did a great job walking along with Bill and I, and only got a piggy back by Bill and me for a bit of the way back.

After the event, we headed home and I was given my Mother’s Day gifts by my babes.

To make the day even more awesome, we went to the Wollongong Botanical Gardens for a picnic. And ALL of my children were there! Which is rare these days because the teenagers are busy with their jobs and it seems like I need to book dates with them to see them!

I hope that whatever you did, you had a lovely Mother’s Day xx

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Tina Gray {dot} Me is looking for FIVE  FOUR THREE x $100 sponsorships to attend Nuffnang Blogopolis 2012.

Click here to find out what you will get for your 100 bucks!

Mother’s Day 2012 is a post from: Tina Gray {dot} Me