Nightwolf's Den

February Photo A Day

Woohoo I’ve made it for 2 months (even though I didn’t Instagram my photos)

my photos

and you can see the full size photos in my February album.

You can find the March list @ Fat Mum Slim

February is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. Ovarian Cancer seems to be one of those cancers that not many people know about or talk about. In Australia, one in 77 women will develop Ovarian Cancer in their lifetime. Every year more than 1200 Australian women are diagnosed and around 800 will die from the disease. On average 3 Australian women are diagnosed every day. Of the women diagnosed 77% are diagnosed at an advanced stage where the cancer has spread and can be difficult to treat successfully. More than half these women will not live beyond five years after their diagnosis. Frightening statistics! BUT if ovarian cancer is diagnosed at an early stage women have an 80% chance of being alive and well after 5 years. Unfortunately there currently is no reliable early detection test or screening for ovarian cancer. Pap smears do not detect ovarian cancer.

This is where Ovarian Cancer Australia can help. Ovarian Cancer Australia are the peak organisation for ovarian cancer in Australia and are the only national organisation in Australia dedicated to raising awareness of the disease, giving support to women (& their families) who are affected and funding the best ovarian cancer research.

The mission of Ovarian Cancer Australia is to:
* Support women with ovarian cancer, their families, friends and carers with compassionate support programs and practical resources.
* Educate communities and individuals about the disease and increase their awareness of symptoms and the latest treatment, research and clinical trials from across Australia.
* Advocate to improve outcomes, treatment and quality of life for women with ovarian cancer.
* Fund innovative and world leading ovarian cancer research.

So what are the symptoms of ovarian cancer?
There are four most commonly reported symptoms
* abdominal or pelvic pain
* increased abdominal size or persistent abdominal bloating
* needing to urinate often or urgently
* difficulty eating or feeling full quickly
Let your doctor know if you have any other symptoms, that are not usual for you, that can include:
* changes in bowel habits
* unexplained weight gain or loss
* vaginal bleeding
* back pain
* indigestion or nausea
*excessive fatigue
Most women with these symptoms will not have ovarian cancer. If you are concerned, see your doctor

How can we help? Hold an Afternoon Teal during February, Individual donations (enabling you to make a donation of a specific amount to a project of your choice, Regular giving (through a monthly direct debit enables you to provide ongoing sponsorship of Ovarian Cancer Australia’s work), Payroll giving (a great way to get you and your workplace involved in regular giving and provides a wide range of benefits for everyone involved), In honour and celebration donations (allowing you to provide a tribute to a woman living with ovarian cancer or can be made in memory of someone special. Celebration donations make a meaningful birthday, anniversary or Christmas gift) or Remembering Ovarian Cancer Australia in your will.

If you’d like to donate, my mum is holding an Afternoon Teal and has given me the link to her donation page. Let’s see how much we can raise to help support this great cause!

ETA – we raised $1000 on Saturday at our Afternoon Teal. An amazing day & thanks to those who donated!

For more information on Ovarian Cancer Australia or to hold your own Morning Teal, go to www.ovariancancer.net.au/

Business Cards for Blog Cons

I’m in the process of designing my own bloggy business cards for the upcoming Digital Parents Conference (OMG it’s only 42 days away!!!) and thought others might be in the same boat as me and have no real idea what to put on them.

After a little Google searching I came across Momcomm and their series of articles on blog business cards (from 2011).

I also found a post by David Risley – 5 Important Tips for your Blogger Business Card. I love the idea of using your photo. And from Table of Five – Get Your Business Cards Ready For Blog Conferences!
Then there’s Blog Design Heroes’ Business Cards for bloggers (check for typos!!).

So what are you putting on yours? Have a great resource to share? Or know of someone who designs kick ass cards?

Look forward to swapping cards with you 😀

Happy Valentine’s Day 2012

Normally we don’t do anything for Valentine’s Day, not even when we where dating. Think I got roses once, maybe even chocolates. Not that I’m really worried.

We usually just do something a little special for tea. A favourite meal. This year we’ve gone Asian.

I made Steamed Pork Buns for a starter (will share the recipe later)

then Lemon & Ginger chicken with rice.

Happy Valentine’s. How did you celebrate?

Funeral songs

The awesome and amazing Eden over at Edenland started a new blog meme thing last week. I didn’t join in last week but this week the topic was like – yes you must post about me! and was all Oh ok. BTW You have to read Eden’s blog. she is an amazing woman (& I’m so looking forward to meeting her next month) And then read the links to other people’s funeral songs – an awesome list of songs.

I was a Goth before being Emo was the in thing, so death (amongst other things) was pretty much the topic of a lot of poetry & conversations with friends. Looking back we really were a pretty gloomy lot 😉

So, my funeral song/s. Sad/morbid as it may be I’ve had 2 particular songs that I knew the first time I heard them that I wanted them to be played at my funeral.

The first, one of my all time favourite Metallica songs. No idea why but the first time I heard it I was like “this is my funeral song” Guess we all just fade to black when we go

and then there’s the Gunner’s. I love this song but I’m not sure which version I like better – the original or the altered lyrics. This song was played at the funeral of a young guy I knew who died way to young in a car accident. It still makes me tear up when I hear it but I love the lyrics.

Three things I’m currently procrastinating about…

Joining in with Thursday Three and the prompt this week is..

hmmm so many things, how to pick just 3 LOL

* Cleaning is a big one in this house. Most days I just cannot be bothered. The 2yo & hubby will just mess it up again so why bother. Which in turn leads to a mad dash cleanup if we’re having company *sigh* my bedroom currently looks like a Chinese laundry. On the upside, this afternoon I did get a slight cleaning urge & have done the kitchen & lounge. It’s a start.

* Project Life. It means sorting & organising my huge pile of scrap stuff. And cleaning off the dining room table. I could just plan some more pages on my laptop, or sort my photos, or search Pinterest for inspiration. AND there goes a couple of hours

* blogging. I have a few posts sitting half written. I need to finish them. Expect a few posts next week 😉

Jump on over to Life as we know it & share what you’re procrastinating about….. or procrastinate about it til next Wednesday before the new topic goes up 😉

Same-sex marriage in Australia – the debate

It’s one of the biggest political, moral and social debates of our time. But despite the opinions and arguments that are debated in both parliament and across dinner tables country wide, do we really know where same-sex marriage stands in Australia? If you’re having trouble understanding the debate, here’s an outline of the legal recognition of same-sex couples in Australia.

Under current law in Australia, same-sex marriages are not permitted or legally recognised. The Marriage Act defines marriage as “a union between a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.”

In 2008 and 2009, however, legislation was passed that gives same-sex couples the same legal rights as those in a heterosexual de facto relationship. And with de facto couples enjoying the same rights as married couples, same-sex couples are also entitled to the same rights when it comes to superannuation, taxation, social security, health, aged care and employment. They are also recognised as a de facto couple in family law, meaning that if a same-sex de facto couple separates, they are able to pursue property settlement before the court in the same way as married and heterosexual de facto couples.

There is still a major push and movement behind legalising same-sex marriage. In 2009, a same-sex marriage bill was introduced by a member of the Australian Greens. The Bill was not passed. Traditionally, both major political parties have opposed same-sex marriage. In 2011, however, following heated debate and a conscience vote by the Labor Party at their National Conference, the Labor Party’s official stance on the project changed to support same-sex marriage.

With the Labor Party’s position on same-sex marriage having changed, there is pressure for the Coalition to also conduct a conscience vote. A Bill to legalise gay marriage in Australia is expected to be put before parliament later this year.

If you’re in a same-sex relationship and want to understand more about your rights and the law as it stands, contact family lawyers. Sydney and other Australian cities have a number of experience family law specialists to choose from.

The same-sex marriage debate is an interesting one, because it attracts attention from a broad range of Australians. While it remains to be seen whether same-sex marriage becomes legalised in Australia, it is certainly a key political and social issue for 2012!

The above post was done in collaboration with Watts McCray.

Bacon & Cheese Scrolls

Yup I’m baking again!

Had some leftover bacon after lunch so decided to try out a recipe for Bacon & Cheese scrolls I found at Taste.com.au

and they are yum!

FollowMe Sticker

I’ve been a fan of FollowMe Sticker now for some time after winning some freebies thanks to their Twitter account (@FollowMeSticker)

So as you can imagine I was pretty happy when they came onboard as one of my sponsors for Digital Parents Conference. I asked Stuart Lawson, Founder of FollowMe Sticker to share a bit about the company.

‘”FollowMeSticker was started after reading several articles on how small businesses were taking advantage of Social Media to launch or increase their business. One example was a small cupcake shop owner who invested time in Twitter to gain a local audience and introduce coupons and deals to bring new customers into the new store. This success can be seen by many other businesses who decide to invest some time into developing an audience on Social Media platforms. By developing a community on Facebook or Twitter that is local- you increase the amount of people talking about your business and that gets more customers into the doors.

Our stickers let customers know your business is on Facebook, Twitter, or other Social Media profiles. That means customers can go online and look for coupons or interact with others, as well as interact with your brand. FollowMeSticker was started to help individuals and small local businesses increase sales and word-of-mouth with only a small investment.

Although Social Media doesn’t work for every business- some businesses can really take advantage of fostering a small local community of folks who are supportive of your businesses values, and who will openly share their positive experiences about your company online. I hope that gives you a good idea of what it is and what our goals are. We are here to help local businesses increase their buzz and word-of-mouth.”

FollowMe Sticker produces

Get your own social networking stickers for 25% off in time for Digital Parents Conference by going to FollowMeSticker.com and entering TWITTER42

You can follow them on Twitter or Like them on Facebook

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Want to see your business features here? I’m still accepting sponsors. Please email me or check out my Sponsor page.
Join the list of current sponsors including FollowMe Sticker, Belkin Australia & George Town IT

January Photo a day

Wow I managed to complete this one! Let’s see if I can keep it up in February.

and my photos

You can see all my January photos on Photobucket