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Link love (Powered by a dash of cinnamon and loaves of meat)

the wedding party's banquet table

Dinner at their table would never look like this. Image by svacher via Flickr

I’m trying to be less judgemental. I honestly am. But as I watched Britain’s Biggest Brood, I couldn’t help thinking “this is one rather selfish woman”. She wanted kids because she had a terribly lonely childhood, with an alcoholic mother. And she didn’t want her kids to suffer the same fate.

Fair enough. But why not 3, 4 or 5 kids? Is 15 not going a bit far?

I think it’s safe to say they’ll never lack for company, but who’s to say they want to be one of 15? To be forced to sleep 5 to a room? Would you even have time to spend with each of your children and give them the attention they deserve, when all of your day is taken up with housework? Self sufficiency is a good thing, I agree…but not if you’re forced into it prematurely. She had no choice but to learn to amuse herself and care for herself, thanks to an absent parent. But I’d argue that her kids will fall into the same pattern, not due to her negligence, but because caring for the younger ones would take up most of her time and energy.

Interestingly, somehow they got by on $30k a year (although we noticed that 2L of milk was only 70c, as opposed to, uh, $3.53, when they went supermarket shopping, so maybe it’s not that surprising).

But you know what cemented my pity for her offspring? That they eat nuggets and chips (or similar variations) every night. I can understand why – it’s easy, conveyor belt style fare, but not only do kids need variety, they deserve variety. Just my humble opinion.

WORK / CAREER
I totally want a workplace spouse. But are Penelope Trunk’s tips the way to get one?

I couldn’t agree more. Kristen Lamb’s down-to-earth take on the glamorised profession of writing and what you should know before leaping in…

Eventual Millionaire explains how to increase your business confidence.

Ask A Manager on how to throw a good office Christmas party (we were given the choice between one at the office, or paying to have one off-site. We all thought that was tacky and so does she!)

Who has tips for setting up a home office? Working Girl needs expertise.

10 tips for avoiding office politics, via Ms Career Girl.

Dana at Pushing Thirtyy wonders why anyone would turn down work that’s part of their job.

What’s more important to you: morals or money? Gem refuses to compromise her ideals.

MONEY

Financial Samurai offers a guide to clubbing without blowing the budget, while Moneyapolis wonders how to deal with friends who don’t pay their way.

Cate at Liberal Simplicity reflects on days past of skint pockets and simple luxuries.

Is it bad of me to admit I feel a slight sense of glee when others realise how expensive it is to eat both healthy and yummy? Well, I do. I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE.

JD Roth asks: Is it cool to buy second-hand items for gifts? and explains why income is the most important part of the financial equation.

RainyDaySaver blogs about cars and America’s throwaway society.

Meg at World of Wealth is coming into a windfall and wants to know what you’d do in her case.

Jessie explains how to go about choosing your winter tyres.

Anyone who reads this blog regularly probably knows I have a bad case of real estate envy; I spend downtime browsing through listings of homes (not even dream homes, necessarily) and wondering when I’ll ever be able to afford to buy. Like me, Little House favours older architecture – there’s a certain charm about older houses, not to mention solid construction.

LIFE

I loved Amy’s #Reverb10 post on the best decision she made this year: STOP.

New year, new start. Caroline reflects beautifully on years gone by (I don’t really have anything to add, just read it.)

Not That Kind Of Girl pens a love letter to reading.

Is chasing birds innocent fun or animal cruelty? Sandy needs to know.

Teri at Your Life Sentence reviews the year in Facebook status updates.

Geek in Heels ponders the meaning of Christmas, and those billboards that atheists are pushing around this time of year.

FOOD

Guys, I’m dying here drooling over these cinnamon buns. Won’t anyone share a good recipe with me? Pioneer Woman’s is no use. 2 packages of Active Dry Yeast? I’m in NZ. Please just tell me how many tablespoons of the stuff I need.

While it’s hotting up here, the northern hemisphere is hunkering down for winter and whipping up all kinds of comfort food. Like Cathy’s tomato soup to write home about.

Or Jenny’s beef and beer stew.

I, on the other hand, will soon be making ice cream from scratch, thank you very much!

5 thoughts on “Link love (Powered by a dash of cinnamon and loaves of meat)

  • Reply Financial Samurai December 12, 2010 at 13:20

    Thanks for putting together this wrap!

    What’s the best time to visit NZ btw? Now, since it’s summer??

  • Reply eemusings December 12, 2010 at 14:11

    Yeah, probably between now and…April? Unless you want to hit the slopes, in which case winter is just fine too.

    • Reply Financial Samurai December 13, 2010 at 15:08

      Cool. No need to hit the slopes b/c we’ve got some rad slopes at Lake Tahoe, Squaw and Vail, Colorado!

  • Reply Little House December 13, 2010 at 07:52

    Thanks for including my link in your wrap up! I’m with you on the whole real estate envy; but in my case I think it’s a bad case of architectural envy. 😉

  • Reply gem December 13, 2010 at 18:09

    I want 4 kids, which is a lot to some people, but 15 is ridiculous to almost everyone I think, heh.

    And thanks for the link love!

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