Thursday, 10 January 2013
Wednesday, 9 January 2013
Tuesday, 8 January 2013
Sunday, 6 January 2013
picture a day
I saw that my friend is doing something called "Project 365" over on her Suburban Mum blog, and I thought it was a great idea. It's simply one picture per day, but I thought it would be good to do for two reasons: it'll get me blogging more regularly and maybe I'll learn how to use my camera by the end of 2013.
I missed out the first couple of days and forgot to start posting them on here, but hey - better late than never.
So, we start on day 3: my new Uggs that proved tricky:
Truth be told, I've never been a big Uggs fan (or at least, not a fan of the original style Uggs.) Sadly, they've become the boots of chavs all over the UK and that didn't really appeal to me. I wanted a pair of warm, comfy boots and came across the biker style Uggs on the Office web site. I liked the style a lot more than the originals and they were heavily marked down. I couldn't resist! Had a bit of drama when I couldn't get them past my toes, but eventually realised that you cannot get them on unless you have bare feet. Wearing socks with these boots would be far too warm anyway. Suffice it to say, the boots finally went on and they are amazingly comfy. They're like wearing fluffy slippers to work all day long. Lovely.
Day 4: happy birthday, Katie:
One of my best friends had a couple of us over for a drink and "Magic Mike" viewing (HELLO!), and I made her a white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake. It was a really lovely evening; chilled and fun. If it isn't obvious from this photo, I still haven't really got the hang of my camera.
Day 5: Jack's bike wash:
I guess if anything "good" came from our car accident a few months ago, it was the settlement money that Jack and I got for our injuries and stress. It wasn't a fortune, but it was enough for our little boy to get a brand new bike, a new bed (forthcoming), and a bit left over to put in his savings account. He spent ages washing it proudly in our front yard, and somehow managed to get a big blob of soap suds on his head.
Day 6: packing away Christmas:
Although it's really nice to have our living room back, it's always a bit sad when Christmas gets packed away for another 11 months. We had a really lovely Christmas this year down in Kent with the in-laws. It was relaxing, full of food and prosecco, and Paul and I managed to sneak out for a film/supper.
Right, caught up now.
I missed out the first couple of days and forgot to start posting them on here, but hey - better late than never.
So, we start on day 3: my new Uggs that proved tricky:
Truth be told, I've never been a big Uggs fan (or at least, not a fan of the original style Uggs.) Sadly, they've become the boots of chavs all over the UK and that didn't really appeal to me. I wanted a pair of warm, comfy boots and came across the biker style Uggs on the Office web site. I liked the style a lot more than the originals and they were heavily marked down. I couldn't resist! Had a bit of drama when I couldn't get them past my toes, but eventually realised that you cannot get them on unless you have bare feet. Wearing socks with these boots would be far too warm anyway. Suffice it to say, the boots finally went on and they are amazingly comfy. They're like wearing fluffy slippers to work all day long. Lovely.
Day 4: happy birthday, Katie:
One of my best friends had a couple of us over for a drink and "Magic Mike" viewing (HELLO!), and I made her a white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake. It was a really lovely evening; chilled and fun. If it isn't obvious from this photo, I still haven't really got the hang of my camera.
Day 5: Jack's bike wash:
I guess if anything "good" came from our car accident a few months ago, it was the settlement money that Jack and I got for our injuries and stress. It wasn't a fortune, but it was enough for our little boy to get a brand new bike, a new bed (forthcoming), and a bit left over to put in his savings account. He spent ages washing it proudly in our front yard, and somehow managed to get a big blob of soap suds on his head.
Day 6: packing away Christmas:
Although it's really nice to have our living room back, it's always a bit sad when Christmas gets packed away for another 11 months. We had a really lovely Christmas this year down in Kent with the in-laws. It was relaxing, full of food and prosecco, and Paul and I managed to sneak out for a film/supper.
Right, caught up now.
Saturday, 5 January 2013
resolving, 2013 edition
Yikes, I only just realised that it's that time of year - time to go back to last year's January post about resolutions and see how far I've come. Or not come.
My goals for 2012 were:
My goals for 2013 are:
My goals for 2012 were:
- Purge and organise. I started working on this recently and it's been incredibly liberating. There is still quite a way to go yet, and I still have yet to find a way to keep myself organised.
- Make our home a sweet home. We aren't going to move for quite some time, so we need to sort out all the loose ends around here and make this a place we can really be happy with, at least for the next little while. Must. Get. Rid. Of. That. Floral. Wallpaper. In. The. Corridor. Gaaaaaah.
- Focus on my health. I don't just mean losing weight (which has been the albatross around my neck for decades now), but finding solutions for the small yet annoying health niggles I've been enduring for the past couple of years.
- Figure out what I want to be when I grow up. I might return to work, in some capacity, when Isla increases her hours at nursery in September. It might be tech writing again, or it might be something totally different. I don't know yet. Be creative. My soul goes numb when I'm not doing something creative, whether it's delving into the cobwebby part of my brain that used to do graphic design, making something, or figuring out how to do a rugby ball cake (true.)
- Get "published". Doesn't have to be paid work (it likely won't be and will probably be an article online), but I need to write and it would be great to get a piece out there in the public domain. This is very much related to my last point.
- Buy as much London Olympic tat as possible. (Not really. Well, maybe just a little tat.)
My goals for 2013 are:
- Again with the house decluttering and making bigger thing. The mess. Oh god, the mess. Make it go away.
- Stick to the damn diet. Managed two days of it so far but ate quite a lot of cheesecake and crisps last night. I am a very good diet starter.
- Keep writing. I'm keeping my ear to the ground and looking out for any opportunities. Last year gave me a real boost and I feel more confident to pitch articles.
- Do something interesting. Not sure what this will be yet. Learn a skill? Go somewhere new? Finally sit down with that book on writing Japanese characters? I just want to do something a bit different that doesn't involve leaping from a plane or getting something pierced.
- Spend less time online. I did take my iPad with me when we went away for Christmas, but because I can't type on it to save my life, I spent much less time on it. I just used it to do a bit of work, check emails in the morning, and that was about it - and it was kind of nice. So less time farting around on the internet, starting now. Goodnight.
Sunday, 26 August 2012
good day
And this is the second half. It's much nicer.
After the stress and emotions of Friday, I had a very much needed day out in London with one of my best friends yesterday. I've been meaning to see "Wicked" for years now and finally got round to seeing it - and my goodness, it was worth the wait.
Fantastic songs, great acting, and the two main leads had phenomenal voices. Just magical and wonderful and all the things you want when you escape to the theatre. I stood and applauded with all my might at the end.
We headed to Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford to do something else I've been meaning to do for ages - have a meal at Wahaca, a Mexican cantina style restaurant co-founded by MasterChef winner Thomasina Meyers. I love a good Mexican meal (my only remotely authentic experience of it has always been in San Diego) which is very hard to come by in England. Wahaca's food surpassed expectations. We went for a sharing selection and for £19.95 (for both of us), we were amazed at the amount of food we got. All of it was fresh, bursting with flavour, and cooked beautifully. We had black bean tostadas, pork tacos, chicken tacos, broad bean and feta quesadillas, fried tortillas filled with new potatoes, and coleslaw. Devouring my meal with dripping hands, I "mmmmmed" my way through the whole thing. Not a pretty sight, but I couldn't care less. I also had a classic margarita made with the smoothest tequila I've ever tasted. For dessert, we both had a hotcake (a thin pancake) topped with ice cream, dolce de leche sauce, and a peanut praline. If no one was watching, we would have licked our plates clean.
At the end of the meal, I was surprised to see a book of matches - I didn't think they gave those out anymore. I opened the book to find sticks of chilli seeds:
Very clever and such a great idea. Service was friendly, efficient, and attentive. All totalled, our bill came to £43. A bargain for the quantity and quality of the food we ate, especially for London.
I didn't realise that Westfield was right next to the Olympic Park, so it was a delight to see it as we rounded a corner to get to the restaurant. I never got a chance to see any of the events, so being this close to the park was fantastic. To top it off, we kept passing by Paralympic athletes and officials from all over the world. Such a brilliant experience. It was an amazing, much needed day.
Just one question, though: why are our mascots so angry?
After the stress and emotions of Friday, I had a very much needed day out in London with one of my best friends yesterday. I've been meaning to see "Wicked" for years now and finally got round to seeing it - and my goodness, it was worth the wait.
Fantastic songs, great acting, and the two main leads had phenomenal voices. Just magical and wonderful and all the things you want when you escape to the theatre. I stood and applauded with all my might at the end.
We headed to Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford to do something else I've been meaning to do for ages - have a meal at Wahaca, a Mexican cantina style restaurant co-founded by MasterChef winner Thomasina Meyers. I love a good Mexican meal (my only remotely authentic experience of it has always been in San Diego) which is very hard to come by in England. Wahaca's food surpassed expectations. We went for a sharing selection and for £19.95 (for both of us), we were amazed at the amount of food we got. All of it was fresh, bursting with flavour, and cooked beautifully. We had black bean tostadas, pork tacos, chicken tacos, broad bean and feta quesadillas, fried tortillas filled with new potatoes, and coleslaw. Devouring my meal with dripping hands, I "mmmmmed" my way through the whole thing. Not a pretty sight, but I couldn't care less. I also had a classic margarita made with the smoothest tequila I've ever tasted. For dessert, we both had a hotcake (a thin pancake) topped with ice cream, dolce de leche sauce, and a peanut praline. If no one was watching, we would have licked our plates clean.
At the end of the meal, I was surprised to see a book of matches - I didn't think they gave those out anymore. I opened the book to find sticks of chilli seeds:
Very clever and such a great idea. Service was friendly, efficient, and attentive. All totalled, our bill came to £43. A bargain for the quantity and quality of the food we ate, especially for London.
I didn't realise that Westfield was right next to the Olympic Park, so it was a delight to see it as we rounded a corner to get to the restaurant. I never got a chance to see any of the events, so being this close to the park was fantastic. To top it off, we kept passing by Paralympic athletes and officials from all over the world. Such a brilliant experience. It was an amazing, much needed day.
Just one question, though: why are our mascots so angry?
bad day
This is a blog post of two halves. Here's the first half...
On Friday, Jack, Mia and I headed off to the cinema. We were stopped in traffic but the older guy behind us failed to stop. I don't think he was going very fast, but it was a complete shock, a very loud bang, and Jack was distraught and in pain. I've never been in an accident in this country before, and had no idea what to do. The guy who hit us was no help; he seemed disoriented (and we all thought he'd been drinking, but the breathalyser proved otherwise) and was more concerned about his car than anything or anyone else. Thankfully the guy in front of us, who I actually hit because of the force of the shunt, was on the ball and called the police and ambulance.
Jack was very shaken but calmed down as time went on. The paramedics and policemen were fantastic with us, but were particularly great with Jack. Paul came to take Mia home (who really wasn't fazed by any of this and found it all rather exciting) and I went off in the ambulance with Jack - an experience I really don't want to repeat ever again. They had to strap him in and keep him in a neck brace until they could x-ray him, so the poor little guy was stuck like this for over 2 hours in total:
But as you can see, he wasn't very traumatised by this point. Mostly he was bored and hungry. I joked around with him, told him stories about when he was in my belly and we had to spend time in hospital, and talked about when he was born. Hospital staff were all amazing with him and we were sent home after his x-ray came back normal.
The most difficult part for me was not only seeing my child in distress and being worried sick about him, but it was also very hard to be back in the A&E for the first time since I miscarried. I caught a glimpse of the nurse who looked after me and walked the same back corridor to the x-ray area that I was wheeled down to ultrasound. I always find going to this hospital distressing, but revisiting these particular memories was especially hard.
After we finally got home, got everyone fed and in bed, I lost it. Holding it together for all those hours took a lot of energy. Kids are strong, mummies not so much.
Two days on and we're all okay. Jack's neck is still sore and my back, neck, and shoulders are sore as well. I'm nervous about driving again and have to go all the way down to Kent on Tuesday, but I need to get back on the horse again. Mostly, I'm very, very grateful that we're all okay.
On Friday, Jack, Mia and I headed off to the cinema. We were stopped in traffic but the older guy behind us failed to stop. I don't think he was going very fast, but it was a complete shock, a very loud bang, and Jack was distraught and in pain. I've never been in an accident in this country before, and had no idea what to do. The guy who hit us was no help; he seemed disoriented (and we all thought he'd been drinking, but the breathalyser proved otherwise) and was more concerned about his car than anything or anyone else. Thankfully the guy in front of us, who I actually hit because of the force of the shunt, was on the ball and called the police and ambulance.
Jack was very shaken but calmed down as time went on. The paramedics and policemen were fantastic with us, but were particularly great with Jack. Paul came to take Mia home (who really wasn't fazed by any of this and found it all rather exciting) and I went off in the ambulance with Jack - an experience I really don't want to repeat ever again. They had to strap him in and keep him in a neck brace until they could x-ray him, so the poor little guy was stuck like this for over 2 hours in total:
But as you can see, he wasn't very traumatised by this point. Mostly he was bored and hungry. I joked around with him, told him stories about when he was in my belly and we had to spend time in hospital, and talked about when he was born. Hospital staff were all amazing with him and we were sent home after his x-ray came back normal.
The most difficult part for me was not only seeing my child in distress and being worried sick about him, but it was also very hard to be back in the A&E for the first time since I miscarried. I caught a glimpse of the nurse who looked after me and walked the same back corridor to the x-ray area that I was wheeled down to ultrasound. I always find going to this hospital distressing, but revisiting these particular memories was especially hard.
After we finally got home, got everyone fed and in bed, I lost it. Holding it together for all those hours took a lot of energy. Kids are strong, mummies not so much.
Two days on and we're all okay. Jack's neck is still sore and my back, neck, and shoulders are sore as well. I'm nervous about driving again and have to go all the way down to Kent on Tuesday, but I need to get back on the horse again. Mostly, I'm very, very grateful that we're all okay.
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