Things That Have Made Me Happy This Month

Despite my frequently miserable state of mind I do have a lot to be grateful for.  Really, loads.  So I thought I would share some of things that have made me happy over the last month.  In no particular order...

• Star FINALLY decided to walk.  He has been able to walk for months I'm certain but has not been brave enough to go it alone.  I have found this immensely frustrating as he is not only a big lad for his age, and I have a bad shoulder from carrying him around for too long,  but his lack of bravery is not a quality I am able to admire.  I know I should find it endearing but I don't...I will not have a woosy son!  Anyhoo, he did it.  The funny thing was that I had taken him to get his feet measured as he has been in the same shoes since November.  On measuring his feet the shop assistant explained that he only had, at best, a few weeks room left.  She enquired whether he was walking to which I replied that he was 'on the cusp'  but had been at this stage for months.  He was already in the biggest size of 'cruiser' shoes,  and 'walker' shoes would make it harder for him, so we decided to wait a few weeks.  At this stage he was busy walking around the shop holding my sisters hand.  Before turning to her next customer the shop assistant looked at Star and said 'he looks like he's ready to go' and with that he walked the length of the shop.  This video clip was taken on my Blackberry as he walked back down the other side.  As I know you will all appreciate it was a very proud moment...

• I had a wonderful Mothers Day, thanks to my wonderful husband.  He saw to it that I received three cards, one from him thanking me for being a lovely mummy to our son (really?) one from my boys of the furry variety, and one from Star.  I also received a lovely bouquet of flowers and tickets to see the Strictly Come Dancing Professionals Tour (I'm a huge Strictly fan if you weren't aware).  But probably the best part of mothers day for me was that The Daddy largely took care of Star, and encouraged me to put my feet up whilst bringing endless mugs of tea and food.  Bliss.

• Said wonderful husband won a prize at work of two VIP tickets and overnight accommodation at a UK sporting event of our choice.  As massive cricket fans we decided to opt for a one day international at Lords against Pakistan in September.  We get to have lunch in the captains lounge, hosted by an ex England captain, and a number of ex England players will be joining us, together with a signed programme by all the sky sports commentators and some kind of keepsake.  I am soooo excited I can't tell you.  Watching a day of international cricket is by far and away the best day out imaginable for me, but this...at Lords...wooohooo!

• Tomorrow I am having a day at Nirvana Spa.  The Daddy gave my best friend and I a day spa voucher for xmas, and has taken some time off work to look after Star.  I will be handing Star over at 10am and need to be back for 5.30pm so the Daddy can work.  During that time I will be doing...absolutely nothing.  Except maybe eating lunch and drinking tea, oh and lots of chatting and putting the world to rights.  If I'm feeling very energetic I may even manage a length or two of the pool...

• The sunshine is also making me happy this month.  We have had a fair few sunny days, and all the daffodil and crocus bulbs on our front bank that my dear Dad planted for us a couple of years ago have started flowering. It looks so pretty...picture postcard pretty. 

• My Secret Post Club gift arrived and was truly amazing.  So much thought had clearly gone into it, and as it was from a blogger previously unknown to me she must have done a  lot of research.  Each gift was individually wrapped and there was a hand written card, explaining the significance of each one.  To go into detail on it all would make this already too long post even longer but suffice to say it included a book, things for the kitchen, decorative things, edible things, and holistic things..all of which I love.  So a big shout out and THANK YOU to Dales Lass who blogs at Tales From The Dales and tweets as Pendlewitch.  It really does make your day to receive a surprise gift, especially one that hits the spot in so many ways...

• Last but not least I received an email from Intense Debate today saying that they had released the fix on the comments issue I had been having. So leave me a comment and we'll see if it has worked ;o)

Things That Have Made Me Happy This Month

Getting Fit...Can I Do It ?

Is enjoying exercise something that you are born with or is it something that can be learned ?  I don't know the answer to that but hopefully I am about to find out...


I have been a life long couch potato.  I have never been sporty and as with everything else in my life, if I'm not good at it I don't like doing it.  I don't like playing in team games due to both the fear of letting down my team mates, but also knowing that I wouldn't be best pleased if I thought they had let me down.  I am fiercely competitive, and there is a danger that partaking in sport will bring out a less attractive part of my character.  As far as other fitness activities go, I would simply rather sit and drink tea and read a blog :o/  Swimming is too wet and cold, aerobics classes too cliquey, the gym too boring.  Are you getting the picture ?


You might assume from this that I am permanently dieting.  Not so.  I was lucky to inherit the skinny gene from somewhere, and whilst I make every effort to eat a healthy, wholegrain diet and am virtually teetotal, nothing is off limits.  And therein, I believe, lies a large part of my lack of exercise problem.  I am vain enough that if I were overweight the benefit of exercise would outweigh my dislike for it.  


I have been conscious for a number of years that exercise is the one missing ingredient in my healthy lifestyle.  My diet is good, I don't have any toxins of the tobacco, alcohol, chemical variety, I take supplements to ensure I receive optimum nutrition, but I don't break into a sweat.  I have thought about it often, but that's as far as it's gone.  Until now.


I think there is a name for when a number of coincidences collide to give you the impetus you need to make a change.  Well, whatever it is, it happened to me this week.  Firstly my blogging friend Dawn over at The Moiderer has started running.  You can read all about it on her blog, but it got me thinking, and left me feeling slightly ashamed of myself.  Then my dear friend Amanda came over and showed me a running app she has on her Iphone (Amanda is doing a half marathon on Sunday so is a seasoned pro).  Now I may not like exercise but I do like gadgetry.  I don't have an Iphone but I do have an IPodTouch and so I decided to have a little look, where I found a 'Get Running' app which will coach you whilst you go from the couch to running 5K. I also figured that to get the blood pumping a bit may not be a bad thing on the baby making front, and I know it's important for the prevention of many diseases, including dementia.  Last but not least, I think the best way to teach your children is by example, and I want my boy to be fit and healthy, and that includes enjoying exercise.


So, tomorrow my friends I shall start.  I have childcare tomorrow afternoon and will do my first run, or rather run/walk x 8.  I will do this three times a week, when childcare permits.  The only question is, will I achieve my mission and get fit, or will I fall by the wayside ?

Getting Fit...Can I Do It ?

The Gallery - White

This is my first entry, and I'm fighting against feeling intimidated as I am no photographer, but what the hell.  I think this one is rather good.  And yes I know it's not about the quality of the photo, but it's the perfectionist in me...

I think it's fairly self explanatory why I chose white so I won't waffle on about that but some context for you...


This is a zoomed in view from the back of my house/garden.  We are very lucky to have quite a large garden with agricultural style fencing around it.  Beyond the fencing is a 'set aside' field which means that it is not actively farmed in any way, no livestock, no crops, and it can only be mowed once a year in August.  At the far end of the field is this house.  I took the photo in January this year leaning over the fence at the bottom of our garden.  I love this view in all seasons.  I think it is a lovely house, architecturally, and I like the way it nestles amongst the trees.  Of course the trees, and the foreground look very different through the seasons which keeps it interesting. 


I see this view (although more distant) from  my kitchen window, and every time I look at it, it soothes my soul :o)

The Gallery - White

The Photo Lottery

I have been tagged by my very special bloggy friend Dawn at The Moiderer to partake in the photo lottery meme. This is quite fun as it doesn't require alot of thought and the rules are not too arduous as you will see below.

1. Open the first (oldest) photo folder in your computer library
2. Scroll to the 10th photo
3. Post the photo and the story behind it
4. Tag 5 or more people to continue the thread

I decided to use the PC rather than my laptop as the laptop is relatively new and in all likelihood would have thrown up yet another photo of Star. Sadly the PC didn't do much better. I thought I may have been able to share a holiday snap, and there have been many, but alas no. My 10th oldest photo was taken in April 2005...

This is my beloved Dexter shortly after we brought him home. It was either taken on the day, or the day after so he would have been almost 8 weeks old. Having had a new puppy and a new baby I can honestly say that the first few weeks were very similar in terms of a massive love in but without the sleepless nights. He is dozing on the sofa here (a bad habit that we should never have started - Doh!) but at night he slept in a crate in the kitchen. He didn't cry at all, and he never wet his bed. I used to get up at 7am to take him into the garden and give him his breakfast and then he and I would snooze on the sofa until about 9am. He would lay on my chest with his face against mine...it was a very special time. The only problem is he is still just as soppy and tactile, but at about six stone it's not so easy these days. He does all he can to be close, leaning against me, resting his head on my lap but I don't think it is quite the same for either of us...but he's still a gorgeous boy in every way:)

I now need to tag five people so I will try and pick some that are known to take the odd photo or two...


TheMadHouse
Make Do Mum
Sleep Is For The Weak
Very Bored In Catalunya
Single Motherhood Challenges

Off you go now tagees, no cheating ;0)

The Photo Lottery

My Blogging Break

I know that it's not generally recommended that you do a blog post about why you haven't 
been posting but I do feel the need to explain...


First of all, those of you that take the time to comment here (and thank you...it is something that means SO much to me), will be aware of the issues I have been having with my comments system.  You leave a comment, and it never appears on the blog.  I know how frustrating this must be and, believe me, it's doubly so for me.  The thing is, I do get to see them all, and I reply to them all, it's just that at the moment you can't see it.  This is caused by google reader adding something to the link when you click through to my post which my comments system recognises as a separate page from those that go directly to my blog.  I know I could change to a different system but I like this one.  I've looked at the alternatives and I like the way this looks and it does exactly what I want it to do...when it works.  There is a fix on the way which will resolve this both going forward and retrospectively so I'm going to try and be patient.  In the meantime, however, it has made me reluctant to post as I don't want my readers to lose heart and not bother to comment, thinking that it will be lost for ever.  So, I just wanted to say please bear with me, it will be resolved and all your comments and my replies will appear.


You will also have noticed that I have been rather neglecting my commenting duties on your blogs too.  And for those on Twitter you may have noticed that my tweeting is much less frequent.  There are a few reasons for this that I will now explain.


Following recent developments on the baby making front that you have all read about I have been really struggling, in quite a dark place.  I don't want to dwell on this as I'm now feeling much better but suffice to say that I wasn't in the mood to interact, in any way.  Also, whenever I have dipped my toe back in the water it seems that so many blogs and tweets are about pregnancy or new babies.  Now please don't misunderstand, I am very happy for all these lovely ladies and certainly don't hold any ill feeling toward them, but at the moment I just don't want to hear about it.  At all.  It just brings to the front of my mind all my current heartache which I am trying to move on from, and trying to be positive.


Last but not least I have been doing most of my blog reading on my IPodTouch in bed in the evenings.  This works well, as I like to read before I go to sleep but more often than not I don't seem to be able to comment. I type it in but don't seem to be able to submit it.  In future I will have to make a mental note of posts I want to comment on and do it the next day, it just seems like such hard work :s


So there we have it.  If you're feeling neglected or thought I had disappeared I hope this has put your mind at rest.  I have lots of posts in my head, and feel I have lots of catching up to do so don't be surprised if I'm making up for lost time in the over the next week ;-)

My Blogging Break