Where: Place the code in between the Writer, Mother and Reviewer: October 2011

Monday 24 October 2011

Chicken Casserole!

It's been a fairly crazy day today, even more of a manic Monday than normal.  Was up at 6.30am this morning preparing tonights chicken casserole.  Now, I have to admit that at 6.30 in the morning to be peeling veg and preparing chicken is definitely not my idea of fun.  I hadn't even had my first coffee of the day and the smell of raw chicken turned my stomach and completely put me off my morning cereal.

Finally chucked it all into the slow cooker, bit of salt and pepper, various herbs for flavour, couple of oxo cubes, lid on, job done.  Left it to cook all day.

The smell as I opened the front door tonight was well worth missing breakfast for.  It smelt amazing and the best thing was all I had to do was dig out the plates and whack it on the table.  Result!

"urggh whats that?" came the inevitable moans of the kids.
" Not eating that I don't like it." 
"Tough "came the reply.  "That is all there is and if you don't eat it you will be very hungry." 
Was I being a bit harsh.  Well, never did me any harm and I was made to liver, now that is rank.  They tentatively took a few mouthfuls, pushed it around their plates before declaring I'm full, whats for pudding? I don't think so came my response.

Sunday 23 October 2011

I've been looking forward to this weekend for a while.  The kids have both gone to their dads and it would be a chance for me to have some much needed me time.  Guess what? I'm bored.  Don't know what to do with myself and i'm missing their noise and mess.  The house is far to peaceful and clean and it just feels empty.

The plan was to get stuck in and get on with my assignment.  I've read it twice, scratched my head, made a coffee, read it again and put it away.  I just cannot seem to concemtrate.  I'm feeling really restless and my brain is in over-drive.  The problem is that I have that many ideas that I could write about, but then I get side tracked thinking about another idea and actually get nothing at all done.

So, this weekend I give in.  Think I may just put my feet, read my book and paint my nails.  Before the little devils get home and the normal glorious chaos ensues.

Thursday 20 October 2011

New Bathroom

It's been a tough week what with sorting heating issues and nursing poorly children, but superwoman that I am (Hahaha) I have managed to completely transform my bathroom and stuck to my budget of £150.00.

So this was the view of the room last week. 

       

Yep it was looking pretty shocking. 








 Just look at what a bit of hard work can achieve.  I have ruined my nails and my hands are feeling really sore.  But it has so been worth it. 





The best thing is the knowledge that I did it all.  From the painting and papering to the laying of the flooring all my own work and yep I am feeling just a little proud of myself.  In fact could be time for a career change....

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Heating!

Well, my day got off to a very bad start today.  Firstly, typically one of the coldest mornings so far and no central heating, and to make matters worse a poorly little girl.  So out came the calpol, dosed her up, got her snuggled on the setee watching a dvd and set about trying to get a heating engineer.

As luck would have it the first call I made I was told someone would be with me today.  Yipee! Low and behold just after 1 this afternoon and a very sexy engineer knocked on the door.  Well that just made my day so much brighter.  An hour later and £300 poorer, my heating had been fixed and the house was warming up nicely.

As was my daughter whose temperture has been increasing steadily through the day.  I have to admit that at 10am this morning I thought she had been fooling me on as she was bouncing round the living and chattering my head off. There didn't appear to be anything wrong with her at all.  However, when she fell asleep across tea time.  I knew, that actually yes she is poorly.  She is now tucked up in bed and hopefully will wake up feeling a lot better tomorrow.

Tuesday 18 October 2011

Sleep Walking!

My six year old got a bit disorientate in the night.  I heard her get up around 10 pm and go to what I assumed was the loo.  I traced her footsteps and before long heard a little foorsteps go back to her bedroom.  Thought nothing more of it, carried on reading my book and drinking my coffee.

Went up to bed an hour later and almost knocked myself out on the airing cupboard door.  Now, I always go up to bed in the dark, it's a habit I haven't broken since my children were babies and the littlest thing woke them up.  Usually, not a problem but when unexpectedly there is a huge door blocking the path... Needless to say it frightened the life out of me and to make matters worse there was a big wet puddle on the floor.

I screamed rather loudly, switched he light on and there on the landing was a big puddle and a pair of discarded pyjamas.  Bless her, she had obvously got a bit lost and thought sod it.  I'll wee here.  Why she took the pyjamas off is a mystery. I cleared up the puddle and  crept into  her room tocheck on her.

There she was all snuggled under the duvet in her a birthday suit snoring rather loudly.  Tiptoed out, closed the door and left her to sleep.

5am in the morming a little girl stands at the side my bed "Mummy, why haven't I got any clothes on?" she asks.  "You took them off, baby" I tell her.  "I did not mummy.  I didn't take them off at all." she crossly replied. "It's alright, I'll get you some clean ones" "But, where are my other ones. Don't tell me the fairies have pinched them in the night.  Have they been in my bedroom again?" With that she puts on her nightie, climbs back into bed and goes back to sleep.

Needless to say this morning she cannot remember a thing about it

Monday 17 October 2011

Infidelity!

I am reading a book at the moment and it's got me thinking about infidelity and whether it can ever be justified.  The main character is married to a very controlling husband, he wants a wife that stays home and plays house, looks after his children and his every need.  The woman needs more.  Before her marriage she had a career that she loved and had been bullied into giving up.  When she crosses the husband and returns to work part-time things start to go wrong and she ends up sleeping with a colleague.

I can honestly say hand on heart that when I got married I took my marriage vows very seriously and as far as I was concerned it was for life.  From the moment I got pregnant with my second child things started to falter.  My feelings towards him changed.  At first I put it down to my hormones.  Everyone who has ever been pregnant will know what those can do to you. Everything about him annoyed me.  The way he breathed annoyed me.

When my son was born, after a very traumatic birth I might add, I didn't feel like he was there for me anymore.  We had drifted apart and for the next 18 months we plodded on, stuck in a rut.  We didn't argue.  We didn't communicate at all, which was probably worse. I remember numerous occassions thinking there must be more to life than this.  I thought about leaving but I had made my choice and believed in my heart that things, in time, would get better. At no point would I ever have cheated on him.  He was my husband and that was that.

To say it was a shock when he left was an understatement.  It came right out of the blue.  After an argument one night, he slept on the sofa for two nights, before on the third night putting our daughter to bed, saying goodnight to her and then walking out the door.  For good.  He swore to me that there was no one else  involved and he just needed some space to sort his head out.  Yeah right. 3 months later he was taking a girl on a swanky all inclusive holiday to Egypt.  Hmmm like I was suppose to believe that they had just met. Whilst he accused me of not fighting hard enough to keep him.

Excuse me, Did he think I would fall at his feet and crumble, weeping, begging him to stay.  He obviously didn't know me that well.  I have my pride and I certainly won't beg.   Ok, our sex life had died a death.  It was non-existent.  Do I blame him for looking elsewhere.  Of course.  Marriage is about more than sex.  isn't it?  It's about being in a partnership.  The two of you against the world.   Being there for each other through thick and thin.  So, NO.  In my opinion there is no excuse for infidelity.

Sunday 16 October 2011

Tidy House, Tidy Mind!

With the onset of the colder weather meaning an end to the trips to the seaside I have needed to find something else to occupy me this weekend.  My bathroom make-over is well under way, it's not entirely finished as yet, but the thought of even attempting to lay flooring with two nippers running riot was not a task I wanted to take on today.  My bedroom has been in need of a clear out for some time. I realised that drastic action was needed when everytime I opened the wardrobe door something falls out on my head. So, armed with my black bags  I set about turfing out.

5 Minutes in I wish I had never started.  I cannot believe how much junk I have kept from over the years.  Old birthday and Christmas cards galore,  I even found valentines and anniversary cards from the ex-husband.  I felt so good ripping them to pieces and throwing them away. Ha what I load of crap he wrote in them I laughed to myself.  The hardest things to throw away were some of the paintings that the children have accumulated over the years.  I had bag after bag of them.  The majority just a few paint splodges in the middle of the page, but I just couldn't bare to throw them away.  Still it had to be done so I have kept a about half and with a heavy heart thrown the rest away.

I have to admit that I spent a fair bit of time looking through old photo albums and reading old diaries that I came across.  My god how you change without realising.  Did I really wear some of those things and look like that.  And more importantly did I really write that.  Think some of those need shredding but at the moment they have been safely re-house at the back of the wardrobe out of harms way.

Looking around I  decided a change of scenery was needed so I set about moving the furniture. Pushed and shoved the bed in this and that direction, finally after a bit of cursing and chuffing I  got everything all set up and looking good.  For the final test  laid on the bed gazing round thought naah, can't sleep like this, and moved it all back exactly where it was to start with. Still it's all looking a fair bit tidier and de-cluttered.  There's still a way to go but it's a start. 

I have to admit that I haven't been sleeping to well just lately and I do feel like a big part of the problem has been the untidiness of the room. Ok, I may sound a bit weird but to feel totally relaxed, I need to have an uncluttered environment.  A tidy house, tidy mind as the saying goes.  And I couldn't agree more.  I also find I am unable to write if the house is a mess.  I need to get the mess out away so that I can focus on the job at hand. 

Thursday 13 October 2011

Bathroom Makeover!

I am sooo excited.  I went out this morning looking for inspiration on ways to decorate my bathroom.  To cut a long story short my shower broke and last weekend my wonderful Dad kindly installed a new one So, there I was being assistant plumber on what turned out to be a very challenging job, anyway, I decided that my bathroom was in dire need of a make-over and promptly ripped the faded blue wallpaper off the walls leaving some very boring white tiles.

I had no idea what colour scheme I wanted to go for, so wandering round the shops this morning I saw and promptly bought the most brilliantly funky wallpaper ever, ever, ever.  Of course I needed to buy all the accessories to match, which has led onto new furniture to liven the place up.  Lets just say my purse is looking very empty, but what the hell.

I feel like Linda Barker and cannot wake to get cracking tomorrow, maybe even tonight.  The paint and brushes  are at the ready and my hallway is full to bursting with all my new lovely new bits and bobs.  I am hoping it will look amazing once finished. I will keep you updated on the progress...

Wednesday 12 October 2011

Soggy Feet!

My mornings, like most mums mornings, are fairly chaotic.  Today was probably one of the worst I have experienced so far.  At 6am the alarm goes off, well Charlie gets in my bed, which means the alarm is due to go off any time soon.

6.30 I blindly stumble down the stairs, settle both kids on the sofa in front of the TV and robot style set about making pack lunches.  Coffee, shower and cereal later I'm starting to feel slightly human and with five minutes to spare we are ready to go.  Problem.  It's raining and I mean it's slinging it down.

So there's me in my work suit, comprising of skirt, tights, heels the whole professional look, trying ridiculously to balance an umbrella carry 6 bags that the children need for school and keep control of a two year old intent of puddle jumping and a 6 year old intent on taking my eye out with her umbrella. Eventually manage to get them securely fastened in the car and off we go.

Swiftly unload my brood and off we run, only to be stopped in our tracks by the river Nile, completely blocking the way.  Of course the Kids go wading in.  They are wearing their wellies. "STOP! There is no way mummy can go through that puddle in these heels" I shout.  "Lets go this way," so we turn the corner and set off down an alternative path. "I don't chuffing believe it" I ranted as to my dismay we came upon a big metal fence totally blocking the path.  By this time I was beginning to resemble a drowned rat. Path number 3 thankfully was almost puddle free, although I had to slip and slide across the muddy patch of waste ground, which resulted in big mud splatters up my tights.  Great!

Anyway, child number one safely at school.  I now have exactly 4 minutes to get back to the car, re-load Charlie, get to my next location and get him safely delivered.  Did I manage it? What do you think? Got stuck behind a tractor going at 5 miles per hour, then behind a bus and once I arrived at said location there was no where to park.  Sod it.  Parked on double yellows and hoped to god I didn't get caught. Luckily, I got away with it.

It was with steam almost coming out of my ears and a very dodgy hair style that I arrived at work. So, I have decided that if it is raining in the morning I will be wearing my wellies.  I don't care how silly I look, I 100 percent do not want to spend another day wearing soggy wet shoes.



Tuesday 11 October 2011

Morning Snuggles!

I had the most wonderful moment this morning that I just have to share.  Snuggled under the duvet I was in that state of just waking up and being aware of the world when I heard the shuffling of little feet coming into the bedroom.  A little tousled haired Charlie climbed into my bed, along with all his paraphernalia of Sunny bear, gaddy (dirty, smelly bit much loved snuggle blanket) and his cup of juice.

So, in he climbs in bed, pulls my head around non to gently before kissing me on the cheek and saying "I luff you mummy so much, put your arms around me."  I just melted. What a way to start the day.

It wasn't long before he was joined by his sister, coughing and spluttering and complaining that she didn't feel well. We all snuggled up to together for a cheeky five minutes, however, it wasn't long before the inevitable fighting and bickering started over who had, or didn't have the most space and who I was or wasn't cuddling.

It's little moments like that that make everything worthwhile.

Monday 10 October 2011

I've been neglecting my writing just lately and so tonight is the night that I sort myself out, pull my socks up as it were and get focused.  I have assignments left sitting half heartedly started.  To be fair I have had a lot going on lately and what with one thing and another things have got side tracked.

To make matters worse I have gone and ripped all the wallpaper off my bathroom walls, so my mission for next weekend will be to get that sorted.   It also means more shopping as I need to get all the matching accessories.  I mean what a chore that will be, haha.  Wrecking my bathroom however has been well worth it.  I now have installed a brand new power shower. After weeks of having to have a bath and live without any form of shower it is absolute bliss to stand there and let the shower just wash away all of my cares.  I felt like a new woman stepping out of there tonight.

I have to admit to having a hangover this morning.  I very very stupidly had a few to many glasses of wine last night and on top of all that I hadn't had much to eat yesterday, which resulted in a pounding head that to be fair has lasted most of the day. I will learn one of these days.

Thursday 6 October 2011

Anniversary!

It would have been my fifth wedding anniversary today, if I had still been with my husband that is.  Am I feeling sad? No.  Do I wish we were still together? God no, not a chance.  Do I think I will get married again one day? Highly unlikely.

Biggest mistake of my life? Maybe. But, if I hadn't gone down the path that I have,  I wouldn't be the person I am today.  The journey has made me a better person, a stronger person and this last 18 months I have found the real me.  And I am, by far, a much happier me.

To celebrate the day I went shopping,  Yes, a girls favourite past time.  I spent a fortune and I don't care because it is my money and I earned it.  The best part is not having to sneak all the bags in. I can just leave them all over my bedroom, living room, or any other room because there is no one there to question and accuse.  It feels absolutely great.

Saturday 1 October 2011

Dancing Girl!

Faye my six year old has only been going to dance class since March this year.  She has her first singing and dancing exam recently, which I knew she has passed, and last night was her presentation evening.
We watched numerous performances by the dancers which was very cute, before they handed out the certificates.  All the dancers got a medal and certificate for passing their exams.  Faye was beaming when she received hers.

Then they moved onto the special awards of the evening.  As Faye has only been going for 6 months I wasn't expecting her to receive anything.  When her name was called out for getting the highest mark of the group for her exam and she went up to receive her trophy I was thrilled.  Imagine my amazement when minutes later her name was called out again and she was presented with a further trophy for being Junior Endeavour 2011 student for commitment and excellence. 

I am so proud of her.  Every parent thinks their child is special, beautiful, wonderful and so on and I am no exception but to see her receive awards is a brilliant feeling.  Her little face just beamed and it actually brought tear to my eyes to see her.  I am the proudest mummy in the world.