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So I haven't written anything in quite some time. It's odd because, well frankly writing makes me happy.

So why haven't I? 

Good question 

Simple answer is life! 

Deeper answer is depression, what that takes from you, you see in order to function in every other aspect such as work, being a mum and keeping the house to a level where,  you know you can still find the cat and the floor some things have to give and I realised what has given are the things that bring me joy ( well thankfully apart from being a mum) ... the creative in whatever guise that is and my friendships. 

So step one ... back to blogging

Step two... nuturing friendships both old and new. 

Step three ... how do I go about all that? I guess I just try! Stop seeing time as an obstacle and start using said time more effectively. 

Wish me luck 

Time and Tide wait for no man or woman for that matter

Ok, its official, well maybe not official, you know there was no big announcement and I didn't sign any legal documents but I'm getting old! yes that's right you heard it here first I the last one to be kicked out of the pub/club/party still dancing is getting old!

I made this shocking realisation last night. My best friend and I had arranged to go out for a bit of a catch up, we both have busy lives and don't get to see each other half as much as we should.

So the first sign of my impending old age actually went unnoticed by me at first but here it is...... Dare I say it? ......I swapped my beautiful wedges that I had put out to wear for a nice comfortable pair of flat pumps! I know, what is wrong with me!

So that going unnoticed we headed off, the fact that it was still daylight upon leaving should have been my second clue but it gets worse than that!

We ended up in fabulous little Turkish Restaurant where the food is great, the service is great, you know the kind that ticks all the boxes and we chatted and enjoyed our meal and only ordered one bottle of wine between us (another sign here me thinks!) and then we left and we didn't know what to do and my friend, my dear sweet usually exactly the same as me friend said " shall we just go back to yours and have a cup of tea" and I said YES!

but that's not all, do you want to know the worst of it? I can't believe I'm going to admit this but I looked at my watch and it was only 8.30! Seriously hanging me head in shame here, there was a time when she and I would only just be thinking about getting ready to go out at that time and more likely coming home at 8.30 am! oh how times have changed.

I did scare myself the other day when I saw a top in shop for ladies of a certain age and thought, that's quite nice, if only I'd seen the signs then.

So how does one mourn ones youth? Should I burn all those clothes that my daughters still want to borrow and buy some nice sensible skirts and sweaters? I just don't know what the correct etiquette is here? or to I just accept that all of us have to grow up at some time and just fancy that nice cup of tea?

But seriously dude heading home at 8.30!

Oh god just realised probably should stop saying dude and I'm guessing that twerking is really out of the question too!

Only the Lonely

On the radio today they were talking about the subject of feeling lonely especially in a big city like London and it really struck a chord with me. I often feel lonely even though I have the children it's not quite the same as spending time with someone who's company you enjoy or doing something that entertains you.

When we're young it's all about friends, socialising and having fun but as we age things change, work commitments, partners and starting families all take priority and we can all too often lose contact with our friends and even though we are on the same path we can realise that we're lonely and then what? you don't want to burden your friends you think they're busy with their lives if they had time you'd arrange something, right?

Well if you are thinking like that you're probably not alone but admitting you're lonely ......well apparently its something we're not very good at, it's almost taboo especially if to the outward world it would appear you have no reason to be lonely.

But what do you do if you're feeling like this? Well you could place an ad in paper something like 'Lonely in London, seeking new friends for fun and interesting times' but really do you want to get the kind of responses that you're likely to get?! If the answer is no then just pick up the phone and see what your friends are doing, what's the worst they can say, They're busy, its not the end of the world.

Join a club, take a class, there's always something going on somewhere you just have to participate.

I met a lovely older lady last week who at 73 had just started piano lessons, dance lessons and joined a swimming club because she realised that although she had her family around her she was sometimes lonely so she did something about it!

what about you, do you ever feel lonely?

Busy doing nothing

I complain about it all the time, I have written blog posts about it, what am I talking about.... Time! That's what!

I am in a constant state of feeling like I don't have enough time to get things done but I also have crap time management skills or at least I think I do judging by how much I see other people manage to achieve with their time, that with the added combination of a mind like mine that has so much going on in it all the time, so many thoughts, so many ideas that I want to get round to and the end result is I never quite get it all done!

And now I have this in my head......

And of course on top of all that I have children one of whom is only 3, so a large part of my day is spent painting, being a pirate, a princess, a frog or what ever latest adventure we're on and of course they grow up so quickly that that precious time playing with them far outweighs any amount of time spent cleaning, writing, studying although they are all important to me too!

So what's a girl to do? How do people get everything done? I need someone to come in and organise my life, really I do! Or I need a team of help to do all the mundane things that really and I mean REALLY need doing!

So how do you manage 'It All!'?

The Wide World without the Web

It's been a strange few days at my house, our broadband connection or possibly our router stopped working we still haven't had a straight answer from Sky, who by the way have absolutely crap customer service! Virgin Media please feel free to vie for my affection! Anyway for 5 days we have been without Internet at home and you would not believe the impact it has had on my children, even the 3 year old who couldn't believe that she couldn't get on the cbeebies website!

 For 5 days it's been ...

 "I'm going to die without the internet!!"

 My response .. " Well no actually you're not going to die without Internet, if I take away food and water you might but not from lack of Facebook or Twitter!"

 And .....

"Oh my god! I just realised I can't even email!"

 My response to this.......

 "No, but oh, I don't know, How about you do something really out there like say talking to someone face to face or pick up the phone and have a real life conversation or and here's the REALLY out there thing if they don't live near by you could pick up one of those things that makes marks on paper, you know the ones, No, not the printer! A pen and write an actual letter!"

 And yes surprisingly I have been told I'm sarcastic before!

 Anyway they looked at me like I was a mad woman! Ok maybe they're not wrong but in the whole Internet thing they are!

 I admit it has been an inconvenience for me too, I do a lot online I'll be the first to admit that but that being said I have got a lot more done without the Internet to distract me!

 But I have missed Twitter and words with friends, ooh and draw something and my emails and of course my blog and all the blogs I read and now have to catch up with..... OK I admit it, I'm as much a slave to the World Wide Web as the next person(unless the next person is my mum she hates computers!) but I've managed!

 How about you, could you manage without the Internet?

And then there was joy!

One of the many good things about being a parent especially if you have a little one is you can't be miserable for long! They just won't let you!

My darling little mad child just came up to me and in the best pirate voice that a 3 year old can muster said "aar matey tis time to dig for buried treasure!" so the now smiling me is off to dig for treasure.

Actually I think I already found it!

Mind the gap!

So while dancing around my kitchen with my daughters singing at the top of our lungs it dawned on me that apart from the fact that we probably looked and sounded insane that age isn't what it used to be, ok that sounds weird but I'm not quite sure how else to explain it, what I mean is that the age barriers aren't quite as far apart as they used to be and no I'm not talking about young mums, I'm talking about our mental and physical attributes!

I'm 40 but I love many of the same things as my teenage daughters, I'm talking music, tv programmes, books and to some extent clothes but when I was a teenager I remember those lines like "what are you listening to? That's not music!" "what are you wearing?" and a million and one others of a similar vain and I too looked at my mother and thought there must be some special shop that you only hear about once you've turned forty where all old people go and buy these awful unflattering clothes that are the apparent uniform of the middle aged onwards! But not anymore to some extent fashion is ageless it's more about taste and what we like regardless of our age.

But me I have to practically padlock my wardrobe to keep my daughters away from my clothes, shoes and makeup! Seriously I've thought about dressing like my mother just to keep them away from my stuff!

Times they are a changing!

But why is that? ........ No seriously I'm asking why? Because I can't quite come up with a reason.

Is it because we're living longer?

Or because more people stay at home longer?

Is it because for most of us of my age group we haven't had the same struggles as our parents or their parents?

Whatever the reason I enjoy this closing of the age gap, it means we have more things in common and gives us a closer bond.

Hummm! I wonder if thats why more and more women have toy boys?


Thoughts please?

Just a little question and a plea for inspiration

Should one write for the sake of writing?

This is the question I find myself asking well, myself!

You see some times I have so many things going on in my head that I find it difficult to focus and give one thing my all

A disorganised mind, that's what I have, strangely I also have a disorganised house! Who'd have thought it! Yes that was sarcasm but I think there definitely is a link!

So I'm sat here now thinking what should I write about and finding myself totally unable to commit to one thing!

I need inspiration! And I need it now!

So I'm going to go away for now in hope that I return later with a blinding, brilliant flash of inspiration and write an awe inspiring blogpost!

If not I'll just be back to tell you about my day, you really want to hope that I get that flash because somehow I think my exciting day of cleaning, cooking and running round after a mad 3 year old won't actually be that exciting!

Maybe you could all suggest something I could write about? Go on, I dare you!

2012, no really it is!

I've been away a while, not physically but mentally very much so!

I have had so much going on that blogging came bottom of the list of things of importance, my son broke his leg really badly, my daughter has been ill, well actually it's ongoing and has required lots of blood tests and still no real idea why she is constantly ill all we know is her immune system isn't working the way it should and I have found myself so fixated on everything else that somehow I forgot that life actually does go on even with all theses obstacles! Oh but to top it off,the icing on the cake if you will! At the start of December I broke my wrist so severely that for a brief moment the doctors thought the bones might crumble and I could potentially lose my hand! I kid you not! Thankfully thanks to a very able doctor all bones were put back in place and I have a very attractive green cast set in a very peculiar angle and will find out on the 11th how well it has repaired.

These things are sent to try us they say but really I'd much rather not be tested anymore if it's all the same!

So anyway with all of that rambling came the realisation that I can do all the things I want to do and that fixating and worrying about all the things that actually I have no control over really isn't good for anyone , The prayer of serenity comes to mind!



God grant me 
the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the Courage to change the things I can,
and the Wisdom to know the difference;
Living one day at a time; 
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;
Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it:

Trusting that you will make all things right
if I surrender to your will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with you forever in the next.
 
The fact that this prayer has also been adopted by alcoholics anonymous also seems quite apt! But seriously though the first few lines do help me.

So basically what I'm really saying is "I'm back!"

Hi, Hello, it's me

I did it again didn't I?

I made a fuss about doing things for myself, making me time, blogging because guess what I actually enjoy it! And what have I done nothing! Nada! Zilch! Well up until now that is and now really is the first step of some well deserved me time!

I shall blog again, I shall find my voice and I shall make some me time!

But that for today at least is all!

Short and sweet!

Some would say just like me!

Well I would say just like me but still that's not the point!

Sometimes life gets in the way!

I once again haven't posted anything in a while and this is getting to be a bit of a bad habit, a pattern if you will but what it basically is, is life getting in the way! I try really I do but between the children, there are 6 of them although some of them are supposed to be adults! The family,the house and everything connected with that time seems to just fly by before I even realise it's gone and all my good intentions, all the things that I enjoy doing seem to just fall by the wayside.

A very good friend of mine (if we were 10 she would be my BFF actually I'm 40 and she is my BFF!) recently told me that I give too much of myself and don't look after 'me' enough and as is usual she was right! She is very wise! The more I thought about it the more I realised that the time that I make purely for me is actually non-existent! I don't even get to have a bath without the little one begging to get in, me time, what is this elusive me time that you speak of and how do you get it? No, seriously I'm asking because I haven't figured it out!

So my mission this week is to try and put myself first sometimes! No, I won't try, I will! And on actually a quite pathetic part to putting myself first I'm off to make a doctors appointment to have my painful heel looked at , an appointment that I've been putting off making for 2 months because I just couldn't get round to it! So no relaxing massage or manicure for my 'me time' no my first step is a doctors appointment! I think I may need a little help with this concept don't you?


Tell me how do you make time for yourself? And do you think it's important?

Reincarnation, My only hope for a peaceful life!

In my next life I'm coming back as a dog!

Not just any dog a male pampered pooch, perhaps even American, they seem to really go a bit crazy over their pets!


I made this decision after the day from hell yesterday , I did not get a break! by time eveyones elses needs were met and everything was done my only me time was sleeping! In short yesterday sucked!

I decided it has to be an animal as I definitely don't want the life of a person, whoever coined the phrase "it's a dogs life" obviously never thought about the fact the dogs have it bloody easy fed, walked, all they have to do all day is decide who or what to bark at, chase their tails a little, maybe dig a hole or 2, sleep, eat and occasionally lick their balls! I'd say a dog has a pretty good life!

Me on the other hand had to put up with mess, 6 loads of laundry, fighting kids, toddler going through terrible two's, cooking, cleaning, dishwasher loaded twice not to mention going shopping then back to do pretty much all of the same again!

No I do not want to be a woman having to deal with children or men all that whining! then theres the children!

So the way I look at it right now my only chance for a peaceful life is what I come back as in the next one!

so what do you intend to come back as and why?

It's been a while, I've missed you!

As you may or may not know it's been a little while since I did a real blog post this has been down to having the chest infection from hell and my own special brand of crazy!

Now I'm not talking sitting on the front lawn throwing poo at the neighbours that would the real men in White coats bringing me a special jacket to wear crazy! No, this is more the way my brain works and how I convince myself something is logical kind of crazy!

The few days before this chest infection really hit me I started five yes five different blogposts while I've been I'll I've attempted to start around another 5 but they were mostly a medication induced incoherent mess, nothing unusual there I hear you say

So anyway I kept started theses posts some of which were about Going to see Adele and being made to wait outside for 2 hours decided to put that little rant on hold and started one on the appalling start of public transport this then got sidetracked by a review of zaggora Hotpants which I received( thanks by the way Zaggora, I will start that review!) this made me think about my 3 F's challenge so I started a post on my failure weight loss wise then my cat went into labour and decided to eschew her nice warm safe place that I had ready for her and promptly gave birth in the middle of the kitchen floor which gave way to screaming from the men in my house who were in blind panic which started me on a post about men's inability to cope with something as natural as birth this also started me on a post about my 23 year old son moving back home after a breakdown of his relationship, funny expression that 'breakdown of relationship' conjures up images of AA type breakdown services turning up to repair your relationship and get you back on the road! Well in my head it does, see crazy! Then I felt ill, really ill which started me on a post about going to the doctors, which I never do or should I now say never normally do.

And now here is my special brand of crazy I convinced myself that because I kept starting posts and not finishing them that it made more sense to wait until I could decide which one to commit to and therefore I ending up with nothing,nada,zilch makes so much sense doesn't it? ......NOT!

And now that I've read all this back to my self I can't help wondering if I have ADD! Maybe I should start a post about it!

We're having a heatwave!

Well not so much of a heatwave as one hot day! The hottest day of the year so far to be precise! And what do we Brits do, we complain! "ooh it's too hot" it's one day! There are places all over the world that consistently have high temperatures And I mean really high in Libya they have reached 56 before now , Australia have temps recorded in the 40's, As has Texas yet we here reach 32 and everyone goes on like it's the end of the world all this after complaining just last week that it was too wet, windy and cold!

Me personally I love it , I embrace it, I know it won't last long so I fill the paddling pool for the little one (and me!), I stock up on ice lollies and lovely chilled wine and I enjoy!

I strip off to a bikini( not a pretty sight, I know it's wrong to scare small children and animals ) slather on the sun block and sit in my garden and enjoy!

So tomorrow when it's raining and you're complaining about that, think about how much fun you could have had if you'd stopped complaining and just enjoyed yourself!

What a weak week

I have seriously neglected my blog this week something that I had said I wouldn't do anymore, I could blame writers block, lack of inspiration but if I'm honest it's more about allowing my chaotic life to get the better of me and by time there is a bit of peace in the evening I've just been collapsing in a heap on the sofa and watching a little bit of TV something I very rarely get to do!

So I thought today I'd have a little catch up but guess what there is nothing to catch up, my week has really been about kids, house, stress, chaos, doctors, schools, pets and gardening so just an average week really and I am still at loss of what to actually blog about!

God, what if I can never think of anything interesting to write again? What if I can't find inspiration? It just doesn't bare thinking about!

But I am writing this so at least I'm keeping my hand in so to speak even if it is really boring!

So on that note I won't bore you anymore, I will go and try and find a muse or some inspiration or drown my sorrows with a bottle glass of wine!

Wear that frown upside down

Today's post isn't my usual sort of post its something more serious, more personal, I want to talk about mental health with the focus of that being on depression, 1 in 4 people in the UK alone will experience some kind of mental health problem in the course of a year, mixed anxiety and depression being the most common and lucky us, women are more likely to suffer but also more likely to seek treatment than men, perhaps this is no surprise then that British men are 3 times more likely to die by suicide than women.

I talk about this today because I have suffered from depression at times in my life and today I'm having a bad day. I'm guessing that most of you at some point have said "I'm feeling a bit depressed" without actually knowing what real depression feels like, that being said we do all have sad days and no one should judge or tell you that you should just get on with it because everyone feels differently and no-one can actually truly feel how you are feeling know matter how empathetic they may be.

My depression started after the death of my daughter , it's what they used to call Reactive depression, Its now been given different classifications and the diagnosis and treatment for depression has changed but I know why mine started it was as reaction to grieve and loss so I'm happy to talk about it as reactive. My depression also shows itself in the form of anxiety I worry about everything but when I'm feeling low these small worries become big and all I think about is worse case scenarios , I've jokingly talked about these before about how my mind works but the reality is I joke as a defence mechanism at times, I smile and laugh as a way of protecting myself mainly from sympathy because for people feeling sorry for me is the worst!

I'm known as the one who is always smiling, always happy, the strong one etc, etc and for the most part I am happy I love my children, I have good friends but even with all this there are just times when I want to run away for a while and be alone but I never act on that , I breathe deeply, meditate on how and why I'm feeling this way and sometimes have a damn good cry, it all helps.

5 years ago I decided to train to become a counsellor, I wanted to facilitate other peoples therapeutic journeys to be able to accompany them on their road to understanding and dealing with what was going on for them in hope of better mental health and on my journey to becoming a counsellor I actually learnt so much about myself , about how I deal with situations and people, I'm not saying that becoming a counsellor is the way for everyone to deal with their depression far from it you need to be in a positive place, not undergoing any stress or difficulty when you begin your training otherwise you would never cope with it as it very in depth in terms of looking at yourself and your experiences but the process helped me understand myself and enabled me to stop and think about what's going on for me and explore why I feel a certain way, so on days like today when I'm feeling low and a little bit lost I can stop breathe and objectively ask myself, "ok what's going on here?" instead of blaming everything else (I used to do that) and try and deal with it and find a way forward.

Really I wrote this post not just as a form of self therapy , though it does help to express how you feel! but to try and break down the taboo that depression still is, as a society in general we in the UK are embarrassed about depression we view it as a sign of weakness, we wonder what people will think of us so we try to pretend its not happening.

So what I'm saying to you is don't feel embarrased or ashamed , talk to someone it doesn't have to be your G.P it can be a good friend you trust, someone at your church anyone you trust to listen. Schools and colleges all have counsellors and more and more work places are realising the importance of mental health and have a counsellor you can contact and anything you say to a counsellor is confidential but if you are feeling really low and its affecting your everyday life I would suggest you see you doctor or find a good therapist one that you feel comfortable withand worse case scenario you are feeling suicidal then ring Samaritans or go in to your local A&E.

Please don't suffer in silence , It really is good to talk.




Samaritans In the UK dial 08457 90 90 90
or email : jo@samaritans.org

you can even write freepost to

Freepost RSRB-KKBY-CYJK
Chris
P.O. Box 90 90
Stirling
FK8 2SA

Sometimes we find it easier to express how we feel in writing and everything you say is in confidence.


And if you'd like to find a counsellor or phsychotherapist a good place to start is

http://www.itsgoodtotalk.org.uk/

Here you can learn more about counselling and therapy and find a list of  BACP accredited therapists

Why oh why can't our children just be children!

I wasn't going to comment about this as I thought so many bloggers would have done so and probably done a far better job that I at expressing the rage caused by pole dancing classes for children not just children, small children from the age of 3! but the more I think about it the more angry, annoyed and outraged I get so I need to vent that!

Here in the UK at a dance studio in Northampton, Pole dancing for children as young as 3 are being offered, the instructor defends her decision to teach this class by saying that it keeps them fit and gives them confidence um so does a drama class or gymnastics for that matter! This comes on the back of a week where we heard about a beauty parlour again here in England for under 13's offering fakes tans and makeovers to children as young as 1!

What the F*~k is the world coming to? Seriously this is how much this angers me! Let's start with the Pole dancing, what child would ask to do pole dancing? Seriously I'm asking you? Because this really worries me, children talk about and ask to do things they are exposed to, things that they see and want to emulate. My 2 year old has started asking to do ballet( hard enough to find a local class for her to do that ) we're pretty sure that this is because Peppa Pig went to ballet class, it's what they see! She's talks about going to the gym because I go to the gym! She wants to be a cadet because her dad is a cadet instructor, it's all about what they're exposed to! So what the hell are these kids being exposed to?

Now on to the beauty parlour, most little girls want to try on mummies make-up I'm sure most of you who have daughters have had the scenario where you're getting ready to go out and they're sat with you and ask for lipstick too so you let them have a little dab, you pretend to put eyeshadow on them you let them join in with you, see again back to what they see! You don't take them for a full makeover! They are children!!!! Children are supposed to play,they're supposed to get dirty in the garden making mud pies, digging for worms, not get a facial and a fake tan!

God this makes me angry, but who am I angry at the companies that provide these services? They see a niche in the Market and aim to fill it, the media for giving us sexualised images everywhere we turn, you only have to look at most music videos to see some semi-naked young girls writhing about in such a sexual manner that it would make your mother blush! No it's the parents, I'm afraid on this one it really is, it's the parents that pay for these classes, the parents that pay for theses services and it should be the parents that make the decisions about what their children are going to do or take part in but it seems that there are far too many parents that either have forgotten that they are the parent or are giving in to child and peer pressure we've all had the line "but so and so's mum let's them do it!", my response has always been well good for them but I'm your mum and I don't think it's appropriate! See it's called responsibility!


Then I wonder if these are the same parents that are buying their children bra and knicker sets at 4, future footballers wife t-shirts and of course let's not forget too many boys, too little time! All these clothes actually exist! But again they wouldn't exist unless there was a Market for them and again who has the money, the parents!

God this has me outraged and I'm not usually one to blame the parents, I look at contributing factors but on this there really is no one else to blame, We as parents have choice, we can choose what our young children watch, I still vet programmes for my 14 year old in case I find them inappropriate!,we have choice in what they wear and even if they beg and argue about an item of clothing when they get to a certain age, we are the ones paying for it so have a right to reach a compromise or simply say "no I don't think that's appropriate for someone your age" you can tell I've had to say this line more than once it also goes with the line "your dad would have a heart attack if he saw you in that! You don't want to kill your dad, do you?" see, parent of teenage daughters! But it's my choice, that's the point I'm trying to make there is far too much awful stuff going in this world, far too much that our young children don't need to be exposed to, children should be allowed to be children for as long as possible shouldn't they? And it's our duty as parents to let them be just that, surely?


I'm really interested in your thoughts on this so please tell me what you think and I feel so much better for venting my frustration! so Thank you.

A very social experiment!

More and more these days we hear how as a society we're becoming more and more detached from our real world and spending more and more time in online communities, online games, social networking and spending less time in our real communities and with the people around us. Well I was on twitter today( See what I mean! ) and I thought to myself, we follow all theses people and all theses people follow us but how many of them have you actually said "Hello" to? So then I thought to myself, I wonder what will happen if I say "Hello" to everyone I follow and who follows me, so instead of wondering about it, I did it!

I wondered what would happen, Are we friendlier online talking to people we hardly know or even complete strangers? or can we be just as distant and aloof? In a way twitter is possibly one of the worst or possibly best places to try this after all where else do we stalk  follow celebrities and their like, living vicariously through them but I thought what I have got to lose apart from maybe all my followers for filling up their timeline with my little experiment!

Little did I know when I started that it would be such an arduous task and how many times I'd end up in Twitter Jail!

So I follow 1036 people and as I write this I have 362 followers, since I started my little project 2 days ago, yes its taken 2 days to complete, I've lost quite a few and I've gained quite a few followers but it's been fun, interesting and I was actually surprised at how many people did respond back, I had no negative comments and obviously not everyone responded but I had some lovely conversations( you know who you are ) and I enjoyed being social on what is after all a social arena, now as for who responded,  a few celebrities responded more than I actually thought would ,  I don't blame those that didn't respond they probably
think I'm a mad stalker type fan but a few other thoughts crossed my mind are they perhaps too full of their own importance to say Hi to us normal folk? Are they too busy? Are they worried about forming a relationship with a 'mere mortal'? Do they think that if perhaps they respond to one they would have to respond to all or can they simply just not be bothered to reply?! But then again that can be said for everyone, I think I might be a little dubious about a complete stranger saying Hello!


But after all that the results are in! after saying Hello to all those  people, It taking 2 days, ending up in Twitter jail not once, not twice but 8 you heard it 8 times and developing what I think is repetitive strain injury (seriously my wrists and fingers ache)  270 people responded to my friendly 'Hello',  of those 23 of those were well known celebrities, stars, authors , should I name drop? not sure at the moment as I feel if I name one I should name them all and would that bore you? seriously you tell me?  Quite a few were people who tweet on behalf of their companies and it showed their human side not just the promotional side of the company which I thought was lovely! I also had 10 direct messages and started 23 conversations with lovely people with whom I hadn't previously spoken and one invite to come and have a cup of tea!


And like any other good experiment, here is my conclusion.............. It is easier for people to talk online or by text without that face to face contact, people for the most part are friendly and perhaps we should learn to say "Hello" a little more often online and in our communities! what's the worse that can happen? people might think you're insane and walk on by or ignore you online but you might make someone smile , you might brighten someones day, who knows you might even make a new friend!

So Hello World , lets make it a friendlier place! Now its your turn , go on you know you want to!

Oops I did it again!

No I'm not channelling Britney and neither is this an ode to said popstar, but given the amount of stress I have of late I may be having a Britney style melt down, shave my head and sit in a corner rocking back and forth! No the oops again is because I missed another day yesterday * hangs head in shame and disgust for my lack of time management * , that's not to say I missed a whole day that would be worrying and concerning, I mean how would that happen unless of course you took travel sickness pills went to a wedding and drank far too much wine and champagne without reading the do not drink alcohol while taking this medication warning on the box, True story! Still have no idea what I did or what happened and quite frankly I don't think I want to know! It was a long time ago and if you were at said wedding or it was your said wedding I am very very sorry but what I said/did/kissed/puked/_________ fill in blank as necessary and I promise it will never happen again!

No I'm talking about blogging, I said I would write something everyday but it's haarrrd! *said in whiny teenage voice* not hard to think of something to say, that I never have a problem with, once again I apologise, it's finding the time with kids, house life etc etc.

I so admire everyone out there who manages their house, kids, work and still find time to blog! How do you do it? Seriously you are amazing and I bow before your superior organisation skills!

But I made a pledge and I will try harder so please all you lovely bloggers out there give me some tips on managing my time and getting it all done!

Oops

I've been a bad bad blogger and I should be punished! I broke my pledge already *hangs head in shame* I said that I would blog everyday even if it was only one word and yesterday I missed a day but in my defence I have been really busy, it's school holidays, it's my daughters birthday today and I spent most of yesterday baking and sometimes life just gets in the way of living and doing anything!

Today my sweet sweet daughter is 17 so in a moment of gushy muminess I just have to say I am so so proud of my beautiful daughter and all she has achieved and the wonderful adult that she is becoming.

I made her a cupcake tower with a giant cupcake on top, I have baked and baked and iced and frosted till I can't frost no more but it was worth the finished result was lovely

And she was really happy with it so that my dear friends is the most important thing!