More tea Vicar........

Friday again.....Well, where did that week go then???

You'll be pleased to hear that the new mattress is great and really comfortable too.  So, as a treat I have purchased a new duvet.  Looked into getting ours dry cleaned to threshen it up but it's costs about £15, so instead I decided to buy a nice new one as they are never really the same afterwards...can't wait to get into bed tonight now.

I had to go to the Doctors on Wednesday as I've had two migraine headaches this week. The first was on Saturday and the second on Tuesday.  I'd run out of the anti-sickness tablets so I thought I'd better go and have a chat with a Doctor.  Not very helpful really, if I'm finding that they are coming more frequently then my only option would be to take medication each day to stop them coming in the first place, which is not really something I'm keen to do.  I can just about manage with the pain of the headache itself, it's the vomiting that I find really difficult as it can go on all day and night and boy do I hurt all over for a few days after.  She's given me some stronger anti-sickness tabs and suggested I try other types of over the counter pain killers to see what works best for me.  So, we shall see how I go and hope for the best.

I'm looking to see if there is a pattern for when they strike too.  One of my main triggers is if I don't have enough to eat, or if I go too long in between meals.  My appetite is very poor anyway, so I am really making a conscious effort to eat better and graze throughout for day and not get hungry.  Also, I've noticed that my caffeine intake has gone up in the last few months.  I used to have around 5 cups of tea a day but recently it's been more like 8 or 9.  So, I'm cutting down and also having de-caf tea too, although still having the odd caffeine tea through out the day as going cold turkey on caffeine can also give you headaches.

Another quiet weekend planned for us. Becky is going on a date tomorrow to the cinema with the lad from across the road.  Although, I got told off for calling it a date as they are just friends.  This is the 2nd time they've been out and they walk home from school together each day...but they are just friends, even though he says he really likes her....but they are just friends...and she really likes him .... Oh, I give up! 

When I was her age I was still playing with Sindy dolls!  Hubby is struggling with the whole idea of his little girl having boyfriends so we are not allowed to talk about it in front of him!

Enjoy your weekend, keep warm.

Sue x x x

Spring has sprung............

No, it's not what you think.  After just over one years use, one of the springs decided to come out of the side of our mattress. Thankfully on hubby's side....phew.  Not impressed, I complained to where it was purchased from.  They tutted and rubbed chins and sent me to the manufacturer as it was outside of it's 1 year guarantee.  So, there I was all ready to give them a mouthful when they offered to send me a new one.....I was gob-smacked!  What great customer service.

So today, at 5.45am we were up and waiting for our new mattress which arrived at 6.15am.....hubby was very kind and offered to go back to bed and make sure all was good with it.....bless!

Twitter.  Is it me, 'cos I just don't get it.  I joined it a few years back but I just can't 'gel' with it.  Now Facebook I get and love but not Twitter.  All you do is 'tweet' a sentence and that's it. You wait for responses.  It really doesn't push my buttons at all.

Over Christmas we bought one of those micro-wave hot water bottle things.  All you do is put it in the micro for 2 mins and there you have a lovely toasty hot water bottle to warm up your bed.  The other night hubby put it in the micro to warm it up and clearly hadn't listened to my instructions on how long to heat it for as we heard a sound very similar to a high pitched pig squealing coming from the kitchen.  He'd left it in for 5 mins and it had blown up to the size of a large water melon.  Silly man!  Then, to add insult to injury, after it stopped squealing he took it upstairs and put it in my sons bed who put his foot on it and and burnt it..........men.  So, it is now a funny shape and probably not safe to use anymore.  Thankfully Alex's foot was ok.

Not a lot planned for us this weekend, enjoy yours.

Sue x x x

Nigella, I most certainly am not....

My Mum was a brilliant cook.  We had fresh homemade food - made from scratch everyday.  Apple pie, steak and kidney pudding, rabbit casserole, rice pudding to name but a few dishes.  I was keen to learn and would try and copy her when I was young.  But along came the '80's and with it the microwave and all of it's convenience foods.

Now, why bother to waste your time in the kitchen preparing dinner when all you have to do is pierce a couple of holes in the plastic lid and pop it in the microwave for the few minutes and.......voila! You have a tasty, ready meal for one.  Or do you?

No you don't.  And that's half the problem.  It's so easy to buy ready meals now days.  Time is short in many households and you know what it's like the kids want their dinner as soon as you walk through the door after school.

So I'm really trying to eat better, not just me the whole family but it's not easy when cooking is not really your forte is it.

So last week, I thought I'd try and make some Cornish Pasties.  I followed the recipe to the word but as I have not made pastry for nearly 28 years (since school) I flopped.  No, I flopped BIG TIME.  If we had a dog I wouldn't even have given them to him to eat.  They were awful.  Hard as nails.  Like biscuit coated mince and veg.  YUK.  So in the bin they went.....with a loud thud as they dropped to the bottom of it!

I'm now having flashes of Ria from 'Butterflies' keep coming in my mind as she was one terrible cook!

So tonight, I thought I'd get the scales and apron out again and have ago at making a Dorset Apple Bake.  Now, I was feeling a bit cocky and thought I'd add some extra ingredients - even though the recipe didn't call for it.   Why oh why did I do that?  Yes, it's edible but it would have been better without the cineman.  Then, as it was cooking, I thought I'd 'knock up' an easy cheese flan.  EASY - well that's what the recipe said (Oh, and it was from a school website for Yr 9 children, so how hard could it be??)  Well, let's just say the finished article is edible...just about.  Could have done with more cheese in it....a lot more cheese actually.

So, I'm not too dis-heartened and I will try and improve - 'cos as they say "Practice Makes Perfect" don't they.  And none of it will be wasted as I shall take it to work tomorrow and 'cos they love me they are sure to eat it.....I find the threat of a Chinese burn can work wonders too.

Have a good week.

Sue x x x

I smell something fishy.....

Firstly, I would like to say a big 'Thank you' to you all - my friends, for the lovely comments you have left on my last post.

When I re-read it back it makes me sound a little bit selfish.  I love my family very much and I don't want to rush my children in to growing up I promise.  But sometimes you get in a rut and it's then that you start to re-evaluate you life and then realise just what you do have and that you should really be very thankful indeed!

I will try to take on board some of your suggestions.  It's difficult as I can't go out in the week as hubby works till late and Becky is not really responsible enough to look after Alex on her own....yet.  The weekends seem to be taken up with chores and as Sunday is hubby's only day off we tend not to plan too much.  But I'm sure my life is no different to many other working Mum's out there.

I've not been too well this week as my asthma has been playing up - nothing too serious but I have been struggling to get my breathe at times.  So after a visit to the docs today I have been put on a course of steroids and hopefully this will help alleviate the problem.  My under-active thyroid is also being naughty, my last blood test showed it was boarder-line and I have to have another test next month and may possibly have to up my dose of medication. 

My son too has been struggling with his asthma but after a 25 minute debate with the doc on Monday he has put him on different medication and I am pleased to say he has been transformed by it.  He can now run around at play at break/lunch time and sleep through the night with out having to use his blue reliever inhaler....yay!

Can't be bothered to cook tea tonight, so it's fish and chips all round...yummy, yummy.

Boy, is this week going fast but I'm not complaining!

Take care.


Sue x x x

Taken a wrong turn.........

I think I've lost my way in life some how.  It's not happened over night, it's been a gradual thing over many years.  I used to be I/Me.  That seems to have gone - somehow.  I, like most Mums, have spent the last 15 years of my life living through my children and my husband to an extent too and I think that I've kind of got a bit lost.

Before the children I had a good job and was the man bread winner for the household.  I loved  my job.  I had a great social life through the job too.  I had Becky in '96 and returned to work when she was 6 months old.  Then, whilst I was on maternity leave in 2001 with Alex, the company I worked for for 14 years decided to re-locate and I wasn't prepared to do the daily commute of one and a hours each way to the new premises - especially with 2 small children.  So I took redundancy and found a super part time job in the NHS working in a local community clinic supporting a team of health visitors.  A lot less money but we managed - somehow. Child care initially wasn't a problem as my hubby worked shift and when I was working my Mum and Mum in law looked after Alex as Becky was at School.  In 2002 my hubby became a manager at work - more money but more responsibilities and means he works lates (not home till 10.30pm Mon- Fri and some Saturday days)

In 2004 my Mum passed away and my Mother in law became ill with cancer.  Work was very accommodating and allowed me to shuffle my hours around my childcare.  By the end of 2006 I started to get bored.  The job became too easy for me and there was no room for career progression.  In 2007 I found my current job - working as a school secretary. It's great as I work term time so get all the school holidays off.  I start work after I've dropped my kids off at school and finish work in time to collect them at the end of the day.  Unfortunately, I had to take a cut in salary again even though I'm doing more hours as I don't get paid for the school holidays.

Now don't get me wrong, I love my job.  But something is missing, I feel like an incomplete jigsaw puzzle.......I've lost a piece!

I guess many working Mums feel the same.  I haven't been out with friends for years, and can count on one hand how many times I've been out with hubby in the last 10 years.   I've lost many of my old friends too, as once you have kids yours life goes in a different direction. I've made new friends over the years - but no real true friends.

So all my days are pretty much the same - day in day out.

So I wonder, is this it now?  Does it change again as the children get older?

Like I say, I've lost my way a little.

Sue x x x

Boo - hoo

I really dislike this month.  I always feel down in January, I tried so hard not to let it get to me but this year it's hit me hard.

Really feeling down in the dumps.  Seems so much is going on in my world, some good, some bad.  Could so easily lock myself in a dark room and stay there until the Spring.

So sorry for the lack of posts.

Just need to find something good to focus on.  Meant to start diet/exercise regime this month but so far nothing has been achieved.  I feel totally useless as a mother, wife and a friend.

Hoping to feel a bit perkier and more positive soon.

Take care

Sue x x x