Just Do It.

My dad was not the kind of man you went to for sympathy. He had a very straightforward, black and white attitude to life, and his answer every time something went wrong was "That's life. get on with it."
Don't get me wrong, he was a lovely man who'd be first on the scene to help you out, but he had no time for wallowers or quitters. His philosphy was simple - if you can do something about your situation, do it. If not, get over it.
In some ways, this was a negative thing because I didn't feel as emotionally close to him as I'd have liked. If I felt upset about something, I'd have never gone to him about it as he was not one for tea and sympathy. However, it was a huge positive in the sense that I grew up to have a similar outlook on life. I don't wallow in self pity when things go wrong, I find a way out, and I'm very proud of my ability to turn a disasterous situation around as soon as possible.
I don't let things happen, I make things happen!

This was a huge advantage this week. We were due to move into mum's house on friday past, so you can imagine my dismay when I woke up on the thursday to find everywhere covered in snow! The weather forecast said it was only going to get worse and they even predicted the worst blizzards for over 100 years! Damn.
We had a van booked for the following day, but it was pretty obvious that even driving a car in our street was going to be a challenge, let alone a huge van! Steven wanted to just admit defeat and put off the move until the weather improved, but I was having none of it!
this move has been on the cards since february, and I have been absolutely desperate to move in before Christmas. The weather was set to continue for several weeks, so I was having none of it - we were moving and that was that!
I cancelled the van and phoned a friend to ask if he'd help me move the big stuff before the weather got any worse. He agreed, and I was delighted! Steven went off to work, I dropped the kids off and immediately rushed home and dismantled all my furniture singlehandedly, then phoned my friend to say I was ready. He said "Oh, today? I thought you meant tomorrow. I'm fully booked today."
ARGH! Meanwhile, there was a raging blizzard outside and I had no way of getting my big stuff moved!
Well, I had a minor panic for a few minutes and then set about doing what I could manage on my own. Lots of things were thrown into boxes and chucked into the car, and I even had my TV wrapped in a duvet, inside a bin bag and on a sledge!
Several trips later, and I had managed to move a good amount of stuff completely on my own. I was really proud of myself for taking the bull by the horns and making it happen!
The next day, Steven was off, so despite the roads being even worse, we flattened all the seats in the car and managed to squeeze our 2 seater sofa inside - it was like something out of Pimp My Ride, you'd have thought we were trying to make a limo!
Our friend did eventually manage to help us take the 3 seater sofa and our double mattress over, and we now have the bulk of our moving done, phew!
We've got a long way to go in terms of getting the old house completely emptied and what we'll do with it now, since it's not selling, is anyone's guess, but that's another post for another day!
Anyhoo, the point of today's post is, don't put things off and absolutely don't give up at the first, second or even third hurdle. If something needs to be done, don't think about what is in your way - Just do It.

Joy!

Have you ever wanted something that you just couldn''t afford? Something so ridiculously expensive that you can't ever imagine being able to justify buying it, yet something that makes your heart ache with longing every time you see it?

I have had a longing like this for several years. The object of my affection? A Kitchenaid Artisan stand mixer. At almost £400, it's a serious investment, but oh my god, how I've wanted one!

The thing is, some people would think nothing of spending £400 on a handbag, or a necklace, or an outfit. I have no interest in expensive clothes or jewellery, but my passion is cooking and there are some things that are worth investing in.

They are solid machines, all metal with no cheap plasticky bits. They are built to last, like, forever. I've seen photos of mixers from the 1930s that still work for goodness sake! They are proper workhorses, not a faddy gimmick that will be used twice and then banished to the back of a cupboard, No, these machines are designed to be used and used and used.

I'm serious about my cooking and it's something that is top of my ultimate "someday" list. Well, this year, my dream has come true!

My husband saves money all year so that we get a lump sum in December, and usually are able to afford all our Christmas shopping, plus an investment for the home.

Last year, we got a PS3. this year, I got my Kitchenaid!

This morning, I skipped into John Lewis like a child entering Disneyworld, and immediately made a beeline for the kitchenware department. There they all were, lined up proudly and looking oh so beautiful. I had originally wanted one in Candy Apple Red, but as soon as I saw the Cranberry one, I felt a rush of joy and couldn't stop smiling. It had to be Cranberry!

I was offered the Collect at Door service, where it would be taken to a door for me to drive up to, but I couldn't let it go, I just had to take it away there and then! I carried that machine to the car as if it were made of solid gold (and it felt like it was made of solid lead!).

Here she is in all her glory on the counter, along with the banana bread I made to ensure she was working...

Isn't she stunning? You just have to smile when you walk into the kitchen and see this beautiful lady! Of course, I had to give my machine a name. After all, this will be my partner in the kitchen for hopefully the rest of my life! Well, what other name could I give her than Joy? The very feeling I get whenever I realise that this beautiful thing is mine! The feeling I get every time I cook and bake, and every time someone tells me how much they've enjoyed something I've made. We all need a little joy in our lives, right?

For me it's cooking, for others it might be clothes or holidays. It's whatever makes you happy, and I have certainly found my Joy.

A day in the life.

5.30am - Get up
6am - leave house and chisel ice off car
6.40am - arrive at work, have cup of coffee
7am-3pm - work my little ass off
3pm - leave work and go to Toys R Us to exchange a duplicate gift
3.40pm - go to asda for mince (forgot to take out of freezer this morning, doh!)
4pm - pick Daisy up from grandma's
4.45pm - pick Charlie up from after school club
5pm - get home, straight into kitchen to make dinner (lasagne and garlic bread, from scratch)
6pm - eat dinner
6.30pm - help Charlie with homework
7pm - get Daisy's PJs on and get her settled with story and cuddles
7.30pm - get Charlie warm milk, have a chat and get him settled
8pm - clean kitchen, clean bathroom, put on load of laundry, fold, sort and put away clean laundry, tidy living room, lay out kids clothes for tomorrow, put cans in recycling bin, put bin bag in wheelie bin, list a few things on Ebay.
9pm - update blog
9.30pm - have a cup of tea and flump.

And people wonder why I don't watch much TV - I don't have time!!!
I'd love to see a day in your life :-)

Lessons I've Learned the Hard Way - winterproofing the car

I'm happy to admit that I procrastinate. Well, I won't admit it right now of course, maybe later...BOOM BOOM!

It's true though, I have a terrible habit of knowing I have to do something but putting it off until the very last minute. Take my car for example. now, I knew that snow was coming, and when it did come, I was lucky enough to be off work on holiday so I didn't need to be driving anywhere.

the thing was, I knew I'd have to go back to work this week, and I knew that the snow was only going to get worse, but did I take action to keep my car running? NO!!!!

Instead, I left it to get buried deeper and deeper under the snow and ice for ten days, so that on the morning I had to go back to work, it looked like this...

I swear, there's a car under there somewhere!

That last picture is a close up of frost, isn't it cool? Apart from the fact that it's on the INSIDE of my windscreen! Why oh why did I wait until the day I went back to work to deal with this? It took well over an hour to get my car cleared, and involved me having to stand on a stepstool and use a sweeping brush to get almost 2ft of snow off the roof. Not good. My fingers were screamingly painful from the cold, and after clearing the snow from the car, I then had to shovel the mountians of snow away from the wheels! My wiper blades had become so wrecked by the ice, I had to change them completely. Well, the nice man at Halford had to change them completely, cos when it comes to cars I'm ashamed to say I'm a pathetic little girl who doesn't have a clue!.

So, lesson one of winter car maintenance, even if you don't intend to drive in the snow, make an effort to scrape the car and run the engine for a few minutes anyway. That way, you won't end up completely buried.

Lesson two happened when I parked at the chinese takeaway to pick up dinner, and then got stuck in the icy car park. Every time I tried to move, the wheels spun wildly and all I did was slide ever closer to the car behind me. Did I have provisions with me for such an event? Sand or salt maybe? A shovel in the boot? NO!!!

Very, very luckily for me, a lovely couple came to my rescue and put some flattened cardboard boxes under my tyres, then pushed while I drove. It worked, and I was extremely grateful for their kindness and the fact that they were clearly more sensible and prepared than me.

So, lesson two is if you're out driving in the snow, make sure you have items to help you, should you get stuck in ice. A quantity of sand, maybe some de-icing salt, cardboard to give your tyres a dry surface, and a shovel would all be brilliant to keep handy. Also, your phone (fully charged), a spare blanket and a drink and snack in the glove compartment. The kindness of strangers is brilliant, but you can't always rely on everyone else to be prepared for you.

My dad was brilliant with cars. He just knew the basics, but he was the first person I phoned whenever something went wrong. He was a real stickler for maintanence of cars, and made a big deal about checking tyre pressure, oil levels, etc before long journeys. I trusted him totally to keep my car running smoothly and now that he is gone, I realise that it's down to me now. Sink or swim. As much as I have zero interest in cars, I have to learn how to look after mine, so that I'll be able to get myself out of the next car related difficulty with a smug sense of pride.

My dad did such a lot for me, he was a real old fashioned "man's man", so he insisted on helping me with most manly jobs around the house and car. Well, like I say it's sink or swim, so there will be a lot of learning going on!

The Importance of Being Anal

Yes, I am aware of how wrong that title is, and no, it's not a movie review...

I was thinking today about the theme of my blog, and although it's mainly just a memoir of everyday family life, it's also to document my journey from the chaos of right now to hopefully a more settled and calm future.
Well, the truth is, if I want a calmer life, I'll have to start running a tighter ship. It's all very well to be impulsive and spontaneous, but sometimes there needs to be a place for everything, and everything in it's place.
I know several people who think it's dull to be super organised, but I've yet to meet someone who thinks it's fun to be racing around searching for a lost item when you're already running late.
I thought I'd do a little series of posts about several areas where I'd like to become more organised, saying how I plan to go about it and hopefully inspire someone else along the way!
So here are the categories I can think of, just off the top of my head;

*Kids toys and clothes
*Paperwork
*Finances
*Housework
*Food storage
*Meal planning
*Time management

Sound good? I may add to this list, but at some point in the near future, I will do seperate posts on each of these categories.
At the moment, I'm completely disorganised. This year has thrown me into a tornado of chaos and confusion, and trust me, there's nothing more stressful than waiting until the day your road tax is due, then tearing the living room apart because the post office closes in 20 mins and you can't find your MOT certificate. That was only yesterday!

Wouldn't it be great to be able to know off the top of your head where every important item in your house is, at any given moment?
Wouldn't it be great to know, without checking, how much money is in your bank, what day your bills come off and to know that you have the best possible deal for everything?

I'd love to spend 2011 getting to bed at a decent time, having all the housework done before 8pm, paying my bills when they are due and not when they threaten to break my legs, having a meal plan and spending my spare time doing something constructive instead of stressing out over everything that needs to be done!
In short, I want to learn the importance of being anal :-)

Cabin Fever...

It's been snowing here for a week, and the schools have been closed. The kids loved the snow for the first couple of days, but now they just want to stay in, watching DVDs and playing Club Penguin!

The trouble is, Charlie has just started playing Club Penguin, and needs frequent help from me. Daisy is at that adorable stage of being completely unable to stay focused on any one thing for more than five minutes, so she'll start colouring, then abandon it to do a jigsaw, then abandon that to make paper plate masks, then abandon that to play Puppy in my Pocket...

Which is why my living room now looks like this...

Argh! I swear today my ass had an alarm on it, so that every time I landed on it, someone had to shout "Muuuuum!"

I couldn't even make a cup of tea in peace! if the school is still closed tomorrow, we HAVE to go out. A day in the house is all very well and good, but it gets really stressful when you see the place slowly falling apart around you, the kids are bored and kranky, you're exhausted and beginning to get really short tempered!

So anyway, after dinner was over, the kids were running riot, Steven was getting ready for his night shift, and I looked around and felt pretty sorry for myself. By that time in the evening, I'm tired, I've been hearing demands all day, and I just desperately want five minutes peace - sound familiar?

Daisy decided to make me a puzzle as a present "because I wub you"

Can anyone resist that smile?

So I took a deep breath, counted to ten(thousand) and decided to embrace the madness. We played a couple of games, read a few stories and snuggled under the duvet. Daisy asked for some warm milk and when I came back with it, I found this...

No matter how crazy they make me, no matter how exhausted and frustrated I get, I look at their beautiful sleeping faces and I know that I could never love anything more. Ever.

Tomorrow I will be patient. Tomorrow I will tidy the house and keep it tidy. Tomorrow, we will make snowmen, and cookies and go sledging.

Tomorrow I will be a better mum, a better wife, a better me.

Tomorrow. I promise.