The best laid plans - resolutions roundup!

Like I said in the last post, i like plans. I like to know what's happening and what I want to achieve.
that being said, I'm pretty good at going with the flow, because I'm well aware that unexpected things can crop up and life doesn't always go according to plan.

This is why I don't freak out if I don't achieve my monthly goals - they're just a guideline, something to aim toward. I've always been a fan of working towards something. I think I'd find it physically inpossible to just bumble along from day to day without some kind of direction!

My goals for January (and the results) are as follows...

1) Start pole dancing lessons.

This has been a HUGE success! I adore my pole class. It's not actually dancing at all, mostly acrobatics and strength training. It's so addictive that I ordered my own pole and it should be here any day! I will definitely give pole training it's very own post very soon!

2) Learn the basics of my sewing machine, make an apron.

umm...I haven't done any of this. Simply no time, honest! This will become clear when I explain the unexpected stuff that cropped up.

3) Lose 5lb

I lost 8lb! I joined Weight Watchers online and between that and pole class, I've been losing weight pretty steadily.

4) Read 2 whole books, go to bed before 10pm 2 nights per week.

umm...no. I do try to get into reading, but often I'm so tired by bedtime, I lack the concentration to follow a long book. i tend to read cookbooks in bed instead! The early bedtimes have been a big fail, and I will definitely make that a goal for february.

Okay, so out of 4 goals, I achieved 2. Having said that, a couple of unexpected things cropped up that I didn't expect!

I hadn't been planning to change jobs, but a very desirable job came up in a local sheltered housing complex for adults with learning disabilities. I applied and got it! I've since given notice at my current job and finished there, so a very unexpected achievement for January!

Also, I had two unexpected viewers at my old house this month, which meant having to do a massive amount of cleaning, tidying, packing and taking things to the skip. I've succeeded in virtually emptying my whole house this month and tidying up the garden. A lot of work, but well worth it! We got an offer on the house last week, which was slightly lower than we'd have liked, so we're waiting to hear if they are willing to offer more. definitely a good achievement for January.

Ooh, and I've also become really into painting my nails. The online forum I'm part of has a thread called Nails of the Day, and it's really interesting to see what everyone does with their nails. I am not very good at taking care of myself, so even taking a few minutes every few days to paint my nails is a huge achievement.

So yeah, January has been a very busy month, I've done a lot of good stuff!
What are you proud of this month?

A whole new approach to meal planning

Do you plan your meals?

I know for some people, the very thought of planning a whole week's worth of dinners would just be ridiculous. I mean, it's monday, how do you know what you'll want to eat on thursday?

For us, though, it works. It has to really, we all work shifts, the kids have various clubs and things, it would be total chaos if we didn't have some kind of plan.

I need to know what we plan to eat that week, it just helps me to know what I need to take out of the freezer, and it saves us from wasting good food. It's also helpful when you're trying to eat healthily, you're less tempted to get a takeaway if there's already all the ingredients for a nice meal ready to go.

How to plan your meals though? People have lots of different ways - some use spreadsheets, some use just a scrap of paper, some use a whiteboard. For some people it may be just a list of simple oven dinners, for others it might be a series of elaborate recipes! Whatever works for you.

This is my meal planner...

It's a hardback, A4 sized notebook, with a ribbon for keeping your page. I like using a dedicated book because as the year goes on, it acts as a sort of kitchen diary, you can look back and remember what you've been eating.

How many times have you made something delicious and thought "I must make this again sometime", only to completely forget what you made or how you made it? This way, I can remember what we had and when.

I also write in the book and page number if it's from a cookbook. When you own over 200 cookbooks, it's easy to forget where a good recipe came from!

See those gold stars? That's for recipes which have been a success. My kids are very fussy, I really struggle to find dinners that they will both eat and enjoy, so if they've liked something, it gets a gold star.

This helps with planning future meals - I can flick through the book and see at a glance which meals are likely to go down well. Again, because I write down books and page numbers, it's easy to go straight to the right recipe.

How do I get to the planning stage in the first place? I'm pretty organised about food. All my tins are on one shelf, spices on another, jars on another, etc. I buy meat in bulk, so the freezer is pretty much always stocked with things like mince, chicken and stewing steak.

I always have a good supply of stuff like tinned tomatoes, beans, various spices etc, so I can make any number of meals.

Once a week, I look at what I have, what we're all doing that week and what needs using up, and base my meals around that. I'll flick through a few cookbooks for inspiration, and include a few gold star meals from previous weeks.

I tend to use post its on my cookbooks to mark pages of things I want to try, so I'll usually try to include one or two new recipes a week.

It's good to have a plan. I like being able to look in the book before I go to bed and know what to take out of the freezer for the next day. I like the fact that I no longer do that dazed wander in the supermarket, mind blank, desperately trying to think of what I need. I know what we're eating, I know what's in the house, and I know what needs to be bought. Job done.

A Woman Of No Importance

I am a devoted slave to my children. I suppose that's exactly the way it should be. I'm always there for them, to soothe scraped knees, to cuddle away nightmares, to cook countless meals, to read stories, to provide whatever they need, whenever they need it.
My kids adore me, I know they do. I'm the first person they want to see when they wake up and the last person they want to have holding them before they drift off to sleep.
But how do my kids see me? In their little minds, am I anything more to them than just a provider of toys and dinner? Do they see me as a person in my own right, with feelings and needs of my own?
Probably not, I don't remember seeing my mum as her own person when I was their age. It didn't mean I appreciated her any less, but to be perfectly honest, I don't think I fully appreciated the sacrifices my mum made for us until I became a mother myself.

However, I do think it's important to have a life of your own, even when your kids are little. I think if you treat yourself as nothing more than a devoted slave, then why shouldn't your kids see you that way?
I want to start showing my kids that there's more to me than just what I can provide as a mother. If I spend all my time running around after them and never do anything good for myself, how will they ever learn to treat me as anything other than a slave?
My motto until now has been to treat others as I'd like to be treated. Now though, I think I should start treating myself the way I'd like others to treat me.
A good friend once said to me "What you put up with, you volunteer for"
That is so true. If you put up with being no more than a servant to others, the really, you've volunteered for it, because we all have a choice.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying for one minute that I'm treated badly by my kids or anyone else. What I'm saying is that the one person who treats me like a slave is myself. By not delegating, by not asking for help, by taking on far more than I should.
The lesson for todaay is, if your kids are demanding, if you feel over worked and overwhelmed, and if you feel like a woman of no importance, look deep inside yourself and ask if you treat yourself any better. And if you don't, it's time to start.

It's a new dawn, it's a new day...

....it's a new year for me.....and I'm feeling good!

Well, there's been a bit of radio silence from me on here for a week or two, but I have been flat out trying to get us settled into mum's house and prepare for xmas and new year at the same time!
It's been a really exhausting couple of weeks, every minute of every day has been completely filled with work, taking care of the kids, walking the dogs, cooking, cleaning, packing, unpacking, moving, shovelling snow, pulling sledges, pushing cars, shopping, argh!
I nearly reached breaking point last night, just the whole emotion of it being the end of such a difficult year mixed with the tiredness and stress of the past two weeks (well, whole year, actually), and I struggled to keep myself together for a little bit!
Anyhoo, that's it now - the festivities are done with and I for one will be very glad to pack away all the decorations and start getting back to a normal routine.

Let's have some new year's resolutions, shall we?

1) Learn pole dancing
2) Learn to sew and make clothes and toys
3) Lose 2 stone
4) Treat myself better. Stop taking on too much and spend more time relaxing.

I'll set myself monthly goals so they don't get lost with everything else that's going on, and I can keep track of how I'm getting on.

Here are my goals for January;

1) Start pole dancing lessons
2) learn the basics of working my sewing machine, make an apron.
3) Lose 5lb
4) Read 2 whole books, go to bed before 10pm 2 nights per week.

Will do another post on this at the end of January and we'll see how I get on!

Happy New Year!

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 :-)