Shazza's Blog!

February Goals Update

2012-02-29T16:56:00.000Z

Can you believe we are already Feb 29th and tomorrow is March and the start of another new month? Wow!

My goals for February were :-

1. Finish Granny Square blanket
2. No more diets
3. Mentally prepare myself for a Mar 1st start - to what?
4. Work on some crafts!

So how did I do?

Goal 1 - DONE!

Yes that is my Granny Square Blanket you see, all completed in its' glory and finished in Feb!

Goal 2 - I never dieted in Feb, I cancelled my RCDFC subscription, I never exercises and I literally took the month off to see how I felt, what I missed and what I really wanted to do! And I realised, I don't want to live my life counting calories and fat grams, but I have to get where I want to be to begin with! Which leads me really nicely onto..............

Goal 3 - March 1st I am rejoining my local gym and I am getting my fat arse moving again!

I am not going to go into too much more detail on that, because you will be able to read it all on my blog tomorrow!

Goal 4 - I have worked on some great crafts in the month of Feb and I think they deserve their own update post, which shall follow!

Not a bad Feb overall to be honest!

To iPad or not to iPad?

2012-02-15T08:30:00.001Z

For about a year now I have wanted an iPad, but just recently I have been wondering if I really do need it, or am I wanting it because it is the latest gadget?

My idea for 2012 was that on my birthday I was going to walk into the Apple Store and buy my iPad and be eternally happy with my purchase.

Now I am having second thoughts!

Firstly the iPad will cost £579, based on my original assumption that I would get a 32GB 3G one. A cover would set me back another £35, making my total purchase an eye watering £614.00!!!!!! And that is before I have even taken out the 3G contract for it!

Am I NUTS?!?!? Do I seriously NEED an iPad? Of course these prices could rise when the new iPad 3 finally comes out!

So why the change of mind? Well I currently have a Blackberry Torch 9810, which is my lifeline for email, Twitter and Facebook. I also run an iTouch whilst indoors for my web browsing which I don't really do much of at home, and I have a netbook! Why do I need an iPad?

I am on a desktop for most of my day so if I do want to check the web, I use that, and when that switches off I don't really do much web browsing, well nothing that I haven't been able to do on my iTouch.

So I ask, do you think I would use an iPad? Is it a great gadget to have, or are all my bases already covered and an iPad is just overkill?

What do you think? To iPad or not to iPad?

Expensive Saturday!

2012-02-14T08:30:00.000Z

Having been housebound for most of last week with the awful lurgy, I was only too happy to be able to go out again on Saturday and boy I made up for it!

Although can I just say, when did stuff get so damn expensive! I had 3 things to do on Saturday :-

1. have my hair trimmed
2. put petrol in my car
3. visit Tesco

Guess who much that cost me in total? Would you believe me if I told you close to £125!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!

My local Shell Garage has closed down and so I am forced at the moment to use BP, and because I put the best Ultimate or VPower (if I were at Shell), I paid £1.439 / litre on Saturday! Ouch! When I put petrol in last month I paid £1.419 / litre. That means my fuel bill on Saturday was £41.00 and my tank wasn't even empty it was probably on the bottom qtr! Nuts!

Then my hair! £48 to have a trim! Yes I know, again NUTS!!!!! I remember my hair used to cost nothing, because I never cut it, now having short, £48 every two months! Should be every 6 wks but I am stretching it! I can't wait till it is long again and then bye bye hair trim costs!

Finally Tesco! A mere dash in cost me £35 and I walked out thinking, what exactly have I got?

I can not believe the price of things and it is really making me look at my monthly budget and cut back on unnecessary spends!

But hey ho, at least expensive Saturday's don't happen too often!

Lazy Lace Snood KAL

2012-02-13T08:30:00.000Z

I have never done a Knit-a-long before. I always want to try but I worry that I won't be quick enough or that I just won't be able to do the pattern. So when I found Deramores Rowan KAL I just had to try it!

I kept watching it, and choosing my yarn and each time it came to checking out and paying I stopped! Did I really need more stash? No, I didn't! So I checked out my current stash and came across 4 balls of Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran and decided to use that!

I am knitting it on 5mm needles and so far it seems an easy enough pattern to follow. Here is my progress so far :-

If you want to join this KAL and are on Ravelry, click on here for the link!

February Snow!

2012-02-12T08:30:00.001Z

When I lived in Africa, I always wondered what snow looked like, what it felt like, but never would I have guessed what an actual pain in the butt it really is!

Since moving to the UK and experiencing various snow storms now, I HATE SNOW! It is beautiful when you wake up after a snow storm, and everything is white and perfect and smooth and just sheer beauty. Then it starts to melt, and you realise you have to actually go out in it and the fun really begins!

That white beautiful landscape becomes slush and dirty, and then because the temperatures don't rise it turns to ice and the roads become an ice rink and driving in and out of your home becomes a stressful, scary experience every day!

So do I love snow? I only love it, if I can stay indoors and not go out in it, but when I need to run my life and there is snow, I HATE IT!

That being said, look at these wonderful pictures from this years snowfall :-

It sure does look pretty before someone messes it all up!

Health Update

2012-02-11T08:30:00.001Z

Towards the end of last year I was diagnosed with an eating disorder and I struggled with trying to understand it, trying to learn how to control it, how to overcome it and most of all how to live my life and not let it control me.

The doctor sent me to various NHS professionals and to be honest, they were crap! They said they couldn't help me because the health trust in my county can't deal with overeating as that is not a recognised eating disorder! However if I put my finger down my throat each day after having a massive binge, then they could do something.

So I gave up seeking help. The doctor put me on to Alli tablets, which were meant to aid with weight loss, but I soon realised that actually they only work if you eat meals with enormous amounts of fat, which I don't and so they don't work for me! I have never had any of the horrendous side effects that everyone talks about!

I joint Rosemary Conley and I have managed to loose a stone on the program, but I am tired!

I am fed up of being monitored, worrying each week that I haven't lost any weight, tempted to go back on laxatives to see the results on the scale, so I stopped!

I quit Rosemary Conley, I stopped the Doctor monitoring, I gave up on the Alli pills and I am living my life how I want to! If it means I am in a size 22/24 trousers then so be it. I can no longer deal with the stress of trying to loose weight.

Instead I am going to make healthy choices, but if I fancy that chocolate bar today, then I will eat it and I won't feel guilty and I won't worry about what the scale says and I will enjoy it!

So what is going to happen? To be honest, I don't know, but what I do know is I am taking back my life, from this awful control that I have been dealing with for years and I am going to live my life and see where it takes me, good or bad!

One life = one blog!

2012-02-10T13:15:00.000Z

For so long now I have tried to run different blogs for different aspects of my life and the truth is, I have one life, and therefore I need just one blog, so all other blogs have been frozen or deleted.

Because of that, this blog will be diverse, different, interesting, mixed up, but it will be about my life, and what a better representation!

Beginner's Cupcake Workshop - Sat 21st Jan '12

2012-01-21T20:14:00.000Z

Today I had the most enjoyable morning! My friend Helena and I had booked ourselves onto a Beginners Cupcake Workshop with Sugarplum Cupcakes. Boy did we enjoy it!

The workshop was held about 15mins drive from our house and started at 10am and finished at 1pm. We arrived in plenty of time, so sat in the car for a bit chatting. It was then time for the workshop.

It was so refreshing to walk in to a room and it is prepared and ready to go and there are handouts and equipment all layed out beautifully. It was just so well organised.

We received tea on arrival and the workshop began.

Dominique was a very good teacher and explained things so well. The 12 cupcakes were prepared already when we arrived and layed out in really great little trays ready for us to decorate. We learnt how to mix the buttercream icing and how to add colour, and then we got to try different nozzles that gave us two different effects. We also learnt how to apply fondant icing.

It was all so amazing and so much fun and for anyone that lives in Ipswich, I would definitely recommend attending!

Here are my cupcakes :-

2012 Crafting Goals

2012-01-09T17:09:00.000Z

I decided that in 2012 I was going to try a number of new crafts and see which ones I really enjoy and want to continue with and which ones are a once tried, that is enough, shelve it ones!!!

As you know I already knit, crochet and cross stitch and can do those fine, and actually enjoy them! But my fingers are itching for experimenting!

For Christmas my parents bought me this kit :-

It is a Latch Hook Kit, and as I have always wanted to give it a try, I thought it was a good present idea!

I am yet to start it, because I wanted to finish some of my current WIP's before I start anything new, but I imagine it won't be long before I am having a go! I am currently smoothing out the fabric that came with it, in preparation!

What else am I going to try? Well I bought these kits in December :

Kingfisher Embroidery

Cupcake Punch Kit

Happy Birthday Long Stitch Kit

Arent' they adorable? I have always wanted to experiment and these kits were really cheap to do that with, which I am thrilled about! I do also have an African Animal tapestry I bought some 10 years ago that I would like to get completed at some point! But I thought these would give me a good starting point!

Then I was browsing amazon yesterday looking for embroidery books, well to be specific African themed embroidery books and I found.........................Trish Burr WOW, WOW and WOW! I have her cross stitch book so when I saw that she did embroidery books as well I just had to start being nosy! Needless to say that in itself resulted in 2 purchases! But just look at these :-

How can anyone pass these two beauties up! After seeing the free pansy project on her website, I knew I had to get these! Of course having the Zimbabwean national flower on the cover of one, of course had nothing to do with the purchase! LOL! I can't wait for them to arrive!

I am getting there! Once I have completed these, I think I will have a better feel for what needlecrafts I enjoy and which ones I don't, and I can then focus more time on them!

If you are reading this and have any suggestions on a needlecraft that you feel I need to try and haven't mentioned, please leave me a comment! My list as at today is :

Knitting

Crochet

Cross Stitch

Tapestry

Punch Needle

Latch Hook

Embroidery

Long Stitch

I think that is all for now!

I will be doing a post about miniature Doll's Houses in the near future!

Exercise Question

2012-01-04T14:23:00.000Z

Ok, so January 1st always sees people flocking to the local gyms and health clubs trying to implement New Years Resolutions.

Luckily I am not on that train ride, however I am on an exercise mission of my own, but I need some suggestions!

I have a few options open to me and I am struggling to see which one to go with! Maybe you could help?

Option 1 - join local gym that opens at 630am 3 times a week and get a session in before DH leaves at 715am? Could be rushed some days!

Option 2 - join local gym that has a pool and aim to go 3 times per week, but it will be late after 8pm each night!

Option 3 - attend local Zumba classes only?

Option 1 & 2, my concern is I am not liking being tied in for a year with anything right now! Not sure why, maybe because my financial situation could change in a heartbeat and I don't want to have to worry about how I make monthly payments! Also these options leave me to exercise on my own, with no real interaction with anyone. As I already spend a good portion of my day on my own, it would be nice to see others and maybe even say a passing word!

Option 3 - am not tied in, they are all PAYG classes. Only one class is at 8pm during the week, which may need to be missed if DH's train is delayed, but the other 2 classes, one is on a Friday morning, when Luke is in nursery and I am not working and the other is on Sunday night 7pm, when DH is home! So getting to at least 2 out of 3 is more than do able! These classes are FUN, the ladies smile and chat and I get some interaction, well at least get to see others!

Cost wise, they are pretty much around the same price, however Option 1&2 is contract and 3 is PAYG!

Whilst typing this I have pretty much convinced myself that Zumba is the way to go, but I was wondering what others thought? Also is Zumba good for weightloss when coupled with healthy eating? The classes are approx 50mins each.

Please share your views in the comments below!

101 Things to do in 1001 Days - Update Jan '12

2012-01-03T09:00:00.000Z

I started a new 101 Things on November 1st 2011 and thought it was about time I did an update!

So far I have managed to complete 5 tasks and they are :

15. Finish Granny Square Blanket - this took me approx 2yrs!!!! Wow!

33. Christmas cards and envelopes written by end of November for 1 year - DONE! All cards were posted December 1st!

54. Give a donation to someone in need - For Christmas '11 I did Operation Xmas Child, where I paid for a box to be sent to an underprivileged child somewhere in the world! Felt great doing it!

59. Make a wish at 11:11 on November 1st '11 - of course I can't tell you what I wished for, but I did make my wish!

99. Give money to a street musician - whilst in London on Nov 26th '11 I gave money to a Man singing in the Undergroud.

5 out of 101 done, not good really is it, but then ago for 2 months in, not bad either!

Hello Zumba!

2012-01-02T17:45:00.000Z

I had forgotten just how much I enjoyed Zumba!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I used to go last year but then my ankles started playing up and so I stopped. As I have been feeling better recently I decided to give it a go...................and boy did I have fun! So I am going back on a weekly basis and am going to attending Zumba again! I feel great!

So between Zumba once a week and my swimming, I am hoping my goal of shifting 4lbs a month will be met!

Anyone else do Zumba?

New Years Resolutions..................

2012-01-02T09:00:00.000Z

I have always made New Years Resolutions and I HAVE NEVER KEPT THEM!

This year after seeing the Day Zero Project website I thought their idea of having 7 things you want to achieve in 2012 as a better option!

As I already have an account, I added my 7 things. Here they are :

1. Learn how to - latch hook and embroider

2. Start - swimming on a weekly basis

3. Stop - snacking when not hungry

4. Take a vacation to - somewhere with a sandy beach

5. Find - a new interest

6. Try - needlefelting

7. Be more - creative, active and motivated round the house

They seem achievable to me, and hopefully will be, but do check back and see how I am getting on!

Happy New Year....................

2012-01-01T00:05:00.000Z

Wishing you a wonderful, happy and prosperous 2012!

Have you set any New Years Resolutions?

2012 Filofax Setup

2011-12-31T09:30:00.000Z

2011 was a year where I just couldn't settle on a setup, that was of course till about Sept, when I finally found a setup that just worked like clockwork for me! What was it you ask?

Filofax page per day along with week per page. It was great. I could record my daily goings on, to do's, money and any other details on the whole page and then I could see my appoints for the week on the weekly pages. It really did work well.

Then at the beginning of December I decided, because of course I can never just stick with something, that I wanted to combine my work and personal life in 1 Filofax. My reason is simple really, when I leave home I need my work stuff with me and carrying around 2 Filofax's is a bit of overkill! So in December I added a plain paper page between each day and that had my work stuff noted on it. It really did work well for me.

At first for 2012 I was going to go with the same setup and then I heard via Twitter that Franklin Covey was once again supplying to the UK and I just had to look!

Big mistake! Although I had already bought my inserts for 2012, I just fell in love with a layout called 'Her Point of View' and the colours and pictures are just a delight!

So I got the 2 days per page layout for Christmas and I am thrilled!

Will just say before you rush off to buy them that they are wider than a Filofax binder and whilst they do fit in the Malden, they stick out a bit. It is liveable but I decided to move into my Cuban Zipped because not only do they fit perfectly but with the additional ring size I can store 3 months as well as my other info. Whereas had I of stayed in the Malden I could only fit 1 month! There are of course alot of pages! LOL!

Christmas morning I opened this :-

Yes, I finally got to open my Personal Finchley in Imperial Purple and of course you may have guessed the FC inserts do not fit and stick out even more than in the Malden, so the Finchley is currently still in its box with me wondering what I can use it for!

So 2012 sees me in my FC 'Her Point of View' 2 pages per day along with FF week on 1 page and I think I am finally onto a winner here! As they layout has space for to do's and appointments and then a whole page for notes, I just feel this could be it!

One life = one planner

Let's see how long this lasts! LOL!

Pilot Frixion Pens

2011-12-30T09:00:00.000Z

I LOVED Pilot Frixion pens, as you can see from above! I bought them in EVERY colour and in both 0.5mm and 0.7mm nib sizes. They were perfect! Or so I thought...............................

I decided that I wanted to be able to archive my diary in 2012 and actually keep it for future reference rather than throw it away! As the Frixions were working so well on the colour coding side of things I decided to investigate their archival capabilities! I was disappointed!

Because you can erase these pens, you can't let them get hot, so don't leave your Filofax in your car on a hot summer day as you could come back to some semi blank sheets! Yes the ink will fade! However if you put them in the fridge they should return, however not perfectly!

This concerned me greatly. So I rang the manufacturer to ask about the archival qualities and they said...............'They don't have any, and they would not recommend them for long term use!' BAMM there goes my pen choice for 2012!

Another thing annoying me about them was having to always carry 7 pens with me at all times, and that fact they are not retractable! We are not able to buy retractable in the UK!

So I started my search for my 2012 pen! I needed multifunction with at least 3 colours and it need to look nice! I finally decided on :-

The OHTO Multi Slim 4 in Blue which as a Fine nib and comes with Red, Black and Blue ink AND a 0.5mm pencil, perfect! I hope so anyway, as it is yet to arrive!

I have also ordered the :-

The Franklin Covey Melbourne in Pink! Again it has Red, Blue and Black ink as well as a 0.5mm pencil and these shall be my pens for 2012!

No long will I be using the Frixion, because I am not wanting to store my diaries for years to come and am I not confident that they will do that, but also if an entry changes during the day I want to reflect that, so I can see how my day's unfolded when I look back! And nothing looks more lived in than a diary with crossings out in it!

Now my diary for 2012..................that is a whole other post!

The Gruffalo - 26th Nov '11

2011-12-29T09:00:00.000Z

I feel like in some strange way I missed out on something in my childhood, and it was THE GRUFFALO!

I honestly don't remember EVER hearing this story until I had my son! How could I have missed it? It is awesome! For anyone who has children, you need to read them The Gruffalo and better still you NEED to get them the DVD and take them to see the on-stage performance! Because of course that is what we did!

Yes November 26th we took Luke to go and watch The Gruffalo on stage at Lyric Theatre in London.

It certainly didn't disappoint! The show was about 50mins long with no interval but that was fine and long enough to keep the kids engaged without getting bored! There were just 3 actors in the whole show, the little brown mouse played by the lady, then one actor who was The Gruffalo and the other was the Owl, Fox and Snake!

It was amazing! I am not sure who enjoyed it more, Luke or Mummy!

I am not sure how long the show is running in London, but if you get the chance to go and see it, grab it with both hands, because you won't be disappointed!

Granny Square Blanket

2011-12-13T09:00:00.000Z

Finally after 2yrs 5mths, I have finished my Granny Square Blanket! I can't quite believe really, as I thought it would never end, but it has and I am thrilled with it!

I will warn you before I post a picture that it is crooked, but I call it creative design! I am just thrilled that I can at last crochet!

Here goes, this is gonna be picture heavy, sorry!

Disney on Ice @ O2 - 23rd Oct'11 (picture heavy!)

2011-12-12T09:00:00.002Z

I have been trying to think how to describe the trip to the O2 and what Disney on Ice was like. But you know what I just can't! It truly was amazing! My brother came with us and rather than trying to catch trains etc across London we decided to drive to the O2, which I have to say was a very good decision!

Here are some pictures of the show and hopefully they show just how awesome it was!

Philofaxy Meetup - 19th Nov '11

2011-12-11T12:00:00.000Z

My first Philofaxy Meetup was Nov 20th '10 so imagine how thrilled I was to be attending my 4th meetup 1 year on!

I feel like a Veteran at these events now. Which I appreciate sounds odd, but it is warming to watch new people attend and see the excitement in their eyes and hear their joy, when they meet and start swapping Filofax's!

I will never forget my first meet all that time ago. We really took an age to order food and walk to Neal St, because we were just so enthralled with each other's binders. Now as time has moved on, I find myself only taking my every day Filofax, and to be fair it doesn't even come out of my bag, because I know go to catch up with friends and not really to discuss Filofax's!

I love my London meetup's and I hope they continue for many more years to come, and I hope that I can continue to attend them, because they really are a highlight of my year! Even if I don't shop at the Neal St store, I just love see Dee and her team and sharing a laugh!

So once again I have to say a very big 'Thank you!' to the King of Philofaxy for putting together a great day and another very successful meet!

You can read other attendee's posts here.

School Admissions!

2011-12-11T09:00:00.003Z

I can't believe we are already looking at schools for Luke! But yes, our little boy starts school in Sept 2012! Can you believe it? It seems just the other day we were bringing him home from hospital!

(leaving the hospital!)

(Children in Need Day 2011)

Because he is a May baby, he is going to be one of the youngest in his class and whilst I am more than certain he is ready for school, I can't help but worry that some children will be turning 5 and he would of just turned 4! A year is so long in a child's development!

Now in Africa when you had a child, even before it was born you could go and register at the school of your choice, pay a place deposit and bamm school sorted! You chose your school and 99.99% of the time that is where you went! But also we paid for education in Zimbabwe, schooling was certainly not free! As a child I went to a Government junior school but for senior school I attended an all girls private school (non Government).

So it is has taken a while for me to get my head round how the UK system works and I have to say I think it sucks! Now before you rant and shout and post nasty comments, these are MY VIEWS and as we have freedom of speech in this country, I putting them out there!

I live approx 0.5miles from my catchment school, but because it is oversubscribed there is very little chance that Luke will get in there! But that is not my only bugbear! The UK admissions works on a preference system, which seems to go :

1. Siblings in catchment first admission

2. Siblings out of catchment second admission

3. Only children or first born in catchment

4. Children out of catchment

So I am furious that my son may not get into catchment school because we live in a new development and there are loads of children! Last year there were 60 places, and 58, yes you read that right 58 were siblings with 2 just being first born or only children! So our chances are not great and I am annoyed that in a way I am being discriminated against because I chose to have one child. I think those children within a 1 mile radius of the school should have first option and then it goes further afield. But to think that children who are not in catchment will get in and us who are so close, won't just makes my blood boil!

Now before you all get upset and say it is not fair to expect mothers with 2 or more children to have to travel between different schools to collect their children, and I agree to a certain level, but as I said before why is it then fine for me to travel to a school further afield and my son to have no school friends close to home, when I live closer!!!!!!

November and December I have spent going round schools in our area to make our choices and we are lucky as we have 6 very good schools all within 10mins drive from our house, so we would be happy if he got into any of them honestly, but our catchment school would be ideal!

We have to submit the application on January 13th, which is a Friday, how crap is that for those of us that are suspicious! We then have to wait till April 17th to find out where he is going! We have to put down 3 choices and if everyone is full the Council will then choose where he goes! I HATE THAT!

My argument, why not charge school fees, and then let parents reserve a place where they want by paying a deposit!!!! That just seems so much more reasonable!

I don't get why we have to have so much free stuff in this country, maybe if they started charging for education and health services, people would actually complain when it is crap and services would improve, but because it is free, people think they can't say anything and so just accept the crap that is given!

Let me just say I do firmly believe that if you can't afford to have children, then don't have them it is not up to the Government to give you money or pay for education for them! That is the responsibility of the people who have them!

Again these are MY VIEWS and having lived in both a 3rd world and 1st world country I can honestly say that making people pay for things certainly does give better services, and makes the public think before having children!

Gymnastics

2011-11-05T09:00:00.001Z

My darling son has always been a very active little boy, so for about a year now, I have been taking him to Gymnastics!

When we started, he was the only boy and I really though, 'Oh dear, this is not good!'. He wouldn't take part, he was clingy and I really thought it was a waste of time! So I gave it a term to see how or if he settled before paying for any further lessons.

Well we are now a year on and 'WOW!' he loves it! He is now in the stage where he goes by himself and does all his lesson and I sit and watch from upstairs!

I am thrilled and sad! Thrilled that he has become a well rounded, independent, confident little boy, and really sad that the activities we did together are coming to an end! My son is growing up!

I think I will be keeping him in gymnastics for as long as I can and that his time allows, before no doubt he will move onto another activity!

Here are some pictures of what he gets up to!

Books Read Update

2011-11-02T09:00:00.000Z

Ever since I got my Kindle in May, I have been reading alot more than I ever have done in the past few years! I love it, and honestly it has to be THE best birthday present I have ever received in a very long time! I do get nice presents each year, but this really just took the biscuit!

I set myself a target for 2011 of reading 15 books and I am thrilled to say I have completed 13, and am about to finish my 14th this weekend!

So what have I been reading? Well here goes, a list of all the books I have read so far in 2011!

Actually when I look at this list, I would say I have read 12, but Goodreads says 13, although I never actually finished ROOM. I tried it and boy did I try, over and over and over again to get into but it just was not happening for me, so I eventually gave up! Because there are too many good books out there to read, for me to be forcing myself to try and read something I am not enjoying!

I loved all these books, and as you can see there is a very diverse genre there!

I have to say my favourite so far has to be 'The Lost Daughter', that book had me gripped from the first page and was a real page turner! But actually I have enjoyed them all!

So my next challenge that shall overlap with one, because my 101 Things to do in 1001 days stars on November 1st and there are some reading challenges in there, and they are :

1. Read 5 books by authors that are new to me
2. Ask 20 friends to suggest one book and read them all
3. Read 50 books
4. Read 26 books I've never read starting with each letter of the alphabet
5. Read 3 books from the banned books list

As you can see they will overlap, but I am ok with that. The main thing is to get more read from Nov 1st than I am currently doing!

So keep watching this space!

Birthday Parties - A Personal View!

2011-11-01T09:00:00.000Z

Ok, this post is probably going to rub some people who read it up the wrong way, but please remember it is my view, right or wrong, it is how I see it!

So Luke has been invited to a few birthday parties over the last few months and I am really struggling with the way birthday parties are held in the UK!

Being from Africa, when a child had a party, the party was generally held at home, (I appreciate houses in the UK don't lend themselves to 10 children and their parents in them, nor do the roads for parking) and the parents of the children would stay, which happens here, but here is a big difference! The parents would be fed as well as the children!!!! Games would be played, songs would be sung and birthday cake would be cut and eaten AT THE party, and the children would go home happy, tired, and satisfied, WITHOUT a party a bag!

Now parties in the UK! OMG! Are held outside the home, in either a rented hall, play centre or community centre! Food is laid on for the children, with maybe drinks only being offered to the parents, no games are played as they either have a bouncy castle or if in a play centre the entire centre to run around! The only song that is sung is 'Happy Birthday' and THEN the birthday cake is cut and PUT in a party bag to be eaten at home! And everyone told when to leave, AND the kids all expect a gift bag at the end with cake and decent toys! What?!?!?! Why ?!?!?! Who's birthday is? Why must we give a party bag? What the hell is the point?

So I have a dilemma, because my son is born in the UK but his mother (me) has African cultures and values, so when it comes to his birthday party do I go for the UK way, which I am not at all comfortable with, or do we go African and then the kids would never return to another because God forbid they never got a party bag! Oh the stress!!!

Let me tell you, his birthday is in May and I am already worrying about it!

I am thinking a compromise! I can fit a bouncy castle in my yard, and I can accommodate 10 to 15 additional adults in my garden! So I am thinking, bouncy castle, snacks for the kiddies, a few party games, BBQ for the adults, birthday cake to be eaten at the party with cupcakes to be sent home in the party bag! Yes a party bag! Against all my principles!

But the weather??? If it rains, do I want 15 additional adults excluding the kids in my house! No I don't! Do I maybe not do such a big party and actually only invite his 5 close friends and their parents? Or do I just rent a hall that has all the play stuff kids need to keep them entertained for an afternoon, lay on food and nibbles for both children and adults, do the same thing with the cakes and job done! This way the mess is kept outside of my home! There are no parking issues to annoy the neighbours! Adults and Children will still be fed and hopefully everyone would still have a good time!

Or do I just delay it again for another year and only start having parties when he turns 5!

Family together again after 10years!

2011-10-31T09:00:00.002Z

Some really special happened in September! My cousins who still in Zimbabwe, came over on holiday for a month and the best bit was that they came and stayed with me! Awesome!

I left Zimbabwe in '98 and I returned for the last time in 2001. My cousins did come over to the UK for a holiday when they were 10 and 11, so it was amazing to see them as adults, aged 20 and 21!!! I missed their whole teenage years, which did feel a bit weird, but WOW, what amazing people they have turned out to be!

They arrived in the UK on the 7th Sept and spent a fair bit of time travelling around, ending up at my parents in Peterborough on the 21st Sept. My family then drove them down to me on the 25th Sept to spend the following week with me.

Wow, what a week! As they were here from Sun to Thurs, there was alot to get done and see! However, although, I had something planned for everyday, out seeing Suffolk, that got quickly scuppered, when they decided, actually they wanted to shop and buy iPads! Not that I mind at all, as it gave me a chance to check out my 2012 birthday present early!

We all had a wonderful time and I love reconnecting with them after all these years! I just prayer it is not another 10yrs before we see them again!

Philofaxy Meetup - 24th Sept '11

2011-10-27T15:59:00.002+01:00

My mind is failing me, but I am sure this was my 3rd Philofaxy meetup in London and I have to say, I had as much fun this time, as I have all other times! So much so, I shall be attending the next one in London on November 19th!

My day started with my train departing Ipswich at 1043hrs getting into London 1155hrs, a pretty uneventful train journey if I am honest! I had left it a bit later this time to get into London, but that is because I only go if I am able to get cheap tickets! FabFrugal kicking in here!

Still I managed to get to the restaurant for about 1230pm so not that late!

There is a rather big difference happening at each of these meets that I have noticed, not sure if anyone else has! The first time we met, we spent ages, going through page by page of each other's Filofax's, layouts, binders, uses etc! Second time not so much but we did still peek in some! However at this met, it felt more social, in that we all know each other pretty well now and so it was actually a meet between friends, catching up on time passed, rather than getting together for the sole purpose to discuss our Filofax's! I have to say I prefer the latter! Catching up with everyone is just wonderful, because over time we have formed some good friendships and we share knowledge, not only Filofax knowledge but Life knowledge, and that is just lovely!

The new participants were keen to see the Filofax's and chat about them which was lovely, but us old hands, tended to catch up on life happenings!

The lunch was lovely as always! The restaurant at Tate Modern is certainly well equipped to host large tables, and are so forgiving, when we line up Filofax's, take pictures, make funny comments, it is just lovely!

I don't tend to photograph at these events and I am not entirely sure why, so I have to 'borrow' some, but to be honest, the only one I really want to show is this one :-

The total number of Filofax's that were there on the day!

I did contribute a fair few, as I had just done a huge haul at the German Filofax sale, which Thomas very kindly brought across for me! Thank you!

This time I did go armed with my shopping list of the things I needed to get, which to be honest, was just my 2012 Diary Refills! After many hours of experiments I have finally come to the conclusion that the setup that works for me Personal week on 1 page along side Day per Page! No other size works and I shall now stop trying to make them work! I love my Malden, I am comfortable in it and why oh why do I need to change it! No doubt however, in 2012 I shall try again various sizes and once again end up back in the Personal!

I left London at 1800hrs for my uneventful journey home, but high on the fact I had had a lovely day, with people I now call 'Good Friends' and looking forward to seeing them all again in November!

If you wish to read more details posts about the day, then check out these blog posts :-

Globetrotting Cacti post

Caribbean Princess Part 1

Caribbean Princess Part 2

Caribbean Princess Part 3

Imysworld

Philofaxy Part 1

Philofaxy Part 2

Hope you have enjoyed them!

Centre Parcs 5th - 9th Sept

2011-10-26T16:39:00.000+01:00

I can't believe we are over a 6 weeks since we went to Centre Parcs! I am now on a major update this blog quest!

Monday Sept 5th saw Si, Luke and I head off to Centre Parcs in Elveden for the week! We had been there before and since having Luke we are becoming quite accustomed to going to Centre Parcs at least once a year! It is just such a great place for kids!

Elveden is great for us, because it is only about 1hr 30mins drive from home, so whilst you get the feeling you are away, you don't have the long car journey at either end, which is lovely!

We left home at about 12pm, as we could check in at 2pm, having booked the Fly Start package with the villa. The drive was uneventful and we arrived in good time.

Our villa was very close to all the amenities, so although we had bikes, we actually never used them, as walking was quicker and easier! What was also nice, was that we were close enough to still pick up with WiFi single in our villa! Big plus point! LOL!

Ok, so here are the pictures, sorry but it is picture heavy!

The outside of the lodge/villa!

We always take the Woodland Lodge option now, as they are just so much nicer and for the same money!

Front of the lodge.

We were overlooking the lake, and so here is our view :-

Lovely isn't it? Of course this did mean we had the local wildlife visiting daily! Much to Luke's enjoyment.

We had booked Luke into an activity of sorts each day, to keep him in some sort of routine! Monday we had a rest day, due to the travelling, getting bikes and just generally getting our bearings!

Tuesday, Luke was booked in for Soccer School, which was a total waste of money! The chap who took it, was rattling on about when he played and it just never kept the attention of the younger participants! Luke attends Little Kickers weekly so is used to football, but he did not like this! So much so, we actually never stayed to the end, as he refused to take part! Opps!

Luke taking part, before the Coach opened his mouth!

Once the coach started talking, this was Luke! Hence us leaving!

Luckily there was a really good play area just outside the main block and so we took him there to expel some energy, which he did, happily!

King of the Castle!

The afternoon he was booked to attend the Teddy Bears Picnic, which is always good fun! So this one was no different! Of course he was overjoyed to see Rupert the Bear again!

Luke and his Pal!

Tuesday was Goldilocks and the 3 Bears on stage performance in the morning, which was very good, I must say! Luke was gripped the whole way through and really seemed to have a good time!

The Cast!

A quick spot of lunch at The Pancake House :-

before it was time for Luke to attend Fencing for Tots! Told you he was busy!

Luke all kitted out!

His final activity for the week was Roller Tots, and that to he thoroughly enjoyed!

As you can see from all these pictures, Luke had a wonderful time and was certainly kept busy.

We ate for lunch and dinner every day and whilst Si or I never booked anything for ourselves, we had fun just watching Luke, relaxing, resting, reading, and just being a family!

Thetford Forest Camping - Aug Bank Holiday '11

2011-09-11T13:24:00.000+01:00

So as you know, we bought a tent end of July, beginning of August and did a trial run in our garden!

Seeing as it turned out so successful, we decided to book a local campsite and try it for real! Wow, what a struggle to get a booking for Bank Holiday weekend, who'd have thought they would be so busy, but they were! Anyways, we managed to get a pitch at Thetford Forest, which is only about an hour and a bit drive from ours, perfect should the weather be a disaster!

We had to pay for the 3 nights, Fri to Mon, but we actually only went for 2, Sat and Sun as we could not get there for Friday. Just as well really, because a couple I chatted with who did arrive on the Friday at 930pm had to pitch in the dark in pouring rain! Not my idea of fun!

So Saturday we set off for our camping holiday!

The site was very nice and the staff were very friendly. It would of been nice to know that they office actually closed between 11 and 12, as we arrived at 1105am and couldn't check in! So we went in search of the local Tesco to stock up!

Now I did check the weather forecast before we left and it was anticipated rain at 1pm! Now I know the weather is not accurate but from the look of the clouds above, this time, it could very well of been!

We finally got to our pitch at 1230pm, and literally as we opened the car door to start unloading the heavens opened and they opened good! We had the most unbelievable downpour! Not to worry, we sat in the car and ate our lunch and waited for it to pass and then pitched the tent!

All I can say is thank goodness we did the trial run at home, it took us a little under 1hr 30mins to get it all setup and beds made, which really wasn't bad I thought.

The site was lovely and clean and the amenities were clean and tidy and very well laid out. We did pay a £10 deposit so we could get the key to the bathroom with a bath in it for Luke in the evenings which really did prove a lifesaver!

All set up and ready to go!

Luke exploring the forest.

Sunset on the first night.

We took Luke to Banham Zoo on the Sunday and he loved it as always! Here he is feeding the animals!

Getting his badge for collecting all the stamps! Proud boy!

Tractor Boy!

We had a wonderful time. I did notice how you tended to go to bed alot earlier and rose quite early, but it was fine.

I loved being outside, sleeping under the stars, ok with protection! LOL! Waking to the birds tweeting, hearing Owls hooting, just generally not having City life anywhere near!

Will we do it again? 110%! Can't wait for the next holiday which sadly will now been next year as the camping season tends to generally close from Oct to Apr.

Roll on 2012!

2nd Big Step on my quest for Recovery!

2011-09-01T14:15:00.000+01:00

At 1am this morning, whilst dealing with the results of my laxative abuse, I decided enough is enough!

The only person that can stop taking these damn pills are me! So today I binned the lot! And not just in a clean bin, so if times are hard, I can get them out! No, in amongst my old, disgusting food, where there is no way I am going to try and retrieve them!

How do I feel? Relieved, I shall now get an unbroken nights sleep, scared, because I now need to try and control my weight the correct healthy way! Empowered that this journey is going in the right direction so far and my only wish now is that I don't fall off the wagon and slip back into old ways!

But 1st step was big - seeking help, 2nd step is bigger, taking action to aid that help, and destroying the pills that are destroying me is huge!

Oh my goodness, I am really doing this!

Can I just say a 'HUGE, THANK YOU!' to those who commented on yesterday's post, I feel so lucky to have such amazing support around me and to have people who rather judge and criticize are helping and aiding! So thank you!

Overeaters Anonymous

2011-08-31T15:50:00.000+01:00

I have been toying with the idea about doing a blog post on this subject for a while now, and I kept putting it off, because I realise not many people want to know about others problems!

But you know what? It is MY problem and this is MY blog, detailing the goings on in MY life, and right now this is going on! So if you don't want to read about it, please leave the page now................................................

I have had a weight issue for many, many years and you only need to read through this blog from past posts to see how I have tried over the years to lose the weight, and to be honest WITHOUT success! I have always felt I have other issues relating to food, but no one would listen. Finally on the 18th August '11 I decided to seek professional help and made an appointment with my GP.

She has agreed I have an eating disorder, and before you throw your hands up and go no you haven't, look at the size of you! There are different kinds of eating disorders as she pointed out!

I took an online survey that is recommended by the National Centre for Eating Disorders and I scored 50, which basically means :-

You have a sub-clinical eating disorder, which means that you have anorexic feelings and behaviours. Generally, you feel out of control around food and may, at times, feel taken over by someone else who does the eating for you. You know that your eating behaviour is not altogether normal, but it is not quite serious enough to warrant medical attention. Yet you devote a lot of energy into trying to control your eating, thinking and worrying about food and weight and being otherwise unhappy with yourself.Perhaps you are not altogether aware of just how much eating has come to rule your life and play havoc with your self-esteem. You would like to get away from food but you can't - it is part of family and social life and it is bound up with celebrations such as holidays Christmas and birthdays. As much as you would like to, you just can't relax on these occasions. Or, if you do, there will be a heavy price to pay. It is draining you of energy.

Possibly, you feel that your behaviour around food is a personal weakness - a deficiency in your willpower - or you are just plain greedy. Or, you have learned to hide these impulses under a mask of rigid control. Either way, you have totally lost touch with, or trust in, your natural hunger. Hunger is your friend and your enemy at the very same time.

It isn’t correct to blame yourself for your relationship with food. Eating problems are not a sign of personal weakness or psychological damage. But concerns about eating can take over your life, ruin your self-esteem and make you perpetually depressed.

Food may mean many things to you. It may be your secret friend, your comforter or the only way you know to break life’s rules. Help yourself to let go of worries about your weight - and give up dieting. These concerns underlie most of the problems people have with food. Learn to think of food as something that heals the body and gives it strength, energy and passion.

If you are near the upper scores for this category, do consider a short spell of counselling with an expert in eating disorders. This may help prevent your problems from getting worse and causing damage to your health. The first port of call could be your GP or contact the British Psychological Society or the British Association for Counselling who would advise you on eating disorder specialists in your area.

Types of eating disordersCompulsive eating
You feel you eat enough, but you can't stop eating. However much you eat, you keep on having more. At times, it feels as if you have been taken over by someone else, and you can feel physically bad and very guilty when you stop but you do it again anyway.You might make promises to stop, but, whatever triggers you, starts it off all over again and you feel out of control. You try to diet and you can't even get started, or you may lose weight, only to put it all on again and even more. You have probably tried lots of diets but you may be fatter than ever.

It seems like an unending cycle of eating, remorse, dieting and overeating again. You feel very ashamed of your eating habits and so you may eat a lot in secret. You can't make sense of what you do. You long to eat normally like everybody else, just take food or leave it. But it's never enough.

Bulimia
You have tried to lose weight earlier in your life but you started overeating and you thought that getting rid of it would be a good idea to stop you from gaining weight. But it has gone out of control and now these secret rituals of bingeing and purging rule your life.

You can eat just one bite too many and that can set things off. You eat large amounts of food, forbidden food: sometimes you don't even taste it, then you get rid of it. It makes you feel very bad, ashamed and ill but you simply cannot stop.

You long to be able to eat normally, or at least stop doing these terrible things to yourself, but you are terrified of gaining weight. And so it goes on and on and, although you long for help, you don't dare let anyone find out.
More on bulimia nervosa.

Anorexia
You have lost a lot of weight. People are worried about you but you wish they would leave you alone. You don't need any food, you are in fact terrified of gaining weight but you can't admit that to yourself least alone to others, so you pretend that everything is fine. You cant remember when dieting turned into a full scale obsession with being thinner and thinner but you cant worry about that now- all you care about is how to eat as little as possible and get as much exercise as possible to lose even more weight as quickly as you can.

You are cold and you have lost your periods (if you are a girl) and you're depressed but that is because you are feeling fat and ugly, so whatever you eat is still too much. You know you are in trouble but you don't want to think about that now. Lets just lose another pound. Then you might hate yourself a little less. But that doesn't work, either.
More on anorexia nervosa

How interesting is that? I can totally relate to what they are saying, I do use laxatives, and so whilst I may not make myself sick I try to control my weight in other unhealthy ways. I do also binge.

So I have started to seek serious help! I have been referred for Cognitive Behavourial Therapy, that I have my first session on the 14th Sept and I am also being referred to our local Eating Disorder centre for help.

I am starting to feel very motivated, that I can control this. I won't say beat it, and the reason why I say that is because I am also joining an online support group for Overeaters and they use the same principles as Alcoholics Anonymous and so whilst I will control it, I think it is something that you learn to control and live with, and I am not sure if it ever really goes away! But I certainly feel I can sort it!

So some big steps for me happening over the coming weeks, and whilst I am happy about them I am also scared, nervous and embarrassed! I have finally admitted to those close to me what I do and I think that is the first step, and whilst I know I have their support, what I am hoping doesn't happen is that they to start monitoring what I eat and do when we are together. This needs to be controlled by me and actioned by me and only I can rectify it!

I will be checking back posting about my progress, because I feel that there are some people out there that will be keen to monitor it but not only that, they may be in the same position as me and it is good to know there is help out there for you just may need to search for it!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 30

2011-08-30T11:05:00.000+01:00

Day 30 - A photograph of yourself today and 3 good things that have happened in the past 30 days.

I am not a picture person, so there is no way I would have a picture taken of me today, so here is one that was taken a few days ago! I thought it would do! LOL!

3 good things that have happened in the last 30 days!

1. Went camping!

2. Realised I need help with my eating!

3. Feel great sharing some personal info about myself over the last 30days!

The last day of the challenge and I do hope you have all enjoyed reading it!

Normal blogging shall now resume!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 29

2011-08-29T10:30:00.000+01:00

Day 29 - Something you could never get tired of doing.

Crafting! I love........................

Cross Stitching!

Crochet

Knitting

Sewing

Reading

How could anyone tire of all this creativity!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 28

2011-08-28T10:30:00.000+01:00

Day 28 - Your favourite movie.

Hmm this is a tough one! I would have to say...........................

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 27

2011-08-27T10:30:00.000+01:00

Day 27 - A picture of you last year and now and how have you changed since then.

Oh my how times have changed! This was me Sept '10 having been on Cambridge Diet, having lost almost 2stone, and now it is all back and more and the trousers are in the cupboard, upset they can't fit me!

I WILL GET BACK INTO THEM!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 26

2011-08-26T10:30:00.000+01:00

Day 26 - A photo of somewhere you've been to.

Hong Kong - Dec '06!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 25

2011-08-25T10:30:00.000+01:00

Day 25 - What's in your purse?

My current purse or bag of choice and in it.................

My trusted Filofax! Never leave home without!

I also have all the usual stuff in my purse, but I am not going to list them! Hmm maybe I need to do a picture!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 24

2011-08-24T10:30:00.000+01:00

Day 24 - A photo of something that means a lot to you.

This is an odd one really, but it means alot to me that my DH bought us a tent and we are now about to embark on some adventurous family holidays!

Yes I could of chosen my Filofax, or my son, or my DH, or my car, house, oh the list is endless. But right now, this means alot to me!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 23

2011-08-23T10:30:00.000+01:00

Day 23 - 15 facts about you.

Hmm now lets see :-

1. I was born in Zambia

2. I lived in Zimbabwe till I was 24!

3. My family are my world.

4. My favorite holiday was in 2003 when I went to Cape Town and on safari with my now husband.

5. I love mac and cheese.

6. I got my driver's licence when I was 16, just!

7. My hobbies include, reading, crochet, knitting, sewing, cross stitch and filofax's!

8. I never wanted to be a Mother till I turned 30!

9. My son is the greatest achievement in my life.

10. If I had one wish, it would be that my Grandmother could meet her great grandson.

11. I won't walk under ladders.

12. It freaks me out to see knives crossed in my kitchen sink!

13. I hate sci-fi films, although I am rather enjoying Torchwood at the moment.

14. I never liked football till I met my husband, now I don't mind it.

15. I would love to ride in a hot air balloon but I am afraid of heights!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 22

2011-08-22T10:30:00.000+01:00

22. A letter to someone who has hurt you recently or a letter to someone broke your heart!

I just can't answer this one I am afraid. My heart was broken only once when I was younger and as I don't dwell on the past I am not about to relive it.

So thank you Day 22 but I shan't be answering anything, check back tomorrow for Day 23!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 21

2011-08-21T10:30:00.000+01:00

Day 21 - A photo of something that makes you happy.

Nothing beats getting stuck into a lovely crochet project! I try and do some every night as it certainly relaxes me and makes me very happy!

Watching my son explore the world and learn things each and every day makes me VERY happy and proud!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 20

2011-08-20T10:30:00.000+01:00

Day 20 - The meaning behind your blog name.

Shazzastitching - my original blog name came about because at the time I was doing lots of crafts and especially cross stitch and I wanted somewhere I could record my progress etc.

Then I started to record details about my daily life and what goes on, and then I found the Filofax community and so now although my web address is still :-

http://shazzastitching.wordpress.com/

The actual title is now just ..............................

'Shazza's Blog!' because it covers everything!

I do actually have another blog as well :-

http://sharonsnotshopping.blogspot.com/

This one came about because I am currently on a Fab Frugal or no shopping challenge and am also trying to eat less and so this is recorded here!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 19

2011-08-19T14:00:00.000+01:00

Day 19 - Another picture of yourself.

Taken on the 15th August '11 after my severe haircut!

Love it!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 18

2011-08-18T14:00:00.000+01:00

Day 18 - Something you crave a lot.

Africa! Just recently I have been missing home! Which is nuts, because really the UK is home and has been for the last 12yrs, but a part of me will always think of Africa as home.

And I crave that life, the open space, the option to go on safari whenever I want, the honesty of the people, the freedom to sit in a big garden and not be watched by every neighbour around you! To be able to drive into my garden and not have everyone watch what bags I unload! To be able to play my music at whatever level I want because the neighbour can't hear me!

I appreciate, Africa is no where near what it was like when I lived there 12yrs ago and I think if I went back now, my memories would be crushed, so I don't. That is not to say I won't eventually go back one day on holiday and take my son.

But for the meantime I have my photos and I still in my heart crave my African life!

p.s. Can I just say, I am very happy and settled in the UK, however Africa is always in your blood, no matter how many years you have been out of it, and that is a well known fact!

Filofax Downscale!

2011-08-17T15:47:00.000+01:00

Apologies in advance for the text and photo's not lining up, for some reason I just can't it to, no matter what I do!

After reading this post by Jotje on the Philofaxy website (http://philofaxy.blogspot.com/2011/08/pocket-full-of-life-guest-post-jotje.html ) I just had to see if I could make the Pocket Malden work for me.

I love the idea of a smaller planner, but still with the capabilities of being able to hold everything I need!

My Personal Malden literally carries my life, so it is quite a challenge to fit it all into my Pocket, but I think I may have done it!

This is going to be rather picture heavy!

How full can one Malden become?

From the top showing my pen being housed in the rings rather than the pen loop!

I have done this, as it doesn't close too well if in the pen loop!

Better image of how it is housed!

Now on to the setup! I am wanting to get some pretty colour dividers as the plain cream are really bring me now! I have also bought some great smaller tabs, but as there are only 3 colours, I shall need suggestions on what colours for each tab, but more on that later!

Here goes!

I have been trying so hard to use this as a purse and planner, but the reality is I HATE having coins in the front pocket! It also struggles to close when there are coins in there, so instead it houses a very important key! Job done!

The credit card slots hold a few cards and bits of paper but nothing too exciting!

Standard Filofax Index Tabs on the front. I don't really use these too much but I feel it protect the plastic sleeve behind it, although I may end up removing it as it really just takes up space! Oh decisions are starting already! LOL!

First section is ‘Shopping’, nuts really as I am on a no shopping challenge, so why do I have a tab? Good question! I thought I would use this section for groceries I need to get, shopping I need to do at the weekends, stuff I generally want! But as yet none of that has materialised, so this section my be scrapped, I shall see how it goes!

Next up are my ‘LISTS’! I love lists! In this section I have the following :

10 1 Things to do in 1001 Days list

Bucket List

Books to read list and Author Suggestions

30 Day Blog Challenge list

quite a few then!

Now I don’t really use To Do’s because I put my daily to do’s on my diary page for that day! So this section houses, things that I need to get done at some point, when I have a minute!

Diary section is next and I am currently running………………………Week on 1 Page view and a

Day Per Page view! Admittedly I don’t have many months in DPP view currently only 2 but so far so good! I have the year from Aug 1^st to Dec 31^st in the Wo1P view and that is great. I shall rotate the months of DPP so maybe keep 3 months in at all time, past, present and future and see how is goes! But I love this setup! I was using this in my Personal Malden, but in there I had 2PPD layout and I thought I would never be able to down scale, but I have! For the time being!

My Wo1P view carry’s ONLY my appointments for the week! I don’t record any other data on there! My DPP view houses all my appointments, heart rate monitor details if I get to the gym! Money spent and received, my to do’s and anything else I feel I need to record! So rather full pages but I love them!

Behind my DPP layouts I do have some Wo2P refills where I was hoping or planning to record my feelings when I ate to see if any patterns emerge, as yet it is not going too well, but I shall stick with it!

Next up is ‘Notes’ and ‘Addresses’ neither are really very inspiring! As there is nothing housed behind the ‘Notes’ tab right now just some blank lined sheets and behind the ‘Addresses’ I do have all my addresses in there written out and a few other details!

Under the letter ‘M’ I do have month on 2 page pages in there, although I don’t really use them as I don’t need to see what my month looks like, so I may remove them, soon!

2 more relatively boring tabs! ‘Information’ currently houses details of my big house declutter that I shall be doing over the next few months! And ‘Finance’ well I should really put my budgets in there, but instead I have monitored anything I have bought that is yet to be delivered, which are few and far between as well as any refunds I am expecting!

Camping is an odd tab I realise, but as we are new to it, I felt I needed a section to house my numerous lists on what to pack, where to go, what to cook, any good recipes, website details, literally anything to do with camping is housed here!

’Misc’ another empty section! Not sure what I am going to house here, but at the moment I record details from magazines as and when I read them! So maybe the tab name needs to change to ‘Magazine data!’

The back is filled with 2 plastic top opening envelopes that house my vouchers and bits of paper in!

I then have 2 credit card holders, which house my debit and credit cards as well as my driver’s licence and AA breakdown card!

Back cover, I took the pad out as it was making the filofax too bulky and instead I slot receipts, stamps, pictures in that space now!

Finally the large wallet! I LOVE THIS! If the personal had it as well, I think it would be perfect! In here I house any money I saving for an emergency! My cash is kept in a separate purse now rather than trying to fit it all in here! Maybe when I get to a stage of not using much cash I will be able to have my Malden as everything! Oh I dream! Also in here are any larger pieces of paper I need to keep but don’t want getting tatty! I have noticed however you don’t want to be overstuffing this pocket as it could then make the Malden snug to close!

So there you have it my current pocket setup! Very similar if not identical to my Personal, just down scaled! I am loving it, but then I love any new layout I try, the question is ‘Is this it for the long haul?’ We shall see!

Oh one other thing I needed some help with! I currently have a pack of Post it Index labels, that are 25.4mm x 38mm so a great size for the Pocket but I only have them in Pink, Green and Orange. If my sections are :

Shopping

Lists

To Do

Diary

Notes

Addresses

Info

Financial

Camping

Misc

Which would you group together for each colour? My ideas are below :-

Pink – Shopping, Diary, Financial

Green – Lists, To Do,

Orange – Notes, Addresses, Info, Camping, Misc

What do you think?

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 17

2011-08-17T14:00:00.000+01:00

Day 17 - A photo of you and your family.

This picture was taken in August '08, when my Aunt from Australia came over to visit! Wow that was a long time ago! Luke was just 4mths old, bless him!

Going from left to right :-

Simon (DH!), Me, Luke, My Dad, My Mom and My Brother!

The picture below is my little family, of me, my DH and Luke, taken on our family holiday last year at Centre Parcs!

I must remember to get a new one taken this year! LOL!

The most important people in the world to me, are all on this page!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 16

2011-08-16T14:00:00.000+01:00

Day 16 - Your celebrity crush.

Now this is gonna sound really sad, but I have never had a celebrity crush! I guess I realised from an early age, that no celeb would ever be mine, so why lust after them! Sad really isn't it!

I did however as a child have LOADS of popstar pictures over my bedroom wall, however I never had a crush on any, I just liked their music!

Bit level headed really! LOL!

Now had this question been about Jo Public, then I certainly had my crushes in my day! But that is a whole other story!

Even shorter!

2011-08-15T17:24:00.000+01:00

In a little over a month I have gone from this :-

To firstly this :-

To finally this today!

I LOVE IT! Admittedly I couldn't go to this the first time I had it cut, but am so glad I have done it now!

My new camping haircut, wash and go!

Happy Days!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 15

2011-08-15T10:30:00.000+01:00

Day 15 - Something you don't leave the house without.

Oh this is so easy! I never leave the house without this baby!

No I haven't stepped out of the 80's!

Filofax's are very much on trend right now and I NEVER leave home without my trusty Malden in Pocket size with me!

It is my life!

1st time camping in the UK!

2011-08-14T18:06:00.000+01:00

Ok so it was only in my garden, but hey we HAVE CAMPED! LOL!

I decided a few weeks ago that I would really like to try camping as it could be really good for my son but also good for us as a family. To begin with I was toying with the idea of renting a camping pod and trying that and if we managed that to then look at going in a proper tent!

But after weighing up the costs it made more sense to buy a tent now and just go for it! So that is what we did! We bought a 4 man tent, the offer that Halfords was doing, which was a tent, 2 x double air beds, 4 x single sleeping bags, 1 x lantern, 1 x torch and 1 x 12v pump all for £160 and if you bought the cooking set at the same time you only paid £30 instead of £60 for it! So we induldged!

I then set about researching places we could go and pitch our tent and actually start using, but being August and school holidays, places were few and far between, but I did managed to find a campsite in Thetford Forest, Norwich that is willing to have us for 2 nights! Sorted!

Now we needed to do a trial run, so last night we set up tent in our back garden for the night! It was hystical and we all thoroughly enjoyed it, I think we even gave the neighbours abit of afternoon entertainment!

Luke was so excited and had been asking since we bought the tent to pitch it, so he was just elated to see us actually put it up!

It took us around 1hr 30mins to pitch, which I really didn't think was too bad, for a first time and that included pumping up the beds and setting up so we could sleep in it!

I think these pictures explain how the night went, rather well!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 14

2011-08-14T10:30:00.000+01:00

Day 14 - A TV show you're currently addicted to.

Ok, well I have a list of shows that I am addicted to, and here goes :-

1. Hollyoaks

2. Private Practice

3. Desperate Housewives

4. Grey's Anatomy

5. Little People, Big World

6. Anything to do with the Duggar Family in the States

I think that is my list! Some list isn't it! I am not addicted is the right word, I like to use 'enjoy watching!' LOL!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 13

2011-08-13T10:30:00.000+01:00

Day 13 - Your favourite musician and why.

Hmm, tough one this as I don't really have a favourite, but I guess one of my most played songs at the moment is :-

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMxX-QOV9tI&w=560&h=349]

I think because I am on the current Fab Frugal challenge, which I blog about here if you haven't already seen it, http://sharonsnotshopping.blogspot.com/ I just really enjoy this song!

Also we do a routine to it at Zumba on a Wednesday night and I just thoroughly enjoy it!

Good enough reason? Not sure, but it is my reason! LOL!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 12

2011-08-12T10:30:00.000+01:00

Day 12 - A photograph of the town you live in.

I can't find a picture of the town I live in, because I actually live on the outskirts of Ipswich, Suffolk and am probably closer to Woodbridge than Ipswich, so I thought I would rather put a postcard of Suffolk in general!

I do live close to the sea, with beaches, that I refer to a pebble catches, they certainly aren't beaches as I know a beach! But even still the area is lovely and I do enjoy living here!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 11

2011-08-11T14:00:00.000+01:00

Day 11 - What's in your makeup bag?

This is an easy one for me.................................NOTHING, NADDA!

I don't have a makeup bag, because quite frankly I don't wear any make up! Au natural is me!

I don't even use lipstick anymore and instead use Tesco Lipbalm!

So nothing is in my makeup bag! Oh hang on, I carry my headache pills, nail clippers, plasters and iTouch car connector in it! LOL!

Maybe one day I will be a lady who can't leave the house without her face on, but at the moment I quite like my face as it is plain!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 10

2011-08-10T14:00:00.000+01:00

Day 10 - A photo of your favourite place to eat.

Well I don't generally take pictures of restaurants I eat in, so this is toughy!

Does this give you a clue of where I enjoy eating?

Yes!? Nando's is my favourite place to eat in the UK, because it reminds me of home!

http://www.nandos.co.uk/

And if you have never experienced a Nando's, then why not!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 9

2011-08-09T14:00:00.000+01:00

Day 9 - A photo of the item you last purchased.

This was an easy one for me, as I recently treated myself to this beauty!

Nica Getta Tote Bag!

Isn't she gorgeous and so big!

Love her!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 8

2011-08-08T15:30:00.000+01:00

Day 8 - A song to match your mood.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRpeEdMmmQ0&w=560&h=349]

I am loving this song! Whilst it may not display or relate to my current mood, it is the song that at the moment if my day is going bad, or I am feeling down I put this on and it just brings me alive again!

So it matches my mood in that it turns it around from down to absolutely uplifted and motivated!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 7

2011-08-07T13:30:00.000+01:00

Day 7 - Your dream wedding.

I have already had my dream wedding on April 14th 2007 and I wouldn't change a thing! Here are some pictures from that special day!

Walking into Church with my Dad!

Leaving the Church after signing the Register.

Outside the Church.

Confetti moment!

Church photos.

Wedding Car!

My table decorations! A Vanda Orchid in water! Absolutely loved this idea!

Our wedding cake!

So that is a quick over view of my wedding! It was perfect, the weather, the people, everything! But then it did take me 2yrs to plan!

However should I ever get married again (which I certainly I don't intend doing), I would elope and do this :-

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 6

2011-08-06T13:30:00.000+01:00

Day 6 - A photo of an animal you'd love to keep as a pet

Ok, I am not a pet / animal lover so I don't want any pets or can even think of any animal I would want as a pet!

So instead I have changed this to :

Day 6 - A photo of any pet the family have had or have!

Here she is! Ollie was my Mum's German Shepherd, whom she brought over from Zimbabwe when they moved here in 2002.

She was a very placid dog and as you can see from the picture my darling Son loved her to!

Sadly she went to the man in clouds in August 2010 but she remains in our memory and certainly in my son's!

RIP Ollie.

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 5

2011-08-05T10:00:00.000+01:00

Day 5 - A photo of yourself two years ago.

This picture was taken in October '09, when I took part in the local fun run. If memory serves me right I think it was a 5k!

The last 5k I was to ever run, that is of course till now, but that is a long story and not one I want to get into!

I decided to do this run as I had been following a diet regime and was do quite well on it, and thought it would be good motivation to do the run! I thoroughly enjoyed it!

2yrs on I am now 2stone heavier, which I am trying to loose and once again training to run a 5k, which I am hoping to do next year!

I am currently do the C25K program which I am thoroughly enjoying!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 4

2011-08-04T10:00:00.000+01:00

Day 4 - Your favourite photograph of your best friend.

I will start by saying this is not me or my best friend in this picture, so why have I posted it?

Well I can honestly say I don't currently have a best friend (or so I thought!) Now I know I am meant to say my DH is my best friend, but he isn't! I don't tell him my darkest secrets and I don't talk to him about anything and everything, so no he isn't. He is my husband, my partner, the person I will spend the rest of my life with, but he is not my best friend!

Then I thought, my brother is my best friend! Well in reality he is probably the closest I have to a best friend, but again no he isn't, he is my brother, and we are very close, but he isn't my best friend!

So who else? Well at my current age of, yes I will divulge it, 37! I don't feel I have one! Then I thought even harder, and you know what, I think I may have just found two......................................

Cathy is a very dear friend of mine whom I have known since high school, so some 24yrs now! In that time, we lost touch, due to me leaving school before her and then going different ways when we started work. But I used to see her parents often and always spoke with them.

Fast forward to present day, and we got back in touch via Facebook, and it feels to me anyway like we never lost touch! She now lives in a different country, but we still try and speak every week via Facebook and catch up with each others lives and it feels just wonderful to have her back in mine!

So I think this is the closest I have to a best friend right now. Whether or not she feels the same way I don't know, but I do know, that we shall remain friends for a very, very long time to come!

I do have one other friend, who is a very, very, good friend of mine and I just feel I have to mention her as well!

This lovely lady is Cheryl, we met via the local knitting group, a good 4/5 yrs ago and have become very good friends overtime.

We both share a love of crafting, and we just get on! We share our woes and we see each other quite regularly, and I know if I ever needed a shoulder, hers is always available! She really is a very, very special lady!

That concludes my post on my best friend, and I realise I have posted 2 but both play a part in my life and both are very important to me!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 3

2011-08-03T10:00:00.000+01:00

Day 3 - Your idea of the perfect first date.

When I lived in Africa, my ideal first date would of been a trip to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower, with dinner in a quiet romantic French restaurant! However as I now live in Mud Island (England to those who don't know!) my ideal first date would be....................................

Going on safari in a game park, just you the animals, your mode of transport and the Tour Guide! Don't forget the tour guide!

The day would start with an early rise game drive for a couple of hours, then we would stop at a large Baobab tree, where we would have a cooked breakfast, made on a braai (BBQ for those from Mud Island!) followed by a lovely drive back to the lodge, where we would rest and have some alone time. But it doesn't end there!

Baobab tree!

At around 4pm we would board a boat and take a sundowner cruise down the lake, sipping cocktails and watching the amazing African wildlife! The cruise would last about 2 hrs, where we would then return to the lodge and experience dinner round a boma out in the open!

Sundowner cruise

This would be the dinner setting!

Ah bliss, my heartaches for Africa just typing this! But as at today, this would be my perfect first date!

Check out this website for the MOST awesome pictures of Africa! http://www.luxury-safaris.co.uk/

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 2

2011-08-02T16:00:00.000+01:00

Day 2 - A photo of something you ate today.

These are two punnets that came from my Graze box (free box code:V9F5RPBA enter at:www.graze.com)

They are sweet goan curry crackers that were rather scrummy actually and apple and cinnamon flapjacks!

A lovely mid morning snack me thinks!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 1

2011-08-01T19:00:00.000+01:00

Day 1 - A photo of yourself and description of how your day was!

Well today is a Monday, which means in my world, nursery run, gym, work, nursery run, child entertainment, work, chores, dinner and finally maybe, some crafting, followed by reading, bath and sleep!

Was that how my day panned out? Well lets see!

Pretty much so I am afraid, as nothing out of the ordinary really happened! What is that saying, 'Same old, same old!'

So let me see if I can expand a little bit on it at least! LOL!

Gym was really good as I managed to do Day 2 of the Couch to 5Km program. My kneeing was hurting when I got there, but I pulled through and managed to complete it! It is really tough going, but I am LOVING it and can't wait for the day I can just run 5km no hassle!

My DS had a wonderful morning at nursery as he always does! No change there then! I am so happy with how much he does love his nursery and his willingness and eargerness to go each day! Makes it so much easier for me!

Work for me, has been busy, as always. Trying to fit a full day's work into 3.5hrs is always going to be a challenge, but one I enjoy! Thank goodness though it is a family run business!

My afternoon has been somewhat of a mixed ball really. It is just far too hot to do anything outside, so Luke and I have been indoors, he has been watching Disney Channel and I have been catching up on emails, FB, Twitter, work and blog posts! Soon to be a solid hour of work once this is done!

In between the taxi service and work and everything else I did this morning, I also managed to do all my clothes washing, which will need packing away and ironing later!

I also managed to buy myself a lovely new bag, which I can't to arrive!

How adorable is this? Well it is winging it's way to me as I type!

I also took delivery of some maxi dresses I ordered yesterday, but unfortunately 2 had to be returned, and so that was a trip to the post office done this afternoon as well!

So my day is good, I would say. My plans for this late afternoon / evening, is to pack away my clothes, do my ironing, prepare, cook and eat dinner, do some crochet, watch some telly, then bath, read and bed!

Day done!

30 Day Blog Challenge

2011-07-31T19:00:00.000+01:00

I read alot of different blogs and just yesterday I am came across this post on Sweet Vintage Kisses :-

http://sweetxvintagexkisses.blogspot.com/2011/07/30-day-blog-challenge.html

it is a 30 Day Blog Challenge and it really appealed to me and so I thought I would start it from tomorrow! I will try and blog every day but if life gets in the way and I miss a day or two, please don't give up on me! I like challenges and this sounded a really interesting one!

So here goes! For the next 30 Days this is what will be blogged!

Day 1 – A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was.
Day 2 – A photo of something you ate today.
Day 3 – Your idea of the perfect first date.
Day 4 – Your favorite photograph of your best friend.
Day 5 – A photo of yourself two years ago.
Day 6 – A photo of an animal you’d love to keep as a pet.
Day 7 – Your dream wedding.
Day 8 – A song to match your mood.
Day 9 – A photo of the item you last purchased.
Day 10 – A photo of your favorite place to eat.
Day 11 – What’s in your makeup bag?
Day 12 – A photograph of the town you live in.
Day 13 – Your favorite musician and why?
Day 14 – A TV show you’re currently addicted to.
Day 15 – Something you don’t leave the house without.
Day 16 – Your celebrity crush.
Day 17 – A photo of you and your family.
Day 18 – Something you crave a lot.
Day 19 – Another picture of yourself.
Day 20 – The meaning behind your blog name.
Day 21 – A photo of something that makes you happy.
Day 22 – A letter to someone who has hurt you recently. A letter to someone who broke my heart.
Day 23 – 15 facts about you.
Day 24 – A photo of something that means a lot to you.
Day 25 – What’s in your purse?
Day 26 – A photo of somewhere you’ve been to.
Day 27 – A picture of you last year and now and how have you changed since then?
Day 28 – Your favorite movie.
Day 29 – Something you could never get tired of doing.
Day 30 – A photograph of youself today + three good things that have happened in the past 30 days

Don't forget to check back tomorrow for Day 1 post!

Filofax Lightbulb Moment!

2011-07-30T17:48:00.000+01:00

That is a really odd title and I agree, however it is not without reason!

I have like most been really struggling with diary layouts for my Filofax and also my purse!

Recently I started using my Pocket Malden as my purse and it seemed to be working well, until I realised the weight of carrying both my personal and pocket Malden's as well as everything else is just nuts and really taking it's toll on my shoulders and back! I needed to find a way to reduce the weight, but still be able to have it all with me!

Ping 'lightbulb' moment! Why not make my Personal Malden my purse as well as my diary! Of course!

But before I get into my current setup lets just recap what I have tried in 2011! Beware this is picture heavy!

The year started with the lovely Day timer Flavia range in Page per Day! As wonderful as they are to look at, practically they just weren't doing the job, as much as I tried, and I sure tried! I missed not seeing my weekly view and the spaces just weren't big enough to record everything I wanted!

To overcome the not being able to see my weeks, I added :

Cream week on one page view! LOVE the paper quality however after just a week or so of using it, I HATED the 5 languages! Do I care what Monday is in anything other than English? No I don't! It really bugs me that Filofax UK won't do this paper colour and layout in English only! So after a few weeks that got scrapped!

Onto something new, but what?

Week on one page with a to do list between each week! Great I thought, can see my week and have my to do's for the week right to hand! Heaven, I thought I have finally found the layout that works! Or have I? Surely it can't be that easy? Well of course it isn't!

I soon realised the space to write in each day, just was not working! How am I meant to fit everything in? Not to worry I will try.................................

Week on 2 pages in Cream. Loving the paper quality again, and space, which is good, or so I thought!

How much does a girl need to record in a day?

Well looking at mine, one hang of a lot!

So after a few months I found myself yet again reassessing my Filofax setup and getting frustrated at the inability to find something that worked! Or so I thought.

After rummaging round in my Filofax Stash, yes you read that right I have stash! I found my 2010 2 pages per day layout! Argh I thought lets give this ago!

I think I have finally cracked it!

I am currently using these and also a week on one page in English and loving it!

I have enough space to monitor EVERYTHING I need to, as well as my to do's and it just seems to work! I am not even tempted to think of another layout right now! The only down side, is that this refill is £20.50, which is a alot of money, but when I see how much I have spent over the last year to FINALLY get to a layout I enjoy, it really isn't that much!

I have also yesterday drawn up some 2 days per page layouts, just to see if I can maybe use these instead of 2 pages per day, but I am not sure it is going to plan!

So this is my current setup:

Crimson Personal Malden

2 pages per day layout

week on one page layout

Now I also went a bit made on Pilot Fixion Pens in early 2011, if you remember? Here is the picture if you don't!

I do like these pens, but I HATE having to carry so many pens around with me!

With the Bic 4 colour pens I am able to carry all the colours, purple, pink, light green, turquoise, red, black, green and blue in just 2 pens and better still in my Malden! I am now over the fact that I hate crossings out in my diary! If I have to cross something out if it changes so be it! It reflects, that life does change, so why shouldn't your diary and show it?!?!?!

I also decided to put my credit cards in my Personal Malden and use it as a wallet / diary! I don't need to carry my envelopes around for the cleaners, windows and zumba as those are activities that always take place at home. The only envelopes I need are other and Mcdonald's and they fit into my makeup / pill bag.

I have the Filofax postit pad holder at the front, then I have the 2 credit card holders I bought today next and then it goes into my planner etc. I love it. For me it just makes sense!

Rather full isn't, but oh how I love it!

Have I found my perfect working diary? I think I have, but then again never say never! I am sure one day I will see someone else's layout and think, 'Oh that could work!' But in the meantime I shall continue with my current setup till Sept 24th when I meet my other Filofax friends in London and can discuss before heading off to stock up on my 2012 refills!

Before I end off, here is the stash I bought today! Oh I do so LOVE the PURPLE limited edition Bic 4 colour grip pens!

What have I been upto?

2011-07-18T20:30:00.000+01:00

People always say that time flies when you are having fun, but I have to be honest and say time for me is just flying!

I wish I could just stop some days, catch my breath, re-evaluate and carry on! But that shan't happen so I just keep going with the chaos and see where it gets me! Most days it gets me doing quite a lot, others I feel tired, lethargic, fed up, stressed, happy, elated, loving life, oh the mixture of emotions!

So what have I been doing since my last post?

Well I have been plodding away on my other blog :- http://sharonsnotshopping.blogspot.com/ detailing my life on the Fab Frugal Challenge. A challenge it certainly is but one I am embracing and enjoying!

I have been doing really well with my gym attendance and general exercise, I am really proud of myself, although I am not sure I can manage 5 sessions a week, just because it sort of throws my week! So I will continue doing Mon, Thurs, Sat at Gym with Wed being Zumba and in Sept when Luke starts Nursery I will do a Friday morning as well at gym! To be honest I just need to really look at when I get my sessions in and the best timing for me!

Crafting, I have been doing a bit of crochet and mainly cross stitch! I started this last week :-

I am really enjoying stitching this, mainly because Lizzie Kate designs seem to go so quickly! However I do struggle a bit as it is stitched on Linen (2x2) and so I really need to concentrate. So I tend to not do it in the evenings and instead only work on it at the weekends! that being the case it will be taking me a while todo, but I need to speed it up as I have a Christmas present to stitch that I haven't even started! LOL!

A few months ago I bought some Drops Muskat yarn :-

As I decided I need some colour in my life, I started my Hexagon blanket! My idea is to make 6 hexagons out of each colour, making a total of 90 and joining them in a blanket. I am currently doing Round 1, which is time consuming but I am enjoying it and it seems to go quickly. I will then do Round 2 and 3 and join them together on Round 4!

Not sure how long this project will take, but I am enjoying it, so I don't really mind!

Ok, that seems to be my craft update (another one!) so I shall leave it there.

Please do go and check out my other blog http://sharonsnotshopping.blogspot.com/ as I really could do with the following!

Graze Box!

2011-07-18T17:56:00.000+01:00

I have had these wonderful boxes before, last year! I decided to give them a go when I was doing Cambridge Diet and as I fell off the wagon so spectacularly I never really got on with them.

Roll forward 12 months and I am back again to try them once more! This time though, I am calorie counting and as these boxes come with all the nutritional information you will need and they are portioned controlled I thought I would give them another go!

So this morning, this arrived on my doorstep!

Is that my Graze box I see?

Doesn't it look good?

My box today is the nibble box and contained :-

Apple and Cinnamon flapjacks

Green olives with fresh basil & garlic

The herb garden

Sticky chocolate pudding!

Here are the flapjacks and I can confirm they are absolutely scrummy!

As these had the highest calories in my box this week, I decided to eat them first as I had done the exercise today to counteract them! LOL! Don't you love my thinking!

This is the information booklet that comes with the order.

I love the quality of the paper it is printed on and also the fact that it is actually addressed to me personally! I love personal touches!

All the nutritional information about the box is contained inside!

Pretty!

Originally when I signed up I went for just one a week being delivered on Monday's, but I decided today, that I should have one delivered on Thursday as well! That was I have a punnet a day and an extra one for the weekends! So I am going to give that a go for a while, if I find I am not eating all of it, I will reduce it back down to 1 box a week.

At the moment I get the nibble box on a Monday and the eat well box on a Thursday!

This is such a great idea and is suitable for everyone whether you work from home, in an office, travel alot, have kids, it is just so neat to have snack punnets already packaged etc to hand, rather than having to go to the corner shop and buy something or rummage through the kitchen!

If you wish to give a go, why not use this code : - V9F5RPB and you get your first box for free and the second one at half price!

Or use this link :- http://www.graze.com/p/V9F5RPB

If you do use the code please let me know how you get with them!

Craft Update - July '11

2011-07-10T15:45:00.000+01:00

I can't believe that I am still on track to do a project a month for the year of 2011! I have gone slightly off my original list, but as long as projects are getting done, I really don't mind!

So for the month of May I completed, this Father's Day card :-

I never managed to get all the back stitch done, but I still think it looks rather cute!

Towards the end of May I started another cross stitch, that was not on my 2011 CJC list but I managed to finish this in the month of June, keeping me on track!

Winter Wishes, this matches my Peace to All cross stitch pretty well!

So that is where I am on projects so far!

Plodding along nicely I'd say, although I am keen to start some new ones this week, so watch this space!

I have since started this project :-

It is a lovely Lizzie Kate chart and so far it is going really well, although I wish I could focus more on it! I tend to always think of other things I should be doing instead of stitching! But I am enjoying it, when I go get the chance to work it!

These are two other charts that I have all the stash for, which I am hoping to do at some point this year. I just love Lizzie Kate!

I have also indulged in a few kits, but they were before I started my challenge, which you can follow here :- http://sharonsnotshopping.blogspot.com/ If you want to see how I am doing! Of course the new kits are African themed, naturally and they are :-

Anchor kit that was about to be discontinued, and I just had to get it. The stupidity of it is, I bought this kit off Ebay but it was partially done, and I did not like the way it had been stored or anything about it, and as I had the other two in the series, Zebra and Giraffe, I decided I needed a new kit, if I was ever going to get it done, so I bought it! The other kit, is by Maia and is this one :-

I have been watching this one for well over a year now and have always wanted it, then I saw it at a great price, that I couldn't pass up and bought it, again BEFORE my challenge!

So that is my craft update at the moment!

Polar FT7 Heart Rate Monitor!

2011-07-04T10:00:00.000+01:00

Seeing as I have covered Filofax's and Mobile Phones I just couldn't let pass the opportunity to talk about my Heart Rate Monitor (HRM)!

When I exercise there are 2 things that I really enjoy!

1. competing with myself and always making sure I work out better than the previous time I was in, and

2. details!

Yes I love to know how many calories I burnt, how long did I exercise for, what was my heart rate, etc, etc.

So I looked into various options of devices I could go with.

First off I looked at the Ki Fit system, which is totally awesome, but boy does it come with an awesome price tag! You have 3 options to buy this system :-

1. a one off payment of £300+ which gives you the equipment and a yearly subs

2. £99 initial payment and then (based on 12 mths) £20.87 p/mth

3. £199 for the equipment and then £10.87 p/mth

The subscription fee is so you can download all the data off the device, and it is great. You wear it 24/7 except with bathing and swimming and it monitors, calories burnt, duration exercising, sleep patterns, the whole thing! But at those prices, a little out of my price range!

The other snag about it, is, if you buy it and use it for 1 yr then decide actually no I don't want the subscription, well you may as well through away the device because there is no other way to get the data off, so they kinda have you!

I pushed that idea out my head very quickly, when I saw those numbers and decided a HRM was the way to go! But which one?

Have you ever tried to buy a HRM? Where do you start? I started with a post on Twitter, and anyway I eventually settled on the Polar FT7.

This is a great little piece of equipment. The strap is no longer the hard plastic one it used to be, but is instead leather, and the transmitter now clips onto it, making it so much more comfortable to wear under a bra.

I went for the Red / Sliver version as this is being sold as the ladies version and I really like the colour combination.

I received it on Monday 27th June and promptly used it for my next gym session on the Tuesday. It was great and gave all the details I had been looking for :

Total work out time

Total calories burnt

Minutes in fat burning

Minutes in fitness

Average heart rate

Maximum heart rate

This truly is a great piece of kit and for the bargain price of £68.99 is totally worth getting!

HTC Wildfire S

2011-07-03T10:00:00.000+01:00

I have now swopped from Filofax posts to Mobile Phone posts, aren't I just a bag full of surprises!

I have been running a Blackberry for well over 3yrs now and to say I have gotten a little bored of it is an understatement. Whilst I still think Blackberry email is the best out there, the lack of apps and useless internet viewing capabilities was really getting to me. Especially as I also run an iTouch and found all my apps were on there and so tended to use that for everything except make phone calls for obvious reasons! (No phone other than Face Time in case you were wondering!) But I don't like walking round with too many gadgets on me.

As I am still in contract, yes darling Vodafone must sign you up for 24mths these days in order to get the most out of you, I couldn't upgrade my phone for another 9mths. After doing some investigation I realised that I have a really good package for the money I pay and to get that package now would cost me £18 more a month. As I am on a frugal challenge I wanted to find a way to cut my current phone costs. My costs are not cut in the short term but in the long term they are!

My options were :-

1. buy myself out of my current contract at a cost of £200 and then buy a new handset and if I go Android or Iphone take off the monthly BB charge of £5 per month,

2. if I waited till the end of my contract in Jan I could upgrade, with a reduced cost of a handset but then I would be tied in for another 24mths!

3. buy a new handset outright, remove the BB package off my current tariff and ride out my contract, then at the end remain on contract but not actually signed in for any duration, if you see what I mean?

4. ride out my contract then go PAYG!

I thought long and hard about this and finally settled on buying a new phone, the HTC Wildfire S in Purple (of course!) for £180, then taking off the BB part of my package and riding out my contract for the next 9months. At the end of 9 months I shall reassess my situation and see if it actually isn't better for me to go PAYG.

I know you are thinking I am nuts, but I love APPS and I love my phone and it suits me so well to have it all in one device. Iphone cost is out the window, the contract deals are nuts and to buy outright are crazy!

So I know run an HTC Wildfire S and I love! Honestly I never thought I would, but I do! Ok, so I do run out of internal memory sometimes, because I run so many apps, but that is easily sorted! The speaker phone usage is crystal clear, the phone quality is miles and miles better than my BB. The email side is not as good, but hey, I still get my emails, in a format I can read and I can still deal with work things outside of my office, so I am happy!

The apps available are great, and I have taken the approach, to try and use all the standard apps that came with the phone, ie calendar, I am using HTC calendar rather than downloading another one! SMS messages I am running the standard Message program rather than Handcent SMS, still works just as well!

I am overall really happy with this phone. I have found some great apps, however I am missing one, that I just can't find and that is a good Money Tracking app, so if you have any suggestions please leave them in the comments section!

Best of all......................my phone is PURPLE!

I did get a great little cover off Ebay for it, of course also in Purple, but it just protects the phone so well!

So if you are considering an Android phone and don't want to spend the big bucks, this is a great entry level phone and I highly recommend it!

New Me!

2011-07-02T19:45:00.000+01:00

Today was a pretty big day for me! I decided enough was enough with my current hairstyle and it had to go!

I have had long hair, on and off since arriving in the UK in '98, mainly it has been long, but recently I have noticed that I actually don't do anything with it. I tie it up every day, because I hate the frizz, the curls are awful and it is too hot round my neck!

Drastic measures call for drastic action and today was certainly drastic action!

Here I am at about 830am before venturing out the house!

This is pretty much how my hair has been for the last 4 years at least! Every day, how boring!

Or it has been like this! Generally the front is always clip away from my face at least!

Enough is enough I thought and as July is the month of all change for me, what better way to start this adventure (which you can read about here by the way! http://sharonsnotshopping.blogspot.com/ ) than with a new looking me!

So here is the last shot of my current length hair!

When I see it like that I think it looks so nice! Oh but in reality!!!!

45 mins later it looked like this :-

WOW!

The finished cut!

I love it! I feel lighter, happier, look younger (I think anyway) and am just all round thrilled with it!

I have to admit, when I sat in the chair in the salon and said right cut, I did almost have a tear in my eye because it is just such a big change and step to take! But I am so thrilled I did it!

Luke, wasn't sure though. He came to the hairdresser when I was almost finished, because him and Simon were having haircuts and he literally walked in, looked at me, asked where Mommy was, looked at me again, then I spoke and he said 'Oh Mommy, where is your hair! It looks so pretty!' Gosh I love my son!

So this is now me! I certainly have had a day of pampering! Facial and back massage this morning, followed by transformation this afternoon! Things can only get better!

Ok enough about my hair now! LOL!

Cake Baking and Strawberry Picking!

2011-07-02T18:00:00.000+01:00

Now that is quite a combination isn't it?

I have always wanted to go strawberry picking, ever since I moved to the UK in 1998, but for one reason or another never went. Well last weekend (26th June) we decided to take Luke. Oh it was great fun! Just being outside in the fresh air, picking glorious, scrumptious strawberries, what could be better?

Can you believe he never pinched any before paying!

Supervising Daddy!

Onto the raspberries now!

Thirsty work all this fruit picking!

As you can see, we had great weather and a great setting which made it, naturally a great time!

Earlier that day, I decided to back some cupcakes, as one usually does on a Sunday! LOL! Luke needed to help Mummy and whilst he is good at cracking an egg, I think the only real reason he helps is so he can lick the bowl! Here is my proof!

I think you see my point!

A lovely weekend with my son, certainly treasured times!

Flex by Filofax

2011-07-01T21:54:00.000+01:00

There was alot of hype in June about the Flex by Filofax system that had been launched.

I watched from the sidelines ever so quietly, pondering if I would us it and if so how?

After much thought I decided to get one, as the thought of carting my Personal Malden around was just too much, considering how heavy it has become. So I bought the Pocket Flex in Pocket size.

(Not a great picture, sorry!)

I bought all the refills for it as I wasn't sure what I use or how I would set it up! I have decided that actually it is a little small for my day to day running and also I don't like that the pages are not pre-punched to be able to use with a Filofax!

The Flex is now setup as my Challenge Diary, so I record any spend in there, my total calories eaten, calories burned through exercise and how I feel!

The Flex is a great concept and I do like it, however I do think there is room for improvement!

I won't be buying any further Flex systems, not only because of my no spending challenge but because I love the flexibility of a Filofax.

I have now gone through my Malden and made it much easier to carry round, lighter but it is perfect for me and no matter what other layouts or sizes I try, for some reason I always come back to a personal Filofax!

Challenges!

2011-06-26T13:55:00.000+01:00

I love a good challenge! Not saying I always stick to them but I enjoy trying them none the less!

There is a current challenge, I am taking part in which is a no shopping challenge, but I have also added my own element of food to it as well! No am not giving up eating! LOL!

If you would like to read what it is I am going on about please pop over to this blog and have a read!

http://sharonsnotshopping.blogspot.com/

p.s. I started a new blog as I did not want this one to get bogged down with challenge stuff, and I have other things planned for this blog, when I can find the time to sit down and type up all the posts!

Bags! In particular my Zero Messenger Bag from Rickshaw!

2011-06-17T10:30:00.000+01:00

As most people know, a lady can never have too many bags and I am one of those ladies! I am always searching for the perfect bag, but like a Filofax I think I may never find it!

I had been admiring the Zero Messenger Bag from Rickshaw in the States for quite some time, but the postage cost to me in Mud Island, was almost as much as the bag, so it never really progressed and remained a 'I would love to have!'

That was of course until my dear family went to San Francisco in April, and suddenly realising they were in the same town as Rickshaw Bags, I could not pass up the opportunity to order a bag and have them collect it for me! Which is exactly what I did!

Rickshaw has this great facility on their website where you can customise your bag to the colour combination you want! But be careful! I did this with my first bag and what I thought would turn out purple actually came out brown!

This is the picture they sent me when my bag had been made so I could see it! Looks lovely doesn't it?

However here it is in my photo, and a more realistic photo, to be fair!

Ignore the bag behind that will be explained later, however you can see that the colour came out totally different!

To say I was gutted was an understatement! I had waited SO LONG for this bag and it was not perfect! I emailed there customer service the minute I got it, and explained my dissatisfaction and I have to say.....................

I HAVE NEVER COME ACROSS A COMPANY THAT OFFERS THE OUTSTANDING LEVEL OF SERVICE THAT RICKSHAW BAGS DOES!

They offered straight away for me to return the bag and they give me a refund, but as I had used it over the weekend, I said I would keep it, but just order another!

They did a very good compensation deal for me, and I am more than thrilled!

Now to sizing!

I had originally ordered the small zero messenger, which I found is great for when it is just me going out, however when I have Luke in tow it really doesn't hold enough, so I decided to order the medium size! Wow what a difference! The medium is huge!!

Outside of the medium zero in Iris with Peacock binding! Isn't it lovely?

Inside of the bag! I am so in love with this colour combination!

Now you can see the size difference between the small and the medium! Quite a difference wouldn't you say?

These are lovely bags and if you want to check out more details about them please visit their website :-

http://www.rickshawbags.com/

Africa Alive - May 1st '11

2011-06-16T10:30:00.000+01:00

I love Africa Alive! It is the one place I can feel like I am just a little bit back home, even if just because of the name!

May 1st we decide to take Luke, because under 3's get in for free and as he was still technically 2 we couldn't miss out! We had a lovely day there, and I am sure Luke enjoyed it, as you can see from the pictures below!

Can't go to an African park and not bang the bongo drums!

Spotting the train in the distance!

What child doesn't enjoy chasing ducks! I know what you are thinking, not many African animals for an African animal park, but there are!

LIONS! Yippee!

A rare Luke and Mummy picture on the little train, about to depart for a ride around the park!

Time to play on the swings and give someones little legs a rest!

We had a wonderful family day out, that shall be repeated again in the not to distant future.

They really do have a wonderful selection of African animals including, Rhino, Zebra, Giraffe and a whole host more!

WWW Wednesday (15th June)

2011-06-15T10:15:00.000+01:00

To play along answer the following three (3) questions :-

1. What are you currently reading?

2. What did you recently finish reading?

3. What do you think you'll read next?

Here are my answers :-

1. What are you currently reading?

I am currently only on Pg 114 of this book and I will admit it is taking me a while to read, because I tend to highlight loads of things as I am going through it. I will end up reading it again, because I think you always pick up more second time round. I am enjoying it and it is really making me think about my own resolutions for the year ahead. Well worth reading!

2. What did you recently finish reading?

Wow, wow, wow! I LOVED THIS BOOK! I have been struggling for a while to find an inspirational book to read, and well I just think I found it! This book is amazing. It is the story of a lawyer in America, who's life is not going the way he wanted and actually it is pretty awful and he decides that he needs to write 365 Thank You notes in a year. This is his story and boy what a story! This book gives a great insight into how to be grateful even for the smallest of things! Such an enjoyable read, please read it!

3. What do you think you'll read next?

I have read this book already, but I want to read it again so I can start setting up my own Control Journal. I did enjoy reading this the first time round, but I think I going to get more out of it second time round!

I am also planning on reading her other book :-

I have heard some good reviews about this book, but so I thought, seeing as I enjoyed her other book (see above) I wanted to see what I could take from this one! Watch this space!

Disneyland Paris - June 6th to 10th

2011-06-14T10:30:00.000+01:00

Way back in January, Si and I decided that our holiday this year we would take Luke to Disneyland. Florida seemed too far for the amount of time we had available, so the next best option was Disneyland Paris. I have wanted to go there for a while, mainly because I have seen the Florida one and wanted to compare!

So Jan '11 we booked, 4nights 5 days! The countdown had begun.......................

I am now on the other side of the holiday and we had a lovely time! Luke was in complete awe of it all!

We caught the Eurostar from Ashford and I have to say what a great mode of transport! Yes I know it is a train and I have traveled trains before, however we had premium class seats on the way out and the service was great. We received breakfast on the train and the seats were alot wider and only 3 seats across, instead of in standard class which has 4 seats across.

Luke waiting for the train to leave the station!

Our journey time was about 2 and a half hours I think, I never timed it! LOL! I was really nervous about going through the tunnel as I am not good in confined spaces and sure as eggs, what happened, we stopped in the middle of the tunnel! At least not for long and we soon got going again, but it really unnerved me! Once I realised that the actual tunnel bit was not long, I was fine.

We arrived right at the entrance to the Disney Park, which I thought was great, especially for those with little children in tow! Because we had taken the Disney Express service option, when we arrived, we gave our bags to the Disney Express service and they took our luggage to our hotel, ready for when we checked in later. Likewise when we left, we checked out of the hotel and gave them our luggage and when we were ready to check into our train home, our luggage was already at the station. Awesome service!

Literally as you walk out of the station you are in Disney. The Village has all the restaurants, then you opposite is the entrance to the Park and Walt Disney Studios.

It was very cloudy when we arrived and as the weather had predicted rain the week we were there we weren't too optimistic that it would get any better. Well it did and out of our 5 days it maybe rained for just 1, so not too bad!

The Park is very much like Florida, but on a smaller scale. We actually did all of it in 4 days but at a nice leisurely pace!

If I were to go again I would say that 3 nights 4 days is more than enough to get all parks etc done.

We tended to do our week as follows :-

Monday we arrived about 1340hrs, and went straight to DisneyLand Park and spent the afternoon there,

Tuesday we did Walt Disney Studio's - which was good as it rained some of that day and so it was good to have things to do inside!

Wednesday, we went back to the Park and did it more thoroughly, even managing to do some rides for a second time. We also had breakfast with the characters on Wednesday, which Luke loved!

Thursday, we were back in the Studios, redoing things that Luke really enjoyed or that we missed the first time,

Friday we did both parks, as we had made a list of what we wanted to really do for a last time and focused on that, which was a good strategy!

The park was very expensive, especially as we were paying nearly £1 = 1 Euro!

I bought 3 magnum ice-creams, a bottle of water and a packet of crisps and that came to 16 Euros!

Food in general was pricey, but we tended to really stock up at breakfast and that lasted us till dinner, but I did take some crisps and snack-a-jacks from the UK that kept us going during the day. Because we were walking so much, for some reason we really weren't as hungry as we usually are!

I loved our week away. Luke was in total awe with all of it from the start, but I have to say that by day 5 I think even he had seen enough of Mickey Mouse! LOL!

I have posted alot of pictures to my Facebook account so if you want to see my holiday please check out that account. However I will post a few here to give you an idea!

1st on arrival!

Gotta have a picture of the castle!

Mummy and Luke on the Mad Hatter Tea Cup ride! Luke loved this ride so much we ended up going on it about 3 or 4 times!

Peter Pan live show, we stumbled upon on the first day!

Luke waiting for the parade. Could not believe we had to get our seat 45mins before the parade started just to make sure we could see it, so popcorn was our life saver, keeping Luke quiet!

But the parade was so worth it, and we watched it every time we were in the park!

Luke's first visit with Mickey!

Out of the whole holiday this is my favourite picture! Luke decided that Woody needed to sit and have lunch with him, so he went and found him, grabbed his hand and brought him back to the table where, he told him to sit! Hence this picture! I was so proud of him, he knew what he wanted and he went and got it! He then decided that Mickey needed to sit him and you guessed it...............................

Mickey got dragged to our table as well!

There were so many rides, etc that we did and that Luke loved, especially, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Slinky Dog, Cars, Driving 1950's cars and many more.

The whole experience is well worth doing with our without children.

Don't forget to see more of my pictures please check my Facebook or Flickr accounts!

Birthdays!!!!!!! (picture heavy!)

2011-06-13T10:15:00.000+01:00

Seems like an age since it was Luke and mine's birthday, but of course it has only been a few weeks!

As you surely know by now my son was born the day before my birthday and whilst everyone keeps saying how wonderful it is, in reality, it is pretty crap! Bad planning on our part that is for sure! But hey I can't really change it now can I!

So another year and again my birthday is overshadowed by Luke's and I have to be honest and say I feel really resentful about it!

Luke's birthday fell on a Thursday this year and so he was packed off to Nursery as usual and then we had swimming in the afternoon. Of course the difference was he got a present in the morning, and then had 3 birthday cakes throughout the day!

There were presents to start with!

The first present of the day, the large gift was to be given at his birthday party!

2 of the 3 cakes, I forgot to take a picture of the small Buzz Lightyear cake! These were used at Nursery!

Birthday dinner, his favourite, spaghetti and meatballs. Yes he can use his fork, but birthday treat he was allowed to use his hands!

Getting ready to blow out the candle!

The big blow!

Between Luke's birthday and his party, was of course my birthday! My day did not start too well! I decided to travel to Peterborough to spend the day with my family, but the traffic on the A14 was just a nightmare and it took me a little over 3hrs to get there! But I have to say it was worth the wait! Why? Because look what was waiting for me..........................................

A wonderfully large cupcake cake! Isn't it lovely?

I did get my Kindle, which I am thrilled about, and my family got me my lighted Kindle cover, an FM transmitter for my iTouch and I had bought myself a skin for my Kindle.

Front of my new cover from DecaGirl

Back of cover

Lighted Amazon Kindle cover

All set up! Love it!

I did have a good day, and some lovely gifts from dear friends as well! The only thing I never got was a dinner out! Oh well, maybe next year!

So that was Friday sorted, onto Saturday and Luke's birthday party!

My brother traveled back with me on Friday night to help me on Saturday as Si had to Luke to Little Kickers and I wanted to get the food collected, decorations up, table sorted all by the time he got back and my parents arrived! As with all my planning it went to perfection! LOL!

Inspecting the big present, what could it be.......................

First time on his new bike! Can't believe he looks confident already!

Out riding his new bike and loving it!

He got so many lovely presents from everyone and had a wonderful day! I love seeing my little boy not only grow up but so happy and loved by all!

Here are pictures of his 'official' birthday cake!

The one and only Lightening McQueen from Disney Cars!

I really have set a tradition now, because each year Luke gets an awesome cake, for his first birthday he had Noah's Ark, last year was a Fire Engine, and believe it or not I am already starting to think of next years cake, because I can't let traditions die!

So our birthday's are over for another year, and my darling little boy is now 3 and as adorable as ever. I just hope that one day, my birthday will have signifance again, but till then I am getting used to sharing it with one of the most significant people in my life!

Belated Happy 3rd Birthday Luke!

Ebay

2011-06-12T20:00:00.000+01:00

On my list of 101 Things to do in 1001 Days was to sell something on Ebay.

I have always been a little skeptical to sell on Ebay as I never thought I would actually have anything that others would want!

How wrong was I?

I have so far sold a whole host of magazines, books, cross stitch kits and other bits and bobs and I am thrilled. It is so easy to do, however there is a real down side to it.............................

The additional fees you don't realise you loose when you sell something!

I wouldn't say you make a lot of money on there, or at least I didn't but I did make some. I never took into account the cost of postage (in some cases my p&p charge just covered it!), cost of envelopes to post item in!, fees to Paypal for receiving payment via them, and of course the fees to Ebay for selling on them! Luckily I never paid the insertion fees because I started all auctions at just 99p!

But saying that some good things have come out of it, and they are :-

1. I have decluttered (still have alot more to do!!)

2. I did make some money

3. I managed to buy a few lovely goodies for myself out of the profits!

4. I really enjoyed experiencing the excitement watching the bidding going up on items I am selling!

I have had such a positive experience that I shall be listing more items, just as soon as I get myself sorted!

So if you want or need to declutter and not sure what to do with the items you are throwing away, why not list them on Ebay and see if you can get anything for them?

Catch up's & New Resolutions......................

2011-06-12T16:55:00.000+01:00

Wow my blog seems to have been neglected of late and for that I am truley sorry, but things are hopefully going to improve!

I need resolve that I will post at least weekly to my blog and start getting this blog better used!

So roll on for the next week of posts as I have loads to catch up on!

Here goes...............................

WWW Wednesday (8th June)

2011-06-08T10:15:00.000+01:00

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions :-

1. What are you currently reading?

2. What did you recently finish reading?

3. What do you think you'll read next?

My answers :

1. What you are you currently reading :-

For the first time in a long time I have 2 books on the go! On my Kindle at the moment, I am reading 'The Happiness Project'.

'Two kids, a career, a good marriage... Gretchen Rubin...had all the boxes ticked - but still felt incomplete. Which is why she devoted a year to trying to get happy...But that's the nature of The Happiness Project - everyone is different - and by the end of the year I had learned to change my life by finding more happiness in it...'

A group of my us on Facebook are currently each doing our own Happiness Projects. As I have only just started reading the book, I am yet to start mine and I think that I will be starting my project in July. Please come and find us on Facebook, the group is called 'Happiness Project - Philofaxy Fans'. (I would of posted a link but I am currently on a 1 week self imposed ban of logging into Facebook!) I am reading this book at night as it is on Kindle and therefore easier todo!

The paperback or day time book I am reading is '365 Thank Yous'

An inspiring, true story about how a simple, old-fashioned act - writing thank-you notes - led a hopeless, angry, middle-aged man out of despair and into a wonderful life.

I am really enjoying this book. I don't get to read it everyday, but it is in my handbag should I have a chance. It really is an eye opener and makes you realise that you actually don't say thank often enough! Well worth a read!

2. What did you recently finish reading?

I LOVED THIS BOOK!

I have read every book in this series and this is the current one, Number 12. It was well written, easy to read and completely enjoyable! I can't wait to see where this story is going and read Number 13 when or if it comes out!

3. What do you think you'll read next?

I have already read this book once, but as I have joint a Facebook Group in conjunction with my Philofaxy friends, we are going to be reading it again and then help each other to organise our control journals. I did enjoy this book and I can't wait to read it again, as I think it is one of those books that you will get something from it each time you read it! I have actually ordered her other book called Body Clutter, and very well may read the 2 at the same time!

WWW Wednesday (11th May)

2011-05-11T10:00:00.000+01:00

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions :

What you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you'll read next?

My answers :

1. What are you currently reading?

The 12th book in the series and I have enjoyed each and every one of the previous 11 so I can't wait to get stuck into this one! I have only just started it, so too soon to pass any judgement on it!

2. What did you recently finish reading?

This was a quick read given to me by the local library, and at first I did not like the sound of it, however once I started, I found it hard to put down. Thoroughly enjoyed it, it is the story of a black teenage boy who is killed and he writes a letter to his Mum, telling her about his life, the part which she never knew about. Very enjoyable!

3. What do you think you'll read next?

I have heard so many good things about this book that I definitely want to read this next and find out for myself what all the hype is about!

Breast or Bottle - A Mother's Rant!

2011-05-10T11:15:00.000+01:00

I awoke this morning to news on the BBC saying that bottle fed babies are more likely to have behavourial problems than breast fed babies and well it PISSED ME OFF!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13336986

Let me start at the beginning! When I was pregnant all I heard was BREAST IS BEST and you have to BREASTFEED YOUR CHILD, and whilst on paper that sounds wonderful in reality it doesn't always work out that way!

I had an emergency C-section when my son was born at 2303hrs on a Monday night. I had been in hospital since 4am that morning labouring, so by the time I had him, I was exhausted! I was told straight away to try and breast feed him and NO NURSE helped me. I was left to try and work out how to get this little person to latch on!!!!!!! As he wouldn't the nurse gave me a bottle of formula and said to give him that and we would try again in the morning.

I got put back on my ward at about 1 or 2 in the morning, at around 4am my son woke needing a feed. I was so groggy and exhausted, the NURSE actually gave me a bottle to give him, with not hint or mention or trying to breastfeed!

Whilst I was in hospital (which I might add was just 36hrs!!! which seems nuts when I had just had major surgery, so they kept telling me!) I asked numerous times for help on getting my son to latch on, without any success!

So I went home with a bottle fed baby and a Mid Wife and Health Visitor that said we can try again at home!

I have to say the thought of breastfeeding a child, actually repulses me. I have images of being a cow just producing milk all the time, I hate it. But I tried, and I even bought express pumps, both manual and electric (which just enhanced the cow image more!) to try and get breast milk into my son, because that is what the health profession says!

He did get some, but nothing I would get excited about! I had to stop trying to express within a week of coming home, due to other complications and so my son after 1 week was totally formula fed.

When I compare my feeding patterns to those of breastfed friends, I don't understand why mother's actually do breastfeed for so long! Luke was sleeping through within 6 weeks, he was going possibly 3 - 4hrs between feeds (in the beginning) and he developed perfectly. Now my friends, demand fed, in some instances every 1 - 2hrs through the night even and were shattered all the time. I can't get my head round this, fine breastfeed during the day, but at night why not give the child a bottle just to get a few hours of decent sleep. I know breastfed babies don't go as long between feeds, but then all the more reason for a bottle at night. If you choose to solely breastfeed then don't complain about the lack of sleep! There are other options!

Now to the study and the rant!

1. If the health professionals want mother's to breast feed why not give mother's the help and guidance they need in order to do it, and if they can't (because some mother's can't) don't make the mother feel worthless and like she is depriving her child and she is a failure and her child will have all these issues as they grow up. Embrace her achievement of becoming a mother, who the hell cares where the milk comes from to feed the child!

2. The other thing I find odd is all this talk about how much more sickly bottlefed babies are. Well I have friends who have breastfed and there children are MORE ill than my son, so that blows that theory straight out the water!

3. I was also told by not breastfeeding I am missing out the bonding process! BOLLOCKS!!!! My son was held the same way as any breast fed baby, he was cuddled and burped the same way! The only difference, he never had some huge nipple shoved in his face, and could actually breath, look around and enjoy his milk! Oh and can I just add when all these breast feeding mothers are bonding with there child, how is the father bonding? My husband bottle fed Luke as well, and so we BOTH had the wonderful time of bonding with our son and not only that but sharing the feeding times!

This really is a rant and I am sorry but I am sick to death of these damn studies, making mother's who don't breastfeed for whatever reason feel that they have failed their child. As long as the child is healthy, happy, nurtured and loved, who the hell gives a damn where it's milk came from?

(this is a personal account, and just how I see it! If you don't agree, please don't leave comments telling me off, it is just my opinion and I have need and right to express it!)

Another baby?

2011-05-10T10:00:00.000+01:00

Well I bet that title has got a few people's tongues wagging! LOL!

But a friend of mine, who's blog I read all the time, did a very interesting post over the weekend about having children. You can find it here if you wish to read it :- http://caribbeanprincessmusings.blogspot.com/2011/05/on-having-children.html

This post really rang true with me and I decided, I would write my own post, as it is something that has really bugged me since having Luke.

It is true, the questions start, when you get the boyfriend!

1. When is the engagement - tick, done!

2. When is the wedding - tick, done!

3. When are the patter of tiny feet arriving - tick, done!

4. When is the second patter of tiny feet arriving - Uh, NEVER!

Yes I am one of those few women who is very content with having just ONE child, and why society can't accept that I will never know. I don't judge those mothers who wish to have 2, 3, 4........14 children, so why judge me? In which book of life does it say Women shall never have anything less than 1 child?

There is nothing wrong with my reproductive organs, I can produce offspring just fine, thank you, I just choose to limit them!

I have noticed, since having Luke that some of the people I know who have gone on to have 2nd children, almost outcast me now, liking having 2 is a cult and makes being a mother a job, where as having 1 is a easy and being a mother is simple!

Being a mother is a hard job whether you have 1 or more children!

I am asked on a very regular basis, I will say almost weekly, when Luke will be having a sibling and when I answer NEVER, the look of horror that descends on some people's faces is just a picture.

Then the following happens...................... I get told, 'Oh, he will be lonely, without a sibling!' I'm sorry, but if you believe that siblings make a child complete, then maybe you need to re-evaluate your family dynamics! My son has 2 loving parents, who are married and living under the same roof - that in itself seems a bit novel these days! - he goes to a wonderful nursery, where he has numerous friends! Coupled with the extended family he has, he certainly isn't lonely, so that theory is blown out the water!

Next comes 'Oh you don't want to leave it too late to have another, you are getting older!' Yes that is true, which is precisely why I had Luke at the ripe age of 34! So I couldn't plan any more, due to my age!

Now I say this, to mothers, fathers, and generally people everywhere. It is a couples choice as to the number of children they have, not societies, and if they want only ONE child, so be it, respect it, accept it, and wish them well. Having ONE child does not make them any less of parents, if anything I think they are more savvy. Having children costs ALOT of money and some people have the sense to see that and have ONE child because that is what they can afford without compromising their standard of living, their childs needs and future education, and their own relationship.

Maybe I have this view, because I come from a society that when you had a baby it was your responsibility, not the Governments, there are no hand outs and you paid for that child. In Britain, of course depending on income, the more children you have the more Govt funding you get, but I shan't go down that route.

So the next time you see a Mother with 1 child, celebrate her decisions, her childs life and that fact she is a MOTHER, don't judge her and criticize her because she ONLY had 1!

Rant over!!!!!!!

My son is almost 3.......

2011-05-09T10:00:00.000+01:00

how did that happen?

In just 10 days time my darling son will be turning 3. I can't believe he is growing up so fast! It is the same old cliche that everyone says, but it is so true! I struggle to even remember what he was like as a baby, and I see the pictures round the house and think is that really my son!

A quick run down of how he has grown :-

The day or rather night he was born! May 19th 2008!

I love this picture of my brother cradling Luke. I look at Luke now and can't believe he actually fitted in his arms like that!

Opening his birthday presents on his first birthday! Laughing at Mummy, because of course I obviously made silly faces again!

His first real injury on his eye lid of all places!

Mummy and Luke at his 1st birthday party! I love this picture!

Luke and Mummy at his 2nd birthday party, just not as good as the one above!

Explorer Luke at Africa Alive off to chase the ducks!

I can't believe how he has grown!

We are currently at the potty training stage! Which I think if I was more focused on we would cracked already, however I think I am the one holding him back. So on Saturday, I decided after having been in town all morning, that the afternoon would be spent in big boy pants and we shall see what happens. Well he was excellent. Only 2 accidents and he took himself off to the potty sometimes as well. So a few more days and I am sure we will crack it!

We also took him to watch Speedway for the first time over the Bank Holidays, not a good idea. He was not interested in it at all, so we shall be giving that a miss for a while!

We have been having such good weather the last month that we have done a few outings, which have been great fun!

Mummy and Luke enjoying Aldeburgh Beach (more like pebbles!)

Enjoying his pork kebab at the Police Dog Trials!

Enjoying the ride at the local Easter Egg Hunt.

We also took him to Africa Alive near Lowestoft, that he absolutely loved. I love that attraction purely because it is African themed, so I was in my element and I am so glad that Luke had a wonderful day as well! Here we are on the little train!

I am one very proud Mummy, I have an adorable little boy and whilst yes he can push buttons, like I am sure all children can, I would not change anything!

He is the best thing I have ever done in my life, and makes me so proud each and every day!

General Filofax Update!

2011-05-08T10:45:00.000+01:00

The Philofaxy community seemed to be buzzing recently about Malden Filofax's. Being someone who when I first saw them thought, 'Hmm, ok, but not my first choice!" I never really paid too much attention.

Until dear Caribbean Princess, over here :- http://caribbeanprincessmusings.blogspot.com/2011/05/my-phd-planner-revealed-finally.html happened to mention that City Organiser was having a special offer on the Personal Malden in Crimson. I'll take a browse I thought, what harm can it do??????????????? Then I saw they had a Facebook page that mentioned a further 20% discount if I used a certain code! Needless to say that code was used and yes, I succumbed and bought the Malden! At a price of less than 50% it could not be left!

Ah the smell of leather when it comes out the box is just AMAZING!!!!! When I first opened it I though, 'Hmm doen't lie 100% flat, I don't like the inside zip, not sure I want it!'

Then I decided, to give it a go, and set it up! Oh and I love it! It is so soft, and subtle and the zip doesn't hinder me at all, and it now lies 100% flat and oh it is just perfect!

Now I can hear the sniggers, oh she failed at her challenge!!!! Well in fact, no I didn't because my Metropol is still in use on a daily basis with the same inserts but is just my daily journal now, that I write in each night! Hee hee I found a way round it!

My Malden has my Week on 2 pages in Cream, which is pretty awesome and working really well for me, then I have the usual stuff I did have in the Malden, however it is not stuffed full and not stretched and I am VERY, VERY, happy!

So happy in fact I scouted Ebay for a Pocket Malden, on the off chance and BAMN I found one, brand new in the box, 75% off the shop price, and it was MINE! I thought I would use it as my travel Filofax, but then when I got it, I can't do it! I don't want it to get scratched and I don't want to stretch it, and I don't want to force large pieces of paper in the back pocket, and I don't my coins to stretch the front pocket, so that idea was quickly abandoned and my Urban Pocket in Slate remained my Travel Filofax. That one I don't mind if it gets dealt with hard it can sustain it. Whilst my Malden is class, I don't want it ruined!!!!! So it very well could become my Filofax I use when I go out, who knows. At the moment it is in it's box meeting its other Filofax friends and getting acquainted!

Only ONE more Filofax purchase confession to air!!!! Whilst buying the Personal Malden, I noticed at the Ultra Violet A5 Domino was also on offer and of course with a further 20% off it too fell into my basket! With good reason! I needed a new A5 as my gym filofax.

The photo really doesn't do the colour justice! This has now become my WIP Filofax for all my craft items, and my Red A5 Domino is now my Health Filofax!

I don't feel bad with these purchases, as I have had a massive Filofax clearout recently and if it wasn't gonna be used, or it wasn't leather I have sold it, with exception to my Domino's as they are just such good quality cheap Filofax's.

THERE WILL BE NO MORE FILOFAX PURCHASES IN 2011!

(unless of course the Amethyst Deco has a crazy low price!!!!)

WWW Wednesday (20th Apr)

2011-04-20T10:15:00.000+01:00

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions :

What you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you'll read next?

My answers :

1. What are you currently reading?

I read The Friday Night Knitting Group a few years ago and it took me about 5 attempts to get into it, but once I did I really enjoyed it! It seems book two is going to be the same! I am sort of enjoying it, but because I had quite a long break between the two it is hard to remember what happened in the first one! I am getting through it slowly and when I do get into it, I enjoy it, but when I put it down I then find it hard to get back into it. I will continue though, as I remember how good the first book turned out!

2. What did you recently finish reading?

This was a very interesting book to give me some ideas on Vegetarianism. Well worth reading if considering changing!

3. What do you think you'll read next?

Honestly, I don't know! I need to get through my current book first, but I do have quite a list to get through!

WWW Wednesday (Apr 13th)

2011-04-13T14:30:00.000+01:00

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions :

What you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you'll read next?

My answers :

1. What are you currently reading?

I have just started this book and whilst I am not finding it a light read, it wouldn't be would it, I am actually enjoying it and finding it very interesting. I am going a bit slower with this book, I guess because I am marking information that I want to come back to when I have finished it.

It is really interesting to read about vegetarianism and I am looking forward to embarking on that journey in the near future!

2. What did you recently finish reading?

I loved this book! It was so easy to read and get back into when put down after a break! It was light hearted, funny, honest and bang on the money!

I would recommend this to anyone who has children or is thinking of having kids and realise that most mothers, even those that make it look easy, are struggling and it is fine to do so, some days you will feel like a bad mother but the chances are you are doing great!

3. What do you think you'll read next?

I am hoping that this book arrives today from Amazon, as this is meant to have a very good step by step plan in it to becoming vegetarian. So I am looking forward to reading it and seeing what they recommend to do!

Slimline Adelphi

2011-04-13T10:15:00.000+01:00

Another bargain I found on Ebay this week was the Slimline Adelphi! Although the seller listed the item as Magenta, which certainly got my heart racing, especially for the price, when it arrived it was in face Scarlet.

At first I was rather annoyed but actually I am really loving the Scarlet. Again this bargain was 50% less than the shop price, brand new and one I just could not pass up!

Isn't she lovely? Am I using her? I thought I had a challenge I needed to complete? Well, yes, yes and yes!

I weighed my Metropol the other day and it is just short of 700gms, along with all the other stuff I carry in my bag, it is just nuts, and having a bad back I really need to start reducing the weight and size of my handbag!

So yes, I am using the Slimline, as my going out Filofax. It houses my Week on One Page diary with the to do lists for the that week, along with telephone numbers and some blank pages and that is it!

I thought about this very strongly before I bought it, and I actually never look at my list of books to read, or my craft WIP's when I am out, so why the heck do I insist on carrying them round with me! Also do I really need my Uncle in Zimbabwes address with me 24/7 when I never write to him anyway?

So on MEDICAL grounds I am now using 2 Filofax's therefore not breaking my challenge!

My Metropol is my at home Filofax, and is with me all the time, when reading magazines, searching the web, updating things, as all my info is in there, as well as my Day on One Page layout, which is now open on my desk every day, so I know where I am etc.

The Slimline lives in my handbag when I go out, and when at home it is used in the afternoon when I need to go through my to do list.

Saying that I have a daily to do list in my Metropol, for things that need to be done that day, naturally and a weekly one in my Slimline that are done when I get a spare minute, and so far it is working great!

I have even managed to downscale my bag back to my Kipling New Raisin bag (see below) :-

Yes it is red as well to match my Filofax!

from this size bag :-

Cath Kidston Messenger Bag,

Rather huge, wouldn't you say!

Ok, I know I have ordered a Rickshaw Messenger bag, and here it is (still waiting for it, as only getting it in May after family go to the States!)

this will be used mainly on holidays though I fear, or it may not, have to wait to till I get it!

But I digress! The Slimline fits perfectly in my Kipling bag and I have with me just what I need whilst out! Therefore the challenge is still going strong and in tack!

Have I bought any more Filofax's I hear you ask? Well.......................that would be telling wouldn't it, time will tell! You are probably thinking of course she has saying that, and you very well could be right, or I am just very good at pulling your leg! LOL! Let's be honest, do I really need any more?

The great Filofax reveal part 2 - The setup!

2011-04-12T10:15:00.000+01:00

Wow, a setup done so quickly after receiving my wonderful Finchley Personal in Imperial Purple.

See yesterday's post if you haven't already read it!

Yes, well this setup was easy! As I am already sorted for 2011, and my diary is working pretty well for me, I decided.......................................................

to wrap it up for Christmas Day!

Yes, that is right, I have wrapped it up ready to be put under the Christmas tree this year, for me to open, and I can't wait!

I would love to start using it now, but what is the point of giving yourself challenges with rewards if you are just going to cheat at them!

Are you surprised? Did you think I would of started using it? Will my resolve hold out till Dec 25? You can bet your bottom dollar it will!

Oh there will be another reveal tomorrow of something else quite exciting!

The great Filofax reveal...................

2011-04-11T16:31:00.000+01:00

Those of you who have followed my blog on a regular basis, will know that for 2011 I set myself a Filofax challenge!

It is, to use the same binder and diary inserts for an entire year, and if I do then I get to buy myself a Finchley Personal in Imperial Purple. I am a quarter of the way there! My current setup is a Personal Metropol in Raspberry, with Day Timer Flavia Day on one page inserts! So nothing too fancy!

So after the Philofaxy meetup in March, having seen the wonderful object of my desire in person, I decided to check out Ebay to see if anything was available!

Well imagine my joy when I found a brand new Personal Finchely in Imperial Purple for the bargain starting price of £19.99! The auction was scheduled to end at about 2325hrs, and as I go to bed at 2230, it was a case of bid and cross fingers, toes and everything else! As I had already been outbid once, I thought there was no way I was going to win it, so I put in my maximum and went to sleep!

Imagine my sheer joy when I checked at 0030hrs to see if I had won and I had! Yes, I woke especially to check, I had wanted to wake earlier but as I couldn't really set my alarm to wake me - explain that do DH waking to check an Ebay auction - it really was just luck!

I WON IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh the joy and excitement, but it wasn't to last! It has taken over 11 days for the item to arrive, with some very strong emails being passed in the process! But I have it.............................

Isn't she lovely? That leather is just so gorgeous and soft and smells wonderful, and the cream inserts are just a dream against that wonder dark shade of purple. Oh I am in love!

I have to say this was an absolute bargain and no way I could pass it up! The shop price on the Filofax website is £83, lets just say I paid almost 60% less than that! How could I possibly let it go by?

So am I using it, I hear you all ask? How has it been setup? Has it been setup? Is it being put away till Christmas Day?

Why not stop by tomorrow and all questions will be answered!

101Things-o-fax = #Filofax Part 6 - The Finale!

2011-04-10T10:15:00.000+01:00

I hear that sigh of relief that this is the final part in the series! But I bet you have enjoyed it?!

So the final binder thought is my .................................

101 THINGS TO DO IN 1001 DAYS-O-FAX

Binder used - Pocket Hearts in Yellow!

Back in 2010 I came across alot of blog posts about 101 Things to do in 1001 days and I thought, WOW, what a cool idea. I love challenges, goals, pushing myself that little bit further, and thought I need to do this!

So I did my 101 list and decided I needed to house it is a Filofax! Yes I do have a blog about it as well!

My idea was that I would document my journey to completing my list and have a really detailed account of it all.

The binder is pretty much setup but I do need to update it and bring it right up to speed! I need to print off pictures and write things, and this will be done soon!

But in the meantime here is the link to my blog about it :-

http://sharons101goals.wordpress.com/

All these details will be eventually put in my Filofax and kept!

I am not going to ask for any suggestions on this one, but instead, is anyone else doing this challenge? If so, please do put a link to your blog, so I can follow your progress.

Well this the final in my little series of what-o-fax can I think up next!

If you have any ideas for a Filofax that I haven't mentioned, I am sure there are hundreds, please do leave me a comment with your idea, I would love to hear them!

Normal blogging will now resume, thank you for reading!

Gym-o-fax = #Filofax Part 5

2011-04-09T10:15:00.000+01:00

How can she possibly have more Filofax ideas uses, I hear you groan! Well I do! Don't worry there aren't many more left after this one! So there is light at the end of this series!

Part 5 and I am now going physical, healthy, and going for the ......................

GYM-O-FAX

Binder used - A5 (I have forgotten and not got it to hand to check! Will update later!)

In January I started back at the Gym to help with the rehabilitation of my back as my main priority and once that is sorted to focus on some weightloss, if my mind was in!

By doing this I discovered there are certain exercises I need to do each session and in order to remember them, I need to have them with me! They are not your standard treadmill, rower, etc kind of exercises, but more ones that focus on mobility etc.

I set up my Filofax to house the following :-

1. Yearly planner so I can see how regularly I attend the gym over the year!

2. Log in details to the gym website to book my sessions

3. Program details, noting the distances and times achieved in each session! (although this did make me rather competitive with myself, so I am currently just going on time and trying to be better every session!)

4. PDF printouts of the exercises I need to do, noted in the particular order

5. Nutritional plan details - for when I get to that stage!

I am nuts aren't I? Do I carry it round with me I hear you ask? Yes I do! Have I had funny looks, yes I have, but when they realise why I carry it, those funny looks turn into comments such as 'What a good idea!'

The A5 works really well for me for the gym, but please bear in mind my gym is small gym, where some mornings I am the only one in there! It is no Fitness First and that is what I love about it!

So am I missing anything? Wanna share some ideas on other things I could keep in here? You know you want to! Go on post a comment.

Tomorrow will be the final installment of this little series! I do hope you have been enjoying it so far!

Family-o-fax = #Filofax Part 4

2011-04-08T10:15:00.000+01:00

Wow, part 4, and you returned to read it?! Welcome back!

So part 4, what I could possibly still have ideas about? Well here goes :-

FAMILY-O-FAX

Binder to be used - A5 Zipped Metropol in Black (sorry don't have a picture of it!)

I realise that running life on the internet is great ie Facebook, Twitter, etc, but when the internet dies, or your PC goes mad and looses everything, you can say bye bye to all your photo's, documents and lots of stuff that would of been good history for further generations. If you haven't backed up that is!

So I decided at the beginning of 2011 that I need to make a binder that housed some of my family history, so that when Luke gets older and he wants to know about his great grandparents and the family I left behind in Africa, he has it all to hand!

I started with a simple family tree, off Ancestry.com and have printed off the relevant documents and filed them in the binder.

So what am I going to store in it? Here goes................................

1. Family trees of all the families that I can provide history about also pictures and stories. I don't see the point of doing family, that I have never met and know nothing about. So I have gone back as far Luke's Great Grandparents, as I know I have photos and stories about all of them!

2. Snippets of history that only family know. Like what I hear you ask? Well my index finger on my right hand the tip has been cut off and I did that by slamming it in a door when I was a little kid. No one knows that (except everyone that reads my blog now!) but my family, and now I want Luke to know that!

Have you ever thought how many memories are in your head that you never write down? Well I want to write all mine and my families down. I guess it comes from, Luke being able to see where Daddy (my husband) went to school, where he went to University, where he lived, etc, etc. But for me he would have to fly 12 hrs to see it all, and then there wouldn't really be anyone at the other end to tell him about it! This way he gets it in a binder to keep forever!

3. Details of Luke's birth, my pregnancy, etc, etc. Just little things he has done in his life!

4. Details from his nursery. Each day I get a sheet telling me what he ate, played with, when his nappy was changed, etc and that is nice reminder to look back on, as he gets older.

Come on this is going to be one binder I am sure loads of you have ideas for. So type them out in the comments, as I would love to hear them!

Is it is just soppy rubbish I am doing? No I don't think so. I recently came across a whole host of photo's from my life in Africa and one of my tasks is to write on the back of each one the details of the picture, so in the future Luke and his family will have reminders, without having to try and figure out what the pictures are about!

Getting bored yet? Ready for Part 5? Check back tomorrow!

Book-o-fax = #Filofax Part 3

2011-04-07T10:15:00.000+01:00

Wow part 3 already, what could I be deciding on today?

Well it is the......................................

BOOK-O-FAX

Binder to be used :- Pocket Domino in Lavendar!

2011 has seen me take up reading again in a rather big way. Ok, maybe not big to some, I have come across a lady who has already read 52 books this year! Either she reads so fast, she can't remember the story, or she really needs to get a life! Once again I am going off track!

So far in 2011 I have read 1 book, tried 1 book and am about 60% of the way through my 3rd. So it is going well considering we are only April 7th! Will I be able to do a book a month in 2011, who knows!

I have however set myself the challenge of reading 6 books in 2011 and 50 books in my 101 things to do in 1001 days!

So why the Book-o-Fax?

Well I have loads of books that I want to read, and whilst I use http://www.goodreads.com/ to document my books, I don't like relying solely on the internet for records. The book-o-fax will be my backup of GoodReads details!

What am I going to keep in this one I hear you ask? Well....................

1. Book challenge details 2011

2. 101 Things challenge details

3. List books i want to read

4. Print pictures of the covers of each book, so I remember what they look like!

5. Reviews of the books I have read

6. Dates I start and finish a book

7. Which are on Kindle

8. Which are paperback copies

Do I need anything else? Come on post a comment and let me know!

Are you enjoying the series, or do you just think I have totally lost the plot?

Going to tune back for Part 4?