i'm bragging and I know it tra la la

It suddenly hit me yesterday that I have a damn near perfect life!!! But I must confess that I don't always appreciate it.

This is the list of my appreciation of life, please note that it is NOT in order of importance.

We have enough money to tide us over...don't get me wrong we aint rich by any means, but we are doing ok.
I have a great son who is getting complements from his teachers, admittedly he can be a little bugger at times, but can't we all?
I only work 2 afternoons a week plus one day till 3pm...so I have the work / life balance right.
I have got the whole of the summer off to spend hanging with my son.
I have some really exciting times ahead with training to be a journalist.
My friends that I have around me are honourable, kind and supportive, and ALWAYS know what to say at the right time.
My parents are the best parents that a person could wish for, again we have our moments but it would be boring without them!!!
I adore my husband with a passion and worship the ground he walks on! He is the most sexiest man in the world and understands my little "quirks", for instance, at the moment I have a little sniffle but am convinced that I have swine flu...he knows what I am like and just kind of kicks me up the ass a little. He is also a very kind man (today I received a box of goodies from my favourite spa company!).
My home is not as big as I would like but then I weigh up the house work that would be required for a bigger home...hmmm I'll stick with the size I have for now!
My extended family are all really nice people who I get on with really well and I am proud to be their family from my brother to my in-laws...I hope I appreciate them all in their individual ways (I am sure they would tell me if I didn't!)

But to sum up my life, I am surrounded by love, friendship, kindness, laughter, seriousness when required, comfort and understanding...not bad for just one person eh?

So my thought / question for this entry is...what are you thankful for TODAY?

my big fantastic thrill

At new years I gave myself lots of challenges for this year...some have been gratefully forgotten and the subject of those will never be raised again, and others I am facing the challenge head on.

For example, I said that I really wanted to "try" 3 new sports this year...so far, I have tried jogging / running...it hurt my poor knees, the second one was done this weekend. ANd the third has yet to be explored.

We have lived in our current abode for about 3 and a half years and when drive down the road we see sails...as in sailing boat sails. On this side of them there are allotments and on the other side is a river and a leisure centre. Countless times we have wondered where the heck are those boats sailing? We checked the river and no boats...weird.

We googled all sorts of weird and wacky words to try and find out, and in the end we came across a yacht company within the vicinity of where the sails were. So off we went for a walk one day to see if we could find it...nope...couldn't find a sailing club anywhere and short of climbing over someones garden fence we gave up.

We contacted the club and to get there is basically down an alley way between 2 houses!

So we signed up and became members of said club yesterday (Sunday) and had the best time.

I have probably mentioned my crap driving of a car, but I am a slow extremely cautious driver, but on the water I found that I am an absolute speed freak!!

A very nice gentleman took us out in his 3 man sailing boat and wow!!! You know how you see the crew sitting on the edge of the boat as its nearly tipping up?? never in a million years did I ever think that I would be doing that...too much of a scardy cat...but there I was sitting rather happily on the side of this boat asking the bloke to go faster!!!

Then it was my turn to take a little one man boat out...on my own...before yesterday I seriously didn't know one end of the boat from the other. The only way that I was brave enough to go out was if the safety boat followed me...how kind of another gentleman to do this..he was issuing me instructions and I have to say a massive thank you to all the people that we met yesterday at the club because my son, husband and I had the most amount of fun!!! loved it and can see me seriously getting into this sailing malarkey!!! and I am more than a little proud of myself!!!

so my thought / question for this entry is...what have you done recently that was both new and exciting???

first girlfriend / boyfriend news

Do you remember your very first childhood sweetheart?
Mine was a boy called Jonathon (his surname will remain unsaid). We were "boyfriend and girlfriend" throughout primary school. He was lovely and kind and made me feel very special. I remember him coming to our house for tea and my Dad taking the mikey something rotten...I also think that along with my first boyfriend came my first feeling of embarrassment...thanks Dad.

It transpires that my 5 year old son has a girlfriend...and a really pretty girl she is too..he has good taste, what can I say?!?!

Her mum is the most beautiful woman, very fashionable, very friendly and a singer to boot..the woman has simply everything going for her!! So Theo's girlfriend already has a husky voice, she is so polite and always a nice word to say...she is gonna be a great woman!!

Theo has been doing really well as school so I got him a couple of lollypops for when I picked him up from school today, his girlfriend was there and .... ahhhh bless, he asked if he could give one to this little girl!!!

whats also brilliant is that the girls mum is also actively encouraging the courtship as she says she is in love with Theo as well!!!...so my son is a little flirt!!

So next week there are going on there first little "date" to a soft play area...well that should be good for a giggle...he is about as boyish as they come and she is very girly..should be interesting to see them together.

so my thought / question for this entry is do you remember your first "boyfriend or girlfriend" and how old were you???

Love Thursday very very proud of........me!

well hello there.

Apologies for not writing sooner but I have been writing for a local paper and also seriously concentrating on my little books....no excuse, I know but there you have it!

This year I decided enough was enough and that I was going to get rid of my fatty body for ever. I have played with diets in the last 2 years and to cut a very long story short, I couldn't be bothered and would loose about 2 pound come off the diet and then pile more weight on...a down ward spiral.

The Summer is here and heat we have been experiencing, but what to wear when one feels like an elephant, one can't cover up with big baggy jeans and an over sized jumper anymore....yes there have been tears.

I am not the sort of person that gets down about their weight and then goes to the fridge to console herself, the simple fact of the matter is, I like junk food...love it and much prefer it to a plate of rabbit food (salad). I like the quickness of takeaways.

So anyway, I made a direct decision last week to do it, once and for all. So off I went to what I call "fat club", paid my money, got on the scales and very nearly fell back off them again! I was officially the heaviest I have EVER been in my intire life (apart from when I was growing my son)...disgusted in myself doesn't quite cut it. After the weigh in you have a bit of a chat, as a group, with the consultant. The whole time I was sat there I just wanted to cry.

I went home really rather depressed and then it hit me, like a shining ray of "i get it". If I was feeling so low about being fat and over weight,,,then do something about it!!! and boy did I.

Some situations have arose over the past week that I could easily gone back to my old ways....round a friends house and a pizza was ordered...yummmmm, but I raided my friends cupboards and resisted the pizza by eating healthy food...at a peace festival, everyone had ice creams...I resisted....I took my own lunch instead of getting food there....very very proud.

I have felt empowered this week, I have taken control back.

So last night was my first official weigh in and get this people...I LOST 5 POUNDS...I one week!!!! Again, I nearly fell off the scales but for a good reason.
The trick is now to keep up with it and keep going. Granted I have wanted to eat crisps till they come out of my ears and eat chocolate till I own the Wonka factory, but control is where its at for me now!!!!

So my dear friends, this love Thursday I am dedicating it to ones self. Enjoy all of yourself and if you need to, take back that control and do what you need to do to make yourself happy and satisfied.

Please leave your love Thursday links or comments.