i am such a clutz

I can be a massive ejit at times and I am the sort of person that embarresses myself on a fairly regular basis. I don't plan these things but cringe at the memories!!!

here are a few examples, from most recent, going back....

1) It was a no-news day at the paper that I work for so I decide to shadow the photographer, great learning experience...to be fair it was.
So the first job was to go and photograph this bloke trying to promote a single...I am sure he wasnt the full shilling. So we turned up at this blokes bedsit and it stank of males. We did the photo outside and went on our merry way.
We pulled up to the next job chating and setting the world to right and I nearly take myself out on the paperwork he had in his car.
So we parked and attended the service. Finished it and came back to the car park, which is very busy all the time.
The photographer sees someone he knows and using his ket fob, unlocks the car. I didn't see which car it was because I was looking at my notes.
I then get into his car, a small silver car.
I look around and think ahhh bless he has sorted out all the papers, thats nice of him. Next thing I know he is walking past me in the small silver car appearing to be looking for something...and then it dawned on me, he was looking for me....I was sitting in completely the wrong car!
I got out the car and he said "where have you been?" By now I cant talk for laughing and I just pointed at the other car and tried to say "ive been in that one".
he gets the jist and he then doubles up laughing...someone waiting to pull into our space as seen the whole thing and he is laughing at me.
Please bear in mind that this is the first time that I have ever met the photographer and am still getting to know him...perfect ice breaker dont you think??

2) I worked for a fairly large international company a couple of years ago and was attending an important meeting.
Ohhh I thought, I chance to look really good and professional.
An hour I spent getting ready, doing my hair, getting a face on, I thought I looked really good. I had recently found "lip inks", these are lipsticks which when applied stay put for about 8 hours.
So off I go, I walk Theo to nursery and then on to work....its a very windy day.
My hair is loose, I am wearing a wrap around skirt and because of the wind I am trying to keep hold of it all.
I get to work with about 10 minutes to spare before the meeting, so I went to the loo to "adjust" myself.
The wind and swept my hair across my lips and then wiped round my face, thus leaving the un-removable lip stick in neatlines across my face...shite
I try and wipe the stuff off, the wipes get more vigorous, and now I have red streaks across my face with red blotches...I looked like I had really bad excema...not a good look....please remember that this is on just one side of my face....I did look like a half made up clown and because this stuff stays on for 8 hours, well you can see why it was embarresing.

3) Wearing a short skirt (in my much slimmer days) I sat on the bus on the way home.
It came to my stop so up I got. I swung my rucksack over my shoulder and went on my way...about a mile walk from the stop to get I stopped to chat. I said my good byes and started to walk away....STOOOOPPP shouted my friend and ran up to me and started to try an wrestle my bag off my shoulder, confused and a bit miffed off, I asked why the hell was going on...she then informed me that I had caught my skirt in my bag and could see my bum (it had to be the day I wore a gee string)...I had walked the mile home flashing my bum for all to see.....


So you can see I am a bit of an ejit at times and cringe at some of those memories, well atleast I can smile and cringe, because if your gonna do it, do it in style.

So my question / thought for this entry is, what memory makes you cringe and have you ever told anyone about it?

Getting to know me a bit better

These are things that I really like doing in my spare time...its about as up to date as it can be and fairly honest.These are in no particular order.......

I am loving doing reviews for the paper that I am working for...I don't pay for the tickets and have a good night out!

New information...although sometimes (most of the time) it can pretty overwhelming!

knowing nothing and trying to get my brain to be a sponge.

as you have previously read I am homeworking till about 9 at night and after that I am really enjoying cuddling up with hubby on the couch

I love and cherish those moments that Theo is playing and I just watch him..he doesn't seem to be aware of anything else other than the toy he is playing with.

Interviewing people...so many varied characters, so many varied stories to hear, no one persons life story is the same as the next..wow

Strangely, some kids shows....theo is getting to a really interesting TV stage!!! If he's not here, I sometimes still watch the shows...horrible histories rocks!!

I find it really interesting watching how my life is evolving at such a fast pace and where this path could lead me.

Creating my own news articles and researching them

getting by lines (this is where you have your name next to an article)

As always, my family

As always, my friends...I'm not enjoying the lack of time that I have for them right now...apologies my lovelies

shorthand

the notes app that i have on my mobile, although my moleskin will always be my first choice and is my partner in crime!

addictive games on facebook

writing, writing, writing, reading

Me and music got lost for a while, but now we have found each other again

genuine love stories

auto biographies


things that I don't like or don't appreciate

rude people who couldn't give a toss how the speak to people or don't think before they speak

the colour brown..although I love trees

dog poo on the pavement

ejit drivers who just pull out in front of you or turn with no indication

lies from people who you think wouldn't

people who take the piss for the sake of it when it really isn't an appropriate time

immature people, grow up and act your age...again, time and place

when on public transport and people are talking just loud enough for them to let everyone know what their conversation is about...sorry don't know you, don't wanna know about your life...private conversation

the English language....swear words need not be used when there are soooo many other words to use...expressive?

alas, sorry, kind of guilty...I am one of those people that like gossip, celebrity...sigh, a darker side to my character...it pains me to admit!

every girl needs a pair of red shoes

I have been mentally busy recently, my days are just slipping by and I am struggling to remember what I did 2 days ago. This is not a good thing when each college lesson brings new information that I am supposed to be retaining...hmmmmmm

Good news is that I had a one to one with my tutor today and he said that I was doing really brilliantly and my projected shorthand score is 100 words per minute...you are basically un-employable as a journalist unless you have the magic 100!!...just wondering where they got that projection from but, but hey, who am I to complain!

A typical day for me right now is
7am up to the sound of "need a poo" - thanks Theo, I will sooo remind you of this when you are drunk at the age of 18 and are saying this again.

by 8.30am Up, coffee, Theo breakfasted, dressed, teeth brushed, both his and my lucnhes made, me dressed teeth brushed, comb dragged through my bed hair, some sort of make-up on, check bag make sure have all files and homework to be handed in out the door and into car.

8.50am will have dropped Theo off at school, no time to wait for the whistle to be blown to take him into school, have to dump him in the playground, feel like a crappy mother but lets face it, when I am there he pays me no attention as he is "hanging with his mates"

9.05am have arrived at college and will hopefully have found a decent enough parking space that I can get into.

9.10am in class, have got stuff out of bag...bugger, at this point I always need the loo

9.15am class starts...still haven't landed on planet earth yet.

4pm ish Out of college, drive home and walk down to school, if I didn't park and then go get him I will have had no exercise.

4.30pm cooking dinner

5.00pm Nathan home, eat dinner

From 5-7pm spend time with my son, reading, playing etc

7pm Nath takes Theo to bed, I start homework

9pmish finish homework, can now communicate with my husband

10pm have fallen asleep on the couch and have to be rudely wakened by husband trying to get me to move my ass upstairs and into bed (I can appreciate the kindness now but at the time I really really wanna tell him where to go)

10.30 am in bed and am asleep

so as you can see, every minute of my day now has a structure and is accounted for in some way.

I was soooo highly strung last week that I simply HAD to do something to relax me...ahhh the magic hands of Holly my beauty therapist...god bless facials.

After my facial I felt relaxed and ready to start all over again.

The facial got me thinking about feeling good about oneself as a woman.

Confidence SHOULD come from the inside but lets face it, sometimes us girls need a little extra pick me up.

If I am wearing new under ware, an outfit that I feel makes me look OK, my hair is doing what I wanted it to do and I have shoes that look nice but also don't kill my feet...this combination hardly ever happens all at the same time, this is the a pick me up...so what about one thing in the whole ensemble..RED SHOES.

Red shoes are fun, can be a little bit sexy and always make me feel smiley for the day. I catch them in my perferal vision as I walk and they are a reminder to myself that I am all woman, but with a wicked side too.

I also think that red shoes go with most outfits, you can play them down with jeans, wear them to the office, or dress them up to go out in..they should be girly, if sparkles on all the better (think Dorothy)...but most of all they should make you smile.

This is why I think every girl should own a pair of red shoes...for those times when your feeling stressed, they are a reminder to just chill...if your feeling a little down, red is a great pick me up colour, if your feeling confident, you can stride with pride my friends!!

Above is my latest pair of red shoes...in saying that red shoes go with everything, I may wait to wear these little numbers as I want to wear them with something that will show them off to perfection!!!

SO my question / thought for this entry is, when was the last time you wore a pair of red shoes....or what is your "pick me up" technique?

arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh

I have been at college now for nearly 2 weeks and already my head is swimming with writing do's and don't's, the Constitution, the monarchy, shorthand, web design.....as i said aarrrggghhhhh.

But i have to say I am loving it!!! My wrist is really aching today from all the notes that I have taken and there is to be no let up.

I honestly did not think there was soooo much law and public affairs that a journalist have to take into consideration.

I new that newspaper writing is a style all on its own, but there are more rules and regulations than you can shake a stick out...hmmm I think I will impart some knowledge...did you know that the media cannot name a rape victim for their entire life...all the other details are fair game as long as you don't write anything that can be seen as libel or contempt of court by publication and that we have some give in the libel issue because of a "special privilege" given to us by government...ha..get me!!

I can also write all manner of things in short hand like bum, sexy sexy, dick, mum, bum, shall is written with just one letter...oh good times.

So we do all the academic stuff and have a giggle doing it (apparently I ask really good intelligent questions...who new!!) and then for lunch someone has an Ipod with speakers and we all go to the grass area and sit around and have good quality conversation like Fritz and then the price of childcare, to the Beatles..all good with me.

We are such a diverse range of people that we simply just get along and are becoming friends but we are all slightly weird in our own little ways!! I would love to tell tales but I could be sued in a Civil case, which is heard by a jury and then they will get me to pay court fees and a fine laid down by the jury...bad times.

So with all my new knowledge where can I have a right good old English moan...ha fail you I won't....

I am beyond tired, when my alarm goes off in the morning I could swear that I have only been asleep for 5 minutes...I am reading and doing homework till about 8-9pm every night and yet still feel like I am being left behind, My wrist is really aching, notepads are going to cost me so much I may take out shares (have already been through one book), AND I feel like poo, I have the onset of a cold but there is no way that I can take any time off....we cover sooo much in one lesson that to miss one would be severe.

BUT EVEN WITH THE MOAN, I am still loving it. As I said, I really didn't appreciate how much journalist actually needed to know but by knowing gaining this new information I feel my eyes opening to all kinds of things and feel the power of knowledge beneath my wings!!

So my question / thought for this entry is...what was the ultimate piece of knowledge you ever had, do you remember who gave the information and is it something you use on a regular basis???

it's all gone a bit mental and rather sad

RIP Ruby blue, forever in our hearts, forever missed x x


My house, since Friday, has just gone mental. One of more poor feline babies got stung on his paw and was swollen to double its normal size! Straight down the vet who said that he had had an allergic reaction to what ever had stung him. An over night stay later and he was good to come home. Lots of fuss and lovin was made of him and I have to say he was loving it!!

Then on Sunday afternoon the poor thing came in looking, well, high is the only way I can describe it and breathing like he was on 40 fags a day...sooo distressed. We decided leaving taking him to the vets and Nath would do it in the morning.

So Sunday night came and I was very very nervous about starting college the next day. Stress before I even walked through the door of college. I am the worlds biggest wimp when it comes to parking my car, I just don't do it if I can get out of it. Theo's school is on a very narrow street where drop off time is crazy busy and then I had to get to college and park there and so be on my merry way....lost half a stone on sweat!!

Half way through the morning I get a call from nathan saying that there really wasn't anything they could do for my poor cat Ruby. he had been run over and all of his internal organs had been shunted upwards hence the breathing. Right, ok, be strong, get through the form filling at college and then break down.

We decided that we would have a little funeral for Ruby and I got a red rose bush to plant by the grave. You have to understand that Ruby was Theo's cat and I have to admit that I really didn't know how to tell the poor kid. nath came home early and we both picked him up from school and told him when we got back home. It was soooo sad, we all just sat there and wept for him.

Nath went to dig a hole in the garden and then Theo and I went out. Nath placed the cat in the hole, he just looked like he was curled up asleep...totally heart wrenching. We put a rose over him. Theo and I turned away while nath covered him, I thought that was one sight that theo really didn't need to see.

We said our good byes and that was that. We all came in and just sat and balled our eyes out....I never ever want an evening like that again.

The thing is though, He lived in our conservatory and every time I went out there he would stretch out and welcome me with the loudest purr I have ever heard. I find it hard to go out there now, and we still have 3 feed bowls as we can't get rid of the 3rd just yet.

So that's that side of things.

College is all I expected it to be. Yes I am the fattest girl and yes I am the oldest one there, but do you know what, I don't feel out of place as we have all rather quickly made friends and are all on the same path...I am really enjoying it!!
It's full on with heaps of homework (of which I am supposed to be doing right now). My favourite subject so far HAS to be shorthand!!!

Anyways...Hows your week been, any traumas????!!!!

first day of year one

When I decided to take the whole of the summer off with my son I did so with trepidation. How were we going to get on? Did we have enough to fill our time? would we drive each other crazy? could I handle having that much responsibility for all that time? At the end of the day, he's my son, my gold, the light of my life, and with all those questions, one feeling wiped them all out....excitement.
The last time I spent that much time with my 5 year old child was when he was born and I was on maternity leave with him...how crap is that?

We did have enough to fill our days, more than enough even. We seem to have done loads but not done anything!! We had a blast and it was like getting to know him all over again, of course I know him, but now we have this connection...its really hard to explain it!

All summer we have spend messing around and getting dirty and hanging out in shorts, so when a bit of a chill was nipping the air, I put him in jeans...what I want to know is who and when did someone put my son on a stretching machine????
All his trousers that fitted him in July now don't even rest on his ankles...serious shopping time. His feet have grown one and a half sizes...so off we went.

Well, what a laugh we had that day!!!! we spent a fortune on clothes, pants, socks, shoes, jumpers, t-shirts, shirts...you name it, we got it.
We got him a new "Ben 10 Alien force" drink bottle, lunch bag and sports kit bag, so he was one happy bunny.

So today is the day he went back to school to year one.

He has been up since silly O'clock advising Nathan and I of all the things that need to happen before he can go to school...I think the words uttered by us as we lay half asleep was "will that child never shut up" and "oh my lord, help me get through this morning without going mad", you know that sort of thing.
We gave in at about 6.45am, he then proceeded to tell me which new clothes he wanted to wear, what he wanted for lunch, to remind me to get some pumps for his gym bag, also to get a present for a friends birthday party, when is the party....all this was said without taking a breath and all whilst trying to eat breakfast...I didn't need to join the conversation, I couldn't because A) I hadn't landed on planet earth yet and B) It was moving whey to quick for me to respond.

We don't need to leave the house until 8.30, by 8.15 I had spoken just a few words...teeth, dressed, hang on a minute....took my time feeding the animals just for a bit of a break from wired child.

At 8.25 he was running through his checklist of all the stuff we needed to take...hmmpph I thought, and who's going to carry all this stuff?????

When he was in reception, we could drop him off in class, make sure he had someone and something to play with and could go on our merry way with the sound knowledge that he was happy and ok for the day ahead...I liked that, it made me feel at ease.

Today was a different story.
It hadn't even crossed my mind that us parents would not be allowed in the class, so when the whistle went and they marched the children into the school I became rather over-whelmed with it all, much more so than this time last year.

My baby, waved, smiled and off he went with his "mates". "see ya mummy, hope you have a great day", and was gone, just like that.

So here I am, sitting in my toy explosion of a house, all misty eyed and alone with no child to laugh with, no one to watch Harry Potter with and only myself to look after for the next week until I start college on Monday.

I was really looking forward to having this time to myself and now all I want is my son...sniff sniff...when did he get all grown up on me???? (I now have a tear in my eye)

he said this morning that he was a bit nervous but was also excited.

I am so very proud of my son, he is facing this new year with a smile and a skip in his step and whilst other children had a shock when mummy or daddy wouldn't be going into the class room, Theo held my hand gave it a bit of a squeeze and smiled and said "if I can, do you want me to draw you a picture today Mummy because I love you". I love him and already miss him.

All summer, every now and again, he would ask a question about having a new class and a new teacher and I would answer them with the truth. I new to a certain degree he was a bit nervous, but didn't know really what about. So the other day we were playing and I just chatted with him about things and he asked some more questions and asked me if I was going to be alright without him, which I took as is he going to be ok without me, So I answered in a way which was indirectly aimed at him. I think by this point he had had enough of Mummy and wanted to see all his friends again, we had seem them over the summer but they are school friends.

My thought / question for this entry is how have your children handled the new school year and if you don't have any, do you remember how you coped???

I am a very proud Mummy

My son has a fear...of going under water.

From when he was born he loved going in the bath, adored it and he used to shake with excitement when I took him for his bath. However, should i even get close to washing his hair he would have the biggest fit ever.
Even now at the age of nearly 6 I have to hold his head up so that he doesn't feel afraid of getting water in his face.

Earlier on in the summer holidays I booked him in for swimming lessons hoping that this would help gain confidence in the water. He loves swimming and he finds splashing Mummy highly amusing, but should I attempt to splash him he will go mad at me.

The swimming teacher had the children jumping into the water, he wouldn't do it....he was great in the fact that he would do all the other stuff and he came on leaps and bounds with his swimming but still wouldn't get his face or head wet.

Yesterday was a rather boring day so we decided to go swimming, and walk there...its a long way, but its what he wanted to do, so off we went. Along the way he said he was going to go under water...I know its sounds crappy but I really didn't believe him.

So we got there and we were having a nice time messing about and stuff and I gently reminded him that he said he was going to dunk his head. He gave me a look that was pure challenging!!! he slowly got lower and lower in the water until his eyes were covered and jumped up shouting "I did it i did it"...well done said I the encouraging mother that I try to be, and then I just said "but the top of your head is still dry", off he went again, after about 5 times he went fully under...I was nearly crying with pride!!!

What made this even more special was the swimming teacher was there on the side and Theo only noticed her after he had fully submerged!!!

Well that was that, I hardly saw him above the water the whole time we were there!!

What was a bit disappointing though was Nathan wasn't there for that magical moment, but we are going to go swimming tomorrow afternoon so he can see.

I know to some parents, the thought of their child going under water is an every swimming day experience and to others it may fill them with dread, but me...I'm proud of this because it means my son is moving on and won't retain this fear into later life and that to me is worth everything.

So my question / thought for this entry is...how has your child (or other family member) made you proud this week???