Where it all began…..

Evening all.

No song lyric title tonight (well it is, but it’s Take That and I just don’t wanna go there!).

Today has been a big day, today Big M turned 4. She assures me she’s taller and she was asleep before her head hit the pillow which are both signs of a well enjoyed day. In fact were I not here typing this I would also be asleep but I have too many things I will forget if I don’t write now. As any busy mum will tell you, if you don’t seize the moment there is a high chance the thing you wanted to say or do will never happen!

So yes Big M turns 4. It struck me this morning that she was the reason this blog came to pass in the first place. I started it as a space for me to verbalise how bloody shit scared I was about having kids under the guise of a funny-look at me passing the time-style blog. Yet somehow we are now fours years and a baby sister down the line and the blog has continued (alright pretty sporadically but hey I’ve been busy) so anyway I thought I should mark the occasion with a post.

This morning was a bit different in that ever since I’ve been running regularly Big M has been hounding me to come with. Whilst I am thrilled at the prospect of inspiring and motivating her, from a totally selfish standpoint I am not so thrilled at having to piggy back her round the course and still coming last (which has actually happened). So we have been waiting until today, when she was officially old enough, to give junior parkrun a try.

After a few weeks of instilling the mantra “what does parkrun mean? No carries!” she was super excited this morning when she opened up her pressies and found a bag full of running goodies. I’m not gonna lie I had a bit of kit envy to be fair and once she was ready to go she really did look the part.

Now many a time in my life I have been likened to a duck, all calm and serene on top whilst paddling like fuck below the surface and today was no different. No one tells you that when you have littles you now not only get nerves for yourself you get it for them as well. Super! And how do I deal with those nerves? I plan… and prepare…..like a ninja. Therefore whilst smiling, and chivvying, and bigging up the running we managed to effortlessly sail out the door in good time. And when I say good time I mean we were 45 minutes early. The OH was not impressed, especially when I insisted we drive laps of the park but not actually stopping too near because we obviously didnt want to be seen to be too keen. Quite why I was nervous Im not sure, I run parkrun regularly and its fine. I think its just when I look and see this tiny face full of anticipation and excitement I don’t want anything bad to happen. I didnt want her to fall, I didnt want her change her mind and never do it again and most of all I didnt want her to be bothered about coming last…which was a very real possibility and which in fact did happen.

But do you know what, as is always the way with anxiety, the reality was so much better than the worry. She loved it! Ran some, walked some, told everyone who would listen that it was her birthday, decided 20 metres in she wanted to go home, changed her mind, wanted mum, wanted dad and then even pulled out a sprint finish past all the supporters to raptuous applause. What a little hero. Our little hero. I could not have been prouder. It was also so refreshing that due I guess to her age, coming last was not even on her radar. As far as she was concerned she had done it and that was the goal of the day. What a brilliant outlook and definately one I need to adopt more. I think as we get older the pressures put upon us to always achieve, always strive to win, be the best etc sometimes get in the way of just doing things. For fun, just because.

Anyway post run we headed for swimming at a pool with slides (family tradition) where it turns out little M is fearless to a worrying degree. Had I let her she would have flung herself down the biggest shoot without a second hesitation. Today however she had to settle for sitting on my lap, arms in the air “scream if you wanna go faster” style. At one point I saw her confidently striding down the pool towards the OH not a care in the world until she was completely submerged. It was only then that the realisation kicked in she can’t actually swim yet. Good save OH!

Post swim we were ready to eat, like seriously eat. However so was every other Tom, Dick and Harry in Bath so we found out, having to visit 7 Italians before we could get a table. First world probleems right?! Who knew pasta was the order of the day on a Sunday?! Anyhoo in true kid fashion the girls covered themselves in sauce and tolerated their lunch until the ice cream was produced.

I on the other hand got stuck into the Prosecco, hell I’m celebrating too. With the help of the OH we have managed to get us all to this point in one piece. One functioning (barely at times ha ha!) walking, talking, on the way to being well formed family. How in the world did we do it? In my head I’m still a kid myself and I’m sure the OH would agree. Yet still we have managed to blag our way into the parenthood club and somehow we seem to have been able to keep our membership. Well done us.

Anyway all is quiet in the house now and I am gonna hit the hay. Having swapped my days at work I am still reeling at having to be anywhere pre 9am on a Monday. All thats left to do is come up with a plausible explanation as to why Big M’s wish to have her birthday everyday has not come true. You see, always blagging.

Much love and speak soon,

Lxoxo

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I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring

Evening all.

Apologies for the hugely cliched quote tonight but it is hugely relevant!

I never really appreciated Bowie before yesterday. Yes I knew who he was and yes I could belt out “ground control to Major Tom” with the best of them but exactly how influencial he was on the music choices I have made my whole life I had no idea.

Growing up with two music loving parents, music has been one of the only constants in my life since day one. It has been the only thing that hasn’t let me down….ever. As soon as I became old enough to make my own selections after being fed a diet of Dire Straits, Meatloaf, Fleetwood Mac and Emmylou Harris (eclectic I know!) I gravitated towards bands with an air of the melancholy about them. Placebo, Nirvana, The Pixies, Joy Division and thats to name but a few. All of them have accompanied me through the minefield we call life. Placebo and Nirvana seeing me through my teenage angst, The Pixies and Joy Division through the various heartaches of my twenties. For every moment their has been a song, and many of them have had a reflection of Bowie in them somewhere.

And yesterday was no exception. When I put the radio on to amuse the girls through their breakfast routine and heard the news, closely followed by Heroes, I felt instantly sad. Like I remember that I was propping up the bar at the cider bus at Glastonbury when Michael Jackson died, I will always remember I was stood making a coffee at some ungodly hour when I heard about Bowie.  It may be just me, but with every musical icon that passes it feels like the loss of a long lost friend. Someone you knew long ago but haven’t heard from in forever. Yesterday I felt sad that my girls would never get excited about his music and worried that they never would about anyone with any substance (I’m sorry but 1D just do not cut it!). However then the best thing happened. Big M asked me who was playing and I told her who it was and that he had gone to live with the angels just like grandad James. Once we had overcome the slight confusion and cleared up that grandad James was not in fact David Bowie she was keen to hear more and before I knew it Big M and PD were rocking out in the living room to all the classics. I could not have been happier.

Although the pickings are slim at the moment they come from good stock (we’ll ignore Dad’s love of James Blunt and Damien Rice) and can tell a gret song when they hear one. It makes me super happy that they, like me, will have a song to accompany all of their adventures through life. Already Big M will rush to get me when she hears one of our “favourite songs” that we hear on our many car journeys and PD never fails to raise a smile when she demands “Hello from the otherside!”

Anyway coming back to the title of this post. I also have no idea where I am going. I spend all of my life it feels, winging it. My sister once likened me to a duck. Calm and serene on top and paddling like fuck underneath! I have never had a plan. Goals yes, but a plan no. It is equally both terrifying and energising at the same time. It means that my life is always an adventure and I am for the most part always motivated to see what is coming next however it raises my anxiety no end if I think about exactly how little control I have over it all. I used to be obsessed with having a plan but over the years have made peace with the fact that it’s just not me and what will be will be. I just hope that I can teach the girls in turn that being at peace with whoever they are and whatever they do is ok too. I would hate for them to grow up with the issues I did. Luckily they have the benefit of having the OH as well. He is much more together about things than I will ever be (thank goodness).

Anyhoo a little bit of a philosophical post for tonight, I promise I’ll be back on form with the next one.

In other news I failed at Dryanuary on day 8 ( have had 2 glasses of white this evening which may explain the post!), PD has yet another ear infection and I have nothing to wear to work tomorrow.

I better go and get my life in order, but before I do I’ll part with this….”Lets dance, put on your red shoes and dance the blues”. I’m pretty sure thats what he would have wanted.

Speak soon,

L xoxo

Back to life, back to reality…

Urgh! It’s back to work day tomorrow. Not for me (and even if it was I definately wouldn’t be saying urgh, because my job is ace!) but for the OH.

For the first time in years he’s had 12 whole days off and it has been bloody amazing. Just having someone around so you can sneak an extra hour in bed or pop to the shop without a merry band of usually angry followers. The kids have loved having him home and I have loved having a bit more freedom. Hats off to all you single parents out there, it is no easy job and I only have a few hours a day to get through. Also we all know how I manage that…not having my obligatory glass of vino the minute the OH walks through the door is going to be a challenge and a half tomorrow.

Tomorrow was looking pretty baron up until about half an hour ago when my lovely friend got in touch to make a date. I’m sick to the back teeth of softplays though, as are the kids, so I’m thinking maybe bowling. I’m hugely bad at it so I think even PD is in with a chance of beating my score. The fab news is that the OH doesn’t get to come on this trip either. He is a closet bowling geek and after a few failed attempts at trying to teach me to be even remotely mediocre he suggested we not go anymore as its no fun to have no competition…cheers then!

Beyond bowling the day is looking quiet and wet which is depressing. As is usually the case in a day in the life of a four year old I’m sure big M will come up with something super fun (think repetitive) for us to do. Her current favourite hobby is to ask me to close my eyes 800 times a day and then to act super surprised with any random toy / christmas decoration she presents me with. I got so bored of it the other day I suggested she play it with PD instead to which she replied no because she doesn’t “get-it”. Neither do I but I haven’t the heart to tell her.

Oh yeah I’ve also gotta take the bloody tree down tomorrow. As I’m sure is the case in most households across the UK, in the run up to Christmas I love my tree with all my heart. Primping and preening it daily and even some years giving it a name. Then the minute January comes it becomes this big spiky nuisance taking up my whole living room, that I just want gone. I know right…1st world problems. On a serious note though, the council aren’t coming to do a tree collection until the 13th Jan. What am I meant to do with it until then? All I’ll have left is a stick in a stand. Plus I’m pretty sure it’s bad luck.

Anyhoo moving on have realised I am now officially going on holiday THIS YEAR so need to get my ass in gear getting “strong”. Hell who am I kidding, I need to lose some weight and quick otherwise I’m not going. Now I have eaten everything nice in the house this shouldn’t be too hard, in all honesty if I have to eat another mince pie I might cry. I’ve worked out I can get where I want to be in 16 weeks so watch this space.

So there we have it. So far this year I have 16 weeks to lose weight, 12 events in 12 months and 28 days left of no drinking….hands up who thinks this is a recipe for disaster?

Oh yeah and in case the month ahead didn’t look bleak enough I’ve just discovered household J has head lice…again…FML. Don’t worry anyone planning to see me in the next few days with their littles, we are all treated but really if we could stop getting them sometime soon that would be fantastic.

Wow look at me all little Miss Sunshine tonight…apologies. Lack of running is making me grumpy, hopefully I can get out at some point tomorrow for a little trot to blow the cobwebs out.

I did at least manage another song lyric title. Soul II Soul as well, released in 1989 if any of you were wondering. I’m sure it’s probably only me that wonders these things but thought I would share the love nonetheless.

Happy Sunday everyone,

Speak soon,

Lx0x0

Who Runs the world? Girls!

Wowzers, look at this, January 2nd and another blog post…can you tell I am fully in the swing of New Year?!

So lets start with the Beyonce lyrics title. This is not going to be a recurring theme (I’m not that clever!). It just so happens that this song has been stuck in my head all day whilst helping my mum move house (more of that later) with not a boy shape to be seen. Unless you count the man with a van, but he even said the rain was making his make up run, so he can join the girl club too.

So where to begin. Yesterday I attempted to fill you in on two years in one post (yeah sorry about that) so today I thought I’d catch up a little more and then crack on with 2016!!

So in the past two years as with everyone, a shit load of things happened. Whoever tells you that having two kids is double the work is lying, its more. Loads more. Every task seems to take an hour minimum. Be that getting us all up and out of the house on time or brushing our teeth. By our I mean me and the littles, the OH has mastered this all by himself now! Also I seem to be perpetually busy without ever completing anything. The house is always messy, the ironing pile always overspilling and the dishwasher on repeat. However now I wouldn’t have it any other way. The kids have turned my life upside down but in the most beautiful way imaginable. I used to watch big M in wonder on a daily basis and now she has PD to hang out with I could quite easily sit and watch them all day…if only everything else could take care of itself. Knowing I am playing a part in this fantastic story that is their life is amazing to me…and also a source of massive anxiety.

As I mentioned yesterday I am a lot better than I was when I left you in 2013 anxiety wise but that doesn’t mean it isn’t with me daily. In fact it helped me a lot, to realise that actually I wasn’t in therapy to beat it but instead to learn how to live happily with it. I worry all the time about the future and the what-ifs in the world. Note to self don’t read the bloody news if you want to improve this. If only I could take my own advice! I have cut back dramatically but still have a long way to go.

I think having kids increases this worry as well. Lots of my mama friends agree and perhaps this is just what happens when you have them. No one wants anything bad to happen to their favourite people do they?

Anyhoo lets no dwell. 2014 also bought with it a marriage and it was only bloody mine…well ours! We finally got very drunk on rum one evening (I really must get some some stories that don’t begin with I was really drunk!!) and decided we should just go for it. No bells or whistles, just us and our nearest and dearest down the registry office six weeks later. An organiser by trade I tasked the OH with sorting a suit and turning up and then busied myself with the finer details! Was it how I had always planned my wedding day to look? No. But it was ours and it was fab. We got the formal bit out of the way and then had a bloody good knees up. So there we go, 5 years in the making and I was a George no more.

2015 bought many things, it was a bloody tough year to be fair with many ups and downs but I survived. It also bought with it a new job. I now work for This Mum Runs (www.thismumruns.co.uk). Founded by a massively passionate lady who now I am lucky to call a great friend of mine we have over 1500 mamas running all across the UK. With the new job has come a load of new buddies and as I mentioned yesterday a renewed love of fitness. 2016 is my year of getting strong and I started it off well today by eating loads of shortbread. Basically I am eating all the shit in the house to make way for my healthier lifestyle ha ha! Seriously though I have set myself a challenge of doing 12 events in 12 months this year starting with a mud run on the 31st followed by an endurance 10k on 6th Feb. Of the 10k my boss said it was one of the most challenging runs she has done, which is obviously why I signed up. I mean if she (the lady who has been running since 9 and got a hugely respectable top 5 place at parkrun) can do it then why cant I (the lady who is 3 stone overweight, only been running a year and with a slightly reluctant back)? The truth is I know I’ll do it. I’m too stubborn and competitive not to. Even if I have to crawl, which may actually be the case!

Anyway I’ll keep you posted on the event progress as the year goes on.

Moving up to the present and today was moving day for my mum…again. Seriously for an older lady she sure does like to move around. The only person who can beat her at this is my best mate who likes to move every 6 months if possible!

Luckily today was just a small move 15 mins down the road, the only spanner in the works being my mum doesn’t drive so needed me, my big sis and our cars in order to get the job done. Being amazing my neice offered to help as well. Immediately regretting it when her alarm went off at 8am this morning I’m sure.

Upon arrival at mums it was clear the job would take a while, there was lots still to be packed and mum was in the midst of the chaos listening to Bob Dylan (great choice ma!) and generally stressing. No bother thought I, I have my neice in tow so we can just crack on loading up and leave her to it. That was until my neice got sick….really sick. Not hospitalisation sick, just puking outside the doorway of Dunelm Mill kind of sick but still horrendous for her, poor thing. Credit to her she battled through to help us out but come 5pm looked just about ready to keel over. As I mentioned above my big sis also came along to help, and after numerous car journeys to and fro set about specialising in all things technical, and by that I mean setting up mums TV. A job that should be simple but on this occasion took 5 females, 3 tv’s, 2 scarts and an unnecessary trip to Tesco for a cable to actually achieve!! Hey ho we got there in the end and Ma is happy in her new abode.

Finally here is something funny for you. I have decided to cut out booze for January. I know you can stop laughing now. In all honesty I’ll be surprised if I last until the end of the weekend but like a challenge and thought why not. So far the OH has been my biggest supporter and has only offered me Prosecco. Why I thought this was a good idea two days after taking delivery of a large crate of wine I’ll never know. If he has drank it all by Feb I am going to go bloody mad! Anyway wish me luck…all I need to do now is find a replacement activity for hiding in the fridge at 4pm!

Speak soon,

L xoxo

P.S So pleased with the amount of views my post got yesterday, who knew people enjoyed reading my ramblings, you are a lovely lot! x

It’s been a long time, I shouldn’t have left you…

I’m back!!! Said in a slightly crazy, super excited kind of way. Please excuse the 90’s Aaliyah lyrics for todays title as well but I am pretty delirious to be back blogging again.

Okay so it’s January 1st 2016 and this is my first post in over two years!! I have absolutely no idea where this is going to go or if I will even keep at it, but for the time being lets give it a go and see how long I can do. I am definately not going to be blogging daily a la pre baby number one but I will try for a couple of times a week, hell it might even be three if life gets super crazy.

So what’s been going on?

Well last time I wrote I was just leaving work in anticipation of baby number 2’s arrival. I had finished a life changing course of CBT and was generally at a pretty good if slightly hectic point in my life.

Since then Poodle Doodle (PD as we’ll call her from now on) arrived (slightly tardy at 6 days late) in a fantastic, quick, easy water birth in a paddling pool in our playroom. The OH was brilliant at his very important job of temperature control and my darling big sis was once again fantastic at reassuring me that I could in fact do this (not that I needed it so much second time around, I knew what was coming and jesus, surely nothing could be as bad as first time round!). PD is beautiful, feisty, clever, stubborn, confident and everything you could ever wish for in a child. Again we have been truly blessed and how I lucked out to be the mum of not one but two amazing little girls blows my mind on a daily basis.

PD turns 2 in Feb meaning big M is now nearly 4!! How the bloody hell did that happen?! I never used to believe that you could be like your parents, after a lifetime of being told how much like my father I am, but seriously that little lady is a carbon copy of me. In every way. Some days this is amazing and some days this drives me to drink wine from the bottle at 4pm whilst hiding in the fridge. I wouldn’t change it for the world but man have I got some adapting to do if I don’t want to pull all my hair out by the time I’m forty.

Oh yeah, speaking of age, I turned 30 as well. It took me ages to get my head round being an adult in the equation of my life and even now when my kids look to me for answers I have to pause and remind myself that yes, I am in fact a grown up. As much as the Laura you meet at any festival from May to September will beg to differ.

With turning 30 did come some changes though. Prone to reflection as I am, I took stock of where I was in life and decided it wasn’t where I wanted to be. Having worked in a career I was okay at but never truly loved I decided that no more was I to do things I didn’t have a genuine passion for. Not always easy when you are skint, and I’ve had to be flexible about it. But for the most part I’ve stuck to it and from it has come good if not great things.

I have also taken up running and would you believe it, I actually rather like it. Scrap that I bloody love it. So proved by the fact that despite a recurring back injury I took myself out today on my Physio’s orders and did three laps of a football field in the pouring rain and wind. Big M tagged along for one lap until she realised sitting on dads lap and pretending to drive the car was much more fun and much less wet. It wasn’t fast, it wasn’t pretty and I instantly regretted eating everything I laid eyes on for the month of December but I did it none the less and feel much better for it.

Last time we spoke I had just finished a rather fantastic course of CBT and I am proud to say that I have only had one slight relapse since then which I managed to handle without a revisit. Don’t get me wrong there have been many a panic attack thats had me reaching for the Valium (not least because it makes you feel all lovely and floaty!) but somehow using the tools my therapist gave me I have managed to get through on my own. I still worry about irrational fears daily but am so much better at letting them wash over me and not control me anymore. In my sessions we talked about them being like clouds in the sky, there to see but not to pay too much attention to and for some reason it resonated with me. Maybe because I like to spend a lot of time looking at the sky daydreaming, who knows, but it works for me.

Anyhoo I’m aware that we aren’t going to catch up on two years worth of life in one post and most of you are probably asleep by now so long is this post so I’ll leave it there. However what with it being New Year and all that I really am hoping to keep up with the writing again, I love it and have a tiny amount of time in the evenings these days so I may just be able to manage it. Watch this space….oh and Happy New Year!

Speak soon

L xoxo

Fretting, football, CBT and cake!

Hello everyone,

Well well, so here we are, I am in my final week at work. Despite little M mark II not putting in an appearance until early Feb (if not before as I am fully anticipating) my contract is coming to an end and thus I am due to be a lady of leisure for a couple of months. Who am I kidding, in those months we have a house move and Christmas to contend with so knowing me my time off will be anything but leisurely.

I’m not complaining though because as we all know I have a near inability to relax so the thought of weeks and weeks with nothing to do was becoming quite daunting. I will however on my first day off be resigning myself to the sofa armed with magazines and chick flicks on the strict orders of my big sis and don’t tell her I said so but I can’t bloody wait!! (Feel free to send me film suggestions as I don’t think my brain can handle another Bridget Jones Diary marathon!). After that though it will no doubt be much prepping and sorting for the move. Oh and perhaps some sleeping.

Little M is going in to a toddler bed this weekend you see,  long in advance of the arrival of her little sister, in the hope that if we do it sooner rather than later any disruptions coming our way will be a distant memory before D-day. I am fully expecting some turbulence however so will make the most of my days off to catch up on any of the sleep all you normal people get at night! Credit to her she tends to always surprise me with these things so you never know she may make the transition nice and easy but if advice from all my mummy friends is anything to go on it won’t be plain sailing.

I’ll no doubt let you know how we get on in the weeks to come.

Last weekend was absolutely fabulous.

Saturday was spent hanging out with a lovely mummy friend and her gorgeous daughter who also happens to be little M’s BFF. Much cake was eaten and the world was put thoroughly to rights. The OH was also in attendance but after elevenses he headed for football. Singing the Peppa Pig theme tune all the way….ah the joys parenthood. I can only imagine the flack he got for this in the changing room.

Sunday was NFL day. We have had our tickets booked for this for quite some time and as is my nature as a long term anxiety sufferer I had been stressing about it for a fair while. Not the usual where will we park and do I need a coat kind of stressing, no no. More along the lines of what if something truly awful happens and little M is left an orphan. When I was sufficiently happy that I had scared myself silly with this thought I added to the mix what if the storm predicted to hit got completely out of control rendering us stranded and leaving little M living with Nanny and Grandad for the foreseeable future. Yep that’s how my head works.

 Anyway Sunday morning was spent packing blankets, snacks and a wind up torch into the car….just in case and much to the amusement of the OH and his best mate. I then spent a large length of time making sure that Nanny and Grandad were well briefed on the location of candles and tinned supplies should the storm hit before we were back….that evening. Candles was no problem as I have hundreds and they are all across the house so you don’t have to go far to find one. The extent of our canned produce however was not so abundant and I’m not if they would have been too keen on the idea of a Fray Bentos pie and tinned peaches for their dinner. I had baked a pumpkin pie during my NFL fever thought so if all else had failed they could have eaten that!

Needless to say nothing horrendous happened and the storm barely left a scratch….hooray. So pleased I worried so much about it.

In fact when I got there I even managed to enjoy myself. The OH kindly splashed out on a new jersey and hat for me and as I was driving kept me well stocked with snacks so I was a happy lady. I feel I may have gone overboard on the merchandise though as combine the above with a giant blue foam finger and a flag and I looked a little like a Chicago Bear had thrown up on me. Oh well I most definitely wasn’t the only one and kudos to the group of men dressed as actual Jaguars complete with animal print onsies.

I find the game a little confusing if I’m honest but with drummers, cheerleaders and Neyo as the pregame show what was not to like?! Plus with each game I watch I understand more so before I know it I may actually be brave enough to comment on some in game action and get it right!

Again I am aware this post is getting long so I’ll round up now. Yesterday was my last CBT session and I am so pleased to say that I think I may finally have put to bed some anxiety issues I have had since I was a child. Don’t get me wrong I am by no means anxiety free (see ridiculous worrying above) but it is not as all-consuming as it has been at times over this past year.

To anyone suffering by themselves (and believe me it is more than you think) all I can say is keep battling, never give in and before you know it the sun will shine again, I am the proof.

Have a fab rest of week and I’ll catch up again soon.

Much Love

L xoxo

Face cream and Football

Hello again,

Apologies for the silence but have been super busy at work and as am currently dealing with the US have been spending many evenings working from home leaving me little time or inclination to blog.

The past week or so has been relatively uneventful to be honest. I have been desperately trying to take people’s advice of slowing down a bit so the OH and I have had a couple of low key weekends and believe it or not I feel better for it. Who knew?

So whilst I have had all of this resting time I have inevitably had lots of time to ponder as well, namely about turning 30. Nothing too heavy though, no no, just about whether now was the time to start a serious skin care regime in order to fight of the dreaded wrinkles. In all honesty having done two years of little sleep and with at least two more ahead of me I feel like I may be fighting a losing battle. None the less I love beauty products and I love shopping so last week I waddled into town to see what I could find.

A few weeks back upon receiving a facial during a spa day for a friend’s birthday I was informed that all of my current products were in fact wrong. What I really needed to purchase were their overpriced natural organic ones which I could leave with that instant. Obviously being a modern woman with a sensible head on my shoulders I did what all self-respecting twenty somethings would do and said no thank you, pledging to shop around for a cheaper alternative another time.

Who am I kidding, I just got really over excited and shelled out £45 for a tiny tub of exfoliator that I am praying will last me at least a year so the OH won’t die of heart failure.

I did however resist the urge to buy the rest of the range (see how sensible I am!) so my search on the high street centred on finding a moisturiser. With the beauticians words of keeping things natural ringing in my ears I headed for Lush. And without the OH in tow I was able to shop in peace without a grown man beside me making heaving / cat choking on hairball sounds every five minutes. I’m sure all you ladies out there can relate, the shop seems to have the power to repel men just by its scent.

After a good half an hour of being massaged and having numerous natural ingredients reeled off to me, I left the shop armed with something called Skindrink which is loaded with Portobello Mushrooms. That’s right ladies; mushrooms are the next big thing….so they tell me.

Anyhoo after a week of using these wonder items both expensive and not so I asked the OH if he could tell the difference and without a seconds hesitation he said yes. I was elated, hoorah, no more looking old for me. Until he swiftly followed it up with the fact that he never thought I had wrinkles in the first place! Oh well at least I should be thankful that perhaps it’s only me that can see time taking its toll. Nonetheless I am going to persevere as if nothing else it all smells yummy and encourages me to take my make up off every evening meaning no more waking up looking like a drunken panda!

Suddenly I am aware that this entire post has been about face cream so moving on.

In other news, finally it looks as if things are moving with our house sale so there is hope for us yet. However if I end up moving on Christmas Eve can no one please say I told you so.

Still no word on wedding prep although the OH assurres me he has put the call in. The ball is still very much in his court.

Little M is still fab and growing every day, literally. I’m pretty sure she’s at least an inch taller since last time I wrote. I won her a Minion (think Despicable Me) teddy this weekend which seems to have helped us overcome her loathing of the buggy which is fab. So long as “minmum” as she affectionately calls him is in the buggy too then she is happy to be there.

Little M mark 2 is also fab and doing exactly as she should be. Namely kicking me in the ribs/bladder/kidneys at any opportunity. I pretend it’s annoying but I love it really, it’s nice and reassuring to know she is happy in there.

Lastly the OH, his best mate and I are off to the NFL at Wembley this weekend and I must admit I am rather excited. Not that I understand a bloody thing that is going on but it’s a fun day out and if the OH can get me a giant foam hand I may be the happiest girl in the stadium! Worry not there will be no twerking a la Miley (bless her) but at least it makes me feel involved. Bump is now too big for my Chicago Bears T-shirt so a giant foam hand is obviously the next best thing!

Will write again next week

L xoxo