littlelaughalot
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Old table....new table!It's been a really nice day. Janey stayed over last night, and in the morning Roscoe came over to join us as we all headed out for the day. Next Saturday night a bunch of us are going to a murder mystery night at a friends house. My character is to come wearing a Sari, and a while ago when we were in The Salvation Army charity shop in Byres Road, we saw a rail of beautiful Sari's....so I thought that I would have nothing better to do than to go there and pick one up! Unfortunately it didn't work out so well because there were none to be seen. Aaaahhhh! Don't know what I am going to do now! Anyway...it wasn't a total disaster because while looking around the shop I saw a beautiful coffee table which I have seen in other shops priced around the £100 - £150 price range, and it would just have went perfectly in my living room. There was nothing wrong with it...it was in mint condition. So I asked how much it was expecting around the £60 mark...and the lady said £20! WHAT!! I couldn't believe it. I love, love, love a bargain. So we are now the proud owner of a gorgeous chunky dark wooden coffee table.
Before we came across this great find, we had been to the Kelvingrove Museum which was good fun. Later after Thomas and Roscoe had carried the table back to the car,we went to Beanscene and spent a couple of hours just sipping tea and coffee, and just relaxing which was great. Check out the headphonaught's flickr photos of our day!
Friday, January 19, 2007
Bus spotting?Saw the strangest thing today. A man sitting on the island of a roundabout. I mean this guy didn't just find himself on the island trying to cross over and decided to take a rest.....he had a bag that looked like he had a flask and some lunch in it...one of these fold out seats and a camera in his hand. He was franticly looking around him at all the traffic coming from different directions. It was the most bizarre thing, and it obviously wasn't just me that thought that....all the drivers were staring and the passers by just stopped in their tracks and some were taking photos. I was mad because I had left my phone on charge in the house because you just had to have seen it! There was a bit of traffic leading up to the roundabout so I was able to just watch him for a while. He was just oblivious to what everyone thought was a crazy thing to do...he was content and didn't seem to notice. He was so into whatever he was doing. So maybe you can help me..I think he had a pad of paper on his lap as well....is there such a thing as bus spotting? The roundabout he was sitting on was just before the one way system at Motherwell and a lot of buses pass that way. So is there really such a thing?
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Two peas in a pod!
Thomas brought work home and came downstairs at 10.30pm and fell asleep on the couch. On the other chair..there lay Pippin.....obviously today was a tiring day for her. Was just sitting watching the both of them lying almost mirror image to one another..and I just smiled and had to get the camera out.
Have been busy these last few days with my cards. One lady had asked me to make quite a few cards for some birthdays coming up. On Wednesday she asked if I could make another one for her daughter to give to her daughter for her 16th. She said that she was really into Scottish Dancing and if I could make something along that kind of line then that would be great. PANIC!!
I hadn't done anything like a highland dancing card before....and I wasn't sure how to go about it. I didn't want it to look tacky. I found a nice image that I felt I could use, and although I am not really into the whole decoupage thing...for this particular card I think it was necessary...to help make it more 3d and more interesting rather than just a flat image. Hope they like it!
So I finished that card this morning, and then I had to get ready as I had been asked to sing at Shettleston Methodist Church. The folks there have a short service on a Thursday between 1.30and 2.30 and so I said that that would be no problem as it would give me plenty of time to get the girls from school. I sang three songs, and although there were only about a dozen folks due to sickness and flu etc, they were really appreciative. I love being able to do this kind of thing, and being available during the day enables me to be able to go and help if I can. I really love the fact that I can be at home for the girls but still being active for God whenever I can. I would miss out on these opportunities if I was out at work. It may not always work out that way for me, but while I can, I will.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Colon plaque
This my friends is colon plaque.....yes indeed,...colon plaque. No matter how regular you are on the loo or how healthy you think you are in that department, we all have it. Through the years, our colon gets coated with this mucoid plaque which harbours toxins and other harmful things for our bodies and our health.I've always been quite intrigued about the colon irrigation business...(does that make me weird!), but it's just that we make such an effort to clean our outside...I think it would be really great to feel cleaned and purified inside. I always thought you had to go somewhere and pay a horrendous amount of money to get this done....but after watching "Spa of embarrassing illnesses" (10pm UK Style), I've learned that you can but these enema's to clear out your bowels and strip this plaque from your colon in the comfort of your own home....Wahey!
By doing this it clear the toxins away, and overall combined with a healthy diet will make you feel so much better. Apparently, headaches, lethargy, and overall ill health can all be caused by these toxins.
So if you have managed to get to the end of this blog without being sick or pretty much disgusted then check it out..... this may be just what you need [link]
Believe it or not this is a coffee enema, and unfortunately, you can't get this blend in Starbucks. To read more about this just go to this [link]This may indeed win the prize for the weirdist and most sick blog, but hey what can I say....I'm interested in things like that. Does that make me sick?,....yeah, well maybe!
I've been watching quite a few health programmes lately one of them being "spa of embarrassing illnesses". I love watching all of those kind of things. The one downside to watching these programmes though is that I have been starting to feel pretty guilty about the amount of junk I eat. I absolutely love chocolate, and sweeties and crisps, and I am always looking for something to have with my cup of tea.
With Thomas trying to lose weight as well as having problems with the whole tummy thing, I thought that I would get loads of fruit and veg and think of healthy options for dinners and snacks. I have bought a variety of fruit and have made some fruit salad, which I intend to keep making every couple of days. I've also bought houmous (Thomas loves it!), wholemeal pitta bread, wheatcrisp cracker things that look really good for you, and crackerbread etc....to help with snacking and lunches for Thomas. Baby spinach with some rocket, organic cherry tomatoes and some feta cheese and cucumber drizzled with Carotino Oil (which is really good for you) will make a lovely salad along with dinner or as a lunch.
I'm going to make tomato rice soup, and try to do as much as I can to encourage the two girls to join in to with the new change. Even if we don't manage to change our diets completely, I am pretty confident that we will still see and feel a difference by just changing some things. I got Dayna and Miriam to help me make the fruit salad, to encourage them to eat it later. Dayna will no probs...but Miriam needs more coaxing....but it obviously worked because she was nibbling on everything as we were making it.
I'm really proud of Thomas who has been exercising on the rowing machine each morning before he goes to work and I'm hoping to join him with some other forms of exercise and some yoga, which Thomas used to do....so he'll enjoy that.
So, we are going to give it a shot..and I'll let you know how we get on!
Thomas aka headphonaught is really having an awful and stressful time at work. He is in a job firstly that he is pretty much hating, and things are just going badly for him. He is so down and that's not like him. Please could you keep him in your prayers and give him your support. Thanks!
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Something's churning!I wonder if you are like me and just can't sleep when you have things on your mind...or are you someone who can just manage to be able to just switch off and slip away into a peaceful sleep. Tonight I finished "Flowers for Algernon". The girls got me the book for my Christmas...I had read it in high school and really wanted to read it again. Maybe the fact that I can't sleep may have something to do with the rather sad ending that the book has. Perhaps that hasn't helped how I am feeling....but I don't know what I am feeling and why? I just knew I had to get up out of my bed and do something.
Just before Thomas fell asleep tonight I said to him that my stomach was churning at the thought of the kids going back to school and with the holiday being over. I don't just mean churning, but that deep horrible feeling in the pit of your stomach that you experience when you really are not looking forward to something. Why I am I feeling like this?.....hey I don't really know...why were the tears rolling down my face...one after another when thinking about this week...about this year? I don't know. Why am I getting myself into such state? Sometimes at night things can always seem worse and can blow out of all proportion....maybe thats what it is....but I hope that maybe somehow just explaining how I am feeling will help me to understand what the churning and tears are all about when I've made some sense of it... I can get to sleep.
These last few weeks have been amazing, and I've been trying to think why I have enjoyed them so much. Is it the fact that I have spent so much time with the girls and with Thomas? Is it the fact that time seemed to slow down....a day felt like a day...and life seemed to be more relaxing? Is it because we played games together...went walks together, and watched films together? Yes...all of these things and many more I suppose. Most parents are glad when the holidays are over and the kids go back...but I enjoy it when they are off...but why the horrible churning in my stomach...because when they are at school I can at least get stuff done!
It's true what they say. Time flies when you get older. One minute I was at high school reading "Flowers for Algernon" and now I am 31 (no longer in denial!) and I don't know how that happened. I love life...and more than that, I love my family, and of course it goes without saying, that above everything I love God. Life is so precious and it passes us by so quickly.
This week I will get up, get ready, get the kids washed and dressed, fed, make pack lunches, make the beds, get the school bags ready, do their hair, get their jackets on and rush them out of the the house for school. I will then go to work, come home have lunch, clean the house, pick them back up at 3pm, do homework with them, pick Thomas up from the station, make dinner and for the majority of the nights in my week, go out to some form of practice or meeting or whatever. And so it goes on each day....the next day pretty much like the day before...little time for any kind of quality time...just the four of us. Sundays are pretty busy, so Saturday becomes our only full day together, and that's if we don't have something on that day too. Even thinking about the lack of time gets my stomach in knots, and my eyes start to well up again.
And that's it....sometimes we have so much on. Life flies by...I can have so much going on that I feel I am missing my kids life's. Dayna will be 8 this year...I can't believe it. I said that to Thomas tonight...I said "She'll be 8 then she'll be 9, then 10, then 11, then 12" He laughed and said..."That's usually the way it works!" I know I was stating the obvious but hey...that's scary.
So I guess that I am just freaking out a bit...but only because I love my family so very much. I love my two beautiful girls with all my heart, and I have enjoyed spending time with my husband....I don't want this to end. I want every day to be like these lat few weeks. I guess this week will start again another hectic period where we as a family will have very little quality time together, and Thomas and I will see each other over dinner and then that will be that as we go out for various commitments in the evening. The thought of this busy life again with little quality time together really frightens me....
...and so as I sit here typing away at 12.30 after trying hard for an early night, I think that I understand why I feel the way I do. These past few weeks have been the way life is meant to be....indulging in our children's lives and growing closer as a family unit. Somehow going back to the busy routine of life is the part that spoils that indulgence.
But hey...I can't stop my kids from growing up...and I certainly cannot slow time down. I have to learn to just take each day as it comes and soak up whatever precious moment I can with my family...even if it's when I'm brushing the tugs out of their hair, or wiping the chocolate spread off their face.
I've never been career minded. I never had the desire to be anything more than part of a family, to be a wife and to be a good mother. To care for them all and to love them and be loved. Sounds pathetic?...maybe to some...but not to me. My family and my faith are my life. I've just got to remember that although we won't have as much quality time together for a wee while...I've just got to steal as many moments as I can in these busy days ahead.
A weird sort of blog really...but necessary none the less...at least for my benefit. It always helps to get things off your chest. Thanks for listening.
P.S. I love you Dayna, Miriam and Thomas with all my heart...and "I will love you 'till the end of time"
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Productive day!
Today has been a good day. We took Pippin out in the car with us. She absolutely hates the car. Just one mention of the word car and she runs upstairs and hides. It's quite ironic really! We got a dog partly because as a family we like the outdoors...we like to go for walks...and we always try to encourage the girls to enjoy the great outdoors, and having a dog we felt would just enhance the whole outdoor experience. We like to drive out to Tinto, to Lanark Loch and to Chatlerault Park, and so Pippin enjoying travelling in the car would really help. Don't get me wrong, she manages it, but it can be a bit of a struggle, especially on the way there. Thankfully on the way back she is quite tired and so she settles a bit more. 
We decided to go to Drumpellier Park. So we dragged Pippin into the car, got the girls in and off we went. We enjoyed the walk around the loch and Pippin got absolutely filthy...but she was quite happy. The girls played in the park there for a short time and then after popping the rather filthy Pippin into the car (with the window down off course) we nipped into the cafe to grab a bit of lunch. Pippin looked zonked when we got back to the car.Later we headed to the Industrial Estate at Uddingston as I was looking for a few black and white accessories for my hallway. I wasn't too successful in that department other than purchasing a rather lovely black orchid plant in a white wooden box (artificial of course) which was a bargain at £4.99...
...and a beautiful tea light holder with a £2.50 reduction because there was little chip at the back of it, which can't be seen anyway.
Then I saw some beautiful curtains with 20% off, and thought that they would just be perfect in my hallway. I have a window in the hall downstairs as well as at the top of the landing, so these were ideal. I think they look fab...I'm dead chuffed!
When we got home I put my new curtains up, and then made dinner. I made my mum's famous cheese and bread pudding (which confusingly isn't really a pudding!) with some roast tatties and peas. Lovely...just a nice wee tasty bite as my gran would say! We then settled down together to watch Cheaper by the dozen 2. It was on the Sky movies and we hadn't seen it yet...so as the kids enjoyed the first film we knew they would enjoy it too. It was actually a really good laugh. I love Steve Martin, and although he maybe isn't in as many funny films as he used to be or because he isn't quite the same as the old Steve Martin as we all remember, I still think he is brilliant.
After that Thomas got the girls into a bath. I then started to build the new rowing machine I had bought for Thomas to help him with his new year resolution. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. When I opened it up I thought "Oh no!".... and actually left it for a day because I had a sore neck and thought it would be a real struggle to build...but it wasn't really too bad at all. So Thomas, I am going to help encourage you all I can....I love you and although it wold be nice for you to lose some weight, it's your health that is most important to me.
So, it has been a good productive day...and those are usually the best. What kind of day have you had?Labels: family.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Ugly Betty
What a great show. Did you watch it? Tonight was the start of "Ugly Betty". I wasn't really intending on watching it until Thomas suggested it...but it was absolutely brilliant. Can't wait till next Friday to watch it. Thomas will give a far better report on it that I could manage. I wouldn't do the show justice. So keep your eyes on the headphonaught's blog to find out all about it.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
CONGRATULATIONS!Big congratulations to Chris & Dawn who are expecting their first baby. I was so delighted to hear the news from Thomas today and also to have seen the baby's first picture on Chris' blog.
I must confess to feeling a bit clucky lately...I'll have to shake that feeling off. The thought of starting all over again is a scary thought. Our wee family is starting to become a little more independent now as the girls are growing up....but still the thought of another wee baby does appeal....but I guess it always does....maybe that never goes away.
Anyway Chris and Dawn....this is wonderful news....and Dawn take it easy and look after yourself!
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
The Headphonaught's Designer Jewellery!
These are the pieces that Thomas made for me...two necklaces and a wrist/bicep band....I don't know what the official name for that is...but bicep band has a kind of ring to it I think....so that's my official name for it. So thanks honey....any orders required contact the headphonaught!
My good friends, Yvonne and David gave me an album for my Christmas which I am just loving. It's a great worship album by a chap called Martyn Layzell. The album is called "Turn My Face", and there are just so many tracks which I like, but the favourite so far has to be a track called "I stand in awe". He's a worship pastor at St Aldgates, Oxford and has worked alongside Tim Hughes...I think they recorded a live album together in 1999...I definitely need to check that out.
So thanks Yvonne & David...great choice....I think B.L.O.C. will have a few new numbers coming up soon.
Labels: music
This last week has been wonderful. Christmas day was just great. The girls were delighted with their room that I had been decorating for them. They had been sleeping in one of the spare rooms for the whole of December while I was doing the room up.
They really were delighted with everything that they were given. I received lots of lovely gifts myself as well as plenty of money to enjoy the sales. The girls got me Lemar's album and a book that I had asked for called "Flowers for Algernon" which I had read at school and was really keen to read again.
Thomas made me some lovely jewellery which at the time I wasn't sure if they were really "me" but have been really enjoying wearing these unique items over these last few days...so thank you Thomas...for taking the time to create something for me by your own hands...very thoughtful.What I have really enjoyed is spending time with family...especially just the four of us! Boxing day was lovely...Janey and Roscoe popped in for a while...but just spending time playing games and watching films together is so wonderful....and there have been many days this week that we have been able to do that. Thoroughly enjoying Cluedo....wonderful game....Dayna loves it!
On Saturday we spent the evening with all of my family at my mum and dad's. My mum put on a lovely spread and we played Bible Bingo which all the grandchildren absolutely loved. Round the table later on we all started talking about eye sight and started swapping glasses for each other to try on. When Thomas tried on my brother Alastair's glasses he was doing his Mike Myers impression which was hilarious from the film "I married and Axe Murderer"...which is just so good.
Last night (Hogmany) we had Janey and Roscoe over and again enjoyed chatting and playing games and eating. Hey you guys....you are getting married THIS YEAR! After the bells, (which both girls managed to stay awake for) Kenneth, Sarah and their son Robert came over for a few hours. Another great time was had!Today we enjoyed the annual treat of being at my Mother and Father-in-laws for New Year's Day. A lovely dinner was put on for us all as per usual...thank you Elizabeth! Thomas' Aunt Ann and cousin Emma and husband Stuart were also there. Again...spending time with family, just enjoying each other's company.
So I wonder what kind of week you all have had. I hope you have had time to relax and enjoy the company of those you love dearly. I wish you all a good year and all the very best. I don't really make New Year Resolutions...but I think mine would be this year...since last year passed so fast...that I would just try to enjoy each day as it comes...to not try to rush the days on by concentrating on a particular event coming up, and most importantly to enjoy my kids growing up. To enjoy them at their age and basically just enjoy having them.
Labels: family
