The grass is always greener...

The second stage of sorting out the Courtyard. The artificial grass has now arrived and I trimmed the edges today.

A nice little area for Ellen to play in...and me to relaaaax in!

And this is where we will drink our evening tea!

DIY

It's not everyone who can build two bookcases and one filing cabinet in under 2 hours.
But I can! Shame I haven't got energy left to fill them with books now...

Watering cans

Our little oasis

I popped over to the Garden Centre yesterday and grabbed a few little pots and plants. This is how lovely it now looks. This area was full of enormous weeds last week, but between me and our lovely gardener, we've made it look pretty nice eh!?

Ignore the satellite dish in the background...I should have Photoshopped it out...! :)

This is where I will be spending my lazy afternoons, while Ellen splashes round in the little pool

And I love my little "Pegs" tin, that hangs on my washing line. Now I just need some pretty pegs!

Home cooking

I decided to give Ellen a proper lunch today, so I dug out my Annabel Karmel recipe book and wizzed together a Spagetti Bolognaise. It has celery and carrots in it, and its actually super super nice. I wish I'd made more now, so that I could have some.
For desert she's having Peaches and Amaretti biscuits...not sure what she'll think of that, but again....I liked it!


Here is my very homely looking kitchen! I felt like such a good mum doing all this!
Let's just see how it goes when she's eating it. I may just end up on the floor...still...Its made me feel good!

I love my sister

Just had a long conversation with my sister (god I hope Ellen gets a sister in September, so that she can have what I have!).
She keeps me grounded. The sound of her voice makes me feel at home and makes me feel real.

Talking to her somehow takes me back 20 years to when we were ten and life was simple and no problems existed. So by talking to her about my problems/disturbancies in life, I see the answers/solutions so much more clearer. I make decicions with my real head on, not the head I so very often feel I should think with.

So decision made and I feel much happier for it. Phew. Relief.

Live the life you want to live, not the life you feel you should live.
Be true to yourself.

I wish I had...

...the guts to wear my hair like this!

Hen night

Picnic & friends

Its been a lovely weekend with the perfect weather.
Yesterday my friends Emma & Sofie came down from London to spend the day. We had a little picnic at the top of our garden, consisting of fruitsallad with icecream, biscuits and lemonade. Ellen was busy running around the picnic blanket trying to get the dogs to wear her sunhat. When she succeded in putting the hat on one of them, she couldn't stop laughing.
We then headed back to our house and sat in the courtyard in sunloungers and just chilled. For once I could relax as well, as Ellen was busy getting in and out of her little splash-pool having a wonderful time getting soaked.
Lovely to see E & S and good to catch up!

Last night we had dinner in the pub next door and then did the pub-quiz. Came second. Food was great, had a Grilled Chicken Scewer with Piri-Piri sauce and potato wedges. Super duper. I also had a sneaky half-pint of Strongbow as the weather demanded it. I love a cold cider on a sunny evening.

Having a house clearout today. Ellen has been helping in her own "helpful" way...moving things around...putting little bits into keyholes...scattering my tiny decorative pebbles all over the floor...playing with straws (again aaaall over the floor). I am not sure I am making any progress...
But right now I am off out to the courtyard to clear our some junk and then I'm doin the bathroom.

Poor Steve was called out at 2am to go driving a bus, covering for c2c I believe. He was not too pleased. I don't know how he does it.

Anyway, black binbags await and I've got 1,5 hours before my little gnome wakes up from her nap.

A break

Tomorrow afternoon I am travelling to Sweden, to Oxelosund to see my sister (plus her other half) and my mum. I am so excited and really looking forward to it. My sister has just moved in to their new house and I can't wait to see it!
I also look forward to a break. I think the pregnancy hormones and the exhaustion has taken its toll on me lately, and leaving Steve and Ellen behind and travelling on my own is going to be nice. I am sure I will cry my eyes out though, waving goodbye to my two little trolls but I know Steve will look after her like a super-dad.

Things have happended today that has really drained me. I am hoping its all going to be ok. But I could literally shut my eyes now and sleep, as I haven't been sleeping all that well lately.

So hopefully I will return on Sunday, refreshed - recharged ! with some nice photos hopefully to share with you all.

Til then. Bon voyage.

Latest fashion

Be trendy this summer - Try wearing your sandals together with one of your wellies!
Practical AND fashionable!

Drained to the bones

Even typing this is an effort. My body feels like it weighs 200 kilos and I literally drag my feet when I am walking. I've got no energy, no patience, everything's an effort (apart from cuddling Ellen) but I still can't sleep at night. Lying awake with a strange tickling sensation in my legs and arms, I usually manage to get to sleep about 2am. Then when its time to get up around 6-7am I am wacked. Get up??? No chance!!!

Not been a good week. I cannot WAIT to travel over to Sweden to see my sister, Filip & my mum. Its just me going and the thought of sitting on an airplane on my own without a child to entertain for 2 hours, sounds like bliss. I am going to bring a lovely book to read, some little snacks and a drink and Ryanair - you can take as loooong as you want to get to Stockholm - I don't care anymore!!! Its going to be a lovely break!

I am now more than half way into my second pregnancy and I've put on, let's see, 5 kgs so far. Not too bad, but like I said, I still feel like I weigh a ton, so what good is that...?

Got work to do now.

Sunshine in the morning

Aaah, its the most wonderful thing. SUNSHINE! And the first rays of the morning have an extra special effect on me. They lift my mood and bring a huge smile to my face, while I am making my coffee and Ellens milk. This morning there was this mist all over our field and I am sure I saw some fairies dancing amongst it all. Gorgeous.

Its coming up to 8am. Ellen has finally figured out that she CAN get out of bed on her own and play in her room for a while, before crying for us to come and get her. Its lovely hearing her giggle to herself, toys being jiggled and tunes playing on her little Fisher Price railway. Its a HUGE difference not waking up to a CRY in the morning, but to laughter and playing. Keep it going, sweetiepie.

I've bought a kettle that gives you hot water in 3 seconds. Its a godsend in the morning. Instead of hanging around in the kitchen with the bags under my eyes touching the floor, I press one little button.......SLUUUURP SPLATTTER SWISH...and my cup is filled in 10 seconds (it takes a while to fill the cup, but one can't complain!) and voila the coffee is ready. Wonderful machine. Worth every penny.

I can now feel lots of movement in my belly. The little creature in there is kicking about like a nutter and I am sure its swimming lengths or something. One minute its on the left and the next its on the right. Maybe I should squeeze some swimming-goggles in there for the baby, so that it can keep its little eyes open and avoid bumping into the walls every single turn.

So its Sunday. Just waiting for the Sunday papers to arrive. THIS is how a Sunday should be. Sunny, warm, calm, relaxing and I am feeling good. Time for breakfast now, so I am signing out.

Smile.

Torista 2

My dad sorting out the engine of his Yamaha Snowmobile...
There was some damp apparently...
And how old is that hairdryer exactly?

Torista

...and I'm feelin' gooood

Its a new dawn, its a new day, its a new liiiiife for me.....

Yep, got my motivation back, my energy has returned. I felt fine all yesterday and decided to clean/tidy the house from top to bottom. Even managed the courtyard and doing some washing. Bloody efficient I was. It was great to not have to sit down after having gone up the stairs.
So the house is tidy, the washing machine is running warm and I've got the annexe sorted for my family who's over at the weekend. Well, the tiling will now be done on Friday & Saturday...haha talk about cutting it fine.

But yesterday obviously took its toll on my energy reserves and by 19.20 I was snoring in the sofa. I didn't wake up til 23.00 when Steve came back in from the pub. Then straight to bed and woke up at 07.00...
12 hours sleep, oh yes, its all good.

Went to Sainsburys today. Got a major thing for Waldorf Sallad and Cured Ham....ooooooh yes. And Plums & Kiwis are still in my top 5.

Should be ironing now, but noooooo.
Going to sit here, eat some plums, drink some coffee and flick through some pregnancy/mum-to-be magazine to reaaaaally waste time.

Tears on my pillow

God, talk about rollercoaster.

I am just a mess at the moment, crying at the slightest little thing. Pregnancy hormones are not to mess with.

I feel like I am schizophrenic as I am looking at myself as if I am a total stranger.
For example, I am so fussy with my food its unbelievable. And it annoys the hell out of the "real me".
I have gone off tea completely and I am pissed off with myself for being so ridiculous as again, the "real me" is dying for a cuppa.

So the other day I asked Steve if he fancied a cup of tea. He said yes.
I heard myself say: I am going to have a cup too!
Then the "real me" says out loud: My god, I think I am going to have tea today!
As if the "pregnant me" has decided what I am allowed to have. Stupid.

The "real me" knows it is completely normal to feel tearful and low during pregnancy, whereas the "pregnant me" has no clue. She worries about everything and anything, labour - her being tired - her feeling sick - her letting people down - her being a bad mum - her being a lazy mum - the list could go on for ages...

And its hard work living so closely together with a complete nut-case (ie Pregnant-Me) Sharing a bed with her, Bloody having to get up in the morning with her and Having dinner with her. She's a fuck-head.

So, the tears are rolling and I am feeling low, but inside all of this the real me is still here and waiting for my turn to return to the front row again....

Overwhelming tiredness & Fog again

Pregnant again. Its excellent and shite at the same time.
The sickness has passed but the tiredness lingers. I feel absolutely shattered and today I am feeling sorry for myself.

I will write this and go to bed. Ellen's just gone down for her nap and I could sneak about 1,5h sleep if I am lucky.

Last night it was so foggy, see below. It was like being out in a ghost-story, expecting to see a black horse with a headless man riding it or something.

This afternoon I'm meeting my sister-in-law at a playcentre in Hockley. Great fun for the kids and its nice for us to sit down to have a coffee and snacks. I will probably order a three-course meal and 5 drinks, seeing as I've got an appetite like a horse.

Anyway, off to bed now to have a little hormone cry. Feeling so drained and crap.
Tomorrow will be a better day!

A night out

Aaaah.
I feel awake and rested.

We had been invited to a hotel (http://www.milsoms-hotel.co.uk/) by two of our best friends Louise & Pierce last night, and had a babysitter booked and I was soooo looking forward to a night to ourselves and a lie-in in the morning.

15 minutes before we were about to leave Steve phone rings and there's a problem at work, and he's on call and says he has to go to work...
My heart sank and I was praying it wasn't true. He was on and off the phone to work and I was just sitting in the sofa, all ready to go with make-up and lovely looking haaaaair as I'd really made an effort and was all dressed up. Then Steve said his brother had offered to do his shift for him, which I will be forever grateful for and we owe them big style, and we could finally head up to the hotel. Thaaaaank you Ross!

About 30 minutes drive and then we were there. A house tucked away in a lovely little village. We checked in and our key was on a key-ring in the shape of a whisk! And not a small whisk, a huge one! I'd packed our overnight bag ( a sports bag) and forgotten to actually bring my handbag, so the whole night I was carrying this huge whisk around with me.

Louise who's also pregnant (oh yes, did I mention that, I am 11 weeks pregnant...!) was an excellent companion to be with, as we are both as funny about our food as eachother. We sat reading the dinner-menu for about 45 minutes...no joking. We just couldn't decide what to have. In the end, I went for sausages and bubble-and-squeak, which was stunning. We also had a small glass of rose champagne which lasted us the whole evening. Had a great evening with silly conversation and lots of laughs.
Then we all started yawning like mad at 1am and retired to our rooms.
The beds were loooovely and I slept like a bear til 9am. Aaaaahhhh.

Then up for breakfast and then time to drive home again. Its a lovely day today and the sun is shining and birds are tweeting and ooooh oohhhh ohhh I like it.

So I feel like a new woman and am now going to offer my baby-sitting services to Ross & Lorraine as they saved the night for us, I'd like them to have the same.

Time for coffee.

"Man-Flu" and fog

Good morning *sniff sniff splurt splurt*
Steve has given me his "man-flu", but of course I haven't got it as bad as he has. His nose is obviously more blocked than mine and his head is hurting soooo badly.
I am just feeling rotten really. But hey ho, just been out for a walk and feeling a bit more awake now. The field/garden was covered in a fog and it looked fantastic as the trees seemed to be growing out of the fog. And to add to the whole Fairytale look, a big black bird (raven, crow, big-fuckin' blackbird?) landed at the top of one of the trees. It looked sooo spooky and mysterious...

Ellen loves being in her pram, with her "crooked-finger" as we call it, her finger that points on everything and everyone. She loves plane-spotting in the sky and waves bye-bye to them all.
I am now teaching her Bye Bye Aeroplane, but that just sounds like goobledygook at the moment.

She amazes me everyday when she comes out with new words, sometimes in Swedish, sometimes in English. This morning it was "window" (maybe not as clear as that through) and "sol". Other words "flower", "ball" and "apple" (everything's an apple, anything round or fruitlike is an apple, even a small grape...).

This afternoon I am going round my sister-in-law's as it was her birthday yesterday. There will be a few children there so that's going to be nice for Ellen. And it gives me a chance to just put my feet up and chill for a while. At home I just sit and look at all the things that needs doing - and do nothing about it.

Yesterday I ordered some blinds for the annexe. As we've got guests coming in a few weeks time, we are having a major sort out in the two bedrooms out there. Had Hillary's Blinds here yesterday and went for some cream roller blinds in the blue bedroom and some very light mint green venetian blinds in the green/lilac room. Will be fitted in about 2 weeks. Great stuff.
Now I just need to get Steve to move his old milk bottles that he stores in there. There's hundreds of them...god knows where to put them.

I've also got some material to make some drapes and curtains from. Its been ordered from the internet so hopefully it looks ok when it arrives. Some kind of Faux Suede... we'll see, it might look like shite.

Got a major thing for fruit. I am sure I said that before. Peaches and Kiwis are now top of my list...

Got 3 tons of ironing to do, so better get on with it...Buhuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

I'm alive!

Oh yes, thought you'd got rid of me. Nooo.
I am back in Blogland.

I have been so busy, exhausted, ill, tired, happy, away, at home and asleep that I simply haven't had time to write.

But hopefully I will find time now.


Went home to Sweden for Christmas, that was nice of course and lovely to see my family. Poor little Ellen had an ear-infection and was not too happy throughout the whole stay. But she is back on track now and she's walking the little sunbeam.
On the 17 January she took her first steps on her own, and now she's rockin'. She loves spinning round in circles in her room (where there's a thick carpet to save her if she falls). Picture below. She moved so fast I could hardly catch her in the photo.

What is new?
Got a new exercise routine going. Have set up a little Stability Ball exercise schedule for myself and its pretty tough I must say. Trying to do it 2-3 times a week and some walking in between. Should get my bum into tip-top shape!

Ellen's at nursery today and I've been working. Its a blessing to have a day or two a week just to myself and knowing that Ellen is in safe hands and that she really enjoys it is worth a lot. She comes home from nursery having made us little biscuits or little cards with stickers all over it...its so cute.
We actually went to HobbyCraft the other day and got lots of little sticky-bits, crayons, glue, pipecleaners, paper etc etc and we've now got a little Craft-Station set up in the living room, where we make all sorts of weird looking things...She particularly loves putting stickers on her shoes...not sure where she got that idea from. She now walks around with a glittery bear on one shoe and a glittery heart on the other. Maybe I should do the same?!

Its almost time to pick the little rascal up, but aaaaaaaaw, just a few more moments to myself...

I've got about 3 bags of clean washing to iron and fold and put away tonight. Great...just what I fancy on a Friday night.

Last night I was in bed by 9.30 and asleep by 9.31. I then woke up at 1am and could NOT sleep. Was lying awake for ages and when Ellen started crying at 7am I could not get out of bed. Steve was an angel and got up for me and I stayed in bed til 8.30. Feel a lot better now. Not been feeling too good lately...

My mum and uncle/auntie/cousins+1 are coming over in the beginning of March. I can't wait. Going to let them sleep in the annexe and tidying and making it lovely out there now. Just needs some blinds and a good hoover, and then its all ready to go!

Got a thing for Fruit Sallad at the moment. Kiwi, banana, apple & peach. Yum yum.

And so I sign out for this time. Hopefully more regular updates now.
Sort yourself out woman.

WHAT'S COOKING?


THE SPEED DEMON

Woman in Black ...and then 7 hours later

Long time no blog...

Right, things have been great. Have been too busy to write, or too happy to write, or just too bloody lazy to write.
All is well anyway. Been keeping busy and life is just really good at the moment.

Since last time, I've been to London twice. Once with Steve to see the "Festival of Rememberance" at Royal Albert Hall and once with Sarah to see "Woman in Black" at the Fortune theatre near Covent Garden. Both nights were excellent.
The Festival of Rememberance made a bigger impression on me than I could even have forseen. When the first video-clip shown on the massive screens around the hall ended with a father and one of his 28 year old twins, talked about the other son (twin) dying at a roadside attack in Iraq and how twin number 1 was going back etc etc...aaaah, the most tear-jerking real-life-story I've ever heard, I felt tears rolling down my cheeks. That then "Blake", 4 young guys singing opera/classic music, walked on stage and sang "Hallelujah" (by Leonard Cohen I believe) which I know and love from when Jeff Buckley sang this on the album "Grace", did not make it any better for me, I literally sobbed myself through the whole song. I looove that song:

Hallelujah (one of the verses)
Well maybe there's a God above
But all I've ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who'd out drew ya
And it's not a cry that you hear at night
It's not somebody who's seen the light
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah


Aaaaanyhow.
That was one excellent evening with wonderful food and lovely music and it definately made you wake up to what Britains soldiers are doing for us. I want to go again next year definately. Me and Queenie, who was also there, are now best buddies. I am sure she waved to me.

The other LOndon trip, Woman in Black, last night....lovely evening. Caught the train with Sarah and wandered round the beautifully decorated Covent Garden in search for our restaurant. We ended up in a Indonesian/Malaysian restaurant and I have never had a nicer starter I think. Gorgeous food.
Then another little stroll to the Fortune Theatre for the play, and that was great. Very unlike anything else I've ever seen, as this was a horror story, with lots of bangs and screams. I was congratulation myself for not getting scared and was just patting myself on the back when this scream came from nowhere and I JUMPED up about 1 metre. Well worth seeing and an excellent play.

Hmmm...well, I got back from the theatre about midnight and Ellen woke up at 2am with extreme teething pain. She didn't go back to sleep until 5.20am and then only slept til about 8am. I am raaaaaaaaaaaaaaather shattered today. She has not been much better today, lots of crying, loud crying and we ended up taking her in the car and drove round for 25 minutes. She is quiet at the moment, but not sure how long the peace is going to last...

SO on that note I am going to have a glass of wine, chill out, put my feet up, eat some chocolate, pick my nose and rest in front of the tele to some rubbish no doubt.

Over and out from a veeery tired me.

Utmaning...

Jag har blivit utmanad, av Syrran

Regler:
- Länka till den som utmanat dig.
- Berätta 7 sanningar om dig själv.
- Utmana 7 personer i slutet av ditt inlägg.
- Lämna ett meddelande till dem du utmanat

1. Jag kan Englands kungar och drottningar baklanges och framlanges (med datum och allt!)
2. Jag lamnar alltid 2 cm mjolk i paketet av nagon anledning, tycker inte om den ackliga mjolken langst ned... Den innehaller "spott" enligt mig.
3. Jag alskar total tystnad. Det ger mig ett lugn i hjartat.
4. Nar jag dricker te/kaffe, later jag koppen sta i 2-3 minuter tills temperaturen blivit precis ratt. Gillar inte att "sorpla" dryck som ar for varm.
5. Jag har langa fingrar, forutom lillfingrarna som ar proportionellt alldeles for korta, tycker jag.
6. Jag gillar lukten av skoter, kataloger som kommer med posten och Ellens har (Inte alla pa samma gang)
7. Jag alskar barn och hundar

Utmanar Towe nu da!

Heard at Halloween

The church in Canewdon had been blocked off from any trouble makers this year, due to the trouble last year. Several police officers were standing guard at the bottom of the road, leading up to the church.

An odd looking man walks up to one of the police officers.
- Hello, can you let me through to the church please?
- No, said the officer, no one can pass, the church has been sealed off.
- But...but...I've driven 40 miles to get here tonight...?!!!
- Sorry, but I cannot let you pass, said the officer
- But...I've brought my wand.....?!
- ??

One of the other police officers chirped up:
- Who the hell brought Harry Potter along?

Happy Halloween from me

I found these extremely cute little "Munchkins" in Sainsbury's the other day, and carved them into little "mini-Jack-the-Lanterns". Perfect for tea-lights!
What do you think!



Was at work today and Steve left early to pick up Ellen. When I came home they proudly showed me her biscuits that she had "baked" at nursery. Steve said she had "pressed and prodded" the dough... and in his hand he held a piece of tin-foil with two very squashed little biscuits with chocolate bits in them. He little face lit up when she saw them and she almost looked proud of them! Haha.
Cooking...at 14 months old. Excellent. I'm still not cooking at 30!!!
No I lie, I did make an brilliant dinner the other week. Gordon Ramsey eat your hat.

Tonight its girl's night in. Lisa is popping over for some Hallowine!!!
So I am just heading over to the sofa for some serious chillin'.

My new gay lover...

Well, I have just been seriously traumatised.
I went to get the post out of the postbox, found a little parcel which contained a few lovely little crystals I had ordered, another letter was telling me my membership to the local farm/playcentre was going to reduced for next year, it had pretty little lambs on the letter and everything...and then...I just carried on opening my post...as you do. I tore open a letter adressed to "Mr Stephen Newman & Mr Asa Forsvall", thought nothing more of it, as I ALWAYS get letters to MR Asa Forsvall...

This one was different. The catalogue i pulled out of the brown envelope looked like any other catalogue so I just flicked my thumb through the pages to have a look at what goodies I would find... Then my STOMACH TURNED...It was gay sex, in the strongest worst most horrible sense of the word...I literally dropped the catalogue on the floor and splurted out something like: bbbbbbblaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhshhsgg. I felt traumatised, violated and sick!!!

I looked at the catalogue that was now lying on the floor. "New Concept" "Gay Sex DVDs".

New concept. Yes, send it out to straight couples and lets see what happens!!!

Anyway, if anyone wonders WHY I HAVE CHANGED MY NAME FROM ASA TO HELENA???????
Ask me again and I have a very good argument. Don't regret it for a second.

Barry Manilow rocks the Legion

Well today, Thursday, I am feeling veeery relaxed. My neck has been hyper-painful the last week, and Monday morning I could literally not move. So off I went to the chiropractor to get it sorted out. She banned me from doing anything straining and using computers. So Wednesday when I usually work from home while Ellen's at nursery, I was simply OFF. Can you imagine! A day off! OFF! Completely, just ME, chilling....now I never thought I'd be doing that again during the day.
I didn't know what to do with myself, so I went past a Tesco Express on the way home after dropping Ellen off, and bought myself some magazines and some chocolate. Spent an hour or so just reading them and feeling more relaxed than I've done since Ellen was born. Just lovely.
My neck is much better but I am going to sign off in a minute not to over-do it.

Anyway, last weekend, was a great one. The weather was lovely to add to the loveliness. We had a babysitter booked for Saturday night and Steve & I wandered down to "down-town-Wickford" to Bar Plazma. They were showing the Rugby Semi-final on big screen and I got all the rules explained to me and got super-involved in the whole thing. England ended up beating France! Excellent evening. On the pub-crawl back from Plazmas, we stumbled into the Royal British Legion club along Runwell Road and having entered through the door, we were met by a croaky voice singing "I waaaannna laaay you dooown on a beed of roooossses"...didn't sound anything like Bon Jovi (not that I mind..) and we realized HA! Its karaoke time!!! We downed a pint and scribbled our names down on a piece of paper and off we trotted to the DJ.
10 minutes later he called: And next up is HELENA, with a bit of Barry Manilow - here's "Mandy"... And I crawled up to the microphone. So exciting actually, I thought I'd be shitting myself. But nope, good old Miss Forsvall grabben the mic and started: Iiiii remember all my liiiiiifee.....
Managed to finish the song, without any false notes and no fainting attack! Great fun! Want to do it again soon!

There, logging off now.

Horrible Hornet

Yesterday Steve came running into the livingroom explaining that he'd just caught a giant wasp. He'd taken some photos before letting it go in the garden. See below...
We googled "giant wasp" and got the description of a Hornet (in Swedish: Vespa) and that was most probably what it was. It was enormous. I am not leaving the house ever again if those beasts are out there.




Wikipedia told us the following: Hornets are the largest eusocial wasps, reaching up to 45 millimetres (1.8 inches) in length. A Hornet's sting is harmful, but the sting toxicity varies greatly by hornet species. Some deliver just a typical insect sting, while others are among the most venomous known insects[1]. Allergic reactions can occur. Depending on the severity, these may result in death!!!!!????? Nope, not leaving the house...

Tired tired eyes

Good afternoon to you all,

I am so tired I can't get over it. Went to bed at 9 o'clock last night and was snoring away by 9.02... Ellen was kind enough to let me sleep til 7 this morning, so I got plenty of sleep last night. But here I am at a quarter past 3 and can hardly keep my eyes open.

Have just eaten Kexchoklad and some Salt&Blandat. Yum yum. Gave me a tummy-ache though. Gah.

Working today, from home, and Ellen is at nursery again. So nice to have the house to myself and my god, its so quiet.

Just going for a quick break away from the screen. So bye for now.

Breakfast, injections & IKEA

Good morning,
Well not quite.
Went to the pub to do the quiz last night and when we got back Ellen decided she wanted to howl the place down for about 1 hour. So I think we finally got to bed about 1 in the morning. Steve got called out on an emergency by work about 4am I think, it was dark and cold anyway, and all I could think was "keep your voice down so you don't wake the baby", what an evil person I am, when my beloved has to get suited and booted at 4 in the morning to go driving a bus from Pitsea to Gillingham. Christ. But no "does he HAVE to shower???!!! He'll wake the bloody baaaby!!!".
Aaaanyhow.
About 5 minutes after Steve's left, Ellen started crying. Its pitch dark and I scrambled for my phone to check the time. It was six o'clock. Hang on...where did those 2 hours go, I certainly didn't feel like I'd slept for two hours. Nope, it was definately 6am and Ellen was ready to party.
So not such a good morning.

Then while we were eating breakfast I completely startled myself, made me jump and everything, by remembering it was today Ellen was going to have her final injections. I checked the time. 15 minutes til our appointment, chriiiiiist, schwiiiish schwoooosh nappies, clothes, wipe her face, t-shirt on, wipe her nose, trousers on, wipe her face again, in the car, GOOOO! We made it. Just. She got a little sticker that said "I am protected from bugs". She didn't eat the sticker like last time...my big girl.

I hate my pillow. Its not even worthy of being called a pillow. Just flat and hard and awful. So when the little one wakes up I am venturing off to IKEA in Thurrock. I haven't been there in ages, so why not. Its raining outside and its just horrible. Cold and wet and miserable. But liking the fact that you can actually wear jeans again, without sweating your socks off.

Finally, two timewasting shots of our breakfast.
I had the lovely Rachels organic Vanilla Yoghurt with cranberry & melon cereal, while poor Ellen was stuck with a squidgy banana and a Raspberry Fruit Tumble yoghurt.

My new buddies

Gerry Giraffe, Leonard Lion, Pete the Parrot, Horsie the horse and Mr Piggerson...
Ellen loves these little creatures and we spend hours putting them in and out of the farmhouse.

Snot

Aw, my little Ellen has got a cold, a baby cold.

So a big AAAAAWWWWW for her.

Tomorrow you'll have to do a big OOOOHHHH for me, when I probably catch whatever bug she's got and feel like ratshit!

Good night

Holidays, Nurseries and time to myself

Got back from Crete late Sunday night. Had a lovely time, thank you very much. Spent our time on the beach, by the pool, eating too much, drinking too much, sleeping too much, wandering about in Elounda looking for cute little tavernas with good cocktails, road-tripping to Souda Bay and generally just lazying about.

My favourite cocktail that was frequently ordered: Screaming Orgasm - in other words lots of Baileys, Kaluha, Amarula, Cream and got knows what other super-unhealthy substanses. Steve stuck to his beers and Ellen sipped Pineapple Juice.

Below a photo of the area we stayed in, Elounda. Lovely lovely hotel.



Well, I don't quite know what to say about this photo...

This is Steve and Ellen in the back of the hire-car, while we stopped for a snack on the way to Souda Bay. Three hours drive there, so it was an all-dayer. Ellen seems very pleased with her chocolate biccie.

And finally another shot from the hotel, looking out over the Cretan Sea.


And today was a big day. Ellen (yes...did I mention I had a daughter?! This blog seems to be all about her, rather than me...) had her first day at nursery. Bless her little white cotton sockies, she was so brave and I waved her goodbye about 9am this morning. Picked her up at 4pm because I missed her so much, and couldn't possibly wait another minute. She'd eaten aaaaall her lunch and been soooo good. Talk about proud mum! Its just the strangest thing seeing your tiny little baby (who is now a tall toddler, but I can't really see that...) sitting in a chair, chewing a ricecake and having an independant life, without me. She's her own little person.

Oh, and did I mention she had her own little hook! A little hook on the wall with her name on it, and a little picture of a duck. I was over the moon with that, almost pulled out my phone to take a picture of it, but stopped myself before I made a complete fool of myself.

Anyway, it was so nice to have the house to myself, to have myself to myself...not having to carry someone round, not having to change any nappies, not having to pick up squashed banana from the floor, not having to sing "If you're happy and you know it" about 50 times...I could go on.
I really enjoyed working again, altough I feel a bit rusty. But a few more days and I will be back in it I am sure.

Oh, did I mention Indy my younger dog has lost weight. Oh yes, we call him "Slimline Mindy" nowadays. The dog-sitter we used while we were away loved jogging, and apparently got Indy hooked on it too. So his bottom is no longer the size of Bournemouth, but more the size of a ridgebacks bottom! Weight Watcher of the year!

Me & Jessica are like this....

I decided about 5 months to cut my hair...
This morning I finally got round to doing it. Ahhhh, it was heaven.

I'd been scanning the web for some lovely hairdo's and found these two (below) that I printed out and brought with me. Good old Jessica Simpson & Sienna Miller. I asked the hairdresser if I could have Sienna's face as well, she said of course. So I'm back home with Jessica's hairdo and Sienna's face...



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