My usual daily 'commute' may seem like it doesn't compare with the stress of the trek up and down the motorway but let me point out...
Today I had to contend with 3 sets of horses riding 2 abreast, a tractor, a huge hedge cutter, an abandoned lorry in the middle of a single track road, 2 sets of ramblers and a man with a wheelbarrow walking up the middle of the road.
So don't talk to me about stress full driving, man I'm feeling it !!!
This week's Gallery is Hair.
I have been wishing (with special fairy dust and everything) for something romantic to happen recently, and I have come to the usual harsh truth that I married the wrong nationality.
The standard Aussie bloke is never going to be Richard Gere in pretty woman. But then if we lumped together all the American men and squeezed them out of a mold, they are unlikely to come out like Richard Gere either!
I knew he'd forgotten our anniversary, I was sort of giving him the benefit of the doubt thinking that maybe there was a surprise up his sleeve but no, he had forgotten.
Although he says he hadn't forgotten, apparently forgetting implies that it isn't important. He says it is important to him, which is why he hadn't 'forgotten'. He had simply 'failed to remember'.
That is why he is in management! However, I also understand Adam's Equity Theory for job motivation.
This picture isn't amazing, it's iphone in bad light. But what it is a photo of amazed me.
I did find the aftermath of the rural village equivalent of a rave in the woods a little before this. I can only guess that someone was on their way home and decided to give up trying to keep the bike upright!
The bathroom debacle is slowly moving onwards, Mr Plumber has finally stopped knocking me up, and the decorating is in my hands.
I bought paint, sort of a greyee bluee affair but changed my mind as soon as I got home, like you do. I was in B&Q at 8am yesterday morning, prework, changing it.
Daughter has been nagging me about painting it the same colour as her bedroom, she said it would be the perfect. But I want something different. Coloured rooms the same colour somehow seems a bit naff.
I chose an altogether more 'under the sea' affair, and got the first coat on in my lunch hour (working from home is the best thing ever sometimes).
The more I looked at the walls the more familiar it felt. I tootled out to the garage to check the cans of leftovers. Yep, you guessed it, it's the same colour as daughter's room. So I now have 2 half full cans of Ocean Ripple in the garage.
(If you're wondering where the eye candy comes in stay with me!)
I can't face a weekend of nagging HWMBO to put up the fittings so I've treated myself to a man who can this morning. As an aside, he used to live opposite me and mow the front lawn in remarkably tight shorts, and just for once he is the sort of guy who definitely should do that.
This weeks Gallery is Education
There is often nothing more boring to children than church and RE. Suggest they go to church, especially High Church services, and you see their eyes roll, in fact I can see your eyes rolling now. 
So how to teach children about why we do what we do, what all that crossing means, when it matters when to be quiet when it's ok to stand and shout...the only way to teach a child a lesson they will truly remember is by making it fun.
Notes is asking in the I ♥ Me series this week "What would you do if you had all the time and money in the world?"
It is an easy answer:
I would buy a house big enough to have a home gym. Nothing too fancy, no I'm lying, I want it fancy! Mirrored walls, proper air conditioning, big picture window. Cross trainer, treadmill, rower. Yes I want the lot!
And then I would acquire a couple of babies, all the best celebs seem to be able to do it, so would I.
Sad realisation though, is as soon as the babies arrive there would be no time for the gym. All the kit would be packed away for safety reasons, the mirrors would all have 2 foot high hand prints and I would have stuck a huge messy play table in the middle...
...sorry *sound of needle scratching across record* can I buy a slightly bigger house with extended playroom features, fully decked out with every Letterbox and Great Little Trading Company must have.
Do you know what I found out in the writing of this post, you can actually buy baby gym equipment! OMG, how cute is that. Notes add it to my expenses claim please!
HWMBO, myself and daughter have all been away this weekend. Not together though!
Daughter and I have been on pilgrimage to Walsingham, a deeply spiritual and beautiful place. Normally peaceful but not with 200 kids celebrating a double birthday (the Shrine and Jesus)!
HWMBO on the other hand has been to see his Aussie Metal Mates in Switzerland. Switzerland seems to be a bit of an Aussie Metal Mate magnet at the moment! I was rather concerned to receive the message:
"Am I old? We are discussing Lawn Bowls, I'm not that old am I?"
My immediate worry was that his phone had been stolen by a sober person. The message was late and literate.
"who are you are why are you using my husbands phone?!"
He's been working intensely hard recently and needed to let his hair down a bit really. So I was slightly concerned that it might not all be going to plan.
I travelled home this evening to find him smelling like a brewery and looking suitably rough. I don't know whether to be the usual wifey disapproving and annoyed or slightly relieved that he clearly did run true to form on a lads night out!
I leave you with husbands bar shot (Jagermeister is our house wine!), clearly slightly shaky by this point.
I am so lucky, this was the view on my run last Sunday. The lambs in full tail wag, the hills in the distance. I live in a beautiful part of the country that nobody else seems to know about. I like it that way!
He hopped and flitted along the hedgerow always about 2 metres ahead of me, like he was saying "come on, come on, catch up!" It was rather enjoyable just me and him.
.she started to disappear in bubbles...
But what do you do when they won't wash down the sink....
Dump them in the shower!
The Gallery this week is Trees
Notes is asking in the I ♥ Me series this week "What are your favourite things?"
There is only one answer I can give : Breakfast
I do have a picture from the best ever breakfast. My most favourite Australian family, friends and other animals were travelling en masse through Europe. We went to London to meet with them and so did more Australian friends and the hotel breakfast was the most glorious occasion. A togetherness, a celebration of a new day, a time of sharing....bliss
We've had a plumber in every weekend 6 weeks running (don't ask), he turns up every Saturday and Sunday at 9am, leaves at 6pm and appears to do very little in between. But yesterday he gave us a treat, he said "10am tomorrow" whoop, whoop..a lie in! (daughter is at dad's)
We both work full time, hubby get up around 5:30am, I get up at 6:15am, there is little opportunity weekdays for getting jiggly (if you catch my drift) and we are morning people! So this morning was like a date night, a rare opportunity in the current stress train that is our life for some luuuuurving.
9:26 (not tantric I know but hey!) hubby climbs out of bed to shower, he wanders naked onto landing to grab a towel from airing cupboard to be faced with the plumber staring through the front door! Nottinghill moment!! He runs back into bedroom and swears.
I grab dressing gown and go let plumber and plumbers mate in!
A while back Tara at Sticky Fingers did a review of MyNameTags iron on name labels, I commented about the general unreliability of iron in labels and MyNameTags sent me some of theirs to show me they are different.
Back down on a comment, moi? Not without one hell of a battle so I put these labels through one hell of a trial.
A week of permanently in my hand, smeared with marmite (don't ask), make-up, grease, soap. My iphone takes a battering and the damn sticky label did not move, peel, wear, anything really.
She passes the chocolate box test!
It's a bit like kids really, a shame they have to grow up!
Notes is asking in the I ♥ Me series this week "Where are you with your New Year resolutions?"
Given that I was doing this on New Years Eve, I was so happy and relaxed I didn't bother to make any New Year resolutions. Nothing but the current moment seemed to matter.
How do you deal with a "You simply must daaaarling"? I can't deal with them at all. They wind me up extraordinarily so.
Whilst discussing plans for our leaders sojourn to Centre Parcs, on saying I hadn't done something before a lady said "oh you just HAVE to do that, we always do that, you simply MUST".
The problem is it annoys me so much, instead of taking what should be helpful advice, I stone wall it with a flat "must I".
I just see it as annoying general one-upmanship. I hate one-upmanship and public own trumpet blowing. Some people seem to do both constantly. If I came back from the Amazon and mentioned my trip someone would say "but did you not hand feed the water buffalo, it was heaven, if you go again you simply must do it darling"
Arrrrrrrgh!
The annoyance factor does ultimately stem from me being so competitive but rarely winning anything. It's a constant battle in my life. Time to get back to Desiderata 'There will ways be greater and lesser persons than you; comparison may render you conceited and bitter'.
It had been a difficult day from the outset, I was over stretched, out of time and out of patience.
My EX-husband rang to tell me he was ill and would I mind fetching him a can of soup from the shops and take it round to him. I will point out, I once rang him from a coach trip to the theatre to ask him to pop round to my house to make sure I had turned the oven off. The street of kindness flows two ways, so I poddled to the supermarket.
A woman can't just buy a can of soup. Things are on special, shiny lights flash and bargain signs tempt. So I have a basket full of goodies I didn't need. The supermarket had forgotten (again) to do the important stuff like employ staff so I went self service.
oh the humanity...
beep, no scan, beep, assistance required...
"there's no one here"
beep, no scan, beep, place item in bagging area, assistance required
"There's no bugger here, I said"
"BEEP, BAGGAGE AREA,BEEP"
"Oh for F.., just scan will you, oh for.., arrrrrrgh"
"BEEP, place item in..."
"SHUT UP"
"BEEP BEEP BEEP"
"I SAID SHUT UP" and I gave it the electronic throttling it deserved
As it sanctimoniously thanked me for my custom I told to it to piss off...
...at which point I returned to the sane world and realised I was still in Guiders uniform and daughter was still stood at my side.
Well, if we were all perfect the world would be a boring place and the other shoppers would have nobody to tut and shake their heads at, I bet they went home feeling rather superior. My usual public service achieved yet again!
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| Source : NotSupermum/Mirror.co.uk |
This weeks Gallery is Simple Pleasures.
We went to London in half term and despite doing a lot of interesting things, the best part of the day was a dessert stop in Harrods.
Does Harrods count as simple pleasures?! Is does when compared to the manic sightseeing and tourist trail we were on. It was 30 minutes of tranquility in a very busy day. It was a lovely shared moment.
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