Celebrating a birthday in this house today!

Wednesday 30th November 2022

Counting my blessings today.

Well it's Aryn's 14th birthday today so I've just rushed about putting up a banner up and getting the balloon out the car to put them by his gifts and bugga me, I only went to put the kettle on, when I came back the cats had pulled it down and bit the weight of the balloon, so now I'm on guard keeping them away from the stuff and will be shutting the door when I go to work, little monsters! 

Thankfully, he's a mature young man who when asked what he wanted for his birthday, his reply was 'I've already had it haven't I!' we bought him a laptop in the summer, so he had something to do when we were away in the motorhome, and I said it was his birthday gift and fair play he's remembered and doesn't expect anything.  I think that makes him a smashing lad, his dad did buy him a watch which he gave him on Saturday when we went out because he wouldn't be here today, but I've just got him a couple of things to open and doughnuts and a cheesecake instead of a birthday cake because that's what he likes.  My calorie intake today isn't looking promising!  

Yesterday was a good day, really enjoyed the huddles, everyone seemed to enjoy this week's topic, all went away with something to think about, I hope.  

I've woke up in pain again, not as bad as yesterday thankfully and I'm hungry too, I don't usually wake up hungry, I'm thinking crumpets, nom nom.

We had simple food yesterday, I had fish finger sandwich, Aryn had his fish fingers with alphabites and onion rings.

Oh, this is doing my head in, the cats are circling the room, waiting for their opportunity to go at the birthday stuff again. 

I'm off for a great day at huddle and celebrating Aryn's birthday, 

Enjoy your day, 

Mwah, luv ya

Love me xx

Adulting is hard work!

Monday 29th November 2022

Good energy is contagious!

I had a really busy grown-up day yesterday, I don't like this adulting lark, it's hard work!  I went swimming and did my 32 lengths (1/2 mile) and I really enjoyed being back in the pool.  Then I came home and made me a little breakfast before starting on the kitchen, OH MA'AN!  A good 3 hours that kitchen took me, I gave the fridge a good clear out, emptying it and washing all the shelves, cleaned the cooker and its hood, all the doors on the cupboards then hoovering the floor and washing it.  Then my phone range YAY, and I had a natter with my brother.  

My next mission was the living room and more hoovering, washing was almost done, three loads, by the end of it all I was pooped.  Now I had at one point took the kitchen bin out the back to pour boiling water in it and clean it, so for a couple of minutes the back door was open, I had the kitchen door pushed too so the kitchen seemed in my head safe.

I'd finished doing what I was doing and decided it was time to sit on my backside and have a sarnie, but I noticed that there only seemed to be one cat visible and it was Coco, the one who would hide, I called Minnie, went searching for her and I couldn't find her anywhere.  By now I'm starting to panic, I've lost the cat, she must have snuck out whilst I was cleaning the kitchen, I'm out the back looking in my garden and next doors, I've called my sister saying, 'I've lost one of the cats', she's on her way round.  She comes in and says there's a cat out the front arguing with a magpie, me 'is it grey', yeah, it wasn't, and it wasn't Minnie.  How am I going to tell Aryn, I've lost a cat, he'll never forgive me, I run upstairs one more time and there's the little shit sitting on the floor in my bedroom on the grey rug looking at me as if to say, 'what is wrong with you woman!'

I've never been so relieved, me and my sis sat and had a natter for ages, before we both realised, we needed to get back to what we were doing before I lost the cat!  

Aryn got back from school five minutes later and we went to the gym and did about 40 minutes then nipped to TK Maxx to look at stuff, but didn't buy anything, I'll get his joggers from Sports Direct or somewhere cheap, he's growing too quickly for expensive stuff!

Once home, we got our cook on again, our Hello Fresh box had arrived on the afternoon, and last night's tea was Thai style peanut chicken noodles with green beans, took less than 20 minutes to knock up, minimal washing up and it was delicious again.  I'd actually give this one 10/10, I really enjoyed it. 

Because I've had a meal pack for 4 people, (I've changed next weeks to 3) we were about to divide the ingredients into two and only cook half the only thing we had to open really was the chicken and that's now in a tub.  We can have it later in the week, or I can freeze the chicken and we have it next week or week after. 

These are the ingredients so split in two easily and this is what it looked like cooked. 

Today's meal is lamb meatballs and cheesy mash, I'm really looking forward to that!  Then he can decide if he wants to go out for his birthday, have takeaway or cook on Wednesday.

By now it's about 6 and my body hurts like a bitch, my sciatica has kicked in with a vengeance, my knee feels like it's been hit by a hammer and my back not wanting to be ignored and feel left out has decided to join the OUCH gang.  I start watching a film but 45 minutes in, I decide to go lie in bed and watch it because I can't get comfortable.  

Himself calls at half eight and yeah, I had fallen asleep, he said, 'I wouldn't have called if I'd known you were asleep', I replied, 'I didn't know I was asleep either!'  His accommodation has no parking, they've turned the car park into a beer garden - why would you do that on a pub!  He'd parked it on the street which you can do between 6.30pm and 7am, so hopefully it'll still be there this morning!  

I've woke up in pain, part of me wants to go swimming, part of me is saying go tomorrow and Friday and ease yourself back into it.  I love that my joints don't hurt when I'm in the water, but the soon start hurting again when I get out and it's all my left side of my body.  

Hey ho, here's to putting my positive head on, I'm going to take painkillers and pretend I'm 33, lol, let's have a great day, a positive day, and a busy day at work hopefully.

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx

A year goes so quickly, and things change so much!

Monday 26th November 2022

Be thankful for everything you have.

A year ago today, we were just getting off the Ferry in Ireland, it was the first time I was to meet Aryn, it was a couple of days away from his birthday, we never expected to be bringing him home with us, but when he asked if he could come to live with us, we didn't hesitate for a second and I've never regretted it once.  Friday we finally got the custody court order confirming all that had been agreed in the court case and it was a huge relief.  

Saturday after a wonderful morning at the huddle, we drove to Birmingham (trains on strike!) to go to Haidilao Hot Pot restaurant, Aryn's choice of birthday meal.  Well, it took us longer to park than it did to actually drive to Birmingham, craziness, I had to modify the booking because we wouldn't have made it in time, but it was all good in the end.

He chose Haidilao because we went back in April and we loved the experience and he wanted to share it with his dad, who I knew wouldn't be so taken by it, but hey it's Aryn's birthday!  We found the place completely by accident, it's just outside the train station and Bullring next door to the golf place and when we went first time, we just knew it had noodles which was Aryn's thing at the time!  

 

I can't believe the difference that six months has made, not just to his appearance but his confidence and personality, he's just gone from strength to strength, and it's been a pleasure to be a part of his life. 

He was the expert this time, showing his dad the salad and sauces bar, how to use the hotpots, killing it with the chopsticks and jeez the heat of two of those soups is ridiculous but he just necks it, his poor dads backside Sunday morning, he said he's never had a curry have that effect on him lol.

He'd already had a laptop in the summer so knew he wasn't getting loads for his birthday, he actually said when asked what he wanted, 'I've already had my birthday present haven't I and my Christmas present too because I had the cats', he's a good kid!  Anyway, his dad wanted to get him a watch, so we gave him that on Saturday too, he loved it, played with it all the way home in the car.  

We went and had a few drinks in the pub then enjoyed a night in front of the tele, which is where we spent the rest of the weekend relaxing and enjoying a calm life.  When we were out and chatting, himself said being at home this week working locally had made him realise how much he actually likes being home and working away isn't so much fun anymore - WHO KNEW! 

I can't believe Christmas is now under a month away, we've booked our ferry tickets for Ireland, we'll buy our food when we get there so there's not much for me to do now, my Christmas decorations and trees there so I can't put it up until Christmas week!  I'm being sensible because I don't want to start January in debt, so not going to be going crazy on the gifts this year, there's nothing any of us need or desperately want, we'll plan a nice holiday next year and save for that.

Well, I'm watching the final of I'm a celebrity as I type, I'm a bit miffed that himself put the tele on when we got up and he always puts SKY news on, which hasn't bloody mentioned I'm a celeb since it started but it told me who came 3rd then showed me the front of the papers which made it obvious who won - grrr.  

He's gone off for the week now, I'm going to go swimming then spend the morning giving this house a good clean and tidy, as always, I have loads of washing, that basket never seem to be empty for longer than half hour!  

Here's to a great day, I'm not even gonna think about the scales tomorrow, I enjoyed celebrating too much to care.

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx

The best day yesterday was!

Saturday 26th November 2022 
Focus on the good days!

Sometimes you get those days where everything just goes right and things are great, yesterday was one of those days from the moment we woke up.

You can tell I've got my cooking mojo back, cos I have a burn on both wrists, which means I've got my super cooking mojo on!  We had a wonderful email to start our day so we celebrated with this omelette, stuffed with gammon ham, onions and cheese, oh and that's clover and it's not light!  

In case you haven't read any of this week's blogs, I've had a free '3 meals for 4 people' box, all I had to pay was the delivery £4.99, I checked and you can cancel at any time or miss weeks, there's also a tenner off the 2nd and 3rd week, if you want to give it a try, here's the link Free Hello Fresh Box

What was this email you ask; well, it was the copy of the custody order from Ireland for Aryn, his future in the UK is sorted, I was so relieved I cried lol, as I do these days.

Then we had another email asking for import fees for the passport gumph, I just paid it so hopefully that'll be delivered by Monday.  Then his mom can sign it and it'll be at the passport office by next Friday.  I wanted it for Christmas so I could wrap it up as a gift with a plane ticket possibly but never mind it's not a must and we have plenty of time for surprises!

Another really positive thing that's happened over the last couple of days is Aryn's shown an interest in going to the local school that he was originally meant to attend, so I called and chatted to his head teacher at his school yesterday and they're going to start looking into options ready for us all to discuss (Aryn included) at his next review on December 9th.  

We now had lots to celebrate so we went to the pub at lunchtime and enjoyed a few to celebrate whilst Aryn was at school, now I struggle with what to drink when out but this one was actually okay, not the best wine in the world but I managed the bottle :) 

We were home to make this delicious plate of food for an early tea, Aryn of course took charge again and cooked the Hello Fresh 'Mexican Style Beef Loaded Wedges with cheddar, black beans and pepper.  

Now I wasn't looking forward to this one, I don't get beans really, they're not my favourite food and I wouldn't choose Mexican as a cuisine but WOW I really enjoyed it, the wedges cooked better in the Ninja than the oven, I always think potatoes take longer in the oven than a recipe says, could be my oven I guess, but it's been every oven I've ever used!

We sat and chatted about his day at school, what the teacher had said and generally just caught up on each other's lives, so good to do it, it's so good to see how far he's come in the last 12 months and that's not even starting on his change in appearance, he is seriously growing, only a few inches shy of the door frame in the living room I reckon!  

We've got a great day planned too (hopefully), morning at the huddle for me, then we are off to Birmingham for his Birthday meal at Haidilao Hot Pot, his choice, we loved it when we went and he wants his dad to experience it which I think is lovely.  He wants to be able to show him how to do it doesn't he and be the 'expert' in the room. We're gonna drive because of the train strikes so hopefully we can park by the Bull Ring! 

None of this is helping my weight loss journey as you can see but I ain't worried about that because I'm enjoying my life too much.  I'll get back to the swimming and the gym from Monday, me and Aryn will get fit!  

Here's to a great weekend, 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx

Grrr to life's frustrations

Wednesday 24th November 2022

Don't let a bad yesterday ruin today.

After what started as a good day yesterday, excellent huddle, I came home and made Aryn's breakfast, then gave him the paperwork to get signed by his teacher, all was good.   He came back with it all sorted, so I made sure it was all packaged up to send to Ireland quickly, went over the post office to be given the news that Special Delivery wasn't being taken because of the strikes until December 5th - gutted!  She helped me with suggesting a courier, so that was my next task.  Whilst we were out I wanted some of these for Aryn from Tesco because he likes them and they're high in fibre, thanks to Elle for seeing them and giving us on to try.  But as we weren't having a successful day, they had none left - gutted!

I hadn't got time to drive to the bigger Tesco because I'd got potatoes in the oven!  Next I've got himself on the phone saying 'where are you', because he's home now and we're not, 'shall I meet you in the pub', I was driving, got Aryn trying to check for couriers on his phone, don't worry I've got handsfree in car, so I just want him off phone, I must have agreed but I'm sure I said I had to sort the dinner first.  But hey lol who cares, I didn't meet him in the pub because my spuds took so long to cook, they were okay but not worth that length of time they took to cook Slow Roasted Greek Lemon Potatoes - Sprinkles and Sprouts I'd do something similar but without all lemon, just a nice chicken stock.  I also didn't meet him because it was peeing down, I was hungry and so was Aryn, I'd rather drink my own red wine. etc, etc etc.  Well that didn't go down well when I messaged him to say dinner was ready but if he was enjoying his Guinness it would microwave when he came home, oops 'so you're not coming to the pub'.  The rest of the night was a very, very quiet one!  

We're okay now lol, but boy, working locally isn't the same as working away from home, he can just go to the pub for a few at night, I've got a teenage boy that needs feeding before I do anything plus I've got to go to work today, he hasn't because he's finished the job he was hired to do - lucky man.

I had lamb chops with them potatoes and green beans, oh my days it was an epic meal, nothing low calorie about any of it and I forgot the photo because I was too busy savagely inhaling it having waited 90 minutes for the spuds, they'd been in 70 minutes when I realised I hadn't put the carrots and onions in the oven yet, so they took half hour, yeah it wasn't a cooking lesson to share with Aryn at all!

Sorted the courier, £13, they'll pick it up today for a 2 day delivery, so I have a feeling it won't get there till Monday, then we've got to get his mom to sign it again and get it sent to the passport people.  I doubt it'll be ready before Christmas now, which has spoilt one of my planned gifts for him.  I know in the big scheme of life at the moment, it doesn't matter but it just feels a little bit like things are trying to spoil what I wanted to be a wonderful Christmas and it's annoying the shit out of me!  This Christmas was /is really important to me and I know I'm being over emotional about it all and I don't care, I will not hold my emotions in anymore, I had to do it for years when mom was poorly to help me cope.  These days if I want to get upset and have a cry - that's exactly what I'll do!  I went and had a shower last night and had my cry in private, it's how I get my frustrations out. 

One good thing is I've checked the Stena website and it does say a birth certificate is adequate for under 17s, so I'll make sure I have that printed out to prove that.  I can also show them the passport tracking on the internet.

Oh I forgot to say, another reason I was emotional was because the court order we've waiting for has had to be returned because it's wrong and doesn't have on it what was agreed, so again delaying things.  I still won't feel okay with going to Ireland without a copy of that in our hands!  Because of this we haven't booked the tickets for the ferry yet. 

Anyway, now I've stressed you out by sharing my stresses lol, I feel better for getting it out of my head.  I'm going to go make some food and another cuppa, I know it's going to be a good day because that first mug of tea was epic!  

Have a better day than I had yesterday, 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx

The boy can cook!

Wednesday 23rd November 2022
Time is the most expensive thing you can give.

Really enjoyed the huddles yesterday and had a good day all round.  I did have to laugh though, Elle and I were chatting about our plans for the couple of hours between huddles on the afternoon and she told me she was watching 'Jane the Virgin', I said ooo I might go find it and watch an episode too.  A couple of minutes later, I had a photo message from himself, he'd put the shelving in the motorhome which meant he was home already from work, erm that was my afternoon plans changed!   

When Aryn got back from school, I asked if he wanted to cook with me again when I got back from work and the answer was a resounding yes, so he had some oatcakes and hummus to tied him over, plus a couple of crumpets (growing boy!).  

We cooked another of the Hello Fresh boxes this time we made red lentil and spinach dal with roasted aubergine and basmati rice!  Well I say we, he did the majority of it again, love watching him learn to use new things like a garlic crusher, if you've never cracked a garlic into cloves before you don't know do you, things have to be learnt. 

We gave this meal 9/10, to be honest, it was a 10 but I need somewhere to go if something is better, it was delicious, really delicious and because of the roasted aubergine, I wasn't expecting it to be, never been a huge fan.  The basmati rice was cooked to perfection, I only ever really use microwave rice, so this was a real treat.  Also it said serves 4, but we have 2 portions of dal left so that was 5 portions.  We added the Nan bread, I didn't have one of those.  A veggie meal for dinner, impressive for us, we're true meat eaters.

In case you didn't read yesterday's blog, I've had a free '3 meals for 4 people' box, all I had to pay was the delivery £4.99, I checked and you can cancel at any time or miss weeks, there's also a tenner off the 2nd and 3rd week, if you want to give it a try, here's the link Free Hello Fresh Box

Gutted yesterday though as we had an email to say Aryn's passport had been denied because it has to be witnessed by someone who lives in his jurisdiction (i.e. Wolverhampton), even though he lived in Ireland for 13 years and the witness was the solicitor who knows him, so now we're having to start from scratch and hope that we can get his mom to sign it again and pray it comes back before Christmas - I won't hold my breath.  THe issue here is last night Aryn went on the ferry to Ireland they said we needed photo id and his birth certificate wasn't enough - crazy! 

I'm still coughing and snotty, so no swimming again today, getting bored with it now, I know it's disturbing both of our sleep!  I don't feel ill any more thankfully.

Well here's to a good day, no Hello Fresh meal today, gonna save it till tomo or Friday, today we're having lamb chops, bought them reduced the other week and froze them, nom nom, can't wait.  I'm thinking mash and veg and gravy, yeah baby, now that's my kind of meal, plus I have all afternoon to make it because we finish by 11 today.  I think he'll be back early again because of the weather; you can't this weeks job in this weather!  

Right, here's to a great day, I've just had eggs on toast for breakfast, they were delicious.

Mwah, luv ya

Love me 

Another busy week ahead - we hope!

Tuesday 22nd November 2022

Not blogged for a few days, but here I am to recap over those days.  We had a quiet weekend, chilling, himself spent Saturday under the motorhome doing some work on it - I stay out of it, I went to Sainsbury's and shopped instead!  

We nipped to the pub for a few when he'd finished, Aryn came and we played a few games of pool, so he was happy, then we came back and ordered a Chinese takeaway - oops!  I wasn't too bad to be fair, but I haven't tracked a damn thing at all this weekend, so who knows what the scales will say today.

Sunday we rested, caught up on some tele and generally enjoyed being lazy, then yesterday we did a bit of shopping and a few errands.  

I had this arrive....

I'd had a free 3 meals for 4 people box, all I had to pay was the delivery £4.99, I checked and you can cancel at any time or miss weeks, there's also a tenner off the 2nd and 3rd week, if you want to give it a try, here's the link Free Hello Fresh Box

When Aryn got back from school, I asked him if he wanted to help me make one of the meals and he actually ended up doing most of it, I just supervised - oh and washed up!  

We all really enjoyed it, what I liked most is that all the ingredients are there, no jars of herbs to go buy.  Also, I wouldn't have put a balsamic dressing on the rocket, hell I wouldn't have bought the rocket but I enjoyed that the most - go figure!  

We all chose one meal each for next week, himself is working from home this week but I can make his choice on the Friday when he gets back, I was surprised at their choices so maybe this is a good idea, Aryn chose Thai Style Peanut Chicken Noodles and himself chose Chicken & Pepper Rogan Josh Style Curry, I opted for Rosemary Lamb Meatballs and Cheesy Mash - saves me having to think about what to cook for sure.  It's Aryn's birthday next Wednesday too so I might take him out for dinner after school, but we're hoping to go to Birmingham this weekend as he wants to go to the hotpot place again as his dad hasn't been there with us.

Busy day ahead, but I will make another of those meals, both take 40-45 minutes, we still have Mexican Style Beef Loaded Wedges with cheddar, black beans and pepper and Red Lentil and Spinach Dal with Roasted Aubergine and Basmati Rice.

But first to decide on breakfast and make him some sandwiches, it's odd having him home, it's only for a week.  We were doing something together yesterday, remember we're both 'strong' characters and he just looked at me, laughed and said, 'retirement is going to interesting', lol, I'm not easy to live with at all, good job he's a patient man!

One last thing, we're collecting for the food bank again, so if you have anything to spare, bring it to our huddles, if you have more I can pick it up, they really need chocolate, biscuits and toilet rolls, so if you're gifted chocolates and biscuits and are trying to resist temptation - we'll take them off your hands.  We also donated £100 to them, so that's a start, thank you to our Be Happy Owls who buy tea and toast  each week, another good cause it's helped.

Right, I need more tea, here's to a great day, 

Mwah, luv ya

Love me xx

35 days, REALLY!

Saturday 19th November 2022

Be your own kind of beautiful.

After waking to go to loo about four, then having a coughing fit where I wretched, I went back to bed and slept till the alarm at six, glad I managed that extra sleep.  

I did my bit of housework yesterday, bless Aryn he did the hoovering when he got back from school, whilst I cooked tea.  We had pork fillet, mash, beans, carrots, cauli cheese and honey and mustard sauce.  The pork in mustard sauce was from Aldi, a new range according to the sign, I'm sure it cost £4.50 and it was really delicious and cooked in 30 minutes.   It didn't say to heat the sauce though, so I'm not sure if you could put it in a cup of boiling water if you wanted it hot?  We just had a bit on the side to dip in if they wanted and Aryn didn't want the sauce at all.

We started watching 1883 - it's very good (it's the story of the Dutton family from Yellowstone which we love back in 1883).

Just a chilling Friday with lots of laughter which I love, always great when he gets back, love seeing Aryn happy too, can't believe it'll be a year at the end of the month since he entered my life, such a great kid. 

He's bought the motorhome home this weekend, he wants to do 'work' on it!  That'll be fun - not, I shall stay out of it and let him get on with it, at some point we've got to drive down to where he was working to get his car, as he's off somewhere else next week and the week after.  He did suggest catching the train but they're all over the place and the price of them is crazy, I'd rather drive down with him and drive back on my own.

Looking forward to our mornings huddle, need to think about food for later, not thought about anything yet, might get the chicken wings out the freezer - I've actually just stopped and gone and took them out, we'll have a picky tea I think, I have some wraps that need using up by tomorrow too.    

Cats are running round like loonies, jumping all over each other this morning, they do know how to have a good time that's for sure. 

Not much to write today, but I like days like that, it means all is calm in my world and there's been no stress - perfect. 

If the worst thing in my day is a snotty nose and a cough - how blessed am I!

I also have no idea what the weather was like yesterday because I didn't have to leave the house, after a week of rain I didn't miss not going out there!  

Here's to a great day, a wonderful weekend and a clear motorway when we drive to get the car ;) 

I'm trying to ignore it's only 35 days till Christmas!  That's so scary, we've got Aryn's birthday first, then I need to find some money to buy some gifts lol, ah well, we'll enjoy it regardless of how much is spent, it's about being together isn't it? We'll soon find out I guess lol. 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me x

Early to bed - early to rise!

Friday 18th November 2022

It is not selfish to do what's best for you.

Started my day with tomatoes on toast yesterday, made time for breakfast despite getting up later than usual, I've been awake since half three this morning and I got up as I wanted the loo and a cuppa.  

I was cold and hungry again yesterday, I finally caved and put the heating on when I got home from the morning huddles, and I left it on for the rest of the day.  I even fell asleep for 20 minutes after I ate my lunch which was this....

Now I do have a recipe on our website Corned Beef Hash (behappyowls.com) but I didn't follow it yesterday, I cheated a little and used these and they worked really well.  

£1.65 from Morrisons, I bought them a few weeks ago and there were a few left in the bag.  The only problem with corned beef hash is you can eat more than a portion, I should've done some veggies on the side to bulk it out then I would've resisted overeating.

Aryn had a takeaway pizza for his tea as he had the £10 just eat voucher he won, then when I got back from the night huddle, I say his pizza box and wanted one myself!  I found this in the freezer and added pineapple and sweetcorn.  These are only £1.15 in Farmfoods, I enjoyed it, a lot of calories though, 824 for what's in the box - ouch.

 

Yeah, we can safely say I went over my allowance yesterday!  I've still not got rid of this lurgy, woke up in the middle of the night all bunged up with my throat hurting, done a covid test this morning again just in case, it's clear, I've just got an infection that's taking it's time to shift.

Good news, I had my doctors phone appointment and spoke to a head nurse, she's referred me for physio, so that's great, says it'll come through in 3 weeks too, which is great.  

An hour or two of housework this morning, I can't see the coffee table right now and it's a big table, I also want to change the bedding too, I want to go swimming, but I don't think I should as not 100%.  

Right, I want another cuppa to soothe my throat!  Let's have a good day shall we x

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me x

Running Late!

Thursday 17th November 2022

It'll all wait!

Wide awake at half two this morning but I refused to get up, I lay there and after about an hour I finally managed to go to sleep, the cat had fell asleep on my chest which wasn't fun but thankfully once the other joined they both went and I slept till my alarm which for some reason was set for half six so now I don't have as much time as I normally would have.  Hey ho, it'll all wait!

I got the munchies last night and had crackers with cheese spread, then a slice of bread and butter with a bag of cheese and onion crisp - bugga.  WHY?  Well, I think it was because I hadn't had enough veggies during the day to fill me up.

I'd been swimming on morning and don my 32 (half mile) lengths but didn't eat until I had beans on toast with Aryn around 11ish!  They were so good though, I really enjoyed them, I also caved and had a couple of Toffee muffins I'd baked for Aryn!  

I then spent an hour doing housework, I deep cleaned the bathrooms, took the shower curtains down and gave them a wash, feeling complete in my accomplishment, I then sat on my ass and watched a Christmas movie until Aryn came back and we went to the gym, he seems quite keen, so we shall do it.

Dinner was this lasagne, it was okay, but I should've done veggies with it!  Aryn had a load of onion rings with his, I just had mine on its own - big mistake, hence the munchies later.

I have chuckled when I came down this morning to find this...

They obviously thought I'd cleaned the bathroom to make it a playroom for cats!  

Anyway, I gotta go, I've not got long to get ready and I'm hungry too, so I'd like time to eat as it's a long, busy day.  Hope you're up for a good day, let's make it a good one, 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me x

I was hungry yesterday!

Wednesday 16th November 2022

Do it for yourself.

Busy workday yesterday and it was cold and damn wasn't it, not a nice weather day at all!  I don't know if it was the weather or what but I was hungry all day.  I had a chicken mayo toastie for breakfast - yeah I wanted to use the last of the chicken but I enjoyed it too, cost 442 calories but worth it. 

For lunch I had a tin of chicken soup, we'd talked soup in huddles, and I fancied some and didn't really want to make any from scratch, I might today though as I have more time.  I added a handful of extra chicken, thinking the protein would help fill me, I also had a slice of bread and butter with it so that was another 457 calories. I ate this just before 1, and I was still hungry.  If I'd been in a restaurant, it would've been the starter.

I ended up cooking my dinner after I'd eaten the soup and having it just after 2 - oops!  Another 434 calories gone but finally I was full. 

In news other than food, I lost 1lb at the scales, not gonna lie, I expected more, mainly because I'd put 2lb on last week, but I soon realised I hadn't started tracking and eating properly until Thursday so only done a 5-day week, I also wasn't anywhere within my allowance the other days.  

I'm happy because I'm back in control of my eating and my attitudes better, having said that I did go over my allowance yesterday, I was peckish when I got home and had a slice of bread with Dairylea light on it, really enjoyed it too.

Anyway, today there's a lasagne in the fridge with use by 16th so we either have that for dinner or it goes in the freezer, the chicken has all gone.  I fancy tomatoes on toast for breakfast I think.

I've slept really well, at least 8 hours I've managed so I'm ready for my day, I think Aryn might want to go to the gym later, but I'm still trying to decide if I'm going swimming this morning.  I don't want to do too much too soon, I've still got a bit of a cough, mmm decisions, decisions. 

Let's have a great day, whatever it may bring, I'm looking forward to the huddle at Wimborne Road this morning, it was great to have Carol back yesterday but of course Elle was miss, thankfully she's not feeling poorly, she should test negative soon I'm sure. 

Mwah, luv ya

Love me x

Scales day!

Tuesday 15th November 2022

Don't stop until you're proud.

4am and awake today, thanks to cats, the wind outside, that weather sounds yak this morning, who am I kidding the wind inside got me up too, I needed the loo, it might have something to do with all these sprouts I ate yesterday... 

I was really hungry after I'd been swimming, I ate that dinner at 10am, it was the leftovers from Sunday dinner, and it was bloomin delicious, cost me 748 calories and I left a couple of spuds, but it kept me full all day.  I managed 34 lengths at the pool, 439 calories burned apparently.  I was dreading it a bit if I'm honest, having not been for almost two weeks, but the water was warmer than it has been and I enjoyed it once I got going, it was good to be back.

I nipped to Aldi for eggs, B&M's for a curtain pole for our bedroom in Ireland, I ended up treating myself to a fluffy blanket to sit under in the living room as the cats have pinched moms purple on.  My new one is lush, sage in colour and has a thermal lining, really snuggly it was last night Aspen Faux Fur Throw - Sage | Throws - B&M Stores (bmstores.co.uk) still no heating on in our house, Aryn and I have got tough, different story when himself is here.

When I got back, I did a little housework, then wrapped a couple of gifts for Aryn ready for his birthday at the end of the month and himself for Christmas, stocking fillers, cheap stuff.   

Aryn and I then went to the gym, we're hoping to get fit, but we need to build up, so we did 14 mins cardio and 15 mins on the weight machines, that's enough for one day.  My knee wasn't too impressed, but I managed it, use it or lose it they say, so we shall see.  I did nip over the doctors and managed to get a phone call appointment for Thursday, I can explain it all just as easy over the phone as I can face to face. 

I made us chicken chow mein for dinner, I inhaled it, it was that good, yeah I really enjoyed it, definitely back on my regular to eat list, so easy. Chicken Chow Mein (behappyowls.com), not gonna lie though I did have a double portion, still under 500 calories though.  I used udon noodles too because that's what I had in the cupboard, nice, very, very nice.

Now I have more chicken left, I didn't freeze it in the end, so I'll be using it today, I'm thinking a chicken pasta bake maybe, or quesadillas, we shall see.  I'm sure a chicken toastie for breakfast is on the cards though, it'll help use it up, plus I have plenty bread too.  Busy day today, Carol's back after being poorly, Elle has Covid so she'll be staying home so as not to pass it on, thankfully she's not really poorly.  

 Oh I finished under my calories again yesterday - woop woop, go me!  I did have a glass of wine though, I've got to confess, I was sat watching Grey's Anatomy thinking 'I could just enjoy a glass of red', I had plenty of calories left, so I caved and had one glass, cost me 190 calories and was amazing.  I was contemplating a hot chocolate and a bag of crisps which would've been as many calories - so nah, I had what I fancied.

I've just checked, I ended with 15 calories lol, but I did earn over 500 with my swimming and gym which I didn't use.  Now for the scales to tell me how I've done, I'd gained 2lb last Tuesday, I didn't get on track until Thursday, so let's see what the scales have to say.  Whatever the result, I feel so much more in control this week, I've enjoyed my food, I've enjoyed cooking, washing up the dishes not so much, they're never-ending aren't they.  Kitchen needs tidying again, I can only just see the worktops.  

Right time for another cuppa and some breakfast, I'm not going swimming this morning, don't want to overdo it too soon, plus a very, busy day without Elle, so I've got 2 hours before I need to leave, I can take my time getting ready.  Here's to a very, good day.

Mwah, luv ya

Love me x 

I will stay strong & resist temptation!

Monday, 14th November 2022

Surprise yourself - I am!

Another day in the bag, I'm so glad I sat and had a word with myself last Thursday, I know deep down I'm a greedy, drunk fat bitch at heart but I'm not going to accept that and give in to her, I want to lose some weight and I will use every ounce of motivation I can muster to do that.  On days I can't find my motivation, I'll hopefully have pre-planning in place, if all I have in the house is good foods, I can't do much damage can I.

Yesterday, when we got up early, I offered to make breakfast, the reply was 'what we got' so I said, crumpets, mushrooms, tomatoes, eggs and leftover gammon, YES was the reply.  Now because I'm aiming for a weight loss, instead of 2 crumpets covered in butter, I opted for 1 slice of toast and I had less of the gammon, it was still 569 calories though, real butter see, worth it though it was very tasty. 

Yes, I could've eaten more, especially another slice of toast, but I didn't need more, this meal kept me satisfied until we had lunch at half two. 

I wanted chicken and we hadn't got any, so I nipped to the Co-op, they're now £5 each or two for £8 so yeah they've gone up like everything else, but I decided to buy 2 and cook both in the oven at the same time, saving on the electricity, and I'm going to freeze some after I've shredded it, I'm also going to make Chow Mein with it today Chicken Chow Mein (behappyowls.com) 

Anyway, my dinner was epic, worth every one of the 830 calories it cost, I also drank me a bottle of wine whilst cooking, eating and watching tele after.  Perfect afternoon.

I had managed to go back to bed around 5 on the morning and get another hours sleep, so it wasn't too bad after all but when himself left to go back to work at teatime, I decided to go catch up on 'I'm a Celebrity' in bed, I managed one episode before falling asleep, so I reckon I fell asleep about 6.15pm lol, then woke up for a few minutes when he called me at half seven to say he'd got there safe, then I slept most of the night, waking to go to loo or turn over in bed, before cats got me up at five this morning, no pain either, woo hoo, happy days, love sleeping I do.

I'm off to swim this morning, it's too easy to get out the habit isn't it, I haven't been because of the chest infection, but I'm 98% good now, just a bit of a cough.  Here's to burning some calories depending on how many lengths I manage, it can be anything up to 500, not bad.

Now, temptation is everywhere and Mcdonalds have already started on me this morning by email, telling me I can have a single McMuffin for £1.19 this morning if I want, they know I'm going swimming.  Sounds like a bargain doesn't it but a sausage and egg mcmuffin would set me back 423 calories, then I'd add a coffee, another 97 calories for a cappuccino taking the cost up by another £1.69.  Nah you're alright Maccy's, I'll come home and have something else later, I have a fridge full of food, might do bubble and squeak with yesterday's leftovers from dinner.

I will stay strong and think things through before falling for these offers.  I will lose weight, I will not be defeated, and I will not drink wine today, it's a dry day.  I've got this - have you?

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me 

Who needs sleep!

Sunday 13th November 2022

Surprise yourself!

Well, what can I say, put your phone down for a moment and give me a round of applause, I didn't just stay on track yesterday - I SMASHED IT!  

I skipped breakfast because I wasn't hungry, then at noon when I made Aryn his 'breakfast' I had a slice of bread and butter with a slice of bacon on, nice.  Then we went to B&Q to get paint and tiles for the house in Ireland, got us a real bargain too, got some of the paint out of the clearance section £3 instead of £15 a tin - nice.

Then I made our dinner, I'd put the gammon joint in the slow cooker earlier and we had it with beans, mash and parsley sauce, I actually left a bit of mash because I'd put way too many beans on the plate.

 

I had a little bit of sticky toffee pudding and custard, it still cost me 325 calories though, I split the rest between the boys.

We'd already agreed we'd have some red wine and we split a bottle, I expected us to open another one later, but we didn't, we watched tele and went to bed to watch more tele about half eight, but both of us started falling asleep so we turned it off.  I slept a little but kept waking up in pain, my bloody leg!  In the end I got up at one to find some cream to put on it, but then I was wide awake, I did try and go back to sleep but gave up when I was still wide awake at quarter to three so I've been listening to my audiobook in the living room and having a fuss off Coco, silly sod got himself locked in the alley way because he followed me out to the tumble dryer and I hadn't realised, he was out there a good few hours, good job I did wake up at one wasn't it.

I'm starting day 4, on track, I'd opted for an easy day yesterday but still had 1,000 calories left by the end of it woo hoo.  I could've easily put off getting back on track till the New Year, but I know I'd be 7-14lb heavier if I did.   This way, there's a chance I could lose half stone before we go to Ireland, then at least I will have a bit of leeway in my clothes.

I put this together and posted it this morning, if you haven't seen it, have a read - food for thought.  

Don't delay taking care of yourself, it doesn't make sense!  We can still have nights out, indulge now and then but when we aren't doing that, we can focus on eating healthy.

Speaking of which, I have no idea what we're eating today!  If the fancy a cooked dinner, I have lamb chops I could take out, or I have salmon we could have with rice.  I shall ask them at a reasonable hour when they wake, it's still only half four in the morning here!  I'll be shattered by teatime, but I can have an early night cos he goes back to work later. 

I think I need to try and get an appointment at the doctors about my leg, it's not getting any better, I can't stand for any length of time without it hurting, I have to crouch down in shops if I'm in a long queue because it's so painful.  Having said that, the creams took the edge off, I can handle the knee pain, but the sciatic type pain is vile.

Hey Ho, let's focus on something else, I'm thinking they can have crumpets for breakfast, I'll do eggs with it and some beans and the leftover gammon maybe.  I fancy tomatoes on toast, I like crumpets but only if they're drowned in butter and I'm not wasting that many calories today, I'd rather have a big dinner.  I fancy a chicken dinner, ooo I have chicken wings in the fridge, nah I could send him to get a chicken from the shop and roast it in the oven, I know I can do it in the Ninja but I don't like it as much that way.  I want parsnips, potatoes and peas with lots of gravy and a yorkie ooo and carrots, sprouts and I have swede and brocolli too, yeah a nice cooked dinner, I won't give them a choice. 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me x

Saturday morning & I'm still on track!

Saturday 12th November 2022

One meal, one day at a time.

Well, I made it through Friday, it helped that I made it an easy day on the app, by doing that I came in 223 calories below budget, check me out!

This is how my day went, I wasn't hungry when I got up, didn't even think about eating to be honest, so I went food shopping at 8ish, that's no longer fun with the cost of everything going up!  I did get a handful of 'whoopsies' though, so I have two taste the difference ready meals now in the freezer for in the week and two packs of lamb chops that were reduced by £2 a packet - love a bargain I do.

When I did decide it was time to eat, I still wasn't hungry, but I fancied bread and the crust at that, so I had a cup a soup and a slice, it was tasty, but cost me 316 calories, so not low on the numbers.

Whilst shopping I bought the ingredients to make a Greek Pastitsio, basically a cross between a lasagne and a pasta bake, but then himself come home just after one and said what shall we do, well of course we ended up at the pub for a couple, then back home in time for Aryn getting back from school.  So now I've had 3 halves of Guinness on a half empty stomach, so I'm happy, I get my cook on, tell Alexa to play me some tunes and I make a lovely mess in the kitchen cooking up the dinner, which went down a treat, the boys really enjoyed, I thought there was a bit of flavour missing but I do like strong flavours.  Some chorizo in it would make it out this world, but it was already high in calories as I added extra parmesan.  I used some feta which I wouldn't next time, good old fashioned strong, mature cheddar would've added more flavour, definitely a do over though, I'll look at some other versions of the recipe and see what they do. This is the one I followed Greek Pastitsio recipe - beef mince and pasta bake (supergoldenbakes.com)

 

671 calories a portion but there were 6 good sized portions in the dish!  Now the problem began when the recipe called for 175ml of white wine!  Of course, that means there's 575ml left in an open bottle - not anymore there isn't, I managed to find a couple of unsmashed empty wine glasses that held the remainder equally and we consumed.  The next problem was 575ml split two ways doesn't last long and I'd bought a meal deal in Sainsbury's that had another bottle of white wine as part of the deal, you know what's coming don't you!  We opened another bottle and destroyed it.  It was a good job I hadn't had much else to eat wasn't it.  We were in bed by half six lol, drunk and full of food, now that's a perfect day.  I woke up thinking it was morning, it was midnight lol.

I did wake up at 4 and I've already done a load of washing, cleaned the mess up I'd made cooking, jeez that was a big mess, done the washing up, went back to bed for half hour when himself woke up (no more details needed there), had a shower and two mugs of tea later, I'm ready for work with a smile on my face.

Oh, and I've put a joint of gammon in the slow cooker for dinner, thinking gammon, spuds and veggies, then any left can make a sarnie if he gets hungry later. 

Right, here's to surviving another day and living life at the same time - you in?

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx