Word of the year...

30th December 2022

Words are powerful.

Well I said I wasn't going to watch Harry & Meghan but after a conversation with his sister the other day, I decided I would, she's a Meghan fan and I couldn't comment on something I hadn't seen.  Have I changed my opinion of her and the whole situation?  Yeah a little but that's not the reason for the blog, Then one thing she did mention in the show was 'A word of the year' and I liked the idea.  Resolutions have become very unpopular over the last decade, mostly because people realised they don't actually work, but the idea of choosing one word to focus on for the year ahead, well maybe that's a good idea. 

But which word!  I mean there's so many and 'happy' is too obvious!  I did a bit of googling and as always, I'm stealing with pride, so here's some help, start by reflecting over the year that's about to end and write down the first thing that pops into your head, 

What could I use more of in my life?

What could I use less of in my life?

What characteristics would I like to have?

By the end of the day, I feel ______ (fill in the blank).

How do I want to feel?

If like me you're struggling with characteristics, here are some suggestions. 

That's a starting place, next think about how a perfect day would feel, FEEL being the important word here, how do you want to feel in the morning, at work, throughout the day.  

Here's another question to complete, 'Over the last year I've felt that I was....' write down 1-3 words that come to mind. 

How do you want to feel at the end of 2023?  Again be as descriptive as possible, write a paragraph or bullet points, what are your goals for the year ahead?  Do you want to spend more time with friends, learn something new, work on yourself? 

Start making a list of words that appeal to you, the first ones that come to mind.  Once you have a list, narrow it down to three, then to one, but hey, this is your year, if you want more than one word - that's okay!

Here's some word suggestions if you need them? 

I'm going to think on mine today as it's our last day here in Ireland, we travel home tomorrow.  I've had a mixed year, I need to get a handle on my emotions, I do know that, but at the same time I'm a big believer in having a cry when you want to, so it's a tough one that!  I wouldn't change my life which his great, I love being in love, I love being a step mom, I don't love the reality that it sometimes comes with but you can't have the good without the rest, life's not like that is it.  I've never had to worry about others before apart from mom of course but that was different, I'm gone from being a single lady to having commitments, it's taking some getting used to.  I've also had a year where someone else got to influence our lives and moods beyond our control - I didn't like that either.

Oh and don't get me started on teenage emotions and behaviours, lol. 

Yeah I've done a lot of thinking the last couple of weeks, I've had plenty of time to do it, middle of nowhere, crap tele and broadband reception. 

We've got visitors coming today, so I better move my ass. 

Let me know if you choose to pick a word, I'd love to know.

Mwah, luv ya

Love me xx

Well I'd happily do that again today...

Monday 26th December 2022

Happy day after Christmas, merry rest of the year.

Boxing day ain't it!

Christmas Eve was a relaxed one, his sister had stopped over as we'd all been out for a meal the night before to celebrate his dads birthday, I came home early with Aryn as he was shattered, he'd been to Donegal with his mom to see his new niece, left at 9.30am got back at 4pm so he was a very, tired boy.  The rest of them went on for more drinks, I think the sentence I heard as I walked away was, 'I'll only be an hour, we'll have a couple more, then come home', erm....  I got a call over an hour later to say, his sister and one daughter had decided to sleep over and they were having a few more!  I heard them roll in at 2am, at 4am they were still going strong and the noise was getting louder - I got up, called them noisy bastards and went and made me a cuppa.  I got my revenge when they woke up around 9am with killer hangovers lol.

We drove Niamh home and nipped in to see his mom leaving Aryn to sleep in, popped in Lidl's for a last few things and got home around 2, ready to relax.  We settled to watch a film together and I went and fetched the Christmas Eve sacks I'd put together for us, treats to eat, a Christmas t-shirt and a new mug, silly bits.  WELL, it turned out they'd already been opened by a Christmas mouse, the little shit had nibbled into each bag, had a chunk of galaxy caramel from two bags and a malteser from the other.  He's obviously living in the spare room because we've left a trap out two nights on the trot with a chunk of chocolate on it, next morning the chocolate is gone and there's no sign of the clever mouse!  

We all agreed an early night was a good idea, Aryn did suggest we got up at midnight to open our gifts, I was having none of that!

As for Christmas day itself, what a lovely day, no stress in our house on Christmas day, I even managed a little lie in, Aryn got up around 8, with a little encouragement and we all had a cuppa and opened our gifts, everyone seemed pleased, no disappointed faces anyway.  I then made us all bacon sarnies and they settled down to watch a film, I disappeared into the kitchen to cook dinner.  We did our food shop at the local lidl's here in Ireland, I bought the smallest fresh turkey they did for a bargain ten euros, 3.8kg, I wasn't sure about it if I'm honest, he looked skinny and not as round around the chest as I've had before but I thought, it's one meal and we can drown it with gravy if its crap.  It wasn't, it was bloomin delicious as was everything else, the best parsnips I've tasted in years (easily pleased me), yeah, the only thing I forgot was the Yorkshire puddings, as I was putting it all out and adding the gravy, I remembered.  So, I threw them in the oven as we started eating the rest and the were ready half way through eating :) 

Full to the brim, we sat down to watch more tv and all agreed we'd rather have a snooze, so we all went back to bed, I slept 90 minutes, Aryn the same and himself did 2 hours.

For tea we had vol-u-vents which I adore and even though I'd asked and they'd said they didn't want food, I knew when they were cooked they'd eat mine, so I doubled up!  

We all had an early night, happy with our day, I've been awake since half five, I do believe I was woken by the words, 'time for a cuppa', so I've made us both one and he's gone back to sleep - really!

I'm thinking bacon and scrambled eggs on soda bread toast for breakfast, no idea about the rest of the day, maybe bubble and squeak with the leftovers, thankfully there aren't a lot, there's only a bit of the turkey to eat.  I forgot to get a spare loaf - oops, hence the soda bread, there is half a loaf in the freezer and a few slices of brown but there will be no white bread sarnies in this house today - they'll live. 

I hope everyone had a lovely day as we did, it's lovely seeing all the photos on Facebook of families spending time together.

Here's to another lovely, calm day, chilling, sitting in front of a log fire and watching crap tv.

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me x

Weeks going so quickly..

Thursday 22nd December 2022

Do Christmas your way...

Well it's been a few days since I blogged as there's not much happening, I'm doing a lot of sitting on my ass watching crap tele and drinking tea - yes tea, I've not drunk much wine YET.  

Himself hasn't really stopped, Monday with the help of a mate, they tiled the one bathroom and finished the flooring in the other bathroom, then laminated Aryn's bedroom floor which now looks great, all it needs now is a desk and chair and his room is finished.  Tuesday he spent the day running errands to sort stuff and mowing the lawn, it's a big garden, he did the front though which was quite an achievement as it hadn't been touched for over a year, he's talking about borrowing some sheep for the back, you can't mow an acre of rough terrain, not if you're smart anyways.  Yesterday he finished off the painting round the tiling, last Christmas I hadn't quite painted enough, I thought they'd tile that bit too!  

Whilst all that was going on, I cooked a beef dinner Monday, it was amazing, parsnips are good here at the moment.  I put the Christmas tree up too and it's lovely if I do say so myself.  A couple of hours singing Christmas songs whilst making the living room look festive was just what I needed.   Aryn had a couple of hours with his mom early evening so the house was quiet for a few hours.

I didn't do much of anything Tuesday but watch tv and cook some dinner, can't even recall what we ate!  Then yesterday we were going to do our Christmas food shop, but thanks to lack of communication and folk not following the rules of the court order the shine was taken off that!  The upside of it I guess was I only got the bare essentials, I wasn't in the mood to do my usual, 'yay let's buy it all' Christmas food shop.   The cost of everything this year is taking the shine off shopping anyway isn't it!  Ultimately it's a Sunday roast with turkey, I have the makings of that, shops open again on the 27th don't they so it's all good.   By the end of the shop we were messing about in their version of B&M's but much smaller, I just want Aryn to have a good Christmas without all this animosity, a simple phone call or text is all it takes, you can't just turn up without warning, heck five minutes later we wouldn't have been in anyway and Aryn's the one who missed out because of it. Deep sigh...

We had some dinner, it was nothing special but used up food I wanted eating, then himself went out to drink with his dad, I had an early night and he rolled in around one ish, very, very drunk but happy.  He needed a night off and some laughter, he works hard and cares always.

I don't know what's on his to do list today, apart from chopping logs, that's a daily job, you can't beat a log fire but damn they burn the wood fast! I'm thinking good old fish fingers and chips for dinner, I bought some nice chunky ones in Supervalu yesterday, oh yeah I have to say that shop sells some really good food, it's not cheap but it's nice.  Then we did our main food shop at Lidl's as that's the only option, again not a bad shop but I wanted some Yorkshire tea and it wasn't happening, I'm such a Brit, wanting my own tea, I did get me a bottle of Lemoncillo though which I'm going to really enjoy over Christmas.

It's 7am and all is quiet in the house, he'll be spark out for hours still I reckon and he'll possibly have a poorly head when he wakes up.  Aryn went to bed early, I think the events of the day impacted him more than he lets on which is such a shame because he had been watching tele and sitting with us the last few nights.

I'm gonna go tidy the kitchen, then watch crap tele again because I can.  I thinking jam on toast for breakfast, nom nom.

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me    

All is calm, all is bright

Monday 19th December 2022
Enjoy the week, don't stress it.

Well I haven't had the first day in Ireland I expected, I've had a bad stomach since we opened the front door, I was sick once but the runs have been continuous, I didn't eat anything other than a couple of slices of toast yesterday, I was scared to, to be honest after the amount of visits I'd had to the loo, I had stomach ache on and off all day, felt cold despite the fire being on full, then we went to bed about half seven and I managed to sleep at last, waking at midnight, then going to the toilet at least a dozen times since then, sleeping in between.   

At the moment, I've managed a mug of tea and I'm going to try another!  I don't feel cold this morning so that's good news, hopefully it's a 48 hour bug thing and I'll be right tomorrow.  

We got on the boat at 7.30 and got to the house in Ireland just after 2am, bearing in mind we'd left home around one ish because he needed to go to B&Q, then we stopped for a maccies, and when we got to Holyhead we had a lovely meal in the Habourfront Bistro (highly recommended).  Hell it's a trek of a trip!  

I plan on putting the tree up today, I wasn't doing it yesterday how I felt, we'd travelled for so many hours, then only had a couple of hours sleep because when we did get to the house, we couldn't find the lock for the one gate, then the other lock was rusted over which meant half hour of messing about, then admitting defeat and giving up, parking the full car on the road - tbh it's in the middle of nowhere so I wasn't too concerned.  Then we knew the pipes had frozen so I was dreading what we would walk into!  Thankfully his lovely sister had been over and cleaned up and put fresh bedding on our beds for us but when he tried the taps, they weren't playing so I sat and watched him try and fathom it all out, by 4am he was in the loft, I'm passing him stuff up, turned out the tank was completely frozen over, he had to smash it open, a good 4inches thick it was.  Luckily, we've got away without any pipes bursting and it's all good now, the house is warm and cozy and I'm ready for a restful break, I know there will be lots of, 'Bev, where's my........' and 'Bev, can you just do..... ' as he does lots of stuff round the house, but I can cope with that, I have decided that I will not be holding a paintbrush this holiday though, after last Christmas, I'm having a break, although I know that decision will probably change when I feel better. 

His mates coming this morning to tile the one bathroom, he has a list a mile long of 'jobs' he wants to get done, I plan on cooking a lovely beef dinner for everyone, not sure if I'm brave enough to eat it but I'm thinking eat it and take the consequences and Aryn will be seeing his mom teatime so a full day all round. 

It really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas, well it will do once the trees up.  Oh sitting here typing I've realised how much better I feel today and how rough I felt yesterday, I don't think it was something I've eaten because everything I ate, one of them ate too, plus as he said, I've got a cast iron stomach, so I'll go with the bug thought.

Here's to a lovely Monday, hope you have a great day.

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx

A week today....

Saturday 17th December 2022

So much to do, so little time - it'll wait....

It's 6m and bloody cold for a change lol, I've looked out and my cars white over, but it's only -1 so warmer than it has been thankfully.

Well my physio appointment went well, he's given me some exercises to do and a follow up appointment on Feb 3rd, here's hoping it helps, I was in bloody agony the rest of the day, I'm guessing that was from the moving around of my limbs he'd done to check me over.  

I'm sat surrounded by stuff that needs to go with us to Ireland, I hate packing, it's such a ballache, but it has to be done and hopefully it'll be worth it for a lovely break, although we found out yesterday the pipes at the house are frozen!  Yay, happy days, let's just hope when they defrost none of the pipes have burst because that will be a pain in the bum. 

Food wise, we had an HelloFresh, mostly because it have to be eaten, I want some plain food the next few days, it was quick chermoula chicken and tasty, bit hot for me.

Right himself just got up and he's opened his Christmas pressie and thankfully he loves it.  It's okay I gave him permission last night because we don't have room in the car and also because he can wear it now to keep him nice and warm.  I'm so chuffed he both loves it and it fits - phew.

I'm off for a busy day, 

Mwah, luv ya 

love me 

You can't beat a good steak.

Friday16th December 2022

Find happiness in the small things.

Yesterday was a good day, lovely huddles, came home to  a clean house - thank you boys!  Aryn went to look round Coppice, then had the school fair at his own school, where he came home with lots of tat lol.  There was a lovely wooden ornament that I really liked though and it turned out he made it!  Go Aryn, I'm watching Minnie try to kill it as I type!

Dinner was a delicious steak with mash, peas and peppers, you can't beat an excellent gift and steak has to be high up that list.  I was supposed to cook an HelloFresh meal but well steak just won out, so easy to cook, we used Idahoan mash which you just add water too - perfect and I'd been and had a couple of drinks in the pub after work so the last thing I wanted to do at eight at night was cook after a full day of huddles.

I've got physio today, yay, I do hope it makes a difference, any exercises they give me I'll be able to do daily whilst I'm away in Ireland over Christmas.  I'm so looking forward to us all spending time together, having a table to eat our meals up (my house isn't big enough for one).  They're refusing to watch Christmas movies with me, but they'll have to sit and watch me watching them lol.

It is a tough time of year, so much to do but we need to try and take deep breathes and enjoy it.  I've had moments this week where I've been overdramatic (I'm very good at that), being poorly doesn't help because everything seems so much worse when you're not feeling well, damn cough, then another head cold on top of it - yay.  Thankfully himself has the patience of a saint and knows exactly how to handle me.  

We all had a lovely family hour whilst we ate together, lots of laughs and teasing going on, yeah that's what I'm looking forward to over Christmas, having the time to spend time together, not having to rush to get to work, or watching him driving off at silly o'clock in the morning for the week.  I'm sure I'll end up with a paintbrush in my hand at some point again though if I know him! 

Busy day sorting things to take today, once I get back from Physio, need a few things from the shops too and then I'm done, ready for our trip.  Not before I see our members tomorrow morning though.  Thankfully Elle is running the show next week, so no excuses from members to miss or start celebrating too soon. 

Oh I almost forgot, I had a proper mince pie yesterday, not these crap shop bought ones, a home made one with home made mincemeat too, mmmm delicious, thank you Gwen.

Let's enjoy Friday shall we, 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx

It's getting closer

Thursday 15th December 2022

Always be a star!

Short one today, slept till half six then jumped in shower to try and clear my nose - it worked thankfully.  Yesterday was uneventful anyway so not much to tell ya.

Today apart from huddles, I shall mostly be trying to get a witness on Aryn's passport AGAIN!  They tried to contact his head teacher, couldn't so have said we have to start again YAY.  It has to be one of the following, they must have a landline and answer the phone lol, they only tried twice the headteacher told us, which is just great isn't it. 

Anyways, I'm not worrying about that at 7am, I'm gonna drink my cuppa then subject myself to a hot lemsip, they make me feel sick but they do seem to help with unblocking my nose and making me feel a bit better and as he went over the shops to buy them, I'm gonna drink them.

Almost Christmas, I'm really looking forward to just zoning out and not thinking about anything - well almost nothing anyways.

Enjoy your day, 

Mwah, luv ya

Love me x

Another cold morning!

Wednesday 14th December 2022

Enjoy the season, find the beauty in every day

Well I had a better sleep despite being full of another head cold, done a covid test, it's just a snotty nose.  I took painkillers which I think helped me sleep and I slept on the other side of the bed so I can sleep on my side and not snore so loud lol.  Although I was woke by a noise outside, I reckon it'd be around midnight but I didn't have my phone so didn't know time.  I got up to see what the noise was and it was lads, one had fell on the ice and they thought it was hilarious, but apparently they had to be very loud about how funny it was!  They made the dog next door bark, himself was now snoring rather loudly himself (although he'd have none of that, if I said anything), so it took me a bit to zone all that out and get back to sleep.

We'd had a lovely day of huddles, then when I got back I made this HelloFresh meal, I have to say this one was right up my street and took me less than 20 minutes to make.  I really do need to work on my photo skills, but I'm just so keen to get eating that I can't be bothered!  Next time I wouldn't add the spoon of sugar, it's sweet enough without it, I'd also enjoy it with broccoli on the side maybe to fill me up as I could've eaten more, but maybe I was just hungry because the lads didn't say they needed more. 

  

 

It reminded me of my beef larb recipe Beef Larb (behappyowls.com) really nice, one of my favs.
 

I'm gonna have pizza today, I had to nip to M&S to pick up some joggers for me yesterday so I treated us to the Christmas Pizza and a pizza deal so I can have an easy day today, huddle this morning, relaxing this afternoon.  

I'm looking forward to lots of rest over our Christmas break, for those who have asked, here's our opening times, we're open right up to and including Christmas Eve, then we re-open New Years Eve so that you can draw a line and then your first weigh-in in 2023 will be a loss!   You know it makes sense.

Here's to a great day, I'm off for another mug of tea and to put the bin out - brrrr.

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me 

Brrr, baby it's cold outside!

Tuesday 13th December 2022

12 sleeps till Christmas.

Another none eventful day yesterday - I quite like those I have to admit.  We drove to Argos at Rugeley as that was the only one that had what we wanted in stock!  Then he sat clicking the remove trying to find something to watch so I went to wash up, that clicking noise does my head in when you know there's nothing on tv to watch or what he's gonna pick ain't gonna be great lol.

Bless him though, when he asked what I was doing and I said 'cleaning the toilet', he got the hoover out and did the whole house - he's a good un really.

I then cooked this,

Using the leftover leg of lamb from Sunday's dinner, I diced it up tiny, fried a couple of onions and carrots and added the leftover gravy then topped it with mashed potato and cheese and whacked it in the oven to brown. Well if I do say so myself, it was delicious, Aryn even went back for seconds.  A definite meal to do over again in the future. 

That was more or less our day, we did watch Emancipation with Will Smith, I can't say I enjoyed it, it's a dark tale, true story of a runaway slave forges through the swamps of Louisiana on a tortuous journey to escape plantation owners that nearly killed him.  Because of the nature of the film, I found it very difficult to watch but I understand why as part of history the story needs telling.  

By the time it had finished, I was emotionally drained and exhausted so went to bed tired and ready for another disturbed night of tossing and turning in discomfort, roll on the physio appointment Friday, here's hoping they can help.

Looking forward to a day of huddles, I'll start with scraping my car off, I haven't driven it since Saturday, so that'll be fun.

Just waiting for the house to warm up so I can shower, roll on Spring!  But let's enjoy Christmas first :) 

Mwah, luv ya

Love me xx

Cold & crazy cats!

Monday 12th December 2022

There is Magic in the Mayhem

Well, what was that white stuff all about yesterday morning, you can keep the snow I'm afraid, I'm not a fan unless I'm just looking at it through a window.  Not gone swimming this morning because my car is still covered in it and he's home as he's finished for the year now (lucky lad!)

A lovely calm weekend all round, well almost but you can't control other people's behaviours and if you don't like something, all you can do is take away its power - YOUR ATTENTION!  

I made a delicious lamb dinner yesterday, legs of lamb under £15 in Farm Foods and the one I found in the stack was almost 2.5kg, nice, there's enough there for another few meals, I could happily eat another roast dinner today but maybe a shepherd's pie made with it cut up small, nom nom!  I need spuds and onions, will nip round my sisters at some point, she has some :) 

They won't watch Christmas movies with me!  JUST MEAN! lol but I did get them to watch Lyle, Lyle Crocodile and as much as they'll pretend it was only to indulge me, they loved every minute of it :)

We're going to do a bit of last-minute Christmas shopping today, got to go to bloody Rugeley that's to the person we can't control but breathe Bev and remember don't give it your attention!

All I can think of now is shepherd's pie, seriously I love food too much, if that's possible.  

Here's to a good, calm day, need to get the meeting plans done first before anything else, then I've got a clear run.  I have a feeling there's something or somewhere I should be today but there's nothing on my phone so maybe I'm wrong.  

As always the cats are running around like crazy things the house this morning!

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me x

How cold is it!

Saturday 10th December 2022

Well, I made it through my busy day yesterday and I managed to get the basket I wanted so now my Christmas gift shopping is complete and I can relax.  I took no pleasure in walking round the shops because it hurts my leg/hip/back - boo!  I did however enjoy the caramel latte I had in the cafe in Dunelms on the Bilston Road, very nice indeed.  

Aryn's review went well, looks like he'll be starting Coppice January 9th - eek!  We have to decide his options over Christmas, so that's on our to do list.  I think he was possessed by something last night because he not only tidied his room, but he sorted his wardrobe out too - who is this child and what has he done with Aryn! 

I nipped to Sainsbury's to get a couple of bottles of Bailey's for gifts then got home around two and made me a much-needed cuppa and sat down for an hour before starting Dinner.  

This HelloFresh meal was absolutely delicious, I did put a little extra cheese on the top, because who doesn't like more cheese!  We all cleaned our plates and chilled out to watch tele for the night. If you do want to try a few box, message me with your email address and I'll send you a link as the one I've been posting on here seems to have changed to just a discount rather than a free box, I have one spare and my sister has a couple. 

  

I've been awake since four again, uncomfortable with my leg, but physio next Friday so all is good hopefully they will give me some exercises that will help.  I've just folded the washing, 4 loads I managed to get done yesterday, thank the world for washing machines and tumble dryers, I can't imagine having to do what my mom had to when we were kids, using twin tubs and before that hand washing, mangals all that stuff, nightmare. 

No plans for today once we've done our huddle this morning, we'll see what they want to do, I'll be happy to chill out and do nothing, but we'll see.  

I can't believe two weeks today is Christmas Eve, mind-blowing how quickly the last twelve months have flown and how much my life has changed, I wouldn't change a thing - well maybe a few things but only the things we had no control of!

Here's to a great weekend, I'm craving green veggies, HelloFresh seem to like peppers, I want some green beans, brocolli, petit pois, mmm, I'm thinking a nice roast dinner tomorrow.

It's cold out there this morning, I'm not looking forward to defrosting the car that's for sure!

Whatever you have planned - enjoy. 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx 

Busy, busy, busy

Friday 9th December 2022

Some days will be easier than others.

Awake at half four and considering defrosting the car to go swimming before my 10am appointment at Aryn's school to see how he's getting on.  He enjoyed his day in Telford, they all had £12 each to spend on books, these were his choice!

 

There is no age restriction on buying books!  He's 14 and thankfully a mature one but I did look and think, mmm I don't know if he should be reading these!  I'm going to download them on my Audible so I know what he's reading, and we can talk about it as he reads them, IF he reads them!

It was a busy, long day yesterday, Elle's daughter was poorly so she stayed home with her, which meant Carol and I were on our own, which is good, it's why one of the reasons there's two of us in Be Happy Owls.  Great day other than the temperature, oh my, the heating wasn't working in our venue and ma'an was I cold.  Even Carol was glad to get in the car at half six last night and she doesn't usually feel the cold at all.

One of the blooming power sockets in my kitchen has stopped working which is the one that powers the microwave, cooker and kettle, I've moved the kettle but it's not so easy to move the other stuff - such fun.  Thankfully the cooker is multifuel so I can use the gas hob as long as I have matches lol.

Dinner last night was this, of all the Hello Fresh meals so far, it's one I wouldn't want again, it was a little bland.  I've also been told the link isn't working properly, it's not giving a full box free, so if you want to try it, message me your email and I'll send you the free box link instead. 

 

Busy day ahead, so much washing to get done, I thought my Christmas shopping was finished but it turns out I need a basket for the hamper, I managed to get a nice one yesterday from B&M but they only had the one left, so I need to check a couple of their other stores, it's a basket with food already in for £25.   Wish me luck!

To swim or not to swim, that is the question.

Here's to a lovely day no matter how busy.

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me 

I think that's me Christmas ready!

Thursday 8th December 2022

Deep breathes, do what you can.

I had a busy day yesterday, lovely huddle on the morning, then I had to nip to Sports Direct to get Aryn some new joggers as he's growing by the day, thankfully he's not a victim to named brands and is happy with any as long as they're black!  Next was B&M's for a few Christmas bits, followed by Sainsbury's for the same, by the time I'd finished my left leg was absolutely killing me, pain from top to bottom, I do hope the physio next Friday gives me some exercises that will help.

I came home and did some wrapping; I've just got to get two cardboard boxes now to fit in two hampers and I'm done apart from when we food shop in Ireland. 

Aryn wanted to go to the gym when he got home so we did, I'd took painkillers but could only manage to do a little walk on the treadmill and a bit on a bike kind of thing but not the normal one, you're more sitting back.  I'm trying that use it or lose it mentality but the bloody pain when I got home, oh ma'an.  I was hungry, tired and in pain and I've got those Hello Fresh boxes to use.  I'd not have 5 in a week again because you have to have one every day, I only did it because I'd got 40% off the price, trying to save money lol.  Thankfully this meal only took 20 minutes, I had to sit on my step stool to chop my veg, I need to get me a higher one so I can reach easier.  

It was tasty, I use all the pasata and paste even though it told me to use less, I decided I'd be happy with a more liquid curry because I knew I was going to freeze some so if I wanted more chicken in it when I defrosted it, I could add some, or maybe through in some chickpeas.  They didn't include the spinach or chicken stock in my delivery - doh, but fair play, when I reported it, they've credited my account with £4, I had frozen spinach in the freezer which did the job and used it up as it's been there for ages. 

  

my sister had this sticky chicken noodle in her box (I've got it in the fridge to make too - looks tasty).

And I know I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but I do like something for nothing  and we all need a bargain right now, so if you fancy giving it a go, having a free box, use this link  and you can have a free box with 3 meals for 4 people (cancel anytime).  I love that it's making me try new meals.

Once I'd eaten this, I watched an episode of Wednesday with Aryn, then he disappeared, and I watched Jane the Virgin for an hour before going to bed stupidly early to try and get comfortable from the pain.  I managed to sleep thankfully, woke around 4ish but I've had sleep which is all that matters.  It's not so bad this morning 'yet' so I'll take some painkillers in the hope it'll keep it at bay.  

Aryn's off to Telford for the day with the school today, so I'll be getting him up early than usual, that will be good practice for when he does transfer to Coppice.  I've got a busy day of huddles too, I'll enjoy a couple of hours quiet inbetween this afternoon though.  

Let's start this day, have another cuppa, a bit of breakfast, I fancy scrambled eggs I think. 

Mwah, luv ya

Love me x

I could do with an extra day this week!

Wednesday 7th December 2022

It's all about doing your best.

Tired, I slept till 6am, it's cold this morning, I could happily have stayed snuggled up in bed but that's not real life is it, instead I'm sat in the living room with a blanket on watching the news, enjoying a cuppa tea getting ready for the day ahead. 

Yesterday was a busy day, 3 huddles and a trip to Asda up town to go and take part in the NHS Future Health research programme.  The did my height, weight and waist circumference, blood pressure, heart rate, cholesterol and took a blood sample.  All for research purposes to help them find new ways of detecting, treating, preventing diseases in the future.  If you get the invite, it doesn't take long so get involved.  

On a positive my cholesterol was great, my heart rate 63, but my blood pressure was a little high, it usually is when I go to the doctors, I've got that white coat syndrome lol.  Of course, my weight needs works and I've shrunk half inch over the last decade!  

As I was there, I nipped in Asda to get the cat food they like, it's their Tiger cheap one in gravy thankfully not an expensive one!  I treated myself to a couple of Christmas sweatshirts because it's damn cold now.  I also bought us a chicken for tea as I fancied a simple meal, chicken sandwich with gravy, it was lush.

It was a year yesterday that Aryn came to the UK to live, that's gone very quickly hasn't it, I'm guessing the coming year will go even quicker.  I'm looking forward to our Christmas break, time to relax and spend time together.

Today is housework day, I didn't get it done Monday because of fetching that car, so when I get back from huddle, it's cat clear up plus all the other stuff.  Aryn will want to go to the gym too, I'm not gonna have time to go swimming this morning as slept a little later and will start the housework before I go to work.  I want to get those Christmas eve bags done as I don't think I'll have the house to myself next week, I have a feeling he won't have work!  I could do with an extra few hours in my day today :) 

At least I haven't got to think about dinner, we'll have one of those Hello Fresh meals, a couple of them are 20-minute meals I think, so that's a bonus. 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, too much to do and not enough time but I'm not gonna worry about it, stuff either gets done or it doesn't!  

Deep breathe, here's to the day ahead.  I need another cuppa and a bit of breakfast.

Have a great day xx

Mwah, luv ya

Love me 

Christmas is getting closer!

Tuesday 6th December 2022

Expect nothing, appreciate everything.

Well, the poor man got up at half three this morning to drive down the country for 3 hours for work, he's got the lurgy bad poor thing, so I do feel for him.  I got up with him, made him a cuppa, went to the loo, then I went back to bed, it took me a good hour to get back to sleep, but I did eventually and slept on and off being woken by the loony cats who were playing in a box at the end of my hed.  I should've got up and moved it but I didn't want to move and wake myself up again.

Yesterday was mostly spent driving up and down the motorway to pick his car up, we left at half ten and got back just after four, tiring but I did get a bacon and sausage bap out of it at the services - it was good.

I walked in the house and the first things Aryn said to me was, "Where's dad, do you want me to hoover, what's for tea?" I 'm like give me a moment, let me have a cuppa lol.  

At least he'd bought my HelloFresh delivery in, I suppose that was a bonus, we chose the Bulgogi Pork and Pepper Tacos with chips, sesame mayo and picked red onion and it didn't take long to cook thankfully.  I have to say I will definitely make pickled red onion again, it'd go nice with poppadom's, so to make it, you use 1 sliced red onion, 30ml rice vinegar and 2 tsp sugar.  

 

Everyone emptied their plates, so another huge success.  Aryn had finished hoovering, when I dropped half of the packet of sesame seeds all over the kitchen floor, as you can imagine, that went down well.

My sister had her free box yesterday too and she made this, Oregano and Cranberry Sausage Burger and chips, she was very impressed as was her husband who doesn't like burgers so she thought he'd moan or leave it but he ate the lot, in her words 'but all the flavours married together nicely'.

Again, if you fancy giving it a go, having a free box, use this link  and you can have a free box with 3 meals for 4 people (cancel anytime).  it' really was a relief to have it there last night after all that driving, one less stress at this time of year, not having to worry about going shopping and deciding what to have.

We watched a bit of tele, then had an early night, man's lurgy is worse than women's don't forget!  A busy day ahead, I might get to start my Christmas Eve bags this afternoon, I need to go get a few more bits and the makings of a couple of hampers as gifts to take to Ireland, then we're done really, not going made with gifts this year, we've chose to have the heating on instead lol.

Right, here's to a positive day ahead, we've got this, a month today, Christmas will be a distant memory again for a another year.

Mwah, luv ya

Love me x

Food, family and all that good stuff.

Monday 5th December 2022

Put your phone down sometimes...

A lovely weekend had in this household, nice and quiet for most of it, Friday night I cooked the last of the Hello Fresh meals that I'd ordered last week, it was the one himself had chosen and I really didn't fancy it, but once again it proved me wrong, and it was delicious. 

 

My photo might look as good as the website one, but it tasted amazing and I actually cleared the plate, I almost licked it but resisted.  

Again, if you fancy a free box, use this link  and you can have a free box with 3 meals for 4 people (cancel anytime).  I've enjoyed hearing from others that have done just that and tried them and they're loving them too, it's one less stress at this time of year, not having to worry about sorting dinner!

I've got a box of 5 meals for 3 coming this week, it means I can stay away from food shopping this week as all our main meals are covered, all we need is a loaf and milk and we have breakfast too, plus there's loads in the freezer, to be honest I'm having a decent breakfast then these meals and I'm not needing the lunch in-between most days.  

These are this week's meals we've chosen. 

Last night we ate out, met my brother, his wife and their kids for a meal whilst they all watched the football, it was really good to get together, we must do it more often.  The Summerhouse over Whitmore Reans do damn good food I have to say, Nepalese, everyone's looked delicious, and a great night was had.  

Before that, Aryn had sat and watched Miracle on 34th Street with me, the original black and white one, it's the first Christmas movie he's sat through, and we had a hilarious conversation about Santa, Father Christmas, the fact that I believe and him interrogating me on how Reindeers fly, what Elves eat and other questions like this to try and catch me out.  He couldn't I had answers for all of it lol.  Everyone's entitled to their own opinions, but I BELIEVE!  I told Aryn what I want for my Christmas pressie is for the 3 of us to cuddle up together on the sofa and watch tele, he was like 'I don't think so', but I persisted and said if you loved me you would, to which I got a '£20' reply but he thought I'd say no but I said yes, he tried to put it up to £50 but I was having none of that, so I may get my Christmas wish :) 

He's not at work till tomorrow, so he's in bed, I've given him the lurgy apparently!  He doesn't feel very well, I managed to sleep in till 7 too, so not sure if I'll make the swimming this morning as got to get meeting talk planned for this week too.  I'll have to wait till Wednesday afternoon to sort my Christmas Eve bags, the house will be empty them.  I picked up 3 bags from B&Ms or Home Bargains and I'm going to put a tub of chocolates in eat, biscuits, popcorn, hot chocolate, basically all the goodies we would have in the house anyway, but they'll be part of their gift, then I've got a couple of other things, it's something to do on Christmas eve when we're sitting watching tele waiting for the big day. 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas :) 

Here's to another day of watching Aryn open his advent calendar whilst being jealous because I stupidly didn't buy myself one!  His is great, it's like a chimney and has Cadbury stuff in, he's had curly wurly, chomp proper good it is.

Right Happy 5th December, have a great day, 

Mwah, luv ya

Love me xx

All is calm...

Saturday 3rd December 2022

Don't let the tough days win!

Well Coco the cat and I enjoyed a lovely new Christmas movie on Amazon yesterday, 'Your Christmas or Mine', made me want to watch 'Last Christmas' next.  You can't beat a good feel-good movie. 

I did go swimming first did my half mile, resisted McDonalds Mighty McMuffin on the way home, but I am going to have to try that at some point, McDonalds breakfast has become a family treat over the past year, something we can all agree on, and we all have the same meal, double sausage mcmuffin meal, the only thing that changes is the drinks.  Himself usually has my hash brown too, he does like a hash brown, I can take or leave them, but the idea of being to have bacon and sausage on a mcmuffin well.... BUT, I've just looked again, and you only get one sausage patty not two and if I'm honest, I don't actually like McDonalds bacon!  See how good marketing and advertising is, it made me want something I do actually prefer to what I'd usually have!  All I really wanted when I came out the baths was a coffee! 

Anyway, after watching my movie, I had me a hot bubble bath, first in a long time, it was bliss, having a couple of hours at home alone before everyone returned was good.

I then decided to cook dinner early so it was ready when Aryn got back from school, it was microwaveable so himself would be okay whatever time he got back.  I just love how you can turn everything on the left photo into the one on the right and you know you have all the ingredients in the brown paper bag. 

  

you may notice the WW logo on the image, that's because Hello Fresh do meals for WW, this was one of them, it was delicious, absolutely delicious. 

If you want to try a free box, use this link  and you can have a free box with 3 meals for 4 people (cancel anytime).  but if you just fancy making that meal... Here's the recipe.

Today's recipe is Chicken and Pepper Rogan Josh Style Curry with Mango Chutney, Flaked Almonds and Basmati Rice, he chose this one, needs to be cooked today because I've had the ingredients since Monday and I think the date on the chicken is todays.  We're going out tomorrow for Indian too, but there's lots of different kinds of meals to choose from when you are out isn't there, I like a tandoori chicken when out because I can never make it as goods. 

I took painkillers last night and I've had a good night's sleep, slept till 4.30 from 9.30 straight, my ankle seems better thankfully, I'll just be careful on it for a few days, middle aged mess falling apart a bit at a time lol.

Looking forward to the huddle this morning, catching up with everyone, seeing who's still flying with their weight loss and who's hanging on by a thread - we'll all make it through the next few weeks and draw a line in January, it's the circle of life :) 

Let's have a great day, enjoy any plans you may have.  I'm going to enjoy the calm before they both get out of bed!

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me 

Quiet day needed.

Friday 2nd December 2022

It's good to vent!

Short blog today as yesterday was all about work, busy day with 3 huddles on a Thursday so not much else gets done.  I woke at 2am in pain, my ankle/foot now, I walked over the shops yesterday and as I put my left foot down a pain shot up my ankle, second time this week, a bit like that pain you get when you go over on your ankle, but I hadn't done that.  Well, it hurt enough to keep me awake for a couple of hours, finally fell back off and woke at half five. Plus, the cats thought it was good idea to play run round the house and kill each other which doesn't help anyone sleep tight!  Thankfully I'm not at work today, nothing I HAVE to do, my room does look like it belongs to a teenager but who cares.   

I'm glad I drove an automatic now, at least I can go swimming still because in the water it won't hurt hopefully!

I'm sat on sofa watching the news, two cats next to me, one grooming the other, I'm waiting for one to kick off which is usually how that ends!  

I've still not cooked the meatballs, so they are definitely being done today, the curry tomorrow.  Because Hello Fresh accidently took a payment when I had the first free box, they refunded it but also gave me 40% off my next two boxes, so that's why I'm enjoying them this fortnight, that's cheaper than buying ready meals.  

I think when I get back I'm going to have a soak in the bath and relax a little.

On that note I said it was gonna be a short one. xx

Mwah, luv ya

Love me xxx