Well there's month 1 of 12 gone!

Tuesday 31st January 2023
The struggle is part of the journey.

Aryn and I have been cooking again! Thai inspired Fried Chicken Bao Buns with peanut sauce and sweet chilli slaw. Boy did good, if you fancy trying HelloFresh here’s a discount code HS-XMWMARD2P. Happy Cooking! www.hellofresh.co.uk/ (message me if you want me to email it to you). The ingredients did come with potatoes to make chips but we just opted for the buns as that was plenty. He demolished that plate below, I ate the chicken with the slaw and sauce, I'm not a fan of the buns and we still have a couple of chicken thighs left spare.

This was the photo on the recipe card, I don't think we did bad.

What I like about these meals is they give me ideas, so I will cook chicken portions this way again, panko breadcrumbs with some spice added, the dip the chicken in whisked egg and cover in the breadcrumbs, fry for 2-3 minutes each side then cook in oven for 15 minutes, although I'm guessing you could whack them in the actifry instead.

The peanut sauce was red thai curry paste, peanut butter, water and sweet chilli sauce, again lush, just heated through on hob. 

In other parts of my day, I dropped Aryn off at school, then braved the gym, I did 20 minutes, I'm going to try and strengthen my back/legs to ease my sciatica.  I did ten minutes on an incline on the treadmill then the lady showed me how to use the other machine that looks like a treadmill but you work it manually, bloody hell that made me sweat but I did 9 minutes and thankfully I wasn't in agony from the sciatica because I was going uphill on both which I think makes a difference.  I then did half hour swimming/walking in the pool, did some stretches in there too.  Could've stayed longer but didn't want to go at it like a bull at a gate, I want to get my body better.  Taking painkillers does make a difference, I forgot to take a couple last night before going to bed and I've not had such a good sleep, woke a good few times in 'seized up pain'.  I'm not in agony this morning though thankfully, just a bit of muscle pain in shoulders and the usual lower back pain, my knees not too bad either - yay.

I did sit on my backside for a good few hours watching tele, it was my day off after all, although I also splend a couple of hours on meeting plans.  Aryn walked home by himself and we cooked together then watched a couple of episodes of Lockwood & Co, it's good. 

So my good things are above, cooking is one of my favourite things, doing it with Aryn makes it a different kind of enjoyable.  Taking myself off to the gym and not crying through pain was a major good thing and chilling all good things.

Looking forward to a busy day ahead, I cooked a chicken yesterday too so today will be leftover coleslaw with chicken for lunch, maybe with a slice of bread, maybe not.  Then chicken and rice for tea maybe, Aryn will eat that, easy meal too. 

Here's to a great day, 

Mwah, luv ya

Love me x

Sleep is the best.

Monday 30th January 2023

Make Monday Marvelous!

Good morning folks, I've just spend ten minutes resetting passwords because once again someone has tried to access my Facebook account so thankfully FB locked it, so I've had to unlock it, reset and check that anything posted had been posted by me, then I had to reset my blog password because for some reason that wouldn't let me in either lol.  Oh and I've been banned from posting in my groups on Facebook till Feb 22nd, I don't know if it's related to the hacking attempts but there's nothing you can do about it.

On a positive I've had a cracking sleep, 3 minutes shy of 10 hours!  Bed to myself and an early night - bliss...

It's been another calm weekend, Aryn and I made coco pop cakes on Saturday we also make a couple with all bran, we didn't have any rice crispies but to be honest they worked and think of the fibre in the All Bran ones!  

I nipped round my sisters and had a quick catch up then left with a chicken pie which everyone enjoyed, Aryn's requested beef next time lol, he had to pick the mushrooms out of his.

Sunday morning I had a horrible nightmare so was truly grateful that himself woke me up asking if I was okay, aren't dreams weird!  

Good things from yesterday?  

We had chicken kiev and mash for dinner, quick and easy, 

We watched a few more episodes of Happy Valley, only 2 left of the latest series now but I'll have to wait for him to get back at the weekend. 

Eating a couple of Aryn's cakes - oops!

Oh and I treated myself to a really nice bottle of wine and drank half of it last night, really nice and then I enjoyed watching tele in bed until I fell asleep, oh that shows my age now doesn't it, rather have an early night than go out partying.

Right I need to get dressed, drop Aryn at school and go swimming so I don't have time to change my mind which I could very, easily do this morning, I could happily snuggle up and binge watch my series. 

But no I'm going to be a grown up :) swim, clean kitchen, cook, then snuggle up and binge watch tele.  I've just had a call from himself, we've both admitted we love sleeping alone lol, he's had the best nights sleep too, we need a bigger bed and a bigger bedroom because a bigger bed would struggle to fit but it would be nice for sure, the one in Ireland is huge and we sleep well there.

Anyway, I'm off, Aryn's just surfaced so I'll go make him a drink, he has a cup of tea in the morning bless him, turning into his dad slowly.

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me x

Walk, snack & nap!

Saturday 28th January 2023

Find what you love & never let it go.

I tracked honestly again yesterday, although I did go over on the day, mostly because of my lack of self control over these damn things! 

Pam had bought a couple of boxes of skinny crunch bars for Aryn but sadly he never got to see this box because they are right up my street, I love raspberry and white chocolate and these did not disappoint which is why I can't buy the flavours I like, I'd eaten one on Thursday and then I sat and ate the other 4 one after another yesterday when I got back from dropping the car off! 

 

On a positive, I walked back so earned a few calories, 202 to be precise for a 30 minute stroll, because of my leg pain, I started walking at a brisk pace but it hurt to much and slowing down meant I could walk without crying lol.  It did make me realise I really should try and do a 20 minute walk every day to see if it will help the pain and the sciatica to heal, alongside the physio exercises.  Plus I love to walk and see nature, there was a tiny wren flew past me along the canal path yesterday, it was one of my good things. 

Ah music to my ears, himself is in the kitchen and I can hear he's doing the washing up, I woke up laughing this morning thanks to him, I won't tell you why - tmi! 

Anyway back to yesterday, I had a snooze yesterday afternoon as you can see, that was lovely, I'd cooked my chicken, eaten the skin, the M&S rotisserie chicken wasn't as good as they used to be, or maybe my taste buds have changed.  Anyway I ate that and the bars, put telly on and fell asleep.

Aryn had another good day and he declared he'd tried the school dinners (yep he'd eaten his meal deal too, nice pot of pasta salad and watermelon), he'd had chicken and chips and said it was okay, I started laughing because we were also having chicken and chips for tea, but in the end we had chicken with smilies, peas and gravy.  Basic tasty food, used the juices out of the chicken and some Bisto, only Aryn and I shared the gravy, we didn't have enough for himself and he isn't a big fan of gravy anyway (weirdo).

We then watched Shotgun Wedding on Amazon Prime, easy watch, won't win any awards and Aryn only gave it ten minutes before giving up!  

Now what to have today?  I'm thinking Chicken Kiev with rice for a change maybe, plus those salads I've got, maybe the garlic bread in the fridge too, yeah that's a plan, dinner sorted.  High in calories but if I'm good the rest of the day it's okay.

Right I need to get my act together, myself to get ready for work and washing to fold - that stuffs never-ending!  I've ordered more trousers and shirts for Aryn as when we're away, I want him to have plenty to last the time we're away so no need for washing stuff.  

Here's to a great weekend, 

mwah luv ya 

Love me x

I managed an honest tracking day!

Friday 27th January 2023

Be the reason someone smiles today.

Well 6am and the idea of a lie in didn't happen!  Hey ho, I've slept really well the last few nights and apparently I haven't snored so what's changed I don't know but if it stops him having a dig it's all good.

A cracking day yesterday, lovely huddles, new members, success and struggles alike but all going home positive and ready for the week ahead - that's one of my good things for the day for sure.

I managed a full day of tracking 100% honestly FINALLY, it's been a while since I can say I did that, actually I've just looked it was the 6th January when I did an entire day!  It felt good because I was honest, my day wasn't perfect but I need to get over the fact I don't just track on good days.  My day looked like this; 

368 calories for toast!  I need to think about breakfast and what to have.

I found this in the freezer, it's the last Admiral Pie I buy, it was all sloppy mash and barely any fish.  

290 calories which is low but I can find better foods. 

Fish Finger bap with tartare sauce and cheese slice plus salad.  The boys had onion rings with theirs, I ate one.

I found a handful of honey cashews on the coffee table he'd left and ate them just because they were there!  I also had some wine, I finished on 1999 calories - it's progress!

Another good thing was dropping off £130 to The Arc Cat Rescue from our members, just brilliant! 

My blog isn't being read so much this week, I think partly because I can post it in groups anymore I think but that's going to be a permanent thing because Facebook will keep banning me from the groups if I do.  It's been difficult not being able to comment on anyone post in our group, I keep forgetting and commenting only to be told, I'm not allowed until the weekend! 

Well my morning has changed, I've now got to drop his car off at the garage to be fixed and he's took mine to work!  I was going swimming but I'll walk back from garage instead, it's all exercise, just a different form.  When I get back I'm having some tv time though, I'm on second series of Power, my sister was right, it's good.  It's bliss not having to watch car videos on YouTube, that's what I got back to last night, him and Aryn talking about cars, which is lovely because their connecting but damn it's dull.

Chicken for tea but I'm yet to decide what to serve with it, I have the makings of a risotto from Hello Fresh which I might cook and instead of using the chicken they sent which I've frozen, we can have the rotiserrie chicken I want to cook nom nom.  I'm going to be a rebel and cook it lunchtime and eat all the skin then give them skinless chicken for their tea ;)   Now I've just googled chicken skin calories and if this is true, it's worth every calorie!

Right I'm gonna get myself dressed and ready for my day, let's make it a good one shall we!

Mwah, luv ya 

love me x

Positivity is powerful!

Thursday 26th January 2023

Focus on the good in life.

Quick one this morning as I've got to shower and dress yet and be out the house by 7.45!  Another good life day yesterday, enjoyed work on the morning, then I went swimming, there were kids having lessons in the other side of the pool which was okay but after 30 minutes, a dozen of them came into our lane and started messing about so I got out, at least I did 30 lengths, it was better than none at all.

I had the last bit of pork for lunch 130g, with the leftover gravy and some frozen peas, I ate it out the plastic tub, proper fast food, dunked a couple of slices of bread in the gravy too.  That was all I'd eaten since getting up.  

Dinner was this plate of lushness, my sisters lasagne is the best, I resisted the onion rings I'd cooked for them, so my day wouldn't have been too bad if I had found a tub of twiglets and eaten a good few!  

Obviously the lasagne was one of my good things yesterday but another was how animated Aryn was when he came out of school, telling me all about his day, he'd done food nutrition and cooked chicken and rice, they'd had an assembly about LGBTQ, then he'd done Business and English, they're reading Lord of the Rings and watching a bit of the film at a time but the film doesn't match the book.   Yeah I like it when he's chatty, he seems to be settling in well.

We watched the last episode of Kiri, I was disappointed that it just ENDED, frustrating that but I didn't dwell for long, we then watched another episode of Happy Valley, bit confusing with it being the same main actor in both but we coped, we're halfway through the second season now, so we'll probably watch it all over the weekend.

Unsure of food for today, it's either roast chicken, fish finger sandwiches or cobs (I'll have to shop for the cobs though) or chicken kiev, I did a sneaky shop from Ocado cos it was free same day delivery if I spent £40 and they had the wine I'd had a glass of at Miller & Carter last week.  The Chicken was the M&S rotisserie ones that I adore and they were reduced to £5.50, the fish fingers and 4 kievs were on the 3 for £12 offer, so not bad either. 

You really have got to shop around these days, I do like online shopping but Lidl's don't have that option, I just need to get more organised with what we need, do a list and only shop once a week.  It's unlikely to ever happen because I love food and enjoy shopping most of the time, plus I actually use what I buy, I don't waste food so it's okay I reckon.

We've both had a cracking nights sleep, we must be tired, so both got up in good moods this morning ready for our day ahead, which I need to go get ready for, so here's to another good life day.  Looking forward to our Thursday huddles! 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me 

Oh I love gravy....

Wednesday 25th January 2023

No challenge, no change.

Mmm half hour peace and quiet between one leaving the house and getting the other one up = bliss!  Mug of tea, watching the loony cats play fight and news on tv making me grateful for the life I have! 

Well I gained 2.5lb, I was pleased with that, especially as that's what I'd lost this month so it's not additional weight.  I do need to get my act together though because I'm not taking it seriously at all.  Yesterday I ate some leftover port, gravy on a jacket potato I'd frozen (won't do that again), plus some frozen veg, so dinner wasn't bad but I did sneak some butter on the spud!  Tea was Salmon and Gnocchi fill with truffle and ricotto, that was okay, I wouldn't do it again in a hurry though.  

  

Today we're having lasagne for tea, it's my sisters that I'd frozen so I'll do the lads onion rings and garlic bread with theirs and I think I'll get me a bowl of salad to go with mine.  

My 3 good things yesterday;

1) finding salmon in the freezer (didn't know I had it, bought as a whoopsie)

2) GRAVY - I could eat it every day! 

3) Managing last night without Elle who went to parents evening but knowing I don't have to do it regularly, I like having a work wife.

Today I've already got a couple of good things

1) No need to defrost car.

2) Getting chargers that work for his phone!  It was worth ordering them off Amazon, it's a daily drama "my phone ain't charged".

3) Having ready made lasagne in freezer - no need to cook!  This means I can sit on my ass later and watch tele.

I'm loving my book, it's still on the table reminding me to look for the good stuff and ignore the not so good stuff!

If only I could get into the habit of writing down my food, maybe that's the next thing I try, maybe writing it down would help rather than the app.  Use the app to get the info but put it on paper to get me to see what I'm doing, rather than pretending it's not happening!  

Poor old Coco spent the morning in the alleyway/shed again yesterday, he must have followed me out when I went to get salmon out the freezer and the silly thing got locked out until I got home, he didn't look pleased when he run back in.

We started watching Kiri last night on Netflix, its good, but I fell asleep so I need to catch up before he gets home because I didn't admit to falling asleep lol, but tbh I think he did too so let's see if he admits it or just watches the last episode with me pretending he knows what's going on :) 

I woke in the night and remembered I hadn't made his sandwiches so I got up 20 minutes before him, he never asks me to make them and said this morning he would've made his own but I don't mind, it's who I am isn't it, I'm a carer, I like to look after people, you can't change your personality, well you can but I don't want to, I like to help folk.

Mmm, what to have for breakfast, scrambled eggs maybe on a slice of seeded bread, one slice not two, trying to remember I'm not an ARK it doesn't all have to go in two by two.   There's gravy left too so maybe that's my lunch, the last bit of pork from Sunday, some frozen veg and gravy.  I can't be exact with the calories but I can guestimate, it's better that, than not track at all.

On that note, I'm going to look for a pad, here's to a good day, 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me x

Roast on a Monday

Tuesday 24th January 2023

Smile no matter what the scales say.

Well it's weigh day and it won't be pretty but I did have a lovely birthday week!  Yesterday was a little improved we had a roast pork dinner 

which was delicious and I did poach eggs on toast for breakfast,

 

which are a ball ache to make if the truth be told.  I had a slice of my sisters cheese pie for lunch which wouldn't have been 'healthy' or 'low in any calories' tasty though.  The pork was £7 from Aldi, made 3 meals with plenty meals and done sandwiches for today and there's still some left that would actually do another dinner, so when you compare it to sliced meat, it's cheaper, I'm contemplating an electric carving knife so I can slice the meat thinner, could do with a meat slicer but that's too big a gadget. 

I did spend a couple of hours doing housework so that burned a few calories, bloody hurts my back though and then I enjoyed a film without anyone else about, it was lovely.  The film 'Palmer' with Justin Timberlake was really good, I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

It was lovely to have a few hours to myself but doing housework isn't how I'd chose to spend that time, I am glad it's done though.  I started my good things book that Elle got me, I'm leaving it on the living room table so I am reminded to fill it in.  It's easy to think of more good, positive things that make you smile when you focus on those things and not the negatives.

Yesterday's good things included the film, having a tidy house, Minnie coming for a cuddle (she's not a cuddly cat usually), poached eggs mmm, roast dinner double mmm, everyone coming home happy, himself going another day without fags.  See it's the little things in life that are the big things really.

No idea what we're eating today, I've put their lunch up, I have a couple of Hello Fresh from last week that I froze the meat so can do them this week at some point.  I've leftover pork and gravy, which I fancy with mash in a yorkie pud, that could be my lunch, skip breakfast and enjoy that when I get home, I can't eat 3 meals I either have breakfast or lunch, mostly because my meals are big if I'm honest.  

Mmm, what to have for dinner, I have gnocchi in the cupboard, maybe that for a change, something a bit different.  

Right I'm off, not much else to share, catch ya tomo, I'm still in Facebook jail for my groups, but hey ho, tis life.

Mwah, luv ya

love me x

Another Monday to make a difference

Monday 23rd January 2023

Time to get it together.

I need a healthy meal!  As much as I've enjoyed the weekend of chicken wings and such foods, I really want a proper cooked meal with vegetables on it.  I'm going to go get a joint of pork I think and make a roast dinner today with carrots, peas, broccoli, good healthy veggies.  

We had a proper lazy day yesterday, I did nip to the shop to get pasta, bacon and a lettuce to make pasta salad for Aryn for school, he'd had a meal deal Thursday and Friday last week and chosen the pasta salad, he's not a huge fan of sandwiches so we decided to make our own.  Well I've come to the conclusion, it's probably cheaper and less faff to buy the meal deal for £3.50 as you get a drink and some fruit with that too.  I paid £3 for strawberries alone, £2.39 for the bacon of which we used the whole packet and made enough pasta for 3 days maximum.  The one he has normally has chicken in as well but I didn't get that, but there's another £3 or £4, a lettuce 70p from Aldi, Sainsbury's didn't have any, I had to go to Sainsbury's for dry cat food, she will only eat the one kind - clever cat.  Used about a quids worth of pasta, so yeah, it's definitely cheaper to buy the meal deal on the way to school!  

This morning we've had the drama of phone chargers, that's himself not the boy, seriously what a palaver, you'd never guess from his mood he's not had a fag for 5 or 6 days!   Fair play to him though, having been a smoker a very, long time ago, I remember how difficult it is to stop, so here's hoping he keeps it up because they are crazy expensive.

I'm gonna deep clean the kitchen today I think, empty cupboards the lot, I really want the walls painting so if I get it really clean, the worktops clear, it'll be easier to consider a paint brush next.

The living room will need doing next, cats cause mess and they somehow manage to get it on walls!  

I do like the idea of a day to myself though, once I drop Aryn at school, I've got an empty house till 3 YAY!  I've got 7 hours left on my audiobook, might give that a listening, although I have to say having listened to 8 hours of Harry reading his Spare book, I'm bored, it's not doing it for me at all.  I'm not a great lover of biographies unless they really are interesting and this isn't. 

Now what to have for breakfast, eggs on toast I reckon, do I try to make poached or just settle for dry fried, I want runny eggs because I messed them up yesterday morning and they were solid, I don't like them then.

I need to plan the talk for the week ahead huddles too, get my thinking cap on, coffee to spur my energy levels, the Fitbits saying I only had 6hrs 20m sleep but I was snoozing on and off through Happy Valley, we watched Series 1, I'm sure I've seen it before but I couldn't remember it.

Right let's start this day with enthusiasm, 3 good things from yesterday;

1) Laughing out loud and having a good giggle.

2) Just being together as a family in the living room, watching bad tv and chatting.

3) Minnie having a fuss from Aryn

Normal life is my good thing, it's been almost 2 years since mom died and as much as the memories have thankfully faded, it was hell those last few years, so having just the regular 'problems' and 'issues' of every day life, like no one else empties the rubbish bins, when he does the washing up he always leaves a couple of things dirty for some reason! I smile at those things because they don't matter.  Don't get me wrong, I lose my shit over stuff, but then I realise I'm being dramatic and calm down.  If it's not going to matter a year from today, don't give it too much of your time and energy I say.

On that note, I'm going to get dressed, wake Aryn and start on the kitchen.  

Enjoy your day, focus on the little things.  Oh and Facebook has restricted me from posting in my own groups till the end of the month, it's because of my blog I think, they think I'm spamming because I post it four times in a morning, on business page, on my page and in both groups, so I'll stop posting it in groups and see if that makes a difference, if you want to get it up to date regularly, the address is https://wwbevsworld.blogspot.com/ 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx

Sunday chilling

Sunday 22nd January 2023

I swear it was Friday like 5 minutes ago!

I had a lovely day yesterday, started with our huddle which as always was the perfect way to start a Saturday, I do enjoy all our huddles, lucky to have a job that brings me joy.

Next, I got back around eleven and decided to get rid of the plastic cups we'd acquired thinking they were paper cups, so put a post on Facebook and BOOM everyone wanted them so that filled a couple of house, people coming to collect them.  Himself went to get some stuff for the motorhome to make it run better, oh I don't know, it's all just car stuff to me, but he checked my oil and filled my water at the same time so he was in my good books, especially when I also found a huge bouquet and a balloon in the porch to make me smile, I do love my flowers.

I spent an hour giving the living room a good tidy whilst he was out and about, you can see the table again and everything has been put away. What with that and carrying those boxes of cups downstairs, I managed 71 active minutes 20 minutes of which were cardio and peak - that don't happen very often!

We'd decided to have chicken wings for tea, so I asked the boys to nip to Farm Foods and get some and some coca cola for himself because he doesn't like the diet stuff.  I gave them a £2 coupon to use if they spent £25 and the response I got was, "how are we gonna spend £25", to which I replied "well you never know!" 

15 minutes later, a notification popped up on my phone from UW saying, you have just spent £48 in Farm Foods, seriously HOW!  I've not laughed so much at a bill in a while!  They came back laden with bags of chicken wings, bags pork ribs, 2 trays of minted lamb chops, garlic cheese pizza bread, cheese and onion bites, onion rings and coca cola, I think that was everything.

I have to say it was all delicious when it was spread out in front of us, some did go in the freezer, some's left to pick on today, the best bit was using silver trays to cook it all in so there aren't any vile trays to wash up this morning - hurrah! 

We watched MENU on Disney, well what a strange story that is, but watchable, we all sat through it anyway.  If you have any suggestions for something worth watching, I'd love to hear them cos I'm spending too much time next to him watching YouTube videos about cars! 

 Another early night, I did say we'd watch Longmire but I fell asleep by 8 - oops, slept 9hrs 42minutes too according to Fitbit, awake for 2 hours too though, managed to stay in bed till 8 this morning which is awesome for me, I a nightmare for getting up at silly o'clock which I actually did around 5 but sorted cats nipped to loo and went back to bed and snoozed again.

No plans for today, that's the way I like my winter weekends.

Whatever your up to - enjoy, 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx

My life feels good

Saturday 21st January 2023

Positivity is power.

I've had a lovely couple of days, I didn't blog yesterday because I had a lie in, it wasn't too long a lie in because real life doesn't stop for birthday snoozes, no real life brings you a teenage boy saying, I haven't got a shirt for school, despite being asked the day before if he had enough shirts clean for the rest of the week, he had to pick the cleanest of the ones he'd worn as even I can't wash and dry a shirt in 15 minutes as fabulous as I am.

I had a lovely birthday, Elle bought me the most thoughtful gift bag full of goodies, passport case and suitcase tag, notebook for my 3 good things, stickers and pen for my freezer food, a bath scrunchie thing (I love them), lemon cake from M&S (omg to die for) and lots more little thoughtful things that made me smile a lot.  

As always our members were amazing, coming out on those horrible snow covered, icy roads and we enjoyed our huddles, it's a great place to spend your birthday.  For tea we had chippy tea and champagne with cheese pie, both of the latter from my awesome sister.

Yesterday was the day I got spoilt, Clogau is a jewellers that sells gold taken from a gold mine in Snowdonia which is where we met, I wanted it from there for that reason, to give it some meaning.  The Claddagh ring was my Christmas present, it's a traditional Irish ring in which a heart represents love, the crown stands for loyalty, and two clasped hands symbolize friendship. Ain't that romantic!  The ring from Clogau on my little finger is called eternal love affinity stacking ring, it wasn't bought because of the name though although that does sound all lovey dovey, I just liked it a lot and felt it went well with the others.  The white gold wishbone ring sat lovely under the Claddagh and I really liked it.

  

 

We opted for an early lunch, taking advantage of some alone time whilst Aryn was at school, I had a glass of red, only a small one, but took photo of the bottle as it was delicious, which is unusual for me to say.

Our meal was scrumptious, scallops for starter and lamb rack for main, I really do like the Miller & Carter at Cannock, the service and the food is excellent.  

 

Although we didn't order of the special menu, this month you can get 2 courses for £22.99 so a great time to go.  

Aryn had the dentist after school, all good there thankfully so we went the full hog and let him order pizza for tea, Dominos is 50% off at the minute, it's £12 for a large pizza rather than £24, who can seriously charge £24 for a pizza, absolutely disgraceful, I'm just as happy with a supermarket one, love the fresh ones in Sainsburys.  

I had a couple of glasses of wine and we had an early night, we were in bed asleep for half seven according to my app, we went up at half six, I'll leave that hour to your imagination (or maybe best not to think about it, watching tele yeah!)

Back to reality today, my living room looks like a storage unit, there's two baskets of clean washing needs folding, leftover Christmas gifts just plonked down when we got back, open bottle of Jack Daniels from when he had a glass last week, plus lots of paperwork and stuff that's mine, hopefully you can relate, there's a huge beautiful wooden coffee table underneath stuff that you can't even see.

I need to tidy up, do the washing so Aryn does have 5 shirts for next week, we've had words about bringing his dirty stuff down, but he's never been taught has he, so it's all gonna take time, plus he's a teenager and well, they're a law unto themselves! 

Lots of good things above to add to my new pad, one not so good thing is I've lost the bracelet I got for my birthday last year, I wore it last week so I know it's in this house somewhere but it's not with the necklace - oops!  

I think we can safely say there will not be a weight loss next Tuesday but it was worth it, that meal was amazing, I love lamb, they are just lush and those were possibly the best I've ever eaten in my life, perfectly cooked.

Looking forward to our huddle this morning, we'd love to see you if you missed this week because of the weather or maybe you want to join us and have success this year - you can do this!

Let's have a very, good day, focus on the positives, enjoy the little things, realise those small things are what make the best memories.  

Oh and I've been blocked from posting in my own group, Elle still can but they've stopped me, it has something to do with my blogs, they keep suggesting I'm spamming the groups, deep sigh, never mind, hopefully it will resolve itself, or you'll all just have to add me as a friend and read it via that page. 

Mwah, luv ya

Love me xx

More SNOW! No behave, that's enough....

Thursday 19th January 2023

It's just a bit of snow I guess.

Well the upside of him not being at work this month is he was able to take me to work, he'll be able to do it again this morning too, although that means Aryn will have to walk to school by himself in the snow - decisions, decisions.

OH my days though, I sat through so many YouTube videos yesterdays as he learned how to 'adapt' something in the motorhome, don't get me wrong I love having him here but I also love watching my crap tv more than undermount drawer slides, they're a little boring to be honest. 

My day was pretty mundane, I had a meeting at the school for Aryn's care plan, I managed to get money on ParentPay as they sent me details, I'm just not sure how Aryn spends it at school!  

We took at trip to B&Q to find said undermount drawer slides and a piece of wood - whoop whoop, but I did then steer him across the road to IKEA to look at sofas for the living room, we have a two seater which just about seats us and Aryn is outgrowing the chairs I used to sit on!  I have to say I found something I liked but because we want to keep the existing furniture to take to Ireland, we can't just order it because of storing the furniture!  Then of course there's the cost, nothing's cheap is it, I'd been looking at sale stuff which was what started me looking but the IKEA one isn't on sale so it can wait till we've got some money back in the bank I guess.

Aryn announced he had no clean trousers for school today as I was about to go to bed, so I'm no trying to dry them in the tumble dryer - new step mom to a teenage schoolboy error right there, I assumed he'd bought ALL his washing down at the weekend, not just half of it!  I'll remember to ask in future.

Well it's my 53rd birthday today, as you can imagine, I've come down to a living room full of streamers, balloons and presents - NOT lol, I didn't expect to, I'll be surprised if they've even remembered but I don't really mind as there's nothing I really want other than a bathrobe and I can buy one of those myself with my Christmas money when I go shopping tomorrow if the snow goes away.

Mmm, 3 good things from yesterday, 

1) Simple tea, tinned stewed steak and potatoes, thankfully the boys will eat anything and say thank you.

2) Himself driving me to work as I don't like driving in the snow at the best of times especially in a BMW that I've not driven in the snow yet.

3) Watching Aryn settle and getting good feedback from the school.

Oh there's a fourth and it's the best, FINALLY the passport for Aryn has been sorted, it's being printed as I type, not sure when we'll get it as they're saying they're not posting to UK because of postal strikes, but they're not striking this month so we might be lucky.

I so want to book us all a family holiday, nothing too extravagant, something affordable but something to look forward to later in the year probably so we can sort our finances first.

Right, I better get ready for work, sort Aryn's lunch, although I let him have a meal deal from Tesco last night so it's only taking it out fridge into tub, he's had a pasta thing.  I might indulge in chippy tea tonight or let them have pizza takeaway, Domino's is half price at minute, we shall see, I do know I don't fancy cooking, it is my birthday and my pain is off the scale this week, I'm thinking it's the cold maybe making it worse, who knows.

Let's all have a positive day, regardless of the weather, I know I have a bottle of champagne from my sister, so chips and champagne sounds lush doesn't it, I'll knock her door to collect it, so she doesn't slip over in the snow :) 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx 

OOo it's a cold one again!

Wednesday 18th January 2023

Baby it's cold outside!

Brrr, waking p to snow - grrr, I'm not a fan at all, on a positive himself is here so I can get him to drive me to work if it keeps coming down!  

We had a lovely day yesterday in the huddles, lots of weight loss but also those who are struggling to get their head back in the game, we all understand that don't we, but if you keep trying and do what you can, slowly it'll come back.

I made another Rigatoni dinner but his one was vegetarian, it was tasty but a little too tomato based for me, we all emptied the bowls though and I do like a sprinkling of nuts on a dish I have to say.

 

This was one of my good things yesterday, I remember the day Jaci joined and she was already convinced she'd fail, told me the foods she didn't eat, so I said lets focus on what you will eat and we made a list and that's where she started and she's managed to succeed eating the foods she enjoys rather than trying to force food down her that makes her feel sick.

Other good things were, an hour of tele to myself whilst no one else was home and all sitting together watching a film on the night, 'bank of Dave' on Netflix, nice feel good film. 

That pretty much summed up my day, I'm gonna go see what to do about the weather, Aryn's gonna love having to go to school in the snow - NOT!  

Here's to a good day despite the weather, let's hope it stops coming down soon!

Mwah, luv ya

Love me x

Tuesday and back to work.

Tuesday 17th January 2023

Let's make it a beautiful day.

A lovely day yesterday, I dropped Aryn at school then headed to the pool for a 30 minute swim, I want to build back up as I hurt my shoulder the week before when I did the half mile, I managed 24 lengths before stopping for a chat with a couple of potential members, they asked me about Be Happy Owls, I didn't suggest they needed us! 

I then came home and planned the weeks chat for the meeting, through a load of washing in the machine and had a tidy up, before having half hour on my ass watching a bit of morning tv.  

After picking Aryn up I nipped to Aldi for a few bits I needed, mainly because bottled water was £1.59 for 12 and that was cheaper than anywhere else I know of.  I hate buying bottled water but if it's the only way I can get them to drink the stuff, it's worth every penny.  Aryn's drinking a litre a day and that can only be good for him.  We're trying to decide on his options this week, we're halfway there.

I cooked dinner from my HelloFresh delivery, we all commented on how filling it was.  Risotto takes a long time to cook and you have to stand over the pan so it's not for everyone, but I'm glad I made it.

I wasn't impressed with the garlic bread, nothing special, I'd rather have the cheese garlic pizza bread from farm foods for just over a quid.

If you fancy trying HelloFresh and getting the discounts, here's the link.

I can't even remember what we watched on tv so it can't have been good!  I do remember having an early night and the fitbit says I was asleep by 8, but I woke a lot that first hour or two because he had tellly on and I couldn't keep my eyes open to watch it.

Weigh day today, I've not been great but I'm doing what I can at the moment, our routine isn't there, he's not working away and it's all over the place so I'll continue to do my best. 

I've got to go defrost my car so he can get his car out, so I'll be off, ooo he might do it for me I think, but I'll show willing.

Have a great day, 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx

Another day to get it right

Monday 16th January 2022

Don't be the only one standing in your way.

A lovely chilled out weekend, staying home to save money although we did go for breakfast Saturday morning after the huddle to Cafe Roux as a treat.  Sunday dinner was a lovely roast using a joint from the freezer I'd bought half price before Christmas, it was absolutely delicious and because I did it later than I normally would, we were all truly hungry and ready for it.

The rest of the weekend was tele watching, once the huddle on Saturday morning was complete, I have to say that was a highlight of the weekend, there's no better sight than a room full of people laughing.  I'm very lucky to have a job I enjoy and a great work wife.

Films watched included Top Gun Maverick with Aryn whilst himself had an afternoon snooze, I'd seen it before but enjoyed it a second time.  We also watched Expendables, 1 and 2 again I've seen before but I didn't remember them at all because it's been a long time, we put the third one on but I slept through it, my fitbits telling me I had 9 hours 25 minutes sleep last night!  

I'm going to swim once I've dropped Aryn at school so later than usual, we shall see how busy it is at that time, he's got to choose his options this morning, the form came through by email yesterday, he's more or less decided to be fair.  He slept a lot this weekend, he's got a head cold which I'm not surprised by, suddenly surrounded by people, his immune system like the rest of us is low.  

I've got 4 Hello Fresh meals coming today, I added one and forgot to delete one so ended up with extra, I'm sure they'll be delicious and I can always freeze the leftovers.

Right that's me, I have uniform to get ready - boo and sandwiches to make, great joy.

Here's to a good day, 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me x

A lovely day had

Saturday 14th January 2023

You don't have to be perfect.

Oh I had a lovely day off, I dropped Aryn off at school then nipped to Aldi before treating myself to breakfast in Cafe Roux, I've fancied eggs benedict for a while now and this did the job, poached eggs aren't the easiest thing in the world to make but they nailed them.

I really enjoyed having some me time yesterday, reading my book on my kindle app on phone whilst waiting for my food.  I'm also listening to Spare whilst in the car and doing stuff, I have to say I'm sorry Harry but you're boring, I've never been a fan of Biography's unless they actually have something really interesting to say and he doesn't, I'm on chapter 41 and the fact his calls his mother Mommy grates on me as he's now over 40 years of age, maybe that's a personal thing, I called mine MOM, I know some use MUM but mommy in his whiny voice just annoys me.

Anyway, I listened to him whilst I had myself a bath but then I decided to watch a film that I'd fancied for a week, it was about a teacher who took on a New York school class and turned them around, based on a true story, 'The Ron Clark Story' with Matthew Perry from Friends.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, bought me to tears at the end and it finished just in time for me to pick Aryn up after school.

Poor kids absolutely shattered and his legs are aching from P.E., he'll be having a lie in today I reckon but I'm so damn proud of him making it through his first week of full time education in the UK, I've had an email this morning saying Go 4 Schools says he had 7 positives and no negatives, I'll take that. 

We all had a few hours together, I cooked this pan of simple deliciousness, I did the cubed potatoes in the Ninja air crisp, then fried onions, chorizo, a diced pepper, a diced carrot,  in a frying pan then added the corned beef once cooked and mixed it all together, topped it with a fried egg and voila, deliciousness on a plate.

  

We watched Puss In Boots, the last wish, I'm not a huge fan of cartoons, but I enjoyed every minute of it, very funny and enjoyable and anything that holds all our attention is good for me.

I truly enjoyed my day yesterday, everything was a good thing, but here's 3 singled out;

1) taking myself out to breakfast

2) Cudding up with Coco watching a movie

3) Family film time together 

and of course the best thing of the week is Aryn going to school full time and surviving.

On that note, here's to a great morning at our huddle, no plans for the day, we shall see where it takes us.

Mwah, luv ya

Love me x

What to have for dinner?

Friday 13th January 2023

Time you enjoy wasting isn't wasted time at all 

YAY!  From 8.30 till 3.15 I have the house to myself, a complete day to myself - woo hoooooooo.  Can you tell I'm looking forward to it?  The Remote control is MINE, the settee is all MINE, the blanket on the settee is MINE!  I don't have to watch any crap YouTube videos on the tele showing me how to change an engine casket (I know that's not a thing but you get me) or any other such crap.

What will I do with myself, I'm contemplating going swimming once I drop Aryn at school but then I also want to just sit on my backside and not do anything, I'd like to take myself out to lunch but I'd also like to sit on my backside and eat whatever I can find in the freezer and possibly day drink.  I'd like to go walk round the shops and spend the Christmas money I got and the raffle prize I won but I'd also like to sit on my backside and not spend a penny.  Mmm, what's a girl to do? 

Yesterday was a busy but good day, lovely huddles, lots of giggles.  I forgot to eat breakfast so by the time I did get home I was absolutely starving and ended up eating chunks of cheese whilst waiting for something to cook, I wanted to cook two not very big jackets, so I threw them in the microwave for 5 minutes, then popped them in the Ninja for 7 minutes and the buggers still weren't cooked, I thought these things were fast.  As you can imagine, I'm HANGRY and the cheese is disappearing!  I popped them back into the microwave for another 4 minutes and there were okay, I threw on the leftovers from the night befores tea and we ate that.  It was food!

Thankfully, we had a tasty tea, HelloFresh sausage burger, it was supposed to be served with wedges but we opted for onion rings.  The rocket salad was lovely as I added my balsalmic that was a gift at Christmas.  

If you fancy trying HelloFresh and want a discount off your first three boxes, click for the link or send me your email and I'll send it to you. 

I've been awake since the alarm went off at 4.30 to wake him, I tried but couldn't go back to sleep, my Fitbit isn't impressed with my 6 hours 26 minutes sleep but it doesn't know I might have a snooze on the settee later.

I have no meals planned for today at all, I will need to feed these boys when they return so I better get my thinking cap on.  I don't want to shop so I'm thinking what have I already got, there's spuds leftover from the wedges we didn't make, I have corned beef so maybe a hash of a sort, make it healthier by added peppers and spinach as well as the onions (they're in the fridge). we have corn on the cob in freezer too I think, mmm this is sounding tasty.

See I also like the idea of spending some time in my kitchen cooking today whilst listening to my audio book.  Ooo what's a girl to do?

Oh my 3 good things from yesterday, 

1) my cats reaction to my fart.

2) Coming home to the washing up having been done.

3) Watching a good episode of Longmire whilst he fell asleep next to me.

Whatever I do, I'm gonna enjoy some ME TIME, before enjoying some together time this weekend.  Poor Aryn is absolutely shattered, he got home yesterday and went and changed, came down and I said, 'are you okay?', his response, 'Yeah, I'm just tired and I've still got another day', lol, he'll get used to it, getting up at 7 every morning and doing a full day at school.  It's a long day when you think about it, the classes are 1hour 15minutes long, that's a long class, ours were under an hour I'm sure, how the heck do these teachers hold the kids attention.  I was always told 20 minutes is prime time for hold anyone's full attention in a presentation so I don't enjoy them.

I'm gonna go make myself another cuppa and see what I fancy watching on the tele for an hour before I wake Aryn up. 

Whatever you're up to today, look for the positives and the 3 good things. 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love m 

Here's to trying to slow down when we can.

Thursday 12th January 2023

It's easy to say slow down, but if you can even a little - do!

I'm tired, this week, last night I fell asleep at 8.40 according to my Fitbit, got up at 6.30 and even though I was awake for an hour in the night I still clocked up 8 hours 49 minutes sleep but I could have stayed there.  Don't get me wrong I'll be okay once I've had a cuppa but why am I so bloody tired!  

Good day yesterday though, not great on my weight loss app but enjoyed.  Lovely huddle on the morning, then we nipped to the Red Lion for lunch, I've never been in there before but the staff were really pleasant which means a lot to me, the pub is clean, open and big and the food was good too for pub grub, pastry on the pie was lovely, I emptied the plate anyway and he did the same, his onion rings were scrumptious on his steak and chips.

 

 I love that the menus now tell you the calories.

Aryn was gonna walk home for the first but it was peeing down with rain most of the afternoon and he hadn't took a coat, I messaged him to say I'd pick him up but he didn't see the message!  I drove down, saw him come out of the gates and cross the road, by the time I'd pulled out and turned into the road he'd gone up, he'd disappeared!  I drove up and round, couldn't see him so thought, it isn't raining too bad I'll let him walk.  When he got back, it turned out he'd gone the wrong way lol, it's literally cross the road go to the top, turn left but now he crossed road and took first right, thankfully it was a drive so it took him all the way round and back onto the road he started on so he ended up where he was supposed to be and made it home.

We all watched tele together for a couple of hours which was nice that he stayed down with us, then I cooked another HelloFresh, now this one can definitely be cooked without buying frm them and you could lower the calories by using half fat creme fraiche and 5% pork mince.  but it was delicious even though the photo doesn't do it any justice and we agreed that it shouldn't have been served with chips, it would've been much nicer with mash, boiled potatoes or rice to soak up the sauce. I'd have added more veggies too if I'd have been hungrier but we weren't after that lunch.

Here's the recipe; 

pork-meatballs-in-creamy-chive-sauce-636b74fe27b0db08e0fb8523-491be6e4.pdf (hellofresh.com)

If you fancy giving them a try, here's a discuont link

Right I've got a busy day ahead and I got up later than usual so I need to get going, but first my 3 good things; 

1) Some child free us time 

2) Aryn seeming content and sitting with us

3) A 50ml glass of Baileys after my dinner

Oh and I've already had the first smile moment of the day, I feed the cats as soon as I get up, I was leaning over to put cat food in their bowls on the floor, there's round me like crazy things trying to get to it as if they haven't been fed in months and I FART!  Well they run off like a bomb had gone off, it was so funny.

Have a great day, 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx