Tuesday, 20 November 2012
Wednesday, 30 May 2012
I said in my last post that G had introduced me to one of his hobbies, well, since then he has introduced me to another one.
The first one is Lindy Hop dancing, which, despite me always believing I have two left feet, I really really enjoy. I love the fact that it's freestyle so as long as you know the various moves you can join in, and you don't even need to know all of the moves before you get can get going with it. I also love the whole scene around it as well, especially the dressing up in period clothes. G dresses up in a 40's style so that's what I'm going for when we go to my first proper dance.
The second is slightly more scary - he has a motorbike and promised to take me out on it when the weather improved. When I got a text last week asking if I fancied a run out I said yes please and then realised when he told me to wear jeans and pumps that he didn't mean in the car.....
My first fear was the helmet - I'm quite claustrophobic so wearing something tight around my head was scary enough, but when he closed the visor I felt like I couldn't breathe so had a small panic.
Once I was all kitted out in helmet, jacket and gloves (and starting to cook slowly in the heat under all that thick clothing) off we went - visor open!! - I have to admit to being absolutely terrified and screamed he was going too fast. Apparently we hadn't even reached 20mph....
The plan was to go up to Skegness for a coffee but I really didn't think I could make it that far. However, I didn't say anything and by the time we got there I was actually enjoying myself and didn't feel quite so convinced I was going to go flying off the back every time he accelerated.
Going round the bends was really scary - how the hell do you not fall off when you're leaning over so close to the road????????
I now can't wait til we go out again on the bike, I've been promised a longer ride along faster roads...
Oh, and I very quickly shut the visor after getting fed up of the wind in my face and it was fine as the breeze blew through the helmet and I knew I could still breathe properly.
I loved it so much I am now considering getting my own kit!!
So, that's another two things to add to my list of "new things I have done" that I started last year (I forgot to mention I had two tattoos done last year didn't I? Number three is being saved up for as we speak!!)
Saturday, 5 May 2012
That Friday feeling
The last couple of weeks have been fairly busy. Last week I was really ill with a sickness bug I think I picked up from one of the children. I ended up staying at home all week as it totally wiped me out but that did give me the chance to get some work on my latest assignment done for my OU module. I got the rest of it done this week and it's all been submitted a whole 10 days early which is a really nice feeling.
We didn't do anything last weekend as the weather was so foul and just spent the time chilling out in front of a lovely log (and coal) fire.
This week, as well as managing to get my assignment finished I also worked my way through the next chapter of my course materials - we're given a study planner as a guide to where we should be up to each week and the course materials are divided into chapters, the idea being you study a chapter a week. I had fallen a few weeks behind with having two modules running side by side but I have now caught up with myself and now I'm hoping to get myself a couple of weeks ahead of schedule.
My latest hobby is Lindy Hop dancing and I went to my dance class with G this week. I really enjoy it and it's great to be able to share a hobby with the person you're in a relationship with. He's been dancing for years so is really good at it but is fortunately very patient when it comes to practising between classes. I've never been very co-ordinated and always thought of myself as having two left feet - anyone who has seen me in a step or aerobics class will vouch for that!! - but I seem to be able to manage Lindy really well. I started Zumba classes at the gym just after Christmas and I'm not too bad at that either.
I love the whole lifestyle thing about Lindy as well, the clothes, the music etc. I've always loved the music from the 30's and 40's, the big bands and the swing music and I love the style of the 40's. Maybe if I grow my hair again I'll start sporting a victory roll!!
Another of the great things about Friday mornings is that as I usually stay over at G's on a Thursday night I usually get coffee and toast brought to me in bed which makes a nice change (it even makes up for the fact that his job means we're up at stupid o'clock!!) He took delivery of some chicks two days ago so I went in to see them today - well, yesterday, as it's now 3am on Saturday morning - if you thought 3 day old chicks were cute, just imagine 12,500 of them!!!! The noise was almost deafening but ohhhh, they were just soooo sweet!! No, I couldn't resist picking one up to see if they really are as soft and fluffy as they look, and yes they are. The children are most disappointed I didn't smuggle a few out in my pocket!!
Sorry there's no photos again this post. I promise I will make more of an effort to add some in future. :-)
Tuesday, 24 April 2012
Sunday, 22 April 2012
Birthdays
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Oh dear, once again I have gone months and months without writing anything again. Having just checked it’s been seven whole months and quite a lot has happened here since then. So much so that I’m going to split it down into several posts rather than one long one and then I’ll have something to post over several days in the hopes that I’ll get into the habit of writing more regularly.
So, where to start?? Well, the Easter holidays have just finished. They went really fast as I had the children for the first week and then they went to stay with their dad for a week. We didn’t do a huge amount although one day I took the children (apart from the eldest two) to Cadbury’s World. Jack’s first reaction when we got there was “why have you brought us here??? I hate chocolate!!” and Alfie just informed me that “chocolate isn’t healthy”. Hmmmmm. Funnily enough though, both were quite happy to tuck into the “free” chocolate we were given although they weren’t quite so keen on the little pots of warm melted chocolate. Unfortunately this meant I had to finish them off for them…. Oh, it’s a tough life being a mum isn’t it???? LOL
They really enjoyed the day out there but it was a shame the weather was so appalling as it meant they couldn’t go on the outdoor playground which looked fantastic. I have to admit though, I’m glad it only cost me £6.80 to get in (thanks to Tesco!!) as I don’t think it was worth the full price for the tickets. I’m sure that when I went about 15 years ago they gave us about 5 bars of chocolate as we went round, this time we got 3.
The older two have a trip promised for later on in the year which I’m really looking forward to taking them on.
On Monday we went to Belton House as there is a large adventure playground there and my friend has told me how good it is. I found a special offer to join the National Trust and better still went through a cash back website so I’ve “saved” a bit more money. The children loved it and we spent a couple of hours there while they went off and had fun and a couple of rides on the little train. Definitely somewhere we will be returning to several more times over the year, and there are quite a few NT properties I’d like to go and visit by myself as well that I know the children wouldn’t really enjoy.
All of the children are doing really well. Jack and Sophie have both been moved up to the next classes at school because they’re so far ahead of where they should be. The old A-word (autism) has reared its head with Millie again so that might all start up again.
Little Amos is just a little darling. He was 3 in February and has recently amazed me by learning to spell his name and “mum” on my laptop. I thought it was just a case of him knowing where the letters are on the keyboard but then I bought him a tub of letters for the bath and he loves sorting through them and finding the correct letters for both words. He’s also got a set of alphablocks letters (a Cbeebies series) and he loves those too, and knows all the sounds. He makes me laugh with the things he says as well, he’s such a funny little fellow and a really cheeky little character.
The cash back website I mentioned earlier is below. It’s brilliant and I really do highly recommend it. They don’t charge any fees so you get all the cash back and if you take it as Amazon vouchers you get an extra 10%!! What’s not to love??