Silent Sunday........Tangled!

The Gallery - Children

I've flicked through so many pictures trying to pick a shot for this week's Gallery. Mostly I notice that chick spends an awful lot of time with adults and with my friends and although I have some lovely pictures they weren't really what I was looking for.

Obviously children go through all sorts of ages and stages from bottle feeding, tantrums, starting school and making friends! I think my favourite ages have all been from 4 onwards. Chick is now 8 and what I particularly like is that I can enjoy her and her friends. They are full of questions, giggles, silly talk and not too old for hugs. 

The picture that I decided on was one of Chick and The Punk that was taken at the Lido last Summer. We had been for a lovely day out and then decided that it was far too hot for anything apart from swimming. I love that they are so happy and that the colours are so bright:

Roll on Summer! 

To check out the rest of the entries pop over to Tara's blog.

CyberMummy Sponsorship

Some of you may have noticed on Facebook and Twitter that I'm a teeny bit excited to have a sponsor for CyberMummy. For those of you who have never heard of it....CyberMummy is a British Bloggers conference held in London on June 25th! I went last year and met some amazing people and generally had a tremendous time. This year I'm lucky enough to be able to attend courtesy of the dodelightful people at Dodo Pad.

I've been lucky enough to review a couple of their products before and I'm sure that some of you will remember the fabulous giveaway I ran with their amazing academic wall planners. They have a fabulous and funky range of diaries, wallplanners, filofax refills and much more. All of their products are covered in doodles, facts and limericks and there is also plenty of space for your own doodlings!!! 

The very clever people at Dodo Towers have also just released a new product....the eyePad which is great and I'm going to be trying to get my hands on one as soon as possible:

I'm really pleased to working with such a great company that have such fabulous products.  Obviously from now until June I'll be working very closely with Lord Dodo and his staff to bring you reviews and news from Dodo Towers. I would love if you could show your support for them (and me) by following them on Twitter or by 'liking' them on Facebook. Exciting times ahead in 2011 :-)

Silent Sunday......surprising reading material for an 8 year old!!!!

Following my Dreams

I'm sure it's the fact that it's January but I've been having an urge to change or to do something with my life. It may be my notoriously itchy feet as we haven't been abroad or to far flung places for a year and I'm desperate to go travelling but we just can't afford it.

After looking long and hard at my life, what I've decided is that very little needs to change and I just need to be grateful for what I have. The roof over my head, almost adequate money to pay the bills and my gorgeous daughter are more than enough! I'm still running/power walking so am making the changes to my lifestyle and although I have had a couple of glasses of wine generally I've been alcohol free and feeling much better for it.

It would be nice to earn more money but with that comes more stress and responsibility and I don't need the extra money that much. With all this decided there is still something missing and (without telling anyone so shhhhhh!) I've been investigating the possibility of studying Journalism. It was always my ambition as a child to become a journalist and although there probably isn't much hope now I've found the perfect course that I want to do.

By the time I got home yesterday I'd talked myself out of it on the basis that I can't afford it and it's too stressful. When I woke up this morning I was beginning to try and find solutions to financing the course and thinking positively about it. I arrived at work in a good mood because the sun was shining and there was a parcel waiting for me that I'd forgotten I had even ordered.....a lovely sign for my kitchen:

Now if that's not a sign that I should definitely be enrolling on the course then I don't know what is!!!! I can't afford it at the moment but I'm determined to be enrolled on the Diploma in Journalism by the end of the year!

 Wish me luck! I've got a feeling I'm going to need it :-)

The fat* of the matter!

*Not a spelling mistake!

Photo Credit

I guess that most years the month of January is the same.......approximately 95% of the world deciding to make New Year’s resolutions, a lot of which involve diets and losing weight. Nothing wrong with this in anyone’s eyes, I’m sure. What I object to though is the media coverage and the way that fat people are portrayed as lazy, good for nothing layabouts!

Now don’t get me wrong I’ve always been big and I’m always likely to remain so. I don’t necessarily mean that I’ll always be fat but I will never, ever be a size 8. I’m just not built that way. I also won’t make myself miserable and be on a constant diet. I’d rather be my weight and happy, than be a miserable toad like Victoria Beckham who would probably never even considering eating a Cadburys Creme Egg and always looks like a bulldog chewing a wasp but in beautiful clothes.

What has inspired me to write this post though is a comment I read the other day. I can’t for the life of me remember where I read it but on an article somewhere about how much obese people are costing the NHS, someone had left a comment saying fat people shouldn’t be allowed any treatments related to their obesity on the NHS because they ‘allowed’ themselves to get into that state. Therefore they should pay privately to get themselves better.

WTF? Really? 

Some of you may agree with the commenter but here’s the thing......I am classed as clinically obese. Am I always at the Doctor complaining about my weight? No I am not. Do I have diabetes, obesity related disabilities, etc? No, luckily enough at this moment in time, I don’t and I’m hoping that I never will. However, if I did? So what? I pay as much tax as everyone else into the NHS. Do we say that smokers shouldn’t be allowed treatment because they’ve cause the damage to themselves? Do we say no to alcoholics and drug addicts? Do we stop people on benefits accessing the NHS because they aren’t paying into the system? In fact apart from smokers being mentioned in articles you never hear discrimination against the other groups.

Am I at fault for becoming this fat? Well yes of course I am but it isn’t quite that simple is it? I obviously have some major issues to have allowed myself to get to this point. Why do people feel that it’s ok to take pot shots at fat people? Is it because we are an easy target group? What do you think? Do you agree with the commenter that obese people should pay for their own treatment? Or maybe you believe that any self inflicted illnesses should be paid for. Please feel free to leave a comment no matter what your view as I'm interested to see what people think.

Silent Sunday.......a calorific dessert

Letters of Intent

Do you have something that you need to get off your chest but can't say out loud? Why not write your own letter of intent and link up with Julie over at Foursons!

-----------------------------------------------------

Dear Car

I know you are old and believe me I feel your pain but if you could just try and make it through the rest of this year I would very much appreciate it! Also next time you break down could we please make it somewhere a little less high brow than Chelsea, London?

Thanks
Emma

-----------------------------------------------------

Dear Nelly & Mike

Happy 1st Anniversary!

We love and miss you very much! 

Em xxx

-----------------------------------------------------

Dear Hev

Thank you soooooooooooooooooooooo much for offering to buy my CyberMummy ticket until I can find a sponsor, so that I don't miss out! I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate it! You are actually a Star!

Love from the woman who promises to buy you Cheesy Chips for lunch next week xx

-----------------------------------------------------

Dear Me & Chick

I know that you are both super tired and feeling unwell today but please, please, please don't let it be Swine Flu!!!!!

Love Me x

-----------------------------------------------------

Dear Readers

Thank you so much for taking my Gallery entry for Body Parts in the jovial manner that I meant it to be! As soon as I hit publish I began to panic that I would lose you all in droves so thank you for sticking with me!

Also if you get chance could you please view this fabulous video from Kelle who has set up the ONEder Fund to help her beautiful daughter Nella as well as thousands like her.



Have a great weekend!

Love Emma.

-----------------------------------------------------

The Gallery - Body Parts

Warning: NOT FOR THE SHY!!!!

I feel like this post should have a 15 or R rating!!!  Tara came up with this week's body parts Gallery thanks to @CosmicGirlie showing her mighty fine ass on Twitter!! When I first saw the prompt I wasn't really sure what I might use but imagined me using a cute photo of Chick! I started flicking through all of my Facebook pictures and it soon became apparent that there is just one of part of my body that is forever showing off at any given opportunity...............

............................at weddings:

...........................................on random nights out:

................................even at CyberMummy:

(Faces have been removed to protect the not so innocent...lol!!!)

And don't even ask me what I was thinking wearing this top and doing this pose because I just don't know!!!! I can only presume that it was helped along by vast amounts of Tequila!!!

Let's hope next week's Gallery is all sunshine and flowers ;-)

Do you control what your kids watch on TV?

I’m quite strict about the TV in our house. Chick has control of it for the hour after we get home from school and work but it has to be child friendly and the TV goes off at 7pm during the week. She would love a TV in her bedroom but to be honest I don’t see why she needs one. I know that lots of other Parents disagree as most of her friends have TV’s and DVD players if not laptops.

I don’t watch soaps at all whilst she is downstairs and we certainly avoid any Hollyoaks type TV. Normally she watches CBBC where all the programmes are aimed at her age group. Even with these rules in place, I feel that some of the material she watches just isn’t suitable for her at 8 years of age. Being so young she is obviously influenced by the stuff that she sees and hears everywhere (not just on the TV) but I worry about the impact this influence has on her.

Last week she was watching an episode of a programme called Tracy Beaker which is one of her favourite programmes. It’s about a girl who was brought up in a care home called the Dumping Ground and she now works there as a Carer. The new series seems to be especially hard hitting but as it’s aimed at 9-13 year olds, should this be the case? The first episode had a girl falling off the roof of the care house, fighting between the children and plenty of other drama! Chick started crying when the girl fell off the roof and then turned over temporarily to something different. As she turned back to see if it had a happy ending was when the fighting started.

Chick has bought it up a couple of times since wanting reassurance that the girl wasn’t really hurt. Now I’m not sure that I’m happy for her to watch this anymore but I’m wondering if maybe I’m living in a dream world and trying to keep her too sheltered? Do you let your kids watch whatever they want on TV or are you very strict like me? Maybe you don’t even own a TV! Do you think that I should let her watch it and see that not everyone has such a comfortable life as us? Opinions welcomed as always!!!

Silent Sunday.....My Little Chef

On the Run!

So I've kind of mentioned that I've started running again but there were a few things I'd forgotten about running, since it's been so long!!

1) It hurts!!!! My joints today, after my third run of the week, are stiff to say the least!!

2) Blisters are not cool and are very unattractive but strangely enough as soon as I start to run I forget all about them. Until I've done several miles or stop at least!!

3) Runners are a friendly bunch. I'm a bit of a snail when I run (in fact people walking could overtake me!!) but other runners always nod and smile and make me feel like I'm part of their fit, healthy club.....which I love!!

4) I love the feeling I get. The exhilaration. Whilst I'm running I'm actually smiling and just plodding along thinking about how great life is. I forget whatever it is I'm worrying about and just concentrate on breathing and trying not to get knocked down!!

5) Just being out in the fresh air. I've only had my car back for a couple of weeks and already we are back to not walking anywhere and being stuck in the car so it's fabulous to be out in the open!!

When I was out running yesterday the strangest thing happened. It was about 5.30pm so the only light was from the street lights.I was pounding along the pavement, concentrating on breathing and picking my feet up when the whole world went black. Like pitch black. Not an ounce of light anywhere. I skidded to a complete halt and was just in the process of uttering fu******************k and beginning to freak out when the whole street came back on again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'd like to say that I wasn't a girl about it but I ran all the way home as quickly as my legs would carry me! I'm presuming that it was some kind of very short power cut but it scared the bejesus out of me I tell ya!!! 

This weekend I'm going to have a break from running and try Outdoor swimming instead! My crazy Brother is a member of the SLSC and him and his friends swim at the Lido almost everyday, whatever the weather. He has been threatening to take me there for ages and as we are in London this weekend I figured I'd give it a try. I'm not convinced that I will be brave enough to actually get my whole body in and swim (especially if the snow and sleet continues.....brrrrr!!!) but I figure if nothing else it'll make for a hilarious blog post!!! Watch this space!!!

Panic! At the Disco.......and erm...everywhere else actually!

I wrote this post last week when I was in the middle of a panic attack and I’ve been unsure whether or not to publish it but I figure that sharing might help.....

I’m been suffering from major panic attacks for just over a year now. I have no idea what causes them and nothing specific seems to bring them on. It isn’t something that I’ve talked about with many people because I have been trying to deal with them in my own way. Recently they’ve been much better but all day today I’ve been having them in waves.

It is the most horrible experience ever. First of all I get a bit shaky and then I start getting chest pains.  Then comes the absolute conviction that I’m having a heart attack and about to die. Sometimes my neck goes numb and I struggle to keep it together. My shoulders will then start hurting and before I know it all I can concentrate on is how much everything hurts. Even as I’m typing this I feel that these might be the last words I ever type. I realise that it sounds dramatic and ridiculous and tomorrow when I wake up I’ll think myself stupid but it’s how I feel now.

When all the feelings are going on and I’m struggling to get through it, is when my brain kicks in with even more drama. Thoughts start to surface about how Chick will cope when I die, what my Mum will think when she has to clean my messy house, how my funeral will be, who will take care of Chick.

Normally when I get into a real state the only thing that works for me is sleep. Failing that I Google the symptoms for panic attacks and read everything that I can to try and talk my brain into realising that this is what’s going on. I’ve spoken to the Doc about it and she said to go back if it gets any worse and she’ll prescribe something for me but I don’t really want to go down the route of taking drugs to control them.

I don’t want this to continue as it is beginning to affect Chick. I don’t want to be asleep on the couch when we have time at home together, I want us to have fun together and for her to live a normal childhood.

---------------------------------

Now, over a week later I feel a little bit more in control and although I haven’t made it back to the Doc I have made some changes. I haven’t had an alcoholic drink for over a week as this seems to make them worse. I’ve also started running again which may not sound like a big deal but it’s been a while and I’d forgotten how much I love it. Running (although I don’t do it very fast) seems to clear my head and the panic attacks have calmed down a little. Fingers crossed that this will be an end to it and I’ll continue to control them.

Do any of you guys suffer from panic attacks? How do you deal with them? Is there a trick that worked for you? Did you get some help from the Doctor? All comments and ideas gratefully received.

Silent Sunday.......starting as I mean to go on with a present from my brother!!!

New Years Resolutions

Happy New Year everyone. I can't believe that 2011 is here already!!! Now generally I don't make new years resolutions mainly because I last for about 3 days on the diet/not drinking whatever things I come up with. This year though I have one main resolution and a few smaller ones. I've decided that this is just something that I'll aim for rather than being everything being set in stone.

Spend more time with my family & friends (this is my main resolution)

This is something I seem to have been missing in my life at the end of 2010. I haven't seen my brother and sister in law for 6 months and they only live in London!!! I also want to hang with my daughter more and do stuff rather than us both being stuck in front of the TV.

Stop Moaning

I've always been a world class moaner but now I'm beginning to get on my own nerves!!! There is always something wrong or I'm moaning about lack of money. Well I just need to get over myself. Most people don't have enough money to go around and moaning about it doesn't actually help anything!!!

Enjoy Life

As above I'm going to stop moaning and enjoy life. Be it seeing my family, hanging out with Chick, taking more pictures, not getting stressed out, taking up running again and just generally getting back to my old self.

Eat Healthily

I refuse to diet. I just can't do it and nothing ever seems to stick however I'm aware that our lifestyle needs to change and we need to eat much better food than we currently do. I'm also cutting down on the drink again and am very proud of myself that I'm not hung over today and managed to make it for a run this morning!!!

I was reading over at the Thought Bubble today and the lovely Bubble Boo said that she sees each new year as a blank canvas......I love that idea. Let's hope 2011 gives us all a vibrant and colourful canvas!!! Do you bother with new years resolutions? What plans do you have for 2011?