Minecraft Mum

Yep, you read that right the first time. Yes I know you had to read it twice! Moi? Minecrafting? Mais oui! Don't ask why I just switched to French there, I have no idea either. To be quite honest with you, I have no flipping idea what I'm doing at the moment. This morning has seen me going up and down the stairs like a yo-yo retrieving things I've left downstairs in the kitchen, only to return to the first floor living room to realise I've not retrieved what I went for in the first place. It took me three trips just to retrieve my tea and then my glasses, the latter of which I went to fetch on my first trip! So, should I slip into a petit peu of French bear with, I've clearly lost my mind! Oh and before I forget, on yet another different subject (because yes, I am aware, I have indeed gone off on a tangent, again) I have also gone up and down the stairs, making up and filling a couple more packing boxes, so I have managed to be productive in my confused state.

However, having digressed so far, I feel it's time we got back to the point, for I am now a Minecrafter!

Minecraft - My House and My Dog, Snowy

A (Not So) Tall Story

Ah, the weekend! The time when you spend time with your family, enjoy one another's company and pretend you are not some crazy, dysfunctional group of people at all! To be honest, we stopped doing that last bit some time ago. Getting the kids out with me is enough of a win, I really can't be doing with pretending to be all 'Little House on the Prairie,' too, which is why we probably leave a crazy trail of destruction behind us.

Anyway, Sunday morning saw me manage to get my youngest out of the house. Not going to lie, I was so shocked she agreed, that I wondered if it was national news worthy (anyone with teenagers will know how monumental this is). So off we popped to a small local shopping centre, complete with pharmacy, so that the other half could get his man flu medicine (he really was not a well boy). Whilst the boy was raiding Boots with his snot and sneezes, Miss. L and I had a good old look round The Body Shop. If I had no idea what to get for her upcoming birthday before, I now have more ideas than I really need, there was a whole lot of stuff in there she wanted. Combine that with her obsession with food storage containers in TK Maxx and we're sorted (no I'm not going to buy her Tupperware - even I'm not that crap a mum).

The Dog Ate my Homework

Hands up if you have ever, actually used that classic excuse, 'Sorry Miss, the dog ate my homework.' I don't think I did, but it would have been pretty plausible given our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Rupert, was an absolute little bugger for eating anything and everything he shouldn't. My mum still has pens with Rupert teeth marks (though quite why, I do not know; who keeps pens that long, and I'm talking 30+ years here). Not that I was particularly great at doing my homework, unless it was art or flute practise. Quite how I have managed to raise at least one daughter who is always studying and doing homework, I am not sure, but thank goodness I have; there really is nothing worse than getting to Sunday and having to do everything in a panic!

The Mess

Let me make it very clear from the offset, I am not a super house proud, everything in it's place, kind of a girl. As a general rule, my house is quite tidy, but not in a 'no one' lives here 'show home' kind of  way. Good grief, I have two teenage daughters, an orange dog and a black and white cat, who insists on fluffing all over my cream carpets, seconds after I have vacuumed them (I love the cat, but I do not love bits of the cat randomly scattered on freshly vacuumed carpet). I don't like mess! I love a cupboard and drawers. They're great for stashing crap in and giving the illusion that you are a super organised woman who has it all together; just don't open my cupboards or drawers! Please!

That said, I am certainly not, what one might call a hoarder. I go through said cupboards and drawers at least once a year, sometimes twice, and get rid of anything that is redundant. There really is only so much one can fit into a home before it bursts at the seams. And might I add, my loft is empty and my garage is pretty much empty, apart form a handful of things which are earmarked for the tip, once the fiance is free to come down with his trailer. To clarify, I don't like mess and at the moment, that is exactly what my home is, a mess!

Kenya, A Mountain to Climb - Book Review

As many of you who read this blog regularly will know, I suffer with mental illness. I have a diagnosis of depression and anxiety, which was first made almost ten years ago. Unlike some people, I know my diagnosis is a 'forever' condition. My father suffers and so does my youngest daughter. For some of us, there is an hereditary element. In some ways, I'd rather that, it makes it easier for me to manage. I'm able to identify my triggers and let those close to me know my triggers, enabling myself, and others, to rein me in when necessary and practise some self care. I'm lucky, to have a fabulous next door neighbour, an amazing fiance and two wonderful daughters, who tell me to take a break when they can see I'm taking on too much.

I also have some awesome friends on Twitter, people who got me through my darkest days and to the place I am now in; which is a place where I work my wee butt off to raise awareness of mental illness and try to help people living with a diagnosis, or caring for someone, to cope and seek help. Hence, when I saw that Rod Wood was looking for people to review his latest book, I jumped at the chance.

Things Can Only Get Better

Apologies all, here I am telling you I'm back to blogging and then I go and disappear for a week; not the best really, so I do, wholeheartedly apologise. Last week did not go to plan, or it did, well it was just a kind of messy week, but in a mostly very good and positive way, but it did mean I had no blogging time. Also, as much as I love a bank holiday, is it just me, or do they just throw everything out for the following couple of weeks? Honestly, even now, over a week on I have no idea what day of the week it is! Perhaps I'm just getting a bit old and need to be put out to pasture?