Best of 2009: Ad

What advertisement made you think this year?

My favourite TV ad this year is the Barclaycard one:

Years ago when on holiday you would always find me on the highest diving board and the biggest water slide. Not now. I have lost my confidence. When I first saw that advert on TV I thought “Wow! I’d love to go on that!”. Then I felt sad because I knew that whereas I used to have the confidence I’d never actually do it now. Why not?! Where did the confidence go?!
When we went on holiday to Butlins in May there were water slides galore. Did I go on any of them? No, of course not! For one thing there are weight restrictions on these things. Imagine getting to the top of the steps and then realising I was too big to go down. The humiliation would be too much. Instead I stayed with the girls in the pool while Anthony went and had fun on the slides.

One day I will go on a water slide. At Blackpool there is a water park that I have always wanted to go to. When I have lost this weight and have some confidence back I will go there and I will have fun.

This post is part of  Gwen Bell’s Best of 2009 blog challenge

Best of 2009: Laugh

My family love to laugh. All of us have a great and sometimes wicked sense of humour. When we get together with my mum, dad, sister and nephew then big laughs are guaranteed.
Sometimes the phone will ring and when you answer all you can hear is laughter, so much laughter that the person on the other end is unable to speak. It is usually my mum or dad. We do it to them too. Something will have happened that is hysterically funny and you just need to share!

On Boxing Day I was reading through something of Robyns where she had been prompted to write who in her class was the best at certain things. There were headings and she had to fill in names underneath. It went something like this:

• Best dressed: Paige
• Best dancer: William
• Best hair: Me
• Best make up: Me
• Most popular: Me & Chloe
• Best drama queen: Me
• Best cheerleader: Me
• Best singer: Me
• Most handsome: Isaac
• Best prom King: Isaac
• Best prom Queen: Me
• Most likely to become famous: All the girls

When I read it I howled with laughter. I read it out to Anthony and he did the same. I said “I’ve got to tell Mum and Dad!” so picked up the phone and read it out to them too. I could hardly speak, they were both creased up with laughing too. I knew they would appreciate it.
This is what our family does… laugh. We laugh at the slightest little thing but most of all we share our jokes and make others laugh too. Each time we meet up one of us has a funny story to tell. There is no point in keeping big laughs to yourself is there?!

This post is part of  Gwen Bell’s Best of 2009 blog challenge

Best of 2009: Stationery

As a child I loved stationery. We used to go on holiday to France a lot as kids and especially in the summer the French supermarkets would be full of stationery, cheap and different stationery to the stuff you got at home. It was heaven to me! I’d buy pens, pencils, notepads, colouring pens etc etc. I used to end up with drawers full of pens! Crazy!

Now I’m really not too fussed. I keep a magnetic notepad on the fridge for making shopping lists and there are pens dotted around the house.
The kids have a huge box of crayons, pencils and pens though. They have colouring books, activity books and notepads. Katie LOVES to draw. She knows nearly all her colours and will draw and copy letter shapes at any opportunity. Robyn is also a little artist. Her teacher is very keen on art and Robyn has caught the enthusiasm.

For me then the best stationery of 2009 is just paper and pens. Any paper and any pen that my children can draw on or with and be creative. Here is a picture that Katie drew last week. She’s a clever girl.

This post is part of  Gwen Bell’s Best of 2009 blog challenge

Best of 2009: Social web moment

I had to think about this. Not because I couldn’t think of anything but because for me the social side of the internet is the most fantastic part. I have made some very firm friendships through the internet over the last few years.

During 2009 I have met up with many friends that I initially met online. We’ve had trips to Tatton Park, the Trafford Centre, the theatre, my own home and soft play centres. What a wonderful thing it is to have friends. A friend that you know all about, have been speaking to for years in some cases and yet have never met is a great thing. We have shared good times and bad times and been there for each other through them all.
These are not fair weather friends like some “real life” friends. They are very real and proper friends who I am very blessed to have.

This post is part of  Gwen Bell’s Best of 2009 blog challenge

Best of 2009: Gift

What’s a gift you gave yourself this year that has kept on giving?

This year I got the gift of “Me time”. When Katie started playgroup in September I got the chance to recharge my worn out batteries. To begin with on those playgroup days I would just come home and sit in the house in the peace and quiet, maybe with a magazine and a cup of tea. Sometimes I’d catch up on some photography coursework, sometimes tidy up (not that often though lol).
The main thing is I learned how to be Mel again. In January Katie increases her sessions at playgroup again. She’ll do 2 full days and 2 afternoons. For the time being Anthony will be here. I shall make the most of having some time together with him. Adult time. Maybe go to the cinema together, do the shopping in peace or just go for a nice walk.
I want to start swimming again. I can do that when I have me time. Being on my own gives me a chance to tackle things with a fresh head. I am able to be more in control of Katies bad behaviour (although her behaviour has been fantastic for weeks now!) and I can thoroughly enjoy my family time knowing that I’m not JUST a Mummy.

Yes, me time is a gift that just keeps on giving! Try it!

This post is part of  Gwen Bell’s Best of 2009 blog challenge

Best of 2009: Learning Experience

I shall never forget the phone call I received from my friend just after we found out that Anthony had lost his job. She told me that good things happen to good people. She told me that if we think positive thoughts then we will get through it. I repeat that mantra many times a day.

Good things happen to good people. It is true. When you are in despair and it seems that the world has turned its back on you think about the good things. Turn things around and things will be ok. So Anthony doesn’t have a job but we have been able to have so much more family time than would have been possible.

The people who forced Anthony out of his job are not good people. They might have a job but I would bet a lot of money that they are not happy. The business will not succeed. Already they are not open as much as they were when Anthony was there. It is always empty, people in the town don’t have a good word to say about the place. When we own our own business it will succeed. No doubt about it. Good things happen to good people.

My learning experience of 2009 then? Good things happen to good people!

This post is part of  Gwen Bell’s Best of 2009 blog challenge

Best of 2009: Web Tool

Maybe not quite a web tool but the thing that has to come under this section is Flickr.

I was introduced to it by a friend and when my OU photography course (T189) started I became hooked. On Flickr I can share photographs of more random things than I do on Facebook. So many people are able to see my photographs. The rush I blogged about earlier on in this challenge becomes even more immense when I get a comment on Flickr. A complete stranger telling me that they like my photograph is amazing for me! In 2010 I am going to start a photo a day challenge set up by a past T189 course member. I hope it keeps my passion for photography alive now that my course has finished.

A web tool that enables my photographs to be seen by more people has to be good! You can see my Flickr photostream here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meltedmoments/

This post is part of  Gwen Bell’s Best of 2009 blog challenge

Best of 2009: Startup

The prompt for today’s post was a difficult one for me. This is what it said:

Startup: What’s a business that you found this year that you love? Who thought it up? What makes it special?

Of course, until a couple of weeks ago this would have been an easy post. Café Modo without a doubt! It was full of hope, full of promise and full of excitement for our family. In reality it was the opposite. Not the best of 2009 then.

So I got thinking about what I could blog about. Running through the year in my head. The year my family has had, the year my friends have had. Then, suddenly there it was!

My sister and my nephew moved here in July. The company that my sister works for have been wanting to open a new office in the North. They do alot of work in Liverpool and the company is growing all the time. Ali moved in with mum and dad for a bit and opened that office for the company in Rochdale. Having her and Michael here is wonderful. On Saturday they moved into their new home just down the road. A new start for our family and a new start up for Ali’s company. There is a chance that Anthony will work for them in the new year. That would be fantastic!

This post is part of  Gwen Bell’s Best of 2009 blog challenge

Best of 2009: Project

Back in June 2008 I did a blog post that included 5 things I wanted to do before I die. Learn how to sew was one of them. Last Christmas I got a sewing machine and I set about teaching myself how to use it. I’ve made lots of bunting this year and managed to make a few bags.

Robyn and Katie are currently obsessed with picnics. We went for quite a few picnics in the summer and we keep saying we’ll take a picnic up into the hills, eating it in the car to keep warm! The girls love a picnic tea in the living room and like to put a blanket out for themselves and the dolls/teddy bears!

This week I bought a metre of red gingham fabric and hemmed it. It took me a matter of minutes… hey presto, a proper picnic blanket especially for my lovely girls. It is now wrapped up for Christmas. I’m going to make some napkins from some calico and wrap them up too. A wonderful present that costs hardly anything but a gift that is filled with love.

Learning to sew is a project that will carry on. In 2010 I want to make some clothes for the girls. I’ve not braved that one yet!

This post is part of  Gwen Bell’s Best of 2009 blog challenge

Best of 2009: New Person

For me the best new person of 2009 was Heather.

Heather is (or was) Katies speech therapist. When the health visitor upset me back in February the only great thing that she did was to advise us to go to the drop in clinic that is run by a speech therapist. We went along because although the HV upset me because of how she spoke to me I did know that Katies speech was a bit delayed… just not as delayed as the HV tried to tell me.

That is when we met Heather. Immediately she listened to me and understood how the HV had made me feel. I knew she was on my side in it all. She agreed that Katie needed help and we started to attend “Tiny Tweeters” sessions that were run by Heather. She made it fun, she spoke to me in a supportive way and was never patronising. Katie grew to know and love her and I was able to feel comfortable going to the sessions because Katies little ways didnt bother Heather.

In September Heather called me and said she was thrilled at how Katies speech was coming on. She said she didnt think we needed to carry on going to the therapy sessions. She would still visit Katie in playgroup and she wasnt discharging her completely but Katie had really outgrown the Tweeters sessions. This was the day when she raised some concerns about Katies attention and listening skills. I went to see her the following week and I sat chatting to her while we filled in the relevant forms. I cried, she listened and understood. Heather is the one who put in the referral for portage services. All of the help and support that we get for Katie now would not have been in place if it wasn’t for Heather.

Heather called me on Wednesday to tell me that she was passing Katie onto another speech therapist who deals more with preschool children than toddlers. The new therapist, Becky apparently works in Katies playgroup already and knows the staff there. I almost cried when I put the phone down. I’m sure Becky will be lovely but I’ll always have a special place in  my heart for Heather. She is definitely my unsung hero of 2009.

This post is part of  Gwen Bell’s Best of 2009 blog challenge