Ten on Tuesday…

 Ten things you won’t miss about winter!

1. Having to put coats on.
2. Having to walk carefully in the ice
3. Waking up when its still dark
4. Taking/collecting Robyn from Rainbows in the dark
5. Wearing thick socks/slippers
6. Having to have the heating on all the time
7. Headaches from the cold outside. Brain freeze is the worst!
8. My mum being sad because she hates winter
9. Having the kids cooped up indoors
10. My glasses steaming up as soon as you enter a warm room!

Ten on Tuesday…

Ten on Tuesday this week is “10 ways you can make your life better”.

1. Laugh. I believe that laughter is one of the best medicines. Laughing is good for the soul.
2. Live your own life. Don’t let anyone tell you who to be.
3. Bake. Baking makes me happy. I get a huge sense of achievement when someone eats something I have made and declares it yummy.
4. Nurture those close to you. For me it is my children. I believe I was born to be a mum. My job is to see my children grow up to be happy and fulfilled.
5. Have a hobby. I have just discovered sewing and am realising that when I sew I am “Mel” again – not Mummy, not a wife, not a daughter… just Mel.
6. Believe. I have a strong faith and at times that keeps me going. Everyone needs to believe in something, even if it’s the fairies at the bottom of the garden. Most importantly though believe in yourself.
7. Learn from your past. Don’t repeat the mistakes but learn from them and use them to make your life better.
8. Look to the future. It can be exciting if you let it!
9. Don’t go to bed on an argument. It does nobody any good. Clear the air before you sleep.
10. Regret nothing. You are who you are and you might just find people love you for it!

Ten on Tuesday…

Ten on Tuesday this week is “10 great things that happened this summer”. The weather has been becoming nice and autumnal lately… crisp and bright, rather than the rain and dull weather that accompanied the “summer” here in the UK! It seems a good time to look back at the summer 🙂

1. We had a mini-break to Morecambe. Mum & Dad have a lovely apartment there right on the seafront. Its a great place to go to escape. The weather was AWFUL… it poured with rain but we enjoyed sitting in the flat watching the world go by. Its nice to look across Morecambe Bay and see the boats bobbing up and down. Most of all we watch the tide. Its so captivating!
2. Katie started to speak! I’ve blogged about it before… she is suddenly saying loads more recognisable words and its so lovely to see (and hear) our little girl growing up and expressing herself. She is much less frustrated now! So are we lol.
3. Robyn finished her Reception year at school. I was very glad to see Robs progress into her new class. Her new teacher is great and I am confident she will do very well this year. She is being challenged more and as a result is much more interested!
4. We found Maggie… mum and dads cat! Of course the sad thing that goes before that is the fact she was lost but we had given up hope of finding her really! We were looking after her while mum & dad were on holiday and 2 weeks after going missing she appeared in a neighbours garden like she had never been away!
5. Mum & Dad came home from their holidays. They go away for almost 4 weeks every summer and I always miss them terribly. Its always a happy happy day for me when they return.
6. I got to spend time with Robyn. She always goes to see her Granny & Dad in school holidays and I rarely get to spend time with her but this time she was at home for 4 weeks out of 6. Good times 🙂
7. I turned 30! At first I wasnt sure that was so great but now I’m used to it I feel glad to have my turbulent 20’s behind me.
8. I got a new friend. I’ve known her for a while but over the summer I’ve been helping her out alot with her new baby and its brought us closer together.
9. The car passed its MOT! We were expecting a big expense there so were very relieved when we were able to drive away from the garage without a big bill!
10. I became a Great-Auntie! It only happened yesterday but its a nice way to finish off my 10! Luke Barrie was born at 20:07 on 22.09.08 weighing 6lb. Congratulations to very proud parents Danielle & Allan!

Ten on Tuesday…

Ten on Tuesday this week is “10 simple things that make you happy”… a good one for me today since I seem to be feeling a bit glum.

1. Hearing my girls singing.
2. Snuggling up to my wonderful husband.
3. Drinking a nice hot brew in the warm when its cold and raining outside.
4. Being together with my family. My family (both immediate & extended) means the world to me.
5. Seeing Katie playing nicely and being happy! (Its getting more and more common now I’m happy to say!).
6. Being loved.
7. Watching Anthony and the girls playing together. Sometimes I wish I could freeze a moment in time.
8. Seeing all the hills and beautiful countryside that surrounds us here where we live in the Pennines.
9. Climbing into bed after a busy day.
10. Eating good, home-made cakes!

Ten on Tuesday…

This week’s Ten on Tuesday is “’10 Things you didn’t like about school”. Here’s mine

1. Bullying: This has to be absolutely top of my list. From the age of 11-16 I was bullied daily… never physically but mentally. I got called the nastiest names, was taunted everywhere I went, people damaged my stuff and generally made my life hell. This bullying really affected me as an adult… I’ll never forgive those bullies.
2. P.E Lessons: I’ve never been sporty and always been conscious of my appearance so changing into a P.E kit was my worst nightmare… made worse of course by bullies. I used to dread double P.E on a Thursday afternoon!
3. Uniform: At school we had to wear a skirt (not the boys of course… that would just be silly!). I hate skirts and have hardly worn one since school apart from my Wedding day! Now at all my old schools trousers are part of the girl’s uniforms. So much better!
4. English Lessons: Reading out loud in class always filled me with dread! I used to pray for the bell to ring before it got to my turn!
5. Boring Teachers: I sometimes really wish I had taken GCSE History but I was completely put off doing so by my year 9 History teacher… she taught us the history of medicine in such a boring and uninspiring way that I couldn’t wait to ditch the subject!
6. Music Lessons: So boring! I love to sing and I love to listen to music but I can’t play for toffee!
7. GCSE Coursework:Maths was the worst… I could never quite get the hang of what I was meant to do and by the time I figured out the formula it was too late to start doing any of the extension stuff. I used to get grade F a lot in Maths coursework… how I ended up with an overall grade B is beyond me!!!
8. The Playground: Always too cold for me! I was too afraid to walk across the middle in case I got hit by a football so stuck to the edges. I used to go and sit in the library a fair bit to get some homework done rather than brave the playground!
9. Science: Still bores me now!! Drawing all those diagrams used to drive me mad!
10. Revision: I never had any motivation to revise. I could sit for ages with my books but spend all my time making a new revision timetable in lovely colours (after all the teachers all said how important it was to have one… right?!!). Then I’d get into an exam and wish that I’d revised!

Ten on Tuesday

I’ve seen many blogs doing “Ten on Tuesday” so thought I’d join in… looks fun!

This week’s list of 10 is “Inventions that have made life easier”. Here goes!!

1. The Internet. I have no idea what I would do without the Internet now! In many ways the net is my lifeline. It makes keeping in touch with family & friends much easier and I can get information about so many things in a few clicks! If it wasn’t for the Internet I wouldn’t have met my fabulous husband!
2. Microwaves. Ours gets used all the time and it certainly makes my life much easier.
3. Digital Cameras. Not so long ago getting photos developed was such a faff. Now I can have prints of my photos in seconds and not have to spend loads of money on camera films only to realise that half the pictures were rubbish when they were developed. I love being able to check how good a photo is and simply pressing delete if its no good!
4. Modern transport, be it cars, buses, trains etc. Imagine having to walk everywhere!
5. TV. It definitely makes my life easier! Sometimes Cbeebies is a godsend!
6. Washing machine/dryer. I lived without a washing machine for 18mths when I was single and living in my tiny flat… it was hard! When I finally got one I was so grateful!
7. Electric sterilisers for baby! 8 minutes and bottles are done! So much easier than waiting ages for them to sterilise in cold water!
8. Telephones. Being able to communicate with someone in an instant… fab!
9. Teabags. I couldn’t be doing with making tea with loose tealeaves all the time! Teabags are a genius invention!
10. “Anyway up cups”. We would have lots of spilt juice in this house if it wasn’t for these!! Every toddler should have one!