Eating baaaaad stuff today

We went out for lunch at Pizza Hut which was good but Mr Gherkin and I shared a large cheese stuffed crust pizza and a bowl of salad which was waaaaay too much but did not stop me anyway. I then helped Little Pickle out with his nasty sweetie-laden ice-cream and regretted it. I had stomach and chest cramps when we came home and nobody wanted to eat proper tea. I have now just made a rum-laden coffee marscapone dessert for tomorrow night's dinner party with the in-laws and I HAD to keep testing it as I went along. I feel gross. I need to hop back on the WW bus big style this week!

Time, time, time, see what's become of me...

I love browsing round blogland and coming across new blogs to inspire me or admire. I follow many parenty/crafty ones and am always amazed at how other people manage to fit so much into their days! Here is the latest one - beautiful blog and such cute kids! I am fine at entertaining the kids for most of the day and fitting in some house chores round them but I struggle to find time to be crafty. I am stuck to fitting it into the last few hours at night which I probably should be spending with Mr G. That sounds like a silly thing to say as I am still an important person in my life and I need to spend time with myself. And here I am, alone and blogging when I should really be alone and sleeping. Did not get any crafting done today as we had a pile of stuff to watch on TV (there's a hobby I could easily give up but TV is Mr G's sanctuary and we watch stuff together as a couple. I guess it is cheaper, easier and more attainable than actually going out and being a couple! I need to speak to him about this I guess but things are slightly fraught here in the Gherkin Jar without me rocking the stressful boat any more. Often I will do crafty stuff whilst Mr G watches TV under the idea that I am watching it too but I only need to listen to get an idea of what is going on and then I don't even care that much and manage to be a bit crafty whilst in the same room as my darling beloved. I am not painting a good picture here, am I? It's not that bad really but it could be better. We need to sit down and decide what we are doing with the house and make plans for us all. It's all on The Big List Of Things We Need To Do.

Wow I did not intend for this post to be so revealing!

Peace and Quiet

Sometimes it is nice to just be alone. I was supposed to take Little Pickle to toddler group this morning after dropping Cornichon off in nursery. LP was tired in the car so I drive around a bit until he dropped off and then came home, deciding against going back out again. I am enjoying a WHOLE HOT cup of coffee and some fruit and a wander around blogland. It is good to be alone sometimes.

Doing so well then remembering the Rocky Road

I was so good today-remembering the 11 stone yesterday was very helpful. I had a huge wobbly forced by the boys who were playing up and not doing as they were told when I crashed into the sweetie cupboard and destroyed 2 pieces of Rocky Road. The roast chicked skin had a bashing too. I don't know why. Well I do. I was prepared with 0pt snacks but they were not very exciting or tasty - steamed veg , naked. Should have got the mustard on standby.

Paying for a crap day in work

A shit day in work deserves an early night. 1 ranting customer + failed trip to doctors + pizza + chinese curry + half tube pringles = 11 stone on the scales. Why do I do this to myself?

Family party

Tomorrow it is my father-in-law's 70th birthday. He sure does not look and certainly does not act it and I am sure he does not think he is actually 70. He is a big kid at heart hose favourite pastime ever is messing about with his grandsons. I am so lucky to have such lovely in-laws who love me and Mr G and adore and dote on our boys. They look after them for 2 days a week whilst I work even though they live 35 miles away and have to get up at the crack of dawn and get home on Tuesday in the dark. They love coming here and we love having them here. We took them out for a meal this evening to our local Italian restaurant. The food was lovely, the wine was fab (shame 2 of us were driving) and the boys were really well-bejaved even though they were tired towards the end. We came home for Rocky Road Birthday Cake and Candles that we all 4 of us made yesterday and which is F-i-L's absolute favourite, and the boys went to bed at about 8.30 which is way later than usual (though Little Pickle did have a little nap in the restaurant he perked up when the RR came on the table!). I hope the boys sleep well tonight. Little P has been bad recently but I think that is more to do with me than him. I need to go to bed earlier and be in a better state to go to him when he wakes and soothe him without picking him up and getting into the double bed with him and having terrible sleep after this (like last night and the night before and before that). Hopefully a good night tonight will inspire me into another one tomorrow night without the grand-help!

Den Day

I helped the boys to make a den under the kitchen table this afternoon and the LOVED it. They were pretending to be doctors and Little Pickle was guffawing so much it cracked me up too! I love times like this!

Today I felt good. I cleaned the inside of my car - vacuum and everything! No more feeling disgusted when I get into my car and ashamed when Jon is rightfully sarcastic about the filth he has to dig out before he can get into the front seat. The boys helped to a certain extent but I had to finish off alone. I did all those things that have annoyed me like tidying the restrain belts on the car seats, cleaning the coffee I spilt in there about a month ago, taking out the books that have been there and not read for as long as I have had the car! I fell like I need to put an air freshener in it ( I HATE air fresheners) that has that 'new car' smell. I can't wait to drive it tomorrow!

I also had a couple of hours alone and managed to clean the porch, dust the front of the house, weed and de-leaf under the kitchen window, took the dead heads from the nasty ornamental grass at the front, washed the wellies, decided to make more of the room outside under the porch and decided to plant some flowers there. Little project here I come!

I love working part-time

It gives me the chance to spend time with my parents.

It means the 3 of us can sleep over mid-week without rushing to be anywhere.

It means we can go to cool places like Mumbles Pier just because it is a cool place and it is there.

It means we can meet Mr Gherkin for lunch just because he happens to be out and about and sneaking a sneaky Friday afternoon long lunch.

It means I can reminisce about times I used to wander around holiday camp arcades hanging round the 2p drop slot machines in hope of finding some freebies in the drop trays. I was brilliant at this! I am trying NOT to encourage my sons to gamble at their young ages. But it is still a fun thing to do!

Bouncing on the bed pretending to be a motorbike can take AAAAAAAAAAGES!

Best bits

Best/Worst conversation in bed with Cornichon tonight

Me: What was the best bit of your day?

Him : Ummmmmm playing with you on the computer. (We found some Disney games and have a scream whilst Mr G put LP to bed as he is a bit poorly)

Me: My best bit was when you were playing with Daniel in his house. (3 of us went over to Wendy's and the kids played and we chatted)

Him : Umm yeah that was a best bit too.

Me : And what was the worst bit?

Him : There were no worst bits today, it was all best bits!

very little going on here

I had a rubbish day in work. No change there really. I am very pleased to be home and in a crowded noisy boy-filled house! Yeaaaaaaayyyyyyy!

So quiet

It is so quiet here n the Gherkin Jar! Little 'uns are still in Granny and Bampa's and will be home at 4 tomorrow. I managed to do a big clear-out of Cornichon's cupboards and took a pile of 18-24mth clothes down from the loft for Little Pickle, put up a load of 6-9mth and 9-12 mth and 12-18mth things and sorted Cornichons' 2-3yr stuff out and put it together for later in the year when Little Pickle will be catching him up! My boys are getting so big! I emptied the airing cupboard of the ironing last night only to do a load today and have more new stuff for tomorrow to be washed and fill the cupboard again. It is never ending! At least I can feel a bit smug for 1 day when I have an empty airing cupboard. :)

Crowded House

A crowded house is a happy house. We all spent the day in my Mum and Dad's as it was Mum's birthday. My bro and his wife and my sis came down too and we had a reet good day. Mum was in her element with all her "chicks" back at the nest and B and I cooked roast lamb dinner which was awesome (if I say so myself!). She loved her presents (pussy willow tree, 2 DVDs and some handmade cards from us and a coat from Dad) and loved the fact that she did not have to do any cooking! It was so lovely to see the boys playing with everyone, beating my bro G up with baloons and messing about on the lawn with a football. Dad joined in with a roomful of Bat the Balloon which was lovely to see too. We dropped the boys off in Mr Gherkin's parents house for tonight and tomorrow night and came home to our quiet house. I don't like it here when it is quiet but I am sure I will enjoy a quiet night's sleep! 'Night!

Ooops I did it again.

I was just about to compose a new post last night when Cornichon yelled out for me at 1230am. It was the start of a looooong night which ended with me being rescued by Mr Gherkin at 0745 and having a solo lie-in until 0930. It did not feel like a lie-in it felt like the start of the night. I was OK today though. Well maybe I was not the best parent all day. We had the TV on all morning and then when I actually wanted to watch the rugby at 2pm the boys had had enough of it and started playing up (cabin fever was high). We went out to Asda after the rugby (woo hoo!) and had crapola tea there but they were good as gold even though they were afraid of the dark. Cornichon was moaning when we were getting back in the car and it was dark which kicked off Little Pickle and I told Cornichon to show Little Pickle how there was nothing to be afraid of so he did "There's nothing to be afraid of, it's only dark!" and they were both fine! Little Pickle then repeated "No Fray" all the way home! How sweet! Mr G was in town watching the rugby so I did nNight Night alone and they were fab. They both jumped out of the bath together into one towel and we allsnuggled up in Cornichon's bed for a story. It was beaut.

Still Puff Mummy

Face is still bloated and blotchy and is now itchy. I am hacked off with it. Every time I pass a mirror I am reminded how I look like Statler from The Muppet Show but still managed to get a decent pic with Cornichon at Night Night time.

Bah!

Beetroot Face

I have the faceache thing again. I woke up and my face was all puffy like a spitting image mask and then it got progressively redder. This is not a pretty face at the best of times but I scared myself when I saw it in the mirror this morning. People were staring at me all day. I was supposed to go out tonight but I could not face people looking at me. I used Oil of Olay facial wash, exfoliator toner and moisturiser. I am going to avoid it for a while and then do a patch test. I can't be looking like this again if that is all it is. No results back from the doc yet either. I feel rubbish. Mr Gherkin is being nice to me though which made me feel better about staying in and cwtching up with him and we watched a film - tick on the 101 list!

Words of wisdom

I always take time to have a chat with the boys over tea and we always have a Best Part of your Day and Worst Part of your Day conversation and they fill me in on the good and the bad things that are important to them. This is a lovely precious time for me as it always makes me smile about the thing they find important. Today Little Pickle's best bit was "kick ball" with Bampa Anya and the worst bit was "hleep [cue snoring sound]"! How cute is that? He is 21 months old! Cornichon's best bit was when Granny and Grampa arrived this morning and the worst bit was not going to school but stopping playing with them. Cuteness!

On Saturday we had Sausage and mash with Broccoli peas and gravy and we were taking about thevegetables we like. I said I liked broccoli and peas and Cornichon said he liked potatoes and Little Pickle said his favourite vegetable was "hossage". I could just eat him up!

February Goals

I have just been checking back and realised that a post I wrote on Feb 1st has not been saved! How annoying! I made a short list of goals for February and I am sure I published it but it is nowhere to be found!

Anyway here it is, to the best of my recollection.

1. Meet a neighbour

2. Have a day shopping all on my own, just me

3. Clear out one lot of cupboards

4. Start running

5. Sign up for 5k

6. Finish Cornichon's quilt

Back to normal today

Ahem. As you may have already realised, I went out on Friday night. I drank wine. I was a bit pissed. I forgot that I posted on here until mid-Saturday morning when I checked my facebook profile only to realise that I had posted there whilst slightly the worse for wear.

Gherkin has decided that corect spellin is shit an that she nose it all

Uuuuuggggh! I am a spelling pedant! I then had a vague recollection that I may have typed elsewhere and struggled to hit any of the right keys and got frustrated and fed up. A-ha. Checked out the blog and cringed again. Eeeeeeew wine is bad when mixed with fresh air! The reason for the intoxication was a bingo night in Cornichon's school and I invited Wendy along with me. We had a few wines and then won a bottle on the pub quiz. I thought I was tidy when we were there but the walk home must have woozled me. Had a fab time though!

I have managed to cross another goal off my list - my bathroom cupboards have been sorted! Hopefully they will be toddler-proofed tomorrow too! Woo hoo!

DRUNKING

It is taking mr ehilr to type this. it id not good. I have been drinking wine for this. It IS good. Typing IS BAD. home is Good

SDunking

A new friend!

Ha! I can cross off one of my 101 list already! I invited a new neighbour around for a coffee today and she is lovely! She has 3 kids, 5, 3.5 and 5 months and is looking to make new friends round here! How fab! I think we may have to try a night out with some wine involved. What a treat to have a girlie friend! Only 5 doors away too! I need to calm down otherwise I'll scare her off!

Still got it

Ahhhhh I am sitting on the sofa, boys asleep upstairs, Mr Gherkin in London with work and I am tapping away, listening to/watching a George Michael concert from 2008. This is pure pleasure! He was my first crush from about 1984 when I discovered pop music and had a cut-out picture and article from the News of the World on my bedroom wall as my first poster (my bedroom walls saw MANY, many posters in the years after). He looked totally LUSH in the picture and looking at the gig tonight, he is still pretty lush (to coin a phrase of my teenage years). He sounds fab too! I really need to get me a ticket to one of his gigs really! I think I'll put his album on my shuffle for the next run. Oh my goodness he has just launched into my favourite song - Feeling Good! Crappin ell it's Roooooxanne now! This guy is working through my favourite song Top 10! We were meant to be together! Oh to have the opportunity to straighten him out!

We're only sleeping

After so many posts about bad sleeping, I have to admit that the sleep situation is greatly improved here in the Gherkin Jar. Well for the boys at least. Cornichon is sleeping better and has managed a few nights all the way through until 6, as has Little Pickle which is awesome. I, on the other hand, have started going to sleep when I put the boys to bed, sleeping for 2 hours and then going to bed at 12 and not being able to sleep myself! ,Though this may be irritating for me it is all my fault and infinitely preferable to being woken up several times a night and being beaten up by a slumbering or not slumbering small boy for several hours before uprightness. Need to work on it but it's getting better all the time!