Get OUT of the 90s

I have finally (in the second half of 2009) taken the plunge and had my hair straightened! After having brown (ALWAYS brown) curly hair for nearly 34 years and flying in the face (or fringe?) of fashion I took the crazy step of havingmy hair dried straight in the hairdressers this afternoon! Crazy fool! E-E-Everybody has their hair straightened and I have never been one to experiment in the slightest with my bonce let alone spend half an hour drying it and straighteneing it. I am much more of a leave-it-in-rat's-tails-after-the-shower-and-let-it-do-what-it-wants-then cover-hands-with-too-much-sticky-stuff-and-rake-rake-rake-it-bigger kind of hair-grooming routine. Today I had a wash and a cut (usual nothing exciting to make it curl up again request) and the hairdresser asked if I wanted her to dry it straight or curly. "Curly please!" was my immediate response and then I challenged myself and thought about the road less travelled. I asked her to try it straight and spent 20 minutes thinking how much I hated it and it made me look blurry and plain and ill. Then the straightening irons came out, slick... swoosh... swing... and here I am with lovely smooth shiny long locks! I really like it! Mr Gherkin loves it too - he said it was like having another woman in the house! Me liking the noticing! The boys are not here so I did not freak them out with it. I am sure Little Pickle would have had his hands in it soon enough anyway!

I am sure by the morning I will be back to stubbornly wavy curly hair but it was nice to be sleek and chic for a change instead of bedraggled. Note to self : seek out straighteners on freecycle...

Hangover House

I went out last night with Mr Cornichon, a good friend and her fiancé. We went down Mumbles (our old pulling ground!) and had a great night which was spoilt by the hangover today. The drive home was tough but I made it - thank goodness Mr Cornichon was driving. The boys were good as gold all day and considering it rained all day and we were stuck in the house they were brilliant. I am so lucky we have 2 good ones. Any other kids would have been torture today. I am OK now. I won't be drinking any time soon though. Well maybe tomorrow when the in-laws come over for Monday Curry Night. Damn it.

3 Beautiful Things

I found a lovely blog here which lists 3 beautiful things every day. Simples!

Here are mine for today

1. A stolen hour of play-dough fun with Cornichon whilst Little Pickle is asleep. Lots of "cooking" and an appreciative Head Chef having some one-on-one Mummy time with NO distractions.

2. Watching Little Pickle walking in his new shoes waving his arms in the air for balance.

3. The feeling of coupley-ness brought on by the return of Friday Night Is Film Night (Frost/Nixon).

Hmmmmmmmmmm. A worthy exercise, to be repeated.

Naked Office

I am blogging this whilst watching a documentary called Naked Office where a small office goes naked for 1 day to get themselves working better together. I can't think of anything I would rather do less given my hang-ups about my stretched body and excess weight and don't start me on how I don't look after myself with lotions and potions. The idea of displaying any flesh to even myself is pretty grotesque at the moment. I am over-weight, although only 8.5lbs off my WW goal but I think I need to lower it again as I can't see myself being happy with just 8.5lbs more weightloss. It is strange but when I was at my slimmest (summer 2002) I was 9 stone 9 but I spent more time around 10 stone. I was fit and happy with my body and felt slim. I am now at 10 stone 8.5 so not too far off what I was and I still feel way too fat and wobbly. I think 10 stone is too much for me. I won't say anything to my WW leader until I hit it though. I could do with saving my weekly fee once I hit goal!

Coming back to the programme; I think that my disinterest in my job and team also would have me sprinting from any suggestion of nakedness at work. I dislike my job. I have nothing to say to my team mates and have made an effort to say nothing at work. I exclude myself from the public areas at lunchtime preferring to sit alone in my car rather than make innante smalltalk with people I dislike and have no interest in. It may sound harsh and cold but I like it this way. At 2 days a week It is not difficult to put a face on for 14 hours out of 168 (less than 10% of my time!) and they pay me for this face. Oh to be paid and not have to do a face. Oh to do THIS and get paid. You can't even see my face on here can you? I think my work face is my work clothing and to go to work naked without my work face and with my real "I Hate This" face would be too much to bear/bare(?). Work tomorrow. Joy.

Important Things

Conversation in the car

Cornichon : We're driving a big silver lorry

Me : Ok, what's in the back of the lorry

Cornichon : Important stuff

Me : What kind of important stuff?

Cornichon : ummmm guitars and CDs. They're important stuff.

Mr Gherkin and my brother would be so proud!

In Other News...Little Pickle is walking well now. He has been able to walk for ages but was choosing not to as his crawling is so good and so fast. Now he is walking about 50% of the time and crawling 50% of the time but he walks more each day. It seems to have been so long in coming! I am trying not to compare the 2 boys but it is hard not to. His talking and feeding himself is coming on really well now too. He fed himself a bowl of soup last week (OK he made a fair mess) and managed not to pick it up and throw it on the floor (until the end!). He can now say quite a bit, hello, up, mo (more) again, mum, dad, gampa, nana, car, lo (lorry),ba (bike), go, and understands so much more. I am so proud of my little man!

We took Cornichon to the nursery where he is going to start 5 afternoons a week in September. He really liked it and mixed with the other kids and was disappointed when we brought him home! I am glad he is OK about going in September. I was worried last year that having only just turned 3 he would be too young to go but I know now that he is going to have a blast and be fine going in September. My little man is growing up!

A thing I found here

For Today...

Outside my window... a bright cool summer evening

I am thinking... I should blog more

From the learning rooms... you don't know who you've got 'til they're gone

I am thankful for... family; my family

From the kitchen... beef in red wine casserole - mmmmmmmmmmm

I am wearing... jeans and a t-shirt. For a change.

I am reading... The Reader and I think I am going to enjoy it.

I am hoping... to regain my balance

I am creating... pin cushions!

I am praying... to nobody

Around the house... there are slumbering and sleepy boys

One of my favorite things... a warm glass of cabernet syrah

A few plans for the rest of the week... strawberry picking en famille, jam-making toute seule, work, visiting my bro and new sister-in-law back in the old homestead

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you... not today

post damnit!

In the spirit of trying to blog more frequently here is another entry. I have nothing to report. But I am still here and pleased about it. I have just made friends on facebook with someone I thought I knew from school but I am really not sure about him. He kinda looks like Dai but I am not 100%. It has been about 20 years since I last saw him so I am guessing he has changed a bit and probably grown a bit but the guy in the pics only looks like him a little bit and has the wrong date of birth. He wants to be my friend though! I hope he does not turn into a stalker. Or that I don't turn into one either!

One week to go until Gareth's wedding. I should book the hotel I guess...