Boobs!

Just been reading a lot of the debates over at Ivillage about breastfeeding. Its really weird that in western society, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't! Women who don't choose to breastfeed at all get hassled, breast is best don't you know, yet the ones who do, don't do it for long enough/do it too long or get asked to leave places! The woman who got asked to leave the plane for feeding her daughter on take off because the stewardess was 'offended'! The woman should have pointed round the plane for other real offensive people, whats the bets on there was someone smelly, someone rude, I bet there was a woman on the plane with more cleavage showing than the breastfeeding woman and probably a muffin top belly with a large thong sticking out the back of her low rise jeans!

Just had to get that off my 'chest' for the record, I don't mind what you choose and you can hang your boobs out where ever you like as long as theres a baby on the receiving end!

The kids and I love this ad



One of the national newspapers ran a competition to bake car cakes





Puts my burnt fairy cakes to shame......

Wednesday

It rained all morning, but cleared up beautifully to go out this afternoon, Dumpling has football and swimming lessons, the football is the funniest thing ever, a bunch of 3-5 year olds, some pretty good at football but most just enjoying running about trying to kick the ball. The coach spent a long time carefully explaining the positions, pointless as they just ran in a tight little pack, desperate to get anywhere near the ball! He soon gave up and did some practice shooting instead, they took it in turns to shoot or be in goal, one little boy got his trainers caught in the net, the coach couldn't figure out why he wouldn't come out of the goal area, the parents are in fits of giggles as he tries to untangle himself! Maybe you had to be there, doesn't sound as funny writing it but the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves as did the parents!

Then straight round the corner to swimming lessons. I like Dumplings swimming coach, the management want to move him up to the big pool but both his coach and I agree that as good as he is at swimming, his feet barely touch the bottom in the bigger pool! I must write to the pool management though, the place was filthy today, I complained that the nappy bins in the family area were very full and so stinky in the humidity and would they please empty them, they still hadn't been done when I dressed Dumpling 30 minutes later and the general state of the place is going down hill, funnily enough it used to be a council run place and has been taken over by a private company, you'd think things would be better. All the staff seem to know and agree that its grubby and stinky but no one does anything about it. I've been going to the pool since I was a baby and they used to be constantly hosing down and cleaning but I cant think of the last time I saw any cleaning going on, the shower nearest the pool side smells like an open sewer!

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We have foxes in the garden again! Not mating loudly this time but they are quite sweet and as long as they don't do any damage they we don't mind them, the rabbits are in the carport which has doors both ends, the foxes could get in if they really wanted to but I don't think foxes are clever enough to open cages, are they?

The last guinea pig died last night, it was very old and lonely without its mate who died a couple of months ago, I thought it didn't look quite right yesterday but he was still eating and drinking and moving around but he was gone, gone, gone by this morning.

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Jon's sister in law, my friend, emailed to talk about what had happened with Jon, either he or she seems to think its my fault for not texting him in those two weeks! Told her that long term single does not make me desperate, I do not do the chasing and that he needs to make more effort! I really don't know whats going on in his head and I'm not that bothered, if he really wanted to see me, he could have texted, called or have come round, my friend says he's very polite and would only come round if invited, well he needs to stay in touch to get the chance to be invited!

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There was something else I was going to blog about and I cant remember....

Where it all started

Catherine Newman was the the first blogger I ever followed, for years I checked every Saturday morning to see if her new blog was up, I think she was writing for parent centre then and when it came to an end I cried my eyes out, silly me, she started her own blog and then began writing for 'wondertime'. I dried my eyes and started to read again. This piece just sums up how I feel about worrying about he kids but have never said out loud, she is so good at capturing the inner workings of a mothers mind, enjoy x

We went out yesterday, the sun was shining, we went shopping and to the funfair! And its pouring with rain again! Been tipping it down since the early hours, great another day inside with the children....

Yesterday, Sunday was a washout. It rained non stop for 24 hours, a months worth the papers are saying today and I had a migraine. Thump, thump, thump went the head, thump, thump, thump went the children around the house, bickering all the way leaving a trail of destruction. In the end I took a large dose of my back pain medication, told the children to be nice to each other or else and I went to lay flat on my bed with my eyes closed. It took a good ten minutes of laying perfectly still for the blood to stop pumping through my head and banging on the insides of my skull and another 20 for the pain killers to kick in, but when they did it was lovely. I napped for a while and then got up to make dinner, we went to the shop and bought chocolate, had a hot bath and went to bed.

Today is sunny spells with showers, we visited my grandparents who only live a 30 minute walk away but we hardly ever see, it doesn't seem worth it unless all three of us are available and that's not often with dance classes, swimming lessons and football practice, plus homework and have baby tom into the evenings some days, so every half term or bank holiday we make a concerted effort to get down there, get some photos of us printed (in case they forget what we look like!)and generally make up for lost time. My grandad is 75 and my nan a little younger (sorry nan if you're reading this, a LOT younger, obviously, what was I thinking...) but they have always seem young to me, my mum was 17 when I was born and I think my nan was about 36 so by the time I was aware of my grandparents they were early 40's, I suppose they are stuck in that time frame to me, the thought that my grandad is 5 years off 80 is terrifying. They went on a a cruise on the QE2 last year, they are not retirement home material yet! So we had a nice lunch and chatted and the kids played, they gave the kids some money to do something nice at half term and as always I promised to come and visit more, I do mean it but I know that it may be the next bank holiday or school holiday...(blush)

Dumplings day out

I love my son so much, he has just told me his tummy is full of love for me and his new water pistol! Todays blog is about us spending some quality time together while Lolly went to drool at Johny Depp at the cinema. But I'm so tired from our day of fun that this will mostly be in pictures!

We walked to the big park near us to feed the ducks and found...

and

so cute, had to be careful as the parents were very protective, took these pics on the zoom lense!

Then we walked around the lake, saw a high speed train and the coastguard helicopter, sorry no pics of these but dumpling was thrilled to see both. We walked to another part of the park near the sea front and found a funfair! Very small and dumpling didn't want to go on the 'big scary' rides but went on this one, he grinned while on it but...

he burst into floods of tears when he got off! Clung to me and begged to be taken away but not before the lucky dip, hence the new water pistol!
We then walked to the seafront and harbour

looked for crabs, found what appeared to be a tiny foot long dead shark, no I didn't take a photo, too gross, the crabs were trying to eat it, great for dumpling, stomach churning for me! We popped in the tiny lifeboat museum when dumpling got 'happy snappy'

I got pinched by that thing all day!

We looked at boats, got an ice cream

Had a quick look round a free museum that we have been to so many times that dumpling heads straight for the old fashioned classroom and pretends to be a strict teacher while I have to sit at the desks and pretend to be the pupil, we then sat outside and talked about what things would have been like a long time ago, when grandad was a little boy, took him a while to get his head round the concept that 75 year old grandad ever was a boy!


All in all a happy day!

Doctor has given me a new pain relief regime for this blasted shoulder problem. He said it may make me drowsy but its having the opposite effect, I'm pain free and raring to go, quite hyper, the house doesn't know whats hit it, been hoovering like a woman possessed, have descaled the washing machine and dishwasher, done piles of ironing, cleaned the bathroom, there's more to do and while I'm in the mood and have the energy I'm going to do it!

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Have bought Lolly and Dumpling shortie wetsuits from Ebay so we can go to the beach in the evening and have a swim! Lolly is so self conscious about wearing a bikini or swimsuit, she has a figure at 12 that makes men stare and drool, they soon stop when they see the flames of anger in my eyes but its made her very uncomfortable going to the pool or the beach. She liked the idea of wearing a wetsuit though, wont be able to wear it during the days on hot days but we tend to go down in the evening and have a bbq, perfect!


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Jon had the cheek to text after exactly two weeks of no contact and say he was cut up about his ex wife changing her name back and he had been getting over it by going out with his mates every night...so he can go out on the piss but cant find a moment to even text me, even to end it? I didn't reply, dignified silence. I don't hold any bad feelings towards him, I wasn't that emotionally involved, but I'm not going to respond, if I have a go at him, he'll just label me in the bitch category with his ex-wife and I'm also not going to say 'oh don't worry' as he shouldn't have treated me like like that. I've emailed his sister in law, my friend and told her and said that she shouldn't worry about how the whole thing and to invite us both to any occasion, I'd be happy to see him again socially and wouldn't make a scene. I'm to old to get upset and vengeful, I don't feel it anyway!

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Dumpling has started a little football class at the local sports centre, its so cute, I've put him in the younger group age 3-5 because he knows nothing about the sport, we don't follow football at all. He can be a little shy socially and I thought this might help, he also isn't very good at failure, but when he missed a goal I thought he would melt down, cry and run out of the hall and up to the balcony to me but he just shrugged and laughed! I was ecstatic, six months ago it would have been another story! He was good at every part of the lesson and the coach was impressed. It would have been 100% perfect if it hadn't been for the one child you get in every class who plays up the whole time, pushing and shoving, dumpling mainly as he was the new kid, kicked over all the boys water bottles, defied the coach at every turn, drove me crazy and the coach endlessly threatened to make him sit on the side if he did anything wrong again but never followed through. His parents didn't appear to even notice, I've told dumpling to make sure he doesn't sit or stand anywhere near him next week, I hope things improve as Dumpling said he liked the class but didn't want to go if devil child was going to be there...

OUUUUUUCH!

Sunday morning I stretched up to reach something and put my back out so bad I thought I had dislocated my shoulder, screamed and cried so bad dumpling had to be physically stopped from calling 999! Had to be physically laid on my bed and large doses of painkillers and muscle relaxants were administered. I remember very little of sunday! The shoulder is tight and sore now but at least I can keep my head on my shoulders and have movement with severe pain and spasm. You dont want to know what happened when I had to go to the toilet and couldnt bend down or even pull down my pyjama bottoms!

Felt rough yesterday, come down from the medication I think. Waited in for four hours for the cable repair man, put out two signs telling him to press the intercom, not knock the door for the annexe, he managed to not see either sign and went away. I was so furious that I had wasted a whole afternoon and arranged for someone else to pick up dumpling from school. He also claimed that he tried to ring my mobile phone and that it didnt work, rubbish, he just buggered off. They are coming again this morning, I think this will be the 8th tech to visit about why my phone doesnt ring!

Oh and huge congratulations to Mary P, a married lady now! Cant wait for the pics!

A meme

Thought I'd start my own meme! and as an update I'll answer it!

What animal would you like to come back as and why?

I'm very fond of naps in warm places, so I'll say cat, but I don't eat fish so I'd be a very strange cat!

What was the best night out of your life? Lurid details please!

I went to college when I was 25 and made friends with a group of 17/18 years old, we had some cracking nights out and if you ever get us all together we will reminess endlessly about those nights, the time that Sarah fell over drunk in a night club and then we all tripped over her stands out...!

If you could go back in time and then stay at one age forever what would it be?

24, I had a flat tummy and an amazing metabolism, its all went down hill when I reached thirty!

If you instantly become qualified for any profession, what would you do?

An artist, a sculptor or painter, I think of amazing images especially when I'm falling asleep but my brain cant make my hands make them!

Whats your favourite item of clothing?

My jeans, I love them so much I went back and bought another pair and the second pair were half price, yay!

What form of dancing are you best (or worse) at?

Cant dance at all sober but get 5 vodkas or more in me and I'll boogie you under the table!

Would you at any time of your life have done playboy for a million?

I'll have loved the money but the boobies have never really been up to the challenge!

Whats the cleanest part of your house?

The toilets, Dumplings aim is dreadful so I clean them from top to bottom daily and bleach them after every use.

And the dirtiest?

Any part of the house that doesnt get used or seen very often, pull out a wardrobe and there will be so much dust and cobwebs... I'm a clean person with regards to kitchens and bathrooms and vacuum through everyday and dust once a week or so but I dont do under the beds or on top of the wardrobes and I'm untidy, I see nothing wrong with a pile of stuff in a pile as long as I know whats in it!

If you joined the circus, what would you be?

I'd be a clown as long as I was completely disguised, I couldnt be funny as me but dressed up I'd love it. I hired a rabbit costume for Lollys 4th birthday, the ones with the giant heads? Some of her friends still dont know it was me!


Do you have a criminal record?

Nope nothing at all, not even a traffic ticket as I dont drive.

If you could get away with murder, would you? (who?)

Any child murderer.

What item of make up can you not live with out?

Mmmm, if I dont wear a light base of foundation people ask me if I'm ok, I do like my mascara, look pale with out just a touch of blush, I guess I could live with out lipsstick. The biggest compliment I get is that people think I dont wear makeup when actually I wear base, powder, mascara, blusher and lipstick!

Whats the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?

Camel when I lived in the middle east, I worry more about what I dont know I've eaten in bad restaurants...

Would you be a surrogate mother, carry a baby for someone else?

I've thought about this a lot, I dont know why. I could if it was the other womans egg but not one of my eggs.

Right that was exhausting just thinking of them, I'll answer them later, for now I tag Mary P, Maria, Bah, and Terroni, if anyone else reads me and wants to be tagged, feel free, let me know so I can read your answers!

Tagged!

Maria tagged me again, I like being tagged, means I don't have to think too hard but still get stuff out of my head and onto the blog!

What time is it?

6.30 in the evening her, sun is setting nicely and I feel good

What am I afraid of?

Deep water, rats, large spiders, typical Indiana Jones stuff I guess!

Have I ever seen a ghost?

Personally no, but others I know have. Unconvinced but open to ideas, I believe there are energies on this earth that we have yet to discover or understand.

Where was I born?

In the UK, on the south coast, 8lb something to teenage married parents.

Have you ever been to Alaska?

Nope, have never been to USA, Canada or anywhere in that half of the world. have been to Saudi Arabia, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and France though.

Have I ever toilet papered a tree?

No, we don't seem to do that in the UK, maybe I should start and it will catch on...!

Croutons or bacon bits?

Croutons, definitely, bacon bits spoil the taste of the soup or salad.

Favourite day of the week?

Tuesdays, I get paid!

Favourite restaurant?

Theres a place near me called Isabel's which has a really good reputation, expensive but the place to go I hear,never been but I want to go one day.

Favourite flower?

Any as long as they are fresh and smell nice but don't leave pollen stains all over my clothes.

Favourite perfume?

I don't wear perfume as such, i prefer to smell of clean body and hair, clean clothes and maybe just deodorant. I cant bear strong perfumes and I associate perfumes so strongly with any event I go to when wearing one that I can never wear it again. My mum wore a particular perfume on holiday when I was nine and the smell still takes me immediately back to that island!

Favourite ice cream?

Mint choc chip! Love it, don't have it very often, save it for special occasions or on holiday, too much and I would get bored of it.

Favourite drink?

Non alcoholic - tropical juice
Alcoholic - vodka is best for drinking, makes me the best type of tipsy, I like wine but it doesn't agree with me, I get rudely drunk, embarrass myself and the hangover is a killer.

Favourite fast food?

Any as long as its fast, not a great cook so Chinese, KFC, fish&chips, whatevers going!

Colour of my bedroom carpet?

Horrible light brown patterned thing that was her when I moved her, isn't attached to the floor properly and i cant afford to replace and even if I could have no where to move everything too as I built my bed in the room.

How many times did you take your drivers test?

This is a long story as they changed the rules in this country around the time I took mine. First test failed, 2nd test passed but they brought out a written test at that time, I thought I had longer to take it than I did and by the time I applied for it I had missed the date and they declared my driving test invalid. Few years later passed the written test and then took my driving test on September 11th 2001, eight months pregnant for dumpling. 9-11 had already been on the news and I was terrified. I failed the test really badly, didn't give a damn, just rushed home to sit in front of the news and cry.

When its your bedtime?


Depends whats on tv, 10 pm if nothing good starts at 10pm!

Favourite tv show?

lost but we dont get sky one any more through our cable company so someone I know downloads it of the web and puts it on dvd for me!

What am I listening to?

Dumpling chatting and singing to himself as he plays, so sweet.

Do I have any tattoos?

No, but I once had my nose pierced, hurt to much, in fact thinking about it now is making my nose hurt. I had my belly button pierced too, just before I fell pregnant with dumpling! That didnt last long!

Pets?

seven rabbits, flipflop, tinky, sadie, fuzzle, peaches, layla, phoebe, one guinea pig, sammy and a chinchilla called crystal but for some reason all the little kids call her Bob, I dont know why...?

Siblings?

Younger sister by 5 years, married with one child, we dont get on, I dont know where she lives or her phone number, dont say its sad, some people are not meant to be close. Younger sister by 18 years and younger brother by 17 years, live close by, very close to them.

Nickname?

Jemima was one when I worked in a restaurant with two jennys, jennybones was another from childhood, none that really stick.

Wow, I'm tired from that, that was a long one! if you feel in need of a tag, help your self! x

AAARRRRGGGHHHH!

I foolishly let dumpling buy himself a toy, a friend we bumped into gave him some money to treat himself. He chose a car that drives around and when it bumps into something. I didnt realise at the time that it plays this song over and over and over again....

Now imagine that over and over again.........

Send prozac, even the pee soaked type!

Did you know...

There're so many Prozac-takers in the UK that urine-borne traces of unmetabolised antidepressent have contaminated the drinking-water supply.

Bad enough that its recycled water that I'm putting in my kids water bottles but I'm also giving them pee soaked prozac? Think I'll go and live by a mountain stream somewhere, wonder if they will have wireless access for the laptop?

I've had...

...189 visits from 57 cities

Google analytics rocks!

Very tired so just a quick update and will blog more fully when the desire to lay on the floor and sleep is gone!

Had a last minute call from a speed dating company that I have been to before, they were short of women and could I make up the numbers? Its £20 normally and they said I could come for free! What the heck I thought? Went along, 12 women to 17 men, most geeky, three I liked although a little young for me, when I got home and logged onto the site to make my choices (if they ticked you too, then each others details are forwarded to each other) I realised that all three blokes were called Dan!!! Haven't heard from Jon since last Tuesday, 7 days so I'm guessing he wont mind if I date the Dan's!

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My friend Lisa is training to be a massage therapist, its great, she is grateful to me for letting her practise on me! She is very good, has little smooth hands and is firm but soothing with out any of that digging in, I floated out of her house at lunchtime! I have to go again Monday, what a hard life!

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My brain is fried and I really cant think what to write, will be back when I have inspiration x

I caught the migraine before it got really bad, don't get them very often, should have known when I couldn't type straight to save my life this morning, then the words re-arranged themselves on the page of a book I was trying to read. On the way to get dumpling from school my right eye started to feel strange, I met my best mummy friend on the way down the road and remarked how pretty the bunting looked...She gently explained that there was no bunting and I realised that I was having my upper visual wavy zigzag migraine flashes and needed to get some painkillers quickly! Went home and knocked 2 of each type down with some lucazade and lay flat on my bed, within half an hour I was ok to get up and start dinner, feel tired now. This was probably triggered by the fall I took in the shower last night, I just slipped, went crashing down on the side of my back and left arm and to ass insult to injury the shower pole fell on my head as I grabbed the curtain!

Have migraine, chat later x

Between a rock and a hard place...

...is the name of a game my friends and i like to play when the vodka is flowing freely and good looking men are not! The idea is to choose two equally bad situations and decide which you would choose and why (nothing illegal or sad is the rule, well maybe illegal but nothing sad or family orientated) Instead of the normal tagging, I'm going to give one and everyone who visits and has a blog is tagged and they have to add another and add and answer mine, lets stop at 10, I have no desire for this to be some endless thing! Let me know on the comments when you've posted!

Ok...

You have to spend a night of passion with...George Bush or Tony Blair?

Oh God, I have to answer this don't I? Can I change my question? No that wouldn't be fair would it, ok Tony Blair, based not on politics, don't know much about them, based not on patriotism but just the fact that he is younger I guess and that when Bush winked at the queen last week it just turned my stomach!

Weather update

Its raining so hard here that its like dusk, and dumpling as had to turn the tv up so high to watch 'Tweenies' because we cant hear with the noise of the rain beating down on the roof!

Update The rain stopped, just like that and now its blazing sunsine and blue skies. I'm really hoping the decking starts to steam as dumpling would just love to see that!

Whats my motivation?

Maria tagged me for 5 reasons why I blog

1) I read so many blogs that I started to think about things that happened to me in 'blog speak', it was only a matter of time before I started one myself. But I delayed actually signing up for so long because of my secret lifelong insecurity and desire to be liked. In real life you can take me or leave me, I stand for what I believe in and stand my ground but secretly I want everyone to be nice to me and love me!

2) If you had asked me what I wanted to be at 13 the answer would have been journalist, I tried to start school papers and wrote endless rubbish on the computers at school which no one ever read, I soon realised how much hard work writing was and impatient me wanted quick results, ideas pour out of my head and I don't want to bother sorting them out and planning and drafting and rewriting. So at 31 years old I discovered blogs, its quick and fun, you can write 'stream of consciousness' style if you so want and you can write whatever you want any time of day or night and publish instantly. Its the selfish journalism I've been looking for all along!

3) I like to feel connected to the outside world, I get a ridiculous kick of seeing the orange dots on the analytic map, people all over the world are reading my blog!!! I love the fact that I can tell my day to people all over place, in different places, time zones and cultures, it shows we all share a common existence.

4) Nothing gives me a greater thrill that moderating comments. I'm really bad for forgetting to comment on other peoples blogs, I just love that people take the time so just stop by and say something, anything...(see 1))

5) Gives me something to do while I'm checking how much I'm selling my kids stuff for on Ebay...

I tag Mary P, Kaybeejae and bahrageous

I'm stupid; Reasons 1 & 2

I'm slobbing round this house while it rains and rains and rains, wearing tracksuit/pyjamas, have no intention of going out. Keep halfheartedly starting chores and tidying up but know that with kids being kept inside by the weather then there really is no point. Keep hearing a clicking sound, think it may be the rain dripping on something outside, dismiss it. Keep on plodding around, pluck my eyebrows in the mirror, wish I never started doing them so severely, blame beauty college (did you know I'm a qualified beauty therapist?) Hearing clicking sound again, question children as to whether they have left a toy on somewhere, nope, shrug, listen to washing machine dial to see if thats whats clicking, nope, starting to feel paranoid as the clicking noise is in whichever room I go in, start to wonder if coming form inside my own head, gets kids to listen in one ear, no I'm joking! But still the clicking continues, bend down to pick up wooden brick from floor and come face to face with the little drawstring bits on the bottom of my sweatshirt jacket, they click together. Its been two little plastic drawstring ends clicking together as I walk round the house, thats why it stopped when I did...

The vacuum cleaner seemed to lose suction recently, gave it a shake, nope, checked the bag, nope, cleaned that out a few days ago, took the head off and stuck a straw through it to see if it was blocked, nope, took the pipe bits apart and peered through them up to the light, nope not that, check the little filter bit , thats seems clean too. Lolly walks past and asks whats the matter with the vacuum,
"Suctions low" I reply,
"Have you tried turning it up?"
"Huh, turning it up?" I stare blankly at her, she sighs, reaches down and turns a dial on the top of the machine, who knew it had a dial? How long have I had this cleaner and didnt realise it had a dial, why would you turn a vacuum down? I guess one of the tiddlers turned it down, baby tom is my prime suspect!

Woke with a strange feeling this morning, that feeling you get when something is bugging you and you cant figure what it is? Couldn't decide what to do today, knew I had to post a parcel and get some things from he shops but felt this irritable sense that I had to do something. Eventually decided to go to our local library and hire some dvds to watch, so much cheaper that the dvd rental store and you get a week to keep them rather than two days. Felt much better once I had made this decision, went along and chose oceans 12 for me (dire film, wouldn't recommend it) and Lion King 3 for Dumpling but as I was queuing to take them out I picked up a few books from a recommended shelf near me. I used to read so much but cant find the time these days but as I knew I was staying in this weekend on account of the weather and budget I thought I would pick up some books. The first one I started reading was 'Love in the present tense' by Catherine Ryan Hyde

I read in in less than two hours, and haven't just finished crying. I was so supposed to read this book today, not a great believer in fate but... Have you read this book? Having a son the same age as the boy in the story broke my heart, and having had my daughter whilst still in my teens resonates too. The day she takes him to the beach is so similar to a day with my daughter around the same age. I wont spoil the book for anyone who hasn't read it but if this doesn't make you cry and see everything in a whole new light...

NEW Google Analytics

I had just about figured out what everything meant on the old version and now they go and update it! Took me ten minutes to figure out how to get the map to show my little orange dots! The strange thing is that I've filtered out my IP address but the highest number of hits still seem to be coming from my town? I haven't told anyone I know about the blog, cant write about people I know if they are going to read it, the only thing i can think of is if I've mentioned local places then they have accidentally come to the blog when searching for information about say farmer palmers or the new forest? Who else has an analytical page and do you get everything it tells you, whats a bounce rate for example?!?!

I haven't been sick even though I felt so nauseous last night and today and have that painful lower back stomach ache that means an upset tummy might be coming, trouble is the amount of painkillers I took yesterday are having the opposite effect. Baby Tom is here today, his mum said he was very tired and would probably sleep, sleep? He doesn't know the meaning of the word! But he is very good natured and incredibly funny now he talks so much, has been using dumplings pretend doctor kit to try and amputate my leg "I have to, nenny" He's a great fan of cbeebies as we are too, no adverts, entirely baby safe tv! He says bye bye every time a programme ends and loves theme tunes, I've sung the koala brothers theme tune so many times, I sing it when he not even around!

Huge fire near where I live, had to walk miles around the exclusion zone to get dumplng from school and even further on the way home, very tired now! Think I have the sicky and upset tummy bug from the little one I look after, feel dreadful, his mum did give me the option not to have him today but I said yes of course we would have him! I will have nightmares forever about the nappy he did this afternoon...

Been to trampolining training today, I used to go to the adult session when Lolly used to bounce competitively (in competitions not just aggressively!) but havnt been for ages, thought it was time if I was going to feel tired and have back ache there ought to be a reason for it! Then went swimming while dumpling had swimming lessons, that felt good and I feel healthy this evening, doubt I'll be able to move tomorrow but we shall see! I even bought myself a new pair of running shoes but that may be pushing it...
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Saw Jon Friday night, did I blog that? Went out for a lovely meal, into town for a few drinks and then back to mine. I cant tell if I'm having a great time or just a good time, been so long I've forgotton what its like. In a way I'm grateful for the attention and the sex (its ok I'm not letting him know that!) but I know I've had better and I dont like this we'll just see how it goes thing, but I also know that if he was being full on I wouldnt like it either! Ok, I admit, I'm hard to please, I want someone to want me just enough but not to make me feel hemmed in!
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Lolly is suffering through puberty. I hate to see her in such physical pain once a month, family trait there, my mother and grandmother had hysterectomys once they were done having children. But also the awful thing hormones to to your mood, she starting to recognise that it is just the hormones talking but still so hard. I know she reads this and thinks I dont know, so sweetheart, I know what you're going through and its ok, its gets better and I'm here for you x
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quick post as I have to pick up dumpling from school, anyone else having cookie problems? (not the problem I have with cookies that requires me to hold my tummy in) I cant sign in to blogger each day as it says i have a java script problem with my cookies? (Why is my keyboard sticky? Separate problem...)

Anyway will post properly later, not that I have much to tell you, its raining, I don't like it when it rains, its still raining. Don't get too excited.

Bank holiday monday

Been out with my dad and the kids since 9am, flown kites, climbed hills, seen wild ponies and a new born one, still icky but so cute, played in shallow streams, real country side day out, we are shattered and dirty but thats what its all about! No pics though as the camera battery died, always ont he day with the best light and photo oppurtunitys!

Google analytics!

oooh! Lots of little orange dots all over the geomap! Still dont quite understand the whole thing, how long does an orange dot last? Anyway lots of people from all over the world, if you're too shy to leave a comment, could you leave me an anonymous one about how you came to this blog?x

How to get your kids to eat veg...

click for bigger picture

I have the poster version of this on my fridge but have never attempted to make a veg animal!

The Park

Theres a lovely park on the way home from Dumplings school, we go there most days but I'm starting to regret the habit. How can some mums sit there smoking and swearing and letting their kids run riot? Its a fenced off park in the middle of a huge area of grass, hills and paths so many people walk there dogs there, thats fine, they clear up after them and never let them into the play area. Its the kids and their mothers who are more bother inside the play area! Large sign on the gate says no smoking and no ball games, guess which mums smoke the entire time and encourage their boys to play football amongst the play equipment? Two particular boys terrorise the swing set and came up behind dumpling who was wearing his new cream sun hat with the iron on yellow digger motif I bought him, he loves it and so do the rest of the boys in his school it seems. I was stood by the slide and in their blind spot, 'Lets get his hat off him' said one thug-in-training to the other, you should have seen their faces when I said loudly 'NO'! That was all it needed to have them scurry over to the other side of the park and glare at me, makes me wonder if it was the first time anyone had said the word to them...?

RIP Minty

Minty our old hamster is dying a slow quiet death in lollys hands, doesnt appear to be in pain but is laying down and breathing is getting slower. Had some sort of mild fit this afternoon and started to wobble from side to side as he walked and then collapsed and has been held by lolly ever since.

I hate hearing toddlers tantrum.

Not because I disaprove, toddlers all have tantrums, ok some know when to do it for best effect and some mums dont handle it very well, but what I hate most is the awful comments other people make, I stood in a bus queue in the station today and in the next queue over a very tired crabby boy was straining to get out of his pushchair, every time his tired mum said "will you SIT down?" off he went again. I carried on reading my magazine, I can tune out a whining child, but the muttered comments of others waiting drove me crazy "Glad he's not getting on this bus" to "she needs to do something about that child" to "Why doesnt he just shut up!" What pointless statements to make! I was too far away to start a conversation with her but nobody offered any moral support, they just tutted and judged. Where did our sense of community go? I should have kept the story but a mother here was asked to get off a bus recently as her toddler was tantrumming (did I blog about this? cant remember) the bus driver pulled the bus over and refused to drive on till they got off and not a single person stood up for her. When I read about it in our local paper, I was incensed, I wrote a long angry reply in the comments section of their online version of the paper. We also recently had a baby who had stopped breathing turned away from a new GP office in a large pharmacy, 'she didnt have an appointment' and last christmas a woman fainted in the queue in a large shop as I was paying, I turned around to see what the noise was and people were stepping over her to move forward in the queue! Last month a local man fell down an manhole that hadnt had the cover replaced properly and broke his ribs, he called and called for help, one woman said 'hello' and carried on her way! I help people with directions almost everyday, helped a woman today who dropped her shopping, I've stayed with lost children until the security guard found the mum, I even alerted a toddlers mum when her daughter was silently choking in her buggy, why dont we help each other anymore. I worry all the time that something bad will happen to my kids, what worrys me as much is that nobody will help them if they need it.