Good Intentions!

I've been full of these lately, plans to get the house show home clean, keep on top of the ironing, start more cooking from scratch, healthier eating, in fact eating at all in the day would be a start! Also it's been my intention to bake more, sew more and blog more. I have quite a good baby who will happily sit in her chair with a toy, and will play alone in her baby gym. I think it's me with the problem, mummy guilt! I feel guilty leaving her to play with no attention from me, so instead I'm trying to cram everything else in while she sleeps, which isn't a lot during the day anymore. I shouldn't complain as this means she's sleeping at night instead. Still, it would be nice to do some of the 'me' things. 

So I guess this is an apology to any readers still out there, and anyone who was hoping to start reading about the baby's adventures, as that's another good intention that never became anything! My hope is to be back to regular blogging soon, with some recipe testing, some campervan adventures, and a new topic - baby product reviews. 

I'm Back!

Or at least I'm going to try and be back. With a new baby, housework, baby groups and a desire to get Sock Creations moving again, as well as a new project, I aim to try and find some time to blog too. 

I didn't realise I hadn't updated at all since my scan at 11 weeks. A lot has happened since then as you can probably imagine. To cut a long story short (to save boring you all and to post before baby wakes up!), I am now mummy to 11 week old Alex, a beautiful baby girl. She's also a clever little girl, who is about to also get her own blog so that her relatives who don't live locally can get to share her adventures and catch up on what she's been up to! For anyone who is wondering what it is that a baby does, you can find the blog here. She's still in bed so hasn't written anything as yet, but she's going to start later by telling you how cool her cloth nappies are. 

Here's a newborn shot of my beautiful girl, although she's not this tiny anymore, nor does she look like this anymore! 

Sock Lady plus 1

So I admit to being a bad blogger who hasn't written anything for 3 months now. In fact I can clarify that it's actually almost 13 weeks to be precise. How do I know how long in weeks? Well, almost 13 weeks is also the age of the small human being currently growing inside me. I guess this is one of the reasons I've stayed away from blogging for so long. Not only have I so much wanted to write this post, but I've also been feeling pretty lousy. I don't think my brain would have been much good for blogging. It's only been just about good enough to get me through work, and even then it's been a struggle. Between leaving a load of American colleagues stranded in Cambridge with no taxi to bring them to the office, failing to book a hotel for a colleague for an upcoming exhibition, and randomly crying at my desk, I need to think myself extremely lucky  that I have an understanding boss. If I'd done that in my last job I'd probably have been screamed and shouted at, and the aftermath from the stress would have been far worse than the 24 hour headache I left myself with after the latest mishap. 


Well now you know my news, I guess I should also share a photo of my little man or lady. Unfortunately, he/she seems to have inherited my short genes and was 2.5 mm too short to do the tests at 11 weeks, so we get to see our little wriggler again in 2 more sleeps. What a shame! So here's our mini snowboarder getting used to bending those knees! 

Where have I been?

If I do actually have regular blog readers, then this might be the question that has been asked over the last few weeks. This could of course just be wishful thinking and could just be talking to myself! 


At the end of March we went on another snowboarding holiday. This time to Les Deux Alpes. If I'm completely honest, I wasn't too fussed about going on this holiday, and went along with the plans for my Husband, who really wanted to go. It actually turned out to be the most successful snowboarding trip for me where I actually conquered my fears, broke through my mental blocks and finally mastered the turns I've battled with for the last 4 years! 


For the rest of April I don't really have any excuse for the lack of blogging, apart from being tired in the evenings and busy at the weekends. I don't even have anything exciting to report from the busy weekends as we've been busy transforming our house into a home. This has involved lots of tidying, lots of sorting, many trips to the tip and charity shop, numerous bin bags, and a car boot sale. The result: we now have a tidy, clutter free loft, a super organised under-stairs cupboard, and a bedroom that looks more like a bedroom and less like the junk room it was beginning to become. The next big job will hopefully be decorating the bedroom, although that's unlikely to be before June. 


For now I'll leave you with some photos from our snowboarding holiday, and I'll try and get back to the regular blogging as soon as I can. 

Things I have learnt this week

I'm not normally a scatter brain, but for some reason this week I seem to have left my brain somewhere else. It could possibly be due to things that have happened at work which have focused my brain on other things, maybe I'm getting prematurely old and forgetful. Who knows. However, these are the things I have learnt so far this week. 


1) Wednesday: Taking the wrong coffee pot off the machine, will cause a mess, as well as risk of scalding. Fortunately, the latter was avoided. Unfortunately the former did! How did it happen? Making coffee for work colleagues, and there wasn't enough in the one pot for them all. Quick transfer of the coffee pot to the spare hot plate, and a new jug on was all I needed to do. Why oh why did I then decide to try and take coffee from the pot that was being filled? Half a roll of kitchen paper later and the mess was cleaned up. Well as much as I could get to anyway. So apologies to whoever has to clear up the dried coffee when the coffee maker is moved  to the new kitchen next week. 

2) Thursday: When your boss says you can work from home on Friday, it's necessary to take the work laptop, and any paperwork you have prepared, with you when you leave the building. It's not the best idea to drive almost a third of the way home, and then realise that working from home is going to be almost impossible without them! 


3) Friday: When making a cup of coffee, it's important to remember to boil the kettle first. Cold water doesn't dissolve the coffee, and I'd guess it probably doesn't taste too great either. 


Finally, 4) Also Friday: Pressing the unlock button while pointing your car keys at the wrong silver Astra will not open the doors! Maybe I shouldn't have such a common car! 

Another Happy Post

Tonight I picked up my new glasses, and as well as them fitting perfectly and looking great, they have nice thin lenses in. For the first time ever, the right lens doesn't resemble the bottom of a milk bottle! I felt so comfortable in my new glasses that I haven't taken them off since leaving the opticians. Also for the first time ever I have 2 pairs of glasses, which means I can change them to suit which outfit I am wearing. I now can't wait to wear them to work tomorrow! 

Quick glasses flash

Morning Blog Readers, 


Tonight I will be picking up my new glasses. I thought I'd just share some photos of my new specs, so you can see why I am getting excited. 

Photos from www.specsavers.co.uk

Helping my eye sight or updating my image?

For as long as I remember, I have had to wear glasses. I believe I was about 3 years old when I got my  first pair. Some of my earliest memories are of trips to the hospital to see the eye specialist. I will need to clarify this with my mother, but in those early days I think I used to make that trip every 6 months. I have many memories of coming home wearing rather unattractive patches over my left eyes in an attempt to make my lazy right eye work harder. I also remember times where I had to have drops in my eyes. I remember having to follow the woodpecker on the stick and look at the pictures on the flip chart on the wall. Many times I wanted to have a change and read the letters instead, after all I could read at an early age and was more than capable of doing this. Now at 31, it would make a nice change to have pictures again! 

After the hospital visit came the dreaded visit to the opticians to pick out new glasses. Children who need glasses today don't realise how lucky they are to have the wonderful choice of NHS frames. Unfortunately, my parents couldn't afford to pay for my glasses and the NHS choice consisted of thick plastic frames in beige, blue & pink. These were the frames that caused some very miserable days at school. I know other kids with glasses got teased too, but it still didn't make it easier. Deep down I know that nicer frames, probably wouldn't have stopped being called speccy 4 eyes, although it might have stopped me from spending years taking my glasses off on the way to school so that I'd get a break. Maybe if I'd just worn them I'd have better eye sight now.

These days I only have to go to the options every two years as my eyes haven't improved since I was about 10. Regrettably I haven't been for 4 years, due to lack of funds for glasses. It may be vanity, but I can't bring myself to get cheap frames as it's a painful reminder of my childhood, and unfortunately I worry about what other people think too much. For the last couple of years I've been desperate to change my glasses as I feel they are out of date and other people will see that too. So tomorrow, I'm really excited about visiting the opticians, getting my eyes tested, and then picking out some new fancy glasses, that will probably cost an arm and a leg, but will improve my image, in the same way a new hairstyle does. 

Now I'm older and wiser, I'm no longer ashamed of how I looked as a child, even if my glasses do make my husband giggle. So here it is, the first time I've shared it so publicly.........

Cervical cancer awareness or A storyline too close to home?

I'm talking about the Eastenders story line. 

Last night when Tanya ripped up the letter, it made me cross. Since then, every time I have thought about it, I start to feel all the emotions of when I went through it. I'll never forget the day I came home from holiday, straight after New Year, to see those words, 'severe changes to cells' otherwise known as Severe Dyskariosis, or CIN 3. I'll never forget the fear I felt, and how quickly the big C word popped into my head. I'm not sure how I would have felt had I not had my husband to stand by me and support me. If I'd been alone, would I have reacted how she did? Now I know that Tanya is just a character in a soap, and not a real person, but the storyline is very real and hundreds of women go through this every week, possibly every day. 

Even watching it tonight, I was feeling emotional, seeing Tanya call the clinic and book that appointment. It's something I hope I never have to do again. Although the procedure wasn't as painful and horrific as it sounds, the emotional stress related to it was great. At the time, I was in a job where I was unhappy, with a boss who was more concerned about me not being able to return to work after than whether I was actually alright! Luckily, I had my supportive, although equally scared husband, some fantastic friends, some who had been through the same experience, and an amazing gynae-oncologist, and colposcopy nursing team. I'm not sure I would have got through it so easily without that nurse holding my hand and wiping my tears, or the gynae-oncologist who talked to me about Toy Story 3 during the whole procedure. At one point he even made me laugh!

I was one of the lucky ones. I got the all clear less than six months later, and although I need to now have smear tests every six months, they see no reason for the abnormalities to return. Still, it will not stop me from worrying every time I have one from now on. For Tanya, it's not going to be such a happy story as hers is going to be the big C word. For me, watching this storyline unfold is going to continue to be emotional, especially if they show her going to the clinic later this week.

I really hope that Eastenders airing this storyline will raise the awareness of cervical cancer, and will encourage many women to have regular smear tests.