My Current Goal…

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I have taken up yoga again, using an app on my iPhone. It’s a fab app where you put in your level and what you want to do and for how long and it gives you a program to follow.

I have been concentrating on stretching, thanks to my fibro, and have found a fantastic 42 minute program that I have been trying to do at least 3 times a week. Not sure how it’s going to work once I have to get Adam to preschool every day, but for the next few weeks I’m going to do it.

It’s a fairly straightforward series of positions, starting standing and ending up on the floor. And I can do all of them.

Until the end. When I get to half boat pose or Sahaja Navasana: –

Half Boat Pose

Half Boat Pose

Credit

In the program you are suppose to hold that pose for 45 seconds. Which doesn’t sound like much, does it?

Try it. I’ll wait.

How’d you do?

I currently can hold it for, about, 10 seconds.

My goal is to hold it for the full 45.

I’ll keep you posted…

I’ve Been Feeling Really Well

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Which is nice.

And then Adam became three. Seriously. Over night. My sweet, co-operative little boy turned into a difficult, disobedient tyrant.

Otherwise known as a three year old.

No always, of course. He still is mostly a sweet little boy. I wouldn’t call him co-operative, though.

And bedtime is a nightmare lately.

But…

This too shall pass.

 

I Do Like It When My House Is Clean

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Too bad I have to, you know, actually clean it, to get it that way.

I admit, sometimes it’s pretty gross. Fibro flare usually means cleaning drops right down my list of things to use spoons on. So, yes, sometimes my bathrooms are growing things.

There. I said it.

This is part of why I don’t like people just dropping by. I need at least a few hours notice to run a sponge around the place and disinfect.

I used to not be like that. I used to keep a very clean bathroom and kitchen, at least. Used to hate a dirty bathroom or kitchen.

So what happened?

Depression. Fibro. Three year old boys.

All things that have taken precedence over a clean house.

These days some things are a given. The dishes are all washed before bed. The table and kitchen counters are cleaned. The tub gets rinsed regularly.

Other than that?

Call before you come over.

Okay?

Apparently I Am Suppose To Write About The Olympics

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The Opening Ceremonies were fun.

I wish the Queen had really jumped out of a helicopter.

I think the amount of money spent is obscene. Especially in the current economic climate.

Other than that, I have nothing to say. I have never enjoyed watching sports.

So I am not really paying attention, except what comes across BBC’s Twitter feed.

I Think I’ve Become A Better Cook

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since moving into the house, I mean.

Which is odd as the kitchen is impossible. Horrid small electric stove, no counter space, only one oven.

And yet my cooking lately has been fantastic, if I do say so myself. Simon has even noticed, commenting that this dish or that is the best I’ve ever made.

I think it is because of the impossible kitchen. With a good kitchen, you can let the equipment do a lot of the work. You know, with a gas stove, that if you turn the burner down to a simmer, the flame will instantly lower and the temp of the food will adjust accordingly.

With my stove, going from high to low takes about 15 minutes. I wish I was joking. But if a recipe says ‘heat the pan on high, cook for 5 minutes, and then reduce to low’ I now heat the pan on high, put the food in and immediately turn it down. By the time the burner is cooled down enough, the food will be where it would be if turning the burner down had immediate affect.

There has been a lot of trial and error on this method for the past year. And some real disasters.

But there have been some amazing successes as well.

And that’s what counts.

 

 

The Question I Always Hesitate To Answer

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There are, always, a million threads on Mumsnet and, I’m sure, other parenting sites asking ‘at what age did you child sleep through?’

I never know if I should chime in or not.

On the one hand, if your child is 6 months and you read ‘Well, consistently and on his own, in his own bed? Around 2.5’ you may cry for days. On the other hand, if your child is 2.4, it might give you hope!

Because that’s the true answer around here. Adam was just around 2.5 when he began truly sleeping on his own, in his own bed, all night long.

And even now at 3.1? Sometimes it doesn’t happen. Sometimes he wakes up at 4am and gets brought into bed with one of us. Sometimes he wakes up at midnight and settles back in his own bed on his own.

But most nights? He sleeps 715 – 630.

And it’s pure bliss.

Why I really Bought A Tablet

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If you happen to read my Business Blog for Designed To A Tee you will note that I bought a tablet this week.

It wasn’t the tablet I crave, which is an iPad, but a nice little Android tablet that was 1/3 the price of a iPad.

As it says in that blog post, I did buy it so I could learn about Android. But I bought for another reason as well.

My hands.

At 43 years of age I have mostly reached the point where I cannot hold a pen for more than a few minutes. So I can sign my name but can’t really take notes in a meeting. I can make out a cheque but I can’t write in my journal.

And I need to be able to do all of those things, from note taking to journalling. And sometimes you don’t have your laptop with you. So you have your tablet.

I have been using my iPhone for these things, but the keyboard on my tablet is so much bigger I can practically touch type on it, as I am on this keyboard as I type this. Not quite as fast as I type on a keyboard (which is somewhere around 80 – 100 wpm) because the onscreen keyboard doesn’t react as fast and because it’s not full size.

But faster than on my iPhone. Easier, also.

So I bought a tablet.

I love her.

Her name is Sally.

Finally, The Lawn Is Mowed and The Windows Are Washed…

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Am I the only one who realizes there’s a recession on? Because getting the two things in my title accomplished has taken, literally, months.

Why?

Because of people not returning calls, that’s why.

I left messages and/or emails for about four window washing companies. One called me back. They got the job.

I left message and/or emails for about eight lawn service companies. One got back to me and then never showed up to give me a quote. The person who just finished Simon grabbed from next door! He said he’d drop off a quote. He did. He got hired. And will continue to do the lawn every two weeks until the end of August or until I tell him for sure we’re staying in the house.

Which is another group of people who never call me back. Our estate agent.

Is it me? Is it the way I say ‘Hello, this is Robyn Fraser and I am looking for a window washer/lawn mower/if my landlord will renew our lease’?

Is it my accent?

Or do people not want work? Goodness sake, I’m tapping every avenue I have looking for work and these people have me calling and they are ignoring me! I would rejoice if someone called me!

But now the lawn is mowed and the windows are washed.

Now if the landlord would just let us know if we can stay in the house…

Let Me Tell You About A Girl I Never Met..

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You may remember, back in February, I told you about Aillidh the daughter of a fellow member of Mumsnet who had leukaemia and was looking for a bone marrow donor.

The good news is that she found one. The bad news is that, before the graft could take, she caught a lung infection. She died last night around 1130 BST, surrounded by her family and some close friends.

The past few days have been so very hard for all of us following Aillidh’s story (BTW, it’s pronounced Ay-ley, like Hayley, with no H), which is most of Mumsnet. She was doing okay, then she wasn’t, then she rallied. And then, sadly, she died.

It’s been days and days of prayer threads on Mumsnet and Facebook. It’s been months and months of ‘please register to donate’ threads on Mumsnet and Facebook.

And that’s what this little girl did. She not only brought out the best in the ‘nest of vipers’, she got hundreds, if not thousands, of donors signed up, not just to donate bone marrow, but blood and stem cells and who knows what else.

I, unfortunately, cannot donate to any of these things. I am too old for bone morrow and my diabetes prevents me from donating blood.

But I’ve done my part. I’ve Tweeted and blogged and Facebooked. I’ve prayed and hoped and sent emotional support.

We, mostly women, of Mumsnet have been drawn together even more than ever because of this poor little girl.

Requiescat in pace little girl. And know, as you leave this world, you left it a much much better place.

The Free One Tastes The Best

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Posted as part of One Topic / Forty Opinions via The Belfast Bloggers Network.

As I told the gang at Belfast Bloggers, I don’t really go out to eat. Well, Simon and I might catch a sandwich on a Friday before an afternoon movie date, but eating out at night? Never happens. Unless my mom is in town.

Coffee, on the other hand…that I drink out. Some might say a lot.

And what’s my favourite?

Clements Coffee.* Hands down.

I first discovered Clements not long after I moved to Belfast. Coming from San Francisco, the land of Peets, I had high expectations for my coffee. Peets roasts their own coffee, in small batches, for distribution to their small chain of California stores. They do ship, nationally and internationally, but there’s nothing like stopping at Peets for a coffee. It was the last thing I did on my way to Belfast when I was moving. It’s the first place I want to go when I get back.

So I went looking for Peets in Belfast. I tried, I am fairly sure, every coffee shop, chain or otherwise, in Belfast City Centre in my first year living here. But the only one that came even a little bit close, was Clements.

At that point, nearly 10 years ago, I only knew about 2 Clements, the one on Donegall Square West, which was the first, and the one behind what is now TK Maxx and used to be…something else. 🙂 It was the one on Donegall Square West that I tried first. And wasn’t sure I liked the atmosphere. It’s a very oddly shaped shop, if you haven’t been there, long and narrow with no tables but more bars with stools and a series of sofas and chairs.

But I knew that I loved the coffee.

And now I pretty much only have Clements. Usually at the one at Queen’s Student Union, even though you can’t get a 3G signal in there to save your life and there is no Wifi unless you’re a student. I can forgive that for a large skinny latte with an extra shot.

And now that I have a three year old who loves “going for coffee” (he has juice) and sitting on those stools at the Donegall Square West location, I like that one a lot, too.

And I have filled ‘drink 10 get one free’ cards by the dozens.

And, it’s true.

The free one tastes the best.

*If anyone from Clements ever reads this, I’d like to point out I’m a web designer, among other things, and you guys need a site… 🙂