Category Archives: Personal

I’m Not Doing Very Well…

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Adam has been having nightmares, which he seems to sleep through, but once I hear one I can’t resettle to sleep until I’m sure he’s moved through it so I wind up awake for at least 20 minutes, sometimes an hour.

We think something is going on at his daycare, although they say there isn’t. He’s only there for 5 more sessions and then it’s child minder and school so we’re just going to plow through.

Anyway, lack of sleep is making me sore and grumpy and not feeling like doing anything except sleep and eat. Really great for the eating plan, no?

So there you go. Now you know why no updates.

Hopefully I’ll get some sleep this weekend.

Are You Kidding Me? Tesco’s Inability To Fix a Basic Problem

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I’ve mentioned many times that I order our groceries from Tesco. And I’ve been really impressed with their improved customer service compared to when I gave up on them 3 years ago.

Except for one issue.

Tesco have a system where, if you give them a mobile number, they text you. First with a ‘don’t forget you’ve booked us!’ text the day before your delivery and then with a ‘your groceries will arrive between x and y’ on the morning of your delivery. That second one narrows down the delivery time to one hour and is very handy.

I have not received that second email in, literally, months.

In fact, on reflection, I am 99% sure I haven’t had one since March, when I included a screen shot of a text message they sent me, when my groceries were late. If you read that blog entry, you’ll see that the text message was sent at 1107 and said my groceries would arrive at 1021, after they sent one saying 1121.

I am fairly sure their inability to send me such texts started then. Every week I Tweet to @UKTesco and complain. Every week they claim it will be fixed.

It hasn’t been.

They have also ‘escalated it’, fixed it ‘manually’ and so on. For weeks.

At this point I don’t even care about the stupid text message, as handy as it is.

I just want them to admit they can’t fix it and they have no idea why.

But I doubt they will.

Sunday Sunday….

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

Sunday. What can I say about Sunday?

It used to be so different, when we started living in City Centre. Nothing was open before 1p. Well, things were open, i.e. Primark, at 12:30, but you couldn’t actually buy anything until 1p. True fact.

Then the Tesco Express opened on Dublin Road. Just around the corner from our flat. And it was open at 7. Very handy when we had a small boy and had run out of milk. Or needed some croissants. Especially chocolate filled ones.

Because the opening laws are based on square feet, you see, and that was the right size. The law hasn’t changed.

And I was a bit sad, handy as it was. It had been, for years, that, unless you were going to church, highly unlikely in this Jewish/Atheist/Something house, you not only had no where to be but no where you could be.

You had no choice but to be lazy in bed. Or on the sofa. Cruising the ‘net, watching a movie, eating a huge breakfast, what have you. Until after lunch.

Now, living here in Finaghy, several stores are open on Sunday morning. And Simon likes to run and get the Sunday papers. Sometimes Adam can be convinced to join him.

But he really is my son.

He’d rather watch a movie on the sofa with Mummy and wait to turn on the kettle when Daddy gets back with the paper…and apple cake…

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.