Kebab For Breakfast

It's Sunday again.

If you don't already know.. hubby goes bed around 7pm on a Sun for his usual weekly 'goodbye wife, see you on Thursday' kip before he gets up at 2am for his trip to work... obviously kids are now in bed too... so it's just little old me.

I should really do some work, but I'll be doing that all day tomorrow - so I'm going to post a bit of this and that based on stuff I've read whilst eventually sorting out my Google reader, starting with the difference in size of my boobs....

This and That: #1 - It's a right thang

It was when reading Evie George's 'One side of my face is better looking than the other' that I realised every half of my self had a better part.

I commented on her post as follows:

Maybe tomorrow you will inspire me to decide which side of all my odd parts are better - to see if half of me wins!!!"

So I did... and here it goes...

Face: After studying a few pictures on Facebook, turns out it is my right side that is better looking than my left... Conclusion: Right wins

Eyes: My left eye is slightly more 'squintier' than my right... Conclusion: Right wins

Boobs: My left boob is bigger than my right - again Conclusion: Right wins, cause left bursts over my bra giving me the two boobs in one cup look

Feet: OH MY GOD... my left foot isn't just a little bit bigger... it's bloody MAHHUSIVE!!! and although they say supermodels have big feet, I'm going to go with the pattern to decide that Conclusion: Right Wins (plus left has onset of what I am sure is bunion!)

I could start to examine other parts of my body, but I'll leave it at that and conclude that my right self is far better than my left! (hahaha how vein do I sound! Oh, and It's just a bit of fun before any counselling obsessives comment otherwise!)

Anyone else have one body part larger than the other? 

This and That #2 - "Friends" (Spoken in true Inbetweeners styleeee)
As I said, my Google reader got 'unorganised'... a typical Amanda O'Hara trait... and I missed loads. People I thought I was following I wasn't, and people I was... who are you?

So anyway, I didn't get far down the list before the next post was something of interest - This and That #2 was another of Evie Georges which was unread. It was about Friendship and came about after an interesting post she read on Friendship Divorce.
I've been feeling a bit of a crap friend recently as I've been trying to find time to catch up with friends and just haven't had the time.

(own business, hubby away at work all week, two kids + all that comes with that! You get the pic, It's just not the same as it was pre-kids) 

So, as I was saying, crap friend.
One of my friends who I've been friends with since I was 19 (bridesmaid at my wedding) is pregnant with twins. I live in Preston and she lives in Skipton. We only ever get together once every 6 months or so.. but when you have a family and quite a few friends, that's the norm... isn't it?
This time, however, it's been like nearly 12 months! In fact not since my wedding (and it's our first wedding anniversary on the 9th April!) I really do need to see that bump before the gremlins thing happens and more than one baby pops out of it! So I'm going to see her next weekend (She better bloody keep them legs crossed and not eat anything after midnight!)
Of course I'll be back up again in a few weeks to see the babies so i'll have seen her more in a few weeks than I have in a year!!

You know what its like when you are a full time working mum... we all make plans to get together and then.. erm... don't!

So here is...

An Ode to my Friends: 

This week I'm seeing Liz
We'll drink a bottle of vino
What we'll do with the Kidz
I really do not know...

Nic + John I've planned to see
Then the plan doesn't follow through
I need to get more organised me
Cause I am really poo

To hear from Emma was really cool
I'll look forward to that lunch
We were bezzie mates at school
And part of the naughty bunch!

Jacky how many time have we said
More than I can remember
Kickboxing again we will go on a Wed
So lets pull out that finger!

And finally... Tamara
It's like I said above
Next week I'll come and see ya
So keep yer legs crossed love!

(check ma bad rhyming self rite out!!!) 

I have lots of very close friends,  who I don't see that often, but every now and again we get on the phone and have a right good catch up... (with some it might only be once or twice a year) We'll catch up on Facebook chat once in a while, or those best friend texts that do the rounds....  just one of those reminds you...you don't have to see each other all the time but you will always be friends. We've all grown up, some have husbands and families of our own, I suppose it's just what happens. But if ever in need (or vice versa) we'll always be there for each other.

(My real friends don't read my blog I don't think... but If you do and I didn't mention you, its only cause your name didn't rhyme!!) 

anyway, it's getting late now (It just took me about 20 mins to think of that rhyme you know!)

so..


Blogging.....

Last but not least, I just want to say that I am chuffed I've joined Notes from Laplands Secret Post Club. 

I'm looking forward to sending, and receiving my first parcel!

Also, her latest post is quite interesting, Its called 'How to find new readers for your blog' and is all about Erica's Guest Post Day on 5th March.

Which I've signed up for, but which brings me to the main part of This and That #3 ...

How the hell do all you working mums - or even stay at home mums who just have as much on your hands - find the time for all this blogging?!!!!!!

Love Manda xx

Being from a parenting magazine, you were probably expecting me to be blogging about Postnatal urinary incontinence - but no... I'm just talking about laughing! (or 'PMSL' as its commonly abbreviated)

And I am awarding it to three posts that made me chuckle... in fact *red faced* the only three posts

One thing our kids can't say is that there is ever a dull moment about... with Mick being away at work most of the week, weekends are always jam packed with something or other, even if it is a load of nothing much particular... it is always fun nothing much particular!

What I am going to write about will probably get me into some kind of trouble no doubt. But hey ho...

... and if you are some animal cruelty activist, go take your rant else where...  It wasn't me, it was my hubby, who may I add you can meet in my chubby bunny eating post!! (eating marshmallows not bunnies) So go take it up with him!

So it was a few weeks ago, we had been for an early morning trip to the garden centre to buy a bird table (random) and decided to stop off at Huntley's to purchase some live Lobster. (even more random)

Mick, being the alpha male kind he is, has always fancied this as he loves his seafood.
Me on the other hand.. well put it this way, when Mick popped off to the supermarket to get me some chicken breast (I wasn't going to be eating Lobster after I'd met them - have you seen how ugly they are? I mean, would you eat a spider?) Where was I?... oh yeah, Mick at the supermarket buying me chicken, I got Mr and Mrs Pinchy out of the plastic tub to play with them. I was half tempted to set them free, "run for your lives little lobsters... run!" but the garden pond would have probably been a more traumatic death than the one that was about to greet them.

Preparation: 
If you are going to try this at home, do me a favour...
1/ Use your noggin (unlike us). Being the smallest lobsters in the tank at the shop made them appear smaller than they actually were... a £15 pan set from Asda is not sufficient!
2/ Be careful! I am not being held responsible for any animal attacks, scoldings etc etc that may arise from boiling live animals after reading this blog!


The lobster turned out very nice. (Only takes 15 mins to boil) I didn't try any though... I ate Lobster in Bahrain last year and wasn't particularly keen then, so I stuck to my chicken stuffed with sun dried tomatoes and cream cheese wrapped in bacon!
I was however very impressed with both my children (Jake + Emma, nearly 12 + 9) who both got stuck in!

Oh and pleeeeease note - we are in the middle (still) of a kitchen extension/conservatory build, so excuse the plaster off the walls/bare bricks behind the cooker and dust etc etc!!

Enough rambling - here's the vid of how NOT to boil Lobster!!! (check out Gordon Ramsay or someone who knows what they are actually doing - as we should have done!)



(Just in case that doesn't work - here's the YouTube Link!)

Would you have eaten Mr and Mrs Pinchy? Or gone for the Chicken a la everything yummy?

.... One last thing...
Who should I tag in my Kill it, Cook it, Eat it meme?? lol Only joking!!!! :) xx

Here is my video footage of our Chubby Bunny Marshmallow Challenge.... It was filmed this morning.. but before you watch it, there is just a little something I would like you to read.

First of all, @Lola's_mum managed to get out of the Chubby Bunny Marshmallow Challenge set to her by Karin @cafebebe by getting her Hubby to do the dirty work... and his dirty work turned out to be pretty impressive. What was even more impressive though was that he challenged not only myself
but my husband too. For those of you who don't know my Hubby... well, basically, he is a 6ft 7" giant! Big height, big personality... big gob! lol.

Well Phil managed 14 marshmallows... however it was noted that he failed to mutter the words "chubby bunny'... so we are waiting for his second attempt. Lets see if he beats Micks impressive score...

As for my extremely unimpressive score... there are just two things that completely excuse my pathetic attempt.

1/ I am suffering majorly from the after effects of Man-da-flu. (Far worse than any man flu believe me)

2/ Yesterday we attended Pendle beer festival, which is a real ale festival showcasing very strong alcohol with damaging effects, where I consumed:

Bosteels Kaelit Triple 8.4% Belgium Trappist brew x 1
Bacchus Frambozen 5.0% Belgium Raspberry Fruit Beer x 2
Extremely strong amazing tasting Damson Wine x 2
(Again extremely strong) Broadoak Perry cider x 1

(Mick consumed about 5 pints of something called O'Hares which I think was about 9%!)

After the beer festival, we went to a party.... !

Anyway, enough babble, basically I was feeling slightly delicate and a tad 'gaggish' without trying to stuff marshmallows in my gob... so knew it was going to be a fail before I began!!!
(and that's also the reason I look like POO!)

So here it is..... and yes... we did do it in the pub where we went for Sunday lunch!! I was trying to get Mick to wear a tiara but he told me to 'bog off'!....



(and here is the YouTube link incase the vid doesnt work for any reason http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSwAVUpe0oY)

19 quite decent sized Marshmallows... Pretty impressive.. and he even managed to say "Chubby Bunny" (well mumble it).
Once I started giggling and dribbling, my hangover got the better of me so I spat. Didn't want to risk having to upload me vomming - I'd never live it down!

Now then, who shall I challenge....
Actually, I Chubby Bunny Challenge @Lolas_mum (http://omgip.blogspot.com) because although she has already been challenged.. she hasn't actually done anything... she got her man to do the dirty work!!!

and well.. I suppose that I can't stitch up @lolas_mum without stitching up @mummytips (http://mummy-tips.blogspot.com) who also bummed out using her brood to do the dirty work... but I think I want to see Sian and this famous 12 finger trick....

Whilst doing a little blog-spotting during my lunch hour, I came across @crystaljigsaw's recent blog post in which she interviewed her 1o year old daughter (http://crystaljigsaw.blogspot.com)... I thought that would be quite interesting and amusing, so have done the same.

The interviewees:
JR (my son) who will be 12 in just over two weeks... 1st year at high school, grown up all of a sudden and now knows far too much... which scares me a lot!

Em-J (my daughter) who will be 9 in March... looks like butter wouldn't melt, but think she is secretly the devil! (ahhh I don't really mean that, she is the sweetest ever in the world... half the time!!!)

To picture how the interview was conducted, each sat on a separate settee so they couldn't peek at each others answers. I read out the question, they wrote down the answer in silence. I am now about to type them up (yes the answers are about to be revealed to me as I type!)

Phobia...
On Friday, my hubby dragged me down to the clinic to have my contraceptive implant removed. I say "dragged" as I literally mean 'dragged'. I have a phobia of scalpels and being cut... and a phobia of having a phobia of scalpels and being cut!
If he hadn't have "dragged" me, I would have happily left it where it was, hidden away nicely somewhere in the depths of my bingo wings.

Only it was nearing its expiry... I had to face my phobia for the second time in 6 years and have the tiny winiest surgical cut to wiggle it out. (I've been dreading this day for the past 3 years!)

After a two hour wait in the waiting room with my hubby reading 'Take a break' and 'Your Cat' magazine, a rather angry nurse called me in and told me that she really didn't want to be doing this procedure as clinic closed half an hour ago. (raa raa raa blah blah blah)
I would have been happy to walk away - more than happy, in fact I tried!!!!
But good old hubby told us both that neither of us were getting away with it that easy!
So at which point, I am panicking so much I am sweating more than I would have done after an 8-mile run through the dessert carrying a camel (I wasn't joking when I said it's a phobia!)

I have the 5 minute procedure.... and don't feel a thing... although I already know this prior, as it's the second one I've had removed.

Reason for removal (and decision to never ever have again!) = towards end of 3 year life span of implant, Amanda turns into some kind of female version of Bruce Banner, oh and when she isn't being 'Bruce' does things like randomly cry at songs, adverts, baby kittens, fresh air n stuff!
Hubby can't do anything right...
Kids can't do anything right...
(poor sods!)
I also grow a hair on my chin.. yep... that's right... a nice big sexy chin hair. (aka Chair)
But on a good note.. once the old bar goes, so does the chair!
(Dr said it's a hormonal thing related to the expiry of the bar!)
and here's for the best part... those good old periods last for about 6 weeks. Whoooppeeeeee!! (sarcasm at its very very very best)

Yippeee.. the bar is out, what was all the fuss about!...
So then I was faced with the decision of a replacement form of contraception and approx 5 mins to make my mind up! (Clinic closed nearly 45 mins earlier and the nurse is not a happy bunny remember!)
OK... I hadn't thought this through properly at all had I?!! After 6 years of having this thing tucked away without having to think about contraception, what the hell am I going to do!

It's not a simple and easy decision for me... and here's why...
So now I'll give you a few home truths about me... but don't tell anyone!

I work full time, plus the rest.... (which is the only part of my life where I am organised and efficient!)
Have two kids... table tennis practice, brownies, snooker, traa laaa laaa laaaa...
Have a hubby who works away most of the week cause he is with the Royal Navy...
Have a never ending list of to-do's, house cleaning and clean washing folded that high that I have to stand on a chair to get a clean pair of knickers (that pile never goes down!)...
Talking of knickers, I quite often double check that I haven't got yesterdays in the leg of my jeans when I'm running to the shop to buy bread cause I have nothing to make packed lunches with and it's 8.00am...
On one occasion, that trip for the bread resulted in a red face as I'd not realised my right bum cheek was on show to the world as my skirt was nicely tucked inside my knicker elastic! (that obviously was in summer!) ...
I have very nearly forgot to collect my daughter from a party on at least one occasion...
and Parents from school text me to remind me what day school term opens and closes as they know me well! (Yes I'm the one who sends daughter to school when they have inset days!)

Need i go on!
So how the hell am I going to remember to take these pills that I have ended up with!

Bollocks - looks like we'll be having another baby sooner than we wanted!
Its only day 4 and for the last 3 days I've nearly forgotten! (nearly).

Hmmm... the coil... again I'm a wuss.
Give me childbirth over these mini procedures any day!

The injection - needles don't bother me in the slightest, I'll just forget the appointment!

I think the safest option for me is to quit sex!!! (That was a joke of course!)

So I'll end January's post now... and keep my fingers crossed (should that also say legs!) that I'll not be writing about morning sickness in Feb's!

I was flitting around the nets news pages this week looking for interesting stuff to 'tweet' to our readers when I came across a feature published by The Sun newspaper looking at totally weird kids Christmas gifts and decided I had to check them out first and then share them with you as the third post of my new blog!

Earl the Dead Cat! The Sun states 'THIS pet cat's not resting, it's dead. According to manufacturers, Earl is the purrfect pet for kids, as he doesn't scratch or bite, but stuffed toy Earl isn't ex-CAT-ly full of life'.
LMHRO! I think its quite novelty! I'm not sure where you buy this particular 'Earl' from, however I did find some similar (but better!) products at Roadkill Toys which include 'Twitch' - the Raccoon that didn't quite make it to the other side, 'Grind' the Rabbit that fell into the tread of a 16 wheeler, 'Splodge' the hedgehog that had bad timing on the race track and pop the weasel who wondered onto the wrong side of the track. The best thing is, each 'toy' comes with its own toe tag, coffin, body bag, or death certificate! (Obviously these toys are manufactured more towards the adult toy enthusiast!) I think they are brilliant!!

The next toy in our list, The Sun asked 'SIMPLY the breast, or too much too young?'. They were referring to Bebe Gloton - the breast feeding doll. I personally remember my first interactive doll - it 'peed' itself. I think I had to pour water in its mouth or something? All I remember is that I loved it and my grandma hated it... Jesus knows what she would have said if I pulled up my special little breast feeding vest to reveal my bare 7 year old chest and proceed to breast feed my baby doll in front of strange men on the bus or the park!!! Yeah ok, I appreciate all the 'making breast feeding acceptable' messages and pushing on the fact that it is completely natural and normal - but really there is no need! Breast feeding is completely natural and normal for a mum with a new born baby, but a child...erm... NOPE!

When I saw the image of this top which is next on the list, I giggled to myself. Ok, yeah it looked shocking with the 'NIPPLE tassles for nippers?' headline in the newspaper, but as I read on, I recognised the name Suzi Warren as someone who designs absolutely fantastic stuff... in fact, one of my fave websites to be honest. I emailed Suzi after I'd spotted it asking if it really was one of her designs, (I mean, you never believe everything you read in the newspapers right!) she came back with the response "It was £16 but as the only people who bought it were journalists wanting to write about how terrible it is that parents buy it, I've put the price up to £516 and now it's Art" (and commented "Well Spotted!!!") I replied saying that although I could understand where they were coming from, my daughter (8) would love one for the simple fact that it's got tassles! and also that she should do them for adults!!!" So there you have it, but it proves that 'not so good' publicity can also be positive as I would urge anyone reading this to visit the site of Twisted Twee and check out both the 'Baby Things' and 'Grown Up Things' shopping sections, because I can guarantee that you will LOVE every product you find on there... without a nipple tassle in sight!

Which takes me to the next.... and with a feature line of 'MUMS and dads want their kids to climb the career ladder, not slide down a pole'- yes you got it, we are talking about the 'Pole Dance Doll'! This doll seemingly has a pole, a disco ball, it rotates and blinks its eyes and it is designed for tots. Without spending too much time searching the net, I couldn't find the manufacturer or find whether it is in fact real (All the websites mentioning this doll show this exact same dodgy image). Anyways, even if it is or was real, I doubt sales shot through the roof!

And for the next... The Kaba Kick is a junior version of Russian roulette. With this game, children play with a gun pointed to their own head. They pull the trigger and if it doesn't fire - they score a point. If it does, a pair of pink feet pop out and duff them in the temple! Yeah, harmless enough (obviously being the fact it works with pink feet and not bullets), but I mean, what bright spark decided to introduce this game to kids? Well actually, a few seconds on the net gave me info that a company called Takura last manufactured this toy in 1992 so I don't think it's about anymore... *speechless* !!!

I'm not going to cover all ten of the products featured in the newspaper article - you can read it for yourself here - So I'll make this next joyful toy for your kids to play with on Christmas day the last... The Playmobil Security Checkpoint. The Sun pointed it out as a weird or worst toy stating NOT a secure winner... we'd prefer a cavity search to playing 'airport security' with kids on Christmas Day.

I was contacted today by a BBC radio station asking if they could interview me as part of a morning breakfast show feature. Gutted! Obviously not about the fact I had been asked, but because I have lost my bloomin voice.

I can't complain too much because I did lose it by completely enjoying myself on my birthday fancy dress celebrations in Blackpool, which was a solid 12 hours of fun and consisted of rather a lot of karaoke singing!
(Flash backs of me dressed as Bat Girl dueting with Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage doing Black Eyed Peas singing My Humps My Humps My Lovely Lady Lumps keeps haunting me! - I am sure my children would have been proud had they seen me... NOT!)

Anyway... back to the interview.
It was to be about Pink Stinks.
For those of you that haven't seen Pink Stinks in the news, it is a campaign that has been set up by two mothers, twins Abbie and Emma Moore who have called for the boycott of a major toy seller (Early Learning Centre) in protest at the "pinkification" of girls' Christmas presents. They say little girls are being led up ‘pink alleys’ with products such as princess dresses and pink fairy wings which will ultimately channel them into “pretty, pretty jobs” and hold them back from reaching their full potential”. They also bad-mouth shops such as ELC for having choices of product by 'gender' when shopping on their website.

They say their aim is to:
a/ Inspire, motivate and enthuse girls about the possibilities and opportunities open to them
b/ Improve girls’ self esteem and confidence, raise their ambitions and ultimately improve their life chances
c/ To challenge the 'culture of pink' which is based on beauty over brains and to provide an alternative

I gruffly muffled to the radio station that because I couldn't speak I would email them my thoughts and although I was a little disappointed I couldn't be part of this one, I was very happy when they asked if I would be part of future parenting features.
So once I'd started thinking about these thoughts, I thought I might aswell use them as the second post in my new blog!

Firstly, can I just go back to the campaigners 'aims' mentioned above. I can't see how pink toys in shops can cause hindrance to 'a' and 'b'. These are fantastic aims, but between teachers and parents, I am sure we can find better ways of reaching these goals.

As for 'c' - what are they going to do - invent a new colour?!

Some girls like pink - so do some boys! Some girls play with trains - some boys play with dolls.
Parents know what their own children like.
So as for the Early Learning Center being slated for having a choice between 'girls' and 'boys' toys when shopping online - isn't that to make it easier for the parents who are shopping, who may I add all know what their own children like? (If your boy wants a 'girls' toy, go to the 'girls' isle, vice versa) If everything was just dumped together shopping would be chaos. Since day dot, there has always been a distinguished difference between girls and boys toys and how they each play during role play.

I don't completely disagree with the campaign at all, I do agree with the campaigns views on low self esteem being on the high due to the media’s obsession with stick-thin models, footballers’ wives, and overtly sexualised pop stars, but again, all this effort could be put into raising awareness of healthy eating & exercise - and promoting good positive parenting to get the correct messages to our children.

Isn't it mums, post pregnancy with excess baby weight who get narked off with these skinny celebs and feel down in the dumps about their weight.. not the children?
If children are getting these messages, they might possibly be coming from their own parents.

So what do these mums not like exactly?
The colour Pink?
Skinny Models?
Toy Shops?
If you visit their website, the message is that garbled I don't think even they know them selves what their actual message is meant to be http://www.pinkstinks.co.uk/

As for saying shop doors are oozing with 'girly pinkness', there are lots of companies out there offering alternative clothing starting from a very young age - www.sophie4sophie.com is one that springs to mind with some really funky designs and also www.wheniwasakid.co.uk for fantastic toys you may find that you played with as a child - If you dont want the pink stuff from ELC - its simple - shop elsewhere... the world isn't under complete pink attack.

In one interview, these two mum campaigners stated "It began because I've got two daughters and Abi has two sons so we started noticing the differences between our houses, It's shocking, mine is full of pink stuff and Abi's is full of dinosaurs."

I say: Erm... yes... thats cause you have two girls and your sister has two boys

They also stated "It's not natural and it wasn't like this when we were growing up in the 1970s".

I say: Erm... yes... times do change darling! In the 70's Microwave ovens and VCR's had only just become available, lets not wish ourselves back there hey?!

So anyway, I went onto the Early Learning Centre's website to see what all the fuss was about.
I typed 'girl' in the gender search and the first item I came across was a Fairyland Bluebell Boot.... you got it... in the colour... Yellow actually! The next was a Country Kitchen in.... cream, and then there were a few pink items, but there was a Light & Sounds retro robot - not typically a girls toy, but certainly in the girls section.
Their search facility is fantastic... you can refine search not only by gender but by price, age and learning skills.

So my opinion on this campaign ... I personally think there is more to worry about these days - why not put all this effort into something more important such as anti-bullying.

Oh and here is Wikipedia's article on the colour Pink! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink

Are you 'for' or 'against' Pink Stinks? Click the poll to the right of this page and let us know anonymously!

(Some of the quotes from this blog were extracted from the Telegraph & Sky News - online)

(the la la la la was sarcastic, very!)

I love Christmas, i really do, but I just don't seem to have time to fit the preparation into my busy schedule this year! Aaarrgggghhh.

Can we postpone it just for a few weeks pretty please?!

It only really hit me yesterday that it's just around the corner, when we watched 'The Santa Claus 2' movie last night. (we = me and my hubby when the kids were in bed... haha tight gits!)

This year our work doo is on the Wednesday, so work officially finishes on the Tuesday & as far as 'Xmas prep' goes, that's Wednesday out of the equation and as for Thursday, well, the day after a works doo could do to be spent on the sofa in my PJ's cuddling a brew, but Thursday is Christmas eve. Bo***cks!!!!!!!!!

So basically... in my reckoning, I have three whole weeks to organise Xmas. Oh and it's deadline. It's always deadline. I have one of our Home & Lifestyle magazines to get out like now and the website to update, all before xmas. Double Bo***cks!!!!!!!

For me, this means solid working with some overtime too and not a chance of a day off! Not even an hour! With a hubby away all week, two kids with snooker practice, table tennis practice and brownies and not ONE Xmas present or decoration in sight. Oh and did I mention we are in the middle of a very draughty conservatory extension (thank god for my Moccis http://www.moccis.co.uk/about-moccis) and this weeks joy is no water in the kitchen!

Anyway.. back to Xmas...

Tomorrow I am going to buy my Cards, I will write them. (yes that was a fullstop!)
Unless I employ some kind of Mrs Santa Claus to organise Xmas for me, I will do my usual and leave everything until last minute. My plan to drive around dropping my Xmas cards off will start to officially crumble when it is just a few days before xmas, then it will be too late for the post, and beside, I don't own an address book anyway... I will put them in a box thinking 'they can be used next year'. Next year I will throw them out, just like I did with last years!

Then I will have to use Facebook for Xmas wishes!! Amanda-Mick Ohara - What's on your mind: "Happy Christmas, your cards are in my kitchen drawer.. but I love you"!

I really am crap! Is anyone else the same? Or do I have some kind of character flaw when it comes to organisation at this time of year?!

I think I should have been born a man (a-man-da!). Some of my friends have all their shopping done in July (Isn't that a bit sad??) Only blokes are meant to leave all their shopping till Xmas eve. This year I will probably still fail on the Xmas card thing (So I'll use this opportunity to send my wishes now!.. and for those of you who aren't reading this, I'll do the Facebook thing!!) BUT I am not going to be a hungover Christmas eve stressed shopper like last year, and the year before that, and the year before that... I am going to shop online... tomorrow!!! (After I have written my cards!)

And (yes it gets worse) wrapping is usually done some time after midnight on the 24th... (obviously I'm not talking November!)

I've decided... this year... there is going to be change... a new organised me! (I'll keep you posted!)

Anthea Turner kindly offered our readers 8 tips for a stress free Christmas on page 7 of our latest edition. Click the following link, and then click the page to zoom in and read it http://issuu.com/flyingstart/docs/flyingstart26binder (and whilst you are there, take a look on the opposite page for help rockin' your bump this xmas!)

Anyway, here is my response... (I'm sure Anthea won't be reading this lol!)

1. Home made decorations???? My children make like 3 each, and when they eventually get them home in their school bags, they are either covered in yogurt or its February!
2. Don't you worry... I know why mums go to Iceland!
3. Don't be stupid!
4. AAARRRRGGGGHHHHH
5. So Im not the only one then??
6. Are you seriously taking the Michael!!!
7. Ok so there was one reason for us publishing this, all for a good cause!!!!
8. You haven't seen one of my Sunday dinners love!!!

In fact, talking of Iceland... we actually went to Aldi yesterday and purchased a rather large frozen Turkey for just eight whole English pounds! A bargain compared to the £40 I paid the butcher last year (yes, you got it, on Christmas eve!!)
So I suppose this change has started already!

If you need some ideas for kids gifts, take a look at pages 12-21 for some fantastic ideas. http://issuu.com/flyingstart/docs/flyingstart26binder

And here is something really random to finish http://www.weebls-stuff.com/wab/pastry/

Ok, so I have been kind of lazy, too busy and all the rest of it, and a little behind the times... rather than write my own blog I have just enjoyed reading everyone elses!
So I thought, about time you got with it girl! And here I am.... I got a blog! I don't quite know what I'll use it for yet, probably just babble, but what I will tell you about is all the fab stuff (products & goodies) we get sent to feature in Flying Start Mag :)
So.... what ya waitin for? click the link to follow me :)