Thanks for writing!

I do love me a blog award – it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and it ABSOLUTELY fills my love tank. Thank you to Louisa, Sharon and Tam for awarding this to me. Gosh, Louisa and Shaz said the loveliest things about me. I was sitting in my office at my desk and smiling at my screen. Am sure my colleagues thought that I was losing it. But anyway.

My 7 things:

1. I can’t eat off paper plates (or even Styrofoam and newspaper etc) because it grosses me out. I am usually the person at a picnic who brings my own glass plate along. I am also the person that will transfer my takeaway meal into a glass plate instead of eating out of the box  which is why you’ll never find me sitting in a McDonalds or a KFC where they don’t serve things in plates. I also can’t stand plastic utensils and especially plastic forks and spoons. If I really need to then I manage to eat off a plastic plate and drink out of a plastic cup (I’ve had to train myself to do this) but that’s it. ONLY if I’m invited somewhere. I think it would be rude to bring my own plate to kids parties so I don’t. But I wish I could.

2. I passed my driving test only on the 3^rd attempt. It was the first time that I ever failed at anything in my life and I was devastated and so embarrassed.  Thank the anti-crime gods that I passed on attempt number 3 because I really would have bought myself a licence if I had to fail again – I honestly was not going to put myself through that trauma test again.

3. I don’t order something in a restaurant if I make it at home. You would never find me ordering things like butternut soup or spaghetti or even chicken. I NEVER order chicken in a restaurant. I only ever order things that I don’t make at home e.g.  a rare steak or sushi or prawns or even crayfish.

4. In my fantasy life I have A LOT of staff.  I have au pairs, chefs, cleaners, nannies and a housekeeper who does shopping and meal planning. I even have a driver and a holiday planner and therapists coming to my home to treat my kids. And I live on the beach. Can you tell that (at heart) I am a lazy bum?

5. I have a secret talent. I find jobs for people. Seriously. Every single person in my life usually calls me up and emails me a cv if they are looking for work. Even friends of friends. They tell me exactly what their requirements are (area, earnings, type of position etc) and I go and hunt for them or I keep my ear to the ground and tell them who exactly to hook up with. I have a VERY high success rate (I’ll have you know that it’s 90% and I’m not even a professional recruiter doing this for a fee) and I actually LOVE doing it. Now if only I could be this successful with my own job hunt. Interestingly enough, I have never been able to help my DH find a job at any point in his life.

6. I don’t eat olives. I’m always game to try new things and acquire different tastes but I just cannot acquire this particular taste.

7. I’m really bad at recycling. We don’t have something in the area so I need to keep it together and drop it all at a point.  I do it if I remember to do it. Otherwise, I just toss it all in the bin. Sometimes I feel bad about it. Mostly I don’t. I am working hard at trying to change this.

I am not going to nominate anyone for this award as the entire blogosphere seems to have been tagged already but I think that you can answer a question for me in the comments. I’ll do a follow-up post later this week on what’s going on in my head about this subject. Here’s the question:

Is this a Mommy Blog?

 

 

An Award!

Thank you to the gorgeous Lisa-Marie from tolovebella for my award. She said such lovely things about me – I actually blushed when I read it.

Here are the rules:
1.) Winners- Put the above image in your blog.
2.) Include a link back to the person who gave it to you.
3.) Tell 10 things about yourself
4.) Award 15 other bloggers
5.)Contact the bloggers you awarded and let them know they won

My 10 things:

1. I recently received a care package/gift in the mail from a beautiful, talented, generous person. It was sooooo exciting to receive something other than a bill. I was so very moved by this gesture that I cried in the post office when I opened it (of course I couldn’t wait until I got to the car) . My sons (they are so sweet – I think I will keep them) were both very concerned and the people in the post office all looked at me funny. I didn’t care.
   
2. I am not a jewellery person. I don’t even wear wedding rings or a watch. The only jewellery I wear are very tiny earrings. I can’t stand the feeling of jewellery against my skin – it just feels so heavy and it irritates the living daylights out of me.
3. I write  a blog post every single day. I can’t not do this. It’s like brushing my teeth and it needs to happen as part of my daily routine. I don’t always publish what I write and I have A LOT of unpublished posts in my drafts folder. Some of them will be published at some point, some of them will never make it to this space.
4. I have loads of pretty notebooks and am always writing stuff down. I use a different one for each aspect of my life. One for money matters, one for the kids, one for everyday scribbles like shopping lists and phone numbers, one of them is used as a kind of dream journal, one to record my favourite quotes and poems etc. etc. If you want to make me happy you can buy me a pretty notebook and some old-fashioned pencils. I will love you forever if you do this.
5. I have a love/hate relationship with Church and Religion. I am more spiritual than religious (there is a massive difference btw – must blog about it) and I battle to find a place to fit in. This part of my life remains a work in progress.
6. I recently had some head and shoulder profile shots taken by the very talented Catherine. It was my first time ever behind a camera and I was actually very nervous. I obviously need to get behind a camera more so I can get used to being the subject. You can view my pictures here. Please be gentle. It was my first time.
7. Being a Mom doesn’t come naturally to me. I need to really think about it sometimes. I am not one of those women who always knew that they would be a Mom, in fact, the thought never crossed my mind until I first became pregnant and even then I freaked out a bit. I loved playing with dolls as a child but I still knew that I was only playing and I didn’t fantasise about being a real Mommy. I wish that I could be one of those moms who bake and craft with their kids. I prefer to just hang out and read.
8. I really miss reading newspapers. A perfect morning for me would be to wake up, have a divine breakfast and read loads of newspapers while sipping proper coffee. I only get to do this when my DH and I go away and I treasure the pure decadence of this little ritual.  At my first proper job I was the first person at the office every day. I would put on the coffee and have the first cup and the privilege of reading an unread daily newspaper. What a perfect way to start the work day. I really miss those days.
9. I dream about owning a house on the beach. I LOVE love love the beach. It is my happy place and nothing would make me happier than to wake up every morning and see it through my window. I am constantly visualising my family and I having breakfast and summer dinners on our patio overlooking the ocean. I am constantly visualising my boys and I having a swim every evening. I am constantly visualising our family taking long walks. I am constantly visualising waking up to the sound of crashing waves. I am constantly visualising my sons going for surfing lessons on Saturday mornings. I am constantly visualising myself taking thousands of pictures of my happy place. I have no idea how I’m going to make this happen but I will tell you today that it is so happening in my future. Because I am worth it.
10. About 2.5 years ago I watched my sister have a seizure. She was 25 at the time and unbeknown to us she was actually having a mild stroke. I have never, ever felt so numb and so powerless in my life. It was my first time witnessing something so very traumatic and I don’t know how to explain it, but it was like my brother and I just took over and knew exactly what needed to be done. My brother put her in the recovery position and made sure she didn’t choke or whatever while I kept on stroking her hair and talking to her. When the seizure stopped(after what felt like an eternity) she was completely out of it and I had to dress her (for some reason she was half naked) so that we could take her to ER because my parents (also watching) fell apart. She has miraculously made a full recovery from her illness. I still get occasional nightmares about that day  and after that I never ever complained when one of my kids got sick again because honestly, whatever they experience is NOTHING compared to that. Up to this day my family have never spoken about it because it is just too painful. Luckily I had my DH – I don’t know how I would have otherwise coped with that trauma – I was a complete wreck when I went home. Typing up this bit actually made me all weepy now

Sorry but I can’t link 15 bloggers right now because my Toddler just wants to hug and kiss me and play with my hair and his hands are reeking of poo. Must publish NOW and then bath him and myself and wash my hair.  Ugh Gross!