Listography: Top Five Products I Can't Live Without

by 12 Comments

On a materialistic note here, Kate wants to know which items in our life are so invaluable that we'd fall apart without them. I've got quite a few and only choosing five is really tricky (as The Boy would say).

  1. Make-up: No it's not because I am vain. It is because I am self-conscious of my skin. And you can say, "don't wear it and then your skin would be better," but you'd be wrong. I'm very pale and scar easily, so the chickenpox which I had when I was 19, and the horrendous hormone-propelled zits since The Boy have left a toll on my skin. Foundation, lippy and mascara give me the confidence to face the world.
  2. My Smartphone: I've got a HTC Desire, none of this fruity nonsense for me; I'm an Android girl! I cannot believe how much easier it has made my life; more organised, able to access e-mails, the Internet, take photos and videos of The Boy. And we mustn't forget Angry Birds.
  3. My car: I am not lazy, I actually like driving. I enjoy being in the driver's seat and focusing on all the different challenges, my car is my now second pride and joy.
  4. Canon EOS 300D SLR: The quality of photographs from it never fail to astound me. I've had it for seven years now and I absolutely adore it.
  5. Chocolate! Nuff said.

—

Now pop over and see the other entries using that little notepad widget in the sidebar. Ta!

Listography: Simple Pleasures

by 10 Comments

This is a simple Listography this week, Kate wants us to talk about our Simple Pleasures. It's a topic that's close to my heart, enjoying the little things that make the day tick by in an enjoyable manner.

  1. Watching The Boy sleep: I chose this one for The Gallery a while back, and it still is right up in my top five. I described it at the time as "Having a cwtch with my son and staring at his beautiful baby face."
  2. Chocolate: You know that urge don't you? I feel fraught and I need a bar of Dairy Milk now. The first chunk slowly melting on your tongue… bliss!
  3. Sitting in the garden: and feeling the grass between my toes, hearing the birds in the trees, children squealing with delight and the washing flapping on the line.
  4. A freshly made bed: specifically with line-dried sheets that smell of the outdoors. Slipping in between those sheets and feeling the cool side of the pillow.
  5. Sunshine: Not excessive heat to go with it because I don't do hot, but the gentle caress of the sun's rays on your skin and that glowing feeling.

Short and sweet. After all "Simple things for simple minds while greater fools look on".

Listography: My Wedding

by 13 Comments

This week, Kate has decided to be slightly patriotic and commemorate the Royal Wedding by dedicating her Listography to the Kate that suddenly became a Catherine. In order to show solidarity to the lady entering the world of wife-dom, we need to share with the world '5 Things We Would Change About Our Wedding.'

Despite always saying that I wouldn't change a thing about my wedding, I can very easily think of five things. And they are not funny!

  • The Photographer

Our photographer was the same one that my sister had used six years before and her photos were amazing. Ours? Not so much. She got married in September with early-afternoon Autumnal sunshine; I got married at 3pm in late November. I've since come to the conclusion that the photographer could not have ballsed hers up because everything was handed to him on a platter. However, there was very little thought when it came to our photos.

We got married in 2001 before people were really using digital cameras and so his was a 'film' camera. He didn't wind the film on properly and all the photos taken before the wedding, of my husband and his family, and of my dad and I in the car and walking up the drawbridge, did not get taken. I found this out straight away and it upset me before I'd even walked inside the venue. The flash he used was too bright, resulting in an over-exposed foreground and a background entirely blacked out. In 90% of the photographs I am blinking because of the flash.

This year we will have been married for ten years and I still do not have a wedding album because the 'official photographs' upset me too much.

  • The Best Man

Absolute idiot. Let's just check here: is it acceptable to say "I don't know the bride at all but I can talk about the groom's ex-girlfriend"? Is it?! And it is acceptable to ignore the deathly silence? The only thing acceptable about his speech was when my new mother-in-law told him to shut up and sit down.

  • The Cake

My mother paid £200 for our cake, which back in 2001 was a lot of money. It was a beautiful fruit cake but the decoration was atrocious. I asked for white chocolate covering, and hand-made sugar flowers shaped like hydrangea flowers in a purple-blue sprinkled over as if they were falling down the cake. I got a white chocolate covering with icing piped around the join in the middle of the two tiers where she'd left the cake-board in (WHY?!) and pink daisies glued all over with silver dusting. I looked at it, said "thank you very much", got in the car and sobbed. We went straight home where mum and I prized all the flowers off. Too late, it was ruined. Thankfully one of the waitresses in the hotel had done a cake-decorating course and came in four hours early the next day to re-ice it whilst my mum contacted the florist who created a fresh-flower centrepiece.

  • Evening Reception

This is just a weenie after-thought here. We got married at 3pm, and because of that we sat down to eat at the reception at 5pm-ish. By the time people had eaten, terrible, awful speeches had happened (my husband wrote his that morning on a scrap of yellow envelope: I will never forgive him), toasts, and the magician (yes we did and he was brilliant!) had happened, it was 8pm plus. We didn't have a disco or a first dance, because we don't Neither do any of our family. However, this meant that it all basically fizzled out by 9.30pm which was a shame. I wish we'd had some form of evening entertainment and a small buffet. A friend of ours had bacon butties as the late-night snack which struck me as genius.

  • Preparation

We were fairly young when we got married, I was 23 and hubby was 26. Not having been married before, we didn't really think some of the things about the ceremony through, for example the actual service. Oh, we chose the vows, had readings (my sister forgot hers but I knew she would so had a copy ready) and got all the main bits correct. But I remember distinctly walking into the ante-chamber in the castle, looking at the registrar and saying "I don't know what to do!" Turns out that my husband-to-be had said exactly the same thing! We were living in Reading at the time, but got married in Cardiff mid-term and so couldn't get back to meet with her and discuss the service. We literally had no idea what the hell was going to happen! But we managed it, and yes, we both fluffed our lines.

Saying all of this above makes the wedding sound trouble-ridden. It was not, it was one of the best days of my life which I remember being distinctly happy and relaxed about. So much so, that my mother had to wake me up in the morning at 11am to start getting ready!

—

Now pop over to Kate's blog to check out the other Listographies.

Listography: Top 5 Bucket List

by 12 Comments

Oh that Kate is a twisted one. This week she has offered us a choice of topics, however both are to do with funerals!

This week's Listography theme is '5 Things I Hope People Say About Me At My Funeral'.

Oh my word, what are you supposed to do with that? For someone who lacks self-esteem and as I can't imagine more than seven people at my funeral, I'm going to go with her other option:

If you don't like that one you can write your Top 5 Bucket List , i.e. – things to do before you kick the bucket.

Now that one is much better.

  1. Cruise on the River Nile: Think Agatha Christie but without the murder! I am desperate to do this, visit Abu Simbel, Giza and Luxor.
  2. Enjoy retirement: Personally, I'd like this to start tomorrow but there's the debts, mortgage and pay into the pension fund in order to have the financial security to enjoy retirement.
  3. Win the lottery: Now that would enable the other two things to happen!
  4. Eat in a really expensive, exclusive restaurant: And not have the chef complain about having to cook a vegetarian meal. Not Gordon Ramsey's restaurant then!
  5. Have laughed every day of my long life with my beautiful family.

Short and, hopefully, sweet.

—

Now pop over to Kate's blog to check out the other entries. You can use that widget over there <—

Listography – Laminated List

by 28 Comments

The clever and witty Kate from KateTakes5 has come up with a corker this week. Think of Friends and the episode when Ross meets Isabella Rosselini and declares that she is on his 'list'. As Kate describes it:

'Basically he's allowed to make one list of five famous women that he would be allowed to have a one night stand with if the unlikely opportunity arose.'

And so despite being absolutely exhausted, I have just got to share my Top Five Blokes.

  • Orlando Bloom

  • Johnny Depp

  • Spike from Buffy

  • Keanu Reeves

  • Noah Wyle

I have two things to say:

a) They are all just so phwoargh-some, theirbeauty speaks for itself, I need no words.

b) I appear to have a type: dark hair and dark eyes (with the exception of Spike whose hair is dark naturally).

—

Now pop over to Kate's Listography using the linky on the left-hand side to check out the other links.

Listography: Time-Travelling!

by 4 Comments

This week KateTakes5 has come up with a marvellous idea which got me thinking "oooh!" straight away.

So with a selection of Quantum Leap inspired thoughts, here are my moments where I 'strive to put right what once went wrong!' Sorry I lost myself with Sam and Al then, here are my top five places and times to visit to experience.

  • South Wales, 1970s: My Bampi died when I was two years old and while I have just the one very powerful memory of him, I do regret that I never had more time with him like I did with my other grandparents. From all accounts, not just my mum's, he was a gentle, kind and loving man, father and grandfather. I would love to see him when he was fit and healthy, learn from his gardening expertise and bask in his kindly smile.
  • 2075-ish: Let's face facts here, I'm 33 and have had a 1yr old son. There is a very slim chance (especially taking into account my grandparents' ages when they died) that I am going to be alive to see my grandchildren get married, so I'd really love to see The Boy's own children walk down the aisle or wherever is fashionable at that time. I'd also like to check out if Apple have sorted out iTunes yet into a decent piece of software.

I'm actually struggling! I thought I'd have loads of ideas to write down, but one of my favourite philosophies is "You can't regret something you have done, only something you haven't". So I can't very well go back and tap myself on the shoulder and say, 'oi, no! Don't do that!'

  • Late 2004: I'd like to warn Jen about that Angelina woman so she can keep an eye on Brad.
  • The Year 3000: Just to find out if they really do 'live under water'.
  • Last Wednesday: Then I could tell myself the winning National Lottery numbers and win the jackpot!

When I grow up…

by 4 Comments

Kate's moved.

Well, she hasn't but Listography has this week. The lovely Mañana Mama is hosting this week and a lovely theme she has come up with too: things I want to be when I grow up.

So rewind to the age of 10, and for some reason I wanted to be a bank manager. I think I was doing well at long division sums in school and had therefore concluded that it was the only possible career.

Luckily I outgrew that when I discovered quadratic equations. Bleugh.

So here's my grown-up wish-list.

1) Own a baby-friendly tea-room. When Woolworths closed down in our local town (God, I miss Woolies. How many times have you thought "I need x, y and z. I know Woolies will have it! Ah, damn.") I was desperate to win the lottery and buy the double-width store. My plan was to sell baby/toddler toys and essentials at the front, and then at the back have a coffee-shop/baby play area with quality toys. The food would be home-made and nutritious, for both children and adults, and a full range of hot and cold coffees etc would be available. But I didn't win the lottery and it's now a Sainsbury's.

2) Teacher. Yep, check. Moving on…

That sounds harsh. I like my job but I wish I could throw the rulebook out of the window!

3) Merchandiser. Shop windows, displays, mannequins, you name it, I would love to make it look.more aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

Tying in nicely here…

4) Professional gift-wrapper. Yes, I am serious. I adore wrapping presents, for me it is a very serious event. Ribbons (I don't like those silly bows), co-ordinating paper, neat edges, barely there sellotape! Love it!

5) Traffic Warden. It irritates the  chuff out of me that some people think that they can just park where they like, especially the members of the Yacht Club in my town. Arrogant! Book them all!

I've forgotten how to do long division, does anyone ever really know?

Listography Goes Retro: Penny Sweets

by 9 Comments

In honour of Lent and in remembrance of all those times as a child that she gave up sweets for the 40 days, KateTakes5 has bestowed upon the Listography this week the theme of Retro Sweets.

I didn't eat that many sweets as a primary school child, mainly because my mum wouldn't buy them and I wasn't allowed to walk down to the town (I had no road sense until about 13) therefore sneakily buying some. It wasn't until I was in secondary school in Cardiff that I used to partake of this childhood ritual. My friend and I would disembark the bus, walk over to the newsagents who would patiently count out our 13p's worth of sweets (or whatever was left over from out lunch money).

I still adore penny sweets but hardly have them anymore; I like jelly and foam sweets, hubby likes fizzy ones which for me are a 'no-no'. Therefore I am casting my mind back in fondness to the following favourites:

  • Milk bottles
  • Cola bottles (The chewy ones not the hard ones, and definitely not the fizzy beasts)
  • Foam bananas
  • Chewy strawberries
  • Fried eggs

Listography – Top 5 Children's Books

by 13 Comments

The Listography guru that is KateTakes5 has set a topical theme this week. With World Book Day and the library closures in the news, we are to identify our top five children's books.

The Boy adores books almost as much as his daddy and I do, so this shouldn't be difficult to create a list of five books. Actually it's more difficult to only list five! However, here we go:

  • 'Dear Zoo' by Rod Campbell.

This is a firm favourite for bed times in our house and The Boy likes to 'read' it along with us, finishing off the lines from each page. We have the version that has flaps hiding the animals underneath.

  • 'I Love You Through and Through' by Bernadette Rosetti-Shustack

As I explained in my post the other day, this is probably the favourite bedtime book at the moment. It's either 'zoo', 'through' or one of the next ones on the list that is requested. It is such a loving and caring book to send a child to bed with warm and loving thoughts. I can not recommend it enough!

  • 'My Mum/Dad' by Anthony Browne

I The Boy bought 'My Dad' for hubby daddy last year for Fathers' Day and they both adored it immensely. I felt ridiculously jealous, so hubby had to go and buy me the mummy version! It is a brilliant book of why children love their mums and dads, including the fact that daddy 'isn't afraid of anyone, not even the big, bad wolf' (but he's petrified of spiders though!). I am depicted as Marilyn Monroe and I can live with that! The illustrations are as funny and clever as the book.

  • 'The Jolly Postman' by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

There should be an Ahlberg classic in everyone's list; they are such brilliant books that children love and parents find amusing. This book is a little too old for The Boy at the moment, but he already has the full set of the Jolly Postman books from when I trained to be a nursery teacher. He will enjoy fishing out the letters, presents and games because I do! In all seriousness, the way that there are mini-books and games within the main book is brilliant. Beautiful illustrations as well.

  • 'Tom's Midnight Garden' by Philippa Pearce

My all-time favourite children's novel. I adore it and probably still read it once every year or so. I always read it to my class (older juniors) and show them the DVD to help their understanding of some of the more complicated concepts. I think it is a fantastic piece of writing with humour, tenderness and mystery in it. LOVE this book!

—

Please now visit the other Listography entries using the Linky widget on the left.

Listography – Pet Hates

by 9 Comments

Oh what a hard topic to narrow down to only 5 items. KateTakes5 has provided me with a brilliant sounding board for one of my favourite hobbies: ranting! It is especially relevant for me this week.

  • Unfairness

As a teacher I have always tried to demonstrate fairness in my role; it's something that children feel strongly about and the one thing guaranteed to turn a child against you. I've always hated certain aspects:

  1. picking teams (yes, probably because I wasn't sporty so I was left 'til last) – I won't allow children to pick groups or teams because there is always one heart-broken child, I'd rather they blame me than each other;
  2. lying – I can't do it, physically can't. I go bright red, my heart races and I can't look the person in the eye. I may even cry;
  3. cheating – I hit the roof if I see a pupil copying. It is entirely unfair that one child has made all the effort and the other either completely lacks confidence in their own ability to write down their own thoughts, hasn't learnt whatever themselves, or is just too lazy to do it themselves. It's not just children, adults need to get their own ideas and not pinch my blog posts!
  • Insolence

No child, when I tell you off, have the God-damned decency to look ashamed and do not answer me back!

Don’t raise your eyebrows at me like that; you are the one in the wrong, not me.

No, don’t say ‘whatever’ to me; it’s incredibly rude!

And darling sister, if you do that ‘tongue pushing your bottom lip out’ thing like I’m a spam-head once more, I will smack you in it, understand?

  • Bad driving

Seriously, how did you pass your test? Are you not aware that there are other drivers and pedestrians around you? Have you realised that the lump of metal that you are driving is a lethal weapon? PAY ATTENTION! Stop texting, stop picking your nose (we can see you), put your seatbelt on, put the seatbelt on your child who is crawling across the back seat, put your dog in the boot with one of those metal mesh things between it and the main car, use your indicators for God’s sake, and learn how to reverse-park your Smart car it is not a flipping Sherman tank!

  • Pierced ears on children under the age of 8, specifically babies and toddlers

Religious reasons aside (although I’m still not sure I agree with doing that to an infant), why the hell would you pierce a baby or toddler’s ears? They are beautiful enough as it is; don’t spoil their innocent beauty by making holes in their bodies and putting a metal stud in their perfect little ears. That’s just cruel!

  • Speaking with your mouth full of food

Ew! I do not want to see masticated food between your gammy lips. First of all close your mouth when you eat. Secondly, don’t even try and talk to me; whatever you have to say can wait thirty seconds until you’ve finished that mouthful, ok? If my 20 month old toddler can manage it, then so can you.

—

Now pop over to Kate's blog using the widget on the left, and see what everyone else is moaning about!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...