Do you know what really grinds my gears?

Men that fail to put the toilet seat down.

The fact a milkman is hard to come by these day!

The fact we have a shabby prime minster.

The realisation I’m ageing.

How school half terms come around ever so quickly but failed to do so when I was at school.

Today’s crappy weather.

The realisation my daughters growing up fast and at almost 10, already raids my makeup bag!

That my Pre-pregnancy jeans still don’t fit and my son is almost 3.

When idiots play their music through their phones speaker as opposed to some headphones when on public transport! Why… Do you really think I wanna listen to your music? Well… No, I don’t!

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When I go into central London only to realise that I’ve forgotten my cigarets and then find myself being charged £2 extra! Yes… bad habit I know!

When a bus driver considers his bus full so doesn’t feel the need to stop but just drives on by. Have you ever noticed the slight grin on their face as they do this!

When you think you’ve uncovered an incredible bargain at your favourite clothing store only to get to the till and be told… “I’m really sorry madam but it seems to be priced up incorrectly!” Meaning you can’t actually afford it now.

When your stood waiting to cross the road or sat at a bus stop on a crappy wet day and some #%}##% decides to drive through a massive puddle leaving you looking like a drowned rat.

When toy prices rapidly rise come Christmas only to fall to less than half the price on Boxing Day.

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When pop groups from my teen years such as Steps, try to do a come back!

Trying a dress on in a stores changing room, thinking you look hot only to realise once home it was the fabulous lighting. You actually look like shit!

Bags… Not handbags! Hell no! Bags that hang from under your eyes.The type no magic concealer can hide.

When people tell me… “Things will look much better in the morning following a good nights sleep!”

How my morning hair oozes unwanted volume yet on a night out its lank, limp and flat!

How penny mix ups don’t actually cost a penny anymore.

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Chocolate… It tastes so stinking good but leaves you feeling big and bad.

The woman who is mopping the floor in McDonalds as you and everyone else are walking on it. If I wanted you to mop my shoes or worse try to kill me… I would of asked!

The 10p push machines in arcades. You play the 2p ones and think your rich. Yet the 10 pence machines don’t budge an inch. Took me to my teen years to finally realise that they glue the money down!

Hairdressers who cut off way too much hair from your barnet. More than you actually asked them to. Because they hold the Scissors they sadly have the power.

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Men who laugh when a woman picks up a power tool.

Being stood in a supermarket queue for 20 minutes to suddenly be informed by the women in front of you that the till is closing and she’s the last one being served.

Jobs descriptions you know you could easily do! However, you don’t get a look in as you don’t have the list of qualifications their looking for.

Shopping trolleys with dodgy wheels. You want to go one way, yet your shopping wants to go another way altogether.

So what really grinds your gears? What better way to get it all out your system then to write it all down and share it. For this reason I thought it would be fun to tag a few others and see if we can get this forming into a little meme. 🙂

So, I tag this lovely lot and ask them what really grinds their gears?

Lilinha from Lilinha Angel’s World
Angoewright78 from Mum of three boys
Julie from Mama Owl
Nikki from Stressy mummy

Meme rules (because that’s what makes a meme). Simply link back to the meme creator which is me 🙂 and the person who tagged you.

Next tag some more and share the rules within your post simple.

Saturday Is Caption Day

I’ve been a but of a party pooper of late which has resulted in me not joining in when it comes to the fun that is ‘Saturday is Caption Day’ the popular weekly photo meme.

So, I’ve pulled up them socks of mine and have included an image for readers to add a caption to… Well, that’s if you want to? (Tilts head to side while trying to demonstrate cute puppy dogs eyes.)

Go on…. Just for the fun of it! 😉

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Discover more wonderful images in need of captions over at Mammasaurus blog. You can even join in by posting your own image on your blog and then sharing the link over on Mammsaurus Linky

The Questions & Answers Meme

I’ve been tagged by a few bloggers to answer this fab Questions & Answers Meme. Luckily for me I have the two blogs so can post one on each.

I was tagged by the Lovely Lou over at Bloggomy. Lou is one of the first bloggers I really connected with. I really enjoy meeting her at any blogging events that occur and hope to catch up at Britmums Live.

Here’s Lou’s 11 questions that I’m to answer….

1) What did you want to be as a child when you grew up? I wanted to be a pilot, probably because I’d never been on a plan and spent a lot of time wishing I could. Well, that was in till I finally did! Age 17 off to work in Greece and the worst flight ever! I never thought it was possible for a plan to bounce up and down 32,000 feet in the air… needless to say, my dream job was no more! However, I then wanted to be a police women, something I still think about today (running over a load of yobs, though kinda put me off).

2) Can you bend forward and touch your toes with your legs straight (I can!!) Of course I can Lou, so sadly you’re not the only one (said with huge grin upon face)! 

3) What is your most annoying habit? I’m flawless me, how can I be annoying… seriously! If you was to ask the man in my life, he would say it was my ability to forget things, such as, the running bath or the bread in the toaster. I blame my last pregnancy… pre-baby brain has never returned!

4) What habit would you change of your partners? (come on no-one is perfect!) He loves to read and often thinks because he finds his book interesting the rest of the world will too (mainly me)! With this he takes it upon himself to read aloud, sadly none of it has processed, so I just sit nodding (the life of the underworld, and no that’s not under the sea I’m referring to, is so… not my thing)! 

5) Horrors or Chick Flicks? Horrors every time, though I have the tendency to end up so scared that I spend the night unable to use the loo, and I hear these isn’t a good thing for a lady!

6) What is the most outrageous thing you have done in the back row of the movies? Fallen asleep… Seriously, I’m a good girl!

7) If you had the house childfree what is the first thing you and your partner would do (we would lock the doors – only joking)! Probably go to bed, but this isn’t for the reason’s most would think (Lou you have a dirty mind). Sleep is precious in this house and comes in short supply!

Blnguyen sleep

Image via Wikipedia

8) Have you ever lied to get a job? No, I just wish I was in the position to get a job let alone lie to get one! Still volunteering and blogging keeps my brain healthy.

9) What one thing is on your list to do before you hit 30, 40, 50 or whatever significant birthday is next? I’m actually going to be 30 the beginning of April (Goodness, where does the time go)? It would actually be great to do something as simple as having a night out with the girls, I feel like most of my 20’s have consisted of early nights that still don’t result in me getting much, if any sleep! 

10) Classic or modern films and why? It’s both for me, I love films like Breakfast at tiffany’s then those later films like Greece and dirty dancing (not forgetting Bob, sue and Rita too… “I’m having a gang-bang, I’m having a ball” (those who haven’t seen the film are now thinking I’m a bit of a dirty one)! I love all the Saw films and I am a huge fan of “Transporter” (though Jason Strathamhas a hell of a lot to do with it)!

Jason Statham at the 2006 San Diego Comic-Con ...

Image via Wikipedia

11) If you were a vampire who would be the first person you would bite? Wow, what a question! Can I ask, have you been watching my favourite show… “Being Human”? I’m a massive fan of vampires and think it would be rather cool to be one if they existed! I would probably bite Jason Stratham himself, only because he would probably taste good & make an incredibly sexy vampire to have at my side. 

Part 2 – My 11 questions

1) If you had the power to make one thing better, what would it be?

2) What makes a great blog?

3) What was the inspiration that brought your blog to the blogosphere?

4) SHAM or Working mum?

5) Favourite blog post that you have read over the last week?

6) What easily ticks you off (puts you in a bad mood quickly)?

7) How many children do you have?

8) Is there anything you have ever regretted writing on your blog?

9) What’s your favourite blog post you have written this year so far.

10) Do you ever enter other bloggers competitions, and have you ever been lucky?

11) What was your last blog post about?

Part 3… who I’m taking to answer the above

1) @coombmill, 2) @baggiesbabe69 3) @More_than_a 4) TiredmummyofTwo 5) @HelpfulMum 6) @mummydaddyme 7) @emmys_mummy 8) @MummyBarrow 9) @kykaree 10) @nurturestore 11) @yummymumto2

Kissing boys for “Milkyways”

Morning all… I was recently tagged in a “Meme” by the very lovely Lou (aka @Bobbity666) over at Bloggomy.  Lou has designed the “Meme” to highlight some of her Firsts and has tagged me to do the same! I have to say, I’ve quite enjoyed taking a trip down memory lane, so thanks Lou. 

 *   Who was your first boyfriend/girlfriend?

I had a silly little boyfriend, when I was age 11. He was a year older and would buy me chocolate with his pocket-money! Apart from the chocolate he grated on me a bit, (Oh no, that’s terrible is that lol)! The father of my children was my first “real” boyfriend (well, the one I got butterflies when thinking about)! I was just 14 years old and people laughed when I said I was in love! Well, who’s laughing now hey, 15 years later his still here lol. excuse the poor photo quality (this was a throw away camera lol, I was 22, so this was taken almost 8 years ago).

 *   First person you kissed?

The chocolate buying kid who grated on me! I only kissed him for his milky way *giggle* Please tell me you know I’m joking, I was never that mean, seriously!

 *   What was your first job?

I worked in a cafe, in Greenwich! I was a teenager on £140 a week, not bad hey! My best job was my summer job when I lived and worked in Greece age 17. I was dancing and loved it!

 *   First pay packet – can you remember what you bought?

Umm… knowing me, it was crap (hangs head in shame)! I swear it was half a pint of cider at “Hotshoots” on a Friday night with my teen friends, gosh we thought we were big women! (Underage and drinking, what was I like!)

 *   First record or CD you remember buying

Oh… Yer… I’ll never forget the answer to this one! It was the album belonging to “East17” with songs such as “Stay another day” and “Everybody in the house of love” I really couldn’t decided if it was Brain or Tony I fancied more, now I look back and ask myself… “Surly it wasn’t nether one of them!”

 *  First holiday abroad?

English: The village and castle (acropolis) of...

Image via Wikipedia

It was one hell of a holiday, so good I never come home. It was the fabulous year of 1999, just 17 years old working and living in Greece on the island of Rhodes. Amazing and so glad I did it before becoming a mother.

 *   What age were you when you first moved out of your parents home?

I was very young, I was a rebel in-fact, I just wanted to grow up too fast (through I’ve always loved my independence is why)! I was 16 when I moved into a hostel followed by a shared house, which brings some great memories flooding back, I was there for around a year + though I was in Greece for a chunk of the time and on my return I feel pregnant with Little man, now 11 years old. I gave birth to the Little guy at the tender age of 18. I then moved into my own flat in Blackheath and enjoyed daily trips with my baby to Greenwich park. Ah, a trip down memory lane, I love it! 

As not to ruin the creation of this Meme, I’ll tag…

What’s on your MP3 player (or in my case iPhone)

When I discovered that I had been tagged in this musical meme by the lovely ‘jbmumofone‘ my heart sunk! At first I feared no one would ever speak to me again, what if they discovered some of the horrid outdated trash on my iPod?

ipod shuffle loja online leilao

Here’s why, just check out the rules…

  • Pop your MP3 player on Shuffle
  • Inform your lovely readers of the first five tunes…AND NO CHEATING
  • Tag another few lovely bloggers to do the same.

Now… I do have some pretty awesome tunes on my iPod, yet there are a few that I prefer to keep under wraps. What if I ended up with a load of cheese? Worse still, I could reveal my Pavarotti collection (Oops, like I just did)! If the truth be told I love a whole range of music, I live and breathe the stuff! TV has nothing on music and I simply couldn’t live without my iPod (aka iPhone)… and that’s a fact! So, with batted breath with iPhone in hand I load the iPod and hit the shuffle button, here’s the results…

Track 1: DJ DEE KLINE – I don’t smoke (Original mix)

Track 2: Divine Inspiration – The way (Put your hand in my hand) from classic big tunes album

Track 3: 2PC & Danny Boy – I ain’t mad at cha  (Edited) (R&B Classics Collection)  Could only put the radio edit on here (in case of younger readers lol)

Track 4: Aaron Hall – I miss you  (R&B Classics Collection) Now this is classic R&B from the 90’s lol.

Track 5: Gnarls Barkley – Smiling faces (Album St Elsewhere) Still love this tune, cheers me up no end when blasting down my ear carnal.

Now… I tag…

The new queen of music: Romanian Mum, Catwomen95, Bloggomy

20 things that make a successful Mummy blogger

I’ve been blogging over three years now and truly love it! At first I thought it may be a bit like keeping a diary and if this was true, then it would be a passing phase that’s forgotten two months down the line. This didn’t happen and I discovered that I truly loved to write and then broadcast that piece of writing to anybody out there interested in what I had to say. I enjoy it and find myself wanting to engage in such an activity on a day-to-day basis.

I’m no expert, but I have been blogging over on my blog “A boy with Aspergers” for a long time now! I love to social network and have therefore discovered like-minded bloggers, all parents blogging separately but somehow coming together as one community. With this in mind, I think I’ve discovered one or two tricks to keep you on track and on your way to becoming a better if not successful blogger.

  1. Passion is what keeps a blog floating, without it… your nothing… you will sink quickly and disappear!
  2. Be honest, it’s the key to gaining a good readership
  3. Join up to twitter, tweet your post, find like-minded bloggers, most importantly interact as well as promote, this way others get to know you and are more interested in what you may have to say on your blog (you will also uncover truly lovely and talented people along the way)
  4. Create a Facebook fan page, link this to your blog, set your blog to auto post to your Facebook page, followers can then navigate their way to your blog every time you post something of interest
  5. Join Social groups such as BritMums, get involved in blogging campaigns, voice your opinions without fear,  involve yourself in group conversations, (or even start your own) via the forum or specially designed groups hosting like-minded bloggers.
  6. Many mummy bloggers are creative and enjoy taking pictures. Get involved in photo projects such as project 366, Silent Sunday  & Satcap, then link your post to the linkys in other blogs (don’t forget to check other people’s links within the linky).
  7. Successful mummy bloggers are those who help others, whether it’s by giving advice to a fellow bloggers on Tech issues or supporting a charity campaign.
  8. Become part of the community! Mummy bloggers have become much more mainstream now. You can find plenty of articles about us in national papers and even through the TV, when I started blogging I chose not to involve myself as much as I do now, plus there were certain sites and social networks that took me a while to discover. My advice is to step into the community, not only can you gain advice and support, you can also bag yourself a good friend or two!
  9. Comment on other blogs you enjoy reading! Successful mummy bloggers build both good relationships and readership by commenting on other bloggers post (plus replying to those who commented on their own).
  10. Don’t blog for the hell of it, good mummy bloggers produce great content by blogging when the urge takes them (giving its possible with the kids around your feet). Blogging just to keep your post content regular or your stats high, will only produce poor content
  11. Create a YouTube account and vlog to your heart’s content then link up with others that like to vlog (checkout the BritMums vlogging group).
  12. When them creative ideas Pop into your head, write them down on paper… or if possible share it there and then (after all, the next day you may have writers block)
  13. Don’t do something because every other blogger is doing it, do it because you want too… if you don’t like it, then don’t blog it… it’s that simple. Everything you post, needs to be there because you really wanted to write it, its my opinion it shows within your writing (I even make sponsored post my own, and never write a full press release)!
  14. Many great mummy bloggers do reviews on their blogs, others don’t… personally I feel the hype of the blogger blagger debate crushed the confidence of some mummy bloggers… If you want to review, do it, stand proud and don’t worry what others say or think… successful mummy bloggers are strong mummy bloggers
  15. Attend conferences and bloggers workshops! This allows you to gain ideas, get advice, mingle with bloggers and brands all while having a good time. Britmums Live and tots100 blogcamp are worth a visit.
  16. Great mummy blogger are not afraid to start a huge debate. I feel debates are a great way to get readers and comments on your blogs as long as you feel strongly about what you write and its true to your heart then its worth writing… plus your honesty will win you more readers in the long run.
  17. Stick to what you know! I’ve read blogs where someone has written a post that’s been of interest within the media therefore assuming it will gain them lots of traffic. However they clearly have no idea about the issues at hand, therefore losing a load of traffic in the long run.
  18. Be up front about what your open too. No one likes to see a blogger stating.. “I’ll never except a product for review” only two months later their blog is full of them.
  19. Be careful what you write. Don’t leave yourself open to copyright theft (you can get free protection) and be careful when posting pictures or content that isn’t your own. Publishing content of this type should only be done so when giving full recognition to it’s original author, plus a full link back..
  20. Successful bloggers do check their states, submit their blog URL to directories such as the Tots100 top mummy bloggers listing, although it is advisable not to become obsessed by states, ranks and whatever else… it still helps to have a goal and target for the month, it gives the blogger drive (difference is we just don’t cry about it if we don’t reach it). The most important thing to remember is to be original!

So, there you have it, my little list of tips! Yes, I could have added one or two others but with a toddler shouting “Mummy” in my ear, that’s my call to go!

Hope it helps and I’d love to hear how any of you newer bloggers are getting on!

I’m joining in 1/366

WI recently learnt about a great photo project called 365 days (only this year it’s 366, due to the leap year).

A wonderful lady who blogs at The boy and me very kindly filled me in on how it’s done! Basically, the challenge is to post one picture on the blog every day for 366 days, the only catch is, this needs to be a picture you took that day! Now it may seem easy, yet, there are days when I just don’t feel like I took that perfect shoot, or have the motivation to try to take one worthy  of a share! Nonetheless, I’m always up for the challenge, whether I get far is yet to be seen, getting past the first week would be a start! I wanted to start on the first day of January and that of course didn’t happen, so here’s mine, my first picture of 366 (we hope)!

Well, this is how you will find me after a good old day parenting my kids! So… what do you think?