Change...

Wow. Nearly a year away from blogging. That's a bit more than a break, huh? Truth be told, I was struggling. I keep reading about 'finding my blogging voice' and just felt totally overwhelmed, uninspired and discouraged. A year on and, having just read back through some of my old posts, I just realised that they SOUND LIKE ME. Weird. I can hear myself talking when I read. Ha!

So what's new? My Baby Boo became a teenager. She sleeps, eats and steals my clothes and shoes. Ollie the Hamster sadly left us. Bloody little critter got right under my skin and left a whole in my heart when he departed for Hammy Heaven. So much so that we haven't replaced him. I got posted from the North East of England back down South. We're only forty minutes from London now so I must explore. My Baby Sister got engaged and I got a new pair of running shoes. Hmm... hardly seems fair! I'm off medication and therapy free and have been for three months. Yay me! Oh, and I bought a bright red lipstick. Other than that we're still here, plodding on, plotting and planning our first holiday in six years. 

How are you lot all doing?

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Miracles....

Well, have we had some drama over the weekend. In our house, along with Baby Boo and myself, we have a dog, cat, a few resident spiders and, of course 'A Hamster called Ollie'. Ollie is such a little character. We've had a couple over the years but none have nibbled their way in to our hearts in quite the same way as he has. Whenever Boo comes home for the holidays her first port of call is Ollie's cage (read 'palace'. I still wince when I think of how much it cost). She then proceeds to prod and poke at his bedding until he pokes his twitchy, little nose out thus enabling her to reach in and proceed to hug him to within an inch of his life. On Saturday when we arrived home for half term, Boo headed for Ollie Pops and I headed for the kettle. It took a couple of seconds for me to realise that she had gone very quiet and I turned round to find her sobbing that Ollie was dead. I'm ashamed to say that, at this point, I also fell apart and we spent a good ten minutes crying all over poor Ollie's cold, little body. We then rang MY Mum and sobbed down the phone to her. She suggested that we lay him out in a shoe box ready for his burial and we began to scoop his bedding from around him so we could gently remove him from his cage. Still crying, Boo reached in, placed her wee, little hand around Ollie...... and then screamed and promptly dropped him. 'He moved, Mum! He did! He moved!'. Further inspection resulted in a knowing nod from me, a shout of laughter from us both and the realisation that, in the 24 hours I had been out of the house, Ollie must have taken it upon himself to try this hibernating whotsit. I have to say, the room he's in was freezing. I felt awful. I can only assume he'd got so cold that his body told him it was time for a loooooong nap. Poor thing. Two hours of cuddles in front of the fire, some cheese and lots of kisses and Ollie is back to his naughty, cheeky self. He is also now known as 'Miracle Boy'.... which we felt was quite fitting in the circumstances. Welcome Back, Ollie! We loves ya!

Via

The One Where I felt OLD....

On Tuesday we celebrated my baby sister's twentieth birthday. Twenty! When did that happen?!  Friends and family gathered in our garden for a BBQ in true British style..... flash downpours, thunder, 30 people crammed in to a gazebo fit for 10..... and Baby Sister opened her presents with Bruno Mars serenading her quietly in the background.

About every ten seconds she suddenly looked up and exclaimed 'OMG! I'm 20! I'm like really old now. I gritted my teeth trying not to bemoan out load the fact that I turn 31 next month. Old indeed!

Saying that, I remember 20 vividly. I had a ten month old baby who, on the positive side, could melt my insides with one toothy grin, but, on the negative, wasn't really in to the whole sleeping thing. I was about half way through an 18 month language course which meant studying every night and I could regularly be found in the early hours pacing the living room floor flashcards in one hand, grumpy baby in the other. I remember 20 being exhausting. Enlightening but exhausting. Thirty one's not so bad. And I really feel like I'm getting the hang of this adult thing. Better yet, I have an 11 year old...... who sleeps through the night! Yeah, baby! Take THAT, 20!

Happy Birthday Bob Bob. Love you lots like jelly tots.

Long overdue...

Oh my giddy goodness. I can't believe how long we've been away. The whole moving thing.... much more of a nightmare than I envisaged it to be (despite the fact that this is our 8th move in 12 years...). It all started with the removal men turning up a day late - cue much crying, shouting and kicking of boxes - and got progressively worse from there. I won't bore you with the details but, suffice to say, the last few weeks have been severely lacking in morale and not even chocolate donuts could bring a smile to my face. We're all sorted now though, which is the main thing, and our small, little house is really coming together. It feels homely and comfortable and it's close enough to my Mum that we can turn up on the doorstep demanding to be fed when I can't be bothered with the whole oven thing..... much easier to just use it as extra storage space in the kitchen :)

Anyway, I'll leave you with some pics and a big hug for everyone that stuck around long enough to read this post. I've been desperate to sit down and write. Tis lovely to be back.

My Babies

C'est Moi!

The man in my life

My pretty, new sandals

The gorgeous Robbie - lead singer of my
FAVE band.

We have a HOUSE!!

Baby Boo and I have finally been allocated a house!! With 17 days left until we move. Luckily we've doing this thing long enough and completed enough manic pack moves to know that everything is always left to the last minute with Her Majesty's fine Army!

I can't believe we actually have an address. Bricks and mortar. It's been a long time coming. We were due posting last November but, due a housing shortage in the area we're posted to, we've just had to sit back and wait. That's the official reason anyway. I reckon it's got more to do with the fact that, due to budget cuts, the Housing Office were told they had to downsize from Krispy Kreme donuts to digestive biscuits at coffee break and this was their revenge. Just a theory, mind.

Still, it's all sorted now. The house is small and the garden is about the size of a postage stamp but, quite frankly, they could have allocated us a tent and we'd have found a way to get the sofa in.

Army houses are always painted Magnolia (dirty cream), have either blue, green, dusky pink or claret carpets, heavily flowered curtains and the kitchens and bathrooms often leave a lot to be desired. If there's one thing you learn very quickly as a soldier it's how to make the best of what you've got. We are masters at finding the perfect rug, whipping up the perfect window dressings and covering the walls with as many pictures and photos as possible. Oh, and we always buy plain coloured sofas. I once made the mistake of having the most gorgeous purple sofa and was allocated a house with claret (dark, yucky red) carpets. Two years of walking in to my living room and having to swallow back vomit taught me a lesson or two.

Also, when you move out of an Army house it has to be left exactly as you found it so we don't often paint the walls. Blu-tack is our friend. Painting them back just adds to the stress of the three million other things you need to do including packing and scrubbing the house to within an inch of it's life. If it's not 'Army clean' you get charged.

So what better way to celebrate than with a big cup of tea, a donut (take THAT, housing office) and a mooch through my inspiration folder?

** I've had the majority of these lovely pics for yonks and failed to save sources. If they belong to you or you know who they do belong to please let me know. Credit where credit's due **

I miss my Baby Boo.

That's the little one back at boarding school. I feel bereft. I miss her already. We've had such an awesome couple of weeks and the weather has been beyond fab so lots of lovely, ice creamy days were had. And not just little ice creams but big, fat, holy cow I'm never eating again ice creams...

Nails were painted...

Granny Squares were made...

Pets were much loved...

Silly sunglasses were worn...

Mummy and Boo were at their most blissful...

Roll on the summer holidays when hopefully we'll be able to get some swimming in..... in the North Sea! Brrr! We is brave. Well, Boo is. I'm going out on a surf board so I don't have to get my feet wet.

On another note entirely, 3 sleeps until the Royal Wedding! I'm actually quite excited considering my interest in the Royal Family normally only runs to reading what mischief Prince 'Bad Boy' Harry has been up to.

Hope you all had an awesome Easter. I'm off to run off my chocolate feast. Might even throw in a sit up or two.

Blissful Week

Oh my giddy goodness. Another week (and a bit) gone by. Where do the hours go? I swear this whole 24 hour thing is a myth. Want to see what I've been up to? Huh? You do...go on, you know you do.

I had the best weekend last weekend in the UK. Like best ever. On the Friday I got to see my biggest cousin get married. In shoes that made me look like a hooker. Only I didn't realise they made me look like a hooker until I saw the photos after. Awesome.

I got to meet my middle cousin's fiancé. They're getting married in July in a biiiiiiig, beautiful barn and I can't wait for the wedding. Let the dancing commence.... in pretty shoes. Not hooker shoes.

I got to meet my baby cousin's.......baby! Tell me you don't want to take a big bite out of him. Too gorgeous for words. He didn't care what shoes I was wearing so long as I kept blowing raspberries on his chubby, little cheeks.

On Saturday I hit Oxford Street in London for shopping and lunch with my bestest buddy and my handsome God-son, Little J. Hamley's didn't know what hit them when we walked in. I'm not sure who was more excited actually. Me or Little J? The guys there have the best job in the world. They turn up, play all day then go home again. I mean, really?

It was totally a weekend for seeing all my favourite people. And the best bit? I got to see my most favourite person in the whole wide world. And I got to bring her home to Germany for THREE WHOLE WEEKS!

Welcome home Baby Boo. Mummy missed you. And the noise you bring with you. Now be a good girl and turn your music down.... No, no! Just kidding!

Hope everyone is feeling as blissful as I am right now :)

Manic manic manic...

Aaaargh! Can't believe it's nearly a week since I last posted. Bad blogger! I'm so sorry. I was supposed to be flying back to the UK for a wedding this weekend and then going up North to spend the Easter holidays with Baby Boo but, as often happens in my job, I now have to fly back to Germany the Monday after the wedding and have spent the last few days running around like a mad'un cancelling flights, booking flights and sorting out a way to get Baby Boo from North to South so she can come back with me and spend Easter here instead. I'm feeling frazzled. Lots of crafty projects to share over the next couple of weeks and I'm still keeping up with my blog reading even if the blog writing kinda went out the window this week. Must. Breath. In. Out. In. Out.

Oh yes please.... via.

Me and my labels.

So today I thought I'd share a few things with you about me. There are two 'labels' that sum me up quite quickly. Mummy. Soldier. My life revolves around these two words and just about everything I do is connected to one or the other. So here we go.....grab yourself a cuppa. Not for any particular reason but just because I have a lovely big mug of tea next to me.

1. I joined the Army straight from school after my parents refused to pay for me to go to drama school. I'm not quite sure where the idea to join the Army came from and I wasn't one of these kids that always dreamed of being a soldier. On my first day in uniform when asked why I had signed up I was honest and stated 'Well, Sgt, I wanted to be on the stage in the West End but my Mum said it wasn't really a career so here I am'. I spent the next ten minutes being roared at and doing press ups. Despite this slightly shaky start I love what I do. I grew in to the role and I love that I was financially independent at such a young age. At 17 I was running my own car and had my first mobile phone. It was a great brick of a thing and I still have over developed muscles in one arm from lugging the stupid thing about.

2. At 18 I got pregnant with my daughter. It became very apparent, very quickly that, if I was going to have this baby, I would be going it alone. So I did, despite many many many people telling me there was no way I would cope. I'm stubborn like that. And thank God. Baby Boo is the best thing that ever happened to me. She keeps me grounded and I love her so much it actually hurts sometimes. It has been bloody hard work juggling both Boo and the Army and we've had some rough times but we've got through them and my little girl is always smiling. I'm one proud Mama.

3. I'm currently serving out in Germany and we've been stationed out there for nearly three years now (which means a posting back to the UK is imminent. Hurrah!). We've also lived all over England and also Northern Ireland. Germany is one lovely country and Baby Boo and I have taken the time to explore and seen some beautiful sights. I am totally in love with Bavaria and would happily settle for life in a little log cabin at the foot of the Bavarian Mountains. I'd buy a cow with a big bell and spend my summers hill walking and my winters skiing.

4. I was last deployed in 2009 to Afghanistan which was one of the most mentally and physically draining things any soldier will do. Sometimes I was so tired I could barely remember my own name. Saying that, I still found time to play in the sand...... thanks for my present Mum!

5. Boo goes to a private boarding school and has been there for a year now. By the time she was ten she had been to more than 6 schools and the amount of moving around we were doing was so unsettling for her. She was also at the age where she was making proper friends and leaving them every couple of years was starting to take it's toll. I miss her desperately and frequently have to fight to stop myself from bringing her home but reading her school report (my kid is awesome) and talking to her teachers (yep....plain awesome) reminds why we did this. I am also scared she's going to leave there at the age of 18 with a posh accent but I can beat that out of her if need be ;)

So there you go. A bit about me. Mummy. Soldier. Fiercely proud of both. I love my labels.

Today = Awesomeness

Today has been such a lovely day. I arrived in the UK late Wednesday night and spent a lovely day yesterday with my Mum and Step-dad. This morning I got up and spent a little time on this wee blanket that is slowly growing day by day...

Then I made heart shapes out of the yarn....as you do...

THEN... and here's the best bit... I drove across the North York Moors (in thick fog) to pick up my Baby Boo from boarding school for her half term holiday! Hurrah! I am complete again. We got back to Mum's, tucked in to mince and mashed potatoes and then snuggled up under Boo's patchwork quilt, which I only just finished yesterday, and watched the Chronicles of Narnia.

I am now snuggled up in bed with my whole world snoring next to me. I give it half an hour before I'm fighting her for the quilt.... Welcome home, Baby Boo xxx

Memory Lane

Whilst catching up on one of fave blogs recently I came across this over at Strumpet's Crumpets and HAD to share. It's such a lovely idea and so, without further ado..... This handsome little fellow is David (who joined us for a photo shoot a couple of years back).

David originally belonged to Mum but made his way in to my cot soon after I was born. I love him more than cupcakes and would seriously DIE if anything happened to him. He's been everywhere with me over the years. Every sleepover, a school trip to Austria, all round Germany whenever we get the travel bug and he's also lucky enough to have been to Florida with us. He even came to Afghanistan with me when I was deployed last year. I think the idea was that, once I had children of my own, he would be passed down through the family but I am SO not ready to give David up yet so I just share him with Baby Boo when she needs a special cuddle and none of her own teddies will do. He still sleeps on my bed and I'm not ashamed to admit that I regularly doze off with him wrapped up in my arms. Thanks David for being the most special bear ever.

PS. Becky..... David thinks Lucy is rather cute. Just thought you should know.

My baby is awesome!

You know when your child does something that makes your heart sing? Today was one of those days when my heart sang, did a little happy dance and threw a backflip in for good measure. My gorgeous little girl recently went for her school council. She wrote a speech, stood up in front of the whole school, smiled sweetly and gave it to them gooood! And she won!! The only one from her year to be voted in! Man, I'm proud. Well done Baby Boo. Have an extra £5 pocket money on me. Love ya!!