You can call me Lucky Bit*h!

It struck me this afternoon that I really am one lucky bit*h and I am not massive into swearing but this needs some emphasis.  I am a lucky girl. A really lucky girl! You hear me?  LUCKY!

How many mums do you know who can say they feel they have the perfect balance with work and being at home with the kids?  I fall into that completely blessed category.

A day out at Chessington, thanks to saving Tesco vouchers!

I work in the office for 2 days a week from 8.30 - 5pm and I work from home for 2.5 hours per week.  So in total I do half time- 18.5 hours a week.  This is enough to earn us the money to go on holiday (UK holidays admittedly) and buy take aways, the odd night out and nice clothes.  We are not by any means flush, we can not afford to blow £150 on the theatre and have to think before spending large amounts on the house but we we get by, comfortably.

My life is a million miles away from my big earnings of pre-children but I am so much happier for it. I see blog posts and tweets from mums working 12/16 hour days, having problems with childcare letting them down, having to commute for an hour or two every day and I think Why? Do you really need all the money it brings?  If so, then of course you have to carry on but dh and I choose to simplify our life and forget our Caribbean holidays and flashy cars for a few years and to have time with our kids. You often hear that, those with the money to spend do not have the time and those with the time, don't have the money, but so what? We have love and loads of free stuff that we can do together.

My girls have now started afternoon nursery for 3 days a week.  One of these I work and the other two I have time to myself.  Today I did a charity shop drop, bought some shopping, got myself some lunch and went home and did some work with the music blaring (all in 3 hrs!).  It was superb, I could have done with another hour or two to myself but I must not get greedy.

Tomorrow I plan to exercise to my new DVD and then spend a couple of hours blogging, writing up some reviews I need to do and maybe pitching for a cybermummy sponsor.  It feels so decadent to have this time to myself.

What JJ thinks of Mummy!

My cup is half full - I have the best of both worlds; I get to lunch with friends, be an adult and eat cake when I am at work and I get to keep my home, cook meals for my family, play with the kids and meet mummy friends when I am home.  Not a boring moment.  I can honestly say I look forward to each day at the moment.  How amazing is it to be able to say that about your life?

I am not writing this with the intention of being flash and showing off what I have.  I am just being honest and wanting to say to people that if you do not like your lot - change it!  What can you do to make things different and more enjoyable?  Are you willing to give up the costa coffee every day and the expensive iPhone to have time at home with your family?  I was. and for me it worked!

I love my family of 5!

I went to an amazing conference at work a couple of weeks back and one of our keynote speakers was Dr Richard Wiseman and he is a Psychologist and one of his specialist areas is looking at the psychology of luck.  He basically gave firm research based evidence of something I already knew was true - that those who have a cup half full attitude and feel blessed are and count themselves as lucky.  You make your own luck.

He gave an example of a millionaire who described himself as one of the most unlucky men alive. This was because he had won the lottery, £4 million, h felt he was unlucky as he had to share the £8 million jackpot - that ia not unlucky that is ungrateful in my opinion!

So have a think about what you can do to feel just a little bit more blessed.  Wake up in the morning and repeat to yourself, nothing will stress me out today, I am lucky.  This was what I started doing back in 1998 and my positivity had increased bounds since then.

Have a wonderful weekend, I fully intend to.

Mich x

Taking time to be thankful

(Above the kids having fun at the park and left my crafty collage from the weekend away).

I am in a completely different place today to what I was last Thursday, thank God (literally!).

I am extremely blessed and for today I can see that and I am enjoying all the wonderful things around me. I am remaining calm and unstressed and just enjoying having some time to myself to catch up on jobs that need doing and are so hard to complete with 3 small people in tow! The girls are at nursery, JJ is at school and I have another 1.5 hours before I collect him but instead of feeling that is not enough and worrying about that (that I normally would) today I am looking forward to seeing my boy and taking him for a hair cut and then having a play for a while before we collect the girls. Once the girls are collected we are all having a KFC treat on the way home and that means no cooking or clearing for me! yay A is at work and won't be home until about 11pm so tonight I will take the opportunity to catch up on some TV while doing the ironing and getting some ebay bits sorted and photographed.

So how have I changed so much in a few days? well as always it is by the grace of God. I went to ED last Thursday night and was able to rant and uncoil and then a good sleep does me the world of good so by the time I woke Friday I was ready to tackle the world. The girls and I met some good friends at soft play and I enjoyed sliding and crawling around with them, actually taking the time to enjoy them rather than being self-centered and just chatting with the other mummy. Then at 2pm off I went with a friend to Ely, leaving dh with the kids for the weekend. Yep completely selfish but so necessary and I have changed over the weekend. Prayer, reflection, time alone, meditation, sharing and some crafty therapy have grounded and calmed me and I have taken perspective and know my babes and A are the most important things.

I returned at 2pm on Sunday to a fab chorus of 'Mummy', then all the family went out shopping (the kids behaved just lovely) and we went to the park for the kids to run off some energy. What a fun couple of hours dh and I had, we played tag, had a walk through the woods, did piggy backs (with the kids - not each other!!! lmao), Miss M and I laid on the grass and watch ed the clouds and then JJ joined us to watch the planes. We met and petted loads of dogs and basically had a fun time laughing our socks off. errr why do we not do this more often? It cost nothing and everyone had a great time. Must make a mental note.

I'm a lucky girl!

Well I have been missed! Had numerous people looking for me whilst I have been away at Mum and Dad's. I had no idea that so many people read this blog or that I was noticed on other Internet sites I regularly visit. It is nice to feel wanted.

My boys went camping with the cubs and scouts last Saturday, so me and the girls headed down to my parents and we just got back last night - it was 5 nights and 6 days of total pampering and it went so quick. Mostly I spent time with Mum as Dad was at work but we also got to see him each morning/ night and my brother on a few evenings. Although he quickly became aware of what it is like to have 2 small toddlers who want your attention when you have just got home form work! lol I do not think he is ready for kids yet!

I also got some jobs done whilst there, like haircuts, shopping, take backs, banking and car service and MOT. So I feel very up to date now, I unpacked last night and have done 3 washes already - the last is just drying now. Off to do the shopping in a moment and then hopefully the girls will come back for a nice long nap and I can do some ebay stuff. The boys are back at about 4pm and I am cooking us all a nice roast and then there will be a ton more muddy washing to do! it never stops...

I went to an ED meeting whilst I was away and it was good to see a different group and set up. I also did loads of resting, reading, praying, relaxing etc etc. I feel positive and in a good place at the moment, I will blog more about my eating and mind state when I get a chance, at the moment two young girls are bored with mummy being on the PC.

So thank you Mum and Dad, you really are the best parents a girl could have. I am very lucky, not only for all the love and help you gave me but also with the tons of shopping bags that came home with new clothes, jewellery, perfume and bedding. Also the money to buy my new beloved Radley messenger bag - mine is really past its sell by date.

Shopping calls, catch you all later. x