I am so thankful that we got to have a few days away last week during half-term. We've been lucky this year with a couple of short breaks to Yorkshire and then Kent, where we stayed in AirBnB's and they were both lovely, but what I have realised is that when we holiday in the UK we don't rest properly. We do things, we go places, I tidy the house etc etc
Last week we headed to Spain for just 4 nights and I wondered what it would be like. Would it feel as if we've only just arrived and then had to leave again? But no, it was excellent and we all felt thoroughly relaxed by the end of it.
We stayed at the airport the night before and had an early flight, so we were by the pool of our hotel by 10.30am and this gave us an extra full day. The hotel was fab and the rooms were ready by 1pm, so we could get unpacked and back down by the pool in no time at all!
I'd definitely recommend Salou for an October half term break as the temperature was between 21 and 25 degrees each day, and yes I picked up a bit of a tan and needed sun cream! The only downside is that the swimming pools in the hotels are not heated and as such are cold, no scrap that, they are truly freezing!
By the last day both my girls got brave and spent a few hours in the pool, it was lovely to see them having fun with some lovely girls they met.
It was a very low-key holiday, with a bus trip into the neighbouring resort, lots of long walks, coffees out, finding the local cats, games of cards, time spent chatting, reading and enjoying a cheeky Baileys each night.
It was also Salou Independence day whilst we were there and my hubby went to see the night parade with pyrotechnics and the girls and I joined him the next day to see the day parade, with bands, massive puppets, a giant eel and a very scary canon!
I'm thinking this October half-term holiday could become a thing! It was so much cheaper than other times of the year, but next time I would have to find a heated pool!
Having high or low humidity levels in your home can cause
significant trouble. Not only is living in a home with extreme humidity levels
uncomfortable, but excessive moisture or dryness can also cause damage to your
property. Here's what you need to know about regulating your home's humidity
levels to keep them in a comfortable range.
Know Your Warning Signs You can't adjust humidity levels in your home if you don't
know if your humidity levels are off in the first place. The good news is you
don't need any special tools to check for overly humid or dry air. You just
need to know what to look for.
If static electricity levels are high or the paint on your
walls is cracking, your home is likely too dry. If you're seeing condensation
regularly on your windows or drinking glasses, or you're smelling musty odours,
you likely have high humidity.
Handle Wet Clothing Well One of the easiest ways to adjust humidity levels in a
low-tech way is to adjust your treatment of wet clothes. Leaving wet or damp
towels and clothing out causes natural moisture to enter the air. If your
humidity is high and you've been leaving wet clothes in your hamper, simply
doing laundry and putting them away clean and dry could solve a high humidity
issue.
Perhaps you have the opposite problem: low humidity, or dry
air. If that's the issue, after you take your clothes out of the washer, skip
the dryer. You'll find you can raise your home's humidity using clean laundry. Lay laundry out on a line or
rack to encourage evaporation of moisture into the air.
I’ve been looking after myself
recently and that why there’s not been many blog posts, or not ones that take
emotional energy anyway. I haven’t felt like I’ve had much to say and now the
kids are 12, 12 and 16 it’s so hard to share my parenting tales, as they (quite
rightly) don't want their lives broadcast for all to read. Peer pressure and
casual bullying are too rife sadly!
I made a choice a long time ago that I’d share the good,
bad and ugly of my life as a way of connecting, helping others and showing that
Christians are regular, flawed people too. Even this, now, has become more
difficult as so much of my life involves my husband and I’ve never shared on
his behalf. He’s a very private man and wouldn’t want his life ‘out’ there.
So blogging really does seem to be changing for me, it’s
becoming less personal and more a way I earn money. Now, I’m trying to decide
if I’m OK with that. Of course the money in the bank is very helpful, and not
too difficult to earn, but do I want Mummy from the Heart to be a commercial
entity?
I think, to be honest, it is the reality of where I am
right now. I’ll still do personal posts when the moment takes me and I have
something to say but I’m not going to beat myself up for earning a living and
being able to pay for a holiday for our family.
As I sat in the day spa yesterday I was feeling proud of
myself. Proud that I seem to have found that elusive balance that everyone
seeks - I’m employed, I’m self-employed, I’m mum, I’m wife and I’m Michelle
too. I’m getting time for things I enjoy and I’m not feeling run ragged.
Some of it is down to the kids being older, but much of
it is down to my head being in the right place and being able to accept who
people are and what their limitations are. As well as being able to reconcile
that I cannot do everything. I just have to choose what is most important and
focus on those things.
This update post will serve as my regular reasons to be
cheerful post, where I share what is making me feel happy and grateful right
now.
·Time at the spa alone, I had a massage, facial,
time on the hot stone relaxation beds, swim, steam and Jacuzzi. Pure bliss!
·I’m loving being part of the village panto. I
have just volunteered for the chorus this year and I’ve even backed out of one
dance as my hurting foot won’t tolerate the moves, but I am loving the singing.
·I’ve been spending time in the prayer centre to
just be and wait on God, which is never time wasted.
·We’ve joined a new church and I wake up each
Sunday wanting to go and I come away inspired and wanting to do better. I haven’t
had that for a while now, so it is so welcome.
·I made a choice this week to walk away from a
work situation that was upsetting me and I have cut all ties with the source of
anxiety.
·I’m not entirely satisfied with the job I
started back in June, but it was good last week to be really honest with my
manager and to make her aware that I wasn’t sure if it was the right job for
me. We’re working together to see where
it goes.
·I’ve been doing some boring but necessary jobs,
like sorting out the thousands of photos I take. Many are of Ashburnham Place
where I live and I use them for their social and promotional work. They are now
all sorted into files of image type.
·This week has been busy, every moment has been
planned for, but even in that I am managing to swim twice this week and I’m not
beating myself up for lack of gym visits. They’ll get back on track once I
return from holiday.
·And there is the last reason, we go off on
holiday Saturday for a few days to Spain. I’m hoping for lots of relaxation,
walks, swims, good food and book reading. JJ isn’t coming with us, he has the
grandparents coming to stay and is looking after the cat, but he’ll enjoy that
just as much. It will be strange without my boy though.
Now, over to you. How are you doing? I’d love to know,
Mich xx
I think you're either a cut flower person or you're not. I'm not massively nowadays, I can totally appreciate their beauty and I love to take photographs of flowers growing, especially when visiting National Trust properties but it is rare for me to have cut flowers in the house.
If I do, it will normally mean spring has arrived and I picked up some cheerful daffs cheap at the supermarket, someone has sent me a thank you bouquet that I have spread between a few vases across the house, or that it is my anniversary and my hubby remembers how much I love our wedding flowers, stargazer lilies.
Choosing Flowers as a Gift
I do enjoy sending flowers though, as so many of my friends and family really appreciate flowers. I think as you get older and have everything you need, flowers can be a lovely decadent gift that you may not give yourself and are therefore appreciated at special times.
Some of the fun for me in sending flowers is trying to match up the perfect ones for the recipient, and not being too distracted by what I like or don't like. For example, my Nan loved big chrysanthemums as they are bold and bright and reminded her of my Grandad as he grew them, but I detest the smell. Even so, they would still always be my go-to flower for her as it is about making her happy.
Is there such a thing as the language of love? I suspect many people would assume it is all about perfect chemistry and romance - roses, the colour red, candle-lit dinners and hot bubble baths run for you by your beloved, but I believe it is different for every person.
A few years back I read the Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman and in more recent years, I've read some of his spin-off books as well and they're excellent. I definitely buy into his thinking that there are five different ways of receiving and giving love. This applies to any kind of love too, romantic, friendly, parental, platonic.
Even the best of matchmakers probably couldn't tell at first glance if you're love language compatible with your partner, but dig a bit further and the good news is that we can all give and receive in all the love languages.
Chapman suggestions that the five love languages are -
Physical Touch - this is probably the easiest to understand. It is about all expressions of physical touch, both sexual and non-sexual. So an encouraging shoulder squeeze could be enough to motivate a teenage lad who has this as his primary love language.
Acts of service - this is my number one. I really feel loved when people do things for me, especially when it is unexpected and I haven't had to ask them. So my husband stacking and emptying the dishwasher so I come down to a tidy kitchen in the morning is a big turn-on for me.
Heading out on my own for a walk and pray around the grounds of my home
Earlier this week I was booked in for a spa day at our local Bannatynes. You can get really good deals on Wowcher and I decided at the beginning of this year that at least a couple of times a year I would treat myself to a day spa. A few treatments, time in the gym, steam room, swim, massive jacuzzi and a nice lunch with a good book. Oh and not forgetting some downtime on the hot stone relaxation beds.
I'd been really looking forward to my day spa and I hadn't let any appointments or tasks get in the way. As I was getting ready in the morning Miss E asked me who I was going with. I told her I was going alone and she looked so concerned and said 'but won't you get lonely mum?' This got me pondering and thinking about my friendships and yes there are definitely times when I get lonely, but to be honest, at the day spa isn't one of them.
Call me selfish but I love to be able to suit myself. I did the activities in the order I wanted, I ate when I was hungry, if I was later than planned in the morning it didn't matter and when I had lunch I could absorb myself in my book. I had moments of longing as I saw so many friends and couples, there for the day together, looking comfortable in each others company and chatting away, but ultimately I decided I really was OK there on my own.
Since we moved to East Sussex over six years ago I haven't had the easiest time making friends. There are lots of people I know and would happily chat to, there are even a couple I've had really deep conversations with and enjoyed special times with but I haven't made that best friend. The one who knows me so well and we just hang out and do life together. I do get sad about that sometimes.
We all know teenagers have their
moments, they can be a delight one minute and difficult to talk to the next.
Being aware of your own style of communication is key, if you’re too forceful
then you may be ignored or pushed back, and if you are too soft then you might
not give them the motivation they need.
When broaching the subject of college
or university however, there are a few things that you can do to keep the lines
of communication open, and the parental relationship on sound terrain!
1. Start the Conversation Early
Of course you want to help yourteen consider which college or university might
be right for them, and it is best to start this conversation earlier than you might
think. The sooner you start the conversation, the less time pressure there is
and the easier it is for them to adjust to the idea of potentially leaving home
and becoming more independent.
You can ask around your friends for
good experiences their older children have had, and collect some prospectuses
for them. if your child has one of those rosielovescake@hotmail.co.uk kind of
email address then it is probably a good idea, to help them to set up a new
more professional email address. Then encourage them to independently email
colleges for the information they require.
I've been reflecting this weekend on how lucky we are to every new day in front of us. Each is a privilege that we need to make the most of. That doesn't mean we have to be super busy or doing loads, it just means we should be fulfilling our calling, whatever it is we believe we are on this earth to do.
I have to be honest I am still not clear on what my ultimate calling is, I know this season right now is about parenting my three children, supporting my husband and serving the community I live within. I also still wonder if there is something bigger than this that I should be doing, but that could just be me and my pride, assuming there was due to be more to my life than being a helper.
Sadly, I'm very task-driven, I love to tick things off the to-do list and I get such a sense of satisfaction when things are running smoothly and everything is on track. I know that I am far more concerned with things and tasks than I am with people and relationships. I also know that people are far more important, so my priorities are out of balance, but all I can do is try to change things, to shift the balance a little.
God made me with the skills and talents I have, so I am obviously supposed to be an organised, efficient kind of woman who gets things done, but it is my job to maintain balance and to focus on His desires for all His children. That they are loving and full of grace for all people.
I've had a fabulous weekend and I am very thankful for it. There hasn't been anything big and glamorous going on, but it has been great.
Saturday
I started the day with a cooked breakfast and a couple of episodes of Chicago Med
I had a great hour in the Prayer Centre soaking and reading
Lunch with some lovely ladies and a very good chat
I got a couple of (long-overdue) cupboards sorted out
A few hours of work and many things ticked off
Yummy homemade chilli nachos for tea with all the family
Casualty on TV
Sunday
A great service at church, with a pertinent message about belonging
Roast beef cooked for me
I got the weeks ironing out of the way
Fun rehearsal for the panto I am taking part in, in November
Off to see Jo Brand at the theatre in a few minutes and then a chicken kebab on the way home
Simple stuff, but it all makes for a happy and content Mich!
I hope you've had a great weekend too. Mich x
I'm linking this post up with Becky at Lakes Single Mum for Reasons to be Cheerful
Image
Credit: Lake Moraine by Garrett Parker on Unsplash
{Collaborative
post}
I often think that people miss a trick when they pass Canada over in favour of a visit to the United States. This massive country has so much going for it, like 79 million hectares of protected wilderness, long summer days, winters that don’t stop day-to-day life and the eTA Canada is incredibly easy to gain too.
Of course, when you start planning your trip to a foreign country you want to check out the costs, safety, climate, health and travel requirements, and Canada is a hit on all fronts. Once you have booked your trip and made sure that you have your travel insurance in place, you want to get your electronic travel authorization (or eTA) in process by filling out the Canada eta application, then you can sit back and start to plan all the truly exciting places that you will visit whilst in the country.
As Canada is so big, you’re either going to need to be there for some weeks to travel all round or you’ll need a few trips to the different areas. Let’s take a look at some of the amazing places you can visit to discover just how diverse Canada is.
1. Lake Moraine, Banff National Park, Alberta
Lake Moraine is only half the size of its sister, Lake Louise but many say it is even more beautiful. Well known for its clear turquoise colour, this glacier-fed lake is best viewed from late June through to August. In fact, you’ll only be able to visit from late May until early October as then the weather may become too harsh and unpredictable for the access road to be open. You can take one of the many trails along stone steps to see the magnificent mountain and lake views, including the iconic ten peaks.
I'm a little early but that's OK, as it's my blog and I can choose what I want to do. To be honest I've not been feeling the blogging mojo just recently. I think as I've started a new job and it's been the summer holiday I've just been really short of time.
I'm off to the Blog On conference tomorrow (my first one) and I am really hoping to re-find my love of blogging, and to want to get back in to writing. It should be a lot of fun, but I haven't been to a blogging conference for a couple of years now and I'm going on my own, so I am a tad nervous and want to make sure I find my confidence so I can chat to people.
To gte me in the right spirit for tomorrow I want to share my reasons to be cheerful for this week. These are all the simple moments that I am super grateful for.
It's been a productive week, workwise
Having fajitas and enjoying the company of my kids as we ate
I've joined the chorus of the village panto and we had our first practise. I think I'll have a lot of fun getting involved with this
I had a new fridge and freezer delivered and installed. This will make such a difference, as we were super tight for space
Clearing all the summer stuff out the dining room and taking it back up to the shed
Getting JJ's massive amount of Lego sold and out the house
Bleeding the radiators and the house toastie again
I've had some great walks around the grounds of my home
I had the most divine hot chocolate whilst soaking my feet (I really am an 80 year old in a 46 year olds body!)
Having a super chilled Friday with my parents, including liver and bacon for lunch, yummy!
I'm at Blog On today and keen to learn something new and to have my blogging fire reignited
Choosing not to stay overnight tonight and drink too much alcohol. This means I can get home and go to church with my family Sunday morning
See, it really is the simple things that can make me smile. I tend to find that when I remember to be grateful for the simple stuff, the big stuff takes care of itself.
Wishing you a great week ahead. Do share what has made you cheerful this week and feel free to link a post up with Becky at Lakes Single Mum for Reasons to be Cheerful.
Myself and my friend Rachel (Mid Life Single Mum) agreed we'd post every couple of weeks to stay accountable for how we are doing in relation to the changes we want to make to our lives. She suggested we do a Slimming Sunday post, as that was something we both used to do and I thought, yes great idea but then I've been thinking about posting yesterday and today and not feeling at all motivated.
As I mused why, I realised that my focus isn't on slimming. Yes, of course I need to lose a serious amount of weight, but that isn't so I'll be slim. Being slim and being able to dress in whichever clothes I fancy will be a nice bonus, but the main thing is to lose weight to improve my health and get rid of the many ailments I currently have.
On Friday 6th September I started to make choices that would lead to better health for me and I want to celebrate those good choices. There have been times, even days in the last week or so when I haven't been great, when my choice has perhaps been a poor one, but I don't want to linger on those times and beat myself up, I want to focus on the good and as such I'll link this post up with Reasons to be Cheerful as I am seriously grateful for the good choices I have been making, some of which will seem so silly to many but for me they are steps in the right direction - progress.
I faced the music and went to see my doctor to get weighed and to have my blood pressure checked. I was super pleased to find I was only 0.5kg more than when I last saw her about six months ago and my BP was fine.
I've had some great days food wise, making good choices and not feeling deprived because of them
I've been eating fruit. This might not sound much to many, but fruit I've always regarded as a waste of calories and I've chosen an apple, bananas and plums this week
I even muttered the words 'no, I'm not hungry' when offered something by JJ
I restarted at the gym and had a gym and a swimming session last week, at two different places. My membership gives me access to about six clubs and I intend to explore them all
I've been choosing to drink tea over coffee as this saves me milk and sugar in every cup
My water intake has been good and I've been remembering to hydrate
I haven't been allowing other peoples negative moods impact on me
I contacted my coach and we set up a meeting to talk and this always helps me to clear my thoughts and to be sure of where I am heading
I've been making more time to read and pray each each
It's been an acceptable start to making better choices and improving my life for the better. There is four years until I hit 50 and that feels like a great milestone to head towards.
In this day and age it is far to easy to allow time to whizz by and for all the family to do totally different activities. Of course it is healthy to spend time apart and they say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but I find it is also good to plan intentional time for all the family to be together.
We may not all love the same activity, but as long as we are doing things at some point that each family member enjoys then it is good to grow in tolerance and to partake in each others preferred activities.
Here are a few examples of the ways we like to spend time together as a family, I hope they'll encourage you to do the same. Of course, it isn't every day but at least once a week we have a good couple of hours where we all put down the phones and engage with each other.
1. Cycle, skate or scoot together
My family all love to cycle and the kids enjoy scooting as well. The girls then go one step further and are great roller skaters too. As for me, well I am not great with anything on just a couple of wheels, so if I am going to join the family for a fun family cycle I'd need to invest in a Jorvik adult tricycle, as three wheels will suit me much better I am sure!
2. Play Board Games
We all enjoy playing a good board game together, I think this is because I started to play with the kids from a young age. What started as snakes and ladders, progressed to Monopoly and now we love to play Risk or Catan.
My kids went back to school yesterday and I know I was supposed to have got them back in a routine of going to bed earlier and being ready to wake for the early mornings and I had good intentions, honestly, I did! But it just didn't seem to fall into place this year. I blame where we live, there is just too many fun things going on and the girls, in particular, want to be involved in everything.
Thankfully they all got up fine for their first morning back and I am determined to help them get back on track over the weekend. I assume there are other parents like me who didn't manage to get their kids back on track this last week so I thought it might be useful to share my tips for helping your child have a good nights sleep -
1. Check out your child's bed and mattress. I spent a night on Miss M's bed recently as she was poorly and had fallen asleep in my bed. I thought I'd be kind and leave her there for the night but boy did I regret it as her mattress is horrible, even though it is fairly new. You really are worth investing in a good mattress, so why not take a look at the beds from Bed Guru.
2. Keep sleep and wake times constant, even on the weekend. I've had to lay down the law with my 12-year-olds and tell them there is no more sitting quietly on the sofa and hoping to be forgotten, they need to be in bed by 9.30pm at the latest.
We've been to Port Lympne animal reserve a few times now and each visit has been so much fun. We've been in the summer when it was super busy and during a week day when the kids are at school and it feels like we're the only ones there (we're not!), and both occasions have been great fun. Earlier this week when most of the East Sussex and Kent schools had gone back we headed to Port Lympne with my mum and brother to visit for the first time. They'd heard so many great things from me that they didn't want to stay away.
Port Lympne is set is picturesque countryside, but it is quite a steep hill, so I was interested to see how we'd all cope as mum has COPD, I've got calf issues currently and my brother had a knee op earlier this year. I was so impressed that when I mentioned mum's condition to any of the staff they told me I could approach any member of staff with a radio, if we needed to, and they would get a minibus to take mum back to the top. It turned out we didn't need to, as we took it easy on the hills, made use of all the appropriately positioned benches and stopped to look at the animals as we went.
On the day we visited it was raining terribly when we awoke and we weren't too keen to wander around in the rain, so we left it a while for the weather to clear and thankfully by the time we got there at 1pm the skies were blue and the sun had come out. Mum was a little worried that we wouldn't get long at the park as we had only arrived at lunchtime but thankfully it doesn't close until 6.30pm, so we had plenty of time.
It's been a lovely summer and it feels like a very long one. We've had a short break in Kent and a couple of days in London and now my parents and brother are here staying for the week. I've been at work one day a week, and that's been a nice escape and the kids have all had time away at camp and grandparents.
But now I am ready for school to resume and normality to come back. I like a break and a rest, but then I love routine too and I really am craving some quite times to myself without any shouts of mum or moans as they wind each other up and bicker.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record I have realised (again) that I must lose weight and this isn't just something I fancy, it really is something I MUST do. I have developed carpel tunnel syndrome in one hand, I still have pains in my left foot that never go away, my calves ache after too vigorous exercise, I have arthritis in my knee joints and my right thigh goes numb/ has pins and needles if I stand for too long. Add that to asthma and high blood pressure and you can see that I need to do what I can to try and give my body a fair chance at being healthy.
I've been burying my head in the sand for too long and I need to put as much effort into my own health as I do to anything else in my life. Nothing else will give me the quality of life that a healthier body would, so it completely makes sense to invest in that area. It really does seem crazy that I choose to eat too much and the wrong foods, rather than sacrificing a few calories.
We've visited the National Trust site Sheffield Park a couple of times before and both times had a lovely visit, but recently with the kids away my husband and I decided to visit again and see what the colours and plant life were like in the summer months (we visited at the beginning of August).
Sheffield Park is acres of landscaped gardens, surrounded by parkland and woodland. There is a gorgeous looking stately home there too, but that is a private residence and you can only see if from afar.
So far my favourite time to visit has been Autumn as there is an abundance of colour across the gardens and we could see this developing in August. The colours at this time of year mostly seem to come from the trees and foliage. There isn't really many floral plants there.
I do love the four lakes, they are probably my favourite feature and there is a nice variety of styles and bridges that you can cross and get great pictures on. You can really see the influence of Capability Brown.
Happy Saturday friends! I hope you've been well and enjoying Summer. I have a double whammy edition of Reasons to be Cheerful today as last weekend we'd been away for my birthday and then I was doing a car boot sale so I didn't have time to get one organised.
I thought I'd share some simple moments of joy with you from the last couple of weeks.
Strawberry picking with my girls, we managed to get the very last of this years crop.
Playing with our cat. He really does love the laser light and a ribbon on a stick, we had him running everywhere!
Simple moments in London. On the way home from the theatre, after a bus ride through London the girls were thrilled to find this very cool wall near our hotel. Totally perfect for Instagram!
I love to get away with the family but with three
adult sized kids, it is becoming harder and harder to find an affordable option
that has enough flexibility to allow us all to be happy and relaxed. Air BnB
seems to have become our accommodation of choice. I can opt for a whole house,
with enough bedrooms and also choose the other factors that are important to
our family like good WiFi, easy parking and a garden.
We first stayed in one back in 2017, when we stayed at
the White House in Fakenham, then again earlier this year at Squirrel Court in Bradford and
recently we spent a few very pleasant days at Ro’s Place close to Whitstable in
Kent. This Air BnB only opened up in April this year, so it’s new to the market
and as such I thought I’d share about our stay there.
Just a few minutes walk from the house is the seafront
It was my birthday earlier this week and our family had decided to have a night staying up in London, along with a theatre show. We were pondering what we might do on our second day when BuyAGift offered me the chance for us all to visit London Zoo, on one of their experience day vouchers.
I was very happy to take them up on this and I was thrilled to see that if we had bought one of their family London Zoo entry vouchers for £76 (based on 2 adults and 2 kids), we would have been making a great saving against the advance ticket price for the same, direct with the zoo. A saving of just over £14 on an off-peak day and nearly £20 for a peak weekend date. No worrying about peak and off-peak with the BuyAGift voucher though, that can be used any time for 10 months from purchase.
I've worked with and bought BuyAGift vouchers before, as you can often find really good deals. I've made sure I am signed up for their newsletters and then I get to know when there are deals like 10 or 15% off. One of my favourite deals to buy when there are special discounts on, is the Prezzo 3 course meal and a glass of wine for 2 people.
I was pleased to find that using our BuyAGift voucher was super easy too. Sometimes you have to convert your voucher online and book in advance, but not so with the London Zoo one, we literally had to turn up to the gate and exchange it for entry. It was really easy.
As I turn 46, I find myself thinking about my life and what has passed. What I'm doing now and what the future might hold. I've recently taken on a new part-time job and I'm very much enjoying doing that for two days a week, along with my freelance work, for another two days a week. These commitments still give me time to volunteer, shop, exercise and be available for the kids too.
I've definitely got a good balance right now and being in a Christian environment is the right thing for me at the moment, but I do have those times when I pass the seafront hotels in Eastbourne and I wonder if the future might take me back to my hotel and catering roots. At age 14 I decided that I wanted to be a hotel manager, I'd been inspired by my Grandad who was a chef in the navy and then worked as a chef and catering manager in many local places.
From the minute I left school I was training for my future, I went to college and trained to be a hotel manager, and I took my chefing qualifications as well. I then went to Uni and did a Hospitality degree, knowing I'd be a hotel manager when I left, and I was. I had a couple of years with Friendly Hotels as a Trainee Manager, learning the trade from the bottom up, adding to my work experience that started when I was 13 years old.
Most of us spend hours on our smartphones. We have
become very reliant on them. So much so that smartphone separation anxiety has
become an actual condition. We love these little devices and would find it hard to
live without them.
Yet, most of us are only scratching the surface when
it comes to what our phones can do for us. As you will see below, with the help
of the right apps you can start to build a more financially secure future for
yourself and your family. Sounds good, right?
Invest on the fly
Using this investment app,
you can keep track of the investments you already have. But, perhaps more
importantly, it also enables you to invest on the fly. So, for example, if you
get a bonus from work, you can immediately identify a way to invest that cash.
This will stop you from frittering that bonus away over the weekend.
Track what you are spending
Managing your day to day spending is critical if you
want to stay out of debt. Knowing how much the essentials of life cost and
budgeting accordingly can easily be done using a money management app. One of
the best ones on the market is Mint.
As well as letting you set and stick to a budget, the
Money Dashboard app has several additional features built-in. For example,
alerts that tell you when your bills are due.
I'm really enjoying the summer and I hope you are too. I think it helped immensely that I had a whole week without any children! My hubby and I had a great time, visiting a National Trust park, going our for dinner, seeing a Tina Turner tribute act, going to the cinema and getting coffee! It has been bliss and shhh, no I didn't actually have time to miss them!
The kids all had a great time away as well. The girls were at our church youth camp, with around 8000 other people and JJ was with my parents.
We're fully into the summer holiday now and I'm sure you might have heard the dreaded words 'I'm bored' so far. No matter what, every kid seems to get in this rut and I've always believed that my kids need to break through the boredom barrier. It's good for them to be bored for a little while, as that is when they engage their creative mind and start to think laterally about what they used to or could do.
It's so easy for teens (especially boys) to get stuck in a rut and end up endlessly playing computer games, surfing the web or getting immersed into social media but we all know that too much of it isn't good for us, on so many levels - our physical health, our mental health and our ability to converse and communicate with others.
Here are a few ideas that aren't going to break the bank, that may just help you get your teen away from their screen. Of course, you have to be realistic, they probably aren't going to thank you initially, as they think they want to spend 24/7 glued to their phone or laptop.
1. Volunteering / Work Experience
This one will depend on the age of your teen and realistically it probably should have been sorted out before now, but whats friends or family do you have who they could accompany to work for the day? My son has done voluntary work gardening, learning maintenance tasks, working in a cafe and marshaling traffic. Each has been great experience for him and provided something different to his skill set.
Don't just assume your teen is too young or that they shouldn't be working yet (childhood is for fun) these kind of educational days can excite, inspire and develop your teen.
Morning all, I hope everyone is well and enjoying the summer holidays. Reasons to be Cheerful is back with me for the month of August and I'm hoping to be a cheery example and inspire you to share all those things (big and small) that have made you smile, if only for a moment. Life isn't always good but there are always glimmers of hope there, when you are brave enough to look for them.
A Fabulous few days in Kent
Last week we had 3 nights away in Whitstable before the busy summer kicked off for my husband at work. It was really great as we were only 90 minutes away from home, but it was far enough to be totally new and a lot of fun. We loved spending time on the local beaches as the sun went down.
Thrills at Dreamland, Margate
We received free wristbands to enjoy the day at the Dreamland theme park and we had such a great time. It was far too hot but that didn't put the girls off going on so many rides! We all truly loved it there and would definitely visit again. I've written a review over here.
We're Kid Free!
The girls are away at a camp with our church and JJ is at my parents this week, so dh and I have had the house to ourselves. We been out to dinner, coffee and the theatre. It's been very nice, if a little unusual!
We've still got nearly five weeks left of the summer holidays and lots of fun things planned, as well as some down time for chilling. I plan on having a fabulous time!
Come and Join In!
I'd love to read your Reasons to be Cheerful and it is as easy as 1, 2, 3 to join in -
1. Link up a post about something that is making you super happy/ grateful. It can be in this style or it can be anything you like - a recipe, a tutorial, a from the heart, a list - it's your blog, you choose
2. Add the #R2BC badge onto your post or blog so that people can easily find the linky and join in too if they fancy
3. Share the love. This is the really important bit. Please don't just link and run, comment on at least a couple of posts and why not share with #R2BC too?
I'll stop by all linked up posts to comment and I'll share on twitter too
