Musings - Reasons to be cheerful #R2BC

Reasons to be cheerful. #R2BC

Like the founder of Reasons to be Cheerful I have found this week a bit trying, all trivial things but still enough to keep that frown upside down.

But I did make a pact with myself to be more optimistic, to see the bright side of the dull (even if I have to turn the dull over and over in my hands until I find that glimmer).

So today I have decided to list three things (I am going to stick to the three things again in order not to bore you all to tears) that have vexed me this week but also tell you how I am dealing with it… Little Miss Sunshine style… with a smile and as much cheer I can muster.

Anyway…

1. Everyone I have come into contact with this week has made me feel surplus to requirements, insignificant, the person that can be forgotten and messed about – But from the gloom of being the great overlooked I have written some poetry for the first time since September. I have hardened my heart and taken myself to task about relying on myself to make me happy. I feel bizarrely positive about it.

2. The Kid gave me a cold; snot, cough, aches, foggy head; the lot! – And though I feel wretched, by passing it on to me she is feeling a whole lot better. I figure that makes me a really good mother ha ha. 

3. I weighed myself. I have put on 9 lbs. this month which is both shameful and disgusting but really puzzling – Yet, like being overlooked it has given me the kick start I needed to get back on the healthy eating band wagon. I have set myself a weight loss target for the summer! There is nothing more cheerful than a target to aim for… or rather the reward I have planned for myself if I reach it. I can’t tell you, it’s slightly wicked.

In summary… I guess my main reason to be cheerful this week is that I am not going to let myself be beaten. And as everyone out there knows, sometimes that’s hard.

:) xx

Holiday - Day 7: Warkworth Castle and Oreo Ice Cream

As the sun decided to keep shining today we headed off for a little English Heritage. Northumberland is littered with Castles and so we thought for the last day what would be better than to walk the ruins.

We bypassed Alnwick for Warkworth Castle. The original home of the Percy family who debunked to Alnwick in their later generations.


Even though a lot of this castle is made up of crumbled walls and greener than green grassy areas you could still get a feel of what it would have been like to ride up to the gates on your stead and wait to be permitted entrance. The tower and the architecture in general took you back, made you long for the pride and glory of simpler times.

After the castle we moved on Amble for a spot of Harbour lunch and an Oreo Cookie Ice Cream from a specialist Dairy Farm. How can you not love a farm shop that sells only ice cream and has photographs of their cows on the walls... Like I said above, pride and glory ha ha.


It feels sad that this is our final day, there is just no appeal to go home... Maybe if I lived in a Castle... :) xx


- Posted with the i rather than the net...

Photo - Caught in the reflection...

So I twirled the mirror around in a wee circle until I found something in our living room to snap a photo of...


I happened upon the husband. :) xx


- Posted on the move...

Musings - Target set...

From close of work today I have set myself a writing target of 3000 words. This has to be achieved before I retire to bed on Sunday.


And it has to be freehand. I am going old school, going to see if pen and paper can get me all inspired again.

Fingers crossed... ;) xx

- Posted with a plan...

Musings - Is thirty past it?..

Thirty and flirty and thriving?


Right, by thirty I take it they mean after thirty-two because, while I might have the smile of the flirt down, thriving I am not.

What is to thrive? Let’s find some synonyms… flourish, prosper, succeed, boom, bloom and blossom? Increase? I take it I am supposed to be more than I am, or at least want more than I am and have an aim to be it, get it and have it?

So let’s be all Sound of Music about it and start at the beginning… what do I want?

Top 3 that come to mind without any thought, just finger to key:
1. To be able to have a successful career as a writer.
2. To be financially secure and have the benefits of that security.
3. To have someone look me in the eye and know that I have blown their mind.

The first two points are obviously, for the most part, intertwined and relatively within my control. EFFORT EFFORT EFFORT! Make some!
And the third point, well, let’s not dwell on that one two much as this one is customarily reserved for my alter ego leading lady.

Now I need a game plan. A challenge! I do so love a challenge. Maybe I need to push myself more, my alter ego leading lady is not as patient as she once was.

Top 3 challenges that come to mind without any thought, just finger to key:
1. Write 30 poems from July 2012 to June 2012. One year, barely a poem per week, in the same format and all ending with a sonnet … line.
2. Write 30 reviews from July 2012 to June 2012 (are you sensing a theme) on anything that I watch, visit or buy. And put some effort into the review!
3. Read 30 books, okay I am not going to type that again, over the next year and in no less than 500 words talk about it. I know this is like a review but I wanted the additional challenge of actually reading.

So, in theory, I should be able to undertake and achieve my challenges. Right?

It doesn’t look that hard, thirty is a nice even easy number… it’s flirty. :) xx


- Posted on the move...

Musings - One for the Money...

A review...

Usually I like to read a book before I watch the adaptation, though if the page version is a little hard going then admittedly I cheat. Like with The Time Traveller’s Wife; I tried to get past the first couple of chapters but in the end succumbed to the allure of Eric Bana in an effort to read on un-confused. And it worked; I ended up loving both the film and the novel. Same really with Nicholas Sparks, I always love the amount of emotion that goes into his adaptions and I feel watching them first only adds to the reading experience. Would Nick think the same? I don’t know, but if thinking of Zac Efron means I can read The Lucky One in a Sunday afternoon and ended up sobbing at the end that can only be good, right?

Anyway, to the point of this post… a couple of weeks ago me and the husband, the husband and I, watched ‘One For The Money’ starring Katherine Heigl and Jason O’Mara. I really enjoyed it but felt something was lacking. The characters were fun, likeable and the actors worked well together. But something was missing. It was only after watching it that I found out that the film was actually based on a novel of the same name by Janet Evanovich. Being a book lover and a bit shame faced that I didn’t know it was a book, I bought it. And when it arrived I read it in a ridiculously short amount of time, even for me.



You see I LOVED the book. Where I had appreciated the film, reading the book made it clear what was missing. Sure the characters were still the same, portrayed very well by Katherine and Jason, and the plot on the most part was true… the thing missing was Janet’s wit. Very rare do I read a book where I feel that I am listening to a story told like a tale by the author. One for the money was one of them. Janet reeled me in and left me wanting more when I had finished. Lucky for me there are currently eighteen books in the Stephanie Plum series. I have already bought the next two and am eagerly awaiting their arrival.

So after nearly 400 words, what I am trying to say is… I recommend One For The Money, in both formats. Both are entertaining, witty, easy to read and watch with a plot and characters what really make you want more more more. :) xx

- Posted on the move...

Musings - Moi, moi, moi...

Have you ever taken the time to write a paragraph about yourself? An about me?

It is actually a lot harder than you think! I tried it… an hour later I had deleted several inane lines of shallow description and developed a frown line.

I found myself with a number of questions:
What do people want to know?
What do I want them to know?
What am I willing to disclose?
Am I brave enough?
Am I interesting enough?

I decided to let my fingers type to a natural pause and simply read ‘me’ back. This is my about me…



Hi… I’m Stacy.

I have blonde hair, blue eyes and petit facial features which I hide behind a pair of terracotta spectacles. I am of average build, average height and average pretty much everything else. I excel at little and coast at a lot. I like to read, watch and listen, making me an observer rather than a doer. I am left handed, live by an inner imaginary soundtrack made up of soft rock songs and my iPhone is usually glued to my hand. I am a Nicholas Sparks quote ‘I am a common (wo)man with common thoughts and I have led a common life…’ but I have had neither the joy nor the tragedy to warrant a full page.

I like eyes and I like the intimacy of their contact. My heart races on a daily basis and my heart aches just as much. I play at being happy in those moments when I am not, often a fraud in my own skin. But I fake a sparkle well, I can always have an interest in your interests, you can count on that. I am dependable, understandable, a nifty phone a friend. Daughter, woman, wife, mother, me occurring in that order with the exception of the ‘me’. Have I found me yet? I had plans for my life, now I have new plans. I want to make my daughter proud; I figure I have a few years yet to get my act together or rather my write together. I openly blog each day about that day but I am shy by nature. I am not the life of the party but I am the smile of laughter when the music dies.

I am hopeful that there is some exceptionality in my veins; I am optimistic at least, a realist with an optimistic outlook… I know the glass is half empty but I am willing to top that metaphorical liquid to the top. Someday, somehow, somewhere you will know me and think ‘I remember her, she used to be ordinary.’ And you will be wrong. I will still be ordinary… I will just have found a way to make you believe that to live life like you are dreaming out loud is to be remarkable.

Now it’s your turn… :) xx


- Posted wryly...

Musings - Barriers...

I feel oddly closed off today. I have a wall around me, so to speak.


I don't know if it is because I feel tired or that I feel down but I have this urge to hide away somewhere quiet and ask that people just leave me be.

I feel very selfish today, how odd. :( xx


- Posted on the move...

Photo - Literary relief...

Finally!!!

Finally I finished Fifty Shades (of drivel) and I am able to move on to something more entertaining.


'A Load of Old Bones' by Suzette A. Hill is an entertaining murder mystery from the point of view of not only the local Vicar but the cat and dog as well.

I think I am just looking forward to reading without a constant frown on my face. :) xx


- Posted with book in hand...

Photo - Gereing up...

You may have noticed my spelling mistake in the title above... It's intentional!

You see, today in the post, Richard arrived in his glorious white suit. Richard Gere that is (get it) and the film being An Officer and a Gentleman.


My friend had never seen it, and despite us believing otherwise, neither me nor my Mother owned it. So I bought it. For £3.65.

I can't wait to watch it! The eighties had the best films. :) xx


- Posted on the move...

Musings - Me with a smile...

There are not many pictures I like of myself, I am sure I am not the only one who feels like hiding when they see a camera being waved in their direction.

So when I do find one I like I use it for everything! Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace... You name it!

And I love this one...


But the amount of puddings in front of me will definitely have to be cropped ha ha. :) xx


- Posted on the move...

DIARY - 9th April to 15th April 2012

This week has been about three things…
1. Having no clue what I have done with my time,
2. Finding that the house has more toys in it than anything else,
3. Turning 90, him not me.

So Monday was Bank Holiday and spent still visiting in Stafford and then travelling home. But as for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I can not recall a thing. It is almost like those days did not exist but they had to have… because while I might be quite fanciful, the world just isn’t.

I remember going to my slimming class, but let us not talk about that. I remember finding out that I am once again moving offices, and I feel a rant coming on every time I think about it. And I remember watching The Vampire Diaries… so some things occurred if not that overly exciting. Sorry Ian Somerhalder, Matthew Davis outshone you this week.

Following Katharine’s birthday, our house is littered with toys. They have found their way into every room, are under foot, hidden in handbags and are so obtrusive in their sounds, size and silliness that I feel like I will get buried under the lot and never be found again. She will have to wait until next year before she gets anything else! And then it will be a single book which she can sit and read quietly.

Friday was my Step-Granddad’s 90th birthday party. It was held at the local YMCA which was always going to be entertaining. The drinks didn’t cost a fortune, the buffet was delicious and music, which was clearly aimed at my folks generation, was toe tapping. I even got Katharine on the dance floor for a boogie. I can’t wait until she is old enough to really take a turn with me. We will be swinging and grooving the night away.

The weekend has been full of vegetating, eating too much food and trying to shake off the melancholy. I think it has been a week of post Easter Holiday blues. But I need to get my moxi back as it is now only nine sleeps until I see NKOTB live in Manchester!!!!

My advice for next week… get your head in the game folks, we only live once!

Musings - Mama Kats Workshop (12th April 2012)

I am joining in Mama Kat's writing workshop this week as I haven't for a while and I promised to make more of an effort.

The prompt I chose this week was 1) What did you want your name to be?

Firstly I would like to start with reasons why I don't feel much like the name I was given...

My name is Stacy and, let's face it, you can't help but have noticed that girls with my name are always the Cheerleader who dies first... usually from a particularly nasty Zombie bite.

My name is Stacy and my name was voted most likely (somewhere) to be a bunny in the Playboy Mansion.

My name is Stacy and if you google that one word and click on the images all you get are semi-naked greased tanned blonde women in very revealing poses.

My name is Stacy and people generally underestimate me because of it.

I have never cheered in formation, other than a Mexican wave, only about 5% of me is prosthetic, I am not a porn star and I am smarter than you might think. Rant rant rant! And I know all you Marmaduke's and MoonUnits out there are thinking 'Really? Stacy? You are moaning about that?'. But being blonde, bubbly and called the S word... I am definitely smarter than you might think, damn it! :)

But my exclamation marks are mostly in jest, it could have been worse and as lately I have had trouble chosing the name of another I can appreciate the effort my parents put into it.

Yet if I remember rightly, during our games of let's pretend as a child, I wanted to be called Tiffani... but if you google that I doubt it is much of an improvement. :) xx

www.mamakatslosinit.com

Photo - 365...

I have recommended these books before but seriously... You HAVE to read them.

'Conspiracy 365' by Gabrielle Lord.


They are addictive, especially as each book starts with the highest page number and counts down until you reach the back cover. Fast and furious and a fabulous read. :) xx


- Posted on the move...

Photo - Where I get paid...

Well there is nothing like a week at home to make going back in to work feel so very wrong ha ha. Hey ho and all that... :) xx


- Posted on the move...

Musings - G for Get yourself in order...

No one keeps their USB memory device all neat and organised, if you say you do you are lying or completely anal and clearly have too much time on your hands. My memory stick, my external HD as my netbook calls it, is a disgrace.

Photos are misfiled all over the place meaning that there are potentially several copies of the same ones.
I have a folder for each project I am working on yet most of them are still empty because I haven’t gotten around to filing all my project bits in them.

Every time get a new computer or laptop (I seem to kill them on a regular basis) I simply copy all the ‘my documents’ into a folder on my HD and label it OLD LAPTOP or TO SORT. I currently have three to sorts, an old laptop and a ‘FROM NETTY’.

I have this fear though, however irrational, about sorting out my stuff. Because I know that I will remember that I once had a certain about of dedication to my writing, my blog, my life… I will read through my musings and laugh, and then feel sad because I am no longer funny. Sigh. I will look at how I used to love documenting my existence, my dreams and how I was so readily inspired.
When I first started my blog I had grit and depth… now I am falling asleep by 9pm.

I used to write a diary, once a week, summing up what had happened in the last seven days. It WAS humorous! It WAS a good read! But back then I had interesting things to say. I had wit, damn it. I would put aside the time to write 600 words on what had occurred and I loved doing it.

Now I have to put time aside to remember to make a packed lunch for an almost one year old.
SO… to the point of this post… I am reinstating the diary! It might not be every week but I am gonna give it a try.

So let me start in a format that always warmed me to follow…
This (last) week has been about three things…
1. Falling all over again for one quarter of McFly
2. Walking in the sunshine and feeling marvellous for it
3. Worrying about the fact that there are only poor schools near our house.

And my advice for next week… Love thy neighbour for if they move they may just sell to someone really horrible.

And get that memory stick in order!
:) xx

Musings - Like any good woman...

I have pondered all day about what this post should be about. I set myself a challenge last year to write a post every day for a year, this is the first day that I have not been able to come up with anything. My mind is blank.

You see... I don't want to write another post about Motherhood, even though I love it, or randomly take part in one of the writing challenges I have found recently, even though I love that too. Or post a photograph which is often a cop out.

You see (bare with me)... today I feel discombobulated and I wanted to tell you about it. You, the random public who I know so little about yet feel I can often spill my heart to.

You see (still there?)... by discombobulated I mean I am ill at ease with myself, I feel itchy in my body, my mind refuses to sit still and every few moments I sigh. Sigh like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders and an icy fist squeezing at my insides. It sounds fanciful but I am feeling fanciful.

Like any good woman I have the need to be alone. To curl up with a blanket, a soppy movie, a mug of hot chocolate and a good cry. And like any good woman I don't really know the reason why. Or rather I do but won't admit it, not to me or you my random public.

Sigh... See!

"Oi with the poodles already!" Yeah, I said it for you! :) xx

Musings - Mama Kats Workshop (1st December 2011)

Wanna have some writing fun? Check out www.mamakatslosinit.com!

Today Mama Kat is asking us about ourselves, asking for a list of this and that and those and them. So here goes...

5 Things you don't know about me...
* I have a new celebrity crush every other week.
* My favourite flower is anything shaped like a daisy.
* I got married in an ivory dress but wore pink shoes. :)
* As a teenager I had so many posters on my  bedroom walls that there was not an inch of wallpaper visible.
* I write with my left hand but do everything else with my right.

5 Things I am knowledgeable about...
* How to make the perfect Mocha Coffee without the use of a fancy machine.
* The art of reading even in the most distracting of places.
* Film trivia... who starred in what and the nonsence and what not.
* Okay... I am struggling with this one?
* And this one! I will no doubt think of something in the wee hours and think darn it! :)

5 Things I know nothing about...
* The art of fly fishing.
* Tuning a guitar even though I claim to play one.
* Politics (and I am not even going to try).
* The appeal of Brad Pitt. I just dont get it!
* The engine of my car, I have a husband for that... right?

5 Things I believe...
* Our lives are merely following a pre-determined path.
* That while I grew my baby, the Angel Gabriel nurtured her soul.
* The egg came before the chicken.
* I am a reincarnated soul and I have been 'here' many times before.
* That Great Britian is sadly going to the dogs.


So that's me... :) xx

Musings - On my back door...

Do you ever feel that you never really explore the place that you live? That your life is spent on your own doorstep?

Well, today we have gone for a drive to Ilkley. A local place that is renowned for it's beautiful landscapes and amazing views. It only took us 20 miles to get there.

How fantastic are the colours... Simply breathtaking in my opinion and with not one bit of photo messing.

I'm not sure if we can trek too much today with the baby but I am glad she at least got to see it.

:) xx

Blogging without my sofa - using BlogPress from my iPhone.

Musings - Mama Kat's Workshop (27th October 2011)

This week I have been stuck. There are two prompts I would like to complete...

Last week I listed for you 22 things that I had never done so naturally I am drawn to the first prompt to tell you 22 things I have done. But then you see thinking about what scared me as a child had me laughing so much that I wanted to share that too.

So I am going to cheat and do both. However, so that you readers don't get bored I will only tell you 11 things, whet your appetite so to speak. So here goes...

Something that scared the Hell out of you when you were a child.

The picture here is a movie poster from Ghoulies 2. It was releases in 1988, when I would have been an impressionable seven or eight years old.

I remember exactly when I saw it.

We had pulled up to the petrol station. Petrol was being pumped and I just happened to turn to my left. And there it was... my biggest nightmare.

(Who ever designed that poster needs a good kick to the shin!)

I froze, horrified...

Then for weeks after I was terrified of going up stairs to the toilet alone. I would force one of my parents to wait at the foot of the stairs, every landing, bedroom and bathroom light would be switched on, I would actually look down the toilet before I sat down. Then, when I was done, I would charge back down stairs into the safety of the living room and a Ghoul free zone.

A child has never moved from one floor of a house to the other so fast. I swear I set records.

I still remember the fear now. That awful gut wrenching feeling of anticipation of doom.

Very dramatic, huh? But then I was only seven. :) xx

Now... 11 things that I have done.

1. Been to see open air Shakespeare at Stafford Castle five years in a row.

2. Successfully breed fifty two Bearded and Rankin's Dragons from conception, egg laying, hatching, growing and then off to pastures new. :)
 
3. Met Dennis Waterman when he was filming in our village. (If you are not sure who he is, give him a google).

4. Seen a shooting star on my sixteenth birthday, I find that special.

5. Walked on the Great Wall of China

6. Taken the Megabus to London. Only cost £5 return from Yorkshire to the capital but it took... HOURS! :)

7.Married a man in a Irish Tartan Kilt (him not me, ha ha).

8. Succumbed to peer pressure and indulged in an iPhone 4. How common of me!

9. Had one of those moments in a train station with a man where you wait until the last moment to kiss him, then as you pull away on the train and watch him through the glass realise that you will never see him again and it is going to be one of the big regrets of your life.

10. Won tickets to the BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend music festival (2007).

And finally...

11. Grown a beautiful baby inside my tummy, how amazing is that!

So come on, join in! :) xx

Mama Kat's Writing Workshop!