Groovy Mums,

As you all know, I try to take part in the Groovy Mums blog hop over at Kate On Thin Ice's place.
As you all know also, I'm a bit rubbish at all this 'organisational skills' stuff (ahem, lazy, ahem) but from time to time I find the will to live, love & blog & give it a stab!

Kate sets us challenges, which are optional. Here are this weeks & how I've got on:


1. Body – What new ways can you find to take exercise?  Check out what is offered at your local leisure centres and community venues.  Is there something you could do at home to increase your fitness?

Running hasn't been going so well. You probably know by now that I'm running the Great North Run this year for Mind. I'm doing this because I suffer from mental health issues & Mind are a charity doing a lot of good for people in similar situations & their loved ones too. Please take a look at my page & if you like what you see then please sponsor me, just a pound is more than fine!
I love swimming & I go when I can, but with the girls to look after all the time it can be a bit tricky even working out time to go for a run, never mind to bob down to the pool & do all that wet-swimwear-stuck-to-bits-it-shouldn't-be-stuck-to palava!

2. Mind – It is Depression Awareness Week.  Have you experienced depression?  Do you know how to spot the signs of depression in your loved ones and others?  Check out http://blackdogtribe.com for information and support with mental health issues.  They are also asking for your stories.

If you think that you or a loved one are suffering then you should follow the link for Mind, above, & also check out the Black Dog Tribe (link also above). They're a bit bloody good, & offer support for all. Also, Ruby Wax heads it, so it's got to be good! If I have the time & energy then perhaps I will go & submit my story to them.

3. Blogging – Did you know http://britmums.com publish round-ups of good posts on certain issues such a food, politics, special needs, green issues, health and more?  Why not promote your posts to the editors of these round-ups and raise your profile?


No Kate, I did not know that! I should probably get on it!

4. Special Days – This week saw us marking St George’s Day.  Is there a dragon that you need to tackle in your life?

Dragons, Ogres, Trolls & the bloody oven needs cleaning too.

5. Charity Connections- Get shopping online and hundreds of retailers will give a percentage of what you spend to a charity of your choice.  Click here http://www.give.as/kateonthinice  and register for free for Give As You Live with your name and email address.  Do it today!  You don’t have to spend any money now but it means when you do shop online you can ensure some of the money goes to a good cause.  Why wouldn’t you?  When you click, you will see poppies because I am personally raising money for the Royal British Legion but you can register here and then when you shop, you can select a charity of your choice.

Done! Do it too. Do it...

6. The Big Question – What has the last year brought you? Are you happy with it?

Holy crap, that's a very big question.

This last year has brought me, in no particular order:

• A Baby (surprise!)...
• & with that a very joyous day.
• A new home, & it's not all bad.
• Extreme exaserbation of a mental health problem.
• Dark days, the likes of which I've never experienced before.
• Good days, which are so much more appreciated thanks to all of the above.
• Huge change & upheaval, some good, some not so good.
• A lot of new blogger friends  & a few 'real life' ones too.
• Confirmation that I am fairly good at some things I enjoy, such as writing.
• A new health mission & goal to run a half marathon.
• 57 bibs.
• Better skin.
• Terrible hair.
• A penchant for pedicures & facials (which I cannot afford, for sure)

Am I happy with it?

I have learned, this year, that happiness is not a destination, it is not something you should strive to arrive at. I'm not just going to suddenly wake up & realise that I'm happy & sadness will never touch me again. That would be dull. But I've realised that despite all the awful feeling that I've experienced this past year, happiness is something that will always come back around & hopefully one day in the not so distant future I'll find a nice balance & be able to get on with it all, just taking the good with the bad & taming those beasts depression & anxienty.

I'll tell you what this year hasn't brought me though...

These:

But, fear not world, for it is not too late...

Why not just have a little look-see...

I'm a size seven, by the way.

Sunday, Floaty Sunday.

Sundays are usually the days that I wish I could be doing not much & just floating around in my nighty as I used to, drinking cup of tea after cup of tea & enjoying every morcel of whichever delicious breakfast I'd chosen to treat myself to: Pancakes & syrup? Bacon sandwich? Poached eggs?

Recently, Sundays have been busy: Sundays have been days seized to visit loved-ones; take much needed shopping trips or to complete tasks for which completion is essential before the baby's arrival.

The living room in my old flat was huge & had one large window stretching almost to the top of the decadently high ceiling which looked out onto the street below. The light would stream through this window on a morning & I enjoyed looking out at the people walking by, wondering what Sunday business they were going about & feeling very satisfied that I could do as I pleased in my sunny Sunday living room.

Now, our living room is smaller yet more homely & often much tidier than my old living room ever was. The window in our current living room is a wide bay window & in the afternoon we get the sun's generously warm rays pouring in. Even on the dullest of days it seems to fill the room with a warmth that I never had in my old living room

Though I much prefer home as it is now six days a week, I do yearn for my floaty-Sunday ritual.

Today was a Sunday I would rather forget, & one I probably shall. I had nothing on my agenda & thought to myself that I might just enjoy the day. I finished work yesterday & so it was my first official day of maternity leave & we all know that maternity leave is for sitting around in your pyjamas & eating biscuits (something that I am extremely good & well-practised at) but something just wasn't right. My nighty used for floating has long since disintergrated & even had it not I doubt that it would fit over my bump. I had the pleasure of being brought a cup of tea in bed by that ever-wonderful man of mine & leisurely coming downstairs to be greeted with a bacon sandwich, once again courtesy of that man. This was lovely. Wonderful. I am very lucky. But I am also very slow to start - very lazy - & so my Sunday did not start. I simply arrived in Sunday & did hardly anything for myself. I did nothing but I did not enjoy doing nothing.

So, my mission is simply to re-claim Sunday, floaty Sunday. A nighty, a ritual & copious amounts of tea are going to make a return into my life. Just on a Sunday.

Watch this Sunday space.

What's inside our Pea Green Pod?

It's all about this one...so far.