It's been a while.....

So, it's been a couple of weeks since I last blogged. What have I been up to?! Been a bit busy you see. I've had two cracking nights out and have another one tonight. Nights out for me are like buses, you wait ages for one then they all come at once!

Night out number one was seeing my friends band, always a brilliant night. Us girls (the wags!!) get together and have a cracking time watching the boys play.  We have a boogie and a few drinks and generally have a good laugh. This was the night it snowed. We only had a sprinkling really but we were shocked when we looked out the window at about quarter past eleven to see a white car park. We made it home ok though thank god.  The next day we all went out for breakfast then my friend and I went to a local cafe/restaurant/farm shop. One of our favourite places to visit for a cuppa and a chat. (Yes I know we spent the whole evening together the night before but there is always something to chat about is there not!!) They have a butchers section and I managed to get some really good priced chicken breasts.  I split them up and froze them. They will keep us going for a while. As they are such a good size and quality two feeds all a three of us.

Night number two was to see another band at a local bar with a different group of friends. My crazy pal (meant in the nicest possible way 😊) brought along a surprise guest (her hubby!) I also met her mother who is an absolute cracking lady and a few people I didn't know. Her mum boogied all night bless her, I know when my friend gets it from. As well as the band, a chap did a fill in spot in between the band.  Oh my god he was fantastic. He got the crowd going. His name was Lauran Luke. If you ever get the chance to see him if he is playing in a pub near you, snap up the chance, you won't be disappointed. 

Now, I am a people watcher and there is no better place to watch people than on a night out. I am not a great dancer by any means but when you see others dancing, sometimes it makes me ok with how I dance. The first night out there was a girl, now call me old if you like, but when she danced she was on the verge of flashing her undercrackers to everyone!  She clearly knew what she was doing with how she was dancing, but I've got to admit none of us could stop watching her and cringing !! The second night out there was a girl in a winter coat and scarf, jeans and trainers and she was doing some random dance and then get kinda bunny hopping in the middle of it.  Again we couldn't stop watching. I don't really know how to describe it but we did have a snigger to ourselves. Another bloke just kinda swayed and some girl did some crazy arm dancing, I have no idea what that was all about!! I'm sure when I dance people also laugh at me. Please don't be offended by what I've said, there is nothing funnier than people watching.  I'm sure you all have, but if you have never done it, I recommend you give it a go. It can keep you entertained for hours. Of course there are those that really can dance and there's nothing better than watching someone who can really move to music.

I wonder what tonight's night out will bring? I am out with my other friend to see the band again. I have to admit I prefer their kinda music, (I am a rock chick at heart but find it difficult to turn down the opportunity to see any band)  back with the wags, well they are wags, I'm not but that didn't stop them making me an honory member of the wag brigade. I only knew my friend initially when I went along but they took me into their fold and for that I am forever grateful. I feel I have made some good friends in them over the 6 years, (is it really 6yrs??!) that I have known them.  I don't get to go to every gig they do because primarily I am a mummy but i go whenever I can. It might also be a sad night as the band is unfortunately splitting up. Some of the guys have other commitments like inconsiderably jobs that is causing them to have to take a break for a while. Us girls have vowed to stay in contact though, in fact we have already booked a spa day at the end of Feb that we are looking forward to.  We went to different spa for my friends 40th in October and we enjoyed it so much we are doing it again but somewhere different. I wonder if we will spot any celebs........ I'll let you know once we've been.

Crikey this has been a long ramble, sorry to keep you all from the important stuff you should be doing or maybe you have enjoyed a break for a few mins.

Toddle pip for now doodlebugs xx

Ps I've changed the blog site I use as I was having real problems trying to blog on the other ones app as opposed to having to get the laptop out. Let me know which one you prefer 😊

Single Mum of Two Teens ( and a cat ! ): 24 hours in A&E......

Single Mum of Two Teens ( and a cat ! ): 24 hours in A&E......: no, not us thankfully, the programme. I just loooove the programme, not because people are desperately ill or have had a serious accident, ...

24 hours in A&E......

no, not us thankfully, the programme. I just loooove the programme, not because people are desperately ill or have had a serious accident, but because of the fantastic work all those doctors and nurses do. I often wish I had trained in a "useful" job. Yes, I know all jobs are useful in their own way, but something helping people or a midwife or something. I know potentially there is the option to retrain but unfortunately in my circumstances I need to work, I simply could not afford to leave work. This makes me sad but I need to provide for my family so needs must and my job isn't all that bad really, just not really what I planned, if I ever did have a plan, although I do remember wanting to work in an office. I probably still don't really know what I really want to do but then I don't think many of us do. Anyway I'd better leave that subject before I get myself the sack!!

We have all settled back into the work, school, college routine, although I've come to the conclusion that we need to get up earlier. 15 mins, 15 mins, I keep telling myself its only 15 mins but oh my god how difficult is it to get up earlier?! On a positive note, I have made it out of bed earlier since I decided and it has actually made mornings a little less stressful which can only be a good thing. I read an interesting post the other day about how tired single mums get, everyone was saying how true it was and talking about little ones, I still get really tired and I now have teens (and a cat). Yes the teens sleep "through the night" (the damn cat doesn't though !!) however, at least when they are little they can be in bed at 8pm (although it took me a long time to train teen1 to go to sleep when he was little!) and you have a couple of hours downtime which you use to catch up on various jobs etc but there is no mummy, mummy, mummy voice following you around. When they are teens, they go to bed later, in fact, at the moment we all go to bed at the same time ! If I suggest an "early night" you should see the looks I get. So, although it gets a bit easier as they get older, that little bit of time when the kids are in bed disappears. On the cat front, tonight I think I am going to try my friends advice and shut the her in the kitchen and hope for the best. (we have a decent sized kitchen) I need to do something, its like having a baby again. If it was summer I'd let her out but its sooo cold at the moment it feels cruel. She looks at me with disgust when I suggest she goes out - she needs to pee!!

On little voices note, why is it always when you are trying to watch something you really want (& I don't really watch much telly), that they are there, chatting away, even teens. I wanted to watch the Amy Winehouse film the other night and as it was cold I suggested to Teen2 that we watch it in my bed, she wasn't really interested, preferring to watch YouTube videos all the way through it, giving me a running commentary on everything she was watching. In the end I was like, Jesus do you ever stop talking ?!!!??! She laughed and yes you guessed it was quiet for about two minutes before she started again.  I couldn't be cross really, just gave up on the film. Bless her.

Not much else has happened this week, just general everyday goings on. I am looking forward to a rare night out on Saturday, although having 3 nights out in as many weeks doesn't make it sound rare, but like buses, they always come at once. I probably wont have another one for a few months now. Luckily, my parents are having the kids for me as they aren't quite old enough to stay home alone all night until the morning. That sounds bad, I am not really a dirty stop out, but on gig nights I stay at my friends as its easier than trying to get home, especially when they are a little further afield. To explain, gig nights are when we go to watch the band play. That is a story for another time though and I'm looking forward to telling you all about these nights out at some point, especially next Fridays at that should be an epic night !

Well, enough ramblings for one night I think....

Toodlepip Doodlebugs x

Teen2 almost falls out of the window........

Eeeek !! So todays news, Teen2 nearly fell out the window.... no, I promise its not as bad as it sounds ! She was opening the window to let the cat out (no I don't know why the cat wanted to go out the window haha) and it was a bit stuck so she pushed it hard and almost went with it, scared us and the cat, half to death. I hasten to add, it was just the lounge window, not the first floor :-) after the initial shock, we all fell about laughing.

In other news, the cat only woke once last night, well this morning, at 5.10am. I think she just likes to check we are still there, I'm wondering if its because we left her alone for the night at new year, although I came back early-ish the next day to check on her, I wonder if she worries when she wakes and can't find us. Just a thought, I really have no idea, just hope her body clock sorts itself out soon.

It has been a calmer evening tonight, I pick Teen1 up on my way home from work on a Wednesday, so once we were in tonight, we were in, no rushing around thank goodness. My lovely hairdresser popped in to cut Teen1's hair as he is at work on Saturday when she comes to colour mine and cut Teen2's. Teen 2 has long hair and has decided to have the sides of it layered - a sign she is growing up?! I'll let you know how it goes at the weekend.

I don't want to ramble on about nothing and bore you all to death so I'm going to go in a minute. I had some idea's about what things to tell you going forward last night while I was in bed (!), some of which I cant remember now and wish I'd wrote them down. A sign I'm getting older maybe?!?

'til next time,

Toodle Pip Doodlebugs x

Back to life, back to reality.....

So, today we went back to work, school and college,  what a shock to the system getting up early, particularly for the kids - I went back to work for a couple of days in between Christmas and New Year but still a shock.

The day started at 6.55am getting everyone up, breakfast, cups of tea, showers, out the door.... Drop Teen2 at bus stop then Teen1 at college and get me to work on time for 9am, a task in itself.  I now have to make the pack ups the night before as I just cannot get myself out of bed and everyone out the door on time!  Although, in saying that, the cat woke me at 1.30am (God knows why, there seemed no reason for it) and then she was back again at 5.10am to which I got up and sent her outside. Cruel? Maybe, but I need my sleep ! I didn't actually manage to get back to sleep just tossed and turned until my alarm went off. In fact, that little story reminds me of a pic I saw on Facebook of a cat with the caption, "Meowed until human woke, didn't want anything, just bored !"  About sums her up really.

 Pic courtesy of Cats are Awesome Facebook Page.

I left work - I have the luxury of being able to leave work at 3pm, I say luxury, I don't get a lunch break - went to pick up the kids news phones (their contracts had come to an end so due an upgrade) then popped to the shop to pick up something for tea, dropped it all home then went straight back out again to pick Teen1 up from college. (Teen2 gets a school bus luckily). I then helped the kids set up their new phones and then cooked tea. Phew, I feel exhausted just typing it! A lad at work said to me the other day I wish I worked your hours (I work 30hrs even though I leave at 3pm), until I explained that actually I don't really "clock off" until the kids are in bed, he soon backtracked bless him.

So, it's like Christmas again in our house tonight, both kids excited by their new phones, I am taking advantage and getting a few minutes peace to be able to tell you about our day. The cat is out, she was out all day while we were at work etc, came in and ate, had a little nap and has now gone back out. I am hoping the fresh air will help her sleep tonight haha. We have only had her for a few months after she turned up one day in our garden one day, so we are still on a learning curve with her. If anyone has any tips on how to get her to sleep in, please, please do share them !

Teen2 has just announced she needs to do homework so the new phone has left her hand briefly while she goes off to do it.

So, the day will soon be coming to an end, a busy one at that. I wonder what tomorrow will bring.......

Deciding whether to start this blog !

27th December 2015 - A day of chilling....

I thought I'd share this post that I prepared a few days ago whilst I was debating whether to actually start this blog ......


So, it is two days after Christmas. The parents have gone home, Teen1 has been on the Playstation all day, so me and Teen2 have been chilling most of the day. She is recovering from a really bad bout of her sore throat virus again, which made it a bit of a rubbish Christmas, well apart from the presents of course.
Present opening went well, the kids were well chuffed with their presents, in fact the iPad doesn't seem to have left Teen2's hands since ! Teen1 has been multitasking - playing Playstation and watching YouTube on the iPad. Yes I know, an iPad is quite an extravagant present, especially one each, but Christmas is my time to spoil them and they were desperate for a new addition to their technology !
We are currently trying to decide what to have for tea. After two days of lots of food/roast dinners we are having trouble figuring out what we fancy ! I'll let you know what we decide on later !

 My view from the sofa as I type 😊

So, for tea, we ended up having sausage, mash & beans. Very yummy ! For pudding Teen1 had a Yorkie bar, Teen2 had cold custard with squirty cream, I had a sneaky few spoons of cold custard and then settled on the sofa with my chocolate orange to watch the darts 😉 

Both players (Barney v Bunting) played extremely well it was a very close match and could’ve gone either way. I love watching the darts at Christmas and New Year, in fact it was one of my reasons for subscribing to Sky Sports at £5 for 6 months on an offer!! To be fair I'll probably cancel it before the 6 months is up as we don't watch that much sport. 

I’m gonna sign off now as I'm extremely tired as I haven't slept great over the last few days due to Teen2 being poorly. My parents have been staying as it is Christmas, so I've slept in with Teen2 on her new day bed that has a pull out bed underneath (IKEA one its lush!) and my parents have had my bed. My dad woke early yesterday morning and Aimee work early this morning as she was coughing. Please please please, let us all get a decent nights kip!!

Cheerio for now doodlebugs xx

Ps let me know if you enjoyed reading this in the comments so I know if I am on the right track.!. Thanks very much

Hello and Welcome !

Hiya !

To help me get through the next few years as a single mum of two teens (and a cat!) I thought I would get my experiences down on paper and try and help myself and everyone else through the next few years of teenhood.

I hope you can identify with the highs, lows and in differences I am sure we will go through together and enjoy reading.

Thank you for popping by.

Toodle Pip Doodlebugs x