Why the cold is driving me nuts but I don’t need a straitjacket

by vix on January 27, 2012

I once thought cold meant putting a cardy on. Or switching to the winter duvet.

Winter Coat

I don't need a straitjacket, honest, I just need one of these.

I didn’t realise cold meant frozen dog poo in the garden, missing digits and toes and the onset of insanity. I’d iced cakes (and de-iced them when the icing was less than exemplary), but I’d never de-iced my car before. The first morning I needed to do it before driving up the M3 to work, I took it on the chin like the big girl I am.

I cried.  Read more... (549 words, 3 images, estimated 2:12 mins reading time)

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Facebook It’s complicated

by vix on January 24, 2012

“But why would you want the world to know what’s happening in your life?” Mum asked.

Facebook logo

Relationship status: It's Complicated

I muttered. And changed the subject. My elderly mother just doesn’t get Facebook, but then I could hardly explain when push came to shove. I simply muttered and changed the subject.

Am I in love with Facebook?

Relationship Status has changed: It's Complicated.

But the conversation, made me think about how much time I spend on Facebook and whether it is really a good thing. There’s been lots of stories written about why Facebook is a bit of a tart. And the film about its strange conception as an awkward birth child of a socially inept founder, (The Social Network) did little to help me feel secure about putting all ma stuff on Facebook.  Read more... (988 words, 1 image, estimated 3:57 mins reading time)

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So Bloody Unromantic The Radio NZ Interview

by vix on January 24, 2012

“Does that mean you’re going to be a star?” Miss 11 almost 12 asked, when she heard the news.

star

Wanna be famous?

“Nah, not really. Why do you want me to be one?”

“Yes…well, no” she replied hesitantly.

“Why not?”

“Because you’ll have to travel lots and you won’t be around and I like you being around.”

It’s good to be wanted!

I like having you around too, kid…

I thought lots about how much I value the journey I’ve made, we’ve all made, from NZ to the UK, from single Mum with three kids to remarried Mum, from uncertain to certain.  Read more... (420 words, 1 image, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)

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Tech Confusion

23 January 2012

My 74 year old mother has never been one for technology. She says it confuses her.

brain

Brain Drain

But being that she’s living in the technological age, and that she lives in technology savvy Australia, technology has started to make an impact on her life, whether she likes it or not.

First there was the whiz bang answering machine, that is purposefully looped as my Mum is hard of hearing. Then came the new TV, and laptop and medical wizardry. Luckily (for me and this blog! Though it wouldn’t be a problem if she read it, would it? Love you Mum!) she is still on dial-up, but technology is creeping into her life so quickly it is surely only a matter of time until she is whizzing along the WWW.  Read more... (566 words, 1 image, estimated 2:16 mins reading time)

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Wardrobe Malfunctions and the Death of Professionalism

20 January 2012

I’ve learnt to be super careful when I go to London for work.

bra

My cup runneth over and made for the door

It’s not that I’m concerned about my own personal safety, or health (though I often need to wash the grime off my fingers when I return. The Tube is filthy!) No, I learnt early on that I needed to dress carefully.

I’ve become quite slack in my work day dress. It’s not that I work in my PJs or even type in the bath, but I typically wear trousers and casual long sleeved t-shirts. Not clothes that scream professionalism, but then I live in a very non-descript little North Hampshire town, we’re not big on workwear here, unless it’s fluorescent yellow ‘Elf and Safety vests.  Read more... (719 words, 1 image, estimated 2:53 mins reading time)

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Put Down the Knife

19 January 2012

I avoid mirrors. And shop windows and anything with a reflection. I canno’t bear to have my own image – that comfortable forgiving mental image – shouted down by the reality I see reflected back to me.

Rubens Real beauty

Real beauty or unhealthy images?

Mirrors, shop windows – they are all too argumentative.

I’m sure I’m not the only sane, intelligent woman who has thoughts like this. I’m not the only one who has grabbed handfuls of skin and wistfully imagined a tool that could slice off this lump, shave off that bump, and sew together all the rest. I imagine some kind of saw, or even an exceptionally sharp cook’s knife cutting away the excesses of my life, but I don’t think of the pain or the blood. The crimson tide of life slipping away.  Read more... (587 words, 1 image, estimated 2:21 mins reading time)

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A Break in the Weather

17 January 2012

In 2008 I moved from one country fixated on the weather to another country fixated on the weather. It was the most common thing people asked me when I told them I was leaving New Zealand and moving to England.

“But how will you cope with the weather?”

blue sky

The sky is blue - but not in a good way. View from my window at midday.  Read more... (499 words, 1 image, estimated 2:0 mins reading time)

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A Pain in the Bum

13 January 2012

Going to the doctors is  fraught with danger.

stethoscope

Sorry, my hands are a little cold!

I hate it so much I put off making an appointment. I effectively have to be really sick, not just sick-note sick, to ring and commit, and once I’ve made that appointment that’s when my anxiety kicks in. I cut back on the evening vino, I try to get enough sleep, I even try to get in a run, or lose half a stone. They say, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and if there’s one thing I have – about a myriad of things – it’s a ‘little knowledge’.  Read more... (606 words, 1 image, estimated 2:25 mins reading time)

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How to Survive Becoming Suddenly Single

12 January 2012

This is for all my friends who have found themselves suddenly single over the past year, and for one in particular who is on the verge of leaving and discovering a new life for herself.

I know it seems churlish to feel excited.

broken heart

Hearts don't even break even.

Your freedom is his pain, those hearts really don’t break even. But believe it or not feeling excitement or even relief is normal. A whole variety of reactions are normal. You may experience the entire spectrum in a single day. All four seasons – pain, grief, joy, excitement. Becoming suddenly single, whether through your choice, or not, is still change, and change upsets things, no matter how technicolour wonderful. Or how mind bendingly awful. But you can, and will get through. I promise.  Read more... (994 words, 1 image, estimated 3:59 mins reading time)

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The Unbearable Lightness of becoming

9 January 2012

I wrote a blog post last year about how to lose one million kilos in a week.

running

Running's like having a baby without an epidural. The end result is pretty good, but the labour hurts!

Funnily enough that blog post has had a huge amount of traffic over the past week as everyone gets back to their normal routine the equivalent of 50 Christmas puddings x 5 = heavier.  Read more... (975 words, 1 image, estimated 3:54 mins reading time)

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