Kreative Blogger - Interesting Things

 I have been given the very lovely Kreativ Blogger award by Tattooed Mummy, thank you for this. However, there are strings attached and I have to follow the rules below:


1. You must thank the person who has given you the award - Check
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog - Check
3. Link the person who has nominated you for the award -  Check
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting. OK on  to that in a minute.
5. Nominate 7 other Kreativ Bloggers -  Check (see below)
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate - Check
7. Let the nominated victims bloggers know they have been tagged - Check


OK then. Seven things people might find interesting...Hmmmmm


So I asked my husband and - bless him -  he came out with loads of loveliness, about my open mindedness and how I see the good in people - but after we got past that, he helped me with some of the below:

1. I think I may be more tattooed than Tattooed Mummy. I have had: a symbol for Libra on the base of my spine, then when I got engaged, my future husbands star sign, which is Taurus, put around it - Then when I had Heather (child number 1) I had Scorpio added to that. Oh, I forgot, my first tattoo - which I had when I was 29, was a daisy on my shoulder, then I had a Virgo symbol round that for Lola (Child number 2 - there was no more room on the base of my spine) - and now I also have a sort of squirly hand drawn thing on my shoulder which took two goes until I got it right. Tattooing is addictive.. I would like something else, somewhere else, but I am not sure where - any suggestions? A little bit of squirly tattoo on view above.
2. I don't like velvet - It is like nails down a blackboard to me. When I was a teenager, when we went on coach trips I had to take something to sit on to avoid the velour (cheap velvet is even worse). When I had my first baby people who didn't know us that well sent her velvet clothes...sorry - she never wore them. As time has gone on, I cope with this, my children have the odd velvety toy which I sometimes have to move with my thumb and forefinger with a look on my face like I have smelt something really bad. ***shudder*
3. I won't eat anything I have kept as a pet. I have no idea where this has come from, but I will not eat rabbit (Harvey the Rabbit was my big rabbity friend when I was a kid, and I won't eat duck - Bubble and Squeak - the ducks, were great - they thought they were chickens - And yes I had chickens, but they are pure evil and deserve to be eaten - there is another blog there)
4. I like Sci-fi and X Factor - I have a very mixed taste in my TV. I can happily watch Dr Who, V, StarTrek, Stargate - and then turn over and watch X Factor, So you think you can Dance etc. It's the same with films - I love a big all action film (watched Gamer last night) but will happily watch StarTrek, 28 Days Later, Hot Fuzz, anything with Sandra Bullock - old films - The Road movies with Bob Hope were great, Chicago is fab. I love a film, me. The same goes for books and Music - I have just finished the first couple of (kids books) Vampire Assistant saga, and I am now reading a Nick Hornby and my Husband took me to see LCD Sound System - which I had never heard of before - but now love. I will try any genre once - just to see. You don't get old if you can keep your mind open.
5. We have had a hamster for one week - her name is Bella and she is a Chinese Winter Dwarf Hamster (apparently) and she is the angriest little animal that I have ever met - I have had hamsters before but never have they stood up on their hind legs and shouted at me in weird Hamster sounds before. I am a little bit afraid of her you can see her here  or below.
6. 'You know more about Ireland than any English person should know' This is a quote from my husband, I am not entirely sure what he means, but I have known him 17 years been married for 9, known his family for most of the 17 and been back and forth between Birmingham and the West Coast of Ireland (and Dublin) for years. 
7. And finally, and I am not sure this is interesting or surprising. I am a geek, I love technology. If I could cuddle it I would. I love that I can talk to people without seeing them or with seeing them, I love push buttony stuff, I love love love digital photography and all the joy that brings me. If I could sit at home and play with new technology I would be the happiest girl in the world, but alas it is not so. 

**And now a subliminal message *** If anyone knows of anyone who could give me a job like that - please let me know.

Now who to share the joy with.

1. Cosmicgirlie - Can I alter this Meme for you and have your interesting things in photo's?
2. Defective Tykewriter
3. Hot Cross Mum
4. Susan K Mann
5. Troutie
6. Typecast and finally because she is very bored
7. Very Bored in Catalunya

Seven Things that make me Grumpy

I kinda volunteered for this - so my usual grumpy complaining about getting a Meme and insults for the giver of said meme will have to be left out of this one.
Anyhoo ..Elle at Defective Tykewriter has asked me what are the seven things that make grumpy...
Well - where to start...?

1. Being trapped in a stupid phone contract whilst all around me (including my husband) get android/iPhones. I want one NOW, my phone is rubbish and has been for ages, but stupid contract provider would not change without huge costs (yeah, I know I signed the contract etc...but we all make mistakes). Roll on the 22nd May. My iPhone calleth me. 
2. My husband teaching our daughters boy things. For example farting with your armpit & paper planes. Don't get me wrong, I like a paper planes but I seem to be the only person in this house able to pick them up. Also, the rather weak claim that he is teaching them 'physics' is rubbish. Lets not fancy up a paper plane. A paper plane is a paper plane is a paper plane. 
3. Back to picking things up. Socks. Little socks. Everywhere. Why oh why oh why oh why do my three year old and seven year old not need socks the minute they walk in the house and just take them off and leave them ..WHY...??????
4. Music snobs, people who look down their nose at you if you dare to like something mainstream. My iPod has a real mixture on, from Marilyn Manson to Brittany Spears, some hardcore house to The Damned. If I like it, I listen to it. If I don't I don't. Get off your high horses and get over yourselves.
5. The same applies to the telly. I like Big Brother, but I don't like/get I am a Celebrity get me out of here, but I don't think any less of the people who watch it. I don't watch soaps but I like geeky Sci Fi stuff. Similarly, people who say..oh I don't have time for TV, that's fine but don't think less of me because I do - and yet surprisingly I can read a book too.
6. The BNP. I am all for freedom of speech but come on...really. Where did all the people on this Island called Great Britain come from? Everywhere else. Thats all. 
7. My brain makes me grumpy. I used to be an optimist and glass half full - now look at me. I thought of this list without even trying - I haven't mentioned anything about ageing and all the physical ailments that go with it, I also totally agree re:texting on Elle's post, it really annoy's me, use prescriptive text for God's sake. I want my brain to be back in my twenties when I was full of hope and positivity.

I am going to pass the joy of the Grumpy meme to anyone who wants to give it a go. It's quite cathartic and I might do another 7 just for the heck of it.

The Gallery - Portraits

So in theory this is an 'easy' week at the Gallery. I think not...too many options...

I could do something funny..

My strong family

Something sentimental

My Mum; in a dress, I swear, she wore throughout my childhood.

Something arty

Giant Lola

Or just a picture of my family, caught in a moment, that I love, and is by my bed.

OK, I realise I cheated a bit but I just couldn't choose. Sorry. 

My Nicknames and Me

Write about a nickname you have been given in your life

I haven't written anything recently for the writing workshop. I have been so busy; what with the Gallery, My daily Blipfoto, various Meme's. This blogging community is a hive of activity! Then there is my non-virtual life. Work, kids etc plus the buying of a hamster (There is a whole blog about the emotional trauma one small hamster caused...more of that another day)

But the nickname theme is something I really want to blog about.

There is one thing I have to establish at the beginning of this:

I have dealt with this and moved on, but I will not reveal the name I was called. I haven't told my husband, so I won't be telling you.

People have tried to give me nicknames over the years, but they just didn't stick. For a while I was Ollie Onion (my surname was Oliver), I was also Pebbles from the Flintstones because of the way I wore my hair, my brother and I do still refer to each other as OIlie, which is a bit weird, and my Dad calls me pruneling, but other than that, no nicknames.

(I don't really see the likeness either - It's not like I had a bone hairband!)

But then, something happened - 'I got off with' (there's an expression that's a blast from the past) this bloke. He was the older brother of a friend of mine but things didn't go the way he had planned. So he told people all sorts of horribleness and came up with a name that stuck with me for the last three years I spent in the small town I grew up in. People would literally just shout this name at me randomly in the street. Even 'friends' used it to wind me up.  It disgusted me, it made me feel small and dirty. It was one of the many reasons I wanted to leave and live in a city where I could be anonymous. I didn't want to be me. 

I did move to the city, I reinvented myself but inside I stayed the same and I became tougher and stronger. Have I forgiven and forgotten? No. Would I tolerate this now. Never. Should it have happened in the first place, of course not. Can I change anything now. No. So I have moved on. 

I now use a nickname online that was given to me by a friend - MuddynoSugar is my poker name and how I like my coffee, it is a part of me and I love my online persona. It is everything a nickname should be.

I had a look to see where Nickname comes from - this is what I found:

Misdivision of ekename (1303), an eke name, literally "an additional name," from Old English eaca "an increase," related to eacian "to increase"

So MuddynoSugar increases me, it is another part of me, the me that people don't shout at in the street, the real me, Jane. 

My Daughter has a Boyfriend

My daughter, who is 7, came home from school just before the Easter holidays and shyly announced that she had a proper boyfriend.

My husband and I were not totally surprised - Heather has always got on well with boys, she married Dan (Tara at Stickyfingers son) at nursery - no seriously, there are wedding photo's go here to see them, and they have maintained a steady and rather lovely friendship since then.

There has also been the off and on again relationship with Euan who goes to the same child-minder - we DO NOT talk about the Valentine Disco debacle! (In brief, Euan said he would dance but then when all his friends were there he wouldn't...1st life lesson in men learnt 14.02.2010)

But now, this is different, this one is a 'proper' boyfriend.

I could see my husbands eye start to twitch and he was off to get the boyfriend hitting stick from the hall (seriously - it has been there since I gave birth to a girl).

So to diffuse the situation I thought I would ask some probing, not very subtle questions (I can work on this for when she is older)

Me: So, who is this boy from school (I am now going to use a fake name to protect the innocent).
Heather: George.
Me: Really. and why do you like George (inside, I have died a bit as 'George' is the frigging naughtiest boy in her year and has previously shown his affection by mild physical violence and low level bullying)
Heather: Because he is captain of the football team
(In my head - Oh f**k I have reared a WAG - so much for working full time to create a positive and strong female role model)
Me: (scared of response but desperately plodding on) But that can't be the only reason?
Heather: Sometimes he picks me to be on his team (smiles beatifically)
Me: Oh that's great then. (What else could I say...she caught me off guard..doh!)

Husband in background still hasn't placed which child is George (this is good, because later that night I explain who he is properly, and there is talk of him - going to 'have a word' - OMG).

Anyway, a couple of days later I say..everso casually. So how is it going with George?
Oh, he's not my boyfriend any more, says she.
Oh, I am sorry what happened.
I don't want him to be my boyfriend
Oh, OK then.

And that was all I could get out of her - SHE IS SEVEN - HELP!!!!!!!!!

Here she is looking like a seven year old..long may it last.

The Gallery - Shoes (and 5 of the Deadlies)

Being a bit naughty and re-issuing an old Gallery entry as it is so fitting for this weeks Gallery. 

This week for week 8 of The Gallery Tara at Stickyfingers has set us the impossibly tricky task of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Well, I have spent the weekend mulling on this. I took pictures of my daughters with ice cream on their faces, of all the food we had for a BBQ, but none of it felt right. Then I had a moment of clarity.

So with my photo you will see what I lust after, what I am greedy about, what I envy, what I have pride in and finally what I wear when I am slothful. (5 out of 7 is not bad!)

It is all about ......

THE SHOES!!!!

These are all my shoes, except I am missing out a pair of high heeled slingbacks, a pair of green wellies, 2 pairs of black boots, and one pair of pretend Uggs. All in all, 42 pairs of shoes. (which I only found out today)

I Lust after shoes and they can make me lustful, I nearly took a photo of a woman a work the other day because of her shoes, but I didn't want to make her nervous.

Shoes alter my mood, I wear certain shoes to give me confidence and Pride in my appearance. 

Clearly, I don't need 42 pairs of shoes. I am Greedy when it comes to shoes. 

I Envy others shoes  - on my 'before I die list' I need, want, lust after, a pair of Manolo Blaniks. Similarly, Divina Mccall, has great shoes, I envy her shoes, she has some red soled stiletto's that I would do pretty much anything for.
I have shoes to slob about in when I am Slothful. To be honest I have shoes for most occasions and they hold special and some of my favourite memories. 

These are what I wore on my Wedding day (I wore other stuff too, wedding dress etc...you all have very dirty minds!!!). Worn once because when else do you wear white boots - I will never throw these away.

These were brought and worn for my daughters Christening - Happy day with family and friends

These were my 'go to' clubbing shoes - those bad boys have six inch heels but are remarkably comfortable. I have danced all night in these. 

The not so, go to clubbing shoes, hurt like hell and probably made me look like a pole dancer but kinda of loved the sleazy glamour of them

My black suede work shoes, comfortable but gave me an additional 3.5 inches

Great shoes for a short gal.

Holiday shoes, we all have a pair - these were brought in Corfu in 1994 (dear lord they are 16 years old...I am so old!)

Speaking of old, I brought these for this year's work Christmas party - Mutton, lamb...enough said.

And finally....

These are my Croc flippy flops. I was a doubter of Croc's, but I accidently brought my daughters some at an airport (long story) - then I got shoe envy and now I have three pairs and they are both on their second pair. They are so comfy and so easy to be slothful in. I am now a Croc's disciple. My feet need comfort if I am going to wear stupid shoes to work parties!

And there is my attempt at the 7 deadly sins. I am really looking forward to what everyone else has done.

Meme-Tastic

My lovely blogger friends have been busy this week setting mighty blogging meme Challenges.


First off the lovely  Tara at Stickyfingers Frankinsteined (I am not sure that is a word); the Fantasy 3 Course meal meme with the Hunky movie men meme and created the Fantasy Character 3 Course Meal meme (with not a care, in the world, for the mouthful of a title that is - no pun intended)!


Then the equally lovely talented photographer lady Cosmic Girlie got me with a Photo meme. I have to do this - 

1 . Open the first/oldest photo folder in your computer library
2. Scroll to the 10th photo
3. Post the photo and the story behind it
4. Tag 5 or more people to continue the thread.


OK so, which to do first? 


Photo I think...OK - 'scuse me a minute whilst I go rummaging in the dusty corners of the computer.....


Ahhha


This photo is called 'bloody hell where did that come from....' or (specially for you Cosmic ) 'What the f**k'

This is me with my eldest daughter after a ...hmmmm...lets just say the birthing plan went flying out of the window with force, birthing experience. 
She was born at 1:13pm on November the 18th 2002 - 2 weeks early, and weighed 6lbs and 6oz. She was gorgeous, and yes the pain really did go away when she was out (admittedly a lot of it came back after the epidural and adrenalin wore off...but you know what I mean). One of the 3 best days of my life. 


I am passing this onto the usual suspects (apologies if you have already had this)


The charming and delectable - Jo Beaufoix, the fantastic Rosie Scribble, Tara Cain because I am sure 
there will be something in the spangley corners of her new PC which will be lovely and have a great story. The fabulous writer that is Deer Baby and Troutie because I am all for people mentioning Henry the Hoover in their blogs as often as possible. 


OK and now on to the more challenging Ms Cain's long title meme thingummy.







My drink of choice would be red wine - this is my current favourite
I am rubbish at French but because of the useful illustration I am aware this wine is called Cat on Egg - and it is yummy. Speaking of Yummy I would like to drink it with Christopher Lambert - My daughter is called Heather partially because of the film Highlander (It's a long story, suffice to say, I have a soft spot).

My ideal starter would be a tricolour salad and I would eat this with James McAvoy - because he looks a bit grubby and geeky and I like that in a man.

Following the grubby theme - I would have my main course of Moroccan Poussin and cous cous with Captain Jack Sparrow (not the somewhat tidier and more refined Johnny Depp - although I wouldn't say no, you know, if I had to - last people in the world scenario).Any who, I think Captain Jack is lovely ***swoons*** tight corset moment...ahem.....food, concentrate on the food woman!!! Oh and I do like a bit of eye liner on a man - Adam Ant ruined me!

Finally, and this is where Tara and I may come to fisty cuffs, Mr Hugh (I am ridiculously gorgeous) Jackman.  Hugh, as I like to call him, would share coffee with me at the end of the meal. (and then cuddles **ahem***, in those I have been working out way too much lately, arms)  

 

Hang on I hear you all cry ...what of pudding? Sorry folks, after that meal probably no pudding. Maybe sticky treacle pudding with custard, like you had a school if pushed.

I am returning the love of the meme to CosmicGirlie and then to any other brave soul who wants to give it a go.

Have Fun