long loooong overdue

So. I'm back.
Not just 'back from lunch'
Or 'back from holiday'
I'm back from a very long blogging break.
During this semi underground time I...

• put on a LOT of weight

• lost (most of) it when I gave birth to my son Jack, who weighed an unexpected 11lb 3oz

• made the decision to give up work for a while to stay at home with Jack
• learnt some tough lessons about being a mum...
• ...and some fun ones!
• surprisingly managed to find time to craft, including making Jack's baby book which is still not quite finished

• watched a lot of daytime TV
• experienced a lot of Jacks' 'firsts' including first smile, first tooth, first Halloween & first Christmas...with many more to come

and appreciated just how lucky I am to have my perfect little family


I've been meaning to get back to blogging, get back in touch with people, and before I knew it here was 2009 and we were on the home stretch towards Jack's first birthday. I just can't believe where the time has gone. So back to keeping in touch is my new February's resolution - not one to usually make new year resolutions as I only break them, perhaps starting one in February will help me keep this one!

I'll leave with a picture of my little man enjoying his first touch of snow today :)

antsy

i have just spent the last half hour wandering around the house until i came on here as i feel like i want something, i just don't know what. do you ever get that feeling? i'm not sure if it's something to eat, something to do, or what, but there is this feeling that something needs to be done that isn't and i'm left feeling a little lost. it doesn't help that the little one as decided to practise for the 2012 Olympics inside me and so i can't get comfortable anywhere, anyhow :( i'm hoping that some photo sorting out will fill the time as i have a lot that need going through, and perhaps it's creativeness inside me trying to get out that's causing this - who knows, i could have a masterpiece brewing inside me at this very moment!!

getting crafty

ken and i went to our first antenatal class last night and i could hardly sleep afterwards with all the stuff that was rushing around my mind. i'm very anxious about the whole birth process but am trying to stay positive and obviously focus on the more important issues at hand, such as 'how much scrapping can i get done before the baby comes along'? have been in a scrap funk for a while now, with only a few odd bits inspiring me here and there, but i want to get back on with it. the baby book does seem to be coming along nicely though, with lots of space for personal thoughts etc that i have found there isn't room for in a shop bought one. here is a sneak preview of the front cover:

i get excited just looking through it and i can feel all my creative energy returning which is such a relief after so long. and i'm not the only one in the family being creative...here's a picture of ken's 'chocolate house' he made with some leftover christmas sweets:
hee hee

alive...and kicking

i am still alive - although i wasn't sure anyone read this to know i'd disappeared, but the emails i have had tell me otherwise. things have been so hectic that i can't believe four months have gone by since i last updated this but as i'm sure most people who care by now know, i'm pregnant, and minutes/hours/days seem to melt into one at the moment. christmas was fab but very hectic and i'm looking forward to calming down, chilling out, and catching up with life in the new year.

new years resolutions that need to be thought about

• keep in touch with people more than i have lately
• get back into craft mode - have only managed a few homemade christmas decs and attempted to start the baby book so need to get back on the wagon, so to speak
• breathe more often - life is passing me by faster than i'd like at the moment and i need to take stock and prepare myself for what's to come

it may be a little early for new years resolution just yet but i like to be prepared and it feels good to get a list of things sorted - almost feel like myself again.

so, i have two more months of work to go before i start my maternity leave - then i'm off for about five weeks before the BIG DAY (due date) to get myself prepared in every way possible. am having small panic attacks on a regular basis now as am just now realising how much my life has already changed and how that hardly compares at all to what it will be like in a few months. i am, however, VERY EXCITED at the same time as i can't wait to be a mum and experience something i have only ever dreamt of up until now.

life, as i know it, is about to end. here's to a new year and a new beginning.

losing focus

i'm in a funk at the moment...but it's a good and bad funk. i can't talk about the cause of it so that makes it even harder, but i just have no motivation left in me at the moment. i can't concentrate on anything, i don't want to scrap or read, i can't sleep but i'm always tired. i hate to sound so down as this is not what this blog is about, but i need some inspiration over here please.

go on

watch the video

post a secret

be brave

i am

a bad blogger.

i know i haven't updated in a while but things have been crazy hectic round here lately, plus my computer blew up so i have had to snatch moments on other peoples. Anyhow, i have some stuff i'm not quite ready to share with people just yet, but when i do you'll be one of the first to know!

so honoured

to be tagged by Kathy
this makes me feel very special as when i started this blog i never dreamt that anyone would actually read it, let alone that i would make friends through it like i have. i know i am supposed to tag five fellow bloggers, but being relatively new most of the few people i know have already been tagged. i would however like to tag Ann and Jocelynne, and the other three 'tags' go out to the blogs i read and love and who inspire me every day-check out my links at the side of the page for these special ladies. i'm also supposed to list 7 random facts...

• i had to save this post as a draft for half an hour and have just come back to it, so i could watch Eastenders - i'm obsessed!
• ken and i are addicted to root beer but you can only buy it in Sainsburys anywhere nearby so i have to make a special trip to get it
• i collect books by Enid Blyton - trying to hold onto my childhood as long as possible :)
• my boyfriend has four kneecaps (not technically about me but never mind)
  
• when i was a kid i wanted to BE American, to the extent that i told my mum i would marry an american boy just so i could live there...i have grown out of this. mostly
• apparently i have smelly feet. this is probably not a good thing to announce on the internet
• when my boyfriend and i don't know what to say about something we say 'butt-dance'. i don't know why, we just do. we get some very strange looks

a different kind of create

tomorrow is the local music festival in our town, aptly named 'Create'. so tomorrow i am off to create music (or listen to it anyway), while tonight i am off to create masterpieces (or mess). i will leave you with a page i made recently about Ken and his bands; he's been in quite a few over the years, has had some scary hair, and even sang dressed as santa (as you do)

one word quiz

taken from here

1. WHERE IS YOUR CELL PHONE? bag

2. YOUR HAIR? brown

3. WORK? weekend

4. YOUR FATHER? crazy

5. YOUR FAVORITE THING? books

6. YOUR DREAM LAST NIGHT? absent

7.YOUR FAVORITE DRINK? root-beer

8. YOUR DREAM CAR? bug

9. THE ROOM YOU'RE IN? spare

10. YOUR FEAR? dark

11. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE IN 10 YEARS? me

12. WHO DID YOU HANG OUT WITH LAST NIGHT? Ken

13. WHAT YOU ARE NOT GOOD AT? goodbyes

14. MUFFIN? chocolate

15. ONE OF YOUR WISH LIST ITEMS? baby

16. WHERE YOU GREW UP? Kent

17. LAST THING YOU DID BEFORE SEEING THIS? facebook-ed

18. WHAT ARE YOU WEARING? pjs

19. WHAT AREN'T YOU WEARING? turban

20. YOUR PETS? bunny

21. YOUR COMPUTER? electrical

22. YOUR LIFE? happy

23 YOUR MOOD? calm

24. MISSING? chocolate

25. WHAT ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT RIGHT NOW? chocolate

26. YOUR CAR/TRUCK IS? new

27. YOUR SUMMER? wet

28. YOUR RELATIONSHIP STATUS? co-habiting

29. YOUR FAVORITE COLOR? purple

30. WHEN IS THE LAST TIME YOU REALLY LAUGHED WITH MEANING? today

31. LAST TIME YOU CRIED? yesterday

32. SCHOOL? over

33. FAVORITE WEATHER? warm

34. FAVORITE SOUP? chicken

35. MOVIE GENRE? weepie


and on another note, a message for J K Rowling:

thank you

only 3 hours and 15 minutes left

until I can leave work and go back to Harry Potter.

new/old stash

i have just come back from my parents house where my mum decided to go through her old sewing box and offload some of her *junk* (her word) on me

vintage ribbon (the white one my mum bought when she was 15, and one is from the Queen's silver jubilee!), old patches, many buttons...i am in heaven =)

next time i go over i'm going to look through my grandmothers sewing box...

new day, new hair colour

from blond to brunette. i fancied a change :)

oh dear...

hp6

friday the thirteenth went by without a hitch & today i'm meeting up with some friends i don't see very often, so i'm very excited

when a friend of mine got married 5 years ago, 7 of us rented a flat in london for the weekend and had the BEST time. such a good time in fact, we decided to do it one weekend every year. we have had a couple of times when there have been babies in our midst (this year is one of them) and so the weekend is condensed to a day, but so far we have managed it every year. we have rented houses in lenham, isle of sheppey and goudhurst. this year (like once before) we are spending a large part of the day in a pub/restaurant where babies are welcome, then we go home about 6pm, the baby is taken to grans and put to bed :), and we reconvene at 8pm (ish) for drinking a-plenty

i fully expect to spend much of tomorrow in bed feeling sorry for myself but at the moment i am not thinking about the aftermath, just the fun part :)

last night i dreamt...

...i'd been tagged!

and it was true.

obviously i need to get out more if i'm dreaming about blogs. but, i've been tagged nevertheless, so thank you sweet Rhi.

My roommate and I once: ...never had a room mate, unless you count Ken

Never in my life have I: revised properly for an exam. no matter what i may have told tutors in the past

High school was : uninspiring

When I'm nervous : i play with my hair, look down & blush a lot :(

My hair : is boring

When I was 5 : i was sick on my teachers' feet

When I turn my head left : i see my paints & it makes me want to make things

I should be : writing an essay on the importance of group therapy vs individual therapy in care environments. obviously i'm not

By this time next year : i hope to be a mum

My favorite aunt is : my dad's sister

I have a hard time understanding : myself a lot of the time

You know I like you if : i'm honest with you

My ideal breakfast is : in the afternoon

If you visit my home town : you'll leave again pretty quickly as it's not much fun

If you spend the night at my house : you can sleep on my lovely chocolate brown futon which is very comfy

My favorite blonde is : my friend Tammy

My favorite brunette is : Ken :)

The animal I would like to see flying besides birds : my rabbit. he's already convinced he's a dog so a bird wouldn't be that much of a stretch

I shouldn't have been : so eager to eat that whole tube of pringles earlier

Last night I: organised my craft supplies in preparation of the storage unit coming tomorrow :)

A better name for me would be : Melissa Graham. my in-the-future married name ;)

I've been told I look like : Jennifer Aniston. but only by my sister & my nan & i'm pretty sure they were both lying

If I could have any car, it would be : not broken like mine often is

i won, i won

...a RAK from Bre. despite the fact that July is her birthday month, she is giving away stuff to make others happy :) this is a very sweet thing to do and i am so excited to receive my yummy presents. happy (un)birthday to me. and happy birthday month to the lovely Bre - thank you!!

one red paperclip

i apologise for anyone reading this who may be thinking i've been living under a stone for the last few years, but i only just found out about this even though it is circa 2005/2006.

the 'one red paperclip' guy who managed to trade from a red paperclip up to a house in one year.

awesome. made me laugh.

rain, rain, go away

okay. so not loving the rain at all. it just never lets up. the poor people who have had to evacuate their homes around the country due to the floods...it just doesn't bear thinking about. so while i sit snug indoors listening to the rain beating on the window, lets talk about happier things. let's talk about a village in a bag.

this is something i bought today whilst out shopping with my mum, and i happen to think it may be the best thing i've bought in a long time.

a village in a bag basically consists of lots of little wooden houses, trees, people etc making up a tiny village. in a bag. it's so simple you can't help but love it.





doesn't take much to put a smile on my face :)

from across the water

the lack of post today due to the strike made me sad as i am waiting on some lovely things at the moment, but a friend from ken's work has just come back from a holiday in the US and brought me my favouritist treat ever

as you can't buy them in the UK i have many people who stock up for me when they go to america, and they all ask their friends too. i am very lucky, and the lack of post doesn't feel quite so bad now :)