A short and sweet post today.
My baby girl is TWO today. I absolutely can’t believe we’ve had her for two years already.
But I absolutely can’t imagine or even remember clearly life without her either.
Happy birthday Emily. You complete us. xx
PS hobby horses are horrendous to wrap. Just sayin’.
We were in Smyth’s toy shop yesterday. Emily had fallen over in the previous shop and bumped her head on the concrete floor so in the classic manner of paranoid parents we were walking around trying to decide if we should get her to hospital or if she would probably be ok. Smyth’s seemed a good place to distract Daniel while we quietly panicked. We decided that Emily was, on reflection, absolutely fine and turned our attention to the toys.
The board games aisle was like a flash back twenty-0dd years. Daniel, being Nearly Five, is right at the age where we could start playing family games and I was looking at what was available. Now obviously there was Cluedo, Monopoly, Scrabble and junior versions of these. I mean, y’know, these are classics. I was more surprised by some of the others. Here’s a few of the games I saw yesterday that had me exclaiming “Eeh, I remember playing that!”
I don’t really like it when they update the games, as you might have gathered from my comment on Guess Who above. I mean, take Monopoly. Now I’m not against a regional edition as a special; we have a French edition which we love. BUT. Why do we need to make a Monopoly with credit cards? I don’t want my kids getting the credit card habit when they’re eight! Not unless they’re buying stuff for me and paying it off with their pocket money anyway. Ahem. And Game of Life – another one I didn’t actually play but it was everywhere. Now it’s Adventure edition. Like Life isn’t enough of an adventure? Pah.
Of course, that could just be me getting old. We drove on a road that we haven’t been on for a while the other day and they’re completely rejigging the layout. As we passed the sign saying “New Road Layout Ahead” I actually muttered to Andrew “What was wrong with the way it was?” He didn’t reply. He was too busy laughing.
Day 30!
I’m so shocked at how fast April has gone. It really doesn’t seem two minutes since I saw the A to Z Blogging Challenge on Talli Roland’s blog and thought it sounded fun… What was I thinking?!
Well, ok, it was fun. I’ll do a more thoughtful post in a couple of days when I’ve recovered, but initial thoughts are mainly that I’m really really pleased that I finished it. It’s been hard at times to come up with posts, but it’s also been great to know that I’ve got a good few words down nearly every day and not all of them total waffle!
I’ve launched my ebook, my husband’s business, celebrated my daughter’s first birthday, had a few rants and done a couple of stories I was pleased with. So all in all a successful, if speedy, month!
Now zooming onto the next challenge – over at Sally Quilford’s blog we’re launching into May You Write Your Novel. Think NaNoWriMo at a sensible pace – 80k in 80 days. This is around 1000 words a day (obv!) which I want to aim for anyway, especially as I really want to get this first novel finished and start on the next one which is driving me crackers!
So don’t worry, I’ll not be posting everyday now but I’m hopefully using MYWYN (My Win, how cheerful!) to cheer myself & other loons on to get some great word miles under our belts.
Thanks for putting up with me this last month!
In case you’re reading this from a cave in Outer Mongolia, you may not have heard that today is Royal Wedding day. There are a million different things I could witter on about here. We had a lovely time watching it, with friends’ as our kids played at princes and princesses then started beating each other up. The crowds were impressive, the Queen and Prince Philip doing well at 85 and 90 respectively, and Princess Catherine’s dress was stunning beautiful and exactly the kind of style I’d have liked myself.
But I think the most touching moment for me was when she first joined Prince William at the altar. You could clearly see he said “beautiful”. Now, he could have been talking about the flowers, the Abbey, or even his Granny’s hat, but it’s more likely he was talking about his wife-to-be. This article agrees with me.
That, for me, was the fairytale moment; the dream moment. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how many guests are at your wedding or what they think of you (and she has guests more than most brides to worry about) nearly as much as your husband’s reaction. That moment wasn’t scripted or rehearsed or said for the benefit of the cameras, and it wasn’t thinking about repressing tender feelings because of royal etiquette – it was a spontaneous reaction to seeing the woman he loved.
It’s what I wanted to hear from my husband on our wedding day (and I did, in case you’re wondering); it’s what I imagine every woman throughout history wants to hear from the one they love and I’m so pleased Kate Middleton as-was heard it from her bridegroom.
“You look beautiful.”
A guest post by Miss E Brown
I have a tale, dear reader. A tale of warning – do not trust ANYONE.
Today started like any other. I got up around five. Apparently Big Bro used to get up at that sort of time too but age has weakened him; not to the extent of the Parents, of course, but still. It has fallen to me to get the household going and without me I don’t know what they’d do (Sleep, probably – Ed.).
So, anyway, I go about my business. I personally don’t see what’s wrong with a little redecoration of the rooms. Pink yoghurt makes a very satisfying streak on the sofa, and has a great and profound statement about the state of civilisation if you take the time to consider it. And what is the point of them buying me toys if they stay packed away?
Anyway, Mummy must have been feeling a little under the weather, poor love, as she just didn’t enter into things in the right spirit at all. She really started coming loose at the edges when I tried diving. Have you ever done that? You shout to be helped up onto the sofa (give it a couple of months and I’ll be able to do it myself but for now I have to put up with ridiculously short legs) then bat your eyelashes very very fast with a beaming smile. While the Responsible Adult is recovering from the dazzling onslaught, leg it to the other end of the sofa and, well, dive off. I don’t know which is better, the adrenaline rush as you free-fall through the air or the sheer comedy of the Responsible Adult throwing themselves to grab your legs as theirs flay wildly in the air. Fantastic.
We passed the morning quite happily this way, mixed in with a little teasing as I pretend to stick my head down the toilet, then took Big Bro to nursery where once again Mummy stopped me borrowing some of the nursery crayons. Spoilsport. I was practically angelic (*chokes* Sorry. Ed.). Ahem. Practically angelic the rest of the morning, had my lunch, shared everybody else’s, blissfully content in the knowledge that even if I’d gone a teensy bit close to the edge a couple of times, Mummy and Daddy instantly forgive and harbour no grudges.
Shows what I know. I get tucked up in my car seat, have a little doze and arrive at the doctors. I flirt a little (always good to keep in practice), attempt to explore the corridors and then we get waved into a room with a smiling lady and a slightly maniacally-smiling Mummy. Judas.
She actually HELD ME DOWN while the nurse stuck a needle in my leg. Did you get that? SHE HELD ME DOWN. My own mother. What vile vengeance even those we love most will stoop to.
I don’t know what they put in me, but if I’m abducted by aliens in the night, remember dear readers: I told my story. Don’t forget me (as if we could. Ed.).
